Joseph Exalted

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0:22Good morning. You'll be helped if you have a Bible this morning, and you can go ahead and turn there to Genesis chapter 41. My name is Joshua Griever, and it's good to be with you. Uh, if you've been with us for the last few weeks, at least you've seen, we've been in the Joseph narrative, the story about this young Hebrew man named Joseph. And I think a nice description so far of the story is that Joseph has been on a rollercoaster. Maybe some of you like rollercoasters, maybe some of you, not so much. It seems to me that of all the characters in the Bible, Joseph is one of those characters who's on a real rollercoaster experience, and I wonder if that's true for any of you.

1:12I think it's true for all of us. In some sense, life is full of highs and lows for all of us, and Joseph has had some real highs and some real lows. Think back with me a few weeks ago. We saw in Genesis 37, he was his dad's favorite son. He got a sweet piece of clothes, but then in that same chapter, his brothers become envious, jealous of him, and they throw him into a pit and sell him into slavery, into Egypt.

1:46Uh, fast forward to Genesis 39, Joseph, uh, experiences some favor in the house of his slave master. His master recognizes that the Lord is with him. Things start to look up a little bit for Joseph, but then, but then the slave master's wife tries to seduce Joseph. He resists her temptation, but then she lies about him. She lies about his conduct towards her, and the master believes his wife and throws Joseph into prison. You can see the rollercoaster of Joseph's life going on severely in Genesis 39. Things look up a little bit for Joseph in prison because again, the Lord is with him. We're told in Genesis 39, the keeper of the prison recognizes the Lord is with him.

2:34He puts Joseph in charge of all the prisoners. And then in Genesis 40, just last week, we saw that there was, there were two new individuals introduced. There was a chief cup bearer and the chief baker, uh, both were royal officials, uh, in the court of Pharaoh. And these guys both had dreams and Joseph interpreted both dreams completely accurately. And this was important for Joseph's own life because he asked the chief cupbearer, when, when your dream comes to pass and you're restored through the court of Pharaoh, would you please remember me and get me out of prison because I've been thrown here unjustly.

3:16And so you kind of think as a reader, maybe this is his out, maybe this is his get out of jail free card. But then the last verse of Genesis 40 says, the chief cup bearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him. And as readers, you see the hopes of Joseph dashed against the rocks. Ugh. And you're wondering, is this guy ever going to get off the rollercoaster? Is he ever going to, to experience a final and lasting experience of joy? And we would say, and justice. How long will he experience injustice towards him? Is he gonna die a forgotten man in prison? Now, we're not told that Joseph asked these sorts of questions, but I wonder, I wonder for those years that he was in prison, was Joseph wondering, God, what are you up to?

4:16God, what are you up to in my life, I I thought the chief cupbearer was your ordained way out of prison. And I'm still here. And Genesis 41 begins with the phrase, after two whole years, and I think that's two years from the chief cupbearer restoration to Pharaoh's presence two years past. And the cupbearer hadn't remembered. Joseph and I, I just have to wonder, was Joseph asking the question, God, what are you up to? Do any of you feel that way in your life? God, how long? How long the Lord? And yet, in the seeming hopelessness of Joseph's experience this morning, I wanna, I wanna encourage you, I'm gonna urge you to believe for Joseph and for you, things are not hopeless.

5:06And this is not because of how amazing Joseph was or how amazing you might be. This is because of God. God is the hero of Genesis 41. If we zoom out just a little bit in the book of Genesis, we're, we'll, remember, Joseph is not just any figure. He happens to be one of the sons of Jacob who was himself, the son of Isaac, who was himself the son of Abraham. And if you've been with us for the number of months we've been in Genesis, you know, God made big promises to the family of Abraham, big ones. And God has already started to proven, uh, his own faithfulness. God has shown himself with a track record of faithfulness to his word.

5:50And so, not surprisingly, in today's chapter, things will turn from seeming hopelessness to a story that's full of hope and reality. Even for Joseph, if you're a note taker, the main point I think of our chapter this morning is this, that God knows and plans all things to preserve and exalt his people. So again, that's, that's the main point I think of our chapter this morning. God knows and plans all things, not just some things, but all things to preserve and exalt his people. If you've found Genesis 41, we're gonna take this in bite-sized portions. There's 57 verses this morning. I'm gonna go relatively quickly through the 57 verses and then we'll circle back around and make a few comments on this main point.

6:43First, let's read verses one through seven. After two whole years, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile. And behold, there came up out of the Nile, seven cows, attractive and plump, and they fed in the reed grass. And behold, seven other cows, ugly and thin, came up out of the Nile after them and stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile. And the ugly thin cows ate up the seven attractive plump cows. And Pharaoh awoke verse five. And he fell asleep and dreamed a second time. And behold, seven ears of grain, plump and good were growing on one stalk. And behold, after them sprouted, seven ears thin and blighted by the east wind and the thin ears swallowed up the seven plump full ears.

7:45And Pharaoh, awoke and behold, it was a dream. What we have here in these first seven verses two dreams, this is not the first time there have been dreams in the Book of Genesis, but this is the last of the series of those dreams. They all come from God. And here God gives Pharaoh not one but two dreams, but they're remarkably parallel, aren't they? Both dreams have a series of seven. You have seven good cows and seven bad cows, and you have seven good ears of grain and seven bad ears of grain. Uh, both have the same words like plump and thin used to describe the good or the bad elements respectively, and both in both dreams, the bad follows the good and consumes the good.

8:35Did you see that the bad cows eat up? Aren't dreams weird by the way the bad cows eat up the good cows and bad ears of grain eat up the good ears of grain. They're, they're two dreams, but they're, but they're remarkably parallel, aren't they? And both dreams have to do with, uh, prosperity and the economy of, of Egypt. The Nile River, of course, was a source of great, uh, uh, fertility there in the region, but so are cows, so are, uh, ears of grain. And so not surprisingly, the fact that the bad swallows the good, and we have images of the economy and prosperity here. Not surprisingly, Pharaoh is troubled by his dreams.

9:20Look with me at verse eight. Verse eight says, so in the morning, his spirit was troubled and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. And Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was none who could interpret them to Pharaoh. Well, Pharaoh, he, he sees in these dreams, something bad happens. And I wanna know what that bad thing particularly is. So he summons, did you see the word all in verse eight? It's there twice, isn't it? You have all the magicians, all the wise men are called upon the whole cabinet, as it were, is, is, is present. And none of them are skilled enough to interpret for Pharaoh what his dreams mean.

10:08Uh, I'll just note this. You can think about more this more on your own, but these, I think are the same group of people who are gonna show up in the book of Exodus. Remember when Moses and Aaron come and the plagues, there's the magicians of Pharaoh there who try to mimic with limited success, uh, the things that, uh, God was doing through Moses and Aaron. And that's the same class of people here, probably a group of astrologers and sorcerers who were supposedly skilled at interpreting omens. Well, the story turns in verse nine when our man, the chief cup bearer shows back up again. Look with me at verses nine through 13, it says, then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, I remember my offenses today when Pharaoh was angry with his servants and put me in the chief baker in custody in the house of the captain of the guard.

10:59We dreamed on the same night, he and I each having a dream with its own interpretation. A young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard when we told him, he interpreted our dreams to us, giving an interpretation to each man according to his dream. And as he interpreted to us. So it came about, I was restored to my office, and the bakker was hanged. Uh, this chief gut bearer guy, uh, a guy retells the story of what happened last week in Genesis chapter 40. Uh, this is his summary account, but the main thing for Pharaoh to know is there's a guy in prison. He's a young Hebrew man who told us the meaning of our dreams.

11:43And it happened exactly like he said. I I'm astonished if you've been noticing so far the word God has not shown up anywhere in Genesis 41. God's name is not here yet. God is everywhere in this passage. The dream comes from God. The chief cupbearer just happens to overhear. Uh, Pharaoh had a dream. He had two dreams. He's trying to figure out the meaning of his dreams and nobody can do it. And, and the chief cupbearer is like, his memory is jogged. Hold on a minute. I know a guy. I know a guy. God is everywhere in the background of this story. While Pharaoh is pretty excited by this, uh, look in verse, uh, verses 14 and following, it says, then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph and they quickly brought him out of the pit.

12:26Notice that word pit. And when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came in before Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said to Joseph, I've had a dream and there's no one who can interpret it. I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream, you can interpret it. Well, then Joseph answered, Pharaoh, it is not in me. God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer. And then notice in verses 17 through 24, Pharaoh recounts his dream again to Joseph. He says, then Pharaoh said to Joseph, behold, in my dream, I was standing on the banks of the Nile, seven cows, plump and attractive came up out of the Nile and fed in the reed grass.

13:07Seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly and thin, such as I had never seen in all the land of Egypt. And the thin ugly cows ate up the first seven plump cows. But when they had eaten them, no one would've known that they had eaten them for they were still as ugly as at the beginning. And then I awoke. I also saw in my dream, seven ears growing on one stalk full and good, seven ears withered, thin and blighted by the east wind sprouted after them. And the seven ears swallowed up the seven good ears. And I told it to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me.

13:43By the way, have you noticed in storytelling in the Bible, often there's some repetition, and that was repetition we've already heard about as readers, that story, but but we get it retold to us a second time. I think when you see that your antenna should go off and say, oh, this must be a really important feature of the story. 'cause it was told to me twice. Do you see that? So the so the dreams, the meaning of the dreams is on display here. We've got to figure out what these dreams are all about. Well, notice Joseph way back in verse, uh, 16 speaks in the story. For the first time, Joseph said to Pharaoh, it's not in me.

14:21God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer. And that's a good answer for Joseph to say, uh, Pharaoh in verse 15 had said, you, I've heard you can interpret dreams. And Joseph said, actually, it's not, I, it's not I, but God, God is the one who's able to do this. Um, well, at this point, Joseph then goes on, uh, under the power of God to interpret the dream for Pharaoh. Look with me at verses 25 through 32, it says, then Joseph said to Pharaoh, the dreams of Pharaoh are one God has revealed to Pharaoh what he's about to do. The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years.

15:02The dreams are one. The seven lean and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years. And the seven empty ears blighted by the east wind are also seven years of famine. It is, as I told Pharaoh, God has shown to Pharaoh what he is about to do. There will come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt, but after them, there will arise seven years of famine. And all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will consume the land, and the plenty will be unknown in the land by reason of the famine that will follow, for it will be very severe. And the doubling of pharaoh's dream means that the thing is fixed by God.

15:43And God will shortly bring it about. Well, notice the, the main interpretation here is that Pharaoh, even though you had two dreams, they actually refer to the same events. Uh, Joseph says that twice actually, the dreams are one. He says, these are not two different events we're talking about, but one, uh, uh, one thing, the seven number is years. Seven good cows are seven years, seven good ears are seven years. So we're talking years here. And what's the good and the bad mean? Well, the good is years of prosperity, and the bad is years of famine. And it's in that order. Joseph is very clear on this.

16:27The famine will come after the years of prosperity and it will be so bad. Notice in verses 30 and 31, again, it says, the famine will consume the land such that all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. Verse 31, the plenty will be unknown in the land by reason of the famine that will follow. And th and th there is why in the dreams, the the bad things were eating up the good things and you couldn't even tell the good existed. It's because the famine, the years of famine are so bad. It's like the good never happened. Do you see that? That's the, that's the sense, that's the meaning of this, of these dreams.

17:08And last there in verse 32, Joseph says, here's not only what the dreams mean, but here's why you had two of 'em. The doubling, he says, the doubling of the dream here means the thing is fixed by God. That means it's certain to happen. It's, this is a certainty, a surety, and God will shortly bring it about. So it's certainly gonna happen and it will happen soon. Well, at this point, the story turns from what did Pharaoh dream and what does it mean to the so what? So what should we do now? What should we do? Now, this is a big question. If you're the king of a country and you were just told you're gonna have some good years, but then after that it's gonna be really bad.

17:51What? So, so what do we do now? And at this point, till the end of the chapter, Joseph proposes a plan. Pharaoh sees the wisdom of that plan, and then the plan is enacted. So if, if you think about the second part here, this is just the action plan. It's the so what part of the story. Look with me at verses 33 through 36, Joseph says, now therefore, again, the so what now, therefore, let Pharaoh select a discerning and wise man and set him over the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh proceed to appoint overseers over the land and take one fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt during the seven plentiful years, and let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming and store up grain under the authority of Pharaoh for food in the cities.

18:39And let them keep it. That food shall be a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine that are to occur in the land of Egypt so that the land may not perish through the famine. Well, there's your plan in just four verses there. Joseph says, look, you're gonna have to have a discerning and wise man, key words, a discerning and wise man who's gonna have to oversee the process. You're also gonna have to have some overseers. We might call this mid-level management, people who actually go and execute, uh, the plan. The plan involves some kind of, uh, storage. One fifth of all the food that is grown is gonna have to be stored, set aside, preserved in the cities.

19:27You're gonna grow it in the fields. Well, you gotta keep 20% of it in the cities as a reserve, as a reserve for those seven years of famine. I'm doing the math on that, and I think you're gonna have more than you need if that works out really well. Seven years of good, 20% every time you're gonna have 140%, right? So you should have an excess, which is going to be important because as it turns out, the famine isn't going to just affect the land of Egypt, but the lands around Egypt as well. So that excess is going to come in handy. The goal of the plan is at the very end of verse 36, so that the land it says may not perish through the famine.

20:11Well, Pharaoh sees the wisdom of this plan, and he sees that the discerning and wise man is standing right in front of him. Look with me at verses 37 through 45, it says, this proposal pleased Pharaoh and all his servants. And Pharaoh said to his servants, can we find a man like this? In whom is the spirit of God? Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, since God has shown you all this, there is none so discerning and wise as you are, you shall be over my house and all my people shall order themselves as you command, only as regards to the throne. Will I be greater than you? And Pharaoh said to Joseph, see, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.

20:56And then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph's hand and clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain about his neck. And he made him ride in his second chariot. And they called out before him, bow the knee. And thus he set him over all the land of Egypt. Verse 44. Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without your consent, no one shall lift up hand or foot and all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh called Joseph's name, Ana pane, and he gave him in marriage Asin, the daughter of pot, Farah, priest of own. So Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.

21:37Well, this is a stunning reversal. If you've been following Joseph's story, this is a stunning reversal to his experience for years. Actually, think back to the story of Joseph from the time he was sold into slavery until now, it has been not months, it has been years. In fact, verse 46 says, Joseph was 30 years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And if we remember from Genesis 17, uh, sorry, Genesis 37, he was 17 years old. So, so this has had 13 years in the last few chapters here of Joseph's life. And I think most of those years he was a slave and prisoner. This has not have been a fast story, but, uh, but a slow moving experience for Joseph.

22:21And finally, he is exalted in the presence of Pharaoh. Everyone's bowing the knee to Joseph. All the people are kissing the ground when he goes by, uh, whatever Joseph says they do notice Pharaoh even gave Joseph his own, not any anyone else's but his own signet ring. He took it off his hand and gave it to Joseph. The tech said he gave him linen garments, which probably smelled a lot better than his prison garments. He got a gold necklace. He got not the best chariot in the land, but the second best chariot in the land. He's got the sweet ride back then. So this is a, this is an exaltation story, isn't it?

23:00Joseph is exalted beyond probably his imagine, his, his wildest dreams as it were. He's also given a name. Did you catch that in verse 45? He's got a new name, Z enough. Panaya is an Egyptian name. I think that's Pharaoh's way of legitimizing Joseph's status. I've gotta give you a name that's not Hebrew, but an Egyptian name because you're now an Egyptian official. He also gives Joseph, uh, an Egyptian wife. Her name is Asth, you can see she's the daughter of an Egyptian priest. Um, this girl, uh, grew up in a rather prestigious class because this guy, uh, pat Farrah we're told was a priest of own, own, was the central worship place for the Egyptian sun.

23:42God rah. This is, this is not a lo uh, a low class, uh, uh, uh, a family, but a rather high, uh, family in Egyptian society, which fits with a high exaltation that Pharaoh is doing for Joseph. Well, after this, uh, Joseph enacts the plan. Look with me at verses 46, uh, through the end of the chapter 46 through the end. It says, Joseph was 30 years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went through all the land of Egypt. And during the seven plentiful years, the earth produced abundantly. And he gathered up all the food of these seven years, which occurred in the land of Egypt and put the food in the cities.

24:29He put in every city, the food from the fields around it. And Joseph stored up grain in great abundance like the sand of the sea until he ceased to measure it for it could not be measured. Verse 50, before the year of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph Asin. If the daughter of pot, Farrah priest of own bore them to him, Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh for, he said, God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father's house. The name of the second he called Ephraim, for God, has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction. The seven years of plenty that occurred in the land of Egypt came to an end.

25:12And the seven years of famine began to come, as Joseph had said, there was famine in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt, there was bread. When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, go to Joseph, what he says to you, do. So when the famine had spread over all the lands, Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. Moreover, all the earth came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain because the famine was severe over all the Earth. Well, this part of the story simply says exactly like Pharaoh dreamed exactly like Joseph interpreted.

25:54So it happened. Notice the seven years and the seven years e exactly what was foretold. Uh, in fact, there was so much food, it was so good that Joseph stopped measuring. Did you see that in verse 49? It was like the sand of the sea. It says it just couldn't be measured. There was so much, plenty, so much growth. God caused this growth. We're also told about fruitfulness of Joseph's own line. You have Manas and Eri, the first two sons of, uh, Joseph, their names are Joseph's recognition that God has, God has been kind to me. I know for years and years it was hard, but I wanna recognize God's kindness even in this moment.

26:37And then the seven years of famine, we are told were so severe that they were in all lands over all the earth. It wasn't just Egypt that had the famine, but actually it was a, it was an extensive famine. And I won't comment more on this. I'll, I'll simply say this sets the stage for the next few chapters in Genesis where we'll see Jacob and his family experience the hardship of the famine, but they don't have an excess of food, which puts them in a problem situation, doesn't it? Well, this is a remarkable story of exaltation. Again, if you've been with us for the last few weeks, from Genesis 37 on until now, this has been a rollercoaster experience for Joseph, and it's remarkable at this point to see him so highly exalted above all the Egyptians except for Pharaoh.

27:30My question is for us, what can we learn from this story? What can we learn both doctrinally and in terms of ethics, the the Christian life? What's our takeaway from this remarkable story of exaltation? And again, if you're a note taker, the big idea I think for us is that God knows and plans all things to preserve and exalt his people. And that's just as true today as it was in Genesis 41. God knows and plans all things in this chapter and in our lives to preserve and exalt his people. Let me, let me show you where I see that in Genesis 41. Uh, first God knows all things, not just the present.

28:16God doesn't just know our hearts right here, right now and our thoughts and the plans of the nations, but rather he knows even the future. This passage teaches us in meticulous and exhaustive detail. Where do I get that? Well, I get that from the fact that Pharaoh's dreams concerned the future, right? Seven years and seven years. So there's 14 years of the future that God knows in this story with exact detail. He knows about the weather patterns. He knows how much rainfall is going to, uh, uh, be received in the region. He knows how well the crops are gonna grow, whether there's gonna be pestilence.

28:57He knows how healthy the livestock are going to be. He knows how long and extensive the famine will be. God's knowledge of the future. Here is a meticulous knowledge. His knowledge is certain God's not guessing. God's not just a, a great guesser at what will happen. He's not running statistics and saying, in all possible worlds, what's the most likely scenario in this one? Why do I say that? Because remember, verse 32, Joseph said, the reason Pharaoh, that you had two dreams, not one is 'cause the thing is fixed by God. It's certain he, god's not guessing here. The 14 years that's about to happen are certain to happen.

29:41God knows this. God is never surprised by anything that happens in the future to us. Do you know that God's never surprised? He knows what will happen to you tomorrow. Infallibly, he knows this. Isn't that amazing? He knows what will happen to you this year. He knows what your health will be this year. He knows how your job's gonna work out this year. He knows how your family's gonna do this year. Nothing surprises God, every one of our days, he knows before one of them came to be. Isn't that amazing about our God? We don't have a weak God. He knows all things, including the future. Now, there are some Christians, maybe you know this already.

30:27There are some Christians who say something like this, that God knows all the things that can be known, but the but the future cannot be known since it hasn't happened yet. There's, there's that kind of view out there. Even in the Twin cities, there are churches that believe this sort of view about God's knowledge. And I just want to say this passage teaches the opposite. God actually does know the future, doesn't he? I don't know how else to read this. He declares the end from the beginning and from ancient times, things not yet done. Isaiah 46 10. In fact, one of the things that distinguishes God from all other, so-called Gods, is that he actually does know the future.

31:13They, they're, they're the guessers. They don't know what will happen. But God knows, God knows. I wanna encourage you with that truth this morning. God's meticulous foreknowledge causes us to trust him with tomorrow, with this year and our whole lives. Also, in this passage, we see not only God's knowledge of all things, but that he plans, he plans all things. There's a link between this point and the last one. I wanna say that God knows the future because he plans the future. Do you see how that works together for knowledge and for ordination? They're linked. God knows the end from the beginning.

31:54And will Infallibly accomplish all that? He purposes? I recommend, if you wanna read more on this, Isaiah 46, what a great chapter that teaches both truths. God knows and plans all things. Where do I see this in today's passage? Look with me at verse uh, 25. Look at verse 25. When Joseph starts to explain the dream, he says, the dreams of Pharaoh are one God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. Do you see that language? Uh, look with me again at verse 28. It is, as I told Pharaoh, God has shown to Pharaoh what he is about to do. Ah, so it's not just that God knows what will happen. God is telling Pharaoh what God is about to do.

32:45Do you see that? So God's not just a knower, he's an actor. He does, you know this already about God. God's not wondering, what should I do in response to other things? God is actually accomplishing all that he intended to accomplish throughout the Joseph story. Look at verse 32. Verse 32 says, the doubling of Pharaoh's dream means that the thing is fixed by God. Do you see that God is the architect, we might say, of the seven years of prosperity and the seven years of famine? Now, now, if you're an Egyptian back then, I think this is stunning because you actually have a sun God, right? You actually have a pantheon of gods who are supposedly responsible for things like rainfall or famine or whatever.

33:34And here Joseph tells Pharaoh, there is a God just not the one that you know of. There's the one creator, the Lord of heaven and earth who is over all things, including your years of prosperity and your years of famine. Our God, do you believe this? Our God governs all things. There are no accidents. He infallibly brings about his purposes. He works all things, not just some all things after the council of his own will, according to his purposes and promises. And yes, I wanna say theologically, we can, we should distinguish between God's relationship to the good in the world and the evil in the world.

34:17Yes, yes. But this passage is at pains to show God is over both seven years of prosperity and bo and seven years of famine. He's over them both. This is just as true in your life and in my life as it has ever been. God not only knows what tomorrow will bring, he does tomorrow. Do you see that? He means it. Our world and our country and our state, our cities, our families, our own lives, our times, they are in his hands. So trust him. The arm of the Lord is not too weak. To save the arm of the Lord is not too weak to act for his people. So trust him, Joseph. And we are weak, we're frail. We can't always accomplish our purposes, but we know the God who can and does so trust him.

35:13Now, you might object. Well, all that you've said so far is simply that God's powerful. But is he good? I don't wanna trust an evil God. Is he good? Or remember, the main idea for today's passage is that God, and he knows and plans all things to preserve and exalt his people. I think God's goodness in our passage is on display in the unfolding of his purposes for his people. God knows and plans all things yes, yes, but to what end, to preserve and exalt his people. And we sense the goodness, the the kindness of God in this story. Especially toward Joseph. Especially toward Joseph. But if we zoom out just a little bit, I think there's more going on here than just Joseph.

36:01You see God's goodness and exalting Joseph, so that Joseph can be the means of preserving many human lives, many human lives. The Egyptian lives were spared. If you lived in the surrounding region and could go to Egypt, your life is spared because of this. You can, you can sense the kindness of God in this story, in the exaltation of Joseph, and especially God's kindness is towards his people. Because in the coming chapters we're gonna learn Jacob's line, Jacob's line is spared because of Joseph's exaltation. If Joseph had not been exalted, God's promises to Abraham would have been dashed, dashed against the rocks.

36:44His family, Jacob's family would have starved to death if God had not done this. You sense the kindness of God working in and through our story today, while the preservation theme is there, it's coming in the next few weeks. But the main thing is that God knows and plans all things to not only preserve, but also exalt his people. All the exaltation theme is prominent in Genesis 41, prominent. If we zoom in just to our chapter here, this is a complete reversal of what Joseph experienced. Uh, he was exalted, I think far beyond what he could have imagined even possible. Yes, he wanted to get out of prison.

37:29The chief cupbearer was aware of that. But Joseph, I, I don't think Joseph even in his wildest dreams could have imagined, uh, what was going to happen here. Notice what happened to him socially. Of course, he was a slave, he was a prisoner. And then he was exalted to the second in command in all of Egypt. Uh, his clothes, his prison clothes as we saw were exchanged for the royal signet ring, the garments of fine linen, the gold necklace, not just any metal but gold. Joseph probably looked like a king when he was writing Pharaoh's chariot. He was married to a girl. As we saw from a prestigious Egyptian family.

38:11He was legitimized in Egyptian society. And did you notice his father-in-law's name? Did you notice that way back in verse 45, the daughter of Patah. It says the priest of own. I don't think that's the same guy named Potiphar who was the slave master. You have two different vocations. One's a slave master, one's a priest, but the name similarity to Potiphar. We shouldn't miss that. Notice the complete reversal from slave and prisoner. Now to my father-in-law's name is pot. Very similar, isn't it? To Potiphar. God has completely reversed Joseph's situation. The names Manasses and Eum reflect Joseph's recognition that God has been kind toward him.

39:00Manasses sounds like the Hebrew word to forget God. You have made me forget my family, the hardships that I suffered. I think that simply means you've been so kind to me that it's like those hardships were a distant memory for me. I can hardly remember those things. And Manasses name means that, uh, God, you've been so kind and lavishing toward me. And then eem, the name Eem sounds like the Hebrew word to be fruitful. And if you've been with us throughout Genesis, that fruitfulness theme, fruitful, multiply, that's a major theme in our book. And especially this is a promise to Abraham and Jacob that God would make Abraham's family Jacob's line fruitful.

39:45And the name Eem is Joseph's way of saying, I recognize God's doing that in my life. I think God's kindness is all over this passage. God's faithfulness to his promises. Well, the exaltation theme is prominent here, but I think Joseph's exaltation is not just about Joseph. I wanna turn the corner here and say God exalts his people, not just Joseph, but this is how God works for the good of his people. His glory and our good are on display here. From an individual standpoint, I think Joseph's experience sets the stage for what will come in Israel's own story. I think initially this sets the stage for Israel's own experience in Egypt.

40:35So if you keep reading in the Bible, the book of Exodus is next, and Joseph's time as a slave and prisoner would jog Israel's own mind. Wait, that was us too. We were slaves, we were prisoners, and we were freed too. We were exalted as it were over Egypt. So I think there's initially a foreshadowing of the exodus here, but I think it's beyond even that if we, uh, fast forward throughout the Old Testament, we got other figures like Job David, and I think especially Daniel. If you read Daniel, I'm gonna suggest Daniel chapter two and Daniel chapter five. There is a lot of similarities between Daniel and Joseph.

41:17Both are young Hebrew men carried off into exile. They're both slave enslaved. They're both remarkable to God for, uh, remarkable because of their faithfulness to God in their time of temptation, both stood before a pagan king. It's Nebuchadnezzar, right? Uh, uh, for for Daniel both stood before the pagan king who had a dream. The royal magicians could not interpret that dream. The young Hebrew man could both are then exalted to the second in command in all of Egypt. So I'm, I'm recommending that you go and read Daniel chapter two in Daniel chapter five to see there's remarkable parallels. And I think Daniel thought his life was patterned after the pattern of Joseph.

41:58Now, if I'm right in sensing it's not just about Joseph, there's bigger things going on in the Bible than just this exaltation story, then I wanna say this is where we get Jesus in the text. Jesus' name is not mentioned in Genesis 41, but this is about Jesus, isn't it? There's a foreshadowing here. There's a pattern or precedent set, uh, with Joseph's story that God exalts his people. This is how God works for us. And I wanna say ultimately in Christ Jesus is the climactic, righteous sufferer. Oh man, Jesus is the one faithful through and through in the time of temptation. Like Joseph, Jesus was treated unjustly.

42:45He was sold for pieces of silver, wasn't he by as it were a brother. But then he's exalted high, far above all the names. Jesus by his exaltation, is in the means of preserving God's people and exalting God's people. Jesus is like Joseph, but he's better than Joseph, isn't he? He's not just like Joseph. He's better than because Joseph didn't die. But Jesus was obedient even unto death. Jesus was faithful even unto death. And think about the kind of redemption, the sparing of human life that Jesus brings. He bore our sins in his body on the tree. And when he was exalted, it wasn't just to a royal court in Egypt, he was raised from the dead and exalted far above every other name.

43:46Not simply every name here on earth, but even in heaven and under the earth. Jesus's story makes Joseph's story look rather pale, doesn't it? His story actually far out shines out glorifies as it were, the thing that we're reading today. Now, getting this right I think helps us see how the Bible fits together. Yes, yes. It helps us see how Jesus is glorified by a close analysis of Joseph's story. And this is how the passage applies to us. You might take away, if you just stayed in Genesis 41, you might say something like this, oh, okay. If God exalts his people and God made Joseph the grand Visier of Egypt, then the application is God will make me the grand Visier of Egypt.

44:38Also, you see that God will make me the President of the United States. God will make me the CEO of my company. God will give me a salary that far out, out, uh, compares my, my, my current salary. I'm gonna ride a sweet, maybe not chariot, right? I'm gonna have a sweet ride one day. That's, that's what this passage is teaching me, right? This is the kind of logic that animates the prosperity gospel. But I just wanna say the reason that doesn't work is because it doesn't follow the flow of thought of the Bible. This story goes to Jesus and then to us, when we see how this story anticipates Jesus, then it clarifies what's our exaltation gonna look like and when timing and nature of that exaltation.

45:27And I wanna say to you, if you belong to Jesus this morning by faith, if you have turned from your sins and you are a child of the king, then your exaltation more closely resembles Jesus's exaltation than Joseph's. You with me? It more closely resembles Jesus' exaltation than Joseph's. So what is, what is Jesus' exaltation? Well, his tomb was empty, wasn't it? He's raised from the dead and he reigns as king over his enemies. If our story more closely resembles Jesus's than our exaltation, I want you to believe this means your resurrection from the dead and shared reign with Jesus is guaranteed it's gonna happen.

46:19The exaltation of the king is shared with the people of the king. If his body was raised incorruptible and immortal, guess what? So shall ours one day be. If death has no longer any dominion over Jesus, it won't for you either. That's exaltation. If Jesus shall reign where heir the sun duff, its successive journeys run, then one day we will share in his forever reign in the kingdom of God and we'll be sinlessly conformed into the image of our king and older brother. We will be glorified with him, not at the expense of his glory. Remember the song our His glory, our good. They're shared, aren't they? They're mutual.

47:06We will reign with him forever more. I suggest Romans eight if you wanna read about this some more. Romans chapter eight says this gloriously and therein lies our exaltation. Guys. We don't care about being exalted as the CEO of our company or as the grand Visier of Egypt. But what we do care deeply about is our future resurrection from the dead, our future sinlessness and being forever with the Lord that far outs shines out, compares to anything that Joseph experienced on this earth. What God has prepared forever for those who love him is unimaginable. So God knows, God plans all things to preserve and exalt his people.

47:56So let me finish by saying, if you are a Christian, if you are a Christian, look to the future. Your life might be the roller coaster. Look to the future. Trust in the Lord. Your exaltation is coming. Jesus is coming back. That should sustain you in your suffering right now. Let it sustain you. You need sustenance. And this kind of hope will undergird your every day. God does not promise instant exaltation. Joseph had to wait 13 years and for many of us, many more, right? Many more than that. And yet, trust the Lord. Your time is as sure as the noonday son. If you're not a Christian, then the kind of exaltation I've been talking about does not belong to you.

48:45Joseph's story is not a pattern for you, it's not a precedent for you. Jesus warned those who exalted themselves, you'll be brought low, you'll be brought low, you'll be humbled. That's your future. God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. So don't kid yourself, a judgment day is coming and you need a savior. You need a Lord and giver of life. So come to him, drink from his well that never runs dry. Turn from your sins and trust in Christ alone for righteousness and life forevermore. Or as Peter would have a say it. Humble yourselves. Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time, he may exalt you.

49:30Let's pray. Well our Father, how grateful we are that you know all things and you plan it all. We're grateful for your goodness that you preserve and exalt your people through Christ and the gospel. And so help us trust you always to turn from our sin even today and to long for the day of Christ return when we will be glorified with him. And Father, I ask that you would guard us, hold us fast. Until that day we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.

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