Transcript: Verse by Verse Study – Genesis Chapter 41:1 to Chapter 42:38 – Zac Poonen

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God didn’t want him in Canaan, God wanted him in Egypt.

You see there that it is all fitting into God’s plan, even when someone forgets. Once we come to chapter 41:1, “it happened at the end of two full years that Pharaoh had a dream and behold he was standing by the Nile.”

This was the appointed time and God knows when to give Pharaoh that dream. God’s got everything worked out. And from the Nile there came up seven cows, sleek and fat, and seven other cows came up which ate up the thin ones and ate up the fat ones. Then he dreamed a second time and seven years of grain came up, plump and good. And seven thin years came up and ate up the plump grains.

And in the morning his spirit was troubled and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and told his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret it for Pharaoh. Then the chief cupbearer spoke to Pharaoh saying, “I will make mention today of my offenses.”

You see this is the time that God has appointed and that is the time that God allows him to remember. It was not that he deliberately did not tell Pharaoh. He had just plain forgotten. God had allowed him to forget because God had something better for Joseph. Because God wanted Joseph to be two more years in jail.

Does that sound like something better? In God’s perfect plan it is. Just like it says in the book of Job 23:10, the Living Bible says, “He knows every detail of what is happening to me.”

Joseph’s Divine Appointment

Job lived before Joseph and if those words were written before Joseph’s time, it was certainly true in Joseph’s case, that every detail of what he was going through in prison, God knew. He hadn’t forgotten him. And now God reminds the cupbearer. Then we see in chapter 41:9 onwards, he explains how Joseph had interpreted the dream to him in prison.

And in chapter 41:14, we see “Pharaoh sent and called for Joseph and they hurriedly brought him out of the dungeon and when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came to Pharaoh.”

And now we see the beginning of the unfolding of God’s purposes for Joseph. Perfectly according to God’s timetable. He was seventeen years old in chapter 37. Here we read he was thirty years old as we read later in the chapter. Thirteen years he had been through discipline. God had disciplined him in thirteen years.

Many a time he may have wondered during those years whether God had forgotten him, but God hadn’t. God had a plan for Joseph’s life which was made long before he was born. And no evil brothers, no evil Mrs. Potiphar, no forgetful cupbearer could frustrate God’s purpose for Joseph. Only one person could frustrate that. That was Joseph himself.

If he had gone and fooled around with Potiphar’s wife, God’s plan would have been frustrated. That’s an encouragement to us, brothers and sisters. Other people, evil people, good people, nobody can frustrate God’s plan for our lives, but we ourselves can.

God’s Predetermined Plan for Our Lives

And so we see thirteen years of discipline. Finally he comes to the place where God had planned for him right from the beginning. In Ephesians 2:10 we read that God has a plan for our lives too, just like he had for Joseph. It says in Ephesians 2:10, “we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

Therefore remember, and he goes on, beforehand, when did God make a blueprint for your life? Before you and I were born he made a plan for our lives. Before our parents were born, before Adam was created, before the worlds were created, he made a plan, a blueprint, a perfect one. You couldn’t better that.

There’s no better plan that you can make than the one God’s already made for you. And there are good works that he has planned in that plan, like he did for Joseph. Those good works include, be good to your jealous evil brothers, be good to those who accuse you falsely and put you in jail, be good to forgetful cupbearers, because they are all fulfilling God’s plan for your life. Good works.

It’s only through such people that God can fulfill His plan and purpose. I want you to turn to Psalm 105 and see something there. In verses 16-19, we saw this earlier too, it says here “he called for a famine upon the land and he broke the whole staff of bread. He sent a man before them, Joseph was sold as a slave.”

God’s Solution: Prepared Men

The thing I want you to notice here is that before the famine came, God had already prepared a man who was going to be the solution to that problem. One man. God sent a man, it says. Now keeping that in mind, we can look at Amos 8:11-12 and see what it says there about the days coming, says the Lord God, “when I will send a famine on the land. Not a famine for bread or thirst for water, but rather for hearing the words of the Lord. And people will stagger from sea to sea, from the north even to the east. They will go to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, but they will not find it.”

You see what it says? That there will be a famine of the words of the Lord. Not a famine of the word of God, for the Bible will be distributed freely and in abundance. Millions of copies are given out all over the world every year. But of the words of the Lord, and the words of the Lord refer to the prophetic word, not just to an academic knowledge of scripture.

The prophetic word is that word which God speaks through His servants to a particular people at a particular time, according to their need. There will be a famine of that, just like there was in the days of Eli, when it says in 1 Samuel 3:1, “the word of the Lord was rare and scarce.” Eli knew what was written in the law, he knew God’s word, but he didn’t have the prophetic word of the Lord. And that’s what it says here.

There will be a famine of the words of the Lord. And people will travel from one church to another, from one conference to another, and they will not hear the prophetic word of the Lord. So there’s going to be a famine, and those days are already begun, I believe, as we have approached the end of time. What’s God’s solution to this? Men.

In Eli’s day, God sent Samuel, and he spoke forth the prophetic word of the Lord. And in our day, God wants to send forth men. That is the function of the church, to have men who have the prophetic word, men who are educated in the school of discipline and affliction, who have encountered evil, jealous brothers and being falsely accused, and being forgotten about by good kind cupbearers, and who loved all of them, been good to all of them, and who have gotten education through it all.

Many are unwilling to go this way, and that’s why they can’t have the prophetic word of God. I believe that it’s important that we offer ourselves to God, to be men like Joseph, whom He can send into such a needy situation as we are going to face in the days to come.

Iron Must Enter Our Soul

Let’s turn back now to Psalm 105. It says here that God sent a man, verse 17, “Joseph was sold as a slave, they afflicted his feet with fetters, he himself was laid in irons.” That’s how he became the man God wanted him to be. We’re not talking here about dried-up old sermons and the ramblings of preachers who get up who don’t know God, not people who’ve just gone and studied the scriptures in some Bible school academically, but those who’ve had their feet in fetters, those who’ve had their mobility restricted, those who’ve been unjustly treated, and those who’ve kept their mouth shut in injustice.

Like Joseph, he didn’t complain about his brothers or about Potiphar’s wife. That is an education. If we can get that education, then it says here, until verse 19, “the time that his word came to pass, the word of the Lord tested him.” See, before we can give the word of the Lord to others, it’s the word of the Lord here, not God’s word, it’s the word of the Lord, the same thing we saw in Amos.

Before we can give the prophetic word to others, and I don’t mean just publicly, even the sons and daughters, it says, can prophesy, women can prophesy in the New Covenant. In ordinary sharing in our homes, God can give us a prophetic word to others, brothers and sisters, but the word of the Lord has to first test us. Then we can have it to give it to others.

And it says here in verse 18, in the margin of my Bible, it says, “his soul came into iron,” or put another way, “iron came into his soul.” This is the whole purpose of affliction, that iron may come into our soul. The people could only put irons on Joseph’s legs and tie him up in jail, but God used it to bring iron into his soul.

You see, it is impossible to give the prophetic word of God if first of all, iron has not come into our soul. Our soul is initially like clay, easily impressed by worldly people and by worldly influences, but God has to make us strong to resist these worldly influences. Strong for Him, iron has to enter into our soul.

The School of Affliction

The same experience that Joseph had, and it comes only through affliction, false accusation, misunderstanding, injustice, being forgotten about, and years going by. It doesn’t happen overnight. It didn’t happen to any man whom God trained in the scriptures overnight. It took time. It took time for Joseph, it took time for David, it took time for Jesus Christ Himself. Thirty years in the carpenter shop before He went forth into His ministry.

That’s really something for us to think about, dear brothers and sisters. None of us have suffered perhaps even ten percent of what Joseph went through. Think of ten brothers turning against you, all your ten older brothers, not one of the elder brothers is for you, and selling you off, jealous of you, and God uses it for His glory. Or somebody falsely accuses you, unjustly tells a lie about you, and you’re locked up in jail for years, and you have no influence, and all of it unjustly.

And he never opened his mouth, as far as we know. Scripture doesn’t say that he complained. And iron came into his soul. If you want iron to come into your soul, you’ve got to keep your mouth shut. When your mouth is open, iron never comes into your soul.

We go through affliction, and all that affliction is wasted, because I opened my mouth and justified myself. Because I opened my mouth and sought human sympathy and self-pity. Because I opened my mouth and accused the others who hurt me, instead of keeping my mouth shut and let iron enter into my soul.

Learning to Keep Silent

Think how much iron would have got into our soul through all the years and experiences we’ve gone through, if we had kept our mouth shut a little more. If we had humbled ourselves a little more, and stopped looking at Judah and Reuben and Simeon and Levi and Mrs. Potiphar and Pharaoh’s cupbearer, and instead of looking at all of them, look at God and say, “Lord, this is Your perfect will. You know every detail of what’s happening to me, I just want to praise You.”

If we had done that, there would have been some iron in our soul today. There would have been some backbone in our spiritual life, that we could have stood up because we’d have known God in the school of affliction. And there would have been the word of the Lord in our mouth, instead of the husks that usually come forth from most believers.

Dear brothers and sisters, take it seriously. If we haven’t taken it seriously till now, take it at least now seriously, that we shall really learn in God’s school of affliction and keep our mouth shut and get iron into our souls. And then, there is a time limit. God doesn’t allow it to go on forever and ever and ever. And when the time was completed, God’s timetable, He’s working according to a timetable, He’s got a graduation day for Joseph to come out of prison, and at the age of 30, Joseph graduates.

The Challenge of Preparation and Ministry

That’s a tremendous challenge. As I’ve mentioned before, David was ready at the age of 30, Jesus was ready at the age of 30, but we know that all of them went through a period of affliction, trial. But the thing that stands out to me and encourages me, and should encourage all of us, is that God chose a young man to rule Egypt. He chose a young man, David, to rule Israel.

Called when they were about 17 or 18, trained for 13 years in all types of difficult situations, in submission, unjustly treated, and then raised up at the young age of 30. Think of some 30-year-old brother, you know what, when Joseph and David and Jesus were ready, 30 years, they were ready to enter into their ministry. They didn’t just drift along. So many people drift.

They are 40, 50, 60, they’re just drifting. They haven’t taken seriously the word of God. If God’s called you when you’re young, if God called you when you were 16 or 17, my brothers, I just want to tell you this, the chances are that God probably wanted to give you a ministry by the time you’re 30, or certainly 35. These people, when they were 30, they came into a ministry.

It’s interesting to see that. But it was the result of iron entering into their soul. There we can say, see what a lot of wasted trials and afflictions there are in God’s people. Things that could have made them rich have left them poor.

They’re 60 years old and they’re poverty-stricken, instead of being wealthy. So, let’s learn a lesson from these examples. Iron entered into his soul and one day in God’s appointed time, he is brought.

God’s Anointing vs. Human Influence

We can think of influence. What influence can you have to get the job that Joseph got in Egypt? It’s not influence, it’s contact with God. It’s a question of being humble. It’s not influence that gets us a ministry in the church.

That’s for Babylon and for Babylonians. In Jerusalem, it’s God’s anointing, that’s all. And you can’t keep a good man down if God is on his side. Impossible.

God will open doors that no man can shut. God opened doors for Joseph, nobody could stand in His way. He didn’t have any influence. He didn’t have any secretary to Pharaoh who would speak to him.

In fact, the one who said he would speak to him, completely forgot. It was God who had a plan for that man and fulfilled it. This is a tremendous encouragement to us, that you can be in the deepest dungeon thinking that everybody has forgotten about you. And if you’re faithful there in the deepest dungeon, at the appointed time, when the word of the Lord is fulfilled, He will take you out and bring you into a particular ministry.

But you sit there and you complain and grumble and criticize, you probably sit there forever. And that dungeon need not be a physical dungeon. It’s a dungeon that we make for ourselves, of complaining and criticism and self-justification and sympathy and self-pity, that makes this dark dungeon in which we live. And we never come forth to fulfill that ministry in the body of Christ that God wants us to have.

The Pattern of Preparation Through Affliction

So finally, he stands before Pharaoh, and I mention this and I want to repeat it, that those who come into a ministry easily, like Solomon, Rehoboam, King Saul, without any affliction and difficulty, usually have ended up as failures. And those who have gone through trial and submission to God’s hand over them, like Joseph and David and Jesus, those who have been through the mill, they are the ones we see in scripture who really have accomplished God’s purposes and who have gone on till the end, who have had iron in their soul.

So it’s good, like the book of Lamentations says, when we are young, instead of trying to be a law unto ourselves, to humble ourselves and put our neck under the yoke, and wait for God to bring us into a place. The world is full of people who are trying to push themselves into a place, and the church is full of people who are trying to push themselves into a ministry.

They want to push themselves here and push themselves there. There are self-appointed apostles travelling around trying to get everybody to accept them. What folly! What folly!

Why not humble ourselves and say, “Lord, I don’t want to push myself anywhere.” Let God push you. Don’t push yourself. Let God put you somewhere instead of pushing yourself forward.

As a tremendous lust in the flesh to push ourselves forward, let God push you forward. Meanwhile, keep small thoughts about yourself.

There are tremendous lessons we can learn from these examples in scripture, of how to be faithful, so that in God’s appointed time He can do something for us, in us and through us, for other people. Just like it was written about Joseph, “He sent a man,” it can be said about you and me. God sent a man, because He knew there was a famine coming. And that is where we find the word of the Lord fulfilled, that “I sought for a man and I could not find one.”

They were all full of complaints and criticisms and wouldn’t take their training in the school of affliction seriously and they sought their own gain and their own profit. You can’t send such people.

Joseph’s Humility Before Pharaoh

Finally, Joseph stood before Pharaoh, and Pharaoh told a dream. And Joseph, verse 16 of Genesis 41 says, “It is not in me. God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.” Think of that. Think of that attitude of humility. He could have said, “Oh yes, sure, I have a lot of experience in this area.”

“From the last 13 years I have been interpreting dreams, my own and other people’s.” Think if he had come with that attitude like we find sometimes in some people. They don’t say it, because if you say it, you look proud and then you lose your honor. But it’s an attitude.

It’s an attitude. I remember one brother who came here and wrote to me and said, “I know all about the problems that young churches have.” I said, “Thank you brother. We don’t want any specialists here who know all the problems about young churches and how they can set them straight.”

We want brothers. You can know the theory. And think that Joseph had an attitude which said, “It is not in me.” It’s not what we say, my brothers.

It’s an attitude. I’m not a specialist in anything. He’s been interpreting dreams for 13 years, I know, but he’s got a humility about Him. That’s the mark of a man of God.

He’s got low thoughts about himself. “God will give Pharaoh an answer.” He gives the glory to God. That’s the type of man whom God sends.

The Danger of Becoming a Specialist

Not specialists and experts who know how to, like Uzzah, to stop the ark from falling. And people come to you for advice. Maybe you have given advice, not for 13 years, maybe once or twice, and it’s turned out well. What is your attitude when you give advice now?

It’s not what you say, my brother, sister. It’s the attitude. You feel, “I’m quite a spiritual man, that I can give advice.” There’s a certain lust in our flesh that is satisfied when somebody comes and says, “Brother, I want your advice.”

And though we act very humble, there’s a certain lust that is being fed there if you’re not careful at that time. “Oh, yeah, maybe he was blessed the last time I gave him advice.” Garbage! Garbage that we accumulate, thoughts about ourselves.

That’s why God can’t send a man. If God sends a man, it’ll be someone like Joseph, whose attitude is, “It is not in me.” So what if I said something to you last time that helped you? It doesn’t mean that what I say this time will help you.

There’s nothing in me. Keep that attitude, my brothers, till the end of your days. Never become a specialist, never become an expert in anything, bringing up children. Any experts here?

Or some other area? Or any other area? Perfect husband or perfect wife? Be careful that you don’t become a self-appointed expert and specialist to younger people.

There’s a lust for brothers to be specialists and experts who advise the younger ones, and sisters to be specialists and advisors to the younger ones. Those are not the people whom God will send. And you need to, if you are young, you need to discern that you don’t go to such people for advice or help. Because God will not give wisdom to such people.

God doesn’t send such people. He sends people who got a, really you are rooted and grounded in low thoughts about themselves. “It is not in me. God will give an answer.”

And that’s the type of person to whom God gives wisdom. And you remember when we studied the book of Daniel, we saw how Daniel said similar words to Nebuchadnezzar. “God will give.” No doubt he had learned from Joseph.

And we can learn from Joseph and Daniel.

The Interpretation of Pharaoh’s Dreams

And so Pharaoh explained his dream to Joseph, and Joseph says to Pharaoh in Genesis 41:25, “Pharaoh’s dreams are one and the same. God has told Pharaoh what He is about to do.” But all the magicians in Egypt could not explain.

Here is the man. The magicians didn’t go through false accusations and through being locked up in jail. They didn’t go through the school of affliction. The magicians came out of the Bible schools.

They couldn’t explain anything. But this man who had gone through affliction, he was the man who could interpret the word of God. And Pharaoh says, “I told these magicians, but they couldn’t explain it.” Verse 24, Joseph says, “All right.”

“Pharaoh’s dreams, God has told Pharaoh what to do. Both the dreams have the same message.” He says, “God, there is going to be seven years,” verse 29, “of great abundance in the land of Egypt and seven years of famine. Famine will ravage the land and the abundance will be unknown.”

“In those days of famine, it will be very severe. And as for the repeating of the dream to Pharaoh twice, it means that the matter is determined by God,” verse 32, “and God will quickly bring it about.”

Joseph’s Practical Wisdom

“And now let Pharaoh look for a man discerning and wise and set him over the land of Egypt. And let Pharaoh take action to appoint overseers in charge of the land.”

“Let him exact twenty percent of the produce of the land in seven years of abundance and let them gather all the food in the good years. Stir up the grain for the food in the cities and let them guard it. And the food will become a reserve for the land for the seven years of famine which occur in the land of Egypt. So the land may not perish during the famine.”

There we see Joseph not only having contact with God concerning interpreting God’s word, but also having wisdom concerning the practical application of what shall we do if this is the word of God. So we see he not only interprets the dream, he says, “Pharaoh, now you should appoint a man to save up when you get plenty so that in the time of famine you can fall back on that reserve that you have saved up.”

Spiritual and Physical Application

And we can apply that in two ways, spiritually and physically, for we are spiritual beings and physical beings also. We are not angels, only spirit. We have got a body too. So we must apply it spiritually and physically.

First of all, spiritually. What shall we do in times of great abundance? Store up. Because the time will come when there will not be abundance. That is why I always tell young people, before you are married, you have an abundance of free time. After marriage and after you have children, you will have a famine of spare time.

Go and ask any married person with a few children if that is not true. What should you do then in the times of abundance? Most young believers have no time to seriously study the word of God and store up so that in the time of famine they can take out of that reserve that they have stored up in the days of abundance. They are poverty stricken in the time of famine.

If you were saved as a single person and God gave you seven years before you were married, my dear brother and sister, if you did not use those seven years of abundance here in Egypt to store up God’s word, you should just feel ashamed of yourself. Really, you should feel ashamed of yourself. Then you can look out for days of tremendous scarcity and struggle and difficulty.

You won’t have a reserve. Those who have already gone past the seven years of abundance and are living in years of famine, you just have to make the best of it now. But I can speak to those who are still in the years of abundance, who still have plenty of spare time. What do you do with that spare time?

You get to know the word in a way that will make you rich. Spiritually, that has an application. Jesus said, “The night comes when no man can work. Work when it is day, for the night comes when no man can work.”

So we need to take that seriously.

Material Application of the Principle

It has a secondary application also materially. We read in the book of Proverbs 6:6-9, “Go to the ant, O sluggard, O lazy man, observe her ways and be wise. Who does not have any chief,” that means he does not have an elder brother or anyone to exhort him, exhort her, “but prepares her food in the summer when there is abundance, knowing that the winter will come when there will be a famine of food.”

“Gathers her provision in the harvest. But what do you do? You lie down and you sleep, a little more sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and your poverty will come like a vagabond, and your need like an armed man that will overpower you.” There it says, spiritually, we need to make use of the days of abundance to store up spiritual wealth.

Joseph’s Wisdom in Times of Abundance and Scarcity

Physically too, materially, I have always advised people who, when I say it, learn to save a little money every month instead of spending everything that you get. Here is where this word is really applicable. “Go to the ant, not only you lazy man, but you stupid man.” You say, “Oh, I will trust God, God will provide my need.”

And what happens to such brothers who say they trust God when the hour of need comes? They have to go and beg, and borrow. It’s not trust in God, it’s trust in good and kind brothers who will help me out of a tight spot. Now, we can take a lesson for the future.

When you get an abundance, suddenly you get some extra money that you didn’t anticipate. What is your attitude? “Oh, let’s enjoy ourselves now. Seven years of abundance, let’s eat, drink and enjoy ourselves.”

The word of God is, “Go to the ant, you foolish man. Go to the ant.” I find lots of brothers, and I say brothers because they are responsible for family finances, who need to go to the ant. Sit down at home and watch the ants for a little while.

Learn something. That’s what God’s word says. And learn not to waste when you have an abundance. You say, “Oh, I can now spend it all,” and then end up begging and borrowing later on.

No, my brothers, learn to save a little, be disciplined in your finances, so that when a time of need comes. Seven years of famine will always follow the seven years of abundance. There will be times of abundance and there will be times of pressure. That’s the time when you need to discover whether you have been really wise in your times of abundance.

It’s very difficult to be wise in our times of abundance. Very few have wisdom here. He who has ears to hear, let Him hear. And we read further.

Pharaoh Recognizes God’s Spirit in Joseph

The proposal seemed good to Pharaoh, verse 37, and to all his servants. And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, in whom there is a divine spirit or a spirit of God?” What a testimony! It’s amazing, this man Joseph.

Though people hated him, falsely accused him, did all types of things. It’s like we say, you can’t keep a good man down. You press cork or wood under the water, it keeps coming up. And his brothers and Potiphar’s wife all tried to get rid of him.

They couldn’t get rid of him, because God was with him. When he’s in Potiphar’s house, Potiphar recognizes God is with this man. They put him in jail. The jailer recognized God is with this man.

He stands before Pharaoh. Pharaoh recognizes that God is with this man. What a testimony! What a testimony!

It’s a tremendous challenge. At the age of thirty, at the age of twenty, at the age of twenty-five, that heathen people could recognize that God is with this young man. That is the challenge that comes to us in your place of work. What is the use of people in your place of work thinking that you’re a very humorous chap who can crack jokes and make them laugh?

You might as well join the circus. No? Is that our testimony? Or that people around us can recognize that God is with this young man?

Most of us are much older than thirty. That God is with this man. That they see there’s something which cannot be explained, humanly speaking. People try to oppose him, but they don’t succeed.

Standing for Truth Against Opposition

That’s always the case. If God is with you, the whole world can oppose you. You’ll come out triumphant. There was a man, way back in the second or third century, who was a God-fearing man, who stood up for some particular truth of Scripture, Christian.

And it wasn’t a very popular doctrine, and he stood up for the truth. And a lot of other half-hearted, lukewarm Christians around him came and told him, do you know, I think his name was Athanasius, “Do you know, brother Athanasius, that the whole world of Christians are against you?” He said, “That’s fine, well, I’m against the whole world then.” Didn’t make a difference.

He stood for the truth. The whole world is on the other side, they’re welcome to be on the other side. I stand for the truth, and God was with him. That’s the type of man and woman God’s looking for, not these wishy-washy people who will just go with whichever is popular.

No, those who will stand for the truth, and others will gradually recognize God is with this man, you can’t oppose him. No matter how much you oppose him, he just seems to come through. That’s how our testimony must be, that we don’t seek anybody’s honor or approval or any such thing.

Joseph’s Exaltation – A Picture of Christ

And so Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has informed you all this, there is no one so discerning and wise as you are,” see how God can move, says the king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, He can turn it whichever way He likes.

And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I’ve set you over all the land of Egypt,” and he took off his ring and put it on Joseph’s hand and clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold necklace around his neck, made him ride in a second chariot and they proclaimed before him, “Bow the knee,” and he set him over all the land of Egypt.

It’s a very beautiful picture of how the life of Joseph is a picture of Jesus Christ, rejected by His brothers the Jews, sold for thirty pieces of silver, falsely accused, crucified, that is like Joseph being put in prison, raised up from the dead, brought out of prison, exalted to be, Pharaoh was the second ruler in Egypt, exalted to be second to the Father over all the universe, and that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, it says here, “bow the knee,” every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. It’s a very beautiful picture of Jesus Christ.

And Pharaoh said to Joseph, it’s in this connection I want you to see this beautiful verse, “Though I am Pharaoh, yet without your permission no one shall raise his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.”

The Authority of Christ – A Personal Testimony

I give a little testimony here, way back in 1963 I had a very big problem, and that was to stand out in the streets and preach, because I thought with all my dignity and my position, it’s so humiliating to stand in the streets and preach the gospel, to stand there like a vegetable vendor shouting out gospel verses. I used to go ten miles away from the naval base where nobody knew me, and I’d stand there and preach in the streets.

I used to come back home to my room and say, “Lord I’m a coward, I don’t have the guts to stand outside the naval base and preach where all these people know me, I’m ashamed of Jesus. I talk about Jesus in the meeting hall with great loudness and sing the choruses and all, but out in the streets, I’m ashamed to confess Jesus where it’s not popular.”

I want to confess Jesus in the meeting hall where it’s popular to share the word and to sing a chorus. I remember once in a meeting way back at that time, I was about to start a chorus in the brethren assembly I used to go to, and suddenly the Lord said to me, “Are you willing to sing that chorus out in the streets? Or only here, where it’s popular?” And I really saw my need.

I saw how my all this so-called confession of Jesus is like Peter, before the disciples, he’d say, “Oh, even if all deny You, I won’t deny You,” but before the maidservant, he’s a different person. And I said, “Lord, I’m a coward.” And I was afraid of people mocking me on the streets or laughing at me or perhaps throwing stones at me if I stood there and preached the gospel.

And then God opened my eyes to the sovereignty and the authority of Jesus Christ.

Understanding Christ’s Authority Through Scripture

And this was the verse through which God spoke to me at that time, that Jesus said in Matthew 28:18, then only I saw the connection. I never saw it before, the connection between Matthew 28:18 and 19. Matthew 28:18, Jesus said, “All authority is given to Me in heaven and on earth,” just like Pharaoh put a ring on Joseph’s finger and said, “Nobody can now lift up his hand or foot without your permission.” Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and earth is given to Me, therefore, go and make disciples of all nations.”

Then I understood that that’s why I had to go and stand in the streets and preach the gospel, because Jesus Christ had all authority.

And then I saw this verse, God opened my eyes to see this, Genesis 41:44, that without, this is the way I read it, that the Father said to Jesus, “Without Your permission, no one will be able to raise his hand,” that is to pick up a stone to throw it at me, “or move,” the doctors say you’ve got to move about a number of muscles in your face before you can smile or frown, and that man cannot move those muscles on his face without God permitting him to smile or frown at me when I stand there preaching the gospel. Amazing. I said, “Praise God.”

And I was seeking for the baptism of the Holy Spirit also.

And then God really anointed me and opened my eyes to see the authority of Jesus Christ. Then I could stand outside the naval base and all these fellows laughed and mocked and said all types of things.

It didn’t make any difference after that because I’d seen that without the permission of Jesus, nobody could raise a hand or a foot or move the muscles of his face to frown or smile or talk or curse or anything. Amazing. Have you seen the authority of Jesus Christ? “All authority in heaven and on earth is given to Me.”

Nobody can lift a hand or a foot or move his tongue. It says, have you read that verse in Exodus which says that when the children of Israel went out of Egypt, I think it’s Exodus chapter 12, it’s an amazing verse. Exodus 11:7, “Against the sons of Israel, even a dog shall not move its tongue.” Amazing.

The authority of God that’s working on behalf of His people, if we can see it in these days, particularly living in a heathen country like ours, where we are scared of difficult bosses, of people who may make life difficult for us in our neighborhood or somewhere else. What we need to see is this verse, “Without Your permission, nobody can lift a hand or a foot.” God has told Jesus that. I praise God that I can live under that authority.

Nobody can raise a hand or a foot or wag their tongue at me without God permitting him. He’s permitted him, and it’s okay. Wonderful verse, the authority of Christ, the picture of Christ’s authority. And so Joseph had all authority.

Authority Without Revenge

Do you think he had authority over Potiphar also? Of course. But no revenge. That is the type of man whom God sends.

The man who gets authority over the people who have done him harm. And he will not take revenge, but he will give them food in the time of famine. I’m sure Joseph sent food to Potiphar’s wife in the time of the famine. That is the type of man whom God sends.

Not the man who withholds food from Potiphar’s wife’s house in the time of famine. God will never send such a man. That is the education we need to get, to send food to Potiphar’s wife also, when we have an abundance and she doesn’t have anything. Think about it.

Joseph’s Marriage and Ministry

And we read, then Pharaoh named Joseph, verse 45, Zaphenath-Paneah, or “God speaks,” the man who speaks on God’s behalf, and gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, the priest of On, as his wife. That’s a picture of Christ again, rejected by His brothers, the Jews, and finding a bride among the Gentiles, the Church.

And Joseph was, verse 46, was 30 years old when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went over all the land of Egypt.

And they brought the food in abundantly, in the time of abundance, and they gathered the food, like we said we are to do in the time of famine. And Joseph was like a wise man, stored up grain in great abundance, verse 49.

The Meaning of Joseph’s Sons’ Names

And he had two sons born to him. We read about their names, verse 51.

Firstborn was Manasseh, and said, “God has made me to forget all my trouble and all my father’s household.” And the second was Ephraim, for he said, “God has made me fruitful.”

Notice the order. You have to first forget something before you can be fruitful.

The first son is to forget, and the second son is to be fruitful. What do we have to forget? You have to forget all the evil that all your ten or ten thousand brothers have done against you. That’s number one.

You have to forget all the evil that Potiphar’s wife or ten thousand other people’s wives have done against you. You have to forget all the mistakes that Pharaoh’s cupbearers and other people have done. Then we can be fruitful also.

Many never come to fruitfulness. They never come to that second son, because they haven’t got a first one. They haven’t come to fruitfulness because they haven’t come to forgetting. “God has made me forget all my trouble.”

Take that attitude. That is the type of man whom God sends in the time of famine. One who has learned to forget and forgive, and not to remember or hold against another person anything that he has done. Then the seven years of famine came, and after the seven years of plenty came to an end.

Joseph Becomes Savior of the World

Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph,” and the people of all the earth came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph. Egypt became the center of the earth, just like a day will come when Jesus will set up His throne in Jerusalem in the millennium, and from all over the earth people will come to Him whom they rejected once upon a time. He became, we can say, the savior, Joseph, of the whole earth at that time. A picture of Jesus who has become the savior of the world.

And what we learn from Joseph’s life is what God can do for millions through one man. In the world they say we must be a large number. They say we are only 2% Christians in India. That is the complaint you hear in so many evangelistic conferences.

Only 2%. What is God looking for? You see a verse in the Bible where it says God is looking for 90%. He says, “I am looking for a man.”

Ezekiel 22:30. God, “I look for one man.” You know in the time of Elijah, there were 7,000 people who had not bowed the knee to Baal, but what were they doing? But one man, Elijah, did a lot more than all those 7,000.

What is God looking for today? One man. You can be that. Why not?

Why can’t you be that? If we go through the school of affliction and humble ourselves and trust Him and don’t seek our own, He can fulfill something even through you. If you are not ashamed of Jesus Christ, not ashamed to confess Him in your office, on the streets, don’t confess Jesus only where you are popular, in the church. Out to your unconverted friends.

Confess Him. Be bold and God will take note of that.

The Brothers Return to Egypt

And then Jacob saw, now we come back to Jacob, and his family. While God has raised up Joseph to fulfill His purpose, the one who was rejected, these other 10 brothers, we read here verse 1, they were just staring at one another.

And that’s what a lot of believers are doing while God is doing a work and some other believers are there, just staring at one another. And not letting God accomplish His purpose. And Jacob said, “Why are you staring at one another? I heard there’s grain in Egypt, go down and buy some for us.”

And so the 10 brothers of Joseph went. They came before Joseph, and we read in verse 6, Joseph was ruler over the land, he was the one who sold to all the people of the land. Joseph’s brothers came and bowed down to him with their faces to the ground. Thirteen years later, the prophecy is fulfilled.

The dream which Joseph had is fulfilled. God is never slack to fulfill His promise. He may take time, people may despise us and laugh at us, they say “you’ve got the devil,” 13 years will go by and they’ll have to bow down and acknowledge that it was not the devil, it was the Holy Spirit. If you can endure during those 13 years and don’t fight with them and don’t ruin yourself, word of God will be fulfilled, if you can be faithful.

Joseph Tests His Brothers

And Joseph saw them, and he spoke harshly. He wanted to see whether they had really repented of all the evil they had done. They did not recognize him. He said, “Where have you come from?”

He said, “From the land of Canaan.” And he said, “You’re spies.” He said, “No, we’re not spies.” And they tried to defend themselves, and they tell their story of, “We are twelve brothers, one is no more.”

Joseph said, “No,” verse 14, “you’re spies.” He said, “All right, send one of your people and go and bring your one brother who’s still at home. You say you’ve got one more, bring him, then we’ll find out whether you’re spies.” He said, “Do this.”

“For I fear God, if you’re honest men,” verse 19, “let one of your brothers be confined in your prison, bring your younger brother to me.”

Conscience Awakens After Thirteen Years

And then, immediately after 13 years, these ten people, their conscience begins to trouble them after 13 years, verse 21. Then they said to one another, “Truly, we are guilty concerning our brother Joseph.”

They didn’t know this was Joseph. They said, “This is God, after 13 years we are reaping what we have sown. We treated, 13 years ago, I treated that fellow badly, now it is coming back to me.” Has conscience ever reminded you, many years later, when you have a rough time of the way you treated somebody else, some years earlier, then it is good to bow down and say, “Lord, I deserve that.”

I deserve it, because I treated somebody else like that some years ago, when I had power over him, today somebody else has power over me. Yeah? Conscience troubling him, “We saw the distress of his soul when he pleaded with us and we would not listen.” We hardened our hearts against Joseph at that time when he said, “Please don’t sell me to these Ishmaelites, I don’t know where they will take me.”

And they said, “No.” They were hard. And now they find somebody being hard towards them. We reap what we sow.

There is an exactness with the same measure, Jesus said, the same size of spoon, with which you give it to somebody, it will come back to you one day. It will come back more. Be careful how we give to others. Be careful when you have power over someone, how you treat that person, because one day somebody else will have power over you and then you will see what will happen then.

Conscience will remind you after thirteen years. That’s why it’s good to keep ourselves in goodness and kindness to all people, particularly over those over whom we have some power. Be good, be kind. God is merciful to the merciful.

And Reuben said, “Didn’t I tell you, don’t sin against the boy? You wouldn’t listen. Now comes the reckoning for his blood.”

It’s very easy to blame one another at that time. But they were all to blame. Joseph heard all this and he wept. And Joseph gave orders to fill their bags to see His goodness, verse 25, and to give back their money.

Return to Jacob

And they loaded their donkeys and went away and they discovered the money in their sack on the way back. They wondered how that came. And they came to their father Jacob, verse 29, and said, “The man of the Lord spoke harshly.” And they described all the events to their father.

Meanwhile, we read in verse 24 that Joseph had kept Simeon back, bound in Egypt as a surety that he would bring in Benjamin.

And look at Jacob’s negative attitude in verse 36. He says, “You bereaved me of my children. Joseph is no more. Simeon is no more. Now you’re going to take Benjamin.”

“All things work together for my good.” This is the opposite of Romans 8:28. “All things are against me,” Jacob says. I believe that all believers are either living in Genesis 42:36 or Romans 8:28.

Remember, the opposite of Romans 8:28. Genesis 42:36. “All things are against me. Oh, poor me.”

And gather all my friends around me and say, “All things are against me, my friends.” And all ten of my friends say, “Oh, poor you.” That’s the negative attitude of Jacob, not the triumphant attitude of one who is the king in Christ. He says, “All things are for my good.”

Not only for my good, sorry, my very best. Because I love God. If only he could have seen into the future. God was working everything for his very best.

And then Reuben spoke to his father and said, “You can put my two sons to death if I don’t bring Benjamin back to you.” Jacob said, “No, I will not send Benjamin.”

You know, there are a lot of lessons we can learn there from the attitude of Joseph, the attitude of his brothers. If we can learn those lessons, these things are written for our instruction.

It is the will of God that we live, follow the examples of these men like Joseph, so that God can fulfill a purpose through our lives as well.

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