S.S.S. study Joseph Part 3

Family School at Faith Baptist
S.S.S. Study
Joseph
Part 3

Joseph's dreams come true Genesis 42:5-8
God's plan may not seem plausible, remember Joseph was a young teen when God first revealed His plan to him. And the years that followed were filled with betrayal, blessings, false causation, silence and a lot of jail. Yet we as American Christians are programmed from birth to expect immediate gratification, quick results for as little work as possible, and if God chooses to take His time (in our minds) we get impatient and sometimes even lose our faith. (Remember Saul in 1st Samuel 13:5-14)

Joseph's reaction to his brothers Genesis 42:9-44:34
There is an overwhelming amount of truths that can be gleaned from this portion of scripture in between Joseph's first reuniting with his brothers and the point at which he actually reveals himself to them. There are also many opinions as to why he handled it the way he did but for this study we will focus our attention only on the initial reunion.
There are two main points here (many others can be noticed he did not reveal himself, he did not gloat to them, he did not lose his head etc):1 that Joseph did not have them arrested and killed for what they did to him :2 Joseph recognized his brothers but his brothers could not recognize him.

1: Joseph did have them arrested as spies and held for three days, all the while Joseph must have been thinking back to the day they betrayed him. But instead of using the three days to build up his own hatred he devises a plan to allow him to meet Benjamin and eventually be reunited with his father Israel.
2: Joseph recognized his brothers but his brothers could not recognize him, when you obey Gods plan for your life and allow yourself to be separated from the things and the people who would keep you from following God, your life changes, but those who fight against God almost never change. The drunkard stays drunk, the druggie overdoses (or trades a life of hard drugs for a life of prescription drugs) the adulterer continues in sin, the fornicator end up in depression, and aside from turning and following God the lives of sinners for the most part stay the same, that is why more than 77 percent of felony criminals are repeat offenders with one prior arrest. Of these criminals 35% of them have 10 or more prior arrests. No doctor or shrink or medicine can do for a sin sick sinner what Jesus Christ can do!

Joseph's reveal Genesis 45:1-8
Joseph's reveal shows absolutely no sign or hint of the past, he makes the statement "I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt." Not with malice or anger but as an assurance that it is I, Joseph again gives God glory, tells his brothers not to feel bad, showers them with gifts, and sends them to get dad! A reaction completely contrary to human nature.


Joseph reunites and relocates Israel Genesis 45:27-46:29
Israel hearing of his sons living state rushes off, not directly to Egypt as most would have done but first goes to Beersheba to offer sacrifices to God and seek His face, God meets with him and instructs him to go to Egypt, and now when Israel gets to Joseph the meeting is sweet (vs29). Joseph then gives his family the best land in all of Egypt to live in. Passing what God had blessed him with onto those who had betrayed and sold him.


The rest of the story Genesis 46:29-50:26
Joseph's family continued to live in Egypt, eventually his father Israel died, at this point his brothers once again feared him that he would get back at them now that Israel was gone, but Joseph replied to them with a well known and God honoring response in Genesis 50:19-20. Also it is interesting to note that in the beginning of Genesis man was in perfect harmony with God in the garden, and the book ends with the phrase "and he was put in a coffin in Egypt." A sad picture of the workings and results of sin.

Memory Verse: Genesis 50:19-20    "And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God? But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive."

Faith Baptist Church
Chelsea, Mi
www.fbcchelsea.org
Jeffrey S. Lynn.