Sermon - AudioGen 41-42 - Audio
Gen 41-42 - Daily Reading
Daily Insights - Please Comment
Step 11 Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us, and the power to carry that out.
In our recovery meetings we frequently read a section from the AA Big-Book called, "The Promises."
If we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are half way through. We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness. We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it. We will comprehend the word serenity and we will know peace. No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others. That feeling of uselessness and self-pity will disappear. We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows. Self-seeking will slip away. Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change. Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us. We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us. We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.
Our reading today would suggest that God can take our biggest difficulties and turn them into useful blessings for other people. Joseph's dream did not come true for several years, and undoubtedly there we many painful days to endure. But as Joseph persevered God was shaping him into a person that could bless nations. We already begin to see the unfolding of God's promise to Abraham of being a universal blessing in the life of Joseph.
The Promises of AA end like this: Are these extravagant promises? We think not. They are being fulfilled among us-sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. They will always materialize if we work for them.
41.8 Magicians and wise men were common in the palaces of ancient rulers. Their job description included studying sacred arts and sciences, reading the stars, interpreting dreams, predicting the future (not unlike horoscope reading), and performing magic. These men had power, but their power of satanic. They were unable to interpret Pharaoh's dream, but God had revealed it to Joseph in prison.
41.38 Pharaoh recognized that Joseph was a man "in whom is the spirit of God." We probably won't get to interpret dreams for a king, but those who know us, should be able to see God in us, through our kind words, merciful acts, and wise advice.
42.21-22 After these many years Joseph's brothers were still haunted by their guilty consciences. The sold their brother into slavery in Egypt with no plans of ever seeing him again-and no hope of reconciliation or forgiveness. We may wonder how many times during those years Reuben said, "I told you so." It is clear that this period had been miserable for the brothers. A necessary step in recovery is seeking reconciliation with others we have wronged. Only then can we experience the healing we need to live a healthy and peaceful life.
11 comments:
A few things: first I was thinking how odd it was that Joseph's brothers did not recognize him. Then I thought about it. They thought he was dead. When someone dies we don't expect them to be alive or to come across them later in life. Plus it said something about a translator, which means he spoke another language and I am sure that he took on all the Egyptian ways and dressed like them. Of course they didn't recognize him. Plus he probably didn't really do much of the work as far as getting the grain and speaking with the people. Being second in command he probably had many people serving him so he probably didn't get close enough for them too get a good enough look at him. They were humbled by him and bowed down to the ground to show respect and probably didn't get a good look at Joseph.
Something that struck me in this chapter that I had never really noticed before was that Simeon was left behind in Egypt for awhile. They didn't return to Egypt until all the food sent with them was gone...that must have been very hard to Simeon and for his family. Throughout our reading through the Bible I have found that I have been able to not only see the big picture of God's story, but I have also been able to get a feel for what people may have gone through as a mere part of God's story. It has encouraged me to strive to honor God in the little things because I do not know what part I am playing in His big story.
In chapter 41:51 it says that "God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father's household" Did God take away those memories because of how much pain they caused? Then in 42:8 it says Joseph recognized his brothers and remembered. So is it then that he was reminded of his past hurts?
That had to be a moment if he did. Going from blocking out the painful times and then being reminded of them. I often realize how much I would like to block out painful memories and events of my past, but I take comfort in seeing where I have come from and How God's hand is at work in my heart and starting to see things through His eyes.
Anonymous: After reading your post I did a quick check of my memory. Simeon was one of the brothers who dishonored Jacob in the Dinah adventure at Shechem and (jumping ahead) is listed as having fathered children by a Canaanite woman.
Perhaps Joseph was taking those two things into account when he selected Simeon?
If I step back and look at Joseph's rise to power I find it easy to see how he has become like the Egyptians. He's adopted their ways. It would appear he has compromised his beliefs and his God by walking the way of an Egyptian. He accepts a wife who is the daughter of a Priest. Makes me wonder how many are in powerful government positions today that I discount based on what I see rather than what God may be doing.
And what about dreams? These chapters begin with an incredible dream and and even more incredible interpretation. Does God still give us dreams today? Is there still need for dream interpretation?
Rich I too am fascinated by dreams and I am glad you asked this. I have known people and I myself have had dreams that are mostly given to me for confirmation that God wants me to trust Him and follow his leading. IN Acts 2:17- it says that "in the last days, God says, I will pour out my spirit on all people. your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams" I think there is a need for dream interpretation, but when is it ok to share? If we are being quiet about the gifts of the Holy Spirit how can we be used as one for his kingdom. The two gifts go together and need each other right? So has anyone else felt like this?
Hi Rochelle,
It is interesting that helps Joseph to forget the hardships of his life. I think that as Joseph name his son, what he is saying is, "God in giving me this son, marriage, and place" has caused the old painful memories to blur." It's not that he completely forgets but that they fade in his memory because of the good he now experiences.
On his remembering (remember, remember in Hebrew means you do something), what Joseph remembers most is his dreams. That causes him to act.
Good morning Rich,
Thanks for the comment on Joseph. A few that I find interesting in the mix of his rise to power. First, as the writer of Genesis so often does in the situations in Genesis, he makes no judgment on Joseph taking a wife from the Egyptians. Is God, then, OK with this because Joseph has no other choice. Indeed, as Rochelle points out in her post Joseph gives thanks to God for a child born from this marriage and for the place he now finds himself in. Second, Joseph is not so assimilated that the Egyptians are now willing to eat with him. We find in the meal with his brothers that they eat separately not only from his brothers, but from Joseph. Finally, in working on the message for Sunday I discovered that not only is God consistently with Joseph, but that God gives him success. The word success is intimately connected with one who is completely sold out to God. Perhaps Joseph could be sold out to God and still have an Egyptian wife (even of a priest) because the law codes of Leviticus had not yet been written.
Hi Anonymous (Dreams),
The place of dreams is to reveal God's will, purpose, and plan. It would be interesting to look at all the dreams of the Bible and ask, "Do any dreams touch only the life of a person or do they always impact the community?" That being said, in the Muslim community one of the most important ways that people become Christians is through a dream encounter with Jesus Christ.
When it comes to dream interpretation there are a couple of things that we do know
1. Not every dream is something that needs to be interpreted as being from God. Unless something has changed dramatically since the time of Joseph, the people of his day too had multiple dreams that they never thought needed to be interpreted. Perhaps our first step is to figure out which dreams are just those image in the night stuff and which ones actually come from God. You do get the sense that people (and it would seem the vast majority) went entire lifetimes without ever getting one of those dreams from God.
2. Whatever the dream is how we interpret it must be in line with God's Word. We can not use a dream to trump God's call or God's ways in our lives that we are taught in his word.
Anonymous,
If you'd like to chat about dreams or the Holy Spirit sometime I'm usually at the back of church after services on Sunday monings and would love to talk with you (also available for prayer too)!
More on Dreams
In my personal study time I'm working in the book of Jude. I was struck in that book by the way that dreams can be misused by those who don't follow Christ. Jude 8 says, Jude 8 "Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones." Jude 8 reminds us that there are those who use dreams to ignore God's word and even go against it. This brings to mind the words in Jeremiah, 23.25 "I have heard what the prophets have said swho prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’" As with all good things, they can be twisted to destroy rather than build up.
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