Angelic Conflict part 124: Human history – Gen 39-40; Luk 7:33-35; Heb 10:35-36; Exo 14:13-14; Jer 17:5-8.Title: Angelic Conflict part 124: Human history – Gen 39-40; Luk 7:33-35; Heb 10:35-36; Exo 14:13-14; Jer 17:5-8.
The conflict in Jacob’s family; Joseph hated by his brothers, Gen 37.
Gen 37:26 And Judah said to his brothers, "What profit is it for us to kill our brother and cover up his blood?
Gen 37:27 "Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; for he is our brother, our own flesh." And his brothers [except Reuben who is not there] listened to him.
Judah offers a half-hearted kindness – “he is our brother, our own flesh,” so let’s not kill him, but let’s sell him as a slave and make a profit.
Gen 37:28 Then some Midianite traders passed by, so they pulled him up and lifted Joseph out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver [not a high price – typical for a slave]. Thus they brought Joseph into Egypt.
Gen 37:29 Now Reuben returned to the pit, and behold, Joseph was not in the pit; so he tore his garments.
Gen 37:30 And he returned to his brothers and said, "The boy is not there; as for me, where am I to go?"
It’s possible that Reuben believes that he is dead for a short time before the brothers tell him what they did.
Gen 37:31 So they took Joseph's tunic, and slaughtered a male goat, and dipped the tunic in the blood;
Gen 37:32 and they sent the varicolored tunic [probably sent servants to deliver it] and brought it to their father and said, "We found this; please examine it to see whether it is your son's tunic or not."
Gen 37:33 Then he examined it and said, "It is my son's tunic. A wild beast has devoured him; Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!"
Here is another installment of divine retribution to Jacob.
Jacob deceived Isaac with goatskins (27:16), now Jacob was being deceived with goat’s blood.
Jacob deceived Isaac with Esau’s clothes (27:15); now Jacob was deceived with Joseph’s clothes.
Gen 37:34 So Jacob tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his loins, and mourned for his son many days.
Gen 37:35 Then all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. And he said, "Surely I will go down to Sheol in mourning for my son." So his father wept for him.
Gen 37:36 Meanwhile, the Midianites sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, Pharaoh's officer, the captain of the bodyguard.
Gen 39:1 Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an Egyptian officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the bodyguard, bought him from the Ishmaelites, who had taken him down there.
The Midianites sold him to the Ishmaelites who sold him to the Egyptians. Things look bleak and hopeless.
Gen 39:2 And the Lord was with Joseph, so he became a successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian.
God can bless His people in any place and in any circumstance.
Gen 39:3 Now his master saw that the Lord was with him and how the Lord caused all that he did to prosper in his hand.
Potiphar is a pagan and does not know Jehovah. The phrase means that he recognizes that everything Joseph does is successful.
Gen 39:4 So Joseph found favor in his sight, and became his personal servant; and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he owned he put in his charge.
Gen 39:5 And it came about that from the time he made him overseer in his house, and over all that he owned, the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house on account of Joseph; thus the Lord's blessing was upon all that he owned, in the house and in the field.
This is another outworking of the Abrahamic Covenant. Those who bless you will be blessed.
Gen 39:6 So he left everything he owned in Joseph's charge; and with him there he did not concern himself with anything except the food which he ate. Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance.
This phrase is used only one other time in reference to David. Both Joseph and David were extremely handsome young men.
Though blessed, Joseph is not without temptation, for Ms. Potiphar tempts him repeatedly to sleep with her.
Gen 39:7 And it came about after these events that his master's wife looked with desire at Joseph, and she said, "Lie with me."
It is evil for her to ask this, against Joseph and against her husband.
Even in times of divine blessing there will be temptation designed to draw you away from the source of blessing. Satan has useful agents in many places.
This is why we are not to revel in our victories for too long. We’ve got to keep pressing on towards the prize of the upward call in Christ. Yesterday’s victories are not today’s, and if you celebrate them for too long and are not alert to the present, we become a weak and easy target.
Joseph’s integrity is his source of capacity for all this blessing and she is tempting him to compromise that integrity for a temporary pleasure.
Gen 39:8 But he refused and said to his master's wife, "Behold, with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has put all that he owns in my charge.
Gen 39:9 There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil, and sin against God?"
Joseph doesn’t only avoid the temptation because he knows it’s a sin, but is motivated by knowing why it’s a sin.
There is a big difference between knowing something is wrong and knowing why it is wrong and most of all, knowing something is wrong, why it is wrong, and agreeing with God that it is wrong. This gives the believer great power and motivation over his OSN as well as outside temptations. That’s not to say he will never fail, but he will make better decisions.
Once David had a chance to kill Saul while Saul was disposed in a cave, but he refused to do it because God had chosen Saul to be king. He could have easily ended his struggle with Saul, but he chose properly because he recognized why killing him was wrong and he agreed with it.
Gen 39:10 And it came about as she spoke to Joseph day after day, that he did not listen to her to lie beside her, or be with her.
Temptation is not just one day, as I’m sure you all know.
When the temptation doesn’t work then the KOD finds a way to accuse you of doing what they were tempting you with.
Luk 7:33-35 For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine; and you say, 'He has a demon!' "The Son of Man has come eating and drinking; and you say, 'Behold, a gluttonous man, and a drunkard, a friend of tax-gatherers and sinners!' "Yet wisdom is vindicated by all her children."
Aletheia, truth; the uncovering of that which has been hidden. The world system is designed to bury truth, but God’s word cannot be buried. It has survived all attempts to destroy it or bury it and the believer who follows it will be vindicated, despite the world’s children who falsely accuse him.
Yes it is completely unfair. Don’t react to it.
The believer’s chief concern is what God thinks and not what man thinks.
1Sa 16:7 God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.
Rev 12:10 for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them before our God day and night.
Gen 39:11 Now it happened one day that he went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the household was there inside.
God gets the believer alone for instruction towards his good. Satan gets the believer alone with temptation towards his weakness.
Gen 39:12 And she caught him by his garment, saying, "Lie with me!" And he left his garment in her hand and fled, and went outside.
Gen 39:13 When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and had fled outside,
Gen 39:14 she called to the men of her household, and said to them, "See, he has brought in a Hebrew to us to make sport of us; he came in to me to lie with me, and I screamed.
“sport of us” – get the servants to hate Joseph and carry her grudge against her husband.
Gen 39:15 And it came about when he heard that I raised my voice and screamed, that he left his garment beside me and fled, and went outside."
Gen 39:16 So she left his garment beside her until his master came home.
Gen 39:17 Then she spoke to him with these words, "The Hebrew slave, whom you brought to us, came in to me to make sport of me;
“sport of me” – blames Potiphar and tries to get him to hate Joseph.
Gen 39:18 and it happened as I raised my voice and screamed, that he left his garment beside me and fled outside."
Gen 39:19 Now it came about when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spoke to him, saying, "This is what your slave did to me," that his anger burned.
The area in which Joseph displayed great integrity is the same area in which he is accused of wrongdoing.
In this way satan attempts to blanket the shining glory of God through the positive believer, and though it may seem successful, it is only temporary. Remain in your integrity and God will deliver.
Heb 10:35-36 Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised [reward and deliverance].
Gen 39:20 So Joseph's master took him and put him into the jail, the place where the king's prisoners were confined; and he was there in the jail.
Potiphar could have had him executed, but doesn’t, indicating that he might doubt his wife’s story. When it says his anger burned it doesn’t actually say against Joseph.
When you think things can’t get worse, they might. God is still with you, vs. 21.
Gen 39:21 But the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer.
Gen 39:22 And the chief jailer committed to Joseph's charge all the prisoners who were in the jail; so that whatever was done there, he was responsible for it.
Gen 39:23 The chief jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph's charge because the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made to prosper.
Joseph has positive volition and it is the Lord who prospers him, even in jail.
Gen 40:1 Then it came about after these things the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt offended their lord, the king of Egypt.
Gen 40:2And Pharaoh was furious with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker.
Gen 40:3So he put them in confinement in the house of the captain of the bodyguard, in the jail, the same place where Joseph was imprisoned [not a coincidence – there are none; doc of divine decree].
Gen 40:4And the captain of the bodyguard put Joseph in charge of them, and he took care of them; and they were in confinement for some time.
Potiphar still trusts Joseph, showing again that he probably was speculative about his wife’s story.
Gen 40:5Then the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt, who were confined in jail, both had a dream the same night, each man with his own dream and each dream with its own interpretation.
Gen 40:6When Joseph came to them in the morning and observed them, behold, they were dejected.
Gen 40:7And he asked Pharaoh's officials who were with him in confinement in his master's house, "Why are your faces so sad today?"
Gen 40:8Then they said to him, "We have had a dream and there is no one to interpret it." Then Joseph said to them, "Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell it to me, please."
By way of observation, in the Scriptures only two men function as interpreters of dreams: Joseph and Daniel. Furthermore, both served foreign monarchs [Gentiles] who worshiped foreign gods, and both interpreted in a foreign land where they had professional interpreters: Egypt and Babylonia.
The gift of dream interpretation was given to both Joseph and Daniel, by God, in foreign lands, so that they would prosper.
God gives a spiritual gift to each member of the CA so that they may spiritually prosper in the devil’s world of human achievement.
Your spiritual gift, unique to the CA, is given so that you may supernaturally function in a world that praises human achievement. The function of your spiritual gift is inexplicable in a world that magnifies the flesh. However, it is never used to impress people, for even if you did attempt that the gift would not function properly as you would be ruled by the OSN.
Each believer’s spiritual gift is given by GHS to only serve the body of Christ and its success is only known therein amongst the invisible heroes.
1Co 12:7 But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
Gen 40:9So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, "In my dream, behold, there was a vine in front of me;
Gen 40:10and on the vine were three branches. And as it was budding, its blossoms came out, and its clusters produced ripe grapes.
Gen 40:11Now Pharaoh's cup was in my hand; so I took the grapes and squeezed them into Pharaoh's cup, and I put the cup into Pharaoh's hand."
Gen 40:12Then Joseph said to him, "This is the interpretation of it: the three branches are three days;
Gen 40:13within three more days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office; and you will put Pharaoh's cup into his hand according to your former custom when you were his cupbearer.
This is where Joseph should have stopped. But his flesh sees an opportunity for deliverance through man. And it’s not as if God doesn’t use man to deliver believers, it’s just that we shouldn’t orchestrate it.
He attempts to use his spiritual gift for deliverance from an unfair circumstance. We use our gifts to be delivered “in” the circumstance and endurance or perseverance [hupomone] means we patiently endure without looking for a way out. God will provide the way out in His perfect time. Do not attempt to decree with God.
Exo 14:13-14 But Moses said to the people, "Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent." |