A Brief Study of Joseph

Introduction: Joseph was a man sold into a foreign land, tempted by a woman yet fled those things. He was a man in which we truly can see the Providence of God.
 
I.   Joseph Angers His Brothers


Genesis 37:1-11 – The text and his two dreams!
 

II.   Joseph is Sold
Genesis 37:12-36

Notice the fact that his brothers had to lie to their father. Remember that lies are like webs, you must continue to spin them and normally you get caught. Liars are just like their father – John 8:44
 

III.   Joseph is lied about and punished
Genesis 39:1-23 – Yet, the Lord remains with him
 
IV.   Joseph, the Butler, and the Baker
Genesis 40:1-23

The Butler and Baker are cast into prison with Joseph. There they dream and Joseph interprets those dreams – The Butler returned to a position in the house of Pharaoh and the Baker was hung as Joseph foretold them from their dreams. Yet, as Joseph told the Butler to remember him, he forgot Joseph.
 

V.   Joseph is freed and set in rule
In Genesis 41:1-16 the Butler remember Joseph as Pharaoh had a dream. In Genesis 41:17-57 Joseph is freed and over Pharaoh’s house. Joseph then aids in the work by preparation for the famine of the land.
 
VI.   The identity of the Providence of God
Genesis 42:1 – 47:28 – Canaan had famine, and Jacob sent his sons to Egypt as he heard there was food there. Joseph identifies who they were as he was over the distribution of the food. Joseph accuses them of being spies and keeps Simeon till they brought the youngest brother Benjamin to Joseph, and they did not know who Joseph was.

Genesis 45:1-16 1. Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him; and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren. 2. And he wept aloud: and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard. 3. And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence. 4. And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. 5. Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life. 6. For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest. 7. And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. 8. So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. 9. Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not:10. And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou, and thy children, and thy children's children, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast: 11. And there will I nourish thee; for yet there are five years of famine; lest thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast, come to poverty. 12. And, behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you. 13. And ye shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that ye have seen; and ye shall haste and bring down my father hither. 14. And he fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck, and wept; and Benjamin wept upon his neck. 15. Moreover he kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them: and after that his brethren talked with him. 16. And the fame thereof was heard in Pharaoh's house, saying, Joseph's brethren are come: and it pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants.

Conclusion: We may not always see why things occur but sometimes, bad things occur and bring forth better things! We ought to be able to use hindsight, as did Joseph.


Copyright 2001 by Brian Yeager may be reproducted for non-commercial purposes at no cost to others. www.christianlibrary.org


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