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Genesis 39:19-40:8

The School of Adversity

  • Rich Jones
  • Weekend Messages
  • July 15, 2018

There are many lessons from Joseph’s life. All one of us have walked through difficult circumstances and there are more trials ahead. In these verses we understand how to walk through difficult times with integrity of faith.

  • Sermon Notes
  • Scripture

The School of Adversity

Genesis 39:19-40:8

Our study in Genesis now shifts to Joseph, Jacob’s favorite son. He was the firstborn of Rachel, the woman he had fallen in love with when he first came
to Haran seeking a wife.

Joseph had two separate dreams that didn’t require much insight to understand. The first dream was that his sheaf stood upright while those of the brothers
bowed down. The second dream was that the sun and the moon and eleven stars all bowed down to him. Both dreams meant that Joseph would rise above his
brothers, but the second dream meant that he would rise even above his father Jacob as well.

It would be fair to say that the rest of the family didn’t interpret Joseph’s dreams with the same excitement that Joseph did. In fact, they were jealous
and angry with him.

At one point, Jacob sent Joseph to check on his older brothers who were tending flocks a good distance away. At first, they thought they would kill him,
but the oldest brother, Reuben, insisted they not harm the boy; they should throw him into a cistern and let him die on his own. Reuben was intending
to come back secretly and rescue him. But while Reuben was away, the rest of them saw some Ishmaelite traders, Midianites, and decided to sell Joseph
as a slave. They sold him for twenty pieces of silver. The traders brought him to Egypt where he was again sold as a slave.

In Egypt, he was purchased by Potiphar, an officer for Pharaoh. But the hand of the Lord was on Joseph. Soon he oversaw Potiphar’s estate and became overseer
of all he owned. Again, tragedy struck, however, when he was falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife. And that’s where we pick up our story.

Joseph is one of the great men of the bible because he faced terrible and unjust circumstances and yet demonstrated the character of a powerful man of
integrity.

There are many lessons from Joseph’s life. All one of us have walked through difficult circumstances and there are more trials ahead. In these verses we
understand how to walk through difficult times with integrity of faith.

I. Hold on to Your Integrity

  • Joseph could have decided that because life had given him a bad turn he might as well give up. He could have said in his heart, “If this is the way
    you’re going to treat me, Lord, then I give up trusting in You.” But he didn’t.
  • Job is a supreme example of suffering, even undeservedly. At one point, Job’s wife challenged him, saying, “Do you still hold on to your integrity?
    Curse God and die!”
  • Job responded, “You speak as one of the foolish women.Shall we indeed accept good from God and not adversity?”Job held on to his integrity and Joseph
    did as well. 

A. Don’t repay evil for evil

  • Joseph could have spent the rest of his life plotting revenge. Some might even suggest that would be the right thing to do; after all, the betrayal
    of his brothers deserved revenge!
  • But the right thing to do was to walk in faith, trusting God that He is able to bring justice.

Romans 12:19-21, Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will
repay,” says the Lord. “But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals
on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good.

Illus – After the sentencing of our daughter’s murderer, Jordi and I had the opportunity to speak with him personally there in the courtroom.
It was an opportunity to speak words of life…

Illus – Many years ago there was a dispute between some members of my wife’s side of the family and we were asked to choose sides. We
declined to choose sides and became ostracized. But later when Jordi’s dad had cancer… love prevailed.

  • Jacob kept walking in integrity and kept looking for the hand of God to move in his life.

Psalm 121:1-2, I will lift up mine eyes to the hills; where does my help come from?My help comes from the Lord, maker of heaven and earth. 

Psalm 25:15, 17, 20-22, My eyes are continually toward the Lord, for He will pluck my feet out of the net… The troubles of my heart
are enlarged; bring me out of my distresses… Guard my soul and deliver me; do not let me be ashamed, for I take refuge in You.Let integrity
and the uprightness preserve me, for I wait for You.Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles.

A.Don’t allow your heart to become bitter

  • If bitterness had entered Joseph’s heart it would have stood in the way of what God was doing and prevented him from seeing the blessing of God on
    his life.
  • Don’t be bitter and angry with God and don’t be bitter and angry with people.
  • In Potiphar’s house he was faithful to the task at hand and God was with him. 

Genesis 39:2, 5, The Lord was with Joseph, so he became a successful man.And he was in the house of his master,
the Egyptian… It came about that from the time he made Joseph 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. 

  • Later, when he found himself falsely accused and thrown in prison, he didn’t allow himself to become bitter with God then either.
  • When things happen that are completely unjust, it would easy to allow bitterness to enter your heart, but that will not bring anything good.
  • The scripture describes the effect of bitterness as a bitter root entering a well and making all the water in that well bitter. 

Hebrews 12:15, See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it
many be defiled;

Ephesians 4:31-32, Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind
to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

Illus –When I think about my mom and all that she suffered, I can truly say that she exampled suffering like no one else I know.Much of
that suffering came from being treated so badly by my father.Later, he divorced her and moved back to Arkansas.

Many years later when he had come back to Oregon, he moved into the same apartment complex where she lived, and she started caring for him again. Though
they never remarried, they were friends; and when he died, there she was standing at the head of his casket.After everyone had gone, she leaned over the
casket, gave him one last kiss and said, “I love you Cecil.”

  • A bitter heart will affect everything else in life, Joseph kept his heart from bitterness and the Lord kept His hand on his life.

II. Don’t Doubt in the Darkness

  • My Bible was a gift from a couple that helped start our church.On the inside of the back cover they wrote, “Never doubt in the darkness what God has
    shown you in the light.”
  • In Genesis 39 we find Joseph in his darkest hour, but here we also see that in spite of everything that goes against him, he never doubts God. 

A. God is working in your behalf

  • Joseph could have focused on what had gone wrong in his life. It would have been easy to wrongly interpret those events.
  • Many people do a running commentary on their lives to try to figure out what God is doing and why. But some things are impossible to understand until the end.
  • Many years later when his brothers came to Egypt in search of food because of the severe famine, Joseph was there to provide for them all, only then
    did it become clear that though “they meant it for evil; God meant it for good.” 

Genesis 45:7-8, “God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance. Now,
therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God;”

Genesis 50:20, “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good…”

App – Many people fall into the false notion that when things are going well, that means that God is with them. But when they suffer,
encounter difficulties, or things are simply not going well, they believe that that is a sure sign that God is not with them but is against them.

  • Strong faith believes that God is true to His Word, that He causes all things to work together for good.

Romans
8:28, And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to
His purpose.

  • God was working for Joseph even in prison as God was arranging even who he would care for.
  • 39:21, 23b – Joseph kept his heart before God and God blessed his life even while he was suffering unjustly. 

B. Strengthen yourself in the Lord

  • What if Joseph decided to wallow in self-pity? Would the chief jailer have promoted him?
  • You can see that Joseph kept his heart on the Lord because when the chief cupbearer and the chief baker were placed is his care, he turned them toward
    God, saying, “Do not interpretations belong to God?” (Verse 8)
  • When they mentioned their dreams, Joseph could have said instead, “Dreams? Don’t talk to me about dreams! I’ve had quite enough dreams!” Instead, he
    points them to the Lord.
  • One of the most important things we can do in difficult times is to stay refreshed and strengthened in the Lord. 

Proverbs 18:10, The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runs into it and are saved.

Illus – I remember going through one of the most difficult times of my life and I was praying for God to help. I decided to fast and pray,
but it was a fast for strength and to stay focused on what God was going to do to answer my prayer.

Illus – When David and his men came back to their camp after being gone all day, they discovered that the Amalekites had come and raided
their camp and taken everything including their wives and children. There was such a general outrage that the men began to speak of stoning David.

But here is where we learn an important key in our own spiritual lives…

1 Samuel 30:6, Moreover David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him, for all the people were embittered, each
one because of his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.

Isaiah 40:28-31, Do you not know?Have you not heard?The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become
weary or tired.His understanding is inscrutable.He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power.Though youths grow weary
and tired, and vigorous young man stumbled badly, yet those who wait for the Lord will gain the strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles,
they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not faint.

A. God will change you through the fire

  • If we are strengthened in the Lord through difficulties, then God can use those things in our lives to change us.
  • James wrote that we should “consider it all joy when we endure trials;” not being happy that we are suffering but anticipating that God can do something
    in all things and that He will transform us. 

James 1:2-4, Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Psalm 40:1-3, I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit of destruction,
out of the miry clay, and He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; many will
see and fear and will trust in the Lord.

Illus – the Hymn, It is Well, says it all.

This hymn was written by a Chicago lawyer, Horatio G. Spafford. You might think that a rich, successful Chicago lawyer might indeed write a worship song titled, ‘It is well with my soul.’

But the words, “When sorrows like sea billows roll … It is well with my soul”, were not written during a joyful period in Spafford’s life. On the contrary, they came from a man who had suffered almost unimaginable personal tragedy.

Horatio Spafford and his wife, Anna, were well-known in 1860’s Chicago. And this was not only because of Horatio’s legal career and business
endeavors. The Spaffords were also prominent supporters and close friends of D.L. Moody, the famous Chicago preacher.

In 1870, however, things began to turn tragically. The Spaffords’ only son was killed by scarlet fever at the age of four. A year later, it was fire rather than fever that struck. Horatio had invested heavily in real estate on the shores of Lake Michigan. In 1871, every one of his buildings was wiped
out by the great Chicago Fire.

Aware of the toll that these disasters had taken on the family, Horatio decided to take his wife and four daughters on a holiday to England.
And, not only did they need the rest — DL Moody needed the help; he was traveling around Britain on one of his great evangelistic campaigns.

Horatio and Anna planned to join Moody in England in late 1873. The Spaffords traveled to New York in late October, from there they were to catch a French ship, a steamer, the ‘Ville de Havre’ to cross the Atlantic. Just before they were to set sail, however, a last-minute business development forced Horatio to delay. Not wanting to ruin the family holiday, Spafford persuaded his family to go on ahead as planned; he would follow on later.

With this decided, Anna and her four daughters sailed east toward Europe while Spafford returned west to Chicago. Nine days later, Spafford received
word that the ship that carried his wife and four daughters had perished at sea.

On November 2nd, 1873, the ‘Ville de Havre’ had collided with ‘The Lochearn’, an English vessel. It sank in only

12 minutes, claiming the lives of 226 people. Anna Spafford had stood bravely on the deck with her daughters Annie, Maggie, Bessie and Tanetta,
clinging desperately to her.

Her last memory had been of her baby being torn violently from her arms by the force of the waters. Anna herself was only saved by a plank which floated
beneath her unconscious body and propped her up. When the survivors of the wreck had been rescued, Mrs. Spafford’s first reaction was one of complete
despair. Then she heard a voice speak to her, “You were spared for a purpose.” And she immediately recalled the words of a friend, “It’s easy to
be grateful when you have much, but take care that you are not a fair-weather friend to God.”

Spafford received a telegram from his wife in Wales. It read simply: “Saved – alone.” Upon hearing the terrible news, Horatio Spafford boarded
the next ship out of New York to join his bereaved wife. During the voyage, the captain of the ship called him to the bridge. “A careful reckoning
has been made”, he said, “and I believe we are now passing the place where the de Havre was wrecked. The water is three miles deep.” Horatio stood
alone on the deck, watching the waves with a broken heart. He then returned to his cabin and penned the lyrics of this great hymn.

The words which Spafford wrote that day come from 2 Kings 4:26. They echo the response of the Shunammite

woman to the sudden death of her only child. Though we are told “her soul was vexed within her”, still she

maintains that “It is well.” And Spafford’s song reveals a man whose trust in the Lord was as unwavering as hers.

It would be very difficult for any of us to predict how we would react under circumstances similar to those

experienced by the Spaffords. But we do know that the God who sustained them would also be with us.

No matter what circumstances overtake us may we be able to say with Horatio Spafford…

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul!

It is well … with my soul!
It is well, it is well, with my soul
.

Genesis 39:19-23         NASB

19 Now when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spoke to him, saying, “This is what your slave did to me,” his anger burned. 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. 21 But
the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer. 22 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.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.

Genesis 40:1-8

1 Then it came about after these things, the cup bearer and the baker for the king of Egypt offended their lord, the king of Egypt. 2
Pharaoh was furious with his two officials, the chief cup bearer and the chief baker. 3 So he put them in confinement in the house of the captain
of the bodyguard, in the jail, the same place where Joseph was imprisoned. 4 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. 5 Then the cup bearer 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. 6 When Joseph came to them
in the morning and observed them, behold, they were dejected. 7 He asked Pharaoh’s officials who were with him in confinement in his master’s
house, “Why are your faces so sad today?” 8 Then 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.”

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