 Read verse 22, I'll get into an introduction and we'll get into our study. Hebrews chapter 11 verse 22, by faith Joseph when he was dying made mention of the departure of the children of Israel and gave instructions concerning his bones. Now in some ways I would just like to read that and say isn't that cool and move on. But of course I'm not going to do that. What we're going to be doing is actually pretty difficult for me. Would you turn to Genesis chapter 37 and I'll explain to you why it's difficult as you turn there. Genesis chapter 37 and the reason is because when our church first began to have Sunday night services back in 1982 or so, I did a study in the book of Genesis and when I was doing the study in Genesis I was very bold and I thought well I'm going to do something similar to what my pastor Chuck does. Pastor at that time was doing ten chapters at a time and I thought well let's try five and so I tried that for a while and discovered fairly early that I don't have that style. I'm not capable of condensing large portions of scripture into some very few words with great meaning. I take a lot of time to look at what I'm looking at and so that's how our ministry developed to where it is so that today when you came to church this morning you saw me teach four verses. That's how that came about. I realized that for me I don't have the ability to give large chunks of information and yet that's what I'm going to try to do tonight. I'm going to ask for your patience and prayerful help in this. Help meaning I'll wake you up after you fall asleep before the service is over but I have to tell you I'm going to summarize chapters from chapter 37 to chapter 50 and for me that's kind of like parting the red sea to be honest with you. It's one of those things that I pray that I can do and so what I'll be doing in some chapters is we'll look at the chapter like for example we'll look at most of chapter 37 but in other chapters I'm going to tell you this is this chapter these are the events that took place there and basically I'll give an overview summary so some places I'll say let's read this together and then I'll give you some insights other places I'll say well this is chapter 40 it says this here and this is basically what you find there because when I originally did this study I have to tell you it took me a long time to get through all of these chapters so I'm going to really try hard tonight to get through these chapters and get you out in time to go to work in the morning so chapter 37 I'll read to you the first four verses and let's get into our study concerning Joseph when he was dying making mention of the departure of the children of Israel beginning at verse 1 Genesis 37 now Jacob dwelt in the land where his father was a stranger in the land of Canaan this is the genealogy of Jacob Joseph being 17 years old was feeding the flock with his brothers and the lad was with the sons of Villa and the sons of Zilpa his father's wives and Joseph brought a bad report of them to his father now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children because he was the son of his old age also he made him a tunic of many colors but when his brother saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him so as we begin Joseph is a tremendous man of God there are those who would say that he is what would be considered a type of the Lord Jesus Christ you see when you do an in-depth study of the life of Joseph you discover several things about him let me give you some of those things Joseph made superior claims Joseph was rejected by his brothers because he was a victim of a conspiracy 5 he was betrayed and sold and 6 he was later exalted these are all types of Christ and so he is used very often theologically in the Christian faith as a type of Jesus Christ because he went through so many things and so as we look at him we see this man introduced to us first as a 17 year old boy and he tells us here as we were just looking in this passage that his father Jacob had given him a place of authority in the family now what's interesting is you see verses 3 and 4 how it's very open and it says Israel or Jacob loved Joseph more than all his children because he was the son of his old age and he made him a tunic of many colors but when his brother saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him his father loved him very much because he's the son of his father's old age he was 11th born to his father and his father Israel loved him more than he loved the other 10 sons who were born before him and so that seems to be a trait because when you look in the family you see that Abraham had actually two sons he had Isaac and Ishmael but he liked Isaac loved Isaac more then you see that Isaac had sons but Isaac loved Esau more than he loved Jacob and now you see Jacob who has his own sons but he has a special love for one of those sons that is very obvious and that is the son Joseph now later on he's going to have another son by the name of Benjamin who is also going to be one of his sons that he loves with all of his heart but he's showing here that he has a favoritism because he gives to him a coat of many colors the many colors speaks of various colored cloths and in reality the word color refers to the length of the sleeves he gave to him a long sleeved tunic and a long sleeved tunic is a symbol of authority and so the older brothers hate him because his father has given the younger brother authority over all of the older brothers and so they cannot speak peaceably to him the brothers hate him now he has older brothers and we've seen these brothers we've read through the names of his brothers he has older brothers by the name of Reuben and Simeon Levi and Judah these are already mature men and more than likely had been working away from him much of the time so he grew up with other sons sons of Billa and son of Napdali rather Rachel and Rachel's maid and Zilpa who was Leah's maid and they were closer to his age and so he spent a lot of time with these other brothers now the older brothers have already disappointed Jacob because his three older brothers Reuben Simeon and Levi especially have done things that were greatly evil and I was toying with the idea should I condense these things for you and share what they had done and I will very briefly in chapter 34 there's an interesting chapter you don't have to look there let me summarize it let me try to do that it's really interesting because what happens when you have a sister and the sister's name is Dina Dina became close to some of the people in the area that they were staying in and as a result of that because she was hanging around with some of these pagan gals a prince of the area by the name of Shechem had seen Dina and had grown very affectionate towards her and he ultimately forced Dina into a physical relationship with him it's been called the rape of Dina because he forced her to sexually have intercourse with him and when your older brothers heard how they had taken and dishonored their younger sister the older brothers were absolutely incredibly angry and as a result of that Simeon and Levi older brothers of Dina wanted to take vengeance on what had taken place and so the prince who had taken advantage of their sister his name is Shechem the prince said listen I love Dina I want to marry her and so they created a plan in order for them to deal with Shechem and his father Hamor and what they did is they said well we cannot give our sister or any of the women of Israel any of our family to you because you are uncircumcised now if you want to marry your sister all the men are going to need to receive circumcision all the men of your city and so Shechem the scripture says was more honorable and he wanted to do anything he could in order to have Dina as his wife and so they all underwent circumcision now while they were yet healing from the operation Simeon came in with his brother Levi and killed all the men in the city and as a result of that the father said you have now made my name odious amongst these people and they are going to seek to kill me so he was already upset with his older brothers now I believe it was Reuben had a relationship with one of the concubines Bill High and he had sexual intercourse with her so three of the older brothers were already disappointments to the father and now Joseph is bringing a bad report about the other sons to him now that must have irritated them greatly to have a 17 year old showing up and telling daddy on the brothers and all and they are very upset about what is taking place there and so as a result of that Jacob the hatred towards Joseph is now stirred up and so as this is taking place verse 5 it says Joseph dreamed a dream and he told it to his brothers and he hated him even more so he said to them please hear this dream which I've dreamed there we were binding sheaves in the field then behold my sheaf arose and also stood upright and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf and his brother said to him shall you indeed reign over us or shall you indeed have dominion over us and he hated him even more for his dreams and for his words and he dreamed still another dream and he said look I've dreamed another dream and this time the sun the moon and the eleven stars bowed down to me so it was told to his father and his brothers and his father rebuked him and said to him what is this dream that you have dreamed shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you and his brothers envied him but his father kept the matter in mind well they understood this picture the picture of the mother and the brothers all doing honor to him the first dream was his brother's sheaves that stalks of grain that are bound together and they're all bowing before his sheaf and the second the sun moon and the eleven stars are all bowing before him so they recognize what that means but verse 11 tells us his brothers envied him but his father pondered the meaning of this the result of this is anger and hatred for Joseph because Joseph obviously is receiving some kinds of exaltation the Bible tells us in Proverbs 27 4 wrath is cruel and anger a torrent but who is able to stand before jealousy and that's what's taking place here now ultimately according to verses 12 through 14 his brothers travel about 50 miles to the north to the area of Samaria and they're there feeding their father's flock so Jacob sends Joseph to them to check on their condition verse 15 I'll begin reading it says now a certain man found him and there he was wandering in the field and the man asked him saying what are you seeking he said I'm seeking my brothers please tell me where they are feeding their flocks and the man said they have departed from here for I heard them say let us go to Dothan so Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan now when they saw him afar off even before he came near them they conspired against him to kill him then they said to one another let us know what this dreamers coming come therefore let us now kill and cast him into some pit and we shall say some wild beast has devoured him we shall see what will become of his dreams but Reuben heard it and he delivered him out of their hands and said let us not kill him and Reuben said to them shed no blood but cast him into this pit which is in the wilderness and do not lay hand on him a hand on him then he might deliver him out of their hands and bring him back to his father so when Joseph had come to his brothers that they stripped Joseph of his tunic the tunic of many colors that was on him then they took him and cast him into a pit and the pit was empty there was no water in it and they sat down to eat a meal then they lifted their eyes and looked and there was a company of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead with their camels bearing spices balm and myrrh on their way to carry them down to Egypt so Judas said to his brothers what profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and let not our hand be upon him for he is our brother and our flesh and his brothers listened then Midianite traitors passed by so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit and sold him to the Ishmaelites for 20 shekels of silver and they took Joseph to Egypt so this is a picture once again of the rejection you see the type of Joseph and the similarities to the rejection of the Lord Jesus Christ and so there's a picture of the rejection he's unable to find his brothers there and he'd gone looking for them and he ultimately encounters them but now they're conspiring to kill him but notice even as we saw a moment ago his older brother Reuben didn't want him harmed so he had them thrown into that pit wanting to deliver him and so now he is sold he is sold for 20 pieces of silver now in verse 30 actually verse 29 it said Reuben returned to the pit and indeed Joseph was not in the pit and he tore his clothes and returned to his brothers and said the lad is no more and where shall I go so they took Joseph tunic killed a kid of the goats and dipped the tunic in the blood then they sent the tunic of many colors and they brought it to their father and said we have found this do you know whether it is your son's tunic or not and he recognized it and said it is my son's tunic a wild beast has devoured him without doubt Joseph is torn to pieces and notice verse 34 Jacob tore his clothes put sackcloth on his waist and mourned for his son many days and all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him but he refused to be comforted and he said I shall go down into the grave to my son in mourning and thus his father wept for him can you imagine that for just a moment how cruel that would be how cruel it was for these brothers who hated him so much to take the one that they had such jealousy and envy over and to kill him and when they brought that even though they didn't do it that was their intent but they sell him into slavery then they take that that cloak that symbol that tunic that symbol of his authority the symbol that was a gift from his father they dip it in blood and they bring it to the father you know when I when I first read this and was studying this and it brings it causes me to remember it even as I'm sharing you with you now it reminded me of something you see when my son David was a little boy little David fell in love with the character Superman my father it turns out had told him that he was Superman now my dad had told me when I was a little boy that he was Superman and the reason my father told me that is because there used to be a show a program on television in the 50s it was Superman and I would watch it every time it was on and I actually admired Superman I wanted you know to be like him you know as a little boy and my dad got a little jealous because after all he's my dad so my dad had told me that he was Superman and I believed him I believed that my father was Superman for years I literally thought that my dad was Superman it didn't make much sense to me when I would think about it because Superman was from Krypton and my dad was from Norwalk Superman was tall my dad was short he was from Krypton my dad's a Mexican but I thought well you know he must shave his mustache when he goes on his adventures I did I really honestly believe for years that my dad was Superman and my dad would just keep telling me that and finally as I grew older I remember my dad saying that you know he had a Superman costume because I asked him I said dad I said how do you go about you know I've never seen your Superman costume and he said I have it in the garage and I have it up in the rafters that's where I keep it this is the truth I've told you this before so my dad went to work and I went into the garage and I searched everywhere for the Superman uniform I even went on top of the garage roof and I went into the back of it where there was some ivy and I looked under the ivy I looked everywhere and I waited and when my father came home at 7 o'clock that evening I was sitting there waiting for him so when my dad walked in and came into the house I couldn't wait to tell him that I know you're not Superman because I looked for your costume and I couldn't find it and I remember telling him that daddy I looked for your costume and I couldn't find it you're not Superman and my father says to me son my costume was in the cleaners and I said well that made sense to me you know so I went on believing for years well you know of course you outgrow that I was 35 and I realized he wasn't but I didn't know that my dad had told little David my son that he's Superman and so little David grew up believing the same lie that I did but he was in love with Superman now his Aunt Patty was at you know the Chino flea market or whatever it's called he found a Superman cape he had a little cape and he had a little yellow belt on it and a little S on his chest and he had the cape on his back you see he used to get a dish cloth and we would tie it around him and he would run around the house when he was 2 years old with his arms out having adventures constantly Patty had seen that we told him well this is our super baby we used to call him super baby this is our super baby and so Patty saw that and went and bought a little cape so little David would wear that cape everywhere and for the he would go to sleep with his cape on we had to bathe him with his cape on he wore it to church he wore it everywhere that little cape we still have it that little cape he wears it to this day he doesn't appreciate me telling you but it's true now he had this he's actually kept it for his own little guy but this cape was a real important thing for my son and when I read this the first time I was teaching my son was at the age where he was using that little cape all the time and I still remember sharing with the church and saying to the church it would be as if my son had been killed and someone brings to me his little cape with blood all over it and they say do you recognize this that's what the father is feeling when they bring this long-sleeved coat of many colors this coat of authority this cloak of authority they're bringing it to him and they're saying do you recognize this can you imagine the cruelty that is involved in doing something like that because daddy loved Joseph and these brothers bring this and say do you recognize this even though they know that they sold him into slavery and this has to show you something about the heart of these men and the cruelty of his brothers and it shows you the evil of envy the evil of jealousy so that you would be willing to harm your own father simply because you hated him well his heart is broken and he says I'm going to go down to my grave morning my son what happens is Joseph is sold he is sold according to verse 36 chapter 37 the Midianites sold him in Egypt to Potiphar an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard and so he is sold into the hand of a man by the name of Potiphar he's an officer that word officer can also speak of one who is a eunuch when it says he's the captain of the guard that word guard is executioners literally he is the captain of the slaughterers and so he is sold into the hands of the executioner now he is now in the home of Potiphar and while in the home of Potiphar he is now being blessed tremendously in chapter 39 verse one Joseph had been taken down to Egypt and Potiphar an officer of Pharaoh captain of the guard and Egyptian bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him down there the Lord was with Joseph and he was a successful man and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian and his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all he did to prosper in his hands so Joseph found favor in his sight and served him then he made him overseer of his house and all that he had he put in his hand so it was from the time that he had made him overseer of his house and all that he had that the Lord blessed the Egyptians house for Joseph's sake and the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had in the house and in the field so he left all that he had in Joseph's hand and he did not know what he had except for the bread which he ate and Joseph was handsome in form and appearance so he's growing up and he's a very very handsome man now Potiphar has an absolute trust in Joseph Joseph has full run of his home he doesn't know anything other than you know he knows he's eating a meal today but he trusts him so much that he trusts him with everything except for one thing Joseph was trustworthy but he had a wife Potiphar had a wife who could not be trusted in verse 7 it came to pass after these things that his master's wife cast longing eyes on Joseph and she said lie with me big boy but he refused that's in the original but he refused and said and said to his master's wife look my master does not know what is with me in the house and he has committed all that he has to my hand there is no one greater in this house than I nor has he kept back anything from me but you because you are his wife how then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God so it was as she spoke to Joseph day by day that he did not heed her to lie with her or to be with her but it happened about this time when Joseph went into the house to do his work and none of the men of the house was inside that she caught him by his garment saying lie with me and he left his garment in her hand and fled and ran outside so it was when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and fled outside she called to the men of her house and spoke to them saying see he has brought in to us a Hebrew to mock us he came in to me to lie with me and I cried out with a loud voice and happened when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried out that he left his garment with me and fled and went outside and he was here until his master came home spoke to him with words like these saying the Hebrew servant whom you brought to us came in to mock me so what happened as I lifted my voice and cried out that he left his garment with me and fled outside now one of the scriptures that we just read in verse 9 Yad underscore especially those of you who may find yourself in a position sometimes of a temptation notice his answer she first says to him I want you to have physical relations with me I want you to lie with me but notice his response when he says in verse 9 how then can I do this great wickedness now notice and sin against God what is it that's going to keep you pure it's an appreciation of God's blessing in your life it's what God has done in your life how can I do this great sin against God God has handed me so many things God has entrusted me with so many things you know one of the things in ministry is a pastor can get to the point where he begins to feel that he's a very attractive individual you know I've told pastors before don't get taken with yourself because women are attracted in church very often to the power and position of a pastor and just because they may show you some special attention it doesn't mean that you are something special it simply means that they're attracted to what they perceive you to be and sometimes pastors begin to think that they are attractive and they can be seduced but if the pastor were to have a heart to say how can I do this evil how can I sin against God in this way it could keep them safe well the same is true for all of us in 1st Corinthians in chapter 6 in the New Testament 1st Corinthians chapter 6 verse 18 the apostle Paul says this he says flee from sexual immorality all other sins a man commits are outside his body but he who sins sexually sins against his own body fornication you know Joseph literally fled he took off running and she's grabbing at him I mean this is a woman who's not taking no for an answer and he's out the door and as he moves out the door she reaches towards him grabs hold of his garment and it stays in her hand that is a literal picture of fleeing fornication and he takes off and he runs well he reacts to what takes place verse 19 it was when his master heard the words which his wife spoke to him saying your servant did to me after this matter that his anger was aroused the question has to be asked and this may be reading into Scripture but who is the angry at the most I suspect that he knew that his wife was not to be trusted I suspect that I suspect that he knew the kind of man that Joseph was and so his anger is aroused and I wonder if part of his anger may be towards his wife and I think also he has to do something to save face and so verse 20 it says Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison a place where the king's prisoners were confined and he was there in the prison but the Lord was with Joseph showed him mercy and he gave him favor in the side of the keeper of the prison Joseph's hand all the prisoners who were in the prison whatever they did there it was his doing the keeper of the prison did not look into anything that was under Joseph's hand because the Lord was with him and whatever he did the Lord made it prosper and so once again even in prison first he's been sold into slavery God prosperous him now he's being put into prison once again he's being placed into a position of authority because of the integrity and the hand of God upon him and now he's an overseer taking care of certain things within the prison while he's in prison and you see this in chapter 40 the Pharaoh becomes angry with two individuals in his court he's angry with his butler who has oversight of the wine and he's angry at his baker and so it says in verse 1 it came to pass after these things that the butler and the baker the king of Egypt offended the Lord the king of Egypt and Pharaoh was angry with his two officers the chief butler and the chief baker so I put him in custody in the house of the captain of the guard in the prison the place where Joseph was confined and the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them and he served them so they were in custody for a while now it says in verse 5 the butler and the baker the king of Egypt who were confined in prison dreamed a dream both of them each man's dream in one night and each man's dream with its own interpretation Joseph came into them in the morning looked at them saw they were sad so he asked Pharaoh's officers who were with him in the custody of his Lord's house saying well why do you look so sad today they said we each have dreamed a dream and there's no interpreter of it Joseph said to them do not interpretations belong to God tell them to me please well the chief butler told his dream to Joseph and said to him behold in my dream a vine was before me and in the vine were three branches it was as though it budded its blossoms shot forth and its clusters brought forth ripe grapes then Pharaoh's cup was in my hand and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup and placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand Joseph said to him this is the interpretation of it the three branches are three days now within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your place and you will put Pharaoh's cup in his hand according to the former manor when you were his butler but notice verse 14 but remember me when it is well with you please show kindness to me make mention of me to Pharaoh and get me out of this house for indeed I was stolen away from the land of the Hebrews and also I have done nothing here that should put me into prison into dungeon well when the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good he said to Joseph I also was in my dream and there I had three white baskets on my head in the uppermost basket there were all kind of baked goods for Pharaoh and the birds ate them out of the basket on my head Joseph answered and said this is the interpretation of it the three baskets are three days within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head from you and hang you on a tree and the birds will eat your flesh from you and that a nice dream well it came to pass on the third day which was Pharaoh's birthday that he made a feast for all his servants and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants he restored the chief butler to his butlership again and he placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand but he hanged the chief baker as Joseph had interpreted to them yet the chief butler did not remember Joseph but forgot him and so all he had asked was remember me when it is well with you but obviously when things go well with us we forget how those things went so well and he forgot about them and so according to chapter 41 two years later Pharaoh has two dreams Pharaoh has dreams of seven starving cows and these seven starving cows eat seven healthy cows and then he has a dream where seven healthy heads of grain are eaten by seven thin heads when he's so disturbed about this dream he mentions it in front of the butler and at that point the butler now remembers Joseph and Joseph is brought in to Pharaoh so that he might interpret the dreams so Joseph begins to interpret and he says well those cows and the heads of grain simply represent seven years of plenty and seven years of famine and so he gives to him counsel and he says to him collect one fifth of the harvest for seven years and appoint an overseer to distribute because at the end of seven years of plenty you'll have an overseer who can distribute the grain to your people who are going to be entering the famine condition that is going to last for seven years and so you can sell grain back to your people and in doing so you can become enriched the result of that is that Pharaoh places him second in command in the nation of Egypt now Joseph remember with me was taken and sold at the age of 17 he is now 30 years of age and he has been hired in his life as he has been mistreated from one place after another while he is there according to verse 50 Joseph gets married he gets married to a woman named Asenat who is the daughter of Patefarah who is the priest of An and she bore to him two sons and so he now is married and he now begins to have his children now according to chapter 42 the famine is now spreading and it spreads all the way to where Joseph's family lived and so Jacob his father needs grain and he tells his 10 sons to purchase grain in Egypt now he has a son that was born to his beloved wife who was born as she was dying and his name is Benjamin he keeps Benjamin with him because he is afraid that calamity may befall him and so Joseph's brothers come and they stand before him in chapter 42 it says beginning at verse 6 Joseph was governor over the land and it was he who sold all the people of the land and Joseph's brothers came and bowed down before him with their faces to the earth Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them but he acted as a stranger to them and spoke roughly to them then he said to them where do you come from and they said from the land of Canaan to buy food so Joseph recognizes brothers but they didn't recognize him then Joseph remembered the dreams which he had dreamed about them and said to them your spies you have come to see the nakedness of the land and they said to him no my lord your servants have come to buy food we are all one man's sons we are honest men your servants are not spies but he said no you have come to see the nakedness of the land they said your servants are 12 brothers the sons of one man in the land of Canaan and in fact the youngest is with our father today and one is no more but Joseph said to them it is as I spoke to you saying you are spies in this manner you shall be tested by the life of Pharaoh unless your youngest brother comes here send one of you and let him bring your brother and you shall be kept in prison that your words may be tested to see whether there is any truth in you or else by the life of Pharaoh surely you are spies so we put them all together in prison for three days Joseph said to them the third day do this and live for I fear God if you are honest men let one of your brothers be confined to your prison house but you go and carry grain for the famine of your houses and bring your youngest brother to me so your words will be verified and you shall not die and they did so then they said to one another we are truly guilty concerning our brother for we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us and we would not hear therefore this distress has come upon us and Reuben answered them saying did I not speak to you saying do not sin against the boy and you would not listen therefore behold his blood is now required of us but they didn't know that Joseph understood them for he spoke to them through an interpreter and he turned himself away from them and wept and he returned to them again and talked with them and he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes so wake up so he looks like an Egyptian he's dressed like one made up like one these Jewish shepherds show up this is a man of high responsibility in the Egyptian court they have no clue who he is they haven't seen him since he's 17 13 years have passed he's a father he's married that'll do something to your looks and that's what has happened so they're speaking amongst themselves as we just read they're speaking in Hebrew not aware that he's listening to everything they say now I used to play a lot of softball and sometimes we would play teams where they had guys who spoke Spanish and I would be on base land the coach the third base coach would be actually yeah I'd be playing third and the coach I remember this taking place the coach for the other team was speaking in Spanish to one of the players there and I don't speak fluent Spanish but I understand enough of it and so you know because I don't appear like I would they were speaking Spanish around me and I could listen to what they were saying I could figure out what they're going to do they're telling the guy to steal or they're telling you know and I just kind of smiling there you know anyway that's what Joseph was doing Joseph is there quietly and they don't know that he can understand the language that is being spoken and so they begin to speak amongst themselves but it is so can't you imagine it is so emotionally tearing to his heart that eventually what he has to do in verse 24 he turns away from them and he weeps and he returns them again and talks with them it is so emotional as he is there watching all of this take place now why did he ask for Simeon to remain notice verse 24 he took Simeon from them and bound him before the rise the reason that he asks for Simeon is because the rabbis taught that Simeon was the one responsible for Joseph's slavery and so he took the one that was responsible and he puts them in jail well in verse 25 before they left Joseph had their money restored to them and they placed it in their sack on their journey home they find it and now they're afraid they return to their father Jacob but he would not hear of letting Benjamin return and they're telling him listen he says we if we come back again we've got to bring Benjamin he says absolutely not going to take place to summarize chapter 43 the famine is severe and now they have to return to Egypt to get grain this time they have to bring Benjamin with them and they return now Joseph had them come into his house and he gives them a supper and he returns Simeon to them now upon seeing his brother Benjamin once again his emotion is too great and he goes and he weeps alone but now in chapter 44 he sets a trap in chapter 44 he hit a cup in the luggage of Benjamin when they left with the grain and then he sends his men to pursue them and they find this cup that he had hidden in their luggage and they return the brothers to Joseph this time Joseph insists that his little brother remained there with him now notice what takes place in verse 30 to 34 it says when I come to your servant my father and the servant is not with us since his life is bound up in the lad's life it will happen when he sees that the lad is not with us that he'll die so your servants will bring down the gray hair of your servant our father with sorrow to the grave for your servant became surety for the lad to my father saying if I do not bring him back to you then I shall bear the blame before my father forever now therefore please let your servant remain instead of the lad as a slave to my lord and let the lad go up with his brothers for how shall I go up to my father if the lad is not with me less perhaps I see the evil that would come upon my father so Judah begins to beg for mercy he's saying Benjamin is the youngest he's dear to my father please let me be the one who's exchanged for him well in chapter 45 Joseph could not restrain himself before all those who stood by him and he cried out make everyone go out so no one stood with him while Joseph made himself known to his brothers and he wept aloud in the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard it and Joseph said to his brothers I am Joseph does my father still live but his brothers couldn't answer him they were dismayed in his presence Joseph said to his brothers please come near to me and they came near and he said I am Joseph your brother whom you sold into Egypt but now do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here verse five powerful for God sent me before you to preserve life for these two years the famine has been in the land and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing or harvesting God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance so now it was not you who sent me here but God and he has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his house and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt hasten go to my father say to him thus says your son Joseph God has made me lord of all Egypt come down to me do not tarry you shall dwell in the land of Goshen you shall be near to me you and your children your children's children your flocks your herds and all that you have there I will provide for you lest you and your household and all that you have come to poverty there are still five years of famine and behold your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see that it is my mouth that speaks to you in other words I'm not using an interpreter so you shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt and of all that you have seen and you shall hasten and bring my father down here then he fell on his brother Benjamin's neck and broke it no he fell on his brother Benjamin's neck and wept and Benjamin wept on his neck moreover he kissed all his brothers and wept over them and after that his brothers talked with him can you see the grace of God in this man's life listen when things are done to us in our life that are harmful that we see as being painful we can learn a lesson from Joseph because Joseph points out it wasn't you it wasn't you alone but God actually orchestrated the various events that led to my being where I am right now so he had a picture of the in the long run what God could do he saw that yeah 13 years in house arrest and in prison 13 years of the things that he went through were enough by themselves to cause anybody to become bitter falsely sold falsely imprisoned falsely accused so many things that were so wrong and yet he had God's view of the thing and he said listen God is in control of all of these things we're gonna see something in a moment but that's something that he's teaching something that we need to learn that the Lord is in control of everything that we go through and so he knew he knew that he had been sent ahead to save their lives at the expense of his own ultimately according to verses 27 and 28 his brothers go home and as they go home they have to confess it says when they told him all the words which Joseph had said to them and when he saw the cards with Joseph had sent to carry him the spirit of Jacob their father revived and Israel said it's enough Joseph my son is still alive go and see him before I die so he's moved he's so moved that he goes to Beersheba where his father had built an altar chapter 46 Israel took his journey with all that he had and came to Beersheba and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac then God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night and said Jacob, Jacob he said here I am and he said I am God the God of your father do not fear to go down to Egypt I make of you a great nation there I will go down with you to Egypt I will also surely bring you up again and Joseph will put his hand on your eyes meaning that he'll be the one who sends you off into eternity and Jacob arose from Beersheba and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob their little ones and their wives and the carts which Pharaoh had sent to carry him and so God meets him in a vision and sets his mind at ease and he leaves and as they begin to go and as they're moving on the father and the son finally reunite look at verse 28 he sent Judah before him to Joseph to point out before him the way to Goshen and they came to the land of Goshen so Joseph may ready his chariot and went up to Goshen to meet his father Israel and he presented himself to him and fell on his neck and wept on his neck a good while and Israel said to Joseph now let me die since I have seen your face because you are still alive now what an amazing reunion that would have been what a blessing that would have been this father who had pretty much buried him in his own heart no hope to ever see his son again finally has an opportunity to be with this one whom he loved so very much who loved his father with all of his heart finally has this wonderful reunion with his dad and as this is taking place you can imagine the incredible emotion that is taking place between a father and a son who had been separated for so very long and ultimately what happens is he takes him home to live with him and he remains with him and finally chapter 50 verse 1 Joseph fell on his father's face this is when he died and Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father so the physicians embalmed Israel 40 days were required for him for such other days required for those who were embalmed and the Egyptians mourned for him 70 days and when the days of his mourning were passed Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh saying if now I have found favor in your eyes please speak in the hearing of Pharaoh saying my father made me swear saying behold I'm dying in my grave which I dug for myself in the land of Canaan there you shall bury me now therefore please let me go up and bury my father and I will come back Pharaoh said go up and bury your father as he made you swear so Joseph went up to bury his father and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh the elders of his house and all the elders of the land of Egypt as well as all the house of Joseph his brothers and his father's house only the little ones their flocks and their herds they left in the land of Goshen and there went up with him both chariots and horsemen and it was a very great gathering then they came to the threshing floor of Atad which is beyond the Jordan and they mourned there with great and very solemn lamentation he observed seven days of mourning for his father and when the inhabitants of the land of Canaanites saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad they said this is a grievous mourning of the Egyptians and therefore the name was called Abel Mishraim which is beyond the Jordan so his sons did for him just as he had commanded them his sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Maqvelah before Mamre which Abraham bought with a field from Ephraim the Hittite as property for a burial place and after he had buried his father Joseph returned to Egypt he and his brothers and all who went with him to bury his father when Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead they said perhaps Joseph will hate us and may actually repay us for all the evil which we did to him so they sent messengers to Joseph saying before your father died he commanded saying thus you shall say to Joseph I beg you please forgive the trespass of your brothers and their sin for they did evil to you now please forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of your father Joseph wept when they spoke to him his brothers also went and fell down before his face and they said behold we are your servants Joseph said to them do not be afraid for am I in the place of God verse 20 but as for you you meant evil against me but God meant it for good in order to bring it about that about as it is this day to save many people alive now therefore do not be afraid I will provide for you and your little ones and he comforted them and spoke kindly to them Joseph dwelt in Egypt he and his father's household and Joseph lived 110 years Joseph saw Ephraim's children to the third generation the children of Mahir the son of Manasseh were also brought upon Joseph's knees and Joseph said to his brethren I am dying but God will surely visit you and bring you out of this land of which he swore to Abraham Isaac and to Jacob Joseph took an oath from the children of Israel saying God will surely visit you and you shall carry up my bones from here and Joseph died being 110 years old they embalmed him and he was put in a coffin in Egypt if you underscore scripture verse 20 it's a powerful scripture as for you you meant evil against me but God meant it for good in order to bring it about as it is this day to save many people alive one last thing and then we'll close there are times that things may occur that as they happen you may think what could be worse than this this obviously is from the enemy and it's destroying me but even when that thing occurs that is so painful and hurtful God can use those things to build in you a sense of his presence and to awaken in you something that he intends for your life that is actually going to be good when I was 4 years old my brother and I were playing in my parents home in the front room my mom was in the kitchen with my sister Madeleine this was a day when we had a pocket door this was a day when a lot of mamas would actually bathe their children in the sink instead of a bathtub my sister Madeleine at that time was around a year or a little bit less than a year old as I recall and what mom would do the price or the cost of heating a whole house with the heater is she would just close the doors in the kitchen and turn on the oven and let the oven warm up that area some of you know exactly what I'm talking about some still do that to this day you can warm up the house with an oven and my mom used to do that it saved heating costs and all and so she did that as a regular practice and she would bathe my sister in the kitchen well my brother and I were playing and the pocket door was slid closed when we heard a sound of heavy falling and the pocket door begins to vibrate and so when we heard the sound of someone falling naturally we're afraid that perhaps my mom has hurt herself and Frankie's six and I'm four and so I remember going up to the pocket door and sticking my fingers in it and sliding it open and my mother's body falling into the area that I was in her body fell right at my feet and as she fell there she was between me and my sister I couldn't get to my sister who was sitting there on the sink wet from being bathed and I couldn't get past my mom because I was afraid you see my mom was having an epileptic seizure and for a four year old who's never seen anything like that it's a terrifying experience it's a very frightening experience and so I remember pressing my back against the wall like this at my mom's head at my feet her head is at my feet and she's having a seizure and I am petrified now my brother is only six years old and he runs out of the house and he says you watch Madeline and I remember leaning against the wall and I remember my first prayer that I can remember praying it was a simple one God don't let my mother die I remember that prayer God don't let my mother die my brother ran across the street and got a neighbor who came and found my mom on the floor at my feet and began to minister to her took the baby all of this felt like it took forever but probably was less than five minutes and from that day at the age of four I began to be afraid that my mother's going to die I would go to school and occasionally get a phone call your mother's been taken to the doctor your mother's been in is in the hospital and for a series of all of my life up to fifteen I can remember having a constant fear that one day I'll get a call and my mother's dead and she'll start to fear as a child see you hear my testimony of when I was fifteen I started doing the drugs and the alcohol but you don't know why I tried to be good because I had this belief that if I was good my mother would get well and so I made a bargain with God that I would be good and I tried hard until I was fifteen I really did I tried so hard to be the perfect son so that my mom would not grow ill at the age of fifteen I came to realize no matter what I'm doing my mom's ill and that's when I started drinking and that's when I started partying because I had convinced myself you have given up all of these years all these years eleven years out of fifteen to trying to be good and look at all that you've missed and I still remember making decisions and that's when I started doing the drugs and that's when I went in that direction God saved me at the age of twenty but you know what happened in all of that rebellion and all of that that I went through I came to understand something about verse twenty and that's why I'm illustrating it this way you meant evil against me but God bent it for good one of the things that the Lord has brought into my heart that is real is I have a very tender heart towards people who are ill very tender when I minister to people who are hurting I understand that I understand that because I've been there and I know the feeling and that's why when somebody is hurting that's why I sincerely care because I've been in that situation and I believe that the Lord took what the enemy would have used for evil because he had I had made the rebellious choice who cares, who wants to care who cares about these hurting people but you know what the Lord did the Lord said no I'm going to take what could have been used as evil and I'm going to put something that's very deep in your heart and that's to care for people that matter in some ways but I'm one of those guys who cannot watch these shows with children who are hurting I can't watch them I will not watch them Marie knows this about me the minute you see a little African child starving I change the channel I can't handle that because it hits me that deeply and I'll turn to her and I'll say we've got to do something we've got to help somebody we've got to do to help these kids there's got to be something we can do to help that person what the enemy intended for evil God in my life has used it for good because it broke me and it made me tender now look at some of the things in your life that have happened that you might feel how could anything like this turn out for good there are things that have happened that the Lord can use to develop a sense that other people just don't have you may be like me sometimes people will tell me I was so loaded and I was so drunk I don't even know how I showed up where I'm at and I don't judge them I don't sit there saying how can you do that because I've been there because I know what it's like to wake up in a backyard and not know how you got there I know what it's like to wake up in the backseat of a car filled with vomit that you've vomited all over yourself all night long because you were so drunk and so sick I know what that's like I know those feelings and those things that the enemy wants to use for evil are the things that God uses in your life to develop compassion and understanding and forgiveness and love and appreciation and joy because God broke you see Joseph said listen I was sold into slavery this is true but I'm not blaming you for it because God used that and though you intended it for evil indeed you did God used it for good and that is how character sometimes is developed in our lives so rather than hating the experiences we went through those experiences and we look for God in those experiences perhaps the Lord is training me up in something here now I do remember speaking to my own pastor Chuck Smith on one occasion saying look at some of these lessons can't I just learn them from reading a book and he said well no these lessons you learn so that you can have compassion on other people because God is the God of consolation who gives to you consolation and so the consolation you received you give to somebody else and that's how it works guys and so in many ways we can see things in our life that as we look back we say how in the world could those things work out for good and then God puts you in a position where you're ministering to somebody talking to somebody on the job site at school wherever and they're saying I've never told anybody anything like this but this is what went on in my life and you're looking at them and you don't have to tell them exactly what you're talking about you'd have to do that but you do understand just today I was talking to somebody after one of the services and they were sharing their heart with me and I just looking at them in the eye and I smiled at them and I said I know exactly what you're talking about I know exactly what you're talking about been there experienced that and I can tell you that God will bring you through I can tell you God will bring you through because the Lord will help you to do that all of this in the life of Joseph so that he can ultimately make mention of the departure of the children of Israel and say this is where I want my bones to be placed because he knew that God wasn't through with his life and God was going to do a work in that land even though he didn't die in the promised land but he made sure that he arrived there physically because God's promises are true and so Joseph learned and so may I encourage you today may I encourage you that even though you may go through some things that are unfair and painful to look for what God can do in them and you will be amazed at what the Lord will use even when the enemy meant it for evil