Joseph

So when I was a young believer of about the age of 19, I could not have given you a definition or explained to you perfectly what God's providence was, but I had experienced it. So we had this great idea. Maybe it was a little bit of a nutty idea. It's what kind of 19 year olds do when they read the Bible and think about, I'm gonna do that. So we read the story of Joshua walking around Jericho seven times and praying for it. And then the walls came tumbling down. And so we read that story and we were like, let's try that. So we went to Underground Atlanta, where we were living at the time. Underground Atlanta was kind of a place with some bars and restaurants and entertainment and that kind of stuff. And it was there for a while, then it wasn't. And now they're, I think reinvisioning in Atlanta to try and do something there. But anyway, we were like, let's go walk around Underground Atlanta, me and three of my friends and let's pray for this place 'cause there's lots of crazy going on here and let's see what happens. And so we were like, yeah, yeah, let's do that. It's what 19 year old new believers do. And so we did, and as we were going around, I think it was on maybe time number five, five and a half, whatever it was, we would come around the backside, and it wasn't an alley, but it was just kind of, there wasn't anything there. And it was a solid building there. And then you would turn the corner and then there would be a lot of people and stuff. And so me and a friend of mine I think were walking ahead. And then there were some friends that were a bit behind us and we stopped, like time five and a half. We stopped for, I don't know, 20, 30 seconds to wait on our friends to come. And our friends got with us. And then we continued praying and we walked right around the corner and that's when the gunshots started ringing out. And it was a drive by shooting. And we were right next to these cement kind of planters. Basically, they had plants in them that we just got right behind and we were in good shape and safe and all of those things. And this was on the news in Atlanta and all of that. And finally, when the police and the ambulances and all kind of came and attended to who they needed to attend to, and then cleared out a bit, we finished our walk around, at least few of us did, praying for that place and then went home. We got home and I don't know if it was on a Friday night or a Saturday night. And then on Sunday church where we worship, we were with our college group there. And we shared with them what we had done, that we had walked around this place seven times. And then, there was a drive by shooting and God had protected us. And we finished walking around and continued to pray for it, and then we went home. And so while we're sharing this story in our college group, apparently some other kids in our college group, unbeknownst to us decided, hey, I think next weekend, we're gonna go down there. And so they did. And the next weekend, they ended up going down to Underground Atlanta and ended up leading a bunch of people to faith in Christ. You know what I call that? God's providence. I had no idea at the time what we were doing. I didn't know how all this was working out. I didn't know anything really about anything. I knew that God had graced us and protected us and provided for us by stopping us for a few seconds, probably 30 seconds to wait on our friends because had he not, we would have been right in the line of the gunfire. This is what we call God's providence. You see, the word providence is one that maybe we don't understand. You're thinking to yourself, you couldn't explain it when you were a 19 year old, I can't explain it even now. What exactly is God's providence? Well, the word providence comes from two root words. So you've got this kind of the Latin meanings of these, and they're kind of slammed together the word pro, which means ahead. And then the word, videre, which is where we get our word video, means to see. So when you put those together, the idea is ahead to see. And so some of you are thinking, okay, so does providence mean that God sees ahead? Well, sort of, we know that already. That God has for knowledge, that God can see everything at all times. And he can see ahead about it 'cause he's God. This is part of being God. Part of the definition of God is that you can see everything, that you know everything, that you're sovereign over everything. So we already know that. The idea of providence is a little more specific. It's less about knowing that God can see ahead, which we know he can, but in the words that we would use, that God can see to something. In other words, if I were to say, oh man, this person over here, they're really cold and they don't have a coat. And then I say, somebody see to it that they get a coat. You know how you use that term. You're gonna see to something. That's kind of the idea behind God's providence. If I were using a definition of God's providence, it's my own definition by the way, it would simply be this, providence means God seeing to his world and his will. Providence means God seeing to his world and to his will. And the reason that I bring this idea up and I start talking about the idea of God's providence and even defining the idea of God's providence is because what I want you to come away with today is this understanding, that God's providence gives hope. That's what I want you to get today. If you're gonna walk outside and somebody is gonna interview you, hey, what was today about? You're gonna say God's providence gives hope. You see, that's actually the story that we're going to read today in the Old Testament is a story about God's providence and how God's providence actually gives us hope. We're gonna see that play out in the life of a young man. And we're gonna go all the way back in time. I mean, way back into the book of Genesis, and we're gonna go back about 3,500 years ago, and we're gonna meet a young man named Joseph. If you have a Bible with you, you can turn into Genesis chapter number 37. And Genesis is the first book in the Bible, if you're new to God or new to faith or new to the Bible, don't be freaked out. Turn to the first book. How easy was that today? I made it super simple for you. And you'll go to the 37th chapter in that first book. And that's where we'll be learning from here in just a moment. We'll be covering a few chapters, but what we learn when we get to Genesis chapter 37, when we're introduced to Joseph, he's only 17 years old. He's really loved by his father, Jacob. In fact, Joseph's father, Jacob, loves him more than he loves all of his other sons. Joseph's older brothers. That did not go over well with Joseph's brothers, as you could imagine. Some of you have kids. If you were really, really obvious about how you loved one of your kids way more than the other ones, how would that go over with your other kids? Would they love that? Would it be comfortable? I don't think so. And so Joseph has a bunch of other brothers. And all of these other brothers, like 11 of them, they're not real thrilled with the way that Jacob, their dad, loves Joseph more than the rest of them. In fact, he shows it off. He makes for Joseph, Jacob does. He makes for Joseph this really ornate, beautiful, royal, colorful robe. I mean, you would think that Joseph was something like a king or something. He makes him this incredible robe and all the brothers are like, what is going on? This is ridiculous. Dad loves him more than he loves the rest of us. And they hated him. In fact, you're saying, Jerry, you maybe you're exaggerating. No, no, when you read the story, what you find out, it actually says, I'm talking about black ink on white paper. It actually says, they hated him. They hated their brother, Joseph. Now you wanna make matters worse, Joseph was a dreamer and he had dreams. Now I'm not talking about, he had ambition. I'm talking about like, he went to sleep and he had some dreams. And in this one dream that he had, it was a dream about like stocks of grain that were growing up. And he was like, my stock grew up above all of you guys. And he's telling his brothers this dream. My stock grew up above all the rest of your stocks. And in fact, your stocks bowed down to mine. How do you think that went over? They are not liking this at all. They're like, well, you're gonna rule over us? We're gonna bow down to you. You're an idiot. What are you talking about? Then Joseph has another dream. And it's very similar. And not only is it 11 stocks that are around that are bowing down to him, but there's two more meaning his dad and his mom, like they're bowing down too. And he tells his brothers and they're like, dude, just get away from us and then his dad hears about the dream. And his dad rebukes Joseph. But what's interesting and file this way. What's interesting is the text actually says, that Jacob, Joseph's dad, even though he rebuked Joseph, probably 'cause he was like, you're gonna get beat up by your brothers. They hate this. Stop talking. But he filed it away. It says that he kinda kept hold of that dream that he heard Joseph say, we'll come back to that later. But he filed it away. So, one day, Jacob says to Joseph, "Hey, I want you to go out. And I want you to check on your brothers. They're out doing their thing with the sheep and the livestock and the animals. And they're out there hunting. I want you to go check on them and give me a report. That's where the story starts getting a little saucy. 'Cause now Joseph is starting to show up to his brothers who were out in the middle of wherever they are. Nobody else is around and they hate his guts. And in fact, he has his sweet robe on that they hate seeing every time it starts to show up and as they see him approaching, here's what the text says in Genesis 37. "Here comes that dreamer, they said to each other, come now, let's kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him." This is just like escalating quickly. "Then we'll see what comes of his dreams. When Ruben who heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. Let's not take his life, he said, don't shed any blood. Throw him into the cistern here in the wilderness. But don't lay a hand on him. Ruben said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father. So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the ornate robe he was wearing. And they took him and threw him into the cistern. The cistern was empty. There was no water in it. And as they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites, also called Midianites, coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt. Judah, who was one of the brothers, said to the rest of his brothers, what will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? Come, let's sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him. After all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood and his brothers agreed." And you can see that this went really bad, really fast. And Joseph's life changed dramatically at this point. Basically what happened is there was a powerful mob. Unfortunately, this powerful mob was his brothers. And they used their power to harm Joseph. They sold him to the Ishmaelites or the Midianites. And then they took his robe off of him and they dipped it in animal blood. And they took it back to their father, Jacob, and lied to their dad and said, "Joseph got eaten by a wild animal." Even though they'd thrown him into the cistern and they were selling him to the Ishmaelites. And Jacob, the father, who loves him the most is absolutely crushed. And then Joseph doesn't just stay in the possession of the Ishmaelites or the Midianites. They actually make their way back to Egypt and they make another transaction with him. Here's what it says in verse 36 of the same chapter. It says, Meanwhile, the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh's officials, the captain of the guard." So his brothers turn on him. They hate his guts. They don't kill him, but they fake his death. They report that back to the dad. The dad is absolutely crushed. They sell him to the Ishmaelites for whatever that costs them. And then the Ishmaelites take Joseph and they sell him to a man named Potiphar who works for Pharaoh. And now Joseph finds himself as a slave in Potiphar's house, which seems to be just, things are getting worse and worse. But, part of her sees what a great guy Joseph is, how he's trustworthy, how he's faithful, how he's a hard worker, all of those things. And he actually, Potiphar puts Joseph in charge of his entire house. The only people that Joseph is not in charge of are Potiphar and his wife, that's it. But Joseph is in charge of everything else. He's taking care of everything for Potiphar. It seemed like a really good situation. There's Joseph, even though he's been sold into slavery, he ends up getting to be kind of the boss over this guy's house. This guy works directly for Pharaoh. Man, this isn't the worst deal in the world. He's probably eating fine. He's able to lead a bunch of people and he's doing it faithfully and nobly. You think this is a great situation, but that situation began to turn pretty quickly as well. Here's what happened. Genesis chapter 39, it says, "With Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself," in other words, "Potiphar did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate. Now, Joseph was well-built and handsome. And after a while, his master's wife took notice of Joseph and said, come to bed with me. But Joseph refused. With me in charge, he told her, my master doesn't concern himself with anything in the house. Everything he owns, he has entrusted to my care. No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me, except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God? And though she spoke to Joseph day after day after day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even to be with her. One day, he went into the house to attend to his duties and none of the household servants was inside. And she caught Joseph by his cloak and said, come to bed with me. But he left his cloak in her hand and he ran out of the house. When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand and had run out of the house. She called her household servants. Look, she said to them, this Hebrew has been brought to us to make sport of us. He came in here to sleep with me, but I screamed. When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house." Just a lie. "She kept his cloak beside her, until his master came home. Then she told Potiphar this story. That Hebrew slave you brought us, came to me to make sport of me. But as soon as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house. And when his master heard the story, his wife had told him saying, this is how your slave treated me, he burned with anger." You can imagine. This is a horrible story of what happened to Joseph, because what happened to Joseph here is that he got abused by power once again. It had already happened to him once, remember? When he was with his brothers and his brothers had power, there was older brothers. There was a mob of them and they wanted to kill him. And so they concocted this whole story and they used their power to harm Joseph. And now you have a woman who has great power over Joseph. That power is that she's married to Potiphar. Joseph is a Hebrew slave. She reminds him of that. And she wants to utilize her power to make Joseph be her servant for sex. And even though Joseph is a godly man and resists that and says no to all of that, she ends up lying and lying to her husband about it all. It's remarkable, isn't it? 'Cause this story, when we read it initially, we think maybe to ourselves in the day and age that we live in, here's a story about a woman lying about something about a man and we kind of cast that on to all women at that point. It's a story about a woman lying, that's for sure. And that shouldn't be dismissed. But what it's about, it's about someone in power who's abusing someone who doesn't have any. That's what this story is about. It's the same thing that happened to Joseph with his brothers, is now happening to him in Potiphar's house. You see, when people in power use their power to manipulate, to coerce or to abuse or to extort, and then they can lie to accomplish it without any immediate present circumstances or consequences, it feels helpless to those without power. And Joseph who was property of Potiphar and his wife, he was a slave. He didn't have the power to be able to fight this. And now, like what happened with his brothers, Joseph has to deal with the consequences of unjust and abusive treatment. That's what's happening to Joseph. And you know what happens to him? He gets thrown in jail. That's what Potiphar did. He was angry and he threw Joseph in jail. Well, as you can imagine, Joseph didn't change. He's still the same Joseph. He's still faithful. He's still noble. He's still a man of high character. He's still godly. And while he's in the jail, I don't know how long passed, but the warden eventually started going, I like this guy. It's exactly what happened in Potiphar's house. Potiphar did the same thing. He's got this new slave guy and he looks at him and he goes after a while he goes, "I like this guy. I think this guy is honest. He's hardworking. I like this guy." Well, the same thing happened in jail. And you know what the warden did? The warden put him in charge. So the warden just got to sit back in his office on his phone, and Joseph's running the place. He's in charge of all the prisoners. It's amazing, isn't it? Joseph, and really bad things happen. And then Joseph gets put in charge, and then something really bad happens and he goes to jail. And now he gets put in charge in jail. And now he's watching over all the prisoners. And after some time and some years have passed by where Joseph is in jail and he's kind of running the prison at this point. Notice what happens. It's in Genesis chapter 40, I think. It says, "Sometime later, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their master, the king of Egypt. Pharaoh was angry with his two officials, the chief bearer and the chief baker. And he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the same prison where Joseph was confined. The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph and he attended them. And after they had been in custody for some time, each of the two men, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt who were being held in prison, they had a dream the same night and each dream had a meaning of its own. When Joseph came to them the next morning, he saw that they were dejected. So he asked Pharaoh's officials who were in custody with him in his master's house, why do you look so sad today? We both had dreams, they answered, but there's no one to interpret them. Then Joseph said to them, do you know interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams." So it's a remarkable thing. Joseph's just been in jail and he's getting to run the jail. And then he's got two of Pharaoh's officials, a cupbearer and a baker who are now in jail because they've made Pharaoh mad. And now Joseph is watching over these guys and he sees them one day after some time. And he's like, you guys look really sad, what's going on? And they're like, "Well, we both had dreams." And Joseph's like, okay. And they said, "Well, we had dreams and we don't know what to do with them. We don't know how to interpret them." And Joseph says, well, the interpretation of dreams belongs to God. And I love God. And I follow God. So why don't you tell me your dreams?" And they're like, okay. So they told him the dreams and I won't go into the specifics of the kind of the picture of the dreams. But then Joseph said, "Okay, God's helped me. And I'll give you the interpretation of the dreams. For you, Mr. Cupbearer, in three days, Pharaoh is going to lift your head and he's gonna restore you back to your position as cupbearer in his cabinet. He was like, right on. And he said, "And you Mr. Baker, here's what your dream means." 'Cause the baker was fired up when he heard that interpretation, he's like, "Tell me, tell me mine, tell me mine." And Joseph went, "Okay, if you wanna know yours, Pharaoh's gonna lift your head up in three days and remove it from your shoulders and impale you on a pole. And the birds are gonna eat the flesh." Okay, peace out. We'll see you. I mean, that's what he did. He told 'em, I'm sure he said, I'm sorry, but that's what the dream is. And that's what it's gonna be. But then Joseph said to the cupbearer, he didn't say anything to the baker 'cause the baker was gonna be done. And he said to the cupbearer, he said, "Hey, when you get out and you go back to the Pharaoh, all I ask is one thing. Just remember me and mention to the Pharaoh, I'm in here and get me out." Pretty simple. It's gonna happen in three days. You're gonna be out. Just let him know. Cupbearer's like, okay. Everything happened exactly as Joseph said. In three days, baker, goodnight, cupbearer, back with Pharaoh. And then listen to what verse 23 says, "The chief cupbearer however, did not remember Joseph, he forgot him." Another one for Joseph. It's like, it's bad. And then it's like, it's starting to get better, it's bad again. It starting to get better, it's bad again. This is what's happening, it seems, in Joseph's life time after time after time. So Joseph's forgotten. He's in jail still. Two years pass. And then guess what happens? Pharaoh has a dream that he can't interpret. And the cupbearer, when he hears Pharaoh going, "I wish there was somebody that could help me out with my dreams." The cupbearer goes, "Oh man, I was supposed to remember my man, Joseph. I totally forgot. Time got away from me. It's been two years." But he tells Pharaoh, "Hey, I know a guy." Pharaoh says, "Okay, get him." He brings Joseph. Joseph now is speaking to the Pharaoh. Pharaoh says, "Here's my dream, Joseph, what does it mean? And he says, "I can't tell you, but God can interpret it. And God helping me here's what it means." And he basically says to Pharaoh, "Your dream means that there's gonna be seven years of abundance, followed by seven years of famine in the land. So Pharaoh's like, "Well, what am I gonna do about this? I don't know what I'm gonna do about this. I'm hiring you 'cause I think you can be trusted. You've given me the interpretation of the dream, I'm hiring you. You're now in charge of all of Egypt, except for me and my family. You're in charge of everything. Again, he was in charge of Potiphar's house. He was in charge of the jail. Now, he's in charge of Egypt. Who would have seen this coming? With all of this happening. And so Joseph now is in power and he leads very well. He's now 30 years old, leading Egypt, only answering to the Pharaoh himself. The famine comes after he has already worked for seven years to accrue a bunch of grains so that they could make it through that time. The famine comes. He leads exceptionally well through it. And now not only is he caring for Egypt, but other people from other nations are coming to be able to seek help and assistance from Egypt, including Joseph's family. They travel from the land of Canaan and they come to Egypt and Joseph's brothers are now in front of Joseph asking for help. And they don't recognize him. Why would they? He was 17 when they faked his death. They're not gonna remember now. Now he's grown man. Like he's 30 years old. He looks different. He's probably got the makeup on that they had in the Pharaoh's court. He's wearing all of this royal. Like they're never thinking this, that this could be Joseph. So they don't recognize him. What does Joseph do? He rattles their cage a little bit. I mean, you read the story and it's like, I would. I mean he rattles their cage a little bit, but you know what he is? He's so kind to them. So gracious to them. So generous to them, even without them really knowing what he's doing. And over the course of time, finally, eventually, he reveals himself to his brothers. Listen to what it says in Genesis chapter 45. "Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendance. And he cried out, have everyone leave my presence. So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers and he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him. And Pharaoh's household heard about it. Joseph said to his brothers, I am Joseph, is my father still living? But his brothers were not able to answer him because they were terrified at his presence, you can imagine. Then Joseph said to his brothers, come close to me. When they had done so, he said, I am your brother, Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt and now do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. For two years now, there has been famine in the land. And for the next five years, there will be no plowing and reaping, but God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance." What a perspective Joseph had. It is mind boggling to me. And so what Joseph ends up doing is providing for his family. His dad gets to finally know that his son is still living. Joseph moves his family from where they were into Egypt so that they can be cared for. And Joseph's also able to help care for other nations around Egypt to get them through the time of famine. This, my brothers and sisters, my friends, this is a story of God's providence and providence gives us hope. See God is seeing to his world and seeing to his will, even through all of the ebbs and flows of Joseph's life, God is taking care of not only Joseph, but is taking care of his plan that he's working out in the world.

God's providence gives hope. And in fact, I wanna pull just three quick things from that, that I think are gonna be hopeful for us all. God's providence gives hope that God is always with those who trust him. This is the first truth that I want you to embrace. That God's providence gives hope that God is always with those who trust him. Even when all the terrible things were happening, Joseph had made a decision to trust God. And as a result, God was with him. When we read the story, we actually see that. We see when Joseph was in Potiphar's house or when Joseph went to prison, listen to how the story is actually told in Genesis 39, it says this, "The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered and he lived in the house of Potiphar, his Egyptian master." The Lord was with Joseph. And then Joseph got thrown into prison. But notice what it says a little bit later in that chapter, "Joseph's master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined. But while Joseph was there in the prison, the Lord was with him. He showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. You know what's beautiful about this reminder? Is that because he had chosen to trust in God, what we know about Joseph is that even though Joseph felt isolated, he felt alone, he felt abandoned, God was with him. Every single step of the way. At some point, Joseph had to be convinced. At some point, Joseph had to be convinced of the trustworthiness of God. His great grandfather, Abraham, had testified to this. His grandfather, Isaac, had testified to this. His father, Jacob, had testified to this. But at some point, Joseph had to own this himself. Hey, let me say something quick to you. Young men and young women who are watching me, listening to me wherever you are. I would thank God if your mom or your dad or your grandparents, whomever they may be, have influenced you for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ, that is a wonderful legacy to have. Here's what you need to understand. At some point, you have to own your own faith. It has to be yours. You can't just let it be your mom, your dad's, your grandparent's, your great grandparent's. It has to be yours. You have to choose to trust God. Here's why, because difficult things are gonna come in our lives. And when they do, we have to make a choice as to whether or not we are going to faithfully follow after God. We have to decide for ourselves to trust God. Joseph's situation was tough, but he trusted God and God was always with him. Moses would make the same choice a little bit later on. I won't go into that. But what we have to remember is this, God is seeing to it, that his presence is with us. You might feel alone. You might feel abandoned. You're never alone. You're never abandoned because those who trust in God, God is always with them. That's what this story of Joseph teaches us. But I wanna show you a second truth in this passage of scripture, of why God's providence gives us hope and it's this. God's providence gives hope that evil can be turned around for good. God's providence gives hope that evil can be turned around for good. It was one evil event that started this whole chain of events. It was the hate of Joseph's brothers for Joseph. They hated him so much that they faked his death and it started this entire chain of events that went from Joseph being a slave to the Ishmaelites, to being sold to Potiphar, to being thrown into prison, now he's living in Egypt and he's away from his family, has been separated. All of this started with one pivotal event, but Joseph trusted in God's providence. And it framed, listen to this, it framed how he saw everything in the world. Like everything that Joseph saw in the world, he saw through that lens. His words to his brothers, when he finally sees his brothers, his words to his brothers are so full of truth and so full of hope and so full of perspective. There's another passage in there that talks about what he said to his brothers. It's in Genesis 50, listen to what it says. It says, "His brothers, Joseph's brothers came and threw themselves down before him." Remember the vision that he had, the dream that he had. Here they are. They threw themselves down before Joseph, we are your slaves, they said, but Joseph said to them, don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good, to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." What you meant for evil, God meant for good. You see, this is the beauty of God's providence and why it gives us hope because it gives us hope that evil can be turned around for good. What you meant for evil, my brothers, God has turned it around and he's used it for good, for the saving of many lives, including my own family and other nations. I've been able to be in a position now. God has put me in a position to be able to save many lives. What you meant for evil, God actually meant for good. Doesn't that give us hope? Doesn't that give you hope? Are you guys here today? This should be something that inspires hope in our lives because we're all going to face situations of evil that happen in our lives. And if we believe in the providence of God and we actually trust that God is with us in the midst of these things, God has the capacity to turn that evil thing that was meant for evil and turn it and bring good out of this. To God's glory and ultimately to our good. Paul taught us the same thing in the New Testament, by the way. The apostle Paul said this in Romans 8, he said, "We know that in all things," how many things?

All. Does all mean good and bad? Yeah. We know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. That in all things, God will work for his glory and for our good, even if those things were meant for evil. In fact, the reason that Paul told the church this is because Paul believed this himself. When Paul was in jail, listen to what he wrote to the church of Philippi when he was in jail. "I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me, getting thrown in jail, has actually served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I'm in chains for Christ. And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear." Do you see the lens he's looking through? That God's providence. I know I've gotten thrown in jail, but do you know what? This evil thing that they've done and throwing me in jail for preaching the gospel, God has actually turned it around because now, the gospel is going out to all of these people and all the brothers and sisters in Christ are seeing that I got jailed for preaching the gospel and they're emboldened to preach the gospel all the more. So the gospel is going out all over the place because of this. So what was meant for evil, God has actually turned around and he's using for God. You see, Paul understood this as well that's why he was teaching us to have that frame of mind and that frame of reference. So how can we turn evil around to good? Like how does that happen in our lives when we experience evil? When we overcome evil with good. That's what Joseph did. Joseph overcame evil with good. You know how badly he was treated by his brothers? You know how badly he was treated by Potiphar's wife? They had power over him as a mob of brothers to do what they wanted to do and they used it for evil. She had power over him because he was a slave and she used it for evil. But do you know what happened when Joseph got power? He didn't use it like they used it. He used it differently. He used it righteously. Good overcame evil. Listen to this. Joseph's forgiveness overcame his brother's violence and Potiphar's wife's lives. Joseph's acceptance and love overcame the rejection and hate that was served up to him. And do you know what God used him to do? To save many lives. See, we can overcome evil with good. Why don't you ask the Lord about your own situation? 'Cause you've got 'em. We've all had 'em. We've all had situations where evil was meant for us. You may have not experienced it recently. You may be in the middle of it. You may be about to face it. But know this, how can you ask God to help overcome evil with good? Because the hope that we have in God's providence, because God seeing to his world and to his will and to his people, God seeing to them, you can know you're never alone. And you can know that even what was meant for evil can be turned around for good. But there's a third truth here. And it's this, God's providence gives hope that God will fulfill his promises. Stay with me here for just a moment. God will fulfill his promises. You see, Joseph knew from a young man, even as a young kid, he knew that God had made promises to his great-grandfather Abraham. Abraham had told Isaac, Isaac had told Jacob, Jacob told Joseph. He had made promises to Abraham that haven't been filled yet. And Joseph knew that, but he made some promises to Abraham. I mean, if you read Genesis 12, Genesis 15, Genesis 17, you'll see those promises unpacked for Abraham. Let me show you some of those in Genesis 17, it says, "Abraham fell facedown and God said to him, as for me, this is my covenant with you. This is a promise that I'm making here, Abraham, you'll be the father of many nations, no longer will you be called Abraham, your name will be Abraham for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful. I will make nations of you and kings will come from you." Do you hear that? "I will make you very fruitful. I'll make nations of you and kings will come from you. I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you and I will be their God. Do you listen? There are three promises that God made to Abraham right there. He promised him that he would be a nation. He promised him a land and he promised him a royal seed. We just read it. You were with me. He promised him a nation, a land and a royal seed. Here's what Jacob knew. Jacob knew that God is a God who fulfills his promises. And Jacob knew, I'm sorry, Joseph, and Joseph knew this too. Jacob knew it also. Joseph knew this. Joseph knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, God fulfills his promises. And Joseph knew in God's providence that he himself may be even a part of the fulfillment of God's promises. Even through all the stuff that he's been through, God and his providence was seeing to his promises. And so, interestingly enough, God brings Joseph to a place where he's ruling Egypt, helping care for everyone, brings his family to the land of Egypt and there they are dwelling and provided for. And do you know what the Bible actually says about the Israelites that came into Egypt, his family, and some of the friends there? What the Bible actually says about them? Listen to what it says. It's in Genesis 47. It says, "Now the Israelites settled in Egypt in the region of Goshen and they acquired property there and were fruitful and increased greatly in number. The very thing that God had promised Abraham, Abraham, you're gonna have, a nation is gonna come from you and it's going to be a fruitful nation. And now what we see is we see the very beginning of that, they're not a nation yet, but they are becoming a nation as they are being fruitful in the land of Egypt. But he also promised 'em a land. That hadn't happened yet. They didn't have a land yet. But the interesting thing is, Joseph was so convinced. Joseph was so convinced in God being faithful to his promises, that the very end of the book of Genesis, which is the end of the story of Joseph tells us something very interesting about how convinced Joseph was about a God who fulfills his promises. Listen to what it says, very end of Genesis 50. "Then Joseph said to his brothers, I'm about to die, but God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land, to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And Joseph made the Israelites swear an oath and said, God will surely come to your aid. And then you must carry my bones up from this place. So Joseph died at the age of 110. And after they embalmed him, he was placed in a coffin in Egypt." This is how much Joseph, now at the age of 110, even at the age of 30, when he was ruling Egypt and helping his family. And now he'd grown old and he says to his brothers, "I'm about die, but here's what I know. God has made a promise to my great-grandfather Abraham and God is gonna be good on his promise. And that promise is, that we're gonna have a land and God is gonna give it to you. I'm not gonna see it. I'm about to die, but I believe it so strongly that I am making you swear to me this day as I die, when my bones are buried here, that when God does what he says he's going to do, my bones are going with you. My bones are headed into the land that he promised us. You swear to me you'll do that. They said, we'll do it. And centuries passed, and the people of Israel grew in Egypt and they forgot all about not the Israelites, but the Egyptians. They forgot all about Joseph. And now the Israelites were slaves in Egypt, but God raises up Moses to lead his people out of captivity in Egypt. And he is going to lead them through the Red Sea and heading toward the land of promise. But guess what? Moses did not forget. Listen to what it says in Exodus chapter 13, "Moses took the bones of Joseph with him because Joseph made the Israelites swear an oath and said, God will surely come to your aid. And then you must carry my bones up with you from this place." Moses remembered. Moses was carrying on the idea of the faithfulness of God. And now God was coming through on his promise. And he was bringing the bones of Joseph with him. Could you imagine what that was saying to all the people of Israel that were walking when these young kids are looking, going, mom, dad, what's up with the box over there? I see Mr. Moses is carrying a box. What is that? Oh honey, those are Joseph's bones. Who is Joseph? Let me tell you a story. Joseph trusted God, and God has been faithful. Joseph couldn't see it for centuries, but he knew that God was seeing to his work. God was seeing to his promises. But you and I both know something, Moses didn't make it in. Moses wasn't able to lead them. There was a long detour of 40 years. Where Joseph's bones are just detouring with them. But guess what? When Joshua brought them into the land, Joshua did not forget either. And here's what it says in Joshua chapter 24, "And Joseph's bones which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt were buried at Shechem in the track of land that Jacob bought for 100 pieces of silver from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem. This became the inheritance of Joseph's descendants." They didn't forget either. And in fact, when the New Testament writer of the book of Hebrews is talking about people of faith from the Old Testament in Hebrews chapter 11, this hall of fame of faith, of all of the things that you could grab from Joseph's life, that he was so faithful to God in and showed such faith in. Do you know what they grabbed? Here's what he writes in Hebrews 11:22, "By faith, Joseph, when his end was near spoke about the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones." Joseph teaches us that God will fulfill his promises. He can be trusted. See, this matters to us right now. This matters to us because God promised them, listen to this, God promised that they would be a nation. They became one. God promised that they would have a land. They got it. God promised that there would be a royal seed. What happened there? You can only imagine that if you're reading Genesis chapter 17 and you see this promise to Abraham of a royal seed, that's going to come from him. Kings are going to come from you, Abraham. That you're on pins and needles as you keep reading the book of Genesis. And when you get, listen to this, and when you get to Genesis 37 and you see that there's a young man named Joseph, whose father makes for him a royal robe who has a dream that people will bow down before him, you start going, hmm. I'm starting to smell a little bit of what the promise to Abraham was cooking back in Genesis 17. And I'm starting to get whiffs of that right here. You see, it was an anticipated promise that Joseph's robe and Joseph's dream were meant to hint at, but where you really have to pay attention is when Joseph's dad, Jacob, right before he's about to die. And he starts prophesying over all of his 12 sons. What he says to Judah comes from what he remembered about Joseph's dream. Remember I told you to hang on to that, listen to what he said to Judah. Jacob said this in Genesis 49, "Judah, your brothers will praise you. Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies." Listen to this. "Your father's sons will bow down to you. You are a lion's cub, Judah, you returned from the prey, my son. Like a lion, he crouches and lies down like a lioness who dares to rouse him. The Sceptre will not depart, King Sceptre will not depart from Judah nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his. You see, the beautiful picture here is that the same language of Joseph's dream Jacob uses when he prophesies over the tribe of Judah. What he's saying is this. Is that from the tribe of Judah, another Joseph is going to come and they will bow down to him. As surely as God promised it, he fulfilled it. In the short term, you could point to David. David who was born in Bethlehem, Judah, of the tribe of Judah and he ruled the nations. But 1000 years even after David, this promise even got more clear because born in Bethlehem, Judah, 1000 years after David was the Joseph that was to come and his name is Jesus. Like Joseph, Jesus was sold by his Israelite brothers because of their jealousy. And they used their power for harm and evil. Like Joseph, Jesus was thrown into a waterless pit when he was placed in Cephas's house, I've stood in that pit in Cephas's house. Like Joseph, Jesus would be unjustly convicted based upon the lives of those that were in power. Like Joseph, Jesus would receive a robe of royal color. It would be mockingly placed on him and stained with his own blood. And his own brothers, Israelite leaders and even one of his followers would follow through on their desire to kill him and have him crucified. But what they meant for evil, God meant for good. And God meant for good for the saving of many lives. You see, Jesus' death would not end in defeat or disgrace, but would in end in victory as he rose from the grave, conquering sin and hate and injustice and evil. And one day my brothers and sisters, when he returns, everyone, just like Joseph's brothers will recognize him as the innocent and righteous brother that we have missed. And for those who put their faith in Jesus, the promises of new life and new creation will be fulfilled. And at his coming, our bones just like Joseph's, will finally be brought to our final homeland and these bones will live again under the gracious, sovereign, providential rule of the king from Judas tribe, whom everyone in heaven and on earth and under the earth will bow down. That is the providence of God put on display. God is seeing to his world and seeing to his will. And God's providence gives us hope. So like Joseph, reframe your whole world through the lens of God's providence and recognize that God is seeing to it, whatever your situation or your circumstance or your hardship, just know this. Maybe you can't see it, but God has seen to it. You may not be able to see it, but God is seeing to it 'cause God's providence gives us hope. He's seeing to his world, he's seeing to his will, he's seeing to his people. That hurt, you can't see what's coming of it. But God's gonna see to it. For his glory and for your good. That disappointment that you can't see or make sense of, God is seeing to it. That abuse that you faced, that unjust treatment that you experienced, that abandonment that you felt, you can't see it right now, but God has seen to it because that's who God is. So friends, trust that the God you can't see is seeing to his world and his will and his people, and he is working all things, good and bad, for his glory and for our ultimate good, he can be trusted. He can be trusted.