HONORING GOD
Genesis 41:1-16
While we sleep and our body is resting our mind can become a stage on which a story or sequence of events take place. These
episodes are commonly called dreams. They can be either illusions or hallucinations or real experiences. Dreams can last for a few seconds or as long as 30 minutes. The average person has three
to five dreams each night which are immediately forgotten.
What dreams mean is difficult to determine and have puzzled mankind throughout history. In ancient Egypt dreams were believed to be a reflection of reality or to contain messages from the gods about what we going to happen in the future.
God uses dreams to reveal his will or the future. After Jesus was born in a dream God revealed to Josephthat he was to take the baby to Egypt because Herod wanted to kill him and then after Herod died God revealed in a dream he was to return to Israel.
TROUBLING DREAM :1-8
Time :1
Two whole years – which would have been at least 730 days.
For Joseph it must have seemed life for him in prison was final.
If the cupbearer could not get Pharaoh to do something for him
then he would just rot there in jail until he died.
Application
Psalm 40:1 I waited patiently (Heb. waited, waited) for the Lord.
John Calvin – “By the repetition of the same expression,
he shows that he had been a long time in anxious suspense.”
Sometimes all we can do is wait for the Lord to act on our behalf.
Waiting shows our faith in the sovereignty of God to act for us.
We may wait for a week or month or even for years.
God’s timing is not our timing. He is not bound to time like us. We want something to happen now so our circumstances change, but God acts according tohis time so his will is accomplished.
The Lord intervened by giving Pharaoh a pair of dreams.
Bruce Waltke – “This is not so much a story about Joseph as about God’s faithfulness to his promises through providential acts.”
Cows :2-4
To the Egyptians cows were a symbol of their goddess which they pictured as a bull. The cows represented the fertility of the earth.
Note: when the Israelites made an idol they made it in the form of a golden calf which was the primary god of Egypt (Exodus 32:4).
Uglyand thin –these had no meat on them which was completely the opposite of the first cows which were plump and fat.
Corn :5-7
Corn was a staple of their diet and depended upon the Nile flooding their fields each year as they didn’t have much rain.
Concern :8
Troubled – Heb. agitated or disturbed.
This is a different word than was used of the cupbearer(40:6).
F.B. Meyer – “To say the least, it was a bad omen to see the
lean cattle devour the fat and the withered ears devour the full.”
Daniel 2:3 Nebuchadnezzar was also troubled about the dream he had of a large statute of a man with a head of gold and chest of silver and thighs of bronze and feet of clay which was broken.
These two kings were troubled about their dreams because they were the leaders of their nations and wanted to know what these dreams meant both for themselves and their nation.
Proverbs 21:1 The king’s heart is like a stream of water
in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will.
They believed they were in control of what would happen, but God in his sovereignty revealed to them they were not in control, but he was. The dreams were used to not only reveal the future, but for them to know that God is sovereign even over the king.
Cows and corn were symbols of Egyptian culture and success.
God was going to take away what made Egypt successful.
What troubled him was why the weak and poor overcame the strong. This is not our normal experience in life. Usually the strong and powerful overcome the weak and sickly.
Magicians –were trained as professional interpreters of dreams.
They used books about past dreams to interpret present dreams.
The simplicity of the dreams concealed the meaning of the dreams so the magicians were not able to interpret them with their books.
I Corinthians 1:20 God made foolish the wisdom of this world.
REMEMBERING JOSEPH 9-13
Conviction :9-11
The cupbearer now remembers that he forgot about Joseph two years earlier, who had asked him to speak to Pharaoh.
Offenses (KJB faults) – Heb. guiltfrom the root word sin.
NIV – shortcomings because it was not intentional.
Sometimes it takes some event to trigger our memory about something which we have forgotten. You grab your keys and
then remember you were supposed to pick up someone.
How bad the cupbearer must have felt as he now remembered that
he had forgot all about Joseph for the last two years. However,
his forgetfulness turned out to be part of God’s perfect timing at this opportune moment. There is a line in a poem that says,
“God never comes to early or too late.”
Commendation :12-13
Joseph had interpreted each of the dreams of the cupbearer and baker and what he had said had come true two years ago.
Application
Forgetting what we should remember is a common problem.
1. The cupbearer’s fault was that of omission. He simply forgot.
He failed to remember the kindness of Joseph to him.
2. His fault was personal because he didn’t do what only he could have done for Joseph. He had the position to talk to Pharaoh.
3. He remembered his fault which bothered his conscience.
The cupbearer not only remembered and regretted what he had forgot to do, but he confessed and resolved to do what was right.
God uses our conscience to convict us of our sin.
It takes conviction to admit you were wrong and then it takes
courage to now do what is right which reveals your character.
It is easier to just not do anything so no one knows that you didn’t do what you were supposed to do. It takes courage to admit you were wrong by not doing what you were supposed to do.
God always rewards truthfulness and confession of our sins.
I John 1:9 If we confess our sins God is faithful and just to
forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If we confess – is the condition for God’s forgiveness of sin.
Alford Barnes – “We may have the fullest assurance that
God is ready to pardon us if we exercise true repentance.”
CHALLENING CIRCUMSTANCES :14-16
Change :14
Meyer – “Perfect cleanliness and propriety of dress were so important in the eyes of the Egyptians that the most urgent
matters were postponed until they were properly attended to.”
Egyptian custom dictated that Joseph must be shaven and dressed inlinen to make an appearance. Egyptians shaved except when they were in mourning. This change gave Joseph dignity once again. His coat of many colors was long gone, but he was now
dressed in appropriate clothes to see the king.
Challenge :15
Pharaoh naturally thought of the science and expertise in revealing dreams which he was used to hearing by his magicians.
Character :16
Not in me – shows his personal humility before the king.
He does not use this opportunity to promote himself which would have been tempting because of all the injustice he had experienced.
Psalm 25:9 God leads the humble in what is right.
Calvin – “The heart which is naturally filled with pride
has to be humbled and subdued.”
Through all that has happened in his young life Joseph has
learned to puthis trust in God and not in himself:
1. His brothers sold him as a slave because they hated him.
2, Potiphar’s wife falsely accused him so he was put in prison.
3. The cupbearer had forgotten about him for two years.
Out of his suffering Joseph learns humility instead of pride.
Out of his humility Joseph glorifies God instead of himself.
God will show – reveals his faith in the sovereignty of God.
Meyer – “When the heart is full of God, the tongue will be
almost obliged to speak of him. All such references will be
easy and natural as flowers in May.”
Joseph’s response to the king is the same as it was to the cupbearer and baker. “It is not me who can interpret dreams, but God, who knows and control the future.”
Notice: Joseph’s character and integrity. He doesn’t change his belief even though he is addressing Pharaoh, the king of Egypt.
The reason is: God is sovereign and Pharaoh needs to know it.
Chuck Swindoll – “Joseph could be so humble and speak so openly because his heart had been broken. Because he had been tried by the fire of affliction. We are now witnessing the benefits of enduring affliction with one’s eyes on God.”
APPLICATION
1. We are to acknowledge God in our everyday lives.
- Read your Bible to know God’s will.
- Pray to ask for God’s guidance in your decisions.
- Look to see what God is doing in your life.
- Share with others what God is doing.
Don’t use the phrase: “It’s a God thing.”
Instead, clearly say that God is working out his will.
2. We are to glorify God in our everyday lives.
The first question in the Westminster Confession of Faith (1646)
“What is the chief and highest end of man?” Answer: “The chief
and highest end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.
Psalm 115:1 Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness.
M. Henry –“Have we received any mercyor gained any success? We must not assume the glory of it to ourselves, but ascribe it wholly (completely) to God.”
- Thank God personally when he has blessed you.
- Praise God publicly so he is glorified by others.
CONCLUSION
In 1867 Walter Smith, a minister in the Scottish Free Church who served in congregations in London, Glasgow and Edinburgh, wrote the hymn, Immortal, Invisible. How do you praise and worship the One who is beyond all description? We praise God for who he is.
Immortal, Invisible, God only wise,
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
Almighty, victorious – Thy great name we praise.
NIV –“Not to us, O Lord, but to your name be the glory.”