The Dreams
Tom Shrader walks through Genesis 40 and 41, tracing Joseph's interpretation of dreams for Pharaoh's cupbearer and baker, and his eventual appointment as second-in-command over all Egypt. Along the way, Shrader draws out themes of God's sovereign orchestration of circumstances, the call to notice and engage the needs of people around us, and the courage required to tell the truth even when it is unwelcome. He closes with five practical applications: staying alert to ministry opportunities, waiting on God's timing, expecting disappointment, focusing on others' needs rather than our own, and remaining faithful through prosperity as well as adversity.
“What you know trumps what you feel — there'll be moments where I feel abandoned, but I know God has not left me.”
— Tom Shrader
Series: Faithful
Recorded: 2012 at East Valley Bible Church
Duration: 58 min
Themes: sovereignty, waiting, faithfulness, truth telling, suffering, opportunity, serving others, patience, waiting on god, feeling forgotten, in a season of suffering, navigating disappointment, new to leadership, young adult, struggling with purpose, experiencing success
Scripture: Genesis 37, Genesis 38, Genesis 39, Genesis 39:2, Genesis 39:3, Genesis 39:9, Genesis 39:19-20, Genesis 39:22, Genesis 40, Genesis 40:1-23, Genesis 40:6-7, Genesis 40:8, Genesis 40:9-11, Genesis 40:14-15, Genesis 40:23, Genesis 41, Genesis 41:1, Genesis 41:14, Genesis 41:16, Genesis 41:25-32, Genesis 41:37-46, Genesis 41:56, Genesis 42, Isaiah 53, Acts 17, 1 Peter 5
Theological Themes: divine providence, sovereignty of god, biblical narrative, sanctification, typology, stewardship, redemptive history, obedience
Full Transcript
Review: Joseph's Story So Far
Open your Bibles, if you would, to Genesis chapter 40. We were married Friday afternoon up on the roof at the Valley Hill. It was a great time — just six of us there, just the girls and the boys and myself. Tyler did the ceremony, and it turned out awesome. It was a low-key, might be the world's fastest ceremony. One of the big things to mention is that though it was casual and brief, it is significant that we kept the key part — we got rid of all the flowers and kept the part that really matters.
We said last week we started a new series called Faithful. We'll look four weeks at the book of Genesis and four weeks at the first six chapters of Daniel. Especially in the Joseph part, he is really the central figure of Genesis chapter 37 through Genesis chapter 50. Each one of the lessons is standalone, so even if you don't have last week or next week, these are still hopefully beneficial lessons. But I want to do a little bit of a review just to make sure we're all on the same page.
If you turn back to Genesis chapter 37, we looked at three chapters last week — Genesis 37, 38, and 39 — and we took out Genesis 38 and said that it is like a parenthetical insert dropped in here. It deals with Judah, it's a great story, and it shows sin, depravity, and then redemption. We said in the coming weeks we will come back and look in depth at Genesis chapter 38. But our focus, the majority of the time, was on chapters 37 and 39, and even throughout the balance of this story, the central figure in all of it is Joseph.
I teach something through the week called Priority Living. I do one session here on Wednesday morning at seven, then one Thursday morning up at Valley View Bible Church — that's the church on the north side of Lincoln up on the hill between Tatum and 32nd Street — and then at noon at North Phoenix Baptist Church. I've been doing this for roughly 21 years, and closer to 24 or 25 years counting the time I did them with Larry. There is a curriculum I use, and about every five years I'll teach a series and repeat it.
There is a series in that curriculum titled Survival Through the Cycles of Life, and it is a study on the life of Joseph. It is a perfect example of what we saw last week — this rollercoaster ride in Joseph's life that is so important and easy to relate to our own lives. We look at it and understand that circumstances in life rarely go in a straight line. It is more like a volatile stock that is up and down and up and down, sometimes sharply, sometimes not as much. There are strong ups and downs in Joseph's life — from the favored son to slavery, and then up and then down again.
God Orchestrates Events for His Purpose
One of my favorite series I've taught is on the book of Jonah. In Jonah's life you see much of the same thing — a time when God uses a great storm, the casting of lots, and the great fish, which is what we really relate to when we talk about Jonah. In that last chapter, in the last few verses, God uses a quick-growing vine, a small worm, and a scorching wind, all to orchestrate events so that He might achieve His purpose.
The same thing is true in the life of Joseph. The difference is that Jonah was disobedient and resisting God, while we get none of that from Joseph. All we get from Joseph is that he is compliant with God's will and that he understands what God is doing. We get no sense, either explicit or implicit, that he was whining or complaining. And yet we see him go from working in a dungeon to becoming, if you will, the prime minister of Egypt — the second most powerful man in the world, and arguably soon perhaps the most powerful man in the whole world, other than Pharaoh himself.
Joseph's Rise and Fall in Genesis 37
Let me take you through this quickly so we are all on the same page. In Genesis chapter 37, verse 3, we see that Israel — that is another name for Jacob — loved Joseph more than all his sons. That sets up the tension that is there throughout the story. The boys hated Joseph, and then they hated him all the more, and then all the more again.
Joseph has two dreams, which you see in verse 5 and verse 9. The dreams are essentially the same, and the interpretation, as Joseph shares it with his brothers and then his parents, is that they will one day bow down to him. At that point the boys hate him all the more. There is a moment where Jacob sends Joseph out on a reconnaissance mission — the boys are out taking care of the flock and have moved all the way to Dothan. They see Joseph coming, decide to kill him, but then reconsider and say, no, let's sell him into slavery instead. That is what happens in verse 28, still in Genesis chapter 37. After a couple of transactions, by the end of Genesis chapter 37, Joseph has been sold.
Recap: Joseph in Potiphar's House
Joseph is sold to Potiphar, who is the captain of the bodyguards — essentially the head of the Secret Service in Egypt. After the parenthesis of chapter 38, chapter 39 picks up the story again. There we find a verse that should be circled, underlined, and starred in your Bible: verse two, "the Lord was with Joseph, so he became a successful man." Verse three continues: "his master, Potiphar, saw that the Lord was with him and how he caused all to prosper in his hand."
We could easily look at Joseph's situation and ask, where is God in all this? Has God abandoned him? Has Joseph done something wrong? The answer is no — God is right there, with him, orchestrating this, blessing him. Joseph is succeeding, which means there must be something in God's definition of success that is different from ours, because we rarely say, "Look at that successful slave."
Joseph is elevated to overseer of all that Potiphar has — essentially the CEO or COO of Potiphar Enterprises. Then Lady Potiphar comes along and tempts him, and he refuses. His reasoning gives us a crucial insight. He says there is no one greater in Potiphar's house, and that Potiphar is withholding nothing from him except his wife. Then comes the key line at the end of verse nine, which should be circled again: "How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?" Joseph understood that this was not merely a betrayal of Potiphar — it was a sin against God Himself.
Lady Potiphar returns again and again, day after day according to verse ten. Finally, one day she attempts to seduce Joseph. He runs away, she grabs his cloak, and he escapes without it. When Potiphar returns, she accuses Joseph, saying in essence that this slave he brought into the house tried to rape her. Verse nineteen tells us Potiphar heard her words and burned with anger. So in verse twenty, Potiphar takes Joseph and puts him into jail — the place where the king's prisoners are confined.
The Lord Remains with Joseph
But at this dark moment, we hear exactly what we heard at the beginning of chapter thirty-nine: the Lord is with Joseph, extends kindness to him, and gives him favor in the sight of the chief jailer. Joseph is now under the authority of the chief jailer, and he receives such favorable treatment that the chief jailer commits to Joseph's charge all the prisoners in the jail. Whatever was done there, Joseph was responsible for it. The chief jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph's charge because — here we go again — "the Lord was with him and whatever he did the Lord made him prosper."
Theology That Connects to Life
We covered a great deal of practical application last week, including the theology of suffering and pain and the reality of who God is. If you missed it, I would encourage you to go online and listen, because that is where we find comfort. The same points are going to come up again today, because every one of us at some point in our life experiences a sense of separation from God — a sense of, God, where are You? What are You doing? That may be you right now.
There is not a Sunday that goes by that I am not conscious of the fact that some of you are here barely hanging on, or have been hanging on for a long time — day after day and year after year. There is a duality to that experience. On the human side, which we absolutely understand, you are saying, "God, where are You?" But there is also the theological side, and that is why we talk so much about theology — not as a purely academic exercise.
I have been to churches where the speaker gets up and delivers a theological lecture, and everyone walks away thinking, "Didn't we learn a lot?" — but there is never a connection to application. And I haven't really learned something until I have taken it from the classroom to the laboratory. Your feelings are going to run all over the place, and so I come back to these truths over and over again. I cannot imagine a month going by that we do not return to this reminder: what you know trumps what you feel. There will be moments where you feel abandoned, but you know that God has not left you.
Joseph seems to grasp this deeply. In fact, at the end of this book — which we will examine in the final week of this series — he says to his brothers when they come to him wondering about everything that has happened: "You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good." God is able to trump and override what men intend.
Don't Fret — But Let's Be Honest
Now, what we are talking about here is faith. One author writes that this is why Christians should not fret at the loss of a job, a flat tire, a bout of unexpected sickness, or whatever. Those two examples — a lost job and a flat tire — seem like very different things, by the way. But the point is that God is God, and we know that in all things God works things together for good.
I get that theologically. But to simply say "don't fret"? The way I prefer to put it is this: you walk in tomorrow and they say, "Listen —"
When God Places You Where You Are
When we get our breath, we understand that God says, "I'll protect you, I'll provide for you." It may not be everything you think you need. Humanly, Joseph has to have moments where he's asking, "Really, God, this is what's going on?" We're told that when he was sold into slavery and put into that pit, he went yelling and screaming. Even today, we're going to see something very human about Joseph. He's not a robot.
When we take our breath, we go, "What I know trumps what I feel." I may feel abandoned, but I also know that He will never leave me or forsake me. You may be in here this morning thinking, "I don't know if God can ever forgive me," yet the Bible says He does. That's not an excuse for license. It's simply an understanding of God and who He is — His deep love.
Entering the Story: Chapters 40 and 41
That's where we are when we pick up the story in chapter 40. We have a large section today — chapter 40, which is 23 verses, and chapter 41, which is 57 verses, so roughly 80 verses in all. What we're going to do is work through the text carefully enough that we get the content, and then pull out practical application as we understand the theology of all of this.
Here's what happened: "It came about after these things, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their lord, the king of Egypt. Pharaoh was furious with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker. So he put them in confinement in the house of the captain of the bodyguard." Now, who is the captain of the bodyguard? Potiphar. The last time we saw Potiphar, in chapter 39, verse 19, he was angry and had placed Joseph in prison.
The Cupbearer and the Baker
The cupbearer and the baker were key staff in Pharaoh's administration. The baker is self-explanatory. The cupbearer, and especially the chief cupbearer, was more than just a servant. He would be on an almost constant basis with Pharaoh, and they would often develop some level of relationship — perhaps even a confidant. He had a variety of tasks, functioning as a kind of chief administrator. He also served a protective role, because if someone wanted to kill Pharaoh, easier than a war was simply putting something in his food or drink. So the cupbearer would taste it first, and if he didn't die, everyone else proceeded. Whatever these two officials did, we don't know — but Pharaoh was angry.
So Pharaoh takes these high-profile prisoners and gives them to Potiphar. Understand this: Potiphar knows these men are under the microscope, and how he handles them will be under the microscope as well. These are political hot potatoes, and Potiphar cannot afford to have this mishandled.
Potiphar's Trust in Joseph
Verse 4 tells us, "The captain of the bodyguard put Joseph in charge of them, and he took care of them, and they were in confinement for some time." Potiphar looks around and says, "I can't afford to have this mishandled — who do I know that I can trust?" I'm really confident that Potiphar understood his wife had been lying. If he had actually believed Joseph tried to force himself on her, he would have killed Joseph. This moment tells us even more. When Potiphar needs someone he can trust, he turns to Joseph.
This is the second time we see this pattern. We saw it with Potiphar before, we saw it with the chief jailer, and we're going to see it again today with Pharaoh. Pharaoh is going to say, "I need a discerning man — where can I go?" And they all turn to Joseph.
Open Your Eyes to Those Around You
Verse 6 and 7 give us something to apply directly to our own lives. "When Joseph came to them in the morning, he observed them, and behold, they were dejected. He asked Pharaoh's officials who were with him in confinement, 'Why are your faces so sad?'"
That is a great picture for our lives. God sovereignly placed you in His family — if you're saved, you're saved by grace through faith, and that is a sovereign act of God. But God's sovereignty doesn't end with salvation. God sovereignly gave you the family He's given you — those quirky, unusual people who, by the way, are sitting somewhere else thinking the same thing about you. God sovereignly placed you in the neighborhood He's placed you in, the job He's placed you in. My contention would be this: you don't need to pray, "God, bring people who are hurting into my life so I can minister to them." He has already put them there. All you have to do is pray, "God, open my eyes to see them." Then, as verse 7 shows us, have the courage to get involved in their lives.
The Courage to Reach Out
There is a fear in reaching out that I used to think was simply the fear of rejection. What I've come to resolve, though, is that sometimes we're actually afraid of being accepted — because then comes the call at midnight or two in the morning, or right at that most inappropriate moment when something is just kicking off. The most significant moments in your life never appear on the schedule in your iPhone or your Blackberry. Those are the divine times that God just drops into your life, and I guarantee they will be there this week. They're all around you. You have to be sensitive enough to see them and then courageous enough to act.
I was talking to a lady who teaches seventh grade, and she described what seemed like a completely normal school day — except her best student was acting out the entire morning. This was a kid who had never been a problem in seven years of school. So rather than battle it out at lunch, the teacher said, "Why don't you stay in here with me?" She sat down with the girl and said, "Sweetheart, I've never seen this before. What's going on?" And the girl said, "It's been building, but last night my parents told me they're getting a divorce, and I don't know how to handle it."
I also had a twelve-year-old young man come up to me one day and say, "Can I talk to you? I need your help." He told me his mom and dad were fighting, that they had split up, and that he had to decide whether to live with his mom or his dad. And then he said something that has stayed with me: "I'm too young to be making decisions like this." There are people like that all around you, all day long — and if you look at them, you can see it. If you just have the courage to say, in your own way, "Why are you so sad? What's going on?" — that can change everything.
So why wouldn't we do that? My contention is that most of the time we hold back because reaching out could be painful. They're going to tell you what's wrong, and now you're involved. I experience that tension all the time — just trying to make that call.
Joseph Interprets the Dreams
What the cupbearer and the baker did was tell Joseph what was troubling them: "We had these dreams, and we had no one to interpret them." And Joseph, in an amazing act of humility, says in verse 8 that interpretations belong to God. Joseph understands what is about to happen — they're going to tell him their dreams, and he's going to give the interpretation — but he wants to make clear from the outset: don't for a second think, "Man, is Joseph something." Whatever gift he has, it is from God.
This is true of any of us. Any skill you have, any ability, even your appearance — you can't take credit for it. I always think about Prince William. This man has not done anything that I'm aware of — nothing. He ate and kept breathing, and people call him "Your Majesty." If he has even the slightest bit of arrogance or pride about that, I wouldn't understand why, because all he did was get born into that family. But it's the same with you and me. If anything good is happening in your life, you can't take credit for it. Here's what I try to tell people when they look at me: all the bad is me, and all the good is God. Joseph was saying the same thing: "I'll interpret this, but don't get carried away — this isn't me. This is God."
So the cupbearer told Joseph his dream. In verse 9 he said, "Behold, there was a vine in front of me, and on the vine there were three branches. As it was budding, its blossoms came out, and the clusters produced ripe grapes. Now Pharaoh's cup was in my hand, so I took the grapes, squeezed them into Pharaoh's cup, and placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand." Joseph said, simply, "This is the interpretation: the three branches are three days. Within three more days, Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office, and you will put Pharaoh's cup into his hand according to your former custom when you were his cupbearer." In other words: things look bad right now, but three days from now, you are going straight back to the position you held before. And, by the way, that is exactly what came to pass.
When the baker heard this in verse 16, he was excited. He said, "I saw that the interpretation was favorable," and essentially told Joseph, "I'll have one of those." He said, "I also saw in my dream, and behold, there were three baskets of white bread on my head. In the top basket there were all sorts of baked foods for Pharaoh, and the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head." Joseph gave him the answer: "This is the interpretation: the three baskets are three days. Within three more days, Pharaoh will lift up your head from you" — and this is not good — "and will hang you on a tree, and the birds will eat the flesh off of you."
I don't think the text says this, but I imagine that's the moment the baker turned to the cupbearer and said, "I'll trade you dreams." He had expected good news, and he did not get it. Verse 20 records that on the third day — Pharaoh's birthday — one man was lifted up and one was lifted off.
The Courage to Tell the Truth
I want to get very practical here. Look at the courage it took for Joseph to tell the baker the truth. That is one of the most difficult things we face, and it seems to be all around us all the time — and if anything, it seems even more difficult in Christian circles.
Candor as an Act of Love
We see it even as a staff sometimes. We are a church, obviously, but we still have components where we are dealing with people. One of the things we strive for — we don't always get there, but we strive for it and achieve it often — is a level of candor and honesty where we are able and willing to tell somebody, "Hey, you are not near what you think you are."
I hear it often in the context of teaching. On many occasions someone will say, "I want to be a teacher. I watch you do it — clearly it can't be that hard." So we'll give them a class of twenty, and after two weeks they've got it down to a class of five. My conclusion, and I don't mean this harshly, is that you don't have the gift of teaching. You have the gift of disbursement, apparently. Almost always, what I get back is, "If I had more opportunity to teach, I'd get better." And we have to say, "No, you're just not very good at this." To me, that is the most loving and honest thing to do. Then you follow it with, "Here's what you do well — you do this other thing really well."
Jack Welch, when he left GE and began consulting with a range of other companies, said the one consistent thing that shocked him was the lack of candor within organizations. Rather than say the tough thing in a constructive way, companies would rather promote someone, or do anything at all, than simply deal with it. But if you really love somebody and really care for somebody, you are going to have to tell them the truth.
Oftentimes when you get into those relationships — when you are there to help — you are going to be God's agent. That means, in as loving, kind, and gentle a way as you can manage, you are not going to be able to say everything is going to be all right. I always feel I am not very good at the hospital, or when somebody is really sick. I watch so many people say, "Everything's going to be okay." I don't know that I can say that. And frankly, if I just read the report, you are going to die. Now, it is going to be okay if you are a Christian, because you are going to heaven — but I am not sure that is what you are looking for from me in that moment.
A Story of Hard Truth at a Men's Retreat
I was doing a men's retreat. They come at inopportune times, and this one had the standard men's conference schedule: Friday night session, Saturday morning sessions, free time in the afternoon, Saturday night, and then Sunday morning. It was out of town — a four-hour plane ride. I don't sleep well at camps, I was tired, and I just don't like it.
Between the two sessions on Saturday morning, a man comes up to me who looks to be about my age, and he just looks broken. He said, "Can I meet with you this afternoon?" I told him something was going on that afternoon, and I said, "Tell me what it is." He said, "I've been married thirty-two years and my wife is going to leave me." I said, "All right, meet me at my room."
He comes in and starts telling his story. He is hurting, and I am safe because I am from out of town, so he just lets it all out. They had raised their kids together, and his wife had gone back to school. I said, "Really — let me guess. Psychology major?" Yes. And out of all of this, he said, "She is going to leave me," and he is just fighting and fighting and fighting. He said, "Give me hope."
I said, "I am not good at that." I said, "Here is what I can tell you: it takes two people to get into a marriage, but it only takes one to get out. You are screaming, 'I won't give up,' but that is not going to drown out her whispering, 'I want out.'" He said, "Well, tell me what you think." I said, "I doubt you have a chance in this." He said, "Well, what am I supposed to do?" I said, "All you can do is be the husband God called you to be — to love her, to nurture her, to care for her, in spite of everything. Don't wait." He asked, "How long should I do it?" I said, "Until you get the papers, and they are signed, and you are out of it."
That is what it means to be courageous, and it is a matter of telling the truth.
Joseph's Humanity in the Dungeon
Now I want to go back and pick up verses fourteen and fifteen and connect them with verse twenty-three in the life of the cupbearer. Joseph tells him he is going to be restored, and then in verse fourteen Joseph says, "Keep me in mind when all goes well with you, and please do me the kindness of mentioning me to Pharaoh and get me out of this house. For I was in fact kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing that I should be put into this dungeon."
Look at the humanity there. Joseph is not a robot. He is saying, "Listen, from the very beginning this is what has happened to me — over and over and over again." There is a process here spanning thirteen or fourteen years, and he is not playing the victim card. He is stating the facts. And he says, "If you are in the presence of Pharaoh and you think it has a favorable sense to it, will you mention me to him? Let him know what is happening. I want out of here."
Don't sterilize that. Don't say, "I'm God's man, I'm just doing God's thing, I've got it." No — he wants out. I can remember Larry, in the midst of all of his sickness, saying, "I don't want this cancer. I don't want this arthritis. I would never want it again — but I wouldn't trade it for the world. God is doing something." It was the same thing with Susan when she got her cancer. We had lots of conversations to sort it out, and from the very beginning He said —
Waiting and Wrestling in Prison
It is treatable, but it is not curable. We said God either caused this or allowed it for a reason, so we would over and over say, "I want out of this unless You want me in it." There is some heavy theology in the midst of all of that, because what we are saying is that God is in control. But God being in control does not mean you abandon any effort on your part.
A lot of commentaries are critical of Joseph for saying, "I want out of this." I do not see that at all. It makes total sense to me that he would say, "I don't know how God is going to get me out of here, but as long as I am not lying and stealing and cheating and sinning, as long as I am obedient and my attitude is right, to express to the cupbearer who may have an opportunity to appeal to Pharaoh — I don't think there is anything wrong with that."
Forgotten
Verse 23 has got to be about as sad as it gets: "Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him." When the cupbearer said, "Yeah, Joseph, you're my man — I'll get you out of here," every day Joseph was cleaning the cell, whistling, doing all the things that go along with that anticipation. Every time there was a knock at the door, he must have thought, "This is it. They must be going to let me out." But time after time after time, nothing came.
How long? Chapter 41, verse 1: "At the end of two full years." How long will you be in the prison you are in? Two years? Maybe longer. Why would you be there? I do not know. God's glory. God is doing something. I just do not have the ability in my gene pool, I suppose, to say to you that everything is going to be okay. It will ultimately be okay, but that does not mean circumstances are going to change the way you want them to change, or when you want them to change.
Pharaoh's Dreams
Two years later, Pharaoh had a dream. Verse 2: "Lo, from the Nile there came up seven cows, sleek and fat, and they grazed in the marsh grass. And then behold, seven other cows came out from the Nile, ugly and gaunt, and they stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile. And the ugly, gaunt cows ate up the seven sleek cows." Pharaoh woke up. Verse 5: he fell asleep again, and essentially the same thing happened. Seven ears came up on one stalk, and then seven thin ones scorched by the wind. Verse 7: "Then the thin ears swallowed up the plump ears." And then Pharaoh woke up and said, "It is a dream."
He did what they would do in those days — he went to his best and his brightest, his cabinet, if you will, and said, "I had this dream." Verse 8: there was no interpretation of it. He went to the wise men, the magicians, his advisors, his spiritual consultants. Nothing.
The Cupbearer Remembers
Then the chief cupbearer spoke up — the very one to whom Joseph had said, "When you get a chance, will you remember me? Will you speak about me to Pharaoh?" The chief cupbearer spoke to Pharaoh and said, "I would make mention today of my own offenses." He took Pharaoh back down memory lane. Verse 10: "When you were angry and put me in confinement in the house of Potiphar, both me and the baker." Verse 11: "We had a dream on the same night, he and I, each of us according to the interpretation of his own dream." Verse 12: "Now there was a Hebrew youth." He essentially says he does not remember the man's name, yet he remembers exactly what the man did for him. "He interpreted our dreams, and to each one the interpretation was according to his own dream." Verse 13: "It happened exactly as he interpreted for us — you restored me and you hanged the baker." The message to Pharaoh is clear: try this man.
Brought Out of the Dungeon
Verse 14: "Pharaoh sent and called for Joseph, and they hurriedly brought him out of the dungeon. And after he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came to Pharaoh." That could seem like a throwaway detail, but it is worth pausing on. Is it simply a hygiene issue? Not entirely. The Hebrews were rugged shepherd monotheists, and the Egyptians were sophisticated polytheists and cattlemen. Joseph is about to have, among other things, a cross-cultural experience. He understands that he is going into the court of Pharaoh, and he understands that there is an appropriate way to enter that court.
Entering the World on Its Own Terms
Let me bring that into our own lives. The night before He died, Jesus prayed, "Father, as You sent Me into the world, I am sending them" — and them, and them, and us — "into the world." God saved us, and He saved us for a reason. We are salt and light in the midst of all of this. We are His people doing His work here, and we are going to encounter all sorts of people. The burden on us is to enter their world on their terms, without compromise.
When God saved me in 1980, all of a sudden I was exposed to this whole vocabulary, this whole Christian world. There were all sorts of terms. Everybody spoke as though I already understood them — it was like listening to two engineers talking to each other in a language nobody else could follow, going back and forth, never pausing to consider that I had no understanding of any of it. There was justification, sanctification, all of these words I had never heard, and they seemed oblivious to the fact that I was lost. They made very little attempt to enter into my world and connect these things to where I actually was.
There is a great scene in Acts chapter 17 that speaks directly to this. As Paul traveled around to establish churches, he would come into a town, go to the synagogue, gather the Jews who were there, and preach to them.
Engaging the Culture
When Paul preached to Jewish audiences, he could go straight to the Old Testament. He could point to Isaiah 53 and say, "Look at this picture of the Messiah — that's the Jesus you've heard about, the one who died and rose from the dead. There's your Savior." That connection was immediate and natural. But when he comes into Athens, Paul doesn't take that approach, because they would have no idea what Isaiah 53 is.
The story is classic. Paul walks into Athens, spends the afternoon wandering through the city, and takes everything in. When he gets the opportunity to speak to the elite intellectuals of Athens, he says, "I was walking around today, and here's what I saw. You are very religious, very spiritual people. I saw statues everywhere." Some scholars estimate there were as many as 30,000 statues in Athens — gods of drought, gods of famine, gods of the wind. And then Paul says, "Here's what's interesting: I saw one statue unlike the others. It was a statue to an unknown god." So after covering every conceivable deity, someone had put up a statue just to cover their bases.
Paul seizes on that. He says, "I want to talk to you about the one you're already worshiping. I want to talk to you about that unknown god." He then quotes from their own poets and songwriters, meeting these intellectuals entirely on their own cultural ground. That is the model — to understand the world you live in, to understand the people around you, and to find the connections that make the truth accessible.
Relevance Without Compromise
I believe Joseph is about to experience something very similar — a massive cross-cultural moment. But before we get there, let me address something I encounter regularly. I've found that the more biblically literate people become, the more dogmatic and foundational they become, and often the more afraid of culture they become, rather than actively engaging it.
We used to carry relevance as one of our stated values, and virtually every Connect class would surface the same conversation. Someone coming from another church — a good church, a serious church — would say, "I see you have a value of relevance. Can you talk to me about that?" I'd ask what they meant, and they'd say, "Is that what you're trying to be — relevant?" I told them we had a long meeting about it, and we decided the alternative was being irrelevant, and we didn't think that would look good on a coffee mug. "Come to the church that's irrelevant" — that didn't seem like a winning pitch.
But I understood what they were really asking. Let me put their fear plainly: in a quest to be relevant, do we lose everything that's distinctive? Do we stop talking about sin, hell, wrath, judgment, and all the difficult things? The answer is no. The principle is simple and it's common sense — we teach doctrinal truth in the way that is easiest for a person to understand, without altering that truth. When I'm teaching a group of businessmen and women, I use a different set of examples, illustrations, and even vocabulary than I use at summer camp. You don't walk into a room of five-year-olds and say, "Let me explain the Trinity — here's what Jonathan Edwards said." You meet people at the level of their understanding and capacity.
Joseph Before Pharaoh
Some of what's happening as Joseph stands before Pharaoh is exactly that — it's about reading the room. It's about hygiene, about reverence. He knows where he is and who he's addressing. In verse 15, Pharaoh says to Joseph, "I've had a dream and nobody can interpret it, and I've heard about you that when you hear a dream, you can interpret it."
This is a great moment of humility, and we'll see something very similar when we get to Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar. Pharaoh has heard that Joseph is the man, and Joseph could have played that to the hilt. He could have said, "You're lucky, Pharaoh — here I am. I've got it. Give it to me." Or he could have simply stayed quiet and let the favorable impression stand. But he didn't want anything to reflect well on himself in a way that might distract from the one who actually interprets dreams. So in verse 16, Joseph says plainly: God does that.
The Interpretation
Pharaoh, undeterred, essentially says, "I don't really care — just hear the dream." And so he tells Joseph everything: the cows, the ears of grain, all of it. Then in verse 25, Joseph responds: "Pharaoh's dreams are one and the same. You had two different dreams, but God gave them both to you, and He repeated them because this is going to come true. God has told Pharaoh what is about to happen."
The seven good cows are seven years. The seven good ears are seven years. The seven lean cows and the seven lean ears are also seven years — years of famine. Verse 29 lays it out plainly: there will be seven years of great abundance in Egypt, followed by seven years of famine. The famine will be so severe that the years of abundance will be forgotten entirely. And as Joseph explains in verse 32, the reason the dream was given twice is because the matter is fixed — God has determined it, and it will happen.
Then Joseph does something remarkable. He doesn't stop at interpretation. He moves into counsel, telling Pharaoh in verse 33 that Pharaoh should find himself a man of discernment —
Be Alert for Ministry Opportunities
Pharaoh's response to Joseph's interpretation was immediate. In verse 37, Pharaoh said this seemed like a very good idea. So he said to his men in verse 38, "Do we have a man like this?" And they said no. Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Since God has informed you of all of this, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. You shall be over my house. According to your command, all of my people shall do homage, and only in the throne will I be greater than you." Then Pharaoh took his signet ring and gave it to Joseph.
In effect, Pharaoh was saying: I am going to make you power of attorney. I am going to give you an unlimited American Express card. I am going to give you the keys to the palace. I am going to drive around in my chariot with you right behind me, and everybody in this land is going to pay homage to you. The only thing greater than you is me, and I am going to yield to you on this.
And Pharaoh tells them why, which is really interesting — it is right there in verse 19. God did all this. You will see this in the people around you all the time. People want the benefit of knowing Christ, but they do not want the responsibility of knowing Him. They want the benefit of knowing God, but they do not want the responsibility of serving Him.
So Pharaoh drives around in his chariot with Joseph behind him. Verse 46 tells us Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went throughout the land, and during the seven years of plenty the land brought forth an abundance. They gathered this abundance, and then famine came.
The famine spread over all the face of the earth, verse 56 tells us, and Joseph opened the storehouse and sold to the Egyptians. The famine was severe in the land, and people from all the earth came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph because the famine was so severe. Then when we get to chapter 42, Joseph's brothers come. As we have said throughout this series, we could end every installment with "to be continued."
Practical Points for Daily Life
With that, let us take a few minutes and work through four or five practical points for your life.
The first is this: be alert to ministry opportunities all around you. This goes back to chapter 40, verses 6 and 7. There are people all around you, and you need to be aware of them. A fellow once explained to me that he wanted to be in what he called "full-time ministry." Now, you will never hear me use that phrase except to say we are all in full-time ministry. There is no distinction between clergy and laity in that sense. The roles may differ somewhat, but we are all in full-time ministry — some as a vocation, all as a way of life.
So I asked this man what he did. He said he was a lawyer who practiced family law. I told him that if he wanted to get into full-time ministry, what could be more full-time ministry than dealing with divorce and pain all day long? That is exactly where ministry happens. Be alert to those opportunities. They are all around you. You have to see them and then respond to them.
The question is not merely what Jesus would do, but what Jesus would have you do to and for the people all around you.
Be Patient and Wait for God's Timing
The second point is this: be patient and wait for God's timing. I went into a store the other day to get something to drink and took a number — 74. Just then the clerk called out 63. I looked around and asked if anyone wanted 74, because I was not going to be there by the time they got to it.
I used to go to McDonald's frequently, and my favorite thing to order was a quarter pounder with cheese. I never went through the drive-through — that is torture. So I would go inside. In those days, the sandwiches were wrapped in color-coded paper: a certain yellow for a cheeseburger, a different yellow for a double cheeseburger, blue for fish. I would come in, and even though my favorite was a quarter pounder with cheese, I would look at what was already sitting there ready and say, "Give me two of the blue." I do not even like the fish sandwich, but I would take two of the blue. Why? Because I go to McDonald's for fast food. I am not coming in with candles looking for a dining experience. I want fast food.
Wanting God on Our Terms
Here is the problem with us — with me. We come to God and we want a fast God. We want all these things that God is going to do, but we want them now. I want my thing, my way, my time, now. Yet when was Jesus born? At just the right time. Peter tells us that in the proper time, as we humble ourselves, God will exalt us. This is not about you and what you want. It is about God's timing.
Expect to Be Disappointed
Here is the next thing: be ready to be disappointed. I have never seen this bumper sticker, but go ahead and use it — "Expect bad things daily." People are going to disappoint you. Things are not going to go the way you expect.
Think about summer camp. The first night it is awkward, then they warm up to each other, and by the end everyone wants a photo together. They get a best-friend necklace, break it in half, and give each piece to each other. A week later, they do not even know each other. You have said these words — I say them every time I perform a wedding, and it is never casual for me: "For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part." And then you get to a point where you think, I did not mean that kind of sick. Better, yes. Worse, no. You should expect to be disappointed daily — by people, by circumstances, by misplaced expectations all around you.
Focus on Other People's Needs
The next point is this: focus on other people's needs. I was watching Seinfeld the other night, one of the episodes where George is whining and Elaine and Jerry are listening. Whatever his issue is, George is presenting it, and then Elaine and Jerry start talking to each other and ignore him. George says, "Hey, hey — we're talking about me here." That is how I tend to be. Hey, we're talking about me here.
Think about timing and needs. We do not know this for certain — it is only speculation — but what if the cupbearer had gone right to Pharaoh immediately and said, "There is this little Hebrew boy"? Pharaoh lets Joseph out, and then two years later, at just the right time, Joseph is not there. Or consider what Joseph actually asked for. He said, "I understand you interpret dreams," and Joseph's request was simply to be remembered. No matter how bold he was, Joseph would never have said, "Would you make me second in command over the whole land?" He would never have thought of that. When you focus on other people's needs, God takes care of the rest.
Suffering Can Become Self-Centered
Here is something I have learned about suffering: suffering can easily become self-centered and self-focused, even unintentionally. I watched Susan handle this beautifully. She was in the middle of the war. You could tell just by looking at her. She had eighteen months where all she wore were flip-flops because she could not put shoes on. And everyone who came into contact with her would ask, "How do you feel?"
If you start to answer that question the way I would — someone asks how I feel and I start going through every ache and pain — pretty soon all you are talking about is how you feel, and your mind is absorbed entirely in your own world. So if you are in the middle of hurt right now — physical, emotional, spiritual, financial, whatever it is — one of the fastest ways to get out of that inward spiral is to deflect. When someone says to you, "How are you doing?" you say, "How are you? How are you doing?" No one I know ever comes back a second time, because everyone is so absorbed in their own lives that once you ask about them, they will talk about themselves — and once they do, you are out of your own sphere.
That is exactly what would happen with Susan. People would come to her and say, "How are you doing?" She would say, "Oh, some of the days are hard. How is your day?" And Susan — the one to whom the person was trying to extend grace and mercy — would end up, by the close of the conversation, extending grace and mercy and comfort to them.
The Test of Prosperity
Here is one more: be ready for the test of prosperity. What is amazing about Joseph is not only that he is faithful in the difficult time, but that he is faithful in the test of prosperity as well. As God blesses him, he does not become self-absorbed or self-centered. He understands that even those blessings are from God. He does not take credit or claim them for himself.
The historian Thomas Carlyle said that for every one hundred people who pass the test of adversity, only one can pass the test of prosperity. We see that all around us — honestly, even as a nation. We came through some incredibly prosperous years, and there were people who made far more money than they could ever have spent, and yet they spent it. Now they are in years of famine with nothing left. You save, you plan, you prepare for a rainy day, because one day it is going to rain. Do not get carried away with a sense of prosperity or health. God blesses you — do not presume on that blessing.
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Father, thank You for these awesome and amazing truths. You are an amazing God. Whether they are things we would call good or things we would call bad, they are from You — either caused or allowed by You. God, thank You for them. Thank You not just for the good, but for all of it.
God's Work Through Suffering
Blessings, but thank you for the suffering and the pain, because You grow us in the midst of that. God, You do Your work in our life. We ask it in Christ's name. Amen.