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The Patience Of Joseph

By Rick Railston
June 30, 2012

It is amazing to me how sermonettes and sermons tie together. Stuart and I didn't talk about any of this but they are hand in glove.

Many have commented recently how many of the Brethren are undergoing severe, severe trials. It's just a common theme over the last year or so. And whether it's cancer, little children, the elderly, severe pain, but the fact is that we, as God's people, should not be shocked because we've been promised that in order to be in the Kingdom, we're going to have to suffer. Nowhere in Scripture has God promised us a rose garden.

In fact, I got an inquiry from Africa this week saying, "God promises all these good things. How come we're suffering over here?" And we shouldn't be surprised though. Let's go to Acts 14 and verse 22 to see the reality of suffering, the reality of the fact that we are actually called to suffer. Acts 14 and verse 22, we're told:

Acts 14:22. Confirming the [lives] of the [the] disciples, (KJV)

The King James says "souls." It means lives.

Acts 14:22b. …and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. (KJV)

And God never promised to grease the skids and we just slide right into the Kingdom without any trouble or without any tribulation. In fact, we're promised just the opposite.

More than ever we need one characteristic that will allow us to get through these severe trials. And this one characteristic is absolutely essential for us to endure trials that are promised to come or trials that are already upon us. That singular characteristic is patience.

Now the Greek word patience is Strong's #5281. And it has a shade of meaning that I never recognized before, but it means cheerful endurance or hopeful endurance.

We are going to see, I hope, through this sermon that we can get to the point—even in a trial—where we have cheerfulness as part of our endurance and part of our faith and part and parcel of patience. We'll see later how that can happen.

But patience is essentially waiting to get what you want or waiting to get what has been promised to you. But by definition, since you're waiting to get what you want, you want it, whether it's a promise somebody has made to pay you or the promise of the Kingdom of God. Since you want it, we would prefer to have it sooner than later and therein lays the problem. This is especially true in trials. We want the trial to be over sooner rather than later. And the worse things get, the harder it is to have patience because we want the thing to be over with. The worse things get, the harder it is to wait on God and to be patient on God.

So, by way of introduction, let's look at an example of a colossal lack of patience. Just to start things off, let's look at this. Now, we're going to start in 1 Samuel chapter 10 and we're breaking into a context here where Saul had already been anointed king and Samuel was giving him instruction, 1 Samuel 10:8. Samuel is telling this new king, Saul, giving him directions. 1 Samuel 10:8, he says:

1 Samuel 10:8. And [you shall] go down before me to Gilgal; (KJV)

In other words, "You shall precede me. I'm going to come later."

1 Samuel 10:8b. …and, [surely], I will come down [to you], to offer burnt offerings, and [make] sacrifices of peace offerings: (KJV)

And notice the instruction at the end of verse 8.

1 Samuel 10:8 continued. …seven days [you shall wait until] I come to [you], and [show you] what [you should] do. (KJV)

The implication is, "Since I have to show you what you should do, I don't want you to do anything until I get there." And he says, "I'll be seven days."

Now jump to chapter 13, 1 Samuel 13 and we'll begin in verse 5. We'll read verses 5 through 14.

1 Samuel 13:5. And the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel, (KJV)

These were tough times.

1 Samuel 13:5b. …thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the sea shore in multitude: and they came up, and pitched in Michmash, eastward from Bethaven.
6) When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait, (NKJ)

I’m reading out of The King James. Meaning: They were in a tight spot.

1 Samuel 13:6b. …(for the people were distressed,) then the people did hide themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in high places, and in pits. (KJV)

They were scattering and hiding themselves because they were afraid. Verse 7.

1 Samuel 13:7. And some of the Hebrews went over Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. As for Saul, he was yet in Gilgal [where Samuel said he was going to come], and all the people followed him trembling.
8) And he [waited there] seven days, according to the set time that Samuel had appointed: but Samuel came not to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him. (KJV)

Okay. Samuel's not there. Seven days have passed, but Samuel said, "Don't you do anything until I get there to show you what to do." And in verse 9, here's the mistake Saul made as he began to take matters into his own hands. He began to do what seemed right at the moment. He says:

1 Samuel 13:9. …Bring [here] a burnt offering to me, and peace offerings. And he offered the burnt offering.
10) And it came to pass, [it was just] as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might salute him. (KJV)

Saul's thinking everything is okay. Verse 11:

1 Samuel 13:11. And Samuel said, What [have you] done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were [scattering] from me, and that [you didn't come] within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered themselves together…
12) Therefore said I, The Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication unto the [Eternal]: I forced myself… (KJV)

The King James says.

1 Samuel 13:12b. …and offered a burnt offering. (NKJ)

The New King James says:

1 Samuel 13:12b. Therefore I felt compelled, and offered a burnt offering." (NKJ)

He did what was right in his own eyes and he violated what Samuel told him to do and not to do. Verse 13:

1 Samuel 13:13. And Samuel said to Saul, [You have] done foolishly: [you have] not kept the commandment of the Lord [your] God, which he commanded [you]: for now would the Lord have established [your] kingdom upon Israel for ever. (KJV)

"If you had had patience, if you had waited, if you had trusted God and you had trusted Samuel and just waited it out," He said, "Your lineage would be upon Israel forever," but verse 14.

1 Samuel 13:14. But now… (KJV)

Because he lacked patience.

1 Samuel 13:14. But now [your] kingdom shall not continue: the Lord [has] sought him a man after his own heart, (KJV)

God had already picked David. It hadn't come to pass yet.

1 Samuel 13:14b. …and the Lord [has] commanded him to be captain over his people, because [you have] not kept that which the Lord commanded [you]. (KJV)

I'm sure at that point he wished he could have the time back. He wished he could do it differently, but he just lacked patience. It is quiet trusting in God. And the point is: Even though patience is hard to come by—and the Philistines were there and the people were leaving and all of these things were going on—yes, it's hard to come by, but God requires it of each one of us—patience.

But human nature says, "God, give me patience right now!" And that's an oxymoron because, if you want patience right now, you are not patient. But that's what human nature wants—God sprinkle "patience dust" over us and all of a sudden we're patient.

So, the message is that we must develop patience in order to endure to the end. So, we're going to talk about today "The Greatest Keys to us Having Patience" because we're going to need it. All of us are going to need it.

Now, it's relatively easy to be patient when things are unfolding according to our desires and according to our timetable. If things are unfolding according to our plan, then patience is kind of easy to come by. But patience becomes challenging when life goes off the script that we have written for it and things take longer than we expect or things unfold differently than we had planned. Then, patience is very challenging.

But this discrepancy between easiness and patience and difficulty and patience lies in Isaiah 55 verse 8. We won't turn there. You know the Scripture by heart. God says:

Isaiah 55:8. …my thoughts are not your thoughts… [my] ways [are not your] ways…
9) For as [high as] the [heaven is above] the earth… my [thoughts are above your thoughts and my] ways [are above] your ways... (KJV)

God's "script" for us (I use "script" in quotes.), in other words, the way He works and the way He thinks is very different from the way we do things and the way we think. Our expectations sometimes run counter to what God wants to do in our lives.

God's timetable is different than ours. Actually, when you think about it, time is irrelevant to God. Time makes no difference to God. He says, even humanly "A day is as a thousand years and a thousand years is a day." But the fact is that our concept of time and God's concept of time are totally different.

Let me just give you an example. Even in the physical realm, Einstein's Theory of Relativity revealed in theory one of the biggest revelations—the fact that time is relative. Time is not fixed. It is relative. And his theory has actually been proven to be true.

Let me quote from a PBS NOVA Program entitled "Einstein's Big Idea." I'll just read a little bit of the dialogue in that show.

Einstein came up with an example to show the effects of time dilation [meaning: time changing] that he called "The Twin Paradox."

He used an example of a pair of twins.

Let's try it out with a pair of pretend twins, Al and Bert, both of whom are ten-years-old in this highly futuristic universe. [Al and Bert, ten-years-old.]

Al's parents decide to send him to summer camp in the Alpha 3 star system which is twenty-five light years away.

A light year, as you know, is the distance light travels in a calendar year.

Bert doesn't want to go. So, he stays home on earth. Al sets out on his own. Wanting him to get there as quickly as possible, his parents pay extra and send him at 99.99% of the speed of light to this star system to have summer camp.

The trip to the star and back takes fifty years—twenty-five years out, twenty-five years back. What happens when Al returns? His twin brother is now sixty-years-old. He was ten when Al started. Twenty-five years out, twenty-five years back. His twin brother Bert is now sixty. But Al is only ten and a half years old. How can this be? Al was away for fifty years, but He only aged by half a year. How can that happen? Did Al just discover the fountain of youth? Of course not.

Al's trip into space lasted only a half a year for him, but on earth fifty years past. Does this mean that Al can live forever? No. He may have aged only a half of a year in the time it took fifty years to pass on earth, but he also only lived half a year. And since time can slow down but never go backwards, there is no way he could grow younger.

Einstein predicted this and it is proven to be true as mind-boggling as that is. Because on the space shuttle and on satellites that have been launched, they have launched very accurate atomic clocks on the space shuttle and on the satellites and sure enough, the faster they went, time slowed down. There was a small but significant difference in time measured on the satellite versus time measured here on earth.

The point is—the point I'm making is that: Time is relative even in the physical universe. But far beyond that, God lives outside the physical, outside the physical universe. He is not constrained by time as we are. And He is certainly not constrained by my time or your time. God doesn't adhere to some time schedule that we come up with as humans.

So, there is perhaps no better example or no example better illustrates the difference between God's way and man's way or God's time and man's time than the Story of Joseph. So, we're going to spend some time now going through the Book of Genesis to look at this Story of Joseph.

Now to set the stage, Joseph is the only patriarch where not a single sin has been recorded. The others, we know their sins, but nothing was mentioned about Joseph ever sinning. Now, obviously, we know he wasn't perfect. Christ is the only One who has lived on this earth that was perfect.

But Joseph was a man who followed God from his very youth, from a very young age as we're going to see. And humanly speaking, he was punished for it. He was punished for following God over and over and over. As we know in Satan's world, no good deed goes unpunished. And he experienced that over and over. No good deed goes unpunished in this world, in Satan's world.

It would have been easy for Joseph to lose patience, but we're going to see that he did not. Let's go to Genesis chapter 37. So, we're going to run through a few chapters of Genesis. I know most of us probably know the story by heart, but if you're like me until you go back and read it, there are some things that are easy to forget. So, Genesis 37, we'll read the first two verses.

Genesis 37:1. And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger, [Jacob dwelt] in the land of Canaan. (KJV)

Now, we know Canaan as the land that would later be the Promised Land. Verse 2:

Genesis 37:2. These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock… (KJV)

Shepherding the flock, that word can mean.

Genesis 37:2b. …with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report. (KJV)

In other words, he was reporting back to his father the conduct of some of his brothers. He was the only one who did so. He was the only one who had the character to tell his father the truth about what was going on.

Verse 3:

Genesis 37:3. Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, (KJV)

This is a side lesson but we're going to see shortly what favoritism causes when parents favor one child over another. You never should do that, but it was obvious Jacob loved Joseph more than the others and that created some real problems.

Genesis 37:3. Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many [colors].
4) And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and [would] not speak peaceably unto him. (KJV)

They made his life miserable!

We won't go through verses 5 through 10 but Joseph had two dreams—one that he would rule over his father and mother, and that he would also rule over his brothers. Verse 11. And was it because maybe he didn't use as much wisdom as he should have, but he told his brothers this? And they were not happy to hear that from him.

Genesis 37:11. And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.
12) And his brethren went to feed their father's flock in Shechem.
13) And Israel said unto Joseph [his Dad said, Don't your brothers] feed the flock in Shechem? (KJV)

That's on the West Bank today.

Genesis 37:13b. [He says,] come, and I will send [you to] them. And he said to him, Here am I. (KJV)

"I'm ready to do my Dad's bidding." Verse 14:

Genesis 37:14. And he said to him, Go, I pray [your], see whether it be well with [your] brethren, and well with the flocks; and bring me word again. (KJV)

This is because his dad could trust him as we read earlier.

Genesis 37:14b. So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. (KJV)

Verse 18:

Genesis 37:18. And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to [kill] him.
19) And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer [comes—the one who had the dream that he would rule over his brothers].
20) Come now therefore, and let us [kill] him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast [has] devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams. (KJV)

[His brothers were] being very sarcastic. Verse 21:

Genesis 37:21. And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands; and said, Let us not kill him.
22) And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him; that he might rid him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again. (KJV)

Now, if Joseph died, Reuben would be responsible because he was the firstborn. So, he had a little more concern than the rest of the brothers. Verse 23:

Genesis 37:23. And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they [stripped] Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many [colors] that was on him;
24) And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it.
25) And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmeelites… (KJV)

Now, Midianite traders—that was their prime function—the Midianites were traders and they would hire Ishmaelites to transport goods on their behalf. So, these Ishmaelite traders:

Genesis 37:25b. …came [along] from Gilead with their camels bearing [spices] and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.
26) And Judah said unto his brethren, (KJV)

Judah—thinking about money—said:

Genesis 37:26b. What profit is it [to kill] our brother, and conceal his blood?
27) [Let's] sell him to the Ishmeelites, and let not our hand be upon him [That way we can be innocent.]; for he is our brother and [he is] our flesh. [So, the others] were content [with that suggestion].
28) Then there passed by Midianite merchantmen; and they drew and lifted [him] up … out of the pit, and sold [him] to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt. (KJV)

Now, verse 36:

Genesis 37:36. And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, and captain of the guard. (KJV)

Okay. Now, put yourself in Joseph's position right now. How on earth was this fair? All he was trying to do was obey his father. "I just did what Dad asked and look at this!" He says, "I'm now down in Egypt. I'm a slave. I'm being sold to a man of a high position, an officer in Pharaoh's court, captain of the guard. What's going on here?"

Let's go to chapter 39 verse 1. Genesis 39 verse 1 and we see here that:

Genesis 39:1. Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmeelites, which had brought him down [there].
2) And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.
3) And his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper… (KJV)

Everything Joseph touched turned to gold. Everything he did was just exactly what Potiphar wanted. And verse 4:

Genesis 39:4. And Joseph found grace… (KJV)

The Hebrew word can mean favor.

Genesis 39:4b. …in his sight, and he served him: and [Potiphar] made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into [Joseph's] hand. (KJV)

He trusted him.

Genesis 39:5. And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer [of the] house, and over all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; and the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field. (KJV)

All of a sudden Potiphar's fortunes looked up because of Joseph. And he made the connection. He was not a stupid man. Verse 6:

Genesis 39:6. And he left all that he had in Joseph's hand [because he was so successful]; and he [didn't know anything that he did or that] he had, [except for] the bread which he [ate]. (KJV)

He just turned it over to Joseph because he trusted him. He didn't look at the books. He didn't ask any questions. Everything was golden.

Genesis 39:6b. And Joseph was a goodly person, and [well favored].
7) And it came to pass after these things, that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me. (KJV)

Now this is interesting because in Abraham's case and in Isaac's case, both of them had powerful men who wanted their wives. We don't have time to go into it, but Abraham and Isaac ran into powerful men and those men wanted their wives. In this case, the wife of a powerful man wants Joseph. It's kind of a 180° flip-flop here.

Look at verse 8 now.

Genesis 39:8. But [Joseph] refused, and [he] said unto his master's wife, Behold, my master [doesn't know what even I do] in [this] house, and he [has] committed all that he [has] to my hand;
9) There is none greater in this house than I; neither [has] he kept back any thing from me but [you], because [you are] his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God? (KJV)

Now remember, this is pre-Sinai, pre Ten Commandments. But clearly the Ten Commandments are in effect because "Sin is the transgression of the Law." And the Law had to exist in order for sin to exist and Joseph knew that. And he said, "How can I do this? Sin against this man who's been so good to me and given me everything? And you're not my wife. And I'm not going to do it."

Verse 10:

Genesis 39:10. And it came to pass, as she [spoke] to Joseph day by day [persistent woman], that he [listened] not unto her, to lie [with] her, or to be with her.
11) And it came to pass about this time, that Joseph went into the house to do his business; and there was none of the men [in] the house. (KJV)

There were no witnesses there.

Genesis 39:12. And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand, [he ran away], and got [himself outside of the house].
13) And it came to pass, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and was fled forth,
14) That she called unto the men of her house, and spake unto them, saying … he hath brought in an Hebrew [in to] us to mock us; (KJV)

Blame the husband! She is blaming the husband right out of the shoot. "He did this!"

Genesis 39:14b. [And he, Joseph] came in unto me to lie with me, and I cried [in] a loud voice:
15) And it came to pass, when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled, and got him out.
16) And she laid up his garment by her, until his lord came home. (KJV)

Until Potiphar came home, she had the garment; she had a story all concocted. Verse 17:

Genesis 39:17. And she [spoke] unto him [Potiphar] according to these words, saying, The Hebrew servant, which [you have] brought [into this house]… (KJV)

It's the man's fault again. "You did it."

Genesis 39:17b. …came in unto me to mock me:
18) And it came to pass, as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled out.
19) And it came to pass, when his master heard the words of his wife, which she [spoke] unto him, saying, After this manner did [your] servant to me; that his [anger] was kindled. (KJV)

Now, you have to ask the question: Was his anger at Joseph or was his anger at her? It doesn't say.

Genesis 39:20. And Joseph's master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king's prisoners were bound: and he was there in the prison. (KJV)

Now, Potiphar probably knew the nature of his wife. Otherwise, he would have had Joseph killed on the spot for doing that. But he probably had a suspicion that there was more to it than just what his wife was saying. So to keep up appearances, obviously he had to do something about it. So, he put Joseph in jail but did not have him killed.

Now, again put yourself in Joseph's position. In his mind, he had to think, "This is completely unfair! This is just not right." He says, "I tried to follow God's Law. In fact, I did follow God's Law, but look what it's got me—first, I was sold into slavery; now, I'm in jail."

Now, do you think maybe he was running out of patience a little bit here because nothing is going right according to Joseph? Now, we're going to find out later that everything was happening just according to God's plan, but Joseph couldn't see it.

Verse 21:

Genesis 39:21. But the Lord was with Joseph, and [showed] him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.
22) And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners that were in the prison; (KJV)

In other words, once again Joseph is doing the job of the keeper of the prison. Now this has to be encouraging because, once again, God didn't remove him from the prison, but God is showing him, "Hey, I'm with you. I'm causing you to prosper." Joseph didn't understand what was going on, but it was probably encouraging to him.

Going on:

Genesis 39:22b. …and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it.
23) The keeper of the prison [didn't look on anything] that was under his hand; because the Lord was with him, and that which he did, the Lord made … to prosper. (KJV)

The keeper just took a vacation, turned it over to Joseph and everything worked out just fine. He was very happy.

So, Joseph first found favor with his father because his father could trust him. Then, he found favor with Potiphar. Potiphar turned the whole household over to Joseph. Now, the head jailer [has done] the same thing, turned everything over to Joseph. But guess what? He's still in prison. He has no freedom and probably the conditions weren't very good.

So, would our patience be running out right about now? Probably so.

Let's go to chapter 40, verse 1.

Genesis 40:1. And it came to pass after these things, that the butler of the king of Egypt and his baker had offended their lord the king of Egypt. (KJV)

Now, it appears what happened was that incident occurred on Pharaoh's birthday and it was an attempted assassination through poison. And the butler was in charge of the wine and the baker was in charge of the food. So, one of the two of them was responsible. And so, Pharaoh had both of them thrown into prison.

Verse 2:

Genesis 40:2. And Pharaoh was [angry] against [the] two of his officers, against the chief of the butlers, and against the chief of the bakers.
3) And he put them in ward in the house of the captain of the guard, into the prison, the place where Joseph was bound.
4) And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served them: and they continued a season… (KJV)

Now, the Hebrew word for season means from one season to the next. So, they were there at least for three months, from one season to the next, "in the ward."

Both the cook (the baker) and the butler had dreams. And we won't take the time to go through those, but Joseph interpreted those dreams. And there was a positive outcome for the butler because we're going to see he was reinstated, but the cook wound up losing his life.

Verse 20:

Genesis 40:20. And it came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, that he made a feast unto all his servants: and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants.
21) And he restored the chief butler unto his butlership again; and he gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand:
22) But he hanged the chief baker: as Joseph had interpreted to them. (KJV)

So, the butler had the wine cup because the butler was responsible for serving the wine to Pharaoh. And often the butler would taste the wine in case it was poisoned and he would die rather than Pharaoh. Verse 23:

Genesis 40:23. Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but [forgot] him. (KJV)

Once again, put yourself in Joseph's position. Can you imagine the frustration? Can you imagine interpreting the dream, having it come just to pass, this butler was now elevated to his former position? And he (Joseph), I'm sure, was hanging his hope on the fact the butler remembering him and saying, "Oh, this man did me good," and somehow would pull some strings to get him out of prison. It didn't happen.

Genesis 41 verse 1:

Genesis 41:1. And it came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed: and, behold, he stood by the river. (KJV)

Now two more years in prison—how would we react to that? Joseph has obeyed God. Yes, God has been with him. He has obeyed God but he is still in this stinking hole of a prison. Verse 9:

Genesis 40:9. Then spake the chief butler unto Pharaoh, saying, I do remember my faults this day:
10) [He says,] Pharaoh was [angry] with his servants, and put me in ward in the captain of the guard's house, both me and the chief baker:
11) And we dreamed a dream in one night, I and he; we dreamed each man according to the interpretation of his dream.
12) And there was [this] young man [who was there], [he was a] Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard; and we told him, and he interpreted to us our dreams; to each man according to his dream he [interpreted].
13) And it came to pass, [just as he said to us], so it was; me he restored unto [my] office, and him he hanged. (KJV)

So, now after two years, the butler remembers. Verse 14:

Genesis 41:14. Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon: (KJV)

They had to shave him because hair (facial hair, head hair) was an anathema to the Egyptians. So, he shaved himself, changed his garments. They probably gave him a bath, and came unto Pharaoh.

Genesis 41:15. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and there is [nobody] that can interpret it: and I have heard of [you], that [you can] understand a dream to interpret it. (KJV)

Now, let's just stop here. Once again, Joseph has been frustrated. The butler didn't remember. Now, here is his chance to get out of prison. Here's his chance to exalt himself, give himself all the credit in an effort to get out of prison. Don't you think we might pad our resume a little bit at this time so that we might look good in the Pharaoh's eyes and get ourselves out of prison? Notice what happened, verse 16.

Genesis 41:16. And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: [I can't interpret these dreams.] God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace. (KJV)

So, humanly, Joseph could say, "Here's a chance to make a name for myself and get out of this hole." But despite his frustration, Joseph gave God all the credit and he did not exalt himself.

Then he proceeded to interpret the dream and this was the dream where he said, "Egypt would see seven years of plenty and, then, seven years of famine." Verse 39:

Genesis 41:39. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God [has showed you] all this, there is none so discreet and wise as [you are]:
40) [You shall] be over my house, and according unto [your] word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than [you]. (KJV)

[Joseph] was elevated again just like with Potiphar in his house and just like with the jailer. Verse 41:

Genesis 41:41. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set [you] over all the land of Egypt. (KJV)

Verse 46:

Genesis 41:46. And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt. (KJV)

Remember he was seventeen-years-old when he started. And, humanly, you could say that he had wasted thirteen years. On a human level, after being sold and all that happened to him, thirteen years had been a bust. He hadn't accomplished a thing. In fact, most of it has been pretty miserable.

So, let's recap. Joseph is the only patriarch where no single sin has been recorded. He is the only son that his father could trust. Yet, he was sold into slavery for it. Now, he found favor with Potiphar. He refused to sleep with Potiphar's wife and was thrown in jail for obeying God. He found favor with the jailor but that that didn't help him a bit. He interpreted a dream of the butler but he was forgotten for two years. Thirteen years in prison for not doing anything wrong. Thirteen years for not doing a thing that was wrong!

And we have to ask ourselves: Do we have that kind of patience? Could I do that? Could you do that for thirteen years of all that mess? Have we ever said, "God, you've forgotten me," because we didn't get an answer five minutes ago? "You've forgotten me."

Or have we ever taken matters into our own hands, as Saul did, and done something we shouldn't have done because we didn't have patience?

Now, let's ask the question: Why did God allow all of this to happen? Why did God allow Joseph to go through this?

Now some people believe—even some of God's people believe—that God is this harsh God who takes perverse pleasure in watching His people suffer. He's just waiting for them to step out of line and the hammer comes down. And He is this harsh God. Is that what happened or did something else happen?

The fact is, as we talked about earlier, God does not see as we see. God does not see as man sees. God sees the entire picture. As I've said before, "We see through soda straws, looking around like this. And we don't see much." God sees everything. And we are consumed with ourselves—My problems, my trials, what's going on with me. I hurt. I'm in pain. I don't have any money. I'm out of a job, and, on and on and on.

But God had a different agenda than Joseph did. And God had a different timeline than Joseph did because God is outside human time. Human time is irrelevant to God.

So, unbeknownst to Joseph, God had something far greater in mind than Joseph could see in a prison or in a pit. God was using Joseph to accomplish two things that he had no clue about. One, Joseph was going to build the Nation of Israel. And number two, Joseph was going to be a type of Christ before Christ ever walked physically on this earth. Let's spend a little bit of time talking about those two.

Building a Nation

Let’s go to Genesis 46 and we're going to read verses 26 and 27.

Genesis 46:26. All the persons who went with Jacob to Egypt, (NKJ)

Remember Joseph revealed himself to his brothers, inquired of his dad, and because of the famine all of Jacob's family came back down to Egypt.

Genesis 46:26. All the persons who went with Jacob to Egypt, who came from his body, besides Jacob's sons' wives, were sixty-six persons in all.
27) And the sons of Joseph who were born to him in Egypt were two persons. All the persons of the house of Jacob who went to Egypt were seventy. (NKJ)

Now, these seventy were the firstfruits of what was going to be Israel. They were the firstfruits of a very select nation that would later number in the multiple millions. And God was going to use Israel as an example to the rest of the world as long as Israel allowed that.

Now, let's go to Exodus chapter 1. We're going to read verses 5 through 7. Now we're down the road a bit and let's look at what happened. Joseph is dead now. Exodus 1:5.

Exodus 1:5. All those who were descendants of Jacob were seventy persons (for Joseph was in Egypt already).
6) And Joseph died, all his brothers, and all that generation. (NKJ)

But notice what happened.

Exodus 1:7. But the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them. (NKJ)

Now, jump down to chapter 12. We're going to read verses 37 and 38. Now, the Exodus has occurred but notice how far Israel has expanded as far as people are concerned. Exodus 12 verse 37:

Exodus 12:37. Then the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides children.
38) A mixed multitude went up with them also, and flocks and herds-- a great deal of livestock. (NKJ)

So, there were six hundred thousand men of Israel. Not to mention the mixed multitude. And when you figure women and children, it was somewhere between two and three million people. The firstfruits that came down to Egypt were seventy. And look what it resulted in—two to three million people heading back to Canaan, heading back to the Promised Land.

Now, think about this. Jacob and his twelve sons had already lived in Canaan, the Promised Land. They were forced to leave. They had to go back down to Egypt. Only to turn around and go back through the Exodus back to Canaan again, back to the Promised Land. Now, to men this makes no sense. We wouldn't plan it that way. We wouldn't do it that way, but remember God does not see as we see. God sees far into future. God sees a far greater picture than we do.

And so, one of the lessons here is this is why we must have patience. Because:

When we get in a trial, we don't understand. We don't see.

But God sees the whole chessboard, so to speak. And He is moving the pieces around and we're totally oblivious to it. We're going through a trial. Sometimes we whine and complain to God, but the fact is that God knows, God sees, and as with Joseph, He is working out a plan. And one is to build a nation.

Joseph didn't have a clue when he was in prison, when he was going through all of this that this was what God had in mind. And we have to apply that to ourselves when we're going through trials, when our children go through trials as Miette, or when Gary goes through trials. We don't have a clue what God is doing behind the scenes. We need to be patient.

So, the first thing that God was doing, God's agenda was to build a nation. The second was that Joseph was going to become a type of Christ. Now we understand Christ—guess what? We know Christ saves the Firstfruits. And, then, ultimately Christ will save the entire world—the world alive to come as well as those who have ever lived. Joseph is a type of Christ and he did the same thing, obviously on a much smaller scale.

Let's go to Genesis 45 and we'll read the first eight verses. Genesis 45, the first eight verses. Joseph is now in front of his brothers. They don't realize who he is. They know he is second in command to Pharaoh. And they are thinking they are in a world of trouble because he led them to believe that they were. And he had a ruse going on that we won't take the time to cover. Genesis 45 verse 1:

Genesis 45:1. Then Joseph could not restrain himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out, "Make everyone go out from me!" So no one stood with him while Joseph made himself known to his brothers.
2) And he wept aloud, and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard it. (NKJ)

He told them to get out but, as you see in English movies, the butler has his ear to the door and so on. That undoubtedly is what happened. Verse 3:

Genesis 45:3. Then Joseph said to his brothers, "I am Joseph; does my father still live?" But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed… (NKJ)

The King James says, "They were dismayed. The Revised English Bible says, "They were dumbfounded at his presence."

They assumed he was dead. Remember in Exodus 21, if you kidnap somebody and sell them into slavery, you pay with your life. Verse 4:

Genesis 45:4. And Joseph said to his brothers, "Please come near to me." So they came near. Then he said: "I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt.
5) "But now, do not therefore be grieved nor angry with yourselves because you sold me here; (NKJ)

Notice Joseph is beginning to see. Now, this is in hindsight after he's been elevated. After he has been elevated, he's looking back. Now the lesson here is:

Sometimes we only see when we look back.

He says:

Genesis 45:5b. God sent me before you to preserve life.
6) "For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting.
7) "And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. (NKJ)

Rescuing the firstfruits of what was later to become the Nation of Israel. But he said, "God did it. I didn't understand it at the time, but I understand it now." Verse 8:

Genesis 45:8. "So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. (NKJ)

Now, the light bulb is going on in Joseph's mind. He begins to see. God's plan was so much greater and so different than what Joseph had in mind. God caused Joseph to deliver those who would give birth to physical Israel. He was moving pieces on that chessboard and nobody had a clue. Jacob didn't have a clue. Joseph didn't have a clue. Pharaoh didn't have a clue. [Joseph's] brothers didn't have a clue. But his brothers and those seventy became the firstfruits of Israel.

And Joseph saved not only Israel's firstfruits, but the entire nation of Egypt from the famine. In that sense, he is like a type of Christ who will save the entire world ultimately. And, in that sense, Egypt was a type of the entire world because this was long before the Exodus. We understand that. So, Egypt was saved as a nation because of what God was doing.

Look at Genesis, now chapter 47 verse 23.

Genesis 47:23. Then Joseph said to the people, (NKJ)

He's addressing now the people of Egypt.

Genesis 47:23. Then Joseph said to the people, "Indeed I have bought you and your land this day for Pharaoh. (NKJ)

He did. He bought up all the land and put it into Pharaoh's hands.

Genesis 47:23b. Look, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. (NKJ)

Remember? They saved all the seed during the years of plenty.

Genesis 47:24. "And it shall come to pass in the harvest that you shall give one-fifth to Pharaoh. Four-fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and for your food, for those of your households and as food for your little ones."
25) So they said, "You have saved our lives; let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh's servants." (NKJ)

God had a hand in this. God used Joseph in a very special way, [which has] never been repeated, to build a model nation of Israel, and, then, to save the firstfruits, and, then, the entire nation of Egypt. In that sense, he is a type of Christ because Christ first will save the Firstfruit (us) and, then, Christ will save the entire world through the Millennium and through the One Hundred Year Period—all those people!

This was God's agenda. This was God timeline. Neither of which was apparent to Joseph. And boy, there is a powerful lesson! We need to remember that when we're going through trials because:

We don't see as God's sees.

We don't understand as God understands.

And God's agenda is far above ours.

So, we need to take that into consideration when we enter a trial or are going through a trial.

Now, back to the point of the whole sermon. What are the keys to having patience? There is one verse that sums it up. Let's go to Revelation chapter 14. We'll get the context in verse 4, Revelation 14:4. Keys to having patience, we're going to need these keys going forward. Revelation 14 verse 4 [is] talking about a group of people who are not defiled, not polluted.

Revelation 14:4. These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. (NKJ)

That is symbolic of being defiled with the world, polluted from the world.

Revelation 14:4b. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. (NKJ)

There is a group that say, "We don't want our agenda. We don't want our will. We don't want our way. All we want to do is what Christ and the Father want us to do. And [we] will follow wherever you lead us."

Revelation 14:4 continued. These were redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb. (NKJ)

Now, this is the group we want to be part of. And so, we have to ask the question: How did they do that? How did they become part of the group? Verse 12 gives us the answer.

Revelation 14:12. Here is the patience of the saints; (NKJ)

Boy, we better pay attention to this!

Revelation 14:12. Here is the patience of the saints; (NKJ)

Now, let's look at the first part of this verse. The New King James in the margin says, "The steadfastness and perseverance of the Saints."

The NIV says:

Revelation 14:12. This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints… (NIV)

So, here is the patience of the Saints.

Revelation 14:12b. …here are those who… (NKJ)

They do two things.

Revelation 14:12 continued. …keep the commandments of God… (NKJ)

[That's] number one. And number two:

Revelation 14:12 continued. …and [keep] the faith of Jesus. (NKJ)

Two things: Obedience and Faith.

Now, Zodhiates says about the word keep it means:

Or, as Paul said in several places, "You have to have works as well as having faith." And this is what this is—keep the Commandments of God, the works and also keep the faith of Jesus Christ, the Faith that Christ had when He as on this earth and has to this day.

So, the people who were selected as Firstfruits obeyed and had faith, but notice it was all in the context of patience. "Here is the patience of the Saints. Obey and have faith." To obey and have faith are in the context of having patience, which we have to have. Now, let's look at these two components of patience.

The first one is Obedience. Now, you know Acts 5 and verse 32. We've talked about that a lot recently.

Acts 5:32. "And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit [which] God has given to those who obey Him." (NKJ)

We know God gives the holy spirit to those who obey. Now, when we obey—and I'm working on a sermon about this for here—but when we obey, God gives us more of His holy spirit. When we exercise His spirit, we get more of His holy spirit. And guess what one of the fruits of God's spirit is? It's Faith (Galatians 5 verse 22). So, Obedience and Faith go hand-in-hand.

We're also told; we won't turn there, but in 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 7, it says:

2 Corinthians 5:7. For we walk by… (NKJ)

What?

2 Corinthians 5:7. For we walk by faith, not by sight. (NKJ)

We have to have faith because if we use human sight, we're going to go astray. We're going to misunderstand God. We're going to misunderstand God's Plan and His agenda. Not by human physical sight should we walk. We should walk by faith.

What this tells us is: When we can see as God sees, then we can have patience.

Now, Joseph didn't see that for a time. And patience is sometimes hard to come by. But if we can see as God sees, then patience becomes easier. When we see the big picture as God sees, then we can have patience. But when we look at the chessboard through soda straws, we can't see the entire board. We don't see what's going on. We're just looking at this piece or that piece, but we're not looking at the entire board. God is seeing the entire board and moving things around to accomplish His will.

In the beginning, Joseph didn't get the big picture. He didn't understand what was going on. Now, what character he had, there is no evidence that he threw a hissy fit or lost his temper or lacked patience because he patiently endured through this whole thing. And in the end, he saw what God was doing. He said to his brothers, "God sent me here. God did this. You didn't do it. God was doing it."

In these last days—the beauty of us being here in these last days—we have a much bigger picture than Joseph did. We have both the Old Testament and the New Testament. He didn't have that. And we have 3700 years of human experience and history to look back on since the days of Joseph to give us a bigger picture than righteous Joseph had.

So, Obedience and Faith are the keys to having patience because, when we obey, God gives us more of His spirit. And what is the fruit of having more of God's spirit? It is Faith. And faith gives us patience. Obedience and Faith give us patience.

So, let's begin to get a bigger picture as we get closer to the end here.

Let's ask the question: Am I getting frustrated in a trial? (And all of God's people are going through trials in one way or another. It could be health trials, financial problems, family problems, anything. God's people are going through trials.) Do I get frustrated? I think if we're honest with ourselves, we'd say, "Yes. There are times when we get frustrated. Frustrated because it's not working out as I expected it should. I’m not where I want to be in my life and I get frustrated about that." Or we get frustrated because "Things aren't happening according to my timetable. They're not happening as fast as I want them to happen or they're not happening to the extent that I want them to happen. So, therefore, I'm getting frustrated."

And we've all been there. We've all done that. But we have to allow for the fact that "Maybe God is teaching me something I can't see right now" when we go through a trial. "Maybe, as with Joseph, God is making moves on the chessboard that I can't comprehend and that I can't see. And God is doing things far beyond my intelligence, far beyond my ability to perceive."

Joseph didn't know what God's will was for seventeen years until he finally saw what God was doing. But, to Joseph's credit, he remained patient during those seventeen years. God encouraged him. God was with him.

Now, let's take it to the time of Christ. Shortly before Christ's death, his disciples started to get frustrated because they were saying, "When are You going to do the things you speak of? When are You going to come and kill all the Romans? When are You going to come and exalt the Nation of Judah? When are You going to come and slay all Your enemies? When are we going to be exalted and sit on your right hand and on Your left hand?"

Let's go to Luke chapter 21 and verse 7. This is what they were asking because they lacked patience. They lacked vision. They did not see the things that God sees or that Christ saw. Luke 21 and verse 7.

Luke 21:7. So they asked Him, saying, "Teacher, but when will these things be? And what sign will there be when these things are about [ready] to take place?" (NKJ)

In other words, they were excited, buy they wanted it now. They wanted to see it with their own eyes. And they just assumed that since Christ was here, "Boy, this thing is going to wrap up right then, right there." And Christ goes on to give them some signs, but what did Christ say at the end of this section of Scripture? Verse 19, [this] is the key, the real key. He says:

Luke 21:19. "By your patience possess your souls. (NKJ)

The King James says; or "your lives." In other words, by having patience you take hold of your life.

The Greek word for possess is Strong's #2932 and it means to get or to acquire or to obtain or to purchase.

And He says, "If you have patience, you get your life." You obtain your life back. You possess your life. You control your life.

So, if we have patience, then we get control of ourselves. Because, if things aren't going the way we want according to the timeline we would like, sometimes we can go do stupid things. We can get wrong attitudes. We can get in a wrong spirit. We can open the door for Satan to come in. And we're being told here, "If you have patience, you possess your life."

Christ said that the key wasn't knowing when. He didn't tell them when. He did not say when. Or He did not even say how.

We were talking in the car. Carol Robey asked the question, "How is Christ going to gather up the Saints? How is that going to happen?" We don't know. Christ didn't tell us. We have some clues, but we don't know because it's not important. Christ said the key wasn't knowing when or how but if we want eternal life, He said, "You must be patient. You must wait cheerfully and be patient.

But guess what? Satan is trying to frustrate our efforts at being patient. He tries to make us lose patience, lose hope, lose faith, get us agitated. He provokes us not to trust in God. He puts thoughts in our mind that this is all a sham; God doesn't really exist; evolution is true, blah, blah, blah. Those thoughts can come into our mind. Guess where they come from? Because he wants to frustrate our efforts at being patient.

And it is prophesied—his efforts against us and the world's efforts (which are deceived by Satan)—it's prophesied to get worse. Let's go to Daniel chapter 7. [This] is talking about a system that's going to make war with the Saints, with us. Daniel 7 verse 21, notice what he says.

Daniel 7:21. I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; (KJV)

Daniel 7, now look at verse 25:

Daniel 7:25. And he shall speak great words against the most High, (KJV)

And this is the key we want to emphasize.

Daniel 7:25b. …and shall wear out the saints of the most High, (KJV)

Wear out the Saints!

Daniel 7:25 continued. …and think to change times and laws: (KJV)

We've already seen that. It happened after the breakup of Worldwide—Saturday to Sunday, God's Holy Days to the world's holidays.

Daniel 7:25 continued. …and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. (KJV)

Now, the Aramaic word for wear out is Strong's #1080 and it means in a mental sense. This word doesn't apply physically. It applies mentally as Strong's makes it very clear:

in a mental sense, to consume; in a mental sense, to make old; in a mental sense, to spend; in a mental sense, to waste.

Just wear God's people out mentally and that includes emotionally and all the things that go through the mind. There is an effort to wear out God's Saints. And Satan's effort is increasing with every passing day.

But we cannot give up. We can't! We cannot allow ourselves to get frustrated with God because God doesn't do what we want Him to do when we want Him to do it.

We don't know, as [Joseph] didn't know, we don't know what lessons God is teaching us in the middle of a trial. We don't know. And we don't know how God plans to use any one of us as we go through life. We don't know what His agenda is because we see through the soda straws. God has His purpose. God has His timeline. Both of which are much greater than ours. We can't see it, generally only in hindsight.

Now, the life of Joseph, what we've been through today, was recorded for a reason. He was a righteous man. He had many trials for being righteous. His righteousness brought on trials. Guess what is going to happen to us down the road?

Humanly he lost seventeen years of his life. And, yet, during those seventeen years guess what? God was training him; first in Potiphar's house, secondly in the King's jail and then, ultimately, as the right hand man of Pharaoh ruling the entire nation of Egypt. Those seventeen years were a training. He couldn't see it and didn't understand it.

God used him to save not only his family, which were the firstfruits of the Nation of Israel, but all of Egypt, which is a type of the entire world at that time. And, humanly, he became a type of Christ and didn't have a clue, didn't know. But he persevered. He had patience. He endured. And look where he wound up.

God has plans for us that we can't see. In this present day, we just don't know, but I'm pretty sure that God's plans are bigger than anything we could have in mind.

Remember I joke about the dueling thermostats. My suspicion is that God has a plan that's bigger than who is in charge of turning a knob on a thermostat. And, yet, people get all riled up about that!

God's plans for us are much bigger than we have in mind, but I'm sure—I'm also sure—that God's plans are not going to be according to our human timeline. They're not going to be according to what we dictate. And they're not according to the script that we write out for ourselves. We have this script in mind that we're going to be this or do that or go here or whatever, but God has a different timeline and God has a different script so far above anything we can come up with.

Christ said, we know, "He that endures to the end shall be saved." And the key to enduring to the end is patience. And the key for having patience is Obedience which leads to God's holy spirit which leads to Faith.

So, let's pray daily for the patience of Joseph. And let's understand that God's will, God's plan, God's timeline are so much bigger than ours—anything we can imagine. And let's pray for patience no matter what we face. We have a life-threatening illness; we have death in the family; we're out of a job; whatever it might be, let's pray for patience no matter what we face.

And above all, as Joseph did, never give up!

Transcribed by kb August 14, 2012