Joseph

Joseph

Question of the Day:  What is your earliest or favorite memory of VBS?  Why?

Last week we didn't finish the lesson.  In fact we only finished one of the two chapters so today we will look at chapter 47.  Let's read it first together and then we will start to unpack it.  

It is important to remember that we ended the last chapter with Joseph telling his brothers that they were to tell people that they were Shepherds.  Read the last few words of the previous chapter.  What does it say about how the Egyptians see shepherds? 

47 Joseph went and told Pharaoh, “My father and brothers, with their flocks and herds and everything they own, have come from the land of Canaan and are now in Goshen.” 2 He chose five of his brothers and presented them before Pharaoh.

3 Pharaoh asked the brothers, “What is your occupation?”

“Your servants are shepherds,” they replied to Pharaoh, “just as our fathers were.” 4 They also said to him, “We have come to live here for a while, because the famine is severe in Canaan and your servants’ flocks have no pasture. So now, please let your servants settle in Goshen.”

Let's stop for a moment.  
So the brothers were brought to Egypt by their "ruler" brother whom they had once sold. He sends them chariots to ride on as they move to Egypt.  He gives them money, food, etc.  Then when they arrive he tells them to tell everyone that they are shepherds because people in that area see them as the lowest of the low.  He then chooses five to go before the king....  
I am sure at this point they were being tempted with the old ugly feelings of the past.  
What feelings do you think they were most likely feeling?
They come before the king who has elevated their little favored brother to the highest position and tell him that they are detestable.  Wow.  

Let's continue reading..... 

5 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you, 6 and the land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your brothers in the best part of the land. Let them live in Goshen. And if you know of any among them with special ability, put them in charge of my own livestock.”

Pharaoh knew that there was something special about Joseph.  Everything he had touched had been good for Pharaoh so he must have been thrilled to have an entire family of these miracle people who touch things and they multiply.  

7 Then Joseph brought his father Jacob in and presented him before Pharaoh. After Jacob blessed[a] Pharaoh, 8 Pharaoh asked him, “How old are you?”

9 And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty. My years have been few and difficult, and they do not equal the years of the pilgrimage of my fathers.” 10 Then Jacob blessed[b] Pharaoh and went out from his presence.

11 So Joseph settled his father and his brothers in Egypt and gave them property in the best part of the land, the district of Rameses, as Pharaoh directed. 12 Joseph also provided his father and his brothers and all his father’s household with food, according to the number of their children.

Ultimately Joseph was 

Joseph and the Famine

13 There was no food, however, in the whole region because the famine was severe; both Egypt and Canaan wasted away because of the famine. 14 Joseph collected all the money that was to be found in Egypt and Canaan in payment for the grain they were buying, and he brought it to Pharaoh’s palace. 15 When the money of the people of Egypt and Canaan was gone, all Egypt came to Joseph and said, “Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes? Our money is all gone.”

16 “Then bring your livestock,” said Joseph. “I will sell you food in exchange for your livestock, since your money is gone.” 17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for their horses, their sheep and goats, their cattle and donkeys. And he brought them through that year with food in exchange for all their livestock.

18 When that year was over, they came to him the following year and said, “We cannot hide from our lord the fact that since our money is gone and our livestock belongs to you, there is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our land. 19 Why should we perish before your eyes—we and our land as well? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we with our land will be in bondage to Pharaoh. Give us seed so that we may live and not die, and that the land may not become desolate.”

20 So Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh. The Egyptians, one and all, sold their fields, because the famine was too severe for them. The land became Pharaoh’s, 21 and Joseph reduced the people to servitude,[c] from one end of Egypt to the other. 22 However, he did not buy the land of the priests, because they received a regular allotment from Pharaoh and had food enough from the allotment Pharaoh gave them. That is why they did not sell their land.

23 Joseph said to the people, “Now that I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh, here is seed for you so you can plant the ground. 24 But when the crop comes in, give a fifth of it to Pharaoh. The other four-fifths you may keep as seed for the fields and as food for yourselves and your households and your children.”

25 “You have saved our lives,” they said. “May we find favor in the eyes of our lord; we will be in bondage to Pharaoh.”

26 So Joseph established it as a law concerning land in Egypt—still in force today—that a fifth of the produce belongs to Pharaoh. It was only the land of the priests that did not become Pharaoh’s.

Do you see a common theme here between the first part of this story and the second?

The bothers give up everything.  They essentially have to agree to be detestable.  To be nothing.  To lay it all on the line.  

The Egyptians start off paying for the grain, then what?

What is the progression?

What is the progression?

They result in giving everything up.  

What are the similarities or the parallels between the story of Joseph and the redemptive story?

All along through our study in the book of Genesis we have asked this question.  "How do we see the redemptive story?"  So how have we seen it in the story of Joseph. 

What are some of the parallels between Jesus and Joseph?

I found this list from Erik Raymond

1. He is the object of his father’s special love.
2. He had promises of divine exaltation.
3. He was mocked by his family.
4. He was sold for pieces of silver.
5. He was stripped of his robe.
6. He was delivered up to the Gentiles.
7. He was falsely accused.
8. He was faithful amid temptation.
9. He was thrown into prison.
10. He stood before rulers.
11. His power was acknowledged by those in authority.
12. He saves his rebellious brothers from death when they realize who he is.
13. He is exalted after and through humiliation.
14. He embraces God’s purpose even though it brings him intense physical harm.
15. He is the instrument God uses at the hands of the Gentiles to bless his people.
16. He welcomes Gentiles to be part of his family.
17. He gives hungry people bread.
18. People must bow their knee before him.

Do you see any others? 

What are someways that we see the redemptive story in the Joseph story?

Let's continue reading....

27 Now the Israelites settled in Egypt in the region of Goshen. They acquired property there and were fruitful and increased greatly in number.

28 Jacob lived in Egypt seventeen years, and the years of his life were a hundred and forty-seven. 29 When the time drew near for Israel to die, he called for his son Joseph and said to him, “If I have found favor in your eyes, put your hand under my thigh and promise that you will show me kindness and faithfulness. Do not bury me in Egypt, 30 but when I rest with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me where they are buried.”

“I will do as you say,” he said.

31 “Swear to me,” he said. Then Joseph swore to him, and Israel worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.

This is an interesting ending.  

The first time I read it I thought this was the death of Jacob.  But it isn't.  We still have more in the story of Jacob.  This sounds weird to put a hand on someones thigh, but it is similar to us today putting our hand on a bible.  Weird yes,  even weirder if you read more about it, however the important takeaway here is that it was a way to promise you would fulfill your promise. 

What was Jacob asking?

What had God told Jacob right before he left the land where God had brought him, and entered the land of Egypt? 

He had already been promised that he would be returned.  So really what he was asking was for Joseph to honor God's promise. 

When Joseph agreed, and swore, Jacob worshiped.  

What are some life application lessons we can learn from this lesson?

When it comes to the redemptive story, what is our part?

When the brothers were asked to lay it all down, to set aside the thing that had been so important to them, "favor", what did they gain in return. 

God asks for us to give it all up for him.  To give him our hearts.  To trust him with our identity.  To surrender it all to Him, and what we gain from Him is....

LIFE.

EVERYTHING!

These brothers had to humble themselves, but in return they received bread, life, a wonderful place to live in peace, and all this for their families too. 

Josephs family is also blessed because they are related to Joseph.

Whatever God is asking of you isn't too much!

Whatever He is asking you to surrender, he returns 10 fold.  

Being part of God's family is to live surrendered but the benefits, is life giving! 

Are you willing today, no matter what He is asking of you, to surrender it all to Him?

Maybe it is your time, or you possessions, or your identity, but whatever it is, being a child of God, one of the redeemed is far better! 

KNOW LOVE.

LIVE LOVE.

SHARE LOVE.