Hello and welcome to our broadcast. We're looking in Genesis chapter 39, verse number 1. We see the tremendous providence of God in the life of a young man named Joseph. Stay tuned for our broadcast. over in genesis chapter 39 verse number one we're going to look at a little bit of a review here it says and joseph was brought down to egypt and potiphar an officer of pharaoh captain of the guard an egyptian bought him of the hand of the ishmaelites which had brought him down thither now joseph lived the lifestyle it was completely opposite to that of his wicked brothers as we have seen he comes down here and it starts out in this verse it says and joseph but also it says and potiphar In this chapter, it begins with saying the Lord was with Joseph, verse 2. Verse 3 says the Lord was with him. Verse 21 says the Lord was with Joseph. And verse 23 says the Lord was with him. And the chapter ends by telling us the Lord was with him. The chapter began by telling us the Lord was with him. And it says in verse 23 that he made, the Lord made all that he did to prosper. And that word prosper is mentioned three times in this chapter as well. Now we see, first of all, as we said, the providence of God, says Ann Potiphar. And Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard of an Egyptian, bought him from the hands of the Ishmaelites. Now, except for the providence of God, Joseph could have been sold to a farmer to work as a slave in the fields and never been heard of again. However, he was quickly purchased by Potiphar and moved into what we would call a penthouse today. So he came from the pit to a penthouse. That's pretty interesting. Now the trip from the pit down to Egypt certainly wouldn't have been a good time and being thrown in the pit wouldn't have been either. but we see the providence of God. We see the hand of God at work in all of this. Now, as we mentioned, the word prosperity, or referring to Joseph being prosperous, is mentioned three times in this chapter. In verse 2, it says the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man. Verse 3 says the Lord made all that he did to prosper, And then in verse 23, it says, and the Lord was with him and that which he did, the Lord made to prosper. Now, when the Bible speaks about prosperity, it's speaking about much more than material things. It doesn't say that God blessed Joseph with dollars. However, he did bless him with discernment. And in the case of Solomon, his discernment paved the way for him to get a lot of dollars. However, his wealth and the women in his life led to his downfall. So, prosperity is not necessarily money. Concerning Joseph, we read in Genesis 39-23 that the Lord made all that he did to prosper. All that he did. It doesn't say that, you know, he put a big bunch of money in the bank for Joseph. It says what he did prospered. Well, Joseph did five things that caused him to prosper, and we read about it in Psalm chapter 1, verse 1-3. where the third verse says, whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. What do you do? Well, number one, it says, blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly. Joseph did that. Then it says, two, nor standeth in the way of sinners. Joseph did not stand in the way of sinners. Number three, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. That was not Joseph. And then four, his delight is in the law of the Lord. That was Joseph. And in his law doth he meditate day and night. that was Joseph now as a result it says he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in his season and it also says whatsoever he doeth shall prosper we look at the story of Nehemiah and he's going to go before the king and he wants to go back and rebuild the walls at Jerusalem and he prays and he says in his prayer Prosper I pray thee thy servant this day and grant him mercy in the sight of this man for I was the king's cupbearer Prosper now he wasn't saying I hope the king gives me a bunch of gold No, he's saying prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day and grant him mercy. Mercy is better than money. And so we see back in Genesis 24, when Abraham sent a servant to seek a bride for his son, it says that he said to that servant, the Lord before whom I walk will send his angel with thee and prosper thy way. This ain't gonna prosper your bank account. He's going to prosper your way. And then the servant prayed in verse 42 and said, Oh Lord, God of my master, Abraham, if now thou do prosper my way, which I go. And he put out a fleece for him and says, now, if you're prospering, if I'm going in the right direction, then here's what I would like to happen. And it did happen. If you read the story in Genesis chapter 24, then in 24 and verse 56, they wanted to keep him there, you know, and he wanted to get back with his bride for Isaac. and he said hinder me not verse 56 hinder me not seeing the lord hath prospered my way has prospered my way so we see the providence of god we see that joseph is prospered but then we see a wicked persuasion by the wife of potiphar where it says in verse 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 but he refused and said unto his master's wife behold my master what is not what is with me in the house and he hath committed all that he hath into my hand he goes on to say i cannot do this wickedness this sin against god we read in verse 10 that she spake to joseph day by day and that he hearkened not unto her. Well, it came to pass, it says in verse 11, that Joseph went into the house to do his business, and there was none of the men of the house that were there, and she caught him by his garment, saying, lie with me, and he left his garment in her hand and fled and got him out. Now, Satan will always have someone to be used to bring down the man or the woman who decides to give his or her all to God. Joseph refused her seduction, saying, How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? This immoral, seductive wife of Potiphar, as we read here, continues day by day to attempt to seduce him. However, Joseph would have no part of it. Then one day she caught him by the garment, and he ran and left his garment with her, and this woman scorned it says in verse 13 that she through 13 through 19 said that he had come and tried to rape her and as a result she reported this to her husband and we read in verse number 19 it came to pass when his master heard these words of his wife which she spake unto him saying after this manner did thy servant to me that his wrath was kindled so next thing we see here is some unwarranted persecution of this young man it says in verse 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 well then in verse 39 21 we find the presence of god it says but the lord was with joseph and showed him mercy and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners that were in the prison. And whatsoever they did there, he, that is Joseph, was the doer of it. And the keeper of the prison looked not to anything that was under his hand, because the Lord was with him, and that which he did the Lord made to prosper." Well, we see once again the providence of God. We see the presence of God. We see God has his hand in everything that is happening here. Well, in chapter 40, we have the story of the butler and the baker, and they had some dreams. It says in verse one, 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. And Pharaoh was wroth against two of his officers. the chief of the butlers and against the chief of the bakers and he put them in ward in the house of the captain of the guard into the prison the place where Joseph was bound now once again we see the hand of God at work here and it says and the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them and he served them and they continued a season in the war now The butler and the baker ended up in prison. The butler was in charge of Pharaoh's wine, and the baker was in charge of his food. Perhaps one of them attempted to poison him. We don't know. We can only surmise. The Word of God does not tell us. Whatever it was, it was serious enough that they both ended up in prison. And again, we see the providence of God as they end up right where Joseph is. And so first, we find that Joseph has been put in charge of all the prisoners. We read that whatever went on in the prison, Joseph was the doer of it. Maybe the favorable treatment of Joseph by the captain of the guard shows that he did not really believe the accusations of Potiphar's wife against Joseph. It is interesting too to note that in Genesis 39.1 says that Potiphar himself was the captain of the guard, so perhaps Potiphar didn't really believe her either. In any event, we can see the hand of God in all of this. Well, what we find here is Joseph has a genuine concern for others, like Christ. It is important to notice that although Joseph had a position of authority, in the prison he did not use it to get others to serve him but rather he used his position to help others as did the lord and nobody had more authority than the lord well in verse five we read they dreamed a dream both of them each man his dream in one night well once again we see the hand of god in this and in the morning it says joseph came unto them in the morning and looked upon them and behold they were sad well the average person wouldn't care if anybody was sad so what i'm sad too i'm in this prison i haven't done anything wrong poor me that was not his attitude at all he saw they were sad and he asked pharaoh's officers that were with him in the ward of the lord's house saying wherefore look ye so sadly today And they said unto him, we have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter of it. And Joseph said unto them, do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me them, I pray you." Here we have a picture again of Joseph, a genuine concern for others. He's not consumed with bitterness or resentment because of how he's been wrongfully treated. People who have that kind of attitude are never concerned about the problems of others. And Joseph was genuinely concerned about the sad circumstances of these two men. And once again, we see a picture of Joseph, who was Christ-like in his attitude. Well, he invited them to tell him their disturbing dreams, and he went on to interpret those dreams for them. Now the first dream we read about here is the butler's dream in verse nine it says and the chief butler told his dream to joseph and said to him in my dream behold a vine was before me and in the vine three branches and it was as though it budded and her blossoms shot forth and the clusters thereof brought forth ripe grapes and pharaoh's cup was in my hand and i took the grapes and pressed them into pharaoh's cup and i gave the cup into pharaoh's hand and joseph said unto him this is the interpretation of it the three branches are three days yet within three days shall pharaoh lift up thine head and restore thee unto the place and thou shalt deliver pharaoh's cup into his hand after the former manor when thou wast his butler but he said to him think on me when it be well with thee and show kindness i pray thee unto me make mention of me unto pharaoh and bring me out of this house for indeed i was stolen away out of that land of the hebrews and here also i have done nothing that i should be put in this prison and calls it a dungeon here. Well, you know the story. We'll see it later on when we get to it. He forgot for two years. He forgot it. He never mentioned anything to Pharaoh about this young man in the prison. Well, the baker was encouraged when he heard that good interpretation of the butler's dream, and so he wanted to know the interpretation of his. Well his dream was more of a nightmare and as a result we see here that Joseph said within three days you're going to be dead. So we read in verse 20, and of the chief baker his servants he restored the chief butler to his butlership again and he gave the cup unto pharaoh in his hand but he hanged the chief baker as joseph had interpreted to them well verse 23 says yet did not the chief butler remember joseph but forgot him Well, that's again a picture of the Lord. Jeremiah 2.32 says, my people have forgotten me days without number, and there's several verses in the Bible that talk about that. Well, be sure and tune in again tomorrow. We'll continue on from here in the life and story of Joseph, this man of God.