Nobody Loves Me, This I Know

Joseph had every reason in the world, and yet we never read in the record of Joseph's life when he is elevated to Prime Minister that he ever has a meeting with Potiphar.

He probably never saw Potiphar's wife, but I guarantee you they were thinking, uh-oh, and of course you know when he meets his brothers how he forgives them. Somewhere in that prison cell over the next two years, forgotten, abandoned, he was able by the grace of God to get victory over the street. Joseph tried to do the right thing. As a slave in Egypt, he resisted the advances of his owner's wife and chose to be faithful to God.

But even though he did the right thing, he wound up in jail. As Christians, we know that God is always with us and always faithful to us, but honestly, sometimes he brings us through circumstances that don't make sense to us. We might even wonder if God's turned his back on us. This is Wisdom for the Heart with our Bible teacher, Stephen Davey. Stephen's working through a series on the life of Joseph called God Meant It for Good.

Today's lesson is entitled Nobody Loves Me, This I Know. We left Joseph in Egypt. He was in a strange land and yet had an incredible work ethic where he decided even though he was in a foreign land, even though he was where he did not want to be, abducted, betrayed, there by his brothers, he decided that instead of throwing his job, instead of in a sense sabotaging the effort there in Egypt, he was going to do his best. He would serve God in the house of Potiphar. If you are with us, and I'm sure the story is familiar even if you weren't, he was approached by Potiphar's wife and he refused and we studied the principles of saying no to temptation and as a result of saying no, as a result of doing what was right, as a result of being godly, God rewarded him. Well we wouldn't look at it that way if we could remove ourselves 30 years down the road we would say that was God's design in how he responded to Joseph's obedience. But Joseph, you remember, responding to something sinful in a right way was in effect rewarded with imprisonment.

That's where we left him. Let's take it up with chapter 39 and verse 19. Now it came about when his master heard the words of his wife which he spoke to him saying this is what your slave did to me that his anger burned. Joseph's master took him and put him into the place where the king's prisoners were confined and he was there in jail. But the Lord was with Joseph, that is the seventh time that phrase appears and you ought to underline that in your text. He was with Joseph at the beginning of the chapter when he was prospering, when he was being promoted, he was with Joseph in the prison. The Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer and the chief jailer committed to Joseph's charge all the prisoners who were in the jail so that whatever was done there he was responsible for it. The chief jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph's charge because the Lord was with him and whatever he did the Lord made to prosper. An incredible story as Joseph is falsely accused and permanently imprisoned.

Make no mistake he's there for life, he'll die there. In fact the literal translation of the Hebrew word prison is the hole. It was a pit, it was a dank, dark, stench filled room with perhaps two or three other key political prisoners and that's where Joseph is shackled.

They've discovered, the archeologists, similar prisons in the deserts of Egypt among many discoveries and they have found holes or pits where they would place prisoners and they would have a brace that would go around the neck imprisoning or shackling that person to a pillar and then his ankles also would be shackled. That's what Psalm talks about, one of the Psalms when it talks about his neck and his feet being in irons and so Joseph begins not with a responsible position in prison he begins by being shackled to a stone pillar his neck and his ankles standing for he does not know how long. The key phrase as you well know and I've already mentioned it is that the Lord was with him and the Lord had another design the Lord wasn't about to let Joseph rot in the prison although for some that has been the case for Joseph it wasn't. Something unusual happens he gives Joseph favor in the captain of the guards servants eyes so that he's promoted. What that promotion is now is not taking him out of the hole what that means is he is released from the fetter and now he serves the other prisoners.

Not much of an improvement when you think of it that way but yet I'm sure to him it was a great improvement because no longer is his neck in an iron brace but he will now serve. As I was thinking of this obviously the application is mistreatment that he is facing unjustified he is betrayed he is accused of doing something he has never done before obviously we also to no degree such as this but we also face mistreatment and I want to give you three ways. The first way of course that we face mistreatment is from people there are a number of biblical illustrations of mistreatment by people you could go to Nehemiah as we often do because he's a classic illustration of someone who continues to do the will of God even though mistreated even though accused. We would also of course face mistreatment from family and of course the logical extension or the extreme of that would be abused perhaps you have come from an abusive home. Sometimes we can be mistreated by people we love and I'm sure if we consider Joseph's story he also faced mistreatment obviously by his brothers. The third would be from friends and I think this hurts as much as from family especially close friends I think of the rejection that Paul faced and felt when Demas you remember 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse 10 Paul writes and you can almost hear the agony in his voice as he says the word forsaken could be translated left in a lurch abandoned and with that comes the idea of Paul being in a state where the battle really gets hot where he really begins to need help and support like we all do. The implication is at that point in time Paul says Demas left me in the lurch Demas abandoned me. Those are common forms of mistreatment now notice that Joseph is temporarily befriended and divinely inspired let's take a dive now into chapter 40 then it came about after these things that the cup bearer and the baker for the king of Egypt offended their Lord the king of Egypt there have been volumes on just this first verse but let me share with you the top of what I have learned the cup bearer could be translated because of the definite article the cup bearer this is the chief of the cup bearers this isn't just a baker this is the baker this is the chief of the bakers there were perhaps dozens if not hundreds of bakers and those that kept that palace thriving preparing the foods and it's interesting and many have implied that because the cup bearer who was responsible to hand the king the cup he would be the one responsible for taking a sip of what he would drink and then give it to the Pharaoh if he keeled over after 30 seconds of course the Pharaoh wouldn't drink if he survived and the Pharaoh would drink so he was a very responsible person because if anybody wanted to assassinate the Pharaoh slip a little cachet of poison in there he'd fake it and then he'd give it to the king and goodbye king this was perhaps one of the most trusted men in the kingdom you remember another individual who was the cup bearer who in the Old Testament a whole book he was the cup bearer to Artaxerxes Nehemiah Nehemiah was perhaps the most trusted person to Artaxerxes his very life depended on that man it's interesting as well that the cup bearer was in a sense in agreement with the priests they have discovered now so much information that makes conclusive that the Pharaoh was not allowed intoxicating drink in fact the priests prescribed what the Pharaoh could drink the cup bearer would make sure that the Pharaoh got only what had been prescribed he would carefully make sure it wasn't poison and also make sure it fit the regulation very responsible individual well because the cup bearer and the baker are both thrown into prison at the same time what does that make you think implication is these guys had something going perhaps had been hired by assassins perhaps someone had slipped poison into the food and the Pharaoh didn't know was it the cup bearer or was it the baker who's responsible and so he throws both of them into prison until evidence has been weighed perhaps that's what they're waiting for let's go to the next verse and Pharaoh was furious with his two officials the chief cup bearer and the chief baker so he put them in confinement in the house of the captain of the bodyguard in the jail the same place where joseph was imprisoned and the captain of the bodyguard put joseph in charge of them that is in that dank little cell joseph will now serve them it's humiliating enough to be a slave but now in effect although he's loosened he is a slave to criminals he will take care of them they were in confinement for some time now note verse five then the cup bearer and the baker for the king of egypt who were confined in a jail both had a dream the same night each man with his own dream and each dream with its own interpretation when joseph came to them in the morning he observed them behold they were dejected or depressed and he asked pharaoh's officials who were with him in confinement in his master's house why are your faces so sad today volumes have been written on that as well obviously joseph is a very caring sensitive individual even though he is imprisoned he is still concerned enough to ask these two men who are prisoners as well what's bothering you share it with me maybe i can help an unusual character verse eight when they said to him we have had a dream and there is no one to interpret then joseph said these startling words do not interpretations belong to god tell it to me please this reveals ladies and gentlemen two very important things about joseph in prison first of all it reveals that joseph still believed in his dreams you remember the dreams that he had if he didn't believe in his dreams he would have told these guys listen the last thing you want to do is dream i had two dreams one time and let me tell you what happened to me are the sheaves bowing down to me forget the dreams guys it reveals that joseph still in his heart believed that god had given him those dreams and they would come true the second thing obviously this reveals that he had not abandoned god which is incredible do not interpretations belong to god i want you to know that even though i was obeying him even though i was doing what was right even though i was a trusting follower of his law he's thrown me into prison and yet i still trust him i still obey let's read on and see what happens so the chief cup bearer verse nine told his dream to joseph and said to him in my dream behold there was a vine in front of me and on the vine were three branches and as it was budding its blossoms came out its clusters produced ripe grapes now pharaoh's cup was in my hand so i took the grapes and squeezed them into pharaoh's cup and i put the cup into pharaoh's hand this again would be evidence to the rabbit trail i was on a few minutes ago verse 12 then joseph said to him this is the interpretation of it 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 cup bearer now verses 14 and 15 are interesting note them well because joseph is absolutely human he says only keep me in mind when it goes well with you and please do me kindness by mentioning me to pharaoh and get me out of this prison this hole for i was in fact kidnapped from the land of the hebrews and even here i have done nothing that they should have put me into the dungeon in other words joseph is saying listen to my story now and when you get out please note the word put a good word into the pharaoh's ear for me and i'm going to mention this again as we get to application is how god is developing in him a very important principle that needs to be in our lives as well let's go on to verse 16 when the chief baker saw that he had interpreted favorably he said to joseph i also saw in my dream and behold there were three baskets of white bread on my head and in the top basket there were all sorts of baked food for pharaoh and the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head then joseph answered and said this is the interpretation three baskets are three days within three more days pharaoh will lift up your head note from you it's a big difference he's going to be beheaded and will hang you on a tree and the birds will eat your flesh off you first of all note the character of joseph i wondered if he made sure he was far enough away from the leash of this guy before he gave him the interpretation he measured how far he would have to run but yet unseemingly joseph without even blinking and i simply says this is the interpretation what a powerful statement to everybody today who speaks who teaches the word because we have not only the message of the cup bearer that's great news there is heaven there is forgiveness there is rejoicing we also bear with us the message of the baker there may be judgment there may be death and joseph interpreting the word of god gave them both now this is incredibly important because in that day you note in egypt they embalm the bodies why is that because in their religious system the preservation of the body was essential for life after death and so you wanted to make sure that they really took good care of your body because you would come back and inhabit it in the next life that's why they developed this tremendous process of embalming bodies you'll notice that the judgment here is really severe in egypt verse 19 they'll not only behead you but they will take your body what's left and they'll impale it to a tree and birds will come and eat the flesh off your body thus he knew there was no chance for life after death being a pagan he faced severe judgment now joseph is potentially rescued and yet he is tragically forgotten look at verse 20 thus it came about on the third day which was pharaoh's birthday that he made a feast for all his servants this is interesting pharaoh designed his own birthday party and he lifted up the head of the chief cup bearer and the head of the chief baker among his servant in other words he pulls him out into that banqueting room he's gonna have fun this is sport this is my little birthday party to myself and he restored the chief cup bearer to his office and he probably said i'm a wonderful pharaoh aren't i perhaps however he discovered the evidence he was looking for that the cup bearer was innocent and the baker was guilty and he restored the chief cup bearer and he put the cup into pharaoh's hand verse 22 but he hanged the chief baker just as joseph had interpreted to them he beheaded him obviously and hanged his body on a tree now verse 23 of course is very important yet the chief cup bearer did not remember joseph but forgot him go to underline those three words but forgot him and sometime at another time ponder the implication of how that must affect the joseph fb meyer the colorful expositor that i read from last week uses his imagination and he writes of how the next day when the prison door opens joseph jumps with a star and he looks toward the door perhaps even running over to it here they are i'm free he probably told all of the other prisoners they're coming to get me i guarantee you then after a few days the door opens and he probably with a start with a hopeful look looks over at the door another prisoner a guard entering or exiting until finally someone comes through the door and joseph doesn't even look must have been unbelievably difficult for joseph to go through that experience of knowing that the cup bearer had chosen to forget him let me give you some common responses to mistreatment the way that i got them as i leaned back in my chair and i asked myself the question how do you respond to mistreatment there are three let me give them to you number one self-pity i can imagine that joseph in that prison had every potential to throw the biggest pity party in history look at me woe is me it all started with jealous brothers and then i do my best and potter far doesn't defend me his wife accuses me now i'm in prison i interpret for god the dream and it doesn't get me anywhere the next chapter reveals by its silence that joseph never threw that party but because he's human i have every reason to believe he was sorely tempted to the second is bitterness bitterness that initially is directed toward the person who has mistreated me the person who has accused me the person who has criticized me initially bitterness i don't want to see that person i don't want to be near that person i don't want to drive my car by that person house i don't want them to drive their car by my house and it begins to grow but ultimately bitterness is directed not toward that person but who is directed toward god a person who is filled with bitterness ultimately has forfeited his fellowship with god because he in effect says god did not deal kindly with me and allowing this to happen to me so bitterness is a very very common threat when you're mistreated third revenge that's the one where you can really spend some time you envision that person's face on the wall of your kitchen or in your study or office on the driveway when you pull up into your garage joseph had every reason in the world and yet we never read in the record of joseph's life when he is elevated to prime minister that he ever has a meeting with potiphar he probably never saw potiphar's wife but i guarantee you they were thinking uh-oh and of course you know as we'll study in detail later when he meets his brothers how he forgives them somewhere in that prison cell over the next two years two years forgotten abandoned he was able by the grace of god to get victory over mistreatment can i suggest to you by way of application several things let's tie this together and bring it home i think there are ways that we open ourselves up for mistreatment or the ill effect of mistreatment we call them perhaps let downs let me give you two first of all misplacing our trust misplacing our trust joseph really opened himself up because in verses 14 and 15 he tells this man you be my savior in a sense you give the word you get me out of here and god would teach him over the next two years if you get out of here it will be by me we open ourselves up for this kind of let down when our happiness depends on someone else other than god we put our trust in flesh whenever you put your ultimate trust in me you will be let down if i ever ultimately put my total trust in you i will be let down we all fail each other and i think whenever we face the bitterness or the potential self-pity or revenge we are in a sense telling ourselves this i placed my trust in them rather than in god working through them secondly making unrealistic expectations there is no way in the world you know me long enough i know you long enough you know anybody long enough they will drop the ball they will let you down they will disappoint let me lead you to the next and last part of application what to do when left in the lurch what to do when you face handling the response to mistreatment three things first of all re-evaluate that is what is my attitude what are my motives what are my priorities is this person revealing to me that my priorities are way out of line that my motive for doing something is out of kilter secondly refuse simply refuse to retaliate and that's as much a commitment as anything else you make up your mind you will not allow your mind to retaliate to imagine revenge if you don't imagine it you will never perform it it begins in the heart thirdly refocus let me give you two things to put under that number one refocus on god's desire and this is an interesting thought because god's desire is for harmony and unity that person who has ought against you is so caught up and has in fact transgressed the line and is involved in bitterness perhaps revenge self-pity when they are in that position it is our responsibility to go and help them out of that by saying tell me what i did it's interesting how jesus christ tells us to strive for harmony and unity and forgiveness obviously in the family but in the church secondly refocus on god's design two thoughts every disappointment is another illustration of the faithfulness of god every disappointment in life when someone disappoints you that is an illustration about how jesus christ never disappoints secondly every disappointment is another step toward maturing in the image of christ jesus christ learned obedience to the things that he suffered could you imagine taking several hours and not even finishing the task of writing down every time jesus christ was mistreated accused abandoned rejected we fellowship with him in his glory but also in his sufferings let me read you something that was written perhaps a hundred years ago it's anonymous but it's a poem pain's furnace god's breath upon the flame doth blow and all my heart in anguish shivers and trembles at the fiery glow and yet i whisper as god will and in his hottest fire hold still he comes and lays my heart all heated on the hard anvil minded so into his own fair shape to beat it with his great hammer blow by blow and yet i whisper as god will and at his heaviest blows hold still he takes my softened heart and beats it the sparks fly off at every blow he turns it over and over and heats it and lets it cool and makes it glow and yet i whisper as god will and in his mighty hand hold still why should i murmur for the sorrow thus only long live would be its end may come and will tomorrow when god has done his work in me so i say trusting as god will and trusting to the end hold still men and women there is something far greater than vindication before men recognition before men acceptance before men there's something far greater than all of that it is the consciousness like joseph that god is with me and god is going in a particular direction and i am going with god the desire to obtain the vindication recognition and acceptance of other people is a very real temptation that's why joseph's example is so compelling today pursuing the path that brings honor to god is not usually the easy path but it's always the right path and no matter what our circumstances might indicate god is always with us and always faithful to us you're listening to wisdom for the heart with stephen davey today's lesson from the series called god meant it for good is entitled nobody loves me this i know in addition to equipping you with these daily bible lessons we produce a monthly magazine each issue is focused on a topic to help 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