A Silver Cup In A Sack
44 Now Joseph gave these instructions to the steward of his house: Fill the mens sacks with as much food as they can carry, and put each mans silver in the mouth of his sack.2 Then put my cup, the silver one, in the mouth of the youngest ones sack, along with the silver for his grain. And he did as Joseph said.
3 As morning dawned, the men were sent on their way with their donkeys.4 They had not gone far from the city when Joseph said to his steward, Go after those men at once, and when you catch up with them, say to them, Why have you repaid good with evil?5 Isnt this the cup my master drinks from and also uses for divination? This is a wicked thing you have done.
6 When he caught up with them, he repeated these words to them.7 But they said to him, Why does my lord say such things? Far be it from your servants to do anything like that!8 We even brought back to you from the land of Canaan the silver we found inside the mouths of our sacks. So why would we steal silver or gold from your masters house?9 If any of your servants is found to have it, he will die and the rest of us will become my lords slaves.
Footnotes
The Second Journey To Egypt
43 Now the famine was still severe in the land.2 So when they had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, Go back and buy us a little more food.
3 But Judah said to him, The man warned us solemnly, You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.4 If you will send our brother along with us, we will go down and buy food for you.5 But if you will not send him, we will not go down, because the man said to us, You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.
6 Israel asked, Why did you bring this trouble on me by telling the man you had another brother?
7 They replied, The man questioned us closely about ourselves and our family. Is your father still living? he asked us. Do you have another brother? We simply answered his questions. How were we to know he would say, Bring your brother down here?
8 Then Judah said to Israel his father, Send the boy along with me and we will go at once, so that we and you and our children may live and not die.9 I myself will guarantee his safety you can hold me personally responsible for him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him here before you, I will bear the blame before you all my life.10 As it is, if we had not delayed, we could have gone and returned twice.
23 Its all right, he said. Dont be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks I received your silver. Then he brought Simeon out to them.
Dreams Can Reveal Your Calling
If we look a little deeper into Josephs dreams you will see it reveals his calling to leadership. God sent these dreams to him at the young age of 17. God was grooming him internally for what was to come.
What Joseph didnt realize was what it was going to take to be groomed to that level of leadership.
Sometimes when God sends us a dream He can be revealing our calling and His will for our lives. I remember in my teen years having dreams about preaching and then when I was first asked to speak I knew God had opened that door!
Its always good to write down your dream and pray about them. You never know if a dream from 5 or 10 years ago is about an opportunity that has come up now.
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End Notes Bsf Study Questions Genesis: Lesson 23 Day : Genesis 3: 1
We immediately notice that the family of Jacob is dysfunctional with kids from four different women, Jacob playing favorites amongst his kids and his wives, and the brothers murdering a whole town over the reputation of their sister. Yet, the story of Jospeh, Jacob, and Abraham is about Gods triumph over sin. He uses all of us despite our sins.
Joseph tattled on his brothers, which did not help his case.
The coat of many colors was probably not a work coat but one meant to show privilege.
Joseph A Slave In Egypt
39 Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. And Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him down there. 2 The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. 3 And his master saw that the Lordwas with him and that the Lordmade all he did to prosper in his hand. 4 So Joseph found favor in his sight, and served him. Then he made him overseer of his house, and all that he had he put under his authority. 5 So it was, from the time that he had made him overseer of his house and all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptians house for Josephs sake and the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had in the house and in the field. 6 Thus he left all that he had in Josephs hand, and he did not know what he had except for the bread which he ate.
Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance.
7 And it came to pass after these things that his masters wife cast longing eyes on Joseph, and she said, Lie with me.
8 But he refused and said to his masters wife, Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he has to my hand. 9 There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?
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What Happens When Joseph Interprets Dreams
We first meet Joseph in Genesis 37, which describes two dreams Joseph had about his siblings. Both dreams indicated different ways that his brothers were bowing down to him. Josephs siblings already hated him, the chapter says, because their father loved Joseph the most. After Joseph shared his dream interpretations with his brothers, they hated him all the more . Then Josephs brothers sold him into slavery to the Egyptian people, and after the Egyptian official Potiphars wife falsely accused Joseph of trying to seduce her , Joseph ends up in prison. Throughout all those struggles, however, the Lord was with him he showed him kindness .
The story continues in Genesis 40, when Joseph meets two fellow prisoners the chief cupbearer and chief baker for Pharoah, Egypts king who both have different dreams that they discuss with Joseph and mention that they need help interpreting them. Joseph replies in Genesis 40:8: Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams. Both men shared their dreams, and Joseph interpreted them accurately, saying that the dreams were premonitions of what would happen in the near future to each of them. The two outcomes were starkly different: Joseph said the cupbearers dream revealed that he would be restored to his position, while the bakers dream revealed that he would be executed and both turned out to be true.
Lesson Opening: What Is Pride What Is Humility
Ask if anyone knows what the word pride means. Ask: is it bad to be proud of yourself when you do something well? When does pride become a sin? Ask what is difference between being prideful and being humble? Ask if anyone has ever struggled with being too prideful. Give them time to share if they are comfortable doing so. What can we do when we sin because of our pride? Explain that in todays story we will hear about one of Jacobs sons, Joseph, who struggled with pride. Pray that God would forgive us for the sin of pride on our lives. Pray that he would open our hearts to his Word this morning and that the gospel would become more beautiful to us today.
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How Gods Provision Is Revealed Through Josephs Dreams
Joseph was 30 years old when he was given all this power and authority, along with a new name, and a wife. For the next seven years, he prospered in his family and stored up food from the abundant harvests as God had revealed in the dream.
- Danielle BernockCrosswalk.com Contributing Writer
Joseph is one of the most well-known male characters in the Bible. Many movies, plays, and songs have been written about Joseph and his coat of many colors. Joseph was the eleventh son born to Jacob, born into favor, with a mission to accomplish.
The Bible tells us that Jacob loved Joseph more than his other sons because Joseph had been born when Jacob was old. Another reason may be that Joseph was the firstborn to Jacob of his beloved wife Rachel who had previously been barren.
Joseph was clearly beloved by Jacob and that became a problem.
Joseph’s Four Dreams Before Jesus Was Born
Rev. Margaret Minnicks is an ordained Bible teacher. She writes many articles that are Bible lessons.
The Bible described Joseph as a righteous man. He was a carpenter from Nazareth in Galilee. He was in the linage of David through Abraham. He was betrothed to Mary, a young virgin.
Joseph was in the middle of something very big even though he did not know at the time that Mary was the chosen vessel to bear to give birth to the Messiah. One day Joseph was betrothed to Mary, and the next day he had to decide whether to obey the Jewish law and stone her because she was pregnant. Joseph knew the child was not his. Therefore, he had to make a decision about the situation.
God knew Joseph needed help to decide what to do. Therefore, He sent four messages to him through dreams.
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Summary Of Genesis 3: 1
Joseph was Israels/Jacobs favorite son, being the oldest son of Rachel. At age 17, he attended the flocks. He was given a rich robe as his fathers favorite, which made all of his brothers hate him. Joseph had a prophetic dream where his sheave of grain rose up and his brothers sheaves gathered around him and bowed down to it. This angered his brothers who understood the meaning and said he would never rule over them. Joseph had another dream where the sun, moon, and 11 stars bowed down to him. He told his brothers this dream and his father who rebuked him, saying that does he expect his mother, him and his brothers to bow down to him? His brothers again grew jealous, but Jacob knew it was from God and remembered it.
Bible Commentary On Joseph In Genesis 37
Joseph is loved by Jacob but hated by his brethren. In Joseph’s history, we see something of Christ, who was first humbled and then exalted. It also shows the lot of Christians, who must through many tribulations enter into the kingdom. It is a history that has none like it, for displaying the various workings of the human mind, both good and bad, and the singular providence of God in making use of them for fulfilling his purposes. Though Joseph was his father’s darling, yet he was not bred up in idleness. Those who do not truly love their children, who do not use them in business, and labor, and hardships. The fondling of children is with good reason called the spoiling of them. Those who are trained up to do nothing, are likely to be good for nothing. But Jacob made known his love, by dressing Joseph finer than the rest of his children. It is wrong for parents to make a difference between one child and another, unless there is great cause for it, by the children’s dutifulness, or undutifulness. When parents make a difference, children soon notice it, and it leads to quarrels in families. Jacob’s sons did that when they were from under his eye, which they durst not have done at home with him but Joseph gave his father an account of their ill conduct, that he might restrain them. Not as a tale-bearer, to sow discord, but as a faithful brother.
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Dream Interpretation Was Common
If a family member came up to us and said, Hey listen to THISI had a dream that 5 cellphones bowed down to MY iPhone
We would be like Dude, you need to lay off the late-night pizza and do a phone detox.
That was NOT the case for Josephs family. Jacob was accustomed to God talking to him in dreams .
Jacob knowing this raised his family to acknowledge the importance of dreams and even to understand them. Nowadays in the church, dream interpretation is rare and even labeled as bad or not of God.
One of two reasons this happens
I believe we need to get back to the roots of our Christian faith and not be afraid of learning about dreams and trying to find understanding when we dream. We must approach it with Gods word, wisdom, prayer, and accountability.
The Cupbearer And The Baker
40 Some time later, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their master, the king of Egypt.2 Pharaoh was angry with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker,3 and put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the same prison where Joseph was confined.4 The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he attended them.
After they had been in custody for some time,5 each of the two menthe cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were being held in prisonhad a dream the same night, and each dream had a meaning of its own.
6 When Joseph came to them the next morning, he saw that they were dejected.7 So he asked Pharaohs officials who were in custody with him in his masters house, Why do you look so sad today?
8 We both had dreams, they answered, but there is no one to interpret them.
Then Joseph said to them, Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.
9 So the chief cupbearer told Joseph his dream. He said to him, In my dream I saw a vine in front of me,10 and on the vine were three branches. As soon as it budded, it blossomed, and its clusters ripened into grapes.11 Pharaohs cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, squeezed them into Pharaohs cup and put the cup in his hand.
18 This is what it means, Joseph said. The three baskets are three days.19 Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head and impale your body on a pole. And the birds will eat away your flesh.
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What Are The 6 Dreams In The Story Of Joseph
Dreams dominate the story of Joseph, but their importance in the narrative derives from the significance of dreams in the culture and theology of the ancient Near East. While many of us dismiss dreams as a mental reworking of the days events or as the result of indigestion, ancients considered dreams to have potential revelatory significance. Dreams were one way the gods communicated from the divine realm to the human realma belief that is clearly evident in the Joseph narrative.
Six dreams, conveyed in three pairs, propel the story of Joseph rise from being the favoredand thus despisedson of Jacob to being the discerning and wise man appointed to manage Egypt during its 14 years of feast and famine . Joseph has two dreams , two of his fellow prisoners in Egypt each have a dream , and Pharaoh has a pair of dreams . The first pair sets the narrative in motion and points ahead to its destination, while the second and third pairs are catalysts for Josephs ascension.
In the Bible and in the ancient Near East, some dreams gave clear messages for the recipient . Other dreams were symbolicthat is, they contained imagery that needed to be interpreted. Sometimes the significance of such imagery was obvious, but at other times it required expert assistance from a divinerone trained in the art of interpreting messages from the gods.
Your Timing Is Not Gods Timing
Im pretty sure Joseph had no clue how long and hard of a road he would have after having his dreams. He probably thought it would take place soon after.
Joseph: Wow what a cool dream! I should be like second to Pharaoh in like six monthsBOOM!
The whole story of his life is such a great lesson that our timing is not always Gods timing. God has a process He wants to take us through to get us where He wants us.
Its important to be patient and keep the faith as we walk through the process. For Joseph, he had to face slavery and prison. Yet, he was able to see the bigger picture when the famine hit and forgive his, brothers.
God knows what He is doingtrust His timing even when things get rough.
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