Dennis Gillett - Bible Men The Way They Were - Class 1 - Joseph - From Rags to Riches

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   Give us a great deal of pleasure, brothers and sisters, to introduce our first speaker, First Class Brother Dennis Gillett of Oxford, England and he will deliver a series on Bible Men the Way They Were and the title for the first Class Joseph From Regs to Riches. Mother. Good. Good.

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   Morning everyone by way of introduction. This first address that is one thing that needs to be emphasized and that is that. These. Addresses this series is designed. To observe the characters. Of certain Bible men, and what we are concerned with is noticing the details about them as those details are revealed. In the Word of God and reading between the lines where. Reading.

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   Between the lines is justified. So that we can see what they were like. That’s what we mean. By the way they were. To see what they were really like as far as we. Can and. Then to draw conclusions from their lives in order to. Help her own SO. I want you to understand, brothers and sisters, that is the objective in this particular series. Now I know well enough.

4. 1:50

   That there are other. Ways of looking at Bible. Characters. I know that there are studies which are thematic and prophetic and. Which of course. Can be very interesting and very profitable indeed, I understand. That all I’m. Saying is that that is not the system in this case all I am concerned to do. So that you won’t be disappointed, all I am concerned to do is to.

5. 2:25

   Look. Carefully, incisively, if we can, seeking to unveil the characters of these men so that we can learn something for ourselves, so with that little introduction. Then we’re thinking of Joseph from Rex. To riches now, it seems to me, when seeking to make an assessment. Of Bible men. Sometimes it’s of great value to notice how the narrative about their lives in the Word of God is related to the remainder of the.

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   Biblical Revelation. Now I choose. My words carefully there because I didn’t say how they are related to the development of God’s purpose. Of course that’s important. But I’m saying it is profitable sometimes to notice. How what is recorded about him? Relates to the rest. Of the Bible and if you. Apply that measurement to Joseph.

7. 3:31

   He is revealed. As a man of very considerable significance, as it appears to me, he was a kind of. Well, what I would call. A Christophany. That is, things happen to Joseph. On one level which? Happened to Christ on a much higher level. Joseph Life, to some extent, was microcosmic. Of the. Messiah as we Christadelphia and she would say he was a type.

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   He was a type. Of the man of Nazareth. We can quickly think of some example. Jacob loved all his children. But there was between him and Joseph and a special relationship. Indeed, the record is explicit in Genesis 37 verse three. It says now Israel loved Joseph more than all. His children because. He was the son of his.

9. 4:31

   Old. Age. This is special love and Jacob had other. Children but. He loved this one man, especially now. In the Psalm. You can read this about God in Psalm 103. Like as a father pityeth his children, so hath the Lord compassion on them that fear him. That tells us that God is like a father, That is to say, he has fatherly feelings. He is compassionate to those whom he. Loves, but once in the course of. Human time in the process of the centuries. A maid of Israel is with child by the Holy Spirit. And the Holy.

10. 5:14

    Thing which is born of. Her is the child of the eternal Spirit, the child of God who has fatherly feelings. And this child is different from every other. Listen to the voice from heaven. This is my Son, the Beloved in. Thee I am well pleased. The Father loves the Son. From the foundation of the world there was.

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    Between them as there was. Between Jacob and Joseph there was. Between them the God of heaven. And the child a special relationship or again Joseph was rejected by his brethren. It says in Genesis 37 verse eight They hated him for his. Words think of that. They hated him for his. Words now of the Messiah, it is written. He came unto his own.

12. 6:03

    And his own received him not. His brethren did not believe on him. And those who should have been his. Brethren said Thou blasphemist. They hated him because of his words, but again, Joseph was sold as a slave by his brethren for a slave’s price.

13. 6:25

    The Messiah was betrayed for 30 pieces of silver. The price of a slave but. Again, Joseph the Hebrew the freeman became a servant in Egypt of the Messiah, it is written. He took the. Form of a servant. And humbled himself, or again in Genesis 39 we have the record of the temptations of Joseph, about which we have read. They were persistent and subtle and devilish and insidious. And indeed he stands in the book of Genesis as the. One man who was.

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    Tempted more than any other. Now of the Messiah, it is written, He was tempted in all things like as we are, yet without sin, and his temptations were more keenly felt, because his nature was more sensitive. But again Joseph, after his condemnation, when he was vindicated, was exalted to be a Prince and a saviour in Egypt, and he became indeed the life giver through the very bread he provided for.

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    Hungry people. And of the Messiah it is written, for which course God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name. Indeed, he is called the King of Kings. And the Lord of Lords. John says in him was life. This is the bread that cometh down from heaven.

16. 7:47

    And giveth life to the world the. Evidence you see, is crystallized in the comparison of two verses showing that what happened. And in both cases was the combined result of human wickedness on the one hand and the divine purpose on the other. Genesis 50 verse 20. And As for you, ye meant evil against me. But God meant it for good.

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    To bring to pass as it is this day to save much people alive. Genesis 50 verse 20. God meant it for good to save much people. Alive now in Acts 2 verse 23. Him being delivered up by the. Determinate counsel and foreknowledge. Of God ye by. The hands of lawless men be crucified, and slay whom God raised up. And then again.

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    The Egyptians gave. Joseph A. Name. It’s written in Genesis. The name they gave. It’s written, I suppose, in the Egyptian. Language but. Translated, it means the saviour. Of the world. This non Hebrew nation called him. The Saviour. Of the world, Joseph. And in the New Testament, the Samaritans the place. Where no Hebrew.

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    No self respect in Hebrew. Would ever go. The Samaritans. They gave him a name, too. And the name they gave. Him was the Saviour. Of the world well. That’s it. That’s what I mean without. Straining the evidence, it’s quite clear, it seems to me, that. In a remarkable. Way this Joseph was a wonderful type of Christ. His life is the significant.

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    Unveiling of of things. Which are at the very centre of biblical revelation. Now the thing to remember is that in the midst of this. High calling. He was a man of like. Passions with ourselves. And that’s what we’re trying to look at now. We’re trying to look at that fact without prejudice to see that this Bible man. Well, to.

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    See what he was like. And in that way we may help ourselves in the process. So we’re going to think about Joseph character. We’ve seen what a significant man he was in the biblical revelation. Let’s think about this character. I remember years ago. At a Bible class in Oxford, the subject was Joseph and in the discussion that.

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    Followed one man in the Bible. Class said that he felt a certain amount of sympathy with Joseph’s prayer. He felt that to some extent, Joseph came out of the narrative. And I’m quoting his words, No, not mine. Joseph came out of the narrative as he said, a bit of a pring. He said he was 17, out with his brothers, and he brought to his father an evil report about his brethren. And then later on he came to them in a very superior way and extolled his own importance.

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    And the man said he. Thought that he would. Probably have reacted very much like Joseph Brethren did, he said. Nothing is more calculated to rub you up. The wrong way than for a young upstart. To try loading it over his elders, especially when he splits on them and on fairs.

24. 11:46

    A bit of a previous. Hope you want the shop. Don’t think too hardly. Of him, he’s a good. Man. The man in Oxford. He was, after all, honestly telling us how he felt And anyway, his words did provoke us to look even more incisively at Joseph to come to his defence. Well, here’s something to think of by way of balancing the argument in some respects.

25. 12:20

    You know, it’s not an easy thing to be a favorite many Amanas wish. Permanently that those who. Show special favours would stop not always the way of bringing joy. It’s favours don’t always bring safety. Of course it’s nice to have somebody’s affection and somebody’s loving care. Of course it is. But. When people. Whose affection you possess either die or they go away or in some way.

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    They’re removed. What then? Well, sometimes all the. Stored up resentment of your companions has fallen, unfettered expression, so it’s not easy to be a favorite. And in Joseph’s case, it was especially difficult if you’re willing to read between the lines. It was not just a case of resentment. It was not merely annoyance.

27. 13:13

    At this young man’s seeming self. Importance The record. Says in Genesis 37, verse four, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him. And in Genesis 37, verse 8, his brethren said unto him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us, or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words, and even his.

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    Father felt. That this was a bit. Too much and he. Said, as you know, rebuking late in verse 10 of Genesis 37. Shall I and thy mother, and thy. Brethren, indeed, come to bow down ourselves to thee, to the earth, and his brethren envied him. But but do you not get the feeling by the sisters that Jacob said this to Joseph? More for the.

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    Benefit of the others, than for anything else. That is to say, it was an attempt to appear fair, to allay their anger and to calm their jealousy by seeming to rebuke the young. Upstart Brother because. Notice what it says at the end of verse 11 about Jacob. It says, but Jacob kept the saying.

30. 14:31

    In mind. And he kept the saying of Joseph in mind, as though he sensed the ring of truth in the words which Joseph had spoken, as though with some mysterious insight, Jacob saw the destiny of the. Child that he loved. Best so I want to put it. To you? Well, this. Which opposes the idea that Joseph was a prig. You see what he said about his dreams? And he said it more than.

31. 15:00

    Once. He brought in the hatred of his brethren and the rebuke of his father. Now I want to tell you something and it’s this what Joseph said I. Wouldn’t have said, I wouldn’t have said. And I’ll tell you. Why? I’m too artful, that’s why I would know the. Effect it would produce. And I would want to. Avoid it however much I thought it to be true. I am too hard.

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    To do that, but I detect nothing of this, you see in the attitude of Joseph, and therefore I am driven to the conclusion that. What? He said, and what he did was done and said. Quite artlessly. He is not a man looking sideways to see how he is doing and what effect he is having. Openly and artlessly, he told the dream and he behaved. Here like.

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    He is going to behave in other places and later on, evidently quite honest and open, without any intrigue. He said what he believed, and he reaped the consequences. He is not an ingenious schemer, a wild boy, a clever Dick. He is not. He is an open, honest man, artlessly speaking his mind and then finding that his brethren didn’t like. And if there is blame to be laid, it looks as though his brethren really are the villains. Envy and jealousy and hatred towards. Him.

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    Because they were insensitive to their fathers. A special love for the child. Born to? Him through the. Woman that he loved best of all. So you see, sometimes it is difficult to be a favorite and Joseph discovered it, I think. And it was not his fault to some extent. It was his misfortune, because it brought him eventually brutality and suffering and the pit. But now the narrative you know well, and I don’t propose to go through it again in detail.

35. 17:12

    You know what? Happened to Joseph. The best loved son became a slave. Sold. By his brethren, the children of Israel, and came by this means to live in Egypt for the land of the master race. Let’s not forget it, the land of the master race. And it is there that we now must look at him again. So let’s think of Joseph in the house. Of potted fire about.

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    Which we read earlier today. And and notice how marvellously he progressed in spite of the circumstances. He was plainly an honest man, industrious, competent and hard. Working. Now, very often this brings results, doesn’t it? Most successful men, I think, would admit it that they get. On by their own efforts. This is the way to success. Hard work.

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    Conscientiousness, faithfulness, and honesty. But we know something more. We know that as well as Joseph’s competence and honesty. We know that it was God’s will. That made Joseph prosper and in the process Potiphar himself and his household was blessed as well. Now in Genesis 39, there’s one sentence that’s first of all significance, verse six. It says Joseph was a goodly person and well favored now. You may think that that’s splendid. You would all like to be like.

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    That he would a goodly person and well favoured. But you see, in the case of Joseph, it got him into a very difficult situation, a situation in a way in which there was no middle course. He was wooed and pursued. By a woman. Whom he must either refuse and awaken against himself her on dying hate, or else he must accept and violate his whole allegiance to God.

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    There was no middle course in this situation. Now it’s very interesting to notice how Joseph measured it. Indeed, it’s a lesson in honesty and verse nine, he said. How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God. That’s a very important sentence. All sin is against. God men. May call it by other names. Men may call it crime.

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    Maladjustment. Lack of education. The Bible. Calls it sin and it is against. God. That’s not mistaken. I told you we should be talking about it.

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    It is against. God you. May sin with others, as David did with Bathsheba, but in the end it’s against God, and David confessed it. He said against thee. Only have I sinned and done this evening. Joseph knew it and said it. Now, of course it could have been you’d, I suppose that there were mitigating circumstances. When a slave is commanded, does he not? Have to obey.

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    Isn’t it a case of diminished responsibility? But you see, there are some things, brother and sisters where? When all the peripheral arguments are stripped aside, a man cannot be. Neutral this is. One, but you can mark the strain, the insidious power of the temptation. See, in the Bible every word is important, and in verse 10 of Genesis 39 it says as she spoke to Joseph.

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    Day by day that he hearkened not unto. Her day by day. Think of the ruthless persistence of the temptress day after day. Why was she so persistent? Because in verse 11 you see it, he makes what we might call a special effort. In verse 11, it says he came to pass about this time that Joseph went into the house to do his work.

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    And was none of the men of the house there? Within, I should guess that that was her doing. She fixed it. This was. Her best effort yet? So you have to read between the lines here. He was a frustrated. Woman, you’ll pardon me for mentioning this, but we’re adults and we mean business. She was a frustrated woman.

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    Now notice in verse 14 how she speaks to the servants about her husband. See, he hath brought in and Hebrew unto us to mock us. You do not usually run your husband down to the servants if you respect him and honour him, do you? Not even in Egypt You don’t, and you don’t just insert the personal pronoun.

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    He see what he’s done. I think we can be more specifically. I want to read something to you from Genesis 39 from the New English Bible. It’s verse one of Genesis 39 in the New English Bible. It says when Joseph was taken down to Egypt, he was bought by. Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s eunuchs, Captain of the guard, an Egyptian. One of Pharaoh’s eunuchs, if you think it seems unlikely. Can I remind you that in these times it was quite. Common for units to be appointed to places of high. Office.

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    Quite common. Do you remember Rab Saris, the ambassador of the King of Assyria, who came to Hezekiah? Well, he was the chief eunuch, indeed the very word Saris. Means eunuch Rab Paris. And then there’s Acts chapter 8, verse 27. And Philip arose and went, and behold a man of Ethiopia. A eunuch of great authority under Candesi, Queen of The Ethiopians who had charge of.

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    All her treasure. Very often eunuchs are given the highest offices in these times, sometimes military, sometimes severe, and the reason was they were. Reliable, steady, stable, devoted. So it’s no great surprise that Potiphar, captain of the government, could have been a unit for those who are interested. The word which is translated eunuch is translated eunuch 17 times in the Old Testament.

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    Now if you’re willing to receive it, and if you. Don’t I don’t. I don’t mind, but if you’re willing to receive it, it does explain some of the things which occur in the 39th chapter of Genesis. Of course it could be said. Would any woman in her right mind? Marry a eunuch?

50. 24:41

    Well, some women might, if the unit was a man of high rank, and pot if I was. Some men will. Some women will do a great deal to attain their ends if the glory is good enough. Now here is a strange thing to Notice how Potiphar dealt with Joseph over this matter. Remember what it would be a slave who had allegedly attempted to rape the mistress and Potiphar gets rid of Joseph by putting him in prison. And not too bad a prison at that. Now I’m asking you, does it seem, does it seem reasonable? Does it make sense?

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    Well, try to work it out in terms of what we know of our own civilization. With respect, take your own country. I use it. I know it’s not your country. Really. But you know what I mean. Take the United States of America. Just imagine a landowner in Louisiana, say. In the beginning of the last century and one of the slaves assaults, the master’s wife tries to rape her in her own bedroom.

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    What think you, the master, would have done? Do you think he would have asked for a mild prison sentence or reach for his? Gun What do you think, knowing your own history? Well, you see here the situation is is more well, it’s it’s more clearly defined here in Genesis 39. We have a man of the master race. An important man of the master race, whose honour has been assaulted, whose wife has been assaulted by a mere slave who has no rights whatever.

53. 26:35

    It seems to me that I would have expected Joseph to have been thrown to the crocodiles without a moment’s hesitation. And there’s another thing too. This Potiphar happens to be the chief executioner as well. So he isn’t a man. He has a certain amount of influence in the right direction, the chief executioner.

54. 26:56

    But you see, here is the mystery for some. Reason Potiphar for theirs? Why does he? Why is he so reasonable? Or do you not think that in his heart he believes Joseph more than his wife? He thinks that Joseph is the innocent party and the guilty. Party is the woman, and it’s difficult to potify.

55. 27:23

    He cannot openly call his wife a liar, can he? And he cannot leave Joseph in this impossible situation. So he compromises takes. Joseph out of the way and tries to forget the whole miserable business.

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    There is just one little thought, Brethren, sisters, which I think we are entitled to. You may not agree. And you’ll have to forgive me, but there’s a little. Thought you may think it’s a naughty. Thought, but never mind. I think we are entitled to ruminate upon it before we leave this part of the narrative think.

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    Or what do you suppose, did Missus Potiphar think or say to herself one day later on, at a great banquet in the royal palace, when she was introduced to Joseph, the new Grand Master of the government? Sina, the Princess of Egypt. Mrs. Potiphar must have been livid.

58. 28:36

    Well, now let’s move on a little bit to another episode in the life of Joseph when his brethren came to Egypt, and in the plea for sustenance he has discovered. As their long lost brother I bring you to Genesis 45 verses 1 to 8. You remember the situation. They are discovered as his brethren.

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    Genesis 45 verse One. Then Joseph could not refrain himself before them all, and stood by them that stood by him. And he cried, caused every man to go out from me. There stood no man with him. While Joseph made himself known unto his brethren, he wept aloud. And the Egyptians heard, and the House of Pharaoh heard, Joseph said unto his brethren. I am Joseph.

60. 29:35

    Does my father yet live, and his brethren could not answer him? They were troubled with his presence. Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me. I prayed you. He came near, and he said, I am Joseph, your brother, whom he sold into Egypt. Now be not grieved, not angry with yourself, But she sold me, hit her, for God did send me before you to preserve life for these two years Has the famine been in the land?

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    For yet five years in which there shall be neither. Ploughing nor harvest, God sent me before you to preserve your remnant in the earth. To save you alive by a great deliverance. So now it was not you that sent me hit her, but God. And he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and Lord of all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt. Now the words to fix on in that.

62. 30:29

    Passage for this point is the words in verse 8. Now then. It was not you that sent me, hit her, but God. What Joseph meant was God was to be discovered in the whole process, not just the appointment to power in Egypt, but in all the things which had preceded it, the jealousy. And the dream and the separation and the brutality and the pit and the temptation and the prison, and then the deliverance and the ultimate triumph.

63. 31:00

    It was not you that sent me. Hit her, but God, that is to say, not. That God had manufactured all the circumstances, but He had used the circumstances to forward His purpose. That is not to say. That Joseph’s will was invaded by God’s power so that Joseph became a puppet. This temptation. To sin was real enough and Potiphar’s wife was beaten in a fair. Fight.

64. 31:25

    But Joseph, looking back, could see the unmistakable evidence that what had happened in all the long process. It did not happen just as a result of blind chance, but but things were working together for a common end. So in retrospection, he could say it was not you that sent. Me hit her. But God, now we can be sure of this. I think those words were spoken when Joseph was able to look back and mark the pattern of the process. But when he was in the midst of the process, no doubt it was different.

65. 32:00

    More than once, he must have been. Sad and weary and downcast and afraid more than once, because he is a man of like passions with ourselves. He must have been baffled and perplexed by the strange things which were coming. Upon him, perhaps very conscious of his weakness but finding no reason for his adversity.

66. 32:18

    If I could just give you 1 illustration of this, there’s another. Little sentence in the narrative, which seems to me to be so full of significance. It’s in Genesis 40, Genesis 40 verses verse 20.

67. 32:35

    You remember when they when Joseph was in prison, verse 20 of Genesis 40. 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, but the head of the chief Baker among his servants, when he restored the chief Butler unto his Butler ship again.

68. 32:56

    And he gave the cup into Pharaohs hand. But he hanged to the chief Baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them. Yet did not the chief bottler remember Joseph, but forgot him? The boxer forgot Joseph.

69. 33:20

    The bottler had promised Joseph that when his freedom came, when the amnesty came. He and he was once more fellows, but he would speak to the king on behalf of Joseph, and secure his release also. Imagine then, with what hopefulness Joseph would wait for the news of his deliverance after the Butlers intercession. And as the days lengthened into weeks and the weakest into months, imagine with what disappointment Joseph would. Realize that he was still forgotten the Butler. Forget, you know, I heard a man say once that. That sort of thing has been going on all deadly ages. And the man’s name hasn’t always been Butler, Sometimes when mayor.

70. 34:07

    Companions in adversity, and one of them escapes the freedom they so. Soon forget those who are left in bonds and suffering. So the Butler forget you as if but God remembered him. Behind the very present realities of hardship and difficulty, there is the invisible. Watchfulness of God, and it teaches us that though he is invisible, he is never indifferent. English at the time appeared trivial and. Unconnected and hard and bitter and disappointing may nevertheless be charged with significance indeed. May be full of promise that we cannot see it at the time, and this strange story of Joseph began because, being the son of his father’s old age, he was loved by his father with a special tenderness.

71. 34:53

    That provoked the jealousy of his brethren. So began that. Strange process which led him to. Egypt, and to being the saviour of all who came to him, as they said, the saviour of the world, It was not you that sent me, hit her, but. God, And although poor Joseph never knew it at the time, God, as it were, had gone before him and prepared the way, And although the way, led him through hardness and adversity, it was all. Done so that he could at last come to the place of triumph. And safety, you see.

72. 35:24

    Everything that God does and through his people is done in love so that they may be. Blessed and never harmed, some of the Lord’s sternest words are spoken to save us from harm and. To do was good. I’m thinking of Matthew 5 verse 30. If I right hand offend me, cut it off. Could there be harder words than that? If I right hand offend me, cut it off. Those words are spoken in love.

73. 35:56

    Remember how the sentence goes on. If thy right hand offend me, cut it off, for it is better. It is better for thee to enter into life main than to have two hands and go into Gehenna. The process is something. That may be better for thee to be one handed, but still in God’s care. Joseph’s life teaches us that God is in the hardship as well as in the blessing.

74. 36:23

    God is in the pit as well as in the. Palace. The Apostle Paul told it out of his experience, and Joseph told it out of his It was not you that sent me hit her. But let’s look at something else. Because this unveiled Joseph, perhaps more than anything, Genesis 50.

75. 37:00

    Verse 15 to 21 This is later on after they had gone to bury their father. When the old man was gone, remember that verse 15 And when Joseph’s brethren saw. That their father was dead, they said. It may be that Joseph will hate us and will fully. Required us all the evil which we did unto him.

76. 37:31

    And they sent a message unto Joseph, saying. Thy father did command before he died. Saying, So shall ye say unto. Joseph, forgive, I pray thee now the transgression of my brethren, and their sin for that they. Did unto the evil, And now we pray thee, forgive the. Transgression of the servants of God, That thy father Joseph wept.

77. 37:51

    When they spake unto him, the brethren also went and fell down before his face. And they said, Behold, we be thy servants, Joseph said unto them. Fear not, Ram I in the place of. God, and As for you, ye meant evil against. Me. But God meant it for good to bring to pass, as it is this. Day to save much people alive.

78. 38:10

    Therefore fear ye not, I will not assure in your little. Ones and ye comforted them and spake kindly. Now here’s something to ponder, brown sisters. It’s an interesting thing to notice how men behave. When the tables are turf, that is when the condemned. Suddenly become the judges when the prisoners suddenly become the warders, when the powerless suddenly have authority.

79. 38:42

    Now notice Joseph brethren expected him to take revenge. When you notice they expected him to take revenge. And and Joseph words in in verse 19. Am I in the place of God now? That could mean 2 things. It could mean, and I fear it often. Has meant at different times. I do not take vengeance because God. If God did not, then I would, but being sure that he will. I can wait.

80. 39:12

    I can wait. I can watch the decline of their fortune. I can see the process of evil. I can observe the grief. I couldn’t take note of the loss of the failure, and I will be able to say I knew it, I told yourself. I haven’t touched him. God has taken vengeance. Much better than I could.

81. 39:32

    I’m quite satisfied it could have meant that, but sadly it has I. Feel many times, but not in the case of Joseph if I have read it. Right. This I believe was his meaning. Am I in the place of God? Meaning, if God does not avenge, dare I avenge? Dare I seek to rejudge that which has been judged? Dare I snatch the balance?

82. 39:57

    From God’s hand and impose that which he has released, she Paul once quoted. And said Vengeance is mine, set the Lord. And did he mean? Therefore wait and see God’s wrath take and glory in God ‘s wrath? Is that what he meant? Well, listen, vengeance is mindset for Lord, Therefore if thine enemy hunger. Feed him and if he first give him to drink. This was Joseph’s greatness.

83. 40:27

    He looked thankfully on the good which had come out of the forces which seemed to be so cruel in Genesis 50 verse 20. You thought evil against me, but God meant it for good to bring, to pass, as it is this day to save. Much people alive, therefore fear ye not. I will nourish you and your little ones.

84. 40:47

    And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto you, and then. We can mark that Joseph’s forgiveness was utterly unconditional. He did not hold his brethren, as it were, in suspense. He did not, as it would put them on their good behaviour, as though to say I hold this threat over you. If you ever do it again, then watch out. That is forgiving and not forgetting. But it seems that Joseph is anxious that his brethren. Shall forget not a word to suggest it should be. Retained.

85. 41:19

    His voice is tender. I. I sense it. You sense it. His voice is tender. It is consoling. His pardon is. Full and frank and free.

86. 41:30

    It has to be measured by this fact too. How many men think you in his day, wielding his power, exercising his authority, would have shown such mercy and such gentleness? Indeed, how often is the opposite being common when power and vengeance are joined together, brothers and sisters? The very worst evils are sometimes unleashed. We have seen it, sadly.

87. 41:54

    In their own world, it is a mark of greatness that some. Men are able to resist this temptation. And Joseph was one such man. So what shall we say finally? I suppose the history of every man has two sides. The outward life of circumstances. The inward life of motives now Joseph’s outward circumstances.

88. 42:16

    Were checkered with misfortune, hatred, early loss of his home. Cruelty. Slavery. Prison, Neglect, longer envy, temptation and then suddenly the very opposite. Exaltation, Power, Rank, Authority, Riches. And looking at his inner life with a notice. With what calm? Dignity. He moved from one condition to the other. There was no expression of bitterness. No wailing over the cruelty of his captors. No denunciation of the falseness of friendship, no sarcastic scepticism about human honour.

89. 42:52

    Indeed, if ever a man had. Cause for doubts he did, and yet his heart is not soured. And his spirit is not crushed. This was part of Joseph’s greatness. Then another thing. In the midst of all the power of the pomp of Egypt, let us notice this. He is a. Hebrew man still essentially a Hebrew man. Elevated as he was to high power, he did not depart from the principles of his true life as a man of God. In spite of the elevation, Joseph is a humble man, I sense. He is a humble man.

90. 43:29

    There is never. A hint in the narrative that he forgot his true home, although he managed into one of the noblest. Families of Egypt. Yet he never sought to become a naturalized Egyptian. Never. His heart was in that fair land where he once tended his father’s flock in the days of his genial boyhood. It seems to me he bore this unsophisticated spirit a faithful Hebrew.

91. 43:54

    In the midst of Egyptian pomp and Pagan split. And finally the other aspect. Of the inner life. Is this to mark his benevolence? You see the system that he proposed and followed to meet the famine in Egypt in the underlying impulses. Of its design was to save the hungry and was to sucker the deprived, that is to say in the heart of them. In the heart of him he was a good man. He was at the heart of the great social revolution in Egypt. Through him the nation became.

92. 44:33

    Compacted into a new unity and. The power was devoted in the hands of the. Royal Government through a period when perhaps the nation could well have disintegrated and failed under this awful. Impact of the famine. There could have been a revolution of the wrong kind, so perhaps the final measurement we can make is in his death after 100 and 10 years of life. In reading between the lines, I think we can say at least I would say I feel every man in Egypt felt that in losing Joseph, they had lost a friend.

93. 45:16

    Indeed, they had lost the Saviour. That conclusion is not drawn from the details of Joseph’s funeral, because there are virtually none about his funeral. I draw that conclusion. That they felt they had lost a friend and a saviour from the details of. Jacob’s funeral, the greatness of that funeral astonished even the Canaanites.

94. 45:43

    It was a royal funeral, the funeral of Jacob. And it wasn’t for Jacob’s sake. It was because he was the father of Joseph. So Joseph’s final words are in a way. Micro cosmic of his life and his faith in the fifty, 50th chapter of Genesis, verse 25, he says. God will surely visit you and bring you out of this land, into the land which he swear to Abraham, Isaac, and to Jacob, and he shall carry my book from him so.

95. 46:27

    Let the Hebrew man in the New Testament give us the final verdict on the man who passed from rags to riches in a strange land that. Hebrew man wrote by faith. Let’s notice the words, because every word is important by faith. Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel, gave commandment concerning his bones.

96. 46:54

    Right to the end, he was a man. Of. Utter faith. And in Psalm 105 it is written about God. He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant whose feet they hurt with fetters. He was laid. In ire until the time that his Word came, the word of the Lord tried him. Now brother and sisters in that testing. He was made to be outwardly what he was inwardly. I believe that to be a revelation of greatness. He was a man of faith and fervour and identity.