Class 5 from this series was used in GCT Episode 267.

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Give us a great deal of
pleasure, brothers and sisters,

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to introduce our first speaker,
First Class Brother Dennis

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Gillett of Oxford, England and
he will deliver a series on

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Bible Men the Way They Were and
the title for the first Class

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Joseph From Regs to Riches.
Mother.

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Good.
Good.

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Morning everyone by way of
introduction.

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This first address that is one
thing that needs to be

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emphasized and that is that.
These.

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Addresses this series is
designed.

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To observe the characters.
Of certain Bible men, and what

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we are concerned with is
noticing the details about them

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as those details are revealed.
In the Word of God and reading

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between the lines where.
Reading.

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Between the lines is justified.
So that we can see what they

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were like.
That’s what we mean.

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By the way they were.
To see what they were really

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like as far as we.
Can and.

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Then to draw conclusions from
their lives in order to.

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Help her own SO.
I want you to understand,

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brothers and sisters, that is
the objective in this particular

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series.
Now I know well enough.

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That there are other.
Ways of looking at Bible.

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Characters.
I know that there are studies

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which are thematic and prophetic
and.

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Which of course.
Can be very interesting and very

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profitable indeed, I understand.
That all I’m.

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Saying is that that is not the
system in this case all I am

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concerned to do.
So that you won’t be

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disappointed, all I am concerned
to do is to.

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Look.
Carefully, incisively, if we

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can, seeking to unveil the
characters of these men so that

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we can learn something for
ourselves, so with that little

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introduction.
Then we’re thinking of Joseph

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from Rex.
To riches now, it seems to me,

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when seeking to make an
assessment.

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Of Bible men.
Sometimes it’s of great value to

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notice how the narrative about
their lives in the Word of God

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is related to the remainder of
the.

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Biblical Revelation.
Now I choose.

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My words carefully there because
I didn’t say how they are

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related to the development of
God’s purpose.

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Of course that’s important.
But I’m saying it is profitable

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sometimes to notice.
How what is recorded about him?

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Relates to the rest.
Of the Bible and if you.

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Apply that measurement to
Joseph.

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He is revealed.
As a man of very considerable

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significance, as it appears to
me, he was a kind of.

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Well, what I would call.
A Christophany.

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That is, things happen to
Joseph.

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On one level which?
Happened to Christ on a much

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higher level.
Joseph Life, to some extent, was

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microcosmic.
Of the.

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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.

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We can quickly think of some
example.

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Jacob loved all his children.
But there was between him and

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Joseph and a special
relationship.

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Indeed, the record is explicit
in Genesis 37 verse three.

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It says now Israel loved Joseph
more than all.

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His children because.
He was the son of his.

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Old.
Age.

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This is special love and Jacob
had other.

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Children but.
He loved this one man,

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especially now.
In the Psalm.

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You can read this about God in
Psalm 103.

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Like as a father pityeth his
children, so hath the Lord

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compassion on them that fear
him.

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That tells us that God is like a
father, That is to say, he has

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fatherly feelings.
He is compassionate to those

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whom he.
Loves, but once in the course

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of.
Human time in the process of the

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centuries.
A maid of Israel is with child

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by the Holy Spirit.
And the Holy.

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Thing which is born of.
Her is the child of the eternal

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Spirit, the child of God who has
fatherly feelings.

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And this child is different from
every other.

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Listen to the voice from heaven.
This is my Son, the Beloved in.

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Thee I am well pleased.
The Father loves the Son.

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From the foundation of the world
there was.

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Between them as there was.
Between Jacob and Joseph there

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was.
Between them the God of heaven.

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And the child a special
relationship or again Joseph was

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rejected by his brethren.
It says in Genesis 37 verse

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eight They hated him for his.
Words think of that.

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They hated him for his.
Words now of the Messiah, it is

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written.
He came unto his own.

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And his own received him not.
His brethren did not believe on

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him.
And those who should have been

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his.
Brethren said Thou blasphemist.

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They hated him because of his
words, but again, Joseph was

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sold as a slave by his brethren
for a slave’s price.

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The Messiah was betrayed for 30
pieces of silver.

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The price of a slave but.
Again, Joseph the Hebrew the

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freeman became a servant in
Egypt of the Messiah, it is

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written.
He took the.

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Form of a servant.
And humbled himself, or again in

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Genesis 39 we have the record of
the temptations of Joseph, about

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which we have read.
They were persistent and subtle

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and devilish and insidious.
And indeed he stands in the book

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of Genesis as the.
One man who was.

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Tempted more than any other.
Now of the Messiah, it is

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written, He was tempted in all
things like as we are, yet

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without sin, and his temptations
were more keenly felt, because

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his nature was more sensitive.
But again Joseph, after his

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condemnation, when he was
vindicated, was exalted to be a

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Prince and a saviour in Egypt,
and he became indeed the life

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giver through the very bread he
provided for.

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Hungry people.
And of the Messiah it is

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written, for which course God
hath highly exalted him, and

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given him a name which is above
every name.

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Indeed, he is called the King of
Kings.

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And the Lord of Lords.
John says in him was life.

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This is the bread that cometh
down from heaven.

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And giveth life to the world
the.

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Evidence you see, is
crystallized in the comparison

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of two verses showing that what
happened.

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And in both cases was the
combined result of human

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wickedness on the one hand and
the divine purpose on the other.

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Genesis 50 verse 20.
And As for you, ye meant evil

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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.

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Genesis 50 verse 20.
God meant it for good to save

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much people.
Alive now in Acts 2 verse 23.

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Him being delivered up by the.
Determinate counsel and

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foreknowledge.
Of God ye by.

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The hands of lawless men be
crucified, and slay whom God

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raised up.
And then again.

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The Egyptians gave.
Joseph A.

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Name.
It’s written in Genesis.

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The name they gave.
It’s written, I suppose, in the

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Egyptian.
Language but.

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Translated, it means the
saviour.

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Of the world.
This non Hebrew nation called

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him.
The Saviour.

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Of the world, Joseph.
And in the New Testament, the

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Samaritans the place.
Where no Hebrew.

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No self respect in Hebrew.
Would ever go.

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The Samaritans.
They gave him a name, too.

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And the name they gave.
Him was the Saviour.

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Of the world well.
That’s it.

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That’s what I mean without.
Straining the evidence, it’s

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quite clear, it seems to me,
that.

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In a remarkable.
Way this Joseph was a wonderful

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type of Christ.
His life is the significant.

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Unveiling of of things.
Which are at the very centre of

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biblical revelation.
Now the thing to remember is

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that in the midst of this.
High calling.

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He was a man of like.
Passions with ourselves.

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And that’s what we’re trying to
look at now.

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We’re trying to look at that
fact without prejudice to see

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that this Bible man.
Well, to.

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See what he was like.
And in that way we may help

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ourselves in the process.
So we’re going to think about

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Joseph character.
We’ve seen what a significant

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man he was in the biblical
revelation.

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Let’s think about this
character.

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I remember years ago.
At a Bible class in Oxford, the

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subject was Joseph and in the
discussion that.

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Followed one man in the Bible.
Class said that he felt a

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certain amount of sympathy with
Joseph’s prayer.

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He felt that to some extent,
Joseph came out of the

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narrative.
And I’m quoting his words, No,

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not mine.
Joseph came out of the narrative

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as he said, a bit of a pring.
He said he was 17, out with his

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brothers, and he brought to his
father an evil report about his

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brethren.
And then later on he came to

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them in a very superior way and
extolled his own importance.

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And the man said he.
Thought that he would.

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Probably have reacted very much
like Joseph Brethren did, he

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said.
Nothing is more calculated to

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rub you up.
The wrong way than for a young

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upstart.
To try loading it over his

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elders, especially when he
splits on them and on fairs.

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A bit of a previous.
Hope you want the shop.

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Don’t think too hardly.
Of him, he’s a good.

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Man.
The man in Oxford.

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He was, after all, honestly
telling us how he felt And

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anyway, his words did provoke us
to look even more incisively at

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Joseph to come to his defence.
Well, here’s something to think

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of by way of balancing the
argument in some respects.

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You know, it’s not an easy thing
to be a favorite many Amanas

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wish.
Permanently that those who.

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Show special favours would stop
not always the way of bringing

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joy.
It’s favours don’t always bring

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safety.
Of course it’s nice to have

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somebody’s affection and
somebody’s loving care.

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Of course it is.
But.

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When people.
Whose affection you possess

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either die or they go away or in
some way.

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They’re removed.
What then?

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Well, sometimes all the.
Stored up resentment of your

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companions has fallen,
unfettered expression, so it’s

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not easy to be a favorite.
And in Joseph’s case, it was

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especially difficult if you’re
willing to read between the

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lines.
It was not just a case of

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resentment.
It was not merely annoyance.

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At this young man’s seeming
self.

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Importance The record.
Says in Genesis 37, verse four,

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they hated him and could not
speak peaceably to him.

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And in Genesis 37, verse 8, his
brethren said unto him, Shalt

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thou indeed reign over us, or
shalt thou indeed have dominion

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over us?
And they hated him yet the more

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for his dreams, and for his
words, and even his.

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Father felt.
That this was a bit.

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Too much and he.
Said, as you know, rebuking late

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in verse 10 of Genesis 37.
Shall I and thy mother, and thy.

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Brethren, indeed, come to bow
down ourselves to thee, to the

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earth, and his brethren envied
him.

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But but do you not get the
feeling by the sisters that

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Jacob said this to Joseph?
More for the.

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Benefit of the others, than for
anything else.

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That is to say, it was an
attempt to appear fair, to allay

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their anger and to calm their
jealousy by seeming to rebuke

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the young.
Upstart Brother because.

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Notice what it says at the end
of verse 11 about Jacob.

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It says, but Jacob kept the
saying.

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In mind.
And he kept the saying of Joseph

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in mind, as though he sensed the
ring of truth in the words which

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Joseph had spoken, as though
with some mysterious insight,

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Jacob saw the destiny of the.
Child that he loved.

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Best so I want to put it.
To you?

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Well, this.
Which opposes the idea that

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Joseph was a prig.
You see what he said about his

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00:14:58,120 –> 00:15:00,120
dreams?
And he said it more than.

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00:15:00,120 –> 00:15:02,760
Once.
He brought in the hatred of his

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00:15:02,760 –> 00:15:04,640
brethren and the rebuke of his
father.

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00:15:05,320 –> 00:15:12,760
Now I want to tell you something
and it’s this what Joseph said

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00:15:13,560 –> 00:15:16,080
I.
Wouldn’t have said, I wouldn’t

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00:15:16,080 –> 00:15:17,920
have said.
And I’ll tell you.

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00:15:17,920 –> 00:15:24,400
Why?
I’m too artful, that’s why I

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00:15:24,400 –> 00:15:26,240
would know the.
Effect it would produce.

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00:15:26,400 –> 00:15:28,840
And I would want to.
Avoid it however much I thought

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00:15:28,840 –> 00:15:31,560
it to be true.
I am too hard.

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00:15:31,880 –> 00:15:37,240
To do that, but I detect nothing
of this, you see in the attitude

236
00:15:37,240 –> 00:15:40,360
of Joseph, and therefore I am
driven to the conclusion that.

237
00:15:40,360 –> 00:15:42,360
What?
He said, and what he did was

238
00:15:42,360 –> 00:15:44,760
done and said.
Quite artlessly.

239
00:15:46,120 –> 00:15:49,600
He is not a man looking sideways
to see how he is doing and what

240
00:15:49,600 –> 00:15:54,080
effect he is having.
Openly and artlessly, he told

241
00:15:54,080 –> 00:15:56,960
the dream and he behaved.
Here like.

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00:15:57,480 –> 00:16:01,480
He is going to behave in other
places and later on, evidently

243
00:16:01,480 –> 00:16:06,200
quite honest and open, without
any intrigue.

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00:16:06,200 –> 00:16:09,000
He said what he believed, and he
reaped the consequences.

245
00:16:10,080 –> 00:16:15,640
He is not an ingenious schemer,
a wild boy, a clever Dick.

246
00:16:15,840 –> 00:16:19,960
He is not.
He is an open, honest man,

247
00:16:19,960 –> 00:16:23,200
artlessly speaking his mind and
then finding that his brethren

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00:16:23,200 –> 00:16:27,000
didn’t like.
And if there is blame to be

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00:16:27,000 –> 00:16:30,320
laid, it looks as though his
brethren really are the

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00:16:30,320 –> 00:16:34,720
villains.
Envy and jealousy and hatred

251
00:16:34,720 –> 00:16:35,560
towards.
Him.

252
00:16:37,480 –> 00:16:40,640
Because they were insensitive to
their fathers.

253
00:16:40,640 –> 00:16:44,280
A special love for the child.
Born to?

254
00:16:44,520 –> 00:16:47,320
Him through the.
Woman that he loved best of all.

255
00:16:49,120 –> 00:16:52,600
So you see, sometimes it is
difficult to be a favorite and

256
00:16:52,600 –> 00:16:57,840
Joseph discovered it, I think.
And it was not his fault to some

257
00:16:57,840 –> 00:17:00,040
extent.
It was his misfortune, because

258
00:17:00,040 –> 00:17:03,760
it brought him eventually
brutality and suffering and the

259
00:17:03,760 –> 00:17:07,480
pit.
But now the narrative you know

260
00:17:07,480 –> 00:17:11,920
well, and I don’t propose to go
through it again in detail.

261
00:17:12,800 –> 00:17:14,319
You know what?
Happened to Joseph.

262
00:17:14,520 –> 00:17:16,880
The best loved son became a
slave.

263
00:17:17,119 –> 00:17:19,720
Sold.
By his brethren, the children of

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00:17:19,720 –> 00:17:24,040
Israel, and came by this means
to live in Egypt for the land of

265
00:17:24,040 –> 00:17:27,079
the master race.
Let’s not forget it, the land of

266
00:17:27,079 –> 00:17:31,080
the master race.
And it is there that we now must

267
00:17:31,080 –> 00:17:35,280
look at him again.
So let’s think of Joseph in the

268
00:17:35,280 –> 00:17:37,280
house.
Of potted fire about.

269
00:17:37,280 –> 00:17:43,200
Which we read earlier today.
And and notice how marvellously

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00:17:43,200 –> 00:17:45,720
he progressed in spite of the
circumstances.

271
00:17:46,040 –> 00:17:51,840
He was plainly an honest man,
industrious, competent and hard.

272
00:17:51,840 –> 00:17:54,640
Working.
Now, very often this brings

273
00:17:55,160 –> 00:17:58,360
results, doesn’t it?
Most successful men, I think,

274
00:17:58,600 –> 00:18:01,640
would admit it that they get.
On by their own efforts.

275
00:18:01,880 –> 00:18:04,640
This is the way to success.
Hard work.

276
00:18:04,640 –> 00:18:08,040
Conscientiousness, faithfulness,
and honesty.

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00:18:09,360 –> 00:18:12,920
But we know something more.
We know that as well as Joseph’s

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00:18:12,920 –> 00:18:16,280
competence and honesty.
We know that it was God’s will.

279
00:18:16,280 –> 00:18:21,280
That made Joseph prosper and in
the process Potiphar himself and

280
00:18:21,280 –> 00:18:23,240
his household was blessed as
well.

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00:18:24,560 –> 00:18:28,400
Now in Genesis 39, there’s one
sentence that’s first of all

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00:18:28,400 –> 00:18:33,000
significance, verse six.
It says Joseph was a goodly

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00:18:33,000 –> 00:18:39,720
person and well favored now.
You may think that that’s

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00:18:39,720 –> 00:18:41,280
splendid.
You would all like to be like.

285
00:18:41,920 –> 00:18:45,080
That he would a goodly person
and well favoured.

286
00:18:45,080 –> 00:18:49,040
But you see, in the case of
Joseph, it got him into a very

287
00:18:49,040 –> 00:18:53,040
difficult situation, a situation
in a way in which there was no

288
00:18:53,040 –> 00:18:55,720
middle course.
He was wooed and pursued.

289
00:18:55,720 –> 00:18:58,280
By a woman.
Whom he must either refuse and

290
00:18:58,280 –> 00:19:02,600
awaken against himself her on
dying hate, or else he must

291
00:19:02,640 –> 00:19:05,200
accept and violate his whole
allegiance to God.

292
00:19:05,200 –> 00:19:07,480
There was no middle course in
this situation.

293
00:19:08,520 –> 00:19:11,360
Now it’s very interesting to
notice how Joseph measured it.

294
00:19:12,200 –> 00:19:15,160
Indeed, it’s a lesson in honesty
and verse nine, he said.

295
00:19:15,440 –> 00:19:19,600
How can I do this great
wickedness and sin against God.

296
00:19:19,960 –> 00:19:21,800
That’s a very important
sentence.

297
00:19:22,840 –> 00:19:26,280
All sin is against.
God men.

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00:19:26,280 –> 00:19:29,800
May call it by other names.
Men may call it crime.

299
00:19:29,800 –> 00:19:32,000
Maladjustment.
Lack of education.

300
00:19:32,280 –> 00:19:35,320
The Bible.
Calls it sin and it is against.

301
00:19:35,320 –> 00:19:37,400
God.
That’s not mistaken.

302
00:19:37,440 –> 00:19:39,640
I told you we should be talking
about it.

303
00:19:41,680 –> 00:19:44,200
It is against.
God you.

304
00:19:44,200 –> 00:19:48,560
May sin with others, as David
did with Bathsheba, but in the

305
00:19:48,560 –> 00:19:50,920
end it’s against God, and David
confessed it.

306
00:19:50,920 –> 00:19:53,600
He said against thee.
Only have I sinned and done this

307
00:19:53,600 –> 00:19:57,560
evening.
Joseph knew it and said it.

308
00:19:57,920 –> 00:20:00,920
Now, of course it could have
been you’d, I suppose that there

309
00:20:00,920 –> 00:20:05,480
were mitigating circumstances.
When a slave is commanded, does

310
00:20:05,480 –> 00:20:06,720
he not?
Have to obey.

311
00:20:07,400 –> 00:20:09,880
Isn’t it a case of diminished
responsibility?

312
00:20:11,840 –> 00:20:14,200
But you see, there are some
things, brother and sisters

313
00:20:14,200 –> 00:20:16,560
where?
When all the peripheral

314
00:20:16,560 –> 00:20:21,840
arguments are stripped aside, a
man cannot be.

315
00:20:21,840 –> 00:20:26,320
Neutral this is.
One, but you can mark the

316
00:20:26,320 –> 00:20:29,120
strain, the insidious power of
the temptation.

317
00:20:29,760 –> 00:20:33,360
See, in the Bible every word is
important, and in verse 10 of

318
00:20:33,360 –> 00:20:37,000
Genesis 39 it says as she spoke
to Joseph.

319
00:20:38,680 –> 00:20:43,440
Day by day that he hearkened not
unto.

320
00:20:43,640 –> 00:20:48,680
Her day by day.
Think of the ruthless

321
00:20:48,680 –> 00:20:52,720
persistence of the temptress day
after day.

322
00:20:54,880 –> 00:21:01,760
Why was she so persistent?
Because in verse 11 you see it,

323
00:21:03,400 –> 00:21:06,120
he makes what we might call a
special effort.

324
00:21:07,280 –> 00:21:19,000
In verse 11, it says he came to
pass about this time that Joseph

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00:21:19,000 –> 00:21:20,800
went into the house to do his
work.

326
00:21:21,720 –> 00:21:24,240
And was none of the men of the
house there?

327
00:21:24,720 –> 00:21:31,000
Within, I should guess that that
was her doing.

328
00:21:31,960 –> 00:21:34,520
She fixed it.
This was.

329
00:21:34,600 –> 00:21:40,160
Her best effort yet?
So you have to read between the

330
00:21:40,160 –> 00:21:44,200
lines here.
He was a frustrated.

331
00:21:44,200 –> 00:21:46,920
Woman, you’ll pardon me for
mentioning this, but we’re

332
00:21:46,920 –> 00:21:51,840
adults and we mean business.
She was a frustrated woman.

333
00:21:52,720 –> 00:21:57,680
Now notice in verse 14 how she
speaks to the servants about her

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00:21:57,680 –> 00:22:02,840
husband.
See, he hath brought in and

335
00:22:02,960 –> 00:22:08,360
Hebrew unto us to mock us.
You do not usually run your

336
00:22:08,360 –> 00:22:11,480
husband down to the servants if
you respect him and honour him,

337
00:22:11,480 –> 00:22:15,680
do you?
Not even in Egypt You don’t, and

338
00:22:15,680 –> 00:22:18,240
you don’t just insert the
personal pronoun.

339
00:22:18,240 –> 00:22:25,720
He see what he’s done.
I think we can be more

340
00:22:25,720 –> 00:22:29,520
specifically.
I want to read something to you

341
00:22:29,520 –> 00:22:33,000
from Genesis 39 from the New
English Bible.

342
00:22:33,480 –> 00:22:38,800
It’s verse one of Genesis 39 in
the New English Bible.

343
00:22:38,800 –> 00:22:42,440
It says when Joseph was taken
down to Egypt, he was bought by.

344
00:22:42,440 –> 00:22:46,760
Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s
eunuchs, Captain of the guard,

345
00:22:46,760 –> 00:23:00,840
an Egyptian.
One of Pharaoh’s eunuchs, if you

346
00:23:00,840 –> 00:23:04,640
think it seems unlikely.
Can I remind you that in these

347
00:23:04,640 –> 00:23:07,960
times it was quite.
Common for units to be appointed

348
00:23:07,960 –> 00:23:09,360
to places of high.
Office.

349
00:23:09,360 –> 00:23:13,080
Quite common.
Do you remember Rab Saris, the

350
00:23:13,080 –> 00:23:16,720
ambassador of the King of
Assyria, who came to Hezekiah?

351
00:23:17,360 –> 00:23:27,200
Well, he was the chief eunuch,
indeed the very word Saris.

352
00:23:27,240 –> 00:23:33,680
Means eunuch Rab Paris.
And then there’s Acts chapter 8,

353
00:23:33,680 –> 00:23:36,080
verse 27.
And Philip arose and went, and

354
00:23:36,080 –> 00:23:39,600
behold a man of Ethiopia.
A eunuch of great authority

355
00:23:39,600 –> 00:23:42,960
under Candesi, Queen of The
Ethiopians who had charge of.

356
00:23:42,960 –> 00:23:50,640
All her treasure.
Very often eunuchs are given the

357
00:23:50,640 –> 00:23:55,240
highest offices in these times,
sometimes military, sometimes

358
00:23:55,240 –> 00:23:58,120
severe, and the reason was they
were.

359
00:23:58,120 –> 00:24:02,880
Reliable, steady, stable,
devoted.

360
00:24:04,240 –> 00:24:09,840
So it’s no great surprise that
Potiphar, captain of the

361
00:24:09,840 –> 00:24:13,480
government, could have been a
unit for those who are

362
00:24:13,480 –> 00:24:15,760
interested.
The word which is translated

363
00:24:15,760 –> 00:24:19,240
eunuch is translated eunuch 17
times in the Old Testament.

364
00:24:22,000 –> 00:24:23,760
Now if you’re willing to receive
it, and if you.

365
00:24:23,760 –> 00:24:26,240
Don’t I don’t.
I don’t mind, but if you’re

366
00:24:26,240 –> 00:24:30,120
willing to receive it, it does
explain some of the things which

367
00:24:30,120 –> 00:24:32,480
occur in the 39th chapter of
Genesis.

368
00:24:32,480 –> 00:24:36,160
Of course it could be said.
Would any woman in her right

369
00:24:36,160 –> 00:24:37,440
mind?
Marry a eunuch?

370
00:24:41,200 –> 00:24:46,360
Well, some women might, if the
unit was a man of high rank, and

371
00:24:46,360 –> 00:24:48,760
pot if I was.
Some men will.

372
00:24:48,760 –> 00:24:51,400
Some women will do a great deal
to attain their ends if the

373
00:24:51,400 –> 00:24:55,600
glory is good enough.
Now here is a strange thing to

374
00:24:55,600 –> 00:25:02,680
Notice how Potiphar dealt with
Joseph over this matter.

375
00:25:04,400 –> 00:25:08,120
Remember what it would be a
slave who had allegedly

376
00:25:08,120 –> 00:25:14,600
attempted to rape the mistress
and Potiphar gets rid of Joseph

377
00:25:14,600 –> 00:25:19,040
by putting him in prison.
And not too bad a prison at

378
00:25:19,040 –> 00:25:22,480
that.
Now I’m asking you, does it

379
00:25:22,480 –> 00:25:26,480
seem, does it seem reasonable?
Does it make sense?

380
00:25:27,680 –> 00:25:32,600
Well, try to work it out in
terms of what we know of our own

381
00:25:32,600 –> 00:25:35,480
civilization.
With respect, take your own

382
00:25:35,480 –> 00:25:36,600
country.
I use it.

383
00:25:37,200 –> 00:25:38,880
I know it’s not your country.
Really.

384
00:25:38,880 –> 00:25:41,160
But you know what I mean.
Take the United States of

385
00:25:41,160 –> 00:25:44,920
America.
Just imagine a landowner in

386
00:25:44,920 –> 00:25:47,720
Louisiana, say.
In the beginning of the last

387
00:25:47,720 –> 00:25:51,360
century and one of the slaves
assaults, the master’s wife

388
00:25:51,600 –> 00:25:53,680
tries to rape her in her own
bedroom.

389
00:25:55,040 –> 00:25:57,360
What think you, the master,
would have done?

390
00:25:59,880 –> 00:26:02,760
Do you think he would have asked
for a mild prison sentence or

391
00:26:02,760 –> 00:26:07,760
reach for his?
Gun What do you think, knowing

392
00:26:07,760 –> 00:26:13,360
your own history?
Well, you see here the situation

393
00:26:13,360 –> 00:26:19,400
is is more well, it’s it’s more
clearly defined here in Genesis

394
00:26:19,400 –> 00:26:22,760
39.
We have a man of the master

395
00:26:22,760 –> 00:26:26,560
race.
An important man of the master

396
00:26:26,560 –> 00:26:30,240
race, whose honour has been
assaulted, whose wife has been

397
00:26:30,240 –> 00:26:33,080
assaulted by a mere slave who
has no rights whatever.

398
00:26:35,080 –> 00:26:38,360
It seems to me that I would have
expected Joseph to have been

399
00:26:38,360 –> 00:26:41,120
thrown to the crocodiles without
a moment’s hesitation.

400
00:26:42,280 –> 00:26:45,840
And there’s another thing too.
This Potiphar happens to be the

401
00:26:45,840 –> 00:26:49,600
chief executioner as well.
So he isn’t a man.

402
00:26:50,280 –> 00:26:52,720
He has a certain amount of
influence in the right

403
00:26:52,720 –> 00:26:55,120
direction, the chief
executioner.

404
00:26:56,960 –> 00:26:59,560
But you see, here is the mystery
for some.

405
00:26:59,560 –> 00:27:05,320
Reason Potiphar for theirs?
Why does he?

406
00:27:05,800 –> 00:27:10,280
Why is he so reasonable?
Or do you not think that in his

407
00:27:10,280 –> 00:27:13,960
heart he believes Joseph more
than his wife?

408
00:27:15,880 –> 00:27:18,600
He thinks that Joseph is the
innocent party and the guilty.

409
00:27:18,600 –> 00:27:23,320
Party is the woman, and it’s
difficult to potify.

410
00:27:23,360 –> 00:27:27,680
He cannot openly call his wife a
liar, can he?

411
00:27:27,680 –> 00:27:30,400
And he cannot leave Joseph in
this impossible situation.

412
00:27:30,400 –> 00:27:34,480
So he compromises takes.
Joseph out of the way and tries

413
00:27:34,480 –> 00:27:36,360
to forget the whole miserable
business.

414
00:27:39,280 –> 00:27:41,720
There is just one little
thought, Brethren, sisters,

415
00:27:41,720 –> 00:27:44,320
which I think we are entitled
to.

416
00:27:44,320 –> 00:27:46,720
You may not agree.
And you’ll have to forgive me,

417
00:27:46,720 –> 00:27:49,400
but there’s a little.
Thought you may think it’s a

418
00:27:49,400 –> 00:27:51,080
naughty.
Thought, but never mind.

419
00:27:52,040 –> 00:27:55,560
I think we are entitled to
ruminate upon it before we leave

420
00:27:55,560 –> 00:27:59,280
this part of the narrative
think.

421
00:28:02,440 –> 00:28:08,200
Or what do you suppose, did
Missus Potiphar think or say to

422
00:28:08,200 –> 00:28:13,840
herself one day later on, at a
great banquet in the royal

423
00:28:13,840 –> 00:28:19,280
palace, when she was introduced
to Joseph, the new Grand Master

424
00:28:19,280 –> 00:28:22,880
of the government?
Sina, the Princess of Egypt.

425
00:28:24,000 –> 00:28:26,480
Mrs. Potiphar must have been
livid.

426
00:28:36,920 –> 00:28:40,200
Well, now let’s move on a little
bit to another episode in the

427
00:28:40,200 –> 00:28:45,960
life of Joseph when his brethren
came to Egypt, and in the plea

428
00:28:45,960 –> 00:28:47,560
for sustenance he has
discovered.

429
00:28:47,560 –> 00:28:52,720
As their long lost brother I
bring you to Genesis 45 verses 1

430
00:28:52,720 –> 00:29:01,840
to 8.
You remember the situation.

431
00:29:01,840 –> 00:29:04,720
They are discovered as his
brethren.

432
00:29:06,680 –> 00:29:15,200
Genesis 45 verse One.
Then Joseph could not refrain

433
00:29:15,200 –> 00:29:18,640
himself before them all, and
stood by them that stood by him.

434
00:29:18,640 –> 00:29:21,520
And he cried, caused every man
to go out from me.

435
00:29:22,000 –> 00:29:24,920
There stood no man with him.
While Joseph made himself known

436
00:29:24,920 –> 00:29:28,000
unto his brethren, he wept
aloud.

437
00:29:28,000 –> 00:29:32,200
And the Egyptians heard, and the
House of Pharaoh heard, Joseph

438
00:29:32,200 –> 00:29:34,760
said unto his brethren.
I am Joseph.

439
00:29:35,480 –> 00:29:39,440
Does my father yet live, and his
brethren could not answer him?

440
00:29:40,440 –> 00:29:42,440
They were troubled with his
presence.

441
00:29:43,760 –> 00:29:46,360
Joseph said unto his brethren,
Come near to me.

442
00:29:47,080 –> 00:29:49,960
I prayed you.
He came near, and he said, I am

443
00:29:49,960 –> 00:29:52,960
Joseph, your brother, whom he
sold into Egypt.

444
00:29:53,800 –> 00:29:57,400
Now be not grieved, not angry
with yourself, But she sold me,

445
00:29:57,400 –> 00:30:01,840
hit her, for God did send me
before you to preserve life for

446
00:30:01,840 –> 00:30:04,200
these two years Has the famine
been in the land?

447
00:30:04,800 –> 00:30:07,560
For yet five years in which
there shall be neither.

448
00:30:07,560 –> 00:30:11,720
Ploughing nor harvest, God sent
me before you to preserve your

449
00:30:11,720 –> 00:30:14,360
remnant in the earth.
To save you alive by a great

450
00:30:14,360 –> 00:30:18,120
deliverance.
So now it was not you that sent

451
00:30:18,120 –> 00:30:21,240
me hit her, but God.
And he hath made me a father to

452
00:30:21,240 –> 00:30:25,320
Pharaoh, and Lord of all his
house, and ruler over all the

453
00:30:25,320 –> 00:30:29,360
land of Egypt.
Now the words to fix on in that.

454
00:30:29,360 –> 00:30:33,560
Passage for this point is the
words in verse 8.

455
00:30:34,000 –> 00:30:36,520
Now then.
It was not you that sent me, hit

456
00:30:36,520 –> 00:30:41,280
her, but God.
What Joseph meant was God was to

457
00:30:41,280 –> 00:30:44,360
be discovered in the whole
process, not just the

458
00:30:44,360 –> 00:30:48,000
appointment to power in Egypt,
but in all the things which had

459
00:30:48,000 –> 00:30:52,600
preceded it, the jealousy.
And the dream and the separation

460
00:30:52,600 –> 00:30:57,160
and the brutality and the pit
and the temptation and the

461
00:30:57,160 –> 00:31:00,280
prison, and then the deliverance
and the ultimate triumph.

462
00:31:00,280 –> 00:31:04,160
It was not you that sent me.
Hit her, but God, that is to

463
00:31:04,160 –> 00:31:06,880
say, not.
That God had manufactured all

464
00:31:06,880 –> 00:31:10,080
the circumstances, but He had
used the circumstances to

465
00:31:10,080 –> 00:31:12,640
forward His purpose.
That is not to say.

466
00:31:12,640 –> 00:31:17,080
That Joseph’s will was invaded
by God’s power so that Joseph

467
00:31:17,080 –> 00:31:20,160
became a puppet.
This temptation.

468
00:31:20,600 –> 00:31:23,920
To sin was real enough and
Potiphar’s wife was beaten in a

469
00:31:23,920 –> 00:31:24,760
fair.
Fight.

470
00:31:25,600 –> 00:31:30,360
But Joseph, looking back, could
see the unmistakable evidence

471
00:31:30,360 –> 00:31:32,800
that what had happened in all
the long process.

472
00:31:33,240 –> 00:31:36,720
It did not happen just as a
result of blind chance, but but

473
00:31:36,720 –> 00:31:39,840
things were working together for
a common end.

474
00:31:40,640 –> 00:31:45,120
So in retrospection, he could
say it was not you that sent.

475
00:31:45,120 –> 00:31:49,560
Me hit her.
But God, now we can be sure of

476
00:31:49,560 –> 00:31:51,440
this.
I think those words were spoken

477
00:31:51,440 –> 00:31:54,800
when Joseph was able to look
back and mark the pattern of the

478
00:31:54,800 –> 00:31:57,400
process.
But when he was in the midst of

479
00:31:57,400 –> 00:31:59,280
the process, no doubt it was
different.

480
00:32:00,080 –> 00:32:01,280
More than once, he must have
been.

481
00:32:01,280 –> 00:32:05,760
Sad and weary and downcast and
afraid more than once, because

482
00:32:05,760 –> 00:32:08,040
he is a man of like passions
with ourselves.

483
00:32:08,280 –> 00:32:11,160
He must have been baffled and
perplexed by the strange things

484
00:32:11,160 –> 00:32:14,240
which were coming.
Upon him, perhaps very conscious

485
00:32:14,240 –> 00:32:17,760
of his weakness but finding no
reason for his adversity.

486
00:32:18,600 –> 00:32:20,760
If I could just give you 1
illustration of this, there’s

487
00:32:21,120 –> 00:32:22,400
another.
Little sentence in the

488
00:32:22,400 –> 00:32:25,440
narrative, which seems to me to
be so full of significance.

489
00:32:25,800 –> 00:32:31,920
It’s in Genesis 40, Genesis 40
verses verse 20.

490
00:32:35,360 –> 00:32:40,560
You remember when they when
Joseph was in prison, verse 20

491
00:32:40,560 –> 00:32:42,920
of Genesis 40.
And it came to pass the third

492
00:32:42,920 –> 00:32:46,240
day, which was Pharaoh’s
birthday, that he made a feast

493
00:32:46,240 –> 00:32:48,920
unto all his servants.
And he lifted up the head of the

494
00:32:48,920 –> 00:32:53,200
chief, but the head of the chief
Baker among his servants, when

495
00:32:53,200 –> 00:32:56,520
he restored the chief Butler
unto his Butler ship again.

496
00:32:56,520 –> 00:32:58,520
And he gave the cup into
Pharaohs hand.

497
00:32:59,000 –> 00:33:02,800
But he hanged to the chief
Baker, as Joseph had interpreted

498
00:33:02,800 –> 00:33:05,920
to them.
Yet did not the chief bottler

499
00:33:05,920 –> 00:33:18,000
remember Joseph, but forgot him?
The boxer forgot Joseph.

500
00:33:20,400 –> 00:33:23,040
The bottler had promised Joseph
that when his freedom came, when

501
00:33:23,040 –> 00:33:26,600
the amnesty came.
He and he was once more fellows,

502
00:33:26,600 –> 00:33:29,600
but he would speak to the king
on behalf of Joseph, and secure

503
00:33:29,600 –> 00:33:32,920
his release also.
Imagine then, with what

504
00:33:32,920 –> 00:33:35,920
hopefulness Joseph would wait
for the news of his deliverance

505
00:33:36,480 –> 00:33:40,600
after the Butlers intercession.
And as the days lengthened into

506
00:33:40,600 –> 00:33:43,840
weeks and the weakest into
months, imagine with what

507
00:33:43,840 –> 00:33:48,240
disappointment Joseph would.
Realize that he was still

508
00:33:48,240 –> 00:33:53,880
forgotten the Butler.
Forget, you know, I heard a man

509
00:33:53,880 –> 00:33:56,280
say once that.
That sort of thing has been

510
00:33:56,280 –> 00:34:01,040
going on all deadly ages.
And the man’s name hasn’t always

511
00:34:01,040 –> 00:34:07,120
been Butler, Sometimes when
mayor.

512
00:34:07,120 –> 00:34:10,760
Companions in adversity, and one
of them escapes the freedom they

513
00:34:10,760 –> 00:34:12,880
so.
Soon forget those who are left

514
00:34:12,880 –> 00:34:17,480
in bonds and suffering.
So the Butler forget you as if

515
00:34:17,480 –> 00:34:20,960
but God remembered him.
Behind the very present

516
00:34:20,960 –> 00:34:24,159
realities of hardship and
difficulty, there is the

517
00:34:24,159 –> 00:34:27,560
invisible.
Watchfulness of God, and it

518
00:34:27,560 –> 00:34:30,360
teaches us that though he is
invisible, he is never

519
00:34:30,360 –> 00:34:33,560
indifferent.
English at the time appeared

520
00:34:33,560 –> 00:34:36,719
trivial and.
Unconnected and hard and bitter

521
00:34:36,719 –> 00:34:39,679
and disappointing may
nevertheless be charged with

522
00:34:39,679 –> 00:34:42,719
significance indeed.
May be full of promise that we

523
00:34:42,719 –> 00:34:46,440
cannot see it at the time, and
this strange story of Joseph

524
00:34:46,440 –> 00:34:50,239
began because, being the son of
his father’s old age, he was

525
00:34:50,239 –> 00:34:52,880
loved by his father with a
special tenderness.

526
00:34:53,400 –> 00:34:55,360
That provoked the jealousy of
his brethren.

527
00:34:55,679 –> 00:34:58,840
So began that.
Strange process which led him

528
00:34:58,840 –> 00:35:01,080
to.
Egypt, and to being the saviour

529
00:35:01,080 –> 00:35:04,240
of all who came to him, as they
said, the saviour of the world,

530
00:35:05,440 –> 00:35:07,520
It was not you that sent me, hit
her, but.

531
00:35:07,520 –> 00:35:12,320
God, And although poor Joseph
never knew it at the time, God,

532
00:35:12,320 –> 00:35:15,640
as it were, had gone before him
and prepared the way, And

533
00:35:15,640 –> 00:35:18,360
although the way, led him
through hardness and adversity,

534
00:35:18,680 –> 00:35:20,720
it was all.
Done so that he could at last

535
00:35:20,720 –> 00:35:24,160
come to the place of triumph.
And safety, you see.

536
00:35:24,160 –> 00:35:26,960
Everything that God does and
through his people is done in

537
00:35:26,960 –> 00:35:33,200
love so that they may be.
Blessed and never harmed, some

538
00:35:33,200 –> 00:35:36,280
of the Lord’s sternest words are
spoken to save us from harm and.

539
00:35:36,280 –> 00:35:40,240
To do was good.
I’m thinking of Matthew 5 verse

540
00:35:40,240 –> 00:35:42,280
30.
If I right hand offend me, cut

541
00:35:42,280 –> 00:35:45,440
it off.
Could there be harder words than

542
00:35:45,440 –> 00:35:51,400
that?
If I right hand offend me, cut

543
00:35:51,400 –> 00:35:55,720
it off.
Those words are spoken in love.

544
00:35:56,560 –> 00:35:58,200
Remember how the sentence goes
on.

545
00:35:58,600 –> 00:36:01,960
If thy right hand offend me, cut
it off, for it is better.

546
00:36:03,280 –> 00:36:06,600
It is better for thee to enter
into life main than to have two

547
00:36:06,600 –> 00:36:11,040
hands and go into Gehenna.
The process is something.

548
00:36:11,360 –> 00:36:16,400
That may be better for thee to
be one handed, but still in

549
00:36:16,400 –> 00:36:21,200
God’s care.
Joseph’s life teaches us that

550
00:36:21,200 –> 00:36:23,480
God is in the hardship as well
as in the blessing.

551
00:36:23,960 –> 00:36:25,680
God is in the pit as well as in
the.

552
00:36:25,680 –> 00:36:29,000
Palace.
The Apostle Paul told it out of

553
00:36:29,000 –> 00:36:33,040
his experience, and Joseph told
it out of his It was not you

554
00:36:33,160 –> 00:36:37,680
that sent me hit her.
But let’s look at something

555
00:36:37,680 –> 00:36:40,720
else.
Because this unveiled Joseph,

556
00:36:40,720 –> 00:36:44,160
perhaps more than anything,
Genesis 50.

557
00:37:00,480 –> 00:37:11,160
Verse 15 to 21 This is later on
after they had gone to bury

558
00:37:11,240 –> 00:37:16,960
their father.
When the old man was gone,

559
00:37:16,960 –> 00:37:21,800
remember that verse 15 And when
Joseph’s brethren saw.

560
00:37:21,840 –> 00:37:23,840
That their father was dead, they
said.

561
00:37:24,200 –> 00:37:28,480
It may be that Joseph will hate
us and will fully.

562
00:37:28,480 –> 00:37:31,040
Required us all the evil which
we did unto him.

563
00:37:31,400 –> 00:37:33,320
And they sent a message unto
Joseph, saying.

564
00:37:33,320 –> 00:37:35,400
Thy father did command before he
died.

565
00:37:35,400 –> 00:37:39,920
Saying, So shall ye say unto.
Joseph, forgive, I pray thee now

566
00:37:40,120 –> 00:37:42,840
the transgression of my
brethren, and their sin for that

567
00:37:42,840 –> 00:37:44,880
they.
Did unto the evil, And now we

568
00:37:44,880 –> 00:37:47,520
pray thee, forgive the.
Transgression of the servants of

569
00:37:47,520 –> 00:37:50,680
God, That thy father Joseph
wept.

570
00:37:51,240 –> 00:37:54,880
When they spake unto him, the
brethren also went and fell down

571
00:37:54,880 –> 00:37:57,320
before his face.
And they said, Behold, we be thy

572
00:37:57,320 –> 00:38:02,840
servants, Joseph said unto them.
Fear not, Ram I in the place of.

573
00:38:02,840 –> 00:38:05,720
God, and As for you, ye meant
evil against.

574
00:38:05,720 –> 00:38:07,080
Me.
But God meant it for good to

575
00:38:07,080 –> 00:38:10,720
bring to pass, as it is this.
Day to save much people alive.

576
00:38:10,760 –> 00:38:14,200
Therefore fear ye not, I will
not assure in your little.

577
00:38:14,200 –> 00:38:17,560
Ones and ye comforted them and
spake kindly.

578
00:38:19,160 –> 00:38:21,160
Now here’s something to ponder,
brown sisters.

579
00:38:22,960 –> 00:38:26,920
It’s an interesting thing to
notice how men behave.

580
00:38:27,240 –> 00:38:33,320
When the tables are turf, that
is when the condemned.

581
00:38:33,320 –> 00:38:37,240
Suddenly become the judges when
the prisoners suddenly become

582
00:38:37,240 –> 00:38:41,560
the warders, when the powerless
suddenly have authority.

583
00:38:42,640 –> 00:38:47,200
Now notice Joseph brethren
expected him to take revenge.

584
00:38:47,240 –> 00:38:50,800
When you notice they expected
him to take revenge.

585
00:38:52,080 –> 00:38:54,920
And and Joseph words in in verse
19.

586
00:38:55,120 –> 00:38:59,480
Am I in the place of God now?
That could mean 2 things.

587
00:38:59,720 –> 00:39:01,440
It could mean, and I fear it
often.

588
00:39:01,440 –> 00:39:06,080
Has meant at different times.
I do not take vengeance because

589
00:39:06,080 –> 00:39:10,520
God.
If God did not, then I would,

590
00:39:10,520 –> 00:39:12,760
but being sure that he will.
I can wait.

591
00:39:12,920 –> 00:39:15,600
I can wait.
I can watch the decline of their

592
00:39:15,600 –> 00:39:17,760
fortune.
I can see the process of evil.

593
00:39:17,960 –> 00:39:21,800
I can observe the grief.
I couldn’t take note of the loss

594
00:39:21,800 –> 00:39:25,880
of the failure, and I will be
able to say I knew it, I told

595
00:39:25,880 –> 00:39:28,600
yourself.
I haven’t touched him.

596
00:39:28,600 –> 00:39:31,880
God has taken vengeance.
Much better than I could.

597
00:39:32,200 –> 00:39:37,680
I’m quite satisfied it could
have meant that, but sadly it

598
00:39:37,680 –> 00:39:40,720
has I.
Feel many times, but not in the

599
00:39:40,720 –> 00:39:42,280
case of Joseph if I have read
it.

600
00:39:42,280 –> 00:39:44,720
Right.
This I believe was his meaning.

601
00:39:45,320 –> 00:39:50,040
Am I in the place of God?
Meaning, if God does not avenge,

602
00:39:50,440 –> 00:39:54,040
dare I avenge?
Dare I seek to rejudge that

603
00:39:54,040 –> 00:39:57,440
which has been judged?
Dare I snatch the balance?

604
00:39:57,560 –> 00:40:03,120
From God’s hand and impose that
which he has released, she Paul

605
00:40:03,120 –> 00:40:05,520
once quoted.
And said Vengeance is mine, set

606
00:40:05,560 –> 00:40:06,840
the Lord.
And did he mean?

607
00:40:06,840 –> 00:40:13,480
Therefore wait and see God’s
wrath take and glory in God ‘s

608
00:40:13,480 –> 00:40:14,760
wrath?
Is that what he meant?

609
00:40:15,360 –> 00:40:19,960
Well, listen, vengeance is
mindset for Lord, Therefore if

610
00:40:19,960 –> 00:40:23,360
thine enemy hunger.
Feed him and if he first give

611
00:40:23,360 –> 00:40:27,560
him to drink.
This was Joseph’s greatness.

612
00:40:27,880 –> 00:40:30,880
He looked thankfully on the good
which had come out of the forces

613
00:40:31,000 –> 00:40:35,480
which seemed to be so cruel in
Genesis 50 verse 20.

614
00:40:35,680 –> 00:40:39,200
You thought evil against me, but
God meant it for good to bring,

615
00:40:39,200 –> 00:40:41,520
to pass, as it is this day to
save.

616
00:40:41,520 –> 00:40:44,760
Much people alive, therefore
fear ye not.

617
00:40:45,640 –> 00:40:47,440
I will nourish you and your
little ones.

618
00:40:47,440 –> 00:40:51,520
And he comforted them, and spake
kindly unto you, and then.

619
00:40:51,600 –> 00:40:54,200
We can mark that Joseph’s
forgiveness was utterly

620
00:40:54,200 –> 00:40:57,400
unconditional.
He did not hold his brethren, as

621
00:40:57,400 –> 00:41:00,600
it were, in suspense.
He did not, as it would put them

622
00:41:00,600 –> 00:41:04,480
on their good behaviour, as
though to say I hold this threat

623
00:41:04,480 –> 00:41:06,400
over you.
If you ever do it again, then

624
00:41:06,400 –> 00:41:10,360
watch out.
That is forgiving and not

625
00:41:10,360 –> 00:41:14,120
forgetting.
But it seems that Joseph is

626
00:41:14,120 –> 00:41:18,240
anxious that his brethren.
Shall forget not a word to

627
00:41:18,240 –> 00:41:19,760
suggest it should be.
Retained.

628
00:41:19,760 –> 00:41:20,920
His voice is tender.
I.

629
00:41:21,280 –> 00:41:22,680
I sense it.
You sense it.

630
00:41:22,880 –> 00:41:25,040
His voice is tender.
It is consoling.

631
00:41:25,280 –> 00:41:27,880
His pardon is.
Full and frank and free.

632
00:41:30,280 –> 00:41:32,240
It has to be measured by this
fact too.

633
00:41:32,520 –> 00:41:36,920
How many men think you in his
day, wielding his power,

634
00:41:37,120 –> 00:41:41,760
exercising his authority, would
have shown such mercy and such

635
00:41:41,760 –> 00:41:44,920
gentleness?
Indeed, how often is the

636
00:41:44,920 –> 00:41:48,280
opposite being common when power
and vengeance are joined

637
00:41:48,280 –> 00:41:51,120
together, brothers and sisters?
The very worst evils are

638
00:41:51,120 –> 00:41:54,120
sometimes unleashed.
We have seen it, sadly.

639
00:41:54,120 –> 00:41:58,440
In their own world, it is a mark
of greatness that some.

640
00:41:58,440 –> 00:42:00,880
Men are able to resist this
temptation.

641
00:42:01,160 –> 00:42:05,880
And Joseph was one such man.
So what shall we say finally?

642
00:42:06,800 –> 00:42:09,280
I suppose the history of every
man has two sides.

643
00:42:10,120 –> 00:42:11,920
The outward life of
circumstances.

644
00:42:11,920 –> 00:42:16,640
The inward life of motives now
Joseph’s outward circumstances.

645
00:42:16,640 –> 00:42:21,800
Were checkered with misfortune,
hatred, early loss of his home.

646
00:42:21,800 –> 00:42:23,560
Cruelty.
Slavery.

647
00:42:23,560 –> 00:42:27,720
Prison, Neglect, longer envy,
temptation and then suddenly the

648
00:42:27,720 –> 00:42:30,280
very opposite.
Exaltation, Power, Rank,

649
00:42:30,280 –> 00:42:33,800
Authority, Riches.
And looking at his inner life

650
00:42:33,800 –> 00:42:35,360
with a notice.
With what calm?

651
00:42:35,360 –> 00:42:37,640
Dignity.
He moved from one condition to

652
00:42:37,640 –> 00:42:39,680
the other.
There was no expression of

653
00:42:39,680 –> 00:42:42,920
bitterness.
No wailing over the cruelty of

654
00:42:42,920 –> 00:42:46,680
his captors.
No denunciation of the falseness

655
00:42:46,680 –> 00:42:52,160
of friendship, no sarcastic
scepticism about human honour.

656
00:42:52,960 –> 00:42:56,760
Indeed, if ever a man had.
Cause for doubts he did, and yet

657
00:42:56,760 –> 00:42:59,720
his heart is not soured.
And his spirit is not crushed.

658
00:43:00,600 –> 00:43:03,240
This was part of Joseph’s
greatness.

659
00:43:04,400 –> 00:43:06,480
Then another thing.
In the midst of all the power of

660
00:43:06,480 –> 00:43:09,520
the pomp of Egypt, let us notice
this.

661
00:43:09,680 –> 00:43:13,920
He is a.
Hebrew man still essentially a

662
00:43:13,920 –> 00:43:19,080
Hebrew man.
Elevated as he was to high

663
00:43:19,080 –> 00:43:22,480
power, he did not depart from
the principles of his true life

664
00:43:22,480 –> 00:43:25,000
as a man of God.
In spite of the elevation,

665
00:43:25,000 –> 00:43:28,960
Joseph is a humble man, I sense.
He is a humble man.

666
00:43:29,480 –> 00:43:31,480
There is never.
A hint in the narrative that he

667
00:43:31,480 –> 00:43:34,720
forgot his true home, although
he managed into one of the

668
00:43:34,720 –> 00:43:36,320
noblest.
Families of Egypt.

669
00:43:36,600 –> 00:43:39,320
Yet he never sought to become a
naturalized Egyptian.

670
00:43:39,320 –> 00:43:42,480
Never.
His heart was in that fair land

671
00:43:42,480 –> 00:43:45,440
where he once tended his
father’s flock in the days of

672
00:43:45,440 –> 00:43:50,040
his genial boyhood.
It seems to me he bore this

673
00:43:50,080 –> 00:43:54,320
unsophisticated spirit a
faithful Hebrew.

674
00:43:54,680 –> 00:43:57,520
In the midst of Egyptian pomp
and Pagan split.

675
00:43:58,760 –> 00:44:01,080
And finally the other aspect.
Of the inner life.

676
00:44:02,000 –> 00:44:07,800
Is this to mark his benevolence?
You see the system that he

677
00:44:07,800 –> 00:44:12,200
proposed and followed to meet
the famine in Egypt in the

678
00:44:12,200 –> 00:44:15,800
underlying impulses.
Of its design was to save the

679
00:44:15,800 –> 00:44:20,760
hungry and was to sucker the
deprived, that is to say in the

680
00:44:20,760 –> 00:44:24,920
heart of them.
In the heart of him he was a

681
00:44:25,000 –> 00:44:29,200
good man.
He was at the heart of the great

682
00:44:29,200 –> 00:44:33,960
social revolution in Egypt.
Through him the nation became.

683
00:44:33,960 –> 00:44:37,840
Compacted into a new unity and.
The power was devoted in the

684
00:44:37,840 –> 00:44:40,240
hands of the.
Royal Government through a

685
00:44:40,240 –> 00:44:43,680
period when perhaps the nation
could well have disintegrated

686
00:44:43,680 –> 00:44:45,840
and failed under this awful.
Impact of the famine.

687
00:44:46,600 –> 00:44:51,320
There could have been a
revolution of the wrong kind, so

688
00:44:52,640 –> 00:44:58,360
perhaps the final measurement we
can make is in his death after

689
00:44:58,360 –> 00:45:03,880
100 and 10 years of life.
In reading between the lines, I

690
00:45:03,880 –> 00:45:10,080
think we can say at least I
would say I feel every man in

691
00:45:10,080 –> 00:45:14,720
Egypt felt that in losing
Joseph, they had lost a friend.

692
00:45:16,080 –> 00:45:18,160
Indeed, they had lost the
Saviour.

693
00:45:19,840 –> 00:45:23,400
That conclusion is not drawn
from the details of Joseph’s

694
00:45:23,400 –> 00:45:27,040
funeral, because there are
virtually none about his

695
00:45:27,080 –> 00:45:29,720
funeral.
I draw that conclusion.

696
00:45:30,120 –> 00:45:33,720
That they felt they had lost a
friend and a saviour from the

697
00:45:33,720 –> 00:45:37,880
details of.
Jacob’s funeral, the greatness

698
00:45:37,880 –> 00:45:41,080
of that funeral astonished even
the Canaanites.

699
00:45:43,520 –> 00:45:47,840
It was a royal funeral, the
funeral of Jacob.

700
00:45:48,720 –> 00:45:53,360
And it wasn’t for Jacob’s sake.
It was because he was the father

701
00:45:53,400 –> 00:45:58,520
of Joseph.
So Joseph’s final words are in a

702
00:45:58,520 –> 00:46:02,040
way.
Micro cosmic of his life and his

703
00:46:02,040 –> 00:46:10,360
faith in the fifty, 50th chapter
of Genesis, verse 25, he says.

704
00:46:11,920 –> 00:46:16,000
God will surely visit you and
bring you out of this land, into

705
00:46:16,000 –> 00:46:19,080
the land which he swear to
Abraham, Isaac, and to Jacob,

706
00:46:19,920 –> 00:46:26,160
and he shall carry my book from
him so.

707
00:46:27,280 –> 00:46:30,480
Let the Hebrew man in the New
Testament give us the final

708
00:46:30,480 –> 00:46:35,280
verdict on the man who passed
from rags to riches in a strange

709
00:46:35,320 –> 00:46:39,360
land that.
Hebrew man wrote by faith.

710
00:46:40,280 –> 00:46:44,120
Let’s notice the words, because
every word is important by

711
00:46:44,120 –> 00:46:48,040
faith.
Joseph, when he died, made

712
00:46:48,040 –> 00:46:51,640
mention of the departing of the
children of Israel, gave

713
00:46:51,640 –> 00:46:53,840
commandment concerning his
bones.

714
00:46:54,640 –> 00:46:56,680
Right to the end, he was a man.
Of.

715
00:46:57,440 –> 00:47:01,480
Utter faith.
And in Psalm 105 it is written

716
00:47:02,160 –> 00:47:07,600
about God.
He sent a man before them, even

717
00:47:07,600 –> 00:47:13,240
Joseph, who was sold for a
servant whose feet they hurt

718
00:47:13,240 –> 00:47:15,880
with fetters.
He was laid.

719
00:47:15,880 –> 00:47:21,880
In ire until the time that his
Word came, the word of the Lord

720
00:47:22,600 –> 00:47:26,000
tried him.
Now brother and sisters in that

721
00:47:26,000 –> 00:47:30,440
testing.
He was made to be outwardly what

722
00:47:30,440 –> 00:47:34,240
he was inwardly.
I believe that to be a

723
00:47:34,240 –> 00:47:40,040
revelation of greatness.
He was a man of faith and

724
00:47:40,040 –> 00:47:43,720
fervour and identity.

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