Genesis: Dreams are refined

Can't wait for tonight.

Tonight we have a revival worship night baptisms. The staff

really wants to encourage you to come out. Over the

last few weeks, there's been lots of really heavy things

that we have been helping families in our church deal with,

and tonight we're gonna kind of do some spiritual warfare.

We are going to declare war on the enemy.

We are going to pray for you and believe that

any ground that maybe the enemy has taken in your life,

that God will take back and then some. So we're

really looking forward to praying for you. A great group

of people getting baptized, and best of all, all of

our students that are away at camp will be there tonight.

We have over one hundred students that are await at

Youth Camp. I'm here representing. I always say that once

a youth pastor, always the youth pastor. I do want

to say all the parents, they're waiting for your kids

to come, make sure pick up your kids with the

plant to come back to the worship service tonight, But

do us all a favor. Take them home, let him

shower first, and then bring them back. Because the only

thing I don't miss about being a youth pastor is

the smell of junior high boys at camp. We have

been looking at the Book of Genesis. I'll fall three more,

two more, three counting today Genesis messages, and we finished

the Book of Genesis.

Come on.

Last week I introduced you to the character of Joseph,

which literary historians refer to the story of Joseph as

one of, if not the most compelling, in all of history.

The story of Joseph has ups, downs, defeats, victories. It

is incredibly compelling. What I shared with you last week

is that Joseph was one of Jacob's twelve sons from

four different wives.

I don't agree with it. It is so we just

accept that it is.

But Joseph was son number eleven, and he was the

first son from Joseph's favorite wife, Rachel. And as a result,

Joseph was Dad's favorite. Not saying it's right to have favorites,

just saying this is what the Bible says. Because he

was Joseph's favorite, the rest or because he was Jacob's favorite,

the rest of the brothers were insanely jealous. They were envious.

To make matters worse, Jacob gives Joseph this cherished coat

it's referred to oftentimes as the coat of many colors,

and this made his brothers even more jealous. We're told

over five verses that three times that the brothers hated Joseph,

and it all culminates with a dream Joseph has. He

actually has two dreams, but it was the second dream

where he dreamt that the sun, the moon, and the

stars would bow down to him. Now, Joseph is not perfect,

probably could have used some common sense, but he shared

this dream with his brothers, and the Bible says they

hated him all the.

More because of his dreams.

And one day the brothers were off in the region

of Shechem.

Joseph was sent to go visit his.

Brothers, not knowing the whole time that his brothers were

plotting his death because of how their envy and jealousy

had led to hatred, and their hatred was now causing

them to plot murder. So eventually they take Joseph, They

beat Joseph, they take that coat off of joe Joseph,

they throw him into a pit, and then eventually sell

him to some Egyptian traders, thinking he'll go off to Egypt,

and we will never see Joseph nor ever hear about

Joseph's dreams again.

And that's where we left off.

Have you ever had a dream but instead found yourself

in Egypt? Genesis thirty nine, Verse one. Now Joseph had

been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, an Egyptian, was one

of Pharaoh's officials, the captain of the guard. He bought

Joseph from the Ishmaelites who'd taken him there. I want

to ask everyone to buy her heads. Close your eyes.

I want you to repeat this prayer after me. Everyone say,

Dear Jesus, speak to my heart. Changed my life in

Jesus' name.

Amen.

Have you ever had a dream, but instead of seeing

your dream fulfilled, found yourself at the opposite of that dream,

stuck in Egypt?

Now I'm using Egypt.

That was a real place, a real place that Joseph

had to go down to as a metaphor.

Maybe you don't.

Use the phrase I'm stuck in Egypt. Maybe you say

I'm in the desert. Maybe you say I feel like

I'm in the valley. I'm wandering right now in the

wilderness in the Old Testament, Egypt represented everything bad that

could happen to the people of God. So not only

was it geographically down, but it was down if you

catch my drift, So Joseph was brought down to Egypt.

When you go down to Egypt, which was the largest

country in the world, three to five million people in

that day and age, you went down and got lost

in Egypt. You went down and were found to be

insignificant amongst the millions of people in Egypt. The prophet

Isaiah said it this way, He said, woe to anyone

who goes down to Egypt. You see, Egypt is that

place where dreams go to die. It's where you're thinking, God,

I am supposed to be here, but instead I find

myself here. Has it ever happened to you like you

had a dream, you had a vision, You're supposed to

be here, but instead you find yourself stuck here.

What do you do when it seems like you're in

that place where dreams go to die? Did you know that.

Egypt, the wilderness, the desert, the value, whatever metaphor you

want to use, it doesn't have to be a place.

Where your dreams go to die.

Egypt can also be a place where God refines your dreams.

There's a principle that I want you to get today.

You're not gonna love it, but it's true. You cannot

control your circumstances, but you can control how you respond

to your circumstances.

Church, I'm telling you you cannot.

Control what happens to you, but you can control how

you respond to what happens to you. Therapists refer to

this as the locusts of control. They say there are

two types of people when it comes to the locus

of control. The external locus of control are people that

say I am a victim.

Of my circumstances.

But someone who has internal locus of control is someone

who says, I have the confidence and courage to respond

in a right way to my circumstances. Joseph thought he

was gonna be here, and insteady ends up down here

in Egypt. You know what's worse than being down in Egypt?

Being a slave in Egypt. That's where he found himself.

Nine verse too, The Lord, though, was with Joseph, so

that he prospered, and he lived in the house of

his Egyptian master.

It says the Lord was with Joseph.

There are many Hebrew words in the Old Testament that

refer to God and refer to the Lord. This particular

word actually connotes a personal aspect of God.

This is saying the Lord.

Was with Joseph, he was near Joseph, he was close

to Joseph. He was a friend to Joseph. Joseph thought

he was gonna be here, and instead he finds himself

a slave in Egypt. But God is his friend in

this moment. I bet there were many times Joseph thought,

none of this makes sense, and I had tutive that

told me i'd be here. I'm not supposed to be here.

I'm supposed to be this great leader, but instead I

find myself a slave. I'm supposed to be here, but

instead I'm stuck here. Church, you can't control your circumstances,

but you can control your response. This is the moment

where many people give up. This is where many people

they tap out, They blame God, they pout, they whine,

They end up in a puddle of their own tears.

But we learned something from Joseph today. His attitude was this, God,

none of this makes sense, And I thought I was

called to this, But I'm stuck here. And Lord if

this is where you have me, then I'm gonna do

my best to honor you in.

The place where I am. Here's how you make it through.

You hold on to the promise God gave you, but

you honor God in your present. You hold on to

the dream, but you honor Him in the midst of

your circumstance. Potiphar sees that everything Joseph touches turns to goal,

that everything he does succeeds. The Bible tells us that

he eventually places Joseph in charge of his entire household

verse five, From the time Joseph is from the time

he put Joseph in charge of his household, and of

all that he owned, the Lord bless the household of

the Egyptian.

Because of Joseph. The blessing of.

The Lord was on everything Potiphar had, both in the

house and in the field. Everything Potiphar put under Joseph's

care was blessed in it prospers.

And I bet in that.

Moment Joseph started thinking, well, this wasn't what I thought

my dream was gonna be.

But this isn't too bad. Now.

I'll just serve and be faithful to God. Here and

if I have to be a slave, at least I

can be in charge of everything under my master's care.

Remember what I told you last week. Dreams are not

a guarantee. The enemy knows your dreams.

Mean. The enemy is.

Seeing Joseph prosper, and he will stop at nothing to

keep your dream from becoming a reality, because he knows

that your dream fulfilled advances God's kingdom into his territory,

and he will stop at nothing to try and thwart

your dream. Now, Joseph verse six was well built and handsome.

The actual Hebrew would actually be better translated, as he

was well built and good to look at. Right now,

I'd be a perfect time to pop up a picture

of Morgan Butcher. But this demon possessed sedoctriss, this evil woman,

Potiphar's wife, tries to seduce Joseph. She says, no one

will ever find out, No one will know. You can

keep your position and have me too. It'll just be

our secret. Let's indulge ourselves. No matter.

When I read this, probably for the thousandth time, I thought,

the devil still tries the same thing today. I mean,

it is the same sin, same.

Temptation, and men still fall for it today and in

this moment, everything's going through Joseph's mind. Well, this woman

is attractive. No one will find out. But how did

Joseph respond? Joseph remembered the dream. He wanted to honor

God in his circumstance, and I like to put it

this way, eventually said, hey Potiphar's wife, Hey you're hot,

but I have a dream and you're not in it.

And he turns and he runs away. She actually grabs

his cloak and rips it off of his body, and

just like the devil is gonna pounce on him again.

Did you know that the Bible and historically Joseph is

known as a righteous man. But last week I kind

of told you how unrighteous Joseph was. Like I, he's

kind of a little manipulative, arrogant punk. So why is

he known as a righteous man Jewish historians? It's actually

from this point forward, because Joseph didn't give in to

this temptation. He didn't give into something that maybe no

one would ever find out about, but instead he ran away.

From this point Joseph is referred to as a righteous man.

But the devil hates Joseph, so Potiphar's wife says.

Look at this cloak. That person that you put in

charge of our household.

He tried to seduce me, tried to attack me, he

tried to rape me.

What are you gonna do about it?

Bible tells us that Potiphar is so angry he takes

Joseph and he throws Joseph in prison. You have a dream,

you're supposed to be here, and then you find yourself

in Egypt. What can be worse than going down to Egypt?

Being a slave in Egypt. Now, if you're Joseph, you're

a slave in Egypt. You're thinking it can't get worse.

Oh, yes it can.

Don't believe that it can't get worse, because the devil

will double down. Now Joseph wakes up and he is

a prisoner in Egypt. Interesting side note, archaeologist years ago

discovered what is known as the Resetta Stone, and it's

actually in a British museum. It should be in Egypt,

but it's in a British museum and it is allowed

people to translate hieroglyphs, and it allowed them to translate

what Potiphar's role was back then, and Potiphar was actually

Pharaoh's executioner. Like, this is a guy who killed people.

For Pharaoh, So tell me this.

Why would the guy who is a trained killer only

throw the guy that tried to seduce his wife in prison?

Why do you think because Potiphar knew his wife was

probably the one that was guilty. But rather than do

anything about it, let's just throw Joseph in prison. You

have no control what happens around you, but you have

control over how you respond to it. What did Joseph do?

Joseph held on to his promise, and he honored God

with his present. Joseph thought, none of this makes sense,

But if this is where God has me, I'm gonna

do my best to honor God in the circumstances around me.

Verse twenty one.

While Joseph was in prison, the Lord was with him.

God was near him. God was his friend.

He wasn't alone, and he showed kindness to him, and

he granted him favor in the eyes.

Of the prison warden.

So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those

that were held in the prison, and he made him

response for all that was done there. The warden paid

no attention to anything under Joseph's care because the Lord

was with Joseph and gave him success and everything he's done.

Joseph held on to the dream but honored God here.

But eventually.

The cup baker, the cup bearer and the baker getting

a fight with Pharaoh.

Chapter forty, verse one says.

Sometime later the cup bearer and the baker of the

King of Egypt offended their master, the King of Egypt.

Now here's the role of the cupbearer. This is a

very important role in the kingdom. This person was very

close to Pharaoh. He would serve Pharaoh his drinks, but

before he would present to drink to Pharaoh, he would

taste it, showing Pharaoh that it wasn't poisoned. It was

a very key position. You were next to the king

in a day. Another key role was the baker. Back then,

baked goods. Bread was a major staple for them, and

the baker would make baked goods, present them to Pharaoh,

taste the baked goods, showing Pharaoh they weren't poisonous. So

these people were important and close to Pharaoh. But Pharaoh

got mad at him and he throws them in prison. Well,

guess who's in charge of the prison.

Joseph.

So the first night in the prison, the cup bearer

and the baker they have a terrible dream. In fact,

it's a nightmare. The same night. They don't know what

to do with it. They get up the next morning

and they're tormented by the stream. By the way, if

you spend a night in prison, you're probably gonna have

a nightmare.

So it's not like this is a weird thing.

But Joseph's making his daily rounds and he sees them

and he can tell they're distraught, and he asks them

what's the matter, And they said, we had this terrible dream.

But there's no no one here that is available to

tell us what this dream means and interpret the dream.

So Joseph says this, well, I can't interpret your dream,

but the god that I serve ken, why don't you

share with me your dream? So this is the dream

from the cup bearer Verse nine. Sit In my dream,

I saw vine in front of me, and on the

vine were three branches. As soon as it butted, it blossomed,

and its clusters ripened into grapes.

Pharaoh's cup was in my hand, and I took.

The grape, squeezed them into Pharaoh's cup and put them

in Pharaoh's hand. Well, Joseph pauses and says, in three days,

Pharaoh's gonna call you back into his palace and he's

gonna restore you to his position in his kingdom. So

the cup bearer here's this, and he's thrilled with hope

and excitement, and he says, is there anything that I

can do for you? And Joseph says, well, there is

something you can do for me. I've been stuck in

this prison for about eight years.

He says, when.

All goes well with you, would you remember me, show

me kindness, mention me to Pharaoh, get me out of

this prison. Well, the baker, here's the interpretation. Here's how

positive it is. And he goes, oh, oh, oh, tell

me what my dream means. And so the baker says,

here's my dream. I too had a dream. On my

head were three baskets of bread in the top basket,

were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh. But the

birds were eating them out of my basket on my head.

What does it mean?

I mean? You could tell he's expecting like a similar

positive translation of the dream, and Joseph without meeting a beat,

missing a beat, says this, Well, in three days, you

too are gonna get called back into Pharaoh's palace.

He's gonna chop your head off and hang your body.

On a spike, and birds are gonna eat your body.

Isn't that great? He was a little bit discouraged. Notice

that Joseph didn't say, can you put in a good

word for Pharaoh for me? He just kind of kind

of let it rest. Then it says verse twenty that

now on the third day was Pharaoh's birthday. So three

days later is Pharaoh's birthday. I want to point out

that this is the only time in the entire Old

Testament someone's birthday is mentioned. Interesting fact to prove I

have a doctorate.

There you go.

Well, what happens the cup bearers restored to his position,

the poor baker off.

With his head hung on a spike. He's out. But

verse twenty three is the key.

The chief cupbear, however, did not remember Joseph. He forgot him.

You know what's fascinating about this that in this culture,

someone who correctly and positively interpreted a dream, in this

very superstitious culture, they believed that that person helped make

the positive dream come true, so he had an extra

reason to remember Joseph, but he forgot Joseph. I've noticed

that people are quick to make promises when they're in distress,

but they quickly forget those same promises when the situation improves.

Two years past.

Historians estimate Joseph has now been in prison for ten years.

He was supposed to be here, but he's stuck down here. Seriously,

what do you do when your dream is this but

your reality is this. You hold on to the promise

from God, and you honor God where you're at in

your circumstances. And Joseph continued to do that. Chapter forty one,

verse one. This is when two full years had passed.

Pharaoh had a dream. I'm gonna paraphrase Pharaoh's dream. I

think they're funny. Uh. Pharaoh's next to the Nile river

and he has a dream of seven cows.

And they're beautiful, they're perfect.

They are like the most choice cows, the cows that

a pharaoh would be proud.

To have in his stable.

And then next to the seven beautiful cows, we're seven.

The Bible says, ugly, like starve, skinny, hideous cows. I

can't imagine what it was like in Pharaoh's head as

he's dreaming this, because then the hideous, ugly cows eat

the seven beautiful cows. Bible says. Pharaoh Ah wakes up

from his dream, his nightmare, and he's like cold sweat.

Wakes up the next day, he has another dream, nightmare.

This time he sees a wheatfield, grainfield, probably like all

the grain fields that Pharaoh owns that he's very proud of.

And he sees seven stalks of grain rise up above

the rest beautiful grain grain he was proud of. And

the next of those seven stalks.

Of grain are seven.

Skinny, hideous stalks of grain, and they devour the other

stalks of grain. Pharaoh Ah wakes up from his nightmare.

He asks everyone, what do these dreams mean? He's tormented

by these dreams, goes throughout.

All of Egypt.

He asks all this the spirit is, the enchanters, the sorcerers,

the witches, anyone can anyone interpret this dream? And no

one could. And Pharaoh's continually tormented by these dreams. And

one morning his cupbears bringing him his mourning wine. Or

because we're at an ag church, we'll say his morning

coffee and the cup bear sees how distraught Pharaoh is,

and he says, oh, you know, I just remembered something.

Remember a couple of years ago when you got really

mad at me and you threw me in prison because

I had a bad dream when I was in prison,

and there was a guy in the prison who was

able to interpret my dream.

You should ask him. He's pretty good at this stuff.

So it leads us to chapter forty one, verse fourteen,

Are you still with me?

Don't forget.

Hold on to your dream and honor God in your circumstances.

Don't forget.

You oftentimes have no control over what happens around you,

but you have control over how you respond to it.

Joseph has now been in the least likely place for him.

It's been in prison for about ten years, and verse fourteen,

Pharaoh sent for Joseph.

He was quickly brought from the dungeon.

When he had shaved and changed his clothes, he came

before Pharaoh. Pharaoh said to Joseph, I had a dream

and no one can interpret it. But I've heard it

said of you that when you hero dream, you can

interpret it. Remember, God refines your dreams in Egypt. God

has a purpose for you being in Egypt. It might

not be a mistake that you were in Egypt. Look

at Joseph's response. He said, I can't do it, but

God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires. Joseph tells Pharaoh,

I don't have any ability to interpret dreams, but the

God that I serve can. Oh such an important principle.

Joseph is given this gift and ability.

From God to interpret dreams, but he gives God all

the credit for his gifts and ability, his skill, his talent.

Do you do that? Do you give God all.

The credit for the gifts and abilities and talents you have.

If God gave you the talent, the ability, the gifting,

it must be.

Used for God. Joseph says, actually.

Your two dreams are actually one dream. So the seven

beautiful cows, the seven amazing heads of grain being devoured

by the other seven and wiping them out, they are

the same dream.

He said. What's gonna happen is Egypt is.

Gonna experience incredible prosperity for the next seven years. You're

gonna have seven years of utter abundance. But after the

seven years, you are gonna have seven years of famine,

seven years of drought. It is gonna be so bad

that it during the seven years of prosperity, they are

going to be totally wiped out by the seven years

of drought.

You know, Isaac Newton, the law.

Of gravity simply says what comes up must come down.

Did you know that.

Principle applies to just about everything in life? What goes

up must come down. Your investments will go up, they

will go down. Your home values will go up, they

will go down. Go up, they will go down. You'll

be on the mountain, but you will experience a valley.

I always tell people that is why you develop habits

on the mountain that will bring you through the valley.

Because what comes up must come down. And he says Pharaoh,

in the next seven years of prosperity, build storehouses, store grain,

store livestock.

Because seven years.

Of famine are coming, and your people are gonna need food.

Other nations are gonna need food.

You've got to create the greatest social services ever.

Like before there was convoy of.

Hope, there was Joseph and the Egyptians Verse thirty nine.

Hold on to the promise honor God in the circumstance.

Because God might be refining you in the valley, he

might be refining you in Egypt.

He's working on you in the desert. You don't know

what he's up to.

Thought about this, I thought, I think oftentimes the hardest

part about being in Egypt is we feel like no

one sees us when we're in Egypt, and then we

forget that the Lord is with us. That when we're

in those moments in Egypt when we feel all alone,

God is our friend, and he sees us ten years

in prison, and it leads to this moment. Then Pharaoh

said to Joseph, since God, I just love that Pharaoh's

now acknowledging Joseph's God. Since God has made all this

known to you, there is no one so discerning and

wise as you. You shall be in charge of my palace,

and all my people are to submit to your orders

only with respect to the throne. Will I be greater

than you, So Pharaoh said to Joseph, I hereby put

you in charge of the whole land of Egypt.

Then Pharaoh took.

His signet ring off of his finger and put it

on Joseph's finger. That signet ring was a symbol of authority.

Pharaoh's used it to seal covenance and sanctioned decrees.

He is now saying, you are my voice. You have

my authority.

You can sign contracts, cut deals on my behalf as

if you were me. He dressed him in robes of

fine linen. He put a gold chain around his neck.

He had him ride in a chariot as his second

in command, and people shouted before him make way. Thus

he put Joseph in charge of the whole land of Egypt.

Have you ever had a dream but found yourself in Egypt.

It's where we lose people.

Because they give up, not realizing God is refining you.

God has a plan for you in Egypt, and best

of all, God sees you in Egypt. During the seven

years of plenty, Joseph built storehouses, food banks. He stored

up every ounce of food he possibly could. He led

this all over the country and then sure enough and

incredibly terrible famine hits. But the Egyptians had food because

of Joseph. We're told that when Joseph was about thirty

years old, he now had two children. So remember, God

gave him a dream. At seventeen, the sun the moon

and the stars are going to bow down to you.

And he spent the next thirteen years stuck in Egypt

in a prison, almost half his life.

During that time.

He has two sons, Manassa and Ephraim, and he named

his sons very intentionally as description about what he's gone

through and how he's chosen to handle the circumstances. He

literally shows you by the names of his sons, I

held on to the promise of God, and I honored

God in my circumstances. His first son's name was Manassa.

Here's what Manassa means. God has made me forget completely

my hardship and my parental home. Joseph chose to forget

his childhood pain. You talk about somebody who had childhood trauma.

His eleven brothers hated him, beat him up, stole his coat,

sold him into slavery, assuming they'd never see him again.

Childhood trauma he might.

Win with the Bible says that he personally dealt with

his trauma and he let it go and he moved forward.

I share what I'm going to share with permission. Talk

to two different therapists in our church, and I said,

I want to share something but I don't want to

do something that would come across as offensive. And they said,

because it's a British psychological study, we respect it. He said,

if it would have come from America, throw it out.

But the British Psychological Society came out with a report

in two thousand and six about a popular psychotherapeutic movement

in the nineteen nineties called recovered memory. This is the

idea that suppressed, repressed childhood trauma.

Should be brought back out in.

Therapy or hypnosis, and that this childhood trauma should be recovered.

Here's what They concluded.

That some of the memories were accurate, most were vastly inaccurate.

Most were extremely exaggerated. So the British Psychological Society concluded

that in almost every circumstance, the impact was negative and

it inevitably alienated people from their parents and tore their

families apart. Their conclusion was reports of past trauma based

on such recovered memories are not reliable.

Notice how Joseph said.

Man, my trauma horrible, but my God great. While it

was in Egypt, he healed me, delivered me, he sent

me free.

I let that go. Then he named his.

Second son Ephraim, which means God made me fertile in

the land of my affliction.

This was my.

Dream, but I was stuck in Egypt, and my attitude was,

if I'm stuck here, I'm gonna honor God in all

of my circumstances. Chapter forty one ends with this verse.

This is called a cliffhanger. And all the world came

to Egypt to buy.

Grain from Joseph.

The sun, the moon, and the stars will.

Bow down before you.

Because the famine was so severe everywhere. Next week, Joseph

meets his brothers thirteen to seventeen years later. By your heads,

close your eyes, some of yours stirred up by this message.

Come tonight, we have a prayer meeting. Tonight.

We want to pray for you. Will lay hands on you,

pray for you while you're in Egypt. Will lay hands

on you. Believe with you for your dream. Come tonight,

Lord Jesus, I thank you for the fact that when

we find ourselves stuck in Egypt, you don't leave us

or forsake us. That if we look close, we'll see

you in the middle of all of the troubles, all

of the tragedy. But God give us faith to believe

that You are at work and even the worst of circumstances.

And I pray that this will be a church of

people that.

Will hold on to the promises of God, and that

they'll honor God in the circumstances that are out of

their control.

In Jesus' name, Amen,