Messianic Perspectives

Liz Aiello: In spite of human weakness, God vindicates His servants. Join us, won't you, as Pastor Al Runge uses God's Word to discuss the life of Joseph, today, right here on Messianic Perspectives.

Shalom, and welcome to Messianic Perspectives, a daily program where we look into the Scriptures from a distinctly first-century Jewish point of view. I'm Liz Aiello. Today, we'll look into the life of Joseph from a distinctly Messianic Jewish point of view. Our Bible teacher is Pastor Al Runge. I'll be back at the end of the message with a special offer. And now, here's Pastor Runge.

Al Runge: I've been preaching a Bible series on the life of Joseph, the son of Jacob. Joseph, as a young man, had two prophetic dreams in which he saw himself exalted above his ten brothers. But all his circumstances were against him. In our first message, we focused on human dysfunctioning as seen in Joseph's family. In our second message, we saw human depravity at work when Joseph's brothers kidnapped him and sold him as a slave because they were motivated by envy and hatred against him.

In our third message, we studied how the human depravity of Joseph's brothers caused serious suffering for Joseph and his father Jacob. In our fourth message, we investigated how Joseph suffered injustice by the false accusation of attempted rape by Potiphar's immoral wife. In our fifth message, we examined human impatience. After all, Joseph had been a slave and prisoner for years, and there did not seem to be any means of escape.

In this sixth message on Joseph, we will focus away from human weaknesses and look at God's faithfulness. None of us could ever experience the fulfillment of God's plan for our lives without His intervention. While in prison, Joseph interpreted Pharaoh's cupbearer's dream by predicting that he would be released in three days and restored to his position with Pharaoh.

Joseph then appealed to the cupbearer, "Please, show kindness to me. Make mention of me to Pharaoh and get me out of this jailhouse, for indeed, I was stolen away from the land of the Hebrews. And also, I have done nothing that they should put me into this dungeon." The cupbearer was so human in that he forgot all about Joseph for two full years. Those must have been very long and dreary days for Joseph.

I can't imagine a worse nightmare than to be falsely accused and then imprisoned. When things looked hopeless, God entered into the picture. The Bible tells us that in the past, God had spoken in various ways and sometimes in dreams. There are cultures even today where dreams are taken seriously, and that was especially true in the ancient world.

One night, God gave Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, two dreams that terrified him, and none of his wise men could interpret them. These dreams are recorded in Genesis 41, verse 1. Pharaoh dreamed where he was standing by the river Nile. He saw seven fat cows coming out of the river and feeding in the reed grass. Then he saw seven skinny cows come up after them. The skinny cows ate up the seven fat cows.

Then Pharaoh had another dream: seven ears of plump and good grain came up. Afterward, seven thin and poor ears of grain, blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them. And the thin ears swallowed up the seven plump ears. Behold, it was a dream. But what did it mean? Pharaoh commanded his Egyptian wise men to interpret his dreams, but they could not. The king became agitated, and it was then that Pharaoh's cupbearer remembered Joseph.

In Genesis 41, verse 9, we are told the cupbearer said to the king, "I now remember my faults this day. When you were angry with me and the chief baker, you put us into prison. We each had a dream in the same night. We were troubled. Now, there was a young Hebrew prisoner with us. He correctly interpreted our dreams for us, which came to pass. In three days, you restored me to my position and you ordered the execution of the baker."

That very night, Pharaoh sent for Joseph. The soldiers woke Joseph up and brought him to the palace. I wonder if Joseph had any idea where they were taking him and the reason for it. Joseph was cleaned up, deloused, and dressed up. They brought him to Pharaoh. The king told Joseph his dreams and asked him for an interpretation. Joseph replied in Genesis 41, verse 16. These are his words: "It is not in me. God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace."

Joseph told Pharaoh, "The dreams of Pharaoh are one. God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do. The seven good cows are seven years, and also the seven good ears of grain are the same seven years. The seven thin and emaciated cows are seven years, and the seven thin ears of grain, blasted by the East River, are seven years of famine. So Egypt will experience seven years of abundance followed by seven years of extreme famine."

God not only gave the interpretation to Joseph, but He also gave him the wisdom to suggest a wise plan. In Genesis 41, verse 34, he says, "Let Pharaoh appoint officers over the land to collect one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt in the seven abundant years. Let them gather all the food of those good years and store up grain under the authority of Pharaoh. Then that food shall be in reserve for the land for the seven years of famine which shall be in the land of Egypt, that the land may not perish during the famine."

God also gave Pharaoh an insight into Joseph's ability and integrity. Listen to his words: "So the advice was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of all his servants. And Pharaoh said to his servants, 'Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Holy Spirit of God?' Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, 'Inasmuch as God has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you. You shall be over my house, and all my people shall be ruled according to your word. Only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you.'"

Within a few minutes, Joseph, the slave and the prisoner, became the most powerful man in all of Egypt. None of this could have happened without God's intervention. Imagine the shocking reaction of Potiphar's wife to the news that Joseph was over the whole land of Egypt. She, who in revenge falsely accused him of attempted rape and made her husband send him to the royal prison.

Joseph could have given Potiphar and his wife a lot of grief. Joseph, however, was a godly man and reacted well with his political power. God's Word tells us in Romans 12, verse 19, "Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath, for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay,' says the Lord." God's plan for Joseph was finally coming to pass.

Does God still intervene in supernatural ways on behalf of His children in trouble? Yes, He does, and I know by personal experience. When I was a teenager, I flunked out of high school. But then God revealed to me that I could not serve Him without an education. I promised the Lord that if He opened up the opportunity for me to get an education, I would return to finish my high school and go on for further training in order to be equipped for the ministry.

I heard about the Toccoa Falls Institute, that they had a high school and a Bible college. I applied and was accepted. Before I left, a Christian brother told me about going to school on faith. I asked him, "What does that mean?" He said, "Either people will help you financially or God will provide work for you." I returned to school on faith. People promised to help me, but I did not hear from them for four years.

So I went to the superintendent of the school, Kelly Barnes, and told him that I needed a job. He said, "We have some work scholarships, but they are all given out." I told him that I had no money, and I asked him what should I do. He said, "You should go home." I replied, "I don't want to go home." He asked me why. I told him that I was a Hebrew Christian, and I don't even know why I said that.

He stopped me and said, "Last night, I was very tired and I was about to fall asleep when a verse from the Bible woke me up. It was when God said to Abraham, 'I will bless them that bless you.' He got excited and said, 'All night long I could not get any sleep because that verse kept waking me up. Now I know that God is preparing me to help you, a son of Abraham, and if I bless you, God will bless me.'"

He got me a job working on the school farm, which only lasted one day. I had never seen a cow or smelled one before, and they looked very dangerous to me. I didn't know what to do with them. Kelly Barnes laughed and he said, "I'm going to help you more and get a double blessing." You see, God still works for us. He still intervenes. He still helps us when we're in trouble.

I want you to know that God has a plan for you, but in that plan, God is going to see that it will be accomplished. You don't have to worry about that because God is faithful. And if you'll just love Him and trust Him and persevere, regardless of all the adverse circumstances that might come your way, you will see that the Lord is faithful.

I'm so glad I could look back over my life and see the faithfulness of my God. So God has a plan for your life, as He has one for my life. He'll bring it to pass if you'll persevere with faith, because faithful is He who calleth you, who will also do it. In our next and last message of the series, we're going to talk about divine vindication. Until then, may God richly bless you.

Liz Aiello: Thank you, Pastor Runge. And thank you, listening friend, for tuning in today. Now, let me tell you about our special offer. It's the compact disc which includes all of the programs in this current series of studies on God's Plan for Your Life. And it can be yours for a gift of just $6 or more to Messianic Perspectives. Just visit our secure online store at messianicspecialties.com to place your order.

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