October 31 Sermon: God Remembers His Holy Covenant
Consider these questions as you listen to this week’s message from Luke 1:57-80:
1. How does the story of Elizabeth and Zechariah's child being born reflect the mercy and grace of God in the face of seemingly impossible circumstances?
2. What does Zechariah's proclamation of God's mercy and covenant-keeping nature teach us about our own relationship with God and our response to His grace?
3. In what ways does the story of John the Baptist and the promises made to him by Zechariah connect with the broader themes of salvation, redemption, and God's faithfulness throughout history?
Transcript:
We often see people who make waves and from our perspective it seems as though their rise is quick and out of nowhere. As a baseball fan I usually think about the player who makes it to the major leagues and you’ve never heard their name before in your life and suddenly they are getting on base and knocking in runs at the most opportune time for your favorite team. Suddenly this person whose name you might not even have been able to pronounce three weeks ago is the talk of the team’s fandom. It seems as though its about luck or just pure God given talent from our perspective but the truth is this person’s rise to being famous had a lot to do with paying their dues and putting in the work. We don’t know much about their years in the minor leagues and how long it took for them to get promoted to the next level. We don’t know the hours they spent in the batting cages struggling to get that hitch out of their swing that was causing them to do nothing but pop balls up or drive them into the ground. We don’t see the time they spent in the off-season staying in shaping and hitting off of a tee in the makeshift batting cage they set up in their back yard. From our viewpoint it’s been easy but from theirs the road has often been tough and they have felt as though they would never make it and may have even considering giving up.
You have to wonder what people thought of this young Hebrew Joseph who had a rapid ascent to a position of power in Egypt. Imagine being in the court of Pharaoh and one day a 30 year old guy comes in and is able to interpret a dream and suddenly he is the second most powerful guy in the kingdom. You’d likely have feelings of envy and the comments you would make about him to your spouse when you home at night probably wouldn’t be too nice. Here’s this guy who suddenly is telling you what to do and he hasn’t earned this at all. He’s just been able to tell Pharaoh what his dreams mean.
Well, just like my example of a baseball player who put in the time and paid his dues we know from following the story of Joseph that his ascent has been anything but rapid. He has spent the last 13 years in slavery and prison. He was thrown in a pit by his brothers and sold to some Ishmaelites. His boss’s wife tried to seduce him and when he refused she made up a story about his attempting to take advantage of her and Joseph ended up in the pit of the prison. Even after interpreting the dreams of the baker and cupbearer of Pharaoh’s court he is forgotten for two more years until God sovereignly gives Pharaoh dreams to prepare the kingdom of Egypt for a famine.
Yep, the rise of Joseph to be number two in Egypt was not a meteoric rise to power. It was a slow burn that is the definition of paying dues and going to the school of hard knocks. And as we come to our passage for this week we are seeing how he is rewarded with this position and is used by God to prepare for the famine and rescue the people of God.
And so, before we jump into our passage for today let’s break it down into our points for this week.
First, we find that Pharaoh recognizes that God is at work in Joseph. This is an interesting thing to consider when we think about the fact that this is a pagan king who was considered to be a deity himself. The majesty and power of the God who created heaven and earth is apparent even to those who are in rebellion against him.
Secondly, we see that Joseph steps into the position given him by Pharaoh. While the journey has been a long one we know that Joseph has trusted in the Lord and understands that he has been put into this position for a purpose.
Finally, we see that what God has revealed to Pharaoh in the dream comes to pass and we see that God is using Joseph to provide food not only for the people of Egypt but the wisdom he has blessed Joseph with allows not only the Egyptians to have food in the time of famine but other people groups are blessed by what God has done through Joseph.
And, so we continue through the story of Joseph as we move to our first point today and look at verses 37-45.
Genesis 41:37–45
ESV
This proposal pleased Pharaoh and all his servants. And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, in whom is the Spirit of God?” Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discerning and wise as you are. You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command. Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you.” And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.” Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand, and clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain about his neck. And he made him ride in his second chariot. And they called out before him, “Bow the knee!” Thus he set him over all the land of Egypt. Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no one shall lift up hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.” And Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphenath-paneah. And he gave him in marriage Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On. So Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.
And we see the conversation continuing from where we left off last week. Joseph has proposed that during the coming seven years of plenty they store away food for a rainy day, or more accurately, a not so rainy period of seven years where there will be a famine. Pharaoh is a fan of the plan and this is where we see that even though Pharaoh is a pagan king who is viewed as a deity himself, he sees that almighty God is involved in the life of Joseph. It is so apparent that he does not question his Hebrew ancestry or the fact that he was a slave or that he has spent a significant time in prison. The ability that God has given to Joseph to interpret the dream of Pharaoh wipes out all those strikes against him and he knows that if he goes searching for a wise man to enact this plan he isn’t going to find anyone who has the blessing of God upon him like Joseph.
And this acknowledgement of God’s Spirit upon him leads to a very lucrative promotion. It’s one of the most substantial promotions in history, I would guess and again, it is all from a pagan king who is worshiped himself. Inherently, he knows the truth doesn’t he. He knows he isn’t what he is worshiped to be. It draws us to Romans 1, doesn’t it. That God is known, there really are no atheists.
Romans 1:19–20
ESV
For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
Even Pharaoh, who is worshiped as a god, knows the plain truth of who God is. As the famous statement goes there are two things that we inherently know about God. He exists, and I’m not him. But, this acknowledgment does not mean that Pharaoh has bent the knee to God and trusted in him. It means that he sees the general truth of who he is and he sees the benefit of having Joseph, a servant of God as an ally.
Genesis 41:37–45
ESV
This proposal pleased Pharaoh and all his servants. And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, in whom is the Spirit of God?” Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discerning and wise as you are. You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command. Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you.” And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.” Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand, and clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain about his neck. And he made him ride in his second chariot. And they called out before him, “Bow the knee!” Thus he set him over all the land of Egypt. Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no one shall lift up hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.” And Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphenath-paneah. And he gave him in marriage Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On. So Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.
That’s what leads to this astounding promotion and check out the details here. He hasn’t gone from unloading trucks at the warehouse to middle management in human resources. He has gone straight to the top and the reason is the fact that God clearly has shown him the interpretation of the dreams.
And Pharaoh says that he is over his house and everyone has to order themselves based upon what he tells them to do. The only thing that Joseph isn’t over is Pharaoh himself and even then, it is only in regards to the throne. In other words, Pharaoh is the buck stops here guy, but due to the wisdom Joseph has from God, he is going to give Joseph the power to determine what is done in the land of Egypt.
And we see that Pharaoh makes it official by giving him his ring and clothing him in royal garments and putting a gold chain on him. He is installed to this high position and he is receives a wife from the priest of On. This priest would have been in a city that was the primary place of worship to the sun god Ra. This would be the primary priest and his daughter given to Joseph in marriage shows how highly they viewed his position but this does not mean that Joseph is worshiping Ra. Instead, it shows that even those who worship falsely are in subjection to the servant of the most high God. Joseph continues to be faithful to the God who has been faithful to him.
And we move on to our second point where we will see Joseph in his position acting upon the wisdom that God has blessed him with.
Genesis 41:46–52
ESV
Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went through all the land of Egypt. During the seven plentiful years the earth produced abundantly, and he gathered up all the food of these seven years, which occurred in the land of Egypt, and put the food in the cities. He put in every city the food from the fields around it. And Joseph stored up grain in great abundance, like the sand of the sea, until he ceased to measure it, for it could not be measured. Before the year of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph. Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, bore them to him. Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh. “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s house.” The name of the second he called Ephraim, “For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”
And as Joseph steps into this position we should expect him to have the success that we have found to be with him at every step of his journey. From the pit that his brothers threw him into and as he was sold into slavery and in the depths of the pit of the prison, the hand of the Lord was upon him and was guiding his steps and so he found success.
And as we move into this section of the passage we see that reminder that Moses gives us on several occasions about the passing of time. Joseph is 30 years old. He has been in slavery and in prison for 13 long years. While it was an amazing ascent to this position of power it was not quick and it was not easy but now we see that the faithfulness of Joseph to stay faithful to God and to put in the work wherever he has been placed is paying off.
We are told that Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went through all the land of Egypt. We get the idea here that Joseph is not simply telling Pharaoh good advice on how to prepare for the famine. He isn’t just called upon when needed. He is more than a royal advisor. Even away from the presence of Pharaoh he has authority and people do what he says, even to the point of doing what he says when it isn’t tangible. Remember, they are putting away a lot of grain during the years of abundance. This would be when people would normally relish in their good fortune and loosen their belts, not tighten them, right? I’m sure they were told the reasons this was happening but seven years is a long time and there is no way they can know that Joseph is right. But Joseph has the authority and his plan is enacted. Notice that this food is put up in all the cities and the grain is stored up in great abundance. And Moses helps us to understand the level of the abundance because what is stored up is like the sand of the sea. I think of that phrase anytime I’m on a substantial beach. You can’t even hope to count what you pick up in your hands to count what you see is unthinkable to count what you can’t see beneath the surface of the water is even more staggering. The image presented to us here is that this is more than a lot of grain that has been stored. It is an unfathomable amount of grain.
And we find the story of God’s faithfulness to Joseph continuing as we move closer to the famine. He is blessed with children. Remember the blessing that this was considered to be in their culture. The family is expanding and it is continuing. The years of plenty are not just for the grain but God blesses Joseph with two children as well and we see that Joseph understand the role that God has made him play and that all his blessings come from him in what he names the two sons.
The first is Manasseh and he gives him this name because God has made him forget the hardships that he has endured and even helped him to forget his father’s house. Remember, he was the favorite and he was treated as a prince when he was given the robe of many colors. But now he is in a far greater role and the inheritance of his father Jacob feels small compared to what God has blessed him with now.
And the second he names Ephraim and he says that he has been made fruitful in the land of his affliction. Once again, Joseph understands who it is that has his hand upon him. He has not done this on his own, it has been the Lord who has blessed him and has given him all that he has. It was a land of affliction but God has turned it into a blessing.
And as we move on to the final section of verses in our passage for today we see that what God has revealed the pagan king Pharaoh fully comes to pass. The years of plenty were not a permanent increase and things did not work their way back to being normal years. Instead, the famine foretold in the dream comes, just the dreams of the cows and the grain foretold.
Genesis 41:53–57
ESV
The seven years of plenty that occurred in the land of Egypt came to an end, and the seven years of famine began to come, as Joseph had said. There was famine in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph. What he says to you, do.” So when the famine had spread over all the land, Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. Moreover, all the earth came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the famine was severe over all the earth.
And as Moses announces what is happening in the sovereign plan of almighty God we find that this is not just a famine that ends at the borders of the lands of Egypt. There was a famine in all the lands. And we read that something is different in Egypt though. In all of Egypt there is bread. Once again, we see that the authority given to Joseph by Pharaoh in all the land makes a difference. The grain as abundant as sand on the seashore in all the cities allows there to be bread while the rest of this region of the world is desiring a morsel.
It is important that we stop before we look at the generosity of Joseph that we remember the story that is being told through Genesis. God created the world by his amazing power and created man but we fell into sin and deserved to be punished in his wrath for our rebellion but God, in his mercy, immediately made a promise that one would come who would crush the head of the serpent and he covered the sin and shame of our first parents with clothes of skin. Blood was shed to cover their nakedness and from that point we follow the blood line of this one who will come to save us from the punishment we deserve for our sin. While we have this story about Joseph now we need to remember that this is the ultimate story. Joseph is fun to look at and the story is great. He is also in many ways a type of Christ for us to look at but the ultimate plot here is that God is sovereignly at work to save his people and to preserve that line to the Messiah. We will address that more in the coming weeks as we continue in the story of Joseph but we can’t really understand the rise of Joseph if we don’t understand how God is preserving the family of Jacob to continue to keep his from to bring the seed of the woman who is the child of the promise. The offspring of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the one who will eventually come through the line of Joseph’s brother Judah must be preserved.
While it is great that Joseph is at the top of the pyramid in Egypt, forgive the bad joke there, the story isn’t about the fact that Egypt is being preserved. The story is beyond the bounds of Egypt. It is beyond the control of Pharaoh. The story in Genesis is about the chosen people of God.
And so, in a way, we are brought back into that story a little as we close up. The famine is all over the place. The storehouses are opened and food is sold to Egyptians but we find out that the abundance of grain was so great that all the earth is able to come and receive the blessing of God’s revelation of the famine through the dreams of Pharaoh and the insight given to Joseph.
And as we think about the path of the story that we have seen it has been interesting the way that we have had the story of the generations of Jacob told to us. We zoomed in on Joseph and he was sold into slavery. We then had a story focused on the iniquity of Judah and then we flashed back over to Joseph and saw his righteousness in resisting the advances of Potiphar’s wife. We went into the pit of the prison with him and now have seen his rise but, as I mentioned, the story is about more than just Joseph and it’s more than about Egypt. And while we zoom out to see how the blessing of God on Joseph has benefited the whole world we are going to zoom back in to Joseph’s brothers next week and we will see how God’s unfolding plan is protecting his people and preserving the line to the messiah who will come and crush the head of the serpent. That is why what is foretold in the dreams of Pharaoh comes to pass. It is because God is faithful and he is going to do his good will that he might be glorified in saving a people for himself.
And so with the whole picture in mind we move on to finding an application for this passage that we can take into the world this week. The past several weeks we have seen an emphasis in trusting in God’s sovereignty and to wait on the Lord. Here in the story of Joseph we see this come to pass and it has benefits not only for Joseph but for people all over the world.
And as we see that process that occurred in Joseph’s life I want to bring out application that I saw this week in the expository commentary on Genesis by James Montgomery Boice. He went to the names of the sons of Joseph to show what had happened in his life. Manasseh’s name means forgetting and Ephraim’s name means doubly blessed. This calls back for us the idea of pressing on to what we have been called to. The apostle Paul tells us to forget what is behind and press on toward the goal. Because we are in Christ we can forget the pain of the past. We were in the pit in our sin and unbelief but through Jesus we have the hope of eternal life, the forgiveness of sins, and he has done it all for us. And so, even though at times we struggle with forward motion we do not need to dwell on what is in our past. And then we consider the name of Joseph’s other son, Ephraim which means doubly blessed. In Jesus, we are doubly blessed. We have abundance beyond what is found in the sands on the seashore. He has saved us and we have the sure and certain promise of eternal life because of what he has done to forgive our sins and make us a people for his own possession.
May we step into the world this week and forget what is behind and relish in the truth that in Christ we are doubly blessed and may this cause us to love and serve our neighbor in gratitude that God might receive all the glory, just as he did in the life of Joseph. Amen.
