Genesis 69
JOSEPH USED STRATEGY (WISDOM)
(Genesis 42:16-38)
Introduction:
Joseph's brothers, who went to Egypt, the only place where they could find grain, were accused of being spies by Joseph and suffered greatly.
In verses 21-22, the brothers repented, saying, “We have sinned.” The older brothers had a sense of shared responsibility. They admitted their mistakes.
To bring Benjamin to Egypt, Joseph holds Simeon hostage and sends the rest of his brothers back. Joseph gave his brothers a lot of grain, and not only provided them with food to eat on the way, but also gave them all the money they had brought without their brothers knowing, and put it in grain sacks. The brothers, unaware of this, were on their way and when they entered an inn to spend the night, they discovered that the money was still in the sack.
The brothers, who were happy to receive the money they sold Joseph for, now fall into deep worry and fear after receiving the money Joseph gave them.
Their final cry, “Why has God done this to us?” Their deep bewilderment is evident in these words. Joseph is now reenacting an incident from 22 years ago.
Leaving one brother, Simeon, in prison in Egypt, and letting the rest of the brothers take the money to their father, is a replay of the incident where he sold himself and took the money to his father. It seems that God is trying to make them reflect on themselves through what happened to Joseph.
When the situation gets to this point, Joseph's brothers begin to mention God. This is the first time God is mentioned in the brothers' conversation.
A terrible fear came over them and they began to tremble in fear. These were people who lived a life like Sunday Christians, who said they believed in God
but actually forgot the existence of God. Until the famine came, until they met Joseph in Egypt and were framed as spies, and until fear came upon them,
they lived forgetting the existence of God.
1. Joseph’s character was honesty and sincerity.
1) Man of prayer (Gen.39:1-2)
2) Man of honesty (Gen.37:1-11)
3) Man of patience (Gen.40:1-20)
Dream of covenant = Patience of hope
4) Man of faith (Gen.41:15, 25)
2. Joseph used great strategy(wisdom). (To save the family)
1) Explain the scripture
The reason Joseph asked to bring Benjamin was more than just a longing to see his brother who has same mother, he may have been concerned that
Benjamin might still be experiencing the same difficulties he had experienced from his older brothers during his childhood.
His father was much older than he used to be, and he must have felt like he was being overlooked among his brothers who were like lions.
However, as the years passed, God touched the hearts of the older brothers and guided them to develop a strong family bond, to the point where
they sacrificed their own sons for their half-brother.
2) Wisdom which fulfill the covenant.
3) Wisdom which save people.
3. Strategy(Wisdom) that in the covenant of God.
1) Strategy (Wisdom) of Abraham. He values the seed of the covenant (Toletot) and lies about his wife as his sister.
2) Wisdom of Isaac.
3) Wisdom of Jacob.
4) Wisdom of Rahab the prostitute.
5) Wisdom of God for our salvation.
(1) Nazareth
(2) Son of carpenter
(3) Disciples
God prevents us from realizing this wisdom through self-centered, success-centered worldly values. God makes it impossible for us to understand
the gospel covenant when we live for our own motives.
4. Strategy (Wisdom) of Jesus for world evangelization.
1) Matthew 10:1-42 He appointed 12 disciples, sent them as apostles, and gave a dispatch message. Selection, not recruitment.
Focus on a small number of people
2) Matthew 9:36-39
v. 36. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
v. 37. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.
v. 38. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.“
* Open their eyes to see the field
3) Luke 9:23-25
v. 23. Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
( Take up your cross not for your ambition)
4) Matthew 4:19 "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."
5) Matthew 10:40 "He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me.“
6) John 14:16-17
v. 16. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever--
7) Matthew 28:16-20
v. 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Conclusion: God’s true wisdom in the covenant
Pray only for the fullness of the Holy Spirit, five powers, and a life completely held in the hands of God.
God who is with us not only guides our lives, but also guides the lives of other members of our church, and changes us to think and live like a man of God
through the word of God. In order to experience God's hand in refining us over a long period of time, we must not hope for a miracle that dramatically
turns our lives around right before our eyes, but we must be able to engrave the words He gives us today in our hearts.