The Christ Church Wednesday Bible Study Group is studying God's providence or divine providence in the lives of David and Joseph and how we can apply His providence in their lives to our lives today.
The providence of God is the governance of God by which He, with wisdom and love, cares for and directs all things in the universe. Divine providence asserts that God is in complete control of all things. He is sovereign over the universe. He is in control of the physical world. He is in control of the affairs of nations. He is in control of human destiny. He is in control of human successes and failures. He protects His people.
The last two weeks we talked about Joseph's integrity. Joseph never used his position as prime minister to his advantage. He respected the authority of Pharoah in all of the dealings with the people of Egypt and his family. As a man, a leader of integrity he was now responsible for the futures or two nations, Egypt, and Israel and we saw God's providence intersected in the lives of Joseph and his father Jacob.
This week we finish our study with the deaths of Jacob and Joseph. However, before his death Joseph again speaks of God's providence in that the evil his brothers did to him was used by God to save them, their families and ensure that the nation of Israel, from which Jesus the Savior of mankind, would continue.
Through this study of God’s providence through the lives of David and Joseph we can thank God that he can use us although we are humans and have weaknesses. He forgives us when we fail, he loves us through all the ups and downs, the good times and the bad, the times we obeyed the times we disobeyed and sinned, but as we learned if we have faith and trust God and His promises, we can be people like David and Joseph people of passion, destiny, forgiveness, and integrity.
For our study we used Great Lives: David: A Man of Passion and Destiny, and Joseph: A Man of Integrity and Forgiveness by Charles R. Swindoll. To study along with us you can purchase the books by clicking the Links here or the images after the notes.
The providence of God or divine providence is the governance of God by which He, with wisdom and love, cares for and directs all things in the universe. Divine providence asserts that God is in complete control of all things. He is sovereign over the universe as a whole, He is in control of the physical world, He is in control of the affairs of nations, He’s in control of human destiny, He’s in control of human successes and failures, He protects His people. Through divine providence God accomplishes His will.
Last week we discussed the fact that Joseph had maintained his integrity through all the difficulties of iife. He had been adored, protected, and pampered by his father up as he grew up in a hostile environment full of angry brothers. Down They threw him into a pit then sold him to slave traders, who carried him off to Egypt, where a high-ranking official named Potiphar purchased him. Up In this man’s household, Joseph was respected and promoted to head steward, given full authority due to the official’s trust. Down Soon he caught the eye of his boss’s lecherous wife. Obedient to his God, and determined to maintain purity, Joseph staunchly resisted her wiles and escaped her advances—only to hear the cries of the woman as she screamed of sexual assault and attempted rape. As a result of her false accusations, he wound up in an Egyptian dungeon. Up But there, once again, he was trusted and respected. Though he did not harm but, in fact, helped others out, Down he remained forgotten for several years. Up for good Then, through God-ordained circumstances, he was lifted out of that place and virtually overnight elevated to the position of prime minister, Pharaoh’s right-hand man. Plus after a separation of more than twenty years from his family in Canaan, Joseph is reunited with his brothers and his father. So, Joseph, as we do throughout life experience Despair. Triumph. Heights. Depths. Dreams.
Then we spent most of the rest of our time talking about Joseph.
Although Jacob and his family were going to Egypt God reminded Jacob that they would come back to the Promised Land and, in fact, he would come back himself.
Genesis 46:1-4 NIV So Israel set out with all that was his, and when he reached Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. And God spoke to Israel in a vision at night and said, “Jacob! Jacob!” “Here I am,” he replied. “I am God, the God of your father,” he said. “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph’s own hand will close your eyes.”
Genesis 48:3-4 NIV Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and there he blessed me and said to me, ‘I am going to make you fruitful and increase your numbers. I will make you a community of peoples, and I will give this land as an everlasting possession to your descendants after you.’
Jacob knew that God has promised Cannan to his family, the Israelites. So, he wanted to be buried thereon land that they had purchased for the family.
Genesis 23:3-4, 17-20 NIV Then Abraham rose from beside his dead wife and spoke to the Hittites. He said, “I am a foreigner and stranger among you. Sell me some property for a burial site here so I can bury my dead.” So Ephron’s field in Machpelah near Mamre—both the field and the cave in it, and all the trees within the borders of the field—was deeded to Abraham as his property in the presence of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of the city. Afterward Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah near Mamre (which is at Hebron) in the land of Canaan. So the field and the cave in it were deeded to Abraham by the Hittites as a burial site.
God brought us to Egypt so we could survive the famine, but I want to be buried in the land of our forefathers, along with Abraham and Isaac and Leah.
Genesis 47:29-31 NIV When the time drew near for Israel to die, he called for his son Joseph and said to him, “If I have found favor in your eyes, put your hand under my thigh and promise that you will show me kindness and faithfulness. Do not bury me in Egypt, but when I rest with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me where they are buried.” “I will do as you say,” he said. “Swear to me,” he said. Then Joseph swore to him, and Israel worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.
Take me back there.
Don’t bury me in Egypt. Swear before God that will not happen.” And Joseph swore to keep this promise to his father.
Genesis 49:29-32 NIV Then he gave them these instructions: “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in Canaan, which Abraham bought along with the field as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite. There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried, and there I buried Leah. The field and the cave in it were bought from the Hittites.”
Because Joseph had been sold when he was about 17 Jacob never had the opportunity to get to know Joseph’s sons who were born after his stint in prison. We do remember that Joseph was Jacob’s favorite son, so he was also partial to Joseph's sons, at least those who were born before Jacob came to Egypt. As he had gotten to know his other grandchildren and because he didn’t have that opportunity he sorts of adopted Joseph’s sons and as was the tradition he wanted to bless them, along with his other sons. We see the blessing of Joseph’s sons in
Genesis 48:10-16 NIV Now Israel’s eyes were failing because of old age, and he could hardly see. So Joseph brought his sons close to him, and his father kissed them and embraced them. Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face again, and now God has allowed me to see your children too.” Then Joseph removed them from Israel’s knees and bowed down with his face to the ground. And Joseph took both of them, Ephraim on his right toward Israel’s left hand and Manasseh on his left toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them close to him. But Israel reached out his right hand and put it on Ephraim’s head, though he was the younger, and crossing his arms, he put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, even though Manasseh was the firstborn. Then he blessed Joseph and said, “May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked faithfully, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day, the Angel who has delivered me from all harm —may he bless these boys. May they be called by my name and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they increase greatly on the earth.”
What does that remind you of Isaac blesses Jacob who was younger than Esau.
Although Ephraim received the birthright, the blessings of Manasseh are also great because of what was promised to all the posterity of Joseph.
Genesis 49:22-26 NIV “Joseph is a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine near a spring, whose branches climb over a wall. With bitterness archers attacked him; they shot at him with hostility. But his bow remained steady, his strong arms stayed limber, because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob, because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel, because of your father’s God, who helps you, because of the Almighty, who blesses you with blessings of the skies above, blessings of the deep springs below, blessings of the breast and womb. Your father’s blessings are greater than the blessings of the ancient mountains, than the bounty of the age-old hills. Let all these rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince among his brothers.
Deuteronomy 33:13-17 NIV About Joseph he said: “May the Lord bless his land with the precious dew from heaven above and with the deep waters that lie below; with the best the sun brings forth and the finest the moon can yield; with the choicest gifts of the ancient mountains and the fruitfulness of the everlasting hills; with the best gifts of the earth and its fullness and the favor of him who dwelt in the burning bush. Let all these rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince among his brothers. In majesty he is like a firstborn bull; his horns are the horns of a wild ox. With them he will gore the nations, even those at the ends of the earth. Such are the ten thousands of Ephraim; such are the thousands of Manasseh.”
Joseph’s two sons would enjoy equal status with Jacob’s first two sons [Reuben and Simeon] and in fact would eventually supersede them. Because of an earlier sinful act, Reuben would lose his birthright to Jacob’s favorite son, Joseph, and thus to Joseph’s sons.”
Jacob before he died called all his sons to his side to tell them what their families futures would be. If you read the history books in the Old Testament you will see that what Jacob said did happen.
Genesis 49:1-2, , NIV Then Jacob called for his sons and said: “Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come. “Assemble and listen, sons of Jacob; listen to your father Israel.
5-7 “Simeon and Levi are brothers— their swords are weapons of violence. Let me not enter their council, let me not join their assembly, for they have killed men in their anger and hamstrung oxen as they pleased. Cursed be their anger, so fierce, and their fury, so cruel! I will scatter them in Jacob and disperse them in Israel.
Although he had not have them appropriately or wisely, he knew his sons well. No doubt the Lord assisted at this touching moment of his life by providing the prophetic insight by this aging father. From the firstborn, Reuben, through the youngest, Benjamin, Jacob blessed not only his sons, but the twelve tribes that would descend from them.
28-33 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them, giving each the blessing appropriate to him. Then he gave them these instructions: “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in Canaan, which Abraham bought along with the field as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite. There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried, and there I buried Leah. The field and the cave in it were bought from the Hittites.” When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, breathed his last and was gathered to his people.
We don’t prepare to die while we’re dying. We must prepare for dying while we’re living and healthy. We must think about it and discuss it together as a family. Death is not something to be feared, shunned, or avoided. It is something to be shared with those family members and friends who have accompanied us through life’s sojourn.
Jacob died in Egypt and Joseph, as he promised, took him back to Cannan for burial.
Because of all that Joseph had done for Egypt Pharaoh and the people so well liked him his father received the kind of treatment that the aristocracy of Egypt received. Pharaoh allows Joseph to leave Egypt to bury his father and he sent an official delegation with the funeral party.
Genesis 50:1-9 NIV Joseph threw himself on his father and wept over him and kissed him. Then Joseph directed the physicians in his service to embalm his father Israel. So the physicians embalmed him, taking a full forty days, for that was the time required for embalming. And the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days. When the days of mourning had passed, Joseph said to Pharaoh’s court, “If I have found favor in your eyes, speak to Pharaoh for me. Tell him, ‘My father made me swear an oath and said, “I am about to die; bury me in the tomb I dug for myself in the land of Canaan.” Now let me go up and bury my father; then I will return.’ ” Pharaoh said, “Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear to do.” So Joseph went up to bury his father. All Pharaoh’s officials accompanied him—the dignitaries of his court and all the dignitaries of Egypt— besides all the members of Joseph’s household and his brothers and those belonging to his father’s household. Only their children and their flocks and herds were left in Goshen. Chariots and horsemen also went up with him. It was a very large company.
Despite the prominence of Joseph in the government of Egypt, the family would never consider its inheritance to be in Egypt. The legitimacy of their claim to Canaan lay with the divine gift of the land to Abraham, the first forefather of Israel.
The return of the funeral cortege from Egypt for Jacob’s burial there renewed the family's claim to the cave, and also to the land. It was a pledge that they would one day return to occupy what had in fact been bestowed on Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah. Leah too was buried there (but not Rachel), and Jacob would take his place in the family mausoleum, as one of the three great names for ever associated with God’s promise of the land: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
So, they bury Joseph with great pomp and circumstance, and they go back to Egypt.
Then the 10 brothers' consciousness starts to bother them again about what they did to Joseph years before. Despite Joseph’s forgiveness they still could not or would not accept his forgiveness and grace.
Everything they had said and done so many years ago came rushing back into their minds. Fear also returned as their imagination took charge. Had Joseph been kind to them only for their father’s sake? Was that the reason he had not yet taken his revenge upon them?
There was no doubt in their minds that the death of their father could mean the sudden removal of a restraining influence on their brother. If Jacob was there, the felt safe, or at least safer. With him gone, who knew what might happen? Once again guilt did a number on them, and it broke Joseph’s heart.
Genesis 50:15-18 NIV When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?” So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father left these instructions before he died: ‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.” When their message came to him, Joseph wept. His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said.
He had to remind them again that everything that happened was God’s plan.
Genesis 50:19-21 NIV But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.
Joseph knew that God had promised that his people his family would return to the land He promised Abraham and as a part of that family his body should be there too. He made them promise to take his bones back when God returned them. He remembered
Genesis 15:13-14 NIV Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions.
Genesis 50:24-26 NIV Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” And Joseph made the Israelites swear an oath and said, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up from this place.” So Joseph died at the age of a hundred and ten. And after they embalmed him, he was placed in a coffin in Egypt.
Exodus 13:19 NIV Moses took the bones of Joseph with him because Joseph had made the Israelites swear an oath. He had said, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up with you from this place.”
Joseph was led by grace. He spoke by grace. He forgave by grace. He forgot by grace. He loved by grace. He remembered it by grace. Because of grace, when his brothers bowed before him in fear, he could say, “Get on your feet! God meant it all for good.”
Completion of Joseph’s Life
Right up until the time that Joseph dies, we never see any complaining, no whining, no regrets. And to the very end, he was thinking of others. Rather than calling attention to all that he had achieved—which was enormous—he reminded them of what God had promised
Genesis 50:19-21 NIV But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.
Then, at the rich old age of 110 years, he dies, leaving rich memories of a life of pristine integrity and grace-filled forgiveness.
So, after all these weeks what things have, we learned from Joseph’s life? We talked about integrity, forgiveness, guilt, faith, and grace. But there are three lessons that flow through all of this.
First, God sovereignly works all things for His glory and for our good. Realizing we operate our lives under the Father's providential care works wonders when the bottom drops out again and again. Joseph was hated by his brothers; he was sold and enslaved. He was falsely accused and put in prison. He was forgotten after encouraging a fellow prisoner, he was separated from his family, yet he never lost his trust in and acknowledgement of God.
He understood
Romans 8:28 NIV And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
What was God’s purpose for Joseph?
Genesis 45:4-7 NIV Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
Genesis 50:19-21 NIV But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.
Second, Joseph lived his life free of bitterness despite everything that happened to him, despite every hard knock that came his way.
A bitter person is someone who is angry and unhappy because they cannot forget bad things that happened in the past. Bitterness is a mix of sadness and resentment. People who are bitter often suffer from bad moods, get irritated easily, and find it difficult to enjoy life. They may also hold grudges, complain a lot, and be jealous of others.
Bitterness can be rooted in unfair, disappointing, or painful experiences. While most people are able to feel those emotions and then leave them behind, those who become bitter hold on, refusing to forgive the offenses (real or imagined) and miring themselves in misery.
Bitterness can impact work and personal relationships. Adopting a new approach to life—taking action—can reduce bitterness and increase one's hope for the future.
According to the Bible, the key to fighting bitterness is forgiveness. When you forgive, you let the other person off the hook for their wrongs. You can hand your hurt over to God, who will handle it with perfect justice. Then you can step into freedom instead of being held in the bondage of bitterness.
Ephesians 4:31-32 NIV Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
“The cure for bitterness is not found in getting even, but by giving grace.”] Instead of punishing them for their evil deeds, Joseph extended grace upon grace. He didn't want them to feel guilty for sending him to Egypt, but instead assured them it was God's plan.
Bitterness is like a slow poison, one negative thought leads to another, and soon we’re tossing and turning at night, replaying hurtful interactions and making a new plan to get even.
The bible says get rid of bitterness before it takes root.
How do we get rid of bitterness? Forgiveness
Hebrews 12:15 NIV See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.
Third, as Joseph faced death, he was right with both man and God.
He had long ago made peace with his brothers, and since it was a peace founded on the mercy of God, it still held. We have the assurance that we are right with God and have the peace of God.
Proverbs 3:3-4 NIV Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man.
Romans 3:21-24 NIV But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
Romans 5:1-5 NIV Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
The key that unlocks the door to being right with man and with God is Jesus. Because Jesus took the punishment for us by His death on our behalf we are right with God and if we are right with God the Holy Spirits influence on and in our lives will make us right with men.
1 Peter 1:7-9 NIV These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
In our study of David, we learned hope, in spite of his humanity. We learn courage, even in the midst of his own fear. We learn encouragement and praise in the songs that grew out of his hours of despair. We learn forgiveness in his dark moments of sin. And we learn the value of serving the purpose of God even though all our dreams may not be fulfilled.
Through this study of God’s providence through the lives of David and Joseph we can thank God that he can use us although we are humans and have weaknesses. He forgives us when we fail, he loves us through all the ups and downs, the good times and the bad, the times we obeyed the times we disobeyed and sinned, but as we learned if we have faith and trust God and His promises, we can be people like David and Joseph people of passion, destiny, forgiveness, and integrity.
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