[00:00:02] [SPEAKER_03]: Welcome to Gracious Words.
[00:00:11] [SPEAKER_03]: Gracious Words is taken from the Weekly Women's Bible Study, taught by Cheryl Brodersen at
[00:00:16] [SPEAKER_03]: Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa, California.
[00:00:19] [SPEAKER_01]: We're behold to glory God in the face of Christ.
[00:00:25] [SPEAKER_01]: It shows us who you are.
[00:00:30] [SPEAKER_01]: We're feeling who you are.
[00:00:36] [SPEAKER_03]: Even though Joseph's life was filled with hardships and sorrows, they had a purpose.
[00:00:42] [SPEAKER_03]: On today's program we'll see how God had a plan and used them to preserve Joseph's
[00:00:46] [SPEAKER_03]: family and make them into a nation.
[00:01:13] [SPEAKER_03]: And now here is Part 3 of Cheryl's message titled, The Great Reveal.
[00:01:19] [SPEAKER_04]: Though the father is old, though the death of Jacob would make Judah the instant patriarch
[00:01:27] [SPEAKER_04]: of the family, Judah does not want his father to die.
[00:01:31] [SPEAKER_04]: He wants his father to live.
[00:01:34] [SPEAKER_04]: He is not ambitious for the position of patriarch.
[00:01:39] [SPEAKER_04]: In Genesis 45 there are greater revelations and revelations behind the revelations.
[00:01:47] [SPEAKER_04]: Joseph is revealed to his brothers.
[00:01:50] [SPEAKER_04]: The brother's sin is revealed to their father and the truth about Joseph's life is revealed
[00:01:56] [SPEAKER_04]: to Jacob.
[00:01:57] [SPEAKER_04]: However, behind the surface the greater revelation is of God's great plans, God's great provision,
[00:02:04] [SPEAKER_04]: God's great protection, God's great providence, and God's great promises that he has kept.
[00:02:12] [SPEAKER_04]: Joseph, the first reveal, is Joseph's emotions.
[00:02:18] [SPEAKER_04]: He's unable to restrain himself any longer having heard about his father and I think hearing
[00:02:25] [SPEAKER_04]: about his father's love, how his father has never ever been able to recover from his death,
[00:02:32] [SPEAKER_04]: his disappearance.
[00:02:34] [SPEAKER_04]: Joseph, hearing about the remorse of his brothers, Joseph's sin, his brothers angst and agony
[00:02:43] [SPEAKER_04]: on perhaps looking at Benjamin he cannot hide his emotions.
[00:02:50] [SPEAKER_04]: He must reveal they come out whether he wants it or not.
[00:02:57] [SPEAKER_04]: Joseph then reveals his vulnerability to his brothers.
[00:03:03] [SPEAKER_04]: He sends out or dismisses all his servants, all his protection, the bodyguards are ordered
[00:03:09] [SPEAKER_04]: out of the room and now it is just Joseph among those who betrayed, sold and hated him.
[00:03:17] [SPEAKER_04]: Joseph is vulnerable with his emotions.
[00:03:20] [SPEAKER_04]: He openly and loudly weeps before them.
[00:03:26] [SPEAKER_04]: This is something else I know growing up with my father.
[00:03:29] [SPEAKER_04]: He just never liked to cry and when I cried he would say, Cheryl, I can't understand tears.
[00:03:36] [SPEAKER_04]: I don't know tears.
[00:03:38] [SPEAKER_04]: My father just was so uncomfortable with crying.
[00:03:42] [SPEAKER_04]: My mom would always get excited when my dad cried like, ha ha you do have emotions.
[00:03:47] [SPEAKER_04]: And that's something that we as women do.
[00:03:49] [SPEAKER_04]: We love to see men cry but men don't like to cry but here is Joseph.
[00:03:54] [SPEAKER_04]: He's wailing.
[00:03:55] [SPEAKER_04]: He can't hold it in.
[00:03:58] [SPEAKER_04]: He is open.
[00:04:01] [SPEAKER_04]: Joseph then reveals his identity.
[00:04:04] [SPEAKER_04]: He tells them who he is.
[00:04:06] [SPEAKER_04]: I am Joseph, your brother whom you sold into Egypt.
[00:04:13] [SPEAKER_04]: Verse four, Joseph then reveals to his brothers God's plan but do not therefore be grieved
[00:04:20] [SPEAKER_04]: or angry with yourselves because you sold me here for God sent me before you to preserve
[00:04:27] [SPEAKER_04]: life.
[00:04:28] [SPEAKER_04]: Joseph revealed to his brothers the nature of the famine.
[00:04:31] [SPEAKER_04]: There are still five years that will not allow for plowing or harvesting.
[00:04:36] [SPEAKER_04]: Joseph revealed God's plan and preservation to them.
[00:04:40] [SPEAKER_04]: God sent me to preserve a posterity for you in the earth.
[00:04:48] [SPEAKER_04]: God sent me to save your lives by a great deliverance.
[00:04:51] [SPEAKER_04]: In verse eight, Joseph revealed how God had been working in his life placing him in
[00:04:58] [SPEAKER_04]: the position so that he could save them.
[00:05:00] [SPEAKER_04]: So that it was not you who sent me here but God.
[00:05:04] [SPEAKER_04]: He has made me a father to Pharaoh, Lord of all Egypt, a ruler throughout all the land
[00:05:11] [SPEAKER_04]: of Egypt.
[00:05:13] [SPEAKER_04]: He orders his brothers to reveal all of this to Jacob.
[00:05:19] [SPEAKER_04]: He's sent and go up to my father and say to him thus says your son Joseph, God
[00:05:25] [SPEAKER_04]: has made me Lord of all Egypt come down to me.
[00:05:28] [SPEAKER_04]: Do not tarry.
[00:05:30] [SPEAKER_04]: Joseph revealed the plans that he had for his brothers versus 10 through 11 to dwell in
[00:05:36] [SPEAKER_04]: the land of Goshen, to be near to Joseph, families and livestock that he would provide for
[00:05:42] [SPEAKER_04]: all of them.
[00:05:43] [SPEAKER_04]: Joseph further revealed his forgiveness and affection for them in verses 14 and 15.
[00:05:49] [SPEAKER_04]: He embraced and wept with Benjamin.
[00:05:52] [SPEAKER_04]: He kissed and wept over all his brothers.
[00:05:55] [SPEAKER_04]: He talked with all of his brothers freely.
[00:06:00] [SPEAKER_04]: Then the family origins of Joseph are revealed to Pharaoh.
[00:06:06] [SPEAKER_04]: Pharaoh is told that Joseph has brothers and that they are with Joseph, that they are
[00:06:13] [SPEAKER_04]: starving in Canaan.
[00:06:15] [SPEAKER_04]: So Pharaoh gives instructions to Joseph to bless his family with the provision of
[00:06:20] [SPEAKER_04]: placement in Egypt, provision in Egypt and passage to Egypt by way of carts.
[00:06:28] [SPEAKER_04]: Joseph then reveals his wealth and provision providing his brothers with the carts, the
[00:06:35] [SPEAKER_04]: provisions for the journey, the changes of clothing, one for each brother, five for
[00:06:40] [SPEAKER_04]: Benjamin along with 300 pieces of silver to Benjamin.
[00:06:46] [SPEAKER_04]: And you must remember that clothes were a luxury at that time and in that culture.
[00:06:51] [SPEAKER_04]: I mean, the man had like one tunic, one robe.
[00:06:54] [SPEAKER_04]: That was it.
[00:06:55] [SPEAKER_04]: So getting a change of clothes was great.
[00:06:58] [SPEAKER_04]: They probably needed it too after tearing their clothes over the grief of Benjamin's
[00:07:02] [SPEAKER_04]: arrest.
[00:07:04] [SPEAKER_04]: Then he gives them 10 mel and 10 female donkeys loaded with grain, bread and food.
[00:07:09] [SPEAKER_04]: I find this so ironic because we read in Genesis 43 18 that the brothers were so
[00:07:16] [SPEAKER_04]: afraid that Joseph was going to take their donkeys.
[00:07:21] [SPEAKER_04]: I just find this ironic that he says, I never wanted your donkeys.
[00:07:25] [SPEAKER_04]: In fact, I'll give you 20 donkeys to take home that are loaded down with provisions
[00:07:29] [SPEAKER_04]: for the journey.
[00:07:31] [SPEAKER_04]: Jacob had sought to give the prime minister the best of Canaan.
[00:07:36] [SPEAKER_04]: But now it's revealed the best of Egypt and given to the brothers and to Jacob.
[00:07:48] [SPEAKER_04]: Joseph reveals their fears.
[00:07:51] [SPEAKER_04]: He tells them not to become troubled along the way.
[00:07:54] [SPEAKER_04]: He already knows that this is a possibility.
[00:07:57] [SPEAKER_04]: So he reveals what could possibly happen on the way home.
[00:08:01] [SPEAKER_04]: He's saying, don't second guess what God is up to.
[00:08:03] [SPEAKER_04]: Don't give way to fear, guilt, shame.
[00:08:07] [SPEAKER_04]: Or as Glenda shared with me yesterday, don't blame one another because that would be
[00:08:12] [SPEAKER_04]: so easy to do on the journey.
[00:08:14] [SPEAKER_04]: This is your fault.
[00:08:16] [SPEAKER_04]: Keep on task.
[00:08:19] [SPEAKER_04]: Finally, when the brothers reach Jacob, the true welfare of Joseph and his identity are revealed.
[00:08:33] [SPEAKER_04]: Joseph is still alive.
[00:08:35] [SPEAKER_04]: Joseph is the governor of all the land of Egypt.
[00:08:40] [SPEAKER_04]: Now think about this because obviously Jacob was going to ask at some point, wait a second.
[00:08:48] [SPEAKER_04]: How is it that there was blood on his coat?
[00:08:52] [SPEAKER_04]: You know what's the story?
[00:08:54] [SPEAKER_04]: And these brothers also have to reveal to Jacob the lie, the deception, all of
[00:09:02] [SPEAKER_04]: the lies that they've lived in, but the clearing of their souls.
[00:09:07] [SPEAKER_04]: In 2nd Corinthians 7, Paul talks about godly sorrow which produces repentance is not to be avoided.
[00:09:16] [SPEAKER_04]: He talked about how it brings this clearing in your heart and how it brings this
[00:09:22] [SPEAKER_04]: the eminence or great desire to follow God and not give in to yourself again.
[00:09:33] [SPEAKER_04]: This is what has taken place and what will continue to take place with the brothers.
[00:09:41] [SPEAKER_04]: The one that Jacob had assumed, presumed was dead is alive.
[00:09:48] [SPEAKER_04]: The one that he has been grieving for 20 years is the prime minister of Egypt.
[00:09:56] [SPEAKER_04]: That which Jacob considered the worst, the place of death, the worst thing that had ever happened
[00:10:05] [SPEAKER_04]: to him was instead a place of life and actually the greatest thing that had ever happened to him.
[00:10:15] [SPEAKER_04]: Furthermore, the one that he thought was dead was in actuality the greatest known ruler in the world
[00:10:25] [SPEAKER_04]: and the source of all the grain.
[00:10:30] [SPEAKER_04]: He was the one who had required Benjamin to go to Egypt.
[00:10:36] [SPEAKER_04]: The one that he had feared is actually the one that he is safest with.
[00:10:41] [SPEAKER_04]: The one that he had thought was requiring too much was in actuality the provider,
[00:10:49] [SPEAKER_04]: the preservation and the future of Jacob in Jacob's posterity.
[00:10:54] [SPEAKER_04]: The very one that Jacob was afraid would kill him by keeping Benjamin was the very one
[00:11:01] [SPEAKER_04]: who would preserve Benjamin's life in Jacob's life.
[00:11:06] [SPEAKER_04]: Jacob's reaction is that his heart stood still. It was too good to believe.
[00:11:11] [SPEAKER_04]: He couldn't take it in. I mean, what? What? Wait, no.
[00:11:16] [SPEAKER_04]: Joseph is alive? Joseph, I saw the blood. I saw his coat.
[00:11:22] [SPEAKER_04]: You've been telling me lies for 20 years?
[00:11:26] [SPEAKER_04]: I've been living with grief for 20 years that I didn't need to carry or bear.
[00:11:31] [SPEAKER_04]: I didn't need to carry or bear. He expected bad news, but instead he received the best news of all,
[00:11:39] [SPEAKER_04]: greater news than he could ever imagine exceedingly abundantly above everything
[00:11:47] [SPEAKER_04]: that he could ask of God or even consider. This morning in my devotions, funny enough,
[00:11:53] [SPEAKER_04]: I was in Ephesians chapter three and I read that scripture that we all love.
[00:11:58] [SPEAKER_04]: Ephesians three, 20. Now unto him, God who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we
[00:12:06] [SPEAKER_04]: ask or think. God is the only one who can do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask
[00:12:14] [SPEAKER_04]: or think. But here's something even greater. God does do exceedingly abundantly above all
[00:12:21] [SPEAKER_04]: that we ask or think. Jacob's expectations have been so low. He had only hope for Benjamin's safe return
[00:12:31] [SPEAKER_04]: and enough grain to sustain him and his family through this famine. But God went beyond. He
[00:12:40] [SPEAKER_04]: returned Benjamin safely. He provided the grain, but he went exceedingly abundantly beyond when
[00:12:50] [SPEAKER_04]: he preserved and exalted Joseph and presented him alive. When he kept every promise he made
[00:12:58] [SPEAKER_04]: to Jacob, when he prepared a way for them to go to Egypt, when he abundantly provided for them,
[00:13:07] [SPEAKER_04]: not only for the journey, but a place in Egypt, when he sent blessing, the blessing of Egypt
[00:13:16] [SPEAKER_04]: to them. Jacob was only able to receive this good news when he heard the word that Joseph had said.
[00:13:30] [SPEAKER_04]: When the brothers repeated what Joseph had said, no doubt something in his heart turned. No,
[00:13:36] [SPEAKER_04]: that sounds exactly like something Joseph would say. Oh, those words are just like Joseph's words,
[00:13:44] [SPEAKER_04]: something that had died in Jacob came to life again. He began to hope again. Faith revived,
[00:13:56] [SPEAKER_04]: and then he saw the provision, provision that Joseph had given, provision that those boys,
[00:14:07] [SPEAKER_04]: those 11 boys, those 11 sons of Jacob could never provide. He saw provision that went
[00:14:14] [SPEAKER_04]: exceedingly abundantly above everything. These carts that Joseph had sent back loaded
[00:14:24] [SPEAKER_04]: with the good things of Egypt. For Jacob, the greatest blessing of all was the life of Joseph
[00:14:32] [SPEAKER_04]: and the opportunity to see Joseph again. It is enough. Joseph, my son is still alive.
[00:14:42] [SPEAKER_04]: I will go and see him before I die. Now we started this study talking about do-overs,
[00:14:51] [SPEAKER_04]: and no doubt the brothers of Joseph right about then were wishing they could have a do-over.
[00:14:58] [SPEAKER_04]: No doubt they wished they could have known way back when that Joseph would save them.
[00:15:06] [SPEAKER_04]: No doubt they wish they would not have acted so harshly or cruelly. However, it was through these
[00:15:13] [SPEAKER_04]: things they learned the depth of the evil in their hearts, the need to deny themselves.
[00:15:23] [SPEAKER_04]: They learned how desperately they had wounded their father, and they learned not to trust
[00:15:28] [SPEAKER_04]: themselves. And through this process, they learned to love the things that their father
[00:15:34] [SPEAKER_04]: loved. They learned to love the ones Joseph and Benjamin that their father loved. It was
[00:15:43] [SPEAKER_04]: through this process that the brothers were changed so that they could be provided for,
[00:15:47] [SPEAKER_04]: preserved, protected, prospered participants in the plans of God. They needed this process
[00:15:58] [SPEAKER_04]: because otherwise they couldn't be saved. No doubt Jacob had he known that Joseph was alive,
[00:16:06] [SPEAKER_04]: that God was at work. He might have tried to move to Egypt too soon. No doubt he would not
[00:16:11] [SPEAKER_04]: have grieved or mourned as he had for 20 years. However, the joy of God's work would not
[00:16:21] [SPEAKER_04]: have been so profound. Had he known what God was doing, the appreciation of God's goodness would
[00:16:30] [SPEAKER_04]: not be so profound. He would learn through this process not to trust his own emotions or to
[00:16:36] [SPEAKER_04]: trust circumstances or what things look like but to trust in God. Perhaps had he been aware of all
[00:16:46] [SPEAKER_04]: God was planning, he probably would not have cooperated. He might have said no, I'm going to be with
[00:16:53] [SPEAKER_04]: Joseph. I don't want him out of my sight. Remember how loathe he was to release Benjamin?
[00:17:00] [SPEAKER_04]: He might have tried to preserve and protect Joseph from all the trials, testings and training
[00:17:05] [SPEAKER_04]: that were necessary for Joseph to become the Prime Minister of Egypt.
[00:17:11] [SPEAKER_04]: Joseph needed all of that training. He needed to be a slave in Potiphar's house,
[00:17:15] [SPEAKER_04]: that he might have sympathy for slaves. He needed to be a prisoner in Pharaoh's prison so he would
[00:17:23] [SPEAKER_04]: learn to have sympathy for the accused and the slandered and the impotuned in Egypt. He needed
[00:17:32] [SPEAKER_04]: to learn those administration skills and to become sympathetic. He needed to become someone
[00:17:39] [SPEAKER_04]: who could be entrusted with the welfare of the world. God often hides his plans from us
[00:17:49] [SPEAKER_04]: because the process and journey are essential for our spiritual welfare and for our future.
[00:17:57] [SPEAKER_04]: We need all the lessons we learn in the journey and from the journey. We need the failures,
[00:18:04] [SPEAKER_04]: we need our own folligs, we need the grief, we need the self revelations. If we knew the plans of God,
[00:18:13] [SPEAKER_04]: we might not fully cooperate. We'd like to think, oh if I could go back, I would fully
[00:18:17] [SPEAKER_04]: cooperate. No you wouldn't, you just wouldn't. You would try to avoid the needful and the
[00:18:24] [SPEAKER_04]: expedient. We might try to avoid or amend God's plans so God only reveals in part because he knows
[00:18:35] [SPEAKER_04]: how desperately we need the journey that we might be fully fit, fully receptive, fully ready
[00:18:45] [SPEAKER_04]: to receive the blessing. The great reveal is coming for all of us. I love David's word in
[00:18:53] [SPEAKER_04]: Psalms. I would have fainted lest I believe that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land
[00:18:59] [SPEAKER_04]: of the living. Looking at Jacob's life, Jacob did not have such a hope and so he was fainting
[00:19:06] [SPEAKER_04]: because he did not know that he would see the goodness of the Lord while he was still alive.
[00:19:14] [SPEAKER_04]: The great reveal again is coming for each of us. Maybe you've had a partial reveal
[00:19:22] [SPEAKER_04]: or maybe you've seen God working in some of the circumstances or you've had a promise that you're
[00:19:29] [SPEAKER_04]: holding on to or you've had a hint or you've had a foreshadowing or something when you're
[00:19:36] [SPEAKER_04]: reading the word, this story just leaps out at you because God is saying I have something great
[00:19:44] [SPEAKER_04]: in the future. George Mueller's sad faith is not learned in comfortable places. It's not
[00:19:56] [SPEAKER_04]: learned in fortuitous circumstances. It's not learned when everything is going great
[00:20:03] [SPEAKER_04]: and we're not making any mistakes. In fact, I've just been making this cheesecake that
[00:20:09] [SPEAKER_04]: personally is like amazing but I can't tell you how many bad cheesecakes I have made over
[00:20:15] [SPEAKER_04]: the years until I perfected this gluten-free refined sugar-free cheesecake and now I know
[00:20:22] [SPEAKER_04]: I'm going to be inundated because every time I mention a recipe, there are a lot of you that say
[00:20:27] [SPEAKER_04]: give me, give me, give me. And I caution you against that. But faith is learned through
[00:20:35] [SPEAKER_04]: our failures and through famines. It's not learned in the best of circumstances
[00:20:43] [SPEAKER_04]: and God allows these things to give us the opportunity to exercise faith, to believe
[00:20:51] [SPEAKER_04]: him above the circumstances, to believe his word above what we see, to believe in his plans above
[00:21:00] [SPEAKER_04]: the temporary discomforts that we are feeling now. Perhaps you've seen how many of the things
[00:21:10] [SPEAKER_04]: of your past were necessary to drive you to Jesus. Perhaps you can look back and say, wow,
[00:21:15] [SPEAKER_04]: if it wasn't for that I never would have come to Jesus. If it wasn't for that failure, I wouldn't
[00:21:22] [SPEAKER_04]: trust God like I do now. I would still be trusting in myself. Perhaps you can see just an
[00:21:30] [SPEAKER_04]: inkling of how God has been working in the circumstances in the hard places in your life
[00:21:36] [SPEAKER_04]: to change your heart, to help you to grow spiritually. But let me tell you friends,
[00:21:45] [SPEAKER_04]: as many of those hints that you've had are foreshadowings, there is a greater reveal that
[00:21:50] [SPEAKER_04]: is coming. The greater reveal will come when we stand before Jesus, when we see Jesus,
[00:22:00] [SPEAKER_04]: when we see him on his throne, the one who was betrayed, sold, given over to the Gentiles, crucified.
[00:22:08] [SPEAKER_04]: When we see him sitting at the right hand of the power on high, then we will see how he has
[00:22:16] [SPEAKER_04]: been preparing a place for us and working through all the circumstances of our life
[00:22:23] [SPEAKER_04]: to preserve, to provide and to create his own posterity. My dad used to say, never give up what
[00:22:34] [SPEAKER_04]: you know for what you do not know. He would say, never give up the lessons you've learned in the
[00:22:41] [SPEAKER_04]: light for the darkness you feel around you. He used to sing a song to me when I was a little
[00:22:48] [SPEAKER_04]: girl and he'd sing, farther along we'll know all about it. Farther along we'll understand why.
[00:22:57] [SPEAKER_04]: Cheer up my brother, live in the sunshine. You'll understand it all by and by. The greatest reveal
[00:23:06] [SPEAKER_04]: of all we will never have on earth but a time is coming when we will stand with Jesus, when we
[00:23:15] [SPEAKER_04]: will see him who was crucified, who was presumed dead. We will see him alive and in the greatest
[00:23:23] [SPEAKER_04]: place of power and at that moment that we've seen dimly, we will see him face to face. We will
[00:23:33] [SPEAKER_04]: see so clearly and we will understand all of the means and ways that God has graciously
[00:23:42] [SPEAKER_04]: worked in the past in our lives. We will understand the reason for everything
[00:23:50] [SPEAKER_04]: and we will praise the Lord for both the good, the bad, the beautiful and the ugly in our lives
[00:24:00] [SPEAKER_04]: because God used it all that we might be in the presence of Jesus, that we might be provided for,
[00:24:08] [SPEAKER_04]: that we might be preserved and that we might be part of the great posterity and plans
[00:24:14] [SPEAKER_04]: of our great, great God. There's a great reveal coming but for now have faith in the promises of God.
[00:24:27] [SPEAKER_03]: There are many lessons we can learn from the life of Joseph and his brothers.
[00:24:32] [SPEAKER_03]: We see the character of God, his goodness, his faithfulness, his sovereignty and his desire
[00:24:38] [SPEAKER_03]: for reconciliation and restoration. We also see the power of faith. Joseph trusted God in all his
[00:24:45] [SPEAKER_03]: situations and never turned his back on God. He knew that God ruled his life and was in control.
[00:24:52] [SPEAKER_03]: Joseph trusted God both while he was in the pit and when he was in power.
[00:24:57] [SPEAKER_03]: God still works the same today as God was with Joseph, he is with you in every situation.
[00:25:04] [SPEAKER_03]: We hope you have been blessed by today's Bible study. For more information about the Gracious
[00:25:09] [SPEAKER_03]: Words radio program and the teaching ministry of Cheryl Brodersen, please visit our website
[00:25:13] [SPEAKER_03]: at graciouswords.com. Coming up next time on the Gracious Words program, we'll look at the
[00:25:19] [SPEAKER_03]: life of Pilgrimage as we continue our series, Our Great Creator in the book of Genesis with
[00:25:25] [SPEAKER_03]: Cheryl Brodersen. We do hope you make plans to join us. Again for more information,
[00:25:30] [SPEAKER_03]: please visit our website at graciouswords.com.
[00:25:51] [SPEAKER_03]: This program is sponsored by Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa, California.
Sponsors
