From Prison to Palace: How Joseph overturned Egypt’s divine world order (Torah Portion: Miketz)

Have you ever felt like your life has slipped so far off track that surely God has forgotten you? Let me tell you a true story. One morning, thousands of years ago, a slave forgotten in an Egyptian prison is suddenly shaved, dressed and rushed into the throne room of the most powerful man on earth. A man who was called a God. Now standing face to face with a Hebrew prisoner at the bottom of Egypt's social order. This moment, it should have never happened. Egypt's entire culture was built to prevent a man like Joseph from ever rising. Yet God broke every barrier, overturned the social order, and used every painful step of Joseph's journey to to place him exactly where God needed him. Joseph was born for this. And Joseph's story doesn't just reveal God's plan for one man. It reveals your story, Jesus story and a prophecy about the kingdom to come. Today we're diving into the journey that shaped Joseph. The Egypt that enslaved him, the two tests that he needed to pass, and the God who still turns prisons into thrones. Let's begin. We start in Genesis 41:8, where Joseph interprets the dreams of Pharaoh. It says so in the morning, Pharaoh's spirit was troubled and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was none who could interpret them to Pharaoh. Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, I remember my offenses today. When Pharaoh was angry with his servants and put me and the chief baker in custody in the house of the captain of the guard. We dreamed on the same night, he and I, each having a dream with its own interpretation. A young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. And when we told him, he interpreted our dreams and each man according to his dream. And as he interpreted it to us, so it came about. I was restored to my office and the baker hanged. Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they quickly brought him out of the pit. And when he had shaved himself, changed his clothes, he came before Pharaoh first. I want you to notice something that few people notice. Joseph's clothes. It was no small thing for Joseph to appear before Pharaoh. It was highly unusual for a prisoner. This is why they prepared Joseph so thoroughly, shaving him, changing his clothes. This hints to us at the Egyptian culture of the day and just how unusual this meeting would be. See, in ancient Egypt, the class system was highly rigid. We see that you have the king and his vizier at the top. Then you have the members of the court, the priests and scribes, the regional governors. Then the Generals of the military, the government overseers, the artists and the craftspeople, the peasant farmers, the prisoners, the criminals and the slaves. Where Joseph is and this interaction between a slave and the pharaoh is exceptionally unusual because of the vast social chasm that's between them. The pharaoh was considered a divine ruler, in fact a God. While slaves were at the bottom of the social hierarchy. Slaves were seen as unworthy of the presence of of Pharaoh. As Joshua J. Mark writes in world history.org Social mobility was not encouraged nor was it observed for most of Egypt's history as it was thought that the gods had decreed the most perfect social order which was in keeping with the central value of the culture. The meeting between Joseph and Pharaoh actually goes against the decree of the Egyptian gods social order. It stomps upon the Egyptian gods before the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob even has really gotten started with overthrowing Egypt. That would later happen. So Pharaoh, he's desperate for an interpretation. And Joseph would deliver the interpretation correctly. He would prepare Egypt for the famine to come. He would save the known world and be exalted to second in command in Egypt. We see in Genesis 41:41, Pharaoh said to Joseph, see, I have set you over all the land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his hand, put it on Joseph's hand and clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain about his neck. I want you to notice how Joseph's clothing just changed again. The scriptures mention this with purpose. It highlights his change of class status from criminal to commander. I want you to be reminded of how Joseph got here. It was through a very difficult and very confusing life. Joseph as a young man received dreams of his family bowing down to him. He was later betrayed by his brothers and thrown into a well, sold into slavery and bought by Potiphar, falsely accused by Potiphar's wife and thereby thrown into prison where he interpreted the chief baker and cupbearer's dreams. The cupbearer remembering about Joseph's ability to interpret dreams and telling Pharaoh is a critical moment in this story. For if the cupbearer does not mention Joseph's abilities to Pharaoh, Joseph would never be given the opportunity to interpret Pharaoh's dreams. And he'd be forgotten in prison to probably die there. And Joseph's calling to become the second in command ruler in Egypt would never happen. But what's even more important than Joseph interpreting the cupbearer's dream back there is the tribulation that brought Joseph that opportunity. Remember, Joseph interpreted the Dream of the cupbearer in prison. Ironically, going to prison would be the best thing to ever happen to Joseph, arguably. And he was in prison because he was falsely accused. And he was falsely accused because he was a successful servant. And he was a successful servant because, well, he was sold into slavery by his brothers. And he was sold into slavery because his brothers were jealous. And his brothers were jealous because God blessed Joseph. Joseph went through a line of trials in his life, yet God planned every step of Joseph's journey. Joseph was at the right place at the right time every time. It was miraculous. To have this perspective on trials is easier said than done, especially when it comes to our own life. But in the story of Joseph, his trials were truly his blessing. All of God's plans were were difficult and confusing for Joseph in each moment of trial. But they conclude to establish Joseph as second in command in Egypt, a deliverer of the known world from famine, and restore Joseph to his family. It is when life hurts, when it makes no sense, and when we feel betrayed and abandoned by God. That's when we must consider whether God is up to something, whether God is putting things in place for a great future. Exaltation, deliverance and restoration. Just like for Joseph. But that could only happen for Joseph the way it did, because Joseph passed two tests. And I want us to talk about these two tests for a moment because we will all be tested in a similar way in the midst of our trials. When we look at the moment of Joseph's trial, when he was a servant in the house of Potiphar, right, he was a slave. And now he's here in a house of another serving. He's probably quite depressed with his circumstances. And yet it says in Genesis 39:7, after a time his master's wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, lie with me. And in verse nine, Joseph says, how then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? And as she spoke to Joseph day by day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her. In the middle of Joseph's trial, there is a temptation, something to take the edge off of the trial that he is facing, to lie with his master's wife. And he responds, how can I sin against God? He passes the test before God, not falling into sexual immorality, because Joseph knows that, that God sees, even if no one else would find out. See, our test is before God, not before men. It's easy for us to think, well, no one will see, no one will know. I can do this. I can indulge in this temptation and I'll get away with it just maybe just this one time. Men will not be our judge. Men are not from whom we should be hiding. God is going to be our judge and no man can hide their sin from his eyes. And also notice this key. Joseph did not use his trials, which were very great, as an excuse for falling into temptation. It is common for people when they face hardship and great stress to give into sin as their comfort. When life gets hard, people, they start drinking, they turn to drugs, they turn to pornography or commit adultery. As Joseph was tempted, the love of possessions and greed starts captivating their heart as a distraction from their stress. Or they go to gluttony or stress eating or even gossips. My question to you today is, do you have a sinful comfort that you retreat to when life gets hard? We say to ourselves, well I'm going through this hardship, so who cares? Let me indulge in this just this once. And we say to God, God will understand. I'm going through a hard time and that's why I'm partaking in this comfort right now. I need this right now. The problem is that God does understand and Yeshua is saying to you today, come to me, don't go to your sin. He calls you out of the presence of sin into his presence. So don't make excuses. If we walk in habitual sin, we will place our souls in danger. The second test that Joseph needed to pass was the temptation to rebel. Joseph did not rebel against God, nor complained, nor hated God for his circumstances. I mean, Joseph didn't sin and then this came upon him. It just did. We are called to walk as Joseph, to pass our test that when horrible things at times can come across our life even without our own fault being at play, we should trust God. Joseph passed the test and his circumstances changed from being the lowest a prisoner to the greatest a commander in Egypt. And even better, I call you to walk as Christ. For this is what set Christ apart. That even in his darkest moment when he was falsely accused, betrayed, stricken beyond recognition and abandoned by his friends and even disciples, he never sinned, he never made excuses in order to justify sin and he never rebelled against God's plans. He never complained and he Never cursed God. 1 Peter 2, 22 says he committed no sin. Neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. And Yeshua's circumstances changed from lowest being condemned to a cross among murderous criminals to being exalted to the greatest in heaven and earth. In light of this, would you entrust yourself to the Father in heaven who has good plans and justice in store for you, as he did for Joseph and as he did for Yeshua? And what about a trial? That doesn't make sense? Even then, trusting God. Brothers and sisters, we should not be dismayed at Egypt, who is placing us at the bottom of the social order as they did to Joseph in prison or Yeshua on the cross. This is the pattern of God's people from ancient times. There is a prophecy of the kingdom of Israel. In this story, the least will be greatest. We see that following Joseph being exalted as the second in command in Egypt, his descendants and tribes, the 12 tribes of Israel, would soon themselves be again enslaved in Egypt. They would again be at the bottom of the social hierarchy and yet again be delivered to become a nation much larger than Egypt, wherein the promise to Abraham is fulfilled. As God said to Abraham In Genesis 15, look towards heaven and number the stars. If you're able to number them. Then he said to him, so shall your offspring be. Abraham has called to look to heaven because he is being given a heavenly promise, a promise of the kingdom that is coming down to earth. That heaven that he's looking at will one day come down to earth. And he's saying, so shall your offspring be as many as the stars are in the heaven. Because this is an important promise. For Abraham is lowly. Abraham is considered least. Abraham is considered unqualified. For Abraham and Sarah are barren. They cannot have a child. And yet they are promised a kingdom of children. And they would become known later, as the story goes, as Israel, God's people, the followers of the Messiah, whereby God birthed a child of promise. And Yeshua, the Messiah comforts his disciples who are us. In this same way he said, whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. God is the one who exalts. And this reinforces Joseph's prophetic life that just as Joseph was least in this world and God exalted him to be greatest, so we, his spiritual offspring, will be considered least in this world. And God will exalt us to the greatest if we do not exalt ourselves, if we remain meek, if we remain in him from being persecuted, mocked, belittled for our faith, to ruling with the king in his kingdom and dining with him. A kingdom where every ruler of this age and king and Pharaoh will be subjected to to the king who died on a cross and was resurrected from the dead because Egypt could not hold him down. And in the same way, what is today will be turned upside down for you. So your trial may become your triumph in Yeshua. Father, I ask for all who are listening in trial right now that you would come swiftly to them who are in prison and that you would have a messenger call them out of there, that the chains would fall from them and that they would be exalted in their rightful moment in time. That they would not seek to exalt themselves, but in humility submit themselves to their maker. Lord, you are our creator. You. You are our King of Israel. You are seated in your heavenly throne, and you have a plan to bring us to you soon. We thank you that the trials that we face are nothing compared to the glory that is to be revealed to us. Help us to be patient in the midst of trial. Help us, strengthen us. Give us eyes to see with a heavenly mindset and not an earthly one. Help us to see hierarchy not in the way that Egypt sets it forth in this world, but in the way that your kingdom turns that upside down. We praise you. We thank you. We glorify you. In the name of Yeshua, the Messiah. Amen. Thank you for joining me. I want to say a special thank you to our partners who've made this teaching and every other teaching this month possible. If you want to become a partner of this ministry, you can find out [email protected] Many blessings to you and Shalom. Sam.