Title: Imitate Joseph!
Today's Word: You tried to harm me, but God changed it for good, so that as it is today, the lives of all people might be saved (Genesis 50:20).
Who am I? The evangelist will give you five hints. Listen carefully to the hints and guess who the biblical characters described by the evangelist are.
First, I am a character in the Old Testament, and it is sometimes compared to the figure of Jesus.
Second, I have a lot of brothers. He is the 11th son out of 12 boys and girls.
Third, his father's name is Jacob and his mother's name is Rachel.
Fourth, I grew up to become the prime minister of Egypt.
Fifth, my nickname is Dreamer.
Who am I? Yes. This is Joseph.
Today, Evangelist is trying to convey the word of God to our friends through Joseph, who says he resembles Jesus. I am not saying that Joseph is something we should imitate because he had the success of becoming prime minister in Egypt, a superpower at the time. Because not only did Joseph become prime minister, but he also lived a wonderful life when he was young, as a slave, in prison, and in situations where he could get revenge. I wonder how the heck did he live so that the preacher praises him with saliva in his mouth like this? Let's get into the word.
First, God is telling us through today's Bible verse, "Imitate Joseph, the man who had a dream and did not lose it."
In Genesis 37, Joseph's brothers call him 'the dreamer'. In other words, Joseph's nickname was 'dreamer'. ‘Dreamer’ was a nickname that Joseph gave to make fun of his brothers because he often had absurd and absurd dreams and offended his brothers. For example, I dreamed that my brothers and Joseph cut grain and set it up in a field where we were harvesting crops, and the brothers' sheaves bowed down to Joseph's sheaves. Or I had a dream in which the sun, the moon, and the 11 stars in the sky bowed down to Joseph's star.
After I had a dream like this, my brothers said to me, “Sheesh, what! Last time we dreamed of bowing down to Joseph, but this time we dreamed that even our parents bowed down to Joseph? Nonsense! That guy is so mean!” But his father Jacob was different. Father hugged Joseph and said, “Our Joseph had a good dream. When Joseph grows up, he is going to be a great person who is respected by many people. Do you want to pray to God to make that dream come true? God is a dream come true.”
Joseph listened to his father and prayed to God every day to help him become a wonderful person who was respected by people like a dream. Even when he was sold into slavery because he was hated by his brothers, or when he was imprisoned under false accusations, he did not become pessimistic about his sad and difficult reality or resent other people. Because it is difficult and difficult now, but I believed that one day God would make my dream come true. Eventually, Joseph became the prime minister of Egypt and ruled the country splendidly. He helped not only Egypt but also people from other countries, becoming a wonderful person that many people respected.
Second, God is telling us through today's Bible verse, "Imitate Joseph, who valued God's things, even if they were small."
Genesis 39 tells the story of Joseph being sold into slavery in the house of Potiphar, the captain of the guards of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. It is recorded that Potiphar saw Jehovah God working with Joseph to make everything go well. So, General Potiphar entrusted Joseph with all the work of his house, and he trusted him.
One day Potiphar's wife seduced Joseph. Joseph could hold Potiphar's wife in a place no one was looking at, but he knew that God was seeing everything about Joseph. And he did not forget the last ten commandments of the Ten Commandments: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house, you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.” So I told Potiphar's wife. "no. My master trusts me and entrusts me with everything, so I can do everything as if it were mine, but the only thing that cannot be mine is you, your wife.” Potiphar's wife was hurt and angry. So, when my husband came, I had no choice but to go to jail for accusing Joseph unfairly.
But Joseph could not break the commandments of God, even though he would go to prison. I could not ignore the living God who was watching but no one was watching. Right now, it seems that he is being unfairly imprisoned in prison, but Joseph, who valued one word of God and acted, had the opportunity to meet the king of Egypt.
God was pleased with Joseph, who acted as if he was standing before God even when there was no one in God's word. So God used Joseph to be greater.
Third, God is saying through today's Bible verse, "Imitate Joseph, a man who understands God's great will and has the faith to forgive."
The people who hated Joseph, tried to kill him, and sold him as a slave were none other than his brothers. If it were other people, I think he would have lived with the heart that he would get revenge someday, even if it was a brother who hated him, tried to kill him, and even sold him as a slave. But Joseph did not.
After several years of severe famine not only in Egypt, but all over the world, people starved to death. Fortunately, Joseph was able to interpret the dream of Pharaoh king of Egypt with the wisdom God gave him, so he knew that after 7 years of plenty, 7 years of famine would come. So, during the seven years of good harvest, I gathered grain one by one. So the Egyptians did not go hungry for seven years of famine. So, people from other neighboring countries had to come to Egypt to buy food.
Naturally, Joseph's father and brothers also came to Egypt to buy food when they ran out of food due to a long famine. Joseph recognized the brothers who had come to buy food at a glance. I was in a high position to get revenge right now, but I called my parents and all my brothers to Egypt and gave them land and grain so that they could live well.
Today's Word Genesis chapter 50 records the circumstances in which his father Jacob died of old age. When my father passed away, my brothers started to get anxious. Until now, they would have been kind to them because their father was still alive, but because their father died, they thought that Joseph might get revenge for what happened. So I went to Joseph and prayed. “Forgive us. We will be your servants.”
But Joseph says: “Do not be afraid. Would you like me to replace God? The brothers tried to harm me, but God changed it for good and saved the lives of millions of people just like today. So, brothers, don't be afraid. I will take care of the brothers and take care of their children.”
Joseph believed that all the unfair, difficult, and sad things that had happened to him were part of God's great plan. So I was able to forgive my brothers. Forgiving someone is not easy. However, it is possible if you have a heart that resembles God's love.
Dear children!
I hope that we too will imitate the image of Joseph whom God loved.