Delay In The Dungeon
Written by Ryan Simmons
Saturday, 17 August 2002 19:00
Genesis 40: 1-23 (Story of Joseph in the dungeon)
I want to speak to those of you this morning who are victims. I realize when I say "victim" I am including all of us in this. We're victims when we have dungeon experiences in life. Times when we're forgotten, times when we feel abandoned, times when we're mistreated, times when we're hurt, times when we feel like our world is falling apart around us- and we don't have any control over it- that's who I want to speak to this morning. All of us have at one point in our lives been there, and maybe you're there this morning. Maybe you had trouble getting out of bed-you came here thinking, "All I know to do is get up and go to church, because I have nothing else to do." We all go through such times, the question is when. And sometimes it not the "what" as much as it is the "how long." God, how long is this going to last? How long are you going to have me on "hold?" How long must I go through these hard times? Maybe it was the loss of a loved one- financial hardships- the breaking off of a relationship. There are tons represented in this room this morning. I see three basic categories of dungeon experiences, or hard times.
(1) The first one is unfair treatment by others. We have all been untreated at some time. Maybe somebody ripped you off. You loaned them money and they didn't pay you back. People treat us unfairly.
(2) Unexpected restrictions because of circumstances; the loss of a job or loved one, financial hardship, the loss of a relationship, marriage and family problems. Unexpected circumstances cause restrictions in our lives and leave us asking the questions, why? How long? And why me?
(3) Unresolved hurt because of past mistakes. Issues in your past aren't resolved; you haven't forgiven yourself for past mistakes. Maybe you were involved in certain sins and you're having a hard time getting past those and the issue is unresolved in your life.
Whichever category characterizes your situation, I understand that it's not comfortable. It's not easy, and the biggest questions are why? And how long? The key is learning to focus not on the WHAT of the issue but on the WHO of the issue. God puts us in these different circumstances for all kinds of different reasons and to teach us all kinds of different things. God's purpose is to prepare us for something we may not know yet. We're going to look at a person in the first book of the Bible, the book of Genesis, and his name is Joseph.
His story is lengthy; in fact, other than Christ Himself, the Bible doesn't spend any more time on one person than it does on the person of Joseph. There is no recorded sin for Joseph in the Bible, but the reason I love the Bible is because the Bible is a real book with real stories for real people just like you and me. And Joseph is a man who has experienced all three categories I just outlined. Unfair treatment by other people- unexpected restrictions due to circumstances- unresolved hurt. Think about it for a second. Joseph was just a boy- 17 years old, probably. He dreamed a dream and he told his brothers," I dreamed a dream and you are all going to bow down to me." His brothers didn't accept that very well, and they took him away and cast him into a pit. Then they took him out of the pit and sold him to a caravan going by- sold him into slavery in Egypt.
There he was in the house of a man named Potipher, where he stayed until Potipher's wife- Mrs. Potipher- accused Joseph of making the moves on her and Potipher threw him in prison- where he remained indefinitely. He didn't do anything wrong, yet he found himself in the dungeon. Indefinite waiting for an indefinite period of time. Joseph now knows what it's like: he's been treated unfairly. He has unexpected restrictions on his life- he's a slave in Egypt. He had to learn a new language, and a new culture. He was a Hebrew child in Egypt. I hesitate to say he was experiencing unresolved hurt because of past mistakes, because he really didn't sin. But I think he made a bad judgment call by going to his brothers and saying, "One day you're going to bow down to me." I have a younger brother, and I promise you. If he said that to me, I'd pound him.
But you know, it's when we're in those dungeon times, when we are in those hard times of life and we feel abandoned, forgotten, it's those times when God tends to speak to us. He shouts at us.
The easiest thing for us to feel is that we've been checked out by God. Where was God in all this? Here's Joseph, this kid, sold into slavery, and now he's in the dungeon- where was God? Verse 21 of Chapter 39 says, "And the Lord was with Joseph."
Aleksander Solzhenitsyn wrote in his book, "The Gulag Archipelago,"
It was only when I laid there on rotting prison straw that I sensed within myself the first stirrings of good. Gradually it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not through States, nor between political parties, but rather right through the human hearts, right through all human hearts. So bless you, prison, for having been in my life.
Isn't that good? It's like the Psalmist who said, "it was good for me to be afflicted because I learned to trust Him." It's in our afflicted times, our dungeon experiences when God has forgotten us, that He shouts to us and we hear His voice, and He brings us out better, more refined, more useful to him.
Let's look at Genesis 40. It is filled with abandonment, rejection, loss, frustration, confusion, waiting and wondering. I hope you didn't come hear this morning to hear some great stories and exciting adventures, because unfortunately that's not what happens in Genesis 40. And as we unpack the drama of this passage, there are three characters that come to mind.
Joseph is the first one, who we've already talked about. The second one is the chief cup-bearer. (A cupbearer was a very trusted official in the King's court. He tasted the wine and food before it passed to the King. If there was poison, well, so long, cupbearer and long live the King.) There was great trust between the cupbearer and the King.
The third guy was the chief baker. That's kind of self-explanatory- he baked the royal doughnuts and they passed to the belly of the Pharoah. Scripture tells us these two guys offended Pharoah, and he was furious with them. It must have been related to their jobs- it must have had something to do with the food. They were thrown in the same dungeon where Joseph was, and had been, for an indefinite period of time. Joseph had been promoted in the dungeon and was trusted there, and these two guys were probably in his care. He sees them one morning and they looked sad. You've got to love Joseph's attitude here, because Joseph of all people is the one that should be pouting. Sold into slavery, accused of something he didn't do, thrown in prison, he has no idea if he's ever going to get out. He's stuck there. He should be the sad one. But he's not- he actually goes to these two guys, with a right attitude with God, and says, "Why do you look so sad? Tell me about it." I love people like that. They may be going through the worst thing in the world- and they come to you and say,
"Tell me what's going on. Let me help you out."
Joseph does that. Then, he probably had to bite his tongue, because they both said, "Well, we've both had a dream, and there is no one to interpret it." If we were Joseph, we would have been indignant that they were upset compared to our awful circumstances. But Joseph says, "Tell me about it." Which, as you know, is ironic because Joseph has been in the dream business before, and he ended up in the pit. You think he'd say, "Whoa, hold on- I'm done with dreams." But instead he points to God- he doesn't forget who's in charge. "Interpretations belong to God."
The chief cup bearer then tells him his dream. Jesus says, "The three branches are 3 days. In three days, Pharoah will come to you, restore you to your position, and you will put his cup in his hand just as before when you were his chief cupbearer." Then Joseph throws a side note in here. "When all goes well with you, remember me?get me out of prison. For I have done nothing to deserve this?" And Joseph's humanity comes in. One of the easiest things we can do when we feel we have been put on hold is to manipulate, and twist, and work our way out of the situation. We say, "God's in control; I'm trusting God." But at the same time, if somebody comes along who has the ability to help us or get us out of something, we jump on it. There are people who have tried to manipulate their way into promotions, and jobs, anything they can do to promote themselves: it's who you know that's important from the human standpoint, it's what you know, your talents. That's why we write elaborate resumes where we brag on ourselves. There have been times when I've been so discouraged in a job that I sat down and started typing myself out a resume. And I made myself look GOOD. I talked about all the great talents that I have (it's a long list). Then I started sending it out- because I was discouraged. At times like that, I start thinking, who do I know? Who can get me out of this mess? I don't want to be too hard on Joseph here, because it is a common tendency- when we get discouraged we look to man, and trust in man, to pull us out of our mess, instead of waiting on the every God who has us there, waiting and preparing us.
Joseph says, "When you get out remember me. Remember me and all my talents, and get him to give me a big promotion. Remind him I can interpret dreams.
Everywhere, people in the ministry are trying to get out of their situation when they get discouraged. We get discouraged and immediately start trying to get out of it and into a better place. Often we find out- 'it's' not better. We get to a new place, and realize, we should have waited on God. God has the power to do things we don't even realize. He has the power to put us in places that He knows are best for us. No matter how many times I brag on myself, if God doesn't want me there, I'm not going to be there. We like to manipulate our way out of situations, and we like to manipulate our way into situations.
I think Joseph learned something here: watch what happens. The chief baker is listening in on the conversation, poor guy, and he is saying," All right! The cupbearer is getting set free! Let's see what's going to happen with me- share the wealth, buddy!" You've got to love Joseph's integrity, because I know what I would have done. I would have lied to the guy- he wouldn't have known anyway!
When the chief baker saw that Joseph had given a favorable interpretation, he said to Joseph, " I too had a dream. In my dream there were three baskets of bread. In the top basket were baked goods for Pharoah. But the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head." Joseph said, " the three baskets are three days. In three days Pharoah will lift off your head, hang you on a tree, and the birds will eat away your flesh."
(Joseph could have thought, what if this guy does get out of prison? I'm not going to tell him he's going to get the flesh eaten off him. I'm just going to tell him something good, and if he gets out then he'll remember me. Otherwise, if he does get out, he going to tell the King all the bad things I told him- so I'm going to lie to him.)
I think Joseph learned something here. He realized that if he was going to get out, God would do it. So he didn't lie to him. You know the baker loved that.
V. 20: Now the third day was Pharoah's birthday. He gave a feast for all his officials. He lifted up the heads of his chief cupbearer and his chief baker in the presence of all his officials. He restored the chief cupbearer to his position, so that he once again put the cup in Pharoah's hand. But he hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had said from his interpretation. The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph.
Can you imagine the day Joseph woke up and the officials came in and took the cupbearer out, and freed him? Joseph paces back and forth- any minute now he thinks they'll come back for him, and he'll be set free. He doesn't know- he hasn't read Genesis Chapter 40, he has no idea what's going on- so he anticipates his freedom. And he waits, and waits and waits.
Look at Chapter 41. After 2 full years had passed, the Pharoah had a dream. Our tendency is to skip over that and forget that 2 full years passed between the cupbearer's freedom and the dream of Pharoah. What happened during those 2 full years? Nothing, that's what. Every day was a mundane, monotonous grind; time goes by slow enough as it is, much less when you're in prison. He waited through 2 years of the same old thing hoping for the day when the cupbearer remembered him. Why 2 whole years?
Here are four truths that rise to the top from this.
1. Disillusionment is the result of putting confidence in man. We do the same thing- we don't think we need God.
2. Defeat is the result of a negative outlook on circumstances. Joseph looked forward to the day he would be freed, and meanwhile ministered to other people.
3. Dissatisfaction is the result of our efforts to help God. We think we can help God out. We think we're supposed to get that promotion so we do things to help God out; we get eight people to talk to the boss about us. I know God wants me out of this job of ministry because he wants me in a much better church with a bigger job and salary, so I'm going to send out my resume. I'm going to help God out. Then we get there, only to find out it's not where we're supposed to be and we're miserable. It happens all the time: we think we need to help God out.
4. Disappointment is the result of us trying to run ahead of God's plan. When Joseph tried to run ahead of God and tell the cupbearer, "remember me," you know God was disappointed. You or I would have been disappointed- when I want something to happen, I want it to happen now. The Bible doesn't speak about Joseph's disappointment- maybe he wasn't. Maybe he said, "Ok, God, I'll wait on You." It happened after two full years. What happened during that two years- nothing? Wrong. God was preparing Joseph. He was not yet ready for the assignment that he was going to have to handle when he did finally get let out of prison. He wasn't ready! God was taking him through the fire; God was making gold.
I love what F. B. Meyers says:
During those times, we are hidden in the secret of God's Presence from the pride of man. There our vision clears and the silt drops from the current of our lives. Our faith begins to grasp His arm to be the channel for the manifestation of His Power, and thus at last we emerge, to be His hand in exodus.
And that's what happens: for the present time, nothing. For the future, everything! That morning dawned like every other morning. Like the morning Moses saw the burning bush. Just like the morning when David was anointed King. Joseph woke up and they came in and said, "Hey, the King wants you." I would love to be able to celebrate this part of the story but we don't have time.
A.W. Tozer says,
"It is doubtful that God will ever use a man greatly until he has broken him deeply."
God wants to use men and women who have been taken through the fire, put in the dungeon, who have been put on hold, who seem to have been hurt- that's the kind of people God wants to use. The somberness, hurt, abandonment, and disappointment of Genesis 40- all are the backdrop for Genesis 41, which was the promotion of Joseph. But Joseph was not promoted on his own. Joseph was not promoted because he was able to manipulate, because he knew the right people, did the right things, or because of any great talent. Joseph was promoted because when it was time, when God was ready, He pulled him out of there and made him the second highest man in all of Egypt. He was able to deliver Egypt, and all the surrounding lands, from the famine that was to come.
But God had to wound him deeply, break him completely, to use him greatly. That's what God has to do because we're people. If you're being broken, if you're on hold, if you're asking, "God where are you?" I understand. Moses did the same thing; he made a mistake. And God put Moses on the backside of the desert for 40 years after he murdered a guy. Moses thought, I was a prince! Now I'm a shepherd. Then it happened- the burning bush. And God used Moses to bring about the greatest miracle the Israelites had ever seen- He brought them out of Egypt. After 400 years of bondage, He used Moses to bring them out. But He had to break him, wound him. He left him in the dungeon- not forgotten, but being repaired.
1. When we are in the dungeon experiences of our life, we need to trust God without panic. It's when we panic that we run ahead of God.
2. Be faithful to God without complaining. Joseph does this. His humanity came out, but he didn't complain. He named his first-born son Manasseh, which means, forget. Joseph didn't forget what happened to him- but he forgot the sting of what happened to him.
3. Praise God, without pride. Remember, God brings you out of the dungeon, not your great talent, or your ability to manipulate, or your own abilities. Ironically, in this story, God did use the cupbearer. Pharoah had a dream- and then the cupbearer remembered Joseph. Maybe he wasn't ready- he had to get rid of bitterness. Joseph's attitude did stay right when he got out of prison. Remember God gets us out of the dungeon. He releases us from prison. He delivers us from our hardships. If I say I can do it, then I am relying on myself and not God. Trust God without panic- be faithful to God without complaining- praise God without self-pride.
We don't have time to celebrate the promotion of Joseph this morning. But wait faithfully- it will happen. You will celebrate it in your life, because it's going to happen. It could be tomorrow, or 2 years from now, or 10 years from now. Whatever your situation, whatever your dungeon, wait faithfully.
Don't panic