One of those visible heroes we will note is Joseph who achieved his personal sense of destiny and reveals to us how to survive and soar over the circumstances of life.
Our personal sense of destiny is related to the doctrine of Resurrection just as Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph.
Our personal sense of destiny does not end in time because it also continues in the eternal state.
Just like many believers never fulfill their destiny in time, many also will not fulfill their destiny for the eternal state.
They will not receive all of their escrow blessings which were designed for them in eternity past and therefore, those blessings will remain on deposit as a memorial to the justice of God.
God will bring you up from this land to the land which He promised on oath to Abraham [GEN 13:14-15], to Isaac [GEN 26:3] and to Jacob [Gen 35:12]."
For 400 years in every generation the Jews would take their children to the sarcophagus or the stone tomb of Joseph.
A sarcophagus is a stone coffin typically adorned with a sculpture or inscription and associated with ancient civilizations of Egypt, Rome, and Greece.
God will fulfill His word and someday take the Jews out of Egypt and into the promise land and they would bury Joseph's bones there.
Joseph's coffin continued to be a testimony of the faithfulness of God and the certainty of resurrection as the Jews followed it for forty years in the desert.
They taught us that if we live in our personal sense of destiny, we would have to overcome a lot of facts and odds that seem to be against us.
If we are going to live in our personal sense of destiny, we will have to trust in the timing of God.
EXO13:19 And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he [Joseph] had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear or take an oath, saying, "God shall surely take care of you; and you shall carry my bones from here with you."
When Joshua led the second generation of Israel into the Land, they had a testimony recorded in JOS 24:31-32.
JOS 24:31 "And Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who survived Joshua, and had known all the deeds of the Lord which He had done for Israel.
JOS 24:32 Now they buried the bones of Joseph, which the sons of Israel brought up from Egypt, at Shechem, in the piece of ground which Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for one hundred pieces of money; and they became the inheritance of Joseph's sons.
The resurrection was so real and significant to Joseph because when the time of the resurrection would take place, Joseph wanted to be there together as a family as they went up to the Promise Land.
They were not as important to him as that relationship with the born-again members of his family, both earthly or natural or heavenly or spiritual.
Joseph understood that the physical death of the believer is a matter of the sovereign will of God; PSA 68:20 God is to us a God of deliverances; And to God the Lord belong escapes from death.
Joseph knew that although he had control over his life while living, he had no control over the time, the manner, or the place of his death.
Joseph knew that death was a matter of the sovereign will of God as well as the wisdom and integrity of God; PSA 68:20 God is to us a God of deliverances; And to God the Lord belong escapes from death.
This is also why PSA 116:15 says Precious in the sight of the Lord Is the death of His godly ones [His mature believers].
Joseph was not buried until 475 years after his death as a testimony to the faithfulness of God, God's timing and a memorial to the certainty of the doctrine of Resurrection.
Just as the believer has no control over the time, the manner, or the place of his death, so he has no control over the time, the manner, or the place of his Resurrection.
Resurrection is God's victory because it is totally the work of God and it includes every believer.
Just as the grace policy of God has provided everything the believer needs for time, so the grace policy of God has provided everything the believer needs for resurrection and for all eternity.
The only times that he failed was when he became arrogant and he failed to use the faith-rest drill and he went back to human viewpoint.
Joseph learned how to put all injustice in the supreme court of heaven and let the divine timing of God handle all of those injustices.
Joseph's fulfillment of his personal sense of destiny illustrates the importance of understanding the timing of God as a part of a personal sense of destiny.
Sometimes through faith by believing the word of God, sometimes the hard way, through experience.
When his brothers threw Joseph into the pit, the pit was God's timing for Joseph, which, at the time, he failed to recognize.
The pit was a part of God’s timing for Joseph and a part of his personal sense of destiny, which he failed to recognize.
As he sat in the pit, he rejected or ignored the doctrine contained in the dreams (i.e., that he would rule over his family).
There are certain circumstances under which God's plan for our lives cannot be fulfilled, therefore in His perfect timing, and as a part of our personal sense of destiny, God removes us from those circumstances.
We not only have a personal sense of destiny but we also have the perfect timing to reach that destiny one step at a time.
Only God's timing linked with God's word and God's plan can bring us happiness and blessing in this life, even in adversity or disaster.
Joseph was the victim of great injustices but that was a part of God's plan for his personal sense of destiny.
He was thrown into a pit, he was sold into Egypt as a slave, and yet it was all a part of his personal sense of destiny.
- He learned how to grow under adversity and undeserved suffering.
- He learned how to prosper and handle blessing.
From age 17 to age 30, Joseph was a slave, but what he learned in slavery made him realize that circumstances do not bring happiness.
Joseph was totally helpless as a slave, and will continue to be a slave until he is promoted to the second highest office in the land as we will note.
Joseph has already been betrayed by his own brothers and he has been treated and judged unfairly, --- all a part of his personal sense of destiny.
Joseph was totally prosperous while a slave and living in God's personal sense of destiny for his life.
In the personal sense of destiny that God has for your life, passing a test once is not necessarily passing the test.
Next, in GEN 39:7-10, Joseph will meet with a temptation test.
Temptation must be resisted many times as we fulfill our personal sense of destiny.
Waiting for God to provide your right woman is confidence in God's timing.
In the personal sense of destiny that God has for your life, passing a test once is not necessarily passing the test.
In GEN 39:11-18, as a part of God’s plan for his life and in order to fulfill his personal sense of destiny, Joseph will be tested once again, this time he will be met with an injustice test.
Now, the world is filled with acts of injustice; only the grace of God and God's timing is protection against it, as GEN 39:11-18 teaches.
As a part of his personal sense of destiny, God brought Joseph to Egypt.
Prin: People who hate you are always willing to believe any lie about you.
You will never fulfill your personal sense of destiny by defending yourself; that is man's timing, not God's timing.
Joseph is still in God's personal sense of destiny for his life, yet he is put into the pit or a prison for a second time.
God's timing and Joseph's personal sense of destiny requires that Joseph spend more time in a second pit.
This was still a part God's promotion for Joseph, however – in GEN 39 and 40, we are going to see if Joseph is ready or not ready for his promotion.
Who it was that was with Joseph, "the Lord was with him and whatever he did, the Lord made to prosper."
For the second time we see the greatness of Joseph and his greatness is based upon the fact that he is still living in the personal sense of destiny designed for him by God.
God's timing in the circumstances of life must precede God's promotion.
How you handle the pit determines your capacity for promotion.
Joseph has passed the people test of hatred, envy and jealousy from his own family.
Joseph has passed the prosperity test in the palace of Potiphar.
He has passed the temptation test in the seductive advances of Potiphar's wife.
He has passed the injustice test of being imprisoned as an innocent person.
In Gen 40:1-4, we see two men who were actually suspects in trying to assassinate the Pharaoh, not by violence but by poison.
The cupbearer was responsible to protect the king from drinking poison.
The chief-baker was responsible to protect the king from food poisoning.
The normal Egyptian policy was to give each aristocrat his own slave, however, notice that the captain of the body guard assigned Joseph to these two princes as their slave.
The question we should have is why?
You must learn how to handle being mistreated by others.
Potiphar gave these two princes to Joseph, so that he will have to work twice as hard.
Joseph is being demoted from the responsibility of being the royal warden to the slave of two noblemen.
Those who try to make life miserable for others only end up making life miserable for themselves.
Because with this personal sense of destiny comes the elimination of pettiness, arrogance, and the subjectivity that we see in Potiphar.
Potiphar was a great man until he fell into the trap of a bitter vindictive woman, namely Mrs. Potiphar.
Joseph will pass this test as he will go about his job and do his job as unto the Lord and he will do a magnificent job.
Complaining in adversity is blasphemy against the plan of God and His personal sense of destiny for your life.
In Gen 40:5-8, we see God's perfect plan and timing and Joseph's advance in his personal sense of destiny come into the picture.
Joseph has been faithful and competent in functioning as a slave, therefore God now honors his faithfulness in the little things by using dreams, one of the Old Testament methods of teaching doctrine, to promote Joseph.
They felt this way because they could not understand their dreams with regard to their future.
If Joseph had been bitter or cynical he would have been happy that their faces were sad and that these men were miserable.
1PE 4:8 Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.
PRO 10:12 Hatred stirs up strife, But love covers all transgressions.
PRO 17:9 He who covers a transgression seeks love, But he who repeats a matter separates intimate friends.
Those believers who live in their personal sense of destiny know the importance of covering sin or evil when they hurt others for it.
A person who recognizes that God has a personal sense of destiny for their life operates with integrity and virtue even toward those who mistreat them.
The metabolization of doctrine gives the believer class, style, good manners and poise, all results of Spiritual self-esteem and spiritual growth.
If you are ever going to fulfill your personal sense of destiny become, you must learn how to handle being mistreated by others.
Notice: 1. Joseph's concern.....Why are your faces so sad today?
A person who recognizes that God has a personal sense of destiny for their life does not get bitter and blame others for their predicament or so-called dilemma.
- Notice also Joseph's application of doctrine, "Do not interpretations belong to God?"
- Notice Joseph's confidence, "Tell me your dream."
- Then also notice Joseph's class and good manners,..."Tell it to me, please."
Joseph was the victim of great injustices but that was a part of God's plan for his personal sense of destiny.
Joseph's impatience and disregard for his personal sense of destiny then is revealed by the phrase in verse 14, "Mention me to Pharaoh."
He fails, for when he says, "Keep me in mind, and remember me", he was out of sync with God's personal sense of destiny for his life.
Joseph could have been out of the prison in three days had he continued to trust in God, but by depending on the power, influence, and the ability of man, he will be in prison two more years.
Prin: When the believer is out of synchronization with the plan and timing of God, he uses human viewpoint and adopts his own timing.
Second Prin: Neither Pharaoh or any other human being or system of power could get Joseph out of that jail.
When we get around to neglecting doctrine, we stop waiting on the Lord and turn to our own timing.
PSA 118:8-9 "It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man [politicians]. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in aristocrats."
ISA 40:31 Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.
When Joseph uttered these words, "Keep me in mind", he was completely maladjusted with God's personal sense of destiny for his life.
The real concept behind the dream was to get Joseph out of the dungeon in three days which falls under the Doctrine of Numerology.
He will be two more years in that dungeon learning a very valuable lesson which was that before God can promote him and he can fulfill his personal sense of destiny.
His problem was that in a moment of time he reacted by abandoning the doctrinal problem-solving devices that he has used so magnificently up to this time.