Problem-Solving Device Number Six: A Personal Sense of Destiny.
One of those visible heroes we are noting 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 resurrection just as Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph all believed in the doctrine of Resurrection.
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, 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 Abram known to us as Abraham [GEN 12:10-13:16].
God also promised to Isaac that He would bring Isaac up from this land to the land which He promised on oath to Abraham [GEN 26:1-6].
Next to Jacob look at GEN 35:9 Then God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Paddan‑aram, and He blessed him.
GEN 35:10 And God said to him, "Your name is Jacob; You shall no longer be called Jacob, But Israel shall be your name." Thus He called him Israel, meaning a prince with God.
GEN 35:11 God also said to him, "I am God Almighty; Be fruitful and multiply; A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, And kings shall come forth from you.
GEN 35:12 "And the land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give it to you, And I will give the land to your descendants after you."
GEN 35:9 Then God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Paddan‑aram, and He blessed him.
GEN 35:10 And God said to him, "Your name is Jacob; You shall no longer be called Jacob, But Israel shall be your name." Thus He called him Israel.
GEN 35:11 God also said to him, "I am God Almighty; Be fruitful and multiply; A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, And kings shall come forth from you.
GEN 35:12 "And the land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give it to you, And I will give the land to your descendants after you."
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are all mentioned in the first three passages of the Dispensation of Promise which is one of the very first dispensations found in the Word of God.
Joseph's coffin would remain unburied for 400 years as a testimony to the faithfulness of God.
He believed that God would fulfill His word and bring His people back to the promise land.
HEB 11:22 With reference to a conviction derived from doctrine in his soul, Joseph, in the process of dying, had in mind and remembered that which concerned the future of the sons of Israel
and Joseph gave instruction concerning his bones (his embalmed corpse) [that it be removed from Egypt with the exodus].
A sarcophagus is a stone coffin typically adorned with a sculpture or inscription and associated with ancient civilizations of Egypt, Rome, and Greece.
God would 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 over forty years in the desert.
What was the one major lesson that Abraham and Sarah taught us about the fulfillment of a personal sense of destiny?
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.
Years later, in fact, 400 years later, when Moses left Egypt, he took the bones of Joseph with him.
EXO 13:18 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."
Two million people were marching out of Egypt and one of the many millions of things that they carried were the bones of Joseph.
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.
Because his father Jacob was buried there.
His mother Rachel was buried there.
His grandfather Isaac was buried there.
His great-grandfather Abraham was buried there.
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.
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.
PSA 116:15 Precious in the sight of the Lord Is the death of His godly ones.
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 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.
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 time 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.
The same way we learn things, 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.
As Joseph sat in the pit, he rejected or ignored the doctrine contained in the dreams (i.e., that he would rule over his family).
Joseph had the opportunity to use many problem-solving devices and prepare for future greatness; e.g., personal love for God, the faith-rest drill, doctrinal orientation.
God removes us from those circumstances, and it is always very difficult at first (e.g., Joseph in the pit).
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 joy and blessing in this life, even in adversity or disaster.
ROM 8:28 And we know that to those who love God, He causes all things to work together for good to those who are called according to His purpose.
Joseph cherished his love for God even though he was the victim of great injustices because that was a part of God's plan for Joseph’s personal sense of destiny.
The point is that God is the one who put him there.
God is the one who planned for him to be kidnapped.
Joseph 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.
- 1. He learned how to grow under adversity and undeserved suffering.
REV 3:17 'Because you say, "I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing," and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.
- 2. 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 make or bring happiness, only God can do that.
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.
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.
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.
The world is filled with acts of injustice and 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 be a victim of the lies of others, but you are not to defend yourself.
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.
Joseph is still living in the personal sense of destiny designed for him by God along with Joseph’s strength of relying on the faithfulness of God.
Prin: 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.
Joseph has passed the temptation test in the seductive advances of Potiphar's wife.
Joseph 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 bodyguard assigned Joseph to these two princes as their slave.
You must learn how to handle being mistreated by others.
Prin: Potiphar gave these two princes Joseph so that Joseph will have to work twice as hard.
Prin: 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.
This is the stage of reversionism which we call operation boomerang under the principle of what goes around, comes around; GAL 6:8.
GAL 6:8 For the one who sows to his own flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit shall from the Spirit reap eternal life.
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.
Jam 3:14 "But if you have bitter jealousy and strife in your right lobe, do not be arrogant and do not lie against the truth."
JOB 7:11 "Therefore, I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the stress of my mind, I will complain in the bitterness of my soul."
HEB 12:15 “See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God and that no root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by it many are polluted."
The contamination occurs when you either believe the garbage coming from the bitter soul or react to the bitterness of another person.
You are defiled or polluted when you react to the bitterness in your own soul or the bitterness expressed by someone else.
The more things in life to which we react, the more things in life that cause us to react.
The more things that cause us to react, the greater our vulnerability to reaction.
You can actually react your way into a psychotic or neurotic believer.
Prin-Impersonal love is the problem-solving device to deal with bitterness and anger in others.
Bitterness is self-induced misery, as well as chain sinning.
ISA 38:17 "Behold, bitterness became deliverance to me. In Your love You have delivered my soul out of the pit of destruction; for You have cast all my sins behind my back."
"My husband Potiphar brought in a Hebrew to us to make sport of us and he came in to me to lie with me, and I screamed.”
"The Hebrew slave, whom you brought to us, came in to me to make sport of me and I raised my voice and screamed so that he left his garment beside me and fled outside.”
Joseph will pass this test as he will go about his job and do it as unto the Lord and do a magnificent job.
He will do double-duty as a slave and do it without grumbling or disputing.
Grumbling or disputing in adversity is blasphemy against the plan of God and His personal sense of destiny for your life; PHI 2:14.
PHI 2:14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing;
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.
God now honors his faithfulness in the little things by using dreams, one of the O.T. 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.
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.
If you are ever going to fulfill your personal sense of destiny become, you must learn how to handle being mistreated by others.
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.
With this personal sense of destiny comes the elimination of pettiness, arrogance, and the subjectivity that we see in Potiphar.
How to make Joseph miserable.
Joseph will pass this test; he will go about his job and do as unto the Lord and do a magnificent job.
God now honors his faithfulness in the little things by using dreams, one of the Old Testament methods of teaching doctrine to promote Joseph.
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.
- 2. Notice also Joseph's application of doctrine, "Do not interpretations belong to God?"
- 3. Notice Joseph's confidence, "Tell me your dream."
- 4. Then also notice Joseph's class and good manners..."Tell it to me, please."
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.
Joseph is not subjective and thinking about himself and how he has been undeservedly mistreated in an unjust way.
The metabolization of doctrine gives the believer class, style, good manners and poise!
Joseph was a great man who was humble most of the time, but like all of us, Joseph was also human and therefore had times when his human nature or human viewpoint would surface.
In three days, the prince of the cupbearers will be restored to his high position in the court of Pharaoh.
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.
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.
JER 17:5-8, “Thus says the Lord, `Cursed is the man who puts his trust in mankind and makes flesh his source of strength; and whose right lobe turns away from the Lord.'"
The real concept behind the dream was to get Joseph out of the dungeon in three days.
Because Joseph failed at this point, he will be two more years in that dungeon learning a very valuable lesson which was that 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.
Waiting on God's timing and not man's timing is waiting on the power of God.