Your calling.
It took me over 20 years to find my calling.
Before then, I had no clue what I was supposed to do with my life. I was living a meaningless life.
Maybe you are there right now.
Maybe you know what God has called you to do but you haven’t taken the necessary steps to move in that direction… whatever the reason may be.
The story of Joseph gives a great illustration on what your life could look like if you were to follow God’s call on your life and remain faithful to Him while doing so.
Genesis 37-50
Things to know about Joseph
- Son of Jacob
- 17 years old when story starts
- Sheperd
- Worked with his half brothers (brothers born of a different mother)
- Jacob’s favorite son was Joseph because he was born to him at such an old age. His brothers hated him because of it.
Joseph’s dreams - Genesis 37:1-17
Joseph’s tells his brothers of his first dream.
6 “Listen to this dream,” he said. 7 “We were out in the field, tying up bundles of grain. Suddenly my bundle stood up, and your bundles all gathered around and bowed low before mine!”
Joseph tells his brothers about his second dream.
9…”Listen, I have had another dream,” he said. “The sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed low before me!”
Joseph goes to check on his brothers in Shechem. Finds brothers in Dothan (not where they are supposed to be at.)
Joseph sold into slavery - Genesis 37:18-36
Joseph enters Dothan and his brothers see him approaching.
19 “Here comes the dreamer!” they said. 20 “Come on, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns…”
They end up trading him to a group of ishmaelite traders for 20 pieces of silver.
Joseph and Potiphar - Genesis 39:1-18
Potiphar, an Egyptian officer. Potiphar was captain of the guard for Pharaoh, the king of Egypt.
2 The Lord was with Joseph, so he succeeded in everything he did as he served in the home of his Egyptian master. 3 Potiphar noticed this and realized that the Lord was with Joseph, giving him success in everything he did.
Potiphar’s wife lusts after Joseph but Joseph remains faithful to the Lord.
Joseph is then wrongfully accused of rape by Potiphar’s wife.
Joseph is thrown in prison - Genesis 39:19-23
21 But the Lord was with Joseph in the prison and showed him his faithful love. And the Lord made Joseph a favorite with the prison warden. 22 Before long, the warden put Joseph in charge of all the other prisoners and over everything that happened in the prison. 23 The warden had no more worries, because Joseph took care of everything. The Lord was with him and caused everything he did to succeed.
Joseph interprets two dreams - Genesis 40
Pharaoh’s chief cup-bearer and chief baker are thrown into prison with Joseph. They both had a different dream and were upset the next day.
Joseph interprets the chief cup-bearer’s dream.
12 “This is what the dream means,” Joseph said. “The three branches represent three days. 13 Within three days Pharaoh will lift you up and restore you to your position as his chief cup-bearer.
Joseph asks the chief cup-bearer to remember him when he gets out of prison.
Joseph interprets the chief baker’s dream.
18 “This is what the dream means,” Joseph told him. “The three baskets also represent three days. 19 Three days from now Pharaoh will lift you up and impale your body on a pole. Then birds will come and peck away at your flesh.”
Joseph’s interpretations of the dreams come true!!
Joseph was forgotten by the chief cup-bearer
Pharaoh’s dreams - Genesis 41:1-8
41 Two full years later, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing on the bank of the Nile River. 2 In his dream he saw seven fat, healthy cows come up out of the river and begin grazing in the marsh grass. 3 Then he saw seven more cows come up behind them from the Nile, but these were scrawny and thin. These cows stood beside the fat cows on the riverbank. 4 Then the scrawny, thin cows ate the seven healthy, fat cows! At this point in the dream, Pharaoh woke up.
5 But he fell asleep again and had a second dream. This time he saw seven heads of grain, plump and beautiful, growing on a single stalk. 6 Then seven more heads of grain appeared, but these were shriveled and withered by the east wind. 7 And these thin heads swallowed up the seven plump, well-formed heads! Then Pharaoh woke up again and realized it was a dream.
Pharaoh becomes very disturbed of these dreams. He calls on all the magicians and wise men of Egypt to interpret them but they all fail.
The chief cup-bearer mentions of Joseph to Pharaoh.
Joseph interprets Pharaoh’s dreams - Genesis 41:9-36
25 Joseph responded, “Both of Pharaoh’s dreams mean the same thing. God is telling Pharaoh in advance what he is about to do. 26 The seven healthy cows and the seven healthy heads of grain both represent seven years of prosperity. 27 The seven thin, scrawny cows that came up later and the seven thin heads of grain, withered by the east wind, represent seven years of famine.
Pharaoh orders supervisors to collect 1/5 of all the crops and store them away to prepare for the seven years of famine.
Joseph made ruler of Egypt - Genesis 41:37-57
“Can we find anyone else like this man so obviously filled with the spirit of God?” 39 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has revealed the meaning of the dreams to you, clearly no one else is as intelligent or wise as you are. 40 You will be in charge of my court, and all my people will take orders from you. Only I, sitting on my throne, will have a rank higher than yours.”
Joseph 30 years old at this point.
Pharaoh gives Joseph a wife(Asenath) and they have two sons.
51 Joseph named his older son Manasseh, for he said, “God has made me forget all my troubles and everyone in my father’s family.” 52 Joseph named his second son Ephraim, for he said, “God has made me fruitful in this land of my grief.”
Famine hits and Joseph opens up the storehouses and distributed grain to the Egyptians. The famine was so bad that people from all around Egypt came to Joseph to buy grain.
Joseph’s brothers go to Egypt - Genesis 42
Joseph recognizes his 10 older brothers but they did not recognize him.
Joseph speaks harshly to them and locks them up for three days. Then he takes Simeon prisoner. He orders the rest of his brothers to come back with their youngest brother and then he will let all of them go.
38 But Jacob replied, “My son will not go down with you. His brother Joseph is dead, and he is all I have left. If anything should happen to him on your journey, you would send this grieving, white-haired man to his grave.”
Joseph’s brothers return to Egypt - Genesis 43:1-18
Jacob finally is pursuaded to let Benjamin go to Egypt with his older brothers.
When Joseph sees that Benjamin is with them he prepares a feast and brings all of his brothers into his house.
His brothers are worried that they have done something wrong.
A feast at Joseph’s palace - Genesis 43:19-34
The brothers tell Joseph’s manager about the money that was in their sacks.
Joseph weeps over Benjamin (the son of his own mother.) He also gives Benjamin 5 times as much food as his other brothers.
Joseph’s silver cup - Genesis 44:1-17
Joseph has his palace manager put his silver cup in Benjamin’s sack. Then they are framed for stealing his cup. They show great remorse.
16 Judah answered, “Oh, my lord, what can we say to you? How can we explain this? How can we prove our innocence? God is punishing us for our sins. My lord, we have all returned to be your slaves—all of us, not just our brother who had your cup in his sack.”
Judah then explains that Jacob would die if Benjamin does not come back to him. Judah offers to take his place as a slave.
Joseph reveals his identity - Genesis 45:1-15
3 “I am Joseph!” he said to his brothers. “Is my father still alive?” But his brothers were speechless! They were stunned to realize that Joseph was standing there in front of them. 4 “Please, come closer,” he said to them. So they came closer. And he said again, “I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into slavery in Egypt. 5 But don’t be upset, and don’t be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives.
Pharaoh invites all of Joseph’s family to come live in Goshen.
Jacob’s journey to Egypt - Genesis 46
Jacob’s Vision
2 During the night God spoke to him in a vision. “Jacob! Jacob!” he called.
“Here I am,” Jacob replied.
3 “I am God, the God of your father,” the voice said. “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make your family into a great nation. 4 I will go with you down to Egypt, and I will bring you back again. You will die in Egypt, but Joseph will be with you to close your eyes.”
Joseph is re-united with Jacob.
30 Finally, Jacob said to Joseph, “Now I am ready to die, since I have seen your face again and know you are still alive.”
Jacob is 130 years old when he arrives in Egypt.
Jacob buys all the land and all the people as slaves - Genesis 47
“We cannot hide the truth from you, my lord. Our money is gone, and all our livestock and cattle are yours. We have nothing left to give but our bodies and our land. 19 Why should we die before your very eyes? Buy us and our land in exchange for food; we offer our land and ourselves as slaves for Pharaoh. Just give us grain so we may live and not die, and so the land does not become empty and desolate.”
20 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh. All the Egyptians sold him their fields because the famine was so severe, and soon all the land belonged to Pharaoh. 21 As for the people, he made them all slaves, from one end of Egypt to the other.
Jacob lived for 17 more years. 147 years total.
Jacob blesses Manasseh and Ephraim - Genesis 48
“Manasseh will also become a great people, but his younger brother will become even greater. And his descendants will become a multitude of nations.”
20 So Jacob blessed the boys that day with this blessing: “The people of Israel will use your names when they give a blessing. They will say, ‘May God make you as prosperous as Ephraim and Manasseh.’” In this way, Jacob put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.
Jacob’s last words to his sons - Genesis 49-50
Jacob calls his sons the 12 tribes of Israel.
Jacob dies.
15 But now that their father was dead, Joseph’s brothers became fearful. “Now Joseph will show his anger and pay us back for all the wrong we did to him,” they said.
16 So they sent this message to Joseph: “Before your father died, he instructed us 17 to say to you: ‘Please forgive your brothers for the great wrong they did to you—for their sin in treating you so cruelly.’ So we, the servants of the God of your father, beg you to forgive our sin.” When Joseph received the message, he broke down and wept. 18 Then his brothers came and threw themselves down before Joseph. “Look, we are your slaves!” they said.
19 But Joseph replied, “Don’t be afraid of me. Am I God, that I can punish you? 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people. 21 No, don’t be afraid. I will continue to take care of you and your children.” So he reassured them by speaking kindly to them.
Joseph’s death - Genesis 50:22-26
24 “Soon I will die,” Joseph told his brothers, “but God will surely come to help you and lead you out of this land of Egypt. He will bring you back to the land he solemnly promised to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”
Joseph died at the age of 110.