Lessons #03 and 04
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual delivery not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ GW = God’s Word Translation, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New English Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
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Is everything against you?
(Intricacies of Outworking of Plan of God)
OUTWORKING OF GOD’S PLAN IN JOSEPH’S LIFE
We continue with our study concerning the intricacies of the outworking of God’s plan. However, as we stated in the introduction, I have given it a title in a question form: “Is everything against you?” This is primarily because it is our goal to ensure that you will avoid such a question when you face one unpleasant event after another in your life. You will do this because you understand the intricacies of the outworking of God’s plan as revealed in the Scripture. We indicated that there are three prepositions to focus on in this study that help to expound on the intricacies of the outworking of God’s plan. The first proposition we stated is that we generally do not know what the outcome of God’s plan is as events unfold in our lives, but He does. The second is that the working out of God’s plan may appear messy that may lead us to think that everything is against us. The third is God’s plan usually involves events that to us may appear unrelated to each other in accomplishing His plan for us but not to Him. We have illustrated how the first two propositions are demonstrated in the life of Joseph. We began illustrating how the third proposition is illustrated his life. Consequently, we stated that there are several events that are recorded in the life of Joseph that when each is focused without looking at the totality of the events in his life would suggest no connection between them in bringing about God’s plan for Joseph to be the agent of the preservation of Israel in its infancy as a nation. We have considered three events in our last study. A first event that was necessary in ensuring God’s plan for Joseph was fulfilled that does not on the surface appear to be connected to God’s plan for Joseph as His agent of preservation of Israel is the love his father had for him. A second event that was necessary in ensuring God’s plan for Joseph was fulfilled that does not on the surface appear to be connected to God’s plan for Joseph as His agent of preservation of Israel concerns his dreams. A third event that was necessary in ensuring God’s plan for Joseph was fulfilled that does not on the surface appear to be connected to God’s plan for Joseph as His agent of preservation of Israel is the special blessing of being in charge of Potiphar’s household. So, we proceed with the fourth.
A fourth event that was necessary in ensuring God’s plan for Joseph was fulfilled that does not on the surface appear to be connected to God’s plan for Joseph as His agent of preservation of Israel is the offending of Pharaoh by his two officials and their subsequent imprisonment in the same prison Joseph was confined, as recorded in Genesis 40:1–4:
1 Some time later, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their master, the king of Egypt. 2 Pharaoh was angry with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, 3 and put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the same prison where Joseph was confined. 4 The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he attended them. After they had been in custody for some time,
On reading the first three verses, a person may probably wonder how the inclusion of what happened between Pharaoh and his two officials has anything to do with God’s plan for Joseph until a person reads the rest of the narrative. The passage reveals that God, the unseen architect of His plan, orchestrates every event on this planet to fulfill His plan. It is not that God causes events to take place, but He does them sequentially so that they are strung together to complete a narrative in His plan. The fact that God directs events in orderly fashion to accomplish His plan is conveyed here in the phrase Some time later of Genesis 40:1. The Hebrew literally reads and it happened after these things indicating that it was after the attempted rape of Joseph by Potiphar’s wife and his imprisonment that the events described in these four verses occurred. The Hebrew phrase indicates God is more concerned with events than with time that is a concept for us humans.
God progressed His plan for Joseph by working in the two officials of king of Egypt that they offended him in a manner not described since what they did is not domain to the sequence of events that are necessary to fulfill God’s plan for Joseph. It is the result of the failures of the two officials that is important. The first of two officials was the king’s cupbearer. A cupbearer of a king is an important official since he had the responsibility of preparing, tasting, and giving drinks to the king. We should not think of such a person as merely a butler but an important and influential member among the king’s officials. The importance and the influence of such an individual can be seen in Nehemiah who described himself as the king’s cupbearer in Nehemiah 1:11:
O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.” I was cupbearer to the king.
It is because Nehemiah was influential that he could request King Artaxerxes to send him to rebuild the city of Jerusalem, as we read in Nehemiah 2:1–6:
1In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had not been sad in his presence before; 2 so the king asked me, “Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart.” I was very much afraid, 3 but I said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my fathers are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?” 4 The king said to me, “What is it you want?” Then I prayed to the God of heaven, 5 and I answered the king, “If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my fathers are buried so that I can rebuild it.”
Nehemiah’s request was granted. Hence, it should be clear that a cupbearer is an important member of the king’s officials. The other official mentioned in Genesis 40 is the chief baker that was responsible for the king’s food. Anyway, the point is that God worked in the two officials of the king of Egypt so that they offended him. Again, we are not informed what their offences were. This is because whatever their offences were, they are not important in the narrative. The Holy Spirit through the human author wanted to convey that the result of their offences was being put in the prison where Joseph was. Furthermore, the Holy Spirit wants us to recognize that there is a difference between the imprisonment of these two officials and that of Joseph. Each committed an offence, but Joseph was innocently put in prison although in accordance with God’s plan. His case should remind us that even when there is miscarriage of justice, God’s plan is still being worked out for the recipient of the injustice although it is often difficult to recognize what the plan is as was the case with Joseph at that point in his life. That aside, God’s plan for Joseph was being advanced or being worked out by the imprisonment of these two officials in the same prison that Joseph was sent ahead of them. The fact we stated that events that are part of God’s plan for an individual are sequential although they may seem unconnected is borne out in the fact that Joseph was first sent to the prison before the two officials were imprisoned.
It is not what people often refer as “chance” that the two officials of Pharaoh were sent to the same prison that Joseph was. It was orchestrated by God. That this is the case is further evidenced in the first sentence of Genesis 40:4 The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he attended them. Certainly, there were other inmates in the prison that Joseph was so, one wonders why he was the one assigned to take care of these two officials. It is because God had in His plan that the cupbearer was going to be the link to introduce Joseph to Pharaoh of Egypt at the proper time in the outworking of God’s plan for Joseph. At that point in the life of Joseph, he was not aware of God’s plan for him although because of the dreams he had in Canaan he might have thought that in some way God would fulfill the content of his dreams. Even if Joseph had thought that God would fulfill his dream, the way things stacked against him would have caused him to wonder if that dream would ever be fulfilled. Nonetheless, God worked in Joseph to have hope that he would one day be freed from prison but at that time God did not reveal to him that His plan for him would be fulfilled as it was later in the narrative of the life of Joseph. I contend that God worked also in Joseph to have hope of being released from prison as that was behind his request to the cupbearer, as we read in Genesis 40:14:
But when all goes well with you, remember me and show me kindness; mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison.
The point we want to stress is that God worked in the two officials of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, so they failed their master. Their failure on a surface reading seems to be unconnected with the outworking of God’s plan for Joseph. In effect, who would have guessed that God’s plan for a Hebrew man included a Gentile king and his two officials that were put in prison with Joseph. The two officials could have felt that everything was against them, but little did they know that they were part of God’s plan to fulfill His plan for Joseph as the agent of Israel’s preservation in its infancy. In any event, the fourth event that was necessary in ensuring God’s plan for Joseph was fulfilled that does not on the surface appear to be connected to God’s plan for Joseph as His agent of preservation of Israel is the offending of Pharaoh by his two officials and their subsequent imprisonment in the same prison Joseph was.
A fifth event that was necessary in ensuring God’s plan for Joseph was fulfilled that does not on the surface appear to be connected to God’s plan for Joseph as His agent of preservation of Israel concerns the dreams of the two officials of Pharaoh and their interpretations. For this study, I will draw attention primarily on the interpretation of the dream of the cupbearer since he was the link in God’s plan between Joseph and Pharaoh to ensure that God fulfilled His plan through Joseph. The reference to the dreams of the two officials is given in Genesis 40:4–5:
4 The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he attended them. After they had been in custody for some time, 5 each of the two men—the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were being held in prison—had a dream the same night, and each dream had a meaning of its own.
As with Joseph’s dream in Canaan, the dreams of the two officials of the king of Egypt were given to them by God. This is because their dreams were revelatory dreams since their interpretations concerned what happened later in their lives. I will not go into any detail of the dreams, especially that of the chief baker since his dream was not particularly important as that of the cupbearer for our study. However, as I stated previously, we are only interested in the interpretation of the dream of the cupbearer, as we read in Genesis 40:9–14:
9 So the chief cupbearer told Joseph his dream. He said to him, “In my dream I saw a vine in front of me, 10 and on the vine were three branches. As soon as it budded, it blossomed, and its clusters ripened into grapes. 11 Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup and put the cup in his hand.” 12 “This is what it means,” Joseph said to him. “The three branches are three days. 13 Within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your position, and you will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, just as you used to do when you were his cupbearer. 14 But when all goes well with you, remember me and show me kindness; mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison.
God worked in Joseph in two ways. He gave Joseph the interpretation of the dreams since correct interpretation of dreams comes from God as Joseph later stated to Pharaoh in Genesis 41:15–16:
15 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.” 16 “I cannot do it,” Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.”
Another way, that God worked in Joseph was to put in his mind the request he made to the chief cupbearer in the sentence of Genesis 40:14 But when all goes well with you, remember me and show me kindness; mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison. From a human perspective the request of Joseph to the cupbearer about mentioning him to Pharaoh appears not only bold but presumptuous. This is because Joseph was a slave put in prison by his master. It would be unrealistic to expect that Pharaoh would intervene in this situation where a slave is imprisoned by his master for the kind of crime he allegedly committted. However, because God worked in Joseph to plant this seed of remembering him in the mind of the cupbearer when the interpretation of his dream is fulfilled, his request was neither bold nor presumptuous but one that is part of the plan of God for accomplishing His plan for Joseph. Of course, Joseph did not know at that time that his request was part of God’s plan to fulfill His plan for him. For if he did, he would not have complained in the way he did regarding his suffering that is tantamount to saying that everything was against him. Joseph might have expected a quick response to his request to the cupbearer but that was not to be because God follows His timetable, so to say, so that Joseph had to wait for two years before the cupbearer granted his request. This is a reminder to us that we should recognize that no matter how badly we want improvement on the things that we have problem with, that God works out His plan in accordance with His timetable. In any event, a fifth event that was necessary in ensuring God’s plan for Joseph was fulfilled that does not on the surface appear to be connected to God’s plan for Joseph as His agent of preservation of Israel concerns the dreams of the two officials of Pharaoh and their interpretations.
A sixth event that was necessary in ensuring God’s plan for Joseph was fulfilled that does not on the surface appear to be connected to God’s plan for Joseph as His agent of preservation of Israel is the dream of Pharaoh and its interpretation. Pharaoh had two different dreams with the same interpretation that is reported in Genesis 41:1–9:
1When two full years had passed, Pharaoh had a dream: He was standing by the Nile, 2 when out of the river there came up seven cows, sleek and fat, and they grazed among the reeds. 3 After them, seven other cows, ugly and gaunt, came up out of the Nile and stood beside those on the riverbank. 4 And the cows that were ugly and gaunt ate up the seven sleek, fat cows. Then Pharaoh woke up. 5 He fell asleep again and had a second dream: Seven heads of grain, healthy and good, were growing on a single stalk. 6 After them, seven other heads of grain sprouted—thin and scorched by the east wind. 7 The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven healthy, full heads. Then Pharaoh woke up; it had been a dream. 8 In the morning his mind was troubled, so he sent for all the magicians and wise men of Egypt. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them for him.
We humans function by reckoning of time but God works out His plan based on events. The recognition of this fact is introduced with the first clause of Genesis 41:1When two full years had passed, Pharaoh had a dream. The two years involved in this clause is measured from the time Joseph interpreted the dream of Pharaoh’s cupbearer and its fulfillment to confirm Joseph as one with the gift of interpretation of dream from God. The mention of two years is a reminder to us that God works according to His timetable and not according to what we wish. Joseph would have been disturbed that nothing happened with his plea to Pharaoh’s cupbearer, but he was certainly wrong because his expectation was probably that something would happen as soon as the cupbearer was set free and his dream fulfilled in accordance with Joseph’s interpretation. We also may think that the cupbearer was ungrateful for not mentioning Joseph to Pharaoh. However, we should understand that it would not have been appropriate for the cupbearer to bring up the subject of the imprisonment of Joseph who was a slave of a powerful official of Pharaoh without the appropriate occasion for such a matter. I mean, while the cupbearer might have been pleased that his life was spared in accordance with the interpretation of his dream by Joseph but mentioning the event of his dream and Joseph’s correct interpretation of it would not have had any impact on Pharaoh without God working on him. Of course, there is, the other fact which is that there is time for everything on the earth and it was not time for the cupbearer to tell of Joseph’s interpretation of his dream. Some of you could identify with the point I am making because I have heard from some of you give testimony to me about how God had done somethings for or to you and you were excited. However, as some of you have told me, you felt a letdown that when you gave your testimony to other believers in this local church they were not as enthused as you were because of what God had done. In response, I had told some of you that while other believers should show excitement for what God has done but that you should not expect the same degree of excitement from them as you had when God displayed His power to you. This is because only a person who experienced God’s goodness can have the maximum excitement over His work. What I am explaining is that if Pharaoh had received a narrative of how the dream of the cupbearer was fulfilled, he would probably not have paid attention to it since that had no direct impact on him. Therefore, God acted on Pharaoh in a way that the testimony of his cupbearer would impact him.
God’s action that would make the testimony of Pharaoh’s cupbearer impactful on Pharaoh or would get his attention was the giving of Pharaoh his own dreams. It is for this reason we are informed of the time that passed before God gave Pharaoh his dream as introduced in Genesis 41:1 Pharaoh had a dream. Pharaoh’s two dreams on the same night were given to him by God as a link of a chain of the overall chain that is His plan for Joseph. We are certain God gave these dreams to Pharaoh because they were revelatory dreams as their interpretation revealed. Pharaoh could have dismissed the dreams as not having any significance but because God gave the dreams to Pharaoh as part of fulfilling His plan for Joseph, He created in Pharaoh a troubled mind as stated in Genesis 41:8 In the morning his mind was troubled. It was because Pharaoh was disturbed that he sought the interpretation of his dreams. As God worked, Pharaoh’s magicians and wise men were unable to interpret his dream or even give him a false interpretation.
The dreams of Pharaoh, his troubled mind, the failure by his magicians and wise men to interpret them were created by God so that the cupbearer would then speak up about Joseph as we read in Genesis 41:9–13:
9 Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “Today I am reminded of my shortcomings. 10 Pharaoh was once angry with his servants, and he imprisoned me and the chief baker in the house of the captain of the guard. 11 Each of us had a dream the same night, and each dream had a meaning of its own. 12 Now a young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. We told him our dreams, and he interpreted them for us, giving each man the interpretation of his dream. 13 And things turned out exactly as he interpreted them to us: I was restored to my position, and the other man was hanged.”
The cupbearer’s confession Today I am reminded of my shortcomings on the surface appears to have been triggered by the failure of Pharaoh’s magicians and wise men to interpret Pharaoh dream. However, I contend that it is the Holy Spirit that was the ultimate agent that triggered the thinking of the chief cupbearer regarding his shortcomings and about Joseph. Without going into the detail of what constitute his shortcomings, suffice to say that his failure to speak up for Joseph was part of it. Of course, unknown to the cupbearer is that God was directing every event taking place in order to fulfill His plan for Joseph.
It is worth noting that God utilized dreams in the outworking of His plan for Joseph. Recall that it was Joseph’s dream that was the major factor that led his brothers to sell him into slavery with the intention to stop his dream being fulfilled. Thus, we can say that God used dream to get the ball rolling regarding His plan for Joseph to be the agent of Israel’s preservation during its infancy as a nation. Dream was the reason for his unpleasant experiences that were part of God’s plan in fulfilling His plan for Joseph. God used dreams of Pharaoh’s officials to bring Joseph to the forefront of those that could interpret dream. Consequently, it was because of the dreams of Pharaoh that Joseph was brought to Pharaoh in a way that defied his imagination. When he made request to Pharaoh’s cupbearer, he was probably concerned with being released from prison not from slavery. He was at that time filled with the thought that everything was against him. He had no idea that his life would be different from that of a slave. Again, this is because we do not know what God’s plan is until He manifests it to us. Anyway, our concern is not with Joseph’s interpretation of Pharaoh’s dream but the result of his interpretation as the fulfilment of God’s plan for him. As we noted, it is God’s plan for Joseph to be the agent of the preservation of Israel in its infancy. This plan began to be fulfilled with the promotion of Joseph as the number two man in Egypt, as indicated in Genesis 41:41–44:
41 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt.” 42 Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph’s finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. 43 He had him ride in a chariot as his second-in-command, and men shouted before him, “Make way!” Thus he put him in charge of the whole land of Egypt. 44 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, but without your word no one will lift hand or foot in all Egypt.”
The elevation of Joseph to the powerful position he occupied was the climax of God’s plan for him to be the agent of preservation of Israel in its infancy. It is because of his position in Egypt that he was able to transport his father, Jacob, and his household to Egypt to be preserved from starvation in Canaan and possible constant military engagements that were common at that time. Of course, as we have noted, the move of Jacob to Egypt was how God began to fulfill His word to Abraham regarding his descendants being enslaved in a foreign nation. Furthermore, Joseph’s elevation to position of authority also led to the fulfillment of the dream God gave him about his brothers bowing down to him and of him ruling over them.
In any case, we have demonstrated in the life of Joseph the intricacies of the outworking of God’s plan. Recall that there are three propositions that we have stated and demonstrated how they applied to the outworking of God’s plan for Joseph. The first is that we generally do not know what the outcome of God’s plan is as events unfold in our lives, but He does. The second is that the working out of God’s plan may appear messy that may lead us to think that everything is against us. The third is God’s plan usually involves events that to us may appear unrelated to each other in accomplishing His plan for us but not to Him. Understanding of these three propositions should lead you never to feel that everything is against you because of unpleasant events that occur in your life. You should recognize that God is working out His plan for you through these events. With this we proceed to consider the second example of an individual where these propositions worked out.
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OUTWORKING OF GOD’S PLAN IN MOSES’S LIFE
The second example we will use to illustrate the intricacies of the outworking of God’s plan is Moses. God’s dealing with Moses was different from that of Joseph as will be evident in our consideration of the outworking of God’s plan in Moses’ life. For one thing, there was approximately 390 years between the two men that God used in the early history of Israel. How did you arrive at this number someone may ask? Let me briefly show you how I arrived at this number. The length of stay of Israel in Egypt is 430 years as stated in Exodus 12:40:
Now the length of time the Israelite people lived in Egypt was 430 years.
Moses was eighty years old when he led Israel out of Egypt as implied in his age when God sent him to Pharaoh, according to Exodus 7:7:
Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.
Since Moses was eighty years old when he led Israel out of Egypt, it must mean he was born when Israel had been in Egypt for 350 years (i.e. 430-80). Israel moved to Egypt when Joseph was approximately thirty-nine years old. We establish this as follows. Joseph was thirty years old when he became what I describe as the Prime Minister of Egypt as stated in Genesis 41:46:
Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from Pharaoh’s presence and traveled throughout Egypt.
When Joseph’s brother came to Egypt to purchase grain, he had been in power in Egypt for nine years, the seven years of prosperity and two years of famine. We know this because the dream he interpreted for Pharaoh that led him to be the number two man in Egypt stipulated seven years of prosperity and seven years of famine. However, when Joseph’s brother came there were still five years of famine remaining as we learn from Genesis 45:6:
For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will not be plowing and reaping.
The implication is that Joseph had been in power for nine years. It is for this reason that five more years of famine lay ahead, that he instructed his brothers and their father to move to Egypt. Thus, Joseph was approximately thirty-nine years when Israel moved to Egypt. If we add 39 to 350, you get 389 that I round up to 390. It is for this reason that I stated the Joseph and Moses were separated by 390 years as players in the history of Israel.
Why bring up the years that separated Joseph and Moses, you may ask? Firstly, it is because the nation in which both men operated regarding the plan of God is Egypt – Joseph was God’s agent of bring Israel into Egypt, Moses was God’s agent for leading them out of Egypt. Secondly, it is because the outworking of God’s plan for Moses was different from that of Joseph. The difference as we will note shortly may be explained as due to progressive revelation of God’s plan for Israel. In time of Joseph, it was not clear that the move of Israel to Egypt was the beginning part of the outworking of God’s plan for Israel in keeping with God’s declaration to Abraham that we noted previously, that is, Genesis 15:13:
Then the LORD said to him, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.
By the way, this disclosure to Abraham refutes those who think that God simply turned the failure of Joseph’s brother of selling him for the good of Israel. No! According to this passage, it was God who was behind the plan of Joseph’s brothers selling him into slavery and as implied by Joseph’s statement to his brothers about God sending him ahead of them to Egypt. That aside, God did not reveal to Joseph that he would be the instrument to bring Israel into Egypt so that they would be enslaved as He said to Abraham. This implied, as we have stated, that Joseph did not know ahead of time what God’s plan for him was as both the one responsible for Israel’s relocation to Egypt and the agent of their preservation during the infancy of Israel. We do not have a record of God speaking to him, so to understand his role. But when we come to Moses, it was quite different as we will note in application in the life of Moses of the three propositions that we indicated are necessary to understanding the outworking of God’s plan.
The first proposition we stated in considering the outworking of God’s plan is that we generally do not know what the outcome of God’s plan is as events unfold in our lives, but He does. This proposition applied to Moses in that he did not know what God’s plan was for him in about the first eighty years of his life although nudged him so that he moved in the direction of fulfilling His plan for him. We are saying that Moses did not know ahead of time that God’s plan for his life was to be His agent for deliverance of Israel from slavery in Egypt. However, God dealt with him differently from Joseph in that we have the Lord appearing to him to convey to him His plan for him regarding the deliverance of Israel from slavery, as we read in Exodus 3:9–12:
9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.” 11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” 12 And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”
I am going to argue from this passage that the first proposition we stated applied to Moses, but before we do, let me point out the differences between Moses and Joseph in this first proposition. The Lord appeared to Moses directly and spoke to him regarding His plan for him. This contrasts with Joseph that God revealed part of His plan for him in a dream without further comment as to how the dream given to him would be fulfilled. Thus, Moses had a clearer statement regarding God’s plan for him than Joseph. This difference should cause you to recognize that the outworking of God’s plan is not the same for each person. Anyway, God assured Moses of being with him, but Joseph did not receive such an assurance because he did not know ahead of time that God would send him to Egypt to serve as His agent of deliverance of Israel from starvation in Canaan and bring them to Egypt. Instead of God assuring Joseph of being with him as He did with Moses in the passage we are concerned at this point, He demonstrated it. This demonstration of God being with Joseph was evident in the favors he received in two different situations that he found himself as we have previously examined. God showed him favor while in Potiphar’s house, as we read in Genesis 39:2–4:
2 The LORD was with Joseph and he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. 3 When his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD gave him success in everything he did, 4 Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned.
The Lord did the same thing when he was in prison, as we read in Genesis 39:21–23:
21 the LORD was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. 22 So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. 23 The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the LORD was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.
You see, the Lord did not verbally assure Joseph that He would be with him as He sends him to Egypt because he did not know ahead of time that God was sending him to Egypt through slavery to use him in preservation of Israel. Moses, on the other hand, received direct statement of his mission from the Lord so it was necessary for the Lord to give him verbal assurance of being with him as he carried out God’s plan for him. Believers fit into the pattern of God’s dealing with Joseph in that although we have the written word of God, we generally do not hear directly from Him in an oral manner encouraging us to carry out whatever plan He has for us. I know that many argue that that is not necessary because we have the Bible. True application of the written word of God should give us the encouragement and assurance that God is with us as He works out His plan for our lives. However, there is something incredibly unique with personal assurance of God to an individual that His plan calls for him to carry out specific assignment of the type that majority of Christians would not be involved. Many do not believe that God still communicates such encouragement directly to select individuals, but I believe He does as we may gather from documented testimonies of those that God had given direct personal assurances of being with them in their difficult situations of carrying out the gospel message to those hostile to it.
Be that as it may, the first proposition that we are applying to Moses is that we generally do not know what the outcome of God’s plan is as events unfold in our lives, but He does. As we state previously, this proposition applied to Moses in that he did not know what God’s plan was for him in the first eighty years of his life although the Lord nudged him in the direction of fulfilling His plan. This truth is demonstrated in Moses’ response to the Lord. The Lord had stated in a clear fashion His plan for Moses in Exodus 3:10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.” God’s plan for Moses was for him to be His agent of deliverance of Israel from slavery in Egypt. Despite God’s clear statement to Moses, he did not understand God’s plan for him. The reason we say this is because if Moses understood that God’s plan was for him to be His agent for deliverance of Israel, he would not have come back to God with the response that he was not qualified to carry out His plan as indicated in his question to the Lord in Exodus 3:11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” Furthermore, Moses wanted the Lord to send someone else as recorded in Exodus 4:13:
But Moses said, “O Lord, please send someone else to do it.”
Moses would not have said this if he understood that God’s plan for him was to be the agent of God’s deliverance of Israel from slavery in Egypt. Recall that when we use the term “plan of God” we mean His eternal decision rendering certain all things which shall come to pass according to His good pleasure and for His glory. If Moses understood at the time God commissioned him to be His agent of delivering Israel from bondage that that was God’s plan which is certain to be fulfilled, then he would not have argued with Him about not being qualified and requesting Him to send another person. Moses’ response to the Lord substantiates our first proposition that we generally do not know what the outcome of God’s plan is as events unfold in our lives, but He does.
8 Then a new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt. 9 “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become much too numerous for us. 10 Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.” 11 So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites 13 and worked them ruthlessly. 14 They made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their hard labor the Egyptians used them ruthlessly.
The Pharaoh who came on the scene in the history of Egypt at the time recorded in this passage was put there by God to accomplish His purpose. This Pharaoh’s action was to cause his people to oppress the Israelites and to despise them. The oppression of the Israelites is expressed in several ways in this passage. In verse 11 we read So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor. Verse 13 reads and worked them ruthlessly. In verse 14 we read They made their lives bitter with hard labor. Of course, it is difficult to oppress anyone or a group of people without hatred; therefore, the hatred of the Egyptians towards the Israelites is conveyed in the clause of verse 12 so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites. It is true that the word dread is translated from a Hebrew word (qûṣ) that may mean “to detest, abhor” or “to fear, to dread,” it is used here to convey the fact that the Egyptians were afraid of the Israelites because of their exploding population and they hated them as well. Both the oppression of the Israelites by the Egyptians and their hatred are part of God’s plan. Many people have problem with this kind of statement because they do not believe God could use or included in His plan human’s sinfulness to accomplish His purpose but this is the case in the passage we cited here, that is, Exodus 1:8-14. There are two ways to prove this truth. The first is that it is the Lord that raised the Pharaoh in question to do what He wanted done. We say this because the Scripture is clear that the Lord appoints and deposes leaders in accordance with His plan, as we read in Daniel 2:21:
He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to the discerning.
The same concept is expressed in Daniel 4:17:
“‘The decision is announced by messengers, the holy ones declare the verdict, so that the living may know that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes and sets over them the lowliest of men.’
The situation with Pharaoh was that of a facilitator. By this I mean that he merely exposed what was in the mind of his people. They had resentment over the Israelites but could not express it openly, so the Lord raised up Pharaoh to bring to the surface the Egyptians’ hatred of Israelites. If the people did not hate the Egyptians, no speech of Pharaoh could have caused the hatred of the Israelites. Hence, he was merely facilitating what was brewing in the Egyptians’ minds regarding the Israelites. My point is that God raised up Pharaoh so he could facilitate the hatred of the Israelites in accordance with God’s plan. Raising up of Pharaoh by God proves that He uses human failures to accomplish His purpose. Of course, some people may still dispute it so let me give the second reason we assert that God uses and includes in His plan human sinfulness to accomplish His purpose. The second reason for our assertion is that God is stated to be the One who caused the Egyptians to hate the Israelites. This truth is stated in Psalm 105:24–25:
24The LORD made his people very fruitful; he made them too numerous for their foes, 25whose hearts he turned to hate his people, to conspire against his servants.
The clause whose hearts he turned to hate his people as it reads, states undeniably that God is responsible for the Egyptians hating the Israelites. Those who reject this interpretation opted the translation that reads Their heart changed to hate His people which is an alternative translation of the Hebrew as given in the NJV/Tanakh. Most of our English versions did not follow this alternative translation. The Septuagint also did not follow such translation but the one reflect in the NIV and most of our English versions. The translation of the NIV and most of our English versions is to be preferred since that is in keeping with the action attributed to God in verse 24. Even if we accept the second translation, humans are incapable of changing their hearts without outside force acting on them. Thus, there is no way to get around the fact that God caused the Egyptians to hate the Israelites so as to fulfill His plan of eventually bringing judgment on them as well as ensuring the Israelites returned to Canaan, the land promised to Abraham. Anyway, a first event that appeared messy as God’s plan that would involve Moses that unfolded before his birth was Egyptians’ oppression and hatred for the Israelites