Old Testament in a Year: Genesis 40-50

February 22, 2026
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What does true redemption look like? In true redemption, God provides what we cannot produce on our own. We do not deserve His mercy and we can never earn it, but He gives it to us freely and engraves His character into our hearts. He removes the anchors of our past, makes us new, and positions us to bless others through the gift of our own redemption.

Hey, take your Bible. Take your app. The notes are on the app. And if you're joining us for the first time, we are reading as a church through the Old Testament together in 2026. There's a reading plan that comes out every single quarter.

And if you are new, you can pick one of these up at the info desk today. Jump in, start reading along with us. We're preaching through the Old Testament this year, preaching through the New Testament next year. It's been great so far. And if you were here last week, we were talking about the passages from Genesis 32 through 39.

And when we left off last week, this guy by the name of Joseph who had had these dreams, his brothers hated him. He was the favorite son of his father, Jacob. Joseph gets betrayed by his brothers. He gets sold into slavery. He becomes a slave.

He gets falsely accused. He resists temptation. He resists the advances of his master's wife, Potiphar's wife. He does the righteous thing. He runs from temptation.

And by doing the right thing, it causes him to end up in an orange jumpsuit in prison. That's where we left off in Genesis 39. That's where we left off the story. We're going to pick up the story today. We're talking about Genesis 40 through 50.

And our theme for today is redemption. Everybody say redemption. Everybody. Do me a favor. We have men and women all over America that are joining us today via the Pando app.

They're incarcerated men and women, but they are part of the Refuge family. Do me a favor and welcome them this morning. Welcome to all of you. We love you, Greg. Grateful to have you joining us.

So Joseph is betrayed and Joseph is now in prison. But listen, redemption was coming to him. And that's what we're going to talk about today. Back in the 70s, there was a guy who was involved in politics and he lived in D.C. and he was actually known as President Richard Nixon's hatchet man. His name was Charles Colson or Chuck Colson.

Chuck Colson was ruthless. He was fiercely loyal. He was very intelligent. He was so brutal, he was so ruthless that it said that one day Chuck Colson made the statement that he would run over his own grandmother if it caused them to win politically. Well, he's caught up in the whole scandal that took place back then known as Watergate.

And when the investigation was done and when the truth began to unravel, Colson was indicted and he was eventually sentenced to prison for obstruction of justice. His career was destroyed. His reputation was shattered and tarnished. And the powerful, brilliant, ruthless Insider in Washington, D.C. was now referred to not as Charles Colson, but he was referred to as inmate number 23227. An interesting thing happened before he entered prison.

A friend of his gave him a copy of a book by C.S. lewis entitled Mere Christianity. And Chuck Colson recounts or recalls the time that he's sitting in his car and he's reading the words of C.S. lewis, as Lewis is talking about pride and sin. And all of a sudden, Chuck Colson realizes that he's not just politically guilty, but he realizes that he's spiritually broken.

And sitting in his car, he begins to weep, and he surrenders his life to Jesus. Now, many of his friends accused him of just kind of jailhouse religion, even though he wasn't in prison yet. But Chuck Colson had an encounter with God. And then he goes to prison. And while he's in prison, he's exposed to the whole world of hopelessness that's in the prison culture.

Chuck Colson sees the cycle of crime. He sees despair. He sees men released from prison, and then they would, in a short time, often returned to prison. Something in him changed when he was released January 31, 1975. Released from prison, he didn't go back to politics.

Now instead, Chuck Colson founded a ministry that we know as Prison Fellowship, a ministry dedicated to serving prisoners and reforming the justice system and bringing hope to those who were behind bars. What began as a disgraced man visiting prisons grew into the largest prison ministry in the world, ministering in over 100 different nations. Chuck Colson said this. The real legacy of my life was my biggest failure, that I was an ex conviction. My great hope came from that.

It's a picture of redemption. How many of you are grateful that God redeems mankind? Come on. Is anybody in the room today or anybody watching online been redeemed by the grace and the mercy of God? Come on, make a little bit of noise.

And today we're looking at the story of a man by the name of Joseph. Joseph went through all kinds of stuff, but God reached into the depths of all of his betrayal and hurt and disappointment. And God redeemed him, not just for Joseph's sake, but for the sake of so many other people. And we pick up the story today. We're gonna start in Genesis 50, and then we're gonna work our way back to Genesis 40, and then forward.

Why don't you do me a favor? Stand to honor the word of God this morning as we read a few verses. In fact, one of My favorite verses in the Bible is contained in Genesis, chapter 50. We're going to pick it up in verse 16. If you don't have your Bible or your device with you today, you can find the verses on the screen and follow along as I read.

Beginning in verse 16, it says this. So they sent this message to Joseph. Before your father died, he instructed us to say to you, this is his brother speaking. Please forgive your brothers for the great wrong they did to you. We talked about that last week for their sin in treating you so cruelly.

So we, the servants of the God of your father, beg you to forgive our sin. And when Joseph received the message, he broke down and wept. And then his brothers came and threw themselves down before Joseph. Look, we are your slaves, they said. But Joseph replied, don't be afraid of me.

Am I God that I can punish you? You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me into this position so I could save the lives of many people. No, don't be afraid. I'll continue to take care of you, your children.

And so he reassured them by speaking kindly to them. Oh, man. What a beautiful picture of redemption we're about to discover from the Word of God this morning. Let's make some declarations before you're seated. Everybody together, even those of you watching online.

Here we go. Ready, go. I will hide this word in my heart that I might not sin against God. This word is life to my body.

I will be a doer of the Word and not a hearer only. And I am confident of this that he who has begun a good work in me, in Jesus name, Amen. You can be seated. Church. Listen, I want to talk for a moment about this word character.

Because what we see in the life of Joseph was a young man who was a teenager who has these prophetic dreams. And he, with no wisdom whatsoever, flaunts his dreams in front of 11 brothers who can't stand him. We talked about it last week. They despised him. In fact, the Bible uses the word hated in referring to how Joseph's brothers felt about him.

And so God begins taking Joseph through this process to develop character on the inside of him. God saw greater potential in Joseph. God saw a bigger plan of how he wanted to use Joseph. But he knew in order for Joseph to fulfill his destiny, Joseph had to endure many tests and many trials and many hardships in order to allow God to develop a godly character on the inside of him. Now, the word character comes from a Latin word that literally means to engrave to Engrave Character is the sum total of the traits that we develop as a result of the trials that we walk through.

Here's the truth. If we make good choices in the midst of those trials, good things will be engraved on our hearts. But if we make bad choices, and some people are prone to do that, then. Then bad things are engraved on our hearts. Nobody's free from testing.

We all know that. Nobody's exempt from that. It doesn't matter. Your educational level, doesn't matter. How much money you have, doesn't matter.

Your age, your gender, doesn't matter. Your nationality, everybody. Everybody endures hardships. Everybody is tested. We don't get to determine that.

Here's what we do get to determine. How will we respond to the tests that we go through in life? You decide that, I decide that. And it's in those decisions that we allow God. If we make good decisions, we allow God to engrave good things on our hearts.

That's what character looks like. Listen, it's not the trials, it's not the difficulties that develop our character. The trials and difficulties simply reveal your character. They reveal what types of things are being engraved on your life. So Joseph goes through all this stuff and he begins to reveal that there was a lot of pride.

He begins to reveal that there was a lack of wisdom, there was immaturity on the part of Joseph. There was a lot of ego on his part. But God was committed to perfecting his work in him. God, even then, was. Was committed to saying, I, who have begun a good work in you, Joseph, I'm going to complete it not for your sake, not for your glory, but for the glory of God.

Now we find in chapter 40, Joseph has to deal with being overlooked and being disappointed. Here's the story. Joseph is in prison. If you look back on the end of chapter 39, Joseph is put into prison. The Bible says the hand of God was on Joseph.

And he's elevated to be the guy that was in charge of the entire prison. Like the warden of the prison recognizes something in Joseph and says, you know what? I can put you in charge of everything. And he does that. And while Joseph is in prison, he meets these two guys that served under Pharaoh.

One was a cupbearer, one was a baker, and they'd been thrown into prison. They both have these dreams, and Joseph has an ability to interpret dreams and he interprets their dreams and his interpretation comes true. Three days later, the cupbearer is released from prison and he's restored back to his position. Now, when Joseph knows He's about to be released from prison. Joseph says, hey, man, I was glad to serve you.

And now you're about to be released. You're going back to Pharaoh. And the interpretation is you're going to be restored to your position. Do me a favor, bro. When you get out, remember me, My name is Joseph.

I don't belong here. I was falsely accused. Do me a favor, man. Speak well of me to Pharaoh. And the guy, the cupbearer says, I got you, bro.

I got you. He gets out of prison, he completely forgets about Joseph. Completely forgets about him. Now, according to scripture, we don't see anywhere where Joseph throws this big pity party. Now what does he do?

The Bible says he just keeps serving faithfully. The Bible says he keeps doing what he was supposed to do while he was entrusted to the care of all of the prisoners. How many of you know that when we're enduring hardships or difficulties or trials or whatever it might be, the thing God has called us to do is to stay faithful.

Like, don't have some big pity party. Don't fall into the trap of the enemy. Just keep doing what. What God has called you to do. Now, Joseph, I'm sure, was thinking, I'm going to get out of here in a few days.

Like, this guy's going to remember me. He's going to talk to Pharaoh, and I'm about to be released from prison. If you read verse one of chapter 40, guess what? Two more years go by. Two more years.

Joseph had every right to feel overlooked. He had every right to be disappointed. But instead of having a pity party, Joseph just keeps serving faithfully. And then in the economy and the timing of God, two years later, Pharaoh has two dreams. And Pharaoh's deeply disturbed, and he's asking around.

I have these troubling dreams. I need somebody who can tell me what they mean. And all of a sudden, the cupbearer goes, ah, shoot. Golly. There was this guy, man.

I was supposed to talk to you about this guy. What was his name? What was that guy's name? Jacob. No, that's not it, Jeremy.

I don't think that was it. Joseph, Joseph, this guy, while I was in prison two years ago, this guy interprets the dream that says, I'm going to get out of prison and I'm going to be restored to my position. Joseph is your guy, he says to Pharaoh. And so he sends for Joseph. And Joseph interprets both of his dreams.

But not only that, here's the beauty of what happens. Joseph says to Pharaoh look, seven years, you're going to have to prepare for famine, and then there's going to be seven years of famine. Joseph says, you need to find somebody. You need a guy who's going to develop this system of storing grain and collecting grain from everybody for seven years so that Egypt is ready for the years of famine. And then somebody who can come up with a distribution system.

You need this. And he just lays out this beautiful plan for Pharaoh of what Pharaoh needs to do. And he just says, you need a guy that can do that for you. And all of a sudden, Pharaoh says, I know a guy. You're the man, Joseph.

Now you're going to be the guy. Watch what we read in chapter 41. Chapter 41, verse 38. So Pharaoh asked his officials, can we find anybody else like this man so obviously filled with the spirit of God? You know what I find interesting about that is that Pharaoh, who's not serving Yahweh, recognizes the anointing of God on Joseph's lives.

Come on. How many of you want to live in such a way that unbelievers all around you will recognize the anointing of God in you? So watch. Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, since God has revealed the meaning of the dreams to you, clearly nobody else is as intelligent or wise as you are. You will be in charge of my court, and all of my people will take orders from you.

Only I, sitting on the throne, will have a rank higher than yours. An unbeliever who recognizes the wisdom of God, the anointing of God. An unbeliever who recognizes the hand of God on Joseph's life. You know what I believe? I believe in the last days, and I think we're living in the last days.

What I'm believing, and I think we're seeing it played out, is that unbelievers are going to recognize the anointing of God on the lives of believers. And that God, in an instant, is going to elevate believers to positions of great leadership and great authority in the land. And I think we're already seeing it happen. I think until that happens, because here's what I believe that's going to be some of you. And until it happens, you stay faithful.

You allow God to inscribe and engrave godliness and holiness and wisdom and mercy and righteousness and forgiveness on your heart, so that when God says it's time and a watching world of unbelievers recognizes the anointing on you, then God can elevate you to a position in the last Days of great leadership and of great authority. Now, because of the famine, Joseph's brothers are told by their father Jacob, egypt's got grain. I want you to go and I want you to buy grain so that we can survive. And so they do that. And you can read all the details.

I won't unpack all of that this morning, but you can read the story in Genesis 41, 42, 43, 44, about when their brothers show up in Egypt to buy grain. And they don't recognize Joseph, but Joseph recognizes them. And so Joseph devises these schemes to get them to come back. We don't know how much time elapses. They go back to Canaan.

They take the grain back to their father Jacob. They don't know it's Joseph, but they run out of grain. They have to return again. They have to buy more grain. Joseph still doesn't reveal himself when they initially come back on the second time.

But watch, in verse 45 or chapter 45, verse 1, it says this. Joseph could stand it no longer. There were many people in the room. And he said to his attendants, out, all of you. And so he's alone with his brothers when he told them who he was.

And then he broke down and he wept, and he wept so loudly that the Egyptians could hear him. And the word of it quickly carried all the way to Pharaoh's palace. I am Joseph, he said to his brothers. And then he asked them, is my father still alive? Now, by this point, it's been maybe 20 years since Joseph has seen his dad.

20 years since he's seen 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. 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 and in Egypt. Can you imagine? At that point, he's told them to come closer. Then he says, hey, I'm the guy you sold into slavery. And I'm sure those brothers were thinking, this is it.

He's going to wipe us out right now. That's not what Joseph did. Why? Because Joseph had gone through a process where God engraved the character of God on his life. Watch what happens instead.

It says in verse five, but don't be upset and don't be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. Watch. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives. This is a picture of redemption. So I want to give you three things.

This is what true redemption looks like. I put it in your notes. Number one. True redemption is when God provides for us what we cannot produce on our own.

True redemption what God provides for us that we cannot produce on our own. Joseph extends forgiveness to his brothers. They didn't deserve it. They didn't earn it. But Joseph, who is an Old Testament picture of Jesus, many theologians agree Joseph extends mercy to them.

Joseph extends forgiveness to them. And then the Bible says he speaks kindly to to them. Listen, you and I have no way to be forgiven of our sins. We have no way of cleansing ourselves from what we've done in the past. We have no way of being set free from bondage.

Yet God extends forgiveness to each of us and he covers us with the blood of his son, Jesus, that we've just sung about in the last few minutes. And then in chapter 45, verse 19, it says this. And then Pharaoh said to Joseph, tell your brothers, take wagons from the land of Egypt to carry your little children and your wives and bring your father here. Don't worry about your personal belongings. For the best of all, the land of Egypt is yours.

So Joseph prepares a place for his family. It's a place called Goshen. And he says to his brothers, even though they didn't deserve it, he says to his brothers, I'm going to take care of you for the rest of your lives. I want you to go back, I want you to get all the nieces and nephews, I want you to get all the cousins, I want you to get Dad, I want you to get everybody. And I'm gonna send wagons.

And you don't need to bring your furniture, don't bring the beds, don't bring the fridge, don't bring any of the stuff, because when you get here, we've got all new stuff for you. In other words, Joseph says, I'm gonna provide for you what you cannot produce on your own. That's a picture of the redemption of God for you and I, where we didn't deserve forgiveness and we didn't deserve the mercy of God. But God says, even though you don't deserve it and you can't earn it, I'm giving something to you called forgiveness that you're not able to produce on your own. That's the redemption of our Father.

Redemption means that God provides a way for us to go to a better place. Somebody say amen. He sends his wagons. God sends wagons. Just like Pharaoh sent wagons, provided the wagons for Joseph's family.

God does the same thing. And guess what? God takes us out of darkness and he transports us into the light of his glory. God takes us out of sin and out of bondage, and he transports us into a place of freedom. God sends his wagons for us and he takes us out of despair and he puts us into a place of hope.

God takes his wagons and he delivers us out of a place of chaos and into a place of peace. Somebody ought to say amen. God takes us and he delivers us out of a place where we have no joy, where we just have nothing but depression. And he puts us in a place of joy. That's the redemption of God.

That's the picture of God. And the Bible says about him that he will restore where the locusts have devoured. I said, God will restore where the locusts have devoured. So you've lost some relationships. I believe today God can restore that.

So you've lost some dreams that have faded through the years of adversity. I believe God can restore dreams to your heart today. So you've got children who are prodigals. I believe today God can produce what you can. God can provide what you cannot produce.

I believe God can restore hope where despair has set in. Secondly, true redemption looks like this, that he makes old things new.

Look at Isaiah, chapter 43, verse 18 and 19. Forget the former things. Do not dwell on the past. See, I'm doing a new thing now. It springs up.

Do you not perceive it? I'm making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. Verse 21 and 22 of Genesis, chapter 45 says this. So the sons of Jacob did as they were told. Joseph provided them with wagons as Pharaoh had commanded.

And he gave them supplies for their journey. And he gave each of them new clothes. He gave each of them new clothes. Joseph says, I'm sending wagons with all the provisions that you'll ever need. You don't need to pack anything.

Don't even pack a suitcase, because I'm giving you all new clothes. That's significant because God was saying to them, you're moving into a new season. And I believe God is saying to some of you Today, in 2026, you're moving into a new season.

Listen, the Bible says in Genesis, chapter 41, when Joseph realizes that he's about to be released from prison because Pharaoh has sent for him. Pharaoh has heard this guy can interpret your dreams. And he sends for Joseph. Look what we read in chapter 41, verse 14. Pharaoh sent for Joseph at once.

And he was quickly brought from the prison. After he shaved, watch and changed his clothes, he went in and he stood before Pharaoh. In other words, Joseph says, the past 14 years of hardship, the past 14 years of betrayal, the past 14 years of slavery, the past 14 years of being in prison are all coming to an end. And Joseph takes off his orange jumpsuit and he changes his clothes because Joseph says the there's a new season coming for me and I'm not coming back to this place again. What the enemy wants to do with all of us is to anchor us to our past and to say, you're always gonna be an addict, you're always gonna be immoral, you're always gonna be in bondage, you're always gonna be depressed.

And I'm saying to you today, God is saying, it's a new season for you. God is saying, it's time to change your clothes. Like he has sent the wagons for you and I. And in the wagons are a new wardrobe for us that says old things are passed away and all things are made new.

Come on. Is anybody ready to put on some new clothes and say, in 2026, I'm going to a new place? That's the redemption of God. He takes old things and he makes it new for us. That's something that we cannot do on our own.

Look what we find in chapter 41, verse 51. Joseph, who's come into this position now of great leadership, has children while he's there. Now, I want you to notice this. In verse 51 and 52, it says, Joseph named his older son Manasseh. For he said, God has made me forget all of my troubles and everyone in my father's family.

Now, obviously he didn't forget everybody in his father's family, right? He remembered his brothers soon as he saw them. He knew who they were. He didn't forget his dad. What did he forget?

He forgot the betrayal. He forgot the hatred. He forgot the injustice. He forgot being overlooked by the cupbearer that was released and two more years go by. He forgot all of the bad stuff, but yet he remembers the redemption of God.

So he names his first Manasseh. Because he says, God has engraved on my heart the ability to forgive people who don't deserve to be forgiven. God has engraved on my heart this thing called mercy where I'm going to extend kindness to people that who mistreated me. Manasseh. He has caused me to forget.

And then notice this. Joseph named his second son Ephraim. For he said, God has made me fruitful in this land of my grief. Here's what I believe, Church. I believe that God Wants to redeem your hurts from the past.

And I know there are many of you that have suffered church hurt. You've suffered hurt from a former spouse. You've suffered hurt from a boss who mistreated you. You've suffered hurt from a family member who abused you. I believe with all of my heart that the redemption of God looks like this.

That somehow, supernaturally, God's gonna give you the ability to forget the bad things of the past. He's gonna give you the ability to forget the betrayal, to forget the depth of the pain that you experienced in those moments. And that God is gonna give you the ability to be fr. In the midst of your grief, to be fruitful in the season that you're in right now, that somehow God is going to produce good things in you for his name's sake, for his glory. That's redemption.

Church. Chapter 45, verse 26. Joseph's brothers go back. They go back with the wagons. They go back with the provisions.

They go back with the message to their dad. And they say to him, verse 26. Joseph is still alive and he's governor of all the land of Egypt. Jacob was stunned at the news. Notice these words.

He couldn't believe it. Couldn't believe it. I hear what you're saying, But I've lived 20 years thinking that my son was dead. He just couldn't believe what I hear what you're saying. I just can't.

I can't believe that that's true. Watch. But when they repeated to Jacob everything Joseph had told him, and when he saw the wagons Joseph had sent to carry him. Watch. Their father's spirits revived.

Here's what I'm believing in 2026. Because some of you have lived with grief or you've lived with betrayal, or you've lived with disappointment so long that it's hard for you to believe that you'll ever be healed or that you'll ever be free or that you'll ever be able to forgive the people that have hurt you or betrayed you. And it's so hard. You read the word, you hear somebody say, God's going to do a new thing in you. And it's like so hard, so hard for you to believe that.

But what I'm believing is that you're going to see the wagons of God coming for you in 2026 that are loaded down with mercy and with grace and with forgiveness and with the ability to do what you cannot do on your own. I'm believing in 2026, the wagons are coming for you, my friend. And here's what I believe. Some of you who have lived with dreams that have fallen by the wayside, some of you have lived with such disappointment. Some of you, the promise of God, the dream of God is just a faint memory in your spirit.

Here's what I'm believing in 2026. In fact, I'm declaring this over you today. God is going to revive your spirit somehow. God's going to put the Holy Ghost paddles to your spirit in 2026. And supernaturally, God's going to cause something to come alive on the inside of you that says, I know my redeemer lives somehow.

God's going to give you the ability to forget and to flourish and to thrive. Number three. And then we're going to pray. Here's what redemption looks like. I love this.

Redemption provides for you what you cannot produce on your own. Redemption takes all of the old stuff and makes it all brand new. And redemption positions you to bless other people. That's what it's about. That's Genesis 12.

That's the redemption of God. And this might be the most important thing I'll say to you all day, so don't miss this. Those of you watching online, those of you on the Pando app, watch, listen. Redemption is not a pathway for revenge.

Redemption is not God setting you up so you can get even with those who have hurt you. No. True redemption looks like this when you get the opportunity to get revenge. And that's where Joseph was. True redemption looks like this.

I'm going to give you what you don't deserve. I'm going to extend forgiveness to you. I'm going to bless you. I'm going to treat you kindly. I'm going to speak to you kindly, and I'm going to take care of you.

That's redemption. And Joseph had the opportunity now. It was like a perfect setup. They don't recognize him. They don't know who he is.

He's second in command of all the land of Egypt. Joseph could do whatever he wanted to do to them in that moment. And Joseph could have seen that as a pathway for revenge. Joseph could have seen that as an opportunity to get even. But you know what happened?

Instead of him seeing it as an opportunity to get even, Joseph recognized it as an opportunity to bless. To bless? Why? Because God had engraved good things on his heart. Through the 14 years of trials, through the betrayal, through the disappointment, through the hurt, through the pain, through the false accusations, God engraved the things on him where when he got to the position of authority and power.

He looked so much like Jesus that he was able to extend mercy and grace to him. Which is why we could read the words that we read when we started chapter 50. These words in verse 19. But Joseph replied, don't be afraid of me. Am I God that I can punish you?

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. No, don't be afraid. I'll continue to take care of you and your children. So he reassured them by speaking kindly to them.

Listen. Joseph was betrayed, but in the end, he chose to bless. Jesus was betrayed, yet he chose to redeem us from the law of sin and death. The punishment that you and I deserve, he took upon himself. Joseph's brothers deserve to be punished.

They deserve to be treated harshly for what they did. But Joseph realized that all of it had happened for the glory of God. All of it had happened for the preservation of the Israelites.