Reformed Sermons and Sunday Schools at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) in Petaluma, CA Rev. W. Reid Hankins

Sermon preached on Genesis 40 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 04/28/2024 in Petaluma, CA.















Sermon Manuscript –







We continue our Genesis sermon series in this section about Jacob’s twelve sons. Specifically, we’ve been considering Joseph’s time in Egypt after he was sold there into slavery. Last week we saw he was bought by Potiphar, captain of the guard of Pharoah. The LORD was with Joseph as he served Potiphar, but Potiphar’s wife lied about him, getting Joseph through into prison. Something I didn’t draw to your attention last week is that this was not any prison, but really the royal prison, where the King would confine his prisoners. Furthermore, this prison was under the ultimate oversight of Potiphar, Joseph’s master who imprisoned him there. So, we remember from last week that once Potiphar placed him in that prison, that quickly the master of the prison recognized how the LORD prospered whatever Joseph did, and quickly promoted him. Joseph was set in charge of the prison affairs, so that the prison master didn’t have to have any concerns. Today’s passage continues the story where we see two royal officials being cast by Pharoah into this same prison. They committed some offense against Pharoah that so angered Pharoah that he threw them into prison. Joseph then begins to serve these two prisoners.







As an aside, what an interesting picture of Christ. Innocent Joseph serves two criminals. Our innocent Lord Jesus would serve two criminals as he hung there dying on the cross. But stepping back, today we’ll dig into this passage and see what God is doing in the big picture even as Joseph attends to these two royal officials amidst their dreams they have.







For our first point for today, let’s talk about these dreams and their interpretation. Joseph says in verse 8, “Do not interpretations belong to God?” There he is talking with the cupbearer and the baker after they each have their dreams. They are unsettled by their dreams. They want to know what their dreams mean. In the Bible, we see that sometimes a dream was a way which God gives some prophetic revelation to someone. This section of Gensis particularly sees that happening. Back in chapter 37, Joseph had those two dreams that foretold his rise to authority. Next chapter, Pharoah will have two dreams that foretell seven coming years of tremendous agricultural plenty immediately followed by seven years of terrible famine. Here, these two officers of the court each have a dream and they think it is trying to tell them something.







Though, let us note that when God communicated something through a dream, it was a more cryptic form of communication than if he had instead directly spoken with him. In Numbers 12, for example, God says that in comparison to direct speech, a message through a dream is like a riddle. Indeed, as we see Joseph’s interpretation here, we see that the items of the dream are understood symbolically to convey some message. Dreams are not easy to understand, and that is why these two officials lament in verse 8 that they don’t have anyone to interpret them for them.







Let us think about that statement in the context of the lives of these royal officials. They were used to working in the royal court. Royal courts like this back then had wise men and magicians who would try to interpret dreams. So, when these two officials have their dreams, essentially they are saying, “If only we had access to such people who have the ability to interpret dreams.” But it is at that comment that Joseph corrects them. Joseph says that interpretations belong to God. In other words, no mere human, on their own strength, can know the meaning of the dream, without God revealing it to them.

Sunday School class led by Rev. W. Reid Hankins at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 04/28/2024 in Petaluma, CA. This week we discussed common questions for apologetics.

Sermon preached on Genesis 39 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 04/21/2024 in Petaluma, CA.















Sermon Manuscript – (Unfortunately, not able to post Audio, due to technical difficulties)







We return to Genesis’ account of Joseph after last week’s brief aside to tell us about God’s redeeming work in the life of Judah in the midst of his sin. We pick back up with Joseph having been taken out of the pit and sold off to slavery in Egypt, and now becoming a servant in the house of Potiphar the captain of the Egyptian guard. In today’s passage, we will see how the LORD was with Joseph through these times.







Let us begin in our first point to consider verses 1-6. There, we see Joseph in Potiphar’s house. Verse 1 summarizes his situation that he found himself in after being sold into slavery. We might appreciate that this was a decent assignment, to be in a household of one that had some prominence in Egyptian society. But then we come to verse 2 and it is so thematic for our sermon today. That the LORD was with Joseph. It mentions this specifically for Joseph as he was in this house of Potiphar, his Egyptian master. Even though Joseph was no longer with his family, which was the chosen people, and even though he was no longer in Canaan, which was God’s chosen land for this people, yet here God was with him. He may have felt all alone, but he was not. By the way, notice how it here repeatedly describes this as the LORD being with Joseph, the personal name for the God of Israel, not just the generic word for “God”. That way there is no confusion to think this was an Egyptian god being with Joseph now that he was in Egypt. No, the God of his fathers, the LORD, continues to be with him even though he is now in Egypt.







Let us then observe all the fruit that came from the Lord being with him. Verse 2 says he was successful. In other words, even as a servant, God was blessing and prospering his work, so that he was successful in his labors. So then, in verse 3, we see that it this so obvious that even his master Potiphar noticed it. Verse 3, “His master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD caused all that he did to succeed in his hands.” This would have been a great testimony of the Lord and his might for someone like Potiphar to take notice of how specifically the LORD so prospered Joseph. So, the LORD being with Joseph meant he succeeded in all he did.







This then resulted in Joseph being promoted. Verse 4 describes that Joseph thus found favor in Potiphar’s sight. He ends up setting Joseph in charge of everything in his household. Potiphar had a large house with plenty of people working for him and various things happening. Potiphar sets Joseph over everything. So while Joseph had been humbled to become a slave, he is now exalted to be the chief servant in a relative position of authority. As verse 9 will describe, no one was higher in the house than him, that there was a sense that Joseph could basically command anyone to anything in that house. So, the LORD being with Joseph meant he was exalted to a high position.







Verse 5 then tells us how much this blessed Potiphar’s house. Everything Joseph had been overseeing prospered. So, when Potiphar set Joseph in charge of everything in his house, then everything in his house prospered. That’s what verse 5 tells us, explaining it was the LORD’s blessings. Notice the specific wording there in verse 5. For Joseph’s sake, Potiphar’s house is blessed. So, the LORD being with Joseph meant that his master got to benefit from it. On a related note of application, we are reminded here that it is the duty of servants to look to bless their master’s estate as they serve their master. It would be an unrighteous servant who wouldn’t work ...

Sunday School class led by Rev. W. Reid Hankins at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 04/21/2024 in Petaluma, CA. This week we discussed common questions for apologetics.

Sermon preached on Genesis 38 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 04/14/2024 in Petaluma, CA.















Sermon Manuscript







We continue today our sermon series through Genesis with another example of sinful failings among the patriarchs. We might immediately wonder why this passage is here, as it interrupts the current storyline. Yet, each of the patriarch sections in Genesis has had such an interrupting passage, one even where the patriarch’s sin failed with at least some negative ramifications on a woman under their care. Abraham lied about Sarah to Abimelech, and Isaac did the same thing. Then there was the violation of Dinah with Jacob failing to properly vindicate her. Today’s passage is along those lines, yet with some unique features.







Yet, if this is following the same pattern in those previous sections of Genesis, we might wonder why this strange chapter is about a failing of Judah instead of about Joseph. In fact, Joseph will show himself to overcome sexual temptation next chapter with Potiphar’s wife. Genesis clearly wants us to see today’s chapter in contrast to that because the verse before and after our chapter tells us about Joseph being taken to Potiphar’s house. Indeed, that contrast surely shows Joseph as more righteous than Judah.







Yet, still, we can ask the question. Why does this chapter put a prominence upon Judah, when so much in Genesis is setting us up to see that Joseph is going to be the leader over and even savior of all his brothers. We saw that story started last chapter, with Joseph’s brothers, Judah especially, selling him off to Egypt. In the end, we’ll see Joseph used by God to save his brothers from famine and death. This strange chapter is in the middle of that larger story about Joseph, and seems to interrupt it and give a prominence to Judah over Joseph, even while for the moment it shows Joseph more righteous than Judah.







I believe this passage reminds us that God’s providential workings to redeem his people have a wonderful complexity to them. God would use Joseph to save his people, but here God is also setting up things for the future where he would use Judah’s line to save his people in an even bigger way. Indeed, while Genesis tells us the story about how Jospeh is favored over his brothers, and he will even receive the family inheritance over them all, Genesis is also giving us prophetic hints that God will ultimately in the future take the leadership away from Joseph’s line and give it to none other than Judah. That is so important, because Jesus will be born the line of Judah. But none of that future would have happened if the events of our chapter take didn’t take place.







Let’s dig in to the passage. Let’s begin first to understand the cultural practice that we see here known as the levirate law, the law of the “husband’s brother”. While foreign to most cultures today, it was considered a very honorable practice back then, and some places still practice it today. Basically, the levirate law was if a married man died before having any male heir born to him, it was his brother’s duty to take the wife of his dead brother and have a male child with her. The child born in that situation would be considered the heir of the deceased brother, even though biologically that was not the case. This would protect inheritance rights. It also was a way society tried to care for the widow too, as son would care for a widowed mother in her old age.







And so, this was a widely practiced custom back then among many peoples, and it would later become formally instituted as civil law for the nation of Israel, Deuteronomy 25:5-10. Deuteronomy even showed the honorable nature of this practice by how it handled a brother who refus...

Sunday School class led by Rev. W. Reid Hankins at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 04/14/2024 in Petaluma, CA. This week we discussed common questions for apologetics.