John Hagee - Joseph: God Has Caused Me To Forget
Turn with us to Genesis 41:51, as we talk today on the theme "God Has Caused Me to Forget". This is a teaching sermon. It is a concept presented by Joseph, who had two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. Their two names reflect the cornerstone doctrines of Christianity. Manasseh means God has caused me to forget. Say that with me. God has caused me to forget. Ephraim's name is God has made me fruitful. The fruitful there means financial abundance. The questions regarding Manasseh are: is it possible to totally forget a great wrong that has been done to you? Is forgetting a great wrong tied to forgiveness? If I haven't forgotten it, have I forgiven it? And if I haven't forgiven it, am I a Christian?
And I'm teaching this, because there are people who have been taught contrary to that. Questions regarding Ephraim. God has made me fruitful. He's talking about an explosion of prosperity in Egypt. How can God bring explosive prosperity to you and to your family and to your business? Believe me: God wants you to prosper more than you want to prosper. You just have to learn to play the rules by God's rules, not yours. Genesis 41:51, ready? "Joseph called the name of his firstborn Manasseh: 'for God has made me forget all my toil and all my father's house'. And the name of the second he called Ephraim: 'For God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction'".
Father God, let us today look at the Word of God and let it be a source of comfort to us and a source of deliverance for us and a source of bringing to us the unlimited prosperity that God has promised the righteous. In Jesus' name, we pray and ask these things. And all of God's children said, amen.
You may be seated. Let's consider Manasseh, God has caused me to forget. Is it possible to forget a great wrong? Did Joseph forget the day his brothers ripped off his coat of many colors and threw him into the pit? Did he forget the debate his brothers had that he overheard while he was in that pit whether to kill him or not, to sell him as a slave? The scripture records in Genesis 41:51, "God has made me to forget". Listen to the next three words. "God has made me to forget all my trouble and all my father's house". If he forgot about it, why is he writing about it? Because he still remembers it. What's the point?
Some of you have been taught or you have read, if you totally forgive someone, you will forget the offense. That's nonsense. That simply is not true. It's very important for you to hear this. Listen to me. There are people in this audience and multitudes watching whose past is filled with a special kind of pain, daughters who have been molested by a member of their family, children who were abandoned by mothers or fathers or both. You were deserted as a wife and left to struggle alone to raise your children. Your child died and you walked into the cemetery and placed your child into the yawning mouth of the grave. And you have been bitter with God ever since, for taking your child.
In your life, there is one day, one moment in time, one black page in your life story, if you could rip that page out, your life would be wonderful. It would be beautiful. It would be perfect. But that one moment in time has soiled the memory of your life. How can I rip that page out? That's what I'm talking to you about right now. First, be willing to forgive, not forget. Be willing to forgive, because forgiveness is, first, an act of your will. If you wait until you feel like forgiving, you will never do it. You have to be willing to forgive. It's not a feeling. Forgiveness is a choice. It's an act of your will. Question: do you prefer the peace of God or the bitterness of the past? I know people who love to tell those stories of how they were wronged, and one day they're going to really rip their head out. Pour soul, you're the prisoner. You're in the prison those other people have created. And you've let that happen to you.
Peace is better than bitterness. Joy is better than anger. Love is better than hate. You're not really living until you've forgiven somebody. Joseph totally forgave his brothers. He gathered them in a room, the ones that had betrayed him, the ones that sold him, the ones that hurt him, and he kissed them. Think about that. I mean, it's mind boggling. You must totally forgive the person or persons that hurt you. Release them! And the moment you release them, you are the one that walks out of prison! In your mind, you're saying, "It's not fair. They won't get caught. They're going to get away with this. They'll never be found out. No one will ever know". Wrong. God saw it. Heaven's angels wrote it down. Judgment Day is coming, and they will pay! They will pay for all eternity what they've done to you.
God is trying to liberate you from their control of you by your willingness to forgive. Forgiveness is not excusing what they did. Listen to this. Forgiveness demands a change. To grant forgiveness of sin without a change in conduct is to make the grace of God an accomplice to evil. God's grace grants you the time to get forgiveness, but it's not a license to keep on sinning. "He who forsakes his sin shall have mercy with the Lord". Go back to the New Testament. Jesus, the woman caught in the act of adultery, they lived under the law of Moses. That woman, according to the law of Moses, should have been stoned right there. Jesus forgave the woman, and listen to these words. "I forgive you, but go and sin no more".
I want you to change. You must change. Forgiveness is not pardoning what they did. A pardon is a legal transaction that releases an offender from the consequence of their sin. In the Bible, every rapist, every child abuser, every sex trafficker is going to pay in the Day of Judgment. Every wife beater, every murderer, all of these people running around right now that are destroying other people, there's going to come a day that they look God Almighty in the eye, and God Almighty is going to place on them a judgment that will just absolutely boggle your mind. Don't let the bitterness of what's happened to you control your happiness. Every person in this nation, who commits murder now, is going to be condemned to the lake of fire forever and forever and forever.
Can they be saved? Absolutely, they can be saved. But those of you who think you're getting by with all this, all this madness we're watching on television, there's a great Judgment Day coming. There's a great Judgment Day coming, and you're going to pay over and over and over for all eternity. Forgiveness is not reconciliation. Forgiveness and reconciliation are not the same. Reconciliation requires the participation of two people. The person you forgive may not want to see you, may not want to talk to you, but who cares? You can forgive them so that you are free from them. If you don't do that, you are in a prison they create, and you give them the lock to the front door. Forgiveness is not forgetting. Joseph didn't forget and you won't forget. You can break the bondage of the past. You can live with peace and not swim in the sewer of bitterness, hate and revenge all of your life.
Jesus is our example on the cross, crucified by the very human beings he created. The Creator was being murdered by the created. From head to foot, he is bleeding. His response, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do". He forgave those who murdered him while they were doing it. Today, I want you to experience Manasseh, God has made me forget. Now let's meet Joseph's second son, Ephraim, God has caused me to be fruitful. Can say it another way, God has caused me to have financial abundance. Joseph is referring to wealth, success and abundance in Egypt.
Joseph wrote this book in the midst of seven years when grain was flowing into the country at his direction. "Joseph had stored up high quantities of grain. Like the sand of the sea". Hear that phrase? There was so much of it: they actually stopped keeping records of it because it was beyond the capacity of the Egyptian government to keep a record of that much grain. I think Christians, many Christians, have a poverty complex: Jesus is poor, I'm poor, I'm like Jesus. Well, let me help you with that. Jesus wasn't poor. When he was born, kings, groups of kings, brought him chests of gold and silver and precious ointments. He had a house. Jesus owned the world. He was a long way from broke. Hmmm.
"I will open the windows of heaven," the Bible says, "And I will bless you with blessings that you cannot contain". What did Joseph do to bring record-shattering prosperity to Egypt? What can you learn from Joseph that will bring shattering prosperity to your life? Joseph knew it's God's will for his children to prosper. God had told his grandfather, Abraham, "I will bless you... And I will make you a blessing". "Abraham," the Bible says, "Was very rich". Hear that? He was very rich in cattle, in gold and silver. Those are still pretty good investments to have.
Joshua 1:8, "This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth... For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall have great success". "Do not lay up treasures for yourself on earth... But lay up treasures for yourself in heaven, where neither moths, nor rust, nor thieves break in and steal". Why? Because in the Kingdom of God, what you give to God, you're going to meet again on the other side. The day is going to come when all you will have is what you sent to put in the hands of God for eternity. You'll not take it with you. I have done hundreds of funerals. I have buried some very rich people. You know how much of it they leave? All of it. All of it. When you get on the other side, you're going to get to see what you gave to the Lord. The only investment you will ever see again is that.
God has said to you, "Beloved, I wish above all things", listen to that, "I wish above all things that you prosper and be in good health even as your soul prospers". Look at what Joseph did to bring economic prosperity to Egypt. Genesis 47:23: and Joseph said to the people, "Look, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land". All prosperity in the Bible comes from the seed source. Every farmer knows if you don't plant seed, you don't have a harvest. Spiritual prosperity comes from seed. Genesis 3:15, "The seed of the woman", that would be Jesus, the woman would be Mary, "Shall crush the head of the serpent". That would be Satan. The Holy Spirit planted seed in Mary's womb, and Satan's kingdom was defeated that day. Consider the financial realm. Joseph told every Egyptian, "Plant your seed". Say that with me. "Plant your seed".
I want you to listen to this. This boy, Joseph, rules the world, and he has this financial plan for the universe that God gave him. We would call it a flat tax. He says, "Pharaoh gets 20%, and you who planted the seed, get 80%". How many of you would love to have a flat tax in America where you paid 20% and you got to keep 80% of what you made? Think about that. Jesus, who is your Joseph, told us in Luke 6:38, "Give," plant your seed, "And it shall be given to you". The Egyptians did that and they were pagans. Every opportunity you have to give, which means to plant, is actually an opportunity to increase your income. When the offering plate comes by, it's planting time. You can plant it. God brings the 30, 60, hundredfold return.
The Bible says, "Give, and it shall be given unto you: pressed down, shaken together, and running over". "Whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap". If you plant apple seeds, you get apples. If you plant peach seeds, you get peach trees. If you plant finances, you receive finances. The "It" is the reproduction of the seed that you give. If you want love, give love. If you plant hate, you'll receive hate. You sow wild oats, you reap wild oats. And when you reap those wild oats, you can't go home and pray for crop failure. They come up too. Joseph expected a harvest sufficient to feed Egypt and the world for 14 years. The people ask, "Well pastor, you mean that if I give to the Lord, I should expect a gain"? Absolutely. Absolutely. That's God's promise.
Matthew 13:3, "Behold, a sower went out to sow". "The seed fell on good ground... Some brought forth fruit, some a hundred told, some sixty, some thirty". But in all of that, it simply says the increase is going to come. Look at Joseph's gain in Genesis 41:49. Joseph had stored up high quantities of grain. It was like the sand of the sea. He bought all of Egypt and the surrounding countries with grain. People say, "Well pastor, I'm so financial behind: I'll never catch up". Wrong! 2 Corinthians, Paul writes, chapter 9, "God is able to make it up to you by giving you everything you need and more so that there will not only be enough for your needs", listen, "But plenty left over to give, to joyfully give to others". He can give back to you what the enemy has stolen. He can give back what you lost in bankruptcy. He can give back what you lost in the business venture, give back what you lost when you were unemployed.
Your only hope of catching up is to be planting seed in the Kingdom of God, expecting God's miracle multiplication. There will be plenty left over, so much left over that you can give joyfully to others. God is no respecter of persons. If it worked for Joseph, it'll work for you. It will work for me. I assure you I have lived this book. It works! Joseph to the Egyptians, he said, "Here's the seed. You go plant it. You'll have something to eat". Plant your seed before God can meet your need. Without seedtime, it is impossible to have a harvest. If you give nothing, you receive nothing. God can increase what you give a hundredfold, but nothing times nothing equals nothing. Isn't that wonderful math? When what you have in your hand is not enough to meet your need, it's your seed. You give your way out of a jam.
And people say, "Well I really have nothing to give". Not according to the Bible. 2 Corinthians 9:10, God says, "God who gives seed to farmers to plant will give you more and more seed to plant, and will make it grow so that you can give away more and more fruit from your harvest". If your intention is to give it, God says, I'm going to get it to you. God doesn't have trouble getting the money to you. He has trouble getting it through you. Genesis 47 said, "And it shall come to pass in the harvest that you shall give one-fifth to Pharaoh". That's 20%, and 80% to the people. The nation said to Joseph, "You have saved our lives".
Remember that these people were pagans. Christ has saved your life. He has saved my life. He has given to you everlasting life. Question: are you giving God what's right or what's left? Joseph built the storehouses of Egypt. Joseph controlled the storehouses of Egypt. Joseph controlled the wealth of the world. Genesis 41 says, "Pharaoh said to all of the Egyptians, 'go to Joseph. Whatever he says, you do it'". And Joseph opened the storehouse and there was no grain without Joseph. Joseph here is the type of Christ, who is God. He controls this world. He controls your wealth. He controls your health, all of it. The day will come when all you will have is what you have given to God. That's why he says, "Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven," because you're going see them again some day.
Joseph saved Egypt. Genesis 41:57, "So all the countries came to Joseph to Egypt to buy grain, because the famine was severe in all of the world". God gives you wealth, not to horde it, but to bless other people. You're not God's banker. You are God's pipeline. And when you start giving it to other people, you will be shocked at how God comes to you and begins to trust you with more and with more and with more. James 4:3 says, "You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your own pleasure".
Boy. The scene from "Schindler's List," how many of you've seen that movie? Schindler was a German industrialist who worked during the second world war, making, allegedly, pots and pans for the Nazis. But he also used his wealth to purchase the lives of Jews from their German captors. He saved approximately a thousand Jewish people. But on the last day when the war was ending, and he knew that he was going to be considered a war criminal, standing surrounded by the people he had saved, he looked at his gold ring and he wept. And he said, "I could have given this ring and saved five more lives". He looked at his luxury car, and said, "That would have saved a hundred more lives".
Some day, we're going to stand in eternity and we're going to see the opportunities that we had if we had just stepped out in faith and made it happen. When you're doing something spiritual that's for the Kingdom of God, think big, because God is your banker and he will back you to the hilt. I can tell you that from experience. I have taken steps as a pastor that people said, "You have lost your mind". And God came through like we had all the money in the world. We were never late on any payment at any time, because when you're doing it for the God of God, God will supply the need.
And then lastly, you place the seed into anointed hands. Pharaoh said, "Take the harvest to Joseph". Say that with me. "Take the harvest to Joseph". What you have in your hand never looks big enough to reach your goal. When you want what you've never done, you need to plant your seed. And when what you have in your hand is not enough to meet that need, you plant your seed, and the harvest will come. God is looking for a way to bless you. All you have to do is to obey his word. Can we stand to our feet?
Our most gracious Heavenly Father, there are people in this room that have been wounded in their life with things that are so bitter that they need to be liberated today by the power of forgiveness.