Genesis 37 - Joseph Looks A Lot Like Jesus - 2009 - Skip Heitzig

[Music] turn in your Bibles to Genesis chapter 37 we are not covering chapter 37 as a whole unit but simply some select verses from it tonight and I'll tell you why as we go through it but let's just pause for a moment and thank the Lord for His goodness to us individually father you've been so good to us in our families this week some of those blessings Lord some of those gifts are yet unseen by us they have been covered up they have been couched in pain and suffering for some but a gift nonetheless I think back to Paul the Apostle who talked about his thorn in the flesh as a gift when he said a thorn was given to me and so Lord what you allow or what you prescribe for us is indeed the very best thing for us but father you're faithful you're good and you brought us back Lord to the very beginning foundations the cross the shed blood the broken body of our Lord Jesus Christ you told us to do often this enactment and when we do it often to remember you remember who you are remember what you have done for us and what you are doing now in US and through us and Jesus name Amen one of our pastors on staff Ken Riley was visiting his dad in Las Vegas this week and he sent me a picture of his dad sitting on an old harley-davidson I showed it to my wife and my son because they had to do a double take when they saw Kenny's dad it looked well in the small picture it looked just like Kenny because it was the same cut of features and face and style of hair but of course older than Kenny I'm not saying Kenny looks as old as his dad but I I knew I was looking at at Ken Riley 30 years from now he just resembles so much his pops now this week I was with my son out at a golf course just shooting a bucket of balls and somebody next to me on that driving range said to me Todd Todd is that you well and it wasn't Todd it was me so I looked up but I said no I'm sorry I'm not Todd he goes oh you look like Todd whoever Todd was or is but you've all had that happen where somebody said you look like or you remind me of someone somebody else or I mistook you for somebody else that is the impression we get as we move into chapter 37 all the way through chapter 50 as we're reading the story of Joseph he reminds us of somebody else and it's not Abraham and it's not Isaac and it's not his dad Jacob when we read about Joseph he reminds us of Jesus very very similar to Christ as I'll point out a few of those things in just a moment in chapter 37 we are moving into the final division of the book of Genesis the next 14 chapters including this one is that final division and the central focus of attention is on one person and that one person is Joseph it's quite remarkable that 14 chapters of the first book of the Bible are devoted to one single unique personality think about it this way there's more space devoted to Joseph then there is to Abraham then there is to Jacob then there is to Isaac or any other person that we find 14 chapters if you were to compare these 14 chapters with the first eleven chapters and if you remember Genesis 1 through 11 they're significant chapters they're chapters of origin we would call them the story of creation story of the fall of man the stories of Noah and his family story of the great worldwide flood the post diluvian era the table of Nations in chapter 10 the Tower of Babel in chapter 11 all of those incredible stories put together don't even match the real estate given to one single person now what is Joseph like in a word I'll give you one word he's different I know the saying like father like son but in this case it doesn't work because as you look at Joseph he is almost flawless did you know there's not one bad evil malicious wrong thing said of Joseph in all of the Bible as a human being he's nearly flawless he's different from his dad he is what the Bible would call pure in heart not like dad who was manipulative and conniving of heart Joseph was pure of heart many commentators researchers and looking at the life of Joseph have come up with many ways in which Joseph is like Jesus some have countered over a hundred different ways time prevents us from doing that tonight others have counted fifty time prevents us from doing that tonight but I want to show you a few ways in which Jesus Christ in chapter 37 and out of chapter 37 is like Christ now we have been for 27 weeks going through the book of Genesis 27 weeks this is I think week 28 or something like that and we have gone in depth this is not the Bible from 30,000 feet this is the Bible from 3 feet we're driving through Genesis and taking frequent stops and side trips to see what's down the alleys but now that we come to chapter 37 and now that it is communion night and we'd like to do this once a month I thought it was more appropriate to give you more of a devotional and a summary of Joseph's life rather than a verse by verse through the entire chapter chapter 37 so that next time we can go through it in our normal way and from a different angle well let me give you a few ways in which Joseph looks a lot like Jesus number one Joseph was uniquely loved by his father that's the first thing we learn about him when his story unfolds in chapter 37 now Jacob dwelt in the land where his father was a stranger in the land of Canaan this is the history of Jacob Joseph being 17 years old was feeding the flock with his brothers and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah his father's wives and Joseph brought a bad report of them to his father now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children because he was the son of his old age and he made him a tunic of many colors so the first thing we're told is about the relationship between dad and son is the unique love that his father had for his son he made him a tunic a tunic of many colors was thought to be a coat or a distinguishing piece of garment that honored him or gave him authority when Jesus first arrives on the scene at the Jordan River to be baptized by John the Baptist a voice comes from heaven from the father remember what it said this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased and if indeed this tunic was a symbol of authority well again that reminds us of Jesus who in Matthew 28 said all authority is given to me in heaven and on earth some and I'm not quite sure I didn't do enough digging in the sources but some believe that the translation of this tunic of many colors could be best rendered seamless rather than variegated or many colors seamless and when I read that I thought exactly of what John said when Jesus was crucified and they were auctioning off or throwing dice gambling for his robe his tunic which was called a robe without seams sewn from top to bottom in one piece at any rate that's the first mark Joseph was uniquely loved by his father here's the second way Joseph looks like Jesus Joseph was maliciously hated by his brothers that follows with this unique love in Chapter 37 again verse 4 but when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him he was hated and the hatred grows through the chapter until the inevitable happens as he is sold into slavery and a lie goes back to his dad about how he was killed out in the field well that also is a lot like Jesus he was hated he came into his own his own did not receive him the Bible says when Jesus would speak that the common people heard him gladly they loved hearing him he made sense to them he was so different than the normal religious leaders who spoke in sanctuary tones and very condemning manner Jesus was a breath of fresh air because they saw that the common people were hearing Jesus gladly that fomented a sort of envy and jealousy from the religious leaders toward Jesus and that grew and that grew and that grew until when Jesus stands before the Sanhedrin at his trial they have to bring in false witnesses to make up things about him lies about him and when Barabbas was offered to the crowd so that Jesus could be let go they said about Jesus crucify him crucify him he was hated so uniquely loved by his father Joseph was maliciously hated by his brother number three he was unjustly sold for twenty pieces of silver Joseph was if you go over to verse 28 chapter 37 Oh we'll begin a few verses back verse 26 so Judah said to his brothers what profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood come let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and let not our hand be upon him for he is our brother and our flesh like like they're being nice and his brothers listened then the Midianite traders pass by so the brothers pulled Joseph up lifted him out of the pit and sold him to the Ishmaelites for 20 shekels of silver and they took Joseph to Egypt when Jesus was on the earth there were lots of people around him as his Ministry of three and a half years went on and on it was very controversial but nonetheless he commanded great crowds of people who were very interested in him as we have seen on Sunday morning in John chapter 6 because of his miracles but though he was surrounded by lots of people the closest to him were his disciples just like for Joseph the closest to him were his own brothers now there were 12 of these boys 13 if you count Benjamin so imagine having 12 brothers around you Jesus had 12 of his brothers his disciples around him those closest to him many times didn't understand and one of those who were closest to him Judas sold Jesus into the hands of the Romans for 30 pieces of silver it's very similar this is 20 shekels with Jesus it says 30 pieces uniquely loved by his father hated by his brothers sold for 20 pieces of silver number 4 he was accused falsely accused for crimes he did not commit Joseph didn't do what he was accused of as we go on later on in our story in chapter 39 he's taken to Egypt he's in Potiphar's house I'm fast-forwarding the story he becomes one of the servants of mr. Potiphar one of the princes of Egypt he's away at the office almost every day his wife mrs. Potiphar was a very lonely desperate housewife Joseph was a young handsome single man and you know the story already how mrs. Potiphar came on to Joseph come on Joey baby nobody's looking you and I man come on and you may remember the Joseph said with integrity look at nobody physically humanly might be looking but God is looking how could I do this wickedness and sin against God at that point she screams she cries out and she accuses Joseph of being a rapist a false accusation which lands him a stay in the Egyptian prison very similar to Jesus falsely accused for crimes he did not commit and once again as I mentioned before the Sanhedrin they had to come up with false witnesses to bring in false accusations and you know what they said about him they said this man perverts the nation they said that about Jesus this man perverts the nation and forbids people to pay taxes to Caesar they said that because Jesus said render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's but render unto God the things that are gods false accusations number four accused falsely number five Joseph was providentially placed next to two other criminals chapter 40 when he's put in prison it says that there were two other men a chief Butler of Egypt and the chief Baker who were placed in the same cell next to Joseph to criminals next to Joseph during his confinement now that rings a bell that brings us to the cross where as Isaiah predicted and as the Gospels declare Jesus was crucified between two criminals one on the right the Bible says and one on the left Luke chapter 23 it's also interesting that when Joseph was in prison one of those other prisoners was set free and exalted and the other one was killed I find that fascinating because the two that were next to Jesus one on the right and one on the left one mock Jesus blaspheme Jesus and died in his sin eternally separated from God the other humbly cried out Lord remember me when you come into your kingdom and Jesus said assuredly I say to you today you will be with me in paradise spiritually one died spiritually one lived there's a sixth way in which Joseph looks like Jesus Joseph was seemingly dead to his father before he appears alive sometime later in chapter 37 if you go down to verse 32 it says they sent the tunic now they took Joseph's favored status clothing dipped it in animal's blood said it was Joseph's blood and they brought it to their father and I said we found this liars do you know whether it is your son's tunic or not leading question and he recognized it and said it is my son's tunic a wild beast has devoured him without doubt Joseph is torn in pieces then Jacob tore his clothes put sackcloth on his waist and mourned for his son many days for years his father thought he was dead until chapter 45 when the boys come back from Egypt needing to get grain Joseph reveals himself to them because go tell my father I'm alive well they have to because they won't be able to get their son Benjamin back unless they do it so they come clean with dad and they say your son Joseph lives the Bible says when Jacob heard that his heart Stood Still it's like ah he couldn't believe it that which was dead is now alive how could that possibly be and it was uncovered how it could be but Joseph was dead to his father for a period of time and then revealed to be alive as Jesus died on the cross was buried rose from the dead Peter in Acts chapter 3 says to the people gathered in Jerusalem you killed the Prince of life but God raised him up from the dead the seventh way in which Joseph is like Jesus or looks like Jesus is that Joseph rightfully was in charge of everything as the story in Genesis unfolds he becomes the prime minister of Egypt and he's in charge of everything he pulls the strings effectively he works in proxy for the king of Egypt himself he rightfully is in charge of everything now there's a hint of this if you go back to chapter 37 toward the beginning in verse five it says Joseph had a dream and again we'll cover this more in depth later and he told it to his brothers and they hated him even more so he said to them please hear this dream which I have dreamed there we were binding sheaves in the field then behold my sheaf arose also and stood upright indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf of course they wouldn't like to hear that dream but that was prophetic of what would happen he would become in charge effectively rightfully he became in charge of everything and everyone if anybody in Egypt wanted to eat food or get grain the one who is in charge of doling out the percentage of grain was Joseph in charge of everything jesus said the father has committed everything into the hands of the Sun Jesus is rightfully in charge of everyone and everything as well and as we have been studying Jesus said I am the bread of life whoever comes to me will never hunger whoever believes in Me will never thirst Joseph looks a lot like Jesus number eight and finally I'll close with number eight since it tends to be the number of new beginnings and it's probably enough time said and spent is that with Joseph everyone humbly bow down to him everyone humbly bowed down to Joseph as the story goes on in chapter 37 of these dreams that he tells his brothers in verse 9 it says he dreamed still another dream and he told it to his brothers now you'd think he'd get a clue by this time and he said look I've dreamed another dream and this time the Sun the moon and the Eleven stars bow down to me not just your sheaves but twelve plus two now what his father gets the point and will interpret the dream so he told it to his father and his brothers and his father rebuked him and said what is this dream that you have dreamed shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you well that's exactly what happened in chapter 42 and here's the text it says Joseph's brothers when they saw the prime minister of Egypt not knowing it was Joseph bowed down to the ground with their face to the ground before Joseph in Chapter 47 and 48 when Jacob sees him he boughs down his face down to the ground same language so your brothers and I bow down uh-huh all y'all are gonna bow down that's why I say Joseph looks a lot like Jesus Philippians 2:10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father so Joseph looks a lot like Jesus now why are we going through this and why do we actually discover this I've only covered eight of the very many ways in which Joseph looks a lot like Jesus simply to show you what you find a lot in the scripture and that is the evidence of the fingerprints so to speak of the holy spirit in the Holy Writ in the scripture itself in the superintending of the writing of the text so that we have the very words of God given to us the whole Bible is filled with Jesus the whole Bible that's why we study the Old Testament I've been asked why do you study the Old Testament and the New Testament why don't you just study the New Testament well because Jesus said to those religious leaders of his day search the Scriptures for in them you think that you have eternal life but these are they which testify of me but even Genesis even Leviticus and Exodus and numbers and Deuteronomy the Torah the works of Moses oh yes because you see after Jesus rose from the dead and he was walking along the Emmaus road and there were those two disciples who were despondent and they said man we can't believe what's happened this Jesus guy whom we believed died and he spoke something about a resurrection I don't really know what that's about and Jesus said Oh slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken odd not Christ to have suffered and entered into his glory now listen to this it says and beginning at Moses and all the prophets he expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself he went back to Genesis he took the writings of Moses in the prophets and he showed how one typifies him and another predicts him and this one was symbolic of him wouldn't you have loved to be in on that Bible study if ever there was a time I wish somebody would have recorded that or put it on CD or tape or even reel-to-reel it was that prophetic Bible study post resurrection of Christ and those on the way to Emmaus Joseph looks a lot like Jesus here's the follow-up question how much do you look like Jesus is there a family resemblance can people tell that you're a child of God all my son's life he's heard you look like your dad but if somebody could say you know what I see enough of God in you that you remind me of the Heavenly Father or you remind me of Jesus what a compliment how much do we look like him how much of Jesus values do we share I think one of the things that tethers us to those values is what we're doing tonight and what we do once a month taking the Lord's Supper it's the foundation it's the rudimentary foundation of our faith his broken body his shed blood did it all one of the things that Jesus said about himself is I am the light of the world I am the light of the world but he said something else he said you are the light of the world as long as I am in the world I am the light of the world but he said to his disciples you are the light of the world how much do you reflect his light when you have a full moon you get a good idea of how bright the Sun shines on the moon and reflects that's just a reflection it's not the moon's light the moon just reflects the sunlight and comes down to us quarter million miles away at 186,000 miles per second you're seeing the glory of the Sun reflected in the moon can people see the glory of the risen Christ reflected in us now I'm at the communion table you notice something burning with wax dripping all over it it's something special and I wanted to display it tonight it's a menorah it was purchased I bought it in Jerusalem from an antiquities dealer in Jerusalem I actually saw two years ago and I said well I'll think about it and I gave him business card and he taped it to it and when I was in his store a couple months back two years after that time my card was still attached to that menorah so I thought okay I should just pick it up and not doddle anymore so I purchased it but it's a special menorah for a couple of reasons number one is the shape the shape of this menorah is probably almost exactly what the shape of the menorah in the temple was like that was destroyed in 70 AD much smaller scale and of course this being brass as opposed to gold but the same shape and the reason I say that is because the only known accurate relief or depiction we have of the menorah of the temple at Jesus time is found in Rome on a relief of what's called the arch of Titus a triumphal arch after Titus sacked Jerusalem and brought back some of the remnants of the temple and shown on there are they are they're carrying with them the menorah and it's shaped with the three steps and the dimensions are identical to this one it is a symbol of the modern state of israel but it was a symbol in the tabernacle and in the temple of the presence of God there was only one source of light in the tabernacle in the temple and that was the menorah and no doubt their minds went to that when Jesus said I am the light of the world they would have thought of the light in the most holy place but also it's special because it's an antique menorah this wasn't made just within a couple of years this was made over a hundred or two hundred years ago it's from a synagogue in a very special Galilean town called spot spot or transliterated into English Safed Safed besides having a lot of other interesting things attached to that Safed was the city at the time of Jesus that could be seen from anywhere around the ring of the shores of Galilee and on the lake because it was a city set upon a hill and Jesus pointed to that city and said a city that his son upon a hill cannot be hidden neither do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel but they put it up to give light to all that are in the house let your light shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven there were no other cities that were set upon a hill and that still are in that Galilean region like spot that ancient town so Jesus was probably referring to that town and that is where the menorah came from and when I found out his history I thought that's so significant it's such a great living illustration of what the Lord wants us to be reflectors of his glory of his light wherever we go wherever we work whatever family system you're in whatever story you shop in whatever school you go to whatever neighborhood you live in turn on the light from time to time let people know the glory of the Living Christ as we pray I'm gonna ask the communion board to come forward our Father in Heaven we are grateful we're grateful for the salvation that comes by grace through faith grace grac II God's remedy at Christ's expense grace unmerited favor grace undeserved goodness to the very worst of sinners by the very best being in the universe we thank you for salvation that it's by grace it's not by our works it's not by our feeling it's not by doing wonderful deeds it's by your grace and Paul said it's in this grace that we stand and it's a very confident stand because it is by your work it will never wane it will never diminish it remains constant lord I pray that we will respond to your grace and our response would be a wholehearted commitment to seeing the life of Christ so transform us that when people say it see us they would say you've remind me a lot of Jesus you remind me a lot of God you must be a part of that family you must be one of his kids Lord do a deep work in us where as Jesus the light of the world shines in us that we would simply reflect it we don't have to come up with any source of our own we don't have to come up or manufacture any great nasur goodness just let your light shine through us help us to do that or as we take these elements were also reminded that it goes far before the New Testament as Jesus himself was fulfilling the law and the prophets that's what he said he came to do not to destroy but to fulfill and on that night that Passover night that Pesach evening when the lamb was slain typifying Christ who would be slain as the disciples gathered together Jesus gave a whole new meaning to sacrifice to atonement and to love we thank you that we have seen in Joseph a prefiguring of Christ may that also be true of us in Jesus name Amen we're gonna pass the elements out to everyone as we sing we're gonna worship fill this place with song we're gonna pass the bread and the juice out to every one here I don't know your spiritual state now I want you to listen carefully it doesn't matter tonight if you're a weak Christian or a strong Christian it doesn't matter tonight if you're a victorious Christian or a failing Christian what matters is if you're a Christian and if you're a Christian you're in Christ you're in Christ Jesus and the Bible says we're not to take the elements of the Lord's Supper unworthily that is in an unworthy manner in a manner that is unworthy of the very one we celebrate and the work that he has done so we're not to take it frivolously we're not to take it mockingly we're not to take it ceremonially were to take it devoutly and sincerely honestly and truthfully it does not mean that if you had a bad week if you struggled with something and you fell that I'm not worthy I don't feel worthy that I better not take communion that's not what the Bible says in fact that would be wrong in your thinking and in your practice if you're a Christian tonight if you've received Christ as your Savior you take these elements with the conviction that is a child of God you can come into his throne boldly and receive grace to help in time of need anytime if you're not a Christian what do I mean if you have never personally authentically by faith made Jesus Christ your savior your Lord if you've just said well I've got a church and I sort of have this belief but I've never really I haven't like been born-again or anything or I haven't like gone like overboard and then you should just let the elements pass you by and don't take them or you should go overboard in your supposed words you should wholeheartedly receive the Savior if tonight right even right now if you have any kind any modicum at all of conviction or belief that Jesus is who he said he was in the scripture and you want to give your life to him and ask him to forgive you of your sin you can do it right now and then take communion with the rest of us let's just all bow our heads for a minute if you're in need of Christ tonight if you've never received Jesus Christ personally as your savior you could open up your heart to him right now Jesus is God the Son who came out of heaven to earth he came with a distinct purpose of dying on a cross in order to pay the debt that you and I could never pay so he lived the perfect life we could never live and he died the death in our place so that we could have life if we believed in him if you've never come to that place of authentic faith and you want to come to it right now then you can pray right where you're seated right in your heart you can say lord I know I am a sinner I've sinned I admit that please forgive me moreover I believe Jesus Christ died on the cross that he shed his blood for my sins and he rose again from the dead for me I ask your forgiveness I turn from my sin I leave it behind I leave my past behind and I receive you as my savior and as my Lord and I ask that you'd fill me with your Holy Spirit as I come to Christ enabling me to live the life that is pleasing to you and to walk in victory as your disciple in Jesus name Amen we're gonna pass the elements out we ask you to take them take one of the pieces of bread take the cup and hold on to it and then we'll all partake of it together think for just a moment about those very things we just talked about how Joseph pictured foretold Christ he was uniquely loved by his father he was desperately hated by his brothers unjustly sold for twenty pieces of silver falsely accused for crimes he did not commit providentially placed next to two other criminals seemingly dead for a period of time and then shown to be alive rightfully in charge of everything and ultimately all men would humbly bow before him as we take these elements as we consider them tonight consider the idea of leaving here tonight and having the Lord works so much on our lives to the extent that our prime focus in life becomes looking more like Jesus not going out to buy a robe or sandals or a staff but in character to resemble Christ as Paul said that his goal was that the character of Christ be fully formed in us the night Jesus was betrayed and he took Passover bread and Passover wine and He blessed him we're holding just fragments just elements of the original Passover meal the Bible tells us that Jesus not only broke the bread but he blessed it and we happen to know preserved to us through history the very blessing that Jesus would have shared with his disciples with the bread and with the wine but we have a brother with us it's been a part of our fellowship for some time avi avi first obvious short for Abraham he is Israeli comes from the Tel Aviv area I believe but when I stare Hebrew it's one thing but when he says that it's like buttah so he's gonna pray for us in Hebrew and then in English and then we're gonna take the elements consecutively I used to say these blessings for so many years growing up in Israel but when I when I became a believer in Jesus Christ in Yeshua Messiah it this these blessings really have much much deeper meanings for me so tonight when I say these blessings they really have much deeper meaning for me so I kind of say blessings over the bread bucket adonai eloheynu melech ha'olam hamotzi Lechem min Haaretz blessed are You Lord our God King of the universe who brings forth bread from the earth I mean and this is the blessing of the fruit of the vine Bukit adonai eloheynu melech ha-olam boray plea hagafen blessed are You Lord our God King of the universe who created the fruit of the vine amen

Channel: Calvary Church with Skip Heitzig

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Keywords: Calvary, Albuquerque, Skip, Heitzig, Jesus, Genesis, Sermon

Id: Sqd1jgD97as

Length: 46min 0sec (2760 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 19 2018