The Life of Joseph 01 Genesis 37:1-11 Family Problems

Genesis chapter 37 beginning now at verse 1 now Drake ad welt 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 also he made him a tunic of many colors but when his brothers saw that his father loved him more than all his brothers they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him all right I just want you to think for a moment your conception your idea of the ideal family family just in its perfection exactly how it should work here's kind of how I thought through it I mean youyou may have a slightly different view there's how I thought through it first of all you grow up in a home that has never known divorce and you marry somebody who grew up in a home that has never known divorce you both get married after you graduate college you get married young but not too young whatever that means exactly the husband and the wife each start great careers but just after the right amount of time who knows that that is the wife gets pregnant a baby comes the wife leaves puts her career on hold and she cares for the kids but it's no problem because the husband is making enough money to cover everything then you have anywhere from three to five kids they're spaced out just right whatever that means the kids grow up all healthy they go to great schools they have a loving mom and dad and the kids love one another as well you have no school drama you have no boyfriend girlfriend drama you have no medical drama you have no legal drama you have no drama drama the kids get into great universities and eventually they get married and then they bring wonderful grandkids to mom and dad who all love each other more than ever and they're positioned for a comfortable retirement I'm not gonna ask you can raise your hand if that's you but don't don't even bother I mean honestly that might be a few in this room you fit that profile and if it is god bless you we envy you I mean that's that's what we're all shooting for something like that isn't it but we gotta admit that's not many of us is it it's really not family is messed up it's affected by sin and the fall it's affected by human weakness there are very few people who fit the ideal now it doesn't mean that the ideal is meaningless it doesn't mean that the ideal shouldn't be promoted it just goes to show that most if not many fall outside of that ideal now let's talk about Joseph's family as a young man Joseph's father Jacob tried to trick his grandfather Isaac into giving him all the family fortune instead of giving it to his twin brother Esau it all fell apart and Joseph's father Jacob had to run for his life when his twin brother Esau vowed to murder him Jacob went away more than 200 miles on foot and he never saw his father and his mother again Jacob found a place with his mother's relatives but his uncle cheated him and treated him like a slave Jacob married well not only did he marry his cousin he married two of his cousins and then added two more wives the servant girls of his cousins between them all they had 12 sons and one daughter and there was constant comput Titian and strife and conflict among the children and the mothers and the different family groups of all it was one great big messed up family I'm gonna tell you what it brought forth it brought forth Joseph that's why when we read in Genesis chapter 37 verse 2 Joseph being 17 years old we are introduced to the life of one of the most remarkable men of the Bible and actually of all of literature I like what James Montgomery Bois said about him I'll just quote him right here he says of Joseph he was loved and hated favoured and abused tempted and trusted exalted and abased yet at no point in the 110 year life of Joseph did he ever seem to get his eyes off God or ceased to trust him adversity did not harden his character prosperity did not ruin him he was the same in private as he was in public he was truly a great man and it's true about Joseph he is one of the most remarkable men not only of the Bible but of all of literature in history you can put it like this if you were to take a look at Joseph and go back in the book of Genesis you could say that Enoch shows us the walk of faith Noah shows us the perseverance of faith Abraham shows us the obedience of faith Isaac shows us the power of faith Jacob shows us the discipline of faith but along these lines you could say that Joseph shows us the triumph of faith Joseph never complained he never compromised and God did a mighty work in and through him and best of all Joseph this man is a remarkably powerful and eloquent picture of our Savior Jesus Christ himself I have a list I'm not going to talk to you about it here this morning but I've got a list of I don't know 50 or 60 points which the life of Joseph parallels or illustrates the life of Jesus he's a remarkable representation of Jesus Christ all that being said look at the mess a family that Joseph grew up in look again at verse three with me it says now Israel which is jacob's other name he had both names Jacob was the name he was born with Israel was the name God gave him so sometimes the text refers to him as Jacob sometimes it refers to him Israel but it's talking about the same man verse 3 now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children well that's a recipe for family harmony right there isn't it you have 13 kids 12 boys and one girl and you pick out one as your obvious and extreme favorite and again these chapters in the book of Genesis stand out because they give us a lot of insight into what's an obviously troubled family you get the impression from the very beginning that Joseph is some kind of pampered favorite among all the family matter-of-fact to see how pampered Eze was take a look here at verse 3 where it says also he made him a tunic of many colors Jacobs favoritism to Joseph was plain for everybody in the family to see including the clothes he wore now the tunic of many colors not only was it of different colors but the idea according to many commentators is this is that not only was it different in color but the real idea behind the ancient Hebrew there was that it had long sleeves he said well so what big deal a kid has a garment with long sleeves no no in that culture if you had a garment with long sleeves it meant that you weren't dressed for work you you were dressed like in a nice suit and these were agricultural laborers in the family the guys had to get out there and deal with the crops and deal with the Sheep and deal with all that hard work if you were dressed in that kind of thing you were unsuited for the hard work that the rest of the family had to do Joseph was the supervisor leaning on his you know coffee mug well the other brothers were out doing the work they said well Joseph aren't you again he'd point to his I'm sorry man I can't I'm not dressed for work I can't do this you can imagine the love going on in the family among those brothers especially because did I mention that Joseph was almost the youngest almost the youngest he's at the bottom end of the family as far as age goes and so no wonder we read in verse 4 did you see it there they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him just notice that phrase first of all it describes their heart they hated him what's your opinion Joseph I hate that guy I hate him you know parents know how tough it is when the kids don't get along and there can be all different levels of friction among your children but when you say the children hate each other that's tough and they could not speak peaceably to him that's how it worked out every word out of their mouths to Joseph was sharp was mean was cruel and I don't know what they used in the ancient Hebrew for profanity but it was probably filled with profanity it was terrible an awful situation in the family created by the father himself the father manufactured this in the family the natural competition that there would come from having four wives all those kids favoring some out of God's plan listen this was a problem of the father's own making now throw into all of that what happens in verse five take a look here starting at verse five now Joseph had a dream 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 and also stood upright and indeed your sheaves all stood around and bowed down to my sheaf this brother said to him shall you indeed reign over us or shall you indeed have dominion over us so they hated him even more for the dreams and for his words did you see that in verse 5 Joseph had a dream and he told it to his brothers do you understand what the dream was all about these were agricultural men they dealt with crops and livestock and all that all the time so he spoke in forms that were very familiar to them so here's what he did first off is he said I see a sheaf of grain you know what that is it's like a stalk you cut down the stalks of grain and you bundle them up in a sheaf that's what his sheaf of grain and look we all had our sheaves of grain I and my 11 brothers had sheaves of grain isn't that great and then all of a sudden in the dream my sheaf is standing entirely straight up and all your sheaves are bowing down to me just as isn't that a great dream let me say a few things first of all let me talk about dreams the Bible tells us that sometimes God speaks through dreams we know I'll say it again we know a third time we know that not every dream is a message from God do you understand that I don't understand all the mechanics and all that of why we dream personally I seem to never remember a dream I have never I just they say everybody dreams well if that's the case I never remember my dreams because I wake up in the morning blank as I went to bed it's just like my wife Engle ill she dreams like crazy and she'll have the most entertaining dreams sometimes she'll be in the midst of a very entertaining dream and something will wake her up and she'll think I got to go back to sleep to see how this finishes so people are different you know that but but it's true not every dream or maybe even say that most dreams are no special message from God but it's true that it's possible that God would speak in and through a dream so what would you do if you think that a dream is somehow God's speaking to you listen all I can say is pray about it and maybe if you know somebody with good godly wisdom speak to them about it and pray with them about it and if God wants to say something in it through a dream that you had I think God will make it plain but I would say this I don't think that you should seek for God to speak to you in a dream ladies and gentlemen do you want to hear the voice of God here is the voice of God right here he has spoken in and through his word any other thing that I may feel God is speaking to me a dream and inward impression a word that comes mine which may in fact be God speaking to me on some level none of it compares to the sureness and the security I know that I know that I know that this is the voice of God and anything I think that God may be saying to me in any other way has to answer and be measured and be surrendered under this because I can be wrong about a dream or about an impression or about any number of things but this this is never wrong we get into this and we learn to understand the voice of God well that's first of all about dreams but let's talk about Joseph Joseph what are you thinking how did you think your brothers were gonna receive this hey guys hey I got a dream all of you guys are gonna bow down before me isn't that a great dream no wonder it says what does it say there in verse five they said shall you indeed reign over us you see the brothers understood perfectly the meaning of the dream one day Joseph would reign over them and have dominion over them it's also interesting that eventually when Joseph does oh I'm not spoiling thing this works out to be exactly true not only does Joseph rule over his brothers not only do they bow down before him but it's also connected with wheat it's also connected with grain and the whole picture when they do it this dream was totally from God it was unbelievable announcing of the future yet nevertheless I question whether or not Joseph was right whether or not he was correct in sharing this dream with his brothers continuing on let's take a look at the next session starting at verse 9 then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers and said look I've dreamed another dream and this time the Sun the moon and the Eleven stars bowed down to me so he told it to his father and his brothers and his father rebuked him and said what is this dream that you've dreamed shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come and bow down to the earth before you and his brothers envied him but his father kept the matter in mind let's say that Joseph was unwise in sharing the first dream maybe innocent but unwise maybe he's so stirred up by the dream they just has to tell it to somebody and it just kind of flows out of guys you got to hear this this is really important but then he notices his brothers reaction he sees the anger on their faces he sees the frustration that they display now if Joseph was unwise in saying the first dream I'll say it flat out I think he was sinning in sharing the second tree verse 9 he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers now notice this dream not only set him above his brothers but also above his mom and dad G there were 11 stars and they bowed down to me hmm what are there 11 of oh I have 11 brothers everybody understood what the dream was all about and they hated him even more you know it may be that Joseph had the kind of pride that is common in people who just seemed to be favored and blessed do you know some of those people maybe you are one of them I mean for whatever reason just things have really gone your way I'm not trying to say that you haven't worked hard not trying to say that you haven't put yourself into it but you know what man basically things have gone your way you think wow things are going great for me but sometimes going along with being favored and blessed is a particular kind of pride the pride kind of results in this is you get so focused on how great your dreams are for you that you don't begin to think how it sounds in the ears of other people okay Joseph congratulations you're gonna be exalted but did you think for a moment that what you're telling your brothers is that they're gonna be abased before you what should doeseth have done I'll tell you what he should have done is he should have just kept quiet about it do you understand that you don't need to talk about everything God shows you boy what a revelation that is in a social media age you know where we think everybody has to see what we're having for lunch how much more do they need to hear every single word that we feel that God speaks to us or dream or whatever you want to say that he gives to us you know what there are certain things that God shares with his people that he wants them to treasure in their own heart before him sometimes those are the most precious things sometimes those are the most valued things you don't have to blab about everything but Joseph felt that he had to you see at this point we could say that Joseph is a contrast to Jesus we're not going to see many points on the life of Joseph where he's a contrast to Jesus but this is one of them because if there's anything true about the nature of Jesus Christ our Savior is that Jesus is and others centered person do you get that idea you can either be self-centered or you can be others centered the most others centered person to ever walk this earth was Jesus himself Joseph at least at this point in the story seems to be fairly self focused he's so focused on how wonderful the dream is for him that he's not thinking about what it sounds like to other people leisa Jen do you understand God wants to work in our lives to make us truly others centered people not self-centered others centered I got a see I see God doing that in our congregation I look at the kind generous giving hearts of you all our Calvary chapel's Santa Barbara family it's beautiful you know I think about it a lot around Christmas time Christmas time you know we're asking you hey we're doing Angel Tree hey we're doing a Operation Christmas Child hey we're doing something for Franklin school and getting things for the classrooms there listen you guys just you respond so powerfully so beautifully it's a great display of being other-centered instead of self-centered I think this is something that is good in our congregation but is there anybody who would say it's enough is there anybody would say no Lord we want you to keep working who would not say Lord keep working in my life keep working among us make us more and more others Center matter of fact this was so obvious that look at what Jacob says in verse 10 he says shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you at this point even Joseph's father Jacob was a bit offended he couldn't understand how Joseph could be exalted higher than his own father and mother now looking at the big picture of these first 11 verses of Genesis chapter 37 don't you see that this is a messed up family we we agree on it don't we Jacob's messed up oh man his wives they got their own problems all those twelve boys and the one daughter this is a messed up difficult problem dysfunctional family yet nevertheless God would use Joseph to save the world and he would use this family to bring salvation to the entire world listen you and I know the truth families are messed up and they're complicated what do you got you got broken families you got blended families you got childless families you got tragic families you got crisis families and add to all of that the fact that many people are single today and they deal with sometimes the benefits of not being married and sometimes the sorrows of not being married matter fact isn't this at least in our society as a whole and our culture as a whole one of the big rising phenomenons more and more people are single and into later in later age that's just one of the phenomenons of modern society friends are we gonna say well I'm sorry that's not in God's ideal you're off to the side are you kidding me first of all it's not true but secondly it neglects the great way that God works in in through all kinds of family circumstances and so we see what God is doing in the midst of this God's word to everyone is this your messed-up family whether that's in the past whether it's in the present whether it's in the future it does not mean that God has forsaken you it does not mean that there's some cloud over your life that means it'll never pass and you'll always be in it God works in and through difficult and messed-up families matter of fact you want to know how true this is how powerful this is in my own estimation wouldn't you say that Jesus came from a difficult family circumstance have you ever thought about that think about the life of Jesus well first of all unexpectedly and under strange circumstances mom became pregnant well before the wedding that's always awkward especially in a culture where there was at least officially a death penalty for that kind of behavior it was rarely carried out but at least it was on the books so mom and dad were quickly married before the announced wedding date things didn't seem right with Joseph's side of the family down in Bethlehem the fact that they were down there and not down there that it there there seems to be a reason and perhaps there was a difficult family circumstances with Joseph's side of the family when Jesus was just a young child they had to escape as refugees fleeing for their lives and they went to Egypt to find refuge from murderers Herod they made a home back in Nazareth and in Nazareth was the place where everyone knew about the strange pregnancy and the shotgun wedding Jesus never got married Jenny said that was a bit of a scandal back then do you understand that in Jewish culture of that day if you weren't married by you by the time you were 20 they had suspicions about your godliness and yet Jesus says no I don't care about that that's not gonna bother me for Jesus to be thirty years old entering in on his great marriage his great ministry and to be unmarried that was quite a controversial thing back then so Jesus himself is unmarried that was unusual maybe even scandalous for a 30 year old rabbi we don't know what happens to Joseph mom seems a little bit pushy in the records of the gospel Jesus's own brothers did not believe in him and they called him crazy in the Gospel of John Jesus actually said that being in God's family was more important to him than his own biological family and when Jesus died on the cross what did he do he put his mom into the care of one of his disciples not even his own brothers Britta's ah I don't want to exaggerate it but we got to be honest Jesus himself came from a difficult and complicated family situation and this is the funny thing about it in the plan of God it could have been otherwise could not God the Father have ordained that it all happened just according to every cultural and biblical expectation with Jesus family but God chose that it would not you know one of the reasons I believe that so is so that we could know that Jesus identifies with us in our difficult family situation so that list that I read at the beginning if somehow your life doesn't fit that imperfection you have a sympathetic Savior in heaven who cares and will listen and will come to you and receive your prayers in your worship most of all don't feel that you're less than perfect family situation means that God's hands are tied from moving and working in your life now listen and don't miss this if there's disobedience to God let's get that straight if you need help in getting an area of disobedience right in your whole family area right before God then you talk to us we're we're here as a ministry and a pastoral team to help you walk in the obedience that God has you if there's disobedience let's set it right but nobody should think that there's any harm in surrendering it all to God's blessing and trusting hand and knowing that he's gonna work in and through even our messed-up families God knew what he was doing he knew he was doing in Joseph's life here's a little thing I'll say to you today and I'll probably say it a few times through our seer you see if Joseph Amelie wasn't messed up and weird his brothers would have never sold him as a slave that's next week if Joseph Brothers never sold him as a slave Joseph would never go to Egypt if Joseph never goes to Egypt he's never sold to Potiphar if he's never sold to Potiphar Potiphar's wife never falsely accuses him of rape if pondered his wife never falsely accuses Joseph of rape then Joseph has never put in prison if Joseph has never put in prison then he never meets the Baker and the butler of Pharaoh if he never meets the Baker in the butler of Pharaoh he never interprets their dreams if he never interprets their dreams he never interprets Pharaoh's dreams if he never interprets Pharaoh's dreams he never becomes the Prime Minister if he never becomes the Prime Minister then he never wisely prepares for the terrible famine that is to come if Joseph never wisely prepares for the terrible famine to come then his family back in Cain and dies in the famine and if Joseph Sam Lee back in Canaan dies in the famine then the Messiah could not come forth from a dead family if the Messiah does not come forth then Jesus never came and if Jesus never came we are dead in our sins and without hope in this world and you can take that chain of dominoes all the way back to Joseph Smith Steph family now you see God can and will work even in the midst of that do not lose hope do not give up and knowing the wisdom and the goodness of God and what he did to rescue you in Jesus Christ didn't God put together a pretty impressive chain of dominoes so that Jesus could come forth and be your Savior your rescuer isn't today the day to give your life to Jesus Christ now I know I understand that most of you here you've already made a commitment of your life to Jesus you've understood you thought you've heard his call upon you and you have responded but look that there may be some here this morning you've never Donna well you realize you've never done it in sincerity well I just want to give you an invitation right here right now in just a moment I'm gonna pray and as I pray I'm just gonna give you an opportunity an invitation for anybody who wants to receive Christ this morning and this is what I'm simply gonna do is in the midst of my prayer I will ask you if you want to receive Christ to stand there's simple reason for that if you can't stand for Jesus in a room like this where everybody's friendly and encouraging about it you'll never be able to stand for him outside in a world that can sometimes be hostile but I'm gonna give you that invitation I'm gonna pray for you and we'll see if anybody here this morning is so moved that they want to give their life to Jesus Christ let's pray father in heaven we are so grateful Lord I want to give you thanks first of all for the ideal of family that you set before us it is good it is wonderful and Lord we want to aspire towards it the father I pray that for those who are in despair that through weakness through sin through through circumstances through events beyond their control Lord that they no longer fit that model of the ideal family Lord I pray that you would free each and every one from any kind of bondage any kind of despair over that and instead Lord to rejoice in how you can work in and through even those things Lord I pray for anybody right now who's in disobedience to you regarding their family I pray Lord for those who are living together outside of marriage I pray for those who Lord are failing in the family obligations in some way or another Lord once you move upon their hearts bring them to obedience to you so that they can joy every blessing that comes from your your hand upon their life and circumstances the Lord finally I want to pray now for any here this morning who have yet to surrender their life to Jesus Christ father we're so happy that you engineered such a beautiful chain of events so that our Savior Jesus could come but Lord if we don't put our trust in him if we don't put our faith and reach out to him now what good is it that you sent him so father I pray now that you would move upon hearts that they would repent and believe upon Jesus as Lord in a Savior friends while we're in the midst of prayer heads are bowed and eyes are reverently close in prayer if that's you this morning and you want to commit your life to Jesus Christ just please stand where you're sitting it's not difficult just stand I'll pray for you the point isn't to embarrass you but just to give you an act to demonstrate the faith that actually puts your trust in Jesus anybody here god bless you sir god bless you ma'am anyone else here this morning bless you bless you god bless yous and you for those of you is standing I want to lead you in a prayer you can pray it quietly but I do want you to say it after me you need to say it with your mouth you don't have to shout it but say it quietly before the Lord Lord Jesus I come to you I confess my sins and want to leave them behind I look to you as my savior as my master I trust in what you did on the cross to pay for my sins and I ask that you give me new life in you Jesus I surrender my life to you and ask that you make all things new receive me into your family in Jesus name Amen god bless you welcome

Channel: Calvary Chapel of Santa Barbara

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Length: 35min 15sec (2115 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 17 2016