Studies in Genesis

1. Studies in Genesis Presentation 54

2. Joseph the Dreamer Gen 37v1-11 Presentation 54

3. Introduction The story of Joseph reveals God's remarkable control over circumstances and his ability to bring good out of what, on the surface, appears to be far from good for us. We find it hard to believe that God can take the dark threads of circumstance and from them weave something of eternal value and glory. The story of Joseph encourages us to believe that he can! Further encouragement can be drawn from the fact that Joseph’s story unfolds within the context of family tension and conflict. We often mistakenly think that our faith would be stronger, or the quality of our service for God more thoroughgoing, if only our family circumstances were different. The life of Joseph encourage us to think otherwise. Presentation 54

4. Introduction The life of Joseph is remarkable. He is hardly mentioned in the N.T. and yet more has been written about him than about any other O.T. character. He is one of a few men in scripture about whom nothing bad is written. Whenever Joseph speaks, he almost always makes some reference to God. Joseph's life experience spanned the social spectrum of the ancient world. In his 110 years he had known what it was to be; a future heir of a wealthy Jewish Patriarch, a slave in an Egyptian household, a prisoner in a notorious dungeon and the prime minister of a world superpower. He was abused and he was exalted. But in whatever state we find Joseph, God is always uppermost in his thoughts and his confidence in God's goodness and faithfulness remains unshaken. Presentation 54

5. Introduction As we consider Joseph’s life, there are a number of areas that repay careful examination. The first is in the field of typology. There are in the O.T. black and white pictures, which foreshadow the Technicolor revelation found in the N.T. Joseph’s life has been viewed as a character, who foreshadows the person of Christ. One commentator has traced 101 parallels between the life of Joseph and the life of Jesus. One suggests that the life of Joseph is a type of ‘the pathway of Christ and his work’, from lowliness to exaltation, from slavery to liberty, from suffering to glory! Presentation 54

6. Introduction Joseph is also an encouragement to those, who have enrolled in Christ’s school of discipleship. His steadfast trust in God and determination to do what is right is an example to us all. Joseph did not subscribe to the dictum, 'When in Rome do what the Romans do'. He did not camouflage his faith in order to embrace an alien worship system. He never compromised. He never complained. God was always the chief and determining reality in his life. One commentator writes, “From the example of this dreamer, who became a doer we may learn how: To overcome envy, To face adversity, To resist illicit sexual advances, To plan for the future, To forgive those who wrong us, To dispel doubts about forgiveness, To have faith in God's promises, To recognise the sovereignty of God, even in the wrongs done to us by others”. Presentation 54

7. Introduction A study of Joseph’s life provides an illuminating glimpse into the marvellous providence of God. Joseph's story, perhaps more than any other in the Bible, demonstrates God's remarkable control over every circumstance of our lives. We see God’s ability to order good out of, what on the surface appears to be, evil. There are times in our lives, when all we appear to be able to see are dark threatening threads! We find it hard to believe that God really can take those threads in his hands and from them produce something glorious. The story of Joseph encourages us to believe in the astonishing and beneficial providence of God. Presentation 54

8. The Significance of Joseph The words 'this is the account of Jacob’in 37.2 introduce a new division in the Genesis story. Chap 36 traces the family development of Jacob’s brother Esau. It describes the great Edomite nation. And only after this account of great wealth, status and power do we find the story of a young 17 year old, who was having a rough time at home. Given the choice, where would you choose to live? In the palaces of great kings or in a family marked by great tensions? Before you answer, 'Give me a palace any day,' note that it was not in the palaces of the Edomites but in a dysfunctional family that God’s purpose of redemption was to take a great leap forward. Presentation 54

9. The Significance of Joseph God does not normally work through the great and the mighty cf 1 Cor. 1.26: “Brothers, think of what you were when you more called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things and the things that are not to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him”. God works through the most ordinary and unlikely individuals, for then, both they and others, are more likely to recognise the hand of God at work. Presentation 54

10. The Significance of Joseph Why did Joseph possess a greater spirituality than his brothers? Did he ask his father to recount his own spiritual experiences with God? Think of what Jacob could have shared; the story of God’s ladder, the special covenant promises God had made, God’s protection in situations of real danger, and of course the momentous evening at the River Jabbok, when God wrestled Jacob into submission. Did hearing of these experiences help shape Joseph’s life of faith? In the final analysis of course it was God, who opened Joseph's heart and drew him to himself. But God uses ‘means’ like the faith experiences of others to impress young formative lives. Presentation 54

11. The Significance of Joseph This should encourage parents to talk openly and unashamedly of their experience of God. Tell your children how God has been at work in your life. Too often parents neglect to do so and instead hope that something ‘will happen’ to their children in Sunday school, church or at a Christian youth camp. It is as we share our hearts with our children that they can begin to understand, what motivates our love for God. Jacob was far from being a perfect parent. He had favourites, 'Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons‘ v3. What made Joseph special? He was Rachel's child. Jacob had children by four women, only one of whom he loved. Rachael was that woman and that made Joseph, her son, special. Presentation 54

12. The Significance of Joseph The fact that Jacob had a favourite is all the more disturbing given that Jacob had himself felt isolated, devalued and unloved by his father Isaac. You will remember that Isaac had loved Esau and had little time for Jacob. Had Jacob forgotten the personal heartache, which that had caused him? He of all people should have decided, "I will never place any of my children in that position”. But Jacob, like so many of us, failed to learn from past personal experience. Some have suggested that Jacob's favouritism was justifiable in the light of the behaviour of his other sons towards the Shechemites. But the text makes it clear that this was not the reason for his discrimination. Presentation 54

13. The Significance of Joseph Jacob made the situation worse by making Joseph, what is described as 'a richly ornamented robe.' The Hebrew allows for the possibility of a robe that extended down to the ankles and wrists unlike those worn by working men. Does this adequately explain the intensity of the brother’s anger? It was not simply that Joseph’s clothes came from Harrods. That would have been bad enough but this ‘robe’ gave Joseph ‘manager status’ over his brothers. A position normally reserved for the eldest son! Reuben’s behaviour, sleeping with his father’s concubine, Gen. 35v22, haddeprived him not only his father's favour but of his birthright. These rights had been transferred to Joseph, and his robe was a constant reminder of that fact! Presentation 54

14. The Significance of Joseph From Jn. 4v5, which records the famous meeting between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well, we learn that the well was situated near a plot of ground that Jacob gifted to his son Joseph. This was the only piece of land Jacob ever owned! Giving it to Joseph was another way of saying that he intended Joseph to be his heir with all of the associated blessings. This in turn throws a somewhat different light upon Gen. 37v2, which is sometimes used to criticise Joseph as a talebearer. But if he had been given a managerial role in the family, then one of his responsibilities would have been to report back to his father. And so he was not so much a talebearer as a truth teller. Presentation 54

15. The Momentum of Sin Joseph’s brothers were jealous. Jealousy is closely allied to resentment and envy. James tells us: 'For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice’ Jas. 3.16. The root of the brothers’ envy is an angry resistance to the decrees of God. For ultimately it is God who is responsible for the circumstances that surround our lives, though he is not always the author of them. The brother’s envy reflects their resentment towards God as their reaction to Joseph's dreams make clear. Joseph’s dreams of brothers’ sheaves in the field bowing down to his sheaf and of the stars, sun and moon bowing down to Joseph, needed little interpretation. Presentation 54

16. The Momentum of Sin For all their spiritual immaturity the brothers recognised the significance of these dreams. They believed that Joseph had done no more than reveal his God-given destiny to rule over them. This is seen even more clearly in v20 "Come now, let's kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we see what comes of his dreams." This reasoning showed they were not only attempting to alter Joseph's destiny but that ultimately they were opposed to the purpose of God. This has searching application. Whenever we are covetous or envious of others we are in fact saying to God, 'You have failed to satisfy me you have not given me all that I want'. Presentation 54

17. The Momentum of Sin Jacob's response to Joseph's dreams was quite different in v 11 we read that, 'he kept the matter in his mind'. Jacob knew that God often worked in ways that cut across the grain of natural expectation. Had God not done so in choosing him instead of his elder brother? Was it really then so difficult to believe that God might indeed have some significant purpose for his young son? That is the reaction of faith, which results from a growing comprehension of God's method of working. Presentation 54

18. The Momentum of Sin Some have questioned the wisdom of Joseph in sharing his dreams with his family. Might it not have been better to have hidden these things in his heart rather than provide additional fuel for his brothers’ resentment. He may have been naïve but others believe that it was a God-given compunction that caused him to make this divine revelation known. The brothers hated the dreams as much as they hated Joseph for reporting them. This passage reveals the frightening conflagration of sin. Smouldering jealousy, when it is unchecked flames into hatred. Joseph, because he had been chosen by God and secondly because he was different from his brothers [his godliness of life] was fuel to their hatred. Presentation 54

19. The Momentum of Sin What does Jesus say in Jn. 15v18-19? ‘If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.’ You will see that Jesus gives precisely the same two reasons for the hatred that the church will experience at the hands of others. Hatred for being different and hatred for being chosen. If you are different from the ungodly men and women around you in the workplace or in your neighbourhood - and only God's grace can make you different - then expect to be objects of hatred! Presentation 54

20. Conclusion The brothers failed to deal with jealousy and envy and so it grew into hatred before developing into attempted murder. There is an awful momentum in the out of control rollercoaster of sin. If the brakes are not applied, then it can propel us into behaviour that later causes us to ask, 'Was I really responsible for that?' If you react to Joseph’s brothers’ behaviour by raising your hands in horror asking, 'How could Joseph’s brother's treat him in this way?' then remember that the same potential lies in all our hearts. Presentation 54

21. Conclusion That knowledge alone should cause us to cry to God for the grace of contentment and for a willingness to run the race that he has marked out for us rather than look enviously around at what he asks of others. This is the antidote to much of the misery experienced by so many. We need ‘Christian blinkers’ that will enable us to keep in the lane that God has marked out for us and so complete the race to the best of our ability. Presentation 54