Fathers Day: Legacy

In the book of Genesis we have an account of a favoured son of a man named Jacob, Jacob had twelve sons to four different women, one of these ladies died in childbirth her name was Rachel, now we also have this extensive depiction of the life of her oldest son a man by the name of Joseph.

Joseph was the favoured son, his dear old dad Jacob didn’t have the benefit of parenting courses or reports from leading psychologists on how treating your children with different degrees of favour could cause issues within the family. So we find that young Joseph got the best of everything, up until his dad took him out and brought him a truly flash and by all accounts really colourful jacket. Joseph being the lad that he was, showed it off to his brothers and just to add a bit of fuel to the fires of their jealousy and hate, told them that one day they would all bow down to him. You can probably see where this is going.

I’m picking that we all know the story, but to cut it short, Joseph was killed by a wild animal. Now you’re going to say “no he wasn’t.” Well I’m taking his old dads perspective and if I’m to do this right, I need to adjust the story just a bit.

Imagine this; Jacob at the barbers:

Barber “How’s the family?”

Jacob “I wish you hadn’t asked, I’m still getting over a huge tragedy”

Barber “Gulp, sorry about that. What happened”

Jacob “My boy Joseph was ripped to bits and eaten by a wild animal, I know you’re not meant to have favourites but he was a great kid, a bit of a dreamer but…I’m devastated, the only other boy I’ve got with my late wife Rachael is Benjamin, and having lost her and Joseph if I lost young Ben it would kill me.”

Barber “Crikey that’s not flash; how does that look, a little more off the sides?”

Jacob “No, that looks good”

Barber “A little spray? And that will be half a shekel!”

So to cut a very long story short Joseph ends up in probably the most powerful position at the time as what can be described as Prime Minister of Egypt. We join Joseph’s history at the point where his brothers have been sent by Jacob their dear old dad to get provisions from this Egyptian Prime Minster, who tricks them and tells them he’s going to hold onto young Benjamin his youngest brother and the only surviving son so Jacob believes of Rachael, as a slave.

Then Judah his brother by another mother says this in chapter 44:18-20

Because of the love Judah has for his father he himself asks if he can remain as a slave instead of Benjamin at which time Joseph is overcome and losses control. Let’s have a look at what happens in chapter 45:1-11.

Now being that it is Father’s Day, I’m heading down a track in the sermon of talking about Father’s.

Instantly this might be a hard thing because some have had Fathers who were for the want of a better term, dreadful. With that in mind let’s take a look at the fathers in this passage.

Now to all the men in the congregation, I want you to listen in here as this relates not just to physical fathers, I want you ladies to pay extra special attention, so you can discuss this with the blokes who you share conversations with, it might just be useful ear bending material. This involves three fathers.

Father One: Jacob, the bloke who cheated his brother Esau out of his inheritance, the same bloke who wrestled with God and walked with a limp, and had a name change because of it, after he wrestled with God he was given the name Israel. Jacob was the Father of twelve sons’, the founder of the nation and the tribes of Israel, he was blessed by God, given the land that God had given his father Isaac and his Grandfather Abraham before him. Like them he was a shepherd, he loved his children but his family were about as dysfunctional as they get.

Twelve boys.

Father Two: Judah, now the story of Judah I believe is important to his reaction to Benjamin being taken as slave by Joseph. He was once a widowed, he’d been married to a lady by the name of Shua with whom he had three sons. Two of his sons died, and then his wife died. So here is this man who has one remaining son, mourning his losses. He promises his eldest son’s widow his youngest sons hand in marriage when the boy is of age. A strange turn of events however and he ends up fathering twins with this lady his eldest sons widow Tamar. This is one dysfunctional family.