Hearts United by Love
Genesis 45:1-28
Today we close out our brief series of Pass the Patriarchs Please. So far we have discovered who Abraham is and learned about how he was called by the Living God to start a new life and a new nation through his family line.
Abraham was 86 when first son Ishmael was produced with a surrogate mother Hagar. Both Abraham and Sarah could not wait for Gods blessing so they tried to bring things about by their own plans. God waited until Abraham was 100 and his wife Sarah was ninety before giving them Isaac the promised son of the covenant. Abraham was willing to give Isaac back to God as a sacrifice but God intervened and a substitute sacrifice was offered by way of a ram. (This is a picture of how Jesus became our substitute)
Ishmael had 12 sons and they became 12 nations or tribes who are the Arab peoples of today.
Isaac grew up and was given Rebekah in an arranged marriage which Abraham set up. Isaac and Rebekah had twin sons named Esau and Jacob who were already fighting with each other in the womb.
Jacob bought his older brothers birthright for a bowl of stew and then with the help of his mother Rebekah he stole the blessing from Esau as well by tricking his father into thinking he was Esau.
Jacob fled in fear and hid out for twenty years until God told him it was safe to return. Jacob had a wrestling match with God and had his name changed to Israel and finally made peace with his brother Esau.
Jacob would father 12 sons and one daughter through four different women. His two favorite sons were born from Rachel. They were Joseph and Benjamin. Jacob would become known as Israel and his 12 sons became the 12 tribes of the nation of Israel.
Looking back we can see that Ishmael had an entire generations head start in building up his 12 tribes who are the Arab nations of today and that Jacob got started later with the tribes of Israel.
Have you ever heard the saying what goes around comes around, or the chickens have come home to roost or every dog has its day. These are idioms or sayings that we use to reference peoples character or events that are played out in the lives of others or even in our own lives.
I called this series Pass the Patriarchs Please because the people we are studying are like the spices on a kitchen table. The lives of the three Patriarchs are full of things that we can all relate to.
The narrative or story line is much like watching an episode of Dallas where J.R. Ewing is laying down plans to seize the family fortunes. But in this case everyone is trying to scheme to get the best of what God has promised the family.
Human desires replace spiritual desires and we see time and time again that this brings about heart ache and pain and misery and broken fellowship with God and with our own family.
What we walk away with are lessons about faith and trust and patience and hope. These pillars of personal and Christian character are all displayed on the big screen of life that is the lives of the three Patriarchs.
Today we come to the finale of the storyline as far it concerns Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The story will and does continue right into our lives but the main lesson have been displayed and put forward for us in the final chapter of Jacobs life.
Like father like son is another good idiom we could use here. Since looking at Abraham, Isaac and Jacob we have seen these founders of our faith use lies, deceit, deception, costume, theft, science and members of their own family as tools to avoid or achieve a specific set of circumstances in the hope of having more possessions, or blessings than any one else before them.
These are our Patriarchs these are the fathers of our faith and yet we find they despite all their human failings they sometimes stand taller, and straighter than we sometime do. They occasionally display real courage, real faith and real trust as they encounter the events of everyday life while placing their overall trust in the Living God.
We looked at the life of Jacob and we last found him running away from his brother Esau because Jacob stole the blessing from Esau given by their dying father Isaac.
God confronts Jacob and they get into a wrestling match that lasts all night. Jacob gets his named changed to Israel by God and Jacob has his hip touched by God and now he limps.
We pick up the events of Jacobs life at this point and find he has reconciled with his brother Esau and he is growing a family. Jacob becomes the father to 12 sons and one daughter. Like his father before him Jacob has a favorite son Joseph whom he makes a coat of many colors. Joseph is despised by his older brothers for this.
Joseph
At 17 years of age living in the land of Canaan.
He tattletales on his older brothers about their work
Never had a kind word spoken to him by his brothers
He had a dream that meant his brothers would all bow down to him
Had a dream that the sun, the moon and eleven stars would bow down to him (Father/mother/brothers)
His brothers became jealous but Jacob kept it in the back of his mind.
He was sent by his Dad to check on his brothers.
His brothers plotted to kill him.
Reuben said no to killing Joseph.
He was going to let Joseph remain hidden then get him out later.
They took off his colored coat and threw him in the well.
They have lunch.
A caravan of Ishmaelites was going by headed for Egypt.
They sold Joseph into the hands of the Ishmaelites for 20 shekels of silver.
Joseph is taken as a slave to Egypt.
They went back with Josephs coat of many colors now colored with blood from a goat the killed.
They present the bloody coat to their father Jacob who tore his cloths and put on sackcloth and mourned and refused to be comforted.
Joseph is sold to a captain of the Egyptian guard named Potiphar and was put in charge of the entire house.(Two groups have now profited from selling Joseph, his brothers and his cousins)
Accused of adultery by Potiphars wife who tried to seduce him but Joseph spurned her.
Thrown in jail for two years by Potiphar and Joseph has the ability to interpret dreams. Joseph meets Pharaohs Cup Bearer/Baker. Cup Bearer gets good news Baker not so good. The Cup Bearer was supposed to put in a good word for Joseph.
Pharaoh has a dream
Seven fat cows and seven are skinny that represent seven good years and seven years of famine. Joseph is asked to interpret the dream. He says he can not but God can. Jacob points out that it is not him but God who allows the dreams to be interpreted.
Pharaoh puts Joseph in charge, second in command and they follow Joseph orders to save one fifth of all the grain for the next seven years for the future.
Jacob/Israel is in need of food the sons are sent. They bow down to Joseph just like in the dream of his childhood and Joseph recognizes them. Joseph makes a plan to see his brother Benjamin and imprisons Simeon until they return with Benjamin. Then Joseph plants a cup in the bag of Benjamin and the deception is reveled and Josephs identity is no longer hidden and his father makes the journey to Egypt to be reunited and live out the famine in the land of Goshen.
This elaborate backdrop is all a foretelling of what would happen to the Son of God. We can see Jesus throughout the story of Joseph.
Joseph and Jesus Comparisons
Both loved by their fathers
Shepherds of their fathers sheep
Both born through miracles
Sent by fathers to their brothers
Hated by their brothers
Both sent to Egypt in their youth
Both were sold for the price of a slave
Both subjected to temptation
Both falsely accused
Both were delivered to the Gentiles
Both placed with 2 other prisoners, one was saved and the other was lost, the one killed was hung on a tree as did the robber who died with Christ
Both were exalted by God after suffering
Both forgave those who wronged them
Both were sent by God to save their people
Both returned good for evil
Both men destiny were set up in a way to demonstrate the awesome sovereignty of Almighty God
