I am holding in my hand one of the most expensive coffee in the world! This one is from the Philippines! Any guesses on how much per pound this type of coffee can cost?? - As much as $600 per pound! Why is this coffee so expensive? Coffee experts say that this coffee has a very unique and wonderful taste! The reason for the unique taste is due to this animal (show picture).
These civet cats know exactly when to eat the coffee fruits. The cats digest the fruit then excretes the coffee beans; yes extretes the coffee beans! Special collectors, like this Filipina (picture), gathers the droppings with the coffee beans, washes them, then the beans do get roasted, before packaging for sale. Anyone wants to try this coffee later?
I will only charge $10 per cup!
Here’s my headline for this coffee story: Animal makes messes, man makes millions! If man can take extrements and turn it into gold, can God take a bad situation and turn it into good? Joseph said to his brothers after being taken for dead in Genesis 50:20, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”
Here’s the headline from the Bible: People make messes, God turns them into good! God can turn a bad situation to good! Let’s learn the story of Joseph. Open your Bibles to Genesis 37. Remember that Jacob is Israel; Jacob loved Rachel who birth Joseph. Rachel died and so Joseph was special to Jacob. Let us read Genesis 37……….
Obviously we will learn more about Joseph in the future. Joseph became one of God’s heroes. But did Joseph, without a doubt, started out as a hero?
I think we can note that there was only one hero in our text this morning, and it wasn’t Joseph! Everyone did something wrong in this story in Genesis 37 except for one person. Who would you say was that person??
The only person in this story in Genesis 37 who we can not find fault is the anonymous stranger in v15. Out of the blue, this man comes forward and showed concern for the teenager Joseph and gave the information he needed! We don’t know this man’s name and we don’t hear anymore about him in the Bible!
Could God have left out this part of the story in Genesis 37? Don’t you think, unless it is brought up, many of us would have forgotten this man as we focus on Joseph and his brothers! But this man was important enough to God to put him in His Holy Word!
You know, I am a Star Wars fan. I was one of the first ones to line up to see the first movie in 1977! And when Elsa and I were given a trip to the Caribbean, we met the guy who created Yoda! I felt like I was meeting a King!!
Now, of course, we can not tell if this man who helped Joseph would be in heaven or not. But you know, I would be so thrilled to meet this man in heaven! I would love to hear him say, “Yeah, I was the man God cited in Genesis 37!” God gave this man special honor in being mentioned in Scriptures! What does this tell us? God cares about even the little things people do for good, even if no one knows about it! Can you relate to this man about not being noticed? Take heart, God notices your good works, even the little ones!
Now, let see if anyone of us can relate to Joseph. Was Joseph perfect? God doesn’t directly tell us. But let’s take a closer look at what he did. Look again at v2; Joseph told a bad report about his brothers to their father! Joseph was likely telling the truth! But did Joseph the teenager tell the truth in love or did he just straight out snitched, “They’re drinking, cursing, and fighting again!”
Is there a possibility of Joseph seeing himself better than his brothers? Could Joseph be reminding his father, in other words, boasting, that he is better than his brothers? No it is not directly stated, but Joseph could have had an ego problem! You see, every person has this problem, even those who become heroes. Ever since Adam and Eve sinned, every person has a bent to be selfish.
Look again at v5-8………….
Joseph already knew that his brothers didn’t like him. Did Joseph really had to tell his brothers about his dream of ruling over them? Joseph took another opportunity to belittle his brothers! Then Joseph tells his mom and dad that they too would bow down to him.
Joseph should have kept that one to himself! Joseph was telling the truth but he was not telling it in love, which indicates his ego problem!
Joseph got himself in trouble partly because of his ego problem. Is it possible that when his dad told Joseph to go check up on his brothers that he saw another opportunity to snitch on them? Could this teenager really be that dumb not to realize how much his brothers hated him? Of course, Joseph was super confident, he had the coat of many colors! Joseph flaunted his position and he was not smart enough to stay away from brothers who hated him!
Can God be teaching you today not to be like that Joseph?
What about Father Jacob? What did Jacob do wrong??
V3, Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons!
And Jacob had an ego problem too, didn’t he? V10, Jacob rebuked Joseph immediately about the possibility of him bowing down to his son!
And in v12-14, didn’t Jacob instructed Joseph to snitch?
Parents, can we make mistakes like Jacob did?
- don’t play favorites
- watch your own ego
- be careful of what you tell them to do
What about Joseph’s brothers?
Can we really blame Joseph’s brothers for hating him? Many of us would probably react like those brothers! Their dad played favorites and their brother had an ego problem!
But look again at the end of v4……………
Was it right for them not to say a kind word to Joseph?
Absolutely not!
In v11, the brothers got jealous! What is jealousy? Jealousy is a reaction to not getting what you want. Jealousy is a form of selfishness. And how far did this jealousy go? V18, The brothers, all of them, plotted to kill Joseph! We do note that Reuben changed his mind and planned on rescuing Joseph. But let us note that they all acted on killing Joseph!
How selfish were these brothers of Joseph?
Look again at v26…..
The brothers not only “killed” their brother, they made money out of it!
And of course, we note in v31-32, the brothers schemed and lied to their father!
Can we see ourselves like Joseph’s brothers; hateful, jealous, selfish, liars?
Because of all these sinfulness, there were difficult consequences!
Joseph was hated by his brothers and rebuked by his parents. He was thrown into a dry well and left for dead. And Joseph was sold as a slave in Egypt! How do you think Joseph felt as he ended up in Egypt half naked and starving to death??
It was Joseph’s own sins and the sins of his family that got him to Egypt as a slave!
Now, how do we know God can take people’s messes and make it good? Genesis 39:2, God was with Joseph and made him prosper in Egypt! And as we will read later on in Genesis, the Nations of Egypt and Israel survived only because of Joseph. Joseph became a hero not only for the world but for God!
Now, what was the consequence for Jacob’s mess ups?
Look again at v33-35…………..
Can you imagine the agony of envisioning your child being eaten alive by a wild animal? I still cringe when I think about my little daughter’s leg being pinned by a moving car!
Praise the Lord that He sent His angels to protect my daughter; for although my car door has a permanent bent, my daughter did not break a bone!
What were the consequences for the mess ups of Joseph’s brothers? Why do you think Reuben decided to try and save Joseph??
Reuben felt the guilt and shame of his sin!
Don’t you think all the brothers carried this guilt and shame whenever the name of Joseph was brought up!
And here’s what we read in Genesis 42:1-2, When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, "Why do you just keep looking at each other?" He continued, "I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us, so that we may live and not die." The brothers were lost and they eventually had to humble themselves.
God can take messes of people and make them good, but there are always consequences to sin! The potential consequences to sin are hate, rebuke, slavery, suffering, agony, guilt, shame, and lostness!!
Can you relate to Joseph, Jacob, and Joseph’s brothers with their sins? Sin leads to painful consequences! We all need to stop sinning! Ask God constantly what is not right with your life.
And because God knows we all have a tendency to sin, God provided a solution to our sins by allowing God Jesus Christ to become a human being, suffer, and die on a cross for our behalf!
Have you believed and received this only solution to your sins? Are you still carrying the burden of guilt and shame for the sins you’ve commitment? God is still saying, trust Jesus Christ, He died on a cross once and for all to forgive those who believe in Him! Believe and receive the forgiveness of your sins through Jesus Christ as your only Savior and God!
And Jesus said in Matthew 11:29-30, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Jesus calls every Christian to walk along side with Him! Walk with Jesus Christ wherever you go and He will help you avoid sin.
And take heart, just like God did to Joseph and the Israelites, and ultimately for us (because we are blessed through the Israelites), God can turn something messy to something good! Nothing is impossible with God! God can turn something messy to something good! God is a faithful God! The question is, how faithful are we to Jesus Christ?
