We’re going to be in Genesis 37 tonight as we start to really focus in on the story of Joseph. This is where God shows us how He began shaping Joseph into the great man and leader that he eventually became. If you took these principles and wrote them in a book it could be titled “how to make a leader” by God. But it would be very different from most of the “how to” leadership books that are on the market today, and we will se why.
You know, there’s “how to” books on everything out there today. These are actual books:
How to boost your metabolism How to tie a tie
How to find a coin’s worth How to read palms
How to flirt How to stop driving yourself crazy
How to toilet train your cat How to read
How to start a country How to be happy even though you’re married
Well lets look at just the beginning of God’s “how to” book on making a leader out of Joseph. Because there’s a few more “how to” books that are in this chapter as well. Little “how to” books written by Jacob, his sons, and even Joseph himself.
I. “How to be Hated”, by Jacob and Joseph
1. Be a snitch
[Read Genesis 37:1-2.]
Nobody likes a tattle-tale. Joseph is the youngest of all the kids, he’s out working with his brothers, and he comes home and tells on them for probably not working very hard. “Daddy, Dan and Naphtali and Gad and Asher wouldn’t help me with the sheep today. As soon as we got out there they went fishing while I did all the work!” That’s a good way to get hated – be a snitch. But Jacob didn’t make it an better, because principle #2 is:
2. Show favoritism
[Read Genesis 37:3-4.]
When a father would give his son a fancy coat like this it often signified that the son was the chosen future leader of the family. Of course, this was usually given to the first born son. But since Jacob’s first born son Reuben had an affair with one of Jacob’s wives, he could forget about receiving that honor.
So every time the brothers saw Joseph in that fancy coat it infuriated them and they couldn’t even speak in a civil manner towards him.
Joseph was the most loved by his father and everyone knew it, including Joseph. Now remember, Joseph’s only 17 years old and he realizes that he’s daddy’s favorite. I think it started to affect his judgment here because he lays down another principle on how to be hated.
3. Gloat
[Read Genesis 37:5-8.]
Now in the coming weeks we will see how these dreams are prophetic and come true in amazing ways. From typology to practicality, the dreams play out in their lifetime. But was it really a wise thing for Joseph to tell this dream to his brothers? He knew what it represented. Why pour gasoline on the fire? Of course they reject him and gain even more hatred for him.
So what does Joseph do? He tells them after he has another similar dream.
[Read Genesis 37:9-11.]
Now God was giving Joseph these dreams, but did he really have to tell his brothers and his father as well? It does seem that he’s gloating a little bit here. He knows they already hate him because he’s daddy’s favorite. So why give them more reasons to hate him? But Jacob and Joseph weren’t done yet.
4. Show more favoritism
Jacob now seems to put his son Joseph in charge of his brothers. We’ll see that Joseph isn’t out in the fields working any more. He’s now sent to check up on the brothers.
[Read Genesis 37:12-17.]
Joseph doesn’t have to do any of the real work any more. He’s now upper management even though he’s the youngest. I’m sure that as the brothers left every morning for work they’d look over at Joseph wearing that fancy coat and sipping coffee with dad and think about just how much they hated Joseph. So they got started writing their own “how to” book.
II. “How to Hate”, by the ten
1. Justify your hate
2. Plan your revenge
[Read Genesis 37:18-22.]
You can see though these verses that the brothers justified within themselves their hate for Joseph by mocking his dreams and aspirations. Instead of pondering them like their father did, they rejected them as arrogant wishes by their kid brother.
Once they had in their hearts that Joseph deserved their wrath, they plotted against him to get him out of their way no matter what it took. They wouldn’t allow their kid brother to be in charge of them any more.
But there was one brother out of the eleven that showed some care and concern for Joseph. Reuben, the oldest, actually sought to protect his younger brother.
So he had the other ten throw Joseph into the pit to buy some time while he figured out what to do. But his efforts weren’t enough because the other brothers went from justifying their hate, to planning their revenge, to:
3. Acting out your hate
[Read Genesis 37:23-28.]
Instead of just killing him, they decide to make a little money while getting rid of Joseph. An opportunity comes for them to sell him to some pagans on their way to Egypt and they jump at the chance. And in their minds, Joseph would never be seen of again. He would surely be eventually used up and maybe even killed in Egypt. He was gone for good and they even made some money. Their hate was securely ensconced in their hearts.
This acting out of their hate continued as they lied to their father about what happened.
[Read Genesis 37:29-32.]
These guys are heartless! Simply diabolical. “Examine it to see if it’s your son’s tunic or not?” Who else’s coat could it have been? They didn’t make a bunch of those fancy coats at Wal-Mart! It was a one of a kind garment. Of course it was his. But they gave it to Jacob giving him the idea that his youngest son died a horrific, torturous death.
But even though they would witness their father go through agonizing grief, no one said a word. They all stuck with the plan. They nailed it with their “how to” book on hate.
All this hate would cause another “how to” book to be written:
III. “How to Regret”, by Reuben and Jacob
[Read Genesis 37:29-30.]
Reuben had probably been off somewhere trying to think of how he could save his brother’s life. Remember, the other ten had their heart on killing Joseph. So he talked them into throwing Joseph into the pit while they ate dinner. Reuben wasn’t with them while they ate and eventually sold Joseph into slavery. Surely he regretted not doing more to save his brother’s life. If he had only stayed with Joseph. If he had only stood up for him. If he had only done more. But it was too late and regret had set in. The same goes for Jacob.
[Read Genesis 37:31-35.]
Such agony. So much so that not anyone in his family was able to comfort him. He was so depressed that he even said that his grief would take him to the grave. That kind of grief and self-loathing is birthed from regret. He probably asked himself one question over and over again. “Should I have sent Joseph to check up on his brothers? If I would have let him stay at home none of this would ever have happened. It’s my fault that Joseph’s dead!”
That kind of regret comes when we forget that God is in control.
Terrible things happen in this world for no apparent reason at times. Sometimes it’s really no one’s fault why bad things happen. We must remember that even in those times God is in control, and He has allowed it to happen for reasons that only He knows.
[Columbine, miscarriage, cancer examples.]
Jacob probably thought this senseless tragedy could have been prevented so he regretted not doing more.
Little did he know that God was writing his own “how to” book on developing a leader. Joseph hadn’t been eaten by a lion. He was in God’s leadership training program. So let’s look at the very beginning of the book:
IV. “How to Develop a Leader”, by God
[Read Genesis 37:36.]
Joseph has been sold to Potiphar who is in charge of Pharaoh’s bodyguards. He’s like in charge of the Egyptian secret service. This is one important individual. Joseph couldn’t have gotten a better gig as a slave in Egypt. But even though it started out as a good place to be, it would eventually be a horrible place for Joseph. He would be tried and tested like he never could have imagined. But it’s what God needed to do to develop this young man into a great leader and man of faith.
I think D. L. Moody was the one who said, “When God wants to use a person greatly, He takes him and crushes him.” That sounds so harsh to us. But the point of that, and the point of Joseph’s life of tough, hard, gut-wrenching affliction is this: God cannot work greatly through us until He works deeply in us.
God needed to get Joseph out of daddy’s house so he could make him into a leader. If Joseph would have stayed at home he might have ended up just like Jacob. But that’s not who he needed to be. He needed to be Joseph.
Joseph also might have trusted in his father and his comfortable life more than he trusted in the Lord. So God went to work on him. God did some pretty drastic demolition work in Joseph’s life in order to get Joseph to trust in Him alone. But at we’ll see in the coming weeks, God always knows what He’s doing and the result is amazing! (Even if the process is painful.)
The story is told of a group of women that met for Bible study. While studying in the book of Malachi, chapter three, they came across verse three which says: "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." This verse puzzled the women and they wondered how this statement applied to the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out more about the process of refining silver, and to get back to the group at their next Bible study. The following week, the woman called up a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him while at work. She didn’t mention anything about the reason for her interest, beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver. As she watched the silversmith work, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire, where the flames were the hottest as to burn away all the impurities. The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot, then she thought again about the verse, that "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver." She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the entire time the silver was being refined. The man answered yes, that not only did he have to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on it the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left even a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed. The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "But how do you know when the silver is fully refined?" He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that’s easy - when I see my image in it."
God will refine us and shape us into His image through the trials of life. That’s what He’s doing with Joseph.
