Life of Joseph Series; Trials
Genesis chapter 37
Introduction-
This morning we start a series called the life of Joseph.
Most people know little about Joseph, they don’t know how many different things happened to him, both good and bad and how and why he became the person who saves a nation from starvation.
There are life lessons that we can learn from Joseph.
God takes over 13 chapters in the book of Genesis to talk about Joseph life and his trials. You think that he wants us to know about Joseph?
So we don’t attempt to read chapters of Scripture this morning, let me set this up and get to the text.
There are two main Josephs talked about in the Bible.
Joseph the son of Jacob, the young shepherd boy who was abused and became Egypt’s palace leader.
Joseph the man pledged to be married to the Virgin Mary who bore Jesus Christ. The one who had the awesome responsibility o f raising the Son of God.
Talk about parenting skills being tested.
This goes to show you that you think you have it hard, there is always someone that has it worse.
How many have heard of the school of hard knocks? How many feel they have graduated from school of hard knocks?
1. The school of hard knocks can be summed up by saying that you learn everything the hard way. Easy way and hard way- you learned everything the hard way by your choice.
2. If we were smart, we would learn lessons by learning from other people’s mistakes and not doing them ourselves. It is less painful that way.
3. God’s Word is full of good and bad experiences that people have gone through. Wisdom comes by avoiding the bad ones if we can and applying the good ones to our lives.
Both Jesus and Joseph teach us godly character and integrity. We can learn something this morning. Amen.
There is a lot of symbolism and reference back to Jesus in the life of Joseph because of his humiliation to exaltation.
Both Jesus and Joseph were tried and tested by events that could have left them bitter or angry. Instead both had a close relationship with God in which they stayed steadfast, regardless of undeserved trials they were forced to endure.
Shepherd Joseph the 17 year old teenager was the 11th son of Jacob. Ten older brothers- Anyone relate to that? I cannot image.
Large family where if you missed supper, I bet there was nothing left. Snooze you lose.
Ten older brothers, he never owned a new pair of pants, everything was hand me downs.
We will see in a minute why Joseph was so excited to get a new coat from his father.
The story starts in Genesis chapter 37
Joseph is in the field with all his brothers tending sheep and he goes back to his father to tell him how mean his brothers are being to him.
He is being a tattle tale- he is trying to get his brothers in trouble for wronging him.
We see in Scripture that Jacob had a soft spot for Joseph because he was the son with Rachel who he had at an old age and from a woman who had been barren and bore him a child.
He makes him a coat of many colors- his own coat, not a hand me down but something special that his father made just for him.
His brothers had already hated him for tattling- already mad to see that their father showed favoritism to the youngest son.
Chapter 37:4- “when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.”
Then Joseph receives two dreams from the Lord and he is excited to share it with his family.
I don’t think that Joseph wanted to show off or belittle his family. I believe he was genuinely excited that he had heard from God and wanted to tell them what was said. MAYBE- pride was sneaking in- that is the way pride works. That is why is always best to include all people involved in a project that you are doing for God. It keeps us humble and will lift up other workers involved.
He shares the first one with his brothers and tells them that he dreamt that they were all in field binding sheaves of grain when his sheaf arose and stood upright, while their sheaves gathered around him and bowed down. They hated him for that. MAYBE PRIDE SNUCK IN.
He shares the second dream with his father and brothers and the father rebukes him and says do you think that your mother and I and your brothers will bow down to you- The brothers hated him the more and the father dismissed it. MAYBE PRIDE SNUCK IN- each time he tells it , more people are worshipping him instead of God.
Now his brothers with a heart that has already turned to stone, let’s pick up this morning text-
Genesis chapter 37:12-37:36
We see some terrible things happen to Joseph by people that he loved. We have not even gotten to the end of the story to hear his fairy tale ending, but we can stop here to learn some life lessons.
Genesis chapter 50:20-
“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.”
Between chapters 37 and chapter 50 where he makes that bold statement are a lot of lessons and a lot of heart-ache.
What you do with them will determine if you give God credit or you become bitter and live a life defeated and ruled by other people and their decisions.
God is dealing with the brothers and he is dealing and teaching and preparing Joseph.
I. Dreamers will be persecuted
Joseph had a dream that involved God speaking to him and giving him direction for a changed life.
Joseph went to his family to share that dream and all the haters began to tear down what God had said to him.
When you have a dream, there will always be people who try to put water on your fire.
Will always throw negativity into the mix to discourage and ridicule you for doing something out of the ordinary.
Poverty is lacking the ability to fulfill basic needs. Shepherds were not the elite of society and they worked hard, smelled bad and probably didn’t think that they would be doing anything else.
To break the chain of poverty, you have to change thinking and you have to teach a skill that will bring them more money.
For Joseph, it was stay the course.
For the brothers, it was to change their thinking and change their attitude toward their brother.
For Joseph to tell his brother that God spoke to him in a dream and that they would be bowing to him would be a slap in the face because as low as they were they thought they had seniority over him.
“Here comes the dreamer” (19) this is not a compliment- it is jealousy that surfaced and hatred that was festering in a heart that is bitter.
There will be people that will come against you just because you have an idea.
They will ridicule because they do not want you to better yourself and move forward and not plateau or fall backwards.
They cannot believe that you heard from God because they did not hear from God or have tuned God out completely in their lives by choice.
Steve Jobs-
Passion fuels the rocket, but vision—a big dream— points the rocket to its ultimate destination.
Dreamers not only dream big but have a passion and determination that the dream will become reality.
They take it from a dream that has no legs to reality. (Repeat)
God’s dreams have legs!
1. God dreams are Bold- nobody is inspired by a dream or vision that is workable without much thought or energy. If you can do it without God’s help- it is not a miracle or supernatural.
2. God’s dreams are specific- President J.F. Kennedy in 1961 said “This nation should commit itself before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth.” On July 20, 1969, we landed a man on the moon. He accomplished the dream in the timeframe he had said. 48 years 2 days from today- it is etched in American history.
3. God’s dreams are concise- dreams mean little if you do not remember them. I have lots of dreams that I remember having, but know nothing about a short time later. If it is God given, there will be details given and you will remember them.
4. God’s dreams are consistent- it will line up with God’s Word. It will line up with Godly purpose.
Godly dreamers will be persecuted, but Godly dreamers will get the job done and stay focused on the task not the obstacles that try to hinder you.
There will always be someone or something that will try to have you stumble or destroy your dream- that is why you need God’s help and strength.
II. Deception runs deep (look at the brothers)
Jealousy will cause us to do things that we thought we would never do.
(18) “But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.”
Plotted- they planned to kill him. They determined that they were going to do evil to someone that was not expecting it. They took anger and bitterness to the next level.
We watch the news and we say that we could never do that- murder, steal, destroy someone life, lie about someone, cover up a crime with another crime. Once deception starts, it is a slippery slope that is hard to get off.
Tell a lie, you usually have to tell another to cover it up and keep the lie a secret.
Cain and able
I am sure that Cain never intended to kill his brother Able but when envy and jealousy take over deception breeds evil doings
Illustration-
The parable of the vineyard workers (Matt. 20) offends our sense of fairness.
(Several times in the course of the day the boss went out and recruited workers. At the end of the day, the boss paid them all the same.)
Why should everyone get equal pay for unequal work?
Fairness isn’t biblical because God is to be the judge. He does what he chooses with whoever he chooses. And when someone wrongs us it is God’s responsibility to judge
Illustration-
Two shopkeepers were bitter rivals. Their stores were directly across the street from each other, and they would spend each day keeping track of each other's business. If one got a customer, he would smile in triumph at his rival.
One night an angel appeared to one of the shopkeepers in a dream and said, "I will give you anything you ask, but whatever you receive, your competitor will receive twice as much. Would you be rich? You can be very rich, but he will be twice as wealthy. Do you wish to live a long and healthy life? You can, but his life will be longer and healthier. What is your desire?"
The man frowned, thought for a moment, and then said, "Here is my request: Strike me blind in one eye!"
One sign of jealousy is when it's easier to show sympathy and "weep with those who weep" than it is to exhibit joy and "rejoice with those who rejoice."
Closing-
This morning we are just beginning to see life lessons from Joseph and his struggle to be and accomplish all that God set out for him.
Life lesson 1- Dream big! If God gave you something and you know it is from God. Work it with all your heart and do not give up with all kinds of obstacles and people who will come against you. If you do not have a dream or vision form God for your life, be praying for one- open yourself to allowing God to use you
God dreams and visions are;
Bold
Specific
Concise
Consistent
Life lesson 2- Make sure you are not the one destroying dreams that God wants to accomplish. (Either in you or someone else)
Make sure and be close to God that you do not let bitterness and anger and jealousy build up in your heart and destroy you.
It is a cancer that will only get worse as you feed it. You want to stop, don’t feed it and it will die.
Think godly things about people and trust God to handle the things that are out of your control or people that wrong you.
Nobody prays for the patience of job because they do not want the things that happened to job. I think Joseph we see has to be a close second in things that happened to him but he remained faithful to God.
Joseph kept his eyes on God and God kept his eyes on Joseph. Let God use you in the good times and the hard times.
Amen
