“JACOB’S FAVORITE CHILD” Gen. 37:1-4
FBCF – 5/7/23
Jon Daniels
INTRO – Ever feel like giving up? Ever been so frustrated you just wanted to throw in the towel & just give up?
Sometimes, things start out really rough in our lives. Circumstances get turned upside down. Plans get rearranged & redirected. Disappointments & confusion sets in. It can get rough, & we just feel like giving up.
DR mission trip travel troubles last year.
- Email @ 2 AM en route to airport – flights canceled
- Went on to airport to try to arrange flights
- Back home & back to bed.
- Drove to New Orleans that afternoon (Jonathan & Shelle Cedotal!)
- Another 2 AM email – Flights canceled in NO. Rescheduled. Flew to Atlanta.
- Got to ATL. 6 of us not on next flight. Had to fly to NYC & spend night. Rest of group spent night in ATL
- Both groups flew to DR. Met up in Santo Domingo within a couple of hours of each other.
- Several of us lost our luggage. Got it 2 days later in middle of night, except my sister-in-law who didn’t get her luggage until the day before we left to come back home.
- Satan was pounding away at us. Salvo after salvo of heavy artillery from him. We got emails, texts, calls – folks telling us not to go.
- Week ended w/ us seeing over 400 patients in med clinic & some 70+ people gave their lives to Christ!
Aron Ralston is another guy who went on a trip that got twisted up pretty badly.
- Rock climber & mountaineer
- April 2003 – Climbed down into Bluejohn Canyon in Utah.
- A suspended boulder dislodged as he climbed over it, pinning his right arm to canyon wall. Stuck there for 5 days until he decided his only hope for survival was to cut his own arm off, which he did using a dull 2-in knife.
- Rapelled down 85 ft, hiked 6 miles out, until a family found him & called emergency personnel. Helicopter picked him up & took him to hospital.
Joseph’s life started out rough. Lots of disappointments & discouraging circumstances. Some unfair, cruel things done to him by his own family members. Sold into slavery. A rape accusation by his boss’ wife. Thrown into prison. Sat there for a long time after someone who was going to put in a good word for him forgot about him. You just can’t make this stuff up!
EXPLANATION – Genesis 37:1-4 (p. 31)
Sermon series for May & June – “From the Pit to the Palace” – Study the life of Joseph. Before we jump into the Scriptures, let me give you a few bullet points about Joseph:
- His is longest story in OT – 14 chapters – 25% longer than story of Abraham. Obvious that God wants us to know Joseph’s story.
- Greatest & clearest picture of Jesus in OT – One theologian found 101 connections between them.
- The truth of Romans 8:28 is all over Joseph’s life.
- Joseph’s life was a life of faithfulness to God in spite of all the trials & obstacles he encountered. A testimony to all of us.
3 explanation points of this passage of Scripture, then 3 application points for our lives today.
The Bad Report – v. 2 – Remember when you were kids & someone was a tattletale? Told on you for something you did. Even if they were right in doing that, it ticked you off, didn’t it?
v. 2 says, “Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father.” We can be pretty confident that Joseph was justified in bringing this report of the actions of his brothers to their father. He was going to do the right thing, as we will see later on in his life. But just like you & me when someone tattled on us, it didn’t sit well w/ his brothers & alienated him from them. Definitely caused some bad blood between them.
The Beloved Son – v. 3 – Part of the reason there was bad blood between them was due to their father’s favoritism that he showed to Joseph. That favoritism was made plain by the gift of the beautiful robe. In OT times, everyone had a robe or cloak of some type – warmth, bundle belongings, wrap babies up, sit on it. Most knee-length, plain robes. But Joseph’s was probably similar to one worn by royalty. Set him apart – the symbol of father’s obvious partiality – the lightning rod of hatred from his brothers.
The Brutal Brothers – v. 4 – Pretty straightforward – “WE HATE YOU!” Hatred is a strong emotion. Leads to all kinds of irrational thoughts, words, & actions.
- Pro-transgender activist at a town hall meeting this week in SF – Screaming at top of lungs – “I hate you!” to board of supervisors, mayor, city attorney.
And the hatred the brothers had for Joseph led them to make some brutal, life-altering decisions that hurt a lot of people for a long time, which is what hatred does!
- Wanted to kill him (v. 18-20)
- Reuben intervened (v. 21-22)
- Threw Joseph into a pit (v. 23-24)
- Sold him into slavery (v. 25-28)
- Lied to their father about it (v. 31-32)
- Devastated Jacob (v. 33-35)
But let’s make this application today:
APPLICATION – Rough starts don’t have to wreck our lives.
DYSFUNCTION DOES NOT HAVE TO DEFINE US – Pretty clear that we can safely say that Joseph’s family was the epitome of a dysfunctional family.
- 3 stepmothers, 10 stepbrothers, one brother, & a stepsister – all living in same home @ the same time
- Jacob, his father, a Godly man most of the time, engaged in polygamy, which was common in that day, which brought in jealousy, insecurity, & constant conflict among his multiple wives.
- Jacob also a passive parent, whose lack of intentionality & involvement in leading his family opened the door to incredible pain & confusion for his family.
- Joseph’s brothers engaged in all sorts of immoral, brutal, sinful behavior.
All of us have some degree of dysfunction in our families & our family histories. We are all affected by decisions & actions of family members, both immediate & distant, in present day & in the past. Guarantee that in this room, there are stories of all types immorality & sin in our families: infidelity & other forms of sexual immorality, substance abuse, racism, unethical business practices, divorce, abuse of every kind, broken promises…& the list goes on.
But we do not have to be defined by dysfunction! B/c of the power of the Gospel, we can be set free from dysfunction. So much of the pain we see in our nation today is b/c people’s lives have been devastated by dysfunction on so many levels. And instead of changing the narrative & changing the direction of their lives, they settle in into their dysfunction & continue to perpetuate it in their lives & the lives of those who will come after them.
Jesus will set you free from your dysfunction!
- He will change your life story
- He will change your life direction
- He will change your life purpose
- He will change your life destination
- 2 Corinthians 5:17 – “…if a man is in Christ he becomes a new person altogether—the past is finished and gone, everything has become fresh and new.” (Phillips)
THE ACTIONS OF OTHERS DON’T HAVE TO DESTROY US – Joseph’s brothers wanted to destroy him. Wanted to get rid of him for good, even to the point of killing him, if need be. They didn’t realize that there was a much bigger plan in place – God’s plan.
There will always be those people who want to hurt us, silence us, defeat us, & destroy us. Those people may be in our own family, like Joseph. They may be in our community & society. They may be in government. They may even be in the church.
But, just like dysfunction doesn’t have to define us, the actions of others don’t have to destroy us. When we know Jesus as Lord & Savior & are faithfully living for Him & following Him, we won’t be destroyed.
When others are coming against you, do these things:
- Be strong in the Lord – Ephesians 6:10
- Be still – Exodus 14:14
- Be silent – Psalm 4:4
- Be selfless – John 3:30
- Be sure – Philippians 1:6
OUR FAITHFUL GOD WILL DIRECT US – As we unpack Joseph’s story, we will see how God directed Him every step of the way, even when it looked like things were really going south. He just kept trusting the Lord, whether he was in the pit, the prison, or the palace. In fact, near the end of his story, he said to his brothers, “As far as I am concerned, God turned into good what you meant for evil, for he brought me to this high position I have today so that I could save the lives of many people.” (Genesis 50:20 TLB)
If there is any truth that should carry you & me through all of the episodes of dysfunction & all of the attempts to destroy us, it is the bedrock truth of Romans 8:28, that “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him, to those who are called according to His purpose” (NASB).
- God is faithful no matter what kinds of dysfunction you’ve endured
- God is faithful no matter who is coming against you to attempt to destroy you
- God is faithful no matter what kind of prison cell you find yourself in right now
- God is faithful no matter how intense the temptations are right now
- God is faithful no matter how hard your life is right now
- God is faithful no matter how deep & dark your valley is right now
God is faithful & He will direct you, lead you, guide you, comfort you, empower you, forgive you, restore you, heal you, & save you today.
