When Life is the Pits
A Study of the Life of Joseph
Sermon # 2
“Dealing With Disaster”
Genesis 37:12-36
Last week we introduced our study of the life of Joseph entitled “When Life is the Pits.” We saw how Joseph was a model of faithfulness even though he came from a very dysfunctional family. Today I want to look at how Joseph remained faithful even when things got worse. We saw how messed up Joseph’s family was, yet Joseph seems to have turned out ok. He was able to rise above his imperfect family situation. But at the age of seventeen Joseph’s world is about to come apart at the seams.
I want today’s message to encourage you as you face adversity to remain faithful. We need to remain faithful whether the adversity is something fairly minor such a car problem or maybe a bad test score in school or something major such as the loss of a loved one.
Many who call themselves Christians today are finding it very easy scuttle those parts of the faith that call for commitment and to settle into a peaceful coexistence with the thinking and actions of our modern equivalent of Canaanite society, a society that does not know nor honor God.
I. Sometimes Life Is Not Fair vv. 12-17
“Then his brothers went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem. (13) And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” So he said to him, “Here I am.” (14) Then he said to him, “Please go and see if it is well with your brothers and well with the flocks, and bring back word to me.” So he sent him out of the Valley of Hebron, and he went to Shechem. (15) Now a certain man found him, and there he was, wandering in the field. And the man asked him, saying, “What are you seeking?” (16) So he said, “I am seeking my brothers. Please tell me where they are feeding their flocks.” (17) And the man said, “They have departed from here, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan.”
If we remember the “bad report” that Joseph had brought to his father (37:2) it is not hard to understand why Jacob would have sent Joseph to check up on his sons and his flocks. He was concerned for their physical welfare and because of their past performance he did not trust them to stay out of trouble. Who knew what kind of trouble they might be up to, particularly in the area where they had created so many enemies as they had with their murderous act against the Shechemites.
But whether or not Jacob realized it, he was sending Joseph into a very dangerous situation.
Joseph complies with his father’s wishes and goes to find his brothers. After a two-day journey he finds that they have moved the flocks (v. 17). Joseph does not give up but travels at least another days journey to catch up with his brothers.
Next I want you to see what he gets for all his effort!
II. Sometimes Our Family Can Hurt Us the Most
vv. 18-24
“Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, they conspired against him to kill him. (19) Then they said to one another, “Look, this dreamer is coming! (20) Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, ‘Some wild beast has devoured him.’ We shall see what will become of his dreams!” (21) But Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands, and said, “Let us not kill him.” (22) And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit which is in the wilderness, and do not lay a hand on him”—that he might deliver him out of their hands, and bring him back to his father. (23) So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him. (24) Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it.
His brothers were certainty not glad to see him, at least four of his brothers are most certainly still angry regarding Joseph’s bad report to their father after his last visit with them. And it is certain that all of the brothers still remembered his dreams that clearly predicted that they would be subservient to him. But it would seem there was more to it than that. Perhaps Joseph had shared his dreams (37:5-10) with his brothers trying to gain their acceptance and encouragement concerning his divinely appointed future. Unfortunately, things rarely work that way. If Joseph’s brother’s had thought that his dreams were merely a product of his own fertile imagination they would have simply dismissed them as such and gone on their way. The fact that they were enraged by these dreams indicates that they detected the voice of God in them. And by rejecting the dreams they were in effect rejecting the will of God. As far as they were concerned their future happiness depended on finding a way to rid themselves of Joseph and the righteous way of life he represented. They said, “let us now kill him and ….. We shall see what will become of his dreams!” (v.20).
His brothers threw him into a cistern and would have deserted him to die had they not come up with the great idea of selling him as a slave. Can you imagine what Joseph must have felt in that pit? Here he was literally in the middle of nowhere with no help. Was his life going to end here, like this? He must have tried to climb the sheer sides of the cistern only find that it was impossible. There was no way out! And what was worse was no one cared. The worse thing about being in trouble as Joseph was, is to find out that no one cares! According to (42:21) recounted some 22 years later the brothers heard him pleading for his life and would not listen. “Then they said to one another, “We are truly guilty concerning our brother, for we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us, and we would not hear; therefore this distress has come upon us.” (NKJV)
Would you have given up? We will find that when faced with adverse circumstances that we are tempted to do just that. Things are not always as they seem on the surface. Joseph could have looked at the walls of the pit and come to the conclusion that his life was over. The God he had trusted and who had tried to live for had proven untrustworthy. The dreams of the future were overwhelmed with the nightmare of the present. But God reminds us to look beyond the outward circumstances.
The temptation is when trials come in our lives to cry out, “Why me?’ But we have no right do so because we never asked God, “Why me?” when we were in the midst of blessing.
Joseph learned some significant things during this time of adversity, lessons that we can apply to our own pit experience.
Joseph learned that God cared and he was in control. In Acts 7:9 we find out, “And the patriarchs, becoming envious, sold Joseph into Egypt. But God was with him”(NKJV). Notice, that it says “but God was with him.” You see we must always remember that God is in control even when it may not seem like it. Even when we find ourselves thrown in the pit by life, God is still there. As the writer of Hebrews (13:5-6) has said, “….For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”(6) So we may boldly say: “The LORD is my helper; I will not fear What can man do to me?” Even when things look bleak we have the Lord promise that he will be with us. No matter what the circumstance may look like God is still in control and still working out his plan. That plan for the believer’s life is outlined in Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Now notice with me that it does not say that all things are good, instead it says that, “all things work together for good.” He goes on in verse 29 of that same chapter to further elaborate what that plan is when he says we are,“… to be conformed to the image of His Son.” God hammers out the characteristics He desires in our lives on the anvil of adversity.
Joseph learned that God purposes our pain for our good. C.S. Lewis wrote in “The Problem of Pain,” “The problem of reconciling human suffering with existence of God who is only insoluble so long as we attach a trivial meaning to the word ‘love,’ and limit His wisdom by what seems to us to be wise.” Could it be that God had a purpose for putting Joseph’s pit? God has some things that he wants to perfect in Joseph’s life. He is preparing Joseph to be a servant by humbling him. God has some things he wants to purge from the lives of his brothers. He is dealing with their cruelty and deceit. God has a promise that he wants to keep, and through Joseph he will keep his promise to preserve His people, Israel.
Perhaps most important of all, Joseph also learned that that even from the pit God hears your call. The Psalmist tells us (34:17), “The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles.” (NKJV
III. Sometimes God Preserves Us In A Most Unexpected
Way vv. 25-33
“And they sat down to eat a meal. Then they lifted their eyes and looked, and there was a company of Ishmaelites, coming from Gilead with their camels, bearing spices, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry them down to Egypt. (26) So Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? (27) Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh.” And his brothers listened. (28) Then Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt. (29) Then Reuben returned to the pit, and indeed Joseph was not in the pit; and he tore his clothes. (30) And he returned to his brothers and said, “The lad is no more; and I, where shall I go?” (31) So they took Joseph’s tunic, killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the tunic in the blood. (32) Then they sent the tunic of many colors, and they brought it to their father and said, “We have found this. Do you know whether it is your son’s tunic or not?” (33) And he recognized it and said, “It is my son’s tunic. A wild beast has devoured him. Without doubt Joseph is torn to pieces.”
As Joseph was being carried off into slavery I am sure that he did not see this as God’s hand of deliverance. His trials were not over, but through all of these experiences he gained an abiding sense of the God’s presence.
We will find as Joseph did that God does not always change our circumstances. God does not always make everything come out the way we want it to. God does not even answer every prayer the way we want it to be answered. But he did find that the love of God that is deep enough to hold you and never ever let go. As the Apostle Paul so eloquently stated many years later in his Roman letter (8:38-39) “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, (39) nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (NKJV)
IV.Sometimes We Are Our Own Worse Punishment vv. 34-35
According to verses 34 and 35, Jacob’s mourning went past normal grieving he was determined to mourn and punish himself until he died. “Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son many days.(35) And all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and he said, “For I shall go down into the grave to my son in mourning.” Thus his father wept for him.”
Like Jacob some of us have made mistakes and sinned against others perhaps even our children. Unfortunately some of these errors in judgment create problems that cannot be reversed. But it still does not help to carry these all through our lives as guilt. There is forgiveness available through Christ. We must accept forgiveness and give up our guilt.
V. Sometimes Our Trials Are Only The First Step
On The Journey To Greatness v. 36
“Now the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard.” (NKJV) Joseph went from favorite son to a slave in a foreign land in the space of about three days. What a change. If your life is going smoothly, then stop praise God and be thankful. If you are struggling, don’t give up, but remain faithful because God is in control. Don’t give in. Facing adversity is hard work. Sometimes we have to really push ourselves to stay faithful, to keep on coming to church, to keep on praying. These things take effort. But remember the promises of God, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you.” (NKJV)
Closing Illustration
“August 22, 1741, was a sweltering day in the city of London. An elderly stooped-shouldered man wandered through the streets. His nightly aimless wandering through the streets of the city had become a familiar ritual. His angry mind raced back to the memories of great adulation and then looked at a future of seemingly hopeless despair. For forty years the bachelor had written operatic music which was the rave of royalty in both England and the entire continent. Honors had fallen at his feet. He was in demand everywhere. Then things changed quickly and drastically. Fellow musicians became jealous and bitter. Members of the royal court reacted strongly to his abrasive manner. A rival gained great success, and envy began to grow. As though that were not enough, a cerebral hemorrhage paralyzed his right side. He could no longer write. Doctors gave little hope for recovery.
The old composer traveled to France and began to soak in baths rumored to have miraculous powers. Doctors warned him about staying in the scalding water for such long periods of time but he ignored their advice. At one point, he stayed in for nine hours at a time. Gradually his weakened muscles began to receive new life. As his health improved, he once again began to write. Soon, to his amazement, his works were being received with rapturous applause. Honors again began to flow. Life seemed to be heading for the stars. But then he found himself in the pits once more.
Queen Caroline, who had been his staunch supporter, died. England found itself on hard economic times. Wasting heat to warm a theater was viewed as ridiculous. His shows were canceled. And now he found himself wandering aimlessly through the streets once again.
Having wondered where in the world God was, he wandered back home. Opening his door, he found a wealthy gentleman waiting in his living room. The man was Charles Gibbon, who had startled England by rewriting Shakespeare.
Gibbon explained that he had just finished writing a text for a musical that covered the entire Old and New Testament. He believed that the gifted musician was the man to set it to music. He gave the manuscript to the composer and challenged him to write. As he walked out the door, Gibbon turned long enough to say, ‘The Lord gave me those words.’
The great maestro scoffed at the audacity of the young man. No one had ever challenged George Frederick Handel to write something he had not thought of first. Handel’s temper was violent and he was a dominating presence among his enemies. Why had Gibbon not brought an opera that was more the composer’s cup of tea.
Indifferently he began to read. Suddenly portions of the passage leaped from the page. His eyes fell on such words as ‘He was despised, rejected of men…he looked for someone to have pity on him, but there was no man; neither found he any to comfort him.’ His eyes raced ahead to ‘He trusted in God…God did not leave his soul in hell…He will give you rest.’ And finally the words stopped at ‘O know that my redeemer liveth…rejoice…hallelujah.’
He picked up his pen and began to write. Music seemed to flow through his mind s though it had been penned up for years. Putting music to the script, he finished the first part in seven days. The second section was completed in six days and two days were given to fine-tuning the instrumentation. Thus, at the age of fifty seven, Handel completed the Messiah in a mere twenty-four days.
Many know that when the classical work was first performed in London, and the ‘Hallelujah Chorus’ was reached, King George II stood because he was so moved. To this day people still rise to their feet as a sign of worship of God and admiration of this great work of art.
Handel, like Joseph, had to deal with the pits of life. But the strength to do so came from knowing the One who can overcome all of the pits. How about you? Do you know the God who is able to rescue you from the cisterns of life? Do you see His hand even in the pit in which you may find yourself? Perhaps the pit is merely a brief stopping place on the road to greatness.”
[As quoted in Robert E. Reccord. When Life is the Pits.(Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1987.) pp.44-46]
