1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:06,820 Well, we begin our new series today in Genesis and chapter 37 on the life of Joseph. 2 00:00:06,820 –> 00:00:09,660 To many of us, this will be a very familiar story. 3 00:00:09,660 –> 00:00:13,000 To some of us, I recognize it may, indeed, be new. 4 00:00:13,000 –> 00:00:17,700 I hope if that’s the case that you will very quickly come to love this story and to hear 5 00:00:17,700 –> 00:00:22,820 the voice of God in it, because it is, indeed, the word of God. 6 00:00:22,820 –> 00:00:28,580 The story in outline very simply, Joseph was one of twelve brothers born through different 7 00:00:28,940 –> 00:00:34,959 to Jacob who was the grandson of Abraham, to whom God had given very great and very 8 00:00:34,959 –> 00:00:37,240 precious promises. 9 00:00:37,240 –> 00:00:41,880 And God’s hand was on Joseph in a very special way, and for this reason he was hated as we’ll 10 00:00:41,880 –> 00:00:44,459 see today by his brothers. 11 00:00:44,480 –> 00:00:49,759 The brothers sold Joseph as a slave, he was taken to Egypt, he suffered greatly, but God 12 00:00:49,759 –> 00:00:54,900 loved Joseph and God exalted him, promoted him to the highest office in the land, giving 13 00:00:54,939 –> 00:00:59,259 him charge over the entire food supply for the nation. 14 00:00:59,259 –> 00:01:04,779 In time famine came to Canaan where Joseph’s brothers were and so they came to Egypt in 15 00:01:04,779 –> 00:01:10,639 order to get food, in order to survive, not realizing that the man in charge of the whole 16 00:01:10,639 –> 00:01:13,580 food supply was indeed their own brother. 17 00:01:13,580 –> 00:01:19,300 And that gets us to the central point of the whole story that we must not miss. 18 00:01:19,300 –> 00:01:24,699 That the one they despise becomes the one on whom all their hopes depend. 19 00:01:25,559 –> 00:01:29,779 And we will keep coming back to that central theme of this story. 20 00:01:29,779 –> 00:01:38,900 The one who is despised becomes the one on whom all our hopes depend. 21 00:01:38,900 –> 00:01:40,379 That’s the story of Joseph. 22 00:01:40,379 –> 00:01:42,440 Now we begin today in chapter 37. 23 00:01:42,440 –> 00:01:48,160 We’re going to follow the first part of the story just to chapter 41, God willing, 24 00:01:48,160 –> 00:01:50,720 over these next eight weeks. 25 00:01:50,739 –> 00:01:56,940 And then we will return to the second half of the story at a later time. 26 00:01:56,940 –> 00:02:01,379 The title for our series is Snapshots of a Godly Life. 27 00:02:01,379 –> 00:02:05,800 And I’ve chosen that title because Joseph is really presented to us as a model or an 28 00:02:05,800 –> 00:02:07,919 example of godliness. 29 00:02:07,919 –> 00:02:14,259 It’s very striking that nothing bad is ever said about Joseph. 30 00:02:14,259 –> 00:02:20,759 And I think one reason for this is that he is clearly presented to us as a foreshadowing 31 00:02:20,759 –> 00:02:27,320 or if you like a pointer or sometimes we use this word a type of Jesus Christ. 32 00:02:27,320 –> 00:02:31,740 That just means someone who in very obvious ways points to Jesus Christ. 33 00:02:31,740 –> 00:02:36,919 And perhaps there’s no character in the Old Testament who more obviously points to Jesus 34 00:02:36,919 –> 00:02:38,419 Christ than Joseph. 35 00:02:38,639 –> 00:02:46,639 AW Pink, some of you will know that name, a great Bible scholar has traced 101 parallels 36 00:02:46,639 –> 00:02:49,179 between the story of Joseph and the story of Jesus. 37 00:02:49,179 –> 00:02:52,539 Well, we’re not going to go through them one by one you’ll be very glad to know though 38 00:02:52,539 –> 00:02:55,460 I hope we will pick up a good number of them. 39 00:02:55,460 –> 00:02:57,419 But the parallels are quite remarkable. 40 00:02:57,419 –> 00:03:00,559 He is indeed presented to us as a pointer to Jesus. 41 00:03:00,559 –> 00:03:03,860 That’s why the story is there in the Bible. 42 00:03:04,500 –> 00:03:09,500 So Joseph no doubt had his faults and his failings like any of us. 43 00:03:09,500 –> 00:03:17,100 But as one writer puts it, the biblical record passes over them in order to floodlight how 44 00:03:17,100 –> 00:03:24,139 God would bring redemption into the world through his loved and favored son, Jesus Christ. 45 00:03:24,139 –> 00:03:30,259 So I want us to look at this story in two ways to see it really through two lenses. 46 00:03:30,259 –> 00:03:36,699 The first is that I want us to see the glory of the one who calls us to a godly life. 47 00:03:36,699 –> 00:03:40,080 In other words, I want us to see Jesus in the story of Joseph. 48 00:03:40,080 –> 00:03:45,740 The whole Bible is about him and we do not get the point of the story unless we see it 49 00:03:45,740 –> 00:03:48,300 as a pointer to him. 50 00:03:48,300 –> 00:03:53,660 Our need of him and the glory of the one who meets our need. 51 00:03:53,660 –> 00:03:58,559 But this is a snapshot not only of the one who calls us to a godly life but also of the 52 00:03:58,720 –> 00:04:01,160 life to which we are called. 53 00:04:01,160 –> 00:04:05,020 Here we are at the beginning of a new year, we want to be followers of Jesus Christ. 54 00:04:05,020 –> 00:04:08,800 What will our experience be if we really follow him? 55 00:04:08,800 –> 00:04:12,100 What can we expect in the footsteps of Jesus? 56 00:04:12,100 –> 00:04:18,440 What will it take if we as a church are to be really useful to God in this world, as 57 00:04:18,440 –> 00:04:23,760 Joseph was really useful to God in this world. 58 00:04:24,179 –> 00:04:31,359 And one writer points out that from this story we can learn how to overcome envy, how to 59 00:04:31,359 –> 00:04:37,140 face adversity, how to resist sexual advances, how to plan for the future, how to forgive 60 00:04:37,140 –> 00:04:41,880 those who wrong us, how to dispel doubts in forgiveness, how to have faith in God’s 61 00:04:41,880 –> 00:04:45,839 promises and how to recognize the sovereignty of God even in the wrongs that are done to 62 00:04:45,839 –> 00:04:46,839 us by others. 63 00:04:46,839 –> 00:04:48,279 It’s not a bad list. 64 00:04:48,279 –> 00:04:50,119 All from this one story. 65 00:04:50,160 –> 00:04:58,500 And so it is rich, it is laden with what it will mean for us to live a Godly life today. 66 00:04:58,500 –> 00:05:04,660 Now, the first snapshot of the Godly life I’ve simply called Loved and Favored. 67 00:05:04,660 –> 00:05:11,059 And we begin in Genesis, chapter 37 and verse 2, and I want you to notice right at the beginning 68 00:05:11,160 –> 00:05:18,779 that Joseph is presented to us here 17 years old, 17. 69 00:05:18,779 –> 00:05:23,359 Now, this is therefore a great story for all the students in the congregation today, for 70 00:05:23,359 –> 00:05:30,880 every teenager, for everyone who is at an early stage of life, he’s 17. 71 00:05:30,880 –> 00:05:36,160 And he’s in a pretty tough environment, as many of you who are teenagers experience, 72 00:05:36,160 –> 00:05:44,239 being pushed into in high school and even in middle school a very tough environment. 73 00:05:44,239 –> 00:05:50,559 The reason for the environment was that Joseph’s brothers were not good people, and their character 74 00:05:50,559 –> 00:05:53,339 we know from three stories in Genesis. 75 00:05:53,339 –> 00:05:55,059 Let me just outline them to you briefly. 76 00:05:55,059 –> 00:06:02,420 The first is a story of all the older brothers, though it highlights Simeon and Levi in Genesis 77 00:06:02,420 –> 00:06:04,000 chapter 34. 78 00:06:04,359 –> 00:06:11,359 Joseph’s brothers had made a deal with a clan known as the Shechemites, that is the extended 79 00:06:11,359 –> 00:06:14,640 family of a man by the name of Shechem. 80 00:06:14,640 –> 00:06:21,839 Shechem had fallen in love with and had slept with their sister Dinah. 81 00:06:21,839 –> 00:06:28,000 The brothers were outraged at this, but then they made a deal with Shechem in which they 82 00:06:28,000 –> 00:06:33,079 said that they would be at peace with him, that they would blend the families so that 83 00:06:33,119 –> 00:06:40,519 the clans would intermarry, but this would happen if all of the men, all of the Shechemite 84 00:06:40,519 –> 00:06:42,119 men, were circumcised. 85 00:06:42,119 –> 00:06:50,540 Well, the Shechemite men agreed to this and while they were still recovering, and in no 86 00:06:50,540 –> 00:06:59,200 position to fight, the sons of Jacob launched an assault on the men of the city and destroyed 87 00:06:59,200 –> 00:07:02,299 all of them completely. 88 00:07:02,619 –> 00:07:09,420 And in Genesis 34, you get a sense of the atrocity that this was and the outrage of 89 00:07:09,420 –> 00:07:15,899 it, because Jacob says to Simeon and Levi, who clearly were there at the forefront of 90 00:07:15,899 –> 00:07:26,040 this event, you have brought trouble on me by making me stink to the inhabitants of the 91 00:07:26,040 –> 00:07:27,040 land. 92 00:07:27,040 –> 00:07:31,339 He is his father and says to his son what you’ve done is such an atrocity that you’ve 93 00:07:31,339 –> 00:07:34,320 made my name stink forever. 94 00:07:34,320 –> 00:07:37,640 Nobody will ever trust the word of this family. 95 00:07:37,640 –> 00:07:41,079 Nobody will ever respect my name again because of what you have done. 96 00:07:41,079 –> 00:07:46,040 That was what Jacob felt about it and for good reason, too. 97 00:07:46,040 –> 00:07:51,540 The second story that shows the character of these older brothers is the story of Reuben. 98 00:07:51,540 –> 00:07:55,220 Just one verse in Genesis 35 and verse 22. 99 00:07:55,679 –> 00:08:04,959 We read, while Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilha, his father’s 100 00:08:04,959 –> 00:08:10,579 concubine, and Israel heard of it. 101 00:08:10,579 –> 00:08:13,480 Now Reuben, of course, was the firstborn son. 102 00:08:13,480 –> 00:08:21,359 But he brought disgrace on the family on top of the earlier disgrace, because of his sexual 103 00:08:21,359 –> 00:08:23,579 indulgence. 104 00:08:23,579 –> 00:08:29,799 James Boyce says, this was an offense for which Reuben lost not only his father’s favor, 105 00:08:29,799 –> 00:08:33,780 but also his birthrights as the firstborn son. 106 00:08:33,780 –> 00:08:38,719 And since Reuben had forfeited these rights Jacob extended his sovereign choice and appointed 107 00:08:38,719 –> 00:08:41,659 Joseph as his heir. 108 00:08:41,659 –> 00:08:48,919 And this is the meaning, says Boyce, of what we have long called Joseph’s Coat of Many 109 00:08:48,919 –> 00:08:49,919 Colors. 110 00:08:49,960 –> 00:08:54,140 This is a piece that everybody knows, I think, about the story, who has ever heard anything 111 00:08:54,140 –> 00:08:56,359 about it at all. 112 00:08:56,359 –> 00:09:00,719 Jacob drapes the coat on Joseph. 113 00:09:00,719 –> 00:09:08,520 And when he does that, he’s saying Joseph you are the one, you are my heir. 114 00:09:08,520 –> 00:09:16,039 Reuben the oldest has forfeited this with his sexual indulgence, you will be the one. 115 00:09:16,099 –> 00:09:22,000 And, of course, when the brothers saw it, they hated him for it. 116 00:09:22,000 –> 00:09:28,559 Now the third story that gives the character of these brothers is in Genesis 38, and this 117 00:09:28,559 –> 00:09:30,299 time it’s the story of Judah. 118 00:09:30,299 –> 00:09:36,479 So we’re getting on here, Simeon and Levi and Reuben and now Judah. 119 00:09:36,619 –> 00:09:46,359 Genesis 38, boy, it is painful even to read the awful account of Judah and Tamar. 120 00:09:46,359 –> 00:09:50,440 And without going into the details of that story, it is sufficed for me to say today 121 00:09:50,440 –> 00:09:58,200 that it is another story showing that another son of Jacob had given himself over to sexual 122 00:09:58,200 –> 00:10:00,119 promiscuity. 123 00:10:00,119 –> 00:10:04,099 Judah is a man without sexual boundaries. 124 00:10:04,099 –> 00:10:10,719 And behind him, therefore, he leaves a trail of broken hearts and wounded lives as he sends 125 00:10:10,719 –> 00:10:17,320 his way further and further and further away from Almighty God. 126 00:10:17,320 –> 00:10:21,900 So here is Joseph, and he’s seventeen. 127 00:10:21,900 –> 00:10:30,960 And he’s surrounded by these peers who can’t be trusted, their word doesn’t mean a thing, 128 00:10:31,380 –> 00:10:33,539 prone to violence. 129 00:10:33,539 –> 00:10:37,320 And they are sexually out of control. 130 00:10:37,320 –> 00:10:41,640 And some of you in high school know exactly what that’s like. 131 00:10:41,640 –> 00:10:47,039 You’re at the same stage of life as Joseph, and you’re experiencing all the same pressures 132 00:10:47,039 –> 00:10:53,380 because you’re surrounded by patterns of behavior that exactly reflect the kind of 133 00:10:53,380 –> 00:10:59,820 reality that we see here in the Bible. 134 00:10:59,820 –> 00:11:05,299 Without God, there was one man in the story who was different. 135 00:11:05,299 –> 00:11:09,179 And his name was Joseph. 136 00:11:09,179 –> 00:11:14,320 This background, I think helps us to understand what we read in verse 3, where we come to 137 00:11:14,320 –> 00:11:21,479 the statement, now, Israel, that’s another name for Jacob, loved Joseph more than any 138 00:11:21,479 –> 00:11:24,700 of his other sons. 139 00:11:24,700 –> 00:11:31,020 Joseph was greatly loved and favored by his father. 140 00:11:31,020 –> 00:11:36,940 Now, the obvious comment here, it’s made many, many times, is that showing favoritism 141 00:11:36,940 –> 00:11:40,820 to one child over another causes all kinds of trouble in families. 142 00:11:40,820 –> 00:11:43,380 Obviously, that is true. 143 00:11:43,380 –> 00:11:46,400 Some of you may have suffered under this. 144 00:11:46,400 –> 00:11:50,979 Your brother or your sister had a certain hold on the heart of your father or of your 145 00:11:51,460 –> 00:11:55,239 mother and nothing you ever said or ever did could ever change that. 146 00:11:55,239 –> 00:12:00,539 Of course, those who know the Bible will recall that there was a history of favoritism in 147 00:12:00,539 –> 00:12:02,099 this family line. 148 00:12:02,099 –> 00:12:10,219 Jacob’s parents, Isaac and Rebecca, Isaac loved Esau and Rebecca favored Jacob, you 149 00:12:10,219 –> 00:12:12,380 remember that story. 150 00:12:12,380 –> 00:12:17,299 So Jacob had grown up with this and so it’s very easy just to say that, well, obviously 151 00:12:17,299 –> 00:12:22,679 he was reproducing what he had learned in his childhood. 152 00:12:22,679 –> 00:12:30,599 But I think that there is something much more and very significantly different here. 153 00:12:30,599 –> 00:12:36,080 Think about the situation, Jacob had 12 sons. 154 00:12:36,080 –> 00:12:43,039 Only two of them were born through Rachel, who had been his first love. 155 00:12:43,039 –> 00:12:48,559 One of them was Joseph, the 11th in line, and the other one was Benjamin, the youngest 156 00:12:48,559 –> 00:12:50,619 of them all. 157 00:12:50,619 –> 00:12:54,840 That is why in verse 3 there, referred to as the sons of his old age, he waited a long 158 00:12:54,840 –> 00:13:00,700 time for this gift that came later in his life. 159 00:13:00,700 –> 00:13:02,840 And what had happened in the meantime? 160 00:13:02,840 –> 00:13:09,419 Well, we know from what we’ve just seen, that the older sons one by one had grown up and 161 00:13:09,719 –> 00:13:15,539 taken a path that had broken Jacob’s heart. 162 00:13:15,539 –> 00:13:21,479 And there are parents in this congregation today who know exactly what that is like and 163 00:13:21,479 –> 00:13:25,119 you live with the pain of it. 164 00:13:25,119 –> 00:13:28,659 Now put yourself in Jacob’s shoes. 165 00:13:28,659 –> 00:13:37,000 You have a large family, and one after another, you see your own children grow and then take 166 00:13:37,000 –> 00:13:39,960 a destructive path. 167 00:13:39,960 –> 00:13:43,299 They’re not walking in the ways of the Lord. 168 00:13:43,299 –> 00:13:47,919 You find over time that they lie to you, they deceive you, they’re not telling you the whole 169 00:13:47,919 –> 00:13:49,919 truth. 170 00:13:49,919 –> 00:13:56,460 Then you discover in one way or another that one and then another is sexually promiscuous. 171 00:13:56,460 –> 00:13:59,619 You are cut to the heart by the life that they are chosen. 172 00:13:59,619 –> 00:14:05,239 And however much you love them, there is this sadness, these disappointment, and it weighs 173 00:14:05,260 –> 00:14:09,940 upon you as a mother or as a father. 174 00:14:09,940 –> 00:14:13,539 What is the future for this family? 175 00:14:13,539 –> 00:14:15,460 Where is God at work in all of this? 176 00:14:15,460 –> 00:14:24,299 But then, now, put yourself in Jacob shoes, you have another son younger than the rest, 177 00:14:24,299 –> 00:14:27,580 and he is different. 178 00:14:27,580 –> 00:14:30,859 There is a godliness about him. 179 00:14:30,859 –> 00:14:34,700 And you begin to think to yourself, well, maybe there is still hope. 180 00:14:35,200 –> 00:14:40,179 Maybe Joseph will have influence on his brothers. 181 00:14:40,179 –> 00:14:46,880 Maybe God isn’t finished with this family yet. 182 00:14:46,880 –> 00:14:53,059 Joseph was loved and favoured by his father. 183 00:14:53,059 –> 00:14:58,799 But it’s very clear, more than that, that Joseph was loved and favoured by God. 184 00:14:58,799 –> 00:15:02,359 God spoke to Joseph in a very special way, through dreams. 185 00:15:03,320 –> 00:15:08,299 Now, it’s appropriate to say at this point that in the Bible there is a progress in the 186 00:15:08,299 –> 00:15:11,539 way in which God communicates with his people. 187 00:15:11,539 –> 00:15:16,340 We find this stated most clearly in Hebrew chapter 1 and verse 1, where it says that 188 00:15:16,340 –> 00:15:25,359 long ago, at many times, and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets. 189 00:15:25,380 –> 00:15:32,979 So, God used in ancient times, that includes the time of Joseph, multiple ways of communicating, 190 00:15:32,979 –> 00:15:37,859 revealing himself to people, he did that in the earliest days. 191 00:15:37,859 –> 00:15:43,520 And one example of that clearly is in this story, he reveals himself to Joseph through 192 00:15:43,520 –> 00:15:44,960 dreams. 193 00:15:44,960 –> 00:15:49,539 But then it says in the very next verse that in these last days God has spoken to us by 194 00:15:49,539 –> 00:15:50,539 his son. 195 00:15:50,539 –> 00:15:55,219 So, the contrast is between how God revealed himself in ancient times and the way in which 196 00:15:55,239 –> 00:15:59,140 God has revealed himself to us today. 197 00:15:59,140 –> 00:16:04,679 What is being said here is that all of God’s promises to us and all that God requires of 198 00:16:04,679 –> 00:16:11,520 us, is made known to us, quite clearly in Jesus Christ, who we know through the Scriptures. 199 00:16:11,520 –> 00:16:17,440 So, and I hope this will come as a relief to at least some folks today, what that means 200 00:16:17,440 –> 00:16:24,080 is that Christians should not fret about interpreting their dreams. 201 00:16:24,979 –> 00:16:29,780 I say this with some self-interest because I hope it will save me some hours of pastoral 202 00:16:29,780 –> 00:16:30,780 work. 203 00:16:30,780 –> 00:16:33,799 I don’t want you to send me an email and say, I had a dream last night, Pastor, can 204 00:16:33,799 –> 00:16:36,039 you tell me what it means? 205 00:16:36,039 –> 00:16:39,960 Because what I will say to you is, look, if you want to know what God is saying to you 206 00:16:39,960 –> 00:16:41,880 you’ve got a very easy way that you can do it. 207 00:16:41,880 –> 00:16:44,500 Open your bible and read your bible. 208 00:16:44,500 –> 00:16:50,359 And whatever other experience you may have in life you must always test by the Word of 209 00:16:50,359 –> 00:16:53,760 God, which is how he speaks. 210 00:16:53,979 –> 00:16:55,619 But in those days there was no Bible. 211 00:16:55,619 –> 00:16:57,640 So how does God reveal himself? 212 00:16:57,640 –> 00:17:02,200 Well, we read about him making actual appearances, we call them theophanies. 213 00:17:02,200 –> 00:17:06,699 The last of them, of course, was to the Apostle Paul on the Damascus Road as one untimely 214 00:17:06,699 –> 00:17:08,780 born, he says. 215 00:17:08,780 –> 00:17:13,959 And in this situation, and in this story, God reveals himself quite clearly to Joseph 216 00:17:13,959 –> 00:17:15,640 through dreams. 217 00:17:15,640 –> 00:17:22,239 Now, the point of Joseph’s dreams is very simple, that God would lift Joseph up above 218 00:17:22,239 –> 00:17:29,359 his brothers, and of course that is exactly what happened, so that Joseph who they despise 219 00:17:29,359 –> 00:17:34,520 becomes the one on whom their hopes depend. 220 00:17:34,520 –> 00:17:37,400 And the whole point of this story, and the whole reason that it happened, and the whole 221 00:17:37,400 –> 00:17:43,140 reason that it’s in the Bible is of course, to direct our attention to the greater son 222 00:17:43,140 –> 00:17:49,319 who was loved and favored by God, his father, the one who would be despised and rejected 223 00:17:49,319 –> 00:17:54,420 by his own brethren, the one who would be betrayed and sold for silver, the one who 224 00:17:54,420 –> 00:17:59,239 would go down to the lowest place but then would be exalted to the highest place, Jesus 225 00:17:59,239 –> 00:18:05,859 Christ, the despised and the rejected one on whom the hopes of all who will bow before 226 00:18:05,859 –> 00:18:09,500 him depend. 227 00:18:09,500 –> 00:18:15,300 Now these dreams therefore, and this is very important, these dreams came to Joseph with 228 00:18:15,520 –> 00:18:22,420 the force of the word of God. This is God revealing himself, revealing the future to 229 00:18:22,420 –> 00:18:29,420 Joseph and with regards to this family. Imagine the impact of this direct revelation coming 230 00:18:34,140 –> 00:18:40,319 to Joseph in the night and this isn’t Joseph waking up in the morning and staring over 231 00:18:40,319 –> 00:18:44,880 his corn flakes, and saying I had a funny dream last night. I wonder what it meant. 232 00:18:44,880 –> 00:18:51,880 He knows that God Almighty has spoken, and has revealed the future in the same way as 233 00:18:51,880 –> 00:18:57,239 God spoke to and God spoke through the prophets and the word of God burned in their bones 234 00:18:57,239 –> 00:19:03,500 like a fire, the scripture says. Now this is important for this reason. It 235 00:19:03,579 –> 00:19:10,579 has often been suggested that Joseph should have kept his mouth shut, and kept his dreams 236 00:19:10,979 –> 00:19:17,900 to himself. You heard that said? Heard that said? And it’s written many, many, many times, 237 00:19:17,900 –> 00:19:22,920 and what follows from that is then that Joseph gets pointed to as being somehow arrogant, 238 00:19:22,920 –> 00:19:29,859 self-opinionated and overbearing. But think about this, friends. 239 00:19:30,140 –> 00:19:37,140 Joseph’s dream was the Word of God. And more than that, it is not only the Word of God 240 00:19:38,780 –> 00:19:45,380 as it relates to him, it is the Word of God that clearly relates to the whole family. 241 00:19:45,380 –> 00:19:50,020 If he is given the very Word of God and it relates to the lives in the future of other 242 00:19:50,020 –> 00:19:57,020 people around him, how can he possibly keep that word which he has been given to himself? 243 00:19:57,800 –> 00:20:04,800 But here’s the point, that telling the word of God was very costly for Joseph and will 244 00:20:05,420 –> 00:20:12,239 be costly for us. The brothers hated him because he was loved and favored by The Father verse 245 00:20:12,239 –> 00:20:16,339 4. Now they hate him even more because he is loved and favored by God. 246 00:20:16,339 –> 00:20:20,500 And you see this in verse 8, when Joseph told them the dream, the brothers hated him even 247 00:20:20,500 –> 00:20:25,380 more for his dream and for his words. He spoke the Word of God to them and he is hated for 248 00:20:26,180 –> 00:20:32,020 it. And they say verse 8, are you indeed to reign over us or are you indeed to rule over 249 00:20:32,020 –> 00:20:36,739 us. And you see the point of what they’re saying. Never in a thousand years, Joseph! 250 00:20:36,739 –> 00:20:42,420 And yet the whole story is being given to us to show that the one they despise becomes 251 00:20:42,420 –> 00:20:48,920 the one on whom their very hopes depend. And their lives and their future and everything 252 00:20:48,959 –> 00:20:53,959 that concerns them is actually going to be in the hands of the loved and favored son. 253 00:20:58,500 –> 00:21:05,500 God then spoke a second time, confirming through a second dream exactly the same revelation. 254 00:21:05,500 –> 00:21:10,420 And again, Joseph tells the dream and you can imagine as he tells it, Jacob is saying, 255 00:21:10,420 –> 00:21:14,839 oh no, here we go again. It’s going to be even more conflict in the family. And so verse 256 00:21:15,260 –> 00:21:21,239 11, it says his father rebuked him. But then we have this fascinating comment in verse 257 00:21:21,239 –> 00:21:28,239 11. Joseph’s brothers were jealous of him. But his father kept the saying in mind. Oh, 258 00:21:32,079 –> 00:21:39,079 Jacob hung onto this. He began to think to himself, now what if this is true? What if 259 00:21:40,079 –> 00:21:47,079 God really is in this, could it be that as my, out of a broken heart I’ve been longing 260 00:21:47,400 –> 00:21:53,160 and praying for these older sons that God is in some way going to work through Joseph 261 00:21:53,160 –> 00:22:00,160 and be a means of bringing great change in the lives of these rebel children. And that 262 00:22:00,239 –> 00:22:07,239 takes me to the third observation here. Which is Jesus Christ the loved and favoured son. 263 00:22:09,339 –> 00:22:16,339 Jacob kept the saying in mind. We’ve just come off Christmas and reading again all of 264 00:22:16,900 –> 00:22:20,900 the Christmas story. There’s a phrase from the Christmas story that for many, that will 265 00:22:20,900 –> 00:22:25,680 immediately bring to mind. Some of you are nodding, you’re there already. Jacob kept 266 00:22:25,680 –> 00:22:32,680 all these things in mind, Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her 267 00:22:32,680 –> 00:22:39,680 heart. You see, the story of Joseph is projecting us into the story of Jesus Christ, who becomes 268 00:22:42,400 –> 00:22:49,400 one with us, is born into the human family. God is his Father and in taking our flesh 269 00:22:51,400 –> 00:22:58,400 in some sense, we become his sisters and his brothers. And there is trouble in the human 270 00:22:59,359 –> 00:23:06,359 family, trouble that has arisen because of lies and violence and abuse and sexual promiscuity 271 00:23:07,239 –> 00:23:13,160 and exploitation and the erosive power of drink and of drugs. What a grief it must be 272 00:23:13,160 –> 00:23:20,160 to the Father or heart of God! But Christ becomes one with us. He enters into the dysfunctional 273 00:23:21,099 –> 00:23:27,900 human family. Like Joseph, he is different from his Brothers and the hope of all his 274 00:23:27,900 –> 00:23:34,900 sisters and brothers lies in him. Joseph received the Word of God. Jesus is the word of God. 275 00:23:36,660 –> 00:23:42,660 He is the Word made flesh. He is the one who is loved and favoured by the Father in heaven. 276 00:23:42,660 –> 00:23:49,479 Jacob put the coat on Joseph and said, You are the One! You are the heir! You are the 277 00:23:49,479 –> 00:23:56,479 One who is loved and favoured. God the Father set the Holy Spirit on Jesus and said, You 278 00:23:57,719 –> 00:24:04,719 are my beloved son. With you I am well pleased. Loved. Favoured. Jacob endured the agony of 279 00:24:10,979 –> 00:24:17,979 seeing his own sons break his heart as they made his name stink in the land. With the 280 00:24:19,479 –> 00:24:26,479 grace of God the Lord allowed him to take over when they broke his heart. Of you who 281 00:24:30,959 –> 00:24:37,959 know this pain, you grieve over a son and over a daughter. And you say to yourself as 282 00:24:38,719 –> 00:24:45,719 a father, Where did I go so wrong? Where did I go wrong and do this as a mother. What should 283 00:24:46,260 –> 00:24:53,260 I have done different? And I want you to take this verse to your heart. I raised children 284 00:24:56,739 –> 00:25:03,739 and they rebelled against me. Who said that? God did. Isaiah chapter one and verse two. 285 00:25:05,479 –> 00:25:12,479 God says, I raised children and they rebelled against me. Nobody is a better father than 286 00:25:13,000 –> 00:25:20,000 God. And he says I raised children and they rebelled against me. And when you find yourself 287 00:25:22,660 –> 00:25:28,780 fretting and grieving, take that into your soul and it will greatly help you and God 288 00:25:28,780 –> 00:25:35,780 will stand with you in the pain of this experience. Now where is the hope for these brothers who 289 00:25:36,760 –> 00:25:40,979 have taken this wrong path Well the only hope for them, and this story is pointing to it, 290 00:25:40,979 –> 00:25:47,979 is in a son who would be different. And what is this telling us? Jesus Christ is that son. 291 00:25:53,739 –> 00:26:00,739 He is the one who is the hope of all the others. God, the Father points to his son, the loved 292 00:26:00,979 –> 00:26:07,979 one, and says, I love him. I am pleased with him. He will be exalted, and in him is hope 293 00:26:08,979 –> 00:26:15,780 for all of you, and before him you must bow. And what is the response of the human family 294 00:26:15,780 –> 00:26:21,540 to this? Well it’s right out of the story of Joseph, isn’t it, he came to his own and 295 00:26:21,540 –> 00:26:28,540 his own received him not. And Jesus told this parable, it is in Luke chapter 19 about a 296 00:26:29,500 –> 00:26:36,500 certain man who gave to his servants resources to be used in his work and said, Now you are 297 00:26:36,780 –> 00:26:43,780 to use them until I return. And in that story Jesus says the citizens hated him and they 298 00:26:43,819 –> 00:26:50,819 sent a delegation after him saying, We do not want this man to reign over us. We do 299 00:26:51,979 –> 00:26:57,540 not want this man to reign over us. Now that line of course comes right out of Genesis 300 00:26:57,540 –> 00:27:02,959 37 and verse 8 that we just looked at. It is the words of the brothers to Joseph. And 301 00:27:02,959 –> 00:27:08,699 here is Jesus, and he takes that line and he is saying to his audience there as he speaks 302 00:27:08,699 –> 00:27:15,699 this parable, Now your reaction to the Son of God is exactly the same as the reaction 303 00:27:16,500 –> 00:27:23,500 of Joseph’s brothers to the word of God that he spoke to them. 304 00:27:23,500 –> 00:27:30,500 Now, I want to offer then in closing just three observations from this opening scene 305 00:27:30,640 –> 00:27:35,400 in the story, here is the pattern, there is a never, there is a sometimes and there is 306 00:27:35,400 –> 00:27:42,400 an always. Here is the never. Never underestimate the antagonism towards God that resides in 307 00:27:43,040 –> 00:27:50,040 even the most respectable human heart. Never underestimate the antagonism towards God that 308 00:27:51,040 –> 00:27:58,040 resides in even the most respectable human heart. We are God haters by nature. The sinful 309 00:27:58,439 –> 00:28:04,439 mind is hostile to God. That’s Romans 8, and verse 7. We are not born neutral towards God, 310 00:28:04,640 –> 00:28:11,640 we are born at enmity with Him. What that means is that all of our hearts need to be 311 00:28:11,800 –> 00:28:16,000 delivered, not only from a few mistakes and a few things that we did wrong, and pronouns 312 00:28:16,859 –> 00:28:23,839 here and there. What we need to be delivered from at the core is a deep rooted mindset 313 00:28:26,079 –> 00:28:31,839 that resists the authority of God over our lives. It says I will not bow, we will not 314 00:28:31,839 –> 00:28:36,479 have this man to reign over us, that is why Jesus Christ was crucified. That is why he 315 00:28:36,479 –> 00:28:42,359 is despised and rejected in the world today, but the one who is despised is the one on 316 00:28:42,359 –> 00:28:49,359 whom all our hopes depend. Only a miracle of grace that changes the human heart is going 317 00:28:50,280 –> 00:28:54,140 to bring this transformation, never underestimate it. There are Christians who spend half of 318 00:28:54,140 –> 00:29:01,040 their lives being amazed that sinners want to sin. Why would you be surprised at that? 319 00:29:01,040 –> 00:29:06,760 There is this deep setted antagonism within God. We don’t want to admit it, it is part 320 00:29:06,760 –> 00:29:12,040 of our arrogance which itself is part of our rebellion against God. 321 00:29:12,560 –> 00:29:16,680 This temptation to Eve that you shall be his God. Oh yeah, I like that. I want to be God. 322 00:29:16,680 –> 00:29:20,680 The resistance, we would not want for this man to reign over us, it is deeply seeded 323 00:29:20,680 –> 00:29:24,880 in the human heart. We are borne that way. And apart from the grace of God we will always 324 00:29:24,880 –> 00:29:30,540 be that way. And maybe some of you will recognize you are that way right now, and I am saying 325 00:29:30,540 –> 00:29:34,439 to you that the one you are resisting right now is the one on whom all your hopes depend, 326 00:29:34,439 –> 00:29:36,359 Jesus Christ. 327 00:29:36,560 –> 00:29:45,979 Second, sometimes. Sometimes receiving the Word of God will isolate you from your friends. 328 00:29:45,979 –> 00:29:52,719 This is very obviously a takeaway from the story today. Joseph receives the Word of God. 329 00:29:52,719 –> 00:29:59,140 He speaks it and he suffers as a result. He is 17, and he is hated and he’s isolated. 330 00:29:59,140 –> 00:30:05,420 Nobody wants to hang out with Joseph. That’s really tough when you’re 17. And the reason 331 00:30:05,420 –> 00:30:11,300 is the Word of God. That’s why I think it’s such a mistake to say he should have kept 332 00:30:11,300 –> 00:30:18,140 it to himself. That takes you in all the wrong directions. It’s just no. No. 333 00:30:18,140 –> 00:30:25,900 Friends, it is better to lose friends than to lose Jesus, right? It is better to lose 334 00:30:25,900 –> 00:30:33,520 friends than to lose Jesus. And Jesus says to us, if anyone’s gonna come after me, you’re 335 00:30:33,520 –> 00:30:37,459 gonna have to take up your cross and follow me. What he means when he says that, includes 336 00:30:37,459 –> 00:30:42,660 this, that if we will speak the Word of God clearly in this world, we will share in the 337 00:30:42,660 –> 00:30:50,079 suffering and rejection that was his because of it. Even if you’re 17. 338 00:30:50,319 –> 00:30:57,640 Remember this, however much your friends may despise and reject the Word of God, and perhaps 339 00:30:57,640 –> 00:31:05,719 even despise and reject you because of it, they need you to speak it to them because 340 00:31:05,719 –> 00:31:13,359 on it, their hopes depend. How else in all the world would a man like 341 00:31:13,359 –> 00:31:23,000 Simeon or Levi or Reuben or Judah end up being in Heaven as they will? Only by the sheer 342 00:31:23,000 –> 00:31:31,180 grace unmerited favor of God that came to them, how? Through the faithfulness of their 343 00:31:31,180 –> 00:31:39,819 little brother who had the guts to stand up and speak the Word of God to their face and 344 00:31:39,819 –> 00:31:46,660 put up with their foolish rejection of it. And the rejection is not the end of the story, 345 00:31:46,660 –> 00:31:52,180 that’s very important to keep in mind! And the rejection that you may experience, as 346 00:31:52,180 –> 00:31:58,439 you plant the seed of the Word of God in someone else’s life, that’s not the end of the story! 347 00:31:58,439 –> 00:32:06,180 God’s redeeming work advances in the lives of these rebel brothers, in large measures 348 00:32:06,180 –> 00:32:13,260 through the courage, the sheer courage of a teenager who’s not ashamed to take a stand 349 00:32:13,260 –> 00:32:17,020 and won’t keep the Word of God to himself, like so many people seem to think he should 350 00:32:17,020 –> 00:32:25,819 have, but speaks it. So that when, finally, the great moment comes and Joseph is able 351 00:32:25,819 –> 00:32:30,579 to supply their need, they see that this is not just an arbitrary set of events but that 352 00:32:31,579 –> 00:32:37,420 self is at work and that God himself is the living God who is laying hold of them and 353 00:32:37,420 –> 00:32:44,420 is touching their lives in a wonderful, redeeming, and a saving way. Your friends, your unbelieving 354 00:32:44,660 –> 00:32:50,900 friends, who may sometimes be quite cruel to you, your friends at school, your friends 355 00:32:50,900 –> 00:33:00,020 at work, your neighbors who do not know Christ, they need you to love them enough to speak 356 00:33:00,060 –> 00:33:06,500 the Word of God to them as it relates to them and to put up even with their foolish rejection 357 00:33:06,500 –> 00:33:12,900 of it and probably even of their rejection of you as well. That’s what it takes. We 358 00:33:12,900 –> 00:33:17,500 really want to be useful to God, this is what it takes. It takes Christians who will say, 359 00:33:17,500 –> 00:33:24,500 my loyalty to God matters more to me than my loyalty to my friends. It is going to take 360 00:33:24,939 –> 00:33:31,359 and this is what our country desperately needs in these days, friends. This country desperately 361 00:33:31,359 –> 00:33:38,359 needs churches that will say, finding favor with God is more important to us than finding 362 00:33:40,359 –> 00:33:47,359 favor with the world. God’s Word must be spoken. It must be spoken with grace, it must 363 00:33:47,699 –> 00:33:53,319 be spoken with humility, it certainly must be spoken with clarity and it must be spoken 364 00:33:53,500 –> 00:34:00,500 irrespective of the cost anywhere in the world and irrespective of how it is received. So 365 00:34:03,760 –> 00:34:07,819 forget that line that says you should have kept it to yourself, that will take you nowhere 366 00:34:07,819 –> 00:34:12,320 good when it comes to the Word of God. 367 00:34:12,320 –> 00:34:19,320 Third, always remember that Christ is loved and favored by God and in him that love and 368 00:34:20,080 –> 00:34:26,760 that favor extends to you. God as one son and he always has been and always will be 369 00:34:26,760 –> 00:34:33,760 loved and favored. The whole Bible brings hope to us around the theme of a loved and 370 00:34:34,620 –> 00:34:41,620 favored son. In him lies all of the hope of his sisters and brothers and when you are 371 00:34:41,620 –> 00:34:48,620 in Christ, the love and favor that are upon him, when you are in him is a love and favor 372 00:34:49,520 –> 00:34:56,580 that is upon you, in Jesus Christ. I’ll always remember that. Especially when there are times 373 00:34:56,580 –> 00:35:01,959 in your life as there must have been times in Joseph’s life, when you find yourself asking 374 00:35:01,959 –> 00:35:07,260 the question, why, oh God, why isthere so much pain in my life? Why are you allowing 375 00:35:07,260 –> 00:35:14,260 these things? Look at the story of Joseph. And you will see that God never wastes the 376 00:35:15,159 –> 00:35:21,639 pain and suffering of his people. And it’s not only that God’s redeeming purpose for 377 00:35:21,639 –> 00:35:28,639 those around Joseph advances despite his suffering. God’s redeeming purpose for people around 378 00:35:29,520 –> 00:35:36,520 Joseph advances precisely because of, on account of, as a result of and through what he suffered. 379 00:35:36,679 –> 00:35:41,439 He has to go to Egypt as part of the purpose of God. God takes him through the pain and 380 00:35:41,439 –> 00:35:48,439 blessings come to him and come through him as a result. Not despite it, but precisely 381 00:35:51,419 –> 00:35:57,780 because of it. And if you should find yourself come to a place where it seems that everybody 382 00:35:57,780 –> 00:36:04,780 is against you, you’re gonna be able to say yes, but God is for me in Jesus Christ. 383 00:36:05,879 –> 00:36:09,399 And if you should come to a place where you feel very alone and sometimes you have this 384 00:36:09,520 –> 00:36:16,520 question in your mind, who really cares about me? Well you will be able to say in Christ 385 00:36:16,520 –> 00:36:23,520 God loves me with an everlasting love. He always has and He always will. And if you 386 00:36:23,520 –> 00:36:27,860 should find yourself in that place where it seems that everybody else favored and not 387 00:36:27,860 –> 00:36:32,360 you, everyone else gets the opportunity and you’re passed over, you will be able to say 388 00:36:32,360 –> 00:36:38,679 this. Yes, but in Christ the favor of God rests upon me. I am blessed with every spiritual 389 00:36:38,679 –> 00:36:46,699 blessing in Christ and His love has been lavished upon me. And all this is true for 390 00:36:46,699 –> 00:36:58,219 every person who will truly bow down before God’s loved and favored Son whose name is 391 00:36:58,219 –> 00:37:06,080 Jesus Christ. Let’s pray together. Father, please work your word into the deep places 392 00:37:06,080 –> 00:37:15,280 of our hearts that it may bear fruit in Godly lives for your glory through Jesus Christ. 393 00:37:15,280 –> 00:37:16,120 Amen.