STUDY THEME: JOSEPH: LEARNING TO LIVE A LIFE OF GRACE 8-03-03

"CONFRONTING CRISIS." GEN. 37: 1-4, 5-8, 23-24, 25-28, 34-36

PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLE TO GENESIS 37.

In Gen. 26: 34-35 we find Esau had married two foreign girls who "made life miserable for Isaac and Rebecca." In Gen. 28:1 Isaac told Jacob not to marry a Canaanite but rather to go back to Mesopotamia and marry one of Uncle Laban’s daughters.

Jacob selected Rachel and agreed to work seven years for since he had nothing with which to pay a dowry. On the wedding night Laban delivered the bride to Jacob. The next morning he discovered he was married to Leah, the older daughter, rather than Rachel. He then agreed to work another seven years for Rachel and now had two wives and their two slave girls to care for. The conflict between Esau and Jacob had its counterpart in that between Jacob’s favorite wife Rachel and Leah.

In time Leah gave birth to four sons while Rachel remained barren. Rachel’s desire for a son led her to give Jacob her maid Belhah who bore Jacob two sons. When Leah realized she had stopped having children she gave her slave girl Zilpah to Jacob as his wife. Zilpah bare Jacob two sons and then Leah had two more sons and a daughter named Dinah. In Gen. 30:22 God remembered Rachel, answered her prayer and made it possible for her to give birth to a son: so she named him Joseph. Joseph was born in the 16^th century BC, as the eleventh son of Jacob.

From the standpoint of literature, the story of Joseph is one of the best short stories ever written. It interests both young and old and holds the interest to the end. The scene of the story shifts quickly from Palestine to Egypt; from a pastorial country to an empire already ancient and mighty. Down the ages, novelists and painters have dwelt on the romantic story of Joseph, the Israelite lad from Canaan who became the most powerful man at the court of the Egyptian Pharoah.

Joseph does not go to Egypt as and ambassador, but as an unwilling captive. The vindictive hatred of jealous brothers, a passing caravan of traders, an untried lad torn from his fathers arms---these are the unpromising materials with which God had to work.

With a background like this one would think Jacob would know better than show favoritism to any of his twelve boys.

Evidently, Jacob did not learn from the experience of his father. Instead, he repeated the same mistake. He was an old man when Rachel had her first child, Joseph. Soon after Jacob had returned to his own country, Canaan, Rachel died giving birth the last of Jacob’s sons, Benjamin. The family settled in Hebron.

The boy Joseph was pampered by his father, who made him a coat of many colors as a special mark of favor; This was resented by his older brothers. They were made angrier still when Joseph bore tales about them to Jacob, and when he claimed to have dreams in which the whole family bowed down to him. Shakespeare wrote, "Oh, beware of Jealousy; it is the green-eyed monster, which doth mock the meat it feeds on." Colton said, "Of all the passions, jealousy is that which exacts the hardest service, and pays the bitterest wages."

Parental favoritism again promoted family discord, deception, and the disappearance of the preferred son, but God graciously used it to achieve His good purpose. The Christian church has traditionally viewed Joseph as a type of Christ. After suffering persecution and temptation, Joseph was exalted as lord over his brothers.

One cause of problems in Jacob’s family was that he had 12 sons by four different women, and he made it clear that he loved Rachel best. This created tension among the four women, and this tension was transmitted to their sons. Joseph was the son of Rachel. He was born near the end of Jacob’s stormy years in Haran. The character of the ones who grew up in those years was marked by those years.

Joseph was still young when Jacob became Israel. As Joseph grew up to age 17, Israel loved Joseph more than all his children. Jacob made no secret of the fact that his favorite was the son of his old age. Rachel’s first-born was Jacob’s favorite. He was born in Padan-Aram when Jacob was 90 years old. He was Jacob’s favorite because he was Rachel’s child and the son of Jacob’s old age.

Jacob was so filled with love for his favorite son that he made him a coat of many colors, indicating that he intended to make Joseph the head of the tribe. It was a sign of Joseph’s preferential status, and a galling reminder to Joseph’s brothers of their father’s favoritism. It was a symbol of Joseph’s special favor and rank though he was the next to the youngest son.

Joseph’s brothers already hated him. The special coat added fuel to the fires of their hatred. Perhaps we are so familiar with the words, they hated him, and could not speak a kind word to him. Jacob’s doting over Joseph was as offensive to them as was his gift to Joseph of the robe. Perhaps they hated their father Jacob as much or more than they hated their brother Joseph.

The insinuation of the coat marked Joseph as a person of importance and drew the hatred of the brothers for Joseph because of his tattling, his coat, and his dreams.

The Bible doesn’t tell us to what degree if any, Jacob or Joseph was aware of the depth of the brothers’ hatred. Apparently neither was fully aware, or Jacob would no have sent Joseph on the mission that resulted in the brothers’ actions against Joseph.

Dreams had an important role in Joseph’s life. He had dreams when he was 17. Later in life the Lord gave him the gift of interpreting dreams, and he interpreted the dreams of Pharaoh’s butler and baker. Then Joseph explained the meaning of Pharaoh’s dreams. Joseph’s first recorded dream is described in Vs. 6-7. He dreamed he and his brothers were binding bundles of wheat in the field. Then Joseph’s sheaf arose, and also stood upright. The brothers’ sheaves stood round about, and bowed down to Joseph’s sheaf.

When Joseph told his brothers, the brothers immediately interpreted the dream and they hated him yet the more. The brothers asked him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? As a consequence Vs. 8 repeats and reinforces Vs. 5. And they hated him yet the more for his dreams and for his words. Whether or not Joseph understood the dream this way is not reported, but it is clear that his dream indicated that Joseph would in some way be in authority over his brothers at a later time

Thus the passage indicates five reasons for the brothers’ hatred of Joseph. (1) The rivalry of different mothers: (2) Joseph’s evil report; (3) Jacob’s favoritism toward Joseph; (4) the coat of many colors; and (5) Joseph’s report on his dream. In vs. 9-11 Joseph dreamed another dream, which he also told to his family. In this dream, the sun, moon, and 11 stars bowed down to him. Jacob apparently saw him self as the sun and objected to the dream. His brothers were jealous of him once again.

I wonder why Joseph would tell these dreams? Surely he had some awareness that telling his brothers his dreams would anger them., There are two different suggestions about Joseph’s motives. One is that young Joseph let his favorite position in the family go to his head and that he became so conceited that he told the dreams. The other is that Joseph was spoiled, but he was not conceited. He may have been na=EFve or courageous in telling his brothers what he considered messages from the Lord. He was acting as a prophet.

Subsequent events proved that Joseph’s dream meant what the brothers interpreted it to mean. God had a plan for Joseph’s life. Joseph must have believed that fact, though he had no way of knowing just how or when it would happen. If he believed that God had a plan for his life, that belief sustained him throughout all his subsequent experiences until it became a reality in Egypt. Through this dream God supplied Joseph with grace to meet each crisis. He could look beyond the immediate catastrophe and remember that God had an ultimate purpose for him.

As we look at each of the three main persons and groups in Vs. 3-8, we see Jacob setting up his son Joseph for trouble by his obvious favoritism of him. We see Joseph sensing God’s plan for his future, but not yet tested. We see the brothers, who, like Cain, needed to get control over their envy and hatred.

Jacob sent his older sons some 50-60 miles north of Hebron to Shechem to care for his flocks. He later sent Joseph to bring a report back to him. On the way a stranger told Joseph where to find his brothers and the flock some 16 miles on north in Dothan. The brothers recognized their hated younger brother when he was still a long way off, if nothing else gave him away, his distinctive coat surely did. Seeing him, they "conspired against him to slay him" and developed a plan. Reuben, the oldest brother, persuaded hem not to kill Joseph but to put him in a pit. Reuben intended to rescue him later and return him to his father.

The brother’s pent-up hatred of Joseph exploded when they got their hands on him that day. First, they stript Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colors. The special garment had become the focal point of their growing anger. Then they cast him into a pit. If Reuben had not pleaded with the others not to kill Joseph, they probably would have killed him before throwing his body into the pit, thus making impossible the fulfillment of his dream.

The sudden disaster that befell Joseph is like the unexpected troubles of life. In a moment blue skies can become dark. A report of a medical test, a telephone call, a notice from the company, a television news special report---these can bring news of some unexpected disaster.

How would you have felt if you had been Joseph? Most of us would have felt shocked, afraid, betrayed, confused. Being human, young Joseph probably felt all of these emotions and others also. He pleaded for his life as they tore off his robe, threw him into the pit, and left him there. He could see murder in his own brothers’ eyes. They planned to let him die there in the pit.

After throwing Joseph into the cistern, the brothers sat down to eat their meal. How callous, especially if they were eating food Joseph brought from home and could hear him crying out in the pit. As they ate a caravan of Ishmaelites came along from Gilead on their way to Egypt. Judges 8: 24 says of the Midianites "they had gold earrings, because they were Ishmaelites."

Their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh. They were headed for the markets in Egypt. The spices were used in medicine, industry, and in making confections. Balm was used as medicine and myrrh for cough medicine, perfume, and incense-Myrrh was also used for embalming. Gilead was famous for such products.

The brothers pulled Joseph out of the cistern and sold him to the Midianite merchants for twenty shekels of silver. The Midianite merchants and the Ishmaelites are alternative names for the same group of traders. They took Joseph to Egypt, the country where eventually all of his family would come and live.

The price of a seventeen-year-old male slave was twenty shekels of silver. Later that was the price set for dedicating a male between the ages of five and twenty to the Lord. Twenty shekels was a large amount compared to the eight shekels a shepherd who worked for someone else expected to earn in a year.

Later events in Joseph’s life reveal that Joseph survived this tragic event in his life. Though these verses do not say specifically that he persevered the shattering of his dreams, later verses do. Joseph came to see God’s hand of purpose and protection in his life. His faith enabled him to persevere and to trust God.

The sequence of events seems to have been like this: The brothers saw Joseph coming, and most of them wanted to kill him and throw his body in a pit. Reuben persuaded the others to merely put Joseph in a pit (planning to rescue him). While eating, the others (without Reuben being present) saw a caravan in the distance. Judah suggested they sell Joseph. They lifted him out of the pit and sold him to the Ishmaelites-Midianites.

When Reuben returned, he was appalled they had sold Joseph as a slave. The brothers killed a small animal from the flock and smeared its blood on the coat of many colors, which they had torn off Joseph. Then they took the familiar coat to Jacob and asked him if he recognized the coat as Joseph’s. Jacob immediately recognized it and assumed that a wild animal had killed and mutilated Joseph.

Jacob then performed the signs of deep anguish and grief common among the Hebrews: Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days. Jacob had 11 other sons and some daughters. All his sons and all his daughters tried to comfort their father, but he refused to be comforted. Jacob said that he would mourn for Joseph until he died. This contrasts greatly with the behavior of David in 2 Samuel 12:23, who at the death of his son arose from his mourning and focused on their future meeting at the end of his days on earth.

Eventually, Jacob’s weeping came to an end without his going down to the grave. Now he became even more protective of Benjamin, the remaining son that Rachel bore to him. No doubt Jacob saw in him some of the features of his beloved Rachel, whom he had buried near Bethlehem.

Unknown to Jacob, Joseph’s crisis was not over, for the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard. God had a plan for Jacob and his sons in Canaan. He also had a plan for Joseph in Egypt. Though he was a slave, Joseph was still very much alive.

The Bible does not spell it out, but in a sense Jacob was reaping the harvest of his own sin of favoritism. Ironically, Jacob now went through what his father and mother experienced because of their favoritism. Jacob deceived his father Isaac, now Jacob’s sons deceived him. Jacob had to leave home, and he and his mother never saw each other again. The brothers of Joseph showed themselves to be even worse as they lied to and deceived their father. What hypocrites! Even as Joseph’s clothes had apparently been torn by wild animals, Jacob tears his clothes as a sign of his mourning.

How about Joseph? What was he thinking and feeling as he went down into a strange land and was sold as a slave? Years later in Gen. 50:20 he told his brothers that God had used their evil acts to bring about good. Did Joseph have such faith that dark night? I doubt if he did.

Romans 8:28 is learned in the school of life and in the course called trials and temptations. Only in retrospect did a mature Joseph come to this great hope and trust. On that first night he probably felt shock, hurt, fear, and uncertainty. Sometimes after an unexpected disaster the best we can hope for is to find the Lord’s help in making it through the night. Joseph probably lived a day at a time. Yet, Genesis 39 (our next lesson) shows that the Lord was with him and that Joseph began to win victories over his trials and temptations.

From what we know of Joseph, we find that bitterness did not consume him because of the hateful treatment by his brothers. He did not become a prisoner of the past; nor did he compromise his faith in his new surroundings. His faith may have been shaken at times, but its foundation was firm. Joseph was learning the hard way to live a life of faith in dependence on the grace of God. He was finding out that God gives grace in the face of crisis and that His grace is always enough.

Catherine Marshall suggested hat Joseph experienced on that dark night "the power of helplessness." When people of faith realize they are in situations in which they are helpless to help themselves, they can trust completely in the Lord, and His power can do its best work. She wrote: "It is important that we believe that God is adequate even for these situation. Otherwise the Prayer of Helplessness will fall to the ground. In order to fly, the bird must have two wings. One wing is the realization of our human helplessness, the other is the realization of God’s power. Our faith in God’s ability to handle our particular situation is the connecting link."

The experience of Joseph reminds us of the inevitability of trouble in our lives.

(1) Parental affection did not prevent trouble.

(2) Divine approval did not prevent trouble.

(3) Goodness did not prevent trouble.

We should remember that trouble often comes from unexpected sources but does not have to destroy us.

NEXT SUNDAY FROM GENESIS 39 WE FIND THAT GOD HELPS THOSE WHO REMAIN FAITHFUL TO HIM WHEN TEMPTED OR WHEN SUFFERING UNJUSTLY.          &nbs p;          

A.V. DAUGHERTY 8-03-03