54 genesis 37v1-11 joseph the dreamer

7/30/2019 54 Genesis 37v1-11 Joseph the Dreamer

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The story of Joseph reveals God's remarkable control over circumstances

and his ability to bring good out of what, on the surface, appears to be far

from good for us. We find it hard to believe that God can take the dark

threads of circumstance and from them weave something of eternal value

and glory. The story of Joseph encourages us to believe that he can!

Further encouragement can be drawn from the fact that

Joseph’s story unfolds within the context of family

tension and conflict. We often mistakenly think that

our faith would be stronger, or the quality of our

service for God more thoroughgoing, if only our

family circumstances were different.

The life of Joseph encourage

us to think otherwise.

Introduction

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The life of Joseph is remarkable. He is hardly mentioned in the N.T. and yet

more has been written about him than about any other O.T. character. He is

one of a few men in scripture about whom nothing bad is written. Whenever

Joseph speaks, he almost always makes some reference to God. Joseph's life

experience spanned the social spectrum of the ancient world.

In his 110 years he had known what it was to be; a future

heir of a wealthy Jewish Patriarch, a slave in an Egyptian

household, a prisoner in a notorious dungeon and the

prime minister of a world superpower. He was abused

and he was exalted. But in whatever state we find

Joseph, God is always uppermost in his thoughts

and his confidence in God's goodness and

faithfulness remains unshaken.

Introduction

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As we consider Joseph’s life, there are a number of areas that repay careful

examination. The first is in the field of typology. There are in the O.T. black

and white pictures, which foreshadow the Technicolor revelation found in the

N.T.

Joseph’s life has been viewed as a character, who foreshadows the person of

Christ. One commentator has traced 101 parallels between the life of Josephand the life of Jesus. One suggests that the life of Joseph is a type of ‘the

pathway of Christ and his work’, from lowliness to exaltation, from slavery to

liberty, from suffering to glory!

Introduction

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Joseph is also an encouragement to those, who have enrolled in Christ’s

school of discipleship. His steadfast trust in God and determination to do

what is right is an example to us all. Joseph did not subscribe to the dictum,

'When in Rome do what the Romans do'. He did not camouflage his faith in

order to embrace an alien worship system. He never compromised.

He never complained. God was always the chief and determining reality in his life.

One commentator writes,

“From the example of this dreamer, who became a

doer we may learn how: To overcome envy, To face

adversity, To resist illicit sexual advances, To plan for

the future, To forgive those who wrong us, To dispel

doubts about forgiveness, To have faith in God's

promises, To recognise the sovereignty of God,

even in the wrongs done to us by others”.

Introduction

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A study of Joseph’s life provides an illuminating glimpse into the marvellous

providence of God. Joseph's story, perhaps more than any other in the Bible,

demonstrates God's remarkable control over every circumstance of our lives.

We see God’s ability to order good out of, what on the surface appears to be,

evil. There are times in our lives, when all we appear to be able

to see are dark threatening threads!

We find it hard to believe that God really can take

those threads in his hands and from them

produce something glorious. The story of

Joseph encourages us to believe in

the astonishing and beneficial

providence of God.

Introduction

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The words 'this is the account of Jacob’ in 37.2 introduce a new division in

the Genesis story. Chap 36 traces the family development of Jacob’s brother

Esau. It describes the great Edomite nation. And only

after this account of great wealth, status and power

do we find the story of a young 17 year old, who

was having a rough time at home.Given the choice, where would you choose to live?

In the palaces of great kings or in a family marked

by great tensions?

Before you answer, 'Give me a palace any day,'

note that it was not in the palaces of the

Edomites but in a dysfunctional family

that God’s purpose of redemption

was to take a great leap forward.

The Significance of Joseph

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God does not normally work through the great and the mighty cf 1 Cor. 1.26:

“Brothers, think of what you were when you more called. Not many of you

were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of

noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise;

God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the

lowly things of this world and the despised things and the things that are notto nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him”.

God works through the most ordinary and unlikely individuals, for then, both

they and others, are more likely to recognise the hand of God at work.


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Why did Joseph possess a greater spirituality than his brothers? Did he ask

his father to recount his own spiritual experiences with God? Think of what

Jacob could have shared; the story of God’s ladder, the special covenant

promises God had made, God’s protection in situations of real danger, and

of course the momentous evening at the River Jabbok, when God wrestled

Jacob into submission.

Did hearing of these experiences help shape Joseph’s

life of faith?

In the final analysis of course it was God,

who opened Joseph's heart and drew

him to himself. But God uses ‘means’

like the faith experiences of others

to impress young formative lives.


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This should encourage parents to talk openly and unashamedly of their

experience of God. Tell your children how God has been at work in your life.

Too often parents neglect to do so and instead hope that something ‘will

happen’ to their children in Sunday school, church or at a Christian youth

camp. It is as we share our hearts with our children that they can begin to

understand, what motivates our love for God.

Jacob was far from being a perfect parent. He had favourites, 'Now Israel

loved Joseph more than any of his other sons‘ v3. What made Joseph special?

He was Rachel's child. Jacob had children by four women, only one of whom

he loved. Rachael was that woman and that made Joseph, her son, special.


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The fact that Jacob had a favourite is all the more disturbing given that Jacob

had himself felt isolated, devalued and unloved by his father Isaac. You will

remember that Isaac had loved Esau and had little time for Jacob. Had Jacob

forgotten the personal heartache, which that had caused him? He of all

people should have decided, "I will never place any of my children in that

position”.

But Jacob, like so many of us, failed to learn from past

personal experience. Some have suggested that

Jacob's favouritism was justifiable in the light

of the behaviour of his other sons towards

the Shechemites. But the text makes itclear that this was not the reason

for his discrimination.


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Jacob made the situation worse by making Joseph, what is described as 'a

richly ornamented robe.' The Hebrew allows for the possibility of a robe

that extended down to the ankles and wrists unlike those worn by working

men. Does this adequately explain the intensity of the brother’s anger?

It was not simply that Joseph’s clothes came from Harrods.That would have been bad enough but this ‘robe’ gave

Joseph ‘manager status’ over his brothers. A position

normally reserved for the eldest son! Reuben’s

behaviour, sleeping with his father’s concubine,

Gen. 35v22, had deprived him not only his

father's favour but of his birthright.

These rights had been transferred to Joseph, and

his robe was a constant reminder of that fact!


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From Jn. 4v5, which records the famous meeting between Jesus and the

Samaritan woman at the well, we learn that the well was situated near a plot

of ground that Jacob gifted to his son Joseph. This was the only piece of land

Jacob ever owned! Giving it to Joseph was another way of saying that he

intended Joseph to be his heir with all of the associated blessings. This in turn

throws a somewhat different light upon Gen. 37v2, which is sometimes usedto criticise Joseph as a talebearer.

But if he had been given a managerial role in the

family, then one of his responsibilities would

have been to report back to his father.

And so he was not so much a talebeareras a truth teller.


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Joseph’s brothers were jealous. Jealousy is closely allied to resentment and

envy. James tells us: 'For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there

you find disorder and every evil practice’ Jas. 3.16.

The root of the brothers’ envy is an angry resistance to the decrees of God.

For ultimately it is God who is responsible for the circumstances that

surround our lives, though he is not alwaysthe author of them.

The brother’s envy reflects their resentment

towards God as their reaction to Joseph's

dreams make clear. Joseph’s dreams of brothers’

sheaves in the field bowing down to his sheaf and of the stars, sun and moon bowing

down to Joseph, needed little interpretation.

The Momentum of Sin

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For all their spiritual immaturity the brothers recognised the significance of

these dreams. They believed that Joseph had done no more than reveal his

God-given destiny to rule over them. This is seen even more clearly in v20

"Come now, let's kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say

that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we see what comes of his

dreams." This reasoning showed they were not only attempting to alterJoseph's destiny but that ultimately they were opposed to the purpose of

God.

This has searching application.

Whenever we are covetous or

envious of others we are in factsaying to God, 'You have failed to

satisfy me you have not given me

all that I want'.

The Momentum of Sin

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Jacob's response to Joseph's dreams was quite different in v 11 we read

that, 'he kept the matter in his mind'. Jacob knew that God often worked in

ways that cut across the grain of natural expectation. Had God not done so

in choosing him instead of his elder brother? Was it really then so difficult

to believe that God might indeed have some significant purpose for his

young son?

That is the reaction of faith, which

results from a growing comprehension

of God's method of working.

The Momentum of Sin

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Some have questioned the wisdom of Joseph in sharing his dreams with his

family. Might it not have been better to have hidden these things in his heart

rather than provide additional fuel for his brothers’ resentment. He may have

been naïve but others believe that it was a God-given compunction that

caused him to make this divine revelation known. The brothers hated the

dreams as much as they hated Joseph for reporting them. This passagereveals the frightening conflagration of sin. Smouldering jealousy, when it is

unchecked flames into hatred. Joseph, because he had been chosen by God

and secondly because he was different from his brothers [his godliness of life]

was fuel to their hatred.

The Momentum of Sin

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What does Jesus say in Jn. 15v18-19? ‘If the world hates you, keep in mind

that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its

own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the

world. That is why the world hates you.’

You will see that Jesus gives precisely the sametwo reasons for the hatred that the church will

experience at the hands of others. Hatred for

being different and hatred for being chosen.

If you are different from the ungodly

men and women around you in theworkplace or in your neighbourhood -

and only God's grace can make you

different - then expect to be objects

of hatred!

The Momentum of Sin

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The brothers failed to deal with jealousy and envy and so it grew into hatred

before developing into attempted murder. There is an awful momentum in

the out of control rollercoaster of sin. If the brakes are not applied, then it

can propel us into behaviour that later causes us to ask,

'Was I really responsible for that?'

If you react to Joseph’s brothers’ behaviour by

raising your hands in horror asking,

'How could Joseph’s brother's treat him

in this way?'

then remember that the same

potential lies in all our hearts.

Conclusion

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That knowledge alone should cause us to cry to God for the grace of

contentment and for a willingness to run the race that he has marked out

for us rather than look enviously around at what he asks of others.

This is the antidote to much of the misery experienced by so many. We

need ‘Christian blinkers’ that will enable us to keep in the lane that God has

marked out for us and so complete the race to the best of our ability.

Conclusion

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54 genesis 37v1-11 joseph the dreamer

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