October 17, 2021

Online Worship for Trinity Twenty, Sunday October 17, 2021

Preacher:
Passage: Genesis 37
Service Type:

Sermon for Trinity Twenty – Sunday October 17, 2021
Calvary/Marquette ● Soli Deo Gloria

Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who comforts us in all our troubles, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. (2 Corinthians 1:4).

Genesis 37:1-11, 18-20, 23-28

Now Jacob dwelt in the land where his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan. 2 This is the history of Jacob.

Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. And the lad was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to his father.

3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age. Also he made him a tunic of many colors. 4 But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.

5 Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more. 6 So he said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: 7 There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf.”

8 And his brothers said to him, “Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.

9 Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, “Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me.”

10 So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?” 11 And his brothers envied him, but his father kept the matter in mind.

18 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!”

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.

25 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.
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In the Name of Jesus, the Christ,
Who works all things for our Good
Dear Fellow Redeemed in His Precious Blood –

If history shows us anything; it shows us that there are cycles to just about everything.

 It’s certainly true of fashion. What is popular today will tomorrow be ‘embarrassingly dated.’ “The 1990’s called; they want their clothing back!”
 It seems true of morality. What was recognized as evil, as wrong 50 years ago is today the greatest thing. The OT Book of Judges surely shows us the cycle of morality...when people fall away from God and his Word things go bad in a hurry; when they repent and return to Him things get better.
 It’s true of what might be called ‘Mainstream Christianity.’
In the year 2,000, a man named Bruce Wilkinson began promoting the “Prayer of Jabez.” In 1 Chronicles 4:9-10 a man named Jabez prayed that God would bless and enlarge his territory and He did. Wilkinson suggested that if we pray the same prayer every day, God will bless us and we will become wealthy beyond our dreams.

It has become popular to declare: “God is Good!” The statement is plastered on tattoos, keychains and bumper stickers. It’s since been modified to read: “God is Good...all the time.”

Nevertheless, the statement is true: God is good. In other words, the one true God who reveals himself in the Bible is always good; goodness is a quality that belongs to Him...all the time. The fact that God provides for every living thing is proof of His goodness.

It’s easy to see that GOD is good – 1) When a new child is born to a young couple; 2) When the LORD blesses fields with a bumper crop; 3) When one’s retirement portfolio experiences a windfall.

It’s NOT so easy to see that GOD is good – 1) When there is a sudden and (to us) unexpected death; 2) When there is a drought and crops fail and farms fall to foreclosure; 3) When one’s retirement portfolio experiences great loss.

Whatever the circumstance we react predictably. We are quick to rejoice in the good and just as quick to complain in the difficult. We need to remember in both circumstances that GOD is Good. We need to learn to see the hand of God in both the joyful and in the difficult.

In the Word of God before us this morning it isn’t difficult to see the bad. It isn’t difficult to see the annoying personality of Joseph, the favoritism of Israel and hatred of Joseph’s brothers for him. On the other hand, it isn’t so easy to see God’s hand in all of these things despite the sins of those involved. It’s there, we need to learn to see it.

We therefore ask that God the Holy Spirit open our eyes and help us to grow in our faith through these words. “Sanctify us by Your Truth, O Lord, Your Word is Truth.” Amen.

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I think you will agree with me that it’s not difficult to see the sins of the people in this account from Holy Scripture. Despite the fact that the unbelieving and mainstream Christianity often criticize what they see as ‘the bias of the writers’ we see that the Spirit of God presents things ‘without sugar-coating’ ‘warts and all.’ The Spirit of God does not paint Jacob in the best light, nor Joseph, nor his brothers.

They are presented as they were – sinners.

Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. And the lad was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to his father.

Jacob, whose name God changed to Israel, had a dozen sons by four women. We will discuss the matter of polygamy later; suffice it to say that human beings often don’t follow God’s will. Joseph was the second youngest, just 17, and spent time tending the flocks with his step-brothers, the sons born to Jacob by Rachel’s servant Bilhah (Dan and Naphtali) and by Leah’s servant Zilpah (Gad and Asher). In the course of time, Joseph brough a bad report of his step-brothers to his Father Jacob/Israel.

There is no hint that Joseph’s report was incorrect. It was not well received, because Jacob/Israel had a favorite. In fact, much of the problem reported here was the result of favoritism, which God warns us about in His Word (Ephesians 6:5. Colossians 3:21).

The Spirit of God reveals to us that --

“...Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age. Also he made him a tunic of many colors. 4 But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.”

We’ve already seen the fatherly mistakes made by Jacob in his own home. Here was another one – Israel had a favorite son and it was obvious. Joseph was born when Israel was elderly, and he lavished his love and gave special gifts to his young son. One of the gifts that he gave his young son was a special coat.

Joseph’s coat wasn’t a ‘coat of many colors’ – that is a poor translation of the Hebrew. It may have been colorful, but what distinguished it from other garments was that it went down the arm to the palm and down the leg to the ankle. It wasn’t the kind of garment worn by a working man or shepherd (which were sleeveless and only went as far as the knee) but a garment worn by the rich.

The coat distinguished Joseph from his brothers and they hated him for it. They hated him so much they couldn’t even talk to him.

Joseph must have known what his brothers thought of him. Hatred is difficult to hide.
So, when Joseph had two dreams, he might have guessed his brother’s reaction to the obvious meaning of the dreams, but Joseph seemed to delight in revealing it, as if to provoke his brothers.

5 Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more. 6 So he said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: 7 There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf.” 8 And his brothers said to him, “Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.

9 Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, “Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me.” 10 So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?”

How would you react if a snotty kid brother declared one day that He would grow up to be ‘better than you?’ How would you react if he declared, “I’m going to be president some day and you will have to do what I want! I’ll make you can all the toilets in the country.”

Human pride is a powerful and dangerous thing. In this case it led to plans for murder. It led to the unthinkable, selling a brother into slavery. It happened when Israel perhaps thoughtlessly sent his favorite, but hated son, to check on his older brothers. It was the ‘straw that broke the camel’s back.’

18 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!” 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. 25 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.

It’s not difficult to see sins of others. We don’t have to imagine the hatred of Joseph’s brothers because it’s revealed to us in living color. Even at a distance, they hated him.

 Contempt -- They referred to him with contempt as ‘the dreamer’ – literally, they called him ‘Lord of the Dreams.’
 Plans to Murder – They made plans to kill him and throw him into a cistern, a pit with a narrow top and broad bottom dug to collect rain water.
 Plans to Deceive – They made plans to cover up their murder, to deceive their father by pretending that Joseph had been devoured by an evil beast.
 Dreams! What would become of his dreams then? They would see to it that they would never come to pass. They grabbed their little brother, stripped him and threw him in an empty cistern.
 Lunch – If that had not been enough, they sat down to eat lunch and listened to their brother plead for his life. While this information isn’t given here, it is revealed later in the 42nd Chapter of Genesis (Genesis 42:21).
 Slavery – Then they sold their brother into slavery for 20 pieces of silver.

It’s easy to see the sins of others. We always see the mistakes of others more clearly than our own.

The thing is that we aren’t told these things so that we hypocritically stand in judgment of Joseph’s brothers. We aren’t told these things so that we feel better about ourselves because we’ve never done something so terrible.

We are equally wicked; let’s be honest. The difference is that many of our sins are unknown to those around us, the sins of our hearts and minds. They may have thought that their sins were secret, but they were not and neither are ours. God knows.
It’s equally easy to look at the things that happened to Joseph and ask: “How could a loving GOD allow such terrible things to happen to a 17-year-old boy?” Why would God allow Joseph to be sold into slavery in Egypt and then later be thrown into prison? When we take that attitude, it isn’t long before we start asking things like, “Why does God allow bad things to happen to me? Why did I get sick?”

Yeah, who does He think He is? I think I could to a better job.

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The problem is...that we just don’t have all the information. We imagine that because we have some of the information that we are qualified to stand in judgment of the decisions of the Almighty God. We who have limited knowledge question the wisdom of the one who knows all things at all times and in all places.

“Why did God allow this to happen to Joseph?” The answer revealed in Scripture is fairly simple. God allowed this evil to befall Joseph at the hands of his brothers -- for the ultimate good of them all. We can’t see that clearly here in the 37th Chapter when Joseph is in the pit pleading for his life.

We see clearly in the 50th chapter of Genesis...after Joseph’s dreams did come true. Joseph rose to second in command in Egypt at a time when there was famine in the region, including Canaan. The sheaves of his brothers came to bow down before his and as a result Joseph was able to keep them alive, provide for their needs and preserve their lives.

God’s Hand in it all is revealed in the 50th Chapter (18-21):

18 Then his brothers also went and fell down before his face, and they said, “Behold, we are your servants.” 19 Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? 20 But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. 21 Now therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.” And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

This wasn’t only about preserving the lives of a dozen men and their extended families. There was something much bigger happening too because God has promised that the Savior of Humankind would arise from the family of Israel. If they died in famine then that would never happen. God directed history to preserve His Promise.
God used the evil actions of Joseph’s brothers to work their ultimate good. It wasn’t the last time God would use the actions of evil men to work blessing for many.

Joseph was betrayed by his brothers...Jesus was betrayed His brothers according to the flesh (John 1:11).
Joseph was sold for 20 pieces of silver...the price for Jesus was 30 pieces of silver.
Joseph was put to shame...Jesus was put to death.
God’s purpose in allowing Joseph to be humbled was to preserve the family of Israel...God’s purpose in allowing His Son to be so humbled was to preserve all of humankind from sin and from death eternal.
While Joseph died and was buried...Christ rose again to defeat even death.

People today look at Jesus death and can’t see how any good can come from it. God has revealed His gracious plan in His Word. He’s called us to be His Ambassadors to make it known to all, for (2 Corinthians 5:19-21):

“...God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. 21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

The account of Joseph’s brothers selling him into slavery is brutal. Still, we must learn to see God’s hand it all and in our own lives.

It wasn’t all that long ago that we cancelled face to face worship because of the concerns of a virus. We watched from our couches. Did we stop to see God’s hand in it all? Have we learned anything from it? Do we better appreciate the opportunity for worship or do we just complain about it? Let’s learn to see the hand of God in all these things.

When difficult things come upon you and your family...learn to see the Hand of God in it all. Do not despair of God’s Love but know that in all things He works for your eternal good...whether you can see it now or not. Trust Him. He knows what he is doing.... even (especially) when we can’t see or understand it.

Amen.

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