Joseph Gen 37, 39 Bible class

Joseph Gen 37, 39 Bible class

Joseph- Genesis 37:1-36; 39:1-23

Introduction: Chapter’s 28-35 The focus is on Jacob’s life. Chapter 36 gives list of Esau’s descendants. But as we move into ch 37 we transition to the live of Joseph. Then in ch 38 there is a pause as the Bible switches to Judah leaving his brothers going to find a wife. Ch 39 picks up where 37 leaves off. Now Joseph is one of 12 brothers. These brothers became the 12 patriarchs, they would later be the fathers of the 12 tribes of Israel. All but two: Levi & Joseph. Josephs sons Ephraim and Manasseh would be two tribe fathers, and Levi was in charge of the tabernacle. We will see in chapter 37:3 That Joseph was loved more than any of his brothers, which is going to cause some problems for him as we will see, however God was with him the whole time and he continued to prosper. There is a lot of lessons we can learn from Joseph and we will go over some of these.

I. Vs. 1-4 Joseph the favored son.

a. Vs. 2 Joseph is 17. He was known as to bring bad report of his brothers. T

b. Vs. 3 Israel (Jacob) loved Joseph more than all the children and made him coat of many colors.

c. Vs. 4 His brothers hated him.

d. Application: Jacob should of known the destruction of favoritism.

He was favored by his mother, while Esau was favored by his father Isaac.

Jacob deceives his father on his death bed to get the blessing Esau was supposed to get.

This is what led Esau wanting to kill Jacob and took them twenty years to fix problem.

Now we see Jacob favoring Joseph, which is going to lead his brothers to wanting to kill him.

We as Christians should never favor a child over another, it will only lead to problems down the road.

This is how families get divided up and then when the parents die they are coming together fighting over the inheritance.

II. Vs. 5-11 Joseph’s Dream.

a. Vs. 5-8 The first dream: All their sheaves bow down to his sheave.

b. Vs. 9-10 The second dream: The sun, moon, and 11 stars bow down to him.

c. Vs. 11 His brethren hated him (4,5,8, 11)

d. You would of thought by how much his brothers hated him, he would not tell them the dreams. He may have been prideful by telling them the dream.

e. Vs 10 we see his father rebuked him and asked him the question: shall I and thy mother and brothers all bow down to you?

However, his family envied him but his father kept his sayings. Jacob had a dream after he received the blessing from Isaac.

III. Vs. 12-17 Joseph sent to check on brothers.

a. Vs. 12-14 Joseph’s dad ask him to go to Shechem.

i. Jacob bought a parcel of a field here in Gen 33:19.

ii. This piece of land would be his sons promised land they get in Joshua.

iii. This is the spot where Joseph will be buried in Joshua 24:32.

iv. Joshua was of the tribe of Ephraim, which is josephs son.

v. Joshua 24:15!!

b. Vs. 15-17 Joseph goes to find them in Dothan.

i. Joseph had first left Hebron to Shechem 45 miles as a bird flies, not including the mountains. He was 17 years old.

ii. Then Dothan was another 15 miles!!

iii. Could you image sending a 17 year old on foot?? We live in a total different erra.

IV. Vs. 18-24 Josephs brothers plot to kill him.

a. Vs. 18-20 They conspired to kill the dreamer.

b. Vs. 21-22 Reuben the eldest son (Gen 29:32) speaks up and says let’s not kill him.

c. Vs. 23-24 They strip his coat and throw him in pit.

d. Application: Matt 7:20-23 They were having evil thoughts of Joseph and when he comes there’s that dreamers, let’s kill him!!

e. How we are to deal with anger toward a brother Matt 5:21-26

f. 1 John 3:11-15

V. Vs. 25- 28 Joseph sold into slavery.

a. Vs. 25 The Ishmaelite’s approach them while headed to Egypt.

b. Vs. 26-27 Judah says let’s make a profit instead of killing him.

c. Vs. 28 They sold Joseph for twenty pieces of silver.

VI. Vs. 29-35 Joseph’s brothers deceived their dad.

a. Vs. 29 Reuben returns to empty pit.

b. Vs. 30 He says where should I go? (He is the oldest brother and going to be held accountable).

c. Vs. 31-32A They put one of there goats’ blood on coat and take to Jacob.

d. Vs. 32B-33 Ask their father is this Josephs, which he immediately knew something bad happened to his son.

e. Vs. 34-35 Jacob rents his cloths and mourns, says until the grave.

f. Application: We see Jacobs is reaping what he had sown.

He had deceived his father in Gen 27:9-16, by putting on goat skins on his hands so Issac would think he was Esau.

Now we have goat blood on a coat as Jacobs sons are deceiving him!.

This would bring mourning to Jacob for years thinking his favorite son was dead. Sin has consequences!!!

A person can sin and then repent and get right with God, but they may still pay from the consequences of their actions.

VII. Gen 37:36-39:1 Joseph sold to Potiphar.

a. Potiphar was a of officer and captain of the guard.

VIII. Vs. 2-6 Joseph’s faithful service.

a. Vs. 2 The Lord was with Joseph, and he was prosperous.

b. Vs. 3-4 His master could see the Lord was with him and made him overseer of the house.

c. Vs. 5-6 Potiphar gave him full control over everything and he was well favored.

d. Application: We see that no matter the situation that Joseph faith is what got him through, and the Lord remained with him.

He could have given up at any moment as a lot of people give up on faith as soon as pain and suffering come. We don’t see him questioning God, but that God was with him.

So much that his master knew it. Remember to them the pharaoh is a god. Who is making his house proper?

IX. Vs. 7-19 Joseph’s self-control

a. Vs. 7-8A Potiphar wife advances on Joseph, but he refuses her.

b. Vs. 8B- 9 The response: How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?

c. Vs. 10 Day by day, she tried to make advances on him.

d. Vs. 11-12 One day Joseph went into house with only her and she made advance, and he fled.

e. Vs. 13-14 She calls guards to make up a lie.

f. Vs. 15-18 She continues to tell the lie until her husband returns home.

g. Vs. 19 The master was hot against Joseph.

h. Application: 1 Cor 6:18 Flee fornication!!! 2 Tim 2:22 Flee youthful lusts!

i. James 1:12- following- Blessed is the man that endureth temptation.

j. Joseph knew there was no one around but his response in verse 9 sin against God. God is always watching and knows everthing we do, think, or say.

He knows our hearts. We must keep a strong faith like Joseph and know there is always a way out!

X. Vs. 20-23 Joseph and the Jailor

a. Vs. 20 Joseph was put in prison.

b. Vs. 21 The Lord was with Joseph and gave him favor in sight of keeper.

c. Vs. 22-23 The keeper put him in charge over everything in prison, and the Lord made everything he did proper.

Application: We see the life of Joseph; he had a very tough life. He was hated by his family, hated so much they wanted to kill him, and sold him into slavery.

It did not end there; he works his way up to the top again as a servant and then a lie gets him prison. Then in prion he rises back up again. We see God was with him the whole time.

We never once hear of Joseph murmuring and complaining even though he had a rough life.

We as Christians are hated by the world and sometimes by our own families. We should walk as Joseph, he obey his father to go check on his brothers even though they hated him.

Mat 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

Mat 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.!!!