Joseph and the Family Tree

Introduction/Scripture

Good morning again and welcome to FMC. We begin a new sermon series today. Several weeks on the story of Joseph from Genesis. In this story of a family, we see the effects of the fall, Genesis 3 played out through generations of a family. But we will also see how God works in and through all the brokenness. Having faith when it all falls apart, healing through trauma, gratitude when things are going well. All in all, I want all of us to see ourselves in this family portrait.

Let’s pray as we begin.

Parents in the room, have you ever looked at your kids and thought.... there is way to much of me in there.

Yesterday at our soccer game, my son crushed it. scored several goals, even scored for the other time when we convinced him to put on their extra jersey and help them out. All great...

Example with me

· Oldest

· Could not fail

· Could not make a B

· Took care of my brothers, the care taker.

This is all born out of my family system. Some of it is environment, some of it is genetic, some of it learned passively, some of it was taught passively, some of it was overt.

And this is the PG version of how jacked up I might be....What about divorce, propensity for addiction, depression, narcism.

Why am I the way that I am and what do I do about it?

3 people in the room: 1. What does this have to do with faith? I can go to therapy for this

2. The past is the past, I dont need to dig back there

3. I am saved, God has redeemed me

Genesis 37:1–20 NIV

1 Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, the land of Canaan. 2 This is the account of Jacob’s family line. Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives, and he brought their father a bad report about them. 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made an ornate robe for him. 4 When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him. 5 Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. 6 He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: 7 We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.” 8 His brothers said to him, “Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?” And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said. 9 Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. “Listen,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” 10 When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, “What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?” 11 His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind. 12 Now his brothers had gone to graze their father’s flocks near Shechem, 13 and Israel said to Joseph, “As you know, your brothers are grazing the flocks near Shechem. Come, I am going to send you to them.” “Very well,” he replied. 14 So he said to him, “Go and see if all is well with your brothers and with the flocks, and bring word back to me.” Then he sent him off from the Valley of Hebron. When Joseph arrived at Shechem, 15 a man found him wandering around in the fields and asked him, “What are you looking for?” 16 He replied, “I’m looking for my brothers. Can you tell me where they are grazing their flocks?” 17 “They have moved on from here,” the man answered. “I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’ ” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them near Dothan. 18 But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him. 19 “Here comes that dreamer!” they said to each other. 20 “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.”

How did we get here?!?!

Well to understand that we need to explore the family tree a little:

We are going to start with Jacob for times sake, but if we had more time, you can see that all of these struggles go back generations. Abraham is deceptive and lies to save himself when people become interested in his wife.... Genesis 20. Then his son Isaac does exactly the same thing with Rebecca. Both of these guys basically allow someone to have their wife to save their lives. Off to a great start considering God promises restoration through Abraham. Isaac’s son Jacob....

Genesis 27.

Jacob (Father) = his name means “deceiver” or “usurper” or “little cheat”  he stole his inheritance from his brother, Esau, and spend most of his life estranged from his mother, father, and only brother.

Genesis 29. Jacob marries Leah (when he wanted Rachel)

Leah (1st wife) = in exchange for 7 years of labor for her father Laban he was able to marry her. Only, he did not want to marry her, Laban deceived him. He wanted the pretty one, Rachel. Don’t miss the irony of Laban deceiving the original deceiver.

· Jacob never loved Leah

Proverbs 30: 21-23: Under three things the earth trembles; under four it cannot bear up: a slave when he becomes king, and a fool when he is filled with food; an unloved woman when she gets a husband, and a maidservant when she displaces her mistress.

Do you know what its like to grow up in a home where love is completely absent?

Its hard isn’t it? There are consequences that are bigger than the relationship itself

Dad’s in the room…one of the most important things you can do for your children is love mom well.

Now if things were not already bad enough… we need to meet Zilpah and Bilhah: Genesis 29.

When Rachel sees her sister giving Jacob all these kids and she is unable to conceive, Rachel gives her servant Bilhah to him. Jacob and Bilhah will have sons.

When Leah saw that she couldn’t have any more children, not to be outdone, she gave her servant Zilpah to Jacob and they had two sons.

Then eventually Rachel would be able to have a couple sons, that’s when we meet Joseph and Benjamin.

Let’s review…family tree photo.

Bowen Family Systems Theory

Do you know to some extent you are a product of your family system?

The family systems theory is a theory introduced by Dr. Murray Bowen that suggests that individuals cannot be understood in isolation from one another, but rather as a part of their family, as the family is an emotional unit. Families are systems of interconnected and interdependent individuals, none of whom can be understood in isolation from the system.

“The one most central theoretical premise of family systems theory concerns the degree to which we all have poorly ‘differentiated’ selfs, or the degree to which we are ‘undifferentiated,’ or the degree of our unresolved emotional attachments to families of origin.” (Bowen, 1978, p. 529)

In Bowen theory, the nuclear family, rather than the individual, is the emotional unit.

This means two things:

Whatever affects one affects each one in the system. That is, anxiety moves easily from person to person in the group.

Family members trade “self” into the family relationship togetherness in a family “fusion” of selves.

“The Sins of the Father”

Generational sin I am sure has some misconceptions and some baggage.

Pastor Dr. Wallace Shook has shared before that when they lost their child someone quoted one of these scriptures insinuating that their child died because of some sin in their life.... and this is about as awful of an interpretation as I have ever heard.

Deuteronomy 5:9–10 NIV

9 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 10 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Sin has an impact for generations but God’s mercy and love extends to a thousand generations.

Your genes are shaped by your family experience.

Dr. Rachel Yehuda, Epigenetics:

You are shaped by your environment, did you grow up in poverty, ethnicity, experiences.

There is a study by Yehuda that found a stress hormone among descendents of Holocaust survivors. 3 generations. The trauma of the experience was passed down.

When something is not dealt with, it does not die.

If we do not deal with the past then we will knowingly or unknowlingly live into, mimic, and pass down the past.... good and bad.

Emotional health and Spirituality is deeply connected

Pete Scazzero:

“In emotionally healthy churches, people understand how their past affects their present ability to love Christ and others. They have realized from Scripture and life that an intricate, complex relationship exists between the kind of persons they are today and their past. Numerous external forces may shape us but the family we have grown up in is the primary (except in rare instances) the most powerful system that will shape and influence who we are.” -Pete Scazzero

Jesus may live in your heart, but grandpa lives in your bones.

What do we do?

Know your history

Genogram

Don’t call grandma and ask her if she was permiscuous before she married grandpa, but do some of this work.

This is not to blame shift.... this is to be aware and find healing

Position this brokenness before the one who desires your healing and wholeness

I want to introduce you to a church member here with a powerful testimony. Derrick had to come through divorce and decide to give himself back to God. This is a story of God reestablishing Derrick and his new marriage.