God can use our weaknesses for His Glory - Joseph the product of a very dysfunctional family

Dysfunction in families can wreak havoc over multiple generations.

We see this in the background of the life of Joseph.

Joseph’s family tree demonstrates the truth of passages such as Exodus 34::7 which speaks of the sins of the parents affecting even the third and fourth generations.

Now generational dysfunction can be broken and praise God for that, but the life of Joseph is a powerful reminder to all of us to not inflict such things on our descendents.

Joseph’s history in this regard goes back to his grandparents.

On his mother Rachael’s side her father Laban deceived Jacob in Genesis 29 when Jacob thought he was getting Rachael as his wife and ended up with Leah.

While Jacob ended up with Rachael as well it was obvious to Leah that she wasn’t the favored wife, this set up jelousy between sisters which flowed through to the children.

On his father Jacob’s side his parents Isaac and Rebekah showed favoratism in Genesis 25 with Rebekah loving the second born Jacob more.

This sets the scene for Jacob’s duplicity which played out throughout his life and flowed through to the children.

The story of Joseph must rate as one of the most compelling and attractive narratives in Scripture.

Callously betrayed, deserted, and sold like a piece of merchandise by his own brothers,

He arrived in Egypt at the age of seventeen without friends and with no visible means of support. (Gen. 39:1).

Lesser men would have sunk into despair and defeat in such circumstances but not Joseph![1]

Joseph knew God and he knew that God intended something great for him.

He knew this because God had given him dreams

Dreams which indicated that he would rule over his brothers.

Dreams that they would bow down to him.

But telling your older brothers such things isn’t going to win their affection.

That is one reason why they betrayed him.

That is one reason why they set out get rid of him.

Listen to Genesis 37:5-11

Genesis 37:5–11 NLT

5 One night Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him more than ever. 6 “Listen to this dream,” he said. 7 “We were out in the field, tying up bundles of grain. Suddenly my bundle stood up, and your bundles all gathered around and bowed low before mine!” 8 His brothers responded, “So you think you will be our king, do you? Do you actually think you will reign over us?” And they hated him all the more because of his dreams and the way he talked about them. 9 Soon Joseph had another dream, and again he told his brothers about it. “Listen, I have had another dream,” he said. “The sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed low before me!” 10 This time he told the dream to his father as well as to his brothers, but his father scolded him. “What kind of dream is that?” he asked. “Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow to the ground before you?” 11 But while his brothers were jealous of Joseph, his father wondered what the dreams meant.

The other reason why his brothers wanted to get rid of him is found in

Genesis 37:1–4 NLT

1 So Jacob settled again in the land of Canaan, where his father had lived as a foreigner. 2 This is the account of Jacob and his family. When Joseph was seventeen years old, he often tended his father’s flocks. He worked for his half brothers, the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah. But Joseph reported to his father some of the bad things his brothers were doing. 3 Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other children because Joseph had been born to him in his old age. So one day Jacob had a special gift made for Joseph—a beautiful robe. 4 But his brothers hated Joseph because their father loved him more than the rest of them. They couldn’t say a kind word to him.

Here we see the dire effects of sin on human behavior.

Jacob’s favoritism turns normal sibling rivalry into deadly hatred, so that Joseph’s brothers plot to kill him.

And Jacob is blind to the effects of his actions on his sons. [2]

Jacob is repeating in his family the same mistake that his parents made.

Favoritism by parents always ends in heartbreak.

So we discover in Genesis 37:18 that it all goes wrong for Joseph.

His brothers conspire to kill him.

The only thing that saves him is his brother Reuben’s attempts to limit the anger of his brothers and the timely arrival of a caravan of traders heading to Egypt.

Genesis 37:18–35 NLT

18 When Joseph’s brothers saw him coming, they recognized him in the distance. As he approached, they made plans to kill him. 19 “Here comes the dreamer!” they said. 20 “Come on, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns. We can tell our father, ‘A wild animal has eaten him.’ Then we’ll see what becomes of his dreams!” 21 But when Reuben heard of their scheme, he came to Joseph’s rescue. “Let’s not kill him,” he said. 22 “Why should we shed any blood? Let’s just throw him into this empty cistern here in the wilderness. Then he’ll die without our laying a hand on him.” Reuben was secretly planning to rescue Joseph and return him to his father. 23 So when Joseph arrived, his brothers ripped off the beautiful robe he was wearing. 24 Then they grabbed him and threw him into the cistern. Now the cistern was empty; there was no water in it. 25 Then, just as they were sitting down to eat, they looked up and saw a caravan of camels in the distance coming toward them. It was a group of Ishmaelite traders taking a load of gum, balm, and aromatic resin from Gilead down to Egypt. 26 Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain by killing our brother? We’d have to cover up the crime. 27 Instead of hurting him, let’s sell him to those Ishmaelite traders. After all, he is our brother—our own flesh and blood!” And his brothers agreed. 28 So when the Ishmaelites, who were Midianite traders, came by, Joseph’s brothers pulled him out of the cistern and sold him to them for twenty pieces of silver. And the traders took him to Egypt. 29 Some time later, Reuben returned to get Joseph out of the cistern. When he discovered that Joseph was missing, he tore his clothes in grief. 30 Then he went back to his brothers and lamented, “The boy is gone! What will I do now?” 31 Then the brothers killed a young goat and dipped Joseph’s robe in its blood. 32 They sent the beautiful robe to their father with this message: “Look at what we found. Doesn’t this robe belong to your son?” 33 Their father recognized it immediately. “Yes,” he said, “it is my son’s robe. A wild animal must have eaten him. Joseph has clearly been torn to pieces!” 34 Then Jacob tore his clothes and dressed himself in burlap. He mourned deeply for his son for a long time. 35 His family all tried to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “I will go to my grave mourning for my son,” he would say, and then he would weep.

For more than 20 years this family will suffer heartbreak, a son has been lost because of envy and bitterness within the family.

The first episode in Joseph’s life has been played out.

Meanwhile, we are told that Joseph did reach Egypt;

He is still alive, so his dreams have not been killed, but it is certainly very difficult to see any way in which they could be fulfilled. [3]

Yet God has a plan for Joseph.

We read in Genesis 39:1 that he ends up a slave in the house of the captain of the guard for Pharaoh.

Things go well there for Joseph.

God’s hand is obviously on him for everything he did prospered.

But we also read in verse 6 that Joseph was a very handsome young man and the master’s wife was bored.

She took a fancy to him but he refused her advances.

As fury knows no bounds like a woman scorned it all goes horribly wrong as she accuses Joseph in revenge for rejecting her.

In verse 19 we read that the master is furious and throws Joseph in prison.

But we must ask the question, why didn’t he have Joseph executed.

We know that the rules of the day demanded this.

It has been suggested that maybe the master had some doubts about the story he was being told.

So instead he has Joseph thrown into the royal prison!

God’s hand is on Joseph, protecting him when he would otherwise be dead!

Genesis 39:21 tells us that in the prison, once again, Joseph quickly rises to the top.

Here he meets two men, officials of Pharaoh who have upset him.

These two men would have been living in a state of perpetual fear.

The cupbearer was a high-ranking member of a monarch’s court (see Neh 1:11).

He would have to be a trusted individual, since his primary responsibility was to taste all of his lord’s food and drink and thus prevent his lord from being poisoned.[4]

The baker likewise was entrusted to ensure that the baked foods were safe.

And both were responsible to please the court with quality food.

Perhaps one day the wine was bitter and the bread a bit dry or perhaps they were both suspected of conspiring against Pharaoh.

Whatever the reason for their imprisonment they both had dreams and Joseph was the one to see.

His interpretation are accurate, one is restored the other executed.

But the promise by the cupbearer to remember Joseph so that he can be freed is forgotten.

And so the second episode in Joseph’s life is played out.

Joseph, the product of a dysfunctional family.

Favoured, scorned and betrayed.

Enslaved, accussed, imprisoned.

Forgotten.

A horriffic situation.

All of the sins of his family for several generations and the sins of others.

Plus his own stupidity in openning his mouth when it would have been better to keep quiet come home to put him in a desperate and apparently hopeless situation.

But Joseph never appears to lose faith in God.

And here is where we can learn from Joseph.

Regardless of the rest of the story, which we know from the Scriptures but Joseph didn’t, Joseph remained faithful.

Joseph stands out for us because we know how the story ends.

But what if this was how things finished for Joseph.

In prison left, forgotten and eventually death would result.

How many believers have faced this throughout history?

I would suggest to you that for most believers throughout history who end up in prison that this is the outcome, especially if they are imprisoned for their faith.

Perhaps God works to free them and it becomes a great story.

Perhaps they die forgetten by history, for many never even known outside of their immediate family.

What does Joseph faith say to you?

Wether the story continues to ultimate victory or if it stopped here?

[1]Briscoe, D. S., & Ogilvie, L. J. (1987). Genesis (Vol. 1, p. 307). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc. [2]Wenham, G. J. (1998). Genesis 16–50(Vol. 2, pp. 358–360). Dallas: Word, Incorporated. [3]Wenham, G. J. (1998). Genesis 16–50(Vol. 2, pp. 358–360). Dallas: Word, Incorporated. [4]Matthews, V. H., Chavalas, M. W., & Walton, J. H. (2000). The IVP Bible background commentary: Old Testament (electronic ed., Ge 40:4). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.