Hated part 1

Introduction

Benjamin Franklin once quipped, “In this world nothing is certain, but death and taxes.”

I would add another to Franklin’s quote: suffering.

Suffering is something that every single human being can count on at some point (probably multiple points) in our lives.

This is especially true for followers of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Our Western world has become more hedonistic than at any time in our history.

Hedonism is the theory that pleasure is the highest good and should be the aim of a human’s life.

It is not a new concept, obviously. It finds it’s roots in a misunderstanding to the philosophy known as Epicureanism. Epicurus spent his life studying what made people happy. But, he recognized that it wasn’t pleasure that truly made people happy, but friendships and a sense of shared purpose. Hedonists, on the other hand, believe that all that really matters is increasing pleasure and decreasing pain, or suffering.

The conflict between hedonism and a Christian worldview are obvious, and yet, too many believers prefer a hedonistic lifestyle over a truly Christian lifestyle…though most wouldn’t readily admit it.

The Christian worldview doesn’t relish suffering or glory in suffering. That’s masochism. But we do understand that suffering is assured throughout this life and that God often uses our suffering to bring about His purposes of His glory and for our good.

Additionally, the Christian worldview understands that delayed pleasure far outweighs the momentary earthly pleasures of the hedonist, and that many earthly pleasures, when not controlled, lead to sin and ever increasing sinfulness.

The Bible isn’t silent about suffering. In fact, the overall theme of suffering is one of the most common in Scripture.

1 Peter 4:12–19 ESV

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And “If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.

Romans 5:3–5 ESV

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

James 1:2–4 ESV

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Psalm 34:19 ESV

Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.

John 16:33 ESV

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

I could go on and on, but the point is, suffering is something that all believers are assured of.

Harsh reality: Sometimes we suffer because of wrongs we have done...

When this kind of suffering comes to our life the Christian response is to confess our sin and repent. Then, hopefully, we learn and grow from the experience, even if we must still face the natural consequences of our actions.

Other times, however, we suffer through no fault of our own.

How do we respond at times like this?

One of the best examples in the OT is that of Joseph.

Joseph was the son of the patriarch, Jacob or Israel.

He’s a fascinating person for a number of reasons:

His story covers fourteen chapters of Genesis, the same as his ancestor Abraham.

No human has more words said about him in the OT than Joseph…not even Abraham!

He is one of the only people in the OT that nothing specifically sinful is mentioned about his life.

Here, we see that even at a young age, Joseph became the most trusted of Jacob’s children, and one who God would reveal His purpose through.

And, as we will see as we read through his story, he’s someone that all believers should look to for inspiration when it comes to trusting the Lord, even in the face of trials, temptations, and unjust suffering.

James Montgomery Boice: “The greatest single characteristic of Joseph was his absolute faithfulness to God under all circumstances, and it is through this that God worked to exalt him so highly.”

Body: Genesis 37:1-4

Verses 1-4

Genesis 37-50 answer the question for the Jewish people: how did we get down into Egypt?

The Passover has been observed within the Jewish world since the time of Moses...

Here we are going to see how Jacob’s son, Joseph ended up in Egypt. The answer is: because his brothers hated him and therefore mistreated him and sold him to foreigners.

So, why did his brothers hate him so much that they would do this shameful thing to him?

First, we see here that he gave a bad report to his father about his half-brothers; Gad, Asher, Dan and Naphtali.

You might remember, Jacob was the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham.

Jacob was deceived into marrying a woman named Leah, when in fact, he wanted to marry Leah’s sister, Rachel. After fourteen years of laboring for their father, he married both women.

Leah was able to produce children for Jacob, but the woman he truly loved, Rachel, was not. So, Rachel allowed Jacob to have children with her concubine, Bilhah. In order to one-up her sister, Leah let Jacob have children with her concubine, Zilpah.

Eventually, Rachel was able to have children, the first of whom was Joseph. The second son of Rachel, Benjamin, who at this point in the story was a small child.

Rachel died in childbirth and Jacob went into a deep time of mourning. Eventually they settled near the town of Hebron.

We don’t know the nature of the “bad report” but whatever it was did not endure him to these four brothers.

Does this mean Joseph was a tattle-tell?

No. Joseph was obeying his father.

We will see that Jacob’s would often ask Joseph to give a report on his brothers:

Genesis 37:14 ESV

So he said to him, “Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock, and bring me word.” So he sent him from the Valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.

Jacob sent him out to watch the brothers. It was likely he did this because the brothers weren’t trustworthy, as we shall see.

Was Jacob a bad father?

Yes and no. Having children with four different women will not win any “father of the year” awards, in my book. However, in this case, it is likely that Jacob understood that most of his boys were not good men, as we will see throughout Joseph’s story.

Joseph, on the other hand, was not only a good person, but he had a close walk with God. Thus, Jacob recognizes that God has shown favor to Joseph, and thus he favors him as well.

Now, does that excuse parental favoritism? The text actually doesn’t make a judgment about that. I tend to say, yes, but I’m biased.

Jacob’s favor towards Joseph results in him clothing Joseph in a ornate robe.

We don’t know for sure what the Hebrew means here when it speaks of the robe of many colors.

The exact translation suggests a long-sleeved or ornamented robe. The many colors is taken from the LXX and the Vulgate. (And an amazing technicolor dream coat was created by Tim Rice…who plays no part in the Bible!)

The basic idea was that Joseph was the one Jacob wanted to lead the family, normally something reserved for the oldest son.

It is possible that Jacob looked to him as the oldest son, since he was the oldest son of Rachel, the only bride he really wanted.

But even more importantly, Reuben, the actually oldest brother, slept with Rachel’s concubine, Bilhah, which resulted in Reuben losing his standing as the first-born son. Thus, it was Jacob’s right to determine who would take this place.

Whatever the case, the ornate robe caused Joseph’s brothers to hate him all the more.

In fact, they hated him so much that they wouldn’t even speak peacefully to him.

That might seem like a small thing today, as people talk ugly to each other constantly in our society. However, the ancient Israelites did not. To speak against someone was to actually speak a curse into existence in their mind. So, they wanted harm to come upon him because they were jealous of him.

Additionally, I wonder if the brothers real hatred stemmed from the fact that Joseph’s life brought unwanted conviction to them, because he was so good and they were so wicked.

Sinners hate those who won’t sin with them!

So What?

As we begin our study of the life of Joseph, I want us to keep three things in mind:

Joseph should remind us of Abraham’s greatest descendant, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Within Christian theology an interesting topic to explore is called typology. Typology is the study of when something, or more often someone, from the OT prefigures (or represents) something or someone in the NT.

The basic idea is that a person from the OT is a “type” of another person in the NT (thus, typology).

Most often, in typology we see a person in the OT being a type of Christ.

This isn’t to say that they are Jesus, but they remind us of and point us to Jesus.

Throughout his story, we will see parallels in the life of Joseph with that of Jesus.

Just in these first four verses we’ve seen: Joseph was favored by his father; Christ Jesus is favored by God the Father. Joseph was clothed in a majestic robe; Christ Jesus is clothed with divine majesty. Joseph was hated by his sinful brothers; Jesus too was hated by His own people.

We will see these correlations throughout the story of Joseph’s life.

In seeing this, we should be reminded of where we need to set our eyes when we are hated, mistreated, rejected, and face unjust suffering:

Hebrews 12:1–3 ESV

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.

Joseph is an example of faithfulness regardless of our circumstances.

Contrary to what some have argued, Joseph at no point will bring upon himself the suffering he endured. And yet, suffer he will.

I found throughout my ministry that people typically either believe that all their suffering is the result of something they did and God is punishing them, or they believe that no suffering is ever their fault and always is a result of someone else.

Both groups are often wrong.

Unless there is a specific sin you can point to, confess and repent of, don’t assume that all suffering is a result of your sin. And, don’t assume that God is punishing you, even if your suffering is a result of your sin. God corrects and disciplines His own, He doesn’t punish just to cause pain.

Just like when I discipline my children, it’s not for my pleasure…it’s of their guidance and growth. And so it is with our Heavenly Father.

But, regardless of the cause of our suffering, Joseph is a shining example of that it’s really not about what happens to us, but how we respond to what happens to us.

Something else will stand out to you about Joseph: he never once complains about his circumstances and never compromises his faith because of his circumstances.

That is a shining example for us!

Stop complaining and don’t compromise!

God is at work in our circumstances, even when we don’t recognize that He’s at work.

As we begin this journey into the story of Joseph’s life, I’d like us to consider this question:

What if we began to see the non-personal sin related ups and downs of our life as simply the road that God has paved for us to bring to His will and ways in and through our life?

Meaning, what if everything had meaning and significance? Would it help us to maintain our faith through the deep, dark valleys of life better?

Beloved, God is at work, even when we don’t see it.

Many years ago, I was headed over the mountain to Pullman to go to a WSU football game...

God is at work, even when we don’t recognize that He’s at work!