Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
This automated analysis scores the text on the likely presence of emotional, language, and social tones. There are no right or wrong scores; this is just an indication of tones readers or listeners may pick up from the text.
A score of 0.5 or higher indicates the tone is likely present.
Emotion Tone
Anger
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Disgust
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Fear
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Joy
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Sadness
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Language Tone
Analytical
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Confident
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Tentative
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Social Tone
Openness
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Conscientiousness
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Extraversion
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Agreeableness
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Emotional Range
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Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
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gen 42
When we last left our story, the famine had hit and it had hit hard.
Joseph, by reacting to the prophesy God had given Pharaoh had cornered the grain market.
And was in the process of buying up all of Egypt for Pharaoh.
And all the countries were coming to Egypt to buy grain.
Jacob finds out that there is grain in Egypt.
He looks at his sons and ask, why are you sitting around staring at each other?
Apparently since nothing was growing the sons had plenty of time on their hands.
So Jacob says “There is grain in Egypt, go buy some.”
ge 42 3
So Joseph’s brothers go down to Egypt to buy grain.
Well, not all of his brothers.
Jacob kept Benjamin back because he was afraid something would happen to him.
Jacob is still playing favorites.
And he apparently doesn’t really trust God and His plan for his sons.
gen 42 6-7
Can you imagine what went through Joseph’s mind when he saw his brothers?
Can you imagine what went through Joseph’s mind when he saw his brothers?
Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him.
And just like in his first dream, his brothers bowed down to him.
(Well, 10 out of 11 did.)
But Joseph didn’t not announce himself to his brothers.
Was he holding a grudge?
Did Joseph want revenge on his brothers?
Was he going to test them?
Instead he was harsh with his brothers.
“Where do you come from?”
ge 42 9-
Now Joseph remembers the dreams.
And probably how his brothers reacted to them.
Does Joseph really think they are spies?
I mean, these are the same guys who threw him in a pit and sold him into slavery.
Maybe they are up to no good.
But as we’ll see, Joseph doesn’t treat them like spies.
So is this a test?
Are they blind to who they are speaking with?
Has he changed so much they do not recognize them?
Or has their conscience be so seared that they cannot see what is right in front of them?
Can you think of a time when you wouldn’t let someone off the hook?
When someone was blind to your circumstances?
ge 42
No!
We have just come to buy food.
We are brothers, all the son of one man.
We are honest men, not spies.
Well, honest is questionable.
They did sell their brother and lie to the father about it.
And this has gone on for at least 7-8 years, probably much longer.
ge 42 12
No, you are spies.
You’ve come to case the joint.
See where are defenses are weak so you can plunder the grain we have saved.
After the way they treated Joseph, this is not a totally implausible idea.
The brothers tell Joseph who they are.
Twelve brothers,
Sons of one man in the land of Canaan,
The youngest stayed home and one of them is dead.
But they are not sure he is dead, because they sold him.
They just assume his is dead.
Maybe that is why they didn’t recognize him.
Or is it that they have lied about Joseph’s death for so long they convinced themselves?
Have you ever repeated a lie so often you start to think it’s true?
OK, I say you’re spies you say not.
Prove it.
Send one of you home and bring your youngest brother here.
Then I’ll believe you.
This seems like a rather odd request, doesn’t it?
Why would an Egyptian lord care about their younger brother?
And really, couldn’t they just bring anyone that looked remotely like their brother and claim it was him?
Would that really prove they aren’t spies?
But since we know this is Joseph, their supposedly dead brother, there is some logic to it.
Joseph wants to see his full brother.
Remember, Joseph and Benjamin are the only children Jacob had by Rachael.
So Joseph had them stew on this idea for three days in prison.
Kind of fair, don’t you think?
They did sell him into slavery which led to him being in prison.
8-
OK, tell you what, I fear God, so here is what we’re gonna do.
Pick one of you to stay here.
The rest, go home, bring back some grain to your houses.
Then come back with your youngest brother.
Then I will believe you.
We are busted.
This is all our fault.
We would not listen when our brother pleaded with us.
We saw what we did to our father.
The anguish we put him through.
That is why all of this is happening to us.
Have you ever looked at what is going wrong in your life and assumed it was because of what you had done?
Just like the disciples and the blind man.
jn 9 1-2
Ruben pulls the “I told you so” card.
Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy.
But no, you wouldn’t listen.
And now his blood is required of us.
This is all your fault.
But they didn’t recognize Joseph.
They didn’t know the he spoke Hebrew.
That he understood every word they were saying.
Joseph had to turn away.
Was it the glimmer of remorse that sparked his tears?
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