Psalm 37:1–9 NIV

Do not fret because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away. Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil. For those who are evil will be destroyed, but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land.

Titus 3:1–11 NIV

Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone. At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone. But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless. Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them. You may be sure that such people are warped and sinful; they are self-condemned.

1 Peter 4:12–19 NIV

Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And, “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.

Unlikely Redeemer

Sermon Introduction:

Experiences and personality can play a big part in how quickly and fully we place our trust in God. Some like Jacob struggle and fight God all the way. Others like Joseph, seem to find it easier to trust. No matter the case, if we have the desire, God is merciful to help us get there.

It was a very difficult road for Jacob as we saw last week. He constantly bounced back and forth, between following God and trying to provide for himself. But remember his upbringing. His parents played favorites and unfortunately, it was dad’s favorite who was to win the prize. He was interested in it, but Esau appeared not to be so interested. He felt the only way he could achieve that blessing was by fighting for it. He was not a physical man, but a man of the mind. Manipulation was his means of fighting and fight he did. However, it cost him. There are many consequences when we underhandedly manipulate or fight for gain. So, trust didn’t come easy for Jacob. He wanted God’s blessing so bad that he literally fought God for it, for fear he could not obtain it any other way. If only he had understood, that God wants to willingly give His blessing to people if they will only trust Him enough to allow Him to do so. His life would have had struggles, but they would have been faced with a peace of mind and the confidence that God was on his side.

Unlike Jacob, Joseph was the favored son. He had a loving, supporting father. He was not perfect, but he kept his sights on God. Unlike his father who constantly fought against God, Joseph completely committed his way to God. We never hear him do so, but the evidence is in the way he handled the struggles that came his way. It was not easy and betrayal always hurts, not to mention the fear of what was facing him. However, he didn’t suffer the kind of strife and consequences that his father did. He found peace enough to bloom wherever he was planted and God was able to use him for a wonderful purpose.

Stand as I read from our text today. Genesis 37:1-11 We are just setting the background of Joseph’s life in today’s passage.

Genesis 37:1–11 NRSV

Jacob settled in the land where his father had lived as an alien, the land of Canaan. This is the story of the family of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers; he was a helper to the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he had made him a long robe with sleeves. But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him. Once Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. He said to them, “Listen to this dream that I dreamed. There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright; then your sheaves gathered around it, and bowed down to my sheaf.” His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Are you indeed to have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more because of his dreams and his words. He had another dream, and told it to his brothers, saying, “Look, I have had another dream: the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him, and said to him, “What kind of dream is this that you have had? Shall we indeed come, I and your mother and your brothers, and bow to the ground before you?” So his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.

The Word of God for the People of God. Thanks be to God!

Pray

I. Unlikely Redeemer

How many of you have a much younger brother or sister? It can be real annoying when you are a teenager and you have a child sibling getting into your things. Perhaps its a little sister trying to emulate you and you find your makeup destroyed as she has tried to apply it to her face like you do. Or a little brother wanting to follow you when you are wanting to play basketball with your pals. Now, what if I told you that that little squirt was the means by which your entire family would be saved? Do you jump for joy or grumble under your breath?

Well in a family with 10 much older brothers, it seems highly unlikely that a baby of the family would be the one to save the entire family but that is exactly what happens with Joseph’s family.

The account opens by stating...

Genesis 37:1 NRSV

1 Jacob settled in the land where his father had lived as an alien, the land of Canaan.

The account begins by making it clear that the family still does not have full rights to the land of Canaan. They are still aliens there and as we know the rest of the story, it does not become theirs for over 400 years yet. Then the focus immediately turns from Jacob to his younger son Joseph. Now Joseph is 17 years old. We are not given the ages of the other sons, but Reuben would be a good 10-15 years older than Joseph at the very least. Now this can cause some conflicts alone, but there is an even greater issue here. Reuben and his brothers have different mothers from Joseph and Joseph is son of the favored wife by Jacob. To make matters worse, he was born to Jacob when Jacob was old and had given up hope of his favorite wife ever having a son. This makes Joseph very special in his father’s eyes to the great annoyance of the other brothers. Now, do not think that the brothers are being unfair, because Joseph is not perfect. He is a typical “baby brother” and uses his prestige to his advantage. So much so that Joseph is literally....

1. Hated (Genesis 37:1-4)

Genesis 37:4 NIV

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.

Hated is the first item in your notes.

Now, I would be willing to bet that in your family, as with most families, you may tease, bully, or get frustrated with a younger sibling, but if anyone else causes them grief, you are ready to do battle for them. However, that is not the case here. These brothers literally “hate” Joseph. Now, do not misjudge Joseph. He is not a perfect little saint. In fact, he is a tattle-tell and then he is not even a righteous tattle-tell. When the scripture says he brought a “bad report” about his step-brothers, it literally means the report he made was incorrect. It was not that they had done anything particularly bad. He either lied or he enhanced the story to shed a bad light on what they did. Their anger was just, however, hate is never tolerated by God.

1 John 3:15 NIV

15 Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.

So hate is always wrong!

What Joseph did was wrong, but not hate worthy. Joseph was hated for circumstances that were beyond his control. i.e. His father’s favoritism of his mother and himself. But there was another reason why they hated him. He was the youngest, but his father moved to make him the heir of their family such as would typically go to the oldest son. In Jacob’s mind, Rachel was his chosen wife. He would have never agreed to marry Leah and it was forced on him through deceit. So, Joseph is his legal first-born son by reason.

Reuben helped to promote this by defiling his father’s concubine and making a play for that spot. In doing so, he gained Jacob’s anger and gave Jacob a reason to remove his title as the heir by birthright.

The coat that Joseph received was most-likely ornate, but what was more telling was the length of the sleeves and hem. A long robe with long sleeves denoted leadership, position, status. It was not worn so much for work (where shorter was easier to do hard labor in), but for administration.

The brothers anger had gotten so bad, that the brothers found it hard to even talk to him. When they did, it was with much disdain. However, not only did they hate him, but they envied the position of honor that he held with their father. He had literally been elevated to a role of leader over them. So, Joseph was…(Notes)

2. Envied (Genesis 37:5-11)

Genesis 37:5–11 (NIV) (Don’t read)

Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: 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.” 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. 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.” 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?” His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.

Here again, Joseph did not help his case. He had two dreams that seemed to indicate that his family would bow down to him. But instead of keeping it to himself, he shared it.

It is hard to know his motives. Did he share it, lording it over them? Or was he just sharing it like anyone might relay a dream they had. I do not think Joseph was perfect. I suspect he was a typical younger brother and his brother’s resentment probably caused him to react by being superior to them so as not to show how their resentment hurt. However, he did not have any friends to share with either. I am sure that Jacob would not have allowed him to be a friend with a Canaanite. So, his step-brothers were all he had aside from his father. His brother Benjamin was only a baby at this time, too young to be a confidant for Joseph. However, this dream has made an impression on him. He has the feeling this is not just any ordinary dream. He was just bursting to tell someone. So, he charges in. Perhaps they have been picking on him on this day and he says, “Yeah, what get this. I had this dream...”.

Genesis 37:7 NIV

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.”

Well, it doesn’t go over too big with the brothers. Whether Joseph wanted to or not, he has just pushed them over the edge of hate.

Then he has a second dream which includes not only his brothers, but his father and mother.

Genesis 37:9 NIV

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.”

Now, his father gently rebukes Joseph, but his father is no stranger to dreams. He is unable to get it out of his mind. You can just hear Jacob in the back of his mind, “God, is this possible? Is this a dream from you?”

One thing is for sure, Joseph and his father have no idea just what extent his brothers hate him. They are probably aware of the brother’s resentment, but they are innocent of any suspicion that they hate him to the point of murder.

If you wondered just how cushy Joseph’s position is, you get an idea in this next part of the story. The brothers are 50 miles away (a 5 day’s journey) shepherding the flock, and Joseph is back home with father. However, his father sends him on an errand to check on the brothers. Jacob would only do this if he felt Joseph would be safe.

So, Joseph heads out only to arrive and find they are gone. He looks around and a stranger spots him and asks what he is about. The man quickly informs Joseph that he overheard them mentioning Dothan, so Joseph continues another 14 miles to Dothan. Now, the brother’s see him coming in the distance. The length of his robe helps to identify him.

Now, when you have a group of people that have allowed hate to foment in their minds, they are only a step away from murder. They literally feed off of each other’s hate intensifying the emotion.

There is a lot of this kind of thing happening in our nation right now. That is why we have crowds of people defiling buildings, pulling down statues, and killing people. It was not new back then, it is definitely not new now. It is just being allowed to happen.

The brother’s get themselves really worked up, however, Reuben steps up. You have to give Reuben some credit. It would have been hard to stand up to 9 other brothers and call for mercy in that environment of anger. But Reuben did just that. Perhaps he thought he could take away his disgrace in his father’s eyes by saving Joseph. But he convinces his brothers to toss Joseph into a cistern (hole dug to collect water). Their intent? To let Joseph dehydrate and starve to death never to be found. That is extreme hate. However, blood lust is still licking at their souls. They do not take Joseph gently, he is actually stripped and beaten. (Note #3)

3. Stripped & Beaten (Genesis 37:12-24)

Genesis 37:23–24 NIV

So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the ornate robe he was wearing—and they took him and threw him into the cistern. The cistern was empty; there was no water in it.

It is hard to imagine brothers doing this to a younger brother, but they did. Even more brutal, they proceeded to eat lunch ignoring his pleas for mercy. Then Judah notices something off in the distance. It is a Caravan of Ishmaelites and Midianites headed to Egypt with trade goods. Included in such goods were always slaves. It is sad to say, there has always been good money in the slave trade. So, Judah gets this great idea. Hey, we don’t need to kill him. What does that get us. However, if we sell him, we can keep our hands free of blood and profit ourselves all at the same time! This was typical thinking, but Jesus made it clear in his day, their actions are the same as murder.

Matthew 5:21–22 NIV

“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister, will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.

So the brothers agree and Joseph is…(Notes #4)

4. Sold (Genesis 37:25-28)

Genesis 37:28 NIV

28 So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.

How much is a human worth? It is hard to believe that anyone could put a price on someone’s life, especially a younger brother. Joseph sold for the going price of that day; 20 shekels. An average shepherd made 8 shekels a year. Now 9 of the brother’s acquire 2.22 shekels, that would be a little over 3 month’s wages by selling Joseph. It was split between 9 because Reuben is off doing business. There is nothing to indicate that they ever tell him or share with him in this transaction. When he returns, he finds Joseph gone and assumes they killed him.

It is amazing how people can rationalize a wrong doing. The brothers decide not to say anything to their father. They douse Joseph’s coat in goat blood and leave it up to their father to assume a wild animal has eaten him. This way, they essentially rationalize they are not lying to their father. Their shame just grows and grows.

Then we see a...

5. Grieved Father (Genesis 37:29-35)

Genesis 37:34–35 NIV

Then Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for his son many days. All his sons and daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “No,” he said, “I will continue to mourn until I join my son in the grave.” So his father wept for him.

Jacob was determined to mourn for Joseph all his living day and by all accounts he nearly does. He never fully believes the brother’s and evidently is suspicious of them and their part in all of this. This becomes clear years later. Jacob may be unclear what has happened, but he truly believes Joseph is dead.

As the reader, we have another perspective. This chapter ends like a good movie that ends with a cliff hanger. It leaves the sense that this story is not over and next week, we will find out what happens next.

Conclusion:

We may be at the end of this chapter of the life of Joseph, but we are not at the end of what we can learn from this chapter.

The Old Testament is an interesting part of the Bible. It lays out for us a silhouette of things yet to come, nearly 2,000 later.

A favored son would be born. He would be sent as a messenger to his brothers the Jews, only to be hated, envied, sold, stripped and beaten. However, unlike Joseph who was supposedly dead, this son would die. Joseph in time will be found to be alive once more. For his father, it will be as if he rose from the dead. However, this son will truly be dead and be resurrected from the dead. Just like Jacob mourned for what had occurred to his son, so God will grieve what happens to His Son. Eventually, Joseph will bring salvation to his family saving their lives. So, God’s son brings salvation to his brother’s and sister’s. All who believe in Him will become his brother’s and his sister’s and will be saved.

We talk about it a lot, but do we truly comprehend what Jesus suffered on our account? Joseph suffered on account of his brother’s sin. Christ suffered on account of our sin. We should never loose sight of what Christ did on our behalf.

Today, we once again receive the communion supper. We do so in order to remind us of His suffering and the provision He makes for each of us. He was stripped of His robe and beaten. His blood flowed freely on our account. He could have changed His mind and been rescued. He could have condemned us all to hell to prevent suffering. But He didn’t. He willingly endured it all out of love for each of us. He extends His arms to invite each of us to be His brothers and sisters, co-heirs of God’s kingdom, if only we will accept. If you have accepted his offer, come and partake with me the communion meal. If you have not, there is no better time than now. All you have to do is be willing, acknowledging your need. Then ask Him to come and remove your sin and make His home with you. Bow your heads with me as I pray. I will then give a silent moment for you to pray. As you are ready, you can come forward for communion. I will lead you individually or as a family. When you are done, you may be dismissed. We have a potluck today, so as you leave, you can make your way across to the Bryant Center for this special time of fellowship.

Communion Prayer

Communion