Genesis 37:1-36: When Your Life is Thrown in the Pit

Introduction

A family in our church trying to take my Christmas crown. I expect for someone outside of the faith family to try to take me down, but my own church family? Trying to crush my dreams?

You ever feel like your dreams have been crushed?

Joseph’s story: the people closest to him taking him down, trying to crush his dream by crushing him.

Gen. 37-50 - the story of Joseph, but not just Joseph’s story. It’s the story of Jacob’s sons - the story of 12 brothers that will ultimately become a great nation.

The story of Joseph and his sons is the longest section of Genesis, and it’s a riveting story with unexpected twists and turns. Great story for the Christmas season because every page of this story points us to the hope we have in Christ-child born in the manger.

A story that begins with Joseph’s dreams, and by the end of chapter 37, it doesn’t seem like Joseph’s dreams will come true. His life is thrown into a pit.

Maybe you have or had a dream for your life. You had ambitions, goals, hopes and dreams. But, something happened along the way - something unexpected, and it feels like your life has been thrown into the pit.

If you’re in the pit, there’s hope for you. If you feel like your dreams have been crushed, there’s hope for you.

Four truths from this story that you can cling to when you feel like your life has been thrown into the pit.

Story:

Joseph and his brothers’ story starts in Gen. 15:13 - 400 years of affliction. Odd promise. God building a nation but they’ll go through 400 years of affliction?

Joseph = Abraham’s great, great grandson. In Gen. 37, he’s a teenage shepherd out in the fields with his brothers.

Joseph brings a bad report to his father about his brothers. A tattle tale? Maybe, but Moses goes to great lengths in Joseph’s story to show us that he’s different than his brothers and different than Jacob. Not a self-centered brat but an obedient, faithful son full of integrity.

Joseph isn’t the problem. Jacob’s the problem. He favors his son. Never had the love of his own father, so he lavishes love upon his favorite son. Joseph the oldest son of Jacob’s favorite wife, Rachel. Rachel’s now dead. Every time Jacob looked at Joseph he was reminded of his beloved wife.

Jacob gave Joseph a special robe. Coat of many colors? Maybe, maybe not. More likely, a royal garment - other time this phrase - a robe worn by a king’s daughter (2 Sam. 13:18-19). Joseph set apart from his brothers as significant and special. Brothers obviously become jealous.

vs. 5-8 - Maybe Jacob thinks that Joseph is the child of promise like he was… Especially when Joseph tells his family about his dream. A dream given by God - just confirms what Jacob was thinking about Joseph. What Jacob saw in the dream was similar to what God had told his mom, Rebekah, before Jacob was born. God said that Jacob’s brother would serve him. Now, God telling Joseph that his brothers would bow to him. His brothers hate him even more.

Then another dream (vs. 9) - Sun and moon and eleven stars bow down. Not only will his brothers bow down before him, so will his mom and dad. Doesn’t sit well with your dad when you tell your dad that some day he’s going to bow to you. (vs. 10)

However… Jacob wondered what the dreams meant… Was there something to the dreams? (vs. 11)

vs. 12 - Brothers tending Jacob’s sheep in Shechem - miles away - several day journey. Jacob sending Joseph to check on his brothers who hate him. This is not going to go well.

Doesn’t find his brothers in Shechem. A man says they had gone to Dothan. Joseph found them in Dothan, and his brothers saw him coming. “Here comes that dreamer (vs. 18).

Far from home, a perfect place for a murder. “We’ll kill him and tell dad a wild animal attacked him and killed him.”

Reuben: “Let’s not kill him, let’s throw him in a cistern...” Reuben, Jacob’s oldest son, planned on being Joseph’s savior. He was going to come back and get him later and take him home to his father. Why? Maybe to repair his relationship with Jacob...

The brothers grab Joseph, rip his robe, and threw him in the cistern. After their dirty work was done, they sat and ate together. In the distance they saw Ishmaelite traders. Judah’s idea was to sell Joseph into slavery. Might as well profit off of their brother.

Pulled Joseph out of the put and sold him. With money in hand they watched as Joseph was carried away to Egypt. Joseph would never return home. He would live and die far away from home. When he died, he requested that his bones would someday be carried back home.

Rueben unaware of what happened. Went to rescue his brother and found an empty pit. They kill a goat and dip Jospeh’s robe in its blood.

Imagine Jacob’s sorrow when his sons tell him that Joseph was dead. No one could comfort him.

Yet, Joseph not dead. Sold to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh.

Joseph had a dream of ruling… This was not his dream. This was the opposite. The dreamer was now a slave - far away from the safety and love of his father.

Your life probably hasn’t turned out like you thought it would either. You’ve found yourself in the pit. Four truths to remember when you find your life in the pit:

You are not guaranteed a life free from the pit.

Moses presents Joseph as a godly, faithful man of integrity. He’s not a deceiver like his father. He’s not vindictive like his brothers. Instead, throughout his story he honors God. The result of honoring God: a plot against him by his brothers, slavery and a false accusation of sexual harassment, imprisonment, forgotten by everyone, and left in prison to die.

Supposed to be rewarded for honoring God. Joel Osteen would tell you that you speak your future into existence. Speak faith and prosperity over your life, and God will bless you.

Yet, Joseph isn’t blessed - at least not in the way we think about blessing.

Living your life to honor God is the absolute best way to live your life, but living your life to honor God in no way guarantees earthly success or comfort.

Instead, here’s what you’ll discover as a Christian:

Life isn’t fair. We live in a broken world, and sometimes life isn’t fair. It’s not fair when you lose your job, get the diagnosis of cancer, find yourself in a difficult marriage with a spouse who doesn’t love you like you deserve, when you do your best as a parent and your children rebel, when you have that professor in school that constantly rides you.

People will mistreat you. You will be hated. You will be talked about. You will be plotted against. You will be sinned against.

You’re going to often feel like you’re living in a pit - the unfairness of life and the sin of people will keep you from the life you think you deserve.

BUT… our eyes aren’t on this present world.

BLACK FRIDAY TOILET PAPER…

Your pit does not define you.

The pits of life can derail you because you’ll begin to doubt God’s presence and His love for you.

In the pit you’ll say things like, “My life can’t get any better.” “I’m a failure.” “I’ll never amount to anything.” “I’m hopeless.” “I am unlovable.” “I’ve been hurt too many times.”

The pits of life are a good time to remind yourself that you are not the point.

Fight the temptation to wallow in pity because when you wallow in pity you are saying that you’re the point of life - your happiness, your comfort, your ease - that’s not the point of life. Your success.

When life isn’t going your way, you have a tendency to say, “What’s the point?” Rather, you should ask, “Who’s the point?” Jesus is the point. He’s still on the throne. He’s still Lord. He has defined your life - He has called you His child.

Your darkest times can be the times of life when your faith shines the brightest.

https://www.imb.org/2018/07/23/lottie-moon-story/ “I never found mission work so enjoyable” when China bombed by Japan. Lottie knew Jesus was the point.

Your pit does not excuse you.

In the pit, you want to give up, wallow in self-pity, and use your pit as an excuse to disobey God - you revert back to the old self instead of living in the new self.

Joseph’s story - consistent obedience in the midst of a lot of hardship.

When life is in the pit you tend to:

Pull away from church involvement: “I’m going through a lot right now.” When, you should be pressing in.

Quit running to God and start running to mind and heart numbers: TV, social media, alcohol, etc. just to escape.

Develop a bad attitude instead of asking God to help you keep a Christ centered attitude. Life becomes characterized by hopelessness, complaining, bitterness, anger instead of the Fruit of the Spirit.

Make excuses: “I’m just going through a bad time right now...” But, there’s no excuse. The pits of the life are the times to put everything you’ve learned about faith in Christ into practice.

The pits are what you train for! When the pits of life come, it’s game day!

Your pit does not change God’s goodness.

God not mentioned in Genesis 37, but God is at work.

Joseph didn’t know the details. He couldn’t see God’s hidden hand at work, but God was at work.

Famine was coming. God was sending Joseph ahead to Egypt to spare His people.

The pit - a horrible place - but it was a place of grace - God used the pit to get Joseph to Egypt so that his entire family might be rescued from death by famine.

Two choices in the pit:

Choose to be bitter: Fist at God: “How dare you let me suffer? Do you not love me?” And, pull away from God?

Choose what’s better: Trust and obey. Romans 8:28: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good.” What’s better is to press in, pray, stay connected to people who love you in the Lord and press on.

This morning, some of us have chosen bitterness - it’s time to repent.

Interesting verse: Gen. 32:11. “What is God doing in the life of my son?”

Similar to another verse: Luke 2:19, Luke 2:51 - When shepherds came to worship the baby in a manger, Mary asked, “What is God doing in the life of my son?”

Mary’s son would be thrown into a pit - the baby she held grew up and was despised by the very people He came to rescue - Sold not by his brothers, but by one of his disciples, then thrown to the pit of our sin on the cross - as He suffered the death we deserve and then rose from the dead to give us life.

Because of His death and resurrection, if we believe by faith, we get a robe from the heavenly father - but it’s not a robe of many colors - it’s the robe of the righteousness of Christ. We are clothed in His righteousness.

This morning, place your faith in the One who died and rose again for you.