Lessons from Genesis

Mark Hopkins

Lessons from Genesis • Sermon • Submitted 2 years ago

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Genesis 37

Lessons from Genesis - Series

Message: God was at work even in my darkest time

Introduction

I’ve heard people say:

‘If God is in charge of things, He must be incompetent’

They look at their life, the world around them and wonder what on earth is going on? Why are is this stuff happening.

Genesis 37 is a great passage that helps us answer this statement. There’s so much to see and to understand in Genesis regarding our lives and Gods involvement.

The truth is that if you will take some time to study the Bible you will see over and over again Gods hand at work in your life making a way where there is no way, bringing light into darkness and sustaining you in the darkest of times.

So Lets turn to Genesis and take a fresh look at the life of Joseph and find some life application from it.

Text

Genesis 37:1-13 NLT

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[a] 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.[b] 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.

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.

12 Soon after this, Joseph’s brothers went to pasture their father’s flocks at Shechem. 13 When they had been gone for some time, Jacob said to Joseph, “Your brothers are pasturing the sheep at Shechem. Get ready, and I will send you to them.”

“I’m ready to go,” Joseph replied.

Genesis 37:18

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!”

Genesis 37:23-28

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.[c] 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[d] of silver. And the traders took him to Egypt.

Message Body

SO what can we see here:

3 things I want you to see in this story:

1. The hidden brokenness or sin in us all

2. The hidden work of God in our lives

3. The hidden grace of Go

1. The hidden brokenness in us all.

Can you see why we say Christianity isn’t like a normal religion. Look at what we just read. Who are the hero’s here?

Can you see that religion says do these 10 things and model yourself after this amazing hero of faith and you will be awesome!

Lets stop and consider:

Tim Keller says

I. Every page of the Bible shows us the gap between traditional religion and what we call the gospel.

The Bible isn’t primarily trying to tell you how to live a good life. Listen this passage isn’t primarily about how to raise good children.

Its about how God’s grace breaks into your life, often against your will, to save you from your sin and brokenness that otherwise you would never be able to overcome.

Religion says obey and you will be accepted (outside - in),

The gospel says when you are absolutely accepted you will obey (Inside - out)

II. That our families and backgrounds have more influence in our lives that we are prepared to admit.

Sin and Grace tends to run in families

Those things in your family that irritated you are prob now in you or you are in total reaction against them.

What does that mean. We are more products of our environment than we realize.

As time Keller says:

You did not get into your troubles by your individual choices. The things that are problems that cause you issues all are there from your relationships

And that means they can only be repaired through relationship first with Jesus then with a community of faith together.

We in our world all want to do it alone. That isn’t healthy or effective.

Now let’s go back to our passage and point: The hidden brokenness in us all

Let’s see it play out in this family:

This family is the model family of the region. One of the most influential, wealthiest, and esteemed. Yet when you take a closer look it’s a fully dysfunctional mess.

Here we see humans, frail, broken and without any real hope. A family that looks amazing but just under the surface we discover its like a volcano ready to explode and fall apart.

Us Christians have to help people understand that God is just looking for us to wake up to Him. We don’t have it all together, This life is a journey with Him. That’s scarey! The Bible shows us time and time again that none of us have it all together. While that isn’t what we rejoice in so we give up and just give in to our brokenness. It simply creates an understanding of how much we need Jesus. In our own strength things don’t work out. Sure we can all (and need to) bring change into our lives but it isn’t going to solve the overall problem.

There’s a brokenness that runs through it all. There is no wonderful saint here. There are No super humans in this story that got it together by applying the 10 commandments.

This is the story of us all.

The Bible is full of people who get into relationship with God and their life is turned around. That’s the message of Jesus. He meets us as we are and takes us on a journey of redemption.

Back ground:

Jacob (Israel)

· Grew up unloved by his father

· Cheats his brother from his birthright

· Runs away where he meets Rachel. ‘If only I had her I would be someone’ (Good thing into an ultimate thing.

· Creates Family full of rivalry, and tension

· Enter Joseph the favorite child. Loved by his father, Hated by his brothers.

· Joseph is spoilt and potentially a narcissistic despot

Robe (Rich)

Bad report (Made up lies) vs 2

Hated by his brothers vrs 4, 8

Robe ripped off

Thrown naked into a pit

Sold into slavery all by these ‘loving’ brothers. Clothes ripped (skinned off)

Listen what you see is what we are all like.

Everyone here came into this world, we picked up the issues in our families, we added some other along the way. We may have done our best but when you look back we have regrets and failures none of us are proud of.

This is the basic premise for our need of a savior! Someone that will come in and transform us. To deal with our nature and set us on a journey of true wholeness.

2. The hidden work of God in our lives.

First we see the sin now we see God at work

This passage reminds us that God is always at work in our situation and circumstances.

Stop and reflect on this: God is always at work in our situation

There are 2 main themes the writer wants us to see:

a) This guy Joseph was going to save his family from oblivion. The dreams he was having were not just nice things that God was doing for him but for a much bigger purpose. Without him getting to the palace this family and many more would have died of starvation from a famine that was coming.

b) That this family was in the line of Jesus. If they died so did the dream of God for the redemption of the world.

But you have to stop and see God at work:

Joseph gets a dream.

These dreams are revolutionary. They are counter to the culture of the day. Often when God is at work its counter the culture of the day.

Culture was you always honor the older. The older was also meant to take care of the younger and aged parents.

One day he is sent to go check on his brothers. When he gets to where they were meant to be he finds they have moved on and by chance meets a guy that overheard where they were going

His brothers decide to kill him but just before they are prepared to do that a group of traders come by and they sell him to them. Skin him and throw him (violently threw him (dump a dead body).

Genesis 37:23

He is sold into Potiphar’s house.

There he gets accused of rape and thrown into jail, while in jail interprets two people’s dreams.

Why does it have to be this way?

Dotham and Elijah fire from heaven Simple salvation from a situation.

Peter in prison prayer gets him out. John the Baptist beheaded.

What if we actually realized that God was at work in our situation?

Doesn’t change the fact we have to get up and do stuff, but we do it in faith believing He is at work.

So while are looking for that self-help book and that’s a good start but we need Him to work within our mess and create the opportunities for breakthrough and unexpected results.

In fact when you discover Jesus and His work on that cross to deal with this brokenness (sin) you find that you need a change within to really make the change around you.

God is not making the pride and ugliness you see in this passage but he is working it , arranging it, to create the outcome for our benefit. He over rules it so it is overwhelmed by His grace

All the evil ends up destroying itself in this passage. God doesn’t create evil but over rules it. Our God turns all graves into resurrection.

Listen God has a dream for His people, each and everyone of us BUT until it’s over it often looks stupid!

Imagine how strong we would be if we actually believed this stuff?

3. The hidden grace of God at work in our lives.

So how can I be reminded!’

It’s here we begin to see the redemptive story of God at work, the depth of His love for us and its ultimate fulfillment as we walk by faith with him.

Suffering by itself will ruin you. Suffering coupled with the absolute love of God will change the direction and narrative of your life.

But how does that happen? Generally speaking, when bad stuff happens we think we feel further away from God. So, what should I do

1. We must see the coat.

That coat always reminded Joseph he was loved. His father gave it to him. You are loved, this don’t happen around you so you are used and spat out. They are used by God to shape you yet right in the middle of it all you discover you are loved and valued.

The whole story of Joseph parallels to the reality of Jesus.

Joseph was being turned into a savior by weakness, suffering and rejection. That’s the plan of God in action for the dream to save the entire human race.

In Joseph you see a picture of Jesus who gave it all for you because of His love for you.

At the end of Joseph’s life he declares that while his brothers meant things for evil God was at work to make it good. In other words, he was loved and accepted.

Can you see this proverbial coat in your situation? The coat that reminds you that you are valued, loved and accepted.

First it starts with seeing Jesus. He came from heaven to earth, was rejected by those who should have loved him, He was sold for silver by someone closest to him, He was thrown naked into the deep pit of death, crying out in the dark and no one answered him. Nobody cared and nobody came

2 Corinthians 5:21. NASB

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him[1]

Why did he do this?

John 3:16 NASB

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His conly begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.[2]

Can you see how much He loves you? That He willingly gave up his life for you.

But there’s more good news! He didn’t stay dead but in fact rose again making it possible for every grave situation in your life to have a resurrection. Even the final grave we all have to face.

2. We remember the feeling of the coat.

When you get a revelation of all of this often God Himself comes right into you situation and circumstance like a coat of love. You don’t need answers you need to know they aren’t alone. When you are in darkness the whys really don’t amount to much. You need to know He is with you. You need to know His presence.

It may be in worship or just some moment, but it will happen. However, its not all the time. You must remind yourself and remember.

We all feel we all are imperfect. We all feel we deserve something for the negative part of the life we have lived.

Conclusion

Now we have seen:

the hidden sin in all of us,

the Hidden work of God and

the hidden grace of God

What should I do?

1. Know and not Know what God is doing

Joseph represents those that say they know Gods plan for their life

The brothers represent those who feel like God has abandoned them

We need to get in the middle of that. We need to know God is at work but not be prescriptive on the how

We have to stop trying to tell God how he will do it all.

Yes we do what we can and we can hope for certain outcomes or pathways but in the end we trust in God.

Have the dream but be open to the path God works with

2. Go get the coat

Seek after God, turn up to church, pray and read your Bible.

Community with his people and comunion with Him.

3. Forgive yourself for not getting it right.

When you look at your life and family you can get discouraged. Look at this family of Israel. Fighting, hate, murder and yet there was God at work in the middle of it all.

Do your best but trust God for the rest.

Remember His silence is not absence

Lets pray

[1] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update(La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), 2 Co 5:21. [2] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update(La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Jn 3:16.