WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:03.040 Thanks for checking out this podcast from Carterville Christian Church. 00:00:03.120 --> 00:00:04.160 We're so glad you're here. 00:00:04.320 --> 00:00:09.679 Our hope is that through these messages you'll grow deeper in your faith and experience the life-changing hope of Jesus. 00:00:09.919 --> 00:00:12.240 Now let's jump into this week's teaching. 00:00:18.320 --> 00:00:20.079 Come on, go ahead and start singing it. 00:00:20.320 --> 00:00:22.320 I don't know if you know that song, right? 00:00:22.480 --> 00:00:23.120 Well, good morning. 00:00:23.280 --> 00:00:24.079 Good morning, C3. 00:00:24.320 --> 00:00:28.640 Good to be with you this morning as we start our new series, uh Living the Dream. 00:00:28.719 --> 00:00:28.960 I don't know. 00:00:29.039 --> 00:00:32.159 There's several things that come to my mind when I think of the word dreams. 00:00:32.320 --> 00:00:33.520 I don't know if you guys know that song. 00:00:33.600 --> 00:00:34.640 Can somebody yell it out for me? 00:00:34.719 --> 00:00:35.359 What is that song? 00:00:36.159 --> 00:00:37.520 That's Fleetwood Mac right there. 00:00:37.600 --> 00:00:39.200 It's a song called Dreams by Fleetwood Mac. 00:00:39.439 --> 00:00:39.679 There you go. 00:00:40.079 --> 00:00:43.439 I don't know if you were expecting to hear Fleetwood Mac this morning in church, but there you go. 00:00:43.679 --> 00:00:45.119 But I think of other things too. 00:00:45.280 --> 00:00:48.240 I think of, well, I think of the song Dream On by Aerosmith. 00:00:48.399 --> 00:00:49.759 Anybody will agree with me there? 00:00:49.840 --> 00:00:52.719 Or I think of You Make My Dreams Come True by Holland Oates. 00:00:52.960 --> 00:00:54.079 It's a great, great one. 00:00:54.240 --> 00:01:02.560 Or if you're in the Wees household, then you're a big fan of the Disney Channel original zombies movies, and you're thinking of Dream Come True from Zombies 4. 00:01:02.719 --> 00:01:04.319 I don't know if that's you or not. 00:01:04.560 --> 00:01:16.079 I think of uh, you know, Martin Luther King's famous speech, the I Have a Dream speech, or just as famous, probably uh Shia LaBeouf's viral video, don't let just let your dreams be dreams. 00:01:16.239 --> 00:01:18.400 Just do it, is what he says. 00:01:18.560 --> 00:01:20.799 Um, not quite, not quite the same. 00:01:20.959 --> 00:01:25.040 Um, but I also think, you know, it's opening weekend uh for the NFL. 00:01:25.200 --> 00:01:27.840 Anybody NFL fans in here, football fans in here, right? 00:01:28.000 --> 00:01:33.280 It's opening weekend, and as a Broncos fan, I'm officially declaring this is our year this year. 00:01:33.439 --> 00:01:38.959 And to all the Chiefs fans in the room, they're gonna say, yeah, in your dreams, that's what you would say, is in your dreams. 00:01:39.120 --> 00:01:52.239 But I don't know, maybe your life right now is beyond your wildest dreams, or maybe you feel like you're walking on the boulevard of broken dreams, or maybe you're pursuing the American dream, or maybe you're still trying to chase after those hoop dreams that you have. 00:01:52.400 --> 00:01:56.560 Uh, whatever the case may be, we're starting the series uh called Living the Dream. 00:01:56.640 --> 00:02:11.039 Um, and we're gonna be in Genesis chapters 37 through 50 for the next like eight weeks together as a church, and kind of taking our cues from the life of Joseph, and along the way, discovering how we can live full life in communion with God. 00:02:11.199 --> 00:02:13.039 And I want to just take a minute really quick. 00:02:13.199 --> 00:02:15.280 I know I did this last week, but I want to do it again. 00:02:15.360 --> 00:02:18.240 Um, I want to encourage you to jump into a group with us. 00:02:18.319 --> 00:02:20.800 Uh, along with this, you you know this has been a rhythm for us. 00:02:20.879 --> 00:02:30.800 If you've been around here for a while, you know this has been a rhythm for us over the last few years, is that we have a series in the fall and then a series in the spring that we'll do a groups study alongside. 00:02:30.879 --> 00:02:32.879 Um, and that's what's happening with this study right here. 00:02:32.960 --> 00:02:47.199 We're entering into an eight-week period, an eight-week study uh that all of our life groups and several short-term groups are all gonna be studying the same thing, gonna be taking a diver, uh deeper dive, diver deep, deeper dive into the life of Joseph. 00:02:47.360 --> 00:02:48.639 Um, looking forward to this. 00:02:48.719 --> 00:02:55.120 Um, and I know there's already over like 215 adults who are jumping into this in life groups and short-term groups. 00:02:55.280 --> 00:02:57.199 Would love for you to jump into that. 00:02:57.360 --> 00:03:04.560 Actually, I want to tell you right now, you're not gonna hurt my feelings if you stand up and walk over to the fellowship hall right now in room 15. 00:03:04.639 --> 00:03:08.479 There's a 9 o'clock service group that meets during the 9 o'clock service. 00:03:08.639 --> 00:03:13.360 Would love for you to go and jump in, and then you can come back in here and hear the sermon second service if you want to do that. 00:03:13.439 --> 00:03:20.560 Um, but man, we we just we realize we need to we need to grow as a as a people, not just individually, but as a group. 00:03:20.639 --> 00:03:21.840 So we also need one another. 00:03:21.919 --> 00:03:22.719 We need to gather. 00:03:22.800 --> 00:03:24.400 These are things we realize as a church. 00:03:24.560 --> 00:03:27.759 And so, man, our groups are a great opportunity for you to do that. 00:03:27.840 --> 00:03:33.680 And what you're gonna find are just you're gonna find some great people that you get to walk alongside with. 00:03:33.759 --> 00:03:41.360 You're gonna realize you're not alone in this and you'll have deep joy in realizing, hey, this life is not meant to be uh an individual thing. 00:03:41.520 --> 00:03:45.759 Like me following along, following the Lord is not meant to be done by myself. 00:03:45.919 --> 00:03:52.560 But then you're also gonna hopefully, hopefully come to realize just the power of the word and the power that the word has to change your life. 00:03:52.639 --> 00:03:55.120 And that's really why we why we emphasize these groups so much. 00:03:55.199 --> 00:04:00.159 We're looking forward to these and looking forward to um so many groups kicking off uh this week as well. 00:04:00.400 --> 00:04:11.759 To go along with this group study, uh Damian Spickright, who was just up here with during communion time, um, he all helped like each time has put together our group's curriculum to help us think through the different passages. 00:04:11.919 --> 00:04:13.360 And I love these three different things. 00:04:13.439 --> 00:04:19.680 I think you should write these down because they're gonna be coming up as we continue to go through um the next eight weeks. 00:04:19.759 --> 00:04:26.959 We're gonna be looking at um as you read through an Old Testament story, there's three helpful reminders of different levels to look at it. 00:04:27.120 --> 00:04:34.399 First, there's the there's the moral level, um, thinking about you know what what lessons do we learn from the characters that are represented in the story? 00:04:34.560 --> 00:04:36.879 From their from their faithfulness or from their failures? 00:04:37.040 --> 00:04:38.079 Like what can we learn? 00:04:38.240 --> 00:04:39.120 What do we learn? 00:04:39.199 --> 00:04:42.480 Hey, we should be like them or we should not do as they do, you know? 00:04:42.639 --> 00:04:44.319 And then there's also the historical level. 00:04:44.480 --> 00:04:50.959 How does the story fit into what God is doing to fulfill his covenant promise to his chosen people, Israel? 00:04:51.120 --> 00:04:52.720 How is he, how is this playing out? 00:04:52.800 --> 00:04:55.519 How is this moving the story along, the historical level? 00:04:55.680 --> 00:05:02.240 But then there's also the redemptive level, the the highest level of it, and it's really thinking about like, okay, what is God doing? 00:05:02.399 --> 00:05:05.199 How is he using this story to bring about the redemption of the world? 00:05:05.360 --> 00:05:10.959 How is this ultimately pointing to the life and work and finished work of Jesus on the cross? 00:05:11.120 --> 00:05:13.439 Like what is what is this ultimately pointing us to? 00:05:13.600 --> 00:05:20.399 And as I've been studying over the last few weeks for this series, I was just reminded how much I love the story of Joseph. 00:05:20.639 --> 00:05:27.600 But I was also just reminded of how big our God is and how he just uses us and how he's faithful to use us. 00:05:27.680 --> 00:05:35.839 So I'm excited to journey together through Joseph's story and to study together how the Lord's kind of weaving this all together in this grand story of redemption. 00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:40.480 This morning, specifically, we're gonna be in the first 11 verses of Genesis chapter 37. 00:05:40.639 --> 00:05:42.879 So if you've got your Bibles, open up to Genesis 37. 00:05:42.959 --> 00:05:44.959 We're gonna be in those first 11 verses. 00:05:45.120 --> 00:06:01.040 And as we walk through the text, I want to just make a few observations as we go of different key themes that we need to pay attention to that are gonna continue to show their faces as we walk through the life of Joseph in the end of Genesis. 00:06:01.120 --> 00:06:03.360 So let's read together, starting in in verse one. 00:06:03.920 --> 00:06:09.439 Jacob lived in the land of his father's sojournings, in the land of Canaan. 00:06:09.600 --> 00:06:11.360 Remember, underline Canaan right there. 00:06:11.519 --> 00:06:19.680 This is the promised land that from the from the drop, the Lord has promised this land to his fathers, to Abraham and to Isaac. 00:06:19.839 --> 00:06:22.800 Jacob took his family and was bringing them back here. 00:06:23.040 --> 00:06:23.600 Verse 2. 00:06:23.759 --> 00:06:25.519 And these are the generations of Jacob. 00:06:25.680 --> 00:06:28.319 Joseph, being 17 years old, was pasturing the flock. 00:06:28.399 --> 00:06:30.160 You should underline that, pasturing the flock. 00:06:30.319 --> 00:06:35.759 This should make us think about the other people who have already come before him who are also shepherds in his family. 00:06:35.839 --> 00:06:43.120 Think of Abraham, think of Cain and Abel, think of Esau working in the field, think of these different characters with his, he's with his brothers pasturing the flock. 00:06:43.279 --> 00:06:51.920 He was a boy with the sons of Bilha and Zelpa, his father's wives, and Joseph brought back a bad report to them of them to their father. 00:06:52.160 --> 00:06:55.040 Now, Israel, see underline Israel right there. 00:06:55.199 --> 00:06:59.839 You might remember Israel and Jacob, they're going to be used interchangeably throughout our story. 00:06:59.920 --> 00:07:08.319 Those two names are going to be named, are going to be used interchangeably because God has renamed Jacob Israel, which is a good name change, by the way. 00:07:09.360 --> 00:07:10.720 It's a better name than what he has. 00:07:10.800 --> 00:07:12.079 We'll talk about that in just a little bit. 00:07:12.240 --> 00:07:22.160 But it's good to notice Israel loved Joseph more than any of the other sons because he was the son of his old age and he made him a robe of many colors. 00:07:22.319 --> 00:07:27.519 You might remember that from this story if you were grew up in children's church at all, the coat of many colors. 00:07:27.680 --> 00:07:42.399 Um, and what what is important to point out here is you should underline that word robe or circle that word robe, because this is going to be a theme that is traced throughout Joseph's story of putting on a robe and then it being stripped off and then putting it back on and then being stripped off. 00:07:42.560 --> 00:07:50.319 This is kind of a common theme that uh that is woven throughout Joseph's story, a sign of position and nobility. 00:07:50.560 --> 00:07:58.720 But when his brothers, verse four, when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all of his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him. 00:07:58.959 --> 00:08:00.879 And so now Joseph had a dream. 00:08:00.959 --> 00:08:03.040 Now, this is the other theme that I want to point out to you. 00:08:03.120 --> 00:08:05.040 You should underline that word dream right there. 00:08:05.199 --> 00:08:12.160 Because three different times, three different occasions in Joseph's story, as we're gonna see throughout this series, dreams come up. 00:08:12.319 --> 00:08:16.560 And they're actually always in couplets, always in a pair of dreams. 00:08:16.720 --> 00:08:31.920 And it really, in that day, what they what they really thought dreams were were just like a sign from the divine realm, from uh maybe showing of how the gods, what the gods were up to, or or showing the future of what the gods were going to prepare them for. 00:08:32.080 --> 00:08:36.240 And a lot of times in scripture, God speaks directly to a dreamer. 00:08:36.399 --> 00:08:43.279 What's interesting in this story right here, what we're seeing right here, is that God is there's it's not mentioned that God is speaking directly to Joseph. 00:08:43.360 --> 00:08:45.519 It's just Joseph had this dream, and he's trying to figure this out. 00:08:45.600 --> 00:08:46.559 So who does he go to? 00:08:46.799 --> 00:08:47.679 He goes to his family. 00:08:47.840 --> 00:08:48.799 This is what he says. 00:08:49.039 --> 00:08:54.159 When he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more, and he said to them, Hear this dream that I have dreamed. 00:08:54.320 --> 00:08:59.279 Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. 00:08:59.440 --> 00:09:03.200 And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf. 00:09:03.360 --> 00:09:07.360 And his brothers said to him, Are you indeed to reign over us? 00:09:07.840 --> 00:09:09.840 Or are you indeed to rule over us? 00:09:10.080 --> 00:09:14.240 So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. 00:09:14.639 --> 00:09:17.600 Verse 9, then he dreamed another dream, you should underline it. 00:09:17.759 --> 00:09:21.600 And he told it to his brothers and said, Behold, I have dreamed another dream. 00:09:21.759 --> 00:09:26.559 Behold, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars were bowing down to me. 00:09:26.799 --> 00:09:33.440 But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, said to him, What is this dream that you have dreamed? 00:09:33.519 --> 00:09:38.879 Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you? 00:09:39.120 --> 00:09:43.919 And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind. 00:09:44.720 --> 00:09:48.879 Now, there is some dysfunction in this family, to say the least. 00:09:49.120 --> 00:09:53.279 There's there's some there's some uh there's some messed up stuff here. 00:09:53.440 --> 00:10:03.279 I mean, playing favorites and tattletales and anger and hate and jealousy, it's here and all the more, and it's only gonna get worse from here, really, as we continue in the story of Joseph. 00:10:03.440 --> 00:10:05.039 It's only gonna continue to get worse. 00:10:05.120 --> 00:10:15.039 And in a lot of ways, the first 11 verses of Genesis chapter 37, what we just read, are both catching us up from what has already happened and also setting the stage for what is to come. 00:10:15.440 --> 00:10:24.080 They're catching us up from what has happened and also setting the stage for what is to come, and both happen by by really, I think, introducing main characters to us in these first 11 verses. 00:10:24.240 --> 00:10:34.559 And so, what I want to do is kind of just focus on three different main characters that we see in this in these first in these first 11 verses to kind of set the stage for where we're going with this whole thing. 00:10:34.720 --> 00:10:39.600 Who is involved, what is their part to play, at least right now, and how do we see them interacting? 00:10:39.759 --> 00:10:42.559 Let's start first with the spiteful siblings. 00:10:42.799 --> 00:10:44.159 The spiteful siblings. 00:10:44.320 --> 00:10:48.080 Have you ever witnessed uh a sibling rivalry? 00:10:48.240 --> 00:10:48.799 You know? 00:10:49.039 --> 00:11:01.120 Maybe, maybe you've been involved in one yourself, maybe you have your own thing, you know, your your brother or your sister and you just like just didn't get along, or maybe you just kind of more intentionally like to pick at each other and get under each other's skin. 00:11:01.279 --> 00:11:03.600 I think I've got four of those at home, you know. 00:11:03.759 --> 00:11:07.759 I think I've got four that are always wanting to pick at each other and get out under under each other's skin. 00:11:07.919 --> 00:11:11.759 Maybe you saw it in some close friends of yours or some family members, whatever the case. 00:11:11.919 --> 00:11:16.320 It's always more fun to be the one just watching it happen, you know? 00:11:16.480 --> 00:11:18.399 Like with there's no consequence to you. 00:11:18.480 --> 00:11:22.639 It's so much more fun to be the third party when it comes to a sibling rivalry. 00:11:22.799 --> 00:11:26.960 Um, if you don't, if you don't believe me, just take my take my word on this and check out this video right here. 00:11:33.679 --> 00:11:35.759 Leave your big brother alone. 00:11:57.600 --> 00:12:00.320 It's it's always a lot more fun to be a third party, isn't it? 00:12:00.639 --> 00:12:08.879 Then then rather than those aren't your kids, you have to then discipline, you don't have to worry about it, you just get to sit back and enjoy and laugh at somebody else's struggle there, you know? 00:12:08.960 --> 00:12:10.000 It's so much more fun. 00:12:10.159 --> 00:12:18.720 And yet, this situation that we read about in the first 11 verses, these spiteful siblings, like this is more, this is more than just a sibling rivalry happening here. 00:12:19.039 --> 00:12:22.159 Like the language suggests that it's way deeper than that. 00:12:22.480 --> 00:12:23.759 Did you see what the text says? 00:12:23.919 --> 00:12:28.000 Verse 4 They hated him and could not speak peacefully to him. 00:12:28.320 --> 00:12:30.399 Verse 5, so they hated him even more. 00:12:30.559 --> 00:12:33.360 Verse 8, they hated him even more for his dreams and his words. 00:12:33.519 --> 00:12:37.279 Verse 11, his brothers were filled with jealousy for him. 00:12:38.000 --> 00:12:41.120 I mean, this is this is strong language to say the very least. 00:12:41.279 --> 00:12:46.320 This is more than playful competition or pushing your sibling into the pool or pulling pranks. 00:12:46.480 --> 00:12:52.480 This is like deep-seated resentment and the hate that's represented in these relationships. 00:12:52.639 --> 00:12:56.879 And if you know this story and you know where it's going, you know where it's leading to. 00:12:56.960 --> 00:13:05.919 And so maybe the warning, if we're talking about the moral level, maybe the warning that we take from these spiteful siblings is the warning that Jesus gives his followers. 00:13:06.080 --> 00:13:07.840 Hey, in your anger, do not sin. 00:13:08.240 --> 00:13:17.759 Or maybe the the warning we need to we need to hear is actually the warning that their great great great uncle, something, something along those lines, Cain received in the field. 00:13:17.919 --> 00:13:24.240 Sin is crouching at your door, and its desire is for you, but you must rule over it. 00:13:24.720 --> 00:13:31.360 But I think there's a there's another question that kind of gets a little bit deeper because really, where is this all stemming from? 00:13:31.440 --> 00:13:32.559 Where's this all coming from? 00:13:32.720 --> 00:13:38.559 Where's this spiteful, spiteful resentment, hate, and anger and jealousy really coming from? 00:13:38.720 --> 00:13:45.759 And I like I think it may come from one of the other characters we're introduced to, because that's the second character I want to talk about is the ignorant instigator. 00:13:46.080 --> 00:13:48.720 The ignorant instigator here, right? 00:13:48.879 --> 00:13:56.720 Like, if if we if we ask the question, where does where does all this bitterness come from, then it's hard not to look straight at Joseph. 00:13:56.879 --> 00:13:59.519 Like he seems to be the instigator here for sure. 00:13:59.679 --> 00:14:05.200 He's pictured as the tattletale, the favorite child who loves to rub it in his brothers' faces, is what it kind of seems like. 00:14:05.759 --> 00:14:06.879 I love how one author put it. 00:14:06.960 --> 00:14:14.240 He said, Joseph seems like a try-hard tattletale, a bit of a pretentious punk, running home in his ornate robe to tattle on his brothers. 00:14:14.399 --> 00:14:25.360 Like this is this is a picture of Joseph right here, but we have to remember, I think it's important for us to remember what the text tells us is that Joseph, in verse 2, it tells us Joseph is a 17-year-old. 00:14:25.600 --> 00:14:31.840 Joseph is a 17-year-old, which means so he's a he's a junior, maybe a senior in high school, you know? 00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:33.840 And so I want you to think about this, right? 00:14:33.919 --> 00:14:38.960 Like maybe he's just trying to do the right thing and doesn't really understand what he's doing. 00:14:39.200 --> 00:14:42.399 Maybe he's just a little bit, a little bit ignorant here. 00:14:42.639 --> 00:14:53.759 Maybe he's like really just like has a heart that's trying to do the right thing, like he's trying to live with integrity, but he just kind of doesn't have the everyday wisdom that he needs in the midst of these situations. 00:14:53.919 --> 00:14:57.360 I want you to raise your hand by show of hands uh this morning. 00:14:57.519 --> 00:15:03.039 How many of you have had or currently have a teenager in your house who feels like they know everything already? 00:15:03.200 --> 00:15:05.360 Go ahead and raise him high, raise them high right now. 00:15:05.679 --> 00:15:08.960 Ever have had a teenager like that or currently keep him raised. 00:15:09.120 --> 00:15:11.039 Keep him raised right now, okay? 00:15:11.279 --> 00:15:12.879 Okay, now I want you to look around. 00:15:12.960 --> 00:15:14.559 Can you look around right now? 00:15:14.879 --> 00:15:15.840 You're not alone. 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:17.440 This is why we need each other right here. 00:15:17.679 --> 00:15:20.320 So jump into a group so you can realize, hey, you're not alone. 00:15:20.399 --> 00:15:22.559 You're not walking alone in this whole thing. 00:15:22.720 --> 00:15:23.919 We need we need it, right? 00:15:24.159 --> 00:15:32.879 And here's the thing, I labeled, I labeled Joseph right here as the ignorant instigator, but it might be better to say he's the arrogant instigator as well. 00:15:33.440 --> 00:15:35.919 Because maybe, I mean, maybe it's maybe it's a little bit more. 00:15:36.000 --> 00:15:40.799 Like, is Joseph just an ignorant 17-year-old who doesn't realize the full weight of everything that he's doing? 00:15:40.879 --> 00:15:44.320 Or is Joseph like more aware than we give him credit for? 00:15:44.720 --> 00:15:51.519 And actually, like actually showing signs of of pride that's swelling up within him and arrogance? 00:15:51.600 --> 00:15:54.559 I think it may very well be a bit of both. 00:15:54.799 --> 00:15:56.799 Like, I think it could be a mixture of both. 00:15:56.879 --> 00:16:05.679 There's nothing in the text that says, and there's nothing in in uh in the culture and history that says that Joseph needs to share these dreams with his brothers. 00:16:05.919 --> 00:16:11.840 There's nothing that suggests that he has to, he's required to go and share what he has dreamed with his brothers. 00:16:12.080 --> 00:16:15.039 He doesn't need to share this negative report with his dad early on. 00:16:15.120 --> 00:16:26.080 Maybe he's trying to be on the up and up here, you know, and even his dad slows him down after the second dream and he and he questions him and questions about the second the second dream. 00:16:26.159 --> 00:16:40.879 And the the result the result of this arrogance and this pride that Joseph is walking around with is ultimately like what leads to this resentment and this hate and this jealousy and this anger that this brother's that just continues to grow. 00:16:40.960 --> 00:16:51.120 And maybe if we're talking about the moral level and talking about what we need to learn from Joseph here, it's to hey, walk with humility rather than being puffed up with pride. 00:16:51.360 --> 00:17:00.080 Like Joseph could be the person that Solomon is thinking about when he tells us like pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. 00:17:00.240 --> 00:17:09.359 Maybe the Lord is aware that if if Joseph's not gonna humble himself, then he needs to be humbled. 00:17:09.599 --> 00:17:09.920 Right? 00:17:10.559 --> 00:17:15.119 Whoever humbles himself will be exalted, whoever exalts himself will be humbled. 00:17:15.440 --> 00:17:17.680 Maybe this is where it is. 00:17:17.759 --> 00:17:22.559 And if you know where the story is going, you know where Joseph's pride is leading him to. 00:17:22.960 --> 00:17:33.119 But really, what I really want to say is I think Joseph's pride is really coming from a whole different source altogether, and it's coming from another character we're introduced to in our story. 00:17:33.359 --> 00:17:35.119 And it's the the father's favoritism. 00:17:35.200 --> 00:17:36.400 That's what I want to look at. 00:17:37.039 --> 00:17:43.920 I think it's interesting to me as we as we open up and as we go right off the right off the bat in verse 2. 00:17:44.400 --> 00:17:45.519 Look back at verse 2 with me. 00:17:45.599 --> 00:17:49.759 There's a phrase right here at the start, verse 2, that's used 10 other times in Genesis. 00:17:49.920 --> 00:17:52.000 It's a it's a mile marker. 00:17:52.079 --> 00:17:56.559 It's supposed to serve as a representative of, hey, the story's moving on to a new chapter here. 00:17:56.799 --> 00:17:58.799 These are the generations of Jacob. 00:17:58.960 --> 00:18:02.079 Why mention Jacob at all right here is an interesting thing. 00:18:02.319 --> 00:18:07.920 Like the the what remains in the rest of Genesis is a story about Joseph. 00:18:08.079 --> 00:18:16.799 Like it seems primarily just focused on Joseph and the life and the career and the ups and downs and the pits and the peaks of Joseph's life. 00:18:16.960 --> 00:18:19.519 Like, why mention why mention Jacob at all? 00:18:19.680 --> 00:18:28.160 Actually, it's interesting, these are the generations of Jacob, but actually, two two chapters before in Genesis 35, we already saw all the sons listed out. 00:18:28.400 --> 00:18:34.400 Like the the authors already listed out all of the sons of Jacob in Genesis chapter 35. 00:18:34.480 --> 00:18:36.240 So he has no reason to hear. 00:18:36.480 --> 00:18:42.160 And then at the same time, it says here's these are the generations of Jacob, and then it only talks about Joseph. 00:18:42.400 --> 00:18:44.400 Why, why mention Jacob at all? 00:18:44.559 --> 00:18:48.160 And I think I believe Jacob's probably mentioned here for many reasons. 00:18:48.319 --> 00:19:00.240 I don't want to like go too deep into different speculation, but I really, what I really think the the author's doing is trying to make us remember where Joseph's whole family is coming from. 00:19:00.480 --> 00:19:03.119 Like trying to make us look backwards. 00:19:03.519 --> 00:19:07.680 I love how uh Tim Mackey's a he's a scholar with Bible project. 00:19:07.839 --> 00:19:16.000 Um, great resource for you, by the way, if you're if you're trying to do your own study, is to look up Bible project, all kinds of podcasts and studies and free courses, all that kind of stuff. 00:19:16.079 --> 00:19:25.279 But he says it this way he says, Hey, Bible characters are always always tend to replay and intensify the sins from their fathers. 00:19:26.000 --> 00:19:28.880 And maybe this is why Jacob is mentioned here. 00:19:29.119 --> 00:19:34.640 To to point us back, to help us remember, hey, this is this is the family that Joseph's coming from. 00:19:34.880 --> 00:19:36.480 Let's look back then, shall we? 00:19:36.640 --> 00:19:37.200 Let's look back. 00:19:37.279 --> 00:19:39.119 There's a lot I want to say about Jacob. 00:19:39.279 --> 00:20:02.400 There's a lot I would want to say about Jacob, but we don't have enough time to, so I want to encourage you in your own time this week, maybe go back and read Genesis chapters 25 through 36 this week and think about and and see see really the depth of where this whole story is coming from and see where where it's Jacob's birth and in Genesis chapter 35, all the way up to our story that starts here at Genesis chapter 37. 00:20:02.559 --> 00:20:04.160 But there's several things I want I want to say. 00:20:04.319 --> 00:20:08.799 The first thing is Jacob from the drop is is the deceiver. 00:20:08.960 --> 00:20:10.799 That's actually like what his name means. 00:20:10.960 --> 00:20:20.720 He's the one who cheats, he's the one who tricks, he's the one who deceives, he's the one who grasps the heel of his twin brother Esau as they're coming out of the womb. 00:20:20.799 --> 00:20:27.279 And and even it like it keeps going because this becomes a theme in Jacob's life is deception. 00:20:27.440 --> 00:20:34.400 You know, because he he then is the the younger of the two of the two twins, so he's not going to be the inheritor. 00:20:34.480 --> 00:20:53.519 So, but but he tricks his father, Isaac, who's kind of blind, and he puts on this robe again, like this coat, this cloak, this furry animal skin, so that he can trick his his father into thinking that he is Esau, and then giving him the blessing, he gets the blessing from his father in that way. 00:20:53.680 --> 00:20:59.039 And there's there's sibling rivalry that breaks out from there, obviously, from Jacob and Esau. 00:20:59.200 --> 00:21:25.039 But if you fast forward a little bit, Jacob then falls in love with a woman named Rachel, and but but she's actually the younger sister of two sisters, and Leah's the older one, and she's not married yet, and but Jacob doesn't want to marry Leah, he wants to marry Rachel, so he makes a deal with her father and says, if I work for seven years for you, and and then I'll then I'll be able to take Rachel's hand in marriage, is actually an inappropriate thing to ask in that day. 00:21:25.200 --> 00:21:37.440 Um but but still he does and agrees to work for Laban for seven years, and then it's funny, the the deceiver is deceived by Laban and given Leah instead of Rachel on their on their wedding. 00:21:37.519 --> 00:21:41.200 So then so then he strikes another deal and works another seven years. 00:21:41.359 --> 00:21:43.599 I mean, maybe we learn from Jacob that he's a hard worker here. 00:21:43.680 --> 00:21:44.079 I don't know. 00:21:44.240 --> 00:21:49.599 And he works seven more years and then takes Rachel to be his wife, so he's married to both Leah and Rachel. 00:21:49.680 --> 00:21:52.319 The the problem, of course, is that Leah can have children. 00:21:52.559 --> 00:21:54.559 Rachel cannot have children. 00:21:54.720 --> 00:21:59.759 So Leah bears five different sons uh for Jacob. 00:22:01.039 --> 00:22:02.319 And then Rachel cannot. 00:22:02.400 --> 00:22:09.440 So Rachel then gives Jacob, her servant Bilhah, to bear children for him, and she bears two children. 00:22:09.519 --> 00:22:11.200 And then Leah says, Oh, that's a good idea. 00:22:11.599 --> 00:22:12.720 Here's my servant Zilpa. 00:22:13.359 --> 00:22:14.319 You take her as well. 00:22:14.480 --> 00:22:19.119 And then Leah after that has another son and a daughter, Dinah, as well. 00:22:19.200 --> 00:22:28.640 And then finally, after all of that, Rachel, it says the Lord remembered Rachel and opened up her womb, and she gave birth to a son named Joseph. 00:22:28.799 --> 00:22:38.319 All in all, by the end, after Rachel has her second son, Benjamin, by the end, there's 12 sons that are born to Jacob from four different women. 00:22:38.559 --> 00:22:57.119 And we know, we know the story, and we've already mentioned it a little bit before, that Jacob then wrestles with God in this kind of interesting story later on in his life that he wrestles with God because he doesn't want to let him go until this angel, this messenger, or God himself gives him a blessing. 00:22:57.200 --> 00:23:10.880 So he holds on to him and holds on to him and holds on to him until the Lord finally blesses him and changes his name from Jacob, the deceiver, the trickster, to Israel, who struggles with God, the one who wrestles with God. 00:23:11.200 --> 00:23:21.119 And Jacob, after all of this, departs from Laban and is wanting to go back to the promised land, Canaan, what we have underlined already in verse 1 of chapter 37. 00:23:21.279 --> 00:23:25.759 And as they're heading back, disaster strikes in a lot of different ways. 00:23:25.920 --> 00:23:39.279 We don't have time to go into all the different stories that happened, but you should go back and read chapter 34 and the story of his daughter Dinah as they come on the Hivites and the prince of the Hivites takes advantage of her. 00:23:39.599 --> 00:23:49.200 Jacob is rather passive in this story because Jacob doesn't do anything whenever he hears about his daughter being taken advantage of. 00:23:49.279 --> 00:23:51.519 Instead, he kind of waits. 00:23:52.000 --> 00:23:55.519 And then the brothers come back and they hear about it, and they're not very passive at all. 00:23:55.680 --> 00:24:05.759 They take matters into their own hands and they come back and wipe out all the men of the Hivites and plunder all of their goods and all the riches, all their women and children, like take all of it with them. 00:24:05.920 --> 00:24:08.960 And it's at that point that Jacob is then angry. 00:24:09.119 --> 00:24:14.559 And Jacob says, Hey, you've made me look bad to all the Canaanites in the region. 00:24:15.279 --> 00:24:19.359 And then it keeps going, as you keep going, they're on the doorstep of Canaan. 00:24:19.440 --> 00:24:21.039 They're getting ready to be home. 00:24:21.200 --> 00:24:27.920 And Rachel is pregnant with Benjamin, goes into a hard labor, has a hard labor with Benjamin, and she dies as a result of it. 00:24:28.079 --> 00:24:34.960 On the doorstep of the promised land, his beloved wife dies a tragic death, giving birth to their youngest son, Benjamin. 00:24:35.359 --> 00:24:39.200 And then there's a little blip in Genesis chapter 35. 00:24:39.359 --> 00:24:53.920 There's a little blip, like a literally one verse in Genesis chapter 35 that tells us that Reuben, his oldest, the one born to Leah, the oldest, goes and sleeps with his stepmom, Bilhah, one of the concubines, one of the served, the servant of Rachel. 00:24:54.079 --> 00:24:55.920 And all it says is that Israel knew of this. 00:24:56.000 --> 00:24:58.880 He didn't respond to it, wasn't active in response. 00:24:58.960 --> 00:25:01.920 He was just passive with the whole thing. 00:25:02.160 --> 00:25:05.279 And then we get to our text in Genesis chapter 37. 00:25:05.680 --> 00:25:10.240 And at this point we understand that Jacob is in his old age, right? 00:25:10.319 --> 00:25:17.599 And the reason why we know that is because he he says he, it's the text says that he loves Joseph because he was a son of his old age. 00:25:17.680 --> 00:25:25.839 It's actually interesting, it's the same exact wording, same phrasing that's used with Abraham and Isaac, the son of his old age. 00:25:26.079 --> 00:25:35.279 And so it's it's it's similar as Abraham loved Isaac more than Ishmael, so Jacob loved Joseph more than all of his brothers. 00:25:35.519 --> 00:25:37.359 Because he was the son of his old age. 00:25:37.680 --> 00:25:40.319 And then he gives them this robe of many colors. 00:25:40.480 --> 00:25:47.359 It's interesting, this robe, we don't really know the exact meaning of this robe or the word, like what it really, what it really is getting at. 00:25:47.519 --> 00:25:56.319 But what we do know is that this was most likely a full-length robe, all the way down to the ankles, all the way down to the wrists, and it's just makes it really hard to work in. 00:25:56.559 --> 00:26:06.319 Like most working tunics were cut off at the at the arms, at the shoulders, right here, and cut off just above the knee so that your legs and arms were free to do work in the field. 00:26:06.480 --> 00:26:19.759 So it would like if you were to send Joseph out in this full-length ornated robe, this robe of many colors, it would be like, as as Chuck Swindall said, it would be like be like sending a welder to a construction site in a full-length fur coat. 00:26:19.920 --> 00:26:20.160 Right? 00:26:20.240 --> 00:26:21.759 It just doesn't make any sense. 00:26:21.920 --> 00:26:23.359 Why would you do this at all? 00:26:23.519 --> 00:26:27.920 And it's unclear what the word actually means, but what it represents is pretty clear. 00:26:28.240 --> 00:26:35.119 You don't have to work like them anymore, is what Jacob is communicating to Joseph. 00:26:35.279 --> 00:26:37.200 And actually, it's more than that. 00:26:37.440 --> 00:26:44.000 Because when Jacob gives Joseph the multicolored robe, it isn't a matter of getting a nicer Christmas present than the other brothers. 00:26:44.160 --> 00:26:49.519 It isn't merely Jacob showing that he loves Joseph more or giving him a less strenuous job. 00:26:49.839 --> 00:26:56.160 Jacob is indicating, as he gives Joseph this robe, he's indicating you will be my heir. 00:26:57.200 --> 00:26:59.359 The line goes through you. 00:27:00.079 --> 00:27:07.279 Like my family line and my inheritance will go through Rachel's side of the family, not Leah's side of the family. 00:27:07.519 --> 00:27:11.039 Reuben, the oldest son, is the oldest son of Leah. 00:27:11.200 --> 00:27:16.640 And he is now written off of the will, so to speak, as Joseph gets this coat of many colors. 00:27:16.799 --> 00:27:18.160 This is the root of all of it. 00:27:18.319 --> 00:27:24.480 Like this is why Joseph starts walking around with his chest puffed out a little bit, why he's got this arrogance and this pride. 00:27:24.640 --> 00:27:26.000 Yeah, I'm dad's favorite. 00:27:26.160 --> 00:27:28.319 That's why he's gonna come back and tattle on his brothers. 00:27:28.400 --> 00:27:30.319 That's why he's gonna tell them about these dreams. 00:27:30.400 --> 00:27:31.839 And aren't these dreams awesome? 00:27:32.240 --> 00:27:35.440 Now the Lord has provided it, and now this is really going to happen. 00:27:35.519 --> 00:27:37.039 He's showed me what's going to happen. 00:27:37.200 --> 00:27:40.079 This is the root of the jealousy of his brothers. 00:27:40.160 --> 00:27:45.680 And even in Joseph's arrogance and pride, Jacob seems to be a little passive here as well. 00:27:45.920 --> 00:27:55.200 Because when Jacob even hears of the second dream that Joseph dreams, when he hears of the second dream, it says that he rebukes him, but all he says is, Are you gonna rule over us? 00:27:55.279 --> 00:27:56.640 Is that what you're gonna do? 00:27:57.119 --> 00:28:04.799 Like it's almost like he's just like giving his interpretation of the dream, but he yet doesn't call him to his to his stuff right here. 00:28:04.960 --> 00:28:13.920 Like doesn't like confront him in his arrogance and his pride, and then doesn't address the bitterness that's in the room with the brothers? 00:28:14.079 --> 00:28:17.200 Like it's thick enough that you can feel it in the room. 00:28:17.359 --> 00:28:24.799 And if it was anybody's, if it was anybody's responsibility to handle, it would have been the father, Jacob, to handle. 00:28:24.960 --> 00:28:30.160 Like it would have been his job to sort out the disagreements and the tensions like this one. 00:28:30.319 --> 00:28:32.720 The question is, did Jacob even notice it? 00:28:33.200 --> 00:28:36.799 Or was he this like checked out that he didn't even realize what was happening? 00:28:36.960 --> 00:28:44.480 He should have and could have reconciled the tension, but he just made matters worse by playing favorites. 00:28:45.039 --> 00:29:06.240 And I think if like if we if we are thinking about it at the moral level and we think about Jacob, then then we need to maybe take the warning that we should not parent in the way that Jacob is parenting, in a in a passive way and in a in a favoritist way, but rather with without partiality and with purpose, with intention. 00:29:06.559 --> 00:29:08.319 This is how we should we should parent. 00:29:08.480 --> 00:29:13.839 And all in all, you may be looking, if you're like me, you may be looking at Jacob, and you might be thinking, really? 00:29:14.799 --> 00:29:16.079 This is the one? 00:29:16.400 --> 00:29:23.119 Like this is the guy that we're gonna continue to, this is the guy that we're gonna continue to be remembered throughout scripture? 00:29:23.440 --> 00:29:27.599 Like you remember, this is how the Lord himself identifies himself throughout the rest of Scripture. 00:29:27.680 --> 00:29:39.759 Whenever he comes, either by messenger or personally himself, he whenever he tells somebody he's trying to assure them, he says, I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob. 00:29:40.319 --> 00:29:40.960 Really? 00:29:41.599 --> 00:29:42.480 This guy? 00:29:43.039 --> 00:29:44.160 The deceiver? 00:29:45.279 --> 00:29:53.359 The passive father, the one who's just showing favoritism to one son and and kind of like letting the other ones fend for themselves a little bit? 00:29:53.440 --> 00:30:04.960 Like this is the one that we're talking about, and yet the Lord's promises and plan will succeed through the imperfect patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 00:30:05.759 --> 00:30:07.119 You see, here's the deal. 00:30:07.359 --> 00:30:16.880 If we're just reading this story as if it's about these characters, and just at the moral level, then we'll get to this point and we'll just be like, man, that's pretty messed up, isn't it? 00:30:17.119 --> 00:30:17.680 You know? 00:30:17.920 --> 00:30:21.519 Like, man, I don't know what we do with these first 11 verses of Genesis 37. 00:30:21.599 --> 00:30:23.119 This is this is pretty jacked up. 00:30:23.279 --> 00:30:25.920 Like, maybe we should just take take warnings here. 00:30:26.000 --> 00:30:33.119 Hey, don't parent like Jacob, and don't be prideful like like Joseph, and don't be hateful like the brothers, right? 00:30:33.200 --> 00:30:34.000 And and that's it. 00:30:34.079 --> 00:30:42.400 And listen to me, that's a valid application of this text, and we should definitely heed those warnings, but you could, because you should not do any of those things that we're seeing represented in this text. 00:30:42.559 --> 00:30:52.400 But I don't want to miss, don't want to miss what's really happening here in the bigger picture, and miss the encouragement that we can get from this text. 00:30:52.720 --> 00:30:58.960 Because maybe you're thinking, if you're like me, maybe you're thinking, like, how in the world can God use this family? 00:30:59.680 --> 00:31:02.319 Like, how in the world can he bless this mess? 00:31:02.480 --> 00:31:06.960 There doesn't seem to be any redeeming quality in this family at all. 00:31:07.200 --> 00:31:10.960 If you don't believe me, man, come back next week and we'll continue the story. 00:31:11.119 --> 00:31:17.440 Or if you don't believe me, go on your own and read Genesis 38 of Judah and Tamar and then come talk to me and talk to me about redeeming qualities. 00:31:17.599 --> 00:31:20.319 Like, there's not much redeeming qualities in this family. 00:31:20.480 --> 00:31:23.839 How in the world is God going to use any of this? 00:31:24.079 --> 00:31:32.799 But I want us to realize as we study the life of Joseph that, man, the story of Joseph and the life of Joseph is not really about Joseph. 00:31:33.680 --> 00:31:39.920 And it's not really about Jacob, and it's not really about his brothers. 00:31:40.240 --> 00:31:46.880 No, this story is about the main character, the one who is always faithful. 00:31:47.359 --> 00:31:50.000 And if you don't hear anything else, please hear this. 00:31:50.319 --> 00:31:53.680 Only God can redeem our story. 00:31:54.559 --> 00:31:55.440 Only God. 00:31:55.839 --> 00:32:00.720 Like this story ultimately is about our God who redeems the unredeemable. 00:32:00.799 --> 00:32:02.880 Is anybody thankful for that this morning? 00:32:03.200 --> 00:32:04.400 Like, this is what it's about. 00:32:04.559 --> 00:32:08.240 Our God is the one who specializes in redeeming the unredeemable. 00:32:08.319 --> 00:32:11.759 And we see this throughout this story, and we see this in our own lives as well. 00:32:11.920 --> 00:32:22.880 Even in the midst of the pride and ignorance of Joseph, God is able to use the circumstances around him to teach him and to humble him for his own good. 00:32:23.359 --> 00:32:38.960 Like, even in the anger and jealousy and hate and deception of the brothers and all the subsequent fallout, the Lord is still moving and working and providing a way, not just for Joseph, but for his entire family and for all of God's chosen people. 00:32:40.960 --> 00:32:45.519 Even with Jacob, there doesn't seem to be redeeming quality when it comes to Jacob. 00:32:46.079 --> 00:32:48.960 And yet he serves the God of redemption. 00:32:50.720 --> 00:33:04.640 And here's even in even in you and in me, even in the midst of our sin, God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us. 00:33:05.440 --> 00:33:08.559 So that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 00:33:09.839 --> 00:33:12.960 Our God is the one who redeems the unredeemable. 00:33:13.200 --> 00:33:13.759 Amen? 00:33:15.200 --> 00:33:17.119 This is what this story is about. 00:33:17.359 --> 00:33:20.400 And God can redeem your story. 00:33:20.720 --> 00:33:23.599 But the the trick is you have to let him write it. 00:33:24.400 --> 00:33:26.640 You got to let him be the author of it. 00:33:26.960 --> 00:33:33.039 And some somebody in this room is trying to still write your own story, you're trying to still do your own thing. 00:33:33.680 --> 00:33:36.640 And yet the Christian life starts at surrender. 00:33:37.200 --> 00:33:40.640 It starts at coming to Jesus and just saying, I need you. 00:33:41.039 --> 00:33:42.240 I need you to step in. 00:33:42.319 --> 00:33:44.000 I need I need you to save me. 00:33:44.160 --> 00:33:46.079 I cannot do this on my own. 00:33:46.240 --> 00:33:53.680 And this is this redemption finds its fulfillment in the finished work of Jesus on the cross. 00:33:54.240 --> 00:34:04.559 When we turn and when we trust in what our God has done and in who he is and how faithful he is, man, only he can redeem our stories. 00:34:04.640 --> 00:34:05.599 And he has. 00:34:06.960 --> 00:34:09.519 Man, what a joy it is to know him. 00:34:10.320 --> 00:34:14.320 And what a joy it is to see his plan unfold. 00:34:14.400 --> 00:34:21.360 And what a joy it is to join join with him in the work that he's doing to redeem all of the world. 00:34:22.079 --> 00:34:22.880 Let's pray. 00:34:26.400 --> 00:34:31.440 And we're so thankful for this for the story and life of Joseph. 00:34:31.599 --> 00:34:40.000