WEBVTT 00:00:07.360 --> 00:00:10.400 We study through books of the Bible here at the village chapel. 00:00:10.480 --> 00:00:11.439 We have extra copies. 00:00:11.519 --> 00:00:17.440 If you didn't bring one and you'd like one to follow along, raise your hand up real high, and uh somebody will get to you with one of those. 00:00:17.600 --> 00:00:18.559 Anyone need one at all? 00:00:18.719 --> 00:00:22.160 And of course, we have up on the screen the name of the network here in the house. 00:00:22.239 --> 00:00:26.000 If you would like to uh jump on board there, you can do that. 00:00:26.079 --> 00:00:28.640 I believe the password is up there for you as well. 00:00:28.800 --> 00:00:34.560 The book we're studying is the first book in the Bible, first book of the Old Testament, and it's called Genesis. 00:00:34.719 --> 00:00:40.960 It begins within the beginning, and so we've entitled the whole study of Genesis in the beginning this time. 00:00:41.039 --> 00:00:44.560 We've uh been through it before and may get to go through it again. 00:00:44.640 --> 00:00:45.359 I love this book. 00:00:45.439 --> 00:00:53.679 Every time you you you jump into these narratives, uh, there's just so much here and so many new things uh to learn. 00:00:53.840 --> 00:00:57.600 Today we'll take verse uh chapters 36 and 37, fear not. 00:00:58.719 --> 00:01:07.359 Uh it sounds like a lot of text, but this is uh this is the last of the uh genealogies in chapter 36. 00:01:07.519 --> 00:01:12.640 So I know several of you will be very disappointed that we won't have another genealogy after this one. 00:01:12.879 --> 00:01:30.799 Um myself, I do kind of enjoy reading through these, and every now and then there's a brilliant little statement that just sort of surfaces in the middle of all the names, and it just reminds you of uh uh of some of what's going on, uh, and that it's uh there's so many things about it, I'll point some of that out. 00:01:30.879 --> 00:01:33.680 But today I want to start with uh, let's see if I can do this. 00:01:33.920 --> 00:01:36.319 I've got a pointer here that, you know, Mr. 00:01:36.480 --> 00:01:37.439 Technology here, right? 00:01:37.519 --> 00:01:38.079 Okay, there we go. 00:01:38.159 --> 00:01:38.719 Yeah, good. 00:01:38.879 --> 00:01:49.680 So we'll be reading about uh Esau and his his uh descendants and how they settle down here in Edom to the south and a little bit east and down into the mountain range Seir. 00:01:50.000 --> 00:01:50.319 Okay. 00:01:50.719 --> 00:02:00.959 Uh we will I'll remind you that most of uh the activity in terms of the sort of hub of activity has been Hebron, and that is right about here. 00:02:01.359 --> 00:02:06.239 Um Jericho is up about here, Jerusalem's down in this area right here. 00:02:06.319 --> 00:02:09.759 Uh sorry about the uh rambling of my green dot there. 00:02:09.840 --> 00:02:14.400 That's the best I can do with my, I'm a little blood sugar low this morning, I think. 00:02:14.560 --> 00:02:16.719 So we're uh we're gonna hit Shechem. 00:02:16.879 --> 00:02:19.840 We've well we've talked about Shechem before, that's right up here. 00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:21.439 And then we'll see Dothan. 00:02:21.840 --> 00:02:27.599 I know most of you think of Dothan as in Alabama, but but there is one here as well. 00:02:27.759 --> 00:02:30.240 As a matter of fact, I mean it's quite fascinating to me. 00:02:30.319 --> 00:02:36.479 I uh uh do we have some of the uh I think we've got a couple photos of the digs at Tell Dothan. 00:02:37.120 --> 00:02:48.960 Uh this is this is one of the sites uh that the uh one of the Wheaton um uh professors of archaeology, biblical history and archaeology has been working on for quite some time. 00:02:49.120 --> 00:02:57.759 And uh so our Bibles are set in space-time history as well as geographical, real places in geography. 00:02:57.919 --> 00:03:18.479 And so, as opposed to, you know, you might you might read uh uh another kind of literature that sounds fantastic and has all kinds of amazing things happening, um, but then you go to find, you know, uh the land or the or the name of the person, whatever, and you and you can't find them anywhere, and that's because you might have been reading a legend or a myth or something like that that that was fictional. 00:03:18.560 --> 00:03:30.400 But this this book that we study, this this catalog of 66 books, a library, if you will, that we call the Bible, is actually set in space-time history, real names, real places. 00:03:30.639 --> 00:03:34.960 You can cross-check it, and that just sets it in a whole nother leap, doesn't it? 00:03:35.039 --> 00:03:36.879 It just makes it makes everything kind of different. 00:03:36.960 --> 00:03:49.919 But anyway, there's some of the guys doing some of the digs there, and they found some amazing stuff there, including stuff that dates back to the uh uh Middle Bronze period, which is the uh that era of human history. 00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:53.759 I think it runs uh 2200 BC to about 1500 BC. 00:03:53.840 --> 00:03:58.080 So it certainly would include uh some of what we're reading right now. 00:03:58.319 --> 00:04:08.479 So, with all of that in terms of history, I would like very much to read for us, if you will, uh Genesis 36 and 37. 00:04:08.800 --> 00:04:25.120 Lord, uh, what we know not, I pray that you would show us, teach us, what we uh see not, I pray that you would show us what we um have not, I pray that you would give us, and what we are not, Lord, pray that you would make us. 00:04:26.399 --> 00:04:32.240 So, at 120 years old now, um uh we studied last week. 00:04:32.399 --> 00:04:41.519 Pastor Matt led us through chapter 35, and uh Isaac had died at 180, and now Esau and Jacob are 120 years of age. 00:04:41.839 --> 00:04:44.000 So it's awesome to think about, isn't it? 00:04:44.079 --> 00:04:44.480 Yeah. 00:04:44.639 --> 00:04:47.759 Uh these are the records of the generations of Esau, that is, Edom. 00:04:47.839 --> 00:04:49.040 So he went by both names. 00:04:49.120 --> 00:05:00.319 You know, Jacob goes also by Israel, same person, Jacob, Israel, and um, and with Esau, uh, he's also called Edom from time to time, which means red. 00:05:01.199 --> 00:05:08.079 And most of the Bible commentators will tell you probably had red hair and was a hairy man. 00:05:08.160 --> 00:05:10.000 I mean, that's that's exactly what they would say. 00:05:10.160 --> 00:05:16.399 Esau took his wives from the daughters of Canaan, Ada, the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Holybama. 00:05:16.639 --> 00:05:18.000 That's an interesting name, too, isn't it? 00:05:18.240 --> 00:05:19.279 Holy Bama. 00:05:19.759 --> 00:05:25.680 Um, it sounds like they're either related to a president or or perhaps from Alabama. 00:05:25.759 --> 00:05:30.319 I'm not sure which one that might be, but it's an interesting name. 00:05:30.480 --> 00:05:35.600 It means tent of the high place, which isn't necessarily a good thing. 00:05:35.759 --> 00:05:40.000 Um, you know, high places were places where people would go and worship. 00:05:40.160 --> 00:05:44.639 And in the cases of Canaanites, they would go and worship pagan deities. 00:05:44.879 --> 00:05:53.759 Uh, little uh uh either carvings or stone statues that they had made themselves, human beings worshiping things that they had made. 00:05:54.000 --> 00:06:01.600 Eyes, perhaps, but couldn't see, hands, but couldn't do anything, feet but couldn't move, mouths but couldn't speak, these statues. 00:06:01.920 --> 00:06:04.560 Almost makes no sense when you start to just think about it. 00:06:04.639 --> 00:06:07.040 Just rationally, it makes no sense, right? 00:06:07.279 --> 00:06:13.120 Why do we, though, in our own day and time, worship things that we make or that we do? 00:06:13.839 --> 00:06:22.879 We just have another version of the same problem, don't we, in that we our hearts are creating idols all the time and we're we're essentially uh worshiping them. 00:06:23.040 --> 00:06:34.639 Well, Ohlebamah is the daughter of Ana, the granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite, also Bazamath, Ishmael's daughter, the sister of Nebioth, and Ada bore Eliphaz to Esau, and Bazamath bore Ruel. 00:06:34.800 --> 00:06:40.480 Ohlebamah bore Jaush and Jalam and Korah, these are the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan. 00:06:40.639 --> 00:06:54.240 Then Esau took his wives and his sons and his daughters and all his household and his livestock and all his cattle and all his goods which he had acquired in the land of Canaan, and he went to another land, away from his brother Jacob. 00:06:54.639 --> 00:07:09.279 And so they literally, this is just probably just because of their wealth, because of their, you know, the sheer number of animals it needed to graze, and the space that they needed for them to do uh any kind of farming, that sort of thing. 00:07:09.360 --> 00:07:18.240 This needed more space, so they went to another land, and it will be Edom, which I pointed out to you earlier on the map that they go and settle in. 00:07:18.319 --> 00:07:25.600 Okay, so verse 7, for the property had become too great for them to live together in the land where they sojourned, could not sustain them because of their livestock. 00:07:25.759 --> 00:07:27.920 So Esau lived in the hill country of Seir. 00:07:28.240 --> 00:07:29.759 Esau is Edom. 00:07:30.399 --> 00:07:40.639 So again, south and east, just a little bit of the Dead Sea there over in the uh uh southern region of what was called Canaan at the time. 00:07:40.800 --> 00:07:45.040 These then are the records of the generations of Esau, the father of the Edomites in the hill country of Seir. 00:07:46.240 --> 00:07:48.800 Um I'm gonna let you read the rest of this. 00:07:48.879 --> 00:07:53.439 Um, and we're gonna we're gonna jump to chapter 37 because I want to get there. 00:07:53.519 --> 00:07:55.279 Um, but there are some really important things. 00:07:55.600 --> 00:07:57.839 Drop to verse 24 for just a second. 00:07:58.000 --> 00:08:01.759 Uh I love this, this just is that kind of live-body detail that I really love. 00:08:01.920 --> 00:08:05.120 These are the sons of Zibion, Eiah and Enah. 00:08:05.199 --> 00:08:08.639 He is the Anna who found the hot springs. 00:08:09.120 --> 00:08:16.079 Uh, some of your translations might say that, and because the ancient language is a little hard to translate, but he found the hot springs in the wilderness. 00:08:16.160 --> 00:08:22.240 It might say in your translation, the water, or it might, in some cases, it might say the vipers, the snakes. 00:08:22.480 --> 00:08:23.600 Anybody here like snakes? 00:08:23.759 --> 00:08:25.680 I think a lot of people, how many of you hate snakes? 00:08:25.759 --> 00:08:27.360 That's a good thing to okay, that's yeah. 00:08:27.600 --> 00:08:29.680 But most of us like a hot spring. 00:08:30.000 --> 00:08:40.639 Um, and and there are indeed uh a lot of uh, if you if you've been to Israel, if you've been down to the Dead Sea area, uh you know that region is rich in minerals. 00:08:40.879 --> 00:08:54.399 You know that uh there are all kinds of spas that have risen up in the in the southern part of the Dead Sea where you can go and spend thousands of dollars and lots of time, and you'll come out and your skin will feel really great, and it's really awesome. 00:08:54.559 --> 00:08:55.360 I've not done it. 00:08:55.440 --> 00:08:58.960 I'm just going on, I'm just going on based on what people have told me. 00:08:59.120 --> 00:09:04.240 But that what I wanted to do there with verse 24 is just say, look at that. 00:09:04.480 --> 00:09:10.879 He's the Anna that found the hot springs in the wilderness when he was pasturing the donkeys of his father Zibion. 00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:17.120 Now, if you're just writing a fairy book, you don't include that kind of thing. 00:09:17.360 --> 00:09:19.440 It's just superfluous at that point. 00:09:19.600 --> 00:09:31.600 But if you're writing history, if you're writing real, the guy that actually, you know, you know, like we have a lot of towns where you pull into the town and says, this is such and such a city, the home of, and there's a notable person, right? 00:09:32.000 --> 00:09:41.919 And here, down, all the way down there, they've got a sign in their ancient way, and they wrote a little thing that this is the home where so-and-so found it, the hot springs, you know. 00:09:42.080 --> 00:09:45.279 And so for historical purposes, just fascinating to me. 00:09:45.440 --> 00:09:54.480 And you go on and read the rest of those uh over lunch together and while you're while you're waiting for your food to come, and but it you'll find it quite fascinating. 00:09:54.559 --> 00:09:58.559 And I want you to know why I think that's true, why I would even suggest that. 00:09:58.720 --> 00:09:59.840 And this is why. 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:04.639 It's this it it is uh this it has the scent and smack of real history. 00:10:05.600 --> 00:10:05.919 Okay? 00:10:06.240 --> 00:10:18.320 They aren't just made-up names, they're names that you read elsewhere in the Bible, or sometimes even in you know, uh literature that isn't contained within the scriptures, ancient Near Eastern literature that we find. 00:10:18.399 --> 00:10:18.720 Okay? 00:10:19.120 --> 00:10:23.759 It's uh it's got that smack and that scent of history because it's real details. 00:10:24.480 --> 00:10:32.320 It talks about topography, it talks about the way the land is, it talks about the relationships between the people and all that sort of thing. 00:10:32.399 --> 00:10:41.919 So he got this book Genesis that has some fantastic claims, makes some amazing claims to answer the question, where'd everything come from? 00:10:43.440 --> 00:10:44.080 To do that? 00:10:44.240 --> 00:10:44.879 You're kidding me. 00:10:45.120 --> 00:10:45.519 Really? 00:10:46.480 --> 00:10:49.679 That's a bold move on the part of God. 00:10:50.240 --> 00:10:53.039 But then when you think about it, he's God. 00:10:54.000 --> 00:10:56.480 He's the creator of everything. 00:10:56.720 --> 00:11:00.879 Why wouldn't he know where everything came from? 00:11:01.519 --> 00:11:07.679 He created it out of nothing, the source of all human life, the significance of each and every human life. 00:11:07.759 --> 00:11:14.960 As you read those names, even as Kim prayed, you find that each and every one of those names represent a human person with a story. 00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:19.440 They had a biological mother and father. 00:11:20.559 --> 00:11:23.919 They had many of them siblings of some sort. 00:11:24.159 --> 00:11:27.679 And we'll see some sibling rivalry here in the next chapter, won't we? 00:11:28.080 --> 00:11:31.200 Um, the connectivity of all human persons. 00:11:31.279 --> 00:11:39.279 Because you see how, even here with Esau, named also Edom, he's related, isn't he, to Jacob. 00:11:39.759 --> 00:11:49.840 And so when we read of some of the descendants of Esau, we're kind of reading about the cousins of the descendants of Jacob, which you read about last week when Pastor Matt walked you through chapter 35. 00:11:50.639 --> 00:11:58.799 And there is a sense in which we are all connected in some way, you know, distant cousins, if you will. 00:11:58.960 --> 00:12:01.440 Uh, the spiritual longings of humanity. 00:12:01.600 --> 00:12:16.879 Of course, our Bibles are not merely a record of lives lived, but they this is a record of God who has been in pursuit of a people that he created and placed within them a hunger and a longing for him. 00:12:17.679 --> 00:12:25.039 And what's gone wrong with the world, which is a question philosophers ask all the time, cultural uh and analysts ask that all the time. 00:12:25.200 --> 00:12:26.159 What's gone wrong with the world? 00:12:26.320 --> 00:12:28.159 The Bible also answers that question. 00:12:28.799 --> 00:12:39.759 When sin entered the world, our hearts rebelled against the one who made us and created us with a longing, and the deepest longing that he created us with is for him. 00:12:41.200 --> 00:12:47.279 And sin entered the world and we turned away from him and try to live our lives as if he doesn't matter or doesn't exist. 00:12:47.840 --> 00:12:54.159 And that's what's wrong with the world, as Genesis would summarize. 00:12:54.240 --> 00:12:57.360 And then, of course, we have God's unfolding plan of redemption. 00:12:57.440 --> 00:13:06.159 So that's the rest of chapter 36, which ends with Chief Magdal, Chief Aram, and by the way, some of your translations might say Duke or King. 00:13:06.399 --> 00:13:25.759 And so these are uh ancient uh titles that uh probably would represent from what a lot of the commentaries would suggest, that probably represent somebody who's a who's a leader of a of a of a tribe or a clan, as they might call them back then, perhaps of a thousand people or so. 00:13:25.919 --> 00:13:32.799 These are the chiefs of Edom, that is Esau the father of the Edomites, according to their habitations in the land of their possession. 00:13:32.960 --> 00:13:38.000 Now the Edomites will be mentioned again and throughout uh our Bibles. 00:13:38.159 --> 00:13:50.559 Um we've we've we find them uh sometimes being the enemy of Israel, just as Jacob and Esau were sort of, you know, fighting with each other a little bit there, as we've already studied their story. 00:13:50.639 --> 00:14:02.159 Uh, and they had a great reconciliation, I think, in chapter 33, and uh and and they come back together to bury their father at the end of chapter 35, there believe I believe. 00:14:02.320 --> 00:14:10.480 And so there is this give and take in the relationship, and it looks very much like a relationship, like we would expect a relationship to look. 00:14:10.639 --> 00:14:20.080 So these are real people with real stories and a real need for God in their lives and the redemption that God can bring to their lives. 00:14:20.320 --> 00:14:26.080 So we're gonna title chapter 37, The Time the Dream Became a Nightmare. 00:14:26.240 --> 00:14:29.279 Okay, so you might want to sit up straight. 00:14:29.440 --> 00:14:30.559 This is one of those times. 00:14:30.799 --> 00:14:34.240 I don't know how many of you do remember your dreams often. 00:14:34.559 --> 00:14:36.080 Pretty, pretty, you're pretty good at it. 00:14:36.159 --> 00:14:37.200 My wife's great at it. 00:14:37.360 --> 00:14:45.279 She remembers her dreams in in technicolor, remembers what she wore, remembers what I wore, if I'm in it, if I'm even in it, you know. 00:14:45.440 --> 00:14:49.840 Um she remembers, and it's usually got stuff that's completely disconnected. 00:14:49.919 --> 00:14:55.200 It's like, it's like people are chasing her, and then there's an art vark. 00:14:56.320 --> 00:15:05.120 And and then over here is a game of Monopoly that three people are playing, and then why they I don't know why they're doing that, but one of them is really routing the other ones, you know. 00:15:05.279 --> 00:15:07.440 And and I don't I don't understand all of that. 00:15:07.519 --> 00:15:10.480 I I'm a very simple kind of guy when it comes to dreams. 00:15:10.559 --> 00:15:20.639 I barely ever remember any of my dreams, and I may have told you that before, but let's look at these dreams that Joseph had and the whole story that centers around it. 00:15:20.720 --> 00:15:31.519 Because really, at this point in chapter 37, the rest of Genesis is going to be focusing in on the story of God at work in the life of this guy named Joseph. 00:15:32.080 --> 00:15:33.279 And it's pretty fascinating. 00:15:33.360 --> 00:15:35.200 He's 17 years old as we open this up. 00:15:35.279 --> 00:15:35.840 Check it out. 00:15:36.080 --> 00:15:39.919 Jacob lived in the land where his father had sojourned in the land of Canaan. 00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:55.200 And see, that's exactly where he was supposed to live, because as you recall, um, God had chosen Jacob to be the one who would ultimately through whom ultimately would come Messiah. 00:15:55.600 --> 00:15:55.919 Okay? 00:15:56.480 --> 00:16:06.399 And so Jacob, and uh in his all of his connivings in uh his relationship with Esau, had basically stolen the birthright and the blessing from Esau. 00:16:06.639 --> 00:16:10.320 And that would include the land of Canaan and having it as a possession. 00:16:10.559 --> 00:16:14.799 So we even see Esau honoring that as he moves to Edom. 00:16:15.679 --> 00:16:17.679 And Jacob is here in Canaan. 00:16:17.759 --> 00:16:23.759 These are the records of the generations of Jacob, and right here you would expect there to be a genealogical record, but there isn't. 00:16:25.679 --> 00:16:32.159 These are the records of the generations of Jacob, and it goes right into Joseph was 17 years of age. 00:16:32.240 --> 00:16:40.399 He was pastoring the flock of his brothers while he was still a youth, along with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives. 00:16:40.559 --> 00:16:47.039 And you'll remember that Jacob essentially has four wives as we know it at this particular time. 00:16:47.360 --> 00:16:52.399 He has Leah, he has Rachel, he has Bilhah and Zilpah. 00:16:52.960 --> 00:16:55.200 Um, and so we're set up already. 00:16:55.279 --> 00:16:58.080 I don't know how many of you have dysfunctional family in any way, shape. 00:16:58.240 --> 00:16:59.759 No, don't raise your hand. 00:16:59.919 --> 00:17:08.160 But we're set up at least to understand and feel some of the pain of what uh what could possibly go wrong, right? 00:17:08.240 --> 00:17:08.799 Yeah. 00:17:08.960 --> 00:17:12.640 Um, and so he was 17, and so he's a teenager. 00:17:12.720 --> 00:17:14.720 This guy, you got to picture this guy too. 00:17:14.960 --> 00:17:15.680 17. 00:17:16.160 --> 00:17:17.279 Young, yeah. 00:17:17.440 --> 00:17:22.160 Um, just got his chariot driver's license, and all of this is about to happen to him, right? 00:17:22.319 --> 00:17:24.480 Uh Joseph brought back a bad report. 00:17:24.559 --> 00:17:30.000 He was out there uh shepherding along with his brothers, brought back a bad report about them to their father. 00:17:30.240 --> 00:17:33.440 Okay, so he's a young man, 17 years old. 00:17:33.599 --> 00:17:41.200 He's got some shepherding skills, but he comes back and he he does what some would say is kind of a tattletale kind of a thing. 00:17:41.359 --> 00:17:51.519 Uh um and and and you know, he's one of the youngest of the of the whole group, and the there he is running back to to you know, tattletale on his brothers. 00:17:51.759 --> 00:17:53.119 But he was favored by his father. 00:17:53.200 --> 00:17:53.759 We'll see that. 00:17:53.839 --> 00:18:07.920 Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons because he uh was the son of his old age, and he made him a very colored tunic, um, richly uh probably rich in color, uh, ornamental. 00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:12.799 Some would say a long robe, some would say it was even symbolic of the fact that he was favored. 00:18:12.960 --> 00:18:18.720 So it was a visible sign of uh Jacob's love for Joseph. 00:18:18.960 --> 00:18:27.200 And uh that that was kind of every time the other kids would see it, it would be like just a reminder about how they weren't the favored ones, right? 00:18:27.440 --> 00:18:34.400 His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all of his brothers, they hated him and could not speak to him on friendly terms. 00:18:34.559 --> 00:18:41.359 That's a nice way of saying they're really angry with him, they're really mad, and just couldn't even talk to him and couldn't even be civil. 00:18:41.680 --> 00:18:48.960 I know some of you had have had an argument with another human person at some point, and you could not speak to them on friendly terms. 00:18:49.279 --> 00:18:53.440 And so that's exactly this is human beings here that we're talking about. 00:18:53.519 --> 00:19:01.039 And they're jealous, they're bitter, uh, there's competition, and uh it's funny because it just kind of reminds us of Jacob. 00:19:01.279 --> 00:19:02.880 He saw a little bit, doesn't it? 00:19:03.119 --> 00:19:12.559 That little bit of Jacob is a heel grabber, he wants to take, he's coveting something, he wants what belongs to another, you know, properly. 00:19:12.799 --> 00:19:15.680 And uh it just runs through as a human problem, doesn't it? 00:19:15.759 --> 00:19:21.119 Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. 00:19:21.359 --> 00:19:22.880 So have a dream. 00:19:23.119 --> 00:19:26.000 It's not always true that you should tell everybody about your dream. 00:19:26.160 --> 00:19:29.200 All right, just a thought, you know, just a suggestion. 00:19:29.519 --> 00:19:34.480 But um, he said to them, please listen to this dream which I have had again. 00:19:34.960 --> 00:19:37.519 And not yet good at dream interpretation. 00:19:37.680 --> 00:19:39.599 He'll bit he'll get better at that later. 00:19:39.759 --> 00:19:44.799 I think learning through this experience, he may learn something about interpreting dreams. 00:19:44.880 --> 00:19:56.079 Uh, he says, uh, for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheaf rose up and also stood tall, and behold, your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to my sheaf. 00:19:56.799 --> 00:19:58.880 Now, how do you think that went? 00:20:00.480 --> 00:20:05.759 You got the multicolored coat, you got dad's love. 00:20:06.720 --> 00:20:15.839 He seems to be favoring you in ways that just have made us mad for lo these many, many 17 years since you were born. 00:20:16.400 --> 00:20:19.440 And now you're gonna tell us of this, you know. 00:20:19.680 --> 00:20:22.240 I don't think that went very, I'm not sure that was a smart move. 00:20:22.400 --> 00:20:25.519 His brothers said, Are you actually going to reign over us? 00:20:26.319 --> 00:20:28.079 Are you really going to rule over us? 00:20:28.240 --> 00:20:31.759 So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. 00:20:32.000 --> 00:20:34.400 Now he had still another dream. 00:20:34.720 --> 00:20:36.240 And he related it to his brothers. 00:20:36.400 --> 00:20:39.759 And you would think at that point, you know, like how'd it go last time, bro? 00:20:41.200 --> 00:20:43.519 I mean, did you not sense the acrimony? 00:20:43.599 --> 00:20:49.680 Didn't you not sense the heat in the room or the tent was raising when you were telling them your dreams? 00:20:49.920 --> 00:20:57.279 So he does it again, you know, and lo, I've had still another dream, and behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars were bowing down to me. 00:20:57.519 --> 00:21:01.680 Now it's all of heaven is bowing down to me. 00:21:02.000 --> 00:21:04.480 And 11 is the number of brothers. 00:21:04.640 --> 00:21:09.119 So it's this is, they're supposed to, I mean, they would get this, right? 00:21:09.440 --> 00:21:11.839 Um, and he related it to his father and to his brothers. 00:21:12.000 --> 00:21:13.200 His father's rebuked him. 00:21:13.359 --> 00:21:16.160 Even his father who favored him is rebuking him, right? 00:21:16.319 --> 00:21:18.240 And said to him, What is this dream that you've had? 00:21:18.400 --> 00:21:26.400 Shall I and your mother, you know, sun and moon, and your brothers, eleven of them, actually come to bow ourselves down before you to the ground? 00:21:26.720 --> 00:21:33.839 So his father gets this and kind of rebukes him in this whole thing, right? 00:21:34.319 --> 00:21:38.079 His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind. 00:21:38.640 --> 00:21:45.759 So this is a this is a dad who is keeping something in mind, and I'm not sure exactly what that means. 00:21:46.160 --> 00:21:58.160 Uh maybe you who are who are parents will understand that, pondered it a little bit, mulled it over a little bit, didn't want to just react, uh, but he's mulling it over, thinking it over. 00:21:58.240 --> 00:21:59.599 I don't I'm not sure what that means. 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:03.119 But there are really different responses here to the same message. 00:22:03.279 --> 00:22:08.319 The brothers out and out, hate, and anger on the grow, and probably visible and audible. 00:22:08.559 --> 00:22:09.599 That's not recorded. 00:22:09.680 --> 00:22:14.559 We don't get all of the yelling and screaming that might have gone on, a little bit of it, but not all of it. 00:22:14.720 --> 00:22:17.839 And Dad kind of gone, hmm, hmm, hmm. 00:22:18.000 --> 00:22:29.119 And later, even though this is actually what happens, that doesn't necessarily justify that Joseph should have opened his mouth and told them all of this. 00:22:29.599 --> 00:22:34.880 There are three different parties involved with ancient historical literature like this. 00:22:35.119 --> 00:22:41.839 There's the omniscient narrator who is actually going to tell us stuff that the people on the ground don't know. 00:22:42.240 --> 00:22:46.079 And the narrator is sort of inspired by God to preserve this record. 00:22:46.400 --> 00:22:47.200 And that's great. 00:22:47.359 --> 00:22:52.000 There's the expectant reader, that's all of us, and we're kind of wondering where do I fit in this story? 00:22:52.079 --> 00:22:54.720 And how's this relate to my everyday life? 00:22:54.799 --> 00:22:57.680 And so we're kind of expectant, hoping something like that will happen. 00:22:57.759 --> 00:23:02.000 And then there's the people that are actually living it out on the ground here. 00:23:03.200 --> 00:23:12.720 And they're ignorant of some of the truths that we will be able to come to some conclusion about because they're actually living it. 00:23:12.799 --> 00:23:14.799 They didn't have the book of Genesis to study. 00:23:15.279 --> 00:23:17.920 They didn't pull up, hey guys, settle up, we're gonna have a Bible study. 00:23:18.000 --> 00:23:20.079 We're gonna do Genesis 37 tonight. 00:23:20.559 --> 00:23:21.839 They didn't have that option. 00:23:22.319 --> 00:23:28.880 So we have that, and it's a little bit better for us, but but it when you read stories like this, it's just amazing. 00:23:28.960 --> 00:23:32.559 And I so appreciate the way God has preserved all of this in these details. 00:23:32.799 --> 00:23:36.000 His brothers went to pasture the flock, the father's flock in Shechem. 00:23:36.400 --> 00:23:37.920 You saw that on the map earlier. 00:23:38.079 --> 00:23:45.119 Israel says to Joseph, this is Jacob, Israel saying to Joseph, Are not your brothers pasturing the flock in Shechem? 00:23:45.200 --> 00:23:45.440 Come. 00:23:45.519 --> 00:23:47.680 And that's about 50 miles from Hebron, probably. 00:23:47.759 --> 00:23:49.519 Um, come and I'll send you to them. 00:23:49.759 --> 00:23:51.759 And he said to him, I will go. 00:23:51.920 --> 00:23:57.440 Uh then he said to him, Go now and see about the welfare of your brothers and the welfare of the flock, and bring word back to me. 00:23:57.599 --> 00:24:01.759 So he sent him from the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. 00:24:02.240 --> 00:24:03.359 A man found him. 00:24:03.519 --> 00:24:12.160 We don't know who this man is, but this man he runs into says, Behold, uh it's it says, Behold, he was wandering in the field, and the man asked him, What are you looking for? 00:24:12.400 --> 00:24:14.559 And Joseph says to him, I'm looking for my brothers. 00:24:14.640 --> 00:24:16.720 Please tell me where they are, pastoring the flock. 00:24:16.880 --> 00:24:19.119 And the man said, They've moved from here. 00:24:19.359 --> 00:24:21.759 I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. 00:24:22.240 --> 00:24:26.480 So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan. 00:24:26.640 --> 00:24:28.720 So that's about another 15 miles. 00:24:28.799 --> 00:24:38.960 And remember, this is not in a car, this is you're walking, you know, this is pretty slow to get there, but it's taking a while and it's a very dangerous kind of situation. 00:24:39.279 --> 00:24:47.680 But when they, the brothers, saw him, Joseph, from a distance, and before he came close to them, they plotted against him to put him to death. 00:24:47.839 --> 00:24:49.279 Well, how would they know it's him? 00:24:49.440 --> 00:24:52.400 Well, he's wearing a multicolored tunic. 00:24:53.440 --> 00:24:55.200 And he's wearing that proud thing. 00:24:55.279 --> 00:24:58.799 It's like a neon sign says, Father loves me best. 00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:03.920 You know, and they can see him from a distance and they know who he is. 00:25:04.240 --> 00:25:08.559 And it's like they thought they got away from this pesky little punk. 00:25:08.960 --> 00:25:11.279 And now here he is coming after us again. 00:25:11.359 --> 00:25:17.920 And by the way, the last time he was with us when we were shepherding, he ratted us out to dad. 00:25:18.240 --> 00:25:19.759 Is that gonna happen again? 00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:20.559 You know? 00:25:20.799 --> 00:25:23.519 They said to one another, here comes this dreamer. 00:25:23.759 --> 00:25:25.599 Now then come, let's kill him. 00:25:25.680 --> 00:25:32.559 Look at how far they've gone in their thinking and their attitudes toward him. 00:25:32.720 --> 00:25:37.200 We'll throw him into one of the pits and we will say, a wild beast devoured him. 00:25:37.359 --> 00:25:40.240 Then let us see what will become of his dreams. 00:25:40.720 --> 00:25:42.000 Well, Reuben heard this. 00:25:42.160 --> 00:25:43.359 Reuben's the eldest. 00:25:43.759 --> 00:25:44.559 You'll remember that. 00:25:44.720 --> 00:25:47.920 Reuben has made a few missteps at this point. 00:25:48.160 --> 00:25:54.559 Reuben might be thinking to himself in some way, I really blew it in chapter 35. 00:25:54.640 --> 00:25:57.200 No, he's not thinking chapter 35, but you know what I mean. 00:25:57.440 --> 00:25:59.599 Um he's thinking that way. 00:25:59.759 --> 00:26:02.000 He did blow it, and he knows it. 00:26:02.079 --> 00:26:06.799 But he heard this, and so he starts to think it all through a little bit. 00:26:07.039 --> 00:26:11.680 Um, and so um these guys got murder on their minds. 00:26:11.839 --> 00:26:14.400 They want to stifle the dreams, shut them down. 00:26:14.559 --> 00:26:20.640 Reuben hears a verse 21 and says, Um, uh, and he rescued him out of their hands by saying, Let's don't take his life. 00:26:20.799 --> 00:26:32.319 Reuben further said to them, Shed no blood, throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but do not lay hands on him, that he might rescue him out of their hands to restore him to his father. 00:26:32.480 --> 00:26:45.519 Now there's the narrator who's omniscient, telling us something behind the scenes that even the brothers don't know, but the narrator is telling us something so we can kind of see what Reuben's doing, what he's up to right there, okay? 00:26:45.839 --> 00:27:00.160 Came about that when Joseph reached his brothers, that they uh stripped Joseph of his tunic, of course, that would be the first thing they would do, the sign and symbol of Dad's favoritism toward Joseph, right? 00:27:00.319 --> 00:27:03.440 They strip him of his tunic, the very colored tunic that was on him. 00:27:03.519 --> 00:27:04.880 And they took him and threw him in the pit. 00:27:05.039 --> 00:27:07.759 Now the pit was empty without any water in it. 00:27:07.920 --> 00:27:09.680 And they sat down to eat a meal. 00:27:09.839 --> 00:27:12.720 Now that just shows how callous they are at this point. 00:27:12.960 --> 00:27:18.960 Murder on their minds, tossed him in the dry well that he would not be able to get out of. 00:27:19.119 --> 00:27:22.559 He's likely screaming and hollering at this point. 00:27:23.440 --> 00:27:24.400 What are you doing? 00:27:24.799 --> 00:27:29.920 You're my brother! You know, and he doesn't understand in his naivete of even telling them those dreams. 00:27:30.079 --> 00:27:37.599 I mean, and I'm trying to give him the benefit of the doubt that he just didn't understand that telling those dreams would be such an offense to them. 00:27:37.920 --> 00:27:40.480 Um, but he is completely shocked. 00:27:40.559 --> 00:27:44.160 He can't believe the betrayal, the rejection. 00:27:44.880 --> 00:27:47.759 Um, and they sit down and order pizza. 00:27:47.839 --> 00:27:53.599 I mean, they just literally sit down around the well there and eat some food together, eat a meal. 00:27:53.680 --> 00:27:59.119 And again, shows, I think, um, how callous uh they are at this point. 00:27:59.279 --> 00:28:08.559 As they raise their eyes and look, behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead with their camels bearing aromatic gum, balm, and myrrh on their way to bring them down to Egypt. 00:28:08.720 --> 00:28:11.279 Judas said to his brothers, What prophet is it? 00:28:11.440 --> 00:28:12.559 This is Judah, okay? 00:28:12.799 --> 00:28:17.440 What prophet is it for us to kill our brother and cover up his blood? 00:28:17.599 --> 00:28:25.039 Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh, and his brothers listened to him. 00:28:25.119 --> 00:28:27.279 And it's fascinating to me, you guys. 00:28:27.519 --> 00:28:36.079 In the New Testament, the name Judas is a Hellenized version of the Old Testament named Judah. 00:28:36.799 --> 00:28:43.759 In the New Testament, a guy named Judas sells Jesus for 30 shekels. 00:28:47.200 --> 00:28:58.079 In the Old Testament, God is on the move, even in the dark and wicked life of Judah, because Jesus will be from the tribe of Judah. 00:28:58.799 --> 00:29:00.079 Is that not powerful? 00:29:00.319 --> 00:29:04.240 When you start to think about it, look at what God can do. 00:29:04.799 --> 00:29:10.880 Take the darkest scenario and transform it, change it. 00:29:11.039 --> 00:29:13.519 He says, We're not gonna profit. 00:29:13.680 --> 00:29:15.759 His whole point is about prophet Judah, right? 00:29:15.920 --> 00:29:20.720 Come over, let's sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him, for he's our brother, our own flesh. 00:29:20.880 --> 00:29:21.839 And his brothers listen to him. 00:29:22.000 --> 00:29:25.039 Some Midianite traders, which is it, Ishmaelites or Midianites? 00:29:25.200 --> 00:29:26.000 It's both. 00:29:26.160 --> 00:29:30.079 I know some people read this kind of thing and they go, oh, the Bible's contradicting itself. 00:29:30.559 --> 00:29:35.279 You know that, oh, that shows us that part of that was written by one guy and part of that was written by another guy. 00:29:35.440 --> 00:29:37.039 Well, it may have been written by different people. 00:29:37.279 --> 00:29:37.920 It's quite possible. 00:29:38.000 --> 00:29:39.920 It may be that this is an edited work. 00:29:40.079 --> 00:29:41.440 That's quite possible. 00:29:41.680 --> 00:29:45.440 But Midianites and Ishmaelites could easily have been the same. 00:29:45.680 --> 00:29:51.519 In other words, the Ishmaelites would be like saying, Are you, you're an from, like for us, you're an American. 00:29:51.759 --> 00:29:53.759 But raise your hand if you're a Tennessean. 00:29:53.920 --> 00:29:55.920 Or raise your hand if you're a Nashvilian. 00:29:56.480 --> 00:29:58.799 Okay, so it gets a little smaller. 00:29:59.119 --> 00:30:01.359 Or are you where are you from in Nashville? 00:30:01.759 --> 00:30:03.599 You know, so there's that same idea here. 00:30:03.759 --> 00:30:06.960 The Midianites would indeed be Ishmaelites too. 00:30:07.119 --> 00:30:12.960 And these Midianite traders passed by and they pulled him up, lifted him out of the pit, sold him to the Ishmaelites for 20 shekels of silver. 00:30:13.039 --> 00:30:15.119 Thus they brought Joseph into ease. 00:30:15.359 --> 00:30:17.759 Reuben returned not, returned to the pit. 00:30:17.920 --> 00:30:27.119 Evidently Reuben, and we're not told this by the narrator, but evidently he was not there at that time when this Midianite group comes through, and the other brothers pull them out of the pit and sell them. 00:30:27.359 --> 00:30:30.400 He comes back, Reuben does, and Joseph wasn't in the pit. 00:30:30.559 --> 00:30:32.880 So he, Reuben, tore his garments. 00:30:33.119 --> 00:30:38.640 He's, remember, this in his mind there was going to be a way to save Joseph's life. 00:30:38.960 --> 00:30:41.039 Now that's been, what happened to him? 00:30:41.119 --> 00:30:41.759 Where is he? 00:30:41.920 --> 00:30:44.240 And he returned to his brothers and said, The boy's not there. 00:30:44.319 --> 00:30:45.920 As for me, where am I to go? 00:30:46.079 --> 00:30:48.480 Well, they took Joseph's tunic. 00:30:48.559 --> 00:30:52.960 We don't get a lot of uh of narration here about how that all goes down. 00:30:53.200 --> 00:30:57.359 But they did take Joseph's tunic and they slaughtered a male goat. 00:30:57.759 --> 00:31:10.079 Ironic, because when Jacob lied to his father Isaac, he used the skins of a goat and the meat of a goat. 00:31:10.400 --> 00:31:11.359 Interesting. 00:31:11.680 --> 00:31:21.440 So Joseph's brothers slaughtered a male goat and they dipped the tunic of Joseph, the very colored coat, in the blood, and they sent the very colored tunic and brought it to their father. 00:31:21.519 --> 00:31:24.640 And this is time is going by really fast here. 00:31:25.680 --> 00:31:30.640 They literally are going to travel the 65 miles back to Hebron, where Jacob is. 00:31:30.799 --> 00:31:36.559 And all along the way, lots of opportunities to talk about how they're going to reveal this to dad. 00:31:38.000 --> 00:31:43.440 And some of them shuffling, and some of them being feeling, you know, vindicated. 00:31:44.400 --> 00:31:46.559 They got their revenge on Joseph and all that. 00:31:46.720 --> 00:31:51.279 And some of them, just I mean, just think about how callous you've got to be to go tell your dad this. 00:31:52.799 --> 00:31:54.880 It just breaks my heart. 00:31:55.279 --> 00:31:58.400 And they brought it to their father and they said, We found this. 00:31:58.880 --> 00:32:02.240 Please examine to see whether it is your son's tunic or not. 00:32:02.400 --> 00:32:05.200 Not our brother's tunic or not. 00:32:05.519 --> 00:32:07.920 Not Joseph's tunic or not. 00:32:08.240 --> 00:32:10.960 Your son's tunic or not. 00:32:11.200 --> 00:32:13.680 Then he examined it and he said, It's my son's tunic. 00:32:13.839 --> 00:32:15.119 Wild beasts has devoured him. 00:32:15.279 --> 00:32:16.880 Joseph has surely been torn to pieces. 00:32:17.039 --> 00:32:22.319 Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth on his loins, and mourned for his son many days. 00:32:22.400 --> 00:32:25.359 And all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him. 00:32:25.519 --> 00:32:32.000 But he refused to be comforted, and he said, Surely I will go down to Sheol in mourning. 00:32:32.079 --> 00:32:36.880 I'll when I pass away, I literally will be weeping for the rest of my life for my son. 00:32:37.119 --> 00:32:39.119 So his father wept for him. 00:32:39.279 --> 00:32:47.759 Meanwhile, the Midianites sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, Pharaoh's officer, the captain of the bodyguard fade to black. 00:32:48.720 --> 00:32:52.240 And now I want to know what's next. 00:32:52.559 --> 00:32:57.119 And I'll just remind you that we encourage you to read ahead. 00:32:57.279 --> 00:32:59.279 And that's where we'll pick up. 00:32:59.759 --> 00:33:23.119 So we have uh we have uh from here, of course, as we've seen on the map, uh, real places that are named in this chapter, and some real space and some real space for discussions to happen, manipulations to be arranged, conspiracies to be talked about, um uh anger vented, frustration vent, all of that. 00:33:23.200 --> 00:33:26.400 Real people going through all of this kind of stuff. 00:33:27.279 --> 00:33:28.079 What do we see here? 00:33:28.160 --> 00:33:35.119 At the very least, there's a warning against parental favoritism, and actually I should I should just say there's a warning against favoritism. 00:33:35.920 --> 00:33:41.039