WEBVTT 00:00:01.280 --> 00:00:04.080 Hello and welcome to the Redemption Church Podcast. 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:12.480 We're a church in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada that exists to glorify God through the fulfillment of the Great Commission and the spirit of the Great Commandment. 00:00:12.720 --> 00:00:14.240 Thanks for joining us today. 00:00:15.359 --> 00:00:26.879 In a world where you and I are essentially evolved pawn scum, at least the pawn scum that grew into fish, that grew legs, that walked up into land, that grew into monkeys, that grew into human beings. 00:00:27.839 --> 00:00:40.320 In a world where we are essentially just evolved pawn scum, what right does one evolved fish have to say to another evolved fish that the thing that they are doing is evil? 00:00:40.719 --> 00:00:44.960 I think in that worldview, you really have no basis to call anything evil. 00:00:45.039 --> 00:00:50.479 And so I use that as an example to say that we look at the way that all the different worldviews answer this question. 00:00:50.640 --> 00:01:03.679 And with time and time again, what I have discovered, and what I find, I think you will discover as you are intellectually honest with the truth and seeking it, is that the Christian worldview makes the most sense of the world that we live in. 00:01:04.319 --> 00:01:17.920 Now, what we have this morning, as last week we ended a phase of Genesis, the life of Jacob, and enter this week into a new part of Genesis, the life of Joseph. 00:01:18.159 --> 00:01:21.120 Really, we have an answer to that question. 00:01:21.280 --> 00:01:24.079 What does Christianity do with the problem of evil? 00:01:24.319 --> 00:01:28.480 What does Christianity do with the presence of evil in this world? 00:01:29.120 --> 00:01:32.480 Specifically, we're going to see that this morning in Genesis 37. 00:01:33.200 --> 00:01:42.560 But more practically, for you and I this morning, I think that in Genesis 37, we have an answer for the evil of our own lives. 00:01:43.040 --> 00:01:47.599 This is a reality of what we've seen so far in Genesis, isn't it? 00:01:48.239 --> 00:01:50.560 It's a real practical application for us. 00:01:50.719 --> 00:01:55.439 That wherever God's people are, evil is always close at hand. 00:01:55.680 --> 00:01:59.200 Think about where we've walked through the book of Genesis so far. 00:01:59.359 --> 00:02:06.239 Think about Adam and Eve who were in the garden and were living in paradise until the serpent came and deceived them. 00:02:06.560 --> 00:02:24.639 And then Cain and Abel, who very quickly their family sin ruined God's people again, and then Noah, who is righteous for a while but ends his life with evil inside of him, and then the Tower of Babel with Abram. 00:02:24.879 --> 00:02:27.840 You have the evil of infertility and family sin. 00:02:28.400 --> 00:02:29.520 And the list goes on. 00:02:29.680 --> 00:02:32.000 Isaac and Jacob and all of his deceit. 00:02:32.159 --> 00:02:43.520 One thing that screams through all of these stories is that evil has always surrounded God's people, that where God's people are, the presence of evil is as well. 00:02:44.800 --> 00:02:51.759 And so we have an important question to ask ourselves this morning as we live in the presence of evil, as we live in an evil age. 00:02:52.319 --> 00:02:56.240 The question we need to ask ourselves is this how do we make sense of it? 00:02:57.599 --> 00:03:01.520 How do we make sense of this evil age that we find ourselves in? 00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:05.439 Well, Genesis 37 and the story of Joseph helps us to understand this. 00:03:05.599 --> 00:03:12.319 So let's read this together, and you can follow along with me in your copy of God's word, Genesis 37, starting in verse 1. 00:03:18.000 --> 00:03:19.680 These are the generations of Jacob. 00:03:20.400 --> 00:03:24.319 Joseph, being 17 years old, was pasturing the flock with his brothers. 00:03:24.879 --> 00:03:33.759 He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives, and Joseph brought a bad report to them of them to their father. 00:03:34.319 --> 00:03:42.080 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age, and he made him a robe of many colors. 00:03:42.879 --> 00:03:49.360 But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him. 00:03:50.080 --> 00:03:51.439 Now Joseph had a dream. 00:03:52.080 --> 00:03:54.400 When he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. 00:03:54.879 --> 00:03:57.439 He said to them, Hear this dream that I have dreamed. 00:03:57.840 --> 00:04:06.719 Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright, and behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf. 00:04:07.199 --> 00:04:09.919 His brothers said to him, Are you indeed to reign over us? 00:04:10.159 --> 00:04:12.000 Are you indeed to rule over us? 00:04:12.639 --> 00:04:15.360 So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. 00:04:15.520 --> 00:04:20.480 Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, Behold, I have dreamed another dream. 00:04:20.800 --> 00:04:24.079 Behold, the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me. 00:04:24.639 --> 00:04:30.560 But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, What is this dream that you have dreamed? 00:04:30.879 --> 00:04:35.199 Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you? 00:04:35.759 --> 00:04:37.360 And his brothers were jealous of him. 00:04:37.839 --> 00:04:39.680 But his father kept the saying in mind. 00:04:40.480 --> 00:04:43.759 Now his brothers went to pasture their father's flock near Shechem. 00:04:44.240 --> 00:04:48.240 And Israel said to Joseph, Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? 00:04:48.399 --> 00:04:49.839 Come, I will send you to them. 00:04:50.240 --> 00:04:52.319 And he said to them, said to him, Here I am. 00:04:53.040 --> 00:04:57.839 So he said to him, Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock, and bring me word. 00:04:58.399 --> 00:05:01.600 So he sent him from the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. 00:05:02.160 --> 00:05:05.839 And a man found him wandering the fields, and the man asked him, What are you seeking? 00:05:06.240 --> 00:05:07.759 I am seeking my brothers, he said. 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:10.319 Tell me please where they are pasturing the flock. 00:05:10.879 --> 00:05:14.399 The man said, They have gone away, for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. 00:05:14.800 --> 00:05:17.519 So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan. 00:05:18.560 --> 00:05:22.800 They saw him from afar, and before he came near to them, they conspired against him to kill him. 00:05:23.040 --> 00:05:25.360 They said to one another, Here comes this dreamer. 00:05:26.079 --> 00:05:29.040 Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits. 00:05:29.360 --> 00:05:34.240 Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams. 00:05:34.720 --> 00:05:38.879 But when Reuben heard it, he rescued him out of their hand, saying, Let us not take his life. 00:05:39.439 --> 00:05:51.120 And Reuben said to them, Shed no blood, throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him, that he might rescue him out of their hand to rest restore him to his father. 00:05:51.600 --> 00:05:58.160 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the robe of many colours that he wore, and they took him and threw him into a pit. 00:05:58.639 --> 00:06:00.879 The pit was empty, and there was no water in it. 00:06:01.360 --> 00:06:12.319 Then they sat down to eat, and looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead with their camels, bearing gum, balm, and mirror on the on their way to carry it down to Egypt. 00:06:12.720 --> 00:06:17.439 Then Judah said to his brothers, What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? 00:06:17.600 --> 00:06:24.079 Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh. 00:06:24.399 --> 00:06:25.920 And his brothers listened to him. 00:06:26.399 --> 00:06:33.839 Then Midianite traders passed by, and they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. 00:06:34.319 --> 00:06:35.920 They took Joseph to Egypt. 00:06:36.480 --> 00:06:45.360 When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he tore his clothes and returned to his brother and said, The boy is gone, and where are and I, where shall I go? 00:06:45.839 --> 00:06:49.759 Then they took Joseph's robe and slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. 00:06:49.839 --> 00:06:55.199 And they sent the robe of many colours and brought it to their father, and said, This we have found. 00:06:55.519 --> 00:06:58.160 Please identify whether it is your son's robe or not. 00:06:58.560 --> 00:07:01.199 And he identified it and said, It is my son's robe. 00:07:01.680 --> 00:07:03.600 A fierce animal has devoured him. 00:07:04.399 --> 00:07:06.720 Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces. 00:07:07.279 --> 00:07:13.839 Then Jacob tore his garments and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his his son many days. 00:07:14.240 --> 00:07:22.720 All the sons and his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted and said, No, I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning. 00:07:23.199 --> 00:07:24.639 Thus his father wept for him. 00:07:24.800 --> 00:07:32.160 Meanwhile, the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard. 00:07:32.560 --> 00:07:41.279 Now, as we enter into the life and story of Joseph, we we really embark on one of the most amazing stories in all of the Bible. 00:07:41.600 --> 00:07:51.120 In fact, even as those who do not believe in God's word have looked at God's word, Joseph is really one of the stories that resonates with them most closely. 00:07:51.279 --> 00:07:58.480 And it's good for us at the beginning of Joseph's story, just to take a moment to maybe remind us what happens throughout Joseph's life. 00:07:58.639 --> 00:08:04.560 We just read about Joseph being favored by his father, but resented by his brothers. 00:08:05.120 --> 00:08:08.720 And so we read in chapter 37 that he was sold into slavery. 00:08:08.879 --> 00:08:15.360 Now we find when we pick up with Joseph again that he's sold into slavery to serve Potiphar. 00:08:15.680 --> 00:08:28.079 And serving Potiphar, one day he is falsely accused and then imprisoned, where in prison he has the opportunity to interpret, for two of his fellow prison mates, he has the opportunity to interpret their dreams. 00:08:29.279 --> 00:08:43.039 Now, through Jacob's service to these prisonmates, you'll remember that Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, the highest power in all the land, hears of Jacob, calls for Jacob, and there Jacob interprets his two dreams. 00:08:43.440 --> 00:08:49.600 And from that interpretation, from that act of service to Pharaoh, Jacob is given the right hand command. 00:08:49.759 --> 00:08:53.200 Jacob becomes the second most powerful person in all of Egypt. 00:08:53.360 --> 00:09:10.080 And the whole story, as he eventually redeems his own family from the famine that they've been experiencing, is really summarized so well in Genesis 50, verse 20, where Joseph says these words, as for you, you meant it evil against me, but God meant it for good. 00:09:10.639 --> 00:09:15.759 To bring it about that many people should be kept alive as they are today. 00:09:16.480 --> 00:09:21.519 Now Joseph walks through an incredible deep valley. 00:09:22.240 --> 00:09:30.399 Joseph endures great evil, but one of the things that Joseph models for us as a Christian is how we make sense of the evil world that we live in. 00:09:30.559 --> 00:09:34.559 How are we as Christians to live in the presence of evil? 00:09:34.720 --> 00:09:37.120 How are we to make sense of this world? 00:09:37.759 --> 00:09:46.000 We look at the life of Joseph and we see his integrity, his unwillingness to let his character be shamed in the midst of temptation and trial. 00:09:46.159 --> 00:09:47.440 We see his resilience. 00:09:53.759 --> 00:09:58.320 We see his forgiveness, his wisdom, his humility, his faithfulness, his generosity. 00:09:58.480 --> 00:10:05.440 And we gotta be honest, coming out of the life of Jacob, aren't we all kind of hungry for someone like that? 00:10:05.840 --> 00:10:11.519 Jacob has been none of these things, and in Joseph we have an example of all of these things. 00:10:12.000 --> 00:10:18.799 And I want you to see this morning that God wants us to see so much more than just a model of good character here. 00:10:19.519 --> 00:10:28.559 What Joseph ultimately points us towards is the only one, the only one who can truly redeem us. 00:10:29.120 --> 00:10:40.159 As Joseph and his character will be used to redeem his brothers from the famine, Moses wants to point our eyes to one who is coming who can truly redeem us from our greatest famine. 00:10:41.039 --> 00:10:50.480 And so I want you to see in the story of Joseph in Genesis 37 the way that Joseph's life really helps us to make sense of the evil that we're in and helps us to find clarity in it. 00:10:50.799 --> 00:10:51.919 I want you to see this first. 00:10:52.000 --> 00:10:53.600 If you're taking notes, this is your first point. 00:10:53.759 --> 00:10:56.000 I find clarity when I accept his plan. 00:10:56.240 --> 00:10:58.240 I find clarity when I accept his plan. 00:10:58.399 --> 00:11:00.879 Now look at verse 2 with me of chapter 37. 00:11:01.039 --> 00:11:03.519 It says, These are the generations of Jacob. 00:11:03.679 --> 00:11:12.000 And if you're walking along Genesis, if you've been with us since the beginning, you've come to know that this is kind of like a section marker for Moses. 00:11:12.879 --> 00:11:17.679 All throughout Genesis, he has been marking off different sections with this sort of phrase. 00:11:19.679 --> 00:11:26.000 And what he does when he marks off those sections is he brings us from the previous section into a new section. 00:11:26.159 --> 00:11:37.279 And so we remember in Genesis 2, after Moses had explained the creation of the heavens and earth, in Genesis 2, verse 4, Moses says, These are the generations of the heavens and earth. 00:11:37.519 --> 00:11:39.759 And then he goes into Adam and Eve. 00:11:40.559 --> 00:11:45.200 And so we find here Moses signaling to us that we're moving to a new generation. 00:11:45.279 --> 00:11:51.440 He says, These are the generations of Jacob, and now he focuses on the family of Jacob. 00:11:52.240 --> 00:11:57.600 I want you to understand that this does, this helps us make sense of what Moses is doing in Genesis. 00:11:57.759 --> 00:12:06.639 You see, we can be tempted as we think about all the different people that God was working through throughout the and the different families he was working through in Genesis. 00:12:06.799 --> 00:12:10.080 We can be tempted to just think that God was like failing time and time again. 00:12:10.159 --> 00:12:12.320 And so he makes Adam and Eve and Adam and Eve fail. 00:12:12.399 --> 00:12:15.600 And so then he's got Noah, and Noah's good for a little bit, but then he fails. 00:12:15.679 --> 00:12:22.960 So then he's gonna get Abraham, but then Abraham's not good enough, and he fails, so he moves on to Jacob, and then now he's at, or sorry, Isaac and then Jacob and Joseph. 00:12:23.039 --> 00:12:28.720 And we get this sense that it's just like no one can get it right, so so God keeps scrapping the plan and starting a new one. 00:12:29.120 --> 00:12:31.440 And that couldn't be farther from the truth. 00:12:31.759 --> 00:12:39.679 What Moses is pointing our eyes to is that the things that are happening with all of these different people are all the plan of God. 00:12:40.559 --> 00:12:45.440 This isn't like him starting from scratch over and over and over again because God's people can't get it right. 00:12:45.600 --> 00:12:53.440 Instead, this is a progressive plan of redemption, and all of it we've been seeing is pointing ultimately to his son. 00:12:54.799 --> 00:13:12.879 And it's good for us to recognize this as we enter into a new life where God will display once again his faithfulness to Joseph, as he has displayed his faithfulness to Jacob, as he has displayed his faithfulness to Abraham, to Isaac, to Noah, to Adam and Eve. 00:13:13.200 --> 00:13:18.399 God has been faithful then, so that we have assurance he will be faithful now. 00:13:18.879 --> 00:13:20.399 Has this not been an encouragement to you? 00:13:20.639 --> 00:13:33.120 I hope as we've gone through Genesis, like your heart has been encouraged as my heart has, as as we've seen the depths of despair and evil that the people of God have walked through, and yet every time God is faithful to them. 00:13:33.279 --> 00:13:45.440 And here in Genesis so far, we've had like the example of five different families that have all experienced God's faithfulness and track the history of humanity up until today, and we have thousands and thousands of different examples. 00:13:45.600 --> 00:13:53.840 God has been faithful to all of his people for all of time, and so as you look at your life, do you think God's gonna be faithful with you? 00:13:54.960 --> 00:13:57.360 Do you think God's gonna be faithful to you? 00:13:58.399 --> 00:14:00.480 Our answer is of course. 00:14:00.720 --> 00:14:19.039 If for thousands and thousands of years God has faithfully carried his people every step of the way, he has never let them down once, then what is it for God in your life to continually, faithfully carry you? 00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:22.960 This is who our God is, he is the faithful God. 00:14:25.360 --> 00:14:29.039 Now notice in verses two and three, we're introduced to Joseph. 00:14:30.159 --> 00:14:35.279 It's told there in verse 2 that Joseph, being 17 years old, was pasturing the flock with his brothers. 00:14:35.519 --> 00:14:42.559 He was a boy with the sons of Bilha and Zilpah, his father's wives, and Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. 00:14:42.799 --> 00:14:43.919 And now read these words. 00:14:44.000 --> 00:14:54.879 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age, and he made him a robe of many colors. 00:14:56.639 --> 00:15:08.080 Now, as we work through this story, the story of Joseph, the life of Joseph, one of the things that commentators kind of wrestle with is whether Joseph is blameless in his actions. 00:15:08.639 --> 00:15:16.799 And there are some who look at Joseph's actions here and say that they are negative, that he's kind of being like a snitch with Bilhas and Dilpas' children. 00:15:17.600 --> 00:15:23.919 And they take the the uh attitude of some parents in here who say snitches get stitches. 00:15:24.720 --> 00:15:34.080 And so some believe that about Joseph, while others believe that Joseph is faithful in this chapter, and my answer to both of those things is yes. 00:15:34.559 --> 00:15:46.799 In fact, maybe the best answer we can say is we don't know, because the reality is Moses doesn't tell us whether Joseph's action is morally good or morally bad, and I think that that's intentional. 00:15:47.120 --> 00:15:50.399 But here's what Moses wants to show us. 00:15:50.639 --> 00:15:55.440 And we see this in many different ways that I'll show to you this morning. 00:15:55.600 --> 00:16:06.399 What Moses wants to see is that Joseph is now the one through whom God is going to pour out his covenant blessings. 00:16:07.120 --> 00:16:10.399 Remember, this has been a really important part of Genesis, hasn't it? 00:16:10.639 --> 00:16:17.919 The question for God's people in Genesis should have always been this: who is the one that God is going to answer his promises through? 00:16:18.080 --> 00:16:26.799 And during the life of Abram, when we talked about the difference between Abram and Lot, our suggestion to Lot was that he get himself as close to Abram as possible. 00:16:27.279 --> 00:16:33.840 Because Abram was the one that God was choosing to give the seed, the land, and the blessing. 00:16:35.120 --> 00:16:37.759 It was the same with Isaac, it was the same with Jacob. 00:16:38.000 --> 00:16:47.600 If you wanted to experience God's blessing, if you wanted to be the people of God, then the thing you needed to do was attach yourself to these people through whom God promised he would work. 00:16:48.559 --> 00:16:56.000 And what Moses is doing for us is showing us that Joseph is the one through whom the covenantal blessings will come. 00:16:58.000 --> 00:17:06.319 Notice that in verse 3, when we read that Israel loved Joseph, and the reason that he loved him was because he was the son of his old age. 00:17:06.480 --> 00:17:13.440 This is not the first time in Genesis that we have learned of a father loving a son who has been given to him in his old age. 00:17:13.680 --> 00:17:16.480 Immediately, this should make you think of Abraham. 00:17:17.359 --> 00:17:18.880 You remember the problem with Abraham? 00:17:19.039 --> 00:17:26.319 Remember the trial we walked through with Abraham, where he was promised a son, but it took so long for the son to be given to him. 00:17:30.559 --> 00:17:46.960 And here we find Joseph loving the son of his old age, and we're reminded that just as Isaac was the chosen child through whom the covenant blessing would come, here Moses is giving us every indication that Joseph is the chosen child through whom the covenant will come. 00:17:47.279 --> 00:17:55.920 And not only is he loved, Jacob also displays his love for Joseph, and so we read there that he makes him a robe of many colors. 00:17:56.559 --> 00:18:02.960 Now, in this chapter, we can build a real theology of sibling privilege, can't we? 00:18:03.200 --> 00:18:09.119 We can build a theology to say that the oldest sibling has always been the most favored, haven't they? 00:18:09.279 --> 00:18:10.640 Youngest siblings in the house? 00:18:10.799 --> 00:18:11.599 You guys can agree. 00:18:11.680 --> 00:18:15.039 You point to your oldest brother, sister, they were always the favorite. 00:18:15.759 --> 00:18:18.400 Joseph, he gets the colored robe. 00:18:18.960 --> 00:18:22.400 The amazing robe that you can see from kilometers and kilometers away. 00:18:22.559 --> 00:18:24.400 And youngest siblings, what do we get? 00:18:24.640 --> 00:18:29.359 The tattered robes, tattered shorts, tattered pants, there's no knees in them. 00:18:30.079 --> 00:18:33.920 The oldest has always been the most privileged. 00:18:34.079 --> 00:18:36.480 Now that's not the main point at all. 00:18:36.720 --> 00:18:39.759 But as a youngest child, I feel the need just to bring that up, okay? 00:18:39.839 --> 00:18:42.240 Because youngest childs always need to bring that up, don't they? 00:18:42.400 --> 00:18:45.039 When in reality I know that I am also the favorite. 00:18:45.279 --> 00:18:49.119 So there's a lot of ironic things going on here, but let's move on. 00:18:49.519 --> 00:18:56.559 Joseph's giving this robe, and this robe also reminds us of some pretty important points in the book of Genesis, doesn't it? 00:18:57.039 --> 00:19:01.599 This word robe is it's actually a skin in their Hebrew language. 00:19:01.839 --> 00:19:06.640 It's the skin that's given to Joseph. 00:19:06.799 --> 00:19:09.440 And it reminds us of Genesis 3.21, doesn't it? 00:19:09.519 --> 00:19:14.079 Remember when Adam and Eve sinned and they'd fallen before the Lord, what's the first thing that God does? 00:19:14.400 --> 00:19:16.640 He clothes them in skins. 00:19:18.880 --> 00:19:25.759 God had chosen Adam and Eve to be his children despite their sin, and so he clothes them. 00:19:25.920 --> 00:19:32.960 It also reminds us of a robe that was pretty significant in Jacob stealing the blessing of Esau. 00:19:33.279 --> 00:19:52.400 You remember when Jacob stole the blessing of Esau, he went into the presence of his father Isaac, who was blind at the time, and because Esau was a hairy man and Jacob was a smooth man, what Jacob did was he put a robe, a skin of an animal on himself, so that when Isaac felt him, he would feel hairy. 00:19:52.640 --> 00:20:06.240 And here we, as Joseph receives this robe, Moses is giving us every indication that this, like Jacob, this like Adam and Eve, is the chosen child of God through whom the covenant blessings are going to come. 00:20:10.400 --> 00:20:21.920 Verse 4, we see that the robe that is given to him is visual, so that it is this robe, this colorful robe that is given to Joseph that causes his brothers to hate him. 00:20:25.440 --> 00:20:34.000 And what we find here is that Joseph is loving, sorry, Jacob is loving Joseph to the exclusion of his other children. 00:20:34.799 --> 00:20:36.799 And it really is a sad story. 00:20:37.039 --> 00:20:50.079 See, on in one respect, Jacob is right to favor Joseph, because Joseph is the chosen child through whom the covenant blessings are going to come, but he is not right to do that to the exclusion of all of his other children. 00:20:52.319 --> 00:21:04.400 What Jacob should have done was loved Joseph, and he should have pointed his children's eyes to the way that God would bless his people through Joseph. 00:21:06.319 --> 00:21:10.640 Instead, what Jacob does is he drives his children away from Joseph. 00:21:11.440 --> 00:21:16.880 And when Joseph has the dream and reveals it to Jacob, you read what Jacob said to him in verse 10. 00:21:17.119 --> 00:21:20.880 He rebuked him and said, What is this dream that you have dreamed? 00:21:21.039 --> 00:21:29.200 See, instead of loving Joseph and driving his other children to the place of covenant blessing, Jacob is just consumed with his feelings for Joseph. 00:21:29.279 --> 00:21:33.839 And so he loves Joseph exclusive of his other children. 00:21:34.559 --> 00:21:47.680 And the reality is that instead of being led by God's truth, instead of understanding that Joseph's dreams is God's revelation to him of how he's going to work through Joseph, what Jacob does is he's just led by his feelings. 00:21:48.240 --> 00:21:51.359 He's led by this passion he has for Joseph. 00:21:51.519 --> 00:21:54.799 And it's a very important reminder to you and I. 00:21:55.759 --> 00:21:59.359 See, the Bible calls us to be led by truth. 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:07.920 Now it's important that we say feelings are important, but feelings are not the things that are that we are called to be led by. 00:22:08.240 --> 00:22:15.920 And so the question for you is this: in your life, if you were to think of your life as though it were a train, what is the engine? 00:22:16.079 --> 00:22:18.880 Is it truth or is it feeling? 00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:27.519 The decisions that you make in your life, are you waiting for the right feeling? 00:22:28.160 --> 00:22:30.960 Or are you searching out the word of God? 00:22:31.519 --> 00:22:38.480 Searching out the advice of wise counselors who know God's word and are seeking to apply it to your life in love. 00:22:40.240 --> 00:22:44.880 See, we might be, in our own experience, being led by feeling rather than truth. 00:22:44.960 --> 00:22:54.880 But another thing that I'm concerned about as a pastor is that even in our theology, we might be led by feeling rather than the truth of God's word. 00:22:56.480 --> 00:23:02.079 And I mean to say that this is one of the areas that I'm concerned with in the charismatic movement. 00:23:02.640 --> 00:23:13.680 Not in everybody in the charismatic movement, but certainly in some respects, there are many who, instead of being led by the truth of God's word, will be led by their experience. 00:23:14.319 --> 00:23:20.720 And it's important that in our experiences, we always bring it back to the word of God. 00:23:20.880 --> 00:23:26.960 So that the word of God even has the trump card over the things that we have experienced. 00:23:27.519 --> 00:23:34.480 It always needs to be, no matter what background we are from, it always needs to be God's word first. 00:23:34.720 --> 00:23:37.680 God's word is the metric by which we make every decision. 00:23:37.839 --> 00:23:42.240 God's word is the foundation upon which we rest all of our theology. 00:23:42.480 --> 00:23:44.559 God's word comes first. 00:23:47.119 --> 00:23:48.640 Not our feelings. 00:23:48.880 --> 00:23:53.359 Now notice also that Jacob's problem was the same problem that Isaac had, wasn't it? 00:23:53.599 --> 00:24:01.279 Like you think of all the people that understood what it was like to have a father who wrongly preferred the wrong son, Jacob would know. 00:24:01.359 --> 00:24:07.039 Because you'll remember that Isaac wrongly preferred Esau over Jacob. 00:24:07.279 --> 00:24:12.559 Even though God had said he was going to work through Jacob, Isaac preferred Esau. 00:24:16.720 --> 00:24:21.920 This is an important reality that we come to learn in this chapter. 00:24:22.559 --> 00:24:30.960 That our sin is profoundly affected by our family, by our upbringing. 00:24:31.200 --> 00:24:34.480 See, we kind of live in an individualistic culture, don't we? 00:24:34.559 --> 00:24:36.559 So that we kind of think like our problem is our own problem. 00:24:36.720 --> 00:24:43.359 And yet what the Bible teaches us is that the sins of our family are a really big spiritual deal. 00:24:44.559 --> 00:24:53.680 And I think it's really important as we celebrate Father's Day this morning, that as fathers, you and I think about this reality. 00:24:54.480 --> 00:25:03.119 That your life lived for the Lord has a significant impact on your children. 00:25:04.559 --> 00:25:15.599 And that remind ourselves of this reality that Jacob's children, the most important thing for them is that Jacob leads them to the promise of God. 00:25:16.880 --> 00:25:25.440 Fathers, you need to hear this: that the most important thing that you can provide for your children is that you lead them to a living relationship with Jesus Christ. 00:25:25.680 --> 00:25:30.079 You can give them everything else in the world and it does not matter. 00:25:30.400 --> 00:25:35.759 The most important thing is that they know Jesus. 00:25:36.720 --> 00:25:41.519 And that through your life they come to know the sweetness of knowing Jesus. 00:25:43.759 --> 00:25:46.319 To your children's greatest need, it's not grades. 00:25:47.119 --> 00:25:49.599 Some of the youth in here are very excited to hear that. 00:25:49.680 --> 00:25:50.559 They're nudging their parents. 00:25:50.640 --> 00:25:51.680 Hey, you gotta hear that, okay? 00:25:51.839 --> 00:25:53.839 Grades are not the most important thing. 00:25:55.119 --> 00:26:01.200 It's not their financial security, it's not their opportunity, whether it's in their career or sport. 00:26:01.519 --> 00:26:06.319 The most important need of your child is your holiness. 00:26:07.119 --> 00:26:15.039 And yet, I also want to remind you, as fathers, as we think about the life of Joseph, I want to remind you that God is merciful. 00:26:15.279 --> 00:26:17.279 See, Jacob fails. 00:26:18.960 --> 00:26:25.839 And as we look at our own lives as fathers, we need to be honest and humble to recognize that we have not been perfect. 00:26:26.960 --> 00:26:30.799 We could get up here and list our failures and it probably would not end. 00:26:31.200 --> 00:26:36.319 As fathers, we feel the sense in which we have failed our families at times, don't we? 00:26:36.480 --> 00:26:41.279 The times where we have made other elevated other things to of utmost importance rather than Jesus Christ. 00:26:41.440 --> 00:26:47.680 The times where we have been more worried about the kingdom of ourselves rather than the kingdom of Christ in our families. 00:26:48.079 --> 00:27:02.880 And even though Jacob fails his children, I want to remind you through the entire story of Joseph that God is going to use this failure to ultimately redeem his children and to remind you that God doesn't need you. 00:27:03.279 --> 00:27:08.559 He does not need you in order to lead your children to a living relationship with him. 00:27:08.880 --> 00:27:13.279 So maybe you're here and you hear this and you're like, great, heap on the shame, because I feel like I failed my children. 00:27:13.359 --> 00:27:18.079 I feel like I should have led them in the Lord, but now they're not following the Lord because of my negative influence in their life. 00:27:18.240 --> 00:27:21.200 And I want you to see this truth that God is merciful. 00:27:21.440 --> 00:27:22.319 He doesn't need you. 00:27:22.400 --> 00:27:29.519 And so what you need to do is get on your knees and depend on the Lord, that he's sovereign even over your greatest failures. 00:27:31.839 --> 00:27:35.599 And one more way that Moses is showing us that Joseph is the one he plans to work through. 00:27:35.680 --> 00:27:38.960 It's through these dreams, which will take up much of Joseph's stories. 00:27:39.440 --> 00:27:48.079 He himself has two dreams, but when he goes to jail, he'll interpret another pair of dreams, and then in the presence of Pharaoh, he will interpret another pair of dreams. 00:27:48.640 --> 00:28:01.759 Now, the first dream we read of in verses 6 and 7 is a dream with his brothers, where we are told that Jacob dreams this dream of sheaves standing in a field, and the sheaves of his brothers gathered around him to bow down before him. 00:28:04.559 --> 00:28:13.680 And then we read of the second dream, where it's really saying the same thing, but it's also including both his father and his mother. 00:28:15.759 --> 00:28:24.000 And really what these dreams are saying is they're revelations from God that Joseph is the one through whom he is going to work. 00:28:26.559 --> 00:28:34.480 Now, again, this reminds us that Moses is telling us and confirming for us that Joseph indeed is the one through whom God is going to work. 00:28:34.559 --> 00:28:41.279 Remember when Jacob was blessed by Isaac, remember what Jacob said to him in his blessing. 00:28:41.359 --> 00:28:50.400 In verse 29 of chapter 27, Jacob blessed, sorry, Isaac blessed Jacob, and he said this, let people serve you and nations bow down to you. 00:28:50.640 --> 00:28:55.039 Be Lord over your brothers, and may your mother's sons bow down to you. 00:28:55.200 --> 00:28:58.799 Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be everyone who blessed you. 00:28:58.960 --> 00:29:10.880 What Jacob should have understood from the blessing of Isaac is that the person that God chooses to work his covenant blessings through will be the person through whom the whole family even bows down to. 00:29:13.039 --> 00:29:16.079 And God here is declaring that Joseph is that person. 00:29:18.079 --> 00:29:19.839 Now look how everyone responds. 00:29:19.920 --> 00:29:23.839 In verses 8 and 11, we see the brothers, they respond in hate and jealousy. 00:29:23.920 --> 00:29:29.680 And in verse 10, we see that the father and Jacob, he responds in resentment and anger. 00:29:29.839 --> 00:29:32.799 And all of their response really has to do with this. 00:29:33.039 --> 00:29:36.079 Why should Joseph rule over them? 00:29:37.599 --> 00:29:39.440 I want to note something really quickly here. 00:29:39.599 --> 00:29:41.680 Note that we know the whole story, don't we? 00:29:41.839 --> 00:29:46.079 It's really easy for us to read the story and kind of be like critical of them because we know how it ends. 00:29:46.240 --> 00:29:49.039 Well, brothers, you should just be okay with it, okay? 00:29:49.279 --> 00:29:50.880 It's all going to be okay in the end. 00:29:51.039 --> 00:29:56.160 But we need to put ourselves in the shoes of the brothers who have no idea how the story is going to end. 00:29:56.559 --> 00:30:00.960 And when we do that, we actually find ourselves in the same situation that we often are. 00:30:02.000 --> 00:30:10.400 See, when we walk through trial, the hardest part of it is that we have no idea in many ways what God is doing. 00:30:10.640 --> 00:30:11.440 Isn't it? 00:30:11.759 --> 00:30:13.839 That sickness comes in the life of someone in your family. 00:30:14.000 --> 00:30:15.519 And you're like, God, why now? 00:30:15.680 --> 00:30:16.960 Why would you do this now? 00:30:17.200 --> 00:30:18.079 You lose your job. 00:30:18.160 --> 00:30:20.480 And the question is like, God, what are you doing? 00:30:20.799 --> 00:30:25.279 And the question deep down, though we might never voice it, is like, God, are you really in control? 00:30:26.000 --> 00:30:30.480 Because I'm looking at things here, and it certainly does not seem like you know what you're doing, God. 00:30:33.839 --> 00:30:36.559 Joseph's brothers, they don't know the future. 00:30:36.720 --> 00:30:39.200 All they know is Jacob isn't fathering them well. 00:30:39.440 --> 00:30:41.039 And here's Joseph. 00:30:41.440 --> 00:30:44.559 They think, in his pride, declaring that he's better than them. 00:30:47.119 --> 00:30:51.839 And yet, they fail to model what Joseph will model so well in his life. 00:30:52.160 --> 00:30:56.400 These brothers, they fail to model acceptance of God's plan. 00:30:58.160 --> 00:31:03.839 See, these brothers, they should have accepted that these dreams were from God and that this was the way that God was going to work. 00:31:04.000 --> 00:31:15.680 And instead of being prideful and filled with resentment and being angry at Joseph that he might rule, instead they should have been submissive to God's plan and humbled under the plan of God. 00:31:15.839 --> 00:31:21.359 Because God is a God who can do whatever he pleases and he can do it for the sake of his glory. 00:31:22.240 --> 00:31:27.920 And it begs the question of us how do we respond when things happen in our life that we can't make sense of? 00:31:28.000 --> 00:31:29.279 How do we respond? 00:31:30.480 --> 00:31:32.720 And there's really only two ways that we can respond. 00:31:32.880 --> 00:31:41.680 We can either respond with an anxious response or an expectant response. 00:31:42.960 --> 00:31:54.640 Either we respond in anxiety where we say, God, I don't know what you're doing, and we start worrying about all the possible negative things that might happen, or we say, God, I don't know what you're doing, but I'm expectant that you're doing something. 00:31:54.720 --> 00:31:58.000 Because I look back over the history of humanity and you've always been faithful. 00:31:58.160 --> 00:32:00.160 And so you're going to be faithful again, God. 00:32:00.559 --> 00:32:04.319 I'm so encouraged by people in this church who they know who they are. 00:32:04.480 --> 00:32:12.720 They're walking through such difficult trials in their life, and their eyes are on the Lord, and they're saying, God, I don't know what you're doing, but my eyes are on you. 00:32:13.119 --> 00:32:16.319 I know something good will come of this because I know who you are, God. 00:32:16.480 --> 00:32:25.839 And instead of being filled with anxiety because they don't know what will happen, they're filled with expectancy because they trust the goodness, the wisdom, and the love of God. 00:32:27.839 --> 00:32:45.200 They've heard Christ's call to trust in God and cast every anxiety upon him with great expectancy, that God is using all the evil in the world for the sake of his glory, that he will tie a ribbon on every unanswered question in your life so that it all points to his glory. 00:32:49.839 --> 00:32:56.079 Should have recognized that everything in their life so far was according to the sovereign plan of God. 00:32:58.079 --> 00:32:58.640 Everything. 00:33:09.920 --> 00:33:14.240 Do you respond to that thing that has been brought in with anxiety or expectancy? 00:33:16.000 --> 00:33:23.920 Well, the question that we've been asking through Genesis, as we've seen really the failure of so many of God's people, is what should they have done? 00:33:24.240 --> 00:33:25.839 And that leads us to our next point. 00:33:26.000 --> 00:33:29.599 The thing that they should have done was embraced his person. 00:33:30.079 --> 00:33:31.920 They should have embraced God's person. 00:33:32.559 --> 00:33:38.000 First, they should have accepted God's plan, but the second thing they should have done was embraced God's person. 00:33:38.319 --> 00:33:41.519 See, Joseph was the person God had chosen. 00:33:42.480 --> 00:33:55.200 And as we look back and see the life of Joseph, and we see it in its entirety, one of the applications for us should be to see through Joseph to Jesus. 00:33:55.440 --> 00:34:08.719 You see, just as Joseph was the chosen child of God through whom all the covenant blessings would come through, really what's happening here is Moses is pointing our eyes to someone who is greater than Joseph that will come. 00:34:09.280 --> 00:34:11.679 Moses is pointing our eyes to Jesus. 00:34:11.920 --> 00:34:20.159 Moses is pointing our eyes to one who will come from the seed of the woman who would ultimately bring our redemption beyond Joseph. 00:34:20.800 --> 00:34:23.599 And I believe that the New Testament writers do this work as well. 00:34:23.760 --> 00:34:46.960 As the New Testament writers look at Jesus' life, one of the things that they want to do for us is tie it back to Joseph's life so that we understand just as Joseph was outcast, but then God used that horrible event for our salvation, for the salvation of his brothers and for Israel, so Jesus will be outcast, and Jesus is going to use that great evil for the salvation of his people. 00:34:49.679 --> 00:34:54.239 Well, let's take a State of the Union of this at this point of how God's people are doing. 00:34:55.199 --> 00:34:56.960 Where are God's people at? 00:34:57.360 --> 00:35:10.480 Well, notice that at this very point, eleven of the twelve children of God, people of God, are 12 strong right now, and 11 of them have rejected God's chosen child. 00:35:12.559 --> 00:35:14.880 The answer is this, they're not doing very well. 00:35:15.760 --> 00:35:23.039 An informed reader of Genesis will read chapter, sorry, verse 12, where they go to Shechem and say, this is not going to end well for them. 00:35:23.280 --> 00:35:25.199 This has been the story through Genesis, hasn't it? 00:35:25.360 --> 00:35:28.480 That when God's people go to bad places, bad things happen. 00:35:28.719 --> 00:35:32.800 Whenever God's people traveled east away from the presence of God, bad things happened. 00:35:32.960 --> 00:35:41.039 Now these brothers find themselves in Shechem, and Shechem is the place where the travesty with Dinah happened. 00:35:41.280 --> 00:35:47.440 Shechem was the place that Jacob wrongly went to and experienced suffering because of him. 00:35:47.920 --> 00:35:59.199 And in verse 18, if going to Shechem wasn't bad enough, in verse 18 we find that these brothers see Jacob and their immediate desire, 11 of them all together, is to kill Jacob. 00:35:59.360 --> 00:36:01.360 Can you imagine how absurd this is? 00:36:01.599 --> 00:36:09.199 Get into a group with 11 of your friends, and then when a 12th person walks in the room, say to those 11 friends, hey, we should kill this guy. 00:36:09.440 --> 00:36:14.719 And I guarantee you that those 10 friends will say, Whoa, that's crazy. 00:36:14.960 --> 00:36:17.679 I'm going to call the police and get out of your presence. 00:36:18.320 --> 00:36:25.840 Instead, God's people are in such a horrible place that when one person says, Hey, maybe we should kill Jacob, they're all like, Wow, that sounds like a really great plan. 00:36:25.920 --> 00:36:27.039 Let's do that. 00:36:28.639 --> 00:36:34.079 This is what our mothers were always talking about when they said, If your friend jumped off a bridge, would you do it too? 00:36:34.639 --> 00:36:37.920 And here at this moment, we see that the answer is yes. 00:36:39.519 --> 00:36:42.800 The eleven of the children, they hate God's chosen child. 00:36:42.960 --> 00:36:44.800 And so they say these words in verse 20. 00:36:44.960 --> 00:36:49.360 They say, Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits. 00:36:49.519 --> 00:37:03.360 Now, this is really important, this language, because in Matthew 21, Jesus tells a parable, and the parable is of a landowner who leases his vineyard to tenants, and then he sends his servant to collect the fruits of that vineyard. 00:37:03.679 --> 00:37:07.679 And the tenants, they send that servant away with nothing. 00:37:08.480 --> 00:37:14.159 And so the landowner keeps doing this, thinking that eventually they'll have some respect, but they keep sending him away. 00:37:14.239 --> 00:37:21.840 So eventually what this landowner does is he sends his own son, thinking if they did not respect the servants, surely they will respect the son. 00:37:22.480 --> 00:37:29.280 But in Matthew 21, verses 38 to 39, it says, But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, This is the heir. 00:37:29.519 --> 00:37:33.119 Come, let us kill him and take his inheritance. 00:37:33.840 --> 00:37:39.039 And so it says they seized him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 00:37:39.760 --> 00:37:45.599 And I believe that Matthew here is seeing a clear connection to what happened with Joseph. 00:37:45.840 --> 00:38:02.159 Just as Joseph's brother said, Come now, let us kill the one who God has chosen, so these tenants looked at the son of this landowner and said, Come, let us kill him, thinking that their greatest joy would be in rejecting this son. 00:38:02.559 --> 00:38:12.800 And it's really significant that in Matthew 27, verse 31, we're told that Jesus would be stripped of his own colorful robe, a robe made of scarlet. 00:38:13.199 --> 00:38:25.519 And in the Septuagint, which is the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, that same word, stripped, is used here of Joseph, whose robe, his colorful robe is taken from him. 00:38:25.760 --> 00:38:35.760 And what the New Testament writers want us to see is that the things that are happening to Joseph point us to an even more evil event of something that will happen in the future. 00:38:36.480 --> 00:38:41.599 And what Moses wants us to see here is that this is the way that God's children have always been treated. 00:38:42.159 --> 00:38:44.320 God's people have always faced rejection. 00:38:44.480 --> 00:38:46.719 Remember Cain and Abel? 00:38:47.119 --> 00:38:49.599 Like Adam and Eve's first children. 00:38:52.400 --> 00:38:53.760 And there's murder. 00:38:54.639 --> 00:38:55.920 And so he's given Seth. 00:38:56.000 --> 00:39:06.159 And you remember the chosen line of Seth was doing okay until we're told in Genesis chapter 6 of the demons who came and then slept with the daughters of man. 00:39:08.960 --> 00:39:14.320 And it's a reminder to us that God's chosen servant has always been persecuted. 00:39:14.559 --> 00:39:16.400 He's always been rejected. 00:39:16.639 --> 00:39:26.239 But the question for us is this are you, are you the one who will receive God's chosen servant, or are you the one who will reject God's chosen servant? 00:39:28.000 --> 00:39:34.719 See, just as the brothers reject Joseph and desire to take Joseph entirely out of their life, so it was our desire. 00:39:34.880 --> 00:39:43.280 The Bible says that we walked in enity against God, so that when Christ came, our desire was to delete Christ from our life. 00:39:49.199 --> 00:39:50.639 They said, I don't want the light. 00:39:50.800 --> 00:39:52.880 Get the light out of my life. 00:39:53.360 --> 00:40:01.119 And the essence of your sin, what the Bible's teaching us, is this the essence of your sin is your desire to have a godless life. 00:40:01.440 --> 00:40:03.679 You want a life without God in it. 00:40:04.000 --> 00:40:05.360 I love what John Stott says. 00:40:05.440 --> 00:40:09.519 He says, Scripture is quite clear that the essence of sin is godlessness. 00:40:09.840 --> 00:40:18.480 It's the attempt to get rid of God, and since that's impossible, the determination to live as though one had succeeded in doing so. 00:40:19.360 --> 00:40:27.119 And so it's very important that you and I understand this, that the essence of our sin against God is this desire to live a godless life. 00:40:27.360 --> 00:40:29.119 Think about this for a moment. 00:40:31.039 --> 00:40:45.679 The days that you do not turn to the Lord in prayer and do not seek the Lord in His Word and reading His Word, what is that other than your fleshly desire for godlessness rearing its ugly head? 00:40:45.920 --> 00:40:52.480 You're saying, I don't believe I need to pray and therefore see God's work in my life, and I don't believe I need God's word as direction in my life. 00:40:52.559 --> 00:40:53.599 I just don't need it. 00:40:53.679 --> 00:40:56.239 I'm fine living a godless life. 00:41:00.880 --> 00:41:04.159 Think about lack of forgiveness in your life. 00:41:04.960 --> 00:41:11.920 What is that other than the godless understanding of how much we have been forgiven? 00:41:13.119 --> 00:41:16.079 Think about a lack of compassion in your life. 00:41:16.400 --> 00:41:23.920 What is that other than the godless understanding of how much God has loved us when we were undeserving of that love? 00:41:25.119 --> 00:41:33.599 See, we slip into godliness, and our great need, Paul tells us this in Romans chapter 12, verse 1, our great need is God mindfulness. 00:41:33.760 --> 00:41:45.199 Rather than forgetting God, rather than pushing God out of our thoughts, our need is to be transformed in the renewal of our minds, so that instead of God, uh our minds being godless, our minds are filled with God. 00:41:49.039 --> 00:42:02.639 In verses 25 to 28, the brothers carry on the act, they've thrown him into a pit into a pit, and there they sell him to Midianite traders for 20 shekels. 00:42:04.480 --> 00:42:06.400 20 shekels of silver. 00:42:06.960 --> 00:42:16.079 And we look at this and we say, surely, surely the life of Jacob is worth more than twenty shekels of silver. 00:42:17.599 --> 00:42:30.480