Joseph part 1
Scripture
Genesis 37: Now Jacob lived in the land [a]where his father had sojourned, in the land of Canaan. 2 These are the generations of Jacob.
Joseph, when seventeen years of age, was pasturing the flock with his brothers while he was still a youth, along with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought back an evil report about them to their father. 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons because he was the son of his old age; and he made him a [b]varicolored tunic. 4 And his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, and so they hated him and could not speak to him in peace.
Well, we are continuing today with our series of sermons entitled “Firm Foundations: From Creation to Christ.” And we are coming to the end of the book of Genesis. I have preached about thirty sermons so far in the series. Now if any of you are doing the math in your head right now, you may be thinking, “well, it took him 30 sermons to get through Genesis, there are 66 books in the Bible, 66 times 30 is 1980 sermons. Let’s see, divided by 52 weeks in a year is about 38 years left in the series.” Well, let me reassure you. Genesis is a foundational book of the Bible. And I am taking this series from a study of the same title. The workbooks spend _____% of the book in the book of Genesis.
In addition to that comment let me say this. We never get finished with studying the Bible. In fact, studying the Bible is like looking at a precious gems. We could spend a lot of time just observing all of their facets and colors, holding them up to the light, and marveling at their beauty. And even then we are not finished with them. We could use a loupe which is the magnifying glass gemologist use to peer into the gem and look at all of its internal beauty.
And it is the same with God’s Word. We can get an overview of it, but then we can go back again and again plunging deeper and deeper into its truths, and we will never in our lifetime have explored all that God has to say to us in it.
So, today we are transitioning into the story of the next major character of Scripture and the book of Genesis; Joseph. And I think it is fitting that Genesis concludes with the story of Joseph for our purposes. Because remember that we are taking a flight over the whole story of Scripture. The title of the study is “Firm Foundations: From Creation to Christ.” The point of the study is for us to see the connection between the stories of the Old Testament and our Lord Jesus Christ. We are studying the Bible with a “Christocentric view.” We are seeing the foreshadowing’s and teachings about Jesus, in the events before He came into the world. Let me share a quote here.
“History hinges on a single pivotal event: the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ on the cross. There, God’s great redemption of mankind was accomplished—a rescue mission that culminated at the end of Christ’s three-and-a-half-year public ministry but began before the world was formed. This incredible tapestry is woven throughout the Scriptures in red.
The great Bible teacher of yesteryear, William Evans, noted, “Cut the Bible anywhere and it bleeds.” The blood of Jesus stains every page, every book, in both testaments. Evans observed that “the atonement is the scarlet cord running through every page in the entire Bible”; it “is red with redemption truth.””
And it is fitting that we conclude Genesis with Joseph, because the story of Joseph is one of the greatest foreshadowing’s of Christ in all the Bible. And that is how I want to approach the story of his life, as a foreshadowing of Christ. In this way, we will not only get to gain some new insight into a familiar story, but also refresh our understanding of the central message of the Bible.
But before we start, let’s go to the Lord in prayer.
We picked up today in chapter 37 of Genesis. And this is how that chapter starts.
Now Jacob lived in the land [a]where his father had sojourned, in the land of Canaan. 2 These are the generations of Jacob.
We just completed the story of Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel, and now, it seems like almost immediately we come to the story of his second youngest son Joseph. But so you don’t have any gaps in the background for Joseph, let me refresh your memory as to what has happened.
God called Abraham to leave his home country and settle in a land that He would give him and his family as an inheritance. We know that land today as Israel, and we know his people as the Jewish people. Abraham had one son to whom that promise was passed down; Isaac. And Isaac had one son to whom that promise was passed down; Jacob. God gives Jacob the same promises and changes his name to Israel. But when Israel passes along God’s promise, it is different than it was under his father and grandfather. They each had only one chosen son. But Israel had 12 sons, all of whom would inherit God’s promise of a land, blessing, to become a nation, to receive the coming Messiah.
You remember the story of Jacob and his family. He met Rachel, Laban’s daughter, and fell in love. He wanted to marry her, but on the wedding night her father Laban sent his older daughter Leah into the marriage tent, and Jacob unknowingly slept with the wrong daughter. He was angry with Laban but still in love with Rachel and still wanted to marry her, which eventually happened.
Now each of the sisters had a maidservant who came as part of their marriage to Jacob. Rachel’s maidservant was named Bilhah, and Leah’s maidservant was named Zilpah. Well, as can be common between sisters, especially sisters married to the same man, I’m not speaking from experience here, there was jealousy and competition. And for that time in world history, the way that a woman distinguished herself was by giving her husband children, especially sons.
So here’s the short version. Leah got pregnant first and had a son; Reuban. Then Leah gets pregnant again having another son; Simeon. Then, Leah, apparently the fertile sister gets pregnant again, and again the fourth time with two more sons; Levi and Judah.
Well Rachel is getting frustrated because she is not getting pregnant. And in that frustration she does what was common in that time, she gives her maidservant Bilhah to Jacob to bear children for her.
Now here is where we need to say something about the Bible. The Bible records events as they happened. But just because it is recorded in Scripture, does not mean that God approves of it. At the beginning of God’s creation, He did not create Adam and Eve and Stella and Lucy and Fredricka. He only created one man and one woman. And He said about the man and woman that “man (singular) shall leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife (singular) and the two (not three or four) shall be one flesh.
But despite God’s intent, Jacob now has for all intents and purposes, 3 wives, at the same time. Bilhah goes to Jacob’s tent and conceives on behalf of Rachel and has a son: Dan. And Bilhah is not finished, she gets pregnant again and has a second son; Naphtali.
Well now Leah is frustrated because she hasn’t gotten pregnant again and she’s afraid her sister might catch up to her four sons. So, she gives her maidservant Zilpah to Jacob to have children on her behalf. Zilpah gets pregnant twice, bearing Gad and Asher.
Well, Leah now has four of her own sons by Jacob, and two through her handmaiden. But she still thinks she herself can bear more children, so she works it out (a long story) for Jacob to come to her tent at least enough times for her to bear two more sons and a daughter; Isaachar, Zebulun, and Dinah.
Here’s the score card; Leah 6 sons and one daughter, Bilhah 2 sons, Zilpah 2 sons.
And finally, God answers Rachels prayer and she ends up having 2 sons of her own, the youngest of the 12 boys; Joseph and Benjamin. Benjamin was born after the family returned back to the land God had promised them. Rachel dies giving birth to him.
So that catches us up on the story of Jacob and his family. Now let me remind you a little about how old Jacob was around 97 years old when he left his father-in-law Laban to return to Canaan. His children range in age from 6 to 13 years of age. Jacob is the youngest at that time.
When we pick up with them back in Canaan. The 12th son Benjamin is now in the family, probably around 10 or 11 years old. And his only brother by the same mother, Joseph, is 17. And this is how we pick up with his story.
Joseph, when seventeen years of age, was pasturing the flock with his brothers while he was still a youth, along with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought back an evil report about them to their father. 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons because he was the son of his old age; and he made him a [b]varicolored tunic. 4 And his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, and so they hated him and could not speak to him in peace.
And I told you that we are going to look at his life through the lens of foreshadowing Christ and God’s plan of salvation. Paul writes in 1st Corinthians 10, that the Old Testament stories were given as examples for us. So, we can look to them as examples and illustrations of truths God wants us to learn. We are going to tell Jesus’ story through this Old Testament story.
I. His introduction
Joseph
A. He was a shepherd like his father.
Genesis 37: 2 Joseph, when seventeen years of age, was pasturing the flock with his brothers while he was still a youth,
B. He was the preferred son.
Why did Jacob prefer Joseph?
1. He was the son of his old age.
3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons because he was the son of his old age; and he made him a [b]varicolored tunic.
He was the son of his old age. Jacob was in his nineties when Joseph was born. And we also know that at the time, Joseph was the only son of his favorite wife Rachel. And we can almost imagine the circumstances. He was tricked into the marriage with the older sister Leah and got her handmaiden in that deal. And we get the impression from the story that he is probably still attached to Rachel even as Leah and the other handmaidens give him sons. He probably is in a love relationship with Rachel compared to the other women. So, when she finally has a son, he is around that child more because he is around Rachel more. His love for Rachel is also attached to her baby, more so than to the other children.
And so, he expressed his preference by giving him a gift; a coat of many colors. This can mean one of two things. The first interpretation is that it was a garment with long sleeves. The simplest and easiest way to clothe your children in what we would call a robe, is to simply sew a sack, like a large pillow case, with openings for the head and arms. No sleeves, because that is more sewing. So, only people of higher rank or wealth had sleeves on their robes or coats. The second way to interpret it is as we have imagined it; a multi-colored coat. It would be a kind of patchwork garment made of multiple colors. And again, it would be a garment given to distinguish the recipient as favored. There was no other son given that distinction. Now, to be sure, his other sons were properly clothed and cared for, but it is only Joseph who is set apart as receiving a special gift from his father. Some commentators look at this as Jacob’s way of setting Joseph apart from his brothers as the one who would occupy the position of firstborn (which is not about birth order but about position of authority in the family). The firstborn received a double inheritance, something that Joseph received, as the Bible explicitly confirms: “The rights of the firstborn belonged to Joseph” (1 Chronicles 5:2 NIV84).
Jacob gave Joseph a coat of many colors. This was Jacob’s way of setting Joseph apart from his brothers as the one who would occupy the position of firstborn (which is not about birth order but about position of authority in the family). The firstborn received a double inheritance, something that Joseph received, as the Bible explicitly confirms: “The rights of the firstborn belonged to Joseph” (1 Chronicles 5:2 NIV84).
Why else was he favored?
Joseph, when seventeen years of age, was pasturing the flock with his brothers while he was still a youth, along with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought back an evil report about them to their father.
Some commentators point out the fact that the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah would have been closer in age to Joseph. So, those four, and Joseph could have shared the responsibility of shepherding part of Jacob’s flock. But, the four boys, as boys tend to do when they are left to their own devices, may stray from their instructions, or they may get into some mischief. Well, Joseph told his father what they were doing. Some people look at this as “Joseph is a snitch.” But we don’t know the nature of the trouble they were getting in or causing. So, the only real way we can look at it is that Joseph knew what was right and wrong, he would not participate in the wrong, and he would not stand by and allow his father to be harmed by what they were doing.
Even at the end of Jacob’s life, he sets Joseph apart as favored. He demotes the oldest three because of disobedience, and raises Joseph up again in the sight of his brothers.
Genesis 49: 22 “Joseph is a fruitful [s]bough,
A fruitful [t]bough
by a spring; Its [u]branches
run over a wall.
23 And the archers bitterly attacked him and shot at
him, And they bore a grudge against him;
24 But his bow remained [v]firm,
And [w]his
arms were agile, From the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,
From there is the
Shepherd, the Stone of Israel, 25 From the God
of your father who helps you,
And [x]by
the [y]Almighty
who blesses you With blessings of heaven above, Blessings of the
deep that lies beneath, Blessings of the breasts and of the womb. 26 The
blessings of your father Have surpassed the blessings of my ancestors Up to
the [z]utmost
bound of the everlasting hills; May they be on the head of Joseph,
And on the top of the head of
the one distinguished among his brothers.
But how is Joseph a foreshadowing of Christ in how he is introduced in Scripture? He came into the world as the favored son of Israel. He was not first-born by order, but he was chosen by his father because of affection and because he loved righteousness.
John 3:16 says this about Jesus.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him, should not perish, but have eternal life.
Matthew 3:17 and behold, there was a voice out of the heavens saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”
Galatians 4:4 But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law,
Jesus “is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:15–17 NIV84).
Hebrews 1:2 in these last days spoke to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds,
Joseph was the picture of the Coming Beloved Son who would inherit from His Father, and ultimately save his brothers.
But how else did Joseph foreshadow Jesus?
II. His rejection
The passage we already read this morning gives us the beginning of the story of Joseph’s relationship with his brothers.
Joseph, when seventeen years of age, was pasturing the flock with his brothers while he was still a youth, along with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought back an evil report about them to their father. 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons because he was the son of his old age; and he made him a [b]varicolored tunic. 4 And his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, and so they hated him and could not speak to him in peace.
The four brothers that we are referring to here are Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. And, as I said earlier, they were older than he was, but may have been closer to his age. And their antagonism toward Joseph isn’t just because he told on them, they also see that he is favored by their father. I’m sure they were also aware that his mother was favored by their father, and that their mothers were essentially slaves.
It was not uncommon for a father, in those days, to choose which child would carry the mantle of family leadership when he was gone. It also was not uncommon that a father would divide his inheritance based on the status of his wives. Here we have three classes of wives; favored wife, disfavored wife, first and second concubine.
So, they hated him, because he was favored. And the story doesn’t end there.
5 Then Joseph [c]had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; so they hated him even more. 6 And he said to them, “Please listen to this dream which I have [d]had: 7 Indeed, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf rose up and also stood upright; and behold, your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to my sheaf.” 8 Then his brothers said to him, “Are you really going to reign over us? Or are you really going to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.
9 Then he [e]had still another dream and recounted it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have [f]had still another dream; and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” 10 And he recounted it to his father and to his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have [g]had? Shall I and your mother and your brothers really come to bow ourselves down before you to the ground?” 11 And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.
Now, we can sit and debate the wisdom of Joseph telling his brothers his dreams. Some have said that he should have realized that they wouldn’t take it well. This was a time though, when people put more stock in dreams. And we know, from the rest of the story that it was actually God who gave him the dreams. He is already the favored son. I suspect that his brothers and his father may have remembered that Jacob himself had had a dream given by God, where angels were ascending and descending down to where Jacob lay. Jacob came to understand that God was speaking to him and reassuring him about the future.
So, when Joseph comes along with a dream about his future, and that his family will bow to him, it’s not just because he ate something that didn’t agree with him the night before. Jacob understands its significance and kept it in mind.
So, his brothers hate him because he is good, because he is favored, and because he is destined to great things. But the story doesn’t end there.
12 Then his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock in Shechem. 13 And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them.” And he said to him, “[h]I will go.” 14 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.” So, he sent him from the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.
Jacob sends Joseph to the pasture where his brothers are leading the sheep. We need to remember that this was open country, and shepherds would lead their sheep from one fertile field to the next. There were no property lines or fences. Shepherds often wandered far from home base, sleeping in the open country at night. So, finally Joseph determines where his brothers are.
So, Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan. 18 And they saw him from a distance, and before he came close to them, they plotted against him to put him to death. 19 Then they said to one another, “[j]Here comes this dreamer! 20 So now, come and let us kill him and cast him into one of the pits; and we will say, ‘A wild beast devoured him.’ Then let us see what will become of his dreams!”
This is how much they hated him. Some of them wanted to kill him. But, to his credit, his older brother Reuben, tried to protect him.
21 But Reuben heard this and delivered him out of their hands and said, “Let us not strike down his life.” 22 Reuben further said to them, “Shed no blood. Cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but do not put forth your hands against him”—that he might deliver him out of their hands to return him to his father. 23 Now it happened, when Joseph [k]reached his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his [l]tunic, the varicolored tunic that was on him; 24 and they took him and cast him into the pit. Now the pit was empty, without any water in it. 25 And they sat down to eat [m]a meal.
Joseph’s brothers were jealous, betrayed him, and lied about him. How heartless they had to be to sit down to eat while hearing their brother cry out from this hole they had thrown him in.
And when Jesus came to Earth, He was despised and rejected by men. His own people betrayed Him, lied about Him, and handed Him over to Roman authorities to have Him killed.
Isaiah 53: 2 For
He grew up before Him like a tender [a]shoot,
And like a root out of parched ground;
He has no stately form
or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should desire
Him.
3 He was despised and forsaken of men, A man
of [b]sorrows
and acquainted with [c]grief;
And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did
not esteem Him.
John 1: 9 There was the true Light [f]which, coming into the world, enlightens everyone. 10 He was in the world, and the world [g]was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. 11 He came to what was His [h]own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.
Mark 6:3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?” And they took offense at Him.
And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things; Luke 4:29
and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff.
But they cried out all together, saying, “Away with this man, and release for us Barabbas!”
Matthew 21:42 Jesus *said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures, ‘The stone which the builders rejected, This became the chief corner stone;John 15:18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.
Joseph was hated by his brothers, Jesus was despised and rejected by His people, and the people of the world.