The Life Of Joseph - From Prison To Prime Minister - Part 2
Sweet Seventeen! (Genesis 37 verses 1-11)
I was driving my car in England one icy morning! It was a very slippery slope, but I was unaware of the conditions of the highway and before I knew what was happening, the car was slipping and sliding dangerously all over the road. Children who are born to dishonest parents are travelling on a slippery road; they never know where they will end up. The man whose life we are studying, Joseph of the Old Testament, was not only born to crafty parents, but to make matters worse his brothers were following their parents’ bad example. When our story commences, in Genesis chapter 37, Joseph was only seventeen years old, but he was already the butt of his brothers’ hatred and the feeling was so intense that verse 4 tells us “they could not speak a kind word to him”. Literally they would not “pass the time of day” with their brother! There was no greeting, no “Shalom”, welcoming Joseph when he approached his brothers. You could cut the atmosphere with a knife! May I ask how well you get along with your brothers and sisters? There really is no excuse for bad relationships, either with those who are related by blood or those who are brothers and sisters in Christ. Treading such a pathway will end in disaster! To intensify the hatred of Joseph’s brothers, their father, Jacob, had promoted him to a position of trust over them, giving him a long-sleeved tunic as a sign of his position of responsibility as an overseer. We might well ask ourselves if such apparent favouritism by his father was a wise move. We, as parents, should always treat all our children with respect, dignity and fairness; to do otherwise is a fore-runner of future family trouble, as many parents have discovered to their loss. Such authority for a seventeen year old youth was no small responsibility, but we soon see how conscientiously he carried it, for we read about his great…
Boldness
The strength of character of this young man is clear for all to see, as he will not be silenced about the bad behaviour of his brothers but takes back to his father “a bad report about them” (verse 2). This action was not “tale-telling”, but was fulfilling the task entrusted to him. Indeed he carried it out with commendable bravery. It is a sad reflection on the church of our day that so many leaders “play the soft pedal” rather than calling sin by its real name. This does not mean that we should act in a hard and cold way, for at best we are all sinners saved by grace, but it does mean that we do not lower our standards to accommodate worldly views. A recent survey of pastors in the United Kingdom revealed that only 34% knew the ten commandments, and some commented that “they were far too negative anyway”! The psalmist could write that “the righteous are as bold as a lion” (Ps.28:1) and we can do with such men and women today! We desperately need those of whom Daniel wrote, “the people who know their God shall be strong and carry out great exploits” (Daniel 11 verse 32).
I can imagine Joseph spending time with his grandfather, Isaac, and hearing of Abraham’s great faith and accomplishments. Of the way in which he offered his son upon Mount Moriah, and then defeated the powerful King Chedorlaomer. Perhaps the old patriarch encouraged his young grandson in his walk with God! This is a great task that the older generation can do for God. May we not let them down!
Not only was Joseph brave, but he was honest. It doesn’t take much imagination to picture the brothers doing their best to coerce the young man into watering down his bad report about them, so they would not be seen in a bad light by their father, but Joseph would not compromise his position! His report would not be exaggerated but it would certainly be honest. When David asked the Lord who could dwell in His sanctuary, He came back with the answer “he who speaks the truth from his heart and has no slander on his tongue” (Psalm 15 verse 2). How good it would be if we had such men today in positions of leadership, both in the church and in the nation! The words of Proverbs 14 verse 20 are as true today as when they were written “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people”.
Next we read of two fascinating dreams given to Joseph. The first was sheaves of corn bowing down to his sheaf . Note the words “we were binding sheaves”, which tell us that Joseph was doing his share of the work, even if he had been promoted over them! That is a challenging thought to those of us who are in positions of leadership. This was followed by a second dream; sun, moon and 11 stars bowing down to him! We are not given any clue in the story as to whether he was being arrogant and proud, or simply relating the story as he saw it, but later events proved that they were a revelation from God. No doubt he had heard from his father about the wonderful dream God had given him at Bethel, so he would know that God was speaking to him in a special way, telling him that God had a special work for him to do. And he was not afraid to take God at His word and spread the news! It is a sad reflection on us, in our day, that we have the most wonderful revelation of all time, yet we fail to spread the good news! The world around us is perishing, yet we talk about the weather, clothes, sport, health, and everything except the good news of salvation in Christ! As Jacob shared the news he was soon aware of a…
Bitterness
There are few, if any, emotions which cause family upsets as often as bitterness, and this is probably the greatest cause of discord and division in our churches today! If we are guilty of such emotions we do well to take Paul’s words to heart “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander…be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” (Ephesians 4 verse 31). Many years later Jacob was giving his blessing to his family and he said “Joseph is a fruitful vine…near a spring, whose branches climb over a wall. With bitterness archers attacked him; they shot at him with hostility. But his bow remained steady, his strong arms stayed supple, because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob, because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel” (Genesis 49 verse 22) What a testimony! Even at that early age of seventeen he was in a right relationship with God. The strange thing is that we don’t read of the mothers of Joseph’s half-brothers being jealous, but it is written that Rachel, Joseph’s own mother, became jealous of her sister Leah, when she had children and Rachel was barren. A blazing family row followed that event! Later in Israel’s history King Saul’s jealousy of David was a constant source of bitterness, leading to several attempts at murder. Sadly, we can even be jealous of brothers and sisters in Christ who have been gifted by the Holy Spirit in a way which we have not. Paul told the Christians in Rome “not to behave with jealousy but to clothe themselves with the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 13 verse 13). He also took the church at Corinth to task for their jealousy and quarrelling (1 Cor.3:3) and when he penned his second letter to them the position was no better, for he wrote “I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be…I fear that there may be quarrelling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder”. (2 Corinthians 12 verse 20) What a sad state of affairs for a Christian church that boasted about it’s spiritual gifts!
It wasn’t long before the envy and jealousy of Joseph’s brothers led them to downright hatred. Let us be warned, for the downward spiral has not changed. Three times in five verses we read of the hatred of the brothers for Joseph. What started as a spark in their hearts was now a blazing fire! Or to change the picture, the small seeds had now become large, prickly thorns. The Bible is full of such instances of hatred, so we must constantly be on our guard. There are, of course, some things we should hate, such as sin (Psalm 36 verse 2) and evil (Amos 5 verse 15), but John’s first epistle says that “he who hates his brother is a murderer” and “if any says ‘I love God’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar”!
These Are Lessons We Do Well To Learn!