Controlling Themes
- This is the last section of Genesis. Some say it is about the life of Joseph. He is a major character. Moses says it is about the generations of Jacob. In these last chapters we learn how God finally fulfills His promise to Abram back in Gen 15:13-14.
Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.
Genesis 15:13-14
- In our study we will focus on two things.
- The complex, broken nature of the human heart.
- The power of God’s providential hand to accomplish his purpose for His people.
Read Genesis 37:1-28
The Context
- Levi and Simeon murder the men of Shechem as vengeance for the rape of their sister Dinah.
- Jacob and his family return to Hebron.
- Rachel dies on the journey from Bethel to Hebron while giving birth to Benjamin.
- Reuben, Jacob’s oldest sleeps with his father’s concubine, Bilhah.
Why is the murder of the men of Shechem important to our study?
- Jacob’s sons took the flocks into the land of Shechem and Joseph goes there on his own. They are in hostile territory. But while Joseph is wandering about in a field looking for his brothers, a helpful man comes to his aid. It could have been a vengeful man. God protected Joseph from that fate.
Why is the death of Rachel important to our study?
- It partially sets the stage for Jacob’s favoritism of Joseph who was the first born of his first and deepest love. Perhaps in his grief he put gave too much favor to Joseph.
Why is Reuben’s sin with Bilhah important to our study?
- It completes the stage for Jacob’s favoritism since Reuben, the first-born of all the sons of Jacob, forfeited his rights as the first born (See Gen. 49:4). It seems that Jacob took the opportunity to redirect that favor to Joseph, his first-born with Rachel.
Unstable as water, you shall not have preeminence, because you went up to your father’s bed; then you defiled it—he went up to my couch!
Genesis 49:4
- It also colors Reuben’s actions in regard to Joseph. From the beginning he tried to save Joseph. Perhaps he regretted the pain he had caused Jacob and couldn’t bear to see his father bear more.
Note:
- Joseph’s brothers hated him. The phrase appears three times (vs. 4, 5, and 8).
- They could not speak peacefully with him (vs. 4) and they were jealous of him (vs.11)
Why did they feel this way?
- He delivered a slanderous report about some of them to Jacob (vs.2).
- Jacob favored him, which was evidenced by the long, princely coat that Jacob gave him (vs. 3).
- He was a dreamer who dreamed of ruling over them all (vs. 19)
Do you think Joseph was wrong to tell his family about these dreams?
- From a human perspective, it may have been naïveté or pride that led him to do so. We don’t know. In either case, a wise advisor would have likely told him to keep it to himself.
- But he told them, and they hated him for it. Because of their hatred, most of the ten brothers wanted to kill him.
We know that Reuben wanted to save Joseph and deliver him back to Jacob. Who else had a better idea about what to do with Joseph.
- Judah. He didn’t see any profit and murdering Joseph. He did see profit in selling him to slave traders (vs. 26-27).
Note the complexity and broken nature of the human soul.
- Jacob, possibly out of grief, played favorites creating a jealousy in the hearts of his other sons.
- Joseph slandered some of his brothers contributing to their hatred of him.
- Joseph contributed to the jealousy and hatred by sharing his dreams with his brothers.
- Reuben seems to have wanted to atone for his sin, but failed in that endeavor.
- Judah saves Joseph’s life but seemingly for less than altruistic motives.
Note: we see in these men some good, some pride, some immaturity, some selfishness, some conflict between doing what is right and acting sinfully, and some plain old bad decision making. We see ourselves!
In all of this, where was God?
- He was protecting Joseph from vengeful men and wild beasts on a 60 plus mile walk through hostile territory.
- He was using the sins of Jacob, Joseph, and the murderous brothers to create an environment where the brothers would look for a way to get rid of him.
- He was using the past guilt of Reuben to keep Joseph alive.
- He was thwarting Reuben’s plan to send Joseph home – that’s not where he needed to go.
- He was using the conflicted heart of Judah to send Joseph ahead of them to prepare for them a home in Egypt.
- He was using the trading patterns of the Ishmaelites to provide Judah with a way out of murder.
Through all of the human actions and motives God was working. He had made a promise to Moses. The people had to go to Egypt to gain their wealth and grow into a multiple. And someone had to go to prepare that place.
What does all of this tell us about how God works in our lives?
- God is at work orchestrating His plan to bring us to our eternal home.
- God is at work in the midst of, through, and by the actions and circumstances that we create.
- We cannot thwart God’s plan.
- God will finish His work and will work all things for the good of those who love Him.
Note: The Westminster Confession of Faith Shorter Catechism articulates it this way.
Question 11: What are God’s works of providence?
Answer: God’s works of providence are, his most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures, and all their actions. (See Gen 50:20)
Joseph, later in his life articulated it this way:
You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.
Gen 50:20
Moses then tells us they were comforted by these words. God’s providence comforts His people.
One additional note:
Joseph, in so many ways, foreshadows our Lord Jesus.
He was despised and rejected by men,
Isaiah 53:3
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
John 1:1
And he said to them, “Elijah does come first to restore all things. And how is it written of the Son of Man that he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt?
Mark 9:12
Like Jesus, Joseph was hated by those he was meant to save. He was marked for death and sentenced to a living death. He went away to prepare a future home for his people.
The greatest comfort that we have is that throughout all time God’s providence has been at work to bring about our salvation and eternal happiness. No power and no flaws of our own can keep Him from accomplishing his purposes. In fact, He uses those powers and our flaws in His grand plan to deliver us into our eternal rest.
