August 16, 2006

• Did you think I forgot about Genesis? Well, I haven’t. I finally have shared all the notes from the Pastor Don’s Bible studies (and Rabbi Michael) and so now you get to read more about Joseph. I like Joseph. Remember Genesis 30:22-25 Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb. And she conceived and bore a son, and said, “God has taken away my reproach.” So she called his name Joseph, and she said, “The LORD shall add to me another son.” And it came to pass, when Rachel had born Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own place and to my country.

  
  

  This is the account of the birth of Joseph. When God remembered Rachel, it did not mean that God sat on his throne, slapped his hand to his head and said, “Oh, Rachel, I forgot about her….” God, in his right timing, gave Rachel her son. Notice her comment about Joseph – she got the son she wanted and already she had her hands out for the next son. So often we treat our blessings like that. God gives us something and we, like kids, throw it aside after a bit, and move on seeking the next blessing. It is true that the LORD will allow Rachel another son – Benjamin who will play prominently in Joseph’s story, but that another son will be the death of Rachel.

  
  

  The next time we hear about Joseph was when Jacob returns home and meets Esau. Before Esau gets to Jacob, Jacob had lined up his family in marching order – concubines and their sons, Leah and her children, Rachel and Joseph. Benjamin wasn’t born yet. I can only imagine, that the kids understood that Uncle Esau wasn’t too fond of Jacob and that Jacob had fear for his safety from Uncle Esau. Can you imagine their feelings, especially the sons of the concubines to find out that brother Joseph was in the place of the most safety. Me thinks that there might be a tad of jealousy among the brothers. And soon Jacob will make that even more pronounced. We will also read and study about how Joseph saw visions and spoke them out loud – and hopefully we will learn that not all visions are to be shared by all people.

  
  

  One other thing that you may want to examine in Joseph’s life is all the parallels between his life and Jesus’. I will try to point some of them out. I heard in a teaching once that there were over 150, but I haven’t found that many. If you know of some, please share….

  
  

  Genesis 37

  
  

  The family at this time is in the promised land, in Canaan.

  
  

  Verse 2 This is the history of Jacob. Joseph being 17 years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. And the lad was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to his father.

  
  

  I have a seventeen year old son, and there are many times I think that his mouth and brain are not wired together. So often he says things that inflame his brother and sister. Joseph is 17, a teenager. Notice he is with the sons of the concubines – remember the ones sent out first to meet Uncle Esau. And he comes home to tattle on them. I don’t know his heart. It is quite possible that he just cares about his father’s property – and wants to speak the truth to his father to protect the herds. But it is also possible that he wanted to look good at their expense. I am not certain of his motives, but I also know that when my oldest tattles on his brother and sister there can be range wars in our house. It is also important to realize that in this case Joseph is the younger brother – the whippersnapper, the one that the oldest love to look down on as still being wet behind the ears.

  
  

  I think that parents need to be so careful about what they do and say about their children. All my children are favorites in some area, but for a parent to make it apparent to the siblings that there is an only favorite can be a very dangerous move, as we shall see.

  
  

  Verse 3 Now Israel (Not Jacob – so God was not opposed to this. God knew that Joseph would deliver his people, and I know that God can take anything we humans do and turn it so His purposes are served. I just think that sometimes we do things that make it harder on ourselves and others, and God can still use it for good, but it may not have been God’s best. Yet, the hardships Joseph will endure will make him the best leader of his people. We cannot second guess God, but this story tells me that God has it together even when our circumstances tell us otherwise.) loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age. Also he made him a tunic of many colors.

  
  

  Cloth in those days was rare, you couldn’t go to the store and buy it, you made it. A tunic of many colors would have denoted royalty. Joseph was the son of his old age by his favorite wife, and Joseph signaled him out by this coat. Some teacher once suggested that the coat had sleeves, whereas the workmen wore sleeveless tunics, and the sleeves would hold papers and make hard work difficult. It would have been worn by an overseer, not a laborer. Whatever the tunic looked like, it would be a bone of contention for his brothers.

  
  

  I love the Word of God for all the complex emotions it portrays. The same situation, which will be used by God to help the people, also tries all the players, and we begin to see the dangers of acting on our feelings, we get to see the source of jealousy in a situation, and we get to see that God worked all out for good. There are so many layers to examine here.

  
  

  By the way, Jesus had a one piece, seamless garment that lots were cast for. Jesus’s brothers did not respect Him.  And Jesus told the truth when people were not living up to God’s expectations. Sounds a bit like Joseph here.

  
  

  Verse 4 But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.

  
  

  Remember Jesus was hated by his brothers and his own received him not.

  
  

  Beth Moore had some interesting insights about this in her study The Patriarchs. She said on page 167 “Like most of us, Jacob’s portrait of faith had taken shape in many ways, but the edges were still undefined and splattered. Partiality had smeared an ugly gray over his parenting, and everybody in the family bore the spots. When partiality is an issue, everyone in the family pays. The chapters to come will show no one pays more than the one to whom partiality is steered.”

  
  

  Beth goes on to say “The first factor that fed Jacob’s partiality was the reminder of Rachel’s life reflected in Joseph. I believe Jacob saw his beloved Rachel every time he looked into their older son’s face.”  (Benjamin was their younger son).

  
  

  Beth asked us in this study to look honestly at ourselves and where our partialities lie, and then ask the Holy Spirit to convict us and make us aware of the damage the partiality does. To help us to see with His eyes, rather than our biased human eyes.

  
  

  While often the younger son is the favorite, Beth continues on page 168 “Even though Jacob wisely refused to name their younger son after Rachel’s sorrow, surely the very sight of him often pricked Jacob’s wound of loss.

  
  

  Kass, in his book The Beginning of Wisdom is quoted by Beth Moore on page 168 “The elegant ornamented tunic that Jacob provides is not just a decorative gift to a favorite. The garb of rule, it is the sign of Joseph’s elevation. Jacob anoints Joseph as his heir apparent–and he does so relatively early in Joseph’s life.”

  
  

  Then Beth pointed out some facts I had forgotten. “Granted, Joseph didn’t have much competition.” Jacob suffered severe disappointments in several of his older sons. You’ll recall that Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn (by Leah), slept with his father’s concubine. Simeon and Levi showed lack of judgment and self-restraint when they slaughtered the men of Shechem. So all the sons looked at by Jacob for his blessing were passed over because they did not deserve the honor, and it was Joseph who received it.

  
  

  Although there were other brothers who had done no wrong, it was Joseph who was shepherding the brothers. Joseph was a natural leader. Beth says that Joseph at 17 was unusually able, but also irritatingly arrogant. The New International Commentary states that Sternberg says, “God’s future agent and mouthpiece in Egypt could hardly make a worse impression on his first appearance; spoiled brat, tale bearer, braggart.”

  
  

  “Not only did he fan the flame of his father’s partiality toward him with bad reports and tattle tales, but I fear he also savored making his family squirm over his dreams.”

  
  

  The King James version of the first dream, Genesis 37:7,9 Beth quoted and had us circle all the times Joseph said “Behold”. For behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf. And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.

  
  

  Beth points out that there is no hint of humility in the recounting of the dream. Joseph is proud and can’t wait to inform others of his dream. He doesn’t pay attention to the fact that they hated him after the first dream and hated him even more after the second dream.

  
  

  Verse 11 “And his brothers envied him, but his father kept the matter in mind.”

  
  

  Stars in other parts of the Bible symbolize world rulers, and all world rulers will bow down to Jesus. Just like Jesus’ mother, Jacob held Joseph’s words in his heart/mind.

  
  

  Beth says that it is wise to keep some of our dreams to ourselves. page 169-170 “In Joseph’s case, God allowed the dream to make a prophecy with national ramifications recognizable when it was fulfilled. God alone knows if Joseph told the dream with the right heart to the right people.”…Beloved, our relationships with Christ are intimate, and some things between us are private. More than a few times the Gospels record Christ telling an individual not to instantly share what He’d done for them….God’s exaltation of a man is never for the man himself but rather to glorify God and to edify others. Dear one, let’s allow this truth to abide in our marrow: If God ever exalts one of His own with position, wealth, talents, gifts, or influence, His purpose is never–not ever–human exaltation. In fact, the exalted person would be the last one the exaltation was meant to serve. For him or her, the exaltation would be a test and a profound trust over anything else. Mark this equation on the chalkboard of your brain: Exaltation + Ego = Extravagant Humbling.

  
  

  Beth concludes her lesson with another quote from Kass, “Men resist being ruled by one of their own, and they react angrily when one of their own makes a claim to leadership. Before they can accept him, a leader of equals must first prove himself to them and gain their voluntary assent to his ascendancy.”

  
  

  I think I want to find this book by Kass, there seems so much wisdom in its pages.

  
  

  Have a blessed day,

  
  

  Heather
  

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