10.30 Sun 9th Oct 2005 Pam Leake
Genesis 37:1-17 Young Joseph
SLIDE 1
What was childhood like for Joseph? He was his mother Rachel’s long awaited son, and then when he was born she named him “Joseph” which means as Duncan said last week, “Lord, give me another one”.
The names people gave their children in Bible times were words in everyday use. Like “Joy” which is my middle name and that of my daughter and granddaughter. I am glad my father didn’t give me the middle name of, “I’d have preferred a son”. He thought a boy would be more interested in cars and bikes! I wouldn’t like to be constantly reminded, every time someone called my name that I wasn’t the preferred sex. When Rachel’s other child Benjamin did come along she died in childbirth.
Joseph was the apple of his father’s eye, as he was so much like his mother, and Jacob displayed this love greatly. Which makes me wonder if he was bullied by older brothers. Not only because for a long time he was the youngest, but also because he was Dad’s favourite. So when dad wasn’t watching did they jealously, bully him and make fun of him?
“It is all right for you, you are Dad’s favourite. Little goody-goody.” “Well, we’re not taken in by your looks and the way you pretend to be nice to everyone”. Jealousy blinds eyes to the truth. Poor Joseph!
When my son Jonathan was a child his favourite cassette tape was Joseph and His Technicolor Dream-coat.
SLIDE 2 and PLAY TAPE
Having heard the tape hundreds of times, my memory of the songs is better than my memory of the Joseph passage in the Bible. Even today the musical is often performed at schools. Many of us think we know the Bible story, but perhaps in parts we are remembering the musical.
Take Joseph’s coat.
On the tape Joseph is rather proud. “I’m a walking work of art”, he says. But in the Bible, Joseph himself doesn’t mention his coat.
SLIDE 3
Ask most people, Christian or non Christian what his coat was like and they will say multi-coloured . . . . Just like people believe there were ‘Three Wise Men’ in the nativity story. It was a special coat, of distinction, as it was long and had sleeves.
SLIDE 3A
Most tunics were sleeveless and stopped at the knees; they were worn by working men. A long sleeved, full length robe was worn by someone that did not have to do manual work. By giving Joseph this garment Jacob was implying Joseph was manager of the farm. Not a wise move by Jacob.
SLIDE 3B
The older brothers could and did take exception to this gift, but it wasn’t Joseph’s fault. He may have thought, “Dad, this isn’t going to help my relationship with my brothers. But what alternative do I have but wear it”. Dad was a wealthy farmer, but in those days, even the wealthy only had one or maybe two coats.
As a child Joseph had probably been wearing hand me down clothes. Which is OK if there is only two or three in a family, but he is number twelve. I bet his childhood clothes were quite worn. Now he is given the brand new coat of a young executive, but not a multicoloured, impractical coat, and we have no Biblical evidence to say he was boastful.
People gossiped and made assumptions then, they do it now, and they did it in when Jesus walked on earth. Sometimes people’s assumptions are right. But even when they are, real care, prayer, and listening to God, should take place before voicing them.
SLIDE 4
I’ve heard people state they believe in “speaking my mind”, “calling a spade a spade”, or “speaking the truth in love”.
It was probably people who spoke like that, who Jesus was thinking about when he said -
SLIDE 4A
“For John the Baptist didn't drink wine and he often fasted, and you say, `He's demon possessed.' And I, the Son of Man, feast and drink, and you say, `He's a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of the worst sort of sinners!"? (Matthew 11:18-19 NLT)
How do you think those words made John and Jesus feel? Pray and listen to God before you speak. I’m sure we have all been the victim at some time of the false assumptions, and hurtful words people make.
Whatever Joseph’s attitude was to receiving his coat, his brothers were jealous. He couldn’t win.
SLIDE 5
It is said, “It is easier to weep with those who weep than it is to rejoice with those who rejoice”. Why? Because when someone else receives, we seem to feel that it is at our expense. That somehow they are taking something from us!
SLIDE 6
An ancient story from the fourth century tells of inexperienced demons finding great difficulty in tempting a godly hermit.
They lured him with every manner of temptation, but he could not be enticed. Frustrated, the imps returned to Satan and told him of their plight.
He responded that they had been far too hard on the monk.
"Send him a message," he said, "that his brother has just been made bishop of Antioch. Bring him good news." Mystified by the devil's advice, the demons nevertheless returned and gave the wonderful news to the hermit. SLIDE 6A
And, in that very instant, he fell--into deep, wicked jealousy. [Hughes, Liberating Ministry from the Success Syndrome p.100]
Jealousy is dangerous.
Jacob failed to be consistent with his children. He showed he had a favourite. He should have looked for
the praiseworthy attributes in each of his children, and praised them for these. He should have affirmed them all with a love that was unconditional.
It seems Jacob failed in some areas, as we all do, but God was to use this failure for the good of the family.
SLIDE 7
Joseph obviously had a God given gifting for management. We will see this in a couple of weeks at Potiphar’s house where he was given “complete administrative responsibility over everything Potiphar owned” (39.6).
Remember the coat Joseph was given by his dad was that of an overseer. I suspect he probably had experience of management and handling servants at home, before entering Potiphar’s service.
SLIDE 7A
The only people he couldn’t manage were his brother’s, and they were probably livid when he suggested to Dad that the method’s they used could be done better, in others ways. Hard work seems to come naturally to Joseph, and maybe it didn’t come as naturally to his brother’s, and hence he was reporting SLIDE 7B “the bad things his brothers were doing.” As mentioned in today’s passage.
Whether Jacob made Joseph a trainee manager or not he seemed to be blind to the problems he was causing between his older children and Joseph.
Then Joseph has a vivid dream about bundles of grain, and tells his brothers about it.
SLIDE 8
Joseph said, “My bundle stood up, and then your bundles all gathered around and bowed low before it!"
"So you are going to be our king, are you?" his brothers taunted.
Interpretation of dreams seems to be a family gift from God.
If I was told about a dream in which bundles of grain were standing on their ends, and then one bent over, I’d think they were just happy bundles at being harvested and so were dancing. What would you think? Joseph’s brothers actually got the interpretation right.
It is possible that Joseph thought it just a funny dream. Have you ever shared strange, funny dreams with your family?
Maybe Joseph’s family’s reaction made him start asking God for the gift of interpretation of dreams, for the first time, and knowing the difference between messages from God and normal everyday dreams.
“This is not the kind of thing we brothers like to hear. It seems to us that Joseph and his dreams should disappear”. Sing the brothers in the musical.
Joseph has another similar dream, and in the musical sings, “Could it be I was born for higher things than you. A post in someone’s government”.
Joseph says none of this. As far as we know all he says is what he saw in his dream. At the time he gives no explanation of his dreams. Only his brothers and father do that. Notice his mother is still alive, at the time of the dreams. He must have grown since her death and then had the coat.
However, it seems Joseph just did the same as his father, and continued to ponder the meaning of his dream.
SLIDE 9
The family business is mainly shepherding. We know from what Jesus says, that sheep have to ‘get to know’ their shepherd
“The sheep hear his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. (John 10:3 NLT)
So what happens when a new shepherd is put in charge? At first the sheep don’t recognise his voice, and the other shepherds start to grumble. It isn’t fair the sheep don’t even recognise his voice.
Have you ever had a new boss, one who doesn’t know your job at all? Have you resented his interference especially if he is younger than you?
On the other hand, maybe you have been that new boss. It isn’t easy is it? If you try to be friendly, they try to ignore your instruction and walk all over you. And if you point out silly practices they have evolved they sulk and moan.
This is the problem Joseph had. Of course he then had to report back to the ‘BIG BOSS’ their father. He had a responsibility to report to dad what he saw as the “the bad things they were doing.” It wouldn’t help his relationship with his brothers.
SLIDE 9A
It all comes to a head when the brothers have been sent to tend the sheep near Shechem, and have been gone a long time. Shechem is the town where Simeon and Levi, two of Jacobs sons, had massacred all the men in the town, soon after Rachel’s death, because the prince had raped Leah’s daughter, Dinah. Jacob would be getting worried for the safety of his sons.
I can’t help wondering why Joseph went there alone. If Jacob was worrying about if anything had happened to his other sons; why did Joseph go on his own? I should imagine Joseph was worried about meeting murderous men from Shechem and not murderous brothers.
When finally Joseph found them in Dothan, I should imagine he probably greeted them with a relieved shout and smile.
SLIDE 10
Has anyone ever been jealous of you?
You may not even realise others do feel that way about you, and can’t understand their unpleasant attitude towards you.
Either way. It isn’t easy being like Joseph is it? Jesus of course suffered in a similar way at the hands of the Pharisees.
Of course at times it may be you who is the jealous, envious, bitter, resenting, angry, self-pitying one, who is rejecting someone else. So do regular, honest, evaluations of yourself.
SLIDE 11
As Christians we should be becoming more and more like Jesus. Theologians describe Joseph as a “reflection” of Jesus in the Old Testament. So our attitude to others should be similar to that of Joseph. When you think about his brothers attitude towards him, that is not a comforting thought.
Someone once said, “Sometimes I get the feeling the whole world is against me, but deep down I know that’s not true. Some of the smaller countries are neutral." Do you ever feel like that?
It is amazing when you look at Joseph’s family as Duncan told us last week that he is an OK guy. He comes from what today we call a dysfunctional family. Actually, I’ve read that that most of us have some dysfunctional elements in parts of our family experiences. We can choose to overcome them.
Joseph had a brother who has slept with his step mother, other brothers who committed multiple murder, and that’s just some of the skeletons. Joseph overcame that environmental conditioning and peer pressure. He listened to God’s voice, and did not follow his family’s bad traits.
He like us had a choice of how to respond. How we respond in various situations is our choice. We can choose to listen to, and follow, God, our own desires and thoughts or Satan.
God is not going to ask us how we compared with those around us. He is not going to evaluate us on the basis of the awards we received, the possessions we obtained, or the applause we gained.
What God will look at is, did you live faithfully? Did you use what God gave you, as effectively as you could? Did you make the most of the opportunities he gave you?
Joseph may have complained to God many times, “What is the point of me trying to be nice to my brothers when they are still so nasty to me?”
God probably answered,
“Because I love you and them and want you to be nice to them”.
Up to now life had been quite good for Joseph. Soon things are going to change.
One of the greatest deceptions Satan offers is the belief, "If you just give your life to God you will, not have any more real problems."
Yes, Satan gives us that idea.
Because he knows the moment some of us have some real problems, we assume God is either not real after all or doesn’t really care, because He didn’t do anything to change our situation.
SLIDE 12
Joseph is going to have to learn and believe, ”That God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God” (Romans 8:28 NLT). And learn that thousands of years before Paul wrote it!
For the next thirteen years Joseph will be a slave and a prisoner. It doesn’t sound like good news. He will have the choice of listening even harder to God and following God’s way of love.
SLIDE 13
He will have the opportunity of listening to God and learning to interpret dreams. He will have the opportunity of trusting, that God will bring about the fulfilment, of the meaning, of his own dreams, that so, upset, his family at the time.
SLIDE 13A
How do we overcome our experience of rejection, abandonment, being disliked, ill-treated?
When we look at all the times Joseph could have been overcome by depression, hatred, rejection, we ask how did he keep on? SLIDE 13B
Joseph had a confidence, trust and love for God which we should all learn. He listened to, and trusted in God, and would say with Paul.
SLIDE 14
…for I have learned how to get along happily whether I have much or little. ... I have learned the secret of living in every situation. (Philippians 4:11-12 NLT)
SLIDE 15
Though I walk the darkest path, I will not fear the evil one, For You are with me, and Your rod and staff Are the comfort I need to know.
Amen.