Genesis 37:1-23; 39:1-45:15 (HCSB)
Allow me to start off this
chapter with a question for you to think about or discuss with your family or
small group…
If somebody were to watch a
movie about your life, would they try to compare you to Jesus?
Have you noticed how we try
to compare things to Christianity or even Jesus? I bet you can think of a movie that could closely relate to
Jesus. I have heard people say
movies like The Matrix, The Lord of the Rings or even Superman Returns all have elements that
point towards Jesus. I even have
books on my shelf that look into media and how it can be tied into Jesus,
faith, and Christianity. One of
them is titled The Gospel Reloaded,
and the book explores spirituality and faith found in The Matrix. Ok, I can
see how certain things in those movies can be looked at with some similarity to
Jesus. There is another book on my
shelf, The Gospel According to The
Simpsons. This book talks
about all of the spiritual elements found in the TV series and how they point
to different religions and their beliefs.
Yes, there are a lot of religious elements found in that show, but there
is no way I would ever think The Simpsons
was intentionally written for us to look to Jesus. I even have a hard time believing The Matrix or Superman Returns
were written to reflect Christ.
Now please, don’t get me
wrong, I love movies. I mean I
really love movies. My wife can
attest to my love (she calls addiction) to movies. I use them all the time when preaching or teaching to help
illustrate a point. One church I
worked for in Maryland did a series every summer based on current Hollywood
movies and what we can learn from them.
Great stuff can be taught from watching other people go through life’s
trials and experiences, but I simply have a hard time believing certain movies
were made to tell about Jesus.
I am not trying to make fun of
anybody who sees Christ portrayed through certain media.
If they see it and feel God there, then
that is something between them and God; and I am in no place to argue or judge.
All I am saying is if you want an
attention-grabbing movie to reach people and tell the greatest story ever…then
make a movie about Jesus.
Examples…
The Passion of The Christ
and
Son of God.
But there are stories that
point towards Jesus and should be looked at with Jesus in mind. Which ones are they? Every single story found in the
Bible. There is a fantastic
children’s book written by Sally Llyod-Jones called The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name. She tells the stories of the Bible and
how Jesus is present or pointed to in every single part of scripture, and I
could not agree with her more!
Our story today is one I
believe points towards the life of Jesus.
When Joseph is taught about, we very often pick apart his life using
this instance or that moment. What
if we looked at his life in one big story all at once from his dreams till he
brings his family to Egypt? I believe the story of Joseph parallels Jesus’ life
so closely, we see God’s plan for what Jesus would eventually do for us. Keep Jesus’ life in mind while you
ready about Joseph.
Story
Time:
Joseph’s Life: Dreams to Brother
Reveal
Jacob, who was also called Israel,
lived in the land of Canaan and had many sons, one known as Joseph. When Joseph was about seventeen years
old, he would tend the sheep with his brothers and report back to Jacob what
was going on out in the pasture.
Jacob made for Joseph a robe of many
colors because he loved Joseph more than any of his other sons. This robe would have been very
beautiful and very expensive because of the high cost of the colored threads used
to make it, not the type of clothing you would have seen a shepherd
wearing. This robe was a one of a
kind and not duplicated for the other brothers. It became obvious that Jacob loved Joseph more than the rest
of them and they hated him deeply.
They couldn’t even speak to him in a loving way.
Joseph then begins having
dreams. These aren’t just any old
dreams about flying or swimming in ice cream, these were prophetic dreams,
dreams about the future and what God had in-store for Joseph. As we will see later, God gave Joseph
the ability to interpret dreams and help people understand what they meant.
He tells his brothers his first
dream by saying, “’There we were, binding sheaves of grain in the field. Suddenly my sheaf stood up, and your
sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf’” (Genesis 37:7). I guess when all you do all day is work
in the fields, you dream about grain.
Doesn’t sound like the kind of dream you wake up from excited to tell
others…but Joseph did. He told his
brothers, and instead of them being curious about the dream, they hated even
more because the dream implied Joseph would rule over them.
You think Joseph would have learned
from the mocking he received from his first dream; he would have kept the next
one to himself. Well he didn’t
learn, and he didn’t keep it to himself.
He not only told his brothers the dream, but his father as well. In this dream the sun, moon and eleven
stars bowed down to him. Of course
this made his brothers jealous of him and hate him even more. His father, Jacob, even rebuked him
saying, “What is this dream? Do
you think we are all going to bow to you?” However, even though Jacob rebuked him, he kept the thought
in the back of his mind.
Sometime later Joseph’s brothers
were tending flocks near the town of Schechem. Israel (also known as Jacob) sends Joseph to go check on
them and bring a report back to him.
Now Joseph being the good obedient son does what his father asks, but
did he not remember his brothers hate him? Did that thought not pass through his head and say, “Sure
dad, if you really want me to do
this, I will. But I don’t think it
is such a good idea on account of MY BROTHERS HATE MY GUTS!!” Maybe Joseph really had no idea his
brothers felt the way they did?
Maybe he did know, but didn’t really care what they thought about him? This is the part in the movie where you
are yelling at the TV, “Really Joseph?!
Don’t go! They want to hurt
you!” All we know is he is told to
go and he obeys.
Let’s quickly look at a list of
reasons Joseph’s brothers hated him so much before we continue on with our
story. This will help us better
understand why there was such hatred.
1. Joseph
was the youngest. Do you have a
younger sibling who you feel gets more attention than you do?
2. Joseph
was given nice gifts while his brothers did not. Imagine how you would feel left out or unfairly treated if
your younger brother or sister got a really nice expensive gift and you got
nothing. Would you wonder why?
3. Joseph
was the son of Rachel and Jacob’s favorite. Jacob had 4 wives – Leah, Rachel, Bilhah and Zilpah. Bilhah and Zilpah were also the
maidservants of Leah and Rachel.
Leah was a very unattractive woman who was Rachel’s sister and the first
women Jacob married. He was
tricked into marrying her and didn’t really want to. His heart was always set on Rachel. A beautiful woman, whom he married,
loved more than anything and only gave him two children, Joseph and Benjamin.
4. Joseph
had dreams, the he shared to his family, about how he was going to be greater
and rule over them. Obviously it created hatred and jealousy.
5. I’m
sure there are even more reasons as to why Joseph was so hated by his brothers
that it caused them to contemplate murder.
Joseph’s brothers seeing him coming
in the distance and they begin to talk about killing him. Their hatred and jealousy had gotten so
bad; they were willing to kill their own brother. They were going to hide his body in a deep pit or cistern
and say he was attacked and killed by a wild animal. All that just so they didn’t have to listen to his dreams
anymore.
As they were plotting how to kill
Joseph, Reuben, the oldest brother, steps in and tries to save Joseph. He convinces them to not kill Joseph,
but instead just toss him into one of the deep pits. Now we can speculate why Reuben stepped in, but all we know
was his intentions were to save Joseph, come back for him and return him to his
father. Probably to try and earn
some points on the “who does daddy love more scale” so he could at least be the
second favorite. Especially since,
according to Genesis 35:22, Reuben sleeps with Bilhah, his stepmother, which
doesn’t make Jacob happy. The
point is, we don’t know the true meaning behind Ruben’s intentions; all we know
is he was able to keep Joseph alive.
Joseph reaches his brothers and as
soon as he does, they grabbed him, tore off his robe given to him by Jacob and
tossed him into one of the pits. I
wonder if Joseph was surprised when his brothers attacked him? Maybe he had been expecting something
to happen to him if he had any indication that his brothers hated him? Either way, I can only imagine he was
scared and heartbroken by the events that just took place.
The brothers sit down for a meal and
see some Ishmaelite travelers in the distance. At this point Judah steps in and speaks up to sell Joseph to
the Ishmaelites instead of killing him.
They all seem to agree with this new plan and sell Joseph for 20 pieces
of silver. Joseph is now under the
control of these Ishmaelite travelers and is taken to Egypt.
Apparently Reuben was not around for
the selling transaction of Joseph, because verse 29 of Genesis chapter 37
indicates he returned to find Joseph gone. Reuben then tears his clothes upon seeing Joseph gone as a
sign of sadness or being distraught.
We don’t know if Reuben tore his clothes because his plan had be foiled
to return Joseph to his father; or if he thought he brothers had gone ahead
with the plan to kill him. Most
people believe the latter. Maybe
it was a little of both?
In order to cover up the fact that
Joseph was missing, the brothers slaughtered a goat and dipped Joseph’s robe in
the blood. Hoping to fool their
father into thinking Joseph was dead they took him the now blood stained robe
for him to see. When Jacob saw the
robe covered in blood he tore his clothes, put sackcloth around his waist,
mourned for several days. His
children tried to comfort him, but he refused. As for Joseph…the Ishmaelites sold him to Potiphar, an
Egyptian and captain of the guard.
Joseph now begins a new life in
Egypt serving under Potiphar. God
blessed Joseph in everything he did and Potiphar came to notice how everything
Joseph did or was a part of he was very successful. When Potiphar saw this, he placed Joseph in charge of
everything he owned and of his entire household, and God continued to bless
Joseph causing Potiphar to have complete confidence in Joseph. The Bible mentions Potiphar trusted
Joseph so much he didn’t concern himself with anything except the food he
ate. I know if I was Potiphar and
only worried about the food I was eating…I most definitely would be fat.
Let’s talk about Potiphar for a
second. He was the captain of the
guard, which meant he held a pretty high position in Egypt. Obviously not as high as Pharaoh, but a
very important position nonetheless.
Now the Bible doesn’t say, but I would have to imagine that Potiphar wad
a very lovely wife. It would be
hard for me to accept that somebody as important and as powerful as Potiphar
had an ugly wife. Maybe she was, I
don’t know; but what we do know, ugly or not, she had a burning desire for
Joseph. Verse seven of Genesis 39
says she “looked longingly at Joseph.”
That means she had googily eyes for him.
Potiphar’s wife tried time after
time to woo Joseph into her bed; and even though she tried so hard, Joseph
refused to sleep with her. One day
she had such a desire to take Joseph to bed she grabbed him by his garment and
begged him to have sex with her.
Leaving his piece of clothing behind, Joseph ran outside and away from
her. When she realized a sexual
rendezvous wasn’t going to happen and she still held his clothing, “she called
the household servants. ‘Look,’ she said to them, ‘my husband brought a Hebrew
man to make fools of us. He came to me so he could sleep with me, and I screamed
as loud as I could. When he heard
me screaming for help, he left his garment with me and ran outside’” (Genesis
39:14-15). Ahh, the wrath of a
woman scorned.
Potiphar’s wife keeps Joseph’s
clothes next her on the bed and waits for Potiphar to come home. She tells him the whole story of what
happened (keep in mind her version of the story) and Potiphar becomes furious
having Joseph thrown in jail. Not
just any jail, but the prison used for those who wrong Pharaoh, the king. Of course the Lord was still with
Joseph and still continued to bless him in everything he did. Just as Potiphar had placed everything
under Joseph’s control, so did the warden of the prison place everything under
Joseph’s authority.
While in prison Joseph meets to guys
who used to work for Pharaoh, the chief cupbearer and chief baker. We don’t what they did exactly, but
they offended Pharaoh in some way and he had them thrown into prison. Maybe they served him an awful tasting
wine and a birthday cake they should have been a strawberry cake instead of
chocolate.
One night, on the same night, they
both had a dream and woke up the next morning very troubled. Having found out they both had dreams
and were upset because they didn’t know what they meant, Joseph had them tell him
the dreams so he could interpret them and show God’s power. The cupbearer told Joseph this, “‘In my
dream there was a vine in front of me.
On the vine were three branches. As soon as it budded, its blossoms came out and its clusters
ripened into grapes. Pharaoh’s cup
was in my hand, and I took the grapes, squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and
placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand’” (Genesis 40:9-11). Joseph goes on to interpret the dream telling the cupbearer,
“‘The three branches are three days.
In just three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you
to your position. You will put
Pharaoh’s cup in his hand the way you used to when you were his cupbearer’”
(Genesis 40:12-13). Since the
dream came with a happy ending, Joseph asked the cupbearer to remember him and
tell Pharaoh what he had done for him so Pharaoh might release Joseph from
prison.
Now the baker heard the wonderful
news the cupbearer had just received and asked Joseph to tell him what his
dream meant. The baker says to Joseph,
“‘I also had a dream. Three baskets of white bread were on my head. In the top basket were all sorts of
baked goods for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them out of the basket on my
head’” (Genesis 40:16-17). Joseph
interprets the bakers dream and says to him, “‘The three baskets are three days. In just three days Pharaoh will lift up
your head — from off you — and hang you on a tree. Then the birds will eat
the flesh from your body’” (Genesis 40:18-19). I think the baker regretted asking Joseph to interpret his
dream.
Three days later Pharaoh has a
birthday party and brings back the cupbearer and baker. Pharaoh restores the cupbearer to his
position, but has the baker hanged, just as Joseph had said. However, the cupbearer did not remember
to tell Pharaoh about Joseph and he remained in prison. (Remember
this friends…when the President of the United States asks you to make him a
birthday cake, make sure you get it right!)
Two years has now passed and poor
Joseph is still in jail. Pharaoh
now has a couple of dreams one night and is troubled by what they mean. He calls for all the magicians and wise
men of Egypt to interpret his dreams.
He tells them the dreams about how “He was standing beside the Nile, when
seven healthy-looking, well-fed cows came up from the Nile and began to graze
among the reeds. After them, seven
other cows, sickly and thin, came up from the Nile and stood beside those cows
along the bank of the Nile. The
sickly, thin cows ate the healthy, well-fed cows.” (Genesis 41:1-4). And how “Seven
heads of grain, plump and ripe, came up on one stalk. After them, seven heads of grain, thin and scorched by the
east wind, sprouted up. The
thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven plump, ripe ones.” (Genesis
41:5-7). The magicians and wise
men were unable to interpret Pharaoh’s dreams. Then finally the cupbearer remembers that Joseph had asked
him to tell Pharaoh about him and now proceeds to do so. He told Pharaoh all about Joseph and
how the dreams Joseph interpreted for him and the baker came true.
Pharaoh has Joseph brought to him
and asks him to interpret the dreams.
Joseph humbly replies, “I cannot, but God can.” I guess that answer was good enough for
Pharaoh and he tells Joseph his dreams.
After hearing the dreams, Joseph replies,
“‘Pharaoh’s dreams mean
the same thing. God has revealed
to Pharaoh what He is about to do.
The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven ripe heads are seven
years. The dreams mean the same
thing. The seven thin, ugly cows
that came up after them are seven years, and the seven worthless, scorched
heads of grain are seven years of famine.
It is just as I told Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to
do. Seven years of great
abundance are coming throughout the land of Egypt. After them, seven years of famine will take place, and all
the abundance in the land of Egypt will be forgotten. The famine will devastate the land. The abundance in the land will not
be remembered because of the famine that follows it, for the famine will be
very severe. Since the dream was
given twice to Pharaoh, it means that the matter has been determined by God,
and He will carry it out soon’” (Genesis 41:25-32).
Not only did Joseph tell Pharaoh
what the dream meant, but he also goes on to tell him how to prepare for the
famine that is coming. He tells
Pharaoh to appoint a person who is very wise and discerning over the entire
land of Egypt. This person will
help collect a portion of the harvest during the seven good years and keep it
in storage so they will have it for the seven bad years of the famine. This way, the famine will not affect
them and they will be able to continue on with a happy life.
Pharaoh recognizes what amazing
thing Joseph has just done and that there is nobody else like him. In taking Joseph’s advice about the
famine, Pharaoh appoints Joseph in charge by saying, “‘Since God has made all
this know to you, there is no one as intelligent and wise as you are. You will be over my house, and all my
people will obey your commands.
Only with regard to the throne will I be greater than you’” (Genesis
41:39-40). Whoa! Joseph was just made the most powerful
man in all of Egypt right behind Pharaoh.
The story of Joseph continues on
talking about the steps he took to ensure Egypt was unharmed during the famine
and how God blessed Joseph’s efforts in collecting food even greater than what
anybody probably imagined. They were able to sell food to surrounding people
who were not Egyptians but were also affected by the famine. Of those people, was Joseph’s family.
Jacob sends all of Joseph’s brothers
except Benjamin to go get some food so they can survive the famine. Benjamin
was the youngest and only other son besides Joseph to his wife Rachel. Rachel had died will giving birth to
Benjamin and Jacob held a special place in his heart for Benjamin much like he
did for Joseph.
While in Egypt the brother’s meet
the man who is the second greatest in all of Egypt, but don’t know it is really
their brother Joseph. Joseph
accuses them of being spies and keeps Simeon in jail sending the rest of them
back home telling them they can only get Simeon back if they return with their
youngest brother, Benjamin. Jacob
of course refuses to send Benjamin back for fear of losing another son, especially
since he belongs to Rachel. Judah
eventually convinces his father to let Benjamin return with them to Egypt in
order to get back Simeon and buy more grain since their first batch had run
out. They also took double the
amount of money to buy the grain since Joseph did not take any of their money
the first time, as well as gifts from their land to give to Joseph. They thought something had happened and
were fearful when they realized they still had the money that was supposed to
be used to buy the grain. In order
to show good favor they took extra money to buy more grain and return the money
from their first purchase and to have Simeon released and Benjamin left
unharmed.
While in Egypt a second time, they
all had a feast together and Joseph sent them on their way back home. Without they knowing he had a silver
cup placed in Benjamin’s sack in order to test them and see of they were truly
sorry for what they had to him.
The guards catch up to the brothers as they were leaving and brought
them back to Joseph after finding the silver cup in Benjamin’s sack of
grain. Joseph declares the
punishment for this is for Benjamin to remain in Egypt as his slave.
Upon hearing this, Judah pleas for
Joseph to not keep Benjamin as his slave because of the deep sorrow it would
bring to their father, Jacob.
Judah explains how they believe Joseph to be dead and if they were to
return home without Benjamin, Jacob’s sorrow, for losing Joseph and now
Benjamin, would be so great he would die in his sadness. Joseph seeing the compassion his
brother’s have for Benjamin and his father, becomes overwhelmed and sends
everybody out of the room except for the brothers. Joseph takes off his “Clark Kent glasses” and reveals
himself to his brothers.
The relationship is now restored
between Joseph and his brothers.
The story continues with Jacob being told Joseph is still alive and the
whole family moving to Egypt to be with Joseph.
My
Thoughts:
This is the classic story of Joseph
that if you grew up in the church have probably heard so many times.
This story is used countless times to
teach us countless lessons about family, faithfulness, love, fleeing from sin…I
could really keep going and probably fill the rest of this page.
So if this is a story that we have been
told many times before, and if this is a story that holds so many life lessons,
then where is the fluff?
The
fluff, for me, in this story comes from not compiling all those lessons and
parts of Joseph’s life and seeing how his life can be so closely compared to
that of another.
I mentioned at the beginning of this
section who this story parallels.
Maybe you kept that in your head as you read through the story and saw
places where we see Jesus based on Joseph’s life. Maybe you are thinking, “Anthony, are you feeling ok? Because I don’t see it.” Or maybe you forgot and I just reminded
you. How about we look at this
chart to see how close the similarities are between Joseph and Jesus…
Do you see it now?
Of course there are differences between
Joseph and Jesus.
Joseph didn’t
physically come back from the dead, but in the minds and hearts of his family
who thought he was dead…Joseph came back to life.
Where the true parallelism comes for Joseph and Jesus is how
Joseph lived his life.
A life
where he loved those who treated him unfairly.
A life where he gave honor and glory to God for the things
he accomplished.
A life, that I
believe, falls in-line with Jesus’ teachings in Luke 9:23 and Paul’s teachings
in Philippians 2:5.
It is a daily choice to live
according to how Jesus has called us to live. A daily sacrifice to do what is right even it means people
not understanding and giving you a hard time because of it. In Luke 9:23 Jesus tells us, “If anyone
wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and
follow Me.” Joseph was beaten,
sold into slavery, thrown into prison and forgotten about. And even in the midst of all the horrible
moments, he still praised, still honored and still gave credit to God. Which in turn shows how much Joseph’s
attitude through the good and bad times was truly reflective of God’s
character. That attitude and Godly
spirit is how we should carry ourselves in all situations as Paul tells us in
Philippians 2:5 “make your own attitude that of Christ Jesus.”
Believe me, all of this is A LOT
harder to do than it is to read it right now on these pages. In Genesis, we only glimpses of
Joseph’s life. We don’t see the
times dad told him to do something and he gave a snarky remark back in
opposition. We don’t see the times
mom told him to not go and play by those caves and he did it anyway. We don’t see the times he messed up on
the job and got a mark on his employee record with Potiphar or Pharaoh. We don’t see the times that made Joseph
just like you and me. What we do
see are the times Joseph had to make a choice to either do the right thing and
honor God or do what he thought would
have benefited him best. What we
do see is Joseph keeping his focus on Jesus. What we do see is endurance in Joseph’s faith to keep on
going and chasing after God rather than giving into temptation.
Keeping your focus on Jesus keeps us
in line with him and gives us the strength to keep living the way He wants us
to. Hebrews 12:1-2b says,
“Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us,
let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that
lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our
faith.” Our faith is only strong
when we have Jesus and others who are encouraging us along the way. And when our faith is strong, our
attitudes are more like Jesus than any other time. Don’t think, however, you can have the Christ-like attitude
and strong faith by going at it alone.
You need other people!
I have a good amount of people in my
life who challenge me to be the Godliest person I can be. I could easily list about ten names,
but there are two who really keep me on my toes…my wife and my best friend. My wife, Jen, is an amazing person! (And yes, she is also my best friend or
I probably wouldn’t have married her.)
She loves Jesus as much as, if not more, than I do. She is always challenging me to be a
better husband, father, friend and Christian example. She is my saving grace and I would not be who I am with out
her. People, who know us and are
reading this right now, might say I am not giving her enough credit, and they
would be right…she is amazing.
Then there is Rob, my best friend and accountability partner. We meet regularly, when he is not out
of the country on some mission trip, to pray together and for each other. If one of us does something dumb, the
other has no fear in calling the other out without thought of damaging the
relationship. Our friendship is
built on Christ and the understanding that we are friends, yes; but we are
family first. Friends come and go,
but you always have family. Family
is loving and helpful with each other, but they are also honest and raw with
each other. Rob and I treat each
other like brothers.
I might be going on a little tangent
here, but what I want us to remember is living our life like Jesus means
keeping our focus on Him. And
keeping on focus on Him can only be best done with other people helping. In all things Joseph walked with
God. Keep your eyes on Jesus so
you too can walk with God.
Discussion
Questions:
- What
about Joseph do you admire the most?
- Do
you think there was any way Joseph could have handled certain situations
differently? If so, how would the
outcome been different?
- What
parts of your life (spiritual and non-spiritual) do you think could be a little
better?
- On
a scale of 1 to 10, how much do you think your life is parallel to Jesus’? (Be
honest with yourself. Giving a
false number to this question will only hinder the growth you need to do in
your faith.)
- Who
do you know in your life would be more parallel with Jesus than you? What about their life (spiritual and
non-spiritual) makes you admire them?
- This
is more of an assignment than a question, but go to that person and ask if they
would be willing to be your accountability partner. See if they would be willing to help you grow in your faith
and make your life more parallel with Jesus’.
- What
are steps you can take, besides the one we just mentioned, to help get you more
in tuned with the way Jesus has called us to live?
- One
last thing…make sure you end in prayer.
