Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20000402.htm

GENESIS: THE SOURCES OF GOOD AND CALAMITY IN OUR ORIGINS
Part III - God's Ongoing Program Of Countering Man's Apostasy At Babel
BB. Round Twenty-Seven - Learning To Accept God's Sovereignty Over Sinful Human Failure
(Genesis 37:1-35)
  1. Introduction
    1. Sinful human failure creates pain, misery and loss -- that is a "given" in life. However, when sinful human failure occurs, the response of God's people TO that failure, even if they are innocent victims of it in the lives of others around them, must be one of faith in God's sovereignty.
    2. Joseph was not a wicked man, but he was perhaps very unwise, and that fact, coupled with the sinful human failure in his father, Jacob and in his jealous brothers resulted in his being rejected and enslaved. Nevertheless, the hand of God appeared in the events of the family's failure, calling us to rely upon God's sovereign oversight even in the midst of human sinful failure, and thus not to lose ho pe:
  2. Learning To Accept God's Sovereignty Over Sinful Human Failure, Genesis 37:1-35.
    1. As we learned in the last lesson, God allowed Jacob to see a problem existed between him and at least his eldest son, Reuben by Reuben's apparent effort to claim dominance over his father in becoming intimate with his father's mistress , cf. Genesis 35:22; Bible Knowledge Commentary, Old Testament, p. 85.
    2. Yet, instead of looking to the Lord in faith to deal with this problem, Jacob also ignored the chaos parental favoritism had wrought in his relationship with brother, Esau, and unjustly favored Joseph, Genesis 37:3.
      1. Since Joseph was the first son born of Rachel, Jacob's favorite wife, and the son of his old age, Jacob loved him above all Jacob's other half-brothers, Genesis 37:3a.
      2. This love was shown by Jacob's making Joseph a coat which archaeologists have learned was decorated with silver and gold. Such a coat was given to the one who would rule as a king or obtain the majority of the family inheritance that the eldest son normally would re ceive (comments by Ken Barker, former professor at Dallas Seminary and current General Editor of the New International Version).
      3. Thus, Jacob terribly hurt his other sons, unwisely not paying heed to the problem of parental favoritism of his own unhappy childhood, cf. Genesis 25:28; 27:1-46.
    3. Coupled with this problem was the jealous realization by Joseph's half-brothers that Joseph was the favored son. They thus sinfully hated Joseph out of jealousy, Genesis 37:4.
    4. Joseph perhaps unwisely gave a negative report about his half-brothers, possibly innocently seeking to see righteousness done in the process, Genesis 37:2. Thus, the stage was set for a family crisis.
    5. What is most interesting to observe at this point is the fact that God HIMSELF supplied some prophetic dreams to Joseph to bring the sin in the family out into the open where it could be handled, 37:5-8, 9-11:
      1. The dreams Joseph experienced at this point all hinted of his exaltation and the submission of his jealous brothers to him, a further antagonizing factor in cooperation with the coat issue of G en. 37:3-4:
        1. The first dream of Joseph pictured his brothers submitting to him, Genesis 37:5-7. This dream antagonized the brothers further, adding fuel to the flame of the coat issue, Gen. 37:8 with 37:3-4.
        2. The second dream built upon the first one, indicating that even Joseph's parents with his eleven brothers would be submitted to him, Genesis 37:9. When Jacob himself heard of this second dream, he balked at t he idea of Joseph's ruling him, but yet he kept the dream in mind, Genesis 37:10.
      2. We know these dreams were from God as seen in John's reference to the second dream in Revelation 12:1. It there pictures the coming rule of Israel over the nations (prefigured by Joseph's reign in Egypt).
      3. Thus, God HIMSELF tipped the balance to get the sins of the family out in the open to deal with these sins and keep the family unit going for Israel's final triumph in Israel's coming Kingdom!
    6. Accordingly, the brothers, inflamed further by Joseph's dreams, plotted to take action against Joseph that led him to be sold into slavery, Genesis 37:12-18, 19-35. The plan of God w as thereby simply advanced!
Lesson: When sinful human failure inflicts havoc among God's people, God's SOVEREIGN hand is still at work in their midst to make all things in the havoc work out for His ultimate glory!

Application: We should trust in God's sovereign control and not give up even in what seems to be a hopeless tragedy of sinful failures, for God is BIGGER than the SINS of even His OWN people!