God’s Mind-Blowing Work
Genesis 37-50 (45:4-11)
February 1, 2015
This morning we are going to jump back into our study of Genesis,
And we are now on the home stretch.
But before we start working on the individual verses and chapters
I really feel impressed that we need to make sure
We all understand what is happening here at the end of the book.
I think Vodie Baucham hit the nail on the head in his book
“Joseph and the Gospel of Many Colors”
He would look at the story of where Joseph is sold by his brothers
Or the story where Joseph is pursued by Potiphar’s wife and say,
“Don’t succumb to the temptation to pick the low-hanging fruit”
It is the picture of walking through an orchard.
Some fruit is obvious and easy to get to.
Some requires considerable more work.
I fear that too many times we have taken the lazy and easy way out
And settled for that low hanging fruit in our Bible study.
So we study Genesis 37 and how Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery
And it becomes a lesson on jealousy.
We study Genesis 39 and how Joseph was pursued by Potiphar’s wife
And it becomes a lesson on resisting adultery.
We study Genesis 41 and how Joseph was promoted to power
And it becomes a lesson on how God causes all our suffering to pay off.
I want to tell you this morning,
All three of those applications completely miss the point,
But they are the easy applications that we get most of the time.
Genesis 37-50 IS NOT successive stories
Meant for cute little applications for the betterment of life.
Genesis 37-50 IS one of the most mind-blowing, spiritually deep,
Absolutely transcendent sections of Scripture in the entire Bible.
If God grants me the grace to bring these truths to light I promise you that
Your admiration for God and worship of Him will transcend to a new level.
I can tell you that because that is what has happened to me.
The time off this summer and the time away from Genesis
Has allowed me to ponder this section longer than normal
And I can assure you that I have already learned more than I expected,
And I fully expect to continue to learn.
I can only liken it to
What Paul said after gaining an understanding of God’s sovereign election of Israel, only to break them off and graft in the Gentiles, then to graft Israel back in.
After contemplating those amazing truths Paul wrote:
Romans 11:33-36 “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR? Or WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.”
When David considered the knowledge of God to know all of his days,
The presence of God to be everywhere at once,
And the power of God to form him in his mother’s womb.
David said:
Psalms 139:6 “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it.”
When Job explored the depth of God’s ways in his own suffering,
Job only thought he came to an understanding.
But after God spoke and set the record straight, Job said:
Job 42:1-3 “Then Job answered the LORD and said, “I know that You can do all things, And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted. ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ “Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand, Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.”
I fully believe that is the type of response waiting at the end of this study.
This is mind-blowing stuff.
And because of that, I want to make sure that
You understand the point of what is coming.
Most of the time the reason we fail to understand individual stories
Is because we fail to understand the point as a whole.
I want to make sure you understand what is happening in the final 14 ch. of this book so that as we begin to work through it, it will all make sense.
This morning we are going to take a “jet tour” through the end of Genesis
• I feel compelled to sort of “spill the beans” and give you the point.
• I want to show you the gist of it all.
• I want to dispel some of the misconceptions many have
• I want you to see how great God is
I’m going to give you a little bit of an outline this morning,
But it is not an expository one.
More than that I want to give you
The three main points of the end of Genesis.
These are the “big things” that you must recognize
If you are going to rightly understand the end of this book.
#1 THE ELECTION OF A FUTURE PATRIARCH
We have talked about ELECTION quite frequently in Genesis.
How could you not?
• God chose a greedy pagan named Abraham.
• Then God chose to give him a son.
• When Isaac had twins, God clearly chose Jacob over Esau.
We have talked about the PECULIARITY of God’s election.
• If you were God, you would not have chosen Abraham.
• When looking at Ishmael and Isaac, you would not have chosen Isaac.
• When looking at Jacob and Esau, you would not have chosen Jacob.
But God did that according to His own sovereign prerogative.
Now we are about to move to the 4th patriarch.
And the 4th Patriarch is: __________________
(If you just said Joseph you are a victim
Of what I was talking about to begin this sermon)
Everyone picks Joseph because the story follows him to Egypt.
But Joseph is not the next patriarch
Joseph is not the next head of the family
JUDAH IS
What!?!
How can it be Judah?
We all know what kind of a fellow Judah is.
It was Judah’s idea to sell Joseph:
Genesis 37:25-27 “Then they sat down to eat a meal. And as they raised their eyes and looked, behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing aromatic gum and balm and myrrh, on their way to bring them down to Egypt. Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it for us to kill our brother and cover up his blood? “Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened to him.”
It was Judah who raised sons so wicked that God killed them: (Er & Onan)
Genesis 38:7 “But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was evil in the sight of the LORD, so the LORD took his life.”
Genesis 38:10 “But what he did was displeasing in the sight of the LORD; so He took his life also.”
It was Judah who then conceived a child by his dead son’s widow, not intentionally but because he merely thought he was visiting a prostitute.
Genesis 38:15-16 “When Judah saw her, he thought she was a harlot, for she had covered her face. So he turned aside to her by the road, and said, “Here now, let me come in to you”; for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said, “What will you give me, that you may come in to me?”
How can Judah be the next patriarch?
• The same way God could choose Abraham when he didn’t deserve it.
• The same way God could choose Isaac when he didn’t deserve it.
• The same way God could choose Jacob when he didn’t deserve it.
• The same way God could choose you when you didn’t deserve it.
Might I remind you of what Paul taught us?
Romans 9:16 “So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.”
BUT THE NEXT PATRIARCH IS JUDAH.
This story may follow Joseph to Egypt,
But do not be fooled, this story is about Judah.
Chapter 37 is about Judah’s JEALOUSY
Chapter 38 is about Judah’s IMMORALITY
Chapter 43 is about Judah’s ASCENSION to family leader
We’ll get into it more later, but the oldest son Reuben had disqualified himself in Jacob’s eyes because he slept with Jacob’s concubine.
Genesis 35:22 “It came about while Israel was dwelling in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine, and Israel heard of it.”
And later in the story when Reuben tries to come to the forefront
And re-gain his father’s trust, Jacob ignores him.
The next two sons in line would be Simeon and Levi,
But they both disqualified themselves in Jacob’s eyes
When they became blood-thirsty and killed the Shechemites.
Jacob will list these things at the end of his life
Explaining why they would not be the next head of the family.
Genesis 49:3-4 “Reuben, you are my firstborn; My might and the beginning of my strength, Preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power. “Uncontrolled 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 49:5-7 “Simeon and Levi are brothers; Their swords are implements of violence. “Let my soul not enter into their council; Let not my glory be united with their assembly; Because in their anger they slew men, And in their self-will they lamed oxen. “Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce; And their wrath, for it is cruel. I will disperse them in Jacob, And scatter them in Israel.”
So the first three boys all disqualified themselves.
Judah is fourth.
In chapter 43 Judah steps up and assumes his role as the foremost son. And you will even see that from that point on,
Judah is the point man who deals with Joseph in Egypt.
So chapter 43 is about Judah’s ascension to family leader.
Chapter 44 is about Judah’s REPENTANCE
Chapter 45 is about Judah’s DELIVERANCE
Chapter 49 is about Judah’s PREEMINENCE
Listen to what Jacob says about Judah
Genesis 49:8-12 “Judah, your brothers shall praise you; Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; Your father’s sons shall bow down to you. “Judah is a lion’s whelp; From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He couches, he lies down as a lion, And as a lion, who dares rouse him up? “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes, And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. “He ties his foal to the vine, And his donkey’s colt to the choice vine; He washes his garments in wine, And his robes in the blood of grapes. “His eyes are dull from wine, And his teeth white from milk.”
Now you see it don’t you?
Who is the kingly line? Judah
David, Solomon, Jesus – all from the line of Judah
The last 14 chapters are not about Joseph and his problems.
The last 14 chapters are how God preserved the line
Through which the world would be saved.
Matthew 1:1-3 “The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham: Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers. Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez was the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram.”
All the way down to:
Matthew 1:16 “Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah.”
The story of Genesis 37-50 is how God intervened and saved Judah, Because through Judah would come Jesus Christ, the savior of the world.
(The end of Genesis is about how God secured your salvation!)
So this story is not about Joseph, it is about Judah.
He is the next major player.
Remember, Moses is teaching us the gospel through specific individuals.
In Adam we learned about SIN
Placed in a perfect garden, only to see his sin destroy the life he loved.
In Noah we learned about JUDGMENT
Only 8 persons in all survived the global killer from the hand of God.
In Abraham we learned about JUSTIFICATION
“Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness”
In Isaac we learned GRACE
Isaac was the dud of the patriarchs and yet God’s favor was on him through his quest for a wife, his dealings with Abimelech, and in spite of his failures as a father.
In Jacob we learned SANCTIFICATION
We saw God transformed him for Jacob (the fighter) to Israel (God fights). God took Jacob from a self-reliant man to a man who trusted God.
And now we get to Judah.
And in Judah we learn PROVIDENCE
And let me go ahead and tell you that
It is God’s providence that will blow your mind.
But that is the first major point of the remainder of the book of Genesis.
It is The Election of a Future Patriarch
#2 THE EMERGENCE OF A FAMILIAR PERIL
Here is another area where people tend to get a little off track.
If I ask you the enemy of Genesis 37-50?
Most people will say that it was Joseph’s brothers.
After all, Joseph is seen as the chosen son, and it was the brothers who sold Joseph into slavery, so obviously the real enemy is Joseph’s brothers.
Followed closely by Potiphar’s wife and the baker who forgot about Joseph.
But again, that is missing the point of the section.
First of all, we just established that it was the brothers (namely Judah) that God was trying to save. They weren’t the enemy.
Secondly, Joseph makes it abundantly clear, that it was not the brothers who sent him to Egypt, it was God.
Genesis 45:8 “Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt.”
So if you read this section and identify Joseph’s brothers as the enemy
Then you are not grasping what Moses is pointing to.
The enemy of this story is the same enemy
That we have had from the beginning.
And Moses went out of his way at the beginning of Genesis
To show you who the real enemy is.
IT IS SIN
It is what sin will do to your life in a personal sense,
But it is also the effect and destructive nature of sin in general.
And throughout the Genesis narrative,
Sin continues to reemerge in a specific way.
And that is through FAMINE
(It is Moses’ continual reminder of the sin curse)
What was it that drove Abraham out of the Promised Land the first time?
Famine
What was it that drove Isaac to Abimelech?
Famine
And in the end of the book of Genesis, it is once again famine that threatens to completely destroy God’s chosen people.
It is first revealed in chapter 41 when God gives a dream to Pharaoh that Joseph interprets.
Genesis 41:28-32 “It is as I have spoken to Pharaoh: God has shown to Pharaoh what He is about to do. “Behold, seven years of great abundance are coming in all the land of Egypt; and after them seven years of famine will come, and all the abundance will be forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine will ravage the land. “So the abundance will be unknown in the land because of that subsequent famine; for it will be very severe. “Now as for the repeating of the dream to Pharaoh twice, it means that the matter is determined by God, and God will quickly bring it about.”
And it was the revelation of that famine
That gave opportunity for Joseph to rise to power.
And it is that famine that forces the events of the book.
The effects of that famine are felt later.
It was the famine that established Egypt (and Joseph) as the breadbasket of the world.
Genesis 41:53-57 “When the seven years of plenty which had been in the land of Egypt came to an end, and the seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said, then there was famine in all the lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. So when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried out to Pharaoh for bread; and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph; whatever he says to you, you shall do.” When the famine was spread over all the face of the earth, then Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold to the Egyptians; and the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. The people of all the earth came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was severe in all the earth.”
It was the famine that first caused Joseph’s brothers to come to Egypt and encounter Joseph.
Genesis 42:1-5 “Now Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, “Why are you staring at one another?” He said, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down there and buy some for us from that place, so that we may live and not die.” Then ten brothers of Joseph went down to buy grain from Egypt. But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, “I am afraid that harm may befall him.” So the sons of Israel came to buy grain among those who were coming, for the famine was in the land of Canaan also.”
It was the famine that caused Joseph’s brothers to return to Egypt, even when they didn’t want to.
Genesis 43:1-2 “Now the famine was severe in the land. So it came about when they had finished eating the grain which they had brought from Egypt, that their father said to them, “Go back, buy us a little food.”
And it was the famine that ultimately caused all of Israel to move to Egypt.
READ: Genesis 45:1-15
The famine was the enemy.
The famine threatened to destroy God’s people completely.
The end of Genesis is about protecting God’s chosen people
From the deadly famine and from annihilation.
TIMEOUT PREACHER
If the famine was the problem, and God desired to deliver Israel from it, why not just stop the famine?
Why not just send rain, grow crops, and reverse the famine?
Well, for one reason, because it was God who sent the famine.
Genesis 41:28 “It is as I have spoken to Pharaoh: God has shown to Pharaoh what He is about to do.”
Genesis 41:32 “Now as for the repeating of the dream to Pharaoh twice, it means that the matter is determined by God, and God will quickly bring it about.”
WHY?
Why would God send something
That He would then have to deliver His people from?
It started back in the garden.
After Adam and Eve chose sin, I want you to remember what God said to Adam.
Genesis 3:17-19 “Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life. “Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field; By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.”
Famine and all farming difficulty
Was God’s perpetual reminder to Adam and his descendants
Of the danger and consequences of sin.
That is why God uses famine so frequently throughout Scripture.
Nothing was meant to remind people
About the consequences of sin like a famine.
Every time men labored and clawed against the ground
Only to see their crops fail,
It was a reminder of what sin had done to the world.
That is why God sent the famine (to remind of sin)
And why God delivers from the famine (to reveal Himself as the Savior)
This is all part of the plan of God.
This story once again emphasizes the effects of sin and the redemption of God.
So no, God doesn’t just eliminate the famine, He uses it.
And take a moment to understand that reality in your life.
Most of the time when tragedy and hardship strike (in our day usually illness – also a consequence of the sin curse) our main request is for God to simply take it away.
Many people even go on a quest for a miracle.
They want God to just step in and miraculously intervene and take the hardship away.
While God certainly did do this from time to time in Scripture
IT IS NOT THE NORM
More often than miracles we see God’s providence.
• We see God use the tragedies
• We see God shape His people by them
• We see God bring His people through them
• And we catch a glimpse of God’s greater plan because of them
That is what is occurring here.
God is in the process of delivering Israel, of saving Judah,
Of preserving the Messianic line.
The means God will use to do this
Is a famine from which Israel must be delivered.
The Election of a Future Patriarch
The Emergence of a Familiar Peril
#3 THE EXHIBITION OF FLAWLESS PROVIDENCE
This is the third major mountain peak
You must see as we study the final 14 chapters of this book.
• You must see the rise of Judah
• You must see the reason for famine
• And you must see the reality of providence
God has a divine plan that He is about to hatch.
Can I give you the high spots of that plan?
Can I quickly show you God’s objective?
God’s first objective?
GET JOSEPH TO EGYPT (Ch. 37)
He accomplished it through a partial father and through jealous brothers.
God’s second objective?
GET JOSEPH ARRESTED (Ch. 39)
He accomplished this plan through a carnal woman we know as Potiphar’s wife.
God’s third objective?
GET JOSEPH NOTICED (40)
He caused Joseph to come into contact with the chief baker and royal cup-bearer
God’s fourth objective?
GET JOSEPH PROMOTED (41)
He accomplished this by giving Pharaoh a dream neither he nor his wise men could understand, but Joseph could.
God’s fifth objective?
GET JACOB DELIVERED (42-45)
God did this through the newly promoted Joseph.
Everything that had previously occurred was pointing to this end.
Joseph’s exile, arrest, opportunity, and promotion, were all part of the divine providential plan of God to save Jacob (Israel) from the famine.
God was sending Jacob to Egypt and this was how He did it.
Now, there are a couple of reasons why Jacob had to go to Egypt.
1) Israel was too small to take the land of Promise.
You may remember that this truth hit Jacob right in the forehead
When Levi and Simeon attacked the Shechemites.
Genesis 34:30 “Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me by making me odious among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites; and my men being few in number, they will gather together against me and attack me and I will be destroyed, I and my household.”
Israel was too small to go on conquest and take the land.
2) The inhabitants of the land were not yet ready to be judged.
Remember what God told Abraham very early on?
Genesis 15:12-16 “Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him. God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years. “But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many possessions. “As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age. “Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.”
What was needed was time.
Time for Israel to grow in number
Time for the Canaanites iniquity to become complete
The answer was Egypt.
• Egypt would literally be God’s incubator.
• Egypt would be the place where God would multiply Israel and prepare them for the day they would return and conquer the land of Canaan.
In Egypt, Israel would survive and thrive.
In Egypt the chosen seed (Judah) would be preserved and prepared.
And the means by which God would take them there,
Would be the exile, arrest, opportunity, and promotion of Joseph.
The end of this book is not just some sentimental story
About how if you try and live pure and resist sexual immorality,
Then God will reward you by making you a ruler.
That is NOT the point of the end of this book.
The point is the providence of God to preserve and multiply
His chosen seed through whom the Savior of the world would come.
This is providence on display in its finest form.
And to stop and ponder it is absolutely MIND-BLOWING
As Paul said:
Romans 11:33-36 “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR? Or WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.”
As David said:
Psalms 139:6 “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it.”
It is without a doubt a mind-blowing journey we are about to take.
And as we take this journey of God’s providence
I think it is vitally important that you and I learn to recognize
The reality of God’s providential hand in all things.
Sometimes life just doesn’t make sense – to you –
(but it always makes sense to God.)
He is always in control
• Through the hatred, jealousy, and slavery
• Through the arrest, imprisonment, hardship, and famine
• Through the opportunity, exaltation, and rise to prominence
And you and I must then SUBMIT
To God’s perfect wisdom and providential plan.
And when we do that, then you and I can
REST in God’s providential care.
When you submit to His control, you get to rest in His care.
And that has been the goal.
Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.”
Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
There will always be things we don’t understand.
Like, why would God take a good young man like Joseph and have him sold, imprisoned, and raised to live in a pagan land?
And the answer is because God is working
To preserve a nation and the genetic line
Through which the Savior of the world would come.
Genesis 50:18-20 “Then his brothers also came and fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” But Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in God’s place? “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.”
PRAISE GOD FOR HIS PROVIDENTIAL HAND!
