Sermons – Grace Evangelical Free Church // Wyoming, MN

Genesis 40 Some time after this, the cupbearer of the king of Egypt and his baker committed an offense against their lord the king of Egypt. 2 And Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, 3 and he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison where Joseph was confined. 4 The captain of the guard appointed Joseph to be with them, and he attended them. They continued for some time in custody.

5 And one night they both dreamed—the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison—each his own dream, and each dream with its own interpretation. 6 When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were troubled. 7 So he asked Pharaoh’s officers who were with him in custody in his master’s house, “Why are your faces downcast today?” 8 They said to him, “We have had dreams, and there is no one to interpret them.” And Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Please tell them to me.”

9 So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph and said to him, “In my dream there was a vine before me, 10 and on the vine there were three branches. As soon as it budded, its blossoms shot forth, and the clusters ripened into grapes. 11 Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup and placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.” 12 Then Joseph said to him, “This is its interpretation: the three branches are three days. 13 In three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office, and you shall place Pharaoh’s cup in his hand as formerly, when you were his cupbearer. 14 Only remember me, when it is well with you, and please do me the kindness to mention me to Pharaoh, and so get me out of this house. 15 For I was indeed stolen out of the land of the Hebrews, and here also I have done nothing that they should put me into the pit.”

16 When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was favorable, he said to Joseph, “I also had a dream: there were three cake baskets on my head, 17 and in the uppermost basket there were all sorts of baked food for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating it out of the basket on my head.” 18 And Joseph answered and said, “This is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days. 19 In three days Pharaoh will lift up your head—from you!—and hang you on a tree. And the birds will eat the flesh from you.”

20 On the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, he made a feast for all his servants and lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants. 21 He restored the chief cupbearer to his position, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand. 22 But he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them. 23 Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.

INTRODUCTION

God’s providence is “his purposeful sovereignty by which he will be completely successful in the achievement of his ultimate goal for the universe. God’s providence carries his plans into action, guides all things toward his ultimate goal, and leads to the final consummation” (Piper, Providence). This is a slightly different definition than I gave you all back in January when we considered the providence of God in the marriage of Isaac and Rebekah. And yet the heart of it remains the same: God’s providence is God’s guidance of the universe for His glory and His peoples’ good.

Sometimes God’s providence is explicitly stated (as in Genesis 50:20) and other times, as is the case in this chapter, it is more subtle. Regardless of its degree of visibility, however, God’s providential reign runs through every page of the Bible. Having worked our way through the first two chapters of Genesis, the fact that the world and everything in it belong to God ought to be clear. Having made our way through the next 40 chapters of Genesis,

Genesis 39 Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, had bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. 2 The LORD was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. 3 His master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD caused all that he did to succeed in his hands. 4 So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had. 5 From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; the blessing of the LORD was on all that he had, in house and field. 6 So he left all that he had in Joseph’s charge, and because of him he had no concern about anything but the food he ate.

Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. 7 And after a time his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.” 8 But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my charge. 9 He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” 10 And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her.

11 But one day, when he went into the house to do his work and none of the men of the house was there in the house, 12 she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house. 13 And as soon as she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled out of the house, 14 she called to the men of her household and said to them, “See, he has brought among us a Hebrew to laugh at us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice. 15 And as soon as he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried out, he left his garment beside me and fled and got out of the house.” 16 Then she laid up his garment by her until his master came home, 17 and she told him the same story, saying, “The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought among us, came in to me to laugh at me. 18 But as soon as I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment beside me and fled out of the house.”

19 As soon as his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, “This is the way your servant treated me,” his anger was kindled. 20 And Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison. 21 But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. 22 And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. 23 The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph’s charge, because the LORD was with him. And whatever he did, the LORD made it succeed.

INTRODUCTION

As we work our way through Genesis 39, we’ll see four significant truths: (1) Joseph prospered in trial because the hand of God was upon him, (2) Joseph faced significant temptation even though he was faithful to God, (3) Joseph faced significant persecution even though he was faithful to God, and (4) Joseph remained faithful to God even in his temptation and persecution. Combined, we’re given an important reminder of the rightness of walking as God calls us to regardless of our earthly circumstances or consequences. Let’s pray for God’s help to do just that.

JOSEPH PROSPERED IN TRIAL BECAUSE THE HAND OF THE LORD WAS UPON HIM (1-6A, 21-23)

Our passage for this morning opens (once again) where 37 left off.

Genesis 38 It happened at that time that Judah went down from his brothers and turned aside to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. 2 There Judah saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua. He took her and went in to her, 3 and she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Er. 4 She conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name Onan. 5 Yet again she bore a son, and she called his name Shelah. Judah was in Chezib when she bore him.

6 And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. 7 But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD put him to death. 8 Then Judah said to Onan, “Go in to your brother’s wife and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother.” 9 But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his. So whenever he went in to his brother’s wife he would waste the semen on the ground, so as not to give offspring to his brother. 10 And what he did was wicked in the sight of the LORD, and he put him to death also. 11 Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, “Remain a widow in your father’s house, till Shelah my son grows up”—for he feared that he would die, like his brothers. So Tamar went and remained in her father’s house.

12 In the course of time the wife of Judah, Shua’s daughter, died. When Judah was comforted, he went up to Timnah to his sheepshearers, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite. 13 And when Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep,” 14 she took off her widow’s garments and covered herself with a veil, wrapping herself up, and sat at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. For she saw that Shelah was grown up, and she had not been given to him in marriage. 15 When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. 16 He turned to her at the roadside and said, “Come, let me come in to you,” for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. She said, “What will you give me, that you may come in to me?” 17 He answered, “I will send you a young goat from the flock.” And she said, “If you give me a pledge, until you send it—” 18 He said, “What pledge shall I give you?” She replied, “Your signet and your cord and your staff that is in your hand.” So he gave them to her and went in to her, and she conceived by him. 19 Then she arose and went away, and taking off her veil she put on the garments of her widowhood.

20 When Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite to take back the pledge from the woman’s hand, he did not find her. 21 And he asked the men of the place, “Where is the cult prostitute who was at Enaim at the roadside?” And they said, “No cult prostitute has been here.” 22 So he returned to Judah and said, “I have not found her. Also, the men of the place said, ‘No cult prostitute has been here.’ ” 23 And Judah replied, “Let her keep the things as her own, or we shall be laughed at. You see, I sent this young goat, and you did not find her.”

24 About three months later Judah was told, “Tamar your daughter-in-law has been immoral. Moreover, she is pregnant by immorality.” And Judah said, “Bring her out, and let her be burned.” 25 As she was being brought out, she sent word to her father-in-law, “By the man to whom these belong, I am pregnant.” And she said, “Please identify whose these are, the signet and the cord and the staff.” 26 Then Judah identified them and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not know her again.

27 When the time of her labor came, there were twins in her womb. 28 And when she was in labor, one put out a hand, and the midwife took and tied a scarlet thread on his hand, saying, “This one came out first.” 29 But as he drew back his hand, behold, his brother came out. And she said, “What a breach you have made for yourself!” Therefore his name was called Perez.

Genesis 37:12-36 Now his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock near Shechem. 13 And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” And he said to him, “Here I am.” 14 So he said to him, “Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock, and bring me word.” So he sent him from the Valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. 15 And a man found him wandering in the fields. And the man asked him, “What are you seeking?” 16 “I am seeking my brothers,” he said. “Tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock.” 17 And the man said, “They have gone away, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’ ” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.

18 They saw him from afar, and before he came near to them they conspired against him to kill him. 19 They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. 20 Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits. Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams.” 21 But when Reuben heard it, he rescued him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.” 22 And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him”—that he might rescue him out of their hand to restore him to his father. 23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the robe of many colors that he wore. 24 And they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.

25 Then they sat down to eat. And looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing gum, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. 26 Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? 27 Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened to him. 28 Then Midianite traders passed by. And they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. They took Joseph to Egypt.

29 When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he tore his clothes 30 and returned to his brothers and said, “The boy is gone, and I, where shall I go?” 31 Then they took Joseph’s robe and slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. 32 And they sent the robe of many colors and brought it to their father and said, “This we have found; please identify whether it is your son’s robe or not.” 33 And he identified it and said, “It is my son’s robe. A fierce animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces.” 34 Then Jacob tore his garments and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days. 35 All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted and said, “No, I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” Thus his father wept for him. 36 Meanwhile the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard.

INTRODUCTION

After four weeks away from Genesis, I’m eager to dive back in. Before I do, though, I’ve got three quick notes for you all.

First, on behalf of my family, I’d like to thank you all for freeing us up for our vacation. It was a good time of slowing down, road tripping, and staycationing. It was good to go and it is good to be back.

Second, I want to publically and enthusiastically thank Kyle, John, and Grant for doing such an excellent job in preaching. I listened to each of their sermons and it’s a serious and unusual joy to have such capable laymen to preach when I am gone. Please don’t take that lightly, Grace. It is a true gift from God to us. Thanks as well to Pastor Mike for tending to dozens of extra things in my absence. He too is a gift.

Psalm 25 To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.2 O my God, in you I trust;    let me not be put to shame;    let not my enemies exult over me.3 Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame;    they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.4 Make me to know your ways, O LORD;    teach me your paths.5 Lead me in your truth and teach me,    for you are the God of my salvation;    for you I wait all the day long.6 Remember your mercy, O LORD, and your steadfast love,    for they have been from of old.7 Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions;    according to your steadfast love remember me,    for the sake of your goodness, O LORD!8 Good and upright is the LORD;    therefore he instructs sinners in the way.9 He leads the humble in what is right,    and teaches the humble his way.10 All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness,    for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.11 For your name’s sake, O LORD,    pardon my guilt, for it is great.12 Who is the man who fears the LORD?    Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose.13 His soul shall abide in well-being,    and his offspring shall inherit the land.14 The friendship of the LORD is for those who fear him,    and he makes known to them his covenant.15 My eyes are ever toward the LORD,    for he will pluck my feet out of the net.16 Turn to me and be gracious to me,    for I am lonely and afflicted.17 The troubles of my heart are enlarged;    bring me out of my distresses.18 Consider my affliction and my trouble,    and forgive all my sins.19 Consider how many are my foes,    and with what violent hatred they hate me.20 Oh, guard my soul, and deliver me!    Let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.21 May integrity and uprightness preserve me,    for I wait for you.22 Redeem Israel, O God,    out of all his troubles.

Introduction

My name is Grant Bostrom I am a member here at Grace Church and I feel blessed this morning to be bringing God’s word to you this morning.

I am going to argue that the main point of this Psalm is : Waiting for the Lord preserves us and postures us to bring him the most glory in our present situation.

To unpack this a little further I believe this Psalm models for us how to wait on the Lord during times of struggle both from external and internal battles with sin.

If you read news and notes, I asked these questions in the sermon excerpt. These are rhetorical, “How many of us love to wait? How many times have we asked out kids to be patient? If we asked the people around us would they characterize our posture as patient? Does your ability or desire to be patient change with the circumstances? For example, how patient would you be in the presence of your enemies? David in this Psalm teaches and models for us how to glorify God as we wait for him even in the most dangerous of circumstances.

Before we dive into this Psalm, I think it would be helpful to place this Psalm in its historical and literary context.

This may not be new for some of you but the Hebrew bible, our Old Testament, was organized in 3 large sections called the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings. The book of Psalms fell into “The Writing” section of the Old Testament. One of my professors re-titled these three sections of the Hebrew Cannon as the Old Covenant “Established” in reference to the Law, the Old covenant “enforced” in referencing the Prophets and the Old Covenant ...

Read John 9 online at esv.org.

Introduction

It is an honor to preach God’s Word this morning. Chapter nine in John’s gospel has long been one of my favorite passages in the Bible and I hope it is an encouragement to you, and a timely message for any in our midst that have not already acknowledged the Lordship of Jesus Christ and believed on His name.

The main thing I believe our text teaches is that all men are born in unbelief, spiritually blind, and apart from the healing, restorative work of Jesus, we would remain blind. Apart from the work of God, none could see Jesus, and therefore none could turn to him in belief and find reconciliation with God. It is this fact that should lead to worship the triune God of heaven. For God, in his mercy, sent Jesus to offer his life as a ransom for sinners, and it is the Holy Spirit that today, opens our eyes and gives faith and a new heart.

Context

Our passage this morning is almost halfway through the Gospel of John. The book begins, much like Genesis, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

The themes of light and dark, day and night, flesh and spirit feature prominently throughout the book. In the first chapter, we’re told that Jesus is “the true light, which enlightens everyone… He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:9-13)

In chapter 3, Jesus taught, “unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:4) He went on to say, “unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” Here we see the true nature of the kingdom of God—that it is a spiritual kingdom, of people reborn of “water and the Spirit.” It is the work of the Spirit, for rebirth is the work of the Spirit, not ourselves. (John 3:8)

In chapter 7, Jesus proclaims, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” Those that are in the light, born of the Spirit, are to bear witness that Jesus is the Christ. We see John the Baptist presented as “bearing witness” that Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah. The apostle John, the writer of the Gospel, acknowledges this as his purpose in writing the book. (John 21:24). These themes are worked out in chapter nine, in opening the eyes of the blind and the testimony of the man born blind.

This brings us to chapter nine, where we will focus this morning. Jesus is in Jerusalem where he encountered “a man blind from birth.” We’re familiar with several characters in the Bible that were blind. Isaac “was old and his eyes were dim so that he could not see.” Isaac’s physical blindness is also a spiritual blindness, for he has chosen the wrong son, preferring Esau’s game over God’s declaration that he had chosen Jacob as the covenant heir. In 1 Samuel, we read of Eli the priest, whose “eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see.” This description of Eli is closely connected with the fact that “the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.” So again, Eli’s physical blindness is connected with his spiritual blindness. For Eli also had a problem with his sons. His son’s were treating “the offering of the LORD with contempt” and laying with the women serving at the en...

INTRODUCTION

As you probably know, Kyle preached (his best sermon yet, in my opinion) last week on Psalm 90. Because my family will be on vacation for the next two Sundays, John is going to preach next week from John 9 and Grant is going to preach the following week from Psalm 25. I didn’t want to go back to Genesis for just one week, and so this morning I’m going to preach a one-off sermon that has been on my mind, heart, and prayers for a while.

As we continue to creep out of the COVID cave and all the (spiritual, emotional, physical, political, ecclesiological, theological, and other) challenges it introduced, as we are all still reeling from the societal unrest that has come from a contentious election and racial tension, and as we continue to work through Genesis and all of the challenging situations it presents, I’ve noticed that a lot of things are fighting against our joy. Therefore, it seems good to remind myself and all of us that God has called us to, and provided us with, a joy that these things cannot shake or take if we endure them in faith. I am going to preach on joy this morning.

Along those lines, I once asked one of my oldest and most educated friends how he made decisions. His answer was quick and straight-forward, “I ask myself what will make me most happy.” His unapologetic life mission and moral code was to pursue his happiness wherever it may be found. While most adults (not to say kids) are a bit better at masking it in something a bit more virtuous sounding, I think it’s pretty safe to say that everyone wants to be as happy as possible as much as possible.

As thoughtful Christians, however, we don’t stop at asking what is. We need to get to what ought to be. Does God want us to be happy? Does He care about what makes us happy? Is there such a thing as too much happiness? Is there a difference between happiness and joy? These are some of the questions we’ll consider this morning in looking at fourteen biblical principles on happiness. The main point that I hope you all take away is that God invites us to join Him in His joy through Jesus forever. Let’s pray that it would be so.

THE NATURE OF JOY

God invites us to join Him in His joy through Jesus forever. We see this, once again, through fourteen joy principles laid out in the Bible which fall fairly neatly into three broad categories: the nature of joy, the source of joy, and the lifespan of joy. We’ll begin, then, with the nature of joy and within that, a definition of joy.

Joy defined

I read several definitions of joy this week. It seems to me, however, that the most helpful way to understand biblical joy is in recognizing that in general, the many biblical terms connected to it are mostly synonymous with it. In other words, gladness, happiness, blessedness, satisfaction, contentment, and joy all mean the same thing in the Bible. What is biblical joy? It is gladness, happiness, blessedness, satisfaction, and contentment. What is biblical gladness?

And yet, I’ve chosen to mainly use the word “joy” in this sermon because, in spite of the largely synonymous use of terms in the Bible, in our culture it probably comes closest to the biblical meaning. For instance, the words “happiness” and “joy” really do have different connotations. For most people happiness is more fleeting than joy. We’d do well to let the Bible define our terms for us, but to avoid confusion I mostly use “joy” in this sermon.

If joy is gladness, happiness, blessedness, satisfaction, and contentment, what does the Bible say about them?

God is a joyful God (Nehemiah 8:10; Psalm 35:27; John 15:11, 17:13)

The second thing to see, and the true heart of a right understanding of joy, is that our God is a joyful God. God is more than joyful, but He is not less than joyful. To be happy, then,

Psalm 90 A Prayer of Moses, the man of God.

1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place

    in all generations.

2 Before the mountains were brought forth,

    or ever you had formed the earth and the world,

    from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

3 You return man to dust

    and say, “Return, O children of man!”

4 For a thousand years in your sight

    are but as yesterday when it is past,

    or as a watch in the night.

5 You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream,

    like grass that is renewed in the morning:

6 in the morning it flourishes and is renewed;

    in the evening it fades and withers.

7 For we are brought to an end by your anger;

    by your wrath we are dismayed.

8 You have set our iniquities before you,

    our secret sins in the light of your presence.

9 For all our days pass away under your wrath;

    we bring our years to an end like a sigh.

10 The years of our life are seventy,

    or even by reason of strength eighty;

yet their span is but toil and trouble;

    they are soon gone, and we fly away.

11 Who considers the power of your anger,

    and your wrath according to the fear of you?

12 So teach us to number our days

    that we may get a heart of wisdom.

13 Return, O LORD! How long?

    Have pity on your servants!

14 Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,

    that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.

15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,

    and for as many years as we have seen evil.

16 Let your work be shown to your servants,

    and your glorious power to their children.

17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,

    and establish the work of our hands upon us;

    yes, establish the work of our hands!

This will be my 9th sermon from the Psalms. This book has been one in which I’ve turned to time and again when I have struggled to make the connection between what I know is true in my mind, and what I feel is true in my heart. Too often when I’m struggling with trials or sin, my head knows what is true and right, but my emotions are having a hard time syncing up with that. What is true in my head doesn’t feel true in my heart. The psalms deal with emotions.

Emotions can be used for great good or great evil. Proper, God-exalting feelings find their roots in powerful, God-revealed truths. That is what the psalms are after. When your mind and your heart are synced together in the truth of God’s Word, it becomes a powerful motivation for affectionately pursuing God in obedience. Sustained, intense, ever-increasing obedience does not come from a sense of doing what you ought to do (duty). Sustained, intense, ever-increasing obedience comes from the emotions of love, joy and hope in God.

“Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you (Psalm 73:25).” Our aim in this life should be nothing less than finding pleasure in knowing and obeying God. That’s what the Psalms are for in fighting the fight of faith. Let’s pray to ask God help us to know the truth in this Psalm with our heads and be satisfied in it with our hearts.

INTRODUCTION

News flash- you are going to die. At some point, that 10 ounce muscle in your chest that beats about 100,000 times a day, and carries life-giving blood to all the different places of your body,...

2 These are the generations of Jacob.

Joseph, being seventeen years old, was pasturing the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a robe of many colors. 4 But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him.

5 Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more. 6 He said to them, “Hear this dream that I have dreamed: 7 Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.” 8 His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.

9 Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” 10 But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?” 11 And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the final section of Genesis, chapters 37-50, the story of Jacob’s youngest son, Joseph. It is another fascinating recap of the life of another son in the line of Abraham. This one is interesting for several reasons; perhaps chief among them is that it poses a familiar question: which child of the chosen son would become the chosen son? With Abraham’s children, Ishmael and Isaac, the question was answered quickly. So too was the question with Isaac’s sons, Esau and Jacob. In both cases it was the younger child through whom the promises would continue. That Jacob chose to take two wives made the matter more complicated. Would the child of the promise come from Jacob’s first wife, Leah, or his second and favorite, Rachel? And then which of the multiple sons of each woman would it be? Given the fact that Jacob’s story takes up the rest of Genesis, we might imagine that it would be him, Rachel’s child. As we’ll see, God did choose Joseph to accomplish much for His people. And yet, in the end it would be Joseph’s half-brother, Leah’s forth born, Judah, through whom the Messiah would come.

We don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves, though. Our passage for this morning begins with the tenth and final toledot, the story of “the generations of Jacob”. In particular, as I just mentioned, it is the story of one of Jacob’s sons, seventeen-year-old shepherd boy, Joseph. In this passage alone he is a reporter of evil, the singled-out favorite child of his father, hated by his jealous brothers, and a dreamer of God’s dreams. This passage serves as a sort of introduction to the Joseph story as the favoritism, jealousy, and dreams that are introduced here will all play a significant role in the drama as it continues to unfold.

The main thing for us to see this morning is that God’s plan of rescue through covenant faithfulness continued on. Sometimes it would continue on quietly, and sometimes miraculously, but no matter what things looked like on the outside, God’s faithfulness could not be stopped. And that is really good news for you and me as well. Joseph’s hope is our hope—that God would remain true to His promise to rescue a people for Himself. That God was perfectly faithful to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and the covenant He made with them, gives us every assurance that He will be perfectly faithful to the New Covenant He’s made with us through the blood of Jesus Christ.

The scripture for today also includes Genesis 36:1-37:1, but for reasons discussed in the sermon, that portion of the passage is not included here.

Genesis 35:16-29 Then they journeyed from Bethel. When they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel went into labor, and she had hard labor. 17 And when her labor was at its hardest, the midwife said to her, “Do not fear, for you have another son.” 18 And as her soul was departing (for she was dying), she called his name Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin. 19 So Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem), 20 and Jacob set up a pillar over her tomb. It is the pillar of Rachel’s tomb, which is there to this day. 21 Israel journeyed on and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder.

22 While Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine. And Israel heard of it.

Now the sons of Jacob were twelve. 23 The sons of Leah: Reuben (Jacob’s firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. 24 The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. 25 The sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s servant: Dan and Naphtali. 26 The sons of Zilpah, Leah’s servant: Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan-aram.

27 And Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned. 28 Now the days of Isaac were 180 years. 29 And Isaac breathed his last, and he died and was gathered to his people, old and full of days. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

INTRODUCTION

Have you ever tried to honor God, doing the hard but right thing, only to finish second (or third or fourth or last) to someone who cut corners and practiced questionable ethics?

As a new believer I found myself working the worst job I’ve ever held. It involved wearing a full-body suit (including a respirator) for most of the day, in a metal building, without A/C, in the middle of summer. My coworkers didn’t want to be there, complained often, and quit regularly. Nevertheless, I was committed to being a light for the sake of the gospel. I was at an immediate disadvantage because the bosses and coworkers knew that I was only there for the summer. I was disposable and not really eligible for insider club membership. Even still, I did the best I could, didn’t engage in the gossip or negative talk, and even shared the gospel with a number of guys. Yet, no one seemed to be impressed by my “light”.

Maybe the most frustrating experience of all of it came when I was wrongly rebuked for taking too long of a break. The people I’d worked with had devised all kinds of ways of taking more and longer breaks than we were allowed. Again, to honor God and my bosses, I was careful not to do so. I’d start a timer every time. Therefore, when the floor supervisor told me to get inside 10 minutes into my 15 minute break and refused to believe me when I told him that I’d only been out for 10 minutes, it took all I had to continue to let this little light of mine shine.

I was trying to honor God and live by faith (trusting that His will was right and His promises would hold) even thought it felt like I was only making my life unnecessarily harder. I wish I had some great story about how, in the end all of my coworkers saw my good works and praised the Father in heaven, but that didn’t happen. I kept working throughout the summer and then went back to college, never hearing from any of the guys again.

Such is sometimes the life of faith.

In some ways that’s what we have in our passage for this morning. Jacob, the chosen one of God, was called to trust God for the fulfillment of the covenant promises. Certainly, he’d already gotten a taste of that (36:6-7), but there were as of yet no kings or nations which belonged to him. He had twelve sons (which was something),