Audio Essential 100.11The Story of a SonGenesis 37 In our study of the Essential 100 texts of the Bible, we have crossed the 10% mark. As we have made our way through Genesis, we have seen a continual narrowing of the plot line, from God’s dealings with humanity as a whole, to His dealings with the family of Noah, and narrower still to His dealings with Abraham and his descendants, then Isaac and his descendants, and then to Jacob and his descendants. With each narrowing, we are tracing the fulfillment of God’s promise to send a redeemer into the world, the seed of woman who was promised to Adam after his sin, the seed of Abraham who would bless all nations of the world. At various points along the way, we have seen how God has preserved His promise of redemption through, in the words of John Newton, “many dangers, toils, and snares.” And today we come again to a narrowing point in the story. I have pointed out in the past that the book of Genesis is divided into sections by the use of the Hebrew word toledoth. We find another use of that word – the final use of it in Genesis – here in verse 2 of our text. “These are the toledoth of Jacob.” The narrative shifts from Jacob himself to his sons, and in particular one son takes the focus of the final 14 chapters: Joseph. Nearly a quarter of the book of Genesis is devoted to Joseph. We might assume that Joseph is the next in line to receive the promise of the blessing of Abraham. Indeed, our text sets up that expectation in our minds as we read it. But we will find over the course of Genesis’ final chapters that Joseph is not the heir of promise. By God’s amazing grace, Judah will be the one through whom the promise comes to pass. This is proof of God’s sovereignty in choosing how His purposes will be fulfilled in the world, for if it were up to any of us, we would certainly choose Joseph. He is a heroic figure, in contrast to Judah, who leaves much to be desired in terms of his character. Joseph’s story is far more familiar to us than that of Judah. I suppose that most of our Bible story books and Sunday School lessons have focused on Joseph rather than Judah, and the story of Joseph has even made its way, albeit in a greatly modified form, to the Broadway stage and movie screen in Andrew Lloyd Weber’s famous Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Now, if Joseph is not the chosen seed through whom God’s global and eternal purposes will come to pass, why does his story occupy so much focus in Genesis, to the near exclusion of Judah? It is because apart from Joseph, God’s promises would have come to nothing. Though Joseph’s line does not bring forth the One who will save the world, Joseph actually turns out to be the one who saves the promise from ruin as God providentially orchestrates the circumstances of his life for the good of his family and ultimately for the world. His story is the story of a son who points the way forward for a greater Son who is to come into the world. As we begin to study his life, this story of a son, we find first of all that Joseph’s story is … I. The Story of a Beloved Son (vv1-3) Everyone loves to experience a “brush with greatness,” as we find ourselves in the same place at the same time with a celebrity. I’ve had a few of them, but one of my favorite ones was at a restaurant in Winston-Salem when I was a teenager as my family celebrated my birthday. At the table beside of us was none other than Tom Smothers. Now many of you will recognize him as one of the famous Smothers Brothers comedy duo. When I was growing up, I thought these guys were so funny. We had a record that we used to play called “Mom Always Liked You Best.” It was a hilarious bit in which the adult brothers reminisce about their childhood, and it comes to the surface that their mother’s favoritism for Richard was shown in every way imaginable. No matter how many times I heard that, it never got old. It was always hysterical. But if you grew up in a family where a parent showed