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Intro
Intro
Memories = powerful
Sight, sound, smell --- can transport us back to a certain time or place, and evoke memories
For instance - my gran’s smell
But....sometimes, in fact often, memories can be painful right?
You hear a song and it reminds you of the night you broke up with your bf or gf…or the smell of a certain flower reminds you of a funeral of a loved one
See…memories can be extremely painful, causing deep heartache and sorrow.
Joseph
Knew all about days full of pain, heartache, and sorrow.
We’re gonna see:
Father’s favoritism —> brother’s detesting him ---> betrayal and slavery
In fact, the majority of Joseph’s life would be one difficult event leading to another
He’d have moments/memories of hope…but they were few and far in between
Read
Read
Jacob (Israel) was playing favorites once again…old habits die hard
coat of many colors
And Joseph didn’t seem to mind....who would?
Jacob’s treatment was wonderful for Joseph, but disastrous for his brothers
They hated Joseph already…and then he proceeds to tell them not one dream, which we just read about, but two dreams....about how they will bow down to him one day
Here’s a tip for you: Every dream you have, doesn’t need to be shared okay?
But we can naturally see why Jacob’s brothers would be so upset right?
Verse 3 told us Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons
I’m sure we’ve all experienced favoritism harming us or others, whether it be at school, at home, or in any other setting.....favoritism hurts
Let’s be clear as mud here though.....favoritism can never be justified, and favoritism is always a sin
says, “Show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ”
When you show favoritism, you are ultimately saying that one person is worth more than another…which is totally against who God is and the image of Himself He put into all of us
Why is it important that we affirm the image of God in all people?
So it’s a whole lot more than just a personal preference…you’re saying to God I like some of your creation better than others
Doesn’t mean you have to be bff’s with everybody, that’s impossible…but we should never cause someone to feel no value
Even though the next 13 chapters are devoted to Joseph, telling us, yes, he was an important figure in the plan of God....let’s not forget that God was going to work through his brothers too…most importantly…Judah
We need to be careful as individuals to not presume importance, or lack of importance, upon people. We have no idea what God’s plan is....and it’s not our job to figure it out!
As the story continues we’re going to see the outcome of Joseph’s brothers hatred of him…which you all are pretty familiar with…but let’s read it anyway
So Joseph’s brothers were out with the sheep, so Jacob sent Joseph to check on them…and then all of this goes down
Joseph’s brothers were blinded by their jealousy and by their hatred
, “ Wrath is cruel, anger is overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy?”
Their jealousy had driven them to wanting to kill Joseph…but thankfully Reuben (Leah’s firstborn son, ironically) stepped in to save his life, and instead threw him in a pit
Reuben…you were this close to getting this right
This is kind of like when you know your friends aren’t doing the right thing, and you don’t want to be a part of it, so you try to talk them into doing something less wrong....anyone been there?
You wanna know the truth......? Sin is sin, regardless of severity or what you think is acceptable
But Pastor Derek....Reuben was going to come rescue him later…he was doing what was right!
Before we applaud Reuben for what he said and did....we need to consider what he failed to say and do, or better yet, what he should have said and done
Reuben, the firstborn, he should have stood up, flexed those first-born muscles, and rebuked his brothers. He should have called on them to repent of their jealousy and hatred. He should have demanded that they receive Joseph into their camp and have lunch together.
But he didn’t…why? Because he wasn’t willing to repent of his jealousy, of his hatred. He didn’t want to receive him into camp.
See guys, God doesn’t want us to live our lives “a little bit right”. We are to live our lives in pursuit of holiness and righteousness.
We don’t make the rules…God does. It’s not our call as to what is acceptable in life, it’s His! And so, as you look at your life…what have you been doing that God would find to be absolutely detestable?
Also..you can see some of Israel’s deception rubbing off on Reuben here, can’t you? He was going to trick his brothers
Do you see the sin of Israel’s favoritism still playing out here? It had led to extreme jealousy and hatred, and ultimately to the sins of the other sons
Don’t ever think the choices you make today won’t affect others tomorrow…because they will....Israel’s choices had led to their jealousy
Now, his sons are still totally responsible for their own sins though…they don’t get a pass, and God doesn’t forget
Read
Read
So we see the brothers decide not to kill Joseph, how kind of them…but instead to sell him into slavery, for twenty shekels of silver.
This was Judah’s plan…you know, the one whom Jesus was going to come through
And then Reuben returns and is freaking out b/c his plan had backfired
And so, in the true spirit of deception, the brother’s fake Joseph’s own death
And what we see here, is that the brother’s did relent from murdering Joseph....they didn’t follow through with their hatred and jealousy.
And again…we should not applaud them for that…because they sold him as a slave, their “lesser sin” was still just that.....SIN
They hated their brother, and their actions stemmed from that
What about you?
Anyone ever thought it’d be a good idea to sell your sibling into slavery?
Who do you hate?
Sure, you may not have thrown someone in a pit, or sold them into slavery…but the very same hatred and jealousy that Joseph’s brothers had, can and often is found in us
Often, our hatred of people is made known through our favoritism of other people. We think less of someone else.....that’s hatred, and we display that by thinking more of someone else.
Both are wrong, and both are sins
In closing, turn with me to
Joseph’s brothers did not murder him…that’s true…but John tells us something very interesting and hopefully very convicting for us in our own lives....let’s read it
15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
“15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.”
John is painstakingly clear here....if you hate, you are a murderer. If you hate, you have no eternal life.
See? We can’t at the same time call ourselves Christians, literally little Christs and hate other people
Just like Joseph was his father’s beloved son who was betrayed by his own brothers and sold into slavery, Jesus is the Father’s beloved Son who was betrayed by His own and died on the cross to rescue us from our sin
He died to rescue you from your hatred, from your sins
Don’t keep walking in them
Let’s go out this week and purpose to love the unlovable, to love those we hate, to love those we ignore.
Let’s prove to the world that we are not our own but belong to Him.