Genesis 37, Genesis 37, and we finished. We didn't get far into this introduction of the life of Joseph last week, but I just want to pick up the reading of verse 12, although I will have something to say about the two dreams as well. It says, And his brethren went to feed their father's flock in Shechem. And Israel said unto Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send thee unto them. And he said to him, Here am I. And he said to him, Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks, and bring me word again. So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. And a certain man found him, and behold, he was wandering in the field. The man asked him, saying, What seekest thou? And he said, I seek my brethren. Tell me, I pray thee, where they feed their flocks. And the man said, They are departed hence. For I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found him in Dothan. When they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him. They said one to another, Behold the dreamer, this dreamer cometh. Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit. We will say some evil beast hath devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams. And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands, and said, Let us not kill him. And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him, that he might rid him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again. And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stripped Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colors that was on him. And they took him and cast him into a pit, and the pit was empty, and there was no water in it. And they sat down to eat bread, and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and behold, a company of Ishmaelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery, and balm, and myrrh. going to carry it down to Egypt. And Judas said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother and conceal his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brethren were content. Amen. We'll stop the reading there for this juncture. Now Joseph was given two dreams. And these two dreams, one was an agricultural one that foresaw or foreshadowed the rule of Joseph in Egypt. And Joseph decided to reveal the first dream to his brother. We're told in verse eight, sorry, verse four and five, five, sorry, he dreamed a dream and he told it to his brethren and they hated him yet the more. Now, many commentators jump on the bandwagon here and they say, well, Joseph shouldn't have done that. He should have just kept it to himself. Some even go as far to say that he was proud, that he was troublesome. Well, when you read it carefully, you'll discover the Bible doesn't say anything of that sort. In fact, as we go through Joseph's life, we never see him acting in a proud way. We never see him trying to get an advantage over his brothers, or indeed any other person. Not in his nature, and it's not in his character. And what we do know is that these dreams were from God. These were not just some Joseph eating too much cheese late at night and fell asleep and had this strange dream. That didn't mean anything. No, this was a communication from God to him and to his family. This was God speaking about the future. And in that particular period of time, Before the Bible was complete, God often spoke through dreams. In fact, his father Jacob, God had spoken to in a dream previously. And Jacob understood that this was God speaking. I suspect Joseph decided to share not just the first dream, but then the second dream, even though he got a very negative reaction the second after the first dream, because Joseph knew that these were messages from God. And he, as a man of God, despite being just a youth, understood that they had great significance and understood that they were not just for him, but they were for the whole family. I suspect Joseph also hoped and prayed that in sharing these dreams, it would convict his brothers that God is watching them, that God is in control of their family and in control of their destiny as a family and later as a nation. Make them think about their souls and think about their refusal to acknowledge God in their lives. believe that was the motive Joseph had. And Jacob, of course, was not happy with the dream, because we're told in verse 10, when he told it to his father, particularly the second dream, his father rebuked him. Now, the father didn't rebuke him for the fact that he had the dream. The father didn't say to him, Joseph, this is not God, this is just you and your imagination. Jacob understood that what Joseph was saying here was from God. In fact, if you read very carefully, it says that Jacob kept these things to his heart. He understood that this was nothing. He was just upset at the content of the revelation from God. And the content of the revelation from God was that sometime in the future, Jacob and his wives and his other sons would bow down before Joseph. And being a proud man, he just couldn't accept that. He didn't want to accept that. And he was upset that Joseph had shared that with the family. What Jacob should have said was, if this is God speaking, then all the brothers and myself must surrender to him. He should have used it as an opportunity to speak of God's dealings in his life with his son, instead of rejecting and despising Joseph. And just one other reason why I think Joseph was not proud and naive and foolish in sharing these dreams. If you go to verse 11, it says, And his brethren envied him, but his father observed the same. After his brothers hated him no more, and after his father rebuked him, it's very interesting, Joseph doesn't respond. He doesn't say, shut up. He doesn't say, you're wrong. I'm right. He doesn't say even God has chosen me and you just all need to accept it. He doesn't fight back in any way. He just gives the message and he leaves it with the listener to respond. And sometimes that's all you can do. as a child of God. You just say to people, this is what God says, this is what the word of God says, and you just have to leave it there. We had a lady on Sunday night came here. She was very upset with what I said in the church, in the sermon, because of her beliefs, which were totally alien to what the Bible teaches. She said to me, I enjoyed the music, but I didn't like the rest of the service, she said. She was very direct about it. But she just wants to see if she was from a particular background. I won't describe it, but it was totally alien to the gospel. She didn't believe that Jesus was the only way to heaven. She didn't believe that salvation was by grace alone in Christ alone. And sometimes that's all you can do. You just say what the Bible says. Speaking the truth in love, but also firmly. and just leave it there. And Joseph did. That's what he did. He just preached the truth. He revealed what God had said. And even though he no doubt knew the second time, when he had to reveal the second dream, it would make him even more unpopular. He just told the truth about what God had said. And when he was rejected, in fact, all the way through the story of Joseph, The more his brothers hurt him and hate him, he never responds. The less almost, the more gracious he seems to be. And the greater the hurt, the greater the forgiveness and the loving heart Joseph had for his brethren. Now, it's obvious from the reaction of his brothers and from his father's reaction that they knew this was true. They just didn't want to accept it. In fact, you can see in their reaction later on in the chapter, if you look at verse 20, when they saw Joseph approaching them and they plotted to murder him. Something I'll say about that when we come to this. But just notice what they said. They said, come now therefore, let us slay him, let us murder him. Cast him into some pit. They wouldn't even bury him. They said, let's just kill him and throw his corpse a hole in the ground for the wild animals to eat and devour and hide it. And then we will say they even plotted what they're going to tell their father. Some evil beast have devoured him. They had the murder in their minds. They had already the lie prepared before Joseph had even arrived on the scene. But notice what really irritated them, why they wanted to murder Joseph so much. It says, and we shall see what will become of his dreams. In other words, they said, let's just see if God can really do it. He said he couldn't. Let's just see if God really can make him rule over us. Let's just see if God is really in control of our lives and our destiny. And of course, they're going to discover by the end of the story that God really is, because that's the whole aim of the story. I mean, if you read through Joseph's life so carefully, you see the overarching theme in the life of Joseph is the sovereignty of God. God working and guiding and directing the offense and the people in the drama to accomplish God's perfect will. And even Joseph recognized that at the end of Genesis 50. We looked at it last week. You thought evil against me, but God meant it for good, to save much people alive. Joseph says, I now see, 22 years later, After what has happened to me, I now see the hand of God in this situation. Now, having revealed the dream, verse 11, and it tells us, his brethren envied him, his father observed the scene. Then we move to the next incident. It's going to be an incident that will change Joseph's life forever. When you do the maz, Joseph will be 17 when this incident occurs at Shechem, and he'll live for the next 90 over years, 93 years, my maz is correct. He's going to spend the rest of his life in Egypt. He's going to leave his home that day to go to Shechem, not knowing that by obeying his father, in this difficult and treacherous task of going to seek out the welfare of his brother. That is going to cost him his freedom. It's going to cost him his livelihood. It's almost going to cost him his life. It's going to cost him the next 20 over years of friendship and fellowship with his beloved father, Jacob. It's gonna cost him a lot to do the will of God. But God, of course, doesn't tell him in Levites any of this. It's a good job God doesn't tell us what's going to happen around the corner. And the incident occurs when we're told the brethren of Joseph, the brothers of Joseph, were feeding their father's flock in Shechem. So because of the extensive business interests that they had, huge flocks, herds, that the business was spread out over many, many miles. And the brothers are in a place called Shechem. Now, if you remember from the book of Genesis, Shechem was a dangerous place for the sons of Joseph. Shechem was the place that Dinah was raised. Shechem was the place that The brothers of Joseph engaged in genocide against the people of Sheol. So no doubt, knowing that his sons were in that area, and knowing the character of his sons, that old Jacob was concerned. Being a shrewd man, and a wise man, and a mature man, and a man of wisdom in terms of the things of this world, The character of his sons, he'd already seen that by this stage, manifest itself. Jacob decides he needs to send someone to check up on them. It's hard to say, probably the only trustworthy person in the family business that he could send to go was Joseph. He must have done it very reluctantly, but he did it. Now some question, why did he do it? He must have known the hatred the brothers had for Joseph. They didn't hide it. He must have known that removing Joseph from his protection, his immediate protection, would potentially open Joseph up to attacks. Certainly, it wouldn't be a pleasant thing for Joseph to do, to go to those brothers that Jacob knew hated him. Well, I think possibly one reason why Jacob did it, apart from the fact that Joseph was the one he could trust the most, I think the reason he did it, he maybe hoped that by sending Joseph to inquire after their welfare, that maybe it would soften the relationship between the brothers. That maybe when they saw Joseph coming, who they looked upon as daddy's boy, and the one that daddy indulges at home all the time and spoils at home all the time and favors at home all the time, that maybe sending him away like this on such a journey many, many miles away, that when they would see Joseph coming to take, find out how they're keeping, maybe it would just make them more tender towards him. Well, whatever his reason, That decision that Jacob made that day is going to cost him, cost him big. It's going to leave him for the next 20 plus years with a big empty hole in his heart. The next 22, 23 years, he's going to mourn every day for that decision in sending his beloved son, Joseph, His most trustworthy son, his only son that really walked with God, his son that was so obedient to him, so loving to him, that was so respectful to him, his beautiful, handsome 17-year-old son. Oh, he's going to rue every day why he made that decision. And he calls Joseph to him. And notice how Joseph responds, verse 13. He says, do not thy brethren feed the flock and shechem come when I will send thee unto them. That's not exactly the most pleasant thought. You're going to visit your brothers away from the home on this long, difficult journey, many miles away from where we are. And I'm not going to be with you. And Joseph, being a very intelligent young man, we discover that as you read the book of Genesis, When Potiphar first ran into him, Potiphar was so impressed with his intelligence that he appointed Joseph over his whole estate in a relatively short time. When Pharaoh met him the first time, Pharaoh was so impressed with him, he said, this is a man that has the spirit of God in him. This is a man of great wisdom, just 30 years of age, a foreigner, a slave, a prisoner. And he said, make him prime minister. So don't get the impression that Joseph was some naive halfwit. brilliant, incisive thinker. And he must have understood the danger of leaving home from the protection of his father and going to these brothers. And he would have understood the character. Remember, he was the one who reported on their character previously. So he understood that these are men who could shed blood without thinking. These are men that are capable of outrageous acts. He understood that they hated him. And they hated him most of all because God was with him. He understood all those things. But what I like about Joseph is his response to his father. Because when Jacob said to him, I'm going to send you to the brothers, far, far away from here, Joseph doesn't question his father. He doesn't procrastinate, delay. He doesn't say, well, could you not send Benjamin? Surely there's one of your servants that you could send from the family business. Why me? Now notice what Joseph said. Verse 13, last part of the verse. And he said to him, here am I, I'm your servant. If you want me to go, I'll go. And just to deepen the sense of dedication of Joseph, notice what happens next. We're told that he made his way to Shechem out of the Vale of Hebron. And when he got there, he discovered a man. Now, I like these little phrases in the Bible, because they're just telling you that God had this person at the right place at the right time, because it says, verse 15, a certain man found him. Was it a coincidence he ran into this man? That's what the Holy Spirit just said. It's not luck here. God had this man. And what type of man was he? He was a man who had met his brothers. Imagine in all that whole area, wild, desolate area, this man he ran into, knew his brother. Coincidence? Luck? But not only did he run into a man when he was looking for help, but a man who had met his brothers, but a man who had overheard his brother's plans. Coincidence? No. Because the man said, he says, what seekest thou? He says, I seek my brethren. The man says, they are departed hence. I heard them say, let us go to the... So God put a man in the right place at the right time who had the right message during Dothan. Now, this is a test for Joseph. Does he really care about his brother? Because he could have just said, well, not my problem. I went to Shechem. My dad asked me to go to Shechem, check up. They're not there. Dothan was 25 miles from Shechem. And if Joseph wanted to be half-hearted at this point, he had every excuse to turn around and go home, isn't that right? But he didn't. That just shows you the character of this young man. That he was really dedicated. He had the real heart of a servant. That he was someone who obeyed without question. what he was asked to do. And you'll see this all the way through his life. And it began as a young man and continued right through till he was an old man, always serving others, always doing what he was called to do. And sometimes that was very uncomfortable for him. Sometimes it took him to places where it was very hard to serve the Lord, like in a prison. I don't know if you have any romantic ideas about prison, but if you've ever been in one, And I've been in a few. I remember we went in, we were law students, and we were brought into the prison in London. And I remember the professor, he was a wee tiny guy with this terminology. He was terrified. He was saying, I'm standing behind you, he said. You and this other fellow, good and tall, he says, you know what? And the prisoners were there, and they were shouting. It was not a pleasant environment. in a prison, particularly down in Egypt, if you're a foreigner, who defended Potiphar. And yet Joseph, when he was in the prison, how diligent he was, how faithful he was, insomuch that within a short time in the prison, the head of the prison gave him charge of the other prisoners. Amazing, isn't it? The same in Potiphar's house, the same in Pharaoh's house, wherever he was, Whether in Jacob's house, Potiphar's house, the prison house, or the palace, he served faithfully. He served diligently. Without questioning, without prevarication, he did what he was called to do. And all this, remember, I keep bringing this up, all this without a Bible. All this without the story of Joseph to learn from. just faithful, right to the very end. Now, when he gets to Dothan, verse 18 says, when they saw him afar, and you can't even begin to comprehend the evil of these 10 older brothers. He hadn't even arrived. They just saw this youth, 17 years of, a boy coming up the road. They had already decided we're gonna murder him. We're gonna take his life. And they said, we're gonna throw his corpse into the pit. Let's just see if God can protect us. from the assault. Let's just see if God can fulfill the dream that Joseph claims God has spoken through him. Joseph arrives, and as he is approaching, verse 21, Reuben the oldest heard it, and he delivered them out of his hands, and he said, And Reuben said unto them, shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him that we might rid him out of their hands to deliver them to his father again. Now, there are some people that criticize Reuben, and there are many things to criticize Reuben about in his life. But it's to Reuben's credit that he at least tries, in his clumsy way, to save the life He recognizes this as evil. Now some say he should have gone much further and he should have said to his brothers, don't touch him. This is evil, this is wrong. But I'm sure Reuben understood, just to, I won't excuse him, but to explain, he understood these are vicious brothers, probably kill him as well. And he thought probably the best solution is to hide him in the pit And then when the brothers move on, quickly get him out of the pit and get him home so that we can move on as a family from this situation. Some also criticized Reuben for later when they discovered that, or he discovered that Joseph was actually sold as a slave. They'd gone back to Jacob. He should have told the truth then. And he should have. And that is a mark against him. But let's give him some credit. And of all the sons of Jacob, Reuben had the most to lose with the ascendancy of Joseph, because he was the firstborn in the family. And Joseph was the one that was the favorite. And Jacob made clear he was the favorite. And he gave him this coat of colors, many colors, many things to indicate that Joseph would be the heir, the next patriarch. So Reuben, in a sense, had more to gain from the demise of Joseph and the removal of Joseph. But to his credit, he said, no, this shouldn't happen. Now, it says, when Joseph arrived, verse 23, they stripped him of his coat. You can see the hatred they had for that coat, the significance, not just because it was given as a special gift, but I believe there was significance in that coat. It indicated that old Jacob saw something special in that boy. It may even have seen that this is God's choice to be the next patriarch. This is the one, and the dreams no doubt would have confirmed that, that Joseph was God's chosen one to lead this home, guide this home after the passing of Jacob. And these boys, they almost tore it like wild animals off him. And they took him and they threw him into the pit. But sometimes when you read verses in the Bible, you have to read it carefully. Because when you read verse 24, just notice why the Holy Spirit is giving you some extra detail. Because it says, and they took him and cast him into a pit, and then there's a skull on there. And there's two things we learn about the pit. Number one, the pit was empty. What's significant about that? There's no snake in it. There's no wild animal in it. The Bible's just telling you that God even though he permitted this incident to occur, Joseph to be sold as a slave, that God was also working in the small details to preserve his life. When he was thrown into the pit, the pit just happened to be a safe place for him. And not only was the pit absent of any wild animal, but it says, and there was no water in it. We couldn't drown in it. Again, the providence of God working. A certain man at Shechem, who had met his brothers and understood where they were going, just happened to be there because God wanted Joseph further down the road at Dothan. He wanted Joseph in Dothan. And then when he was attacked by his brothers, God wanted him in a place where he was safe. God's working in the small detail. And then you're going to discover that just as Reuben was plotting to go and rescue him from the pit, God was at work to send Ishmaelite traders at the right place at the right time. Now, these were not Egyptians. These were Ishmaelites. But where were they going? Not to Lorne or Balaamina. They were heading to Egypt. And why did God want those men to pick Joseph up and bring him to Egypt? Because God had a purpose. God had a plan for Joseph down in Egypt. And God not only had a purpose and a plan for Joseph, he had a purpose and a plan for the whole family and the whole Israelite nation. Because Joseph understood that in Genesis 50, didn't he? He says, you thought evil against me, but God meant it for good to see what much people alive, the whole family, the whole nation. So it's no coincidence that these traders were passing by at the right place at the right time. And then one last thing, My time is nearly up. It says in verse 26, Judah said unto his brother, what profit is it if we slay our brother and conceal his blood? Now, Judah wasn't concerned about the morality of murdering Joseph. Get that impression. He's quite content to murder Joseph. He just thought Why waste the opportunity to make a few quid? I remember a Jewish Christian preacher, Jacob Prash, speaking on this verse. And he said, you knew they were Jewish because they saw an opportunity to make money. And he says, our people have always been like that ever since. And he was, in a sense, right, because Judah was ruled more at that moment when the blood had cooled. Again, the lust of material things. He said, well, why don't we make some money out of it? Now, just to put it in context, selling Joseph as a slave versus murdering him and throwing his body in the pit, there wasn't an awful lot of blessing coming to Joseph's way either way. It wasn't to Joseph's great advantage that he would be sold as a slave. Because slavery, many would have regarded as an existence worse than death. Because you become a foreigner, a slave in another country where you'd be treated like dirt. Your life meant nothing. You're treated worse than an animal. And for a young man like Joseph, just 17 years of age, brought up, pampered, in a sense, treated with such love and affection by his beloved father, to be ripped away from that, from his culture, from his country, from his language, and thrown into slavery in a foreign country, to be treated worse than an animal, oh, that was a terrible thought. And Judah wasn't moved by any compassion, he was just moved by his lust for wealth. And he says, well, just, but even that's the providence of God. Because it says at the end of verse 27, and his brethren were content, there was no argument, they all agreed. Let me finish with saying this. As Joseph was carted off to Egypt, no doubt in tears, Later on, we read in the book of Genesis, he wept and cried as he lay in that pit. And his brothers never forgot it because years later, over 20 years later, they said, we were guilty because we ignored the cries of our brother from the pit. And I'm sure he cried just as much as he was torn away from and pleaded with them not to sell him into slavery as they watched him being carted off with the other slaves. they may have thought to themselves, that's the last we'll see of Joseph. Joseph's God, how will he get him out of that? Remember the dream that Joseph had, the revelation from God? It said that one day, and they understood it, and Jacob understood it, one day all the brothers plus the father and the mother, would bow down before Joseph. And as they watched Joseph being carted down to Egypt, no doubt congratulating themselves on the great deception, as well as the great enrichment of their action, they didn't even know that all they were doing was furthering the plan of God. All they were doing is putting Joseph in the place where the next time they would see him, he would be prime minister over Egypt and they would be bowing down before him. That's how great God's sovereignty is. That's how wise God is. You know, we've been studying the book of Revelation in our Sunday night services, haven't we? And sometimes when you read some of the detail, I'm sure even Many of you would admit, you think to yourself, how could this ever happen? Are you sure that nearly half the world are going to be wiped out in a period of seven years? Are you sure we're going to see the rise of this man, the Antichrist, and all of these things that the book of Revelation says? Surely it sounds like a science fiction movie. Let me tell you, everything God says, From Genesis to Revelation. Absolutely true. Old Mr. Paisley used to say, I believe the Bible from cover to cover, and I believe in the covers, too, because they keep the dust off. That was a good saying, wasn't it? Believe in the Bible from cover. He's right. It's all there. Everything in the book is true. It's true. And what God did for Joseph and how God worked in Joseph's life, behind the scenes, we don't even see God's name mentioned in all of these verses, but God's at work. And the same God that was working in Joseph's life in the small detail to accomplish God's will is the same God who's at work in Lauren in 2024, is the same God who's at work in your life. in your family's life. Hindsight reveals it. But it's still true whether you understand it or not. Let us pray. Father, we thank you for your Word. We thank you even for the life of Joseph. What a man he was, even as a young man. How he stands out as a jewel in such darkness, as a diamond shining in the darkness of sin. Help us to learn from his life, be encouraged and inspired by his life, to live for you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.