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Jerry Mongello teaches on Genesis 37

Genesis 37

Gen 37:1  Now Jacob dwelt in the land where his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan. 

Last week we looked at Esau’s kingdom.  It was powerful, expansive, war-like, and had kings, chiefs, princes, and powerful tribes, the typical worldly kingdom!

In contrast, Jacob dwelt in a strange land, a sojourner on foreign soil.  He had no chiefs or kings, no provinces to rule, no territory to conquor.

It’s interesting that God had promised Jacob would inherit the promise of Abraham, and of Isaac, and would in fact, have lands, tribes, kings, etc.  Yet, despite the promise, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had no expanding empire or powerful nation in their lifetimes.  

It’s common for worldly prosperity and power to happen quickly (often by force) while spiritual growth and blessings seem to take more time.  

I believe there’s a Biblical principle at work here:

2Pe 1:1  Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: 

2Pe 1:2  Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 

2Pe 1:3  as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 

2Pe 1:4  by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 

2Pe 1:5  But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 

2Pe 1:6  to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 

2Pe 1:7  to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 

2Pe 1:8  For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

2Pe 1:9  For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. 

2Pe 1:10  Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; 

2Pe 1:11  for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

God is concerned with the ending of a thing; It’s succesful completion.  Worldly perspective is “power now, at any cost”, the end justifies the means, power is everything.

This is not God’s way for His children, His kingdom, or His future plans for us.  God is more concerned with building His kingdom His way, which takes time!  His desire is that His kingdom be built from living stones, each one perfected by the work of the Holy Spirit into a a stone that will not, and cannot fail, because He has made His work eternal through the precious blood of Jesus Christ.

Waiting for God to bless and move on His timetable while others prosper takes faith and patience, and BUILDS faith and patience!

King David is a perfect example.  Even though he had been annointed as King in Saul’s place, he had to wait patiently for years while Saul chased him around, trying to kill him, running, hiding, and fighting.  Yet when he had the chance to take matters into his own hands and “sieze the day”, he chose instead to say “I will not touch the Lord’s annointed” and wait for God to bring His promise to pass.

Some listening might have struggled with these same issues.  Feeling like God has something big in your future, yet also feeling like you’re just marking time with nothing happening is a tough place to be!  If so, the examples of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and the story of Joseph will be a blessing!

It’s been 11 years since Jacob left Laban.  It was after Rachael bore Joseph that Jacob told Laban he wanted to leave, then Laban negotiated a deal to keep Jacob serving him to build the flocks.  (Find that in Genesis 30).  Jacob served Laban 6 more years then left after a total of 20 years service.  Joseph would have been 6 years old when they left Laban, he’s 17 here so 11 years have elapsed.

Gen 37:2  This is the history of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. And the lad was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to his father. 

It would seem that Joseph was in some type of supervisory role here. 

Gen 37:3  Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age. Also he made him a tunic of many colors.

Right away we have a problem; Favoritism.

Israel loved Joseph more than all of his children.  

Jas 2:1  My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. 

Jas 2:2  For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, 

Jas 2:3  and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” and say to the poor man, “You stand there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,” 

Jas 2:4  have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? 

God’s Love has no partiality!  Both the rich man and the poor man in James 2 are God’s children.  One might have more material blessings than the other, but they are both loved equally!

Humans are incapable of true impartiality.  We might think we are impartial, but on a purely human level that is not possible.  We all have preferences.  We prefer this personality over that one, this physical appearance over another, one manner of speaking over a different one, the list goes on and on.  

It is ONLY possible to be truly impartial when we allow the Holy Spirit to overrule our human inclinations.

Israel, being human, obviously had preferences!  He should not have loved one son above the rest, but he did.  This would also have consequences later.

VISE GRIPS….

Jacob’s problem wasn’t that he interacted differently with his son Joseph, it was that he loved him more.

“Also he made him a tunic of many colors.”

Traditionally, a rulers cloak was made from sewing many strips of fabric together to make sa distinctive tunic, or robe.  The word can also mean long sleeved, or wide.  What is clear is that this robe separated Joseph from the rest.  He was immediately recognized as being set apart, special.

It was a robe of distinction.  Judges 5:30, 2Sam 13:17-19 are two examples..

SPECULATION:

It was a common practice to appoint the son who was to be heir while the father was still alive.  There would be a ring, tunic, staff, or some other form of identification which would indicate which son was to inherit.  It seems that Jacob had determined that his son Joseph would be his heir, and was positioning him in that role pubicly.

At this point we should begin talking about Joseph parallels Jesus in many ways.  There are over 100 similarities between Joseph and Jesus!  The more you look into it, the more we realize that Joseph is a type, or foreshadowing, of Jesus who is to come.

Jesus ALSO had a robe of distinction:

Psa 22:18  They divide My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots. 

Mat 27:35  Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet: “THEY DIVIDED MY GARMENTS AMONG THEM, AND FOR MY CLOTHING THEY CAST LOTS.” 

Joh 19:23  Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece. 

Joh 19:24  They said therefore among themselves, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be,” that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says: “THEY DIVIDED MY GARMENTS AMONG THEM, AND FOR MY CLOTHING THEY CAST LOTS.” Therefore the soldiers did these things. 

Jesus’s tunic was distinctive, special, so much so that they would not cut it up to share but chose to cast lots so that it could be given whole to whoever won.

Gen 37:4  But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.

Jacob should have remembered the destruction caused by family distinction by his father and mother.  It casued Jacob to be separated from his mother and would cause Jacob to be separated from Joseph, as well as separating Joseph from the rest of the family, for a time! 

Gen 37:5  Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more. 

Gen 37:6  So he said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: 

Gen 37:7  There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf.” 

Gen 37:8  And his brothers said to him, “Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.

First of all, the brothers clearly understood the dream!  There was no mistake!  

It’s also interesting that this dream was agricultural, and signified HOW Joseph would accomplish ruling over them!   (That’s a story for Genesis Chapter 42…)

Gen 37:9  Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, “Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me.” 

Gen 37:10  So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?” 

Gen 37:11  And his brothers envied him, but his father kept the matter in mind. 

The second dream was celestian.  It was prophetic of Joseph assuming rulership over the whole house of Israel.

These dreams are both prophetic and interpretative.  In fact, the last dream, which Jacob interprets, is the key to understanding Revelation 12.

Joseph’s dream:   “Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me.” 

Rev 12:1  Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars.

Jacob’s interpretation of Joseph’s dream: 

Gen 37:10  So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?” 

Rev 12:2  Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth. Who is with child?  The Nation of Israel.

Rev 12:3  And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. 

Rev 12:4  His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. Who is Israel’s child?  Jesus!

Rev 12:5  She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne. 

Rev 12:6  Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days. 

Back to Genesis 37…

Gen 37:12  Then his brothers went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem. About 50 miles.  20 hours travel time…

Gen 37:13  And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” So he said to him, “Here I am.” 

Gen 37:14  Then he said to him, “Please go and see if it is well with your brothers and well with the flocks, and bring back word to me.” So he sent him out of the Valley of Hebron, and he went to Shechem. 

It becomes more clear that Jacob has set Joseph up as an overseer…

Gen 37:15  Now a certain man found him, and there he was, wandering in the field. And the man asked him, saying, “What are you seeking?” 

Gen 37:16  So he said, “I am seeking my brothers. Please tell me where they are feeding their flocks.” 

Gen 37:17  And the man said, “They have departed from here, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’ ” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan. Another 15 miles to Dothan..

Gen 37:18  Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, they conspired against him to kill him. First degree murder with malice!  The brothers who plotted to kill the Schekemites now plot to kill their own brother!

Gen 37:19  Then they said to one another, “Look, this dreamer is coming! 

Gen 37:20  Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, ‘Some wild beast has devoured him.’ We shall see what will become of his dreams!” 

If they kill the dreamer, the dreams can’t come true…

Gen 37:21  But Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands, and said, “Let us not kill him.” 

Gen 37:22  And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit which is in the wilderness, and do not lay a hand on him”—that he might deliver him out of their hands, and bring him back to his father. 

Gen 37:23  So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him. 

Gen 37:24  Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it. 

Gen 37:25  And they sat down to eat a meal. Then they lifted their eyes and looked, and there was a company of Ishmaelites, coming from Gilead with their camels, bearing spices, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry them down to Egypt. 

Gen 37:26  So Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? 

Gen 37:27  Come and 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 brothers listened. 

Repentance, Conviction, or Fear???

Gen 37:28  Then Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt. 

Gen 37:29  Then Reuben returned to the pit, and indeed Joseph was not in the pit; and he tore his clothes. 

Gen 37:30  And he returned to his brothers and said, “The lad is no more; and I, where shall I go?” 

Gen 37:31  So they took Joseph’s tunic, killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the tunic in the blood. 

Gen 37:32  Then they sent the tunic of many colors, and they brought it to their father and said, “We have found this. Do you know whether it is your son’s tunic or not?” 

Gen 37:33  And he recognized it and said, “It is my son’s tunic. A wild beast has devoured him. Without doubt Joseph is torn to pieces.” 

It’s ironic that Jacob deceived his father Isaac by wearing Esau’s tunic (and sheeps skin on his arms) and here his sons deceive him with Joseph’s tunic…

Gen 37:34  Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son many days.

Gen 37:35  And all his sons and all his daughters (only one daughter mentioned by name- Dinah) arose to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and he said, “For I shall go down into the grave to my son in mourning.” Thus his father wept for him. 

Gen 37:36  Now the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard. 

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