A Cast Of Characters

Take your Bibles this morning and let's turn to Genesis chapter 37. Genesis chapter 37 as we continue our trip through the book of Genesis and the story of God's faithfulness. Genesis 37 you follow as I read beginning in verse 2. These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph being 17 year old was pastoring 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.

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. 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. Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more.

He said to them, hear this dream that I have dreamed. Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field. And behold, my sheaf rose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf. 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. Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, behold I've dreamed another dream behold the sun the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me 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 and his brothers were jealous of him but his father kept the saying in mind now his brothers went to pasture their father's flock near Shechem and And Israel said to Joseph, Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I'll send you to them.

And he said to him, Here I am. 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. And a man found him wandering in the fields. And the man asked him, What are you seeking? I'm seeking my brothers, he said.

Tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock. And the man said, They've gone away, for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan. They saw him from afar, and before he came near to them, they conspired against him to kill him. They said to one another, Here comes this dreamer. 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. but then Reuben heard it but when Reuben heard it he rescued him out of their hands saying let us not take his life 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 so when Joseph came to his brothers they stripped him of his robe the robe of many colors that he wore and they took him and threw him into the pit the pit was empty there was no water in it 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 then judah said to his brothers what profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood come let us sell him to the ishmaelites and let let not our hand be upon him for he is our brother our own flesh his brothers listened to him then midianite trainers midianite traders passed by and they drew joseph up and lifted him out of the pit and sold him to the ishmaelites for 20 shekels of silver they took joseph to egypt when reuben returned to the pit and saw that joseph was not in the pit, he tore his clothes and returned to his brothers and said, the boy is gone, and I, where shall I go? Then they took Joseph's robe and slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. 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. 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. Then Jacob tore his garments and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days. 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 the father wept for him. Meanwhile, the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar an officer of Pharaoh the captain of the guard let's pray Father now as we come to this very familiar story we pray that you would help us to see your purpose in it Father we often time come to these familiar stories and we load it up with all the memories and the things that we learned in Sunday school we pray Lord that you would help us to understand what you have put this here for. We pray, Father, that in all of this you would cause us to look at our lives in light of this text and to look particularly at you and how you work.

God, help us now, we pray. In Jesus' name, amen. When you go to the theater, let's say to watch the musical Oklahoma, you're introduced to the main characters in the very first scene. As the scene opens, you find out who Curly, Aunt Eller, and Lori are. And before the scene is over, you're introduced to Ike, Will Parker, 8-0 Annie, Allie Hackham, and last of all of course Judd Fry And you begin to understand the personality of each Curly a happy cowboy who wants to take Lori out Lori's a reluctant girl, but not too reluctant.

Ado Annie's not reluctant at all. Allie Hackham is a con man. And Jud, he's just plain a dangerous threat. before too long you begin to sense this underlying current of danger and conflict that moves the story along. Now in our text this morning, we come upon Act 1, Scene 1 of the 10th book of the book of Genesis. In this scene, you're introduced to the main characters of this story and you get a sense of who they are. you begin to see the underlying currents of murderous envy, intrigue, favoritism, arrogance, danger, and conflict, which will move this story to its surprising conclusion.

The one who is despised and rejected turns out to be the deliverer. now we need to remember here very quickly that genesis is composed of 10 books 10 toledotes remember toledote means generation and so we now are in the 10th and final book entitled these entitled the generations of jacob which will tell us about his 12 sons This is the last installment of a great history of God working to begin to fulfill the promise he had made at the very beginning of the book that coming to us would be the seed of the woman who would rescue us. We have watched God protect the line in the early eras of human history. We've seen him protect the line that would bring us that Savior.

We see when we come to chapter 11 that he narrows the focus to one man and to one family and how he makes a covenant with that man Abraham, promising to build him a worshiping nation, promise to bring out of him kings, promising the land of Canaan, but most importantly of all, promising that the seed that would bless all the nations would come through him and through the nation that he founds. And so this tenth book continues that great story. It tells how God works through Abraham's descendants, these sons, to become a nation through which comes the seed that blesses all the nations.

And so at this point, the writer introduces us to this cast of characters. These are the main characters that will carry the story forward, this story of the promise of God to provide a seed of blessing to all the nations. These are the ones that God chooses to work through to accomplish his good and gracious purposes. So let's look at the first 11 verses again, very quickly. let's get these characters in our mind these are the generations of Jacob Joseph being 17 years old was pastoring 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 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 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.

Now Joseph had a dream. And when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. He said to them, hear this dream that I have dreamed. 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. chief his brothers said to him are you indeed to reign over us are you indeed to rule over us so they hated him even more for his dream and his words then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said behold I've dreamed another dream behold the sun the moon and 11 stars were bowing down to me 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? And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind. Now we normally think of God accomplishing his purpose through people of noble character and sterling reputation. we say God's going to accomplish great things through a George Washington or an Abraham Lincoln but certainly not an Adolf Hitler he's going to accomplish his purposes through families of traditional value not people who are despicable arrogant and murderous right and once more we're introduced to a bunch of crazy characters it's not the first time is it Here we are again, introduced to the people that you would think are the least fit to carry out God's purposes.

And as we go through this passage, here's what I want you to do. I want you to gain hope in God. I want you to gain hope in God as you see that, not in spite of, but through these kinds of people, God accomplishes his good and gracious purposes. Let's start out with one of these characters. You can gain hope as you see God work through flawed, growing people.

You gain hope as you see God working through flawed, growing people. Jacob. Now Jacob the first thing you see about him is that he struggling with favoritism he loved Joseph more than all of his other 10 sons It wasn because Rachel was his favorite wife which is what we tend to think Notice what the text says. He loved him more than all the others because he was the son of his old age.

Not because of Rachel, but because he was the son of his old age. Not the only time that phrases used is it's used of Isaac that Isaac was the son of Abraham's old age and it may be that this is that Jacob saw Joseph as the son of promise that this was the one through whom God was going to work and so he lavished his affection and love on his son in ways that spoke volumes to the other boys now that favoritism was so obvious that the other boys could see it For one thing, he'd given Joseph a particular kind of coat. Now, nobody really knows how that coat differed from all the others.

It's often been translated as a coat of many colors, but it's unclear what that means. It could have meant a coat with long sleeves. It could have meant a coat that was specially ornamented. Whatever it was, it spoke of a special position. The boys were not angry at their dad because he bought Joseph good clothes. That's not the issue at all.

The only time that this term is ever used, it's only used twice in the Bible, the only other time it's used is in 1 Samuel chapter 13 verse 18 in reference to Tamar, David's daughter. And it says this, Now Tamar the princess was wearing, here's our term, a long robe with sleeves. For thus were the virgin daughters of the king dressed. It seems that this term is used of royal garments.

Royal garments. Consequently, this was a sign. this was Jacob publicly declaring that Joseph was going to rule over the family he's ignoring Reuben he's ignoring the firstborn he's ignoring everyone else and he's saying this is the one that's going to rule in our family that's what it's about it's not that dad bought him more expensive clothes it's that dad was saying with this coat this guy is going to be the leader and they hated him for it. Now you also have to see here that Jacob is blind to his weaknesses, isn't he?

Jacob is blind to his weaknesses. He's playing favorites. He's playing favorites. It seems as he's not learned anything from his own experience of favoritism. He grew up in a household of favoritism. He grew up in a household where dad loved one boy better than the other and mom loved him better than his brother and in a home that had favorites guess what happened there was nothing but ruin and heartache but here he is doing the very same thing in his family it seems that jacob just couldn't get it when it came to favoritism does it you think he would have learned his lesson but he doesn't and yet let's not forget this yet again he is a man of faith we've seen over the previous chapters that god's relentless grace has pursued this man and has changed this man you see evidence of it here in verse 11 as well when you look at verse 11 verses 10 and 11 he rebukes his son good but his father kept the saying in mind he takes joseph's dream seriously at first he rebukes him and says oh come on are you serious about this but he keeps he takes his dream seriously his brothers act emotionally they reject it outright they hate it they don't want anything to do with it but jacob's open mind shows that god had worked humility in him to a certain degree jacob had seen god's hand in the affairs of men for all his life now.

And now he's going to remember this. He's going to remember this. But he is still a man who has flaws. Does that remind you of anybody? Huh? You know what we always want to do?

We always want to make cardboard characters out of Bible people, don't we? We make them one are two-dimensional. They're just like you. They're just like me. Most of you here know the Lord Jesus Christ, and yet you also know you're still struggling against sinful habits. Someone could walk up to you and say, when are you ever going to get it?

Right? Joseph's not the only, or Jacob's not the only one who doesn't get it, who's blind to his weaknesses. this so are you but what's the point you gotta have some hope here you know why because God doesn't need perfect people to accomplish perfect purposes does he he doesn't need perfect people to accomplish his perfect purposes I'll tell you what man that gives me hope that gives me hope you know now hard as it is to admit this sinful favoritism sets in motion the hatred it's actually this favoritism that gets that tempts Jacob's sons to hate Joseph and yet it works God's deliverance for this people as we will see listen God can even use your mistakes and your sin to accomplish his purposes Isn't it interesting that the very thing that this text highlights is hatred? And God uses hatred to accomplish the salvation of this clan.

God can use your mistakes and your sin and your imperfections to accomplish his purposes you know what else it makes obvious that you never outgrow your need for God's grace and God's power you will never outgrow God's need for grace you know even on your best day even on your best day you ought to be thankful that God looks at you in grace and not on the basis of what your performance is because even on your best day you're going to be able to look back and say I didn't stack up to God's commandments this ought to make you thankful of God's grace it ought to cause you to cry out to God for power to live in the way that he wants you to and this is the experience of your life you will experience your life as both saint and sinner you will never be more justified than you are now if you've believed in Jesus you're justified you're declared righteous before God before the tribunal of his law you are declared righteous but there is a great difference there is a great distance between your standing, not guilty, perfect before God, and your life, your practice. This ought to make you glad for the grace of God. This ought to make you cry out for power.

Now on to the second character of scene one. His name is Joseph. And with Joseph, you can gain hope as you see God work through arrogant, self-righteous people. God can even work through arrogant, self-righteous people. The writer sets the scene by introducing Joseph as a teenager of 17 years working with his brothers, verse 2. But what's interesting is that term boy.

Joseph, being 17 years old, was pastoring the flock with his brothers. he was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah his father's wife so why would he say boy I mean we know he's a boy you just told us he's 17 and why is he a boy with these guys well what's interesting is that term that's we have boy here actually means assistant or helper much like we use the term a tennis boy right a tennis boy is not somebody that you a boy that you bat over the net, right? The tennis boy is the one who does the work of running after the balls in a major tournament, right? And so we call him a tennis boy.

That's kind of what he's talking about here. He's a boy to them. That is, he does all the menial and hated tasks that they don't want to do. That's his job. That's what he's supposed to do. And although he works with all his brothers, his dad has assigned him to work primarily with his four brothers dan asher naftali and gad those are his bosses and that's who he's working for as they're out pastoring but you notice that joseph has his own set of problems for one he's a tattletale and there's no way around that he is a tattletale he brings back a bad report concerning his brothers.

Look at Proverbs chapter 10 verse 18. There that word bad report is used in Proverbs chapter 10 verse 18. See how it's translated there. Proverbs 10 verse 18. The one who conceals hatred has lying lips and whoever utters slander, whoever utters a bad report is a fool. Okay? now Joseph may have been telling the truth to his dad given the character of the boys that we see in this chapter it wouldn't surprise me one bit that there was a bad report that went back to dad but the point is that Joseph would who may have been telling the truth to his dad he may have fabricated some he may have made some of it up he may have exaggerated but the point was he intended to do damage to his brothers.

That's the point. See, that's the point. It's like two boys headed for school in the morning. We'll call the older one Jason and the younger one Joseph. Now when I was growing up, we didn't take a bus to grade school. We just walked down the street.

The grade school is down the street and I can still see my mom getting us ready to head off to school. And so I can imagine a mom saying to Jason and to Joseph, now it's kind of late, so hustle along to school so that you get there on time. Well, on the way to school, Jason dawdles a little bit and picks up about three or four rocks and throws them in the creek and watches the ripples for a while and then hustles off to school and he gets there on time.

But that evening at supper, mom says, so how was school today? Did you get there on time? and Joseph chimes in Jason was throwing rocks in the creek he didn't go to school right away mom now Jason's in trouble now right isn't he yeah he's in trouble he's in trouble but Jason wasn't that disobedient and frankly Joseph is too gleeful at the fact that he got his brother into That's what's going on here. That's what the original Joseph does.

He intends to get his brothers in trouble. He is a tattletale, right? Don't you love tattletales? I thought they'd just rub you the wrong way. But here's the point. Here's one of the points.

Didn't rub Jacob the wrong way. He loved that boy. He couldn't say anything wrong. He is just a tattletale. and let's face it we can also call him a spoiled brat we can call him a spoiled brat he knows that he is his dad's favorite son one of the clues we see later in the chapter let's see I got the wrong verse in my notes and as I was reading I saw oh wait a minute okay there it is in verse 23 so when joseph came to his brothers they stripped him of his robe the robe of many colors that he wore now as i read this here's what occurred to me he's on a work assignment you know i don't i don't put a tie on you know when i when i walk down to the post office with my tie on you know what the But you know what Lance asks me or whoever was working at the post office, they say, who died?

Right? Because I don't normally wear a tie. You know, I wear it on Sunday. I wear a tie on Sunday. I don't go out and mow the lawn in a tie. But here is Joseph walking around on a work assignment with a big coat on.

With a special coat on. Now what does that tell you? he parades around in his royal coat everybody knows he's the top dog and he's going to make sure everybody knows and even when he's on this work assignment he's wearing that robe that really struck me as unusual isn't it interesting that the writer makes it clear that you know that he's wearing that robe and that's what they strip off of him he's a spoiled brat And if that weren't enough, he has an arrogant attitude. He already possesses the place of favoritism, which is obvious by the coat.

But now he has to tell his brothers about his dreams. He rubs their noses in his prominent position. He brags by telling them of this dream. Now he already knows what they think about him. Do you think Joseph wasn't aware of what his brothers thought of him? Now, he knew what his brothers thought of him, and it's like when he tells them the dream, he's saying, oh yeah?

Well, let me tell you about a dream I had the other night. I'm not only dad's choice, I'm God's choice. How would you take that? Right? And I'm not only dad's favorite, I'm God's favorite too. Ha!

And honestly, you've got to be careful not to speculate. Right? But I honestly think that's what's happening. I honestly think that's what happens. I think he probably could have just told his dad about it. Right?

He knows what that dream means. They know what the dream means. And he just says, hey, guess what? We're out in the field and my sheep is there and you guys are putting your sheep together and my sheep stands up and all yours bow down. They are ticked at that. Right?

And not only that, but when he has a second dream, what does he do? He tells his brother the second dream. One writer put it this way, Joseph is a boy of massive insensitivity. They hated him for the first dream. Why is he telling the second dream that? There's only one answer.

He wants them to know he's the top dog. All right? What kind of hope can we find here in Joseph's story? Well, for one thing, you see a boy who is morally good, but immature and bratty. And God's going to have to teach him some things. God's going to take him through the school of leadership.

But the school of leadership that none of us would ever imagine is a great school to learn leadership in. Spiritual maturity for him must come through abuse and mistreatment and all kinds of heartache. Don't lose sight of the fact that God has a purpose, not just for all of us, not just for this clan, but for Joseph as well. He's going to prepare him so that he becomes a deliverer.

And the only way that's going to happen for Joseph is abuse and mistreatment and heartache. That's the school he's going to take him through. He could not have learned those lessons if he sat comfortably at home in his father's place, sitting around in his great coat. He never would have learned the lessons. And you know what? I think that those dreams did. certainly no doubt about it those dreams motivated the hatred of his brother brothers but i have no doubt in my mind that they were the basis of hope that he carried with him through all the difficult years that lie ahead of him oftentimes as i counsel people oftentimes i'll assign i'll sign them i want you to read genesis 37 through 50 and here what i want you to do i want you to look Look for the clues that will tell you why Joseph did not become bitter and vindictive and vengeful Read his story and you come back and tell me what are the clues Here's one.

He had these dreams. He had those dreams. And they were the foundation of his hope in all of the horrible things that are going to happen to him. Let me ask you, where's your hope? Where is your hope? if your hope is in that the circumstances of your life will go as you planned, if your hope is in that I'm going to have a nice, easy life, your hopes are going to be dashed.

There isn't a person here this morning who is not going to face or who has not already faced tragedy of one form or another. that's the way life is in a fallen broken world you are going to face tragedy young people i'm talking to you now the world looks really good to you the world you you've got plans you're thinking about what's going to happen you're like joseph you're 17 you're 15 you're 12 and you think well when i get away from my parents or when i get my driver's license or when i get a job or when all this happens, things are going to be good. I'm telling you here right now, you're going to face tragedy somewhere along the line. And if your hope is in a nice, easy, good life, your hopes are going to be dashed, and you're going to become despairing and hopeless.

Your hope cannot lie in your plans. Your hope cannot lie in your dreams, or in some kind of way that you look at reality. Your hope can only lie with God. Now, you don't have dreams to fall back on. No one has dreams that God has given us. But you know what?

Let me say this to you. God hasn't given me a dream to help me through the hardships of life, but He's given me something better. He's given you something better. You know what it is? It's the promises of God written in His Word. We don't need dreams.

We have this. We have the promises of God. he that began a good work in you will what? He will finish it. Will he not? Never will I leave you or forsake you. Is that true?

All things work together for good for those who love God and have been called according to His purpose. Is that true? Since He's already given His Son, how will He not also along with Him graciously give us all things? If He sent His Son to die, how will he not take care of everything else for you? Your hope is in the promises of God so that when tragedy strikes, you have the promises to hold on to.

You know God's at work for your good. You know God's going to give you all that you need. You know he's not leaving you or forsaking you. And here's also where you gain hope. Hard times never mean that God's reneged on his promise. you see we think when things are going well that's when God's good we forget that when things go bad God is still good now I'm going to tell you something here don't be offended don't be afraid after I say this but I cannot stand this term it's a God day oh no I said that to him oh no what's he think of me Don't worry about that right now.

All right? You know what we want to say? We want to say it's a God thing when all of a sudden something happens and we have no explanation for it. Everything is a God thing. Are you with me? He may not do it real sudden like.

He may not do it like there's no explanation. He'll do it through normal means. It's still a God thing. in hard times right good times it's a god thing hard times oh no where is god it's a god thing he's there he is there he's working his good purposes through hardship and abuse and horrible things he's still working it's a god thing by the way we'll be reminded that all the way through here because from this point on to the end of the book god never directly acts he doesn't appear like he does to abraham and isaac he doesn't speak audibly from now on we're going to see god accomplishing his purposes behind the scenes we all know that god's behind it and we're all going to look and see wow how did that happen but there's no god suddenly showing up.

It's not going to happen for the rest of the book. It's a God thing. And so we have Joseph. There's hope in Joseph because we have the promises of God. And God does not renege on those promises when things get hard. Lastly, you gain hope as you see God work through hateful, wicked people.

You see God work through growing flawed people. You see God work even through arrogant, self-righteous people, but you also see God work through hateful, wicked people. Have hope. Now this is not just the story of Joseph. From now on, we're going to read the story of Joseph and his brothers, but particularly Judah. Joseph and Judah from now to the end are going to occupy our attention and his brothers and Jacob still But Joseph and Judah are singled out in the rest of the story So this is about Joseph and his brothers.

Now what can you say about his brothers? There's only one thing to say. They struggled with out and out hatred of their brother. They hate him. They hated Joseph because of his dad's favoritism. They hated him because their dad obviously loved him more than them.

Some of you who have experienced favoritism know how heartbreaking that is. They knew. They knew that Jacob loved Joseph more than he loved them. and that that whole loving him more was obvious to them from the very start you remember when Joseph was going to meet Esau and he took Bilhah Zilpah and their sons first in line followed by Leah's children followed by Rachel and Joseph right now to his credit he went out front but this is how he arranged his camp you remember that when he was afraid that Esau was going to do some damage and the message was clear I really love Joseph but when it comes right down to it you guys are expendable I don't want to lose him you that's why they hate him not to mention he singled out Joseph as the ruler of the family when he's not even the oldest son.

And they hated him so much that they could not even greet him. Look at verse 4. Our translations say, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him. It can be literally translated, they could not even say shalom to him. Now you know what shalom is. You know that's the Hebrew word for peace.

But it's the way that they say hello. All right? Shalom means hello. It became the common way of saying hello. They hated him so much, they couldn't even say good morning to their brother. They couldn't.

They just were so intense in their hatred, they couldn't even greet him. They hated him because of his dreams. Here was Joseph rubbing their faces in his prominent place. and please notice what it says in verse 8 the end of verse 8 so they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words I found that interesting what does it mean they hated him for his dreams and for his words they hated him for his dreams and they hated him for the way he told them the way he told them.

See? Dad's right. I am supposed to rule over you. Told you. Right? And then again, he tells them the second dream.

And a murderous jealousy grips their heart. They will not be happy until he's dead. Somehow. We're going to kill him. Now don't blame Jacob and Joseph for their hatred. Don't blame them.

Were they temptations? Certainly they were temptations. But if those boys were standing here right now, you know what I'd say to them? You have no excuse for your hatred. Certainly you were tempted. Certainly it was very, very difficult.

But you have depraved hearts. They're not the only problem you're this problem were they sinful yes how did you respond to being treated sinfully with sin how could they have responded with faith they watched their dad certainly he was no model but they saw God work in his life they knew faith they could have walked by faith but they did not they're to blame for their attitude certainly Jacob and Joseph tempted them but they're not responsible for their hatred. They hated them.

But here's the point. That's the main complication in this story. That hatred is the main thing that drives this story. And notice, these are dangerous men. Okay? When it says they hated them, and they get jealous and they want to kill them, remember who these guys are?

Two years before they wiped out an entire city. These boys. They killed, they massacred a city. So when it says they hated Joseph, we're not talking about some guys who are saying, shoot, I can't even say good morning to the guy. They want to kill him, and they're capable of it. These are dangerous men.

But this very kind of hatred is the very means that God uses to bring about their deliverance. Now, I'm assuming you all know the story. if you don't read the rest of the story. But here's the point. This incredible hatred is what God uses to bring about their salvation. Isn't that amazing? How in the world, though, does God work through wickedness and depravity?

Notice, they did not suffer the same things that Joseph suffered. They went to a different school. God takes them to the school of sin and repentance. They're going to learn of their wickedness, and they're going to have their hearts softened by bitter experience. They will learn Now maybe that where you are Maybe that where you are You saying to me right now or you thinking in your mind that me I like them I have such wickedness in my heart.

I've asked God, please deliver me from this sin. I've asked God over and over, God, can't you relieve this? Can't you do something about this? Can't you arrange things so I'm not tempted anymore? God, will you please just make it easy for me so I don't sin so much. Now God is neither the author of sin nor does He condone your sin, but He can make it part of His training program.

Don't ever lose hope. Maybe you need to learn how great a sinner you are and how really great a Savior Jesus is. Maybe that's what you need to learn. Maybe you need to learn that God loves you not because you're so wonderful, but He loves you because of Jesus. And that's a whole lot better than loving you because of who you are, isn't it? Maybe you need to learn the deceptiveness of sin to a greater degree.

But don't lose hope. God can even teach in this school. He does it with them. He can do it with you. Now as you learn this cast of characters, you should have hope. How can God work with such people? how can he do that and what is he doing those dreams are like a lighted match dropped on the powder keg of a dysfunctional family that explodes into abuse and suffering and pain and heartache god what are you doing God can and we will find out that he does work for the deliverance of his people in the midst of all that evil in fact let's go so far as to say he uses it to accomplish his purposes this story is not a single story it's not just an isolated story this is the way God normally works this is the way he normally works in the brokenness of the world and its people listen to a couple pastors as they write this do good and harman were their names but here's what they wrote it is worth noting that god's redemptive ways are not ours in our own lives we quickly assume that wherever terrible abuse takes place or relationships tragically fall apart or traumatic sin blights our lives that God must surely be absent.

He neither causes sin nor condones it yet God's redemptive pathways do not lead us around conflict, abuse, divorce, and broken families, or even away from the expression and outworking of our own sinful natures. Oh my, isn't that true here? Isn't that true here? You see, God has a redemptive purpose. And that purpose is to redeem a people for himself. And he did that by sending his son, like a lighted match, into the powder keg of broken humanity.

That's what he did. And guess what? Who is God's favorite? Who is God's favorite? Who does he love supremely? Jesus.

Jesus, no. He loves Jesus supremely. and Jesus voluntarily laid aside that favored position he set aside the deserved robe of honor and glory as God's favorite son he set it aside he didn't rub our noses in it did he he came in humility but guess what happened even in humility even in that humble state he incited the hatred of a world that rejected him scorned him abused him and killed him but guess what God used the very hatred that he incited to save you the very hatred that nailed him to the cross was God's means of saving a people for himself and so we come to the surprising conclusion of God's plan the one who is despised and rejected becomes the deliverer Father we thank you for your redemptive purposes, we can't understand them. We wouldn't do it that way.

But Father, you have used the most sinful, awful things to accomplish marvelous, grace-filled purposes. We sit here this morning and marvel at your wisdom. We marvel at your wisdom. as we come to this table now remind us that the despised rejected one became our deliverer thank you in Jesus name Amen