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John Miller

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Genesis 37–50

Suffering

Sovereignty

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Intro

Hello. Thank you Reverend Yu for asking me to speak tonight.

Before I start, next week, most of y’all will be going back to school. Some of you are starting middle school, some of you are starting high school, and for some of you, you’re starting your final year of high school, and for some of you, you’re starting college. Most of y’all have a plan. You have a plan for how you want this next year to go. Your classes are planned, your schedules are planned, everything is planned out so that whatever goal you’ve set for your future can be reached.

But, as most of you might know by now, and if you don’t know, you will learn soon enough, that life tends to disrupt our carefully crafted plans.

When I moved away for college for the first time, I moved to Clemson, South Carolina. It was about 600 miles (or 10 hours) away from all of my family, and I was super excited to be in a different state, surrounded by new people, but right before I left, my grandmother got put in the hospital. Now, as a kid, my grandmother was my best friend. I was the first grandkid, on her side of the family, so she always spoiled me. And there’s still a running joke in my family that I was her favorite grandkid. But, she’s in the hospital, I’ve moved 600 miles away, and I get a phone call the day before classes start, and my mom says she has cancer, and it doesn’t look good. And so what happened, is I made it through the semester, barely, and after it was all done, I moved back home. And in February of 2012, so about two months after I moved back home, my grandmother passes away.

And during those few months that I was away, life was hard. My first semester of college wasn’t filled with the success that I had planned. It wasn’t filled with the excitement and friendships that I had planned. It was an extremely lonely point of my life. I’m a pretty extroverted person, but I spent most of that semester hiding in my dorm room. I just didn’t want to see people. I hardly went to church, and I had no community. I prayed every single day for God to heal my grandmother. And during all of that, I was like, “God, where are you?” Why am I suffering like this? Why is my family suffering like this? Don’t you love your children, God? Don’t you want what’s best for me? How is this what’s best for me, God? Don’t all things work out for the good of those who love you, God? That’s what your word says? Where are you, God?

So that’s what we’re going to try and see tonight. Where is God when we’re suffering? Where is God when our lives aren’t going how we planned them? How is God in control of all things?

So, turn in your bibles to Genesis chapter 37. I’ll ready the first 11 verses, and then I’ll tell the rest of the story, which spans from chapter 37 all the way to chapter 50.

Exodus 37:1–11 ESV

Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood. Two cubits and a half was its length, a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. And he overlaid it with pure gold inside and outside, and made a molding of gold around it. And he cast for it four rings of gold for its four feet, two rings on its one side and two rings on its other side. And he made poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold and put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark. And he made a mercy seat of pure gold. Two cubits and a half was its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth. And he made two cherubim of gold. He made them of hammered work on the two ends of the mercy seat, one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end. Of one piece with the mercy seat he made the cherubim on its two ends. The cherubim spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, with their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat were the faces of the cherubim. He also made the table of acacia wood. Two cubits was its length, a cubit its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. And he overlaid it with pure gold, and made a molding of gold around it.

Genesis 37:1–11 ESV

Jacob lived in the land of his father’s sojournings, in the land of Canaan. These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was pasturing 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.” 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 have 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.

Genesis 37:1–11 ESV

Exposition of the Story

We start off here with Joseph introduced as the favorite son of Jacob. Now, Jacob had two wives, Leah and Rachel. If you want to read that story on your own, it’s pretty interesting, but we don’t have time to get into it tonight. Just know, Jacob had two wives. But, Rachel was his favorite. And for many years, she was unable to have children. And so, she finally does, and they name him Joseph, and Joseph is Jacob’s favorite kid.

And because he’s the favorite, his dad gives him the nice multi-colored robe. He’s literally wearing favoritism. And his brothers see this, and they hate Joseph because of it. Not only this, but Joseph is kind of a snitch. Back in the middle of verse two it says “and Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father.” His brothers did something, and Joseph told on them. So, they don’t like him. And to make matters worse, Joseph has a dream, and in his dream his brothers are all bowing down to him. And so he wakes up and thinks “oh man, I gotta go tell my bothers this!” Now picture this with me. Some of y’all have younger siblings. Imagine if one day they come up to you and say, “Yo, at some point in the future, you’re going to bow down to me.” If my brother would have ever said this to me when we were growing up… he would been out! So, Joseph didn’t necessarily help with his brothers hate towards him.

But the story continues, and one day the brothers are out working in a field, and from a distance they see Joseph walking towards them, still wearing the coat. And they’re like “Here he comes, the dreamer.” You know what, one says, I’m really tired of this kid. Let’s get rid of him for good. And so they plot to kill him, but one of the brothers, Reuben, speaks up and he says, nooo, let’s just throw him in a pit. And Reuben planned to come back later to get him out, but as we’ll see, he never gets that chance. Reuben leaves, then the brothers grab him, and throw him into the bottom of a pit, and then they sit down and eat lunch.

And as they’re eating lunch, they see a caravan of Ishmaelites, another tribe, coming towards them, and Judah, another brother, comes up with the idea of selling Joseph to them as a slave. So they grab Joseph, take his coat off, and they sell him for 20 shekels to the Ishmaelites. And he’s then shipped off to Egypt to be a slave.

Then the brothers they take the coat, dip it in some blood, and make it look like Joseph was attacked and killed by an animal. And then they go and tell their father their made up story of what happened. And then Jacob, their father, spends the next 22 years mourning the death of Joseph.

We’ll fast-forward a little bit to . Here, Joseph is in Egypt serving as a slave in Potiphar’s house. Potiphar was a high-ranking official within the Egyptian government, and he purchased Joseph from the Ishmaelites. Look with me at

Genesis 39:2–6 ESV

The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. His master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord caused all that he did to succeed in his hands. So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had. From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had, in house and field. So he left all that he had in Joseph’s charge, and because of him he had no concern about anything but the food he ate. Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance.

Joseph is a slave in Egypt, but God is with him, and everything Joseph does in Potiphar’s house is seemingly blessed by God. The circumstance isn’t ideal, but God is still working in it, but then the wife of Potiphar approaches Joseph. And she makes a few passes at Joseph and tries to get him to sleep with her. Joseph resists the temptation each time, and the final time, he flees from it. And here is a helpful side note: All of us are going to be faced with temptation towards sin this year. Maybe it’s sexual sin, maybe it’s looking stuff up on the internet, maybe it’s the temptation to start vaping with your friends. I don’t know what is, you probably don’t know what it’ll be, but the mistake we often make is, let me just do it once, or let me just stay here, and I’ll just fight it. But we can’t fight it. Joseph couldn’t fight it, and he knew that, so he ran. We have to run. Your friend offer you their juul, you gotta run from it, or you’ll ending up doing it. We can’t fight it off. The LORD fights for us, but if we remain in the situation where temptation is always present, we’ll eventually give in to it.

And another I want to say here: This story has often been used to blame girls for tempting guys. The text, when abuse by people, can be twisted to say that. Let me just say, that’s not true. You might be tempted by an individual, you may be tempted by another guy or another girl, but if you fall into the temptation, only you are to blame. All that to say, is that this text should not be used to blame our sisters for the temptation that a guy might experience.

But anyway, We have to flee temptation just as Joseph did. The only problem with Joseph, is that as he ran away, Potiphar’s wife grab his robe and pulled it off of him. She then used it to frame him, and Potiphar threw him into prison.

So at this point in the story, Joseph has gone from favorite son, to hated brother, to slave, to being placed in charge of his master’s household, and now he’s in prison. Things got a little better for a minute, but now it’s way worse. Joseph didn’t do anything to deserve this. He remained righteous and pure and holy, but bad things continue to happen to him. And he’s in this prison for about 13 years.

But look at

Genesis 39:21 ESV

But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.

God was with Joseph, even in prison, and he’s put in charge of everything in the prison, and he’s over all of the prisoners. And after a few years, the King of Egypt’s cupbearer and his baker are sent to jail. And one night, these guys each have dreams, and the next morning they’re both confused about their dreams. And Joseph sees this, and he asks them what’s wrong. So they tell Joseph about their dreams, and Joseph interprets them. Joseph told that cupbearer that he would live, and the king would restore him to his previous position, but the chef would die… And before these guys are released from prison, Joseph tells the cupbearer to remember him and to tell Pharoah about him so that maybe he would be freed from prison.

And everything Joseph said would happen happens, but the cupbearer forgets about Joseph. And Joseph is in prison for two more years, and then pharoah has a dream. So Pharoah is sharing his dream with his people, and he’s trying to figure out what it means, and the cupbearer remembers Joseph.

So Joseph is brought into Pharaoh’s court, and he interprets his dream, and dream foretold that in the land of Egypt, there would be seven years of prosperity followed by seven years of famine. And so Joseph told pharaoh, “You need to start storing up your reserves right now, that way when the famine comes, you’ll be prepared.” And Pharaoh is overwhelmed, and he says “is there anyone else who has the Sprit of God like this?” And he places Joseph over his entire kingdom. So look now at

Genesis 41:42–43 ESV

Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand, and clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain about his neck. And he made him ride in his second chariot. And they called out before him, “Bow the knee!” Thus he set him over all the land of Egypt.

Joseph has gone from favorite son, to hated brother, to slave, to prisoner, and is now placed over the land that he was a slave in. He’s essentially the governor or prime minister of Egypt. But, the famine didn’t just hit Egypt, it hit many of the surrounding nations. And many people from these surrounding nations came to Egypt, and therefore came to Joseph to beg for food.

And so, now look at

Genesis 42:1–3 ESV

When Jacob learned that there was grain for sale in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?” And he said, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain for sale in Egypt. Go down and buy grain for us there, that we may live and not die.” So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt.

I don’t have time to cover everything that happens in the rest of the story, but Jacob’s sons, and so Joseph’s brothers, are unknowingly brought before Joseph. A lot of time has passed, and so they don’t recognize him, but he recognizes them. And, at one point, they bow down to him. Just like in his dream. And through a series of events that lead up to , Joseph become the one to bring restoration and reconciliation in the family.

Genesis 41:1–3 ESV

After two whole years, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile, and behold, there came up out of the Nile seven cows, attractive and plump, and they fed in the reed grass. And behold, seven other cows, ugly and thin, came up out of the Nile after them, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile.

There’s a lot that goes on this story, and it’s easy to get lost in all of the details, but when we take a step back, we see this interplay going on between Joseph and Judah, the older brother. We’ve spent most of our time talking about Joseph, but Judah plays a prominent role in how this story unfolds. Remember, it was his idea to sell Joseph in the beginning. And had that not happened, this story wouldn’t end like it does. We’ll talk about that more in a minute, so hold on to that thought.

But, in the brother’s first journey to see Joseph, Joseph demands that the brother return home and bring Benjamin back with them. Benjamin was Jacob’s last son, and he had him after Joseph was gone. So Joseph wants to see him. And so, in chapter 43, the brothers go back home, and they tell Jacob that the Pharaoh’s guy is demanding that they bring back Benjamin (remember that they don’t know it’s Joseph). And Jacob hates this idea, he’s wrestling with whether or not to send his youngest son with them, especially since last time he lost a son. And so, Judah steps up. And Judah says “I’ll take responsibility for Benjamin. If we don’t go, we’re all going die of starvation.”

And so Judah basically offers his own life as a pledge or a guarantee that Benjamin will be safe. And so they go back to Egypt, and Joseph demands that the brothers leave Benjamin in Egypt. And Judah freaks out, and he cries out to Joseph and pleads with him “Please, don’t take this boy. Take me instead, I promised our father that nothing would happen to him, please don’t take him.” And Joseph is overwhelmed, and in Chapter 45, he reveals his identity to his brothers. And then he tells them to go and bring back their father.

And they leave, and then come back with Jacob, and this lead into chapter 47 where Jacob and all of his family settle in Egypt. And then in Chapter 49 Jacob blesses all of his sons, and in Chapter 50 he dies, leaving behind a reunited family. And that’s the story of Joseph. And that’s how the book of Genesis ends. Joseph’s life had a ton of ups and downs. But look at

Genesis 50:15–20 ESV

When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him.” So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this command before he died: ‘Say to Joseph, “Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you.” ’ And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him. His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.

This is what I want us to focus in on. In a world of suffering, in a world of sin, in a word where we plan things, and then life gets in the way of those plans, in a faith where there is a loving God, but bad things still happen to us, what does it mean for God to be in control of everything? How does he make things work out for our good?

Application

We’re never alone

Here’s the first thing. In a world of sin and suffering, we are never alone. Throughout the Joseph story we see this phrase repeated “The Lord was with Joseph.” The Lord was always with Joseph, and the Lord is always with us. And right about now you might be thinking, but John “I just don’t feel like the Lord is with me. I’m going through so much, and my life seems like it’s falling apart, and I don’t feel the Lord’s presence.” I hear you. I understand. I understand the frustration of calling out to the Lord while you’re going through it, and it doesn’t seem like he’s there. But he is. And so what I would ask you, is how genuine is your faith? How much are you really clinging to the Lord? How faithful are you, really, when you’re in difficult circumstances? The guy that wrote Genesis wrote that “the Lord was with him” as a reminder for us, but Joseph knew the Lord was with him because Joseph had true faith and Joseph clung to the Lord. For many of us, as soon as life gets hard, we don’t cling to the Lord. Yeah, we may pray and cry out, but that’s it. We don’t choose to seek after him, but we’re quick to blame him when life isn’t going how we want it to. So ask yourself, are you really clinging to God in the midst of your suffering? Are you really clinging to God when that college rejection letter comes in, or that SAT score comes back? Are you remaining faithful when life isn’t going your way? Because the difference between us and Joseph, is that Joseph remained faithful, even when he was going through it. So yes, God is really there when we’re suffering. But are we really seeking God?

God is always in Control

Second thing, God is always in control. Throughout this entire story, we see how God was in control, even in the midst of human sinfulness and in human suffering. Now, sin and evil are not in control, but because God is sovereign and good and holy and perfect, he is able to use sin to bring about his overall plan. Joseph’s brothers had the free will and ability to do what they did, and God used their sins to bring about what he had planned. Look at This is when Joseph reveals himself to his brothers.

Genesis 45:4–9 ESV

So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; do not tarry.

Humans are responsible for their sinfulness. We are responsible for our sins, and if you’re in Christ, if you follow Jesus, and you’ve professed faith in him, then your sins have been forgiven and you’re not condemned. And we struggle with sin. And we commit sins, and then we often beat ourselves up for it and wonder, how is God ever going to use me. God can’t use me. I’m too sinful, I’m too broken, there’s no way. But look at Judah. Judah did terrible things in this story, he sold his brother into slavery. And out of fear, Judah and the rest of the brothers make up a command from their father so that Joseph doesn’t punish them. And Joseph responds with love and forgiveness. And he basically says “God used your sins to bring about good.” And don’t mishear this a me saying you have permission to sin. That’s not what I’m saying. But when you fail, when you sin, when you fall down, get back up. God isn’t after revenge. Just as Joseph wasn’t after revenge. God has placed the punishment for our sins on his son, and so if you are in Christ, then those sine are forgiven, and God doesn’t waste anything. God can and does use your sins to bring about his overall plan. Again, this is not permission to sin, but it’s me saying that God is so powerful, and God is so in control that nothing you or I or anything does can stop him. There is no sin too big to be forgiven, and there is no sin too big that puts a stop to God’s plan.

God is always working towards our good

Third and last thing. God is always working towards our Good. Even in the midst of sin, even in the midst of suffering, God is working towards our Good. God sees every incident of our lives, he sees every detail, he sees every thing that comes against us, he see all of the pain and the hurt that we carry, and he weeps with us, but he’s also working these things for our good. This story is an example of that. Everything that happened in Joseph’s life lead to the end of the story where his family was restored, and everyone had enough food to eat and a place to belong. And the same is true for those of us who are in Christ and who are seeking to follow the Lord. God has a will for every one of us. And when we have genuine faith, when we have really trusted God with our lives, when we are following after him as his disciples, we’re still going to suffer. Life is still going to be hard. There will still be loss and pain that we go through, but there’s a hope that we have. All of it works out for our good. When I look back on my life, when I look back to my time in South Carolina, and my grandmother getting sick, and all of the hurt and brokenness I’ve experience, and all of the sin and temptations I’ve fallen into, I’ve seen how God has used all of it to bring me here to this place, in New England, at seminary, and getting to serve this youth group. God has used everything, and he’s worked it all for my good, and he continues to work for my good. And he does it for you too.

So, as we close tonight, we’ll have a time of response. We’ll have a time to pray, and to reflect on how God has brought us to this point. And if you’re going through the muddiness of life right now, and things aren’t going how you planned it, know that God is with you. As you prepare to jump into another school year and all the things that come with that, God is with you. You’re never alone. And he invited us to be with him. He invites us to rest in him. He invited us into the promise that he is in control, and he will work all things out for the good of those who love him.

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