Sermon Tone Analysis

INTRODUCTION – CONTEXT, CONTEXT, CONTEXT

The bible’s telling of the Joseph story doesn’t begin “once upon a time”.

And the first point to make is that this isn’t just a fable or a great moral tale.

Although we can learn many moral lessons from the story, it appears to me that this isn’t the chief reason God included this narrative within His word.

There is much more to it than that, and the greater significance can perhaps be missed by a solely moralistic approach to interpreting the story.

The life of Joseph isn’t really about Joseph at all.

Joseph is a link in the chain of redemption.

And what I want us to consider today is the broader narrative of God’s redemption, and the part which Joseph played in that.

To see that, we need to explore the Joseph story in context - its gospel-centred, redemptive-historical context.

We will do that by examining the story in its historical, literary and theological setting.

We must also allow the New Testament to interpret the Old Testament.

So, we will take what we know about God’s redemption of sinners through the person and work of Christ and use that as the grid through which to interpret and unlock the Old Testament story of Joseph.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT – THE TOLEDOTS

First a little historical context.

Before we look at how the story of Joseph connects to the broader themes of scripture, we need to understand where the story sits in the book of Genesis and its historical significance for the author of that book.

Now, we know that Genesis (together with Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy – the Pentateuch) was written by Moses – the man whom God appointed to deliver the children of Israel from their captivity and oppression in Egypt.

And what we’ll discover is that Joseph’s story, perhaps unsurprisingly given its author, is littered with hints as to the exodus of God’s people from Egypt.

It’s possible to see how Joseph connects with the rest of Genesis by looking at how the author divides the historical narrative.

The chapter breaks in our English bibles are not original, of course, and neither are the chapter headings.

But in the original text, we find certain markers (chapter headings, if you like) which show how Moses intended to divide the book of Genesis.

Moses uses the Hebrew word TOLEDOT (pronounced tow-lay-dot or tow-lay-doth) 11 times in the book of Genesis.

It’s the Hebrew word for genealogy.

Each occurrence is translated “these are the generations of…” in our English bibles.

I believe we should see this little phrase as a chapter heading.

[Handout] The sheet being passed around sets out these 11 (10, as one is duplicated) toledots – starting with Genesis 2:4, “these are the generations of the heavens and the earth” which is then followed by the generations of Adam, Noah, Noah’s sons, Shem, Terah, Ishmael, Isaac, Esau and Jacob – these are pivotal transitions, chapter breaks in the Genesis narrative.

You will know that Genesis has many lengthy sections of genealogy (which indeed feature elsewhere in the scriptures too).

So why the great interest in family line?

And why the use of the word “toledot” as a way-marker throughout the book of Genesis?

The answer, I believe, lies in what was spoken to the serpent in Genesis 3:15:

"And I will put enmity

Between you and the woman,

And between your seed and her seed;

He shall bruise you on the head,

And you shall bruise him on the heel."

(Gen.

3:15)

This is sometimes referred to as the first gospel sermon and it was preached by God Himself.

And God promises a Seed – a child, a descendant – who would come from Adam and Eve and who would crush the head of the serpent (Satan).

This is the promise of redemption – our release from the bonds of the evil one by reason of his defeat.

And it’s the promise of the Lord Jesus Christ – He is the Promised Seed.

That’s why tracing the family line is so important – Moses and subsequent authors were tracing the line of promise, the promise of Gen. 3:15, which would ultimately lead to Christ.

Interestingly, Moses doesn’t confine his records to the line of promise.

In fact, three of the toledots have to do with other offspring who were not in the line of promise – Noah’s sons, Ishmael and Esau.

Moses uses these toledots to highlight the relationship of other offspring to the line of promise, since those relationships will remain important throughout redemptive history.

They’re a feature of the Joseph story too (e.g. the Ishmaelite traders).

Now, let’s bring this back to Joseph!

The Joseph story begins in Genesis 37 and it opens immediately with a toledot (Gen.

37:2).

These are the generations of Jacob!

This story is about the line of Jacob, the last of the patriarchs.

Jacob was himself in the line of promise – Romans 9 makes that clear, “Jacob I loved but Esau I hated” (Rom.

9:13).

Joseph, however, does not appear in the genealogy of Christ.

He is not in the line of the Promised Seed.

Yet, the toledot of Jacob turns immediately into the story of Joseph!

Why?

The pattern of Genesis, as well as the ultimate resolution of the narrative, makes it clear that this is indeed all about Jacob.

But Jacob’s story can’t be told without this focus on Joseph.

So, seeing Genesis chapters 37-50 as the toledot of Jacob and understanding that, though he’s the central character of the story, Joseph is not in the line of the Promised Seed, causes us to search for the relevance of Joseph to the line of promise.

What we will find is that, just as the toledot of Noah, the toledot of Jacob is about God’s mighty deliverance of the son of promise – and Joseph is instrumental in that deliverance.

We’ll also see that God is indeed going to fulfil his promise to make Israel a great nation and Joseph will be the primary means by which that task is accomplished.

The events which Jacob sets in motion by his sinful favouring of Joseph over his other sons (despite having seen the damage of favouritism in his own family) will accomplish God’s purposes.

THEOLOGICAL CONTEXT – LAND, SEED, COVENANT

Certain words and themes appear multiple times throughout Genesis.

This a deliberate literary device that the author uses to show the progression of his main theme, namely God’s work of redemption.

In particular, I want you to see how Moses develops the themes of land, seed and covenant to produce contrast and tension throughout the narrative of Joseph’s life.

And we will see how these themes give theological context to the Joseph story.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Then God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them"; and it was so.

(Gen.

1:1, 11)

God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth."

Then God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; (Gen.

1:28-29)

Notice that Moses introduces these themes right at the very beginning – verse 1, land, and verse 11, seed.

Then the start of a covenant, to which further detail will be added in chapter two.

And the covenant brings together the theme of land and seed.

God has created the land as a stage for the crowning glory of His creation, man, to manifest the glory of his Creator by subduing and ruling it.

And He created seed-bearing fruit, that there might be satisfaction for man too.

So that man’s experience of honouring God in the land would also be fulfilling, satisfying, pleasurable.

And the means by which man would fulfil his charge to subdue the earth was by himself (like the plants) bearing seed, being fruitful and multiplying.

Now fast-forward to Abraham.

On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying,

“To your descendants I have given this land,

From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates: (Gen.

15:18)

The intervening years have seen the fall and the effects of the curse upon the land and the process of seed-bearing.

Yet, here once again, God covenants with a man in terms of land and seed.

He promises Abraham a land as an inheritance, an eternal possession – prosperity.

And He promises Abraham seed, a great nation of descendants, who would come from him to fill that land – posterity.

And both these things come to Abraham from a God who is true to His word and who binds Himself to fulfil by entering into covenant – a covenant of promise.

Now back to Joseph!

[Handout] In the handout being passed around, I’ve attempted to show the prevalence of the themes of land, seed and covenant in Genesis chapters 37-50.

The Hebrew word for “land” has been highlighted green in each case (where “Egypt” is green, it reads “land of Egypt” in the original, for example).

The Hebrew word for “seed” has been highlighted yellow and I have also highlighted the word for “grain” given its close connection to the theme of “seed” in these passages.

Finally, although the Hebrew word for “covenant” is not used in these chapters, the theme is very prevalent.

I have highlighted blue the name of God and the covenant name of Jacob, “Israel”.

I have also underlined in blue passages that I believe bear connection to the theme of the covenant.

It will be evident from a quick glance, that LAND plays a major part in the Joseph story.

There are numerous references to the land of Canaan (the land promised to Abraham in the covenant of promise) and to the land of Egypt.

Now, we said we’d observe how Moses develops the themes by creating contrast and tension.

It seems obvious that the Moses is seeking to contrast the two lands.

And here’s the tension - in the opening scenes of this story, Joseph moves progressively farther away from the Promised Land, finally ending up not just in any other land, but in the land of Egypt – the land that will come to represent oppression and bondage throughout the rest of redemptive history!

When Joseph leaves home, aged 17, on a simple fact-finding mission, he does so for the last time.

Joseph will never return to the Land of Promise until his bones are brought back after the Exodus!

Something we’ll come back to in a moment.