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The Offense of Sovereign Grace: The Inevitable Exaltation of God’s Chosen King (Genesis 37:5-8) · Reformed Thinking

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  Imagine waking up right You walk downstairs to the breakfast
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  table and you just casually inform your older, stronger and
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  historically violent brothers that God himself has decreed you
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  will be their absolute monarch. Yeah, that is definitely not
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  going to go over well. Right.
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  I mean, you tell them that one day they will literally bow down
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  and scrape the dirt at your feet.
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  That is not a simple lack of social awareness.
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  I mean, that is a death sentence.
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  It is a massive provocation. It really is so welcome to
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  Reformed thinking. Today on this deep dive, we are
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  looking at one of the most famous and perhaps misunderstood
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  scenes in all of ancient literature.
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  Yes, we are looking at Genesis chapter 37, verses 5 through 8,
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  which is the account of Joseph's first dream.
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  And our mission for you as you listen today is to analyze the
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  fierce collision between divine sovereignty and human depravity.
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  We are drawing on 2 incredibly thorough theological expositions
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  to show you that this text is not a fable about dysfunctional
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  family dynamics. Not at all.
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  It is a stark revelation of the natural human hearts total
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  hostility toward God's electing grace.
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  And, you know, I want to know right at the start.
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  Our sources deal with heavy theological themes involving
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  authority and submission. Yes, and we are looking at this
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  strictly through the framework of historic Reformed theology
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  and the Westminster Confession. Right.
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  And if the text touches on ideas that modern political factions,
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  left or right, might argue over today, please know we are taking
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  no sides. We are impartially reporting the
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  historical and theological claims of the source material.
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  That is a great point to clarify upfront.
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  Yeah, so with that established, think about how modern culture
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  views dreams. The secular world frames them as
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  vehicles for self actualization. You were told to follow your
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  dreams, manifest your desires, and look inward to find your
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  authentic self. But when you step into the world
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  of redemptive history, that entire framework just shatters.
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  It does. In the biblical reality, dreams
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  are not psychological projections.
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  They are authoritative prophetic burdens.
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  They are absolute mandates from Almighty God demanding immediate
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  submission. That contrast sets the stage
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  perfectly for what we are about to see when we approach Genesis
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  37. We have to recognize that God
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  advances His redemptive plan through severely fractured
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  sinful conditions. Yeah, it is a very messy
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  situation. It is to understand why this
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  specific dream incited such visceral, murderous violence
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  from Joseph's brothers. We must examine the historical
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  soil into which this divine revelation fell.
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  Right, because the historical setting is the 19th century BC,
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  situated in the land of Canaan. Yes, this is the patriarchal era
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  operating strictly under the Abrahamic covenant.
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  We are in a time prior to the giving of the Mosaic Law at
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  Sinai. And the visible covenant family,
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  the household of Jacob, is the entity through which God intends
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  to preserve the promised seed. But this household is
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  characterized by intense internal rot.
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  Oh, absolutely. It is a polygamous family with
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  sons born to four different mothers, which are Leah, Rachel,
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  Bilhah and Zilpah. And these sons live in a state
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  of perpetual tension and fierce competition, constantly vying
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  for their father's scarce approval.
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  Yeah, because Leah was unloved but gave Jacob his first sons.
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  Rachel was the favored wife but remained barren for years before
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  finally having Joseph. And then Billa and Zilpa were
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  servant women brought into the marriage bed through sheer human
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  calculation. So the children born into this
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  environment inherited a legacy of manipulation.
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  Wow. Yeah, we also know these
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  specific brothers possess violent tendencies.
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  They demonstrated this vividly in the incident at Shechem
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  recorded earlier in Genesis. Right where two of the brothers
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  used a religious right to incapacitate an entire town of
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  men and then slaughtered them in cold blood to avenge their
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  sister. On top of all this, the
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  environment is poisoned by Jacob's blatant favoritism
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  toward Joseph, bestowing upon him the famous ornamented tunic
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  which was a symbol of chieftainship.
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  So the dream does not create the hostility within the brothers,
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  it acts as a catalyst in an environment that is already
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  completely saturated with resentment and envy.
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  You know, I want to look closely at the imagery within the dream
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  itself because while it feels so specific to their daily reality,
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  yet strangely out of place for their actual profession.
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  Right, because Joseph sees them binding sheaves in the field.
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  His sheave stands upright, and his brother's sheaves gather
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  round and bow down to his. But historically these
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  patriarchs are semi nomadic shepherds.
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  I mean they deal with livestock moving flocks across the hills
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  of Canaan. Yet the dream introduces
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  agrarian labor, specifically the harvesting of grain.
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  And the text from our sources points out this is not random
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  symbolism. This imagery is a direct,
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  tangible foreshadowing of a coming global famine.
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  Oh great. It points to the family's
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  eventual relocation to Egypt, where they will depend on Joseph
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  for actual physical grain to survive.
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  But this raises It's an immediate question about the
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  brothers reaction. If a corporate manager overtly
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  plays favorites, gives the best corner office to the youngest
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  intern, and then tells the senior staff they will one day
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  report to that intern, well, the resulting anger is predictable.
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  Oh sure, it is a terrible management strategy.
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  Right, so the resulting anger from the staff is just a natural
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  social reaction to awful management.
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  Are we sure the brothers response here isn't just a basic
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  human reaction to terrible parenting?
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  I mean, it operates through those messy social dynamics, but
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  the biblical text demands A theological reading of their
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  response. OK, how so?
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  Well, while Jacob managed the family structure terribly, the
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  brothers are fundamentally offended by the divine decree
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  itself. In this pre canonical era, we
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  must view these events through a cessationist lens.
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  Which means what for the listener who might not know that
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  term. That means understanding that in
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  this specific era of redemptive history, prior to the completed
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  Bible, God spoke through direct, immediate means, like dreams.
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  OK, so these were viewed as undeniable divine text messages,
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  not subconscious wanderings or psychological reflections.
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  Precisely. The original audience understood
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  this. The brothers understood this.
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  They knew this was a divine announcement.
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  And God had determined a future order that completely subverted
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  their natural assumptions about seniority and honor.
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  Yes. In the ancient Near East, the
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  older brothers naturally assumed superiority and authority.
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  The dream threatens that expected structure.
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  Right. They are offended because God
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  has chosen the younger brother to rule over them.
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  They are protesting the fact that God's electing grace
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  operates independently of human merit, birth order, or social
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  harmony. They reject the divine order
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  itself. So if they are that offended by
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  the decree, how does the text actually capture that anger?
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  Well, does Moses just write They were mad, or is there something
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  more nuanced happening in the language?
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  Our sources outline that Genesis 37 sits within the final major
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  division of the book, which is the toledoth or the generations
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  of Jacob. Yes, and the narrative follows a
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  very clear structural progression.
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  First you have revelation, which is the giving and telling of the
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  dream. Then you have representation the
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  actual imagery of the bowing sheaves, setting up the
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  hierarchy. And finally you have rejection,
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  the brothers furious interrogation of Joseph.
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  I noticed a repetition in the text detailing the brother's
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  hatred and it seems to escalate linearly.
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  The text says they hated him even more.
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  Right. This is not a static emotion, it
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  is a rapid hardening of the heart.
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  So what kind of linguistic nuances does Moses use to
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  capture that hardening? The linguistic nuances are
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  staggering. Moses, the human author, under
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  the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, uses highly
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  sophisticated Hebrew syntax in verse 8 to communicate the
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  absolute depth of this rebellion.
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  OK, walk us through that. Well, when the brothers
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  interrogate Joseph, they ask, Are you indeed to reign over us?
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  In the original language, Moses uses the Hebrew infinitive
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  absolute alongside A finite imperfect verb.
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  And for the layperson listening, what does that mean?
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  It means the root word is doubled back-to-back.
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  It translates roughly to ruling. Will you rule over us?
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  Oh wow, so this specific grammatical construction creates
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  A mocking echo. Yes, it is designed to
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  communicate extreme intensity, incredulity, and dripping
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  sarcasm. They're essentially scoffing at
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  the divine decree. Like they're treating the very
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  idea as a ridiculous cosmic joke.
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  They are. Furthermore, we must look at the
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  lexical choice Moses makes regarding the word rain.
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  Right, because he uses the Hebrew word malak, which refers
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  specifically to a royal kingly rain.
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  Yes, he does not use a more general term for a management or
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  dominion such as Rada. Which is the word used back in
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  Genesis chapter one, right when humanity is told to have
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  dominion over the animals? Yes, precisely.
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  The word Malak signals a massive redemptive historical shift
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  toward the establishment of a sovereign ruler over the House
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  of Jacob. The brothers recognize this
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  implication instantly. That vocabulary distinction is
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  fascinating. It makes me think of a hostile
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  corporate takeover. How so?
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  Well, imagine your company is being bought out.
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  The language the new owners use isn't about collaborating with
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  you or managing a project alongside you, which would be
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  like that word Radha. Right.
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  The language they use is about dissolving your board, taking
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  all the equity and making you an absolute subordinate that is
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  Malak. That is a great comparison.
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  The brothers recognize the absolute sovereignty implied in
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  the dream. Yeah, they knew what God was
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  saying through Joseph. They did not misinterpret the
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  message. They understood it perfectly and
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  chose to despise it. They certainly did.
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  The text tells us they hated him for both his dreams and his
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  words. They despise the messenger and
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  they despise the message. Which reveals A settled
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  covenantal enmity. Yes, covenantal enmity refers to
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  the natural hostility that fallen humanity harbors against
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  God's rightful rule and His chosen representatives.
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  Right. And the Hebrew word used for
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  hatred here, saying does not describe a fleeting bad mood or
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  temporary frustration, no. It describes A settled, hardened
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  hostility. They are looking at the divine
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  claim of the dream. That they understood the
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  revelation clearly and chose to hate it anyway brings us to the
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  core doctrinal collision of this entire text.
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  We are witnessing a massive collision between God's absolute
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  sovereignty and human total depravity.
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  Let's unpack that collision. God decrees the future
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  exaltation of Joseph completely independent of human merit,
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  birth order, or the family's desire for harmony.
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  God decides how the future will unfold.
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  Period. And the brothers furious
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  response highlights the doctrine of total depravity perfectly.
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  Right, because the natural mind, left to itself, absolutely
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  refuses to bow to God's chosen ruler.
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  It cannot stand the thought of submitting to an authority it
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  did not choose or earn. This is where we must bring in
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  the Reformed theological perspective, specifically
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  adhering to the Westminster standards.
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  What did the standards say about this?
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  Well, what we see here is the doctrine of Providence in
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  action. The confession teaches that God
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  ordains whatsoever comes to pass, yet He does so in a way
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  that he's not the awk of of sin. Nor is violence offered to the
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  will of the creatures right. Yes, God's Providence works
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  beneath the surface of these events through secondary causes.
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  So the brothers act freely according to their own wicked,
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  jealous desires. No one is forcing them to hate
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  Joseph. I mean, they do it willingly.
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  And yet, their sinful actions perfectly execute God's holy
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  decree. Furthermore, this narrative
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  highlights the theme of divine election.
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  Throughout the book of Genesis, God routinely overturns human
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  expectations to display His absolute freedom.
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  He chooses Abel over Cain. He chooses Isaac over Ishmael.
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  He chooses Jacob over Esau and Perez over Zera.
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  And now he chooses the younger Joseph over his older brothers.
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  God is under no obligation to conform His redemptive plans to
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  human customs or natural assumptions.
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  Wait, but if God knows this dream is going to trigger a
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  murderous rage, why hand Joseph the match to light the powder
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  keg? That is a very fair question.
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  Right. I mean, why stir up all this
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  hostility early on? Why not just arrange the famine
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  quietly orchestrate the circumstances in secret, move
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  Joseph to Egypt through a caravan and reveal the grand
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  plan later? You mean when Joseph is already
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  in a position of authority and saving their lives?
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  Yes, precisely why the early warning.
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  That touches on a vital point concerning the nature of divine
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  revelation itself. Revelation always demands A
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  moral response. OK, so the dream acts as a
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  mirror. It does.
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  It exposes the corruption that is already fully present in the
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  brothers hearts. God uses this precise sequence
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  of revelation followed by rejection to demonstrate a
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  critical theological truth that His decrees are completely
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  unstoppable, no matter how fiercely fallen humanity
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  protests. By revealing the end from the
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  beginning, God proves that the brothers hatred cannot Ford His
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  plan. Wow.
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  So in fact, their sinful rejection becomes the very
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  instrument God uses to fulfill the dream.
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  Yes, if God had kept it secret, the brothers total depravity
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  would not have been fully exposed.
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  Right, they might have later claimed they gladly would have
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  sent Joseph to Egypt if God had simply asked them nicely.
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  But this sequence proves their innate hostility.
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  God's sovereign triumph over their rebellion is clearly
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  displayed for the entire covenant community to see.
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  And that brings us to an incredible realization about the
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  initial audience. To grasp the weight of this
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  moral exposure, we have to look at who was actually reading this
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  text first. Moses wrote this narrative for
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  the original audience, which was the generation of Israelites
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  wandering in the wilderness. Right.
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  They had just been delivered from Egypt, they had crossed the
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  Red Sea and now they were at Mount Sinai or wandering near
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  Kadesh Barnia. And Moses was writing to them to
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  produce very specific affections in their hearts.
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  Like faith in God's promises, bringing them to repentance for
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  their own rebellious tendencies, and securing their submission to
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  the leaders God had ordained over them.
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  The historical parallel between the text and the original
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  wilderness audience is striking. Because the Israelites in the
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  wilderness were constantly grumbling against Moses, who was
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  God's chosen leader. Yes, they resented his
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  authority. They staged rebellions like the
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  Rebellion of Korra, challenging why Moses should exalt himself
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  above the assembly. So they acted, just as the
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  brothers rebelled against Joseph's impending authority.
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  Moses used this specific narrative to strip away the
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  Israelites false confidence. You see, the Israelites assume
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  that their physical proximity to covenant privilege meant they
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  were spiritually safe. I see they were part of Jacob's
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  visible family, circumcised, eating the manna, so they
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  assumed they were automatically pleasing to God.
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  But Moses shows him that the gross sin of envy and murderous
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  hatred can thrive right inside the visible household of
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  promise. Right, because physical dissent
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  from Abraham does not equal a regenerate heart.
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  Being in the camp does not mean you love the God of the camp.
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  That is a very serious warning. It makes me think about reading
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  a historical biography of a notorious traitor.
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  You are turning the pages, judging this person for their
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  terrible betrayal, feeling totally self-righteous.
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  Right? And then halfway through the
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  book, you look closely at the description and you suddenly
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  realize the author is actually writing about you.
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  Yes, it is a wanted poster and the face on it is yours.
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  Moses is holding up a mirror to the entire congregation in the
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  wilderness. He is telling them you are the
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  brothers. You are the ones grumbling
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  against God's appointed ruler. You are the ones scoffing at
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  divine authority. And that acts as a severe
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  corporate warning against jealousy that applies directly
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  to the church today. It certainly does.
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  Resenting the grace, the calling, or the gifts that God
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  bestows on another member of the Church threatens the peace and
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  unity of the entire covenant community.
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  So when we harbor secret resentment because God has
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  arranged stations, gifts, or authority in ways that
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  contradict our personal preferences, we are behaving
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  just like the brothers we are. Quarreling with Providence, the
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  original audience needed to hear that to reject God's appointed
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  servant is to reject God himself.
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  They needed to learn to submit to divine freedom, trusting that
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  God's ordering is always perfect, even when it intensely
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  offends natural human expectations.
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  And this pattern of God appointing a leader, the people
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  violently rebelling against that leader, and God vindicating that
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  leader anyway, does not stop in the Old Testament.
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  No, it points directly to the highest focus of all redemptive
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  history. Joseph is a redemptive pattern
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  and type for Jesus Christ. Yes, the hermeneutic we apply
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  here, grounded in historic Reformed theology, states that
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  all Scripture testifies of the Messiah.
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  The thematic connection is undeniable.
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  You have the beloved Son, marked by God for exaltation, meeting
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  fierce, violent resistance from the very people he came to save.
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  Specific parallels are breathtaking when you trace them
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  carefully. Tell us about those parallels.
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  In verse 8, the brothers ask in mockery, Are you indeed to reign
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  over us? This directly anticipates the
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  1st century Jewish rejection of Jesus.
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  Right, because in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus told the parable
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  where the citizens send a delegation after the nobleman,
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  saying we will not have this man to reign over us.
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  The hatred directed toward Joseph because of his words
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  mirrors the hatred of the world and the religious establishment
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  directed toward Christ because of his testimony to the truth.
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  And beyond the verbal parallels, the entire structure of Joseph's
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  life points to the cross. The pattern is suffering
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  followed by exaltation. Yes, Joseph descends into a
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  literal pit, is sold for pieces of silver to Gentiles, and
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  eventually ascends to the right hand of Pharaoh.
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  Where he becomes the savior of his family by providing physical
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  bread. And Jesus Christ endures the
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  cross, which is the absolute pit of God's wrath, is sold for
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  silver, is handed over to the Gentiles, and is exalted to the
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  right hand of the Father to provide the true bread of life
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  for sinners. You know, I'm always cautious
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  when drawing these lines though. How do we ensure we are not just
• 18:05
  creating a speculative allegory? That is a valid concern.
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  I mean, how do we stop ourselves from saying every single stalk
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  of wheat in the dream secretly equals a wooden cross beam?
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  Or that the 11 stars represent the 11 remaining disciples after
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  Judas? We want to stay grounded in the
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  actual text and not invent hidden meanings.
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  We stay grounded by relying strictly on the author's
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  original textual intent. We are not flattening the text
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  into an arbitrary allegory. OK, So what are we doing then?
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  We are recognizing the canonical pattern of the rejected servant.
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  The biblical theological trajectory shows us that God's
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  saving plan routinely advances specifically through the
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  instrument that men are least willing to honor.
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  Like we see with Abel, with Isaac, with David, and here with
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  Joseph. Yes, that is spot on.
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  It is a recurring, divinely ordained structure in history.
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  So God identifies A servant, fallen men reject him.
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  And yet, God's purpose stands firm, using that very rejection
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  to accomplish salvation. When Jesus walked with the
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  disciples on the road to Emmaus, he explained how all the
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  Scriptures pointed to the necessity of the Christ
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  suffering before entering His glory.
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  So we do not need to invent fanciful meanings for every
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  grain of wheat. No, we simply trace the massive
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  theological theme. The stone the builders rejected
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  becomes the chief cornerstone. Joseph foreshadows Christ by
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  participating in this God ordained redemptive pattern.
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  So what does this mean for you listening right now?
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  First, we have to look in the mirror of the law.
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  This text exposes your own innate hostility toward God's
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  sovereign decrees. It exposes the quiet sin of
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  envying the blessings of others. The brother's sarcastic question
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  Are you indeed to reign over us? Is the natural cry of every
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  single unregenerate soul that refuses to submit to the
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  Lordship of Christ. It is the voice that says I will
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  be the captain of my own soul. So the strict application
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  requires intense self examination.
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  Yes, you must ask yourself if you harbor secret resentment
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  when God arranges circumstances in a way that lowers you and
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  elevates someone else. When God's Word contradicts your
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  desires, do you receive it with meekness, or do you inwardly
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  recoil? This passage directly refutes
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  the modern theological errors that infect so many churches
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  today, particularly the prosperity gospel and
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  pragmatism. Because the world and false
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  teachers will tell you that fake leads to immediate glory, health
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  and wealth. But this text shows that the
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  path to the throne for God's elect is paved with affliction,
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  rejection, and suffering. Joseph was highly favored by
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  God, and his immediate reward was a dark pit and years in an
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  Egyptian prison. That is a very hard truth for
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  modern years. It makes me think about seeker
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  sensitive philosophy that tries to remove all the offensive
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  parts of the Bible. Oh sure.
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  It is like a doctor refusing to tell a critically I'll patient
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  they have a fatal disease because the doctor wants the
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  patient to feel comfortable in the waiting room.
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  The doctor prescribes a mint instead of chemotherapy.
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  That is a terrifying thought, but very accurate.
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  But the offensive truth of divine election and the stark
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  reality of total depravity is the bitter medicine required for
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  you to realize your desperate need for a savior.
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  If you do not realize how fiercely your heart naturally
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  rebels against God's rule, you will never see your need for the
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  true Joseph to rescue you. And that leads directly to the
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  Gospel announcement. Having exposed the hearts
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  inability to submit, we must look to the remedy.
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  The Trujos have secured our redemption precisely through his
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  humiliation. While we were like the murderous
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  brothers, hating his rule and rejecting his authority, Christ
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  was securing salvation for. Us he was sold, stripped and
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  counted as dead so that he might provide life for his enemies.
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  Therefore, the call to you is one of grateful obedience.
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  Believers can find immense comfort in the assurance that
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  God's plans are completely immutable.
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  You can trust His Providence even when your path leads
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  through the pit, because you know that God is governing all
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  things to accomplish His holy design.
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  To summarize the central realization for you today, human
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  pride cannot fight the bowing sheaves.
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  Resistance to God's appointed King is utterly futile.
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  The dream will come to pass. The decree is established.
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  The only logical life saving response is joyful submission to
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  the Lord Jesus Christ. Yield your sheaf to Him.
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  But before we sign off, I want to leave you with a final
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  thought to ponder, drawn directly from the theological
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  principles in our sources today. Consider the staggering paradox
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  of the brothers hatred. Yes, their sinful wicked
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  rejection was the literal mechanism God utilized to place
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  Joseph if in Egypt so he could become their physical savior.
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  If they do not throw him in the pit, he does not go to Egypt.
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  If he does not go to Egypt, the family starves in Canaan.
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  So ponder this as you look at the world today.
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  How might the fierce hostility and secular resistance directed
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  against Christ's rule in our current culture be the precise
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  instrument God is using right now to accomplish the final
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  stages of His redemptive plan? The source text dictates that
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  human rebellion never thwarts God, it only fulfills his
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  decrees. We thank you for joining this
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  deep dive on reformed thinking. We invite you to yield your
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  sheaf, abandoned your rebellion, and take refuge in the King.