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Voddie Baucham - Joseph's Dream · Voddie Baucham Sermons

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Speaker 1: Well, at this phase of our journey, we have once
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Speaker 1: again taken a pause, placed a pin in the middle
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Speaker 1: of one book in order to go back and complete
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Speaker 1: our work in another. So the bad news is we
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Speaker 1: will not be continuing right now with the book of Romans.
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Speaker 1: We will be back there in short order. The good
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Speaker 1: news is we are going to finish our journey through
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Speaker 1: the book of Genesis as promised. We found a nice
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Speaker 1: stopping point there in the book of Romans as we
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Speaker 1: look at this doctrine of justification by faith. In the
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Speaker 1: midst of that journey, we have seen how important it
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Speaker 1: is for us to understand the book of Genesis in
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Speaker 1: order to understand the book of Romans, and how important
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Speaker 1: it is for us to understand the book of Romans
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Speaker 1: in order to understand the book of Genesis. And as
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Speaker 1: we continue that juxtaposition in of these two books and
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Speaker 1: the great doctrines which they teach, prayerfully, we will keep
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Speaker 1: all of these things in mind as we develop a
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Speaker 1: fuller understanding of the redemption that is ours through the
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Speaker 1: person and work of Jesus Christ. When last we journeyed
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Speaker 1: through the book of Genesis, we journeyed through the life
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Speaker 1: of Jacob. And as we came to a transition at
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Speaker 1: the end of Jacob's life or toward the end of
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Speaker 1: Jacob's life, we took a pause. Now we take up
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Speaker 1: the discourse again in Genesis chapter 37 and begin the
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Speaker 1: journey through the life of Joseph. Now, if we were
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Speaker 1: to title this last section and we wanted to title
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Speaker 1: it from a theological perspective or from a literary perspective,
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Speaker 1: We would probably have to title this The Last Toledot.
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Speaker 1: Why would we call it The Last Toledot, you ask? Well,
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Speaker 1: I'm glad you asked. That is a word that is
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Speaker 1: found 11 times in the Hebrew text in the book
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Speaker 1: of Genesis. And it actually frames the book of Genesis. Now,
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Speaker 1: it's translated in the phrase, these are the generations of.
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Speaker 1: So what we have in the book of Genesis is
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Speaker 1: an introduction or a prologue. The prologue is Genesis 1-1
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Speaker 1: through Genesis 2-3. The first Toledot happens in Genesis chapter
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Speaker 1: 2 and verse 4, where we have, these are the
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Speaker 1: generations of the heavens and the earth. Now, that's the
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Speaker 1: only one that's not about a person. After the generations
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Speaker 1: of the heavens and the earth, we have the generation of...
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Speaker 1: Now, interestingly enough, when
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Speaker 1: a new section is introduced with this idea of the
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Speaker 1: Toledot or the generations of. It is usually a section
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Speaker 1: that introduces the death of that particular individual and the
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Speaker 1: continuation of the line through the next individual. So as
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Speaker 1: we read here in chapter 37, we read verse 1,
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Speaker 1: Jacob lived in the land of his father's sojourning, in
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Speaker 1: the land of Canaan. These are the generations of Jacob. Now,
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Speaker 1: we know that this last Toledot, this last generations of,
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Speaker 1: it's not really about Jacob. We've already heard about Jacob.
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Speaker 1: This is about those who came forth from Jacob to
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Speaker 1: continue on the line, specifically his 12 sons. And even
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Speaker 1: more specifically, the way that God used Joseph in the
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Speaker 1: lives of those 12 sons. So as we come to
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Speaker 1: a close here, recognize that there is a flow to
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Speaker 1: the book of Genesis. There's a flow to the way
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Speaker 1: this story lays itself out. And it has to do
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Speaker 1: with generations. It has to do with the promised seed.
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Speaker 1: It has to do with following that line from the proto-evangel,
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Speaker 1: the first proclamation of the gospel in Genesis chapter 3
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Speaker 1: and verse 15. where God says to the serpent, I
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Speaker 1: will put enmity between you and the woman and between
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Speaker 1: your seed and her seed. You will bruise him on
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Speaker 1: the heel, but he will crush your head. The very
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Speaker 1: next chapter, we see the first murder. What is the
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Speaker 1: first murder? The seed of the serpent killing the seed
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Speaker 1: of the woman in an effort to head off God's plan.
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Speaker 1: In the very next chapter, what do we see? We
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Speaker 1: see the birth of Seth, first and foremost, seed of
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Speaker 1: the woman again, and from Seth to Noah through 10
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Speaker 1: generations there in Genesis chapter 5, showing us the continuation
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Speaker 1: of this seed. Eventually, we get to Terah and to
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Speaker 1: Terah's son, Abraham. Abraham then to Isaac. Isaac, then to Jacob,
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Speaker 1: not Esau. Isaac, not Ishmael. Jacob, not Esau. And then
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Speaker 1: from Jacob, we get to his 12 sons. Now, we
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Speaker 1: haven't been informed as of yet which of these 12
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Speaker 1: sons it is through whom this line of the Messiah
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Speaker 1: would continue. But we know the overarching story of the Bible,
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Speaker 1: and we know that though Joseph is the favorite son,
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Speaker 1: Joseph is not the promised seed. Though Rachel is the
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Speaker 1: favored wife, she does not bring forth the promised seed.
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Speaker 1: In fact, it is the wife that was never wanted
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Speaker 1: in the first place. It is the wife who was
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Speaker 1: not part of the romantic story. It is the wife
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Speaker 1: who was standing next to the girl that Jacob looked
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Speaker 1: at and thought, she is the one, one, one, one.
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Speaker 1: It is her who gave birth to Reuben, the firstborn,
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Speaker 1: to Simeon, then to Levi, father of the priesthood, Judah,
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Speaker 1: the father of the king of kings. But now the
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Speaker 1: story focuses on Joseph. And the question that has to
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Speaker 1: come is why? Why does the story focus on Joseph
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Speaker 1: at this point? If this is about the continuing of
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Speaker 1: the generations, the continuing of the seed, Joseph is not
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Speaker 1: that one who has promised. Why does the story now
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Speaker 1: at this point focus on Joseph? To which my answer is,
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Speaker 1: stop trying to get so far ahead. Let's read here
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Speaker 1: these first 11 verses in chapter 37. And then I'll
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Speaker 1: outline what I... desire for us to do. Verse 1,
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Speaker 1: Jacob lived in the land of his father's sojourning in
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Speaker 1: the land of Canaan. These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph,
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Speaker 1: being 17 years old, was pasturing the flock with his brothers.
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Speaker 1: He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah,
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Speaker 1: his father's wives. And Joseph brought a bad report of
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Speaker 1: them to their father. Now, Israel loved Joseph more than
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Speaker 1: any other of his sons, because he was the son
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Speaker 1: of his old age, and he made him a robe
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Speaker 1: of many colors. But when his brothers saw that their
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Speaker 1: father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated
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Speaker 1: him and could not speak peacefully to him. Now, Joseph
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Speaker 1: had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers,
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Speaker 1: they hated him even more. Do you just feel the
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Speaker 1: love in this family? He said to them, hear this
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Speaker 1: dream that I have dreamed. Behold, we were binding sheaves
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Speaker 1: in the field and behold, my sheaf arose and stood
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Speaker 1: upright and behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed
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Speaker 1: down to my sheaf. His brother said to him, are
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Speaker 1: you indeed to reign over us or are you indeed
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Speaker 1: to rule over us? So they hated him even more
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Speaker 1: for his dreams and for his words. One begins to
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Speaker 1: wonder how much hate can they have. Continues to pile up.
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Speaker 1: Verse 9. Then he dreamed another dream and told it
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Speaker 1: to his brothers and said, Behold, I have dreamed another dream.
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Speaker 1: Because Joseph's really interested in increasing the love among his brothers,
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Speaker 1: as we can tell. Behold, the sun, the moon, and
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Speaker 1: 11 stars were bowing down to me. But at this point,
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Speaker 1: don't you just disguise the dream maybe? Do you have
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Speaker 1: to say they were bowing down to me? Could you
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Speaker 1: not just say I had a dream? It was interesting
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Speaker 1: because there were stars bowing down to somebody. guy. He
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Speaker 1: says they were bowing down to me. But when he
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Speaker 1: told it to his father and to his brothers, his
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Speaker 1: father rebuked him and said to him, what is this
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Speaker 1: dream that you have dreamed? Remember his father who loves
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Speaker 1: him more than the other brothers? Now he's even rubbing
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Speaker 1: him the wrong way. Shall I and your mother and
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Speaker 1: your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground
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Speaker 1: before you? And his brothers were jealous of him. But
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Speaker 1: his father kept the saying in mind. So here is
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Speaker 1: the picture. This is what we're going to do. First,
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Speaker 1: I want us to contextualize this, and actually there is
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Speaker 1: much of that that happens naturally here in this particular passage.
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Speaker 1: I want us to bring ourselves up to speed. We
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Speaker 1: already have done that in a very broad sense, and
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Speaker 1: understand where we are and with whom we are dealing here. Secondly,
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Speaker 1: I want us to see some of the major theological
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Speaker 1: themes here in this passage that are introduced that are
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Speaker 1: very important for our understanding of the rest of of
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Speaker 1: the life of Joseph. And finally, I want us to
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Speaker 1: see how this fits within the context of redemptive history
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Speaker 1: because we see it here even in this introductory passage.
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Speaker 1: So there are several theological themes here. There are a
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Speaker 1: couple of them that I want to point out that
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Speaker 1: I want us to begin to understand because we'll need
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Speaker 1: to understand them better as we walk through this part
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Speaker 1: of the book of Genesis. The first thing we need
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Speaker 1: to understand is the providence of God in the lives
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Speaker 1: of the patriarch. The providence of God in the lives
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Speaker 1: of the patriarchs. Now, when I say providence, it's interesting.
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Speaker 1: We use that word a lot. And when you're in,
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Speaker 1: you know, Reformed church circles, when you're in sort of
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Speaker 1: Calvinistic circles, people throw around that term providence a great deal. Unfortunately,
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Speaker 1: for many people, especially those who are kind of new
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Speaker 1: to Reformed doctrines, When they use the word providence, here's
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Speaker 1: what they're doing. Let me just let you in on
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Speaker 1: a little secret. When people are new to Reformed doctrine
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Speaker 1: and they use the word providence, what they're really trying
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Speaker 1: to do is avoid using the word luck. So they
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Speaker 1: exchange it for providence. If you can't say amen, you
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Speaker 1: ought to say ouch. Okay? So they'll say something happened
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Speaker 1: and you'll say, oh, wow, you were lucky. Oh, I'm sorry.
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Speaker 1: That was provident. We try to avoid providence. communicating in
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Speaker 1: the wrong way, so we just take one word out
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Speaker 1: and replace it with another word, there's a small problem.
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Speaker 1: Even if you take the word providence and substitute it
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Speaker 1: for the word luck or good fortune, all you have
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Speaker 1: done is misapplied the word providence, kept the wrong theological
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Speaker 1: understanding intact, and and just used a better sounding word
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Speaker 1: for the wrong theological concept. Providence is not luck. In fact,
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Speaker 1: far from it. One of the things that we need
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Speaker 1: to understand is that when we use the word providence
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Speaker 1: only to speak about good things that happen in our lives,
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Speaker 1: we've completely misunderstood the terminology. So all of a sudden
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Speaker 1: we're riding down the road and there's a car that
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Speaker 1: runs a red light and it comes that close to us,
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Speaker 1: but it doesn't hit us. Boy, that was providence. Here's
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Speaker 1: what we just communicated. God demonstrated his providence in that
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Speaker 1: he kept us from an accident. However, had we gotten
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Speaker 1: into the accident, God would not have demonstrated his providence
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Speaker 1: because God's providence is only displayed when good things happen
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Speaker 1: to us, when things that we desire come our way.
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Speaker 1: That is not the doctrine of the providence of God.
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Speaker 1: It is far more significant than that. So here's what
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Speaker 1: I want to do. Let me give you a few
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Speaker 1: definitions here. The first one here from Charles Hodge. Listen
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Speaker 1: to Charles Hodge. God's works of providence are his most holy, wise,
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Speaker 1: and powerful, preserving and governing all his creatures and all
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Speaker 1: their actions. Providence, therefore, includes preservation and government. By preservation
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Speaker 1: is meant that all things out of God owe the
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Speaker 1: continuance of their existence with all their properties and powers
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Speaker 1: to the will of God. Let me give you one
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Speaker 1: that's a little less broad than that. This one comes
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Speaker 1: from John Gill. Gill writes, God upholds all things by
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Speaker 1: his power, governs the world by his wisdom, looks down
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Speaker 1: upon the earth, takes notice and care of all his
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Speaker 1: creatures in it, and makes provision for them, and guides
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Speaker 1: and directs them to answer the ends for which they
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Speaker 1: were made, which is the sum and substance of providence.
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Speaker 1: Little more to the point. Let's put an even finer
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Speaker 1: point on it. This is a definition that we've used
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Speaker 1: before from Wayne Grudem. He writes in his systematic theology,
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Speaker 1: we may define God's providence as follows. God is continually
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Speaker 1: involved with all created things in such a way that he, one,
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Speaker 1: keeps them existing and maintaining the properties with which he
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Speaker 1: created them. God keeps all things existing and maintaining the
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Speaker 1: properties with which he created them. That's his providence. Two,
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Speaker 1: he cooperates with existing things in every action, whether the
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Speaker 1: car misses you or hits you. In every action, directing
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Speaker 1: their distinctive properties to cause them to act as they do.
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Speaker 1: And three, directs them to fulfill his purposes. The providence
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Speaker 1: of God is about God directing all things to fill
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Speaker 1: his purposes. We go through those three things again. Number one,
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Speaker 1: he keeps all things existing and maintaining the properties with
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Speaker 1: which he created them. Secondly, he cooperates with existing things
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Speaker 1: or created things in every action, every action, every action.
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Speaker 1: Don't miss that. It's not as though we sort of
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Speaker 1: go along and God's uninvolved with our life until something
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Speaker 1: big happens and he needs to intervene. God's providence governs
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Speaker 1: every action. Directing their distinctive properties to cause them to
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Speaker 1: act as they do. And thirdly, directs them to fulfill
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Speaker 1: his purposes. It's how we understand the doctrine of God's providence.
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Speaker 1: There's one more issue that we have to deal with
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Speaker 1: in order to sort of round out our understanding, at
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Speaker 1: least for this point. Again, this will unfold as we
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Speaker 1: continue through the rest of the book of Genesis. But
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Speaker 1: I want us to have at least a beginning framework
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Speaker 1: in understanding what providence is before we look at the
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Speaker 1: rest of this text. From the London Baptist Confession, chapter 5,
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Speaker 1: paragraph 2. Although in relation to the foreknowledge and decree
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Speaker 1: of God, the first cause, all things come to pass
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Speaker 1: immutably and infallibly, so that there is not anything befalls
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Speaker 1: any chance. Excuse me. Yeah, that's right. Let me read
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Speaker 1: that again. Although in relation to the foreknowledge and decree
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Speaker 1: of God, the first cause, all things come to pass
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Speaker 1: immutably and infallibly, so that there is not anything befalls
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Speaker 1: any by chance or without his providence. Yet, by the
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Speaker 1: same providence, he ordered them to fall out according to
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Speaker 1: the nature of second causes, either necessarily, freely, or contingently.
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Speaker 1: What does that mean? What are secondary causes? Here's something
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Speaker 1: that we have to understand if we're going to understand
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Speaker 1: this part of the book of Genesis. In the providence
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Speaker 1: of God, God is not, as it were, moving people
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Speaker 1: around like automatons. But in the providence of God, everything
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Speaker 1: is as it is because of God's decree. Secondly, God
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Speaker 1: is cooperating with everything as he has made it in
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Speaker 1: order to fulfill his purpose. And thirdly, Everything is going
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Speaker 1: to act in accordance with the will of God. Our
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Speaker 1: God is seated in the heavens. He does whatever pleases Him.
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Speaker 1: Here's one of the things that you have to understand.
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Speaker 1: Because of the fall of man, every secondary cause is
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Speaker 1: a flawed and fragile and broken and sinful cause. Let
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Speaker 1: me give you an example of what I'm talking about.
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Speaker 1: Israel sins. So God is going to judge Israel because
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Speaker 1: of Israel's sin. Well, what is God going to use
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Speaker 1: in order to judge Israel for Israel's sins? Well, he's
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Speaker 1: going to go get the Chaldeans in order to judge
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Speaker 1: Israel for Israel's sins. Well, wait a minute, God. Why
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Speaker 1: are you going to go get the sinful Chaldeans to
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Speaker 1: judge Israel for their sin? Really? Really? Here's the question
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Speaker 1: that might come back from God. Where's the perfect nation
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Speaker 1: that has never sinned that I can use to judge
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Speaker 1: Israel for their sins? The answer? There's not one. Well,
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Speaker 1: wait a minute, God. Are you going to force the
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Speaker 1: Chaldeans to do something against their will? No. He refers
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Speaker 1: to them as the bloodthirsty Chaldeans. In other words, this
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Speaker 1: secondary cause that God uses is the Chaldeans who are
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Speaker 1: a bloodthirsty nation who are going through wreaking havoc and
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Speaker 1: by his providence he is going to use them to
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Speaker 1: bring judgment on his people. Not because he's surprised by it.
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Speaker 1: But in spite of the fact that he's not. That's
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Speaker 1: the providence of God. If all you understand of the
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Speaker 1: providence of God is that when that good thing happened
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Speaker 1: to you, it was because of the good God that
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Speaker 1: you love and serve. You've missed it. When you understand
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Speaker 1: the providence of God, you understand that on your worst day,
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Speaker 1: that was the hand of God in your life. On
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Speaker 1: your worst day. And here's the other thing that you understand.
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Speaker 1: Two things. Number one, on my worst day, the worst
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Speaker 1: thing that ever came into my life came to me
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Speaker 1: by the hand of God's providence. But secondly, it wasn't
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Speaker 1: nearly as bad as it should have been in light
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Speaker 1: of who I am. And thirdly, God did it for
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Speaker 1: his glory. And therefore, it's good. When you get there,
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Speaker 1: you understand the providence of God. If you only see
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Speaker 1: the providence of God when a child is born healthy
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Speaker 1: and strong, but you don't see the providence of God
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Speaker 1: when there is difficulty in the pregnancy or some sort
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Speaker 1: of malformation in the life of that child, You don't
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Speaker 1: understand the providence of God. If you only see the
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Speaker 1: providence of God when you go to the doctor and
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Speaker 1: the doctor says, you have a clean bill of health,
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Speaker 1: but you do not see the providence of God when
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Speaker 1: you go to the doctor and he says, I think
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Speaker 1: this one might take you out, then you don't understand
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Speaker 1: the providence of God. If you only see the providence
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Speaker 1: of God when that other car misses you by that
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Speaker 1: much and you do not see the providence of God
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Speaker 1: when you're in the midst of rehab because the car
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Speaker 1: didn't miss you, then you don't understand the providence of God.
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Speaker 1: But you know when you grasp the providence of God?
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Speaker 1: When years later after your worst day, you're standing in
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Speaker 1: the midst of a circumstance and God is using you
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Speaker 1: to speak truth to and bring comfort to another saint
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Speaker 1: because of what he in his providence graciously allowed you
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Speaker 1: to endure. Now you understand the providence of God. When
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Speaker 1: you bring glory and honor and praise to the name
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Speaker 1: of God in spite of your worst day and someone
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Speaker 1: hearing that says to you, I must hear more about
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Speaker 1: this God in whom you trust because I could not
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Speaker 1: under your circumstances cry out and worship to God. Then
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Speaker 1: you understand the providence of God. Providence is not about luck.
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Speaker 1: Providence is not about things turning out the way you
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Speaker 1: want them to turn out. Providence is about God being
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Speaker 1: in control of His creatures and His creation. That's the
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Speaker 1: doctrine of providence. How do we see the providence of
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Speaker 1: God in the lives of the patriarchs here? A couple
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Speaker 1: of things. One, He overcomes the wickedness and the dysfunction
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Speaker 1: of the patriarchs. Amen. Amen. But I don't know about you,
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Speaker 1: but that's good news to me. Amen? Wouldn't it be
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Speaker 1: terrible if you read about the lives of the patriarchs
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Speaker 1: and they were perfect? Where would your hope be? I
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Speaker 1: wouldn't have any hope. Where would your trust come from?
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Speaker 1: But when you read the lives of the patriarchs, And
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Speaker 1: even here in this passage of Scripture, listen to the
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Speaker 1: things that echo from earlier in the book of Genesis.
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Speaker 1: Jacob lived in the land of his father's sojournings, in
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Speaker 1: the land of Canaan. Now, you just said a mouthful
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Speaker 1: right there. How long did it take Jacob to get
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Speaker 1: to this place where he was supposed to go? Twenty-some-odd
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Speaker 1: years with that scoundrel by the name of Laban, being
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Speaker 1: deceived and deceiving again and again and again. His hip
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Speaker 1: has been broken as he wrestled with the angel. All
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Speaker 1: of these things have happened. He has run from his
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Speaker 1: brother Esau, finally been reconciled with his brother Esau after
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Speaker 1: believing in that very moment that Esau was going to
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Speaker 1: kill him as sure as he stood there. Now, the
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Speaker 1: text says, he made it to Canaan. That's no small thing.
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Speaker 1: He didn't make it there because of his trust and
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Speaker 1: his obedience and his goodness. He made it there because
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Speaker 1: of the providence of Almighty God in spite of who
26:02
Speaker 1: he was. Amen? These are the generations of Jacob. By
26:07
Speaker 1: the way, these are the generations of Jacob. What does
26:10
Speaker 1: that mean? That means that Jacob has children. Now, back
26:16
Speaker 1: up for a moment. Jacob has children, lots of them.
26:20
Speaker 1: So that's no big deal. Well, yes, it is a
26:22
Speaker 1: big deal. Well, why? Because Jacob is the son of
26:27
Speaker 1: a man by the name of Isaac who had twins
26:30
Speaker 1: called Jacob and Esau. Yeah, so whatever. That happens every day. No, no, no, no, no, no.
26:36
Speaker 1: Isaac was the son of Abraham and Sarah, 100 years old.
26:46
Speaker 1: So when you read, these are the generations of Jacob,
26:50
Speaker 1: you are reminded that God performed a miracle in the
26:55
Speaker 1: womb of a woman who was nearly a hundred years old.
27:00
Speaker 1: And these are her generations and her descendants. You're also
27:04
Speaker 1: reminded that God made a promise to Abraham that his
27:07
Speaker 1: descendants would be like the numbers of the grains of
27:11
Speaker 1: sand on the seashore, or the number of the stars
27:15
Speaker 1: in the heavens. So when you read that phrase, these
27:17
Speaker 1: are the generations of Jacob, remember, this is part of
27:21
Speaker 1: the fulfillment of the promise that God made to Abraham.
27:26
Speaker 1: This is happening in his providence. But again, in spite
27:31
Speaker 1: of their dysfunction. Because when you think about Abraham and Sarah,
27:36
Speaker 1: you also have to think about Abraham and Hagar. Hagar.
27:41
Speaker 1: When you read that phrase, these are the generations of Jacob,
27:44
Speaker 1: you have to remember that he's got 12 sons, but
27:47
Speaker 1: they came through four wives. Sin piled upon sin piled
27:56
Speaker 1: upon sin. The providence of God in spite of their sin.
28:02
Speaker 1: Not only that, but as we keep reading, Here's Joseph
28:05
Speaker 1: and he's bringing a bad report about his brothers. What
28:07
Speaker 1: does that sound like? That sounds about like his father
28:11
Speaker 1: Jacob with his brother Esau. Here is Jacob loving Joseph
28:18
Speaker 1: more than he loves his other sons and showing favoritism.
28:22
Speaker 1: What does that sound like? Well, his father's favorite was
28:26
Speaker 1: Esau and his mother's favorite was Jacob. This sounds like
28:30
Speaker 1: a pattern of dysfunction being continued in this family generation
28:35
Speaker 1: after generation after generation. And you see the providence of
28:39
Speaker 1: God in that he blesses the patriarchs in spite of
28:45
Speaker 1: their sin. And that's good news because there is not
28:50
Speaker 1: a soul in this room who doesn't need that. Amen? Amen?
28:59
Speaker 1: in spite of your sin. How often do we think, oh,
29:03
Speaker 1: there's just no way that my family is going to
29:06
Speaker 1: turn out okay. You just don't know what I've come from. No,
29:10
Speaker 1: I really don't know what you've come from. But I
29:12
Speaker 1: would venture to say that it probably doesn't come close
29:16
Speaker 1: to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Amen? Here's the other thing.
29:25
Speaker 1: There's going to be some stuff in here that's worse
29:27
Speaker 1: than Reuben is going to be disinherited and deservedly so. Judah,
29:35
Speaker 1: the promised seed is going to fall flat on his
29:39
Speaker 1: face before it's all said and done. Yet in the
29:44
Speaker 1: providence of God, he keeps his promise and we continue
29:50
Speaker 1: to move forward toward the promised seed in spite of
29:54
Speaker 1: the sin of the patriarch. Secondly, he overcomes the wicked
29:57
Speaker 1: schemes of of the enemy. We see the providence of
30:02
Speaker 1: God in that. Over and over again, as we journey
30:05
Speaker 1: through the life of Joseph, we're going to see this phrase,
30:08
Speaker 1: this phrase that though they meant it for evil, God
30:12
Speaker 1: meant it for good. Amen? That's the providence of God.
30:18
Speaker 1: And even here, we see in these dreams the providence
30:21
Speaker 1: of God. What are these dreams about? Well, if you
30:24
Speaker 1: know the rest of the story, God is letting Joseph
30:28
Speaker 1: know and letting his brothers know what he is about
30:31
Speaker 1: to do in order to preserve them. He's letting Joseph
30:35
Speaker 1: know that he's going to use Joseph. He's going to
30:39
Speaker 1: raise Joseph up, that his brothers are going to bow
30:42
Speaker 1: down to him, even though in just a few short verses,
30:48
Speaker 1: they're going to throw him in a pit. By the way,
30:52
Speaker 1: throwing him in the pit is a compromise because what
30:55
Speaker 1: they wanted to do was murder him. So in the
31:00
Speaker 1: providence of God, Joseph's in the pit. Imagine this. I'm
31:04
Speaker 1: in the pit. Woe is me. I'm 17 years old
31:07
Speaker 1: and I'm out here in a pit all by myself. No, actually, Joseph,
31:12
Speaker 1: this you think is the worst day of your life,
31:15
Speaker 1: but I got a couple of things to tell you.
31:17
Speaker 1: Number one, it's going to get worse. You're going to prison.
31:21
Speaker 1: for a while, after you become a slave. But it's
31:26
Speaker 1: not all bad news, brother. You're in the pit. That's
31:29
Speaker 1: good news. What do you mean that's good news? Your
31:32
Speaker 1: big brother, he wanted to murder you. This was the
31:38
Speaker 1: better alternative. Of course, he doesn't know that in the pit,
31:43
Speaker 1: does he? You're in the pit, Joseph, and you're about
31:47
Speaker 1: to go become a slave. But that's good news. How
31:50
Speaker 1: on earth is that good news? The providence of God.
31:54
Speaker 1: After you become a slave, you're going to be framed
31:56
Speaker 1: for sexual assault, and you're going to go to prison.
31:59
Speaker 1: How is that good news? Trust me, in the providence
32:03
Speaker 1: of God, that's good news. Because you're going to become
32:06
Speaker 1: the second most powerful man in all of Egypt. Egypt?
32:09
Speaker 1: I don't want to go to Egypt. Trust me, you
32:13
Speaker 1: want to be in Egypt. Because a famine is coming
32:18
Speaker 1: and God is going to use you and this gift
32:21
Speaker 1: of interpreting dreams to put you in a position so
32:26
Speaker 1: that your brothers come and bow down, not because you're
32:29
Speaker 1: a great man, but because in the providence of God,
32:32
Speaker 1: he's going to get you to Egypt so that you
32:37
Speaker 1: can save Egypt and in turn, save your entire family.
32:47
Speaker 1: But he cannot see this in chapter 37 verse 1.
32:55
Speaker 1: He does not know this in chapter 37 verse 2.
33:00
Speaker 1: He cannot fathom this in the dream in verses 5
33:04
Speaker 1: through 8. He has no idea and is probably interpreting
33:09
Speaker 1: through his flesh the dream in verses 9 through 11.
33:13
Speaker 1: And yet, you and I looking back on this, know
33:20
Speaker 1: that this is the providence of God in the life
33:23
Speaker 1: of Joseph and in the life of his family and
33:27
Speaker 1: his brothers. Listen to this from B.B. Warfield. This theme
33:33
Speaker 1: that God overrules the wicked intentions of men and women
33:36
Speaker 1: in order to save his people runs throughout the Old Testament,
33:40
Speaker 1: but perhaps nowhere more explicitly than in Joseph's narrative. Here's
33:45
Speaker 1: Warfield's comment. on providence. Were not God's providence overall? Could
33:54
Speaker 1: trouble come without his sending? Were Christians the possible prey
34:00
Speaker 1: of this or the other fiendish enemy? When perchance God
34:04
Speaker 1: was musing or gone aside or on a journey or sleeping,
34:09
Speaker 1: what certainty of hope could be ours? Does God send trouble? Surely, surely.
34:15
Speaker 1: He and only he, to the sinner in punishment, to
34:19
Speaker 1: his children in chastisement. To suggest that it does not
34:24
Speaker 1: always come from his hand is to take away all
34:27
Speaker 1: our comfort. He continues, the world may be black to us.
34:33
Speaker 1: There may no longer be hope in man. Anguish and
34:37
Speaker 1: trouble may be our daily portion, but there is this
34:40
Speaker 1: light that shines through all the darkness. We cannot be
34:44
Speaker 1: robbed of God's providence. So long as the soul keeps
34:47
Speaker 1: firm hold of this great truth, it will be able
34:51
Speaker 1: to breast all storms. We said this as we stood
34:59
Speaker 1: here the day after Hurricane Ike. Many of you were
35:04
Speaker 1: here on that day. Some of you were not. But
35:08
Speaker 1: we sit here in this very building after Ike has
35:11
Speaker 1: come through. That Lord's Day right afterwards, we're here and
35:15
Speaker 1: there are many in this church who had trees fall
35:17
Speaker 1: through their house, many who experienced flooding or anything else.
35:21
Speaker 1: And it was an incredible opportunity to talk about this
35:24
Speaker 1: doctrine of the providence of God. We said this, there
35:29
Speaker 1: are some people who believe that Hurricane Ike came through
35:33
Speaker 1: and it was just random. There are some people who
35:37
Speaker 1: believe that that storm knocked a tree down on their
35:42
Speaker 1: house and it was just bad luck. And yet those
35:46
Speaker 1: same people in the midst of this bad luck and
35:49
Speaker 1: random chance are crying out to a God that they
35:53
Speaker 1: don't even believe can control a hurricane. Where's your hope
36:00
Speaker 1: if God didn't control Ike? Because if God couldn't control Ike,
36:04
Speaker 1: how can he control the circumstances of your life? If
36:08
Speaker 1: God can't control Ike, How can God control evil individuals
36:13
Speaker 1: who wish to do you harm? If God cannot control
36:17
Speaker 1: Hurricane Ike or any other so-called natural disaster, then how
36:22
Speaker 1: on earth can you and I say that we know
36:27
Speaker 1: who holds the future? It is only because we trust
36:32
Speaker 1: in a God who allows nothing to happen by chance
36:36
Speaker 1: that we can trust in a God who will take
36:38
Speaker 1: care of his people. That's the doctrine of God's providence. Secondly,
36:44
Speaker 1: there's this issue of progressive revelation. Something very interesting happens
36:49
Speaker 1: here in the second half of our passage. God intervenes
36:55
Speaker 1: in a way that is unique here in the life
36:57
Speaker 1: of Joseph. Now, in Hebrews chapter 1, verses 1 and 2,
37:01
Speaker 1: we read these words. Long ago, at many times and
37:04
Speaker 1: many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophet's
37:08
Speaker 1: But in these last days, He has spoken to us
37:11
Speaker 1: by His Son, whom He appointed the heir of all things,
37:14
Speaker 1: through whom also He created the world. God has not
37:18
Speaker 1: always communicated to His people in the same way. But
37:22
Speaker 1: in the book of Genesis, we have examples of most
37:26
Speaker 1: of the ways that God has communicated to His people.
37:29
Speaker 1: For example, we have direct revelation. Now, we have once
37:33
Speaker 1: in Genesis 46, the phrase, God spoke. 21 times in
37:37
Speaker 1: the book of Genesis we have the phrase, the Lord said.
37:42
Speaker 1: The idea that the Lord appeared happens five times in
37:45
Speaker 1: the book of Genesis. Listen to the times that they happen.
37:49
Speaker 1: Genesis chapter 12 and verse 7. Genesis chapter 17 and
37:51
Speaker 1: verse 1. When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord
38:04
Speaker 1: appeared to Abram and said to him, I am God Almighty.
38:07
Speaker 1: Walk before me and be blameless. Genesis chapter 18, verse 1.
38:12
Speaker 1: And the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of
38:14
Speaker 1: Mamre as he sat at the door of his tent
38:18
Speaker 1: in the heat of the day. Genesis 26, 2. And
38:21
Speaker 1: the Lord appeared to him and said, do not go
38:23
Speaker 1: down to Egypt. Dwell in the land of which I
38:27
Speaker 1: shall show you. Genesis 26, verse 24. And the Lord
38:31
Speaker 1: appeared to him that same night and said, I am
38:33
Speaker 1: the God of Abraham, your father. Fear not, for I
38:36
Speaker 1: am with you and will bless you and multiply your
38:40
Speaker 1: offspring for my servant Abraham's sake. The phrase the angel
38:45
Speaker 1: of the Lord happens 11 times in the book of Genesis.
38:51
Speaker 1: That is the second type of revelation. Revelation. So in
38:54
Speaker 1: this first type, we have this direct revelation, God speaking
38:58
Speaker 1: directly and saying, I'm God, here's what you need to do.
39:03
Speaker 1: The second type is we see the angel of the
39:05
Speaker 1: Lord 11 times in the book of Genesis. And then
39:10
Speaker 1: the third type of revelation we see in the book
39:12
Speaker 1: of Genesis is God speaking through dreams. This happens on
39:17
Speaker 1: several occasions, but I want to point out a few.
39:20
Speaker 1: so that you see the difference in what's happening here.
39:25
Speaker 1: Genesis chapter 15, verse 1. After these things, the word
39:29
Speaker 1: of the Lord came to Abram in a vision. Fear not, Abram.
39:33
Speaker 1: I am your shield. Your reward shall be great. So
39:36
Speaker 1: there's the Lord appearing in a vision to Abram, but
39:39
Speaker 1: he's speaking directly to Abram in the vision. Then again,
39:45
Speaker 1: but God came to Abimelech. This is chapter 20, verses
39:47
Speaker 1: 3 and 6. in a dream by night and said
39:51
Speaker 1: to him, behold, you are a dead man because of
39:54
Speaker 1: the woman you have taken, for she is a man's wife.
39:58
Speaker 1: Then God said to him in the dream, yes, I
40:00
Speaker 1: know that you have done this in the integrity of
40:03
Speaker 1: your heart, and it was I who kept you from
40:06
Speaker 1: sinning against me. Therefore, I did not let you touch her.
40:10
Speaker 1: Now in chapter 31, verses 10 and 11. In the
40:17
Speaker 1: breeding season of the flock, I lifted up my eyes
40:20
Speaker 1: and saw in a dream the goats that mated with
40:23
Speaker 1: the flock were striped, spotted, and mottled. Then the angel
40:28
Speaker 1: of God said to me in the dream, Jacob, and
40:30
Speaker 1: I said, here I am. So again, in a dream,
40:33
Speaker 1: you have this more direct revelation. And again, in chapter 31,
40:37
Speaker 1: verse 24, God appears to Laban in a dream. But
40:43
Speaker 1: that's not what happens here. That's not what happens in
40:46
Speaker 1: the life of Joseph. This is a different type of
40:49
Speaker 1: revelation from God. And this is the first time that
40:52
Speaker 1: we see it. And it becomes incredibly important in redemptive history.
40:57
Speaker 1: Look with me, if you will, beginning at verse 5
40:59
Speaker 1: and try to catch the difference. Now, Joseph had a dream.
41:04
Speaker 1: And when he told his brothers, they hated him even more.
41:08
Speaker 1: He said to them, hear this dream that I have dreamed. Behold,
41:12
Speaker 1: We were binding sheaves in the field. And behold, my
41:15
Speaker 1: sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered
41:18
Speaker 1: around it and bowed down to my sheaf. Now, was
41:23
Speaker 1: that God coming to Joseph and saying, Joseph, I'm God.
41:27
Speaker 1: Here's what you need to do. No, not at all.
41:30
Speaker 1: This is a dream that had to be interpreted in
41:33
Speaker 1: order to be understood. Look at the next one, beginning
41:36
Speaker 1: verse 9. Then he dreamed another dream. and told his
41:40
Speaker 1: brothers and said, behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold,
41:43
Speaker 1: the sun, the moon, and 11 stars were bowing down
41:46
Speaker 1: to me. But when he told his father and his brothers,
41:50
Speaker 1: his father rebuked him. Now, again, was that God appearing
41:54
Speaker 1: in a dream saying, I'm God, do this, or I'm God,
41:58
Speaker 1: that is about to happen. No, this is a different
42:01
Speaker 1: type of revelation. Now, why is this important? Because this
42:04
Speaker 1: is the very type of revelation that God is going
42:06
Speaker 1: to use to bring Joseph to power in Egypt. This
42:11
Speaker 1: type of revelation is important in its secondary purposes. God
42:19
Speaker 1: shows up to Abraham and he says to Abraham, Abraham,
42:21
Speaker 1: I'm going to make you the father of many nations.
42:24
Speaker 1: Why is that important? That is important to Abraham because
42:28
Speaker 1: Abraham needs to believe what it is God is saying
42:30
Speaker 1: and go and do what God has said. In all
42:33
Speaker 1: of these other types of revelation, God comes and he says,
42:36
Speaker 1: I'm God, here's what you need to do. Or I'm God,
42:39
Speaker 1: here's what you don't need to do. I'm God, here's
42:41
Speaker 1: where you need to go. And in all of those
42:43
Speaker 1: types of revelation, it was very important for the individual.
42:47
Speaker 1: This is a different type of revelation in that God
42:50
Speaker 1: gives a dream The interpretation of the dream comes from
42:53
Speaker 1: an individual whom God is using. And God eventually uses
42:58
Speaker 1: that to gain favor for the individual with others for
43:04
Speaker 1: whom he interprets the dream. Now, this ought to sound familiar.
43:08
Speaker 1: First of all, it sounds familiar because we know the
43:10
Speaker 1: rest of the book of Genesis. But imagine this. You're
43:15
Speaker 1: in the midst of exile. And in the midst of exile,
43:19
Speaker 1: you think God has forsaken you. In the midst of
43:22
Speaker 1: this exile, you are carried off into a land called Babylon.
43:26
Speaker 1: And while you're carried off into the land called Babylon,
43:28
Speaker 1: because the prophets have already told you that the Chaldeans
43:31
Speaker 1: are going to come and carry you away, you think
43:34
Speaker 1: God has forsaken you and it is all over. How
43:38
Speaker 1: on earth would you, as a Jew, growing up with
43:41
Speaker 1: God's scriptures, be comforted and know that God is still
43:47
Speaker 1: with you? Oh, I don't know. Maybe. Maybe. If God
43:50
Speaker 1: raises up a man by the name of Daniel who
43:54
Speaker 1: interprets dreams in Babylon and gains power in Babylon because
43:59
Speaker 1: he interprets dreams, you as a Jew who know the
44:03
Speaker 1: story of Joseph in Genesis are immediately reminded of what
44:08
Speaker 1: God did through this other dream interpreter in the midst
44:11
Speaker 1: of a time in a land that was not his home.
44:19
Speaker 1: Same kind of revelation from God, same circumstance, and God
44:24
Speaker 1: uses it in the same way. The way God reveals
44:31
Speaker 1: himself to Joseph is different than what's happened in the
44:34
Speaker 1: rest of Genesis. And the way that God reveals himself
44:39
Speaker 1: to Joseph is also a pattern that God uses to
44:45
Speaker 1: bring hope to his people later on in the exile
44:49
Speaker 1: as he does the same thing with Daniel. It's all important.
45:01
Speaker 1: Here's the final piece. This is connected to the gospel
45:08
Speaker 1: and to redemptive history. How so? We have a forsaken
45:13
Speaker 1: favorite son. Does that sound familiar? this is my beloved
45:20
Speaker 1: son with whom I am well pleased. What happens to
45:25
Speaker 1: that son about whom his father says, this is my
45:28
Speaker 1: beloved son with whom I am well pleased? Well, eventually
45:33
Speaker 1: he is thrown into a pit as well. But where
45:36
Speaker 1: Joseph is thrown into a pit alive, Jesus is thrown
45:39
Speaker 1: into one dead after being crucified. Well, Not only was
45:47
Speaker 1: he despised like Joseph, not only was he turned on
45:53
Speaker 1: by his brothers like Joseph, but Christ's work was done
46:00
Speaker 1: in order to save his brothers. Joseph, you're going to
46:07
Speaker 1: the pit, but I don't want to. That's okay that
46:10
Speaker 1: you don't want to go to the pit because eventually
46:12
Speaker 1: you're going to prison and you'll get out of the pit.
46:14
Speaker 1: But wait a minute, I don't want to go to
46:16
Speaker 1: prison either. Oh, that's okay. Prison's going to be after
46:19
Speaker 1: your slavery. Well, I definitely don't want to be a slave.
46:22
Speaker 1: That's okay, Joseph. It's very important for you to do this. Why?
46:28
Speaker 1: Because you're going to save your brothers. That's why. You're
46:33
Speaker 1: going to endure scorn. You're going to endure shame. You're
46:37
Speaker 1: going to endure hardship. And you're going to do it
46:41
Speaker 1: in order to save your brothers. That ought to sound
46:46
Speaker 1: familiar because that brothers and sisters is the gospel. But
46:54
Speaker 1: what are the differences between Joseph and Jesus? Well, difference
47:00
Speaker 1: number one, Jesus is not from a dysfunctional family. Amen.
47:07
Speaker 1: There is no dysfunction in the Trinity. He is the
47:10
Speaker 1: spotless sinless lamb of God. Joseph is a sinful creature.
47:14
Speaker 1: And God is using this sinful creature in order to
47:18
Speaker 1: preserve the line through which Jesus will come, but he's
47:21
Speaker 1: using him in spite of his sin. Jesus has no sin.
47:26
Speaker 1: Joseph goes to prison. He deserves worse. Joseph is a slave.
47:32
Speaker 1: He deserves worse. Joseph goes to a pit. He deserves worse.
47:38
Speaker 1: Jesus is scorned. He is mocked. He is forsaken. He
47:43
Speaker 1: is beaten. He is crucified. He is stabbed and pierced.
47:48
Speaker 1: He is buried and he deserves not one iota of it.
47:57
Speaker 1: Joseph saved his brothers kicking and screaming. Not knowing what
48:07
Speaker 1: was ahead of him and had he known he would
48:09
Speaker 1: have run in the other direction. Jesus goes to the
48:14
Speaker 1: garden knowing exactly what is about to happen. He knows
48:23
Speaker 1: that the hour of his departure is upon him. He
48:27
Speaker 1: knows the cross lay ahead of him. He has all
48:34
Speaker 1: of the anguish that Joseph would have had had Joseph
48:37
Speaker 1: been told, oh, by the way, this dream that you
48:40
Speaker 1: just dreamed, It's going to make your brothers hate you.
48:45
Speaker 1: That would have been enough. I don't want to be
48:46
Speaker 1: hated by my brothers, let alone they're going to hate
48:49
Speaker 1: you and then they're going to want to kill you.
48:50
Speaker 1: Then they're going to want to put you in the pit.
48:52
Speaker 1: Then they're going to send you off. No, I don't
48:53
Speaker 1: want to do this. And you would have run in
48:55
Speaker 1: the other direction. Jesus is there. The sin of the
48:58
Speaker 1: world upon his shoulders about to endure the cross and
49:03
Speaker 1: its shame as well as its pain. And he feels
49:07
Speaker 1: this so much so that he sweats as drops of blood.
49:11
Speaker 1: And he cries out to his father, if there is
49:14
Speaker 1: any other way, let this bitter cup pass from me.
49:18
Speaker 1: But unlike Joseph, he does not. not run in the
49:20
Speaker 1: other direction in spite of the fact that he knows
49:23
Speaker 1: all too well what is about to happen he says
49:29
Speaker 1: nevertheless not my will but yours be done was it
49:38
Speaker 1: fair Absolutely not. Joseph got better than he deserved. Jesus
49:47
Speaker 1: gave us better than we deserved. Here's where another of
49:54
Speaker 1: the similarities ends. Joseph rescues his brothers from a physical famine.
50:05
Speaker 1: Jesus rescues his brothers from the sting of death and
50:11
Speaker 1: the power of hell. No power of hell, no scheme
50:18
Speaker 1: of man can ever pluck me from his hand till
50:22
Speaker 1: he return and call me home. Was it good that
50:31
Speaker 1: God used Joseph to save his brothers from the famine? Yeah,
50:36
Speaker 1: it was good. but it pales in comparison to what
50:42
Speaker 1: this episode foreshadows. Christ saves his brothers and we never
50:51
Speaker 1: thirst again. We never hunger again. Christ saves his brothers
51:00
Speaker 1: and he makes us right with God. Joseph saves his
51:07
Speaker 1: brothers And they get worse and worse and worse. Christ
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Speaker 1: saves his brothers and progressively we are sanctified. Is the
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Speaker 1: life of Joseph important? You better believe it is. For
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Speaker 1: a number of reasons, not the least of which is
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Speaker 1: that it teaches us about the providence of God. It
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Speaker 1: teaches us about progressive revelation. It teaches us about redemptive history.
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Speaker 1: All of those things are important. But the most important
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Speaker 1: piece is twofold. One, God in His providence keeps His
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Speaker 1: promise and Judah stays alive. And eventually, the Lion of
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Speaker 1: the tribe of Judah is born. And two, the God
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Speaker 1: who keeps his promises to his people is the same yesterday, today,
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Speaker 1: and forever. And the God who controlled Hurricane Ike controlled
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Speaker 1: this line and brought us Jesus. How much more can
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Speaker 1: you and I trust him with whatever it is that
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Speaker 1: we believe overwhelms us? What's the worst that could happen? Well,
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Speaker 1: the worst thing that could happen is whatever it is
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Speaker 1: that God brings upon you would kill you. Really? That's
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Speaker 1: the worst that could happen. That in the Christian life
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Speaker 1: is called a promotion. Amen? Let's pray. Father, we are
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Speaker 1: grateful to you for the goodness that you've shown us.
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Speaker 1: Grateful to you for these little glimpses that you give
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Speaker 1: us throughout redemptive history. Grateful to you for your providence.
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Speaker 1: Not just on our best day, but on what we
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Speaker 1: would consider our worst day. grateful to you for reminding
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Speaker 1: us that we can trust you with the smallest of
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Speaker 1: things as well as the most significant. We're grateful to you, Lord,
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Speaker 1: that you have chosen to reveal yourself to your people.
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Speaker 1: And that rather than being dependent on the infrequent method
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Speaker 1: of dreams and visions. You have provided for us and
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Speaker 1: preserved for us and protected for us your word. And
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Speaker 1: above and beyond that, given us your final and ultimate
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Speaker 1: revelation in the person of Jesus Christ who is the
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Speaker 1: very word of God. I'm grateful to you as you
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Speaker 1: continue to unpack for us this majestic, almost incomprehensible plan
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Speaker 1: of redemption that was no accident. Would you please continue
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Speaker 1: to remind us of that? That your work to redeem
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Speaker 1: your people was not an afterthought, but that you, the
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Speaker 1: great God of the universe, ordered our steps, that you
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Speaker 1: might bring us to salvation. May that give us great
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Speaker 1: comfort and even greater hope. Guide us as we continue
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Speaker 1: to walk through this book and finish this journey in Genesis,
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Speaker 1: should the Lord tarry. And in the meantime... Would you
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Speaker 1: please be so kind as to help us to continue
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Speaker 1: to see Christ on every page? This is our prayer.
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Speaker 1: This is the earnest desire of our very souls. And
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Speaker 1: we ask it because we believe it's in accordance with
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Speaker 1: the will and the nature and the authority of Jesus,
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Speaker 1: who is the Christ. Amen.