Hello, here we are again with another broadcast. We're in the fourth one, entitled Joseph was with his brethren. Stay tuned for our message today. what we're reading in genesis chapter 37 beginning at verse number 12 it says his brethren that is joseph's brethren went to feed their father's flock in shechem and israel of course he was called jacob his name's been changed to israel israel said unto joseph Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send thee unto them.' And he said to him, Here am I. And he said to him, Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks. And bring me word again. So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. And a certain man found him, and behold, he was wandering in the field. And the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou? And he said, I seek my brethren, tell me, I pray thee, where they feed their flocks. And the man said, they are departed hence, for I heard them say, let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren and found them in Dothan. And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him, and they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh. Come now, therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say some evil beast hath devoured him, and we shall see what shall become of his dreams. Here's this young fella. He's only 17 years old. He's going out here to seek the welfare of his brothers. He's going out there to help them, and they see him coming from afar off, and they decide this is a good opportunity to get rid of him, and they seek to kill him. So he's seeking the welfare of his worthless brothers, and all they want to do is kill him. That is exactly what happened when Jesus came into this world. Well, he's sent from Hebron, and the word Hebron means fellowship, and he goes to Shechem. Now, this is that hostile area, a place of sin and sorrow and bloodshed. There's nothing good about Shechem. There's lots good about Hebron, a place of fellowship. Well, Jesus was sent from fellowship with his father to this sin-sick, hostile world, and doing exactly the same thing that Joseph was doing back here, seeking the welfare of people who really didn't deserve it. Well, in verse number 15, we find him, it says he was wandering in the field. That's interesting. In Matthew 13 and 38, Jesus said the field is the world. It's a type of the world and he said to his disciples when he was here The foxes have holes and the birds of the air they have nests every man it says in in John chapter 7 and verse number 53 and John chapter 8 and verse number 1 he talks about this he said every man went to his own house and And Jesus went unto the Mount of Olives. He said, that bird, he's got a place to sleep tonight. That fox, he's got a place to go. The Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. Wandering in the field. Can you imagine, just imagine the disciples saying, well, goodnight, we'll see you tomorrow. and they all go home to their warm beds, and he goes to the mountain. Well, Joseph comes and he's looking for them, and in verse number 17 we read, And the man said, They departed hence, for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. He has just traveled 50 miles, not 15, 50, 50 miles he has traveled on foot. This has taken quite a while. He is looking for them, and they're not there. What does he have? He has an excuse to go back home. He can say, well, I came, they're not here, I'm going home. back to have some fellowship with my father. No, that's not what he did. He went another 15 miles to Dothan. What did he do? He finished the work that he was given to do. And that's what Jesus said when he prayed just before he was crucified, and he was talking to his father, and he said, I have finished the work. that thou gavest me to do." It's interesting that when Jesus was 12 years old, he said to his mother, I must be about my father's business. Here's Joseph as a teenager, 17 years old, being about his father's business. In verse 17, we read that Joseph went after his brethren and found them. He found them. He got them. He thought, wow, they'll be glad to see me today. You know, I've come to see how they're doing. What was the response of his brethren? Well, they saw him afar off even before he came near unto them and conspired against him to slay him. They're planning his murder even when he's afar off. That's exactly what they did with Jesus. When Herod heard that this child was born, he had everyone up to two years of age and under slaughtered in an attempt to kill Christ. Well, when he was still a far off. And then that was that was 30 years before his ministry began. And then it says here that Joseph's brothers conspired against him. You read again and again that the Pharisees, they took counsel together to put him to death, they conspired against him all the time, and in verse 19 we see here that these brothers of Joseph were in agreement, and they said one to another, behold this dreamer cometh. It says in John chapter 11 and verse number 53, they took counsel together to put him to death. You see a tremendous type of Christ here in Joseph in the Old Testament. Well, we get to verse number 21 and it says Reuben heard it and he delivered him out of their hands and said, let us not kill him. And Reuben said unto them, shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness and lay no hand upon him. What was his plan? It goes on to say that he might rid him out of their hands to deliver him to his father again. Well, Reuben is the oldest of the 12 and he has a plan, his plan here, is to save joseph from being killed and get him back home well in verse 23 it came to pass when joseph was come to his brethren they stripped joseph out of his coat his coat of many colors that was on him and they took him and cast him into a pit and the pit was empty there was no water in it and they sat down to eat bread and they lifted up their eyes and looked and behold a company of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead and their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh going to to carry it down to Egypt. And Judas said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother and conceal his blood? Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites. Well, they stripped him of his coat. That's what they did with Christ, you know, you remember. that they, at the crucifixion, he had a special coat, and they had no seams, it says, and they gambled for it. Well, they stripped Joseph of his coat. In verse 24, we find persecution, and Christ, of course, was crucified, and it says they sat down. Well, it says that about Jesus, too. It says that when they were crucifying him, they sat down And they watched him there. Well, here it says in verse 25, they're eating bread. Interesting. When Jesus was crucified, they're doing the same thing. They had the Passover. In verse 25, they turn Joseph over to the Gentile Ishmaelites here, as Jesus was turned over to Herod. And then in verse 26, Judah made the deal. Judah is of the same tribe that Judas Iscariot was, and he made the deal. to have Jesus sold, in that case for 30 pieces of silver, in this case for 20 pieces of silver. Well, Judah comes into the focus here, and he says unto his brethren, what profit is it if we slay our brother? Let's sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hands be upon him, for he is our brother in our flesh, and his brethren were content. And then there passed by Midianite merchant men and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for 20 pieces of silver and they brought Joseph into Egypt. And Reuben returned, now I don't know where he was, maybe he was off watering the sheep or doing something but he was not there when this happened and it says in verse 29 Reuben returned unto the pit and behold Joseph was not in the pit and he rent his clothes and he returned unto his brethren and said the child is not and I wither shall I go and they took Joseph's coat and it says they kill the kid of the goats and dip the coat in the blood, and they sent the coat of many colors, and they brought it to their father and said, this have we found. No, now, whether it be thy son's coat or no. And he knew it and said, it is my son's coat. An evil beast has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces. Well, there's a tremendous lesson here. The Bible says, whatsoever a man sow, that shall he also reap. And many years ago, in Jacob's life, what did he do? He and his mom got together, they killed the goat, and they deceived their father and stole the birthright from Esau. So there we are, many years later. They killed a goat, they dipped his coat of many colors in it, and they took it back and they deceived him. Whatsoever a man sow, that shall he also reap. Well, verse 34 says, And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days. And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. And he said, For I will go down into my grave, unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him. And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's and captain of the guard." Now you'll notice in verse number 26 it says, and Judah. Now when you go through chapter 38 you'll find that Judah is mentioned over and over again. Verse 1, Judah, verse 2, Judah, verse 6, Judah, verse 8, verse 11, verse number 12, verse number 15, verse 20, 23, back in 22 again, and then in 24, down in 26, Judah. You'll find his name mentioned over and over and over again, and he becomes the focus of this next chapter. And what happens in chapter 28 is the corruption of God's people. They are marrying Canaanites in verse 3, he has a son. Verse 4, he has a son. Verse 5, he has a son. Judah talks about him in verse 6 with the Canaanite wife, and then in verse 7 he has twin sons there. And it is a sick and a sad story put right here in the middle of things where Judah is used of the devil to bring corruption into the family of God here. And you'll read also in verse 1 and in verse 12 and in verse 20 about Judah's friend. Yeah, he's picking the wrong friends. And what happens down through this entire chapter, the bottom line is they are simply following the ways of the world, and the devil is using Judah to get this corruption into the family. Meanwhile while all of that is going on we read in chapter 39 and verse 1 and Joseph was brought down to Egypt and Potiphar an officer of Pharaoh captain of the guard and Egyptian bought him of the hands of the Ishmaelites which had brought him down thither now and and It's interesting that Joseph is mentioned 63 times in the Bible. 54 of those 63 times is in Genesis. You'll find the word Joseph four times in the New Testament, but that is not talking about this Joseph. That is talking about the husband of Mary. In Exodus chapter 1 and verse 6, it says, And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation. Now there you have it. Joseph has lived his life. He's a big part of the story here in the book of Genesis. And then it says in Exodus, Joseph died, all his brethren died, and all that generation died. The Bible says it is appointed unto man once to die, but after this, the judgment. What are you going to do with that little lifetime that the Word of God calls a vapor? It's a vapor. It's not very long. For Joseph, it was a really interesting life, pleasing God. For his brothers, Yeah, they're all dead, too, by the end of this story, and they're all going to give an account. Only one life will soon be passed. Only what's done for Christ will last. Well, we're out of time again. Tune in again tomorrow. We'll continue the story of Joseph. We will try to make it plain, and we will try to make it simple.