Good morning. Christ is risen. Amen. Would you please turn to Genesis chapter 37. We're going to start reading at verse 12. Last week we looked at Joseph and his dreams. Today we're going to look at the consequences of those dreams. But before we begin, let's go to the Lord in prayer. We thank you, Lord, for, again, the opportunity to look at your word. We ask that you would guide us into your truth, we ask in Jesus' name, amen. So Genesis 37, verse 12. And his brethren went to feed their father's flock in Shechem. And 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 thy flocks, and bring me word again. So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. Jacob and his sons are living in Hebron, about 50 miles south of their old home in Shechem. By now, Esau has moved away, and so there should be, theoretically, enough pasturage and feed for them right where they're living. But the older brothers decide to take the flocks down to Shechem to feed. It would have been a very normal, usual for them as semi-nomads to have settled in one place and then to roam the surrounding area looking for water, pasture, grass. But depending on the season and the amount of rainfall, they may have to wander a little further than normal. And that seems to be the case here. There seems to be a lack of rain or something going on like that. But there may have been other reasons why Joseph's brothers may have taken off. Considering what we've looked at the last couple lessons, they may have just been fed up with Joseph and his dreams and their father's favoritism. Perhaps they also just wanted to see the old area. Their father still owned property there. Indeed, he had built a altar there. However, for those of you who know your Genesis history, Shechem should ring a red bell. Wave a red flag, ring the bell, combine them, a red bell. And that is because Shechem is the site of a most heinous crime. This is where some of the brothers had massacred all the Shechemites after they had raped their sister. So they're coming back to this place of this great crime. You would think they would be a little hesitant. But the Lord had protected them shortly after the crime and through this time period, and so he continues to protect them. And they're big, beefy, burly shepherds, and they just don't have any hesitation to go back to this land. But you have to wonder if Jacob had approved this. Perhaps they did this without even telling their father. for he had been grieved greatly by their sins. But by now, he's a little older, and he's probably turned over the business, so to speak, to his sons, and they take off down to Shechem. But eventually, Jacob becomes concerned about them. Perhaps he's thinking, what if the Canaanites and Perizzites have indeed attacked them? Maybe something's gone wrong. After all, he is also nearly alone. It's just Joseph and Benjamin that are with him. Perhaps he's feeling a little insecure, needing the protection of the sons. But we do know that as patriarch of the family and CEO of Jacob's Flocks Incorporated, he wants a report. He wants to know how the brothers are doing. He also wants to know how the flock are doing. Is there any adverse weather? How are the supplies? Have you run into any bandits? What's the trading looking like? All these sorts of things. And so enough time passes that he finally becomes concerned enough that he decides to send Joseph down to check in on his brothers. For he knows that he can depend on Joseph for a reliable report, which this touches, of course, upon How the chapter began, with Joseph bringing to his father an evil report about his brothers. He was honest, he reported to his father what he saw, and so Jacob knows that he can rely upon him for an accurate report. So upon hearing his father's command, what must have Joseph thought? What must he have felt? As we've mentioned previously, he must have had some inkling about his brother's hostility towards him. Was he alarmed at this command? Was he fearful? Was he hesitant? Well, perhaps, but as a dutiful son who is honoring his father, he sets any reservations aside and he responds, here am I, or here am I. And this phrase is used eight times in the book of Genesis, most notably when Abraham responds to God's call to sacrifice his son Isaac. In Genesis 22, verse one, we read, and it came to pass after these things that God did tempt Abraham and said unto him, Abraham, and he said, behold, here I am. This phrase also calls to our mind that very famous, well-known passage in Isaiah, how Isaiah responds to God's call. Chapter six, verse eight, also I heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send and who will go for us? Then said I, here am I, send me. So the clear implication is that Joseph is obedient. He's obedient to the Lord, but he's also obedient to his father. Indeed, in the story of Joseph, Moses never points out a particular sin that Joseph commits. He doesn't say when he gives that evil report, he's been... Envious, self-righteous, and when he had that dream, Moses doesn't say he's been proud or arrogant. No, instead, he never points out a particular sin, which we know that he's not sinless, he's human like we are, but he's never pointed out that way, just like Daniel is never pointed out in sin in any particular fashion. So, of course, in this way, he is a type of Christ where Christ, of course, is perfectly sinless in all respects. So however, the emphasis here is not so much on Joseph's godliness, but as a contrast to his brother's actions and to what we will see in just a few verses. Reading verse 14 again, and he said, Go, I pray thee, see whither be well with thy brethren and well with thy flocks. So the word well is used twice. Make sure your brothers are well. But we already know the brothers aren't well. They're filled with hatred. They're also now filled with envy. This is ironic because Jacob, fearing attacks outside of his family, perhaps from the Perizzites and the Canaanites, is oblivious to the conflicts within his own family. And here we see that Moses is beginning to build the tension in the story. And we're told that Jacob tells him, go down to his brothers. We can't help but feeling just a tad bit concerned for Joseph. Really? Jacob, you're going to send Joseph down to the 10 brothers that hate him? Are you sure about that? And do you understand how much they hate him? Well, apparently he doesn't. If he fully understood the depth of their hatred, he wouldn't have sent him. Or at the very least, he would have sent him with a servant or another worker to accompany him. My God is working through Jacob's decision and Joseph prepares to leave. He also says, make sure that the flocks are well. Tell me about the flocks. So he's not only concerned about the wellbeing of his sons, but like Proverbs tells us, be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks and look well to thy herds. After all, his wealth is tied up with his sheep and goats, and he needs to know what's going on. But this scene here is filled with great pathos. There is sorrow that overhangs this scene. Because when Joseph leaves home on this simple fact-finding mission, he leaves for the last time. He will never return to the land of Israel to live until his bones are returned hundreds of years later. And it will be decades before he sees his brothers and especially his father once again. Picking up in verse 15, 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. So after getting provisions, Joseph makes his way down to Shechem. Not only does he go without human companions, but he hasn't dialed up an Uber camel or a Lyft donkey, doesn't have any kinds of transportation, may not even have a dog to accompany him. He is alone. And the journey takes about two to three days. But remember, He's not in the city. He's out in the empty countryside. There's no Motel 6s to stop in as he goes, so he's sleeping under the stars out in the fields. And he makes way for what was probably well known to his brothers to the family of a particular pasture or field. So he goes to where he thinks the brothers are going to be, but he doesn't find them there. and he starts to wander. We get a sense that not only is he lost, but he's isolated and vulnerable. He wanders around almost like a sheep of his own flock, and he needs help. And the Lord, in his kindness, sends a stranger. Now this stranger was no doubt probably also a shepherd or a farmer in the area and he was well acquainted with the land. He knew where Dothan was. He was perhaps trading with the brothers and he was close enough to them that he overhears them talking about where they're going to go. And so Joseph explains his errand to him. And he describes his brothers. Have you seen ten guys? No. Have you seen ten big burly guys? No, I'm not sure. Have you seen ten big burly guys who are pretty ugly? Oh yeah, I've seen those guys. Yeah, they went down to Dothan. How did this stranger know their brothers? Well, we don't know for sure, of course, but perhaps They know him from their reputation from the massacre at Shechem. Maybe he's previously traded with them, buying or selling, giving them grain. Perhaps the brothers had even given him word about where they were going. Regardless, he gives them the straight scoop, go to Dothan. So that means Joseph has to travel another 14 to 20 miles to Dothan. So it takes another day of travel. And the word dothan is believed to mean cisterns and was probably named because of the empty wells that were there. And it's very likely that Joseph ended up in one of these wells. It's also possible with them having to take their sheep down to this so far away to find pasture and feed, and that the cisterns we find are empty, that there is a mini famine going on, a mini drought. And they had perhaps found this pasture empty and the cisterns empty, and so the brothers were in a foul mood already before Joseph arrives on the scene. But there's two small, there's two things to note about this small little scene. First of all, Joseph's responsibility and maturity are on display. He is persistent. His father's given him a task. He runs into trouble, but he doesn't let them stop him. He endures, he continues, he is committed to fulfill the task that he's been given. In this way, he is an example of godly Christian work, as well as the godly Christian life of endurance. But also we see an example of what we might call unremarkable providence of God. We often use the phrase, the remarkable providence of God, to describe something that stands out, that's significant. And the story of Joseph is filled with remarkable providences of God, with Pharaoh raising him to be prime minister. But this is unremarkable. It's just a man giving directions. The only thing that we might say is remarkable that Joseph, being a young man, actually asked for directions. That might be the only remarkable thing here. But such a simple thing. A certain man found him. But the whole story turns on this one small little scene. If he had not been found, he might not have been directed to the proper place. Perhaps the man had given him wrong directions and he ended up in a completely other place. Maybe he would have turned back and given up. Without that man's directions, we don't have Joseph going to Egypt, no pit, no slavery, but also no exaltation, no becoming Prime Minister of Egypt, no saving his people from famine, no staying in Egypt for hundreds of years, no Exodus, no Mosaic Covenant, so on and so forth, eventually leading to Christ, our Messiah. In Job 12, verse 7 through 10, we read, But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee, and the fowls of the air, and they shall teach thee, or speak to the earth, and they shall teach thee, and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee, who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the Lord hath wrought this, and whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind. So if God takes care of the animals, of course he can take care of you and I. He can take care of the brute beasts. He can take those of us who are made in his image, including Joseph. But if the Lord's hand brings about just the simple little things of fish swimming in the water and the birds flying in the air, He's also taking care of and guiding in His providence and sovereignty this stranger coming into the life of Joseph. And in some ways it's really easy to accept this as God's providence. Joseph doesn't have anything to do with it. The man doesn't even know that he's being used by the Lord in such a significant way. It's just a small thing. He goes on his way and he never thinks about it again. And things like that happen to us. And we just acknowledge that and say, that's fine. Yeah, that's good. Okay. I see that. But there's also another small thing that's happened that we haven't mentioned yet. And that was Jacob's decision to take Joseph and send him after his brothers. It's a different matter when we look at our own decisions and then the consequences of those decisions are tragic, very difficult, hard to handle. How many years did Jacob castigate himself for that decision? How many times did he say, if only I had not sent him away, if only I had not sent him in harm's way, if only I'd seen what was right in front of me, that my sons hated Joseph this much, but he didn't see it. Of course, God is moving equally in both situations, whether it's a stranger, doesn't know he's responsible for a tremendous domino effect of decisions, or in Jacob's life, for from the foundations of the earth God had ordained that Jacob would do that and that the stranger would do this. What matters is that God in both situations is demonstrating his goodness and his care, as well as for us, he does the same thing. Verse 18 through 19. 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 will become of his dreams. So the scene now switches to his brothers. And we get to eavesdrop on their conversation. And the phrase, and when they saw him afar off, heightens the tension. We don't even need to read the rest of the sentence to know that something wicked is in the works. Why? Why do we know that? Because we have to ask ourselves, how do they recognize him? How do they know that it's Joseph? Well, maybe they might have been able to see the way he walks. We can kind of see the way he looks. But most likely, they recognize him because he's wearing the coat. And the sight of the coat inflames, renews, stirs up those embers of envy and hatred. But it also leads us to ask another question. Why is Joseph wearing the coat? Is he blind, ignorant, naive? Is he honoring his father and wearing it wherever he goes as a sign of his authority, as a sign of his father's love? Doesn't he know that the coat inflames his brothers and it reminds him of his father's favoritism as he picked up these signals? And so he walks into a trap. and their hatred and envy now bear fruit. They conspire together, and clearly this is, as the title of an old mystery novel says, malice of forethought. They have motive. They now have an opportunity, and they also have weapons. And if tried in the court of the law of the Almighty, they would be guilty of first degree of murder, even if they haven't pulled the metaphorical trigger yet. That's because in 1 John 3.15 we read, Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer. And ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. So upon recognizing him, they blurt out this murderous plot. And they don't even use his name. They despise him so much that they just say, here comes that dreamer. The sight of the coat evokes the memory of the dream. The two are tied together in their minds. And the dream is fresh, still ringing in their ears, and it stings. They hate the dream, and they hate the dreamer. The brothers obviously discard any possibility that Joseph's dream could have been from God. They don't chalk it up to those pizza dreams or those lamb spice dream that he might have had. But no, it's the arrogant ambitions of a dreamer. It is clearly a term of hatred and derision. And it's also another sign that we see of the war continuing. Brothers are at war against the providence of God. specifically his promise of a coming king from the line of Jacob. They especially hate that promise when it means that it might be their despised little brother. In verse 20, it says, So it appears they've already been scheming Perhaps his brothers had already been expressing that envy that we read about in prior days. Perhaps they'd been cursing him behind his back out of earshot of his father, violently, accidentally bumping into him, tripping him, whatever. And it seems that they've already had these discussions before he even shows up, for their plan appears fully formed. regards to the intent. They're not soft peddling what they want to do. They don't use some kind of euphemism that we're going to knock off this guy or neutralize him or rub him out or exterminate him. No, they come straight out and they say, we're going to kill him. And this is the same word used to describe Cain's murder, the very same word that Esau used when he declared that he wanted to kill his brother Jacob. They've also figured out the method. They plan a violent death. They are after blood. They're not just simply wanting to strangle him with a rope or some quote-unquote kind, easy way of dying, no. They're not going to be content with something like that. They will either use rocks or sticks or knives to make it look like an evil beast has torn him apart. And they plan to use that violent act as a cover-up that an evil beast has devoured him. So inadvertently, without them realizing it, They are blaming God. They're placing the blame at the feet of the Almighty who, in his providence, does send wild beasts. Leviticus 26, we read, I will also send wild beasts among you, this of course is as judgment, which shall rob you of your children and destroy your cattle and make you few in number, and your highways shall be desolate. They then plan to take his lifeless, bloody body and throw it into a pit. They will make it look as if it's an accident, that Joseph was running to escape a lion or some other wild beast, and he accidentally, after being mortally wounded, fell into a pit. There would be no suspicion of foul play, and there's no CSI available to call. There's no DNA tests. There's no lab reports. It will appear as if the beast had gotten him. It's interesting to note that the only reason we are told for the foul deed that sparks the plot is that the dreamer shows up. The dreamer cometh. Really? Murder? You're going to murder your brother because of a dream? From one perspective, it just seems ridiculous. Wouldn't make it into the plot of an Agatha Christie novel or some TV crime drama. Can't we come up with a more conventional motive like a blackmail or revenge or even robbery? Instead, they want to kill a dream, a dreamer. What lies behind this simple statement? Well, everything that we know about Joseph lies behind this simple statement. The three incidents in Joseph's life all build towards murder. First of all, the evil report. They resent and hate Joseph because he was a godly man. He was not afraid of his brothers. He was loyal to his father and gave an honest report. And in giving out This report to his father, he exposed the sins of his brothers. Sin, hate the light. Sinners hate the light. They love darkness. They hated being exposed. Second, of course, the favoritism. They are enraged when they see Joseph wearing the coat of many colors. Reminds them that Jacob loves him more than anybody else, including themselves. They blame him and hate him for that, for they feel like second-class sons, scorned by their own father, and they're hurt and bitter. Then, of course, the dream. After the dream, as we noted, it's not that they're angry or they hate him, but they are now envious. And no doubt they were envious of Joseph for many different things. Later in the book of Genesis in this story, we're told that Joseph is very handsome. They might have been envious of how he looked. might have been envious of his obvious administrative skills that will lead him to being promoted to wherever he goes. No doubt those skills had already been on display in shepherding the sheep. Maybe they were envious of his coat. that he was the favorite son, but he is also especially envied because of his dreams, and especially what the dream predicts. They will someday bow before their little brother who will rule as a king. He'll be exalted. They'll be abased. He'll be among the elite. They're just running the mill shepherds. He'll be rich. They won't be. He will have immense power. They'll be his subjects. In their minds, he's parading his dreams as if he is better than they are. So because of the dreams, they're humiliated, they're filled with murderous envy and bitterness. Envy's cousin has seeped into their bones. And this is a warning to us to be on guard against any kind of bitterness that sneaks in in so many different ways. The book of James, he ties envy and bitterness together, which adequately describes what's going on here with his brother's sins, but also a warning to us. James 3, verse 14 and skipping to 16. But if you have better envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. Where envy and self-seeking exists, confusion and every evil thing are there. I think that bitterness is such a hard sin to recognize, so deceitful, that in a couple weeks we're going to take time to spend a lesson on bitterness. So they plot to kill the dreamer, and so kill the dream. In their minds, murder solves all their problems. They declare, and we will see what becomes of his dreams, as if that settles the matter, as if they have won the battle, as if they extinguish the drain. And, as we will see next time, they nearly get their way. Let's close in prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for Joseph. We thank you for your salvation, that you have delivered us from bitterness and sin, and that we have great comfort that you indeed guide us in the small things as well as the great. Help us indeed to trust you more, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.