Well, hello and welcome to our broadcast. We're continuing in Genesis chapter 37 in the life of Joseph. Have your Bible ready if you can. Well, we left off in our last broadcast, we saw that Joseph had explained his dreams to his brothers and to his dad, and we saw that they didn't like him very much. They hated him for his dreams. his words and we read in genesis 37 and verse number 11 and his brethren envied him but his fathers observed the saying now envy is a feeling that is aroused by some someone's possessions or someone's position joseph's brothers envied the position that joseph held with his father and the obvious blessings that he possessed as a result of his relationship with God. It's interesting to note that in verse 11, while his brothers envied him, we read his father's observed the saying. The word observe here carries the idea of perception and has been translated weight seven times. It's like Joseph or Jacob realized that that something is going on here, and I'll just wait and see what God is doing. brothers they didn't act like that at all well in verse 12 we read and his brethren went to feed their father's flock in shechem and israel or jacob as he was once called and his name of course has 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 Well, we see here the father sending the son to seek the welfare of some wicked people. That's exactly what our heavenly father did when he sent Christ into this world. Well, he said unto 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. Now, as we said in a previous broadcast, Shechem was about 50 miles away. long trip. However, Joseph did not hesitate to obey his father. And here we have another example of how Christ left the fellowship of his father to travel a long distance to seek the welfare of us undeserving people in this world. Well, Joseph left Hebron, which means fellowship, and he's off to enter into this very hostile, wicked area of Shechem. Well, we read in 1 John 4, 10, here in his love, not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be a propitiation for our sins. Well, we get to verse number 15. We read, A certain man found him, that is, Joseph, and behold, he was wandering in the field. And the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou? In Matthew 13 38 Jesus said the field is the world when Christ came into this world he did not have a place to stay he said foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests but the son of man hath not where to lay his head Luke 9 58. In John 7 and verse 53 we read and every man went unto his own house and the next verse says Jesus went unto the mount of olives well in verse 16 we see joseph seeking for his brothers he says 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 brother and found them he had a good reason here to turn back he's already walked 50 miles they're not there they're gone they're nowhere to be found he could have just gone back and had some more fellowship with his father he didn't he went on and seeking them another 15 miles and he found them the bible says in luke 19 and 10 the son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost and it also says in his prayer just before calvary he said i have finished the work that thou gave us me to do and so did joseph well we see here in verse 18 and when they saw him afar off Even before he came near unto them they conspired against him to slay him They planned his murder even when he was afar off now We saw the Herod did that when Jesus was first born Herod had all the children killed from two years of age and under trying to get Jesus dead Well, he was afar off. It's gonna be another 30 years before he begins his ministry and Same thing happened to Joseph. He was a far off and they are taking counsel to put him to death Concerning Jesus we read in John 11 53. They took counsel together to put him to death Well verse 19 we see the response of those of whom Joseph came to help it says and they said one to another behold this dreamer cometh and Come now, therefore, and let us slay him and cast him into some pit, and we will say some evil beast has devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams. And Reuben, now he was the oldest one of the lot, He 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, that he might rid him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again." Now he had a plan. He was going to sneak back and get him and get him back home somehow. Well, he's kind of a mealy-mouthed wimp. He could have just took control. He was the oldest one. He could have said, we're not doing this. Well, he didn't. And we'll see as you go on in the story that Reuben was no great man. He was anything but. But he, for some reason, wanted to save Joseph. from being killed here. Well, it says it came to pass when Joseph was come unto his brethren that they stripped Joseph out of his coat of many colors that was on him, and they took him and cast him into a pit, and the pit was empty. Now, it was like a well, and it says 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 came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicy and Spicery and balm and myrrh and they're going down to Egypt now once again, we have a picture of how Jesus was treated when he came to seek the welfare of Wicked people while he hung on the cross we read that in Matthew 27 and 36 it says sitting down they watched him there and Well, here we have these people. They put Joseph in a well, and now they're sitting down. And it would also read concerning them that they sat down to eat bread. And it's interesting that Jesus was crucified during the Passover when they were having that Passover bread. well in verse 26 judah makes the deal to sell joseph and that's significant that judah did this it says that judah said unto his brethren what profit is it if we slay our brother and conceal him come and let us sell him to the ishmaelites and let not our hand be upon him for he is our brother and our flesh and his brethren were content and then they're passed by midianite merchant men and they drew and lifted Joseph out of the pit and sold him to the Ishmaelites for 20 pieces of silver and they brought Joseph into egypt it's interesting to note that judah was of the same tribe of judas and he sold joseph for a handful of silver as did judas sell christ for a handful of silver well we have reuben's feeble attempt to save his brother in verse 29 reuben returned into the pit don't know where he was but he's back 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, whither shall I go? Well, Reuben's sickening weak effort to save Joseph was to no avail. Reuben was the oldest one, as I said. He should have simply put a stop to this. However, he did not. And in verses that follow, we find him taking part in their deceiving their father into thinking that Joseph was dead. well we have a case of reaping and sowing here as we mentioned in a previous broadcast it says they took joseph's coat and they killed a kid of goats and dipped the coat in the blood and they sent the coat of many colors that they brought to their father and said this we found liars no now whether it be thy son's coat or not what a bunch of deceiving going on here here? Well, it's very interesting. The Bible says you will reap what you sow, and God doesn't make any, he has no respecter of persons, and he doesn't have respecter of persons on this either. And so we're going to rewind the story here way back when When Jacob deceived his father, and he stole the birthright, you remember, what'd they do? They killed some goats, and they used these goats as part of their deception. Well, here we are many years later, and his own sons are doing the same thing that he did to his father, and they killed some goats, and they did this. coat in blood and they deceive their father whatsoever a man sow that shall he also reap the bible says that galatians 6 and 7 be not deceived god is not mocked for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap We saw that Paul the Apostle held the coats while they stoned Stephen. And later on, Paul was stoned. In fact, he was stoned three times, it says in 2 Corinthians 11-25. So we reap what we sow, we reap after we sow, and we reap more than we sow. And God does not cancel his principle of sowing and reaping even for someone like Paul the Apostle. who was used of God to write two-thirds of the New Testament. Tremendous lesson here. We will reap what we sow. Well, Joseph was about to begin a very difficult trip from the pit to the palace. Now, the palace was great, but the distance in between, lots of problems. No doubt, he would rather have missed the beginning part of the trip. However, he would eventually find out that Solomon was right when he said in Ecclesiastes 7 and verse 8, better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof. Well, in verse 24, we see they took him and they cast him in a pit. The pit was empty. There was no water. Joseph had walked 65 miles with one purpose, and that was to seek the welfare of his brothers. He was about to find out that not everyone receives the good intentions of everyone. Well, we can only imagine the emotions that went through the mind of this 17-year-old boy as they ripped off his coat and threw him in the pit. No doubt he heard them talking about killing him and dipping his coat in some blood and deceiving their father about the crime. Well, verse 26 begins with the phrase, and Judah. And Judah 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, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brothers were content. Now verse 26 begins with the phrase, And judah one might think it was commendable that judah would rescue his brother from death however judah was a self-centered person with absolutely no good spiritual qualities about him Chapter 39 begins with the phrase, Judah went down. And in verse two, we read, Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua, and he took her and went in under her. He had three children by her. He later had an affair with his own daughter-in-law because he thought she was a harlot. And from that illicit relationship came two more children, all of the wicked lifestyle of Judah, who is recorded in Genesis chapter 38. and he was used of the devil to help destroy the royal line here through which Jesus would come. Well, we restart Genesis 1 in verse 39 with the phrase, and Joseph. And Joseph was brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, captain of the guard, and Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmaelites, which had brought him down thither. Now Joseph lived a lifestyle that was completely opposite to that of Judah. and the rest of his wicked brothers." Now we get here and it says, and Potiphar. Now in chapter 39, the chapter begins by saying, the Lord was with Joseph. Verse number two. Verse three says, the Lord was with him. Verse 21 says, the Lord was with Joseph. verse 23 says the Lord was with him and the chapter ends telling us the Lord was with him the chapter begins telling us the Lord was with him the Bible says he was a prosperous man verse 23 says the Lord made all that he did to prosper and so through all of it we read the Lord was with him The Lord was with Joseph when he was brought down from Egypt. The Lord was with him when he was falsely accused by Potiphar's wife, and the Lord was with him during his stay in prison. And as we continue here in chapter 39 and verse 1, we're going to see in our next broadcast the tremendous providence of God in the life of Joseph. Be sure and tune in. We'll try to make it plain. We will try to make it simple.