Welcome to Truth for Life, where today we begin a new series titled The Hand of God. It's a study of the life of Joseph, as recorded in the book of Genesis. If you ever wonder if your past is too messy to be forgiven, Or you thought maybe you weren't good enough to be used by God, I think you'll find a great deal of encouragement in this dramatic Old Testament narrative. Alastair Begg kicks the series off today by looking at the early stages of Joseph's life. his heritage, and his childhood experiences.
Let's take our Bibles and turn to the first book of the Bible. to the book of Genesis.
Now, before we look together at what is to be a whole new series on the life of Joseph. then let us pause for a moment in prayer. Our gracious God and our Father, we sense that Joseph. would have been very happy with the words of the song that has just been sung. That somehow, in the midst of his days, he had come to you in this very pressing and personal way.
To say, Father, I offer my life to you, my days to you, all that I am to you. And we pray that as we begin to study his life today, That you will use, as Paul says, what was written of old for our encouragement and for our endurance. and that the lessons of the patriarchs may fuel our praise and Channel our direction. Quicken our zeal. Correct our wanderings.
And set us in the very center. of your choicest blessing. Free as then from every unhelpful distraction. Help us to hear not the voice of a man. but your voice through your word to the lives of those whom you have made.
For we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. For those of you who enjoy stories, and I love stories. we are at the threshold of a classic. Indeed, an epic.
A saga. This story is as good a story as any that unfolds for us in the whole of the Old Testament record. The biography of Joseph covers more space Than any space that is given to any of the other heroes in the book of Genesis, more than to Adam, or to Noah, or even to Abraham. and actually more than is given to his father Jacob. Even those of us who have only a scanty knowledge of the Old Testament will probably know of Joseph.
And the reason we will know of Joseph is the same way that we know of Jonah because of the whale, or of Noah, because of the ark. And this fellow, Joseph, because of his multicolored coat. And if we didn't know of him before, then we found out about him, courtesy of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Weber, when they wrote the musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcode. And suddenly we discovered that this was the Joseph of the book of Genesis. We are introduced to him in verse 2 of chapter 37 when he is 17 years old, the age of some of the folks who are here this morning.
A young man of seventeen tending the flocks with his brothers. And between that point and the record of his death, 93 years later, at the age of 110, which is recorded for us in Genesis 50 and verse 26. We have all the biographical details of a life which frankly was amazing. for many reasons as we will see. He provides for us probably the classic Old Testament illustration of the New Testament truth.
Summarized in Romans 8 and 28. All things work together for good to those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. There is perhaps no other character to whom we may go in the whole of the Old Testament. Then this character Joseph who quite amazingly provides this awesome summary of this very, very important verse. The story of Joseph, as we will see, is a tale of bitter jealousy.
of deceit. of slavery. Misrepresentation, injustice, lust. Rivalry, forgiveness. Brothers fighting brothers, resenting parental influence.
It's the story of imprisonment. It's the story of deep trials that do not produce self-pity. It is the account of prosperity that comes to one without the accompanying pride. And in it all, the overarching theme is that of the sovereignty of God. bringing about that which he has purposed.
in the affairs of time. And the wonderful truth of his providential care over those who are his dearly loved children. In short, it ought to be for us a story of great encouragement. Of great reassurance as we come, as scattered individuals and various families from different backgrounds and places, at different points along the continuum of faith. Carrying with us the baggage of our past, the fears of our present, and the prospects of our future, and wondering somehow in the midst of all these individual pieces of the jigsaw puzzle of life, Does God care?
Is God in control? And what might we expect? But before we address the matters that go from age 17 to age 110. What I want to consider with you this morning are the incidents in and the influences on the life of Joseph prior to the age of 17. My sermon this morning is like the sermon announced by a pastor many years ago who told his congregation, since my sermon last Sunday had twelve points, my sermon this morning will be pointless.
And I have no outline and coat hangers on which I am hanging this material today. And that's why I say it is important for you to stay alert and to follow along. And if you're aided by the looking up of the verses, then I think it will be a help to you and probably an encouragement to me. This, of course, is how my mind works. I look at the verse that says, and he was 17 years old and he was looking after sheep.
Yes, I say, but where did he come from? What kind of family did he have? What kind of role model did his dad provide? Did Joseph come from the kind of family background we might expect? to produce a character such as he?
What are his family ties? And indeed, if you would like a title for this morning's study, you can simply call it Family Ties. All of us have them. They all mean something. And they are Fraught and full.
They are blessed and they are benighted. All of us know the experience. of life unfolding.
Now there's no question that he came from quite a background. Not every 17-year-old could boast that his great-grandfather was Abraham. Or that his grandpa was Isaac. Or that his dad was Jacob. and his mother was Rachel.
He had come from quite a context. But what I want to do is to consider it from the point of his dad. The man Jacob. Jacob, as you may recall, had as his name that which was figuratively meaning the deceiver or the chiseler. He had been aptly named because almost from his birth He had been very skillful and very manipulative at getting things that he wanted in the way that he wanted.
And when you read the story of Jacob, which I commend to you, you will discover that he chiseled his brother out of his birthright. That's in Genesis 25. He further deceived his father into conferring upon him the blessing which ought to have landed again upon his brother. He was at the same time a very focused individual. When he set his mind to something, he was ready to give it all that he had.
And nowhere was this more obvious than in the realm of his love life. Because we're told in Genesis 29, That when his eyes fastened, having gone to live in the country of Laban, When his eyes fastened upon this girl, Rachel, It really rang his bell. Genesis 29 and verse. 15 Laban said to him, Just because you're a relative of mine, You know that uh Joseph was Laban's Nephew Should you work for me for nothing? Tell me what your wages should be.
Well, whether Jacob had already thought of this before, or whether he thought of it on the fly. He was quick with his answer. He had noticed the fact that his uncle Wayne had two girls. The older girl was Leah, the younger one was Rachel. We're told that Leah had weak eyes, or she was delicate, or she was kind of frail, or she was.
Just not what Rachel was. Whereas Rachel, we're told, was lovely in form and beautiful. And Jacob had fallen in love with Rachel. And so when his uncle asked him, what would you like for your wages? He said, how does Rachel sound?
And by the way, he said, I will work for you for seven years for Rachel.
Now that's quite a deal. I mean, you may have asked your father-in-law for his daughter's hand in marriage, but I don't know how many who are here this morning went to their prospective father-in-law and said, I will work for you for nothing for the next seven years if I can marry your daughter. And that is exactly what he did.
Now ironically, his uncle Laban was a bit of a schemer himself. And he deceives Uh his nephew Jacob. By slipping his older daughter to him on the night of their marriage experience. And you can read all of this in the records. I see some of your eyes widening.
Really, you say? This sounds like a soap opera to me. Yes, it does. It absolutely does. It's better than any that I've ever read of in a magazine.
Genesis 29. Verse twenty-two. Jacob said to Laban, Give me my wife, my time is completed, and I want to lie with her. There's nothing like getting right at it, you know?
So Laban brought together all the people of the place and gave a feast. And when the evening came, he took his daughter Leah. and gave her to Jacob. And Jacob lay with her. And Laban gave his servant girl Zilpah to his daughter as her maidservant.
Now, there's a ton of stuff contained in that verse there. You've got to understand Eastern custom, you've got to understand the bridal veils, you've got to understand the purity and sanctity of the event. And you've got to understand that when Laban Went to his bed at night. He must have said to his wife, you know. He said, God, you wait till tomorrow morning, it's going to be unbelievable.
And unbelievable it was. Verse 25, when morning came, there was Leah. There was Leah, you're right.
So Jacob said to Laban, What's this you've done to me? I served you for Rachel, didn't I? Why have you deceived me? Then Laban, trying to legitimize the whole affair, says, listen, the custom is that you can't give away your younger daughter till you've given away your older daughter.
So I determined I must first give you my older daughter.
Now I have done that. But here's the deal: if you will fulfill the responsibilities of the bridal week, I'll give you Rachel. Provided you work for me for another seven years. And such was Jacob's passionate longing for and commitment to this girl of his dreams that he said, fine, it's a deal. Seven years he worked for her only to get her older sister.
Now he gets her and another seven years of hard labor. And the relationship between uncle and nephew, as you read it in the record here, is just a chronicle of one schemer trying to outdo another schemer in various business deals and family affiliations all the way through.
Now the family picture album at this point begins to fill in. If it was in contemporary terms, the babies would be getting born and the pictures would be going on the piano or wherever it is you put them. and they were getting put up there at a rate of knots. Leah produces four children in a row because God favors her. We're told that in the record, Leah was not immediately favored by her husband, and yet God favored her.
Rachel was supremely favored by her husband, and God closed her womb. God is sovereign, even in the details of these things. We don't think in these terms today. But we should. Because it is right to do so.
But Rachel, when she saw she was not bearing Jacob any children, became jealous of her sister.
So she said to Jacob, Give me children, or I'll die. Jacob says, Hey, get serious. I'm not God. I, you know. I'm just Jacob I'm not in charge of who has children.
And so she did what was customary at the time. She took the servant maid Bilha that she had been given, and she gave her to Jacob as a wife. Sleep with her so that she can bear children for me, and that through her I too can build a family. Any children born through the servant maid would be credited as children of Rachel. And so matters take their course.
And Bilhah gives birth to Dan in verse 6. And to Naphtali in verse seven.
Now Leah, whose productivity had dwindled, decides on the same strategy with her maidservant Zilpa. And Zilpah and Jacob get together, and Zilpah in turn gives birth to Gad in verse 10, and then to Asher in verse 13. And then you have this unbelievable thing here where they're trading favors on the strength of mandrakes. I don't even know what mandrakes are, I meant to look it up. And I won't embarrass myself further except by acknowledging that I I never had one, I don't think.
But in verse sixteen of Genesis thirty Uh we got this whole mandrake. Mystery going on. Um During the wheat harvest and Rachel and Leah are talking to one another, and Rachel says to Leah, Give me some of your son's mandrakes. And she said to her, Wasn't it enough that you took away my husband? Will you also take my son's mandrakes too?
That's a little bit over the top, isn't it? You know, could I have a few mandrakes? Hey, you took my husband, now you want my grapes? You know, what's the deal?
Now look at this reaction. Very well, Rachel said. He can sleep with you to night in return for your son's mandrakes.
So, when Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him. You must sleep with me, she said. I have hired you with my son's mandraks.
Well, touch of feminism in there, wouldn't you say? I don't know what it is. And so that was that. God listened to Leah. She became pregnant.
She bore Jacob a fifth son. And Leah said, God has rewarded me for giving my maidservant to my husband.
So she named him Issachar. And then she conceived again, and she bore him a sixth son. And she said, God has presented me with a precious gift. And this time my husband will treat me with honour, because I have borne him six sons.
So she named him Zebulun. And then she pops out a daughter named Dinah.
So, I mean, this thing is going hog wild. We got kids all over the place. We got six boys and a daughter straight up by Leah. Two by her servant maid, so that's nine. Two by the other servant maid, that's eleven.
So we got ten boys, one girl. One dad, four mothers. You think you've got a complicated family? I don't want to hear your stuff, frankly. And then comes Joseph.
In the midst of all of this, hey, this is the Bible. This is history. This is not mythology. Do you realize that out of this came Jesus the Messiah? That out of this line Verse 22 of Genesis 30.
Then God remembered Rachel. He listened to her and opened her womb. And she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. And she said, God has taken away my disgrace. And she named him Joseph.
And she said, May the Lord add to me another son. And so, into all of that background comes this little bundle. And they call him Joseph. And they love him.
Now, what you need to understand in this narrative progression here. is that while it is not chronicled for us with step by step and pinpoint accuracy. It is clear that At points where there is silence, there is a fair progression of time. At points where it says they stopped, they obviously stopped for a fair length of time, because you will see that you go between verse 24 in chapter 30 and the verses later on, and in that you've got the space of 17 years that is all wrapped up in the formative stages of the life of Joseph. And sometime after he was born, however short or long, maybe months, maybe years, His father determines that they're going to move.
I reckon it's a safe estimate to say that by the time they were ready to make the move, Joseph was probably six or seven years old. And therefore, he would have been aware of the fact. that they were on the move. They would have looked forward to it. They would have prepared the children for it.
And uh he probably had as one of his earliest recollections the moonlight flit. which is recorded for us in verse 17 of Genesis 31. And on to the camels. They go. With all the livestock, verse 18.
being driven ahead. And all the goods accumulated in Padana Ram, some of them legitimately and some of them a little illegitimately, to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan. Jacob hadn't got where he was by that point by putting all his stuff behind him. You're not going to ride out front with all your stuff behind because the people who come behind will get your stuff before they get you. And if they're more interested in your stuff than they are in you, it'd be a silly idea to trail it behind you.
So, what do you do? You put it in front of you. Smart he was too. Because three days later, his uncle found out that he'd done a bunk, and it took him seven days after that to catch up with them, which he did, we're told, in the hill country of Gilead, verse 23. And Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country of Gilead when Laban overtook him, and Laban and his relatives camped there too.
You can imagine his tiny mind trying to process all these information, all this information. Do you think he was in the circle in verse 26 of chapter 31? Do you think he was on the fringe listening when his grandpa looked at his dad and said, What have you done? You've deceived me? And you've carried off my daughters like captives in war.
Joseph would have been saying to himself: that's right, that's what I said. I said, why are we running away? And now Grandpa came and said that's exactly what we're doing. Why did you run off secretly and deceive me? Why didn't you tell me, so that I could send you away with a party?
That's the significance of with joy and singing to the music of tambourines and harps. And Joseph, if he had anything about it himself, would have been saying, that's exactly what I was thinking. Why did we go off like that? Why didn't we have a nice big send-off? Why didn't we have a nice meal and a party and off?
And so he would have been listening. And do you think that that wee boy did not process the question in verse 28? You didn't even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters goodbye. You've done a foolish thing.
Now I don't know about your relationship with your grandpa. But mine was as close as it ever could be.
So, I don't want anybody tearing me away from my grandpa without a chance to kiss him goodbye. And that's what happened to Joseph. He was going to have a lot of tearing in his life. He was going to have a lot of times when he didn't get to say goodbye. He was going to have to learn how to weep, learn how to deal with the pain, learn how to deal with having his insides ripped out of him.
And even in these early circumstances, God was forming and framing his tiny life in preparation for what would be. Oh, this is a wonderful, wonderful story. You're listening to Truth for Life with Alastair Begg. We'll hear more about Joseph's formative years tomorrow. In the meantime there's a book we want to recommend to you to day, a book that was carefully selected so that you can spend meaningful time learning God's Word every day in this new year.
The book is titled The Quiet Time Kick Start. six weeks to a healthy Bible habit. The quiet time kick start lays out an easy to follow framework that gradually increases your time in Scripture until you establish a pattern that works best for your schedule. and there are tips throughout the book that will guide you to develop Tools and techniques for how you can interpret and apply passages of scripture that are maybe a bit more complex, a bit more challenging to understand. If you want to start or get back into a meaningful routine of studying the Bible, Request your copy of the Quiet Time Kickstart when you donate to Truth for Life today.
You can do that using our mobile app or online at truthforlife.org/slash donate. Or call us at 888-588-7884. And if you'd rather mail your donation along with your request for the book, write to Truth for Life at P.O. Box 39-8000 Cleveland, Ohio, 44139. Thanks for listening.
Tomorrow, we'll learn how God can use our trials and our less-than-perfect families to prepare us for the roles He has planned for us. The Bible teaching of Alastair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life. Where the Learning is for Living.
