All right, taking our Bibles
and turning back to Genesis 37. Being sent of his father, Jacob,
Joseph was to go and find his brethren, his brothers, who were
tending the sheep. And the scripture says that he
found them in Dothan, And as he was obediently coming to his
brothers, and surely knowing how they hated him, they couldn't
speak respectfully to him. I can just imagine it was just
always sarcastic, always something to degrade him. What a picture
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Joseph is a picture. We've seen
that of the Lord Jesus, but of our Lord, John 1.11 says he came
to his own and his own received him not. And then in verse 23,
where we pick up tonight, it says, it came to pass when Joseph
was come unto his brethren, that 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. Now, I noticed that there was
no mention of any conversation. He just, as far as we know, he
just walked up to him, and as soon as they got to him, they'd
seen him coming, and there was one thing on their mind. We've
got to get rid of this dreamer. We'll get rid of him, and then
we'll see what's going to become of his dreams. And scripture
says it came to pass. They conspired against him. That's
what it says in verse 18. to slay him, and it came to pass,
when he was come unto his brethren, that they stripped Joseph out
of his coat." They stripped him of that coat that was his father's
gift to him. We already read where Jacob loved
Joseph more than all the others, that coat of many colors, and
they took him, they threw him into a pit, a hole, used primarily,
I found, as a cistern, or a prison, or a dungeon, or a well, and
their anger was such that they wanted to kill the son of their
father's affection. Now here, you can see, you see
the picture here, of the hatred and resentment toward the Lord
Jesus Christ. They wanted to rid themselves of the one that God had spoken
to. The one that God Almighty had
revealed these dreams that they themselves would be amazed that
they were going to be brought down. They were going to bow
to him. That's what their dream said.
He said, my sheaf stood up and your sheaf surrounded me and
your sheaf did obeisance to my sheaf. And they knew. And they hated him because of
that. They hated him because of God's
revelation. But was that not the reason and
the abuse that was shown unto our Lord? Do you know, do you know why
men hate God by nature? Why they hate Him? Because that's
all that's in them. That's all that's in them. It's
the carnal heart, carnal mind is enmity. There's nothing in
man that has any respect for God. It's just His nature. You
know, a cat, a dog, an animal, a tame one, a wild one, whatever,
they act according to their nature. And man acts according to his
nature. That's why the Lord has to give
him a new heart, has to give him a new nature. And this was
The very thing that they did to Joseph, as soon as they saw
him, they hated what that coat stood for. They hated him, and
they hated what the coat stood for. That coat stood for his
father's love for him. They hated him. Whenever the
Lord Jesus was hanged on Calvary, You think about the hatred that
was shown toward the Lord of glory. He had faithfully set
forth the Father's will concerning distinguishing grace. Those Pharisees, they knew what
he said when they asked him, said, why don't you show us plainly
what you're talking about? I showed you plainly. And you
believe me not, because you're not my sheep. Can you imagine? You're not my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I
know them, and they follow me. It told them, it said, you are
of your father the devil. You're like white sepulchers.
full of dead men's bones. And oh, how the Spirit of God
has taken this one Joseph to reveal in type and picture what
actually happened to the Lord Jesus Christ. He came unto His own, His own
received Him not. They hated him for it. They stripped
him of his clothing. I want you to hold your place
right here and turn over to, I saw something today that was
very interesting, revealing. In John
chapter 19, John 19, this is a passage of scripture that deals
where they took the garments of the Lord. And John 19, verse
23, 24. Then the soldiers, when they
had crucified Jesus, took his garments. Okay, he had on two
garments. He took his garments and made
four parts to every soldier a part. So obviously there was four soldiers. And they took the garment, and
I looked up to see the wordings and see what it was. And obviously
this was the inner garment. He had on an inner garment, then
he had on an outer garment. And this inner garment, they
took it and made four parts to every soldier a part. and also
his coat. Now the coat was without seam,
woven from the top throughout. And they said, therefore, among
themselves, let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it
shall be, that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith,
they parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they
did cast lots. These things did. These things,
therefore, the soldiers did. Now, there was a parting of the
inner garment and the outer garment. There was no parting. I'm going
to cast lots for that. But in looking at Joseph's coat
being stripped from him by his brothers, the Spirit of God set
forth When that actually happened to the Lord, there was a great
picture that I saw in that. In the parting of his garments,
it was prophesied in Psalm 22, 18. They parted my garments among
them and cast lots upon my vesture. Now, parting of the Lord's garments
by these four soldiers, there was two things I saw in that.
Two things. When they parted that inner garment,
and they tore it apart, cut it, whatever they did, they parted
his garments, and each of the soldiers took a part. And in
that, I saw something of man's carnal nature. Man by nature,
he'll take the part that he wants. He'll take a part. He won't take
the totality by nature. He'll say that the Lord Jesus
Christ died on the cross. Everybody knows that. But why
he was on the cross? What was actually being accomplished
on the cross? Now, I don't want that part.
I'll take this part. He came into this world performing
miracles and doing good. I'll take that part. but that
he came into this world to seek and to save those that had been
given him by the Father for the foundation of the world. I won't
take that part. So they just parted his garments. So in that,
I saw something in the parting of those garments. This wasn't
just a trophy. It was talking, concerning, showing
forth man's attitude toward the Lord. I'll take what I want. You take what you want. We're
all working for the same thing. We're just getting there a different
way. But in the other part, that vesture that was woven from top
to bottom without seam, it was not parted. And in that, the
Spirit of God set forth, though man's attitude toward the Lord
is disrespectful, and man takes what he thinks he likes, Almighty
God set forth the glory and the honor of the Lord Jesus Christ,
and it's not parted. He's God Almighty. the one true
and living God, God who rules in heaven and earth. Men by nature
take what they want, but God is God. So to those that have
been made to see him as the way, the truth, the life, the one
and only true and living God, the one mediator between God
and man, the man Christ Jesus, they must have him alone as he
is set forth in these scriptures. There are no seams in him. There's
no parting of him. He's almighty God. His glory
is honored and the wicked hate it. Verse 25, after they had
cast him into the pit, the pit was empty, there was no water,
and they sat down to eat bread. And they lifted up their eyes
and looked, and behold, a company of Ishmaelites, a company of
Ishmaelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery
and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt. And Judah
said unto his brethren, what profit is it if we slay our brother
and conceal his blood? What are we gonna, if we kill
him and, you know, conceal his blood, what's that gonna do for
us? Let's make some money out of
this thing. Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let
not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother in our flesh,
and his brethren were content, and there passed by Midianites,
merchantmen, 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. Now, how harshly did they abuse
their brother, stripping him of his coat while he was showing
them kindness? obeying his father's wishes for
their well-being. That's why he was there. Jacob
had sent them there just to go check them out and see how they're
doing. And here he is, as I said before,
he knew what they thought about him, but he's willingly come
to his brethren. And as soon as they saw him,
they conspired against him to kill him, took his coat off,
Threw him in a pit, and all they're doing is just sitting around
now and eating. No loss of appetite. It's cold. Cold. No heart. How our Lord suffered being beaten
and spit upon, crowned with a crown of thorns and mocked. By many,
they put a purple robe on him and just hit him with a stick
and ask him, who hit you? Prophesy. Now, here's the picture
of the sufferings of our Lord. And here's these brothers that's
treating him with so much disrespect. And it made me think about the
Lord when he was hanging upon the cross. After all of these
had done all that to him at that trial, and now they've got him
up on the cross and they're wagging their heads and mocking him. He saved others, he can't save
himself. And here's the Lord, and the Lord says, Father, forgive
them, for they know not what they do. Many, I'm convinced,
And he wasn't praying just arbitrarily. He said in John 17, I don't pray
for the world. I'm praying for those that you
gave me out of the world. So based upon his word, he was praying
for some of those that had mocked him and spit on him and laughed
at him. There was some of his elect there
because he was praying for them. Father, forgive them. That wasn't
just a blanket statement. He knew who he was praying for.
And here's Joseph's brothers that's taking him. These are
his brethren. They're daddy's, same daddy. Different mamas, but same daddy.
And here they are, mocking him and abusing him, stripped his
coat off of him, threw him in a hole. Now they're sitting around
eating, and here comes a traveling caravan, and Judas says, What
profit is it going to be to us if we kill him and conceal him?
Let's sell him. Was that not the way it was with
our Lord? Joseph was sold for 20 pieces of silver, our Lord
for 30. Here they are, they're conspiring
now. But you know, there's coming
a time, not many chapters after this, that these very brothers
that made fun of him and mocked him and hated him, they're going
to bow before him. They're going to be delivered
from famine because of him. And here's the glory of the gospel
being set forth. Even these men that despised
him, children of wrath toward the Lord, even as others, his
brothers, hating him, but the scripture says in Psalm 76 10,
surely the wrath of man shall praise thee, the remainder of
wrath shalt thou restrain. And the scripture says in verses
29 to 36, and Reuben returned. After they had stripped him,
obviously Reuben left, because it says that he came back, and
when he came back, he didn't know that he was in the pit.
Well, obviously he wasn't there whenever they actually took him
and put him in the pit and then sold him. He didn't know what
happened to it. Reuben returned under the pit and behold, Joseph
was not in the pit. And he rent his clothes and he
returned to his brethren. He said, the child's not. And
I, whether shall I go? And they took Joseph's coat.
Obviously they didn't sell the coat. The coat didn't go with
him when they sold him to the Midianites and they dipped a
kid of the goats, they killed a kid of the goats and dipped
the coat in the blood and they sent the coat of many colors
and they brought it to their father and said, now listen to
this lie. This have we found. Know how
whether it be thy son's coat or no, and he knew it, and said,
and I want you to look, it is, is in italics. This is what it
says. He knew it and said, my son's
coat. An evil beast hath devoured him. Joseph is without doubt rent
in pieces. I just imagine here's his daddy.
He's looked at this coat and he can just almost see in his
mind's eye. My boy's just, tore all to pieces. And Jacob ran 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." I read that again and I thought, how, what a mockery. His sons, his sons had sold him. They knew, they knew what happened.
They knew that he was gone. They knew what they did. And
look, they're gonna get up and they're gonna play the part.
And they're gonna get real sanctimonious now, you know, and we're gonna,
let's comfort our daddy. Bless his heart. All his sons, all his daughters
rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. And
he said, for I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him
in the midday, and I sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an
officer of Pharaoh's and captain of the guard. Now, it appears
as though that Reuben did make an effort to deliver Joseph,
his brother, without openly offending the others. All the others, there's
been nine of them that was just They, well, first of all, they
all talked about killing him. And then Reuben said, let's don't
kill him. Let's just put him in a hole.
And so he'd obviously had left the group before the deal was
made with the traveling merchants. And now he's come back. He'd
come back to get Joseph out of that pit and bring him back to
his daddy. Jacob, and he discovers that
he's gone, and he now is in great anguish, and he returns to his
brethren, and he tells them of not only being able to not find
Joseph in the pit, now he's telling them, he said, look, I don't
know what to do. And surely they had to have told
Reuben what happened. So he's obviously privy to the
whole scheme. They all come up with a plan
now to hide this whole thing. And so they take his coat, and
they dip it in the blood of a kid of the goats, and they send it
to Jacob, their father. And they tell those that brings
it, because it says that they sent it. Verse 32, they sent
the coat of many colors, and they brought it to their father,
and they said, tell him that this was found, and all they
needed really was for the father to identify it. We think that
this may be Jacob's, Joseph's, but we just need you to identify
it. Again, lie after lie. have to lie in the pain that
was surely felt by this loving father. And scripture says he
knew it. My son's coat, an evil beast
has devoured him. And in the midst of what one
would think would have broken any heart, I mean, at some point,
you wonder, is there any compassion? I mean, what they've done, I
mean, in my mind, I'm thinking just seeing their daddy just
grieving over this thing. But the hatred for their brother
was so great that they just continued in this hypocritical mockery
and just went on trying to show as if they were gonna console
him. And you think, is there no end
to a man's depravity? This is what I saw in this. No. There's no compassion, there's
no heart. They coldly allowed their dad
to suffer. Made him think that an animal
had got him and killed him. Oh, the hatred. The hatred, this
is what I see in this, the hatred for the Lord Jesus Christ. They
hated him without a cause. All the while, they knew that
he had been brought to Egypt by those traveling caravans and
the scripture says that these Midianites, the Spirit of God
moved to tell us what had happened to him. They brought him and
they sold him to a man named Potiphar, putting Joseph in the
very place in the country that he was going to have to be in
to be able to deliver them years to come. Brethren, would God
show mercy to such lying, self-consumed insensitive sinners like this. I mean, we get a glimpse of the
depth, somewhat of the depth, and the insensitivity. Man by
nature doesn't care. He don't care. He don't care.
He don't care about others. He don't care about God. He don't
care about himself. David took a man's wife, killed her husband, wasn't until God revealed to
him that God knew, broke his heart. Peter lied three times
about knowing the Lord after walking with Him for all those
years, and we're no different. But for the grace of God, there's
nothing that we wouldn't do. But the good providence of God
is usually found to run contrary to what we think is best. Let
us remember all the suffering that Joseph was made to endure
is a beautiful picture of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Joseph was said to be the son
of Jacob's old age, and the Lord Jesus Christ was the beloved
son of the ancient of days. Jacob had made Joseph a coat
of many colors, and the scripture reveals that the father had adorned
the Lord Jesus Christ, the man, Christ Jesus, with all things,
gave him power over all flesh that he should give eternal life
to as many as the father had given him. He had the spirit
given unto him without measure. He was hated of his brethren.
They couldn't stand the thought of him having dominion over them
and to the Jews to whom the Lord Jesus Christ came. And they hated
him. Of him, this thought was what
they had toward the Lord Jesus. We'll not have this man reign
over us. Joseph was sent of his father
on a long journey to visit his brethren. personally know of
their welfare. The Lord Jesus Christ was sent
to the Father to seek and to save the lost sheep of the house
of Israel. And when Joseph's brethren saw
him coming, they conspired to take away his life. And when
the Lord Jesus Christ came into his own, they were sinners. They knew him not, and he loved
them, laid down his life for them. Joseph was delivered into
the hands of traveling merchants, the scripture tells us, by his
brethren, to supposedly set themselves from him, to get him personally,
and for him to not be murdered by them. They sold him so that
they wouldn't have to murder him themselves, and soothe their
conscience is what they were doing, but the Jews, It wasn't
lawful. This is what they told Pilate.
It's not lawful for them to put away any man to death. So what
did they do? They delivered him into the hands
of the Gentiles to do their dirty work. But again, the Lord overruled. How clearly do we see that salvation
is by the grace of God. Salvation has no part, no part
of it has anything to do with us. We are we are Joseph's brethren
in this in this type of picture. That's us and Joseph as a type
of the Lord Jesus Christ will be shown to be the very one who
by the grace of God was raised up for their deliverance in the
midst of a great famine and the Lord Jesus Christ to deliver
us from the great famine and plague of sin and unbelief, death,
grave, Satan, this world, ourselves. He was made like unto his brethren,
yet without sin, laid down his life to deliver us from ourselves. I pray God bless this to our
hearts.