denied in our Bibles to Genesis
chapter 37 Genesis chapter 37 and let's begin our reading in
verse 12 through verse 28 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
the flock. bring me word again." So he sent
him out of the veil of heaven, 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 deported
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, cast him into some pit. And we will say, some evil
beast hath devoured him, and we shall see what will become
of his drains. And Reuben heard, and he delivered
him out of their hands, and said, Let us not kill him, 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, that
is Reuben, might rid him out of their hands, to deliver him
to his father again. And 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, 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 came from Gilead with their bomb 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? 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.
Then there passed by Midianites, merchant men, and they drew and
lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Israelites
for 20 pieces of silver and they brought Joseph into Egypt. Now tonight we continue with
the life of Joseph and as I said last week our desire as we look
at his life is that we might see Christ. We might see things
that point us to the Lord Jesus Christ because I would remind of Him. Remember He said, You
think, search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have
eternal life, but they are they which testify of Me. And all
of the Scripture in some way points to the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the key, if you please.
He's the key to understanding and opening up the Word of God,
to see Christ. Now last time, as we looked at
these first 11 verses here in this chapter, we saw four things
about Joseph. We saw his age, he was 17 years
of age. We saw that he was a shepherd,
he was feeding sheep. That certainly reminds us of
the Lord Jesus In the New Testament, he's set
forth before us, first as a good shepherd, and then as a great
shepherd, and thirdly, as the chief shepherd. He's the chief
shepherd, chief among other shepherds. The other shepherds, of course,
are men that God calls and puts into the ministry, that we too
are shepherds. But that was the second thing
we saw about Joseph, his age, that he was a shepherd, and we
saw that he was especially the object of his father's love. Doesn't that remind us of Christ?
Two times, Think about this. Two times in the New Testament,
when the Lord Jesus Christ was here in the flesh, God spoke
from heaven. This is my beloved Son. This is my beloved Son. Hear
Him. His Beloved is His only begotten
Son, His well-beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's only
through Him that any person may approach unto God and know God
as Father and as Lord. And then the fourth thing that
we saw was that Joseph, by these dreams, he revealed what would
take place in the future. Now, Joseph did not understand
how these things were going to come to pass. I'm confident of
that. But the Lord Jesus Christ, he
knows what's going to come to pass. I thought it was strange. I listened
to some program today, in fact, on the radio going home, a religious
program, and they made it sound as if we might delay the Lord's
coming by our actions, by believers' actions, that we might delay
the Lord's coming. And I thought, how strange it
is to hear something like that. that the time for His first coming
into this world was ordained by God in old eternity, and the
time when He's going to come again. We don't know when He
shall come again, but God knows. And it could be tonight. It could
be. We don't know. But we know that
one day the Lord Jesus Christ is going to come again to receive
His own to Himself. Now tonight, beginning in verse
12, I have three parts to the message. First of all, we say
in these first three verses how that Joseph was sent by his father. Verses 12 through 14. Joseph was sent by his father. The Scripture says, 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 the flocks, and bring me word
again. So he sent him out of the vale,
the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. There's three
things that stand out to me or suggested to me in those verses.
First of all, Joseph was sent by his father. Jacob sent Joseph. The scripture here says in verse
13, I will send thee. And how often do we read in the
Gospels that the Lord Jesus Christ was sent The Lord Jesus Christ
was sent by His Father, just as Joseph was sent by His Father. One example is 1 John chapter
4 and verse 9. The Apostle said, And this was
manifested, the love of God toward us, because that God sent His
only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. Christ is everlasting life. To know Him is to have eternal
life, is to know the Father, and it is to have eternal life.
He said, Because I live, you shall live also. He is the life
of the believer. When we come into union with
Him by faith, we lay hold of Him by faith and are in union life, because it's in the vine,
so we have life that is spiritual life, eternal life, because we're
in Christ. The Father sent him. But then
the second thing is, you're impressed, I know Joseph came willingly. Here am I. The Father said, I will send
thee to thy brethren, and Joseph immediately said, here am I. It reminds me a little bit of
Samuel, when God called Samuel. Remember, he did not know the
Lord. And the Lord spoke to him, and
first he got up and ran to Eli the priest, and thought that
Eli had called him. He did that, I think, two times,
and on the third time, Eli thought, the Lord's calling him. And so
he told Samuel to go back to his bed, and when God calls you,
you say, Here am I. And he heard the voice of God.
He heard the message from the Lord. We see here the willingness
of Joseph, just like the Lord Jesus Christ. When we talk about
God the Father sending him, we never want to leave the impression
or the idea God is one. And as the father
loved his people, so the son loved his people from all eternity. His willingness to come as a
son, to be made flesh, to become the substitute and sacrifice
to save his people. That verse in Hebrews chapter
10, which is a quotation from Psalm the Lord Jesus Christ to come
to be our Savior. Lo, I come, and the volume of
the book is written of me, to do thy will, O God. You know, our Lord told a parable
in the New Testament, a parable of a man who had two sons, and
he told his two sons to go work in the vineyard. And the first
son said, I go, and didn't go. The second son said, I'm not
going. And then he repented and went. But here we see Joseph as a picture
of the Lord Jesus Christ, the good son. He said, I go. Just as soon as the father said,
I will send thee, he said, I will go. And notice here in these
verses, Joseph was sent to do two things. Jacob Joseph's father told him,
go and see if it is well with thy brethren, first of all, and
second, see about the flocks. And I want to make a comment
on both of those things. See first of all if it's well
with your brethren, and second, if it's well with the flocks.
Notice in verse 13, Jacob's question. Do not thy brethren feed the
flock in Shechem?" Now, as we've already said again tonight, Jacob
loved Joseph with a special love, and his brother, his younger
brother, Benjamin, likewise. But now the brethren, the ten
brethren, are all feeding the flock Joseph isn't with them,
Benjamin isn't with them, and most likely the reason Joseph
was not sent with them was because of the father's love for Joseph. But now, Jacob says, go and see
about your brethren, and notice his question, do not they feed
the flock in Shechem? Now that's important. You say,
why? because Jacob and his family
had visited Shechem before. They had visited Shechem before. In fact, Shechem was the countryside,
the place where Simeon and Levi had slaughtered the men of Shalem. Shalem must have been a town
in that country called Shechem. You know the story, how the man
from Shalem had violated their sister, Diana. And they took revenge, and they
deceived the people, and they slaughtered a great number of
the men in that town. And listen to what Jacob said
to his children, his sons, at this time. You have troubled
me. This is Jacob talking to his
son, especially to Levi, and saying, ?You have troubled me
to make me stink among the inhabitants of the land.? Now listen, ?They
shall gather themselves together against me and slay me, and I
shall be destroyed and my whole house.? Now they?re feeding the
flock back in that same area. You see the concern that Jacob
naturally had. After a while, his concern was
great for these men, because they were feeding the flock in
that same area where before he had said, the men of this area
are going to destroy me and my house. That's probably the only
reason. he would send Joseph there to
check on them because of the concern he had for them. But notice it wasn't only to
check on the brothers, it was to check on the flocks. And at
the end of verse 14 we read that he left the valley of Hebron,
that is the Vale of Hebron. And the point I want to make
here is that his flocks was so great that the pasture
of this fertile valley was not enough to accommodate all of
his flocks. They had to seek pasture in another
place. Now, these three truths point
us to Christ. whom the Father sent, who came
willingly, and I want to say, the many that He came to save. Just like Jacob had a number
of flocks, a number of sheep, and other animals, I'm sure goats
as well, in the flock. I think especially of the Lord
Jesus Christ, when He came, He came to save all of the sheep
that God had given to Him. Remember, the Lord Jesus said,
I'm not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
When that Sabra Phoenician came seeking help for her daughter.
That alone should tell people that there are some in this world
who are sheep and some who are goats. Regeneration, the new birth,
doesn't change a goat into a sheep. A sheep is one that was chosen
of God and given unto His Son. But the number of His sheep is
great. For some reason, people who deny
the truth of God's sovereign election, which the Bible clearly that we believe, that we teach,
that only a handful are going to be saved, thus far no more. That's not so. That's not true. We know from the Word of God,
from the Word of God, that there's a great multitude, John said,
which no man could number, now listen, of all nations and kindreds
and people is not going to lose one. He's not going to lose one. All
right, second, I want us to see that Joseph loved his father
and his brethren. Verses 15 through 17, we read,
And 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? And he said, I seek my brethren.
Tell me, I pray thee, where they feed their flocks. And the man
said, They are reported hence. For I heard them say, Let us
go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren
and found them in Dothan. Here's the point. He came to
seek them, but his brethren were not there. He could, he could
have returned to his father right then. and told his father, I
did what you told me to do. I went to Shechem, but I did
not find my brother. He could have done that. The
same is true of the Lord Jesus Christ. At any time in his life
in this world, he could have stepped out of this world into
heaven. The holy, eternal Son of God. But because of his love, he endured
the cross, despising the shame. Just like Joseph, he could have
turned now and gone home, and told his father, I did what you
asked me to do, and they are not there. You know, our Lord gave two parables,
one in Matthew and one in Luke. They're two different parables,
but they concern the shepherd and the lost sheep. And I know
for myself, I'm not sure about you, but I think I usually call
these two parables the parable of the lost sheep. But as I thought
about this this past week, I thought, you know, it would be better
not to call these the parables of the lost sheep. There's nothing great and there's
nothing unusual about a sheep being lost or going astray. Nothing
unusual about that. You say, well, how do sheep,
how do they go astray? How do they become lost? I'm
talking about those who've already been found. How do they go astray? Well, you've all heard that saying,
grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. And
you've seen cows, at least. You've seen them come up against
the barbed wire fence, and they stick their neck through those
strands, and eating that grass. The same grass is over here on
this side, the side they're on. But for some reason, they're
sticking their neck through. Well, sheep do the same thing. Sheep, to begin with, are dumb
animals. But the way they go astray, no
doubt, is as they're grazing, they see some grass there, and
so they go there, and they see some more, and they go there,
and before long, they've strayed away from the shepherd. Not intentionally,
and it doesn't happen immediately. The same thing is true with us
as believers. We don't just wake up one day
and say, you know, I'm going to doesn't happen like that, does
it? It's a process that we allow to happen by not seeking the
Lord as we until he finds that one lost
sheep. Both of them, I believe, both
of them began with the shepherd has a hundred sheep and one is
missing. We're saying a hymn, the 99,
safely abode. In the fall, the Are they not enough for thee?
Talking to the shepherd. Are they not enough for thee?
Oh, no. The shepherd is faithful, and
he goes, and he seeks, until he finds that one sheep that
has gone astray. The Lord Jesus, whom Joseph pictures,
is the Son of Man who came to seek and to save that which is
lost. What comfort, what comfort do
these truths of the grace of God give to God's children? What
comfort do they give to you and I tonight? That the one who is
our shepherd will always seek and always find those that were
given unto him in that covenant of grace. And when he finds us,
he makes us willing in the day of his power. God never saves
anyone against their will. Never has. He makes us willing. Everyone that comes to Christ
comes willingly. At first, at first we're dead
set against looking to Christ, trusting in someone else. I'll
take care of myself. I can work this out. I can please
God. I can satisfy God's justice.
That's the way all of us think, if we think at all. But when
the Lord finds us, He works in us, doesn't He, to make us willing. And all of a sudden, that's the
very thing we want above everything, to know Christ, to find Christ. Notice the third thing, the last
thing. Joseph was hated by his brethren. Verses 18 through 28. Joseph
was hated by his brethren. 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. Now, before I read on, think
about this. He had told them his dreams. Now, if they didn't believe those
dreams, then worry about it, forget about it. But if those
dreams were of the Lord, and they were, now they're going
to be fighting against God. If those dreams were of It's going to happen. It's going
to take place. And there's no way, there's nothing
that they can do that's going to upset God's purpose and God's
will. They're fighting against God.
If they believe this, if they believe those dreams, Those dreams
that said that one day they're going to come and they're going
to bow down to Him, if they believed that, that that was of God, a
dream from God, now they're going to fight against God, they're
going to somehow overturn God's purpose and God's will. That's
not going to happen. 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 heard. You cannot help but to read this
passage, but think well of Reuben. That's my thought. Reuben had
played the fool. He'd been a big disappointment
to his father, Jacob. But now, Reuben is the oldest,
so he's in his forties or fifties. He has children. He knows. He knows what it's
like to lose a son. What it would be like to lose
a son. And he has not only pity on Joseph,
but pity on his father, Jacob. And so he convinces them, well
let's just put him in this pit. And all the time he planned to
come back and get him out of the pit and send him home to
his dad. That was his plan. 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.
And it came to pass when Joseph was coming to his brethren that
they stripped Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colors
that was on him. And they took him and passed
him into a pit. And the pit was empty. And here's
the emphasis. There was no water in it. 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 spicery
and balm and myrrh, going down to Egypt, carrying it down to
Egypt. This is what the Egyptians used
to embalm. They were known for their embalming,
remember? They needed these spices. 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
in our flesh. And his brethren were content.
Then there passed by Midianites, 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. Look at what their hatred led
them to do, these brothers. They hated him. It led them to
conspire to kill him, strip him of his coat, cast him into a
pit where there was no water, which meant certain death. And
then they sold him. Now, in the middle of doing these
things, we read here, and they sat down to eat bread. That's pretty cool, isn't it? What was Joseph's reaction? Remember, he's a young man. He
was 17 in the passage we looked at last week. He may have been
18 by now, I don't know. But he was a young man, and here,
these 10 men, they were older men. Most of them were in their
40s and 30s, I assume. There is one against ten. What
was his reaction? Look into Genesis chapter 42. This is when later they come
down to Egypt, and Joseph is the prime minister now, and of
course Joseph is trying them. But notice what they said in
verse 21, And they said one to another, We are very, verily
guilty concerning our brother. Now notice, And that we saw the
anguish of his soul when he besought us, and we would not hear. Therefore this distress has come
upon us. And Reuben answered them, saying,
spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child?
And you would not hear. Therefore also his blood is required."
And I point this out to us because Joseph, we see the anguish of
his soul beseeching them, begging them to have mercy upon him,
but they wouldn't listen. They had no concern, no love,
no sympathy, no empathy for Joseph at that time. But don't miss
this truth. Years have passed by. Years have
gone by. But their guilt was still there. What they had done to their brother,
there was no way they could erase the guilt from their conscience.
It was there. You see, sin is like that, isn't
it? There's only one cure for the
guilt of sin, and that is to sacrifice the blood of Jesus
Christ. But that blood sprinkled upon
the conscience, not literally, but spiritually sprinkled upon
the conscience, cleanses the conscience of sin. They couldn't get rid of this
sin. It haunted them, no doubt. year after year, what they had
done to their brother. Now, let's think of what is recorded
here of Joseph that speaks to us of Christ Jesus, just a few
minutes. First of all, like Joseph, like
Joseph, the Bible says, he came unto his own and his own received
him not. That is, the Lord Jesus Christ
came to his own, the nation of Israel. He came unto his own,
and his own received him not. Joseph came to his brethren.
They received him not. Like Joseph, in Matthew 21 and
verse 38, we read, When the husbandmen saw the son, they said among
themselves, This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and seize
on his inheritance, just as his brothers They loved their places and religions,
their prominences, that it gave them. And so rather than repent
and turn from their sin, here's the heir. Just like the brothers
of Joseph, here's this dreamer. Let's take care of him. So the
husband did to the Lord Jesus Christ. And like Joseph, In Matthew
26, we're told that they covenanted with Judas for 30 pieces of silver. Now, Joseph was sold for 20 pieces
of silver, but the point is, both were sold. Joseph was sold,
and the Lord Jesus Christ was sold. And then, this also. Like Joseph, Matthew 27, and sitting down,
they watched him live. There he is, hanging upon a tree,
crowned with thorns, blood flowing from his head, his hands, and
his feet. And what do they do? They sit
down and watch him die. Aren't you glad that God is a
sovereign God? That He has power? If that had
been you and me and that had been your son, you had that fire,
God has. Those men would have been consumed
right there and then. God has power over himself, doesn't
he? His anger. His wrath. But there will come
a day, there will come a time. when he will not stay his anger
and his power. Let me close with this. Unlike
Joseph, the Lord Jesus Christ did die. Joseph didn't. And this must be recognized.
Had Joseph died, had his blood been shed, his blood could not
have His blood could not have taken
away one sin, not his own sin or anyone else's sin. The Lord
Jesus Christ, His blood. It removes also for all those
who trust in Him. Removes it, as the psalmist said,
as far as the east is from the west. I trust the Lord will bless
these words and these thoughts to us this evening. Now let's
sing a hymn. Savior, like a Savior, lead us.
Number 294. Number 294.