Enoch shows us the walk of faith. Noah shows us the perseverance of faith. Abraham shows us the obedience of faith. Isaac shows us the power of faith. Jacob shows us the discipline of faith. Joseph shows us the triumph of faith. Not one time during Joseph's life's journey do we read where he muttered, complained, or compromise his faith. We also see that
Joseph was loved and hated. He was favored and abused. He was tempted, trusted, he was exalted, and he was in want. But in all Joseph's life, in everything he faced and went through, he never seemed to get his eyes off God, nor did he cease to trust in Him. We also notice that adversity did not harden his character. Prosperity did not ruin him. He was the same man in private as he was in public. He truly was a godly man.
God gave Joseph a dream, but the dream that God gave him doesn't really tell us much about fulfilling life dreams. Because you see, Joseph never dreamed of being a slave. He never dreamed of being falsely accused of rape. He never dreamed of being forgotten in prison. He never dreamed of being the second most powerful man in Egypt. Joseph never dreamed of saving the known world from famine.
God's plan for Joseph was greater than any dream Joseph could come up with.
From the beginning Joseph's family was opposed to the dream God had given him. They were determined to defeat God's Word, and God's planned purpose.
My friends there are so many things that we can get out of Genesis 37. But what I feel led to focus on is this. God has a plan and purpose for each of our lives. And when we receive that plan, we feel as though everyone should be happy for us and support us. We feel like God has given me this task to accomplish, so it ought to be smooth sailing. But when God gives us a plan and purpose (a calling on our lives) to complete, not everyone will be on board.
Some will reject it. Some will be jealous of it. Some will make fun of it. Satan will do anything and everything, and use anyone, to try to stop you from carrying out the plan and purpose God has appointed and anointed you to do. Whether it be physically, mentally, or spiritually. He will do everything he can to stop or hinder God's plan and purpose for His people.
The lesson we can learn from Joseph is this: Regardless of what we face or go through in our life's journey whether it's setbacks, discouragement, or facing temptations, being physically abuse, or facing opposition, or rejection. Whatever the case may be, we must keep our eyes and hearts focused on Jesus Christ. Understanding that God's plan is Greater than what we could ever dream for ourselves.
-Pastor Joe Nelms Sr.
Genesis 37 (MEV)
1 Now Jacob lived in the land where his father was a foreigner, in the land of Canaan.
2 These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers, and the boy was with the sons of Bilhah and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives. Joseph brought back a bad report about them to their father.
3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he was the son of his old age, and he made him a coat of many colors.
4 But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.
5 Now Joseph dreamed a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more.
6 He said to them, “Please listen to this dream which I have dreamed.
7 We were binding sheaves in the field. All of a sudden my sheaf rose up and stood upright, and your sheaves stood around it and bowed down to my sheaf.”
8 His brothers said to him, “Will you really reign over us, or will you really have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more because of his dreams and his words.
9 Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, “I have dreamed another dream. The sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing to me.”
10 But when he told it to his father and his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Will I and your mother and your brothers really come to bow down ourselves to you to the ground?”
11 So his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.
12 Now his brothers went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem.
13 Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them.” He answered, “Here I am.”
14 Israel said to him, “Please go and see if it is well with your brothers and well with the flocks, and bring back word to me.” So he sent him out of the Valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.
15 A certain man found him wandering in the field. The man asked him, “What are you looking for?”
16 And he said, “I am looking for my brothers. Please tell me where they are feeding their flocks.”
17 The man said, “They have departed from here. I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’ ” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan.
18 When they saw him some distance away, before he came near to them, they conspired against him to kill him.
19 They said one to another, “The master of dreams comes!
20 Come now, let us kill him and throw him into some pit, and we will say, ‘some evil beast has devoured him.’ Then we will see what will become of his dreams.”
21 But when Reuben heard it, he rescued him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not kill him.”
22 Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood, but throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him,” so that he might rescue him out of their hands and deliver him to his father again.
23 When Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped Joseph of his coat—his coat of many colors that he had on.
24 And they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty, and there was no water in it.
25 Then they sat down to eat. And looking up, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing spices, balm, and myrrh, carrying it down to Egypt.
26 Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and cover up his blood?
27 Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let us not lay our hand on him, for he is our brother and our own flesh.” So his brothers agreed.
28 Then when the Midianite merchants passed by, they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. They took Joseph to Egypt.
29 When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he tore his clothes.
30 He returned to his brothers, and said, “The boy is not there, and I, where can I go?”
31 They took Joseph’s coat and killed a young goat and dipped the coat in the blood.
32 Then they took the coat of many colors and brought it to their father and said, “This we have found. Do you know whether it is your son’s robe or not?”
33 He knew it and said, “It is my son’s coat. A wild beast has devoured him. Joseph has without a doubt been torn into pieces.”
34 Jacob tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his waist and mourned for his son many days.
35 All his sons and 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 mourning for my son.” So his father wept for him.
36 Meanwhile the Midianites sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard.