Second Sunday in Lent 25 February anno domini 2024 Holy Communion
Genesis. 37: 1 – 28
ALMIGHTY God, who seest that we have no power of ourselves to help ourselves; Keep us both outwardly in our bodies, and inwardly in our souls; that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
“He was bound to make us free”
The Old Testament is full of foreshadowing, most especially when dealing with the redemption of God’s people. We see in this passage several instances of foreshadowing.
6And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed:
7For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf.
The least will become the greatest.
9And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.
10And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?
In the two dreams that Joseph had, first his brothers bow down in obeying him. In the second dream even his mother and father as well as his brothers bow down to obey him.
This of course is the foreshadowing of when the family goes to Egypt years later seeking famine relief. The brothers will come upon their youngest who is now third in command of all of Egypt. Eventually the pharaoh will place Joseph second only to him. Joseph will be instrumental in getting Egypt ready for seven years of famine. Again dreams will be the answer. Joseph will interpret pharaoh’s dream and will be put in charge of preparations against the coming famine.
What was meant for evil, God turned to good Jacob loved his younger sons more than his older ten, thus causing some intense jealousy. Jacob’s second wife was his first love. Rachel died during childbirth of Benjamin. Joseph and Benjamin were sons of Rachel and Jacob.
Suffice it to say, this jealousy will eventually turn bad. The older brothers, already not happy with their brother Joseph. Eventually they plot to kill him and instead they sell him into slavery. They sold him to a caravan going to Egypt. Eventually after a number of years the one sold into slavery, the one bound and held against his will, becomes the “savior” of his whole family.
It is because he became a slave, a servant, a lowly person, he would later be able to rescue his family from certain death by starvation, a number of years later.
As we survey the landscape of life, sometimes we can not see what is happening either in the short term or long.
In our lesson today, we see how the Lord prepared the way for the whole family of Jacob, to preserve them for a greater purpose. By making sure the twelve tribes survived, God sealed the covenant He made with Abraham about the ongoing family that Abraham was father to. This would be another opportunity for Satan to stop the redemption process through Christ, by stopping the family line early on. If you look at the long genealogy of Christ, you see several times there is a thin line that almost is broken. This is one of those times.
The family of Jacob is on the edge of starvation, but they will be redeemed, not because they did good, but because they meant evil. God of course turned it around so Joseph could save his brothers and father.
Ref. 45:5 ff. “...do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you....7. But God sent me ahead of you to preseve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.”
Joseph, a proto-Christ figure in the Old Testament.
His Christlike Spirit Shown; as we read about what Joseph did instead of what he could have done to his brothers, we see the spirit of Christ being foreshadowed in Joseph’s behavior.
1) in forgiving his brothers’ sins Gen. 45:15 “...And he kissed all his brothers and wept over them. Afterward his brothers talked with him.”
2) in his filial devotion Gen 46:29 “...as soon as Joseph appeared before him, he threw his arms around his father and wept for a long time.” [Christ honors His Father by doing his will, as in going to the Cross]
3) in returning good for evil Gen 50: 19 – 21 “But Joseph said to them, ‘Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.’ And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.
When adversity comes our way, we need to see that it may be for our good. One way or another we can learn to move around the roadblocks and troubles that sometimes hit us on life’s way. The Lord gives us many lessons in His Word. It is our job to read and study these lesson and see how they apply to our modern world. NOT change the lessons, NOT adapt the lessons, but LEARN from the lessons. We are often tempted to change, modify, or alter the lessons of the WORD to avoid upsetting anyone and making sure we don’t trigger a sensitive person.
We should always bear in mind that the WORD is a stumbling block to the lost. Many people do not want to repent and turn from their wickedness and live. So they find ways to “soften” the Word of God so as to sooth itchy ears, to calm jangled nerves, to not cause anyone to be afraid.
That is not what the Word of God is meant to do. We are to take up our cross and follow Him who died for our sins and opened the gates to Heaven. He is our Salvation. Christ Jesus our Lord.
God be with you this week. May he bless and keep you .
Let us pray:
God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, bless you and keep you; the Lord make his Face to shine upon you, and be gracious unto you; the Lord lift up his Countenance upon you, and give you peace. Amen
