Starting with chapter forty-two, the author will draw our attention to the condition of Jacob and his sons. What we will immediately discover is that this is still a very broken family. Over the course of their journey to Egypt, the Lord will begin his restoration work on this broken family. We will learn this restoration work occurs in the middle of a famine, it is a deep and slow work, whereby the Lord will humble them and expose their hidden sin.
If the Lord was with Joseph, and if Joseph remained faithful and persevered, why does it seem like things went from bad to worse in his life? Throughout the Bible there is a paradoxical principle, before exaltation comes humiliation. As we take a closer look at Joseph’s exaltation and Pharaoh’s humiliation, we will see that the Lord is the one who exalts the humble and humbles the exalted.
As our story continues in Genesis 41, we find that despair sets in for Joseph whose been left in jail for years, and Pharoah who receives multiple disturbing dreams. But their desperate paths will soon collide as Pharoah is recommended to find the meaning of his dreams from Joseph, who is pulled from prison to sit before the king. After only a short time, Joseph points Pharoah to see how only God can provide the knowledge to find the diagnosis of one’s real problems and how only God’s wisdom can guide one’s actions towards the only cure!
Joseph has descended from being thrown into a desolate pit, to being sold as a slave, to being thrown into prison, and forgotten. Joseph was a victim of his brother’s hatred, of the false accusations of Potiphar’s wife, and now the forgetfulness of a cupbearer. It is easy to rush through the story where Joseph exchanged his prison clothes for the crown of Egypt. But what we must understand is that the events in chapter forty make possible the advancement in chapter forty-one. In chapter forty Joseph is called to persevere. Just like Joseph we are called to persevere. What does it look like to persevere?
In our text today, we are going to see Joseph confronted by temptation. Unlike his brother Judah who gave into temptation, Joseph resisted temptation and overcame temptation. How did Joseph overcome the temptation? The Lord’s presence.
In the highs and lows of Joseph’s life in Egypt, the key point hammered home repeatedly is God’s presence with Joseph. This was the reason for his endurance and diligence as a slave in Egypt, the success in his work and being a blessing to others, and how he could have victory over the temptation of sin. Christians can take heart, for like Joseph in the highs and lows of life, the Lord is with us.
We come to an obscure story that seems like an interruption from Joseph in Egypt. Yet this interruption is important, because through the evil actions of Judah, his two sons (Er & Onan), and Tamar, the Lord, executes his divine judgment, shows mercy to Judah, and redeems the broken situation by providing the continuation of the promised seed.
As we are introduced to the sons of Jacob, it becomes very evident of the dysfunction of their family. Jacob loved Joseph, while his brothers hated him more and more. This familial relationship breeds destruction and death. Yet the Lord is working in the destruction of their sin, accomplishing his purposes of salvation. That means our only hope when we find ourselves entangled with sin, is the work of God.
Encountering God Almighty changes everything. God – through His calling, revelation, and promises – is the source of transforming grace and sustaining grace. We'll see how that is true in Jacob's life as his story in Genesis comes to a close, and we'll see how we must live our lives in light of God’s transforming grace, by the power of his sustaining grace.
God has come through marvelously for Jacob – restoring his relationship to his estranged brother and restoring him to the land of promise. But as soon as he found himself settling in, disaster strikes. Things quickly escalade from bad to worse. When the story seems to end with only tragedy, God speaks.
As the night had passed and the day had begun, Jacob emerged as a transformed man. When he faces his brother Esau, he is a completely different man. As we look at the evidence of Jacob’s transformation, we will learn how God can transform us.
In the tense anxiety of the night, Jacob is waiting to see if his plan will succeed and if his brother will accept him. While waiting all alone in the night, God appeared in human form and wrestled Jacob throughout the night. Depriving Jacob of his natural strength, making him weak and yet declaring him the victor. What was the purpose of this wrestling, what did it mean for Jacob and what does it mean for us?
Jacob is on the doorstep of the greatest trial of his life. He has an angry brother ahead of him and an angry father-in-law behind him, and all his family and accumulated wealth is at stake. His conniving has cornered him into imminent disaster. His only hope is divine deliverance and out of fear and desperation he turns the Lord in prayer.
The conflict between Jacob and Laban continues and will come to a head. Laban’s animosity towards Jacob begins to grow. In more deceit Jacob sneaks away from Laban. Laban pursues and overtakes him and the two finally come to terms with each other. Yet, Jacob’s prosperity, protection and preservation are not a result of Jacob’s cleverness, wit or strength, but a result of the Lord’s intervening work.
Jacob has completed his fourteen years of work for Laban and now he is ready to go back to his home and family. However, Laban recognized the benefits of having Jacob around. Not wanting to let Jacob go, both the cunning Laban and Jacob the deceiver will enter a duel of attempting to outsmart one another through tactics of deceit and trickery. Yet Jacob will prevail at the expense of Laban. Not because he outsmarted Laban, but because of the Lord’s grace and the Lord being faithful in fulfilling his promises to Jacob.
A major theme in the life of Jacob is conflict, conflict with his brother Esau, his father-in-law Laban and now we will see conflict surrounding his two wives. Two rival sisters competing with one another over their husband’s affection, utilizing their power to conceive and using every scheme possible to gain the upper hand. What is the Lord doing in all this dysfunction? We will learn that when sin is rampant, God does His greatest work.
Jacob receives a taste of his own medicine, when his uncle Laban takes advantage of him and deceives him. Over time the Lord would use this painful experience to expose and remove his sin and mold him into a man that is both humble, submissive and dependent on the Lord. We learn that the Lord is committed to transforming His people.
Jacob is a fugitive on the run, and the Lord in His grace revealed Himself in a dream and gives him wonderful promises. Yet Jacob is “backwards” in his dealing with the Lord. Instead of believing and trusting the Lord’s promises, he bargains with the Lord and sets the conditions for trusting the Lord. Yet the Lord is gracious to him and will begin the work of transforming unworthy Jacob the deceiver to worthy Israel who is totally dependent on the Lord.
In today’s message, we see that God’s will is always accomplished even in spite of our sins. God’s covenant blessing is from God, fulfilled by God, to bless His people and we can trust in Him .
A theme in the life of Isaac is that the Lord protects and provides in adversity. Isaac must learn to trust the Lord in adversity, and at times he will stumble in fear, but the Lord will remain faithful in providing and fulfilling His covenant promises.