The Dreamer and the Schemers

 Read Genesis 37

For many of you, this is a very familiar story. If they let me write the subtitles in your Bibles—and for some reason, they don’t—I would have titled this The Dreamer and the Schemers.

Joseph was born when Jacob was an old man.  Benjamin was younger, but it was Joseph who was his father’s favorite.  Joseph might have been something of a tattletale.

At age 17 while tending the flocks with his brothers, Joseph saw fit to bring his father a bad report about those brothers.  We don’t know what it was, but his brothers didn’t really like Joseph.

To make matters worse, Jacob—Israel—made a special robe for Joseph.  If there was any doubt before as to who Dad’s favorite was, this coat of many colors settled the matter.

Could his brothers have been any more jealous? Could they hate their brother any more?  The answer to those questions is simple.  Yes, if he shared his dreams with you. 

Joseph had a dream in which all of his brothers were binding sheaves.  Joseph’s bundle rose up and those of his brothers bowed down to it.

As you might have guessed, the brothers didn’t really care for this dream. If that were not enough, Joseph shared another dream.

Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. “Listen,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”

When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, “What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?” His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.

Joseph told this one not only to his brothers but also to his parents.  Nobody seemed to care for this dream, but his father kept pondering the matter, that is, he did not dismiss it outright.  His love for Joseph was not lessened despite his dreams.

So today’s story begins with Jacob sending Joseph to check on his brothers and the flocks.  It was a trip and a little more difficult than just putting the destination into his phone.  The brothers had moved, surely in search of new grazing.

Eventually, Joseph found them but the brothers saw him coming. Their hatred for their brother overcame any thoughts of just roughing him up.  They wanted blood.  They wanted to kill this little dreamer.

Reuben mitigated the hatred.  Let’s just throw him in this hole—an old well.  We can’t really kill him.  He is family, after all.

That’s what they did but while Reuben was away, the brothers sold Joseph into slavery.  There was an Ishmaelite caravan with Midianite merchants headed toward Egypt.  They were loaded down with spices, balm, and myrrh. 

Surely, they would be interested in a slave.  For about $300 in today’s money, they sold their brother into slavery.  The dreamer that the brothers hated so much was on his way to Egypt. Dreamer problem solved.

All they had to do was come up with a common story.  The fewer details, the easier the story would be to remember.

So, the brothers dipped Joseph’s robe—a robe that was unmistakably his—in goat’s blood and presented it to Jacob.  Instead of giving their father some concocted story—one in which 10 brothers would have to keep the facts straight—they simply gave Jacob the robe and asked him if this was Joseph’s garment.

Well played.  Jacob let his imagination run wild. Surely a wild animal had torn him to pieces. Jacob concocted his own story and it was surely the worst-case scenario.

He tore his own clothes and mourned the loss of his son.  He would not be comforted.

Meanwhile, Joseph was sold to Potiphar, a captain in the Pharoah’s guard.  There is more to come on that.

So, what do we take home with us from this part of the story of Joseph, which is just beginning?

How about, don’t share your dreams with your siblings?  That could be it, but not likely.

How about stay away from the trade routes.  You never know when your brothers might sell you for some spending money.

Maybe it’s closer to this.  God’s plan for your life might not go down the primrose path.

You might be thinking, I just want to finish school and get a good job.

You might be thinking, I just want to get my kids through school and save something for retirement.

You might be thinking, I just want to stop giving all of my money to Walmart and the Dollar Tree.

God is thinking, I have good plans for you.

Some of those plans might include some hardship.  Some might include some trials.  Some might not make sense to you, especially in the moment.

In hindsight, sometimes God’s plan is clear to us.  In the moment, we sometimes see only a series of seemingly unrelated events.

If we follow the story of Joseph, we see what God’s plan included.  We know the essence of the story in a single Bible verse.

As we near the end of Genesis and Jacob—Israel—has died, we find Joseph’s brothers fearing for their lives for Joseph has great power.  Hear what Joseph told his brothers.

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

What you intended for evil, God used for good.  Because of what Joseph went through and where he ended up, much of the known world would be saved from severe famine.  We will get there chapter by chapter, but for now, realize that Joseph’s brothers did an evil thing. In the moment, what the brothers did to Joseph was an evil thing.

There was no vision given to the 10 brothers that Joseph somehow needed to work his way into the service of the Pharoah of Egypt.  They just hated their brother.

Thanks to Reuben, the oldest, they didn’t kill him. Reuben didn’t return Joseph to his father.  In fact, he left his brothers for a time and Judah came up with the bright idea of selling him. The whole thing seemed to develop moment-to-moment.

What was so important that it took Reuben away?  Maybe he stopped in for a quick visit with Bilhah.  Maybe it was something else, but whatever it was, Reuben was gone long enough for his brothers to have sold Joseph into slavery.

Reuben didn’t say, give me the silver, and I will buy him back.  How would that work out? Remember, Joseph liked to report the conduct of his brothers.  This whole throwing him in a hole and selling him to spice merchants surely wouldn’t set well with Dad.

What was done was done.  Joseph was westbound and the brothers would try to go on like they had no idea what happened to their brother.

C’mon God, was this really your plan?

Reuben rescued Joseph only to be lax in his protection.

Judah was an opportunist and saw how to make a quick buck by selling Joseph.

All seemed complicit in the goat’s blood scheme.  We don’t see it in the scriptures, but I would think that all of the brothers had meat to eat that night.  You don’t waste a goat just because all you needed was its blood.

This sounds like one of those plans drawn up on the back of a napkin at Burger King.  Was this really God’s plan?

It was, but human eyes could not see it along the way.  The plan was too big to comprehend it from a single human vantage point. It was too big to realize in the moment.

And so, we come once again to trust in the Lord with all of your heart. It may seem like God isn’t listening sometimes, but we should consider that it might also be that we are part of a plan that’s bigger than we could imagine.

It’s bigger than just getting through school.

It’s bigger than raising the kids and retiring.

It’s bigger than getting or not getting the job that you knew was best for you.

It’s bigger than how many kids come to VBS.

It’s bigger than the weekly offering.

It’s bigger than reading your daily devotion or your daily reading in Genesis.

God has good plans for you and sometimes you find that you have a big part in those plans.  Sometimes the part may not seem so big, but it is still a part of the plan.

Does that mean that we should go out and do evil because God will use it for good?  No.

We should seek God and his kingdom and his righteousness every day.  We seek these above everything else.  We should desire to be known as a disciple of Christ Jesus by our love.  We should be salt and light in this world.

But we should also not be discouraged when we can’t see the full plan right now.  This whole faith business is important.  We must trust God that he is at work at the macro level in the world and the micro level in our lives and everywhere else in between.

He is sovereign.

He is holy.

He is righteous.

He is just.

His timing is divine.

His love is everlasting.

His grace exceeds our sin.

And he has good plans for us.

Sometimes we might feel like we have been thrown in a hole and sold as a slave, but God has good plans for us. When we are in that hole and when we are sold into slavery, God is with us and has good plans for us.

OK, that is a good analogy with Joseph’s story.  You get your preacher points for today, but I feel like even though I am seeking God, I am being pulled in different directions.

I enjoy—not always at first—but I enjoy growing in God’s grace.  I relish the fellowship of believers.  Isn’t it so sweet to be in the company of those who are brothers and sisters with Christ?  I love the fellowship.

But I am also called to go into the world and call sinners to repent.  It sounds easy, but so many don’t want to hear this.  So many do not want to listen to me talk about regeneration.

What’s regeneration?  It’s being born again, and nobody comes to life eternal without being born again.

I trust that God has a plan and it’s a good plan, but sometimes I just feel pulled in different directions.  I trust but sometimes I am troubled.

Jesus told us that we must not be troubled by the trouble in the world, even when it is on our doorstep. We must take courage in the One who overcame the world.

We must not get lost in our present suffering.  We know that it will be nothing compared to what God has in store for us.

We must take our next steps in faith, even when and especially when, we have little substance or evidence to hold on to in this world.

We must remember that faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.

We might think that our family just disowned us and sold us into slavery, but we must trust that God will never disown us and that he has good plans for us even when we can’t see the plan—even when it feels like we were thrown in a hole and sold into slavery.

As we continue to the end of Genesis, we see that Joseph has more trials ahead of him, but God’s plan becomes more and more obvious to us as we go through this story.

God’s plan is not always as obvious in our lives.  His sovereignty, his holiness, his righteousness, and his love are apparent to those of us who have professed Jesus as Lord and have taken on his yoke and are learning from him, but we must have faith that his plans for us are good plans.

What do we take home from this story about Joseph? Trust God that he will use everything for good for we love him and are set apart for his purpose.

Trust that God has good plans for us.

Trust God even in and especially in our worst moments.

Know that God’s plans do not always mean a smooth ride.  There may be bumps in the road.

Here’s the analogy that has been around almost as long as the Wright brothers.

You have a choice of two flights. 

The first one has a good takeoff and a safe landing.  There will be some turbulence along the way.  The flight might be too rough to get your 4-ounce Dr. Pepper in that clear plastic cup with 3 pieces of ice. It might be too rough.

The second option has a silky-smooth flight with drinks and snacks galore.  You will feel like you are in First Class even though you only paid for the economy ticket.  The landing, however, is not likely to go well.  It might be bumpy or it might look more like a crash.

Which flight do you want? 

Of course, we want the one with the safe landing!

We must trust that God has good plans for us.  The road or the flight might be a little bumpy, but our landing will be fantastic.

Trust that God has good plans for us.

Trust God even in and especially in our worst moments.

Trust God even when we can see the big picture.

Amen.