The Descent
Tom Shrader announces His upcoming marriage to Sandy before examining Genesis 37-39 and Joseph's life. Despite being sold into slavery by His brothers and falsely accused by Potiphar's wife, Joseph remained faithful to God in every circumstance. Tom shows how God was with Joseph through each trial, prospering Him even in prison, demonstrating that faithfulness to God is visible and attractive even to unbelievers.
“It is a giant mistake if you try to interpret your physical circumstances as being an accurate barometer of your spiritual condition.”
— Tom Shrader
Series: Faithful
Recorded: 2012
Duration: 1 hr 3 min
Themes: faithfulness, trials, suffering, providence, integrity, perseverance, trust, hardship, facing false accusations, enduring betrayal, struggling through trials, new widower, blended family, remarriage, pastoral transition, grief recovery
Scripture: Genesis 37, Genesis 38, Genesis 39, Genesis 42:21, Romans 8:28, John 3:19, Ephesians 4:31, Philippians 1:12
Theological Themes: sovereignty, gods providence, sanctification, spiritual growth, divine purpose, gods plan, covenant faithfulness, biblical narrative
Full Transcript
This is one of those Sundays where I have an awkward task of talking about private stuff in a really public setting. I hope, over the years, I've done a reasonably good job of saying what's important and needs to come into the church, and what doesn't. We tried to steward that for so many years with just the kids and what's going on there. With Susan's sickness and navigating our way through that, we had to discern what things needed to be said, and then silence is good, too. Even when my heart condition developed, as many of you know, I stared down death earlier this year and faced it head on and didn't blink. Death blinked, but I shared that.
This is one of those things that I know needs to come in and we want to talk about it in here, but it's awkward. It's just awkward, and maybe that'll become clear to you. I had the chance to talk to the staff on Tuesday, and then Thursday night, I spoke with 250 or 300 of the volunteers that are part of Third Thursday, and now to you today, so all four services today.
The Announcement
I bring you what is, for me, really good news, and I hope you see it that way as well: this Friday, the 25th, five days from today, I'm going to get married.
I also know coming in that some of you know about it, some of you kind of have an inkling that maybe I've been hanging out with Sandy, and some of you are hearing this cold and going, "What's going on?" Some of you are going, "I don't care, get to the Bible lesson." But I know the ones that do care, and they need this moment, so we're going to make sure they get it.
Addressing the Questions
If I was you listening to that, I'd have a whole bunch of questions, but they fall into two big buckets. One of them is, you know, this seems kind of quick. This seems perhaps quick in two ways. Number one, since Susan passed away. Number two, how long have you known this lady? The answer is, I really haven't known her that long, and now that I say that out loud, I'm starting to doubt this whole thing. I haven't thought about it to this point.
Part of just the personal journey—and it's been helpful because Susan Miller's been great, because in both instances, she had an opportunity to speak as Susan's best friend and give an inside perspective—there was really a time for me of seven years, but the last three and the last two and the last one in particular where lots of grieving and lots of hardship was done in that time. Those were painful, difficult times. So there's a sense even where emotionally, through discussions with Susan and lots of things, it made me think, "Okay, I'm kind of ready for life," though I honestly was not necessarily ready for this. I was like you: "Boy, this is faster than I would have expected." So I share that.
How Are the Girls?
The big question is, how are the girls with this? That's a big question, because you guys are all right, but you aren't the key deciders in this deal. How are the girls?
Awkward is an operative word, because Sandy and I were together like a couple times doing stuff, and then I thought, "I don't even know where to bring this in because I'm not sure where this is going. I don't know what it's going to do, but I'm fairly visible, and somebody's going to say, 'I saw you at Keegan's having dinner,' and they're going to say to Sarah, 'What is that?' or to Hayley, 'What is that?' And then they don't know, and then that's awkward."
So I said to the girls, "Listen, I don't know, but I'm dating." They said, "Who is it?" They didn't know Sandy, and I said, "Well, neither did I until not too long ago." I said, "I think you guys should meet."
So it's the reversal of when they would come and say, "Dad, I got this guy," and I would say, "Well, tell me about this loser," and then they would unpack it. There was a meeting set up with Sarah and Hayley and Sandy, and Sarah couldn't be there, just scheduling. But I said, "I think you need to go ahead and meet anyway."
So, nervous, and then when the meeting was over, my phone rang. It was Sandy, and then right on top of it was Hayley. I said, "Sandy, I'll call you back, I need to talk to Hayley." So Hayley just met her, and they just spent an hour and a half or whatever it was together. These are the first words: "Dad, she's perfect. She's just like Mom. She would be Mom's best friend. She's awesome, and she's amazing."
Now, that's initial impression. Since then, the relationship has really deepened. So the girls are terrific.
A Simple Wedding
The guest book will be real simple. I can tell you who's in the guest book right now: Sarah, Tim, Hayley, Tyler. So it'll be really easy. The girls will be there. Sarah was here first hour, so I had a chance to let her share a few things and pray for us.
I wasn't going to do this originally, but I saw how the week progressed and what seemed to make everything a little bit more manageable—at least more something you could get your arms around—was meeting Sandy. So I figured, though it's difficult to do four of these, I just thought it'd be good. So welcome Sandy as she comes, would you?
Meeting Sandy
Full disclosure, you don't know any of the questions, do you?
Well, some are predictable like this one. Tell us a little bit about yourself. Where did you grow up and your family and all that stuff?
I grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, born and raised there. I was there until about five and a half years ago when I moved here. My family are not believers. I have three siblings and for the most part, they're all in St. Louis.
And you came out here to work?
I came out here for work. I received a phone call from ASU, a headhunter that was hired by the university and they said, have you ever been to Phoenix? And I said, no. And they said, do you know anything about ASU? And I said, well, what is that? And they said, Arizona State University. I said, oh, okay.
I was hired as a fundraiser for the School of Engineering and I did that for about three years. Then I moved over into one of our research units in initially part of the School of Sustainability and now part of the overall research wing at ASU and we do some really cool stuff in sustainability planning for solar development, water issues, those sorts of things. It's hard to explain, but it's great when you see it. We create these really cool visualizations and environments so that decision makers can make better decisions.
I'm 47. I've had several people say, gee, she looks young. And I said, but that's because she's standing next to me. So I look old. That's why she looks young.
How We Met
We met because I served here and attended here until about last May. Then in May and June of last year, I moved over to the Tempe campus and started working and serving with Ricardo Stewart and others over there. Tom was in conversation with them and asked who they saw as key leaders over there.
My name came up. At the same time last year, I had a few different job offers to move out of the Phoenix area. Tom wanted to get together, primarily to let me know that I was important or something. Maybe. I think that's what it was.
So we got together for coffee and it was just a very normal conversation. What we found in that conversation was that we talked and then we talked and then we talked and then we kept talking. We actually had a date. That first one. He called me up early on and said, hey, I'm thinking maybe we could go grab a bite to eat or something. And I said, okay. When I got off the phone, I realized that he had asked me out on a date. That's when I realized it was after we got off the phone that I'd asked her out on a date.
The Dog Issue
We just started hanging out and probably there's some key moments along the way. One of them was several weeks into it when you revealed, or really confronted me on something.
When I came out here, I didn't know anyone. As I said before, I had never really been to Phoenix before. When I moved, I came out by myself with my dog. I knew no one for 1,500 miles, so it was just me and my dog. My dog's name is Humphrey, by the way.
By this time, a few weeks into this, Tom had asked me many questions. I mean, absolutely everything, blood type and, you know, whatever. But he had never once said a word about my dog. I've heard Tom talk for quite a few years. So I kind of thought maybe this was an issue for him.
We're on the phone, and I said, you know, Tom, I noticed that you've never said anything about my dog. And he does a, yeah, that's a problem. It's a deal breaker, in fact. So we had to kind of talk through that. The dog is no longer living here. We didn't put the dog down. He is safely in St. Louis with my father.
Telling the Family
You went home to tell your folks that we were getting married. My mother doesn't know yet, by the way. We're going to tell my mother a little bit. We're going to save it as a surprise for my mom.
The week after Easter, I flew home to St. Louis to give them the news. This is kind of awkward. At our ages and everything, how do you say, wow, you know, I'm getting married, and I really hadn't dated since I was saved, so for about eight years. People no longer, especially my family, no longer really asked about dating or anything like that. So I needed not only to tell them that I was dating, but also to tell them that I was getting married.
I'm at my dad's house. We're hanging out, piddling around the house and stuff. I said, dad, I have some news to share with you. And he said, oh, really? And I said, yeah. I said, well, I met this guy, and we started talking, and then we kept talking, and now we're going to get married. And he said, oh. And he said, but what about Humphrey?
And I said, well, yeah, that's part of it. Humphrey, we're going to have to find another home for Humphrey, and I don't know what I'm going to do with him. So he thought for about a half a second, and he said, well, if nobody else will take Humphrey, I'll take Humphrey. And I said, oh, that's great to know. He starts looking around the house, and he gets a sketch pad out to work on the electric fence. Now, by the way, he has not asked anything about
A Dog Named Humphrey
He never asked who this guy was. Nothing. Not even his name. So this goes on, and he's consumed with the thought of the dog coming. The next morning, and still he hasn't asked any other questions, the next morning he wakes up, and I'm heading over to see other family members.
Traditionally, we always go and get Chinese food. So we're at the Chinese restaurant. We have our food in front of us, and he says, "Well, let's get back to the big news." And I said, "Yeah, I'm getting married." And he said, "No, no, no, Humphrey. Let's talk about Humphrey."
That was it. He never did ask. It's awesome. We're close. His name is Tom Schrader. He knows a little bit more now. So the dog's there. The dog's safe, and we're happy about that.
Coming to Know Christ
Gail, you came from an unbelieving home. Talk a little bit about coming to know Christ.
Well, as I said, I was saved eight years ago, and I had no friends that were believers. I never had a Bible, knew nothing about all of that. Life came crashing down on me. I just felt empty and hollow, and although it seemed on the outside that I was successful in my career, and I have a beautiful daughter who's 27 now. She was in her teen years, and that was traumatic. So it was just bad. I was just broken and a mess, and didn't know anything, didn't know what to do next.
Middle of the afternoon in April, in St. Louis, the sun is shining. I'm driving down the highway, and just crying and upset and messed up and broken, and there's a terrible hailstorm, and the hail is pounding down on my car. All the cars are stopped, and between that and just life, I just said, "If there's a God, I need You here. I don't know how to go on."
At that moment, I just felt His presence, and I was like, "Okay, so there is a God." As the hailstorm stopped, I started my car up and went home and prayed and said, "I really don't know what this means, or what do I do next?" So I said, "God, I know that You're here, but You'll have to show me with baby steps what comes next."
The Man with the Bible
Two days later, I was meeting my girlfriend at a park to run, and she called. We would get together at 5:30 or six in the morning, and she called and said, "My kids are sick. I can't meet you at the park." I said, "Okay." So I went to the park, and as I'm pulling in, there's a sweet old man at the entrance to the park, and he tries to stop my car, and I'm crying and still just really upset. So I just kept on going, and I parked my car, tied my shoes, got out to run, stopped in at the restroom, came out of the building where the restroom was, and the man is now at the door waiting for me, and he hands me a Bible and tells me that Jesus loves me.
So I take the Bible, and I'm too stunned to really say anything, so I go back to my car, and I said, "Wow, okay, I know that there's a God. I know that You're here with me. I know that it has something to do with the Bible, but I don't know what next, so I'm going to trust You to show me." He led me to an Acts 29 church in St. Louis, and here I am today.
Finding East Valley Bible Church
When you came out here, Acts 29, you looked us up and landed, I guess, at a variety of Acts 29 churches, really. This was one of them.
I had contacted the pastors and the elders in St. Louis to say, "I'm moving out to Phoenix, and can you point me in the right direction?" So we went on the network website, and I found quite a few different churches. But because I was working at a university and spending all day in the university setting, I wanted to be sure that I attended a church that had a little bit more age diversity than that. So I found East Valley Bible Church, and the first Sunday I went, there was this crazy guy with long hair, and I just knew I was in the right spot.
Those were the good old days.
Serving in the Church
When you got here, you started serving. That's a key part of the story. When I first had that coffee with Sandy and then came back and said, "Wow, she's pretty awesome," which was everything I'd heard, I was able to vet her pretty closely because a lot of staff people had worked with her. So I did all of that before they knew that there may be some interest there because I didn't want them to give me a distorted version of who she was.
But you had served in children's ministries, student ministries. I had done quite a bit with our community and global engagement groups. You went to Morocco, I think?
Yeah, I went to Morocco.
Dating an Icon
Let me ask you a couple more because these are the questions that I get: what is it like to date an icon?
Well, I know, and I say, "Oh, I don't know what it's like." It's been really interesting to—well, you shouldn't have an answer to this. I'm worried now. It has been interesting. We had to sort through the 65 cases of water bottles in His garage. I have a lot of water in my garage. Those sorts of things, very interesting.
But it also has been really kind of fun as we've slowly told people that we're dating and all of that, and as I tell people here in Phoenix that I'm dating, and I go on to say, "And I'm dating Tom Schrader." But no, seriously, that's been—I mean, it's more visible in that sense, but the girls have been absolutely fabulous in helping with that, as well as just all of you here at church, and for the awkwardness of it, and at the same time, the visibility and all of that. It's just been great.
Does it seem like we didn't date very long? Was it just—what was the compelling characteristic?
Well, it's your charm.
That's enough, I'm done. I don't know how much to just talk about, but enough.
Genesis 37-39 - Faithful The Descent
Part 4 of 10
Open your Bibles to Genesis 37. If you need a Bible, raise your hand. If you get a Bible from us, it's page 20. We're going to look at Genesis 37 to 50 and Daniel 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. As always, we'll be looking at character studies—Joseph, Daniel, and the boys. God is the one who is our focus here.
Genesis 37:2 says, "These are the records of the generation of Jacob." Now, I'll tell you what we're going to do today: chapters 37, 38, and 39.
The Structure of Our Study
Chapter 38, if you're reading through, is almost like a parenthetical insert. It's Joseph, then Judah, then all Joseph's story played out. Chapter 38 is a 20-year overview of the life of Judah. It's really important in the overall story, not just of Joseph or Jacob or the boys, but of redemption. Through Judah comes the line that leads us to Jesus.
It's a great story. If you read through there, it is X-rated. If we were to make a movie out of chapter 38, it's got some sick, dark stuff in it, and Judah's in the middle of it. But the rest of the story, as we get to the end of the book of Genesis about Judah, is a story of redemption and forgiveness. The majority of Judah, we're going to look at in the last week of the study. I've made about as much reference to it as I will. So I'm going to really focus, though there's this bigger story, on Joseph.
Joseph: A Man for All Seasons
Let me just read you a quote from the introduction of the commentary that James Boyce writes. He said, "If ever there was a man for all seasons, it's Joseph. Joseph's life spanned the social spectrum of the ancient world. Raised as a future heir of the wealthy Jewish patriarch, he fell into slavery in the far-off Gentile land, but later rose to a position of prominence as second-in-command only to Pharaoh. He was loved and hated, favored and abused, tempted and trusted, exalted and abased."
"Yet at no point—and this becomes really important—at no point in the 110-year life of Joseph did he ever seem to get his eyes off God or cease to trust Him. Adversity did not harden his character. Prosperity didn't ruin him. He was the same in private as in public. He was truly a great man. The single greatest characteristic of Joseph was his absolute faithfulness to God under all circumstances."
That's what we're going to look at. The challenge is significant. When Neil taught Genesis chapter 37, he spent four weeks in that chapter. I have no idea how long in 39—maybe another three or four weeks. So he spent seven weeks in this section we're going to spend a week on. When I taught it as an overview, I spent a week in chapter 37 and a week in chapter 39. We have to get a lot crammed in here in 38 minutes.
Building a Series
Each of these lessons is designed to be a standalone. So if you just came here today and you're going back to Duluth tomorrow, and you're thinking, "I'm not going to be here for the rest of the series," you can get a lot out of this. But I think as much as any series we've ever done, this really will build each week. We literally, on the video, at the end of weeks one, two, and three could put "to be continued."
What I want to do is give you an overview of chapters 37 and 39, and then pull some practical points out. I'll do some as we go, and then give five summary points.
What makes this even more complicated is your familiarity with these chapters. Some of you have read this in Hebrew. Some of you have memorized it. Some of you are fluent in it. Some of you have read it. Some of you couldn't find it. So I'm trying to figure out how much we can assume and how much needs to be detailed. This is really difficult. You should walk out thinking, "Boy, there's a lot there that we didn't get to." And if that's your assessment, the answer is yes. There's a lot we didn't get to.
The Drama of Joseph's Story
But I think I can do a pretty good job of hitting the high points and applying it as we go. I don't want to make it a study of just Joseph and not apply it to us. It's an amazing story. I just made this list: wealth, betrayal, survival, success, seduction, perseverance, triumph, reconciliation, restoration.
So you're going to learn a lot about Joseph, but you're going to learn a lot about yourself, and you're going to learn a lot about God. In Joseph's life, there is that penthouse, outhouse, penthouse, outhouse, penthouse moment. What you see is that in those inevitable, tough times in life as well as the successful times in life, you see the faithfulness of this man, but you see the faithfulness of God.
The Biblical Foundation
So often, when we teach through the New Testament and we come to certain truths, we'll illustrate them through the Old Testament. Nowhere would there be more of this link than here. Romans chapter 8, verse 28: "And we know God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose." Nowhere could we illustrate that any better than in the life of Joseph, or Daniel, for that matter.
Joseph's Favored Status
Here's the story. Verse three tells us that Israel—that's Jacob—loved Joseph more than his sons because he was the son of his old age, and he made a varied colored tunic for him. Jacob had a favorite wife, Rachel, and Joseph was his firstborn son of that relationship. He was a favorite for him.
It wasn't just that Jacob had this internally. My mom, here you go, we'll use my mom. There's four boys. My mom's favorite is my brother, John. For years she would never admit it until one night she kind of acknowledged it. That's not hurtful to me because I knew that anyway. If I were my own parent, I wouldn't like me. John was easiest, John was the smartest, John was the best.
But it's one thing if your kid kind of is your favorite and you know it. It's another thing if you give him a little pendant that says, "I'm dad's favorite." Well, that's what this coat was. It's a long-sleeved garment, probably all the way down to his ankles, and it's very ornamental and just showed for the boy. I think the only passing of personal property of land that we see in Jacob's life is to Joseph. So this is the favorite. And the other boys knew it.
Now, they weren't as sophisticated as I am. They simply hated him. Verse four: his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all of them. They saw it probably in the way he talked about him and treated him, but every day they saw that coat—it was a reminder, he's dad's favorite. They hated him. In fact, they couldn't speak to him on friendly terms.
The Deeper Issue Behind the Hatred
Several of the commentators point out that it might have been, in a sense, for good reason that Joseph was dad's favorite, and that their hatred might have been deeper than the favoritism. It might have been that Joseph's existence, and in a sense, his goodness, his godliness, his faithfulness was an offense to them personally because it exposed their sin. They looked at him and said, in their own mind, "We know what we are, he's not that, this is awful."
It's the same thing that we saw when we looked at John chapter three, verse 19. The light of the world came into the world—that's Jesus—and He exposes the darkness. He exposes the sin. He exposes the challenges and the difficulties and the evilness that's in their life, and that could be the extent that Joseph had in their life.
Joseph's Dreams
Joseph has two dreams, and they're very similar. He has these dreams, but doesn't keep them to himself. He shares them. We see the one that's in verse 7: they're binding sheaves in the field, and one rose up, and the other stood erect, and the others look around, and they bow down before it. His brothers say, "Wait a minute, are you going to reign over us? Is this what's going to happen?"
Then he has another one in verse 9: "Lo, I still have another dream, and behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars are bowing down to me." He related it to his father and his brothers. His father rebuked him and said, "What is this dream that you've had? Shall I and your mother and your brothers actually come and bow down around you?"
On the surface, you'd be very critical. Joseph, be pragmatic and say, "Listen, little man, if you're going to have these dreams, keep them to yourself. Use your head. Tell dad, don't tell anybody else." There's another way to look at that, and it's to say Joseph knew this was from God, and is in a sense doing a favor by communicating to mom and dad and brothers that this is what God's going to do. This is what's going to play itself out in the future. "I've got a message from God. I'm convinced it's from Him, and because of that, I really feel compelled to share this with you."
It doesn't matter. The practical ramification of it: father stopped and contemplated it. That's what we learned in verse 11, but the brothers weren't.
The Root of Bitterness
Now, look at the progression. There's a term that we find in the New Testament, and the idea of the root of bitterness. Look at verse 4: the brothers hated him. Verse 5: they hated him even more. Verse 8: they hated him even more. Verse 11: they're jealous of him.
When we looked at the book of Galatians, we talked about the fruit of the Spirit. We talked about the fruit of the flesh. The deeds of the flesh are evident: immorality and sorcery, but also strife, jealousy, disputes, anger. When Paul is writing to the church at Ephesus in Ephesians chapter 4, verse 31, he talks about us getting rid of things, and he said, "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and slander be put away, along with all malice."
It's something that gets into you, and it takes root, and then it begins to boil, and it becomes outward. It becomes verbal, and ultimately it becomes violent. There's a sense of what's going on in this experience right here. The boys are mad. They hate him. They get more mad, and more mad, and now they're jealous, but there's kind of a restraining factor in this, and that's the presence of Jacob.
The Opportunity for Violence
The boys really have no way, understanding that he's dad's favorite, they have no way of really manifesting this anger until verse 12. The brothers are in the pasture with their father's flock at Shechem, and then Jacob decides unwisely that he's going to send Joseph on a reconnaissance trip, and say, "Go gather information, if you would, about the boys, about their efforts, how that's going." So he goes on this mission, and he's in the valley of Hebron, and he comes to Shechem, and he found a man.
He said, "Here's what I'm looking for. I'm looking for the boys. I got a bunch of sheep. You should know them, easy to recognize." And he said, "No, no, no, they went on to Dothan."
So what he's done is he's traveled 20 miles, and 30 miles away means like 50 miles away from home now. So he's in a land minus the protection of his father, and where the boys are free to respond without, at least in their mind, the restraint of what dad might do.
The Brothers Plot Against Joseph
Verse 18: "When they, that's the boys, saw him, Joseph, at a distance, and before he came close to them, they plotted against him and said, 'Let's put him to death.'" And then they said to one another, verse 19, "Here comes the dreamer."
Let me hit the pause button. Let's do a little application, because here's what they did. They just saw Joseph, and that's the first thing that came to their mind. When you're walking down the hallway at work, and there's people coming the other way, what do they say to one another when you come walking at them? "Here comes the..." What is it you want them to say? And to the extent that you have these things you want them to say, what are you doing to ensure that they would be able to say it?
When we get in here one day, and we're doing your memorial service, and we pass around the microphone, and people have the opportunity to share, what do you want them to say about you? Without having to lie, because it's like, you know, everybody says good things at a memorial service. You never go, "You know what, I'm kind of glad he's gone."
A Personal Illustration
We had a guy that we used to know and work with, and he had a habit of correcting you. He would, you would use a word, and he would point out how you've used it incorrectly. And I don't do that so much. I do it with certain phrases, like with Sandy. Early on, Sandy said to me, "I love you 110%," and I said, "You know, that means nothing to me now, because 110% is impossible." She said, "Well that's all right, I meant 10%." I mean, it degenerated, but she'll use that phrase. "I hate that, he gave 110% of effort." I doubt they gave a hundred percent, but they certainly couldn't give 110% by definition, so why are you cluttering, losing credibility with me, as you insert that into a conversation?
So periodically, I'll do things like that, but this guy would distinguish between words, and verbs, and tenses. And here's what I discovered: apparently was a far more endearing quality after he was gone than when he was alive, because we heard about this quirkiness at the funeral. And I was sitting next to a friend, and said, "It wasn't all that charming."
At the funeral, what do you want them to say, positively, without lying, and then what are you doing to make that happen? What do they say? What's that first reaction when they see you? In the course of a conversation, now with caller ID, phone rings, your name pops up—BAM—what do they think? How often does it ring once, and then that's it, which means they decline? "Oh, Tom Schrader, decline." How often does that happen?
The Brothers' Plot Unfolds
Back to the story. "Here comes the dreamer," and when he comes, they said, "Let us kill him, and throw him into one of the pits, and we'll say that a wild animal devoured him."
Verse 21: "Reuben heard this, and rescued him out of their hands, and said, 'Let's not take his life.'" And his plan is to put him in this pit, and then return, and get him out, take him back to dad. And it looks noble. If it's truly noble, he'd take a stand and say, he's the oldest, he'd take a stand and go, "Here's what this is." He could take the stand and he could literally come and he could say, "No, let's stop, let's not do it." But he's going to come back and retrieve him and probably gain favor with dad. But by the time he's done that, the story has taken a different twist.
The Tunic Torn Away
So he comes, and they lay hands on him, verse 23, and they strip Joseph of his tunic, the multicolored tunic that was on him. Oh, but they loved that moment, to be able to tear that away, to be able to take that away. But I imagine there wasn't much left of the tunic, because they started ripping at that.
Here's what's semi-pathological: then they sat down and ate. Apparently, whatever they were doing, and it was disaster, it was really a dastardly deed, even in the midst of it, apparently, they had no problem eating. They had taken and they'd thrown him into a pit. The pit was empty. There wasn't any water. And they sat down and ate.
Joseph's Desperate Pleas
Now, it's somewhat sketchy there, but the blanks get filled in in Genesis 42:21. The boys are confronted now. They've come back to Egypt, there's Joseph, the boys now are being thrown into prison, and their mind flies back over these decades. And here's what they said to one another: "Truly we are guilty concerning our brother, because we saw the distress of his soul, when he pleaded with us, yet we didn't listen to him, therefore this distress has come upon us."
So now, here's what we're learning. As they're taking Joseph, it's not that he just went away all of a sudden. He said, "Don't do this, this isn't right." He's pleading for his life. He's begging for mercy. But there is none.
Judah's Entrepreneurial Solution
Very American entrepreneurial Judah in verse 26 says, "Hey, what profit is it if we kill our brother and cover him up? Why don't we sell him and make a little dough on this deal?" This is Judah, by the way, same main character now that we're going to see in chapter 38.
So they devise a plan. They sell him to the Midianites as the traders are passing by. They pull him out and they lift him up and they sell him to the Ishmaelites. And what they do then is to take this tunic and they soak it in a male goat's blood and they bring it to their dad. And he examines it and his conclusion is verse 33: "A wild beast has devoured..."
Joseph surely was torn to pieces and they didn't bother in any way, shape, or form to correct him. Brothers and sisters came in to console him, but there was no consolation in this.
Meanwhile, the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the bodyguard. So to this chief, if you will, of the Secret Service—Potiphar. Now Joseph was transferred in terms of possession. He went from slavery here into slavery in a foreign land, Egypt.
Egypt was a wealthy land known for mathematics and construction. Religiously, one commentator gives us this insight: so far as its religion was concerned, it was the most ignorant and polytheistic of all the nations of the ancient world. Joseph was dropped into that.
Where Was God in Joseph's Suffering?
It would be interesting to wonder what Joseph did in this situation, and where God was in all of this. Clearly there must have been something that Joseph did wrong. Yet we're never given any indication of that at all. In fact, all we see are really good things in Joseph's life. He was certainly faithful at every twist and turn that we're going to look at when we get to chapter 39.
Joseph was taken down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an Egyptian officer of Pharaoh and captain of the bodyguard, bought him from the Ishmaelites. So we resume the story after the parenthetical insert in chapter 38. Here's where we find out where God is.
Look at verse 2: "The Lord was with Joseph." Look at verse 3: "The Lord was with Joseph." Then there's an event where Joseph is seduced, or at least Potiphar's wife attempts to seduce him, and he resists. He does everything right, and then ends up not just in jail, but in the dungeon, in the inner bowels of the prison. Verse 21: "The Lord was with Joseph." Verse 23: "The Lord is with Joseph."
God's Presence Brings Prosperity
He's not just with Joseph in some abstract way. Verse 2: "The Lord was with Joseph, so he became successful." Verse 3: "His master saw that the Lord was with Joseph and how the Lord caused all that he did to prosper in his hand." Verse 21: "The Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer." Verse 23: "The Lord was with Joseph, and whatever he did, the Lord made to prosper."
It is a giant mistake if you try to interpret your physical circumstances as being an accurate barometer of your spiritual condition. You'd stand back, look at this, and think, "Joseph, there must be something that you've done wrong." We see that human tendency manifest itself often in biblical characters. We see it in Job—"Job, you must have done something." The reality is, God's with him. God is there in the midst of what we might perceive to be very difficult circumstances. Why? Because God works in those circumstances.
Not only do they see that God is with Joseph in terms of understanding it in some religious way, it's in a very practical way, because there's a transition and a correlation between the fact that God is with Joseph and he prospers.
Your Faith as Your Greatest Asset
Let me stop and hit the pause button to do application. In your life, your greatest asset in the marketplace is your faith—an active faith, a real faith, a faith that's life-transforming. I've taught this before, but I've never made this final connection until today. I've contended for a long time that your faith, Christian faith lived out, is a great asset in the marketplace. And it's visible. That's verse 3: "His master saw this."
I went online today and typed in "what employers want in employees." I got a list—this is totally secular, not some Christian thing. Eleven characteristics. Six of them are skills in terms of ability to speak and spell and use technology. Five of them, though, are highly relational and are manifestations of a love that you would have for Christ.
Five Faith-Based Qualities Employers Want
Here are the five. First, interpersonal skills—the ability to relate well to people from diverse backgrounds. There's not a prejudice in there, because God loves people, and I love people, and the idea is to relate to them.
Second, ethical application—the ability to apply moral standards and appreciate values in the work setting. I just go to work and do what's right because it's right. I can't worry about whether everyone else cheats; I'm not going to.
Third, career planning—the cultivation of a personal sense of direction and desire for improvement, including a willingness to learn. Who's more coachable than somebody that loves Christ? Because there's humility that's all through this person.
Fourth, diversity awareness—demonstration of respect and empathy for diverse community. Think of Jesus and the woman at the well. Think of all the barriers that break down. Jesus, the great women's liberator. We should come along as we love Christ and say, "It really doesn't matter to us what color you are, or what your background might be, or what your financial standing is. We love you because you're a person."
Fifth, teamwork—the ability to encourage cooperation and collaboration and partnership. This has Christianity written all over it.
When you talk to somebody in the service industry—let me help you out in business: it's all service. I spent seven years in the hospital frequently, and I've never been in a place where the employees are more...
The Service Problem
This happened to me every time I went to the hospital. I hated this. The corridor is six feet wide. It's a thousand feet long. I'm walking down it, there's one person coming the other way, somebody on staff, and they won't say hello. I don't understand how that can happen. I don't understand it.
But let me tell you something. If you're in the hospital, that's pretty service-oriented. Everything's service-oriented. Sandy and I were at Oregano's the other night, and the place was really busy. So we got over in the corner, because it was a 45-minute wait. God does not want me waiting 45 minutes to eat an overpriced salad. At the corner of the bar, you can sit at the bar, and they get served right away if you want a salad.
So we're sitting there, and there's a server working, her name's Erin. I said, "With an E," and she goes, "And an R, and an I, and an N." I said, "Really?" So we started back and forth. She was awesome, because she said, "Are you guys just going to sit, or do you want something to eat, or are you just waiting for a table, or you're just going to have a... what do you want to do?" And I said, "I don't know." Ultimately, the menus went away, and I said, "I'd like to order. What's your employee number? Where's the card? How do I offer critique on you?" And she fired back and said, "It's at Reggito's online. Just go to service. I'm number 22."
She was great. We talk a while, and I said something, and she said something, and she said, "Young Life." I said, "Young Life? Yeah." She goes, "I'm involved in Young Life." "Oh, you're a believer?" "Yeah, yeah, yeah." And we just started talking. She meant business, but it's her personality that she manifested. If I'm Bob Reggino, this is who I want working for me, right here. This is what I'm looking for in a person. And the same thing is true of your office, I think.
Joseph's Promotion and Temptation
Here's the story. Out comes Potiphar, and Potiphar finds Joseph to be an amazing man, so he puts everything—verse six—everything is in Joseph's charge. Joseph becomes the CEO, if you will, of Potiphar Enterprises. And you know the story. Potiphar's wife then comes. She's a shy, subtle girl, so she sees Joseph and says, "Lay with me," in verse seven.
Here's my problem with this story. So often we look at it and we think of Joseph as this little, wimpy guy and who knows about Potiphar's wife. But let me bring it to life. Verse six, last sentence: "Joseph was handsome in form and appearance." So here's this virile—he hasn't been around any women here in this whole prison thing—he's virile, handsome, obviously appealing, attractive, charming. I mean, he's very winsome, fit. Who would he remind us of? Oh yeah.
Now Mrs. Potiphar doesn't say this, but it does say that about Joseph. Here's how I go with Mrs. Potiphar. Potiphar's a big guy, he's going to have a trophy wife. He's not going to have some dog that he's married to. She may not be able to spell Potiphar, but he's going to have this beautiful—I'm reading that into the story—and the minute she starts to sag and bag and drag, boom, she's gone, because he can trade them through real fast. See that? That changes the story, doesn't it?
The Persistent Temptation
So here's Joseph tending his own business, and along comes Mrs. Potiphar and says, "Lay with me," and he says no. But it's not a one-time deal. Verse 10: day after day after day after day after day. Till finally one day, verse 12, she grabs him by the garment, says, "Lay with me," and he left. He runs out, and she's there holding his tunic.
Potiphar comes home, and she says, "Listen, here's what happens, here's the charge," and verse 17, a little naggy here. "The Hebrew slave who you brought to us"—you can hear her go, "It's you, it's your fault."
Potiphar's Response
Now Potiphar—and I got that I'm outside the text a little bit, but I think I'm right—verse 19, she's rambling and rambling and rambling: "It came to pass, as she spoke to him these words, saying, 'After this manner did your servant to me,' that his wrath was kindled." Now, here's my contention: the source of his anger isn't Joseph, it's Mrs. Potiphar. I think he knows he's married to a hoe. I think he knows it.
And here's how I know that he knows it. If he believed her, what would he have done? He'd have killed Joseph. He doesn't kill Joseph. In fact, a little bit later in the story, he's going to get all hooked up in everything. I think he knows. In fact, I could even see him saying, "Joseph, I'm really sorry here. There's really nothing I can do here. I've got to do something. No, I'm not going to kill you, because you don't deserve that. But I'm going to take you"—this isn't good, but—"I'm going to take you and put you into the jail," verse 20, "into the place where the king's prisoners are confined." I'm going to put you in the bowels of the jail, worst part. It's better than killing you, that's all I can do.
Joseph's Theological Motivation
Now, there's about 88 ways to go here, but I skipped a big verse, verse nine. I skipped this big verse, because he's refusing the master, and he's pointing out, "Listen, he hasn't withheld anything from me. Nobody's greater in this whole house than me." He's talking to Mrs. Potiphar. "I couldn't do this. The only thing he's kept from me is you. You're his wife. But here's the overriding factor: How could I do this great evil and sin against God?"
See, he's not motivated just by his circumstances, but he understands it's this relationship with God that's going to drive this thing. "I can't do this. Not for Potiphar, I couldn't do it to him. But ultimately, I couldn't sin against God." See, it's that honest, fair, in our case, biblical theology that sustains Him and perseveres, allows Him to persevere in the midst of really difficult circumstances.
Let me tell you, I could see myself going two ways on this thing. One, I'd be going, "Wow, look at—"
Understanding Joseph's Unprecedented Temptation
There's not a guy around that's not going to understand this. If I get caught at all, there's nobody here. It's possible that nobody will ever tell. And certainly after once or twice or three, but day after day, come on, and then there's nobody here. You can hear him say, "Listen, Joseph, nobody's ever going to know. I'm not going to tell you, you're going to tell nobody?"
So I could see him cave at that point, or I'd see myself cave at that point, but he doesn't. If I got to that moment, I'm not sure I could handle what comes next. Now I'm in prison.
The Natural Response to Injustice
So as they're dragging me to prison, I can hear the discussion in my mind going, "This is interesting, God. So let's review. I'm my dad's favorite because I'm the one faithful one out of all these boys. So all I did was communicate the dream, what You communicated to me. All I did was communicate that to them. And they put me in slavery. Then I get to Egypt, didn't do anything there. I'm in slavery. I work hard. He can see the manifestation of that. This comes about. Apparently following You isn't very beneficial. Certainly not good for a career move. And not very satisfying."
But I'm pretty sure that Joseph didn't respond that way. Let me give you five points. I'll expand that one as kind of the close.
Point One: Theology Affects Behavior
Number one, theology affects behavior. Because look what happens next. He's in jail, verse 21. "But the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer. And the chief jailer committed to Joseph's charge all the prisoners who were in the jail so that whatever was done there, he was responsible for it. And the chief jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph's charge because the Lord was with him."
Joseph understood God. He didn't necessarily understand exactly what God was doing at this moment. But here's what I know. There's no record of him complaining. There wasn't any complaining. There wasn't any pouting. There wasn't any self-pity.
How do I know? Because that's not very winsome. And whatever it was about Joseph, Potiphar saw it, the chief jailer saw it. If he was down there pouting and accusations and all this, he's not going to put him in charge of everything.
Point Two: His Suffering Has Purpose
Here's the second thing. His suffering has purpose. I've started writing a bunch of stuff about suffering, but suffering and hardship doesn't mean that God's somehow abandoned you. But He's allowing you to see Him in the midst of it. Suffering allows us to see God work.
And we know God causes all things to work together for good. The whole perseverance part. Count it all joy when you encounter various trials knowing that testing of your faith produces endurance. So how do I grow? How do I get strong? Well, I get to see God work. Work through suffering and pain and hardship, and the end result is perseverance. Stick-to-itiveness. It's the suffering that builds character.
Point Three: Faith Is Obviously Visible and Attractive
Here's the third point. Faith is obviously visible and it's attractive. By the way, we see that really throughout Scripture often, but I thought of, as I'm trying to think, okay, there must be another illustration I can go to pretty quickly of that. I thought of the book of Philippians where Paul's in jail and he's chained to the jailers all day and he writes this, Philippians 1:12. "Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel, so my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well-known throughout the whole Praetorian Guard and everyone else."
So now God's using this whole thing to expand the gospel. He says way more than that, and that most of the brethren trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear, he said, and my imprisonment has encouraged the brothers.
This faith, Potiphar sees it, the chief jailer sees it, and they're not repelled by it. Here's what they say: "I don't want your God, but I want the benefits of your God. I'm not interested in worshiping your God, but I'll let you do that for me. You come and you work for me."
Point Four: Time Is Your Ally
Here's the fourth thing, that time is your ally. There's a period of time that's covered here, of decades, that we see in Joseph's life. We tend to think of time as our enemy.
Sandy and I, we're talking about the difference between getting married at 22 and 62, and we were just talking about it. It's very different. You're 22, you're planning your life, you're planning your future, you're thinking about this. I didn't mention, but Sienna and I are going to try to have a family. No, are you kidding? Are you think I'm nuts? I'd have kept a dog if I wanted that. Out of your mind?
But so we're talking about it, like all those things that you talk about that take like a long time. All we got to do is make sure when we go into a town we know where the hospital is. I mean, that's all I got to do. I don't even know anything else. And so I've had some very serious conversations, because she's 15 years younger than I am, and I told her actuarially, and I'm not a healthy... Did I mention I stared death? I stared death right in the face earlier this month, and really subsequently, but I don't want to talk about it.
But I'm saying, you know, Sandy, let me just tell you, because I know what that's like, that's really hard, because you're going to be like the provider. And she said, "It's really weird. At 22, you're kind of planning your future. At 62, ain't kind of planning your death."
So I really love Sandy, and I really enjoy being with her. And like, if I ever regret, I'm kind of going, my biological clock is ticking here. But time is your ally. Remember the old saying? Most people overestimate what they can do in a day, and underestimate
What they can do in a decade. Everything has a way of evening out, as God works through things at His pace.
God's Economy is Different Than Ours
Here's the last obvious point. God's economy is clearly different than ours. Joseph is succeeding. Really? He's in jail. Yeah, in God's economy. Now, man also sees the prosperity around him in that limited sense. But you made the argument, how successful can he be? I mean, this isn't what I call success.
It might not be, but it's what God calls success. By the way, Joseph's not at a scary place. He's at the safest place he can be, because he's right where God wants Him. Remember what I said in the beginning? To be continued? We'll just build on that all the way along, through these entire four weeks.
Father, thank You for that truth. And we look at Joseph. We know that we see his life, and there's so many parallels in ours. Let us be faithful, in the midst of adversity, and challenges, and difficulties. God, we love You. We worship You. We pray that You would work in our life, the way You worked in Joseph's life. We pray that in Christ's name, amen.