Connection & Consequences

Scripture: Genesis 37:12-36

Video Link: https://youtu.be/dOELw8qLQqU

Structure:

• Introduction
• God’s providence
• The brothers’ deceit
• Joseph’s innocence
• Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

Leonardo da Vinci is quoted as saying…

Learn how to see. Realise that everything connects to everything else.

There is truth in this statement I believe. Everything on this planet is connected. We are part of a complex eco system, part of a global economic system, part of a diverse human culture, part of a long history and part of a web of relationships that is all inter-connected.  

And those connections have consequences. For example, if we put plastic into the ocean, that plastic gets into the food chain which eventually gets into our bodies and affects our health.

If there is a natural disaster in New Zealand or overseas, then we feel an outpouring of compassion for those who have suffered loss. We also feel pain in our pocket as our insurance premiums go up.

If there is a war on the other side of the world, countries are inevitably forced to choose sides. Then before long food and oil shortages drive up commodity prices, making life tougher for everyone.

If someone in your family gets sick or goes to prison or dies, then that places more stress and pressure on the rest of the family. And if the family buckles under the pressure, then the fabric of the community suffers for it.

There are also spiritual connections. Connections we cannot see or understand that have real consequences. Without the sustaining connection of God’s Holy Spirit, life as we know it would collapse.    

I could go on, but you get the point. Everything is connected. What happens to one part has very real consequences for the other parts.

Today we continue our series on the life of Joseph, focusing on Genesis 37:12-36. This passage is full of connections and consequences. We just need to learn to see. From Genesis 37, verse 12 we read…

¹² Now Joseph’s brothers had gone to graze their father’s flocks near Shechem, ¹³ and Israel said to Joseph, “As you know, your brothers are grazing the flocks near Shechem. Come, I am going to send you to them.”

“Very well,” he replied. ¹⁴ So he said to him, “Go and see if all is well with your brothers and with the flocks, and bring word back to me.” Then he sent him off from the Valley of Hebron.

When Joseph arrived at Shechem, ¹⁵ a man found him wandering around in the fields and asked him, “What are you looking for?” ¹⁶ He replied, “I’m looking for my brothers. Can you tell me where they are grazing their flocks?”

¹⁷ “They have moved on from here,” the man answered. “I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them near Dothan. ¹⁸ But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.

¹⁹ “Here comes that dreamer!” they said to each other. ²⁰ “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.”

²¹ When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. “Let’s not take his life,” he said. ²² “Don’t shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him.”

Reuben said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father. ²³ So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the ornate robe he was wearing – ²⁴ and they took him and threw him into the cistern. The cistern was empty; there was no water in it.

²⁵ As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt. ²⁶ Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? ²⁷ Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.” His brothers agreed. ²⁸ So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekelsof silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.

²⁹ When Reuben returned to the cistern and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes. ³⁰ He went back to his brothers and said, “The boy isn’t there! Where can I turn now?”

³¹ Then they got Joseph’s robe, slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. ³² They took the ornate robe back to their father and said, “We found this. Examine it to see whether it is your son’s robe.”

³³ He recognized it and said, “It is my son’s robe! Some ferocious animal has devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces.” ³⁴ Then Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for his son many days. ³⁵ All his sons and daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “No,” he said, “I will continue to mourn until I join my son in the grave.” So his father wept for him.

³⁶ Meanwhile, the Midianitessold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard.

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s Word for us.

Last week we heard about God’s election and God’s revelation. This week’s reading shows us a series of connections and consequences.

In particular, the text draws connections with God’s providence, the brothers’ deceit and Joseph’s innocence. Let’s begin with God’s providence.

God’s Providence:

Some years ago, at the Wellington airport, there was a portrait of Peter Jackson made out of 2,000 pieces of toast, all organised to make a coherent image. Every piece of toast, even the burnt ones, found a purpose in the hands of Maurice Bennett, the artist.

Although we cannot see the artist in the picture, we know there is an artist because the picture makes sense. Toast cannot arrange itself in a meaningful pattern like this. The presence of the artist is revealed in the way the details are connected.  

Although God is not mentioned in today’s reading, we know God is present because, when we zoom out to look at the bigger picture, we see God’s providence.

God’s providence is a term that refers to God’s care and provision for creation. God works with the choices we make (both good and bad) to provide for his creation. God has a way of connecting the dots to give meaning and coherence to our lives.

Augustine has a lovely quote: Trust the past to God’s mercy, the present to God’s love and the future to God’s providence.

We may not be able to see it right now, but God is at work putting things in place and creating connections that will provide for our future.  

We see many providential connections in Genesis 37, which God’s uses to get Joseph to Egypt where the Lord will use Joseph to save millions from starvation.

In verse 12 we read how most of Jacob’s sons had gone with their father’s flock to Shechem.

Now Shechem was a strange place for Jacob’s sons to go really. It was like returning to the scene of the crime. For it was at Shechem that some of Jacob’s sons had massacred a number of people.

Naturally, Jacob would be feeling a bit anxious about his sons returning to a place where they had made enemies. So, Jacob sends Joseph to check that his family are okay.  

In his providence, God uses Jacob’s anxiety as part of the process of getting Joseph to Egypt.  

We see another seemingly random connection in verses 15-17.

Jacob sent Joseph from Hebron to Shechem, which would have meant roughly a four day walk for Joseph. And when Joseph gets to Shechem his brothers are nowhere to be found.

So, there he is, walking around in a lonely part of the countryside when a complete stranger finds him and asks what he is looking for. Joseph says he’s looking for his brothers, and guess what? The stranger just happens to know where Joseph’s brothers are.

We have to ask ourselves, what are the chances of that happening? Pretty slim I would think. Half an hour either way and Joseph probably wouldn’t have met this joker.

By including this detail of Joseph’s ‘chance’ encounter with the stranger the writer means for us to see the hand of God at work here, making sure connections are made.

When Joseph’s brothers see him coming in the distance, they conspire to murder him. They hate Joseph and want to kill his dream. But Reuben intervenes to save Joseph.

Reuben was the eldest son. He had made the mistake of sleeping with one of his stepmothers, that is, one of his father’s wives. So there was a cloud hanging over him. But God still used Reuben to save Joseph’s life, even though things did not go exactly the way Reuben planned.  

While Reuben is gone, Judah suggests selling Joseph to some merchants.

It’s interesting that the slave traders turn up at just the right moment, on their way to Egypt. Interesting also that these merchants just happen to be Ishmaelites and Midianites, cousins of Jacob. Another connection.

God, being the artist he is, chooses to weave other descendants of Abraham into his broader plan of salvation. In today’s terms, it would be like God getting Jews and Arabs to work together to save the Americans.  

God’s providence keeps popping up throughout the Joseph story, but Joseph and his family were not aware of it until after the fact. God’s providence is often only visible in the rear vision mirror.  

As you look back on your life, so far, can you see God’s providence?

Can you see the connections the Lord has made to provide for you?

Are you aware of the consequences of those connections?

Of course, we need to avoid extremes. On the one hand it is not helpful to try and read God’s providence into every little thing that happens. On the other hand, we don’t want to deny the possibility that God is at work in the very things we think are hopeless.  

The Brothers’ Deceit:

Right alongside God’s providence, in today’s reading, we have the brothers’ deceit. After Joseph was sold into slavery his brothers come up with a scheme to hide the truth from their father.

They kill a goat, like a sacrifice, or a scapegoat for themselves and they dip Joseph’s robe in the goat’s blood. Then they show it to their father Jacob.

Notice how crafty the brothers are in doing this. They don’t lie directly to their father. They simply show Jacob the blood-stained coat and allow him to draw his own conclusions.

And Jacob figures the most likely scenario is that Joseph was mauled to death by wild animals.

Like most parents, Jacob reveals a certain blindness here. Jacob does not think for a moment that his sons could be to blame for Joseph’s disappearance. Which is extraordinary. Does he not remember what they did at Shechem? Does he not realise how much they hate Joseph.   

So often we see what we want to see. We deceive ourselves by making the connections we want to make. It’s a self-protection thing.

Those who are familiar with Jacob’s origin story may see a connection here. Jacob is reaping what he sowed. Just as Jacob had taken advantage of his father Isaac’s physical blindness in order to steal the birthright from Esau, so too Jacob’s sons take advantage of their father’s emotional blindness in order to hide what they have done to Joseph.

Connections come with consequences. But not all connections are the same. The closer the connection, the more deeply we feel the consequence. They say a parent is only as happy as their unhappiest child. If your son or daughter is suffering, then you feel it too.

The brothers did not see this connection or realise the consequences for their father. By leading Jacob to believe that Joseph was dead, the brothers put their father in another kind of pit. The pit of grief. Jacob entered into a long depression, refusing to be comforted. Our words and actions have very real consequences for those around us.

The brothers remind us of the religious leaders of Jesus’ day. Pretending to be one thing when all the time they were something else. Jesus was scathing in his rebuke of their hypocrisy.

Jesus understood the damage deceit can cause. Dishonesty destroys trust and trust is essential to abundant life. Trust is the foundation of right relationship. Without trust our relationships collapse. Without trust we feel alone and anxious.     

Joseph’s Innocence:

Like a light in the darkness, Joseph’s innocence stands out against the backdrop of the brothers’ deceit.  

One of the qualities of light is silence. Light makes no sound. You can see it and feel it, but you cannot hear it.

Strangely, the text gives more attention to the brothers’ deceit than it does to Joseph’s innocence. How often is that the way. The naughty kids get most of the attention while the good kids are overlooked.

We see Joseph’s innocence in the way he obeys his father in going to look for his brothers. And we see his innocence in the charges the brothers bring against him. Joseph’s only crime (and it is no crime at all) is being the favourite and having a dream.

Once Joseph catches up with his brothers, we don’t hear a word out of him. The writer of Genesis leaves Joseph’s ordeal to the reader’s imagination.

Joseph was quite young, still a teenager. He was outnumbered by grown men who, to his complete surprise, mug him, strip him of his clothing and throw him into a pit in the ground. He is left there, in the dark, confused, sore, thirsty, terrified and crying for help.

We know that Joseph was distressed in the pit because later in the story, in chapter 42, Joseph’s brothers recall how they had ignored his cries for help. All those years later they could still remember it.  

By silencing Joseph, at this point, the author is highlighting Joseph’s powerlessness. The boy has no say in the matter. He is forced. Joseph is innocent. He has done nothing wrong and yet he is being severely mistreated. This is a circumstance outside of his control.

It is a well-documented fact that most abuse happens within families. Joseph’s experience mirrors that of millions of innocent children down through the ages. And millions more who have been trafficked and sold into slavery.

If you are not safe with your family, then where are you safe?

If you cannot trust your family, then who can you trust?  

Joseph’s ordeal at the hands of his brothers draws some clear connections with Jesus’ suffering…

Like Joseph, Jesus was the subject of a murder plot.

Like Joseph, Jesus was betrayed by those close to him.

Like Joseph, Jesus was sold for a bag of silver.

Like Joseph, Jesus was innocent.

Like Joseph, Jesus was stripped of his robe.

Like Joseph, Jesus cried out.

And like Joseph, Jesus went down into the ground.

Unlike Joseph though, Jesus didn’t just die in people’s imaginations. Jesus actually died, physically, and was raised to life again.

Conclusion:

Who do you identify with most in this story of Joseph and his brothers?

What connections do you draw with your own experience?

Perhaps like the stranger in the wilderness you are oblivious to the part you play in God’s providence. May the Lord give you eyes to see that your life has consequence. What you do matters.   

Or maybe, like Joseph’s brothers, you have done some terrible things. Things you wish no one to ever find out. Things you now regret. May the Lord hear your confession and help you to make amends.

Or perhaps, like Jacob, you have dared to love greatly and are paying the price in grief. May the Lord heal your pain and restore your joy.   

Or maybe, like Joseph, you have suffered great injustice at the hands of people you should have been able to trust. May the Lord lift you out of the pit and set you free. Amen.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?

• Discuss / reflect on the quote: ‘Learn how to see. Realise that everything connects to everything else’. What connections and consequences are you aware of at the moment?  

• What is providence? How might we recognise God’s providence? Can you think of an example of God’s providence at work in your own life? What happened as a consequence?  

• What are the consequences of the brothers’ deceit? E.g. the consequences for Jacob? And the consequences for the brothers’ themselves?

• Why is deceit so damaging? What is the remedy for deceit?

• Discuss / reflect on the ways Joseph’s experience connects with Jesus’ experience.

• Who do you identify with most in Genesis 37:12-36 and why?