This sermon delves into the lives of Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph as portrayed in Genesis, highlighting themes of arranged marriages by God, fatherly concerns for children's marriages, the importance of seeking God's guidance in relationships, the sovereignty of God in fulfilling His plans despite human jealousy and evil intentions, the need to flee from temptation, and the significance of storing up spiritual riches in times of plenty to sustain us in times of famine. It emphasizes the faithfulness of Joseph in the face of trials, the importance of respecting parents, and the redemptive work of God even in the midst of human failures and betrayals.

We want to continue our study in Genesis. We have got as far as Genesis 24. We are more or less finished with the life of Abraham and just this concluding part where we begin with the life of Isaac and in this session we want to look at the lives of Isaac, Jacob and Joseph. First of all in Genesis 24, it's a very long chapter, 67 verses, one of the longest chapters in the, perhaps the longest I'm not sure, in the book of Genesis and it's all that it describes is how Abraham arranged for a wife for Isaac. There are many marriages mentioned in scripture but only two marriages which we know definitely were from God. One was Adam's, there's no doubt about that, that his wife was God's choice and the second was Isaac's. His wife was God's choice as we read in Genesis 24 and people ask me do you believe in arranged marriages? I said yes. Marriage is arranged by God. That may be through parents, it may be without parents but it must be arranged marriage, arranged by God. The one thing I see in, you see both are valid. In Adam's case he had no father to arrange a marriage for him so God took care of that. In Isaac's case he had a father to arrange for him so both are valid but the important thing I want you to notice here is that Abraham had a concern for his son and if you're a godly father you will have a concern for your children's marriages and if you are fortunate enough to have a godly father I would say to you consider his advice very seriously. It's different if the father is a heathen or unbeliever, even there we must respect them though they may not understand why we choose, why we stand for choosing a believer but where your father is a godly man I would encourage you to seriously consider if he says no because God may test you there. Sometimes the no may be only for a period and God tests you to see whether you're willing to bow under authority but what I see here is that Abraham sent Eliezer and picked the wife. It's a picture of God the Father sending the Holy Spirit into the earth to pick a bride for his son Jesus Christ. It's what's happening in the world today that's why this is such a long chapter. I don't have to go I don't have time to go into it in detail but look at it like that and you'll see some beautiful illustrations there of how Rebecca was a modest hard-working girl. You know one of the tests which Eliezer used was to see will she be willing to offer water to my camels. Do you know how much water a camel drinks? It's quite a problem and what Eliezer the servant was testing was is this girl a gracious hard-working girl. That's the type of wife you need. That's the type of bride God looks for and he sovereignly led to her and he takes her from there on that long journey which took probably four weeks all the way back to Canaan from Mesopotamia and what do you think Eliezer was talking to Rebecca about during that journey? Isaac. What do you think the Holy Spirit wants to talk to you about during this long journey before the marriage? He wants to talk to you about Jesus, not about doctrine, not about the wealth of Abraham, not how wonderful heaven is going to be. I'm sure Rebecca wanted to hear about Isaac and I want to hear about Jesus from the Holy Spirit in this long journey till one day I shall see him face to face like Rebecca saw Isaac and I shall enter into his tent and I shall be his wife for all eternity. Do you have that longing? Think about that when you read this chapter. In chapter 25 we read of Isaac getting married and for many years, for 20 years at least I think, she was barren. Isaac's wife Rebecca, you know, you get a wife whom God has chosen for you and then you have problems. You have problems when you got a wife from God? Barren? When you find that God has led you somewhere and then you get problems? That doesn't mean it was not God's leading in the beginning. It means you got to pray. It says Isaac prayed verse 21, 25-21 because she was barren and the Lord answered him and she conceived and the Lord said there are two nations in your womb and then we read that twins were born and it says here about Jacob that he came out grabbing his brother's heel, verse 26. They were twins, you know, and it says they were struggling together, verse 22. I mean normally babies lie quietly in the womb but it's very different here. This chap Jacob, his struggle started inside the womb itself. He really wanted to, he dashed for the exit to come out first, missed it, the other fellow got in first, grabbed his heel. That was Jacob. That was a man who finally God chose to be his servant, an example for us, a weak man, a grabbing man like we grab for earthly things. But you see that right at the beginning. They called him Jacob, meaning grabber. They saw him coming out grabbing this, we call him grabber. So his name was grabber and it says here in the boys grew up, verse 27. Now you know the story. I don't want to go to the details of this story but the thing I want you to notice here is that Isaac was not as wise a father as Abraham and that often happens. You have a godly father and then he has a son and the son grows up and the son, when his turn comes, he's not such a godly father. Because we find here partiality in the home. Isaac is on Esau's side and Rebecca is on Jacob's side. The best way to split a home. You know why Esau and Jacob became such enemies? Because of partiality in the home. One parent favored one son and the other parent favored the other son and so they became jealous of each other and no doubt it separated Isaac and Rebecca too. They were supposed to be together. What a beautiful marriage they had. Beware of partiality towards your children and not only that, the reason for the partiality. It says in verse 28, Isaac had a taste for good food and he liked the venison, the deer that Esau brought. Jacob was not such a clever hunter so he couldn't care less for him. Imagine being attracted to a son because of food, because the fellow can go and hunt. Isaac doesn't come forth as a worthy son of his father. It was that love for food and partiality that caused problems and you know how Jacob got the birthright at once. Now we read something further about Isaac that in chapter 26, verse 7, Isaac was living in Gerar and the men of the place asked him about his wife and Rebecca was a pretty girl and he says the same thing that his father said. She's my sister. You know the characteristics in a father are very often reproduced in the children. Sometimes you see someone and you say hey he looks just like his dad. That's right. He looks just like his dad and here you find he behaves just like his dad. That's it. His father had said this is my sister concerning his wife. Isaac says the same thing and Isaac is rebuked by this man. What is this you have done? It's almost a similar story to what happened in his father's case. 2610 and then we read further. Not only did he follow his dad's example in the bad things. Here's the good part of it. He followed his dad's example in the good things as well. We read of a time in verse 18 of Isaiah, Genesis 26, that Isaac dug the wells which his father had dug and which the Philistines had closed up. They were his wells. His father had dug them. It takes a lot of effort to dig a well. He must have taken a lot more effort those days and it belonged to his him. The one who dug the well, it belonged to them. But the Philistines had closed them all up after Abraham died. Isaac opened it up again and gave them the same names that Abraham gave and the Philistines, the herdsmen of Gerar quaddled just like Lot's servants quaddled with Abraham's servants. It's almost a similar situation. Verse 20, they said the water is ours. So they went and asked Isaac. Isaac said let them have it. Yeah, a godly son of a godly father who made mistakes just like his father. That's our encouragement but who did not grab. Then they dug another well. Verse 21, they quaddled over that one also. They came to Isaac and said these fellows are fighting for the second well we dug. Isaac said let them have it and he moved away and he dug another well and for this they were ashamed by now. They didn't quarrel and so he named it Rehoboth saying the Lord has made room for us and we shall be fruitful in the land. I want you to think of that phrase, Rehoboth. The Lord has made room for us. I did not make room for myself. I did not push people out and make room for myself. I gave up my rights and the Lord made room for me and we shall be fruitful. This is the way to build Jerusalem. This is a stream that begins with Abraham, Isaac and goes on to Jacob and Joseph and on but this is the principle. I don't fight. I don't grab. I say let the worldlings and the worldly Christians have what they want. I will take what's left over and from the leftovers God will make room for me and I will be fruitful in the land and those fellows who got Sodom and Gomorrah and everything else and all these wells, they'll be barren. This is God's way. The way of Jerusalem is the way of giving up and giving up and giving up. The way of Babylon is the way of grabbing and grabbing and remember Jacob was a grabber and he had to be converted before he could become Israel if he was to continue that stream of Jerusalem otherwise he would have built Babylon. These are important principles that we find in this book of Genesis that apply to us today. You know the number of people who are seeking for position and honor in churches to be elders. In our churches I have said to the elders of our churches I said the number one qualification to be an elder is that you don't want to be an elder and you are thoroughly convinced that you don't deserve to be an elder. You don't want it. The Lord makes room for you then you'll be fruitful. If you make room for yourself you will never be fruitful. That's for sure and we read in chapter 26 verse 30 this man who was his enemy who comes to him and says we see plainly verse 28 the Lord's been with you he made a feast for him. That is God's way. God's men make feasts for their enemies. If your enemy is hungry feed him. That is the way in Jerusalem. We read in verse 34 and 35 when Esau was 40 years old Isaac's son he married Judith the daughter of Beriah the Hittite and Basimath and the daughter of Elon the Hittite and they brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah. There we see something Isaac was not as careful as Abraham to find a partner for his son. He just allowed his son to do what he liked. He had spoiled Esau. He was more interested in the food that Esau brought, the venison, the beer and the most important thing a wife. Esau chose for himself and they brought grief to their parents. These are warnings in Scripture for us today and we read here now we come to Jacob in chapter 27 how Isaac when he's old the last thing we see about Isaac is his eyes were dim to see. Now that's okay as we grow older we get a little blinder but the sad thing is Isaac's spiritual vision was also clouded. See God's will for us is as we grow older and older and older we may be physically weaker but our spiritual vision should be sharp but Isaac's was not. He knew what God had said when the two children were in the womb that the older would serve the younger but he decides to give the blessing to the older person. Can you see the folly of that? Can you see the folly of saying Esau go and get some the day of my death is near verse 2 please go and get your quiver and your bow and get some food for me. This old man is a one foot in the grave and he's still thinking of food. No wonder he lost his spiritual vision. The Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9 if I don't subdue my body I will preach to others and be accost away myself. This is the reason why the Word of God encourages us to fast, to keep our bodily passions under control, to keep our sexual passions under control, to keep our bodily visions under control so that we don't worship our stomachs we worship God. Remember Isaac it was his love of food that made him spiritually blind and there are lots of preachers today it's their love of food that's made them spiritually blind. They do not know how to keep their bodily passions under control. Yeah and he says go and bring this food for me that I may bless you before I die. I know God said something to me many years ago forget it I'm sure God's changed his mind and he'll understand you've been a good son you've given me a lot of good food now I'm gonna bless you. Can you imagine the stupid thing that Isaac does here but God made sure it never happened. Yeah and we read here that about Jacob that he pretends you know the story he pretended that he was Esau and that's how we hear about him beginning his life grabbing deceiving. Now Rebekah was on Jacob's side Rebekah knew hey God had said that the younger must get the blessing and here I hear that my husband's gonna give the blessing to Esau so she schemes along with Jacob and says listen Esau's gonna take some time I'll just I'll make some good curry which your dad likes and you take it and put on some animal skin and pretend to be hairy Esau. My question is this did God need all these techniques to give the blessing to Jacob? It's the same mistake that Abraham made with Hagar. God needs help it looks as if the promised seed will not come I better go to Hagar and have a son. The same thing here Oh God needs help because it looks as if somebody else is gonna get the blessing I better grab for God's sake you bring the name of God into it and a lot of things we do we're doing it for God's sake. I want to say God doesn't need any help like that. He certainly doesn't want you to deceive he doesn't want doesn't want you to cheat or tell lies in order to do his work. There are a lot of people who think today that the end justifies the means. That means provided your ultimate goal is good it doesn't matter how you get there. That's not Christianity. The goal must be spiritual and the way to the goal must also be spiritual. If it is God's will that Jacob should get the birthright the way you get it must also be spiritual. If it is God's will that the heathen should be evangelized right the way we do it must also be spiritual. Not oh somehow or the other we must get the heathen evangelized. Somehow or the other we must build the church. No not somehow or the other. In a godly way we will reach a godly goal and if as a result of choosing a godly way we find that we are not able to do as much as other people can do with the ungodly ways I say God bless them if he can I don't know whether he will but that's up to God but let them do it their way I'm gonna do it in a godly way and I want to spend all my life building a small little structure of gold silver and precious stones rather than a massive structure of wood hay and straw that'll be burnt up in the final day. What are you doing? Are you building in a godly way towards the godly goal or are you like Rebecca and Isaac who say well our goal is good we've got to get the birthright God said Jacob's got to get the birthright we have to scheme and manipulate and plan no you don't have to. Esau despised his birthright and it says in verse 34 of 27 27 34 that when he heard that he had missed the blessing he cried out with an exceedingly great bitter cry then he regretted the decision he had taken years earlier and he saw that he had thought when he gave his birthright as a young man to Jacob yeah I'll give it to him now I'll get a bit of soup from him now but later on I'll get the birthright to I'm a clever fellow but God knows how to catch the wise in their own craftiness and God made sure that Esau never got the birthright some of us may think we're very clever and we do a lot of clever things and we say ultimately we'll get the same place as somebody else yeah you think so it's not gonna be like that God can catch the clever person in his cleverness we reap what we sow it says in Hebrews chapter 12 let there be no profane person among you like Esau who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright and you know that how afterwards when he wanted the blessing couldn't get it you make a choice in life when you're young you come to a fork in the road when you're young do you want the birthright the eternal blessing the spiritual blessing or do you want the temporal blessing the immediate one the bowl of porridge that will satisfy your bodily need that's the choice that faces a lot of young people today that which is eternal and that which is immediate temporary that which is spiritual and that which is material we all come to the fork in the road Moses came to that and he refused the riches of Egypt he refused the pleasures of sin many of you are at that fork in the road and you may say well I can indulge a little bit in these things and I live a little bit for these things and ultimately I'll get the spiritual at the end you will not I tell you you will reap what you sow Esau did make the right choice now because it says let no man fail of the grace of God that's what it says in Hebrews 12 read that passage the commentary on this let no man fail the grace of God be like Esau make the right decision now in chapter 28 we read how Jacob goes off is sent off by Rebecca to her brother's place to live on his place he's he's not married yet he's maybe 50 years old or 70 years old I don't know over 40 or 50 at least and he goes off and on his way God meets with him it says here and he came to a certain place verse 11 and spent the night there because the Sun had set 28 11 now even though it says it's a geographical fact that the Sun had set there was something that was happening in Jacob's life also the Sun had set in his life spiritually also the man was living for the world the man had grabbed he had deceived he had cheated and now he was going to his uncle's place and God meets with this man and says do you know Jacob I have got a great purpose for your life I'm the Lord of your father God of your father Abraham verse 13 and Isaac and I'm going to give you this land and to your descendants and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you verse 14 do you know that this is the blessing of Abraham when God called Abraham he said I will bless you and you shall be a blessing and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you that's what he said in Genesis 12 verse 2 and 3 he repeats it to Jacob here in verse 14 all the families of the earth will be blessed through you that's the blessing of Abraham in Galatians 3 14 we are told that this blessing of Abraham comes upon us when we are filled with the Holy Spirit you know the purpose of the fullness of the Holy Spirit it's not just to speak in tongues that may be one of the thing gifts God gives to some people but that's not the main thing unfortunately a lot of people have made much of that it's not even for physical healing Paul did not get physically healed from the thorn in the flesh the primary purpose of the fullness of the Spirit is Galatians 3 14 that we might have the blessing of Abraham what is that all the families of the earth will be blessed through you that means when God fills me with the Holy Spirit every family or every person from a family whom I meet I'm going to be a blessing to them nobody can meet me without getting a blessing it's like these heavily perfumed ladies if you met a heavily perfumed lady you walk even a few feet away and you know you can smell it it's a perfume anywhere she goes people can smell it this lady's perfumed it's something like that that when God fills us with the Holy Spirit we are going to be a blessing to the families of the earth if I go into a home I leave that home I bless that home and gone whether I've gone for five minutes or stayed for five days that's how all of us should be this is the blessing of Abraham this is the fullness of the Spirit this is the rivers of living water that flow rivers that flow blessing thirsty people everywhere and God says to Jacob that's my calling for you I'm with you and God fills us with the Spirit he's going to be with us I will keep you verse 15 I'll bring you back I will not leave you until I've done what I promised and Jacob woke up this was Bethel he said how awesome is this place this is none other than the house of God Bethel the house of God this is the gate of heaven now see how he responds to this fantastic promise he says Lord I'm not interested in all those things just verse 20 just take care of me on this journey just give me enough food just give me clothes to wear and make sure I don't have any accidents or robbers on the way bring me back to my father's house and that's all I need this business of blessing to the families and you're not forget it this is enough for me and I will build a house for you and I will give you my tithes of everything I earn Lord bless my business and I promise you I'll give you 10% of everything I earn you see the response this is a response of many Christians today God says to all Christians I want you to have a blessing in Abraham I want to fill you with the Holy Spirit I want rivers of living water to flow out to everyone who believes in me I want you to be a blessing wherever you go I don't want to be a slut I don't want you to be a sluggish useless Christian I want you to be a spiritual Christian who's a blessing to people and what are the prayers of most Christians Lord please heal me of the sickness please take care of me here please give me a good job Lord I'm planning to build a house please help me to complete that house and Lord my children need to get married you know you know that's great Lord take care of that and a whole lot of other things and Lord if you bless my business I promise you I'll give you my tithe regularly and all these things happen and say praise the Lord is that why God call us you know the number of people who are like this who have missed God's best because they settle for something earthly when God calls them to something heaven they settle for something temporary when God calls them for something eternal they settle for something which is just material and physical when God calls them for something which can change them and change other people forever God doesn't want us to have regrets in eternity no wonder it says the Sun had set truly the Sun had set but God doesn't leave Jacob he goes to Laban and he discovers that Laban is a smarter fellow than him this man who cheated so many people Jacob cheated his father cheated his brother now we find somebody smarter than him who cheats him in marriage and I don't have time to show you but it's very wonderful to see how Laban cheated Jacob you know those days they had marriages they had a big feast and then the marriage so Laban was a clever chap he said let's have the marriage at night that's the first step let's have it at night you know night everybody's relaxed and let's have good night let's have a feast and he made sure that Jacob got thoroughly drunk in that feast Jacob didn't know where he was going what he was doing and the Laban put his hand into some girl's hand and said okay you're married he said yes I will and got married and he wakes up next morning and says hey you're not the one I wanted to marry Jacob had met his match in a man who cheated him by giving him the wrong way yeah and he had worked seven years and he says I wanted Rachel and Laban says sorry she's a Leah's older you've got to marry her first you got to work another seven years and he says okay I'll work another seven years there's a beautiful verse here which I want to point out to you which came home to my heart many many years ago verse 20 of Genesis 29 when I was a young man the Lord spoke to me through this verse it says Jacob served seven years for Rachel and they seemed to him but a few days because of his love for her Jacob's love for Rachel was so passionate and so strong that he worked and wasn't the best job he was out in the fields he says that later on I was out in the Sun out in the night looking after the sheep I lost my health I did all that for seven years and it says it was just like a few days and what the way it came home to my heart was if a man could serve like that for a woman how shall I serve a Lord who loved me and gave himself for me I said Lord I wanted to be like that in my life that I serve you and years of service through much suffering and pain and misunderstanding would be just like a few days I said that to God 40 years ago from that verse today I want to testify in all these 41 years that I've served the Lord 34 years full-time they have been like a few days I say Lord I haven't finished yet give me 25 more years to serve you at least of health to serve you a few more days the most wonderful thing in the world is to serve the Lord there's absolutely nothing to equal it I don't believe I could have had this attitude if I had spent my life even as a Christian making money as a businessman or any such thing they seem down to him a few days do you find your labor for the Lord heavy it's because you don't love the Lord I decided when I started serving the Lord that I would not serve him for money or honor or position or acceptance or fame I would always serve him because I love him because he had purchased me Jacob serve out of love that's what will change your service and your service will only be like a few days it will never be heavy we read here further in chapter 30 you know how Rachel couldn't have any children and then finally Jacob begins to cheat Laban and collect even his property and one day he schemes to leave secretly back to Canaan that's in chapters 31 and then he hears that Esau is coming to meet him and he's scared because he thinks Esau will kill him now and we see a wonderful verse here in chapter 32 even though he was like this he was scheming manipulating even after 20 years he's still the same old grabber deceiver schemer yet we read on his way chapter 32 verse 1 the angels of God met him now we would never waste our time with such a man after working 20 years which company would employ a man 20 years is deceiving scheming manipulating the company which is sack him but God doesn't sack Jacob and he doesn't sack you or me I praise God for that that even though we fail we come short he still sends his angels to us angels means messengers when God sends a messenger across your path it's a mark of his love for you he's trying to turn you he's trying to encourage you still when God's finished with you he won't send you any more messengers angels are messengers in the in our Indian translations it says do the do that's a messenger God sends his messengers to us to show us his love particularly when we are going to encounter a danger he was going to encounter Esau and before that it's good to meet the messengers of God and when he meets Esau he still schemes how to escape and it's very interesting to see how he schemes he puts all his the wives he don't doesn't like it up in front and he puts Rachel and himself right at the back so if all the other fellows get killed he'll finally escape he's the same old selfish person it's a tremendous encouragement to me that God picked up such a man and made him Israel it's a great encouragement to me because I say Lord I am also such a selfish person I you can pretend to be spiritual but you know that selfish things you do in your life but God wants to change you and he changed Jacob that's the wonderful message we read there at the end of this chapter how God met with Jacob wrestled with him broke him dislocated his hip God can do drastic things if necessary in order to bring us to the place where he wants us to be he broke him and then said to him okay from now on verse 28 of chapter 32 your name is not going to be Jacob you're going to be Israel when could God call him Israel after 60 70 80 years of struggling with him finally he dislocates his hip and says okay you're broken let me go and that's the time when Jacob says I will not let you go verse 26 till you bless this man who had been grabbing money grabbing birthright grabbing women grabbing sheep grabbing property now he leaves everything and grabs God and says God I want you now I've lived for money women property so many things I've finished with all that I want you God is waiting for such a day in our lives and he will say to us do you will no longer be called grabber deceiver schemer you will be called a prince of God because you have striven with God and with men verse 28 and have prevailed he's become an overcomer when when his hip is broken right from the beginning of Scripture we see this message God has to break us before he can empower us it's the broken man who leans upon a staff like Jacob who's got a dislocation who becomes the prince of God not the great strong mighty he-man no God has to break you my brother sister before he can make you what he wants you to be and then we read verse 31 of chapter 32 the Sun rose upon him we saw where the Sun set many years earlier 20 years earlier now the Sun rises spiritually also it was true there's something wonderful in these little geographical facts mentioned in Scripture behind which is a hidden spiritual truth the Sun rose and Jacob and it says Israel journeyed on that's how it is and finally I want you to look at chapter 34 just briefly Jacob had 12 sons but he also had a daughter and that daughter got him into a lot of trouble and her name was Dina I just want to mention in passing how this girl decided to take a private trip wandering off in strange territory all by herself a warning to young girls you young girls read Genesis 34 and see the problems that Dina caused for her father and please don't be like her she wandered off by herself she says I can take care of myself somebody falls in love with her and rapes her and a lot of problems her brothers get upset they go there and murder them and Jacob's name stinks all over that area all because one girl decided to take a private walk one day that's a little warning I want to mention in passing and finally chapter 35 the Lord said to Jacob go to Bethel you know if Jacob Jacob's fault too maybe he allowed his daughter to be like that if he had gone straight back to Bethel after God met with him there would have not been this interlude in chapter 34 where his daughter got raped you know if we go to the place where God wants us to go straight away this is where God wanted him to go but instead of that he wandered around all these other areas before he went where God wanted him to be anyway we read that that's sort of the end of Jacob's life and not the end I mean this part of it I want to go into Joseph's life before we come to the end of Jacob's life too Jacob had this son he had 12 sons and again we find him making the same mistake that his father made what was his father's mistake partiality we find Jacob doing the same thing in chapter 37 verse 3 I Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons because he was a son his old age and he made him a very colored tunic here is a man the best way to destroy your children is by being partial to one of them giving one special gifts which you don't give the others now he had seen what partiality did in his father's home he doesn't repeats it in his home too and it almost had serious consequences all the other ten older brothers became jealous of Joseph because his father showed partiality there are parents who praise one of their children in the presence of the other children what is the result those other children become the enemy of this child sometimes for life the fault is who's the father's the mother's there are lessons in the scripture for every part of our life I have discovered in 41 years that this book contains an answer to every problem in life if you know where to find it that's why we need to study the scriptures in Genesis chapter 38 37 towards the end we see about this plot that is decided that his elder brothers make against him and they want to get rid of him but you see the sovereignty of God there that at that time one of the brothers say let's not kill him let's just sell him to these traders these slave traders who sent those slave traders there at that time that was God God timed it so that those Ishmaelites slave traders would land up there exactly when Joseph was about to be killed and what I learned from that is the sovereignty of God it's a wonderful thing we see in the life of Joseph the sovereign ruling of God that if God has got a plan and a purpose for your life nobody can frustrate it not your jealous brothers not your foolish father nobody that's what we see here that God showed Joseph in dreams that I've got a purpose for you when he was a young man sometimes God reveals to a young person he's got a purpose for his life I want to say don't complain that older people are not giving you an opportunity to preach and sending you to difficult places no no no no are you a servant of God or men God is sovereign nobody can mess up his plan for your life you know the number of people who were jealous of my ministry when I was a young man older people much older than me they suppressed me they wouldn't allow me to speak and pushed me to the back of the assembly and made me sit there for three years and I sat there the Lord said don't ever rebel humble yourself and I went through all that but they couldn't hinder God's plan for my life when the time came God's plan for my life was fulfilled and that's that's an encouragement you don't ever complain against people the only person who can mess up God's plan for your life is you yourself please remember that we see here further that when these Ishmaelite traitors picked up Joseph where were they going they were going to Egypt see God had a plan for Joseph in Egypt so he sent these slave traders who are going to Egypt and he used the jealousy of his brothers to fulfill his plan for Joseph's life see it's not just that the jealousy does not harm us but the jealousy God makes it work for us I mean if we were protected against the evil that other people did to us that itself would have been a good thing but God does something more he says I'm going to use the evil that other people to do to fulfill my plan for your life think if those brothers have not been jealous of Joseph think if they had a good relationship with Joseph he would never have gone to Egypt how did he go to Egypt first step the brothers were jealous of him second step they wanted to get rid of him and they make sell him to slave traders and that fulfills God's plan for him to take him to Egypt you know some of the things which you think other people are doing to harm you if only your eyes could be open they're actually fulfilling God's plan for your life you may be going through some difficulty you know it wasn't easy for Jacob Joseph to be a slave in Egypt but he was fulfilling God's plan for his life praise the Lord the man of faith reads these things and says this is the same God whom I serve the God of Joseph is my God and if I am sincere before him any number of people can be jealous of me any number of people can scheme and evil against me but they will not be able to fulfill God hinder God's plan for my life have that faith chapter 38 is a little diversion where we read of Judah falling into sin with his own daughter-in-law I just mentioned it for this reason it's a terrible sin to commit adultery with your own daughter-in-law but when that daughter-in-law got twins and the names of the twins were Genesis 38 29 and 30 Paris and Zara what I want you to know is that it is from those from that person that Jesus was born through Judah committing adultery with his daughter-in-law you read that in Matthew chapter 1 from her her name was Tamar and from her through Judah and Tamar this incestuous adulterous relationship Jesus chose that line from heaven saying I'll come through that line why did he choose such a line how many of you would choose a bad family line to come through you know Jesus chose that in order to show that he came not to call the righteous but sinners he identified with the transgressors chapter 39 is a wonderful story of a faithful man faithful young man tempted strongly by an attractive woman a powerful woman and how there's only one thing the Bible says we must flee immorality run away from immorality and that's exactly what Joseph did it says here and Genesis 39 7 his master's wife looked with desire at Joseph and said lie to me and he refused and he would not even be with her it says in verse 10 he didn't just say no to her see you can't avoid temptation if you're always hanging around with people who tempt you it says in verse 10 he would not even be with her as soon as she was there he'd go somewhere else just looking for such men who run away from temptation and one day she was alone with him and caught him and he left his coat and ran and she screamed and told a lie accused him falsely that her husband was furious believed his wife locked up Joseph in jail look at the what he's suffering jealousy from his brothers false accusation from a woman falsely judged in court put in jail and those days jails were terrible dungeons with rats and mice and cockroaches and everything is a terrible place to be in and it says here just one word in verse 21 but the Lord was with Joseph in the jail it doesn't matter there are cockroaches and rats and mosquitoes and everything else is the Lord is with you that's enough that's all he wanted and there in the jail he meets Pharaoh's butler and gets an introduction to Pharaoh you see how God's plan is working out it's not just that God protected Joseph from the evil that Potiphar did to him he made the evil that Potiphar do work to fulfill God's plan see this is the wonderful thing you got to learn from these scriptures that the evil that other people do is working to fulfill God's plan for our life how would he have met Pharaoh's butler and got an introduction to Pharaoh if he didn't go to that jail and if Joseph could have seen all this in the beginning he'd have been praising the Lord in the jail I don't know whether he did but I know that Paul and Silas did they praise the Lord because they had studied the scriptures and I hope you can do that because you study the scriptures in when you're in a tight situation because of the evil that other people have done to you falsely accused you perhaps put you in jail with the false accusation never mind what people are saying what do you think people said about Joseph when he was in jail ah we thought he was a good man but now we discover the fellows and adulterer all types of stories about him the man was the most upright man in Egypt there are so many false stories that have been spread about godly servants of God what is our job keep quiet leave it to God to defend your reputation and God will honor you nobody can mess up God's plan for your life if you honor him and we read that finally he comes before Pharaoh and you know the rest of the story how his brothers when they are hungry for food there's a famine they have to come to Joseph and bow down before him and the dreams of many many years earlier of 15 years earlier are now fulfilled Joseph had a dream that his brothers would bow down before him and it's fulfilled God fulfills what he says the other thing I want you to notice here is that like it says in chapter 43 verse 1 and 2 when the famine was severe in the land Jacob told his sons go to Egypt go and get some food see when there's a famine you have to go to get food from those who were wise before the famine came to store up food that's the lesson you learn here Joseph was wise in the seven years of plenty he stored up food so therefore other people who were careless had to come to him the Bible says go to the ant you lazy man and learn from that ant how it stores up food for the winter now apply this spiritually in times when you have the opportunity to study God's Word and become rich if you don't take that opportunity years later when you don't have the time pressures of life are so much you won't know where to turn but if you are one who has stored up not only will you have enough for yourself you'll have plenty for other people let me tell you my own testimony almost everything that I have studied of the Bible I studied before I got married 32 years ago I spent seven years while I was working in the Navy studying the scriptures in every moment of my spare time I would also go out into the streets and preach the gospel twice a week and all the streets of our neck lemon I was in the naval base there but along with that no I'd come back and I'd study the word study the word study the word study the word use a concordance study the word and so my mind it also kept me as a young man from a lot of temptations it was a time of plenty plenty means plenty of time I had plenty of time because I'm a bachelor I was single and I could use the time to study study study the word once you get married and you have children you don't have that time go and ask any married person who's got children they don't have the time and if you have been foolish in the years of plenty you won't have anything either for yourself or to give other people in the days of famine please learn that lesson and apply it to yourself and we read further how God how Joseph deals in a very godly way with these people and he tells these people in chapter 45 verse 5 it is God who sent me before you again in verse 7 God sent me before you again in verse 8 it was not you God who sent me before you he tells his brothers it was not you who sold me to the Ishmaelites it was God it was not Potiphar's wife who sent me to the jail it was God can you say that don't say oh brother that person is harming me this person on me it was God it was God who sent me that's a wonderful testimony yeah that's how it now how it is for any person who's a godly person and he says here he prepares a great feast for them and gets the best place the land of Goshen chapter 46 verse 34 the best area of Egypt he gives to whom to the people who had prepared a pit for him that's a godly man when you can give the best land to people who have prepared a pit for you and sold you to slaves you see another thing here about his tremendous respect for his father in chapter 46 verse 29 he goes out this great ruler he went out and met his father and respected him I believe godly people always respect their parents and Jacob I just want to say a few things about Jacob before we close Jacob we see at the end of his life has learned his lesson he becomes a prophet in chapter 47 verse 9 we read that he blesses verse 10 we read he blesses the greatest ruler in the world Pharaoh and he blesses the ten tribes you know there's just one instance I want to mention there Jacob Joseph brings Manasseh the older one and Ephraim the younger one to Jacob and says put your right hand on Manasseh and your left hand on Ephraim and Jacob says no he crosses his hands he can't see very well you just like his father Isaac but he had spiritual vision he was different from Isaac he knew whom to bless because he'd gone through all those trials Isaac never went through trials he had it easy so he never had spiritual vision thank God for spiritual thank God for trials so that's how we conclude Genesis I just want to show you one more verse Genesis ends with the last words a coffin in Egypt begins with in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth ends with a coffin in Egypt this is the history of Genesis confusion that man brought but from that coffin in Egypt we see how God brings redemption let's pray