Sermon Audio:
Sermon Video:
Sermon Notes:
Genesis 37:1 Now Jacob dwelt in the land where his father was a stranger, in the
land of Canaan.
Genesis 37:2 This is the history of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was
feeding the flock with his brothers. And the lad was with the sons of Bilhah and
the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them
to his father.
Genesis 37:3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was
the son of his old age. Also he made him a tunic of many colors.
Genesis 37:4 But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his
brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.
Dysfunctional definition:
Dys·func·tion·al (adjective) not operating normally or properly.
Also deviating from the norms of social behavior in a way regarded as bad.
Genesis 4:17 And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. And he
built a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son—Enoch.
Genesis 4:19 Then Lamech took for himself two wives:
Genesis 9:19 These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth
was populated.
Genesis 9:20 And Noah began to be a farmer, and he planted a vineyard.
In becoming a farmer, Noah followed the vocation of his father Lamech
Genesis 9:21 Then he drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered
in his tent.
1 Chronicles 1:32 “Now the sons born to Keturah, Abraham’s concubine, were …”
Family Flaw #1 — Dysfunctional Fathers.
Genesis 37:1 Now Jacob dwelt in the land where his father was a stranger, in the
land of Canaan.
Genesis 37:2 This is the history of Jacob.
Proverbs 17:6 Children’s children are the crown of old men, and the glory of children
is their father.
Family Flaw #2 — Dysfunctional Systems.
Genesis 37:2 “… And the lad was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his
father’s wives; …”
Matthew 19:5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and
be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?
If family can mean anything then it means nothing.
Acts 17:30 Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all
men everywhere to repent,
Acts 17:31 Because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in
righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to
all by raising Him from the dead.
Family Flaw #3 — Dsyfunctional Favortism.
Genesis 37:2 “… Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his
brothers …”
Both Joseph and Jesus were shepherds, and Jesus is the good shepherd.
Genesis 37:2 “… And the lad was with sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah
his father’s wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to his father.
John 7:7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its
works are evil.
Genesis 37:3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was
the son of his old age. Also he made him a tunic of many colors.
The Jewish Talmud commentary states:
“A man should never single out one of his children for favored treatment, for
because of two extra coins’ of fine silk, which Jacob gave to Joseph, and not to
his other sons, Joseph’s brothers became jealous of him, and one thing led to
another until our ancestors became slaves in Egypt.”
Matthew 21:38 But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves,
This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’
Family Flaw # 4 — Dysfunctional Communication.
Genesis 37:4 But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his
brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.
Joseph and Jesus were both hated by jealous brothers.
John 1:11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.
Genesis 49:23 “The archers have sorely grieved him [Joseph], and shot at him, and
hated him.”
Proverbs 10:12 “Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrong”
1 John 2:9 Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the
darkness.
Family Flaw #5 — Dysfunctionals Reject God’s Will.
Genesis 37:5 Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated
him even more.
Genesis 37:6 So he said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed:
Genesis 37:7 There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf
arose and also stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed
down to my sheaf.”
Genesis 37:8 And his brothers said to him, “Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall
you indeed have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams
and for his words.
Genesis 37:9 Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said,
Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the
eleven stars bowed down to me.”
Genesis 37:10 So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him
and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother
and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?”
Genesis 37:11 And his brothers envied him, but his father kept the matter in mind.
One Jewish author wrote:
“Though Jews have never boasted about their belief they are God’s Chosen People
(there is nothing to boast about—it is not a claim of superiority, and it has led to
unspeakable suffering), the brothers’ reactions to Joseph foreshadowed much of
the world’s reaction to the Jews’ belief in being the Chosen People.”
Look, this dreamer is coming! ’ We shall see what will become of his dreams!
Jeremiah 29:8 “… Nor listen to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed.
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord,
thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Acts 2:17 ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my
My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall
see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams.
Both Joseph and Jesus were rejected initially to rule and reign only to ultimately have
that come to pass because God was with them.
Acts 7:9 “And the patriarchs, becoming envious, sold Joseph into Egypt. But God
was with him
Acts 7:10 and delivered him out of all his troubles,…”
Romans 8:31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be
against us?
