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TEXT: GENESIS 37:12-36 Our theme for the year is Choose Life. Our hope and prayer is that everyone will choose life. Specifically, we’d love to see you choose the Christ life. In John 10:10 Jesus says, "My purpose is to give life in all its fullness" (NLT). That’s what we want you to find . . . "life in all its fullness." This is the second message in our teaching series: From Dream to Destiny [Source: Robert Morris]. Through a biblical study of Joseph’s life we’re learning how to step into the fullness of God’s purpose for our lives. God wants the dream He’s given you to become a reality. You have a special destiny. God has big plans for you. But in order for you to attain your destiny some significant changes have to take place in your life. There are roadblocks to overcome. There are character issues to be addressed. There are sinful actions and attitudes to be confessed. Or put differently, there are tests you have to go through in order to fulfill God’s destiny for your life. Proverbs 17:3 says, ". . . the Lord tests the heart" (NLT). If you’re going to move from your dream to your destiny, you have to pass the tests of the heart. The first test you have to pass is the pride test. We learnt about that last week. The second test you have to pass is the pit test. We’re going to learn about the pit test today. But before we learn about the pit test there are two things you need to know about God’s tests: 1. You keep taking the tests over and over until you pass. 2. If you want to pass the tests, God will make it happen. ". . . God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished . . ." Philippians 1:6 (NLT). Genesis 37:12-36 (NLT): Soon after this, Joseph's brothers went to pasture their father's flocks at Shechem. When they had been gone for some time, Jacob said to Joseph, "Your brothers are over at Shechem with the flocks. I'm going to send you to them." "I'm ready to go," Joseph replied. "Go and see how your brothers and the flocks are getting along," Jacob said. "Then come back and bring me word." So Jacob sent him on his way, and Joseph travelled to Shechem from his home in the valley of Hebron. When he arrived there, a man noticed him wandering around the countryside. "What are you looking for?" he asked. "For my brothers and their flocks," Joseph replied. "Have you seen them?" "Yes," the man told him, "but they are no longer here. I heard your brothers say they were going to Dothan." So Joseph followed his brothers to Dothan and found them there. When Joseph's brothers saw him coming, they recognized him in the distance and made plans to kill him. "Here comes that dreamer!" they exclaimed. "Come on, let's kill him and throw him into a deep pit. We can tell our father that a wild animal has eaten him. Then we'll see what becomes of all his dreams!" But Reuben came to Joseph's rescue. "Let's not kill him," he said. "Why should we shed his blood? Let's just throw him alive into this pit here. That way he will die without our having to touch him." Reuben was secretly planning to help Joseph escape, and then he would bring him back to his father. So when Joseph arrived, they pulled off his beautiful robe and threw him into the pit. This pit was normally used to store water, but it was empty at the time. Then, just as they were sitting down to eat, they noticed a caravan of camels in the distance coming toward them. It was a group of Ishmaelite traders taking spices, balm, and myrrh from Gilead to Egypt. Judah said to the others, "What can we gain by killing our brother? That would just give us a guilty conscience. Let's sell Joseph to those Ishmaelite traders. Let's not be responsible for his death; after all, he is our brother!" And his brothers agreed. So when the traders came by, his brothers pulled Joseph out of the pit and sold him for twenty pieces of silver, and the Ishmaelite traders took him along to Egypt. Some time later, Reuben returned to get Joseph out of the pit. When he discovered that Joseph was missing, he tore his clothes in anguish and frustration. Then he went back to his brothers and lamented, "The boy is gone! What can I do now?" Then Joseph's brothers killed a goat and dipped the robe in its blood. They took the beautiful robe to their father and asked him to identify it. "We found this in the field," they told him. "It's Joseph's robe, isn't it?" Their father recognized it at once. "Yes," he said, "it is my son's robe. A wild animal has attacked and eaten him. Surely Joseph has been torn in pieces!" Then Jacob tore his clothes and put on sackcloth. He mourned deeply for his son for many days. His family all tried to comfort him, but it was no use. "I will die in mourning for my son," he would say, and then begin to weep. Meanwhile, in Egypt, the traders sold Joseph to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. Potiphar was captain of the palace guard. Is your life at a low ebb? Does everything look glum and gloomy? Were things going along well but recently came crashing down? Is nothing in your life going right? Does it seem like there’s no way out? Henry Wadsworth Longfellow said, "Into each life some rain must fall, some days be dark and dreary." Whether we like it or not all of us go through times when life’s the pits - when the wine runs out, when the joy and exhilaration are gone. If you’re in a pit or soon to be in a pit there are three questions you should ask: 1. Who put me in the pit? There are four possible answers to this question: 1. You put yourself in the pit. Proverbs 26:27 says, "If a man digs a pit he will fall into it . . ." (NIV). Before you look anywhere else you must look at yourself. In most cases we get ourselves into the pit, or are at least partly responsible. If Joseph had looked inward, he would have admitted that he was partly responsible for getting himself into the pit. There’s no doubt that his pride contributed to the problem between himself and his brothers. So don’t be quick to blame your problems on others. If you’ve messed up you must take responsibility for your actions. For you’ll only get out of the pit when you confess your part in getting into the pit. 2. Someone else put you in the pit. In Joseph’s case his brothers put him in the pit (cf. Genesis 37:34). You may be in a pit and it’s not your doing. It not only happened to Joseph. It also happened to David. In Psalm 57:6 David says, "My enemies have set a trap for me. I am weary from distress. They have dug a deep pit in my path . . ." (NLT). Now you may think it’s not fair to be in the pit because of someone else. Too bad! Even when someone else puts you in the pit the only way you’ll get out of the pit is by taking responsibility for the fact that you’re there. You need to take a long hard look at yourself, identify the issues in your heart, and cry out to God for help. 3. Some pits are just a fact of life. John 16:33 says, "Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows" (NLT). Because of sin, this world is full of trouble. Pits are by-products of a fallen world. As long as you’re on this earth you will go through difficult and challenging times . . . that’s life. Get used to it. You can’t live on a hilltop all the time. 4. God put you in the pit. Psalm 88:6 says, "You have thrust me down to the lowest pit, into the darkest depths" (NLT). Sometimes the only way God can get our attention is to put us in the pit. Because of our pigheadedness some of us only look up when we’ve hit rock bottom. Jonah’s story is a good example. God told him to go and preach to the Ninevites. But Jonah basically refused. The result - he ended up in a maritime pit - in the belly of a great fish. 2. What’s the purpose of the pit? To get us to cry out to God. The purpose of the pit is to get us in a place that’s so far down that we can’t get out of it ourselves. It’s all about giving up control of our lives. It’s all about learning to trust God. Here’s a key point. As long as you’re griping, complaining, murmuring, and blaming, you’ll never get out of the pit. As long as you’re whinging and whining, you’ll never get out of the pit. Now I don’t want to sound insensitive, but if some bad stuff happened when you were younger, it’s time to move on. Even if the sins of others have put you in the pit, you shouldn’t blame them. Don’t adopt a victim mentality. Get over it. I can’t stress this enough. As long as you’re blaming others for your problems you’ll never get out of the pit. In order to pass the pit test you’ve got to take responsibility for the fact that you’re in the pit. Now I think something happened in the pit that changed Joseph. I think he took responsibility for his sins and failures. The Bible doesn’t say as much but I think Joseph cried out to God for forgiveness. I picture him, a humbled young man, kneeling at the bottom of the pit admitting his pride and arrogance and asking God to work in his heart. And when he did, when he humbled himself before God, when he stopped blaming his brothers, things started to change. While it may not have been immediately apparent, his dream began to line up with God’s destiny for his life. 3. Who will pull me out of the pit? 1 Peter 5:6 says, ". . . humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and in his good time he will honour you" (NLT). Listen. It’s not a hard thing for God to get you out of a pit. God’s big enough and strong enough to get you out of any pit. It doesn’t matter how deep or dark the pit is, God can get you out. Jeremiah 32:17 says, "O Sovereign Lord! You have made the heavens and earth by your great power. Nothing is too hard for you!" (NLT). That’s the good news. Nothing’s too hard for God. He’s in the deliverance business. He takes great delight in getting you out of a pit. Pits aren’t a problem for God. Even if you’re in three or four pits He can pull you out. That’s right, He can get you out of any fix you might be in. Are you in a pit because your finances are in a mess? He can pull you out. Are you in a pit because of interpersonal conflict? He can pull you out. Are you in a pit because of conflict at work? He can pull you out. Are you in a pit because of circumstances? He can pull you out. Or are you in a pit because of sin? God can pull you out. 1 Peter 5:6 says, (NLT). Listen. It’s not a hard thing for God to get you out of a pit. God’s big enough and strong enough to get you out of any pit. It doesn’t matter how deep or dark the pit is, God can get you out. Jeremiah 32:17 says, NLT). That’s the good news. Nothing’s too hard for God. He’s in the deliverance business. He takes great delight in getting you out of a pit. Pits aren’t a problem for God. Even if you’re in three or four pits He can pull you out. That’s right, He can get you out of any fix you might be in. Are you in a pit because your finances are in a mess? He can pull you out. Are you in a pit because of interpersonal conflict? He can pull you out. Are you in a pit because of conflict at work? He can pull you out. Are you in a pit because of circumstances? He can pull you out. Or are you in a pit because of sin? God can pull you out. Looking at this from a slightly different perspective: Joseph points us to Jesus. Joseph was stripped of his robe of many colours (cf. Genesis 37:23) and Jesus was stripped of His robe before being hung on the cross (cf. Matthew 27:28, 35). Joseph was sold for twenty pieces of silver (cf. Genesis 37:26-28) to the Midianite traders and they sold him in Egypt for a profit, probably for thirty pieces of silver which was the standard price of a slave at that time, and Jesus was sold for thirty pieces of silver (cf. Matthew 26:14-15). Joseph was betrayed by Judah (cf. Genesis 37:26-27) and Jesus was betrayed by Judas (cf. Matthew 26:25). Judah and Judas are the same word in Hebrew. Joseph was thrown into a pit and God delivered him, and Jesus was in the grave for three days and God raised Him up. That said, there’s a fundamental difference between Joseph and Jesus. Joseph deserved to be thrown into the pit but Jesus didn’t deserve to be thrown into the "pit," i.e. to die. Now here’s the good news. If you’re in the pit, you need to know that Jesus has been there before you. He went to the pit, and was raised from the pit, to break the power of the pit. Hallelujah! Jesus has conquered the pit. And because Jesus is victorious, you can be too. He’s done for you what you can’t do for yourself. He’s conquered sin and death and hell. Praise the Lord! Does it look like there’s no way out of the pit? Jesus knows the way. Do you want to get out of the pit? Jesus knows the way. In fact God had a plan to get you out of the pit even before you got into the pit. But you have to call out to Him. Do what Joseph did. Do what Jonah did (cf. Jonah 2:1-9). Jonah 2:2 says, "I cried out to the Lord in my great trouble, and he answered me. I called to you from the world of the dead, and Lord, you heard me!" (NLT). I love Jonah’s testimony. It reminds me how God hears every heartfelt cry. So humble yourself before the Lord. Cry out to God from the pit. Say, "I’m sorry." Because the moment you call on Him, He’ll deliver you. The moment you trust totally in Him, He will lift you up. Praise the Lord! You don’t have to stay in the pit. God wants to move you one step closer to the destiny He’s planned for you. But you’ve got to call out to Jesus. "For anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" Romans 10:13 (NLT). Amen. (L. Murray) |
