Why It Matters Session Four: The People God Uses A. Introduction Genesis 12-50 recounts the stories of some of the main characters of the Old Testament. There are three men known as the Patriarchs of Israel. These men were considered the fathers of the nation of Israel. The first is Abraham, with whom God established a covenant or agreement to make a nation and to bless all people of the earth. The second is Abraham s son, Isaac, with whom God renewed the covenant. The third is Isaac s son, Jacob, with whom God renewed the covenant again. Jacob s name was later changed to Israel, which is where the nation gets its name. Another major character is Joseph, one of Jacob s twelve sons. His story is covered in Genesis 37-50. Devoting this much space to his story shows its importance. B. The Patriarchs Read: 1) Genesis 17:1-8 God confirming His covenant with Abraham 2) Genesis 26:2-5 God renewing this covenant with Abraham s son, Isaac 3) Genesis 28:12-15 God renewing this same covenant with Isaac s son, Jacob It is clear from these passages that God s covenant with Abraham and his descendants was a very significant part of Biblical history. Remember, God s purpose through this was to bless all the people of the earth. 1. We learn that God was faithful to his covenant with Abraham regardless of the flaws in Abraham s son Isaac and his grandson Jacob. God was working out his purpose to create a nation, a chosen people with whom he would have a special relationship. It is extremely important to see that he was not choosing one nation to favor and leaving the other nations out of his favor. He was enlisting one nation to communicate about him to the other nations. His purpose throughout was to have a relationship with all the people who would come to him. While God loves each person individually, his purpose for people includes their impact on others. In other words, he blesses us in order to bless others and to draw them to himself.
2. We learn that God uses imperfect people to accomplish his purposes. Consider the Patriarchs. Their stories would make a good soap opera on television. a) Abraham went along with his wife Sarah s plan to have a child through her maidservant, Hagar, instead of waiting for God to fulfill his promise. Hagar bore Abraham a son named Ishmael. Later, Sarah did finally conceive and bore him a son named Isaac. This led to conflict between Sarah and Hagar and between Isaac and Ishmael (Genesis 16-17, 21). Abraham also lied to a foreign king, telling him that Sarah was his sister. He did this in order to protect himself (Genesis20). b) Isaac favored his son, Esau, while his wife Rebekah favored Esau s twin brother, Jacob. This led to conflict between Esau and Jacob (Genesis 25 and 27). Isaac also lied about his wife in order to protect himself (Genesis 26). c) Jacob had two wives, Leah and Rachel. He favored Rachel. He ended up having twelve sons by his two wives and their maidservants, but he favored Rachel s two sons, Joseph and Benjamin. This led to conflict between the other brothers and Joseph (Genesis 29-30, 37). Note: If you want to see a family tree of this dysfunctional family, check out this link: http://biblecharts.org/oldtestament/thepatriarchalfamilytree.pdf Despite all this interpersonal conflict, God continued to work in creating a nation, Israel. In fact, it was the conflict between Joseph and his brothers that God used to preserve the nation during a time of famine. Joseph told his brothers that while they meant it for evil, God meant it for good (see Genesis 50:20). Throughout the remainder of the Bible, we see God using imperfect, sinful people. Consider some of the major characters in the Bible. Moses killed an Egyptian, David committed adultery, Peter denied knowing Jesus, Paul persecuted Christians, etc. If God used people like this in the Bible times, he can certainly use us despite our flaws. The apostle Paul even stated that God chose the foolish things of the world that he might put to shame those who are wise. God chose the weak things of the world, that he might put to shame the things that are strong; and God chose the lowly things of the world, and the things that are despised, and the things that are not, that he might bring to nothing the things that are (1 Corinthians 1:27-28, WEB). He did this in order that no one should boast of his own strength. I believe that the inclusion of the stories of the dysfunctional families of the Patriarchs is a testimony to the divine inspiration of the Bible. If you were making up stories of the founding
fathers of your religion, would you include all of their flaws? I doubt it. It had to be a bit of an embarrassment to the Jews that their founder, Abraham, fathered a baby by his wife s maidservant. When God inspired the writing of the Biblical stories, he included all of the flaws of the main characters. The focus was on God working out his purpose, not on heroic people. Question: Write a paragraph telling why you think God would use such obviously flawed people in carrying out his plan. How does it make you feel to see God using such flawed people as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? C. Joseph Read: Genesis 37, the entire chapter. Joseph s story covers thirteen chapters in Genesis. To summarize: Joseph was the eleventh son born to Jacob. He was the first child of Jacob s favorite wife, Rachel. For this reason, Jacob favored Joseph (Genesis 37). Joseph s half-brothers knew that their father loved Joseph more than he loved them. This made them jealous of Joseph. It didn t help the situation that Joseph shared his dream with them, a dream in which they were all bowing down to him. This turned out to be prophetic and was fulfilled when he was later a ruler in Egypt (Genesis 37). Joseph s brothers sold him into slavery (Genesis 37). Joseph served faithfully in Potiphar s household, but was wrongly accused by Potiphar s wife and was put in prison (Genesis 39). God gave Joseph the ability to interpret dreams. When he eventually interpreted a dream for the Pharaoh, the Pharaoh made Joseph second-in-command in all of Egypt (Genesis 41). During a time of famine, Joseph s brothers came to Egypt asking for grain and appeared before Joseph but didn t recognize him. Joseph tested them and eventually revealed himself to them (Genesis 42-45). Joseph told them that it was God s plan to save the nation of Israel by putting Joseph into a position of authority in Egypt. So God had been at work in the midst of their sinful action toward Joseph (Genesis 45:5-8). 1. We learn that God carrying out his purpose even when Joseph was sold into slavery, wrongly accused and imprisoned, and forgotten. God was working behind the scenes in Joseph s life. It is also clear that Joseph s admirable character through it all did not exempt him from difficulties.
Even when we are obedient and faithful to God, difficulties may come. God does not guarantee his people trouble-free lives. In fact, in the New Testament Jesus clearly stated that his followers would have difficulties or trouble. Joseph s story demonstrates that God can work out his purposes even through the trials and difficulties of our lives. 2. We learn that God helped Joseph through his difficulties. Despite the difficulties after Joseph was sold into slavery, God caused Joseph to prosper. He enabled him to rise to a position second only to the Pharaoh. When Joseph s second son was born, Joseph named him Ephraim (which meant fruitful ), saying, God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction (Genesis 41:52, WEB). While God helped Joseph personally, that was not his primary purpose. We learn that God was working through Joseph to preserve the nation of Israel. Joseph saw this clearly. After everything, he said to his brothers, As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good (Genesis 50:20, WEB). God s primary purpose was to keep the nation of Israel from dying out during the famine. God s purposes are often bigger than what we can see. God stated this in the book of Isaiah: My thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways... For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9, WEB). It can make a huge difference in our perspective if we can see what God is doing in the big picture rather than focusing only on our difficulties. Question: Why do you think God devoted so much space to telling Joseph s story? What do you think is the main theme? How does that apply to your life? Write at least a couple of paragraphs detailing your answers. Rick Mavis 2017 Guard Your Heart LLC