Sermon – The Dreamer and His Coat of Many Colors

Now Jacob dwelt in the land where his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan. 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.

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. 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.

⁵ Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more. ⁶ So he said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: 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.”

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.

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.”

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?” ¹¹ And his brothers envied him, but his father kept the matter in mind.

¹² Then his brothers went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem. ¹³ And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.”

So he said to him, “Here I am.”

¹⁴ Then he said to him, “Please go and see if it is well with your brothers and well with the flocks, and bring back word to me.” So he sent him out of the Valley of Hebron, and he went to Shechem.

¹⁵ Now a certain man found him, and there he was, wandering in the field. And the man asked him, saying, “What are you seeking?”

¹⁶ So he said, “I am seeking my brothers. Please tell me where they are feeding their flocks.”

¹⁷ And the man said, “They have departed from here, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’ ” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan.

¹⁸ Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, they conspired against him to kill him. ¹⁹ Then they said to one another, “Look, this dreamer is coming! ²⁰ Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, ‘Some wild beast has devoured him.’ We shall see what will become of his dreams!”

²⁶ So Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? ²⁷ Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh.” And his brothers listened. ²⁸ Then Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.

¹¹ The mouth of the righteous is a well of life,
But violence covers the mouth of the wicked.

¹² Hatred stirs up strife,
But love covers all sins.

¹⁸ “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. ¹⁹ The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you. ²⁰ Do you remember what I told you? ‘A slave is not greater than the master.’ Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you. ²¹ They will do all this to you because of me, for they have rejected the one who sent me. ²² They would not be guilty if I had not come and spoken to them. But now they have no excuse for their sin. ²³ Anyone who hates me also hates my Father. ²⁴ If I hadn’t done such miraculous signs among them that no one else could do, they would not be guilty. But as it is, they have seen everything I did, yet they still hate me and my Father. ²⁵ This fulfills what is written in their Scriptures: ‘They hated me without cause.’

²⁶ “But I will send you the Advocate—the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me. ²⁷ And you must also testify about me because you have been with me from the beginning of my ministry.

We’re going to go back to Genesis today. Titled my message it’s a pearl on the screen the dreamer and his Coat of Many Colors So as we return to Genesis not the adults let’s look to the kids can somebody tell me who we’re going to be talking about today by the title up on the screen and you kids in the new I’m going to be talking about the dreamer Come on who’s the dreamer and who had a Coat of Many Colors to Joseph you knew that you just didn’t want to say you knew that Joseph were going to be talking about Joseph Joseph is the main character he is the hero of the story if you will for the next 14 chapters Joseph the hero he’s mentioned twice as many times as his father Jacob it’s Joseph who takes center stage as he is used by God to fill God’s plans and purposes to raise up a nation the nation of Israel to save them from famine to save them from starvation it is Joseph that God uses mightily those Visit great grandson of Abraham and we know that God told Abraham promised Abraham that in you all the world will be blessed I will make you a great nation. And God uses Joseph in a mighty way let’s go to the Lord in prayer before we read scripture this morning Heavenly Father we do praise you magnify you we thank you that you are an awesome God that you are the creator of all things we thank you Father for the earth and all that is in it we thank you father that you created man did you given a sly friend fathers you desired to have a relationship with each one of us we thank you and praise you for that we thank you for your Holy Word and father just pray that as we speak of your work today I pray that you would to speak to our hearts and our minds help us all to receive what you have foresaw the mayor hearts be soft and open to receive that word and were made grow in our hearts by the May we be used mightily for your will for your purposes in this world Father Apollo we know that we’re going to learn how to use Joseph before we know that you have a calling for each of us may we be faithful may your spirit guide us and directness May your spirit be upon us today for your glory and for your honor in Jesus’ name amen So we’re going to look to Genesis Chapter 37 verses one through 20 and then verses 26 or 28 not Jacob dwelt in the land where his father was a stranger in the land of Canaan this is the history of Jacob Joseph being 17 years old was feeding the flock with his brothers in the lad was with the sons of Bill Ayo and the sons of his fathers wives and Joseph brought a bad report of them to his father now Israel. I want to pause there for a moment it begins with now Jacob well in the land and now it says now Israel love Joseph more than all of his children Jacob and Israel are the same person I want to make sure clear that up you know a pastor friend once told me don’t preach as is as if everyone knows all about the Bible Jacob and Israel the same person so that way you know you’re not confuse So now Israel loved Joseph more than all of his children because he was the son of his old age also he made him a tunic of many colors but when his brother saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him Joseph had a dream and he told it to his brothers and they hated him even more so he said to them please hear of this dream which I have dreamed there we were like that there we were binding seeds in the field then behold my Shiva Rose and also stood upright and indeed your see stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf and his brother said to him Shall you indeed reign over us or shall you indeed have dominion over us so they hated him even more dreams and for his words then he dreams 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 11 stars bowed down to me. So he told it to his father and his brothers and his father rebuked him and said What is this dream that you have dream shall your mother and I in your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you and his brothers envied him but his father kept the matter in mind then his brothers went to feed their father Sloc and check him in Israel said to Joseph are not your brothers feeding the flock and check him come I will send you to them so he said to them here I am said to him here I am then he said to him please go and see if it is well with your brothers and well with the flock and bring back word to me so he sent him out of the valley of Hebron and he went to Shek on NY certain man found him and there he was wandered in the field so he’s wandering around in a field he got lost he couldn’t find his brothers so he said I am seeking my brothers please tell me where they are feeding the flock and the man said they have departed from here Prague heard them say let us go to doff And so Joseph went after his brothers and found them and often Now when they saw him a far off how did they see him a far off well he’s in that bright colored jacket their coat is Father mating you could see him probably a mile away so even before he came near they conspired against him to kill him then they said to one another look this dreamer is coming come therefore let us now kill him and cast him into some pit and we shall say some wild beast has devoured him we shall see Him we shall see what will become of his dreams and then picking up verse 26 so Judas said to his brothers what profit is there if we kill our brother and can see it was blood come and let us sell him to the lights and let not our hands be upon him for he is our brother and our flesh and his brothers listen. Then many I traders passed by so the brothers pull Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit and sold him to the additional lights for 20 shekels of silver and they took Joseph to Egypt and there will be more to come in the following weeks but may God out his blessings to the theory in the reading of His Holy Word this part of the story of Joseph begins with Joseph bringing a bad report to his father concerning his brother’s belayer in Zelph where the midwives are the maid servants I should say the maid servants of Leah and Rachel the sons of Malaya were Dan and next to lie and the sons of zil were Gad an asher we all know that Jacob had 12 sons and these were 4 of them born of the maid servants now the Scripture does not give us evidence of the wrong or the evil that the brothers were doing when the cause this bad report that he brought back to his father we could only guess you know we don’t know was he were they not he were they stealing from their father were they not caring for the sheep as they should have been Were they get involved with the people of the land we don’t know we can only guess what it was but whatever the reason was we see right away in the story of Joseph that he was a man of integrity he was bound by this integrity to tell the truth now whether he went back to his father in this title tailbone as on his brothers we don’t know it could be that his father knew that he was a man of integrity a young man of integrity in asking how are your brothers doing caring for the sheep he knew that he would get the truth when he asked Joseph in Joseph who lived out his life in integrity will see as we go on in the following weeks that he was a man of integrity throughout his entire life. I found in an illustration integrity Booker t. Washington described meeting an ex slave from Virginia in his book up from slavery he said I found that this man had made a contract with his master 2 or 3 years prior to the mancipation proclamation to the effect that the slave was permitted to buy himself from the master by paying so much per year for his body and while he was paying for unself he was permitted to labor where ever and for whom ever he please say he didn’t have to stay with that master he could go wherever he wanted where he could make more money so find that he could secure better wages in Ohio he went there and when freedom came he was still in debt to his master to about $300.00 notwithstanding that the mancipation proclamation actually freed him from any obligation to his master this black man walked the greater portion of the distance to where is old master lived in Virginia and placed the last dollar with interest in his hands he did not have to but he did in talking to me about this the man told me that he knew that he did not have to pay his debt but he had given his word to his master in his word he had never broken he felt that he could not enjoy his freedom to act fulfill his promise to his master Are we men and women of integrity Joseph Story his life. Could be so could be considered one of the most fascinating found a new testament on though that Moses story is very fascinating Joe’s a story has been used by Creative Artists for centuries in 1742 Henry felting pattern the hero of Joseph Andrews after the biblical Andrew biblical Joseph. The following year Handel produced his oratory of Joseph over a period of 16 years the German novelist Thomas Mann wrote 4 novels based on the life of Joseph I thought of this I want to look that up and see if you can find them in the modern era we have the rock and thought of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and his song Any Dream Will Do so many over the centuries have admired Joseph and use his life as an example of stories and plays and all sorts of things to those of stories beginning of his her Israel’s history surrounding their captivity in Egypt and a deliverance from slavery Joseph was the 11th son of his father Jacob he was the 1st born son of Jacob’s wife Rachel and as I shared some weeks back because we had Christmas that Rachel was Jacob’s favor wife he was the one that she wanted that he wanted the only one that he really wanted was Rachel he was the one that he agreed to work 7 years for he told Laban I will work for 7 years for your daughter Rachel you give her to me as a wife so you work those 7 years if you remember and Laban tricked him gave him Leia instead so then he worked in additional 7 years 14 years to get Rachel the one that he liked it was his favorite wife and he did not try to hide the fact that she was this favor wife and x. rated a constant rivalry within that family and it would appear that this rivalry rivalry continued with their children which children you know most parents that have more than one child. I hope that their children will get along with one another they really do don’t you hope your kids get along you hope that they play well together they’ll share their toys you hope that they’ll watch out for one another protect one from the bullies you know in school that you come upon they hope that as they grow and have their own families that they’ll continue to get along very well and in love one another but I did say a dream and right to dream about this you drink your kids will do that but in reality when you have multiple children you are dealing with multiple personalities you’re dealing with multiple temperaments right there will be jealousies there will be competition at some point the best we can hope for that it is not extreme that it doesn’t turn to hatred Jacob’s brothers just as brothers hated him but you know Jacob did not help calm the jealousies and the resentment that his brothers had towards Joseph as a matter of fact he added fuel to the fire he added fuel to their anger and resentment toward Joseph by making him that Coat of Many Colors a coat that would resemble one in which a roller would wear not the coat of a normal shepherd but a coat with long sleeves that went all way down to the ankles in many many colors very beautiful code but not only did his coat remind his brothers every time they looked at him it reminded them that he was their favorite his favorite son but there was most likely an underline meaning in this code you might not have thought about it was Jacob’s way of letting the entire family know that Joseph had been chosen to be is there in Jacob’s mind it was Rachel that he had worked for is Rachel that he loved it was Rachel that he wanted and Joseph was Rachel’s firstborn. So it Jacob’s mind Joseph deserved to be the heir. I mean look at Jacob’s life. He got the birthright for a bowl of stew he tricked is father and got the blessing so the younger did become the air and it followed suit in his children also in his eyes Joseph was the heir being the apple of his father’s eyes were not was not all that Joseph had going for him in chapter 39 it says that Joseph was handsome in form and appearance so he was amazingly good looking remember his what his mother was beautiful Rachel was a beautiful woman so he was good looking in features and body so not only was his father’s favorite He was the best looking among them imagine the comments from his brothers there is pretty boy oh there’s daddy’s little pet and they probably heard it all the time he was blessed by God blessed with good looks plus with great features but blessed with dreams blessed with the a pill ability to interpret dreams the being a young man of only 17 years I think he lacked the wisdom to not share those dreams with his brothers I mean come on think about it he knew that they hated ing and you’re going to tell them about a dream where they bow down to you the dream of their she’s balun down the his I think he might not have fully understood the dreams at that time these gifts and talents you know they may have also made Joseph a little proud maybe a little arrogant he’s only 17 Come on he’s a teenager but in the eyes of the siblings he was arrogant arrogant but you know I believe that he understood that God had a plan for his life. I think it at least knew that much he got out a plan for his life but all these things just made his brothers hate him even more more and more you know when one person or one particular group of people appear to receive special treatment oftentimes what is the result hatred hatred towards that group just like which shows of hatred towards that person or towards that group of people so this is my new year’s message right this past year this year is behind us now 2020 was definitely a year with many challenges for everyone wasn’t it you know with the pandemic which has caused so much financial hardship for families that haven’t been able to work that the way they would normally work with businesses that had to close or else cut way back or the people learned how to do their job from home instead of at work learning how to teach from home and kids learning how to learn from home all these things learning how to adapt it is 20 to one it was definitely a challenge right it is change much of the way life happens in our world today even churches as we are experience of had to adapt how we do church but on top of all the tension caused by the pain Demick our nation in 2020 has experienced a lot of social unrest an era multiple factors causing the unrest in our nation one word that has been described to cause us on rest is inequality such as the inequality in the financial realm of things the gap between the wealthy and the so-called middle class gets wider and wider and wider that causes a lot of hatred towards other people those that do have wealth. And another in quality is when one race believes that they are not getting treated the same as another race and my friends it is real you know I feel that I could go down to any city and probably walk out in the street without the fear of a police officer thinking what’s the trouble my good name to it is real my daughter was in a shared months ago that she has a friend of color that she is fearful that when her children go out that the place we’re going to target her children my friends that’s a genuine fear that people of color have that fear that they walk down the street is that place over going to think What trouble are they going to cause where they get into they they look at them with a different mindset than they look at white people I hate to say it but it is true it is true it is a fact and there’s no easy answer to fix that problem when I was thinking about the riots and all the unrest it happened in 2020 I thought of this now let me get this out and then I’ll explain I thought about how children sometimes when they’re young well maybe even teenagers I don’t know but you know sometimes they behead they behave very badly they’ll break something or will say something really mean to get attention because they feel their parents weren’t listening to them so well you know what any attention is better than none they’ll be very bad just to get attention no I’m not comparing the inequality or the racism that’s in our nation to the behavior of a child but I think one of the root causes of the in Reston the up people is that they genuinely believe that they are not heard. I believe that they genuinely believe that they are not heard they have spoken their concerns for years and it’s like no one is listen so what have they done we’re going to get people’s attention a different way riots burning down buildings now I’m not saying that it’s right it is not right to destroy other people’s property but it has gotten people’s attention hasn’t it as I said there’s no easy answer but hopefully it’s time for the riots to stop and sit down and talk with one another and really listen and really listen I don’t have all the answers to set to fix such a complicated problem but I know for certain what won’t fix the problem and that is hatred hatred will not fix it more hatred is not going to fix the problem as believers we can make a different church by responding the way God’s word tells us to respond proverbs 101112 says the mouth of the righteous is a well of life but violence covers the mouth of the wicked hatred stirs up strife but love covers all sense and in 1st John 2 not through 11 it says He who says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness until now my friends I don’t care if your neighbor or your brother is black green yellow red I don’t care what color is but if you hating you are not walking in the light you cannot claim to be a Christian and take your neighbor 1st chances he who loves his brother abides in the light and there is no cause for stumbling in him but he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes. Joe says brothers hated my friends hatred is not the answer I know God was using not hatred to cause his plan to be fulfilled Joseph had that 2nd dream and shared with his brothers you would think that after he saw was that how angry the brothers got the 1st time that he would have shared that 2nd ring but he did he even told Dad about the dream verse 10 so he told it to his father in these brothers and his father rebuked him and said to him What is this dream that you dream shall your mother not your brothers indeed come down bow down to the earth before you and his brothers envied him but his father kept the matter needs mind assured that again because of the word and be the Hebrew word for n b as used here in this passage is common all k a w a n e w And you know as I thought about that I just this is my rendition of this is something to keeps Nolen Acha come off it keeps knowing that you when you feel you’ve been wrong it is this knowledge and knowledge away at you into your so anger your you just filled with hatred the real meaning of envy here is stronger than just a normal jealousy it means jealousy envy to the point of zealousness to provoke one to do something bad so you see that was their envy it provoked them it not at them so they decided let’s killing let’s kill him let’s do away with thing it was because of then be that the chief priest handed Jesus over to be crucified marked 159 and 10 but polit answered and said answer them saying do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews for he knew that the chief priest had handed him over because of envy envy. They hated Jesus it kept Nolen out until they decided we’re going to killing and the friends leads to hatred and hatred causes men to do the unthinkable it caused the chief priest to murder the Messiah it caused Joseph’s 10 brothers to actually sell him to midnight traders for 20 seconds of silver think about that 20 seconds shekels of silver you just sold your brother there’s 10 of them that’s 2 shovels apiece you just sold your brother for 2 shekels though they actually murdered him in their hearts because they hated him they hated him because he was different the Coat of Many Colors that his father made was actually an outward symbol that he was set apart that he was different than the shepherd Brothers it set him apart for a higher calling if you will one greater than even his father Jacob knew one greater I believe than he knew at the time you know not all are called to the same thing Joseph was one of 12 brothers they were all part of the same family that God promised that all the world would lust Judah he was not the brother chosen to be the one to go back and say the family from famine but Judah was the one chosen through whom the Messiah would come was he not so they all had their calling in the 11th century king Henry the 3rd above area he grew tired of court life and the pressures of being a monarch he made application to the prior Richard at the local monastery asking to be accepted as a common cause of political and send and spend not send and spend the rest of his life in the monastery. Your Majesty said prior Richard do you understand that the pledge here is one of obedience that will be hard because you have been a king I understand said Henry the rest of my life I will be obedient to you as Christ lead you then I will tell you what to do said prior Richard go back to your throne and serve faithfully in the place where God has put you when King Henry died a statement was written the king learned to rule by being obedient when we tire of our roles and responsibilities it helps to remember that God has planted us in a certain place and told us to be a good account a good accountant to be a good teacher to be a good mother to be a good father to be good were God has placed you price expects us to be faithful where he puts us and when he returns will rule together with him be faithful with where he has put you you are called Trust in Him and be faithful to whatever calling he may have for you and your life knowing this for certain that we are called to be a service and we are faithful to Him The world will hate you because it hated him John 1518 to 27 this is the New Living Translation if the world hates you remember that it hated me 1st the world would love you as one of its own if you belong to it but you are no longer part of the world friends you are no longer part of the world I chose you to come out of the world said I did this that tallies his mind is not up there you are set apart your to wear a coat of a different color you are set apart called of God. So you chose you to come out of the world so it hates you do you remember what I told you a slave is not greater than his master since they persecuted me naturally they will persecute you and if they listen to me they would listen to you they will do to do all this to you because of me for they have rejected the one who sent me they would not be guilty if they if I had not come and spoken to them but now they have no excuse for their sin any one who hates me also hates the father if I had done such miraculous signs if I hadn’t done such miraculous signs among them that no one else could do they would not be guilty but as it is they have seen everything I did yet they still hate me and my father this fulfills what is written in the scriptures they hated me without cause but I will send you an advocate the Spirit of truth he will come to you from the Father and will testify about me and you must also testify about me because you have been with me from the beginning of my ministry my friends God used the hatred of those as brothers to have to fulfill his plan for the nation of Israel to save them from a famine to send them into Egypt where they actually grew and multiply greatly 7 they went in namely come out it was over a 1000000 God used Joseph in this plan he used that hatred prayerfully God will use all that we experience in the last year all that our nation is went through even maybe he can use that hatred to make up us grow to be better people people filled with love his love rather than hatred may the spirit of God move. Upon this nation especially May the spirit of God move upon his church and may we be faithful to him in his coming year faithful to serve him faithful to share his love to make a difference as the only way we can make a difference is through the power of His Spirit in us in His Love through us we are to be a spring a well if you will of life of hope of living water so those are all around us hatred will only produce more hatred we can make a difference with the love of Christ when it fills us fills our hearts and overflows out of us so let’s make a difference in this coming year be intentional I believe is rose in his word intentional We need to be intentional in our walk with the Lord Jesus Christ don’t just haphazardly go through this life but be intentional to share his love with those that he places in your path Amen amen.