Part 3 Begins: "The Dreamer"
Today we begin working through what I am calling Genesis Part 3. These final chapters—37-50—give us what I believe is not just one of the greatest stories in the Bible, but one of the greatest stories in all of human history, the story of Jacob’s brilliant 11th son, Joseph. As we shall see, Genesis Part 3 is an absolute masterpiece of theological story-telling, and its final sentence will take your breath away.
The question that Genesis Part 3 is concerned with is this one:
Which son will lead the family after Jacob is gone?
The answer will surprise you.
I’m going to be teaching my FINAL Bible study on Genesis this coming Wednesday, 10/26, 6:30-8:00 PM. I’m telling you right now, DO NOT MISS THIS STUDY. We’ll cover the Joseph story in its entirety, and I am really looking forward to showing folks the amazing intricacy and power of the narrative. I’m not overhyping this study—it’s going to be GOOD. The Asbury Student Ministry is cancelling normal programming for middle and high school students and bringing them to Bible study instead. So, come one, come all—everyone is going to be there. (I know that we had some livestreaming issues at our last Bible study, but I can confirm that the study will be livestreamed at www.asburytulsa.org for those of you who don’t live in Tulsa.)
Genesis 37:1-11
Jacob lived in the land of his father's sojournings, in the land of Canaan.
2 These are the generations of Jacob.
Joseph, being seventeen years old, was pasturing the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives. And Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a robe 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 peacefully to him.
5 Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more. 6 He said to them, “Hear this dream that I have dreamed: 7 Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.” 8 His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.
9 Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” 10 But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?” 11 And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.
Jacob has 12 sons; which son will be the next leader of the family? Which son will take his father’s place?
Genesis 12-36 is about the formation of a family that will pass on God’s new way from generation to generation. God chooses Abraham, and then Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are taught what it will take to be the founders of this new way.
We now come to the third and final part of Genesis—chapters 37-50—which will be about the problem of passing on God’s new way when there are 12(!) sons that make up the next generation.
Right off, we assume it will be Joseph, the 11th son, who will lead the family when Jacob dies. Joseph is more gifted than his brothers, and Jacob has set him apart to be the future leader of his brothers. The coat Jacob gives Joseph (an obscure Hebrew term—”coat with long sleeves” or “coat of many colors”) is meant to mark him as Jacob’s heir.
As his dreams prove, Joseph is a boy of remarkable insight. But is he the right one to lead the family into the future?
Which son will lead the family when Jacob is gone?
We’ll have to read on to find out.