Season 4 Genesis 37: 25-30 (Sue Wiberg)
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Week 4 Genesis 37:25-30
Season 4, week 4!!! What do you want? What is the desire of your heart?
Grief of desires unfulfilled. Grief realized and walked through with God, leads to true God-given desires being
planted, rooted and met.
Who are you God and what are you like?
Present in our grief and the answer to our deepest grief. He is everything our hearts desire!!
Presuppose His Goodness.
Jesus through the Lens of Joseph
Read 25-30
Vs 25 eating a meal just after threw Joseph in pit to die!
Discussion of disassociation of feelings and trauma from yesterday a must listen! I can so relate!
Yes living in that disassociation of trauma, we shut down emotion/feeling. We shut down our heart (hard heart) and our God-given good desires.
Turn to desires of the flesh and try to fill them ourselves.
Definition of Desire- verb, to long or hope for. To express a wish for. A longing. This is the desire
we are talking about. Not like sexual desire, that is a noun.
To long/hope, meaning something that requires time and patience, something coming that don’t yet have. Sounds like faith! Things hoped for not yet seen. Hey 11:1
Human desire we try to make happen can be:
Acceptance, people-pleasing, love, lust, comfort, wealth, fame-all the counterfeits
Where sin brought us in the garden:
Gen 3:16 God said to the woman, “your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over
you”!
Desire flipped because of sin. Desire of sin rules over us!!!
But I hear hope in this too. God flipping desire to our true husband, Jesus!
Ishmaelites-Of Ishmael, the son of Abraham that was sent away, because he was the son of human decision (desire), not the son of God’s promise (desire). Brothers/enemy, trying to put
Joseph in that category, not the son of promise.
Goods of Ishmaelites point to Jesus. Myrrh for anointing dead, healing balm from Gilead. Jesus coming of what these traders were carrying, the True healing, desire meeting, through His death!
These traders would be visiting wealthy buyers, important people. Yep, God was in control here for sure!!! That’s where he brought Joseph to carry out his plan.
Vs 26-27
Judah says what will we gain. Looking for profit/gain.
Judah, son #4 is the son God’s promise will come through, but Judah would not have lived without Joseph! Because of Joseph, the promise of God to bring Our Rescuer, to bring His people to the Promiseland, is kept!!
Vs 28
Selling him for 20 pieces of silver. Similar to Judas betraying Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.
This was about 8 ounces of silver. Not much even by today’s standard. Could be 1-4 months wages for common worker. Not much!
I think this was more about their desire. What did they really want? Wasn’t after money but
something else.
Justice, revenge, satisfying a longing of their hearts.
Jesus often asked this question to reveal what is truly in the heart. He gives us good desires,
but sin perverts desire. Desire in our own hands perverted. Enemy after our desire-John 10:10
Matt 20:32 When Jesus heard them, he stopped and called, “What do you want me to do for
you?”
Mark 10:51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked.
“My Rabbi,” the blind man said, “I want to see!”
John 1:38 Jesus looked around and saw them following. “What do you want?” he asked them.
They replied, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”
What to you desire?
We can’t know our God-given desires until we know our God and His desire for us. His desire for our good, always.
Hosea!!! What a read!!! Our desire perverted, prostituted. God’s desire for His people.
Romans 8:31 If God is for us, who can ever be against us.
In the hard of life, in captivity God says:
Jeremiah 29:11-14 God telling us He has good plans and desires for us.
Song 7:10 I belong to my beloved, and his desire is for me.
In confession and intimacy of relationship with God, he heals our heart to know we are deeply loved and transforms the desires of our heart to the God given desires He made us for.
James 5:16 Confessing to God first, then another because that shows faith and trust in God
alone, healing/transforming comes.
Hosea 6:1 “Come, let us return to the Lord.
He has torn us to pieces;
now he will heal us.
He has injured us;
now he will bandage our wounds.
Desire restored:
Psalm 10:17 You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to
their cry.
Psalm 73:25 Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
Isaiah 26:8 Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown
are the desire of our hearts.
Life hard-hearted, living in rebellion seeking to fill our desires, is all looking good on the outside and the inside is a lie.
Isaiah 29:13 And so the Lord says,
“These people say they are mine.
They honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
And their worship of me
is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote.
Vs 29 Reuben’s response when he found Joseph was gone was grief. He tore his clothes in
grief.
Vs 30 Reuben crying, what will I do now? Nothing to take back to their father. All about Reuben,
not so much grief for Joseph!
This was grief, not over death, but of utter failure of his plan/scheme. Grief of infilled desire!!!
We experience a lot of grief when we take things into our own hands. That is a place of despair and no hope when we realize we can not fix a situation or a person!!!
Grief when we can’t fill our own desires. Shame in the sin and failure of filling our desires, because there is something wrong with us!
Reuben maybe trying to make up for what he did to get his father’s favor again. Or defense to
not bring more shame onto his heart.
Shame leads to defense and scheming/planning. Taking things in your own hands to avoid feeling shame, feeling like there is something wrong with you, which is more than just doing something wrong.
Shame leads to hiding from all, or trying to be more, do more, killing it for the kingdom more, and that will eventually lead to a breakdown.
Just walked by bedroom “Beautyrest”! Under that it says, “TruEnergy”! Whoa!!! Help me rest in
this place with You and cease striving! Beauty from Ashes comes in the Rest. Your Beauty you
give to us in Rest!
Sabbath-means ceasing!!!
Cease Striving/scheming
Striving to do all the shoulds
Striving to protect
Striving to numb out
Striving to fill the desire
Striving to outrun shame
Striving to cover up and hide the failure
Isaiah 30:15 This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: Only in returning to
me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength. But you
would have none of it.
Unbelief in God’s goodness, rescue and restoration, in His love for us in even in our worst places, keeps us in shame and unrest!!!
Tearing garments in the Bible as a sign of grief. This is the first place in the Bible this happens.
Reuben did in vs 29 and we’ll see Jacob do in next section. Clothing was of great value not like
today. That’s why the special coat was so significant.
Tear clothes as outward sign of what is happening in the heart, pain, sorrow, being utterly distraught. Tearing of the heart. Utter despair.
2 Sam 1:11-12 David and his men tore their clothes in sorrow when they heard the news.
12 They mourned and wept and fasted all day for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the Lord’s
army and the nation of Israel, because they had died by the sword that day.
Job 1:20 20 Job stood up and tore his robe in grief. Then he shaved his head and fell to the
ground to worship.
Acts 14:14-15 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard what was happening, they tore
their clothing in dismay and ran out among the people, shouting, 15 “Friends,[a] why are you
doing this? We are merely human beings—just like you! We have come to bring you the Good
News that you should turn from these worthless things and turn to the living God, who made
heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them.
Lev 21:10 “The high priest has the highest rank of all the priests. The anointing oil has been
poured on his head, and he has been ordained to wear the priestly garments. He must never
leave his hair uncombed[a] or tear his clothing.
High Priest not allowed to tear his clothes because these garments were holy. They had the anointing on them, the Presence of God. Tearing the clothes was an act of complete despair like there is no hope. Priest should not declare there is no hope.
We too have the anointing of the Holy Spirit and God’s Presence as His priests by the blood of
Jesus. We can feel these emotions, and as we bring them to God we remember that He has us,
even in deepest grief. It is not a bottomless pit of despair.
That is a lie of the enemy.
Beauty from Ashes, Garment of praise replaces the spirit of despair. That spirit is not from God!
More important than an outward show is inward grief, sorrow over sin.
Joel 2:12-13 That is why the Lord says,
“Turn to me now, while there is time.
Give me your hearts.
Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning.
13
Don’t tear your clothing in your grief,
but tear your hearts instead.”
Return to the Lord your God,
for he is merciful and compassionate,
slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
He is eager to relent and not punish.
The high priest, Caiphas, tore his clothing when Jesus said He would sit at the right hand of the Mighty One and come on the clouds of heaven. High priest tore his clothes claiming that was blasphemy. In anger and rage!!!!! Feel like this was an outward sign to incite anger and rage in others. So far from God’s heart.
Mark 14:62-65 Jesus said, “I am.[a] And you will see the Son of Man seated in the place of
power at God’s right hand[b] and coming on the clouds of heaven.[c]”
63 Then the high priest tore his clothing to show his horror and said, “Why do we need other
witnesses? 64 You have all heard his blasphemy. What is your verdict?”
“Guilty!” they all cried. “He deserves to die!”
65 Then some of them began to spit at him, and they blindfolded him and beat him with their
fists. “Prophesy to us,” they jeered. And the guards slapped him as they took him away.
John 19:23-24 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they divided his clothes among the four of
them. They also took his robe, but it was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.
24 So they said, “Rather than tearing it apart, let’s throw dice[a] for it.” This fulfilled the Scripture
that says, “They divided my garments among themselves and threw dice for my clothing.”[b] So
that is what they did.
Jesus garment was not torn. He is our High priest. He is our answer to deepest grief and despair. As the brothers and the high priest and council are pouring out their rage, as we pour out our rage, God/Jesus is rescuing/saving/restoring!!!
Isa 53:3 Aquainted with deepest grief, yet he never tore His garment because He was firmly
planted on the Rock!! He is the Rock!!! He knew where He was coming from and where going.
Deep Grief is one of the most intimate places with Jesus!
Tearing the clothes in real grief feels like an act of intimacy and vulnerability to expose the deep pain of the heart. And in doing so exposes the deep need of the heart that feels it has been rejected. And I see Jesus asking, what do you want? Truly we want Jesus, the Lover of our souls, the Healer of our hearts, the One who rescues and restores us to Our heart filling, God- given desires for Him!!!