Season 4 Genesis 37:21-24 Day 2 Sue’s Notes
To watch the replay of this bible study please visit:
OR
Genesis 37:21-24 Week 3
Whose Hand do we live by?
37:21-24 But when Reuben heard of their scheme, he came to Joseph’s rescue. “Let’s not kill him,” he said. 22 “Why should we shed any blood? Let’s just throw him into this empty cistern here in the wilderness. Then he’ll die without our laying a hand on him.” Reuben was secretly planning to rescue Joseph and return him to his father.
23 So when Joseph arrived, his brothers ripped off the beautiful robe he was wearing. 24 Then they grabbed him and threw him into the cistern. Now the cistern was empty; there was no water in it.
Vs 21-22 Rescue/deliver him out of hands of brothers.
Rescue-nasal-verb-to snatch away, deliver, whether in a good or bad sense.
Word mostly used in Old Testament for “deliver”.
Interesting cause I think in a good sense is with the only One who can rescue and a bad sense is being our own or another’s rescuer.
Made me think of Savior.
2 Sam 22:3 my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield[fn] and the horn[fn] of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior— from violent people you save me.
Savior from 2 Sam-Yasa- verb-to save, be saved, delivered, liberated
We don’t see Him looking to God for help, but coming up with his own “scheme”. Generational to scheme. Brothers scheming too. Scheming is to rescue!
We have a Rescuer! A Deliverer. Because we have a need to be rescued/delivered. I wonder if when we are trying to rescue others, have we seen our need to be rescued? Have we allowed the only Rescuer right into the middle of our mess to rescue us?
Need to be rescued from death! Others in fear (own death or of other) of death try to rescue us.
Fear of rejection really is fear of death. Death is ultimate separation from God, which is ultimate rejection. But the Savior!!!!!! God has not rejected, but made a Way!!! Jesus!!!! We reject Him, not the other way around!!!
God wants to Deliver us from death! Snatch us out of the hand of the enemy who come to steal, kill and destroy.
Exodus 3:8 So I have come down to rescue (nasal) them from the power of the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their own fertile and spacious land. It is a land flowing with milk and honey—the land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites now live.
Duet 32:39 Look now; I myself am he!
There is no other god but me!
I am the one who kills and gives life;
I am the one who wounds and heals;
no one can be rescued from my powerful hand!
So often Israelites wrongly believed God would deliver them to the enemy. That was never His heart, but eventually they got what they wanted in their unbelief!
Exodus 14:10-12 10 As Pharaoh approached, the people of Israel looked up and panicked when they saw the Egyptians overtaking them. They cried out to the Lord, 11 and they said to Moses, “Why did you bring us out here to die in the wilderness? Weren’t there enough graves for us in Egypt? What have you done to us? Why did you make us leave Egypt? 12 Didn’t we tell you this would happen while we were still in Egypt? We said, ‘Leave us alone! Let us be slaves to the Egyptians. It’s better to be a slave in Egypt than a corpse in the wilderness!’”
God is our Deliverer out of sin and evil into His hands, His Good, His Plan. His heart was always to rescue back to Him!
John 10:9-10 9 Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved.[a] They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. 10 The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.
Jesus rescue/delivers us out of the hand of the enemy, who had a hold on us because of sin/death.
Romans 10:9-10 9 If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.
It’s knowing that I need to be saved from my sin/death condition, I need saving, I need the Savior and He alone can save me!
Romans 3:9-12 9 Well then, should we conclude that we Jews are better than others? No, not at all, for we have already shown that all people, whether Jews or Gentiles,[a] are under the power of sin. 10 As the Scriptures say,
“No one is righteous— not even one.
11
No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God.
12
All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one.”[b]
Romans 6:23 for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Gal 1:3-5 3 May God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ[a] give you grace and peace. 4 Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live. 5 All glory to God forever and ever! Amen.
Hand of God is source of everything we need! Best to be in His Hands, delivered by His Hand!!! His is the Hand that has real power.
Matt 6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one (from the evil)
God is the only One who can deliver us from the evil one and death/rejection into His hands or deliver the enemy into our hand. We cannot do that!
James 4:6-7 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:
“God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”[a]
7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Gen 14:20 And praise be to God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.”
Whose hand are we taking?
My thought: others often are looking for a savior, that’s not the savior, but controllable savior! Manipulatable. God will never be codependent or manipulated praise God. Are we tempted to be a savior to others? Why? Are we tempted to make others our savior? Why?
Brothers scheming the death of Joseph, show the action of the enemy. Comes to steal, kill, destroy.
Reuben’s plan is a feels like contradiction and chaos. Don’t spill blood like Cain and Abel. Yet still murder!
Rage in brother’s heart makes them gullible, deceivable. Place we mistake the plan of the enemy for good!!!
Reuben had secret plan. Secrets are source of sickness. Invitation for the enemy to come to steal, kill and destroy.
Hold secrets out of fear! Fear of what others will think or say, or their response. Fear of confronting brothers. Knowing the Hand of God Delivers/Saves, always!
Daniel 3:17-18 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty. 18 But even if he doesn’t, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.”
Proclaimed boldly even in the face of the anger and rage they know is coming. Reuben taking a passive way, not God’s way. Not relying on God’s hand but his own, which puts him in enemy hand.
Brothers strip Joseph of his special clothing thinking they can strip him of his identity and the purpose and dream God has given him.
That is what the enemy still does to us today, but God. We are His forever and no one can snatch us out of His hand! No one can steal our identity in Jesus, unless we allow.
John 10:27-29 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, 29 for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else.[a] No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand.
Romans 8:38-39 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[a] neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The hands that hold us are secure/true/safe/firm/victorious
Isaiah 41:10-13 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.
11
“See, all your angry enemies lie there, confused and humiliated. Anyone who opposes you will die and come to nothing.
12
You will look in vain for those who tried to conquer you. Those who attack you will come to nothing.
13
For I hold you by your right hand— I, the Lord your God. And I say to you, ‘Don’t be afraid. I am here to help you.
Joseph thrown into the dry cistern in the wilderness. Just like Jesus. This is where testing comes and where our temptations come. Temptation to run and not walk through this dry and weary land, feeling too alone and too much burden. Lie! We are never alone and never asked to carry burdens that are not ours to carry!!!
We have talked so much about the Wilderness. I think it is the place we have the hardest time seeing and feeling God’s hand on us and around us, holding our hand.
A dry cistern. Dark, cold, dry, can’t get out on our own! A place we cannot deliver ourselves or another by our hand. Either stay or rely on His hand to deliver.
Israelites in the Wilderness kept thinking God was leading them into the hand of the enemy. Emotions and feelings do not always equal truth. Even what we see with our eyes is not always the truth.
Exod 14:10-12 10 As Pharaoh approached, the people of Israel looked up and panicked when they saw the Egyptians overtaking them. They cried out to the Lord, 11 and they said to Moses, “Why did you bring us out here to die in the wilderness? Weren’t there enough graves for us in Egypt? What have you done to us? Why did you make us leave Egypt? 12 Didn’t we tell you this would happen while we were still in Egypt? We said, ‘Leave us alone! Let us be slaves to the Egyptians. It’s better to be a slave in Egypt than a corpse in the wilderness!’”
Numbers 14:1-4, 22-23
Psalm 78:40-42
Ezekiel 20:10
Exod 13:18 18 So God led them in a roundabout way through the wilderness toward the Red Sea.[a] Thus the Israelites left Egypt like an army ready for battle.[b]
Ps 136:16 Give thanks to him who led his people through the wilderness.
The wilderness reveals truly what is in our hearts. What we truly believe. Where when we get honest about our heart, we come to true intimacy with the Father. Where we see the goodness of our Father.
Deut 1:31 31 And you saw how the Lord your God cared for you all along the way as you traveled through the wilderness, just as a father cares for his child. Now he has brought you to this place.’
Deut 8:2 Remember how the Lord your God led you through the wilderness for these forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether or not you would obey his commands.
Jesus also led into the Wilderness for 40 days and nights, to lead the way for us through the wilderness. He became exhausted and hungry and the enemy came to tempt Him.
Wilderness
A dry and weary land.
Our greatest need in the wilderness-water
Jesus-The Living Water
Joseph thrown into dry cistern, no water. It was about what was in his heart in that dry, dark cistern! Everyone against him, but God!!!
John 7:37-39 On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! 38 Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’”[b] 39 (When he said “living water,” he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him. But the Spirit had not yet been given,[c] because Jesus had not yet entered into his glory.)
Counterfeit comforts don’t satisfy the thirst but distract us from our thirsty mess!! Yep!!!
Vs 23-24 Strip and throw in Cistern. Dry, had no water.
Bor-Cistern cut out of solid rock to gather and hold/store water.
Pit-cistern.
Dry cistern, spiritual desert of brothers they are trying to throw Joseph in!! But doesn’t work because he has the living water.
Jesus in the desert/wilderness because Jesus knows where He came from and where He’s going.
Are you thirsty in your soul?
What is satisfying your thirst?
Jesus wants to be the spring in us, running water, of His living water!
Fixing body doesn’t resolve damage. “Come to me and drink” a flow of life.
Holy Spirit keeps water in and running. Unless turn off water. Eventually the cistern will dry out. We need water, drink deep every day!!!
Revelation verses if you’re thirsty, come to me
When we drink deeply we overflow to all around. Spring of Living. Springs flow and bubble over, never stoping!!
The Wilderness is the place of God’s stripping, to remove unbelief and idols from our life. It is a place to draw near and truly come to know God. A place to strengthen our faith and reliance on Him. A place to reveal what is in our hearts.
Joseph’s brothers tried to strip him, but God’s hand was on him. Other’s cannot strip us of what God gives us that is firmly rooted in our hearts.
Brothers also show the rage of the enemy through the people that shouted at Pontius Pilate, crucify him! They are blinded by sin and anger. Joseph shows us Jesus, who allowed Himself to be put into the hands of the angry people. God Himself, the Hand of power, allows himself to be put into the hands of men. He could have stopped them, but it was His will to allow what appeared to be evil getting victory. This appears the same.
Matt 26:52-54 52 “Put away your sword,” Jesus told him. “Those who use the sword will die by the sword. 53 Don’t you realize that I could ask my Father for thousands[a] of angels to protect us, and he would send them instantly? 54 But if I did, how would the Scriptures be fulfilled that describe what must happen now?”
John 10:17 17 “The Father loves me because I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again.
Jesus knew He was always in the hand of God the Father and could allow His plan that allowed hand of enemy to act through men.