Messianic Perspectives

Guest (Male): In spite of human weakness, God vindicates his servants. Join us, won't you? As Pastor Al Runge uses God's word to discuss the life of Joseph. Today, right here on Messianic Perspectives.

Liz Aiello: Shalom, and welcome to Messianic Perspectives, a daily program where we look into the scriptures from a distinct first-century Jewish point of view. I'm Liz Aiello. Today, we'll look into the life of Joseph from a distinctly Messianic Jewish point of view. Our Bible teacher is Pastor Al Runge. I'll be back at the end of the message with a special offer. And now, here's Pastor Runge.

Al Runge: I have started a new series on the life of Joseph, the son of Jacob, in which I have been investigating how God uses imperfect people to achieve his will. Did you know that God has a plan for every believer and that all his resources are available to accomplish that plan that God has for your life? Have you ever asked yourself, why does God use imperfect people to be a blessing?

The answer is not complicated. It's very simple. If God only used perfect people, no one would ever be used by God, no one would ever be saved, and the kingdom of God could not grow in the earth. We can see God's grace in the life of Joseph, which encourages all of us to serve our Lord Jesus in spite of our human imperfections.

The popular message of today is about our human potential and human goodness, but hear what Jesus had to say about human nature in John 6:63: "It is the spirit who gives life, the flesh profits nothing." And listen to how the disciples responded to his message of human deficiencies in John 6:66: "From that time, many of his disciples went back and walked with him no more."

Whenever the Bible speaks about the flesh, it is referring to our human nature with which we were born. Jesus was saying that there is nothing good in mankind that can please God or achieve eternal life, and that is why a new birth of the spirit is necessary. Jesus said to a pious religious leader by the name of Nicodemus, "You must be born again. You must be born again. Otherwise, you can't see, you can't perceive, you can't understand the kingdom of God or even enter into it."

This is not a message of despair because of our human condition, but one of hope because Jesus said in John 6:63, "The words that I speak to you, they are spirit and they are life." In our first message, we saw how human nature malfunctions morally and ethically. Now, in this message, we want to see how far the human nature will go in its depravity. So we want to continue to focus on Joseph and his brothers.

In Genesis 37, we read this: "Now, Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other sons." That was his mistake. Because he had been born to him in his old age, he made him a coat of many colors. When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated Joseph and could not speak a kind word to him. The coat of many colors had an important symbolism in ancient culture. It was a robe of an overseer of the manager.

Jacob made Joseph a manager over his older brothers. Now, it is true, Joseph had skill as a manager. He was a leader, and it was seen even in his younger days. But the sons of Leah were not happy with the son of Rachel, the favorite wife. All the sons of Jacob wanted their father's love and approval equally, but Jacob never had the love and approval of Isaac his father, who loved Esau his brother more than him. He learned from that poor example of his father.

Human nature is not only dysfunctional; it is also depraved. There's something evil in all of us, and if we're not careful, it will demonstrate itself. The Apostle Paul speaks of it in Romans 8:7: "Because the human mind, the fleshly mind, is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God." We are born with a rebellious nature that is totally selfish and self-centered, and that is why we must be born again by the spirit of God.

Two things made matters worse for Jacob's family. Joseph reported to Jacob all the bad things his brothers did, and no one likes a tattletale. They didn't trust him. Joseph alienated himself even more by unwisely telling his brothers about two God-given dreams he had. In Genesis 37:5, we read this: "Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers, and they hated him even more."

So he said to them, "Please hear this dream which I have dreamed. We were there binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my bundle of wheat arose and also stood upright, and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf." 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. They felt Joseph was lording himself over them.

Interestingly, it appears that the brothers, like Joseph, understood the meaning of those prophetic dreams. The older brothers did not want God's plan for Joseph's superiority to come to pass. They did not understand that God's plan for Joseph included their survival and the formation of the future nation of Israel. The fulfillment of God's plan for Joseph was to be a blessing for all of Jacob's family. Even Jacob his father had a hard time with Joseph's dreams.

We're told in Genesis 37:9: "Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers and said, 'Look, I've dreamed another dream, and this time the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me.' 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?' And his brothers envied him, but his father kept the matter in mind." He knew this was a prophetic dream.

Human depravity can be seen in Genesis 37:23. The brothers were just waiting for an opportunity to hurt Joseph and negate his dreams. While they were far away from home with their flocks, they saw Joseph approaching them, and they said in contempt, "Here comes the dreamer." They held him down. They stripped him of his coat of many colors. They tied him up and threw him into a pit with no water. They planned to murder him.

While they sat down to eat, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites on their way to Egypt with spices, for they were traders. So Judah said to his brothers, "What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come, 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. So the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit and sold him to the Ishmaelites for 20 shekels of silver.

And they took Joseph to Egypt. The brothers were not only motivated by envy and greed; they were also motivated by hate. In some ways, Joseph became an Old Testament type of Jesus the Messiah, who was rejected by his brethren and sold for 30 pieces of silver, the price of a slave. Think of their brothers' depravity that drove them to sell their own brother into slavery and not care what would happen to him.

Joseph could have been sold to a cruel slave master who would mistreat him. He could have been sold to work in the salt mines of Egypt. They did not care. They wanted Joseph out of their lives. They don't want him to fulfill God's plan for his life. In their depravity, they not only demonstrated envy, hate, and greed; they also demonstrated deceit by covering up their evil deed. Genesis 37:31 tells us, so they took Joseph's coat of many colors, killed a kid of the goat, and dipped it in the blood.

Then they brought it to their father and said, "We have found this. Do you know whether it is your son's coat or not?" And Jacob recognized it and said, "It is my son's coat. A wild beast has devoured him. Without doubt, Joseph is torn to pieces." Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son many days. And all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted.

And he said, "For I shall go down into the grave to my son in mourning." The older brothers lived that lie, and the secret of their evil deed, although it was on their conscience, they didn't seem to care much about it. Sin never begins with an evil emotion; it goes into an act. But we have to be careful about our human heart. The Bible tells us in Jeremiah 17:9, "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it?"

"I the Lord search the heart. I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings." The human heart is deceitful, and we have in our own hearts a deceitful nature. And you know, when we do sin, we tend to blame it on others. Some years ago, a young woman in our church had an affair with her piano student. She left her husband and children to live with the man.

She blamed her godly parents for how she turned out. She blamed her husband for her misdeeds. Everyone else including the congregation was at fault, but not her. Her husband had a special love for her and never gave up hope of restoring his family. The young woman one day took her lover to an evangelistic meeting. He came to the Lord and finally said to her, "What are we doing? It's wrong," and left her.

Her husband was like Hosea the prophet and sought her out. He demonstrated the grace of our Lord Jesus. He truly forgave her and restored her to her marriage. Only then could she face the fact it was her responsibility for sinning. It was her fault, not her parents, not her husband, not the congregation. You see, God's love can restore us. And listen, together she and her husband are now helping many broken couples to heal their marriage.

What is God's answer to human depravity? Listen to the word of God in 1 Peter 2:24-25: "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we being dead to sin should live unto righteousness." Think of that. That through Jesus' death we can be dead to sin and live unto righteousness, "By whose stripes we were healed. For ye were as sheep going astray, but are now returned unto the shepherd and bishop of your souls."

Hallelujah! What a wonderful message we have and why we don't have to be afraid because the Lord is our savior. Is your life damaged by sin, either your own sin or perhaps someone sinned against you and ruined an opportunity? I want you to know that Jesus is the healer of the soul. He is the one who will bring to you forgiveness and reconciliation with God and justification. And yes, even sanctification that you might walk with him through the power of the Holy Spirit.

So, up to now, we've talked about human functioning and human depravity. In our next message, we're going to talk about human desperation. That's what sin brings to us: desperate situations and how God can use it to fulfill his good plan and purpose for your life. I don't think you want to miss it. And until then, may the Lord truly bless you and give you wonderful, wonderful guidance into the plan that he has for your life. This is my prayer for you.

Liz Aiello: Thank you, Pastor Runge. And thank you, listening friend, for tuning in today. Now, let me tell you about our special offer. It's the compact disc which includes all of the programs in this current series of studies on God's Plan for Your Life. And it can be yours for a gift of just $6 or more to Messianic Perspectives.

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If you're listening to our webcast or podcast, we need to know that too. I'm Liz Aiello. Join us next time, won't you? As Pastor Al Runge continues our series of studies on God's Plan for Your Life, right here on Messianic Perspectives. Messianic Perspectives is sponsored by CJF Ministries of San Antonio, Texas, and is made possible on this station by the freewill contributions of our listeners in this area.