Text:       Genesis 37:1-11

By:          Idogar, Daniel

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INTRODUCTION

 I bring you one of the greatest Bible stories with generational lessons. This is the story of the man who went from one ordeal to another, right from a very young age. His life was shaped by the series of trials he faced and the divine prophecy of God on him.

I’m talking about the man Joseph. But our attention will be focused more on his brothers and the dream Joseph had about them.

When we read the story of how Joseph dreamt two dreams and told them to his family, it is very easy for us to miss a salient point.

Talking about the second dream, Joseph said the “sun, moon and the eleven stars bowed down to me”.

When his brothers heard this they were angry because it was obvious they would bow before Joseph.

But how come they heard Joseph say they would “bow” but never heard him call them stars?

Sometimes, we find ourselves in similar situations. We become blinded by certain vices and we lose sight of what we are supposed to see.

We become as though we have ears but never hear. Our senses become respondent only to our selfish desires.

In this passage, we are going to find out two basic reasons the brothers of Joseph focused on the wrong word, which was all they needed to put Joseph through a series of difficult life events.

HATRED THROUGH FAVORITISM

It is common knowledge that the brothers hated Joseph. For this reason, when Joseph came with his dreams, they hated him even more, Gen. 37:8.

When hatred clouds our hearts, there’s nothing the other person will say that will make sense and that was the case of the brothers. But what led to the hatred?

The Bible says the Father Jacob loved Joseph more than the others (Gen. 37:3,4). Favouritism!

• Jacob was a product of his parents’ faults. Dysfunctions in families often pass on to generations except extra effort is put in to stop them.
• If you want to cause division among your children, show Favouritism to one of your children.
• Favouritism is a generational cancer. It kills!
• Some parents pour out undue love to their last child, some to their only son, others to the brightest child, and others to their first son.
• It is one thing to pour out your love on a particular child, it is another thing to show it so plainly. The Bible says they saw that their father loved Joseph more.
• Open Favouritism kills faster than backbiting. It can lead the hatred, depression, even suicide.
• We must learn how to break from the wrong habits of our fathers and mothers.

Generational curses is beyond spiritual matters; when parents lead cancerous habits, they are inevitably passing on generational curses to their children.

Because it takes the grace of God to break from such habits even when it is clear it yields no good.

• Because Jacob showed undue favouritism to Joseph, the brothers got jealous, they hated Joseph. So when Joseph told them his dream, they never heard him call them stars, they only heard him say they must bow. It blinded their eyes and shut their ears. 

HUMILITY – A CLOSER LOOK

Ever heard of the saying that “easier said than done”? Yes! Some things are easier said than done.

It’s easy to say I’ll repent tomorrow, but if tomorrow comes, will you repent? It’s the same as humility.

It is only seen when put in action. As easy and sweet as it may sound, it is very difficult to be humble.

Apart from hatred, the brothers of Joseph were eaten by another dangerous worm. They couldn’t see themselves submitting to Joseph.

They couldn’t see themselves submitting to their almost youngest brother. In their minds they must have been like “it’s one thing for father to love you more, gave you a coat of many colours, but hey, do you really think you can rule over us, do you think we are going to bow down to you?”

Now hear this:

• What is true humility? It is one thing to be able to submit to authority when it’s the same level with you or even higher. But true humility is bowing to who may never be of equal rank to you in this age or in the age to come.
• True humility is accepting divine order and honouring divine order.
• True humility is seeing beyond the person and more into the reason.
• True humility is letting go of over familiarity.
• The brothers of Joseph were obviously blinded by pride, and they never heard Joseph call them stars.
• When pride wants to work on you, it makes you focus on the wrong keywords. It gives you a new dictionary with words and meaning only you can understand.
• Today, some of us never succeed in ministry, in partnership, in small groups, because we are not okay being “stars”, we want to be the “universe”.
• The truth is, even stars though subject to a greater power, are still a charming feature of the Galaxy. But how come the brothers of Joseph were not okay being “stars”.
• In God’s divine order, even stars do bow. It doesn’t make them less of a star.
• We must let our guards down a little, and appreciate being the stars of our ministries and groups, and still be ready to submit to the universe if need be.

CONCLUSION

We have seen that there was a veil in the eyes of the brothers of Joseph, and their ears too were shut; because of a generational issue and character dysfunction.

Today, we have many generational curses eating deep into our homes and our lives, we must break out from such chains.

We must learn that humility is a practical command, it is beyond words.

The brothers of Joseph were stars but they never heard that.

Are you a star? Yes! You are.

But are you willing to bow if need be?

May God help us to see our shining nature and submit to His will in Jesus name. Amen.

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