INTRODUCTION

1. One of the great characters of the Old Testament is Joseph.  We will briefly study him here.

2. To frame this study, we will consider the thread of Joseph's garments to take us through his story.

    

JOSEPH'S VARICOLORED TUNIC AND HIS BROTHERS' JEALOUSY

1. Jacob made a varicolored tunic for Joseph because he loved Joseph more than his other sons.

   1. Joseph was Jacob's son through Rachel, who was Jacob's beloved wife (Gen. 29:30; 30:22-24).

   2. Just as Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah, so also he loved Joseph more than his other sons and gave him a special gament.  Notice Genesis 37:3:

      Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he was the son of his old age; and he made him a varicolored tunic.

2. Joseph's jealous brothers used the tunic to deceive their father into believing that Joseph was killed.

   1. The jealousy and hatred of Joseph's brothers arose from several factors: their father's preference for Joseph (Gen. 37:4), Joseph's bad report about them (Gen. 37:2), and Joseph's dreams (Gen. 37:5-11; notice that Jacob rebuked Joseph for this dream).

   2. When Jacob sent Joseph to check on his brothers as they were pasturing sheep, they sought to kill him.  However, Reuben, the oldest son, convinced them to spare him and throw him into a pit (Gen. 37:12-22).  Notice Genesis 37:23-24:

      ²³So it came about, when Joseph reached his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the varicolored tunic that was on him; ²⁴and they took him and threw him into the pit.  Now the pit was empty, without any water in it.

   3. Without Reuben's knowledge, the rest of the brothers sold Joseph into slavery to a band of Midianites who were travelling to Egypt (Gen. 37:25-30).  To cover their evil deed, Reuben and the brothers used Joseph's tunic to deceive Jacob. Notice Genesis 37:31-33:

      ³¹So they took Joseph's tunic, and slaughtered a male goat and dipped the tunic in the blood; ³²and they sent the varicolored tunic and brought it to their father and said, "We found this; please examine it to see whether it is your son's tunic or not."  ³³Then he examined it and said, "It is my son's tunic. A wild beast has devoured him; Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!"

3. The lesson here comes from Joseph's jealous brothers.

   1. Modern psychology would have us to blame Jacob for this situation, but it was Joseph's brothers who were at fault.  Their deeds are called wrong, transgression, and evil (Gen. 50:15-21).

   2. Jealousy is not necessarily evil, for even God is jealous (Ex. 20:5).  Indeed, it is good to be jealous for God and His people (Num. 25:11-13; 2Cor. 11:2).

   3. However, jealousy can cause us to do evil when it is unwarranted or ungodly or when it motivates us to seek harm against others (Acts 13:45).

   4. Christians are commanded to put away the kind of jealousy that causes strife and division (Rom. 13:13; 1Cor. 3:3; 2Cor. 12:20; Gal. 5:20; Jas. 3:14-16).

       

THE GARMENT JOSEPH LEFT WITH POTIPHAR'S WIFE

1. Joseph left his garment with his master's wife when he fled from her proposal to commit adultery.

   1. When Joseph arrived in Egypt, he was sold to an Egyptian officer to Pharaoh named Potiphar.  He very quickly gained Potiphar's trust and was put in charge of Potiphar's household (Gen. 39:1-6).

   2. Joseph was very handsome in form and appearance, and Potiphar's wife looked at him with desire and said to him, "Lie with me" (Gen. 39:6-7). Notice Joseph's response in Genesis 39:8-9:

      ⁸But he refused and said to his master's wife, "Behold, with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has put all that he owns in my charge.  ⁹There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife.  How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?"

   3. Despite Joseph's refusal, Potiphar's wife continued to approach Joseph day after day, and he continued to refuse (Gen. 39:10).

   4. One day, the woman approached Joseph and took hold of him. Notice Genesis 39:11-12:

      ¹¹Now it happened one day that he went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the household was there inside.  ¹²She caught him by his garment, saying, "Lie with me!"  And he left his garment in her hand and fled, and went outside.

2. Potiphar's wife used Joseph's garment to accuse him of assaulting her.

   1. At last, the woman's lust for Joseph turned to spite. Consider Genesis 39:13-18:

      ¹³When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside, ¹⁴she called to the men of her household and said to them, "See, he has brought in a Hebrew to us to make sport of us; he came in to me to lie with me, and I screamed.  ¹⁵When he heard that I raised my voice and screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled and went outside."  ¹⁶So she left his garment beside her until his master came home.  ¹⁷Then she spoke to him with these words, "The Hebrew slave, whom you brought to us, came in to me to make sport of me; ¹⁸and as I raised my voice and screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled outside."

   2. This evil woman spitefully lied about Joseph and accused him of her own evil deeds.

      1. Notice how she recruited the other servants to her side, turned them against Joseph, and even impugned her husband in verse 14.  Everything this woman did was evil.

      2. Also, notice how she implied to her husband that the situation was his fault in verse 17.

3. The lesson here is in Joseph's example of genuine righteousness.

   1. The pleasure offered to Joseph and the likelihood of hiding the deed from Potiphar did not cause Joseph to waver.  He saw the situation for what it really was, which was a great evil and a sin against God.

   2. Joseph's righteousness was tested by this woman day after day, but he remained strong.

   3. When the woman became more aggressive and took hold of him, he fled from her.  His reaction is a great contrast to the foolish young man who fell into adultery in Proverbs 7:6-23.

   4. Let us follow this godly example and flee from immorality and youthful lusts, even if they press us every day (1Cor. 6:18; 2Tim. 2:22).

       

JOSEPH'S GARMENTS IN PHARAOH'S SERVICE

1. When Joseph interpreted Pharaoh's dream, Pharaoh clothed him in fine garments.

   1. Because of the lie of Potiphar's wife, Joseph was cast into prison (Gen. 39:19-20).

   2. While Joseph was in prison, his reputation as an interpreter of dreams became known to Pharaoh, and Pharaoh called on him to give an interpretation (Gen. 41:1-15).

   3. Joseph gave glory to God and correctly told and interpreted the dream (Gen. 41:16-36).

   4. As a result, Pharaoh exalted Joseph to second in authority over Egypt (Gen. 41:37-41).  Notice that Pharaoh clothed Joseph in a manner appropriate to his new position in Genesis 41:42:

      Then Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph's hand, and clothed him in garments of fine linen and put the gold necklace around his neck.

2. When Joseph's brothers came to buy food in Egypt, Joseph disguised himself from them.

   1. As Joseph had foretold by the dream, seven years of abundance were followed by seven years of famine.  Joseph successfully prepared stores of food in Egypt during the seven years of abundance so that people had to come to Egypt to buy food when the famine came (Gen. 41:46-57).

   2. Joseph's brothers came to buy food in Egypt, and Joseph spoke to them without them knowing who he was.  Notice Genesis 42:7-8:

      ⁷When Joseph saw his brothers he recognized them, but he disguised himself to them and spoke to them harshly.  And he said to them, "Where have you come from?"  And they said, "From the land of Canaan, to buy food."  ⁸But Joseph had recognized his brothers, although they did not recognize him.

3. This example shows the blessings of God's favor and providence.

   1. Joseph eventually revealed himself to his brothers, and he was able to save his family because of position in Egypt.  Notice his understanding expressed to his brothers in Genesis 45:5-8:

      ⁵"Now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.  ⁶For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting.  ⁷God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance.  ⁸Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt."

   2. Although misfortune seemed to befall Joseph time after time, God used these misfortunes to accomplish His purpose, and Joseph submitted to His purpose and did not resent it.

   3. God's favor and providence often work in ways that we do not expect, but we must always be content with our place in life and submit to God's purposes for us.