Joseph And His Coat

Text: Genesis 37

Pastor Phil Hughes, American Fork Presbyterian Church, UT

June 30, 2024

You know, I have an inspiration.  What if we took this story of Joseph and made it into a musical?  What if we had some songs and dancing around the character of Joseph, and how he is taken to Egypt, and rises in power? What if we made the king of Egypt like Elvis Presley?  Wouldn’t that be great?!

What if it wasn’t just Joseph and his coat of many colors but “Joseph…and the Technicolor Dreamcoat”? No, The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat!

The production by Andrew Lloyd Webber first came to Broadway in 1982. It was nominated for six Tony awards.  It’s a good show.

And most people associate the Old Testament figure Joseph with this coat of many colors. For many it’s all they know. The thing is the Hebrew text doesn’t necessarily say anything about color.  I know we all have visions of the robe with all these stripes of bright colors, and I don’t want to spoil anyone’s sense of this. The idea of the robe having many colors came from the Greek translation of the Old Testament. The King James Version also reads coat of many colors. So that’s what many of us were raised with and have in mind.

But the Bible we read from this morning says, “a richly ornamented robe.”  Some Bibles read “an ornate robe.”  The actual word that is used seems to suggest it was at least a very richly embroidered robe, or it had long sleeves, perhaps a sign of ornateness like long tails on a coat in our day.

So let’s just call it Joseph and His Coat. (slide)  OK? And that’s about all I have this morning.  Thank you all for coming. Have a wonderful Sunday.

Yeah, Joseph had a fancy coat.  But Joseph’s coat is merely a sign of his being favored by his father Jacob.  The events in Joseph’s life really don’t have much to do with the coat, per se.

We read about Joseph in Genesis 37-50.  That’s fourteen chapters.  Joseph gets lots of play in the Bible.  But is it more about Joseph or God?  The God who is working even when he is hidden.  The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who can bring good out of evil, and turn things to serve his purposes out of his providence.

It says Joseph brings a bad report about his brothers to his father. There is a time to tattle and turn the siblings in.  I’m not saying there isn’t.  But there is a time maybe not to. Joseph has trouble staying in his own lane.

This is when we are told that Israel (which was another name for Jacob) loved Joseph more than any of his other sons. The coat set him apart as the favorite.  Not a great move by Dad. As a result of Jacob’s favoritism, Joseph’s brothers hate Joseph.  Already we have a problem. You can just see the therapy bills piling up down the road.

Joseph is a dreamer.  And the dreamer tells his brothers about the dream of sheaves of grain.  Joseph’s sheaf rose upright while the brothers’ sheaves gathered around and bowed down to him.  The brothers hated Joseph all the more.

Joseph has another dream of the sun and the moon and eleven stars.  These are his parents and brothers.  And what do they do in the dream?  They bow down to Joseph.

Jacob tries to get him to put a lid on it.  He asks, “Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?”  This question sets up the latter crux of the story. The brother’s hatred grows. But Jacob keeps it all in mind.

One day Jacob sends Joseph to check on his brothers who are grazing the flocks.  When they see him coming they plot to kill him and get rid of the body kind of New Jersey Mafia style. But one of the brothers, Reuben, talks them out of killing him.  He proposes just throwing him into a cistern, with the idea of later rescuing Joseph and taking him back to his father.

When they see Joseph coming they strip him of his robe.  That they strip him of this richly ornamented robe is emphasized.  They throw him in the cistern.

The brothers see a caravan of Ishmaelites coming.  They sell Joseph to the Ishmaelites.  They take the robe and put the blood of a slaughtered animal on it. (We had a great morning of Bible Trivia last week. Trivia: what kind of animal did they kill for the blood? A goat.) It is the coat with blood that sends the father Jacob into a horrible grief.

The father thinks the dreamer, his favorite son, is dead.  The brothers think he has been removed.  But things aren’t as they seem.  The dreamer is very much alive and on his way to the White House in Egypt.  And the main character in the story actually isn’t Joseph, or the brothers, or Jacob.  It is the LORD, though he is silent and not visible.[1] The LORD is moving as we will see later.

In just the one chapter of Genesis 37, there is tension, violence and grief. As one Bible commentator noted, the robe or coat began in deep love.  Then it was torn in deep hate.  It becomes a tool for deep deception.[2]

Joseph is not dead.  But he is not free.  He is in limbo and maybe even trouble.  But God has not abandoned him.

The story goes on.  We’re told that the LORD was with Joseph and he caused Joseph to prosper.  And Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, notices and entrusts Joseph with many responsibilities.

But apparently Joseph was a handsome guy and Potiphar’s wife was rather – I don’t know the theological term but – maybe loose.  She comes on to Joseph who refuses to betray the trust of Potiphar. Potiphar’s wife lies and Joseph ends up in prison.

This is important.  For two full years Joseph is in an Egyptian prison.  There he continues to dream, giving and interpreting dreams to a cupbearer and a baker who are also in prison.  Two years later Pharoah has a dream.  No one can interpret it.  The cupbearer, who is out of prison and back in gainful employment just as Joseph had told him when he interpreted his dream in prison, remembers Joseph.

Joseph is brought out of the dungeon and comes to Pharoah.  He tells Pharaoh that he cannot interpret his dream but that God will give Pharaoh the answer.  It is emphasized several times that it is God not Joseph who is revealing to Pharaoh the meaning of his dream. The meaning is that seven years of abundance will be followed by seven years of famine.  Pharaoh sees that Joseph is wise and he makes him second only to him in all of Egypt. Joseph stockpiles grain in the time of abundance in preparation for the famine.

The famine hits.  Jacob hears there is grain in Egypt.  He sends his sons to Egypt where they end up before Joseph.  They don’t recognize him.  Joseph recognizes them. He accuses the brother of being spies. They swear that they are not and say they are just twelve brothers from Canaan. The youngest son is back with the father and one is no more. The youngest son is Benjamin who Jacob did not send because he couldn’t bear to lose him as he lost Joseph.

Joseph says that to prove they are telling the truth they are to leave one brother with him, take grain back to their family, then bring the youngest son back with them. They agree, leaving the brother Simeon as collateral.

As they are traveling back they open their bags and see that their silver, which they had brought to offer for grain, is back in their bags. They fear that if this becomes known the implication is that they will be seen as thieves.

They tell old Jacob everything that the leader in Egypt said to them, but Jacob is loathe to send Benjamin. Jacob says, “My son will not go down there with you; his brother is dead and he is the only one left. If harm comes to him on the journey you are taking, you will bring my gray head down to the grave in sorrow.”[3]

After they have eaten all the grain and the famine continues, Jacob wants them to go back and get more food.  They remind him the man in Egypt said don’t come back without the younger brother.  Judah rises and says that he will take full responsibility for Benjamin.  Jacob relents.  He also tells them to bring some items that are of some value and offer them to this leader in Egypt.

They go back and present themselves to Joseph who sees Benjamin.  They explain to Joseph’s steward about the silver in their bags and how they have no idea how that happened.  To their surprise the steward tells them he is aware of it because it was put back in their bags on purpose. What they thought was God punishing them turns out to be a nonissue.

Joseph has a big meal prepared for all of them.  He asks his brothers about their father. Joseph is so moved from seeing young Benjamin that he excuses himself to a private place and weeps. He composes himself, comes back, and they enjoy the feast.

The next morning Joseph gives instructions to load the brother’s sacks with grain but hide Joseph’s silver drinking cup in the sack of the youngest son, Benjamin.  When the brothers leave Joseph gives instructions to his steward to go catch up to the men and accuse them of stealing his cup.

The steward catches up to the brothers saying the cup is missing. The brothers deny they took it and agree to open all their sacks.  The steward says if it is found in someone’s sack that person will become a slave to Egypt. To their shock the cup is in Benjamin’s sack. And remember how Jacob’s greatest fear was losing Benjamin.

They are taken back to Joseph who accuses them of this crime.  Judah explains the entire situation, and how precious Benjamin is to their father, and how their father has already lost a treasured son, and Judah asks that he be kept while Benjamin and the others are let go.

Chapter 45 begins this way:

Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, “Have everyone leave my presence!” So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh’s household heard about it.

Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still living?” But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence.

Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt!

Joseph recounts to his brothers all that happened after they sold him away.  Joseph tells them that it was God who sent him ahead of them.  Three times he says it was God who brought him to where he was today.

Joseph tells the brothers to go get their father and come and live in Egypt.  When they tell Jacob that Joseph is alive, Jacob is stunned.

The family comes to Egypt and are provided for by the Pharaoh.  Jacob becomes ill and dies. When he dies the brothers now fear that Joseph may have just been holding back on getting revenge on them because of Jacob.  Now with Jacob gone they are done for.

They tell Joseph that Jacob had one wish before he died: that Joseph forgive his brothers on Jacob’s account for what they did to him when they stripped him of his coat, threw him in the cistern, and sold him away. Kind of a father’s final wish.  And it says:

When their message came to him, Joseph wept.

His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said.

But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.[4]

Though the brothers originally planned to eliminate Joseph, another plan was at work.  It was God’s plan. Because in the long run God intended for Jacob and his family to be brought to a good place in Egypt. Nothing in the plans of the brothers or Pharaoh or anyone else could keep this from happening.[5]

So what is all of this about? It’s about the movement of God in the everyday lives of human beings, even when – especially when it seems God has left the building.  Don’t we ever feel like that?  Things are going so bad that God is surely not involved.

This story is realistic.  This world is full of uncertainty and problems.  This story is assuring.  Despite all the uncertainty and problems God is faithful and will get the outcome he determines.[6]

God doesn’t always move as fast as we would like.  It takes thirteen years for Joseph to become second in command in Egypt. God doesn’t always work like we think.

This is about God’s sovereignty.  That God is sovereign means that he rules over and controls all things. It means we belong body and soul, in life and in death, to God, who watches over us in such a way that all things work together for the good of our salvation in Christ.  That doesn’t mean we always see it or feel it.  It doesn’t mean that God rubberstamps things that may hit us which are hard.  It doesn’t mean we will even get to see it in our lifetime. It simply means Almighty God can bring good out of the evil. In faith we stand that nothing can outdo God.

As Paul says in Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” God’s biggest statement on this was his vindication through the cross of our Lord Jesus.  The plots of humans only served the purposes of God.

We see again and again in Joseph’s life that choices by various people are made that seem to only lead to destruction.  Yet, God worked his purposes.  “The evil plans of human folks do not defeat God’s purpose.  Instead, they unwittingly become ways in which God’s plan is furthered.”[7]

God did not approve of what Joseph’s brothers originally did to him.  They were fully responsible for their crime.  God did not make them do it.  He did not need their cruelty to accomplish his plan.  But whatever would happen, God was going to get Joseph to Egypt and come to a place where God’s blessing and deliverance would come through him.[8]

It is in Egypt that the larger story of God choosing a people and bringing them out of that place comes to fruition.  And from that people comes the Messiah, Jesus.

So Joseph isn’t so much about a coat as about comfort.  The comfort that comes from knowing that God is present, that God has us, that nothing can stop his purposes for us or this world.

Prayer: God, we are grateful that despite the things that rock our lives and world you are sovereign.  Help us to keep our eyes on you in all the trials and challenges of our lives. Thank you that no weapon formed against us can prosper. Thank you that you are for us.  Help us to always rest in you with a wise trust. We pray this through Christ our Lord.  Amen.

[1] See Walter Brueggemann, Interpretation Commentary, Genesis, pp.298-99

[2] Brueggemann, 305

[3] 42:8

[4] 50:18-20

[5] Walter Brueggeman, Interpretation Commentary on Genesis, 373

[6] Walter Brueggeman, 376

[7] Brueggeman, 376

[8] John Walton, IVP Application Commentary, Genesis, p.697