Objective

In this study, we’ll see that God works patiently through families to accomplish His work in the world.

Key Verse

Hebrews 11:9: “By faith he [Abraham] made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.”

Introduction

Genesis 12-50 tells the story of a great family that God used to change the world. These chapters contain some of the most important stories in all of Scripture because they show us how God works through ordinary people to accomplish His extraordinary purposes. The family we meet in these pages is not perfect—far from it. We will see examples of faith and failure, obedience and disobedience, wisdom and foolishness. But through it all, we will witness something remarkable: the unwavering faithfulness of our God.

When God created the world, He intended for human beings to live in perfect fellowship with Him. But sin entered the world and broke that relationship. In the early chapters of Genesis, we saw how sin spread until God had to judge the world with a flood. Even after the flood, people continued to rebel against God, as we see in the story of the tower of Babel. By the end of Genesis 11, it might seem that God’s plan for humanity had failed completely.

But God had a different plan. Instead of working through all the nations at once, He decided to work through one family. From this family, He would create a nation. Through this nation, He would preserve His truth and prepare the world for the coming of His Son. This is the story that begins in Genesis 12 and continues through the rest of the Old Testament.

The faithfulness of God is one of the greatest themes we discover in these chapters. When God makes a promise, He keeps it—even when circumstances make His promises seem impossible. God called Abraham and gave him wonderful promises, and then God renewed those same promises to Abraham’s children and grandchildren. Generation after generation, God proved that His word could be trusted completely.

This is not just an ancient story about people who lived long ago. Christ is the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham’s family, and this means that we are included in this promise too. The apostle Paul teaches us that all who believe in Jesus Christ become part of Abraham’s spiritual family. This is our story as well, which is why we need to study the lives of these four great men carefully.

In this study, we will examine the lives of four patriarchs—the fathers of God’s chosen people. Each of these men teaches us important truths about God’s character and His plan for the world. More importantly, each of these men points us toward Jesus Christ in remarkable ways:

• Abraham — The man of faith who received God’s covenant promises
• Isaac — The promised son who willingly submitted to his father
• Jacob — The deceiver whom God patiently transformed into Israel
• Joseph — The rejected brother who became the savior of his family

Introduction

Genesis 12-50 tells the story of a great family that God used to change the world. These chapters contain some of the most important stories in all of Scripture because they show us how God works through ordinary people to accomplish His extraordinary purposes. The family we meet in these pages is not perfect—far from it. We will see examples of faith and failure, obedience and disobedience, wisdom and foolishness. But through it all, we will witness something remarkable: the unwavering faithfulness of our God.

When God created the world, He intended for human beings to live in perfect fellowship with Him. But sin entered the world and broke that relationship. In the early chapters of Genesis, we saw how sin spread until God had to judge the world with a flood. Even after the flood, people continued to rebel against God, as we see in the story of the tower of Babel. By the end of Genesis 11, it might seem that God’s plan for humanity had failed completely.

But God had a different plan. Instead of working through all the nations at once, He decided to work through one family. From this family, He would create a nation. Through this nation, He would preserve His truth and prepare the world for the coming of His Son. This is the story that begins in Genesis 12 and continues through the rest of the Old Testament.

The faithfulness of God is one of the greatest themes we discover in these chapters. When God makes a promise, He keeps it—even when circumstances make His promises seem impossible. God called Abraham and gave him wonderful promises, and then God renewed those same promises to Abraham’s children and grandchildren. Generation after generation, God proved that His word could be trusted completely.

This is not just an ancient story about people who lived long ago. Christ is the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham’s family, and this means that we are included in this promise too. The apostle Paul teaches us that all who believe in Jesus Christ become part of Abraham’s spiritual family. This is our story as well, which is why we need to study the lives of these four great men carefully.

In this study, we will examine the lives of four patriarchs—the fathers of God’s chosen people. Each of these men teaches us important truths about God’s character and His plan for the world. More importantly, each of these men points us toward Jesus Christ in remarkable ways:

• Abraham — The man of faith who received God’s covenant promises
• Isaac — The promised son who willingly submitted to his father
• Jacob — The deceiver whom God patiently transformed into Israel
• Joseph — The rejected brother who became the savior of his family

Abraham

Abraham stands as the greatest example of faith in all the Bible. When we think about what it means to trust God completely, we look to Abraham’s life for inspiration and instruction. His story begins when he was seventy-five years old, living in a prosperous city called Ur in ancient Mesopotamia. Abraham had every reason to stay where he was—he had family, wealth, and security. But God had a different plan for his life.

God called Abraham to leave everything familiar and travel to a land that God would show him. This was not a small request. God was asking Abraham to abandon his comfortable life and step into the unknown, trusting only in God’s word. But along with this difficult command came the most wonderful promises that God had ever given to any human being.

These promises were so important that God repeated them several times throughout Abraham’s life. Each time, God revealed a little more about what He intended to do. Let us examine these promises carefully, because they form the foundation of everything God would accomplish through His people.

The first time God spoke to Abraham, He made three amazing promises that we find recorded for us in Genesis:

Genesis 12:1-3: “The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.'”

What did God promise to Abraham in these remarkable words?

First, God promised that Abraham’s descendants would become a great nation. This was an extraordinary promise to give to a man who had no children and whose wife was beyond the normal age for bearing children. But God specializes in doing the impossible.

Second, God promised that every nation on earth would be blessed through Abraham’s family. This promise looked far beyond Abraham’s own lifetime to something that God would accomplish through his descendants. We now know that this promise finds its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ, who came from Abraham’s family to bring salvation to people from every nation.

Third, God promised that Abraham’s descendants would inherit the land where he was living as a stranger. This land would become their permanent home, the place where God would dwell among His people and work out His plan for the world.

Years later, when Abraham was still waiting for these promises to be fulfilled, God appeared to him again and gave him even more details about what He intended to do. Read these encouraging words slowly and carefully:

Genesis 15:1-5: “After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: ‘Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.’ But Abram said, ‘Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?’ And Abram said, ‘You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.’ Then the word of the Lord came to him: ‘This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.’ He took him outside and said, ‘Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.’ Then he said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.'”

Abraham had been waiting many years for God’s promises to come true. It would have been natural for him to doubt or to try to help God fulfill His promises in his own way. But instead of giving up, Abraham chose to believe God’s word. The next verse tells us something remarkable about Abraham’s response:

Genesis 15:6: “Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.”

This verse is one of the most important verses in the entire Bible because it shows us exactly how a person becomes right with God. Abraham was not made righteous because of his good works or his religious ceremonies. He was made righteous because he believed God’s promise. This is the same way that we become right with God today—by believing in Jesus Christ, who is the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham.

Abraham had to wait twenty-five long years before he finally held his promised son in his arms. During those years, his faith was tested many times. He made mistakes and sometimes tried to help God fulfill His promises through his own efforts. But God was patient with Abraham and continued to work in his life. Finally, when Abraham was one hundred years old and his wife Sarah was ninety, God kept His promise:

Genesis 21:1-3: “Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised. Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him.”

Isaac’s birth was a miracle that only God could perform. But more than that, Isaac’s birth was proof that God always keeps His promises, no matter how impossible they might seem to us. (Notebook Moment: Think about a time when you had to wait for something important. How did waiting change you? What does Abraham’s long wait for Isaac teach us about trusting God’s timing even when we don’t understand it?)

How has the earth been blessed through Abraham’s family? The answer is found in Jesus Christ, who was born from Abraham’s family line many centuries later. Through Jesus, people from every nation can receive forgiveness of sins and eternal life with God. The apostle Peter explained this connection when he preached to the Jewish people:

Acts 3:25-26: “And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.’ When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”

The apostle Paul also helps us understand how Abraham’s story connects to our lives today:

Galatians 3:7-9: “Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: ‘All nations will be blessed through you.’ So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.”

The greatest test of Abraham’s faith came near the end of his life, when God gave him a command that seemed to contradict everything He had promised. God told Abraham to take his beloved son Isaac to Mount Moriah and offer him as a sacrifice. This command must have been almost impossible for Abraham to understand. How could God ask him to kill the very son through whom all of God’s promises were supposed to be fulfilled?

But Abraham had learned to trust God completely, even when he could not understand what God was doing. Early the next morning, Abraham prepared for the journey to Mount Moriah. He took Isaac, along with wood for the sacrifice, and began the three-day journey to the place God had chosen.

This story gives us one of the most beautiful pictures of Jesus Christ that we find anywhere in the Old Testament. The author of Hebrews helps us understand what was happening in Abraham’s heart during this difficult test:

Hebrews 11:17-19: “By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, ‘It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.’ Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.”

Abraham believed that even if Isaac died, God would raise him from the dead in order to keep His promises. This faith was rewarded when God provided a ram caught in the thicket as a substitute sacrifice for Isaac. Through this experience, Abraham learned something wonderful about God’s character: God Himself would provide the sacrifice that was needed.

Abraham’s life was not perfect. He experienced many failures and made many mistakes along the way. Sometimes his faith wavered, and he tried to accomplish God’s will through his own strength rather than trusting in God’s power. But despite these failures, God continued to work in Abraham’s life and use him for His purposes. This should encourage us that God can use us too, even when we fail and make mistakes.

The apostle Paul reminds us that Abraham’s story is not just ancient history—it is a pattern for how we should live today:

Romans 4:18-21: “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’ Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.”

Abraham shows us what it means to live by faith rather than by sight. He also shows us how we are made right with God—not through our own good works, but by believing in God’s promises:

Romans 4:22-25: “This is why ‘it was credited to him as righteousness.’ The words ‘it was credited to him’ were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.”

Abraham’s faith in God’s promise points us directly to our own need to believe in Jesus Christ, who died for our sins and rose again to give us eternal life.

Isaac

We do not know as much about the life of Isaac as we do about the other patriarchs. The Bible tells us fewer stories about Isaac’s personal experiences and challenges. But what we do learn about Isaac is extremely important, because he gives us one of the clearest and most beautiful pictures of Jesus Christ that we find anywhere in the Old Testament. Every major event in Isaac’s life points us toward something that Jesus would later accomplish for our salvation.

Isaac’s very existence was a miracle. His parents were far too old to have children by natural means—Abraham was one hundred years old and Sarah was ninety when Isaac was born. God had to intervene with supernatural power to bring Isaac into the world. In the same way, Jesus’ birth was a miracle that only God could accomplish. Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the virgin Mary, something that was humanly impossible but divinely certain.

Isaac was the promised son whom his father loved dearly. We see this clearly when God spoke to Abraham about the sacrifice he was to make on Mount Moriah:

Genesis 22:2: “Then God said, ‘Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.'”

The phrase “your only son, whom you love” gives us a beautiful picture of the relationship between God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. Although Abraham had another son named Ishmael, Isaac was the only son of the covenant promise. In the same way, Jesus is God’s “one and only Son,” as the apostle John tells us. The Father’s love for His Son is perfect and eternal, just as Abraham’s love for Isaac was deep and genuine.

Isaac shows us a picture of Christ most clearly in his willingness to be sacrificed. When we read the story in Genesis 22, we discover some remarkable similarities between what happened to Isaac and what later happened to Jesus on the cross. These similarities are not accidental—God designed them to help us understand what Jesus would do for us.

Consider how Isaac’s experience points us toward Christ’s sacrifice:

Isaac was to be sacrificed on a hill, just as Jesus was crucified on a hill outside Jerusalem. The place where Abraham took Isaac was Mount Moriah, which is located in the same area where Jesus would later die on Calvary’s hill.

Isaac was considered as good as dead by his father for three days, just as Jesus was in the tomb for three days. The journey to Mount Moriah took three days, and during those three days Abraham believed that he would lose his son. But on the third day, Isaac was restored to his father alive, just as Jesus rose from the dead on the third day.

Isaac carried the wood for his own sacrifice, just as Jesus carried His own cross. When they arrived at the place of sacrifice, Abraham gave Isaac the wood to carry up the mountain. This reminds us of how Jesus carried the wooden cross on which He would die for our sins.

Isaac submitted willingly to his father’s plan, just as Jesus submitted willingly to the Father’s will. Isaac was a strong young man who could have resisted his elderly father, but he chose to obey. We see this submission in their conversation on the way to the sacrifice:

Genesis 22:7-8: “Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, ‘Father?’ ‘Yes, my son?’ Abraham replied. ‘The fire and wood are here,’ Isaac said, ‘but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?’ Abraham answered, ‘God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.’ And the two of them went on together.”

Even when Isaac realized what was about to happen, he continued to trust his father’s wisdom. In the same way, Jesus willingly submitted to the Father’s plan, even though it meant suffering and death for Him.

Isaac was raised up alive from the altar, just as God raised Jesus from the dead. At the last moment, God provided a ram caught in the thicket as a substitute sacrifice for Isaac. Abraham received his son back alive, which the author of Hebrews tells us was like receiving him back from the dead. Jesus actually did die on the cross, but God raised Him to life again on the third day.

Isaac also gives us a picture of Christ in the way his father sought a bride for him. Genesis 24 tells the beautiful story of how Abraham sent his trusted servant to find a wife for Isaac. The servant traveled to a distant country and brought back Rebekah to become Isaac’s bride. (Notebook Moment: How does the story of finding a bride for Isaac help us understand God’s plan for the church? Think about who seeks the bride, how the bride is chosen, and what the bride’s response should be.)

This story points us toward the wonderful truth that God the Father is preparing a bride for His Son Jesus Christ. The church—all who believe in Jesus—is the bride that the Father is calling to His Son. Just as Abraham’s servant went to a distant land to find Isaac’s bride, the Holy Spirit goes throughout the world to call people to become part of Christ’s bride, the church. And just as Rebekah had to choose whether she would come with the servant to marry Isaac, each person must choose whether they will accept God’s invitation to become part of Christ’s bride.

Although Isaac lived a long life and played an important role in God’s plan, the Bible focuses more on what Isaac represents than on what Isaac accomplished. This is because Isaac’s greatest purpose was to point us toward Jesus Christ. Every time we read about Isaac’s life, we should be reminded of what God’s beloved Son has done for us.

Isaac shows us that God’s promises are trustworthy. Just as God kept His promise to give Abraham a son, God has kept His promise to give us a Savior. Isaac shows us what it means to submit willingly to the Father’s will, even when we do not understand everything that is happening. Most importantly, Isaac shows us that God Himself provides the sacrifice that is needed to take away our sins.

When Abraham told Isaac that “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering,” he was speaking more truth than he realized. God did provide a substitute sacrifice for Isaac that day on Mount Moriah. But centuries later, God provided the ultimate sacrifice when He gave His own Son to die on the cross for our sins. Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Jacob

Jacob is one of the most fascinating and complex characters in all the Bible. He was a man who lived much of his life relying on his own cleverness and strength, but he was also a man whom God chose and patiently transformed over many years. Jacob’s story teaches us profound truths about God’s grace, His sovereignty in choosing people for His purposes, and His patience in changing us from the inside out.

Jacob’s life shows us both the mystery and the certainty of God’s calling. Before Jacob and his twin brother Esau were even born, God had already chosen Jacob to carry on the covenant promises that He had made to Abraham and Isaac. This choice was not based on anything that Jacob had done or would do—it was based entirely on God’s sovereign will and purpose. This truth should humble us and fill us with wonder at God’s amazing grace.

Malachi 1:2-3: Yet I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated.

Romans 9:10-13: Not only that, but Rebekah’s children were conceived at the same time by our father Isaac. Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad—in order that God’s purpose in election might stand: not by works but by him who calls—she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

This does not mean that God forces people to believe in Him against their will. Rather, it means that God’s plan of salvation does not depend on human effort or goodness, but on His own grace and mercy. We can learn from Jacob’s story that God calls us not because we deserve it, but because He chooses to love us.

Jacob’s early life was marked by deception and self-reliance. His very name meant “deceiver” or “one who grabs the heel,” and he lived up to that name through many of his actions. We first see Jacob’s character when he convinced his hungry brother Esau to sell him the birthright that belonged to the firstborn son:

Genesis 25:29-34: Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom.) Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.” “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?” But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright.

The author of Hebrews later commented on Esau’s foolish decision:

Hebrews 12:16: See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son.

But Jacob’s deception did not stop there. Later, with his mother’s help, he tricked his nearly blind father Isaac into giving him the blessing that was intended for Esau:

Genesis 27:35-36: But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.” Esau said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob? This is the second time he has taken advantage of me: He took my birthright, and now he’s taken my blessing!” Then he asked, “Haven’t you reserved any blessing for me?”

God worked through these events to accomplish His purposes, but this does not mean that Jacob’s deception was right. God often works through our failures and mistakes to bring about His will, but He does not approve of our sin. Jacob would spend many years learning that God’s blessings come through faith and obedience, not through trickery and manipulation.

Jacob’s deception made his brother Esau so angry that Jacob had to flee for his life. As he traveled away from his family toward a distant land, Jacob was alone and afraid. But it was during this low point in his life that God chose to reveal Himself to Jacob in a powerful way. One night, as Jacob slept in the wilderness with only a stone for a pillow, God gave him a remarkable dream:

Genesis 28:10-16: Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran. When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. There above it stood the Lord, and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.”

This dream was not just comfort for Jacob—it was also a picture of Jesus Christ that would be fulfilled many centuries later. Jesus Himself explained this connection:

John 1:50-51: “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” He then added, “Very truly I tell you, you will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’ the Son of Man.”

Jesus is the true ladder between heaven and earth. He is the way that sinful human beings can approach the holy God. Through His death and resurrection, Jesus opened the way for us to have fellowship with God forever.

Jacob spent twenty years working for his uncle Laban in a distant land. During this time, he experienced both the blessings and the discipline of God. Laban proved to be as deceptive as Jacob himself—he tricked Jacob into marrying his older daughter Leah before allowing him to marry Rachel, the woman Jacob truly loved. Despite this setback, Jacob’s love for Rachel remained strong:

Genesis 29:20: So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.

During his years with Laban, Jacob married both Leah and Rachel, as well as their servants Bilhah and Zilpah. Through these four women, Jacob became the father of twelve sons who would later become the twelve tribes of Israel. God used even the family conflicts and difficulties to accomplish His purposes for His chosen people. (Notebook Moment: Jacob’s name meant “deceiver,” but God later changed his name to “Israel,” meaning “he wrestles with God.” What does this teach us about how God can change our identity and our character over time?)

After twenty years away from home, God told Jacob that it was time to return to the land of his fathers. As Jacob prepared for this journey, he was filled with fear about meeting his brother Esau again. He was not sure whether Esau still wanted to kill him for the deception that had happened so many years before.

It was during this time of anxiety and fear that Jacob had the most important spiritual experience of his life. One night, as he was alone by the Jabbok River, a mysterious man came and wrestled with him until daybreak. This was no ordinary wrestling match—this was a spiritual struggle that would change Jacob forever:

Genesis 32:24-30: So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” The man asked him, “What is your name?” “Jacob,” he answered. Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.” Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.” But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there. So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”

This wrestling match represents Jacob’s entire relationship with God. Jacob had been struggling and striving all his life, trying to accomplish God’s will through his own strength and cleverness. But God had to teach him that His blessings come through surrender, not through struggle. When Jacob finally acknowledged his weakness and asked for God’s blessing, God gave him a new name and a new identity.

The name “Israel” means “he wrestles with God” or “God prevails.” This new name showed that Jacob had learned an important lesson: he could not overcome God, but God could overcome his problems. From this point forward, Jacob would be known as Israel, and his descendants would be called the children of Israel.

The transformation of Jacob teaches us important truths about God’s patience and grace. God did not give up on Jacob despite his many failures and mistakes. Instead, God worked slowly and steadily to change Jacob’s heart and character. This should encourage us that God will not give up on us either, even when we fail and disappoint Him.

Philippians 1:6: Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Jacob’s life also teaches us about the sovereignty of God in salvation. God chose Jacob before he was born, and God worked through all the circumstances of Jacob’s life—both good and bad—to accomplish His purposes. This does not mean that our choices do not matter, but it does mean that God’s plan of salvation is secure and certain.

Joseph

The story of Joseph is one of the most remarkable and encouraging stories in all the Bible. It is a story that clearly demonstrates both God’s sovereignty over all circumstances and His amazing grace toward those who suffer unjustly. Joseph’s life also provides us with one of the most complete and beautiful pictures of Jesus Christ that we find anywhere in the Old Testament. From his early years as his father’s beloved son to his final role as the savior of his family, Joseph’s experiences point us again and again toward what Jesus would accomplish for us.

Joseph was the favorite son of his father Jacob, but this special love made his brothers hate him intensely. The Bible tells us that Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, and he showed this favoritism by giving Joseph a special coat of many colors. This preferential treatment, combined with Joseph’s dreams that suggested he would one day rule over his family, made his brothers so jealous that they could barely speak to him peacefully.

When Joseph was seventeen years old, his brothers’ hatred reached a breaking point. They sold him to a group of merchants who were traveling to Egypt, and then they told their father that Joseph had been killed by a wild animal. Joseph suddenly found himself alone in a foreign country, separated from his family and everything familiar to him. He had done nothing wrong, yet he was forced to endure years of suffering and injustice.

In Egypt, Joseph first served a powerful man named Potiphar, who was an officer of Pharaoh. God blessed Joseph’s work, and Potiphar put him in charge of his entire household. But Potiphar’s wife falsely accused Joseph of trying to assault her, and Joseph was thrown into prison even though he was completely innocent. He spent many years in that prison, forgotten by those who could have helped him, yet never abandoned by the God who had a purpose for his life.

Eventually, God used Joseph’s ability to interpret dreams to bring him before Pharaoh himself. Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams about seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine, and Pharaoh was so impressed that he made Joseph the prime minister of all Egypt. Joseph was given authority over the entire land and was responsible for preparing Egypt to survive the coming famine.

When the famine came, it affected not only Egypt but also the surrounding countries, including the land where Joseph’s family lived. Jacob sent ten of his sons to Egypt to buy grain, not knowing that the powerful Egyptian official they would meet was actually their brother Joseph whom they had sold into slavery many years before.

Eventually, Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers and was reunited with his entire family. He brought them all to live in Egypt, where they were protected and provided for during the remaining years of famine. What his brothers had intended for evil, God had used for the salvation of many people.

How do we see God’s sovereignty in Joseph’s story? Throughout all the difficult circumstances of Joseph’s life, God was working to accomplish His purposes. Joseph himself understood this truth and expressed it clearly when he finally spoke to his brothers about what they had done to him:

Genesis 45:4-8: 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! And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt.”

Later, after their father Jacob had died, Joseph’s brothers were afraid that he might finally take revenge on them for what they had done. But Joseph assured them that he held no bitterness in his heart:

Genesis 50:20: You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

Joseph’s ability to see God’s hand in all his circumstances, even the painful ones, shows us what it means to trust in God’s sovereignty. No matter what happens to us, we can be confident that God is working all things together for His glory and our good.

How do we see God’s grace in Joseph’s story? Joseph learned to experience God’s grace and favor even during the most difficult times of his life. Whether he was serving in Potiphar’s house, suffering in prison, or ruling in Pharaoh’s palace, Joseph remained faithful to God and trusted in His goodness. Because Joseph had experienced God’s grace personally, he was able to extend grace to others, including the brothers who had treated him so cruelly. (Notebook Moment: Joseph forgave his brothers who had sold him into slavery. Think about someone who has hurt you. How does Joseph’s example of forgiveness challenge you? What would it look like to treat that person with grace instead of bitterness?)

Most importantly, how do we see a picture of Christ in the life of Joseph? The similarities between Joseph’s experiences and Jesus’ life are so numerous and striking that they cannot be accidental. God designed Joseph’s story to help us understand what Jesus would later accomplish for our salvation:

Joseph was the beloved son of his father, just as Jesus is the beloved Son of the Father. Jacob’s special love for Joseph mirrors the Father’s eternal love for His Son Jesus Christ.

Joseph was hated and persecuted by his brothers, just as Jesus was rejected and crucified by His own people, the Jewish nation. The hatred that Joseph’s brothers felt toward him pictures the hatred that sinful humanity has toward God’s perfect Son.

Joseph was raised up and exalted to a position of great authority, just as Jesus was raised from the dead and exalted to the right hand of the Father. After years of suffering and humiliation, both Joseph and Jesus were given positions of supreme power and honor.

Joseph delivered many people from death, just as Jesus delivers all who believe in Him from spiritual death and eternal judgment. Joseph saved his family and many others from physical starvation, but Jesus saves His people from something far worse—the eternal consequences of sin.

Joseph’s story encourages us to trust God’s sovereignty even when we cannot understand what He is doing in our lives. Like Joseph, we may face circumstances that seem unfair or painful, but we can be confident that God is working all things together for good. Joseph’s story also challenges us to extend grace and forgiveness to those who have hurt us, just as Joseph forgave his brothers and just as God has forgiven us through Jesus Christ.

The story of Joseph reminds us that God’s plans are often very different from our plans, but His plans are always better. What seemed like a tragedy when Joseph was sold into slavery became the means by which God saved many lives. In the same way, what seemed like the greatest tragedy in history—the crucifixion of Jesus Christ—became the means by which God provided salvation for the whole world.

Conclusion

As we come to the end of our study of the four great patriarchs, we can see clearly how God worked patiently through one family to accomplish His purposes for the entire world. The book of Genesis began in a beautiful garden that God had designed as the perfect home for humanity. But Genesis ends with a very different picture—a coffin in the land of Egypt, far from the promised land that God had given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Genesis 50:26: So Joseph died at the age of a hundred and ten. And after they embalmed him, he was placed in a coffin in Egypt.

This ending might seem discouraging at first glance. The people of God were living as strangers in a foreign land, and their great leader Joseph was dead. How could this be part of God’s good plan? But even this apparently sad ending contains the seeds of hope and promise.

Joseph’s death in Egypt was not the end of God’s story with His chosen people—it was preparation for the next great chapter. God would use the centuries that His people spent in Egypt to multiply them into a great nation, just as He had promised Abraham. And when the time was right, God would send a great deliverer named Moses to bring His people out of Egypt and back to the land of promise.

More importantly, everything that happened to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph was pointing forward to an even greater deliverance that God would provide through Jesus Christ. Despite the presence of sin and death in the world, we have seen the promise of a Redeemer woven throughout the entire book of Genesis.

This promise first appeared in the Garden of Eden when God told the serpent that the woman’s offspring would crush his head. It continued through God’s covenant with Abraham, promising that all nations would be blessed through his family. It was pictured in Isaac’s willing submission to his father and his miraculous deliverance from death. It was demonstrated in God’s patient transformation of Jacob from a deceiver into the father of God’s chosen nation. And it was illustrated in Joseph’s role as the one who suffered unjustly but was raised up to become the savior of his family.

Each of these men faced real struggles and made real mistakes, but God’s faithfulness never wavered. The God who called Abraham out of Ur was the same God who sustained Isaac through his trials, who wrestled with Jacob by the Jabbok River, and who watched over Joseph through years of slavery and imprisonment. This same faithful God continues to work in our lives today, patiently shaping us and using us for His purposes.

The lives of the patriarchs teach us that God’s plans often take much longer to unfold than we expect, but His promises are always certain. Abraham had to wait twenty-five years for Isaac to be born. Jacob had to spend twenty years in exile before returning to the promised land. Joseph had to endure more than twenty years of hardship before being reunited with his family. But in each case, God’s timing was perfect, and His purposes were accomplished exactly as He had planned.

These four men also show us that God can use ordinary, flawed people to accomplish extraordinary things. Abraham struggled with doubt and sometimes took matters into his own hands. Isaac was relatively passive and seemed overshadowed by his father and his sons. Jacob was a deceiver who had to learn painful lessons about trusting God instead of relying on his own cleverness. Joseph sometimes seemed proud and boastful as a young man. Yet God worked through all of these imperfect people to accomplish His perfect will.

Most importantly, the patriarchs point us to Jesus Christ, who is the ultimate fulfillment of every promise that God made to Abraham’s family. Jesus is the true seed of Abraham through whom all nations are blessed. He is the beloved Son who willingly submitted to His Father’s will. He is the one who wrestled with our enemy and won the victory for us. He is the deliverer who was rejected by His brothers but raised up to save all who trust in Him.

• Hebrews 11:39-40: These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

The patriarchs lived by faith, looking forward to promises they would not see fulfilled in their lifetime. But we live on the other side of the cross and the empty tomb. We have seen God’s greatest promise fulfilled in Jesus Christ. This should make our faith even stronger and our gratitude even deeper than theirs.

As we move forward in our study of the Old Testament, we will continue to see how God’s faithfulness spans generations and how His plan of redemption unfolds through the centuries. The story that began with Abraham’s call will continue through the exodus from Egypt, the giving of the law at Mount Sinai, the conquest of the promised land, and the establishment of God’s kingdom under David.

But every step of this journey points us toward the same destination—the coming of Jesus Christ, who is the true and greater Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. In Him, all of God’s promises find their “Yes” and “Amen.” Through Him, we become part of Abraham’s spiritual family and inherit all the blessings that God promised to give to His chosen people.

The coffin at the end of Genesis is not the final word. Death is not the end of the story for God’s people. Just as God raised Joseph from the pit to the palace, and just as He would later raise His people from slavery to freedom, He has raised Jesus from the dead and will one day raise all who trust in Him to eternal life. The best is yet to come for all who belong to God’s family through faith in Jesus Christ.

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