FAVOR IN UNFAVORABLE PLACES

Genesis 37:3–4 (ESV)

“Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a robe of many colors. But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him.”

I. REDEFINING FAVOR

Genesis 39:2, ESV

“But the Lord was with Joseph…”

Genesis 37:5-11 (ESV)

5 Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more. 6 He said to them, “Hear this dream that I have dreamed: 7 Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.” 8 His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. 9 Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” 10 But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?” 11 And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.

II. FAVOR DOES NOT PREVENT HARDSHIP — IT REVEALS OPPOSITION

Genesis 37:5–11

Joseph receives a God-given dream—and when he shares it, the response isn’t celebration.

Genesis 37:11

“And his brothers were jealous of him…”

Genesis 37:13-17 (ESV)

13 And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” And he said to him, “Here I am.” 14 So he said to him, “Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock, and bring me word.” So he sent him from the Valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. 15 And a man found him wandering in the fields. And the man asked him, “What are you seeking?” 16 “I am seeking my brothers,” he said. “Tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock.” 17 And the man said, “They have gone away, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.

III. OBEDIENCE CAN STILL LEAD TO THE PIT

Genesis 37:18-20 (ESV)

18 They saw him from afar, and before he came near to them they conspired against him to kill him. 19 They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. 20 Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits. Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams.”

IV. WHEN PEOPLE CAN’T KILL THE DREAM, THEY ATTACK THE DREAMER

Genesis 37:18–20

“Here comes this dreamer…

Genesis 37:23-24 (ESV)

23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the robe of many colors that he wore. 24 And they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.

Genesis 39:2 (ESV)

2 The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master.

V. FAVOR IN THE PIT

Favor isn’t always seen in escape.

Sometimes favor is seen in endurance.

Sometimes favor looks like God keeping you when life tries to crush you.

The pit did not cancel the promise

• The pressure did not erase the dream

• The silence does not mean God is finished