Joseph’s Bloody Coat
Genesis
37:31-35
Intro: We have all heard messages on Joseph’s coat of many colors.
We have heard it preached many different ways. But tonight, I want to share
with you a thought that God gave me today while eating lunch with one of our men.
This subject came up, and immediately, I felt led to pursue this line of
thought for tonight.
I. The Representations of the Coat
The Bible is clear – Jacob made
the coat – the coat of many colors.
Take it from me – for a dad to
physically make a coat for someone, that has to be a big deal!
Joseph was special – so much so
that the Bible says he loved Joseph more than all the other children.
The endowment of the coat was far
more symbolic than any of us can imagine.
By taking the time and effort to
personally fabricate that coat, he was making a gesture of great importance.
Genesis 37:4 – When his
brethren SAW THAT THEIR FATHER LOVED HIM MORE…
This gift was a statement. This
gift to Joseph meant something to Jacob – it represented something major to
Jacob.
A.
It represented Fruit of the Womb – 30:1, 2, 22 – 24 – Rachel was the recipient
of a miraculous birth
B.
It represented Faith – 30:24 – the Lord shall add to me another son - Joseph=
"Jehovah has added"
B.
It represented Freedom – 30:25 He
had worked for Laban for now 20 years (31:38-41)
C.
It represented Fears – Gen. 33:1, 2 Jacob feared losing Rachel and
Joseph – he tried to protect them
D.
It represented Fulfilment – he had a son that loved him and he could
trust him; he had an ally
E.
It represented the Future – Gen. 37:11 even though Jacob rebuked him for
dreaming, he observed it.
OBSERVE: to keep, guard, observe, give heed
II. The Ruin of the Coat
A. The Coat
was Stripped
·
Genesis
37:23 And it came to pass, when
Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stript Joseph out of his coat, his
coat of many colours that was on him;
STRIPT: to strip, invade, strip off, make a dash, raid, spread out
In other words, they without warning
and in an immediate, quick action invaded his life, his space and robbed him of
his coat.
B. The Coat
was Dipped
·
Gen. 37:31
And they took Joseph’s coat, and killed a
kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood;
They took his coat, and then
proceeded to defile it in an unimaginable way.
They didn’t just sprinkle blood
on it. They didn’t take a branch or
handful of grass and smear a little blood on the coat.
They killed a goat, then
proceeded to dip this beautiful, ornate, handmade, handstitched family heirloom
in the bloody pool of blood that was forming on the ground around this dead
goat.
This coat – a representation of
so many beautiful and amazing things – was now sticky, bloody, dirty, stinking
and nasty.
C. The Coat
was Shipped
·
Gen. 37:32
And they sent the coat of many colours,
and they brought it to their father; and said, This have we found: know now
whether it be thy son’s coat or no.
This is a picture of the moment
that the bloody, defiled, ruined, no doubt tattered and torn coat was handed to
Jacob.
I don’t think we can begin to
imagine the pain and anguish that one moment in his life would produce.
To make it worse, their attitude
was one of DEVIOUS DECEIT.
They knew full well that was
Joseph’s coat, and they knew how much it meant to Jacob.
They didn’t care. This valuable,
beautiful, wonderful coat was being treated like a piece of garbage by the
envious.
III. The Reception of the Coat
A.
Jacob’s Recognition – vs. 33 And he knew it, and said, It is my son’s
coat;
The realization of what was going
on slowly begin to seep into his consciousness and into his heart.
The facts before him were completely
real. The bloody coat wasn’t a dream. It was a reality.
He wasn’t having a nightmare –
this was real.
B.
Jacob’s Reaction – vs. 33 …and
evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces.
Jacob did what most of us do when
we are handed the ripped, torn, shredded, defiled, bloody coat of Joseph.
He imagined the worst. He was
dogmatic – THAT WITHOUT A DOUBT Joseph is rent in pieces.
C.
Jacob’s Refusal – vs. 34, 35 …he refused to be comforted.
Even though there were people
around him that tried to comfort him, he refused to let them.
His daughters and family saw his
pain and tried to do something, and he wallowed in his misery.
He said, “I will go down to my
grave mourning...”
IV. The Reality of the Coat
A.
It was indeed Jacob’s coat.
B.
It was indeed defiled and covered in blood.
C.
It was no doubt unusable and incapable of being salvaged.
BUT!!!!!
– GOD IS STILL GOD!
What the coat represented was not
defiled.
What the coat represented was not
unusable.
What the coat represented was not
lost.
It wasn’t nearly as bad as he
thought it was.
Jacob thought that his world was
over.
Jacob thought that His life was
over.
Jacob thought that His FRUIT WAS
GONE.
Jacob thought that HIS FAITH WAS
GONE.
Jacob thought that HIS FEARS WERE
REALIZED.
Jacob thought that HIS FULFILMENT
WAS GONE.
Jacob thought that HIS FUTURE WAS
GONE.
But it wasn’t gone!
The reality of the coat was that
the love he’s shown Joseph was not in vain.
The reality of the coat was that
the miraculous birth to his beloved wife had not ended in tragedy.
The reality of the coat was that
the sweet fellowship and love he had with Joseph was not in vain.
The reality of the coat was that
the dreams he’d observed and waited for were still going to come true.
The reality of the coat was that
no matter how bad it gets, or how bad it seems, GOD IS STILL ON THE THRONE.
Don’t let the bloody coat in your
life cause you to give up and refuse to be comforted.
