God, A Present Help pt 3: PIT Happens!!!! |Roche Coleman Ph.D.

Text: Genesis 37:12-36
Title: God A Present Help Pit Happens Pt 3

Vital Verse: When Reuben heard this, he rescued Joseph from their hands, saying, “Let’s not take his life!” 22 Reuben continued, “Don’t shed blood! Throw him into this cistern that is here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him.” (Reuben said this so he could rescue Joseph from them and take him back to his father.) Genesis 37:21-22

Nugget to Nibble:
Plotting to kill Joseph represent the sinister condition of the brutal brothers. Hatred and jealousy has morphed into a seared conscience. Nothing will interfere with their desire to destroy the dreams of the dreamer. As they say when Joseph approach their camp, “Then lets see what become of his dream” (Genesis 37:20). After Joseph arrives, he is subdued. They bind his hands and feet to silence Joseph. Bargaining, pleading for his life, nor the shedding of tears could soften the callous hearts of the brothers. Nothing would persuade them to release their brother to return to his father. Words cannot express the exchange tender hearted Joseph and the stony heart of his brothers. The years of feeling abandon and rejected by Jacob produced a cold and indifferent heart by Jacob’s sons. They are bereft of any form of compassion. Deplete of the slightest grace. Void of all mercy. Filled with the hard heart of hatred, that is overshadowed by green eyed monster of jealousy.

Genesis 37:12-36
Outline of text:
1. The plot by the brothers. Gen 37:12-20

Sins of the Sons
Simeon and Levi- premeditated murder. (Genesis 34:31)
Reuben- adultery and fornication with his father’s wife. (Genesis 35:22)
Judah- adultery and fornication with his daughter-in-law. (Genesis 38:1-30)

Jacob’s Sons: Genesis 35:22-26

2. The pit for Joseph. Gen 37:21-27
Pit 7x
Genesis 37:20 #1 – Prov 1:10-11
37:22 #2
37:24 #3 & #4
37:28 #5
37:29 #6 & 7

Righteous Remnant:
Judah  redeemer
Reuben  redeemer
Remnant:
That part of a nation, tribe, clan, or family which survives a divine catastrophe, whether natural (flood, famine, pestilence) or not (war, exile). This group forms the nucleus for the possible future rebuilding of the community. The remnant, therefore, functions within the theological framework of judgment and salvation.
In the OT remnant terminology (the stems šʾr, plṭ, mlṭ, ytr, and the nouns śārîḏ and ʾāḥarîṯ) appears more than 500 times in contexts indicating that this concept is rooted in existential concerns in the face of mortal threats: will there be total annihilation or will a company survive to preserve existence? In most instances, both the destructive and constructive elements are underlined, highlighting the fact that God’s gracious salvation preserves a faithful group.
The first explicit reference appears with the Flood (Gen. 6:5-7:23). Other examples include Lot and the destruction of Sodom (Gen. 18:22-33; 19:15-29); the famine in Egypt (45:7); and the escape at the Red Sea (Exod. 14:28). (Kenneth D. Mulzac, “Remnant” In Eerdmans Bible Dictionary p. 1117)


- nasal (rescue) Genesis 37:21, 22
The vb. occurs mainly in causative forms (hi.; Aram. ha.; 191x), and overwhelmingly with God as its subject (120x). In general, it designates the snatching away or freeing from the firm grip of some distress, oppressor, or hostile hands (Robert L Hubbard Jr NIDOTTE 1997:142).
Yahweh is the DELIVERER par excellence.
Exodus 3:8 “So I have come down to deliver them from the 1power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite.

Exodus 18:4 The other was named Eliezer, for he said, “The God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh.”

- shuv (bring back/restore) Genesis 37:22
Yahweh is often the subject of the hiphil shuv
Jeremiah 33:7 ‘I will restore the 1fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel and will rebuild them as they were at first.

3. The pleading/purchase of Joseph. Gen 37.28-36

Impact Fact:
A righteous remnant always exists, seeking to release & restore those in the grips of hostile forces.