The Dreamer’s Clothes

Introduction

As you know, it’s my usual custom to begin our study together with a question. And this morning is no different. The question of this morning is, how do I look? Don’t answer that. But I want to talk about clothes this morning. It’s no accident that I wore my best suit. Clothes are important. We have expression, clothes make the man. And whether right or wrong, or whether you like it or not, we judge people by their clothes, don’t we? We’re studying the book of James in our auditorium adult class, and James talks there in chapter two about two people coming to their assembly, one rich and one poor. If you remember that context, they were deemed to be rich and poor based upon the clothes that they wore.

Clothes tell a lot.

Parents can remember their child’s life by the clothes. We can remember the outfit we brought them home from the hospital in. Remember the clothes they wore to school and the clothes they wore as a teenager, and maybe the clothes they wore on their wedding day. Clothes are important, and they tell us a lot. You might be surprised that the Bible has a lot to say about clothes. The first book, the book of Genesis, talks about the clothing of Adam and Eve. Moses was told to take off his shoes. We remember John the Baptist, and the trivia question about John the Baptist would be the clothing that he wore. So we’re going to talk about clothes this morning, but one particular person’s clothes. Here’s a quiz. Here’s your next question.

What famous Bible character is known for his clothes? If I gave you a hint, I would say Old Testament. If I gave you a narrower hint, I would say the book of Genesis. And if I were really wanting to be nice to you, I would say it’s the last story in the book of Genesis. And then you would rightly say, you’re talking about Joseph. We remember a lot about Joseph because of his clothes. And this morning I’d like for us to talk about the life and the ups and downs of Joseph that can be typified by the clothes that he wore. In my reading, the story of Joseph takes place in Genesis 37 through the end of the book, chapter 50. And if you read that story in its entirety, there will be three times in which Joseph’s clothes are mentioned.

And each time, those clothes will tell us a lot about the condition of Joseph, the physical condition of Joseph. And so I want us to do two things this morning. Is very briefly I want us to reacquaint ourselves with the story of Joseph. And then we’re going to look at the three garments of Joseph that will speak of three different time periods in his life and then make application to that. Genesis 37 through 50 is the story of Joseph. And so if you want to read along or study along, we’re not going to read that whole section. But really, the story of Joseph begins many years earlier with Abraham. God chose Abraham. God had a plan. And that plan involved creating a nation of people who would be to a great extent the vehicle for that plan.

And so God chose a man by the name of Abraham to be the father of that nation. Abraham had a son named Isaac. Isaac had a son named Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel. And Israel had several sons. But his favorite was Joseph. And there’s where the story begins of Joseph. It might be nice to be the favored child, especially in a large family such as Jacob’s, but it comes with problems. Because if you’re the favorite child, your siblings probably don’t like that too much. And so famously, Joseph’s father indicates his preference by giving him a piece of clothing, doesn’t he? Children, what did he get? A coat of many colors. That created strife and jealousy between him and his brothers. And it was only made worse when Joseph started telling about his dreams.

Oh, I’m the favorite child. Look at my coat. And by the way, I’ve had some dreams, and in those dreams, you brothers are going to bow down to me. Does that make it better? Well, they hated him for that, and you know they wanted to kill him because of that. Not just figuratively, but literally. But Reuben and Judah kind of conspired together to save his life, but he was sold into slavery and taken to Egypt. But there he rises to prominence in the household of Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh’s guard, one of the most powerful men in Egypt. And he’s gone from the favorite child to a slave to a position of honor. But in Potiphar’s house was Potiphar’s wife, and Potter’s first wife lusted after Joseph and tried to entice him.

But Joseph ran away and left his garment in Mrs. Potiphar’s hands. And this was used to lie against Joseph and have Joseph thrown into prison. And Joseph’s ups and downs continue. And in that prison, Joseph interprets dreams. We could just as well follow Joseph’s life, not by his garments, but by the dreams in his life. And he interprets the dreams of two men in the prison. And after some delay there, because of that, he is freed from that prison and finds himself in an honored position in Pharaoh’s household, higher than he was when he was in Potiphar’s household. He is really, for all intents and purposes, the ruler of Pharaoh’s kingdom. And he’s given the clothes to fit that position, the text will tell us. He interprets Pharaoh’s dream that leads to his position in dealing with the upcoming famine, and it is that famine that brings his estranged family back to him.

1. The Coat of Many Colors

And through a series of interesting events, he makes himself known to his brothers, and then finally to his father, who thought he had been dead this whole time. The story, Joseph ends in Egypt, with Joseph dying. And we could probably add, although it would only be by inference, that he wore different clothes in his death, as he would have been wrapped and mummified, most likely under the Egyptian practice. And so there’s the story, very briefly told of Joseph. But now let’s go back and look at his clothes. We first, the first clothes that stand out to us in that story, is his famous coat of many colors. That coat, that garment that signified his honored position in the household. And there’s a couple lessons that we can learn from that coat of many colors.

One is that our fortunes can change. That coat of many colors, if you remember the details of that story, it marked his honored, favored position as the favorite son in Jacob or Israel’s household. But that coat was ripped from him and ripped to shreds and stained with an animal’s blood to indicate that he had been mauled by an animal and killed in the deception of his father. And then he’s sold into slavery. He doesn’t have that favored position that that coat indicated anymore. He goes from the favored son in a well-to-do family to being a slave in a foreign land. And he goes from being a slave to being in an honored position in Potiphar’s household. A very powerful man in Egypt. And he goes from that powerful favored position to being a prisoner.

And then he goes from being a prisoner to being the second most powerful man in all of the grand kingdom of Egypt. Joseph’s life was a life of ups and downs, a life of change. His fortune certainly changed, and ours can too.

We will do this or that because our life is but a vapor. Our life can change. And we need to be humble about that. That was the whole point in James. That’s James chapter 4, verses 13 through 16 that we studied this morning, by the way. But his whole point in that is we need to be humble. We need to be humble in regard to the circumstances of our life and how quickly they can change. And we need to be humble in regard to our ability to endure it. 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 12, the Apostle Paul famously says, let him who thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall. Whatever you’ve got going on now, if things are good, I don’t mean to be the pessimist, and I’m certainly not a prophet, but that may change.

And you need to be humble in that regard and humble in regard to your ability to be able to endure that. Submit to God. Draw near to him. Make him the core of your being and your existence. And so then the circumstances which may and will change will not affect your faith. And so life can change. Another lesson that we learned from his coat of many colors that was stripped from him is that sometimes life isn’t fair. Now, was there some blame to spread around in Joseph’s story of being sold into slavery? Probably. It probably wasn’t wise of his father to single him out the way that he did. Most parenting books will not tell you to pick out your favorite child and buy them better clothes.

That’s not probably good way to foster love and camaraderie among siblings. And maybe, have to be careful here, maybe Joseph was a little bit boastful in his dreams of his brothers and parents bowing down to him. I don’t know, but maybe he should have toned that down a little bit. But regardless of what his father had done, and if, and that’s a if, if Joseph did something wrong in regard to the announcement of his dream. He didn’t deserve what his brothers were dealing out to him. He didn’t deserve to be killed. That was the original plan. He didn’t deserve to be thrown into a pit. He didn’t deserve to be sold into slavery.

Look in the book of Ecclesiastes. Hold your finger there at the end of the book of Genesis and go with me to the book of Ecclesiastes. The wise man observed this. Look in Ecclesiastes chapter 9. Near the end of his life, the wise man Solomon says, you know, here’s what I’ve observed, and guess what? It’s what we’ve all observed. Ecclesiastes 9, 11 and 12, I returned and saw under the sun, that is here on earth, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding, nor favor to men of skill. But time and chance happen to them all. For man also does not know his time, like fish taken in a cruel net, like birds caught in a snare, so the sons of men are snared in an evil time when it falls suddenly upon them.

2. The Garment Left in Potiphar’s Wife’s Hand

Life ain’t fair. The fastest guy isn’t always going to win the race. The smartest guy isn’t going to be the most successful. Always. Life isn’t fair. Joseph’s story and his coat of many colors illustrates that. Now, what’s the lesson that we need to take away from that? That is the lesson. Life isn’t fair. And get used to it. And in some sense, accept that. And more importantly, don’t let that reality destroy your faith. Life isn’t fair. Joseph’s coat illustrates that. Joseph is sold into slavery, finds himself in Potiphar’s household, and because of the blessings of God, rises in prominence to that. But we talked about Mrs. Potiphar, didn’t we? She tries to tempt Joseph to lie with her on multiple occasions. Finally, Joseph has to follow the advice that would be given centuries later by the Apostle Paul, when Paul says, flee fornication.

And he does that, but he leaves in the grips of Potiphar’s wife that garment. Genesis chapter 39. And in verse 13, it says, And so it was when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and fled outside. That she concocts this story that’s just the opposite of the truth. And so, just as in that first garment, the coat of many colors, now in this garment, Joseph’s fortunes are going to change. And there are some lessons I think we can learn from that. Number one is temptation is real. And it’s dangerous. I have to be delicate here.

The text doesn’t tell us that. It does tell us what Joseph looked like. It says that he was good looking. And the text seems to mean in regard to his physique and his face.

He was beautiful. And so here was Joseph. Good-looking young man. And we might look at that as being a blessing. But sometimes that can carry with it a curse. Trust me, I know. It led to temptation. A repeated temptation. And again, being delicate, Joseph, his gender and his age, this would have been a very real temptation. A very dangerous temptation. It was dangerous on a couple levels, wasn’t it? If he had given in to that temptation and Potiphar had found out, he wouldn’t have gone to prison. Wherever he’d have gone, he’d have gone without his head. It was dangerous on another level, spiritual level. What we’re impressed by is Joseph’s lack of naivete. And what we’re endangered by is our own naivete. To think that temptation won’t affect me.

Again, let him who thinks he stands. Are that even if I do that, it somehow won’t affect me. We’ve somehow tricked ourselves into thinking that. Not only do we trick ourselves into thinking the temptation won’t entice me because of who I am, but also we have on some level sometimes tricked ourselves. Even if I give in to the temptation and do that, it won’t affect me and who I am and my relationship to God. That somehow I’m the favored son of God. And God will overlook my temptations and sins.

Be sober. Be vigilant. Knowing that Satan goeth about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. We need to have our eyes open. That temptation is real. And it’s dangerous.

And it can affect us. If we want to just stay specific to the temptation of Joseph, we need to realize that the temptation to sexual immorality is real. And I know where you think I’m going to the young people. And yes, the young people need to realize that in a world inundated by sexuality and the normalizing of any type of sexuality by our world standards. It’s real and it’s dangerous. But Potiphar’s wife wasn’t a teenager. And neither are many of you. But that temptation is still real and dangerous. Don’t think that you’re not vulnerable to that. That the normal rules don’t apply to you that I can get close to this person of the opposite sex. I can share intimate things with them. I can be alone with them.

Because it won’t happen to me. And even if it does, it’s not that big of a deal. One of the greatest weapons Satan has is us being naive and gullible. The next lesson we learn from this garment is our integrity must be guarded. That’s what Joseph did. On some level, he understood the power of that temptation and the danger of giving in to it. And so he said no, no, no, and then finally just ran to get away. Joseph did everything he could, and that’s included in that text. He says, I can’t do this to my master. This is not right. Remember what the New Testament says, the Apostle Paul in Ephesians chapter 6, in that famous section about putting on the whole armor of God, recognizing that we can’t necessarily do it ourselves.

3. The Garments of Fine Linen

We need the armor of God to shield us. And he says about that in Ephesians 6 verse 13, therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, having done all to stand. Underline in your minds at least that phrase, having done all. Paul is saying, you do whatever you have to do to stand in that evil day. To resist that temptation. You do whatever it takes to make sure that your spiritual integrity is intact. Joseph did. Well, Joseph is thrown into prison because of the lie that Potiphar’s wife tells. But again, it was dreams that got him out of that prison and got him in a favored position. And we read in chapter 41 are you back in Genesis?

Look with me in chapter 41 and in verse 42. Because of his wisdom and God being with him and interpreting that dream about the upcoming famine. Pharaoh puts him in this honored position in his kingdom. And it says in Genesis 41, verse 42, Pharaoh took his signet ring off his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand. Signet ring wouldn’t have been a piece of jewelry. It would have carried with it the idea of power and the really the king’s signature. And so he gave him that signet ring and put it on his hand, and he clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. Now, we’re not told specifically what garments Joseph was wearing in prison. But don’t you imagine there’s a little bit of a contrast between what he was wearing in prison and how he’s dressed up and what he’s wearing now.

And so for the third time we’re told about Joseph’s clothes. And there’s lessons in this up and down. One lesson that Joseph learned and tried to help his brothers to learn is that God can mean it for good. Man, Joseph’s story is something, isn’t it? You talk about up and down and the change of fortunes that we talked about.

Toward the end of this story, turn to chapter 50 of the book of Genesis. He’s made up with his brothers. But then something happens that worries them. The father dies. And it’s amazing the influence that fathers can hold even among their adult children. And so they’re afraid now that Dad is dead, Joseph is going to be free to do what he wants to do. And that means he’s going to harm us. And so they’re afraid. And so Joseph calls them to himself after the death of their father Jacob and says in Genesis 50, verse 20, after saying, do not be afraid, he says in verse 20, but as for you, you meant it, you meant evil against me. That is, in wanting to kill me, throwing me in a pit, and selling me into slavery, you meant evil for me, but God meant it for good.

In order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. God can mean it for good. One of the most misunderstood aspects of God’s relationship and dealings with us would certainly have to be in the realm of his providence. God not sending a lightning bolt or allowing us to walk on water or raising the dead. We understand the miracles, though we’ve never seen them. But to be able to see the hand of God subtly working, working in our lives, not miraculously. But using the circumstances of life, even the bad circumstances of life, for good. Think of a couple other biblical examples. You remember the story of Esther? Esther rises to power through maybe dubious means, but she rises to power, and her kinsman, Mordecai comes to her and says, Esther, you need to step up and say something to the king to save the Jewish people.

Esther is afraid. Because her husband’s a king, and even though they’re husband and wife, that’s not the normal husband-wife relationship, but Mordecai urges her to do it. And he says famously in Esther 4, verse 14, for if you remain completely silent in this matter, relief will come and deliverance will come and arise from another source, but you and your father’s house will perish. And then he tells her this yet who knows whether you’ve come to the kingdom for such a time as this.

Taken by lawless hands. They’ve crucified and put to death. You did all of this, but all of this was a part of God’s plan. And Joseph sees that in his own life. Oh, it was horrible what you did to be. But it’s okay. Because look what God did with it. Open your eyes to the possibility of God’s providence and working in your lives, even in the darkest days, even when you’re in that pit. And you’re being sold into slavery. Maybe God can use this. If, as Esther was prompted, if I’ll allow him. And then lastly, we learn from his garments of fine linen as he was elevated to this position of power, is that the story is not over till it’s over. Would you have ever, would he have ever imagined when he saw the anger and the hatred in their eyes, that he would be the second most powerful man on the planet?

You ever dream when he was in that pit and being sold into slavery when he was in that dark, dank prison cell, that people would be coming to him. Did he doubt that dream that started this whole story that they would bow down before him? His story wasn’t over till it was over. And even when it was over, it wasn’t over. Are you still in Genesis chapter 50? Look what it says in verse 24. And Joseph, the last three verses of Genesis 50 and of the book of Genesis, and Joseph said to his brethren, I am dying. But God will surely visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land which he swore to Abraham and to Isaac and to Jacob. Then Joseph took an oath from the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.

So Joseph died being 110 years old, and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt. But they didn’t bury him too deep. Because Joseph said, Don’t leave my bones here. God promised something, and he’s going to do it. And when you leave, take my dry dusty bones with you.

When it was over.

Hebrews chapter 11, we’ve got to go there. Hebrews chapter 11 and in verse 22. Joseph finds his place into this great chapter of faith when it says Hebrews 11, verse 22, by faith, Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel and gave instructions concerning his bones. By faith.

Now about him and all of these patriarchs, back up and see what it says. Verse 13 of Hebrews 11. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, they were assured of them, embraced them, and confess that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly, if they’d called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better country. That is a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. Do you see the undertones of that? He’s not just talking about leaving Egypt and going to the promised land.

He’s talking about leaving our Egypt and going to our promised land. You may be wearing tattered clothes right now. Literally or metaphorically.

Conclusion

Or being sold into slavery or in a prison cell. But your story’s not over until it’s over. And if you like Joseph and like others whose circumstances changed abruptly, Job, Jeremiah, and others. Live by faith. Your story won’t be over. Even when it’s over. Clothes make the man. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but they tell a story. There’s some lessons we can learn in the stories of the clothes of Joseph. The faith, the journey of Joseph. We’re all on a journey. Full of ups and downs. Remember, life’s not fair. It’s going to change. But God can mean it for good if we’ll live by faith. If you need to respond to the gospel this morning, if there’s something that we can do to help you in your journey of faith through an up or down period in your life, why not respond to that gospel positively this morning and let us assist you as together we stand and as we sing.