Daddy, Do Something
Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colors. And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him Genesis 37: 3-4
In our world today, it is difficult to find truly "godly" people. Most individuals (I’m speaking from my experience) that I am in contact with are deceptive, selfish, hot-tempered, bad attitude, and always seem to have a hidden agenda. Authentic forgiveness is so rare, one must wonder whether churches preach it anymore.
The bible is a record of the lives of many individuals, and no matter how many disregarded God’s holy standard, there was always someone who kept the faith. Before we throw up our hands and give up, we need to pick up our bible and study the lives of people who held on.
Joseph is a good example of one such person. His life is unforgettable. You say, "But I’ve been unfairly mistreated". His own brothers unfairly mistreated Joseph. The very people that you would expect to provide Joseph with comfort and affirmation, were the very ones who abused, lied on and rejected him. Throughout the whole ordeal, he never became bitter, cruel or resentful. When he had the perfect opportunity to get even, it was never even a consideration.
To be quite honest, everyone should meet Joseph. You see, God doesn’t just give us an abstract command to forgive, but he gives us Joseph. The treatment rendered to him by his brothers was inexcusable, yet Joseph forgave them for every hour of his youth that was lost.
God uses the lives of people in the bible to teach us, train us, encourage us, and even warn us. If we consider King David, we will see that God is merciful and will forgive the most horrific crime. But not only will your sins find you out, but the things you do in the present can mess up your future forever.
Through the prophet Jonah we see that you cannot run away from God’s calling. Through Paul we see that God can take the most feared sinner and make them the greatest of saints. Peter shows us that even though we may deny Him over and over and over again, He will still come back and find us.
When we study the bible, we not only read truth, but we see it revealed in the lives of ordinary people like you and me. That’s what I need to see; everyday life people who struggle in the faith, get angry and cry sometimes. I need to see people that are tempted to give up, and every now and then, question God about the hard times.
Whatsoever things were written aforetime was written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scripture might have hope Romans 15:4. "Aforetime" means all the truth recorded in the Old Testament. It was written generations ago, but we have it for our learning in 2003. I’m learning, you’re learning, the teacher and preacher are learning. No matter how anointed we think we are, we’re still learning. We need to know the truth about God and the truth about life so that we will be able to persevere in the future.
In our scripture we find that Joseph was the son of an aging father. And
because he was the son of his "old age", he loved him more than all his other
sons. In fact, his preference of Joseph was so bold and obvious, it made the
rest of the guys feel worthless. What’s so great about having a son in old age
is beyond me. I guess it made Israel feel "macho". But I believe it is more
important to be in touch with what’s going on in your home than to feel "macho".
It wasn’t enough that he had all these sons by all these different women living in his home, but he is only being a parent to one of them. If we bring a child into this world, we are supposed to be a daddy to that child all his life. If we bring ten sons, we need to be a daddy to all ten of them. You say, "But I work and feed them". Yes, but they aren’t cattle. They are children; your children. And God expects you to do something with them.
The government gives free food to millions of children. But they are not a daddy to any of them. During times of war, many refugees are misplaced by the circumstances. Our government sends food to those people. But they are not a daddy to them.
Joseph’s family had major problems, and it was all Jacob’s (Israel) fault. Men can put their children in a position of failure because they won’t stand up and manage their home. When Jacob got ready to return to Canaan, he should have just left. He should have gone to Laban, and told Laban, "I quit, and I’m leaving". But instead, he slipped away. What was the message to his children?
No matter how much we talk, our kids are looking at how we handle things. They can see and they are not deceived. You may be one thing at church and another thing at home, but you aren’t fooling anybody. Somebody is watching you all the time.
While they were on their journey, Jacob’s daughter (Dinah) was raped. Do you know what Jacob did? He didn’t do anything. Two of his sons tricked the men of that village and murdered every one of them, robbed them and took their women and children away. When he found out, all he said was "the people of the land won’t like me anymore".
When our kids are acting up, we should stop them. If kids are living in our home, they owe us respect and honor by willingly submitting to our rules. If we don’t command respect from our children, they will run over us.
Jacob’s oldest son was Reuben. One day Reuben got so bold that he decided to have sex with Bilhah, one of his father’s concubines and the mother of two of his brothers (see Genesis 35: 21-22). When Jacob found out, do you know what he did? He didn’t do anything.
Men should be aware of the environment in which they rearing their children. It is up to us to stop the anger, rebellion, deception, rivalry, and out of control jealousy that exist on our homes.
Joseph was Jacob’s favorite son from birth. Rachel was his mother, and she was Jacob’s love from the very beginning. Joseph was different from his brothers. He had a different character and a different attitude. He was easier to raise, so rather than fuss with the others, it was easy to just get Joseph to do it. Passive dads are like that, but it’s wrong. Every child should be made accountable to his own responsibility.
Now Israel’s sons weren’t ignorant or blind. They could see that Joseph and his mother were preferred over them and their mother, and they didn’t like it. He spent lots of time with Joseph and no time with them. And kids want time with parents more than anything else. He gave Joseph an expensive coat. It wasn’t his intention, but he told all his other sons, "I value Joseph more than you." And they heard the message clearly.
At first they were just a little jealous, but as the years went by, it turned into resentment and hostility. Eventually, they decided to kill him. You would be astonished to learn of the problems that exist in some families. At this point, Jacob’s family was out of control. And the main problem was that Jacob didn’t do anything about nothing.
One day Jacob sent Joseph to check on his other sons (see Genesis 37:13). All the while the sons were planning on killing Joseph, and Jacob didn’t have a clue. He was actually sending Joseph into a death trap and didn’t know it. That’s so incredible; the same family has a child so loved by the father and so hated by the brothers.
It is dangerous to be a passive parent. It’s dangerous to not discipline your children or make them accountable. If they do wrong, we should punish them. We should send them to their room; take away their music, computer and keys. We should tell them their errors. It is up to us to keep our family together.
According to public school teachers, the top discipline problems in 1940 were talking, chewing gum, running in hall, cutting in line and littering. In 1990, it is drug and alcohol abuse, suicide, pregnancy, rape, robbery and assault. It is easy to understand this when we see what has happened to the family; the illegitimate birth rate is up 40%, the divorce rate is doubled and suicide and STD rate among teens is sky high. Domestic violence is a big problem with four million women beaten by their men. And a child spends hours a day in front of a television and five minutes with dad (if he’s lucky).
Dad, we need to do something. We can never underestimate the example we set before our children. We need to be available and know what is going on with our kids. Being a dad is a tremendous job, but with God’s help, we can succeed.
By: Edmund Brown