The Redemptive Trajectory
Sermon Recording
Sermon Outline
Speaker: Rev. Scott Strickman
Sermon Series: The Joseph Stories
Genesis 49:1-28 (ESV)
1 Then Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall happen to you in days to come.
2 “Assemble and listen, O sons of Jacob,
listen to Israel your father.
3 “Reuben, you are my firstborn,
my might, and the firstfruits of my strength,
preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power.
4 Unstable as water, you shall not have preeminence,
because you went up to your father's bed;
then you defiled it—he went up to my couch!
5 “Simeon and Levi are brothers;
weapons of violence are their swords.
6 Let my soul come not into their council;
O my glory, be not joined to their company.
For in their anger they killed men,
and in their willfulness they hamstrung oxen.
7 Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce,
and their wrath, for it is cruel!
I will divide them in Jacob
and scatter them in Israel.
8 “Judah, your brothers shall praise you;
your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
your father's sons shall bow down before you.
9 Judah is a lion's cub;
from the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He stooped down; he crouched as a lion
and as a lioness; who dares rouse him?
10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler's staff from between his feet,
until tribute comes to him;
and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
11 Binding his foal to the vine
and his donkey's colt to the choice vine,
he has washed his garments in wine
and his vesture in the blood of grapes.
12 His eyes are darker than wine,
and his teeth whiter than milk.
13 “Zebulun shall dwell at the shore of the sea;
he shall become a haven for ships,
and his border shall be at Sidon.
14 “Issachar is a strong donkey,
crouching between the sheepfolds.
15 He saw that a resting place was good,
and that the land was pleasant,
so he bowed his shoulder to bear,
and became a servant at forced labor.
16 “Dan shall judge his people
as one of the tribes of Israel.
17 Dan shall be a serpent in the way,
a viper by the path,
that bites the horse's heels
so that his rider falls backward.
18 I wait for your salvation, O Lord.
19 “Raiders shall raid Gad,
but he shall raid at their heels.
20 “Asher's food shall be rich,
and he shall yield royal delicacies.
21 “Naphtali is a doe let loose
that bears beautiful fawns.
22 “Joseph is a fruitful bough,
a fruitful bough by a spring;
his branches run over the wall.
23 The archers bitterly attacked him,
shot at him, and harassed him severely,
24 yet his bow remained unmoved;
his arms were made agile
by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob
(from there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel),
25 by the God of your father who will help you,
by the Almighty who will bless you
with blessings of heaven above,
blessings of the deep that crouches beneath,
blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
26 The blessings of your father
are mighty beyond the blessings of my parents,
up to the bounties of the everlasting hills.
May they be on the head of Joseph,
and on the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers.
27 “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf,
in the morning devouring the prey
and at evening dividing the spoil.”
28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each with the blessing suitable to him.
Sermon Outline
Recognizing the key threads in God’s redemptive gospel story is necessary for identifying the key details that define us.
1. Scripture and the stories of Judah and Joseph
v1 “that I may tell you what shall happen to you” (v28 “blessed them”)
vv2-7 – disqualification of Reuben, Simeon, Levi
vv8-10 – Judah: “brothers… shall bow down before you”; “scepter shall not depart”; “washed garments in wine”
vv22-26 – Joseph: “a fruitful bough”; “the Shepherd… stone… the Almighty who will bless you”
2. Embedding our stories in God’s redemptive story
Prayer of Confession
God of grace and glory, who is wise like you? We understand little, and in our confusion we go astray. We lack the power to do all we desire, so we despair. We make assumptions that feed both our pride and our shame. Our thoughts and actions are not right. We need mercy and forgiveness. We appeal to you for more grace. We look not to ourselves or to our world but to Jesus Christ, who was rejected and condemned. We marvel that you pardon and accept us. Let your mercy renew our hearts and minds. Fill us with your Spirit that we would walk as new people, experiencing the joy of salvation and bringing honor and pleasure to you. Amen.
Questions for Reflection
What moments or experiences in your life define you?
What is your outlook on your life? What kinds of things do you expect in your present and future? Why?
How does Jesus fulfill Scripture? What things can you point to that come together in Christ?
How is Jesus the interpretive key to the whole Bible? What did he teach, what did he do, who is he, that helps us put all things we read in the right context?
How can Jesus become a new interpretive key for your life? What about his story can change how you interpret and understand your story?
Are there areas of your life that are completely disconnected from Christ? Why? How can you bring all things into new life with Christ?
Where are you being required to exercise faith at this point in your life? What do you need to trust God for when you lack understanding or don’t feel like you have the power to control things? Why is God trustworthy? What can you trust God for?
Do you have hope? What about the gospel message can you focus on for reflection that will sustain you in the next season of your life? Is there someone you should reach out to, to help you with this?