Bible Text: Genesis 31:1-36 | Preacher: Pastor Joe Ricchuiti | Series: Genesis, When a Dismal Outlook is the Best Outcome

1.  By giving Joseph a “richly ornamented robe” (either multi-colored or long-sleeved reaching to the ankles, the Hebrew is uncertain) Jacob was marking him out as his favorite and the likely son to receive the birthright.  This favoritism, along with other things, brought about the hatred of Joseph’s brothers.

2.  The favoritism and deception of Jacob’s past were now coming to the fore once again in his own children.  Concerning favoritism, Jacob should have recognized the damage it can do in a family.  But instead of dealing with it, he perpetuates it in his family with all the concomitant wrong and disorder that comes with it.

3.  Jacob’s children used a goat to deceive Jacob about what had happened to Joseph even as Jacob had used a goat in deceiving his father Isaac concerning the birthright.

4.  There is an important sowing and reaping principle we see time and again in Scripture which works in the physical, moral and spiritual realms.  That which we allow in our lives will bear fruit, either good or bad, in our lives and in the lives of our children.