August 27, 2004

Reading through the Bible in one Year: Numbers 9-12

Weekly Memory Verse: John 1:12

Good Evening Brothers and Sisters,

Genesis 37:1-17 (NASB95)
¹ Now Jacob lived in the land where his father had sojourned, in the land of Canaan. ² These are the records of the generations of Jacob. Joseph, when seventeen years of age, was pasturing the flock with his brothers while he was still a youth, along with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought back a bad report about them to their father. ³ Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he was the son of his old age; and he made him a varicolored tunic. ⁴ His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers; and so they hated him and could not speak to him on friendly terms. ⁵ Then Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. ⁶ He said to them, “Please listen to this dream which I have had; ⁷ for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheaf rose up and also stood erect; and behold, your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to my sheaf.” ⁸ Then his brothers said to him, “Are you actually going to reign over us? Or are you really going to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. ⁹ Now he had still another dream, and related it to his brothers, and said, “Lo, I have had still another dream; and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” ¹⁰ He related it to his father and to his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have had? Shall I and your mother and your brothers actually come to bow ourselves down before you to the ground?” ¹¹ His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind. ¹² Then his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock in Shechem. ¹³ Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them.” And he said to him, “I will go.” ¹⁴ Then he said to him, “Go now and see about the welfare of your brothers and the welfare of the flock, and bring word back to me.” So he sent him from the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. ¹⁵ A man found him, and behold, he was wandering in the field; and the man asked him, “What are you looking for?” ¹⁶ He said, “I am looking for my brothers; please tell me where they are pasturing the flock.” ¹⁷ Then the man said, “They have moved from here; for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’ ” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.^[1]

When I read through this chapter, I was struck by several things that are significant in understanding Joseph.  First, Joseph was a worker, he had a willingness to work and a readiness to submit to his fathers will.  He was also the son of his favorite, now deceased wife.

He seems to be a spoiled brat when you first read through the story because of his position and his reactions to life.  It seems that he is a tattle-tale, and has been pampered by his father through special favors.  I believe that this is an illusion though, it draws you away from the truth about Joseph. 

In reality, Joseph was a prophet of God.  By nature the prophet will not tolerate sin around him, it goes against the very core of his outlook on life.  So when Joseph reported on his brothers, he was carrying out the nature that God had place within him.  Consider that Joseph was a man by the standards of the day, he was seventeen years old.  He knew what would happen when he ratted out his brothers, and was willing to take the risk.  We aren't told what they had done that was bad enough where they were willing to kill him, but it had to be serious.  It was serious enough that Israel kept him home rather than having him stay with the flock with his brothers.  Perhaps he felt that keeping Joseph away from them was for his own safety. 

Consider the dreams for a moment, when you think about the prophetic nature of the dreams, it is apparent that God had given him a special gift.  Joseph couldn't keep the dreams to himself, he had to share them with his brothers.  This was a bit foolish due to the nature of the dreams, but was necessary to provoke the brothers to get rid of him in order to fulfill God's plan later.

The first dream had to do with agriculture.  If you look forward in the story, you will see that Joseph gains authority over all the agriculture of Egypt.  That is the point where the brothers bow down to him the first time, when they come to get grain for the land at the request of Isaac.

The second dream had to do with celestial bodies.  In ancient times these bodies indicated kings or political powers.  During the later part of Joseph's life he was a ruler in Egypt ruling over the land, and over the family of Isaac.  Since all the brothers became heads of great nations as prophesied, Joseph stood as an authority over them and his parents in Egypt. 

The coat of many colors was an irritation to the other brothers.  It demonstrated that Joseph was treated special in the house.  It was enough in light of the dreams and the tattle telling of Joseph to push them over the edge.  They all hated him, and wanted to be rid of him.  If you look forward in other scriptures, this is typical of the true prophets of God.  Their stand on life was enough to cause them to die hideous deaths, the scripture is full of the stories.  Jesus was considered a prophet by the people, they slaughtered him, pouring all the hatred that they were capable of, and not realizing that Jesus was God in the flesh.  It is tragic that prophets are treated this way, but consistent with human behavior.  As humans we hate someone who refuses to comply with the norm.

Joseph went knowing the danger from his brothers, and knowing how they felt about him.  He was diligent in his task, and when they were not where they were expected to be, he investigated and found where they went.

Genesis 37:18-36 (NASB95)
¹⁸ When they saw him from a distance and before he came close to them, they plotted against him to put him to death. ¹⁹ They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer! ²⁰ “Now then, come and let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; and we will say, ‘A wild beast devoured him.’ Then let us see what will become of his dreams!” ²¹ But Reuben heard this and rescued him out of their hands and said, “Let us not take his life.” ²² Reuben further said to them, “Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but do not lay hands on him”—that he might rescue him out of their hands, to restore him to his father. ²³ So it came about, when Joseph reached his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the varicolored tunic that was on him; ²⁴ and they took him and threw him into the pit. Now the pit was empty, without any water in it. ²⁵ Then they sat down to eat a meal. And as they raised their eyes and looked, behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing aromatic gum and balm and myrrh, on their way to bring them down to Egypt. ²⁶ Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it for us to kill our brother and cover up his blood? ²⁷ “Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened to him. ²⁸ Then some Midianite traders passed by, so they pulled him up and lifted Joseph out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelite for twenty shekels of silver. Thus they brought Joseph into Egypt. ²⁹ Now Reuben returned to the pit, and behold, Joseph was not in the pit; so he tore his garments. ³⁰ He returned to his brothers and said, “The boy is not there; as for me, where am I to go?” ³¹ So they took Joseph’s tunic, and slaughtered a male goat and dipped the tunic in the blood; ³² and they sent the varicolored tunic and brought it to their father and said, “We found this; please examine it to see whether it is your son’s tunic or not.” ³³ Then he examined it and said, “It is my son’s tunic. A wild beast has devoured him; Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!” ³⁴ So Jacob tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days. ³⁵ Then all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. And he said, “Surely I will go down to Sheol in mourning for my son.” So his father wept for him. ³⁶ Meanwhile, the Midianite sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, Pharaoh’s officer, the captain of the bodyguard.^[2]

Shechem was the land of the people who had raped Dinah in an earlier chapter.  Consider the position of this story, the brothers had already killed men when they killed the ones who raped Dinah, now they were plotting to kill Joseph in the very same area.   The word used in the Bible indicates murder, and this is validated by the discussion of covering up the murder by claiming that a wild animal attacked him.

Reuben intervened for him and suggested that they throw Joseph into a cistern.  These were common throughout the land, they were holes in the ground, hollowed out for capturing rain water.  Generally they were wide at the bottom and tapered to a narrow opening, often small enough to cover with a removable cover.  They were shaped similar to a soda bottle.

The verbs that describe the action of stripping him of the tunic and throwing him into the cistern is almost like they skinned an animal and dumped the carcass into a pit.  The idea is that it was extremely rough and without feeling.  The author wanted to impress the brutality of the incident on the reader.  We find out later that Joseph was not a silent lamb sent to the slaughter, he pleaded with his brothers without success.

Genesis 42:21 (NASB95)
²¹ Then they said to one another, “Truly we are guilty concerning our brother, because we saw the distress of his soul when he pleaded with us, yet we would not listen; therefore this distress has come upon us.” ^[3]

An alternative plan came to mind when they saw the Midianite traders going by.  They sold Joseph into slavery.  Think about that for a moment, how often do you think that a band of traders would go by in a country like that?  God knew what was going to take place and started moving the traders many months earlier, just so that they would be in the exact spot where He needed them.  Just like God placed the idea in Reuben's mind to throw him into a cistern, which just happened to be there.  God orchestrated the entire event in order to get Joseph in the place where God needed him. 

Often we fail to recognize that God places us in our situations so that He can work out His divine will in our lives.  The next time that trouble stares you in your face, maybe it is time to see it as a possibility that God is at work rather than seeing it as another problem.  As Christians, our outlook on life must take on the attitude that God is in charge of everything.

The end of this chapter is very sad, all of Joseph's brothers joined together in the scheme to cover up the sale.  All eleven brothers that remained shouldered the guilt equally as they had all participated in the deed.  Jacob was deceived beyond belief.  This is extremely tragic, but brings to mind the deception of Isaac when Jacob deceived him in his old age.  The sin of the father was passed on to his sons, and it increased in his sons.

Enough for today, if you have any comments, be sure to write in.

Questions for thought:

What was the motivation behind murdering or attempting to murder Joseph?

Was Joseph a prophet or a spoiled brat?

Father, as we consider your word today, show each of us how that you are at work in our lives. 

In Him,

Joe Turner.