Joseph Dreams of Greatness
37 Now Jacob dwelt in the land where his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan. 2 This is the history of Jacob.
Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. And the lad was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to his father.
3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age. Also he made him a tunic of many colors. 4 But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.
Joseph Sold by His Brothers
12 Then his brothers went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem. 13 And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.”
So he said to him, “Here I am.”
14 Then he said to him, “Please go and see if it is well with your brothers and well with the flocks, and bring back word to me.” So he sent him out of the Valley of Hebron, and he went to Shechem.
15 Now a certain man found him, and there he was, wandering in the field. And the man asked him, saying, “What are you seeking?”
16 So he said, “I am seeking my brothers. Please tell me where they are feeding their flocks.”
17 And the man said, “They have departed from here, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’ ” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan.
18 Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, they conspired against him to kill him. 19 Then they said to one another, “Look, this dreamer is coming! 20 Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, ‘Some wild beast has devoured him.’ We shall see what will become of his dreams!”
21 But Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands, and said, “Let us not kill him.” 22 And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit which is in the wilderness, and do not lay a hand on him”—that he might deliver him out of their hands, and bring him back to his father.
23 So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him. 24 Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it.
25 And they sat down to eat a meal. Then they lifted their eyes and looked, and there was a company of Ishmaelites, coming from Gilead with their camels, bearing spices, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry them down to Egypt. 26 So Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? 27 Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh.” And his brothers listened. 28 Then Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.
throwaway
n.
Something designed or likely to be discarded after use, as a free handbill distributed on the street.
n.
A child or teenager who has been rejected, ejected, or abandoned by parents or guardians and lives on the streets.
My wife and I used to watch a TV show regularly called NCIS, one of the main characters, Gibbs often says that there are no coincidences. If some events seem to be related, or part of a bigger plan that is because they are. That being said, there are times in my life where I wonder where I would be if I or some people around me made some different decisions. What if my mother never transferred from Missouri University to Lincoln University in Jefferson City? What if my parents never got a divorce? What if I did not quit football in college? What if I didn’t change my major from electrical engineering to Business Management my junior year? What if I never went to Prairie View A&M University for college? What if I did go, but right after I graduated, moved back to Indianapolis Indiana to work? My life would be much different I assume, those are all major changes that would affect the lives of other people greatly. Some people would not have been born if people did not cross paths. I also think about smaller what if situations as well. When I was in seminary there was a class I could have taken a year earlier than I did, Immigration and theology, but at the time, I did not see how I could drive back and forth to Dallas on Saturdays while working a full time job and pastoring a church, fast forward a few years later and I end up doing it twice a week. It's just a class, but that class potentially gets me out of seminary earlier, which gets me possibly commissioned earlier, and ordained earlier. But I get ordained earlier I don’t have the same career path of churches I get appointed to. Sometimes a seemingly meaningless event can have a great impact for years to come. Even though I think about what ifs every now and then, I believe we all have free will to make our own decisions in life, I truly believe that I am where I need to be when I need to be for God’s plan in my life.
The text says that Joseph settled in the land of Canaan, the land his grandfather Abraham settled as an immigrant that was able to grow in the land, have Isaac. Isaac was Abraham’s promised child from God. God told Abraham he was going to have a child when he was old. Abraham in his old age along with his wife Sarah thought that God meant for Abraham to get Sarah’s handmaid Hagar pregnant because Sarah was too old for childbirth. Abraham and Hagar had Ishmael, but he was not the child of promise, that child would be Isaac born a year later. Sarah would kick Hagar and her little boy Ishmael out of Abrahams house eventually and they would have to fend for themselves. Sarah did not want any competition for Isaac. Isaac who would later have Esau and his twin Jacob who would later be called Israel. Israel would have 12 sons, one who he loved more than others Joseph because Jacob/Israel had Joseph in his old age. I say Jacob/Israel because I notice that Genesis goes back and forth calling the man Jaco in some verses and Israel in others. Some scholars say that is because multiple people wrote Genesis. I believe it speaks to the dual nature of humans. Jacob means supplanter, heel grabber, trickster. But Israel refers to a nation. Jacob got his name changed after wrestling with the angel, Jacob was his past, Israel was his future. He was no less Jacob, and no more Israel. We are no less our past or no more our future on the inside. We just can’t let our past be all that we are. Here in Genesis 37 the story is transitioning from individuals to a nation. The text literally means the generations of Jacob. Jacob has 12 sons, the 12 sons will form the 12 tribes of Israel, that will make up the nation of Israel. God told Abraham that he would bless him and make his name great, that he would have more offspring than the stars in the sky, the dust in the ground, Abraham was going to have a lot of children. Abraham would have Isaac, Isaac would have Esau and Jacob. Jacob would become Israel had 12 sons, one of the youngest was named Joseph.
Joseph got a coat of many colors from his father, it was ornate. The Hebrew is interesting because the words that are used to literally describe Joseph lean toward calling him a pretty boy almost. The words describing his clothes and appearance let us know he was good looking and well dressed. Joseph was the favorite of Jacob and the other brothers did not like that. The text says the brothers hated Joseph, some translations say that the brothers could not speak a kind word to Joseph. Josephs older brothers mocked him and used sarcastic language toward him. The brothers called Joseph “that dreamer" Joseph had dreams that showed him and his brothers that Joseph will be elevated above his brothers and no older child wants to hear that the younger child is going to be their boss. The brothers hated Joseph and plotted to kill him. Sometimes those people we think are going to have our best interest at heart will do us the dirtiest. And it hurts worse because you have your guard down. Family spats are bad, church spats are bad, job spats are bad, relationship spats are bad. Why because you get comfortable around the people, show how you really feel, let your guard down and when you get hurt, the pain is much deeper because you were not prepared. When you know the pain is coming, you do things to prepare yourself for the pain so it doesn’t hurt as much, but if your guard is down the pain hurt even more because you did nothing to prepare for it.
Josephs brothers were tired of growing in a household where they knew that their father loved one child more than the other. Jacob was Isaac’s favorite and Esau was not, they had trouble. Esau wanted to kill Jacob at one time. Now the following generation, Joseph is the new Jacob and the other sons have become Esaus and they want to kill their own version of Jacob. The brothers see Joseph coming and they plot to kill him. The brothers were already where they were not supposed to be, Jacob sent them to Shechem, to work, and didn’t send Joseph. Jacob sent Joseph to get them and they were miles away from were they were supposed to be in Dothan. They are more than 60 miles from where they are supposed to be. So the Joseph is coming and the brothers are plotting to kill him, they end up taking his robe, and throwing him in a pit. The text doesn’t specify who exactly wants to kill him and those who claim to plan to get him later don’t verbally say what they are doing is wrong, they just want to have a secret plan to get him later. Being quiet while someone else is plotting against you is just as bad as someone plotting against you.
Joseph is being plotted on and his oldest brother Rueben says don’t do it, Reuben’s name means vision. When Joseph is in the pit, his older brother Judah chimes in and says don’t kill him. Judah’s name means praise. So when Joseph’s life is on the line. Reuben says don’t kill him, when Joseph’s life is on the line again Judah says don’t kill him. Jospeh is in trouble and the things that are keeping him alive are vision and praise. You may be at a low point in your life, not knowing how you are going to get through but when you get into those times remember Joseph Reuben and Judah, sometimes you have to see your way through a situation, and praise your way through a situation until you get out of the situation.
Joseph needed help, and he got help from some people trying to do harm and some random events that worked out for his good. The brothers were over 60 miles from where they needed to be, after tying Joseph up, putting him in pit. The brothers start to have second thoughts about what they plan to do. The brothers are sitting down to eat, and they see a caravan passing through and decide to sell Joseph to those Midianites, those Ishmaelites...
Sometimes things done years ago pop back up in a way you never thought. Abraham was 86 when he had Ishmael a year later Isaac was born, Isaac was 60 years old when Jacob and Esau were born, Jacob was in his 70s or 80s when Joseph was born and Joseph was 17 years old when he had the dreams that made his brothers plot to kill him. So something that happened three generations, maybe 130-140 years ago can come back and be the path to greatness the changes the lives of an entire nation. Joseph was going to have some more trouble to go through but in the end he would be an advisor to pharaoh, and help everybody get through a famine and turn the nation of Israel into a great nation. He would be able to say with all these different things going on, what you meant for evil God worked It out for my good.
Genesis 50:20
20 But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.
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