Last time we looked at the brief history of Esau and the Edomites in Genesis 36. Esau,
the father of the Edomites was the twin brother of Jacob. The Bible makes only
a brief mention of the generations of Esau (36:1), the non- covenantal race, before it returns to the story line of the covenant
people, led by Jacob, and now in particular in the
story of Joseph. This then brings us to the last section of the book of
Genesis as we consider the life of Joseph at the beginning of Chapter 37.
OUTLINE
1.The brothers’
hate towards him (37:1-11)
(i) Because he brought a bad report about them to his father
(v. 2).
(ii) Because their
father loved him more than them (vv. 3, 4).
(iii) Because he dreamed of his dominion over them (vv.
5-11).
2. The brothers’
revenge (37:12-36)
(i) The opportunity that arose for
them to get rid of him (vv. 12-17)
(ii) They conspired to kill him (vv. 18-20).
(iii) They providentially changed their plan (vv.21-24)
(iv) He was sold as a
slave to Ishmaelites. They took Joseph to Egypt. (vv. 25-28).
(iv) They made their father believe that he was killed by a wild animal (vv. 29-35).
(v) He was sold to Potiphar in Egypt (v. 36). And all
this was working together for good.
1. The brothers hate towards
Joseph (37:1-11)
These are the
generations of Jacob… (37:2) and now we are introduced to the story of Joseph. Joseph was the firstborn of his mother Rachel. Rachel, you will remember was Jacob’s
first love. The story of his
four wives (Gen. 29 &30) is a sad
one, but we need to rest in the fact that God was working out His sovereign plan
despite the broken and sinful world
in which God’s covenant
people needed to make their
living. The same is true for us, and Romans
8:28 remains true. Rachel, struggled to conceive (29:31; 30:1). When she did eventually
conceive she gave birth to Joseph[1]
(30:22-24). When we are introduced
to Joseph we learn that he is 17 years old (37:2b). Later in 41:47 we shall learn that
he is 30 years old when he finally enters into
Pharaoh’s service in Egypt.
We read in 37:3 that “Israel (Jacob) loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son
of his old age. And he made him a robe of many colours“.[2]
The writer obviously wants us to
know that Joseph was Jacob’s favoured
son, and he was not even subtle about this. Remember also that his father Isaac favoured
his brother Esau above him. The multi-coloured
robe that he had made for him
set him apart from the other sons,
and the other sons knew it. Now clearly this will become a problem, and
we may safely say that Jacob was not wise in making this distinction between
Joseph and his brothers. Parents must
learn to be impartial.
The problem is quickly seen in 37:4. As the oldest brothers were tending the flocks, Joseph was bringing bad reports about his
brothers to his father, causing even further
resentment. His reports about his brothers were probably true, but they
did not endear himself to his brothers.
And now, to crown it all, come those two dreams in 37:5-11. To be sure, they were
revelations from God. They were prophetic dreams. But the way (tone/timing/context) he communicates these dreams to his brothers and father, did
not exactly endear him to his brothers. It takes real maturity and discernment
to know what we must do with the information that we get from the Word of God.
We cannot share everything profitably without considering the context in which
we share truth from God’s Word. In Matthew
7:6, in the context of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus reminds His
disciples, “Do not give dogs what is
holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them
underfoot and turn to attack you.” This would indeed come back upon Joseph, and so we read in 37:8 that they hated him even more, and in 37:11 we read that “they were
jealous of him”. We also note in
passing that Jacob, like Mary [3] kept the saying in mind. Jacob was mature and older, and though he did
not understand the dreams, he kept in mind that God might be in the details.
These dreams, we shall see were indeed from God as Joseph
would remember them in Gen. 42:9. They
were not given to lord it over, or to put his brothers down at this time. These dreams were given as a private help to
him when he would be facing his brothers once again, many years later in Egypt.
The Lord our God sometimes prepares us
by giving us a glimpse of that
which lies ahead, but that is for personal consumption, and can only be
verified after what was seen in a vision/ dream has come to pass. We do
well to keep our dreams to ourselves and not burden others with them.
God has ways of preparing His people beforehand for the
trials which they cannot yet see. There is no doubt that these dreams would
have come back to the brothers, when they really did bow on 4 occasions before
Joseph (Gen. 42:6;43:26,28; 44:14)
Now all this information was given to an immature Joseph, and
Joseph did not do well with the information given. Matthew Henry astutely observes, “Joseph
dreamed of his preferment, but he did not dream of his imprisonment. Thus many
young people, when they are setting out in the world, think of nothing but
prosperity and pleasure, and never dream of trouble”.
2. The Brothers Revenge (37:12 – 36)
In this portion we
find Joseph taken from the love and protection of his father’s home
in Hebron, via the hostility of his
brothers in Dothan, to the completely
alien world of Egypt.[4]
Jacob expected to find his brothers near Shechem (37:12), about 80
kilometres north of Hebron where his
family now lived. We read of Shechem in Chapter 34. This was the place where
their sister Dinah had been raped, and where the sons of Jacob wreaked terrible havoc in terms of exacting revenge.
Jacob was concerned about his sons and sent Joseph on an
errand to find out how they were doing. As
a dutiful son he went (see v.13b), but
neither he nor his father were
suspecting what might happen. He did not
find them at Shechem, but was helped by a man (37:15)
to find them at Dothan, another 24
kilometers further north of Shechem. It says something about Joseph’s sense of
duty to his father and brothers, and it says
something about his
perseverance to find them.
Next we read, “They saw
him from afar… they conspired against him to kill him” (37:18,20).Maybe his multi-coloured coat
gave him away. Note how deliberate they
were in
this. They called him ‘ this dreamer
for they resented him for his dreams
(37:19). They were ready to kill their brother and moreover they were ready lie about it to their father. Not good! Calvin says, “It never enters into their mind that what is hidden from men
cannot escape the eyes of God”[5].
This is the same frame of mind that possessed Cain, when he killed his brother
Abel (Gen. 4:8). God did not let Cain get away with this murder.
But God protects His own. We
are immortal until our work is done[6]. Next we read of the firstborn of the sons of Jacob, Reuben,
coming to the rescue cf. v.22. Rather than being killed he was thrown into a dry well, being stripped of his robe (like
Jesus in that sense) of many colours- the symbol of all that they had come to
hate about him. In 42:21 we read
that Joseph begged for his life, but
they would not hear him. It takes real hardness of heart to do this to your own flesh and blood. Thankfully Reuben saved him from being murdered (42:22)
Next in vv. 25-30 we read of a caravan of Ishmaelites[7] (also called Midianites 37:28,36 cf. Judges 8:24) on their way from Gilead via Canaan
to Egypt to sell their aromatic spices and perfumes there. This was the providence
of God. Judah made the suggestion that they should sell Joseph to them (v.26), to be carried off to Egypt,
where he would disappear never be heard
of again. They sold him for 20 pieces of silver (Jesus was sold for 30 pieces
of silver). And so Joseph’s brothers
were wonderfully kept from murdering him. In fact this would ultimately lead to their deliverance
in a few years down the line, for
Joseph would in some sense be
their Saviour in a period of extreme drought.
Vv.31-36 They made up a story for their father, telling him that he was torn in pieces by a wild animal (vv.
29-35). We have all learned of Adam to cover up and hide our sin. The devil has taught us well in this regard. When we commit one sin, then he teaches us to
hide and cover it up with another.
As for Jacob , when he
receives this news from his sons he
deeply grieved. He tore his clothes and sat in sackcloth and
ashes (37:34). His sons
hypocritically pretended to comfort him, but
Jacob refused to be comforted (37:35).
In the meantime the
truth is that Joseph was alive. He was sold to Potiphar in Egypt (v. 36). Jacob never thought that he
would ever see Joseph again. But God was
in the detail, preserving for Himself the covenant line, and all this was
ultimately working together for good. The
NT martyr Stephen in Acts 7:9-52 tells of this story – beginning with the
treatment of Joseph by his brothers and ended his story
by applying it to the religious rulers of this day , who had been so bitterly opposed to Jesus. History repeats itself constantly. Joseph’s story
is so remarkably divided between his humiliation and his exaltation that we
cannot avoid seeing something of Christ in it. Jesus was first humbled and then
exalted. This also shows us the
path which we often must tread … through
many tribulations we must enter into the
kingdom.
Thank God then that
the days of
God’s covenant people are in His
hands.
[1] Hebrew: May He add
[2] Technically,
Benjamin, also born to Rachel was
the youngest.
[3] Luke 2:19,51
[4] The Book of Origins : Philip
Eveson, Welwyn Series, p.479
[5] The
Book of Origins : Philip Eveson, Welwyn
Series, p.481
[6] George Whitfield: Journals, p.
[7] Ishmaelite was a general term for ‘
nomadic trader’, and Midianite relates
specifically to the tribal grouping
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