Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28
37:1 Jacob settled in the land where his father had lived as an alien, the land of
Canaan.
37:2 This is the story of the family of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was
shepherding the flock with his brothers; he was a helper to the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah,
his father's wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father.
37:3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children, because he was the
son of his old age; and he had made him a long robe with sleeves.
37:4 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.
37:12 Now his brothers went to pasture their father's flock near Shechem.
37:13 And Israel said to Joseph, "Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at
Shechem? Come, I will send you to them." He answered, "Here I am."
37:14 So he said to him, "Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with
the flock; and bring word back to me."
So he sent him from the valley of Hebron. He came to Shechem, 37:15 and a man found him
wandering in the fields; the man asked him, "What are you seeking?"
37:16 "I am seeking my brothers," he said; "tell me, please, where they
are pasturing the flock."
37:17 The man said, "They have gone away, for I heard them say, 'Let us go to
Dothan.'" So Joseph went after his brothers, and found them at Dothan.
37:18 They saw him from a distance, and before he came near to them, they conspired to
kill him.
37:19 They said to one another, "Here comes this dreamer.
37:20 Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; then we shall say
that a wild animal has devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his
dreams."
37:21 But when Reuben heard it, he delivered him out of their hands, saying, "Let
us not take his life."
37:22 Reuben said to them, "Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the
wilderness, but lay no hand on him" --that he might rescue him out of their hand and
restore him to his father.
37:23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the long robe
with sleeves that he wore;
37:24 and they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water
in it.
37:25 Then they sat down to eat; and looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites
coming from Gilead, with their camels carrying gum, balm, and resin, on their way to carry
it down to Egypt.
37:26 Then Judah said to his brothers, "What profit is it if we kill our brother
and conceal his blood?
37:27 Come, 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 agreed.
37:28 When some Midianite traders passed by, they drew Joseph up, lifting him out of
the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they took Joseph
to Egypt.
Joseph was a whiny brat and a tattletale! It is amazing to think that this is the same Joseph who was so obedient to God once he is sold into slavery. But this is, in a way the repeat of Esau and Jacob, Rebecca played favorites, we know the story and preached it. Jacob played favorites too, and because of it, his brothers hated him. God does not play favorites, He loves each one of us like we are the only one! He protected Joseph, not because of who he was, but because of his potential! I cannot believe no one else has contributed yet. The heat must be frying our minds! I really got a lot out of last week's Genesis discussion. God really used the info in the message today. I may stick with the OT for a while. It seems like I have preached, and they have heard the NT we are using now so many times they can tune me out. Besides, it is such a challenge to preach the OT. Toni
Yes Joseph was a brat, but it seems to me he was also obedient, at least to his father. Verse 13 really struck me this time with the classic call and reponse, "Come I will send you to them" and Joseph responds "Here I am".
I'm not sure I can preach that God protected Jospeh becasue he had a special plan for him. If God protected him because of his potential, why does God not protect all people? Is his life being saved by Reuben God's work, or simply human action?
It seems to me that this is yet another case of God using the surprising people as a means of salvation. Again God chooses the younger over the older brothers, turning on its head the traditaional way of operating. I'm tossing up preaching about the call apect or preacing about how we deal with betrayal by those who "should" love us.
Rob in oz
Rob, I believe that we all have potential in God's eyes! But to live up to that potential and to be used by God, we must be obedient to the will of God. Joseph was a very immature young man, spoiled and pampered, but he had been raised knowing God. When he was sold into slavery, God was his only security and he became faithful to God. He had a choice, and even through all the chaos he went though, he knew that all he had was the promise that God would always be faithful. God IS faithful, even when we are not!! Of course, I think I am getting ahead of the story and not preaching on this scripture. I will try to refocus! :-) If I have a brain surge, there will be more later! Toni
What did Jacob's boys learn from their father? Lying? Sure. Using people? Yes. Treating family memebers with contempt? Yep. They learned all this, and then the next generation of Abraham's descendants had to deal with fractured relationships. Jacob's boys were merely "chips off the old block," it appears. -Dale in Chattanooga
Playing favorites, something we are all guilty of doing at times in our lives. My husband's parents were masters of the game. However, since their death, none of the siblings have anything to do with each other. Talk about a fractured family! But don't we do that with each other in our churches and communities. We tend to gather in groups with those we like best, not remembering that God loves us all equally. I remember my mother telling me that the persons that are the most difficult to love are the ones that need love the most. Although Joseph was a brat, God loved him and proved his love by taking care of Joseph, just like we need to take care of each other. It is a difficult world out there and we MUST care for all in our world, even the persons that are difficult to love, like Joseph.
Mel in Texas
Not only was Joseph a spoiled brat but he also thought he was better than anyone else. Well, at least his brothers. Remember the lections leave out an important part of this story. The dreamer has a dream that he is above all of his brothers. Then he tells them about it.
Living in Nebraska, I see the same thing in "We are number One" regarding Nebraska football, then we wonder why other people don't like us or our team. I truly believe that we live is society that teaches us to yell "I number One" in many ways. Sports, size of business, as a Nation, etc., etc. Then we wonder why people don't like us.
There seems to be a clear lesson from the fate of Joseph. When you yell, you are number one, you just might get sold into slavery. No, you will be sold into slavery. The Slavery of pride, preduice, and alienation from others.
RevJCB NE
I was in Atlanta once and I went to the MLK Memorial center. It was a wonderful experience. They have a film. And in it they enlarged the words of v.20 "Let us slay him and see what becomes of his dreams." It moved me. The assasination of Martin Luther King, jr. Just made his dream larger. So it was with Christ. And I know Joseph was obnoxious, but I found the comparison facinating. Rev. J
Hi All. I seem to be getting a different message than some of you from this. Yes, Joseph came from a troubled family background. But we know that Jacob & Esau did have reconciliation, and I would not want our view of God's work to be lost in our understanding of family dynamics.
Also, the scripture doesn't tell us Joseph had a sueriority problem- it tells us that Joseph had a dream, seen as from God. GOD is the one who showed Joseph a picture of him superior to his brothers, and it comes true, doesn't it?
Let's look at God's work in this- I see God moving through others' envy, and the historical situation, and harvest & drought. And in this, God found one who was faithful and obedient- and created a people through his work. My series, beginning with today is "Desert Wars" and this is "Episode 1: Revenge of the Brotherhood." This is part of an epic story of God's calling a people to God's self. Preach it!
I am adding Genesis 50:20 to this weeks lesson, to talk about the reconciliation, you meant it for evil but God used it for good. Rev J
Hi everyone. thanks for your thought provoking comments.
I'm picking the theme of "Killing the dreamer". It seems to me we have a long history of killing dreamers in society, people who threaten the status quo, people who call us out of our comfort zones (e.g. Christ, Martin Luther King, etc..) In contrast I beleive God calls us to dream (and live out) a better life for all, God's Kigndom.
I'm thinking of this theme whilst I also prepare for the funeral of a young man who committed suicide - perhaps the greatest "death of a dream". For to dream in life we have to have hope and a sense of the future, things that seem gone when someone takes their life.
Rob in Oz
