Jacob had multiple wives with multiple kids. But he loved Rachel the most. Rachel died having the second son Benjamin.
- He loved Joseph because when he should not have had kids, God blessed him in his old age with Joseph the first born of Rachel his true love and subsequently Benjamin.
- Joseph did not help matters by bringing a bad report back to his father, but their hatred was because they wanted their fathers love.
- Joseph was a teenager around 17 years old.
- Joseph has two dreams both of which contributed to the hatred and jealousy of his brothers
Dream 1: He told the dream to his brothers concerning the 11 of them.
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 behold, my sheaf stood up and also remained standing; 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.
Genesis 37: 5-8 NIV
Dream 2: He again told the dream to his brothers and the father.
This dream included his mother and father and his 11 brothers.
9 Then he had yet another dream, and informed his brothers of it, and said, “Behold, I have had yet another dream; and behold, the sun and the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” 10 He also told it to his father as well as to his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have had? Am I and your mother and your brothers actually going to come to bow down to the ground before you?” 11 And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.
Genesis 37:9-11 NIV
Jacob later gives instructions to Joseph to check on his brothers.
12 Then his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock in Shechem. 13 And Israel said to Joseph, “Are your brothers not 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.
Genesis 37: 12-14 NIV
The brothers were not where they were expected to be.
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’s go to Dothan.’” So, Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.
Genesis 37:15-17 NIV
The bitterness and hatred came to a head and they plotted against him.
18 When they saw him from a distance, and before he came closer 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’s kill him, and throw him into one of the pits; and we will say, ‘A vicious animal devoured him.’ Then we will see what will become of his dreams!” 21 But Reuben heard this and rescued him out of their hands by saying, “Let’s not take his life.” 22 Then Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him”—so that later he might rescue him out of their hands, to return him to his father. 23 So it came about, when Joseph reached his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the [o]multicolored 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.
Genesis 37 :18-24 NIV
Ruben saved him only to find him sold to the traders initiated by Judah.
25 Then they sat down to eat a meal. But as they raised their eyes and looked, behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels carrying labdanum resin, balsam, and myrrh, on their way to bring them down to Egypt. 26 And Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it for us to kill our brother and cover up his blood? 27 Come, and let’s 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 out and lifted Joseph out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. So, 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?”
Genesis 37 :25-30 NIV
The cover up took place, but God was with Joseph.
31 So they took Joseph’s tunic, and slaughtered a male goat, and dipped the tunic in the blood; 32 and they sent the multicolored 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 vicious animal has devoured him; Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!” 34 So Jacob tore his clothes, and put on a sackcloth undergarment over his waist, and mourned for his son many days. 35 Then all his sons and all his daughters got up 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 Midianites sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, Pharaoh’s officer, the captain of the bodyguard.
Genesis 37 :35-36 NIV
But the Lord was with Joseph.
39 Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an Egyptian officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the bodyguard, bought him from the Ishmaelites, who had taken him down there. 2 And the Lord was with Joseph, so he became a successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. 3 Now his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all that he did prosper in his hand.
Genesis 39:1-3 NIV
Then what happened? Come back next week.
0 Comments