This fall, we have been traveling on a journey with a man
named Jacob and his family that is recorded for us in the first letter in the
bible called the book of Genesis. This week, I would like for us to pick up
where we left off last week. However, before we jump back into this section of
the book of Genesis, we need to take a minute to understand the context that we
are jumping back into.
After leaving Shechem to worship the Lord at Bethel,
Jacob and his family headed toward Hebron. However, as the family approached
what is now the town of Bethlehem, Rachel passed away while giving birth to a
son, who was named Benjamin. After arriving in Hebron, Jacob and his family began
the process of settling down in the land that God had promised them. However,
as they began to settle down, we see a problem arise, which Moses records for
us in Genesis 37:1:
Now Jacob
lived in the land where his father had sojourned, in the land of Canaan. 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. 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. 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.
Moses brings us into this story by exposing a problem
between Jacob’s sons. Moses explains that Joseph, who was the second youngest
of Jacob’s twelve sons, was helping Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher take care of
the family flocks. Now Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher technically were Joseph’s
stepbrothers from Jacob’s marriage to the servants of Rachel and Leah.
As Joseph worked alongside his stepbrothers, his
stepbrothers did something that they should not have done. While Moses does not
tell us exactly what they did wrong, what Moses does tell us is that Joseph
brought back a bad report about them to their father. In other words, Joseph
tattled on his older brothers and told dad what they had done.
Now, if that was not bad enough, Moses tells us that
Jacob loved Joseph more than all his other sons. And because Joseph was daddy’s
favorite, Joseph received a special present from his father in the form of a
varicolored tunic. This tunic was actually a multicolored, full length robe
that would have been very expensive and would have caught everyone’s attention.
Now, as you might imagine, this special gift from his
father would have had a special place in Joseph’s heart. This coat would have
been Joseph’s favorite coat. He would have worn this coat everywhere. And, as
you might imagine, this coat would be a reminder to his brothers that Joseph
was daddy’s favorite.
Moses tells us that as Joseph’s brothers saw him wearing
the evidence of his father’s favoritism, and as Joseph’s brothers remembered
how Joseph had gotten them in trouble, they hated him and could not speak to
him on friendly terms. What is so interesting is that the word on friendly
terms here is the word shalom, which literally means peace. You see, there was
no peace in the household. Instead, as a result of Jacob’s favoritism, there
was jealousy, hatred, and division. Now, Joseph, for his part, did not help
matters, as Moses reveals for us in verse 5:
Then Joseph
had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. He
said to them, "Please listen to this dream which I have had; 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." 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.
Now while Joseph told his dream to his brothers, he did
not tell them what he thought the dream actually meant. Joseph did not need to
tell them what the dream meant because his brothers clearly recognized what the
dream meant.
Their response to Joseph’s dream, if communicated in the
language that we use today, would have sounded something like this: So do you,
our little brother, actually think that you are going to be large and charge
over us? Do you actually think that we will bow to you and serve you?
At this point, Moses tells us that Joseph’s brothers not
only hated Joseph because he was a tattle tale; not only did Joseph’s brothers
hate Joseph because he was daddy’s favorite; Joseph’s brothers also hated
Joseph because of the dream and because he had the nerve to actually share the
dream with them.
I mean, if you are Joseph, why would you share that dream
with your brothers? You could not possibly think that sharing the dream was
going to improve your relationship you’re your brothers, could you? Can you
imagine the look on Joseph’s brother’s face as they listened to him share his
dream with them?
Now at this point, you would think that Joseph would
learn. At this point, you think Joseph would sense the animosity building and
change how he related to them. And at this point, you would be wrong, as we see
in verse 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." 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?" His brothers were
jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.
Moses tells us that a short
time later, Joseph had a second dream. Just like the first dream, this dream
was easy to interpret and understand. And just like the first dream, Joseph
freely shares his dream, this time with the entire family. This time, however,
it was Jacob who responded to Joseph. Jacob reprimanded Jacob by questioning
whether Joseph actually believed that the entire family would bow to and serve
him. Joseph’s brothers, however, sat back and watched their father scold their
brother.
Now, while the brothers were
silent, that does not mean that the brothers were not emotionally engaged.
Moses tells us that Joseph’s brothers were jealous of him. Joseph’s brothers
wanted want Joseph had and did not want Joseph to have what he did have. Joseph’s brothers wanted to be daddy’s
favorite. Joseph’s brother’s viewed him as a spoiled rotten brat who was a
tattle tale and a braggart.
And while Jacob filed away
Joseph’s dream in the back of his mind, Joseph’s brothers fumed in anger. They
fumed in anger over their father’s favoritism: they fumed in anger over their
bratty brother who they were jealous of. Joseph’s brothers anger fumed until an
event occurred that would radically change the trajectory of the entire family.
Tomorrow,
we will look at that event…
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