...God is always with you... you are never alone...

Joseph Dreams of Greatness

37 Jacob settled in the land where his father had lived as an alien, the land of Canaan. 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. 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. 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.

5 Once Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. 6 He said to them, ‘Listen to this dream that I dreamed. 

7 There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright; then your sheaves gathered around it, and bowed down to my sheaf.’ 8 His brothers said to him, ‘Are you indeed to reign over us? Are you indeed to have dominion over us?’ So they hated him even more because of his dreams and his words.

9 He had another dream, and told it to his brothers, saying, ‘Look, I have had another dream: the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.’ 10 But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him, and said to him, ‘What kind of dream is this that you have had? Shall we indeed come, I and your mother and your brothers, and bow to the ground before you?’ 11 So his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.

Joseph Is Sold by His Brothers

12 Now his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock near Shechem. 

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.’ 

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, 15 and a man found him wandering in the fields; the man asked him, ‘What are you seeking?’ 16 ‘I am seeking my brothers,’ he said; ‘tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock.’ 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. 18 They saw him from a distance, and before he came near to them, they conspired to kill him. 19 They said to one another, ‘Here comes this dreamer. 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.’ 21 But when Reuben heard it, he delivered him out of their hands, saying, ‘Let us not take his life.’ 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. 23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the long robe with sleeves that he wore; 24 and they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.

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. 26 Then Judah said to his brothers, ‘What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? 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. 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.

29 When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he tore his clothes. 30 He returned to his brothers, and said, ‘The boy is gone; and I, where can I turn?’ 31 Then they took Joseph’s robe, slaughtered a goat, and dipped the robe in the blood. 32 They had the long robe with sleeves taken to their father, and they said, ‘This we have found; see now whether it is your son’s robe or not.’ 33 He recognized it, and said, ‘It is my son’s robe! A wild animal has devoured him; Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces.’ 34 Then Jacob tore his garments, and put sackcloth on his loins, and mourned for his son for many days. 35 All his sons and all his daughters sought to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and said, ‘No, I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.’ Thus his father bewailed him. 36 Meanwhile the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard” Genesis 37.

This chapter begins the final 14 chapters of Genesis when God is determined to fulfill the covenant blessings despite the character flaws of his chosen family and despite obstacles that occur along the way. He is even able to bring good out of evil. These are the emphases that rise to the surface in the Joseph story.

The favoritism that Jacob felt for Rachel transferred to her older son, Joseph, for Jacob bestows special status on Joseph. It gave Joseph status, not just favor, represented by the special coat. Nevertheless, the description of the coat remains obscure. The traditional interpretation that it was a coat of many colors is still the norm in Sunday school curricula as well as in popular perception, as in Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat.

Biblical dreams in the ancient world were considered as dreams from God and so taken seriously. Dreams by prophets and kings often revealed divine revelation. The ordinary dreams of common people were believed to contain omens that communicated information about what the gods were doing, though they usually made no reference to god. Dreams were often filled with symbolism, which required an interpreter, though at times the symbols were reasonably self-evident. The information that came through dreams was sometimes reversible. Dreams that gave rise to power like the ones Joseph had are known in the ancient Near East.

Joseph’s brothers see him coming and begin to formulate a plan. We can imagine that at first the plan is just an idle suggestion, expressing their hatred of their brother. Even so, it quickly takes a serious turn. Reuben is the only objector among his brothers and he adopts part of their suggestion (the cistern) but seeks to avoid violence. Cisterns were either hollowed out of limestone bedrock or dug in the ground and lined with plaster. Since most of Israel’s rainfall is confined to three or four months of the year, these cisterns collected the rainwater and made it available during the dry period. It was not unusual that during part of the year they were dry.

Judah is the one who offers the idea of selling Joseph rather than killing him. I am intrigued that this is the first appearance of a number of significant actions by Judah in the story where Judah plays a role. When Reuben returns (from wherever he has been), his dismay reflects his sense that, as the oldest, he is the one ultimately held responsible for Joseph’s safety! 

The chapter concludes with a note concerning to whom Joseph is sold in Egypt. His whereabouts are known, but his fate hangs in the balance. 

I am always intrigued how the Scriptures mirror our own lives, for how many times have we all experienced moments or events in our lives which later turn out to be of such great significance, despite the fact that when they occurred we didn’t think much of it. Is this not the hand of God in all of our lives?

Take time today and consider your own life. Can you recall how serendipitous something seemed to occur in your life that later became of such great significance? That is the hand of God, for God often draws a picture of our life using crooked lines. Think about your life, then, and give God thanks for His presence, even though you may not have realized it when it occurred. Pray in gratitude this day. Give God thanks for being with you when you didn’t see Him.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.