In yesterday’s blog we learned about the
dysfunction of the first family, Abraham’s grandson Israel (formerly known as
Jacob). Their specific dysfunction was
largely in part because of the poor decision making practices of Israel, the current
patriarch of the family, who was openly partial to his favorite son, Joseph. We
also learned that Joseph who is 17 at the time of this story was different from
his 11 brothers. He was: obedient, a
young man of integrity, trustworthy (his father could trust him to snitch on
the older brothers when they were away working -- not necessarily a bad thing but it created even more problems for Joseph). He was also a gifted dreamer which was a huge deal in ancient times. God very often relayed messages to his
people through dreams so they were taken very seriously as they believed that they were receiving messages from above. Given this respect for dreamers it was unacceptable
to lie about dreams and was seen as a form of blasphemy. Israel was well aware of all of this and he
distinctly recognized Joseph’s gift (Genesis 37:11). In Joseph’s case this gift was new for him
and since there were no books, YouTube, bibles, preachers, prophets or mentors he
had to cultivate his gift through trial and error which can be very painful
emotionally and physically.
There are seven things that Joseph’s brothers did to him: 1) they hated him because their father favored him, for his words and because of his dreams. Ironically the Jews hated Christ for some of the very same reasons; 2) they envied him: Joseph’s brothers envied his position and affection with their father just as the Jewish brethren envied the relationship Christ had with his father. Don’t be fooled, envy is self-destructive; 3) they conspired against him: just as the Jewish brethren plotted the assassination of Christ, so did Joseph’s brother which is where we’ll pick up.
Genesis 37:12-27: If
you will recall from yesterday’s blog we ended with Israel openly rebuking
Joseph (i.e. reading his mail) for the last dream he shared about them bowing
down to him. Shortly after that the brothers
left for a business trip herding their flock to an area approximately 50 miles
away which was rich with grass and water.
It was about a 24 hour trip on foot herding cattle not including breaks
which I am sure they did to rest and rest the flock. Israel had no way to communicate with them
about their progress, etc. so he sent young Joseph who was more than eager to act
as his father’s representative. When he
arrived at the place he thought they would be he couldn’t find them. He could have easily turned back, but he was
dependable and eager to please his father so he questioned people he came into
contact about seeing his brothers and used the tracking skills his father
taught him (e.g. human footprints; hoof prints, animal droppings, etc.) and he
tracked them down to their exact location.
That took some skill, commitment, diligence and tenacity. His brothers spotted him in the distance and
at least one of them said: “here comes that dreamer” probably with as much
sarcasm as he could muster up. They had
no idea that God was grooming Joseph to be a "master
of dreams" because they believed he was a pretender.
Tania Not Tanya nugget: Don’t be
discouraged if close family members and/or friends do not take your gift and/or
calling seriously. They are too common
to you to respect you, but that doesn’t mean you don’t possess what it takes to
do the work God has called and appointed you to do. As challenging as it may be, you’ve gotta bite
the bullet and go for it or you can miss it altogether (by choice) and try to
please them. For realz?
They went into to full planning mode to
come up with a way to commit premeditated murder. They literally meditated on how they would
kill him, get rid of the body and lie to
their father about what happened to him.
But God!!! He used the older
brother Reuben who rather than standing up to all of them alone, used wisdom by
appeasing them with the suggestion of throwing Joseph in the cistern (a dried
up well) and leaving him there to die.
The thought of dying a torturous death alone (starvation, thirst,
isolation, possibly insect or animals nibbling on you is even worse than having
your throat slit and dying instantly. I
can imagine the misplaced testosterone permeating the air while they dapped or
high-fived each other about finally getting rid of their pesky brother (their
own flesh and blood like he was a useless piece of trash). My God, the thought blows me away. Unbeknownst to the other devious brothers Reuben’s
plan was to return by himself and free Joseph later.
I can also imagine
Joseph approaching his brothers; relieved that he actually found them and that
he could
give a positive report to their father when all of a sudden they
grabbed him, ripped off the special covering (coat of many colors) his father
custom designed for him and then they threw him in the well. We’re talking about a well that contained
water at one point which I imagine would have been a little deeper than a six
foot drop. There was nothing nice or
gentle about nine grown men ripping his clothes off and throwing him down the
well. As naïve as Joseph was he probably
thought it was a practical joke even though I am almost sure every fiber in his
being was screaming: “Joe, hey man, it’s something off about all of this!!!!!!” But his rational naivety probably said: “No, they’re my brothers and they love me;
they’re just kidding around.” However, when the reality of the truth knocked
him upside the head can you imagine the shock, disappointment, confusion, panic,
terror and all of the other feelings that came rushing in on him at once as he
finally realized something was very wrong.
Can you hear him calling to them:
“Hey, yawl wassup? I been down here long
enough the joke is over.” “Simeon, Levi,
can you hear me?” “Dan, Judah, is
anybody there?!!!” “Come on man, I gotta
use it!!! “Judah!!!” “Hey yawl, this ain’t funny no more!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
“HELLO!!!!! IS ANYBODY
THERE?!!!!!!!! HELP, PLEASE, SOMEBODY
HELP!!!!!!! “CAN ANYBODY HEAR ME?!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The isolated silence must have been deafening to him. The anguish that he felt as he was overcome
with even more emotion as he no doubt begged for help, possibly screaming until
his throat was parched and soar, his voice now barely audible as he heaved in
the dry dirty air in the old well which filled and burned his lungs. His brothers heard him but refused to listen
to his cries for help. How absolutely
cruel.
I guess the nine
of them were worn out and worked up an appetite from ganging up on their little
brother like cowards. Joseph’s screams for help was like sick
background music to their ears as they had the audacity to sit down, rest and
eat. They were void of compassion for
human life. Let’s remove the fact that
he was their brother, he was a human being.
How can anyone rationalize or justify the cries for help from another
human being as they yell to the top of their voice. If that’s not cold and calculated I don’t
know what is. Can you imagine that? I thought two on one was an unfair fight, but
ten on one. Wow, that’s a cold piece of
work. .
A sound heart is life
to the body, but envy is rottenness to the bones. Proverbs 14:30 (NKJV). The NLT version says
envy (jealousy) is like cancer to the
bones.
Envy (Webster): a feeling of discontent or covetousness with
regard to another’s advantages, successes, possessions, etc.
Jealous: (Webster): resentment against someone because of
that person’s rivalry, success or advantages.
I am seriously out of time and there is so much more to cover
so we will pick it up tomorrow.
In His Excellent Service
Tania not Tanya
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