Genesis 37
Joseph’s Dreams
1 Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, the land of Canaan.
2 This is the account of Jacob’s family line.
Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives, and he brought their father a bad report about them.
3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made an ornate robe for him
4 When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.
5 Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. 6 He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: 7 We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.”
8 His brothers said to him, “Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?” And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said.
9 Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. “Listen,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”
10 When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, “What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?” 11 His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.
Joseph Sold by His Brothers
12 Now his brothers had gone to graze their father’s flocks near Shechem, 13 and Israel said to Joseph, “As you know, your brothers are grazing the flocks near Shechem. Come, I am going to send you to them.”
“Very well,” he replied.
14 So he said to him, “Go and see if all is well with your brothers and with the flocks, and bring word back to me.” Then he sent him off from the Valley of Hebron.
When Joseph arrived at Shechem, 15 a man found him wandering around in the fields and asked him, “What are you looking for?”
16 He replied, “I’m looking for my brothers. Can you tell me where they are grazing their flocks?”
17 “They have moved on from here,” the man answered. “I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’”
So Joseph went after his brothers and found them near Dothan. 18 But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.
19 “Here comes that dreamer!” they said to each other. 20 “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.”
21 When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. “Let’s not take his life,” he said. 22 “Don’t shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him.” Reuben said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father.
23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the ornate robe he was wearing— 24 and they took him and threw him into the cistern. The cistern was empty; there was no water in it.
25 As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt.
26 Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? 27 Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.” His brothers agreed.
28 So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.
29 When Reuben returned to the cistern and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes. 30 He went back to his brothers and said, “The boy isn’t there! Where can I turn now?”
31 Then they got Joseph’s robe, slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. 32 They took the ornate robe back to their father and said, “We found this. Examine it to see whether it is your son’s robe.”
33 He recognized it and said, “It is my son’s robe! Some ferocious animal has devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces.”
34 Then Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for his son many days. 35 All his sons and daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “No,” he said, “I will continue to mourn until I join my son in the grave.” So his father wept for him.
36 Meanwhile, the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard.
Genesis 37 (NIV)
In the previous chapter we learned about Esau’s descendants (the Edomites).
Genesis 37 gives an account of Jacob’s family line (the Israelites), with a focus on Joseph who was Jacob’s favourite son1.
Lessons from Genesis 37
- Parents, do not favour one child above another/others: Isaac who was the father of Jacob and Esau had a favourite amongst his children, he loved Esau over Jacob while their mother Rebekah favoured Jacob.
Now that Jacob (Israel) was a father too, he had a favourite child; Joseph. Jacob probably thought it was okay to have a favourite child because he had seen this character displayed by his own parents. Because of this favouritism from Jacob, Joseph’s brothers hated him (Genesis 37 verse 4).
Every child deserves to be loved and appreciated for who they are. As parents, make a conscious effort to not favour one child over the other(s), doing that may result in resentment and enmity between the children.
- Be careful who you share your dreams with: By sharing his dreams with his brothers, Joseph opened doors for even more hatred from them. When he shared the dreams with his father, he got rebuked.
Not everyone will be supportive of your dreams and not everyone will be happy for you. When God puts a dream in your heart, the main person who needs to believe is you. If you want to share, make sure you share with people of trust who love God and love you so that you all can pray on it together.
Similarly, when someone shares their dreams and aspirations with you, be supportive and pray with them. Don’t be that one to deter and discourage.
- Let the expressions of your mouth be a reflection of your heart: Genesis 37 verse 11 says that Jacob kept pondering over the dreams Joseph had shared, which means he believed there was truth to it. Interesting because he was so quick to rebuke the young man instead of encouraging him to keep it close to his heart and go to God in prayer about it. Jacob’s words were not a reflection of what was in his heart, with his mouth he expressed to Joseph the absurdity of the dreams but in his heart he knew there was significance to Joseph’s dreams.
- Murderous plots: Remember in Genesis 3 when Adam and Eve were deceived by the serpent and sinned against God? In verse 15 of that chapter God made a prophecy about the offspring of woman that was going to crush the devil’s head. Throughout the years, the devil had been seeking out this offspring and trying to kill him. First there was Abel, a good man was murdered by his brother Cain (Genesis 4) and now here’s Joseph, his brothers see him coming from a distance and start plotting to kill him (Genesis 37:18-20).
The devil always tries to destroy people, especially when he notices God’s hand upon their lives. This doesn’t mean you should be afraid, just stand firm in God. Rebuke the devil and he will flee.
- God’s counter-plot: The devil’s evil plan was to get Joseph’s brothers to kill him but God moved through Reuben to stop them from doing that (Genesis 37:21-24).
God is greater and more powerful than any demon. As much as the devil plots against God’s children, God is always many steps ahead making everything work out for our good.
- The plot thickens: At some point, Reuben must have been separated from his brothers and they ended up selling Joseph to some Ishmaelites who in turn sold him in Egypt. Joseph’s life was about to be changed forever.
- God is Lord through the highs and lows of life: Jesus said in Matthew 28:20 “and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
No matter what happens, God will never leave your side. The devil orchestrates all sorts of evil schemes to destroy the children of God (when hard times come your way, please don’t blame God. God does not bring hardship on His children to “teach you a lesson” or anything like that, those things come from the devil) but when we stick with God, He always turns those around and makes them work for our good and His glory.
So, whatever it is you are going through, God will guide you to victory. Amen.
Reflection
- Do you have favourites among your children?
- What are you doing about the dreams God has put in your heart?
Further reading
- James 4:7 [Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.]
- 2 Kings 6:16 [And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.]
- Romans 8:28 [And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.]
Prayer
Father, thank you for loving me and for being with me all the time everywhere I go. I believe that your plans for me are for my prosperity and your glory, grant me the wisdom and strength to follow the path you have prepared for me and to not give up even if things get tough. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.
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