Genesis 37
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[a] 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[b] 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[c] sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard.
Footnotes
- Genesis 37:3 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain; also in verses 23 and 32.
- Genesis 37:28 That is, about 8 ounces or about 230 grams
- Genesis 37:36 Samaritan Pentateuch, Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac (see also verse 28); Masoretic Text Medanites
Should We Always Tell the Truth?
Genesis 37:5-11
Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: 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.”
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.
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.”
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?” His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.
We know Joseph’s dreams came true. His entire family served him when he became the second-highest ruler in Egypt. But should he have told his dreams to his family? Maybe he should have been wiser and understood that they wouldn’t be happy with him for telling the truth of what he had seen in his dreams.
Or maybe he needed to tell them, because if he hadn’t aroused his brothers’ ire with the telling of the dreams, they wouldn’t have sold him into slavery in Egypt, and he wouldn’t haven been in place to save them from famine that was coming.
Joseph suffered for telling the truth, but then the Lord raised him to a higher position than he ever would have achieved otherwise. What is the truth you need to tell someone? It might cost you. They might not be happy with you. But what good can bring out of your willingness to tell the truth?
Can’t Stop God’s Plan
Genesis 37:17-20
Joseph went after his brothers and found them near Dothan. But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him. “Here comes that dreamer!” they said to each other. “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.”
These brothers remind me of Satan trying to stop God’s plans. “Jesus is gaining too many followers” Satan says. “I know; I’ll have Judas betray Him and put Him to death to get Him out of the way!”
But what happened? Satan fell right into God’s purposes, because the Father had already determined that the Son should be the sacrifice for all of humanity. What Satan meant for evil, God meant for good, and the Lord used Satan’s actions to accomplish His own will.
We see the same thing happening here. The brothers wanted to stop Joseph from ruling over them, so they threw him down a well and then sold him into slavery in Egypt. After Joseph became the second-highest ruler in Egypt and was able to avert crisis during a famine, he told his brothers, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (Genesis 50:20).
Could Joseph have guessed what God’s plan was for him? No way! Not even after he had his dreams could he have imagined how God would fulfill them.
You might not fully understand God’s plan for your life. You know God’s promises to you as a believer, but it might seem like everything is against you right now, as if your circumstances are meant only for your harm. But hang in there – persevere – and you will see how the Lord will bring good out of your bad.
Satan cannot stop God’s plan for you. Instead, the Lord will use him as a tool to make it happen. Amen?
Not All Bad
Genesis 37:21-22
When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. “Let’s not take his life,” he said. “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.
Reuben… Reuben… Where have we heard that name before? Oh, yeah! He’s the one who had sex with his father’s concubine Bilhah. That was wrong of him to do.
But here he is trying to spare Joseph’s life when his other brothers wanted to kill him. This is good of Reuben.
So, is Reuben a bad guy or a good guy?
He’s both, isn’t he? Can I tell you that people are complicated? Everyone makes good choices and bad choices – Christians and non-Christians alike – because no one is perfect in this life. We strive to be more and more Christlike, but we still fall short of that goal.
Can you show enough grace to accept people as imperfect, to understand that the people in your life are going to do some good things and some bad things – because people are complex? Our motives are mixed. Our moral strength and resolve to do the right thing varies. Our wisdom and intelligence aren’t always on-point. We want to judge others in black and white absolutes, but the gray matter between all our ears gets confused.
Just keep Reuben in mind the next time someone in your life misses the mark or perfection.
The Circle of Serving
Genesis 37:31-32
Then they got Joseph’s robe, slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. 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.”
After Joseph’s brothers decide to sell him into slavery – because just killing him wouldn’t benefit them as much as making some money off of him – they make it look as if Joseph had died. Can you imagine the pain showing Jacob that bloody robe would have caused him? Years later, Jacob was still mourning his son. And all because the brothers were looking out for their own interests. I just can’t imagine someone being willing to bring this much pain on a person – for years – to serve their own interests.
But I can imagine the same scenario to a lesser extent. I can imagine people every day ignoring their family to serve their own interests, or looking only to what they can get from their employer rather than what they can give, or keeping their money to spend on themselves rather than sharing God’s blessings with others.
Let’s remember the self-centeredness of Joseph’s brothers, and then do the opposite.
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others” (Philippians 2:3-4)
The beautiful thing is that when everyone looks to the interests of others, everyone’s needs are met, including mine, because I’m looking to serve you and you’re looking to serve me.
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