"But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive."
Genesis 50:20
Part 2
Yesterday: Only God Could Unite This Family
After Jacob’s death, Joseph’s brothers fear for their lives. But he is not after revenge. God is doing His work and restoring this family.
Today: How the Conflict Began in the Hearts of Joseph’s Brothers
“But as for you.”
Joseph is now the second-in-command of all of Egypt. Egypt is the leading world power in his day. Joseph now has his 11 contrite brothers on their faces before him. Except for Benjamin, the “baby,” all the others, Ruben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher, all had problems with their spoiled little brother Joseph. They hated him. Benjamin, Joseph’s younger brother, took Joseph’s place as the favored son after Jacob thought his son was dead. He loved Joseph, and Joseph loved him.
Humanly speaking, it’s no wonder that the boys hated Joseph. Jacob enjoyed putting Joseph on display in his unique “coat of many colors.” Parental favoritism has caused divisions in many a family, and it was tearing apart this one.
“Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colors. And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him” (Genesis 37:3-4).
To top it off, Joseph was a dreamer. At night when he slept, he dreamed dreams. After each dream, he felt he needed to share it, which did not help his situation.
In his first dream, his brothers were helping in the harvest, binding sheaves of wheat in the field. Joseph said his sheaf stood upright, and all of the brothers’ sheaves gathered around Joseph’s sheaf and bowed down and showed respect to his bundle (Genesis 37:7). Imagine hearing this from your bratty little brother! This dream angered his brothers, and they said to Joseph,
“Are you to be our king? will you have authority over us?” (Genesis 37:8b, BBE[1]).
“And because of his dream and his words, their hate for him became greater than ever” (Genesis 37:8c, BBE).
The next time Joseph had a dream, he told it to his father and his brothers together.
“I have had another dream: the sun and the moon and eleven stars gave honor to me” (Genesis 37:9b, BBE).
This time his father answered,
“What sort of a dream is this? am I and your mother and your brothers to go down on our faces to the earth before you?” (Genesis 37:10b, BBE).
Jacob kept these words in his thoughts. But to his already fractured relationship with his brothers, this latest dream infuriated them, and they were full of envy and jealousy. Instead of dealing with their sins, the boys held onto their anger and hatred. What started as a small thing is growing in them. They did not heed the truth of,
“Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled” (Hebrews 12:15).
Indeed, the brothers did “fail of the grace of God.” Their trouble will continue to agitate in their hearts until it grows into a full-blown sin against their brother Joseph.
Come back tomorrow, and we will see how the brothers handled “this “dreamer.”
Quote: We will only listen to a “dreamer of dreams” when their words match the Scriptures, and they faithfully point us to God (Deuteronomy 13:1-3).
[1] BBE, the Bible in Basic English.