Mar 19

Genesis 37:1-36
Memorise Acts 7:9
“but God was with him”

From Genesis 37 onwards, the narrative focuses on the life of Joseph, an exemplary young man whose life is a shining example for all of us to follow. Joseph was the 11th son of the patriarch Jacob, and the first son of his second wife, Rachel. As a child of his old age, and also the son of his favourite wife, he was loved and doted upon by his father. He made him a ‘coat of many colours’ (Genesis 37:3), which in those days was used as a clothing of distinction. However, this show of favouritism led to feelings of jealousy and animosity from his ten elder brothers (Genesis 37:4). To further add to their displeasure, he told them of dreams that he had from God that prophesied of his brothers and parents showing obeisance towards him (Genesis 37:5-11). Perhaps he did so in his innocence, but his brothers kept it in their heart, and caused their anger to grow within them day by day. Their jealousy soon festered into a hatred that soon manifested in a most terrible cruelty against their very own brother.

And so it was one day that Joseph was sent by his father to check on his brothers to see how they were whilst tending the flocks. Seeing him come from a distance, they plotted amongst themselves: “come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams” (Genesis 37:20). The oldest brother Reuben mediated a compromise, calling upon them not to kill him, but to throw him into a pit instead. And so they committed this dastardly deed, and sat down to eat bread, with no guilt or shame in what they had done. Then, seeing some merchants passing by, their devious and hateful hearts thought of yet another scheme. Instead of killing their brother themselves, why not sell him to these merchants for some profit, and get rid of this pesky brother once and for all. To cover this up, they bloodied Joseph’s coat and reported to their father that a wild beast had probably killed Joseph. This deception caused Jacob no small amount of grief.

And so at the tender age of 17, Joseph was betrayed by his brothers and sold off to be a slave in a foreign land. He went from being the favoured son of his father, to just a nameless servant boy cut off from his family. How sad! Dear teen, how would you have reacted in such a situation?

Thought: How does it feel like to be betrayed by your own family?
Prayer: Lord, grant me the patience and wisdom to understand the trials and difficulties that may come my way.