Joseph, Israel’s eleventh son, was his father’s favorite. Israel made a special robe for Joseph. Since his father loved Joseph more than the other 11, it says his brothers hated him.
“[Joseph] 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.’ 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.’ ” (v6-7,9)
Joseph has two dreams, both of which seem to indicate that he will rule over his family, which was apparently cause for his brothers hate him even more. [Note: These dreams of Joseph ruling over his family come into play in a few chapters.]
” ‘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.’ Judah said to his brothers, ‘What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? 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. 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.’ He recognized it and said, ‘It is my son’s robe! Some ferocious animal has devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces.’ Then Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for his son many days.” (v19-20,26-27,31-34)
Continuing the family legacy of deception, the 10 brothers sell Joseph into slavery and report him as dead. Of course we could do a shout out to Reuben, the oldest, who tried to rescue Joseph from the plot altogether, and to Judah, the 4th oldest, who convinced the others not to kill Joseph. At least those two had some sense that killing Joseph was a bad idea. Nevertheless, Joseph is betrayed for 20 shekels of silver, the going price for a slave. If there were 10 brothers involved, that number divides nicely into two shekels each, but it’s doubtful Reuben took the money since he was against this whole idea (and was apparently getting more firewood or something when they actually sold Joseph, because he came back to rescue Joseph and he was gone).
The moral of the story isn’t to keep your dreams hidden and never tell anyone (though that may have saved Joseph some grief, we will never know). The lesson is that these men committed God’s most hated sins: “There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.” (Pro 6:16-19) Unfortunately, the 10 brothers commit all of these sins in this process (they may not have physically shed Joseph’s blood, but they did it in their hearts and reported him dead to their father, effectively killing him in Israel’s eyes). We are called to live lives that are in alignment is God, not in opposition.
Father God, would you please teach us to look upon others with compassion and love, to speak the truth, to preserve life, to submit to Your will, to follow the path You lay out, to be defenders of the innocent, and be peacemakers in our communities. May we long to follow Your leading and be in alignment with Your heart, worshiping You in all circumstances, celebrating when the body celebrates and mourning when the body mourns. Thank you for Your daily presence and provision, and most of all for the Fruit of the Spirit that is Your work within us.
~ Conqueror in Training