Delivering a Message

On Wednesday I had a chance to lead Bible Study. In inevitably when that happens I get some interesting and challenging material to share. So I was pleasantly surprised that this week all I got was the story of Joseph being sold into slavery by his brothers in Genesis 37. After all, who can't identify with wanting to sell an annoying relative off to a band of nomadic merchants? Just kidding...

Joseph doesn’t always get as much publicity as some of the other heroes of the Old Testament, but he is one of the most important figures in the Bible, playing a pivotal role in accomplishing God’s will for the Israelites. The commentary I read noted that many elements of Joseph’s story foreshadow Jesus’ experience on Earth. Some of the similarities they noted include the fact that Joseph was beloved by his father, he was hated by his brothers, he was betrayed and sold out by those closest to him, he was unjustly punished, and his sacrifice ended up saving his people. Of course, among the major differences is the fact that Joseph provided for the physical needs of the Israelites, as we’ll see in later chapters, where as Jesus provided for our eternal salvation.

The interesting part about this stage in Joseph's journey is the tension created between he and his brothers. His father, Jacob, had a bad habit throughout his life, and that was the inequitable treatment he offered those in his life. That began with Joseph's mother, Rachel, whom Jacob clearly favored over his first wife, Rachel's sister Leah. Joseph was the firstborn of Rachel, and though he was far from the first born, he was the beloved of his father. He was treated differently, set apart. Not only did that create a rift between Joseph and his brothers, it likely informed the way Joseph perceived his role in the world. That serves as the set up to the events of Genesis 37, specifically Joseph's dream and the way he related it to his brothers.

There are a few interesting things about this dream sequence. First, God offers Joseph a glimpse at all he has in store for him, but Joseph doesn’t fully understand it. As I said, Jacob favored Joseph over all his other sons, and you can tell by the first part of this chapter that Joseph let that special treatment inform the way he perceived his value and importance in his family. So when he has the dream, he tells his brothers right away. In his mind, his dream is confirmation of his perception based on the way he’s always been treated. Of course, this doesn’t win him any points with his family. I know that if my sister came to me and told me she had a dream that she would become rich and powerful and I would be her servant I would think twice about inviting her to a movie on Friday. For Joseph’s brothers, these dreams were like the last straw. They were angry that he was beloved by their father, they were angry that he sold them out, they were angry he received as special ornamented garment, and now he was telling them he had a dream in which they would all bow down to him, they’d had enough.

And with the second dream in particular, Joseph had even pushed his father’s buttons. In verse 10, when he tells his dream to his father, it says Jacob rebuked Joseph. Given the account to start this chapter, that’s a pretty strong statement. But, though he rebuked his son for sharing this prophecy, Jacob “kept the matter in mind.” Remember, Jacob has experience with receiving visions from God in his dreams. Remember Jacob saw the original “stairway to heaven” in a dream before he came into Laban’s service. So he keeps in mind that, though it was frustrating to hear, Joseph’s dream could have been a way of God speaking to him, which we know that it was.

I think this section provides another good lesson about the way we convey messages. Joseph received a revelation from God in a dream. It was an important revelation about the role he would play in accomplishing God’s will. But the way he went about sharing that information made his situation worse. Sometimes it’s not about how we share news, but how we frame it. Joseph just got up, went out and relayed the dream to his brothers. The text doesn’t offer a lot of details, but you get the sense from the way the story is laid out that Joseph might have laid it out as a fact that God told him all his family would bow down and worship him. Joseph, at this point, lacks some humility and tact. That doesn’t excuse what happens to him, but I think this is a lesson seen through the example of Joseph that is something we can all keep in mind. Of course, his brothers decide to teach him a lesson in a different way.

While no one could condone the way Joseph's brothers respond, it is easier to understand given the context of the events that preceded it. Joseph set himself up as a threat to his brothers, and carried himself as if he was set apart. They responded in kind.

But that's not how Joseph's story ends. The amazing thing about Joseph's story is that God used everything, even the the rough parts of his story, to accomplish His will. That is one of my favorite themes in the Bible. It speaks to the fact that, while we may not be able to understand why something is happening, God does, and God uses everything to accomplish his will. I find that comforting.

I also like Joseph for another reason. His story resonates with me because it's a very human story. Joseph was a talented young man who had dreams. At a young age he didn't know how to handle that with grace. He had to endure trials that helped shape him into the man he becomes. The Joseph we see in Genesis 37 is much different than the Joseph that's reunited with his family at the end of Genesis. That, in fact, might be the most uplifting part of the narrative.