July 8, 2013
Genesis 37-Part 4
And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired
against him to slay him. Genesis 37:18
LET IT GLOW
Something good will come out of this bad situation. Haven't we heard that before? Often those
words are easier to say than apply. Trusting God to handle things that we can't is sometimes hard. No, it is hard. Believing that good will come of this on down the road is our assurance. I have a situation in my life that I am going to get resolved concerning a fellow believer. I sure don't want hatred to fester up in my heart from such a little thing. That's what today's lesson has taught me.
I noticed that Joseph was hated by his brothers, which is mentioned three times in this chapter.
Verse 4 says they hated him after their father gave Joseph his coat of many colors; verse 5 says
they hated him yet the more after Joseph shared his dream; then in verse 8 they not only hated
him the more but also for his words; verse 11 says they envied him, which occurred after they
heard about the second dream.. This hated had been simmering on the stove of their hearts
and it was about to boil over.
The Hebrew word for hated is sane (saw-nay') which means to hate (personally): enemy, foe; to
be hateful, a hater, odious, found in Strong's Exhaustive Concordance.
Envied means to make jealous or provoke to jealous (Strong's Exhaustive Concordance); envy is a feeling of mortification or discontent excited by seeing the superiority or prosperity of another person; a desire for the possessions or advantages of another, found in Webster's Dictionary.
No words were spared when it came to describing the attitude of Joseph's brothers toward him.
Scripture doesn't say that their father Jacob called the guys to a family meeting and worked through this strong hatred. If it had, perhaps things would have worked out differently. After all, the
dreams that Joseph had were from God. He was working His plan for this special family. He was going to turn this bad situation into something good on down the road. It would take some time
to change Joseph, though. God had to get him away from his brothers and their bad influence. Joseph's brothers did one day bow down to him.
So where's the good in this situation? It teaches us how not to act toward our brothers and sisters.
Do we have feelings of jealousy, envy, or even hatred that needs to be dealt with? Take it to our Heavenly Father, then to the one that it involves. Get things worked out before it blows up out of proportion and messes up relationships.
LET IT GROW
Another scheme to do evil is planned.
Here's a summary of what happened to Joseph according to Warren Wiersbe:
We aren't told which of the brothers first suggested doing away with Joseph. Possibly it was Simeon, who resented Joseph's intrusion on the rights of the firstborn(which would finally be taken away from Reuben, 49:3-4). We know from chapter 34 that Simeon was crafty and cruel, and in 42:24, Joseph was rather harsh on Simeon. At any rate, the brothers were back in the region of Shechem (where they had gotten into trouble before, chapter 34), and they plotted to slay Joseph. It is to Reuben's credit that he tried to spare Joseph's life, although he used the wrong method to accomplish a noble deed. God overruled the hatred of the men, and Joseph was sold into slavery instead of slain in cold blood.
With murder in their hearts, the brothers could not plead righteous indignation this time. They
could only conceal it with a cruel lie. Judah's plan "unwittingly thwarted Reuben's, but did save Joseph from death." (Falwell)
Joseph's brothers conspired to kill him because of their hatred for him. Jesus equated hatred with murder! The oldest brother, Reuben, intervened and suggested they put him in a pit instead. His
plan was to get joseph out later. then, while most of the brothers were eating, a caravan of
Ishmaelites came along on their way to Egypt. The brothers, without Reuben present, decided to
sell Joseph to the Ishmaelites, who in turn sold him for a profit in Egypt. Slavery was a common
part of the culture at that time. Joseph went from being a favored son to a slave in one day.
(Dick Kelsey in the success Puzzle)
So for 20 pieces of silver Joseph was sold into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, and captain of the guard.
I am reminded that Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, so the Jews could kill Him.
Do I betray Jesus for nothing in return?(Not even money is involved.) Do I forsake His teachings and ways to go my own way. am I harboring ill feelings toward others that need to be forgiven?
Yes, the Lord has been working on me to get the log out of my own eye before I point out the
splinter in someone else's eye.
1 Corinthians 16:14 says Let all you do be done in love.
LET IT GO
Don't harbor ill feelings toward others; get it worked out.
Have a forgiving heart and seek the forgiveness of others.
Put walk to my talk.
Love like Jesus-unconditionally.
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