Devotion

Setting

Genesis 37 begins a new section on the narrative of the Patriarch Joseph. The baton of faith had been passed from Abraham, to Isaac, to Jacob, to Jacob’s eleventh son, Joseph, The narrative ended in Genesis 50 with the death of Joseph. 

Jacob had 12 sons. Joseph was his eleventh and Benjamin was his twelfth son.  The seventeen-year-old Joseph was feeding his father’s flock with his brothers in the field. He came home with a bad report about his 10 half-brothers to his father. Now, Jacob loved Joseph and Benjamin more than the rest because they were his favourite wife Rachel’s sons. To add more salt to the injury, Jacob made a multi-coloured tunic for Joseph and his half-brothers hated him for this.

Genesis 37:5-11

Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brothers, and they hated him all the more. He said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and behold, your sheaves came around, and bowed down to my sheaf.” His brothers asked him, “Will you indeed reign over us? Will you indeed have dominion over us?” They hated him all the more for his dreams and for his words. He dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his brothers, and said, “Behold, I have dreamed yet another dream: and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars bowed down to me.” He told it to his father and to his brothers. His father rebuked him, and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Will I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves down to the earth before you?” His brothers envied him, but his father kept this saying in mind.

Reflection

The LORD gave Joseph two dreams. In the first dream, he saw his brothers, represented by eleven sheaves of wheat, bowing down to him. In the second dream, he saw his father, mother, and eleven brothers, represented by the sun, moon, and eleven stars, bowing down to him. 

Apostle John saw a vision of a woman, wearing a crown of 12 stars, clothed in the sun, and standing on the moon, Revelation 12:1. The woman represents Israel and the 12 stars represent the 12 sons of Jacob. Joseph’s brothers hated him because of his dreams. Even Jacob, his father, rebuked him.

Joseph’s brother sold him to Ismaelites and Midianites human traffickers who took him to Egypt as a slave. Against all odds, Joseph rose from rags to riches, from prison to palace, and from a prisoner to the prime minister of Egypt. Years later, his eleven brothers did bowed down to him, Genesis 42:6. 

Revelation 12:1, A great sign was seen in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars

Genesis 42:6, Joseph was the governor over the land. It was he who sold to all the people of the land. Joseph’s brothers came, and bowed themselves down to him with their faces to the earth.

Application

Jacob’s family was a dysfunctional, blended, family, headed by a passive father who had poor leadership and played favouritism. He loved Joseph and Benjamin more than the other ten sons. Sibling rivalry, strife, hatred, and jealousy were the order of the day. 

Joseph’s brothers took the law into their own hands and sold him to human traffickers. They then lied to their father that wild animals had eaten Joseph.

Are you a father? Do you a strong leadership? Do you practice favouritism among your children? To be a father required a strong leadership and playing favouritism is a definite no-no. 

You reaped what you sowed, Galatians 6:7. Jacob deceived his father Isaac, and now his own sons deceived him. 

Joseph was a type of Jesus Christ. Jacob loved Joseph. God the Father loved Jesus Christ. Joseph’s brother hated him. The Jews hated Jesus Christ. The list goes on and on and on.

Galatians 6:7, Don’t be deceived. God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You for giving us an opportunity to study the life of Joseph in the book of Genesis. As we journey along, we pray for open eyes, open ears, open hearts, open minds, and open spirits to receive the revelation of Your word. We pray for the anointing of the Holy Spirit who is our teacher, truth revealer, helper, and counsellor, in Jesus’ name, Amen.