FAVORED SON, HATED BROTHER

GENESIS 37

There is more space given about Joseph than any other character in the book of Genesis. This was a significant aspect to those for whom Moses was writing. God wants us to know about Joseph.

Joseph is the eleventh of twelve children. He would have been only six years old when his family fled from their home in Haran. The family had come down to Shechem. His sister had been raped there and his brothers had gone in and had murdered everyone in the city. Because of this, the family had to move again and now they were near to Bethel.

He had seen three deaths in his extended family.

• His grandfather Isaac.
• His mother Rachael.
• A nurse named Deborah.

This short title serves to mark off this section as one of the main parts of the book of Genesis. On ten different occasions we have read that these are the records/generations of the heavens and the earth, of Adam, of Noah, of Shem, of Abraham, etc. It tells us that we have been learning the history of a single family.

Blended families can be difficult, even in the best of times. While jealousy and strife and not exclusive to blended families, these have more opportunities to arise when there are half-brothers and half-sisters who are vying for the attention of their parents.

There were actually two different events that took place within this family to fan the flames of friction and hatred.

1. Joseph’s Bad Report: Joseph brought back a bad report about them to their father (37:2).

We do not know the specifics, but Joseph evidently received the reputation of being a tattle tale. Such a reputation has negative implications in our culture. That is because we live in a day when people think you should never say bad about anything or anyone. We live in a live & let live world. But God does not teach such a thing. There are times when silence isn’t golden; it is merely yellow.

2. Joseph’s Varicolored Tunic: Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he was the son of his old age; and he made him a varicolored tunic (37:3).

There are a number of contrasts and comparisons that we can see between Joseph and his father Jacob.

Joseph has two sets of dreams. They are set in the world in which he lived; an agricultural economy and life out under the sky and the stars.

It is noteworthy that the images of this second dream are essentially repeated I Revelation 12 where John sees woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. It is a picture of Israel in that passage and it is a picture of Israel here.

While the dream obviously comes from the Lord, we have to wonder at Joseph’s lack of wisdom in sharing the contents of the dream with his brothers. On the other hand, this was a revelation from God and, as such, was meant to be shared.

There is a continuing refrain that we ought to have noticed throughout this chapter. It has now been repeated on three different occasions. It is the refrain of hatred.

• They hated him and could not speak to him on friendly terms (37:4).
• They hated him even more (37:5).
• So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words (37:8).

What was the cause of this hatred? It was caused by jealousy. They recognized that there was an element of truth in Joseph’s dreams. They saw their father’s favoritism toward him and they wanted that same sort of love and acceptance for themselves.

Jealousy is a terrible thing. James 5:16 says, Where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing. This was certainly evident in the case of the brothers of Joseph. They were filled with jealousy and it would eventually turn to a desire for murder.

• Jealousy says, "I want to have what you have, no matter what it costs you."

• Love says, "I want you to have whatever is best for you, no matter what it costs me."

The first case of jealousy in the Bible is seen in the instance of Cain and Abel. It was a case of acceptance and rejection from God. God accepted Abel’s offering while rejecting Cain’s offering. The result? Cain became jealous. It was not long before that jealousy turned to murder. The same was about to happen with the brothers of Joseph.

Joseph had already delivered a bad report concerning his brothers. This had been an initial cause of discord among them. Now Jacob inadvertently throws fuel on the fire of their animosity by sending Joseph on an errand to report further on their actions.

1. Shechem: So he sent him from the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem (37:14).

The family was now based in Hebron. That is in the southern region of Canaan and up in the highlands. To the south is the desert of the Sinai. To the east is the wilderness of the Dead Sea.

The brothers had gone out in search of good grazing land and they had gone to Shechem. There was a wide, fertile valley at Shechem.

This was a time in history where the cities of the land were small and weak. The power lay in the hands of the nomads. Jacob was such a nomad. His two sons had already wrecked havoc in Shechem.

There is a joke that asks, "Where does a 10-ton gorilla sit?" The answer: "Anywhere he wants." Jacob’s sons were like that. They were able to roam the land freely.

2. Dothan: So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan (37:17).

The hatred of Joseph’s brothers has now turned murderous in its intent. As they see Joseph from a distance, it is likely that they first recognized the coat and were reminded of their father’s favoritism.

That they had not sought to murder him earlier had only been due to the restraint of being under the watchful eye of their father. There is a lesson here. It is that your real spiritual life is what you manifest when no one else is looking.

The brothers form a plan for making certain that the dreams of Joseph are never fulfilled. In doing so, they are not only setting themselves up against their brothers, but also are acting in rebellion to the revealed plans and purposes of the Lord.

Reuben was the oldest of the brothers. As such, he should have been their leader. He also seems to have had some scruples about the murderous plot. But he is unwilling to confront the actions of his brothers. He could not trust his influence over them and he might have been afraid that they would turn against him so that he also might be murdered.

Joseph may have realized the intention of his oldest brother, for years later, he would imprison Simeon, the second from the oldest.

There is a great callousness that takes place here. The brothers take Joseph, strip off from him the hated tunic and throw him into a dry cistern. Then they sit down to eat a meal amidst what must have been the mournful cries of their younger brother. There is no compassion, no pity and no remorse.

In verse 25 we read that this was a caravan of Ishmaelites. In verse 28 we read of Midianite traders. The Midianites and the Ishmaelites were related -- they were both descended from other sons of Abraham. As such, they were distant cousins to the sons of Jacob.

They were on their way from Gilead to Egypt. They were following one of the passes through the land of Palestine, taking the route up the Valley of Jezreel to meet up with the Way of the Philistines.

Reuben returns to find that Joseph has been sold and his plan for Joseph’s release has been thwarted. Yet we shall see that Reuben decides to go along with the lie of his younger brothers. His problem is that of a lack of leadership.

There is a striking parallel here between the actions of Jacob’s sons in deceiving their father and in Jacob’s own actions some 30 years earlier when he deceived his own father.

There is a lesson here. It is that the sins of the parents are often repeated by the children. No doubt, they had heard the story of how their father had deceived his father. While I doubt that they consciously were following in their father’s footsteps, there is nevertheless a repeating of the old sin.

Finally, we see those who brought about Jacob’s grief and misery playing the part of his comforters. This is a fitting finale to their hypocrisy.