Review of Genesis 37

— by Victor Fawole

Welcome back to our “No Bible, No Breakfast” spiritual exercise. Last time out, we did an overview of Esau’s life and the nation that came through him. Today, we are resuming back to Jacob and his family, as we read Genesis chapter 37. We continue with another “lugubrious” episode of the dramas in Jacob’s “House of Commotion”. These events are real life stories and God inspired the bible writers to include them in scriptures for our learning. So, let us learn…

1. JEALOUSY IN THE VEINS

Gen. 37:3-4 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours. And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.

Jacob had two wives who, although they were sisters, had a heated rivalry between each other. This rivalry led to him having children from four different mothers. Living and working together, there was much rivalry and competition among the children too. And as Jacob showed favouritism among his wives, he also showed his children that he had a clear favourite among them – Joseph.

Joseph’s brothers had several motivations for their jealousy against him. One, he had a reputation for reporting their bad behaviours to their father. Two, Jacob’s favoritism of Joseph was plain to everyone, including Joseph himself. He gave Joseph a “coat of many colours.” The coat signified a status of favour and royalty. It was a coded but dramatic way of saying he was the son to receive the birthright. Thus, the natural atmosphere in the home showed that Joseph was hated by his brothers. When we carefully observe the family lives of Isaac and Jacob, we can learn that favouritism is an obvious source of conflict.

This chapter and the subsequent ones give us the story of Joseph’s life, and we will see how he is a “type of Christ.” There are parallels that we can draw between his life and Jesus’.

• Joseph was the man who would bring “salvation” to his family. Jesus is the One who brought salvation to us – God’s adopted children.
• Like Joseph, Jesus was the Beloved Son of the Father. (Matt. 3:17, John 3:35)
• Like Joseph, Jesus was rejected by His own people. (John 1:11, John 7:5)
• Like Joseph, Jesus came and gave a bad report of man’s sin problem and warned people of their need to repent and believe the gospel. (Matt. 4:17, Mark 1:14-15)
• Just as Joseph’s brothers hated him for exposing their sins, men hated Jesus because He exposed their sins. (John 3:19-20)
• Just as Joseph’s brothers hated him out of jealousy, the religious leaders hated Jesus out of jealousy. (Matt. 27:18, Mark 15:10, Luke 22:2, John 11:47-48)

There are many more parallels that we can draw between them, and we will explore these as we continue to read about Joseph’s life.

2. JEALOUSY FOR THE VISIONS

Gen. 37:5,9,11 And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more… And he dreamed yet another dream… And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.

At age 17, God gave Joseph two visions (prophetic dreams) that he would rule over his brothers. The brothers perfectly understood the meaning of the dreams. They knew that one day Joseph would reign over them and have dominion over them. So, it was not only their father that made him a favourite; even God was about to do the same. This caused them to hate him even more. Even his father rebuked him at one point, although he “later kept the matter in mind.” (v. 11 NIV)

There are two important lessons for us to learn here:

• Do Not Expose Yourself To Men’s Envy
  While it is understandable that the envy of men might naturally accompany the favour of God, we must see to it that we are not the ones making ourselves a target. Joseph literally “flaunted” his glorious future before his brothers – the very people he was aware that they hated him. Joseph showed a great lack of tact. He was too naive to know that some kinds of information are not meant for some kinds of people, and some people are not meant for some information.
• Not Everyone Will Receive Your Calling:
  Not everyone will receive / see / believe what you are called to do and be, even if you show them how God is leading you. When God gives a dream, it’s always beyond us. It’ll always be bigger than us, simply because it’s from God. That is why the onus is on us to focus on what God has said about us and not what man thinks about us.

3. JEALOUSY IN THE VENTURE

Gen. 37:19-20 And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh. Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.

“Behold, this dreamer cometh…” This statement appears to mean many things to me…

• Here he is, the righteous one who reveals our unrighteousness!
• Here he is, the daddy’s boy who gets all of daddy’s goodies!
• Here he is, the dreamer who wants to rule over us!

Oh wow…!

“They conspired against him to kill him…” Their jealousy led them into an evil venture. I will not stop recommending Pastor Dammy’s sermon titled: “Proverbs About Envy”. It is a rich sermon that has helped me again and again.

Notice seven things:

• The Promptness of Conspiracy
  “they conspired against him to slay him…”
  How quick they were to gang up against him! They quickly made their plans immediately they saw him from afar – even before he could get to them (Gen. 37:18). The sin was already in their individual hearts before it was acted out. Man’s sin problem begins in the heart and must be dealt with on a heart level. That is why God works his transformation in man from the inside out. He changes our heart, and once that is done, our behaviour will change too.
• The Pettiness of Conspiracy
  “Behold, this dreamer cometh…”
  Joseph’s brothers mocked him as “the dreamer.” How petty! They couldn’t even bear to call him “our brother.” He was there to seek their wellbeing (Gen. 37:14) but they never wanted life to be well with him.
• The Perverseness of Conspiracy
  “Come now therefore, and let us slay him…”
  Wait a minute. These brothers didn’t conspire to mock, tease or bully Joseph a little bit. They conspired against him to kill him. “Kill!” Oh wow…! This reminds me of how Cain killed his brother Abel.
• The Poorness of Conspiracy
  “and cast him into some pit…”
  Oh, what an unworthy burial they planned for their brother! They wanted to just throw his corpse into some pit, not minding if he gets the “befitting burial” according to their customs. They wanted to quickly cover their tracks, and quickly put him out of their sight and minds.
• The Profaneness of Conspiracy
  “and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him…”
  They set out their strategy to kill Joseph. They even crafted the script they would read to their father, for they knew that such news would devastate him. Deceiving their father wasn’t even a problem to them.
• The Proudness of Conspiracy
  “we shall see what will become of his dreams…”
  It is interesting to note that these brothers actually opposed the divine revelations from God. They wanted to see if they could defeat God’s Word and purpose. That is another height of pride.
• The Passiveness of Conspiracy
  “And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands; and said, Let us not kill him…”
  Reuben appeared to be “one good man among the ten”. He suggested that Joseph should be thrown into a pit, in a bid to go behind them and save him. The others had their plan and Reuben had his plan. But despite being the eldest son, Reuben was passive in his plan. He thought that he could outsmart them with his passiveness. Eventually, Joseph was sold into slavery!

I pray for everyone reading this: May the God of all grace deliver you from wicked and unreasonable men. Amen!

Before I round up this review, let us draw a few more parallels between Joseph and Jesus:

• Just as Joseph’s brothers conspired to kill him out of jealousy, Jesus’ people also conspired to kill Him out of jealousy. (Matt. 12:14; Mark 14:1)
• Just as Joseph’s brothers stripped off his coat, Jesus’ enemies stripped off and cast lots for His garments. (John 19:24; Psa. 22:18).
• Just as Joseph’s brothers were feasting (on the food that Joseph brought from their father) after throwing Joseph into the pit, the Jews had their Passover feast at Jesus’ death. (John 18:28, John 19:14, Matt. 26:2).
• Just as Joseph was an innocent lad, Jesus was the Innocent Lamb. (Matt. 27:24, Luke 23:4,14)
• Just as Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery and humiliated him, Jesus was also given over to His enemies and humiliated. (Isa. 49:7, Psa. 31:11)
• Just as Judah sold Joseph into slavery for a mere 20 shekels of silver, Judas betrayed Jesus for a mere 30 shekels of silver. (Matt. 26:14-15).

Like I said earlier, we will continue to explore other parallels that point to Joseph as an Old Testament type of Christ. And as we continue in the next chapters, we will see how God – the Master Baker – in His perfect wisdom, was behind the scenes and making everything that happened to Joseph to work together for the fulfilment of His plan and purpose.

God bless you, Church… and Grace to you!