Genesis 37:12-28
12 “Then his brothers went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem. 13 And Israel said to Joseph, ‘Are not your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.’ So, he said to him, “Here I am.”
14 Then he said to him, ‘Please go and see if it is well with your brothers and well with the flocks, and bring back word to me.’ So, he sent him out of the Valley of Hebron, and he went to Shechem.
15 Now a certain man found him, and there he was, wandering in the field. And the man asked him, saying, ‘What are you seeking?’ 16 So he said, “I am seeking my brothers. Please tell me where they are feeding their flocks.” 17 And the man said, ‘They have departed from here, for I heard them say, “Let us go to Dothan.” So, Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan. 18 Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, they conspired against him to kill him. 19 Then they said to one another, ‘Look, this dreamer is coming! 20 Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, “Some wild beast has devoured him.” We shall see what will become of his dreams!”
21 But Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands, and said, ‘Let us not kill him.’ 22 And Reuben said to them, ‘Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit which is in the wilderness, and do not lay a hand on him’—that he might deliver him out of their hands, and bring him back to his father. 23 So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him. 24 Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it. 25 And they sat down to eat a meal. Then they lifted their eyes and looked, and there was a company of Ishmaelites, coming from Gilead with their camels, bearing spices, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry them down to Egypt.
26 So Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? 27 Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh.” And his brothers listened. 28 Then Midianite traders passed by; so, the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.”
We are now several years past when Jacob had his own encounter with Jesus, and he is back in Canaan and has his entire family there. He has lost Rachel; she died giving birth to Benjamin, his 12th son (Genesis 36:16-19). And now he is surrounded by his sons and daughter Dinah. They are shepherds, and sheep is their business. Joseph, his first son from Rachel, is his ‘pride and joy,’ and life is good as long as Joseph is good. This favoritism builds a divide between the ten older sons and Joseph. It would seem that Joseph and Jacob are unaware of the hatred that the ten have for their younger brother. Jacob sends him to check up on them as they tend the flock, and they kidnap him and sell him into Egypt. This begins a thirteen-year journey where God uses Joseph to rescue his family from death by famine.
Well, Pastor Sean, where is the Jesus picture? Where is Jesus? There are two men in the scripture about whom no sin is recorded; one is Joshua, and we will get to him in the book of Joshua and his encounters with Jesus. The other one we will explore today; Joseph is that other one.
There are no sins recorded as being committed by Joseph. Of course, he did sin; he is a man, and Romans 3:10 tells us that there is none righteous like Jesus, no, not one. However, God chose not to record any sinful failures of Joseph’s. Joseph is an Old Testament Christ type. He is betrayed by his own people. We just read that he is sold into Egypt for 20 shekels of silver; there is a rescuing of the nation (in the form of feeding them and caring for them), and there is a repentance towards the one they betrayed, like we will see the nation do with Jesus when He returns. There is a resurrection of sorts in that Jacob thought that Joseph was dead (Genesis 37:31-35), and when he sees him, it is like he receives him from the dead.
In addition to the ‘coat of many colors’ that his father gives him, the real source of the hatred between Joseph and his brothers is the dreams that God sent him. These are recorded for us in Genesis 37:1-10. In these dreams, his family is seen bowing to him, and when he tells the dreams to them, there is a hatred that arises in them towards him. Jesus was hated by His own people, hated by the very brothers that He was raised with (John 7:1-5), and as far as we know in regard to His brothers, only two of them come to belief in Him as the Messiah, James and Jude.
In the story, Joseph is the beloved son, and he is betrayed and sold for money. He ends up in Egypt, and there he lives and honorable life, yet he is falsely accused, convicted and imprisoned as an innocent man. He is able to prophesy and tells the future to the king’s baker and cup-bearer (Genesis 40:12-23). He also predicts that they would leave Egypt and that they should take his bones with them (Genesis 50: 24-26).
The story of Joseph is one of the most amazing stories of the Bible. One of betrayal, despair, hatred and jealousy. It has chapters of despair and long periods of waiting on God to act and rescue. There is restoration, forgiveness, and realization of God’s superintendence of His plan, even when we can’t see the future. There is a central theme that runs through the story of Joseph, and we find it written in Genesis 39:3,
“And his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all he did to prosper in his hand.” Also in verse 21, “But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.” Also in verse 23, “The keeper of the prison did not look into anything that was under Joseph’s authority, because the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made it prosper.” The Lord made all that Joseph did to be good, all those around him could see it, God gave him wisdom and the ability to interpret dreams, and God blessed him over and over again.
If God be for you, no one can really be against you. This is the lesson to be learned, and even our seemingly horrible situations can be made into victories if we are willing to wait on God and put Him first.
Joseph never stopped trusting God (Genesis 40:8), “So Joseph said to them, ‘Do not interpretations belong to God?’” He did not give up trusting and holding on to God.
Jesus cried out to God in the garden, on the cross, and throughout His journey here on Earth. God has given Him a name above every name, and at His name every knee shall bow.
God will take us through the dark times of life and hold us, giving us favor with those around us as He performs His plan and His will. Even when our own people hate us and betray us, we can grow in grace and come to the conclusion that Joseph did in Genesis 50:19-20. Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.”
And we can bless and care for our enemies; see Jesus going to get Saul of Tarshish, His sworn enemy, and redeeming him. Jesus in the Old Testament, Joseph a beautiful picture of Christ.
Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Bethany Baptist Church
70 Victoria Street, Elora, Ontario