[Linux4christians] Monday Genesis 37:12-36

Mon Jul 12 16:24:23 EDT 2010

*Monday*

/_Genesis 37:12-36_/

37:12 When his brothers had gone to graze their father's flocks near 
Shechem, 37:13 Israel said to Joseph, "Your brothers are grazing the 
flocks near Shechem. Come, I will send you to them." "I'm ready," Joseph 
replied. 37:14 So Jacob said to him, "Go now and check on the welfare of 
your brothers and of the flocks, and bring me word." So Jacob sent him 
from the valley of Hebron.

37:15 When Joseph reached Shechem, a man found him wandering in the 
field, so the man asked him, "What are you looking for?" 37:16 He 
replied, "I'm looking for my brothers. Please tell me where they are 
grazing their flocks." 37:17 The man said, "They left this area, for I 
heard them say, 'Let's go to Dothan.'" So Joseph went after his brothers 
and found them at Dothan.

37:18 Now Joseph's brothers saw him from a distance, and before he 
reached them, they plotted to kill him. 37:19 They said to one another, 
"Here comes this master of dreams! 37:20 Come now, let's kill him, throw 
him into one of the cisterns, and then say that a wild animal ate him. 
Then we'll see how his dreams turn out!"

37:21 When Reuben heard this, he rescued Joseph from their hands, 
saying, "Let's not take his life!" 37:22 Reuben continued, "Don't shed 
blood! Throw him into this cistern that is here in the wilderness, but 
don't lay a hand on him." (Reuben said this so he could rescue Joseph 
from them and take him back to his father.)

37:23 When Joseph reached his brothers, they stripped him of his tunic, 
the special tunic that he wore. 37:24 Then they took him and threw him 
into the cistern. (Now the cistern was empty; there was no water in it.)

37:25 When they sat down to eat their food, they looked up and saw a 
caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying 
spices, balm, and myrrh down to Egypt. 37:26 Then Judah said to his 
brothers, "What profit is there if we kill our brother and cover up his 
blood? 37:27 Come, let's sell him to the Ishmaelites, but let's not lay 
a hand on him, for after all, he is our brother, our own flesh." His 
brothers agreed. 37:28 So when the Midianite merchants passed by, 
Joseph's brothers pulled him out of the cistern and sold him to the 
Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. The Ishmaelites then took 
Joseph to Egypt.

37:29 Later Reuben returned to the cistern to find that Joseph was not 
in it! He tore his clothes, 37:30 returned to his brothers, and said, 
"The boy isn't there! And I, where can I go?" 37:31 So they took 
Joseph's tunic, killed a young goat, and dipped the tunic in the blood. 
37:32 Then they brought the special tunic to their father and said, "We 
found this. Determine now whether it is your son's tunic or not."

37:33 He recognized it and exclaimed, "It is my son's tunic! A wild 
animal has eaten him! Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!" 37:34 Then 
Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and mourned for his son many 
days. 37:35 All his sons and daughters stood by him to console him, but 
he refused to be consoled. "No," he said, "I will go to the grave 
mourning my son." So Joseph's father wept for him.

37:36 Now in Egypt the Midianites sold Joseph to Potiphar, one of 
Pharaoh's officials, the captain of the guard.

/_Prayer_/

Lord, may I learn from this story of the greed and jealousy of Joseph's 
brothers to not be likewise motivated from my selfish and shallow flesh.

/_Commentary_/

The feeding of large herds would have required that the shepherds move 
from field to field across many miles. They could be gone for days or 
weeks at a time.

Jacob/Israel sent Joseph to check on his brothers and to return with a 
report as to their "welfare". They were not where he expected but had 
moved on to Dothan.

Joseph's brothers see him coming and plot to kill him, hide his body, 
and report him as killed and eaten by a "wild animal".

Reuben persuades them to throw him into a dry cistern (shallow well) 
instead as he planned to sneak back and rescue him -- not out of love -- 
he didn't want Joseph's blood on his hands.

Reuben apparently left them and while he was away his brothers spotted a 
band of Midianite merchants, Ismaelites (now know as Arabs) and sold 
Joseph into slavery for 20 pieces of silver. Joseph was resold in Egypt.

When Reuben returned and discovered what they had done he was desperate 
and allowed them to draw him into their scheme to deceive their father 
Jacob/Israel into believing Joseph dead.

Jacob/Israel vowed to go to his grave still mourning for Joseph.

/_Interaction_/

Consider this:

In the midst of their jealousy, acted-out in such a hateful manner, the 
brothers of Joseph did not forget to be greedy. Judas later sold-out 
Jesus, also for 20 pieces of silver.

Discuss this:

Have you ever been so angry with someone, or so jealous of them, that 
you plotted in your mind a way to "get rid of them"? What did you do? If 
you did not act on your plot, what was it that stopped you? If you did 
act on it in some way was your action restrained by someone or something?

Reflect on this:

Reuben had violated an important tradition when he slept with Bilhah, 
his father's concubine, and he failed to demand that his brothers not 
harm Joseph in any way - so there was a pattern of poor choices in his life.