JOSEPH #5

Pastor Christopher Choo

Lesson 3601

JOSEPH #5

We may be shocked by the inhumanity of the brothers towards Joseph. But some of their attitudes and actions are similar to our own.

The day for revenge came when the despised brother showed up in their midst in Dothan near Shechem where they were grazing sheep. Joseph had no father to protect him or to witness their evil deed.

They threw him down a cistern which was dry. This may exhibit an intention to break his neck. But the fall did not kill Joseph. 

Reuben the eldest son convinced the others to refrain from murder. He may have had a secret plan to rescue Joseph but he did not carry it out. He only expressed remorse ( Gen.37:29-30 ) which none of the others did.

However, Judah pleaded with his brothers not to kill Joseph but to sell him off instead. Thus they stripped him of his coat and sold him off for 20 shekels of silver to travelling Ishmaelites as a slave. He was brought to Egypt and resold to Potiphar.

With hindsight, we learn this - that no matter what they did, they could not take away God's calling for Joseph's life.

It would take 22 long years of guilt and regret and buried sin before these treacherous brothers knew the fate of Joseph.

Let us close today with Psalm 15:1-5

"Lord, who may dwell in Your sanctuary?...He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart and has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbour no wrong and casts no slur on his fellowman, who despises a vile man but honours those who fear the Lord, who keeps his oath even when it hurts...He who does these things will never be shaken."