Genesis 37

¹ Jacob lived in the land of his father’s sojournings, in the land of Canaan. ² These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was pasturing the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. ³ Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a robe of many colors. ⁴ But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him. ⁵ Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more. ⁶ He said to them, “Hear this dream that I have dreamed: ⁷ Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.” ⁸ His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. ⁹ Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” ¹⁰ But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?” ¹¹ And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind. ¹² Now his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock near Shechem. ¹³ And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” And he said to him, “Here I am.” ¹⁴ So he said to him, “Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock, and bring me word.” So he sent him from the Valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. ¹⁵ And a man found him wandering in the fields. And the man asked him, “What are you seeking?” ¹⁶ “I am seeking my brothers,” he said. “Tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock.” ¹⁷ And the man said, “They have gone away, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan. ¹⁸ They saw him from afar, and before he came near to them they conspired against him to kill him. ¹⁹ They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. ²⁰ Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits. Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams.” ²¹ But when Reuben heard it, he rescued him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.” ²² And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him”—that he might rescue him out of their hand to restore him to his father. ²³ So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the robe of many colors that he wore. ²⁴ And they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it. ²⁵ Then they sat down to eat. And looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing gum, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. ²⁶ Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? ²⁷ Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened to him. ²⁸ Then Midianite traders passed by. And they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. They took Joseph to Egypt. ²⁹ When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he tore his clothes ³⁰ and returned to his brothers and said, “The boy is gone, and I, where shall I go?” ³¹ Then they took Joseph’s robe and slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. ³² And they sent the robe of many colors and brought it to their father and said, “This we have found; please identify whether it is your son’s robe or not.” ³³ And he identified it and said, “It is my son’s robe. A fierce animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces.” ³⁴ Then Jacob tore his garments and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days. ³⁵ All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted and said, “No, I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” Thus his father wept for him. ³⁶ Meanwhile the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard.

Some years back Biblegateway.com (a great website that has numerous Bible versions and study tools) published its list of most downloaded verses. Here are the top 3:

1. John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
2. Jeremiah 29:11: “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”
3. Romans 8:28: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”[1]

John 3:16 being the number one most downloaded verses is as predictable as it is awesome. John 3:16 is the greatest encapsulation of the gospel in one verse in all of Scripture (though there are other great encapsulations as well). But what strikes me most about these three is that they all have a strong note of providence about them, or the idea that God is in control and is working all things to our good and His glory. Theologian James Leo Garrett Jr. wrote of this doctrine:

The word “providence” is derived from the Latin verb providere, which means “to see at a distance” and hence “to prepare for, to take precautions about.” “Providence” is associated with the English word “provide” and connotes “seeing ahead.” “By an interesting juxtaposition of English usage it means also ‘to look after.’ [Georgia Harkness]”

Garrett then provides some helpful definitions of “providence” from other theologians:

Providence is that continuous agency of God by which he makes all the events of the physical and moral universe fulfill the original design with which he created us. (A.H. Strong)

By the providence of God we mean his control or direction of the universe toward the end which he has chosen. (E.Y. Mullins)[2]

These are helpful and insightful definitions. I would argue that greatest demonstration of God’s providence in the Bible is the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus. However, Genesis 37 would have to be counted as one of the truly great providence texts as well, for in the story of Joseph we see God at work directing all things to His desired ends, even if those “all things” were difficult and frightening at times.

A recurring vice elicits a familiar response.

Our text begins with a recurring vice eliciting a familiar response. I say “recurring vice” because we have seen the sin of favoritism show up time and again in Genesis. Here, once again, we see it, this time in Jacob’s favoritism toward Joseph. Consider, then, both the recurring vice and the familiar response:

³ Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a robe of many colors. ⁴ But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him.

Honestly, it would be hard to imagine a more blatant display of parental favoritism than Jacob giving Joseph the famous “coat [“robe” in the ESV] of many colors.” In doing this, Jacob certainly did not do his spoiled son any favors. We see this when we jump down to verse 18 and witness the brothers’ murderous response:

¹⁸ They saw him from afar, and before he came near to them they conspired against him to kill him. ¹⁹ They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. ²⁰ Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits. Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams.”

In verse 4 we see that Joseph was hated because he was Jacob’s favorite. In verse 19 and 20 we see that he is hated because of his dreams of exaltation and the brothers’ submission to him. Their proposal is particularly heinous: “let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits.” There are two crimes here. The first, of course, is a proposed murder, but do not miss the desecration of his body after the proposed murder. “The denial of proper burial,” writes Robert Alter, “was among the Hebrews, as among the Greeks, deeply felt as an atrocity.”[3]

Then we see the continuing progression of their violence against Joseph:

²³ So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the robe of many colors that he wore. ²⁴ And they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.

²⁸ Then Midianite traders passed by. And they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. They took Joseph to Egypt.

³¹ Then they took Joseph’s robe and slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. ³² And they sent the robe of many colors and brought it to their father and said, “This we have found; please identify whether it is your son’s robe or not.” ³³ And he identified it and said, “It is my son’s robe. A fierce animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces.” ³⁴ Then Jacob tore his garments and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days. ³⁵ All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted and said, “No, I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” Thus his father wept for him.

He is stripped. He is thrown into a pit. He is sold as a slave.

Behold the fruits of favoritism. At least in part, Jacob’s display of favoritism is to blame for this, though the brothers, of course, are ultimately responsible for their behavior. Jacob knew favoritism well. “One recalls,” writes Alter, “that Jacob was the object of his mother’s unexplained favoritism.”[4]

The brothers are incensed by this gross display of favoritism. In this, we see a recurring sin throughout history. Walter Brueggemann connects the dots very perceptively:

The brothers are observant and sensitive. They see what the narrator concedes. Jacob is partial. His arbitrary love evokes their hatred. Trouble is sure to come in such a triangle of love and hate…The story contacts our life, for each of us lives at some point in such triangles—as one having been loved too much (Joseph), one loving too much (Jacob), or one feeling loved too little (the brothers).[5]

Yes, indeed, “[t]he story contacts our life.” Everybody knows somebody who is either, apparently, the favorite or who resents somebody else for being the favorite. Everybody, in other words, has had some kind of contact with this sin. As early as the latter half of the 4^th century, Ambrose of Milan was pointing to this story as a warning against favoritism. He wrote:

And so we are taught the proper nature of parental love and filial gratitude. It is pleasant to love one’s children and very pleasant to love them exceedingly, but often even parental love does harm to the children unless it is practiced with restraint; for it may give the beloved child free rein out of excessive indulgence or, by preference shown to one child, may alienate the others from the spirit of brotherly love. The son gains more who gains the love of his brothers. This is a more splendid manifestation of generosity on the part of the parents and a rich inheritance for the sons. Let the children be joined in a like favor, who have been joined in a like nature…[6]

Beware the sin of favoritism! See, once again, its bitter fruit! Love all of your children the same. For let us remember: in the Kingdom of God we are all loved the same. The Lord God does not love one of us more than the next, which was something that the Pharisees of the New Testament seemed not to understand. We are loved with perfect equity by our Heavenly Father. Let us do the same!

A disgraced son restores his name.

There is an interesting note in our text about Reuben’s advocacy for Joseph’s life. Joseph’s brothers determine to kill him, but Reuben intervenes.

²¹ But when Reuben heard it, he rescued him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.” ²² And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him”—that he might rescue him out of their hand to restore him to his father.

²⁹ When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he tore his clothes ³⁰ and returned to his brothers and said, “The boy is gone, and I, where shall I go?”

This must be read in the light of what happened at the end of Genesis 35:

²² While Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine. And Israel heard of it.

Do we see repentance in Reuben’s efforts to save Joseph? I think so. To be sure, Reuben had no reason to think that the crime would be discovered so we cannot see his advocacy as fear-based. He certainly could have gotten away with it in an earthly sense had he wanted to join in. Something moved in him, however, and he wanted to save his brother.

If one wanted to be uncharitable, one might look to the end of verse 22 (“that he might rescue him out of their hand to restore him to his father”) or to the end of verse 30 (“where shall I go?”) and argue that Reuben was being more opportunistic than benevolent. The argument here would be that Reuben saw an opportunity to patch things up with Jacob and that, seen in this light, his primary concern was himself.

One might, again, argue this, though I do not think it is just. I can consider it unjust, by the way, and not consider it completely wrong. Human motivations are complicated things and are oftentimes mixed bags. Perhaps there was a note of self-advancement or damage control in Reuben’s behavior. Even so, we have no reason to reject his actions as narcissism. On the contrary, I believe that Reuben is presented in an overall positive light and his behavior should be commended.

Once again we see that our forefathers were themselves mixed bags, capable of great wickedness but also of great virtues. Which is simply to say that they were human beings like all of us that defied easy characterization. Even so, let us give Reuben his props. This was a compassionate thing to do and it should be noted.

A sovereign God works all things to His will.

What we see above all else in our passage, however, is the sovereign providence of God. God is at work even in the twists and turns of human wickedness and scheming. God’s great plan still advances.  Let us return again to Joseph’s dreams.

⁵ Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more. ⁶ He said to them, “Hear this dream that I have dreamed: ⁷ Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.” ⁸ His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. ⁹ Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” ¹⁰ But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?” ¹¹ And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.

To be sure, seen from below, seen from a human perspective, Joseph’s dreams are indeed audacious! If one wanted one’s siblings and parents to absolute hate one, this would be the route to take: recounting dreams of the family bowing before one. But this is what the dreams look like as seen from below.

I want to argue, however, that these dreams should be seen not from below but from above. These dreams were statements by God about what would come to be. And, as we will see, they will come to be. These dreams are therefore markers of providence, signposts that point to God’s providential care over all creation and, specifically, over His people.

When things look darkest and most worrisome, when things look most hopeless, when we find ourselves in the pit of despair, we can trust and know that God is still at work! This is hinted at in the last verse of our chapter:

³⁶ Meanwhile the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard.

The brothers sought to remove Joseph. But God sought to move Joseph. He sought to move Joseph into Potiphar’s house in Egypt. This would be, in time, the family’s salvation.

Let us return as well to that third most downloaded verse, Romans 8:

²⁸ And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

The providence of God! God works all things together for good for those who are called according to His purpose. There is a trajectory for God’s people. It is not around pain and suffering. It is through it. But we will get through it!

This is the great point of the story of Joseph in Genesis. “[T]he narrative has an identifiable and singular intention,” writes Walter Brueggemann, “It urges that in the contingencies of history, the purposes of God are at work in hidden and unnoticed ways. But the ways of God are nonetheless reliable and will come to fruition.”[7]

Indeed. And we see this most of all and definitively in the providential hand of God at work in and through His Son, Jesus. These stories are connected—Joseph’s and Jesus’—because, in many ways, Joseph points us to Jesus, is a type of Jesus, prefigures Jesus.

• Joseph’s brothers plotted against him. The religious authorities of the Jews plotted against Jesus.
• Joseph was sold for silver. Jesus was sold out by Judas for silver.
• Joseph was stripped of his royal garment. Jesus was stripped then dressed in a mock royal robe.
• The blood-stained garment of Joseph was presented to his father leading Jacob to despair. The blood-stained body of Jesus was presented to His Father leading the Father to forgive.
• Joseph was thrown into a pit of death then drawn out again. Jesus died and was buried then rose victorious over sin, death, and hell.
• Through Joseph’s sufferings, the Father put him in a position to save his family from starvation and death. Through Jesus’ sufferings and resurrection He saves us from eternal death.
• Joseph will forgive the brothers who betrayed him. Jesus opens His arms to forgive all who come to Him!

See the providence of God! See the hand of God at work in history! See the saving intention and love of God! Then see through the type, the picture, the foreshadowing, to Jesus Himself, the Son above all sons who experiences a suffering above all sufferings and gives us salvation above all temporal salvations.

 

[1] https://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2011/01/top-most-searched-bible-verses

[2] James Leo Garrett Jr., Systematic Theology. 4^th edition. Vol. 1 (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 1990), p.373-374.

[3] Robert Alter, The Five Books of Moses. The Hebrew Bible. vol. 1 (New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Co., 2019), p.139n3.

[4] Robert Alter, p.139n3.

[5] Walter Brueggemann, Genesis. Interpretation. (Atlanta, GA: John Knox Press, 1982), p.300.

[6] Mark Sheridan, ed. Genesis 12-50. Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture. Gen. ed. Thomas C. Oden. Old Testament II (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002), 230.

[7] Walter Brueggemann, Genesis. Interpretation. (Atlanta, GA: John Knox Press, 1982), p.289.