Jacob has, at last, settled in the land. While Isaac was only “a stranger,” the text also says that Jacob “dwelt in the land” (Genesis 37:1). Yet, it was then, as he was settling into the land, that the troubles began, this time from inside the family. The controversy does not concern the possession of the land or the use of a well; it is, mainly, spiritual.
Read Genesis 37:1-11. What family dynamic predisposed Joseph’s brothers to hate him so much?
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From the very beginning, we understand that Joseph, the son of Jacob’s old age (Genesis 37:3), enjoyed a special relationship with his father, who “loved him more than all his brothers” (Genesis 37:4, NKJV). He even went so far as to make Joseph “a tunic of many colors” (Genesis 37:3, NKJV), a prince’s garment (2 Samuel 13:18), an indication of Jacob’s secret intention to elevate Joseph, Rachel’s first son, to the status of firstborn.
The future will, indeed, confirm Jacob’s wishes because Joseph will eventually receive the rights of the firstborn (1 Chronicles 5:2). No wonder, then, that Joseph’s brothers hated him so much and could not even engage in peaceful conversations with him (Genesis 37:4).
Furthermore, Joseph would bring bad reports to his father about any reprehensible behavior from his brothers (Genesis 37:2). No one likes a snitch.
So when Joseph shared his dreams, suggesting that God would put him in a higher position and that they, his brothers, would bow before him, they hated him even more. The genuine prophetic character of the dreams is even ratified by the fact that they are repeated (see Genesis 41:32). Although Jacob openly rebuked his son (Genesis 37:10), he kept this incident in his mind, meditating about its meaning and waiting for its fulfillment (Genesis 37:11). The implication is that, perhaps, deep down he thought that there might be something to these dreams after all. He was right, however much he couldn’t know it at the time.
| Read Matthew 20:26-27. What crucial principle is revealed here, and how can we learn to manifest in our own lives what it teaches? |
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