Genesis 37:25-36
A friend of ours co-authored a book on “Family Secrets,” and
how they destroy a family. It may
be a drunk in the family, and that person is the mother and the family endures
much pain and is held in bondage to her secret. It may be a dad who is sexually abusive and the mother kept
silent, so that she and her kids are not put out into the street. It matters not the secret, they cause
great harm in a family!
Israel’s sons were not of the same mind, they did not all
want to kill Joseph; in fact, the elder Reuben had a plan to not only save his
life but to return Joseph to his father.
It seems like Reuben being the oldest, may have also been very busy
taking care of the management of his father’s flocks, and the other brothers
took advantage of this opportunity.
When you have this many co-conspirators it becomes clear
that all of them may not be on the same page, and Judah did not have the
stomach to kill his younger brother.
The brothers had just sat down to eat, and Reuben was away from the
group; he may have been doing paper work or the new budget, but he was not
eating with the group. The
brothers saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, on their way down to
Egypt. Judah, also a son of Leah,
came up with a plan; that he would not be part of taking the life of his stepbrother
Joseph. Beginning in verse 26, “Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if
we kill our brother and conceal his blood? 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.” It is always true that a better plan
will win out.
The real plan of the brothers has not changed, they still
plan on taking the robe of many colors to dad with blood on it, and they tell
him how wild animals have torn Joseph to pieces. The blood on the robe will not be Joseph’s, but the blood of
a goat. It is important to state
that all the brothers became co-conspirators; they all lied to their dad, to
cover up what had been done. And
while his father wept for his favorite son Joseph, the Midianites sold Joseph
in Egypt, to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard.
Often, I miss the real story, the story of how God is at work;
it is God who placed these plans in the hearts of both Reuben and Judah,
because he had planned to use Joseph for His glory in Egypt.
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
No comments:
Post a Comment