An unwise father and his little spy

 

Genesis 37:1-4

Jan and I only have one child, and often young couples that we taught would tell us that we never were parents, because having only one child took little or no skills.  We never had the rivalries of children with each other or for our attention, and often we would agree that the more children the more challenges and also more blessings.

Jacob/Israel has twelve sons and two of them came when he was very old, from Rachel whom he loved.  Joseph is the older of Rachel’s sons and has become the apple of his daddy’s eye.  It has become clear to all the other brothers, that Rachel’s sons are very special to their father, and that Joseph is his favorite.  In fact, Israel made Joseph a special robe of many colors, and in doing so caused a separation between Joseph and his brothers.

At the age of seventeen, Joseph was pasturing the flocks with his brothers.  He was much younger than his brothers the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives.  “And Joseph brought a bad report of them to his father.” (Genesis 37:2)  Now that is not the way to win friends and influence people, and it looks to his brothers like Joseph was Israel’s little spy or tattletale; and because of this, they began to hate him.

A wiser father may have handled the problem different, but Israel was more like a grandfather to Joseph than a dad, and yet we must always remember that God had a plan and the actions of Israel and Joseph, with the other brothers, were playing into that plan.  Verse four states; “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.”

Jacob/Israel, did not mean to send this message to his sons, he did not mean to wound Joseph, he did not mean to cause strife and hatred in his family, but he did by his outward expression of love for Joseph.  If only Israel had been able to have read Dr. James Dobson’s book on raising boys.  There may be many regrets, but the good news is today we have many authors, many books and even classes on how to manage a family, and it is a wise man that takes council from God’s word and these many resources.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice