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Welcome to my blog: I intend to share heartfelt writing about anything that comes to mind. |
| Joseph's brothers hated him so much that they plotted to kill him. They couldn't stand him and just wanted to be rid of him once and for all. Hate often leads to violence or other negative emotions and results. Joseph's brothers are out feeding the flock one day, and Jacob sends him to check up on them. He first goes to shechem to look for them there and didn't find them. Then he followed them to Dothan. I wonder if maybe they were taking a little longer to get back home than Jacob thought it should take them. If the flocks they were feeding were supposed to be in Shechem, why did they go to Dothan? The Bible doesn't say. We do know that Joseph had brought Jacob a bad report of his brothers in a previous incident. When the brothers saw him coming to them, the plotted to kill him. They were like, "Oh no, here comes that dreamer to tell on us again! We will see what will become of his dreams when he is dead." Shechem means "shoulder" in Hebrew and is located between two mountains in Israel. Shechem was considered a place of promise, commitment and worship. Jacob had previously built an alter there, calling it “El Elohe Israel,” or “mighty God of Israel”. This city reveals God's faithfulness in spite of sin. Today, Dothan is known as Tell-Dothan. It is located in the middle of Israel. Dothan means "two wells". Both of the wells it is named for are in existence still today. The name of one of these wells reflects the event of Joseph being cast into it, Jubb Yusuf, which means “the pit of Joseph.” Dothan is also where Elisha had lived. For more information about Shechem and Dothan, you can read it using these links: https://www.gotquestions.org/Shechem-in-the-Bible.html and https://www.gotquestions.org/Dothan-in-the-Bible.html Joseph's oldest brother, Rueben, talked his other brothers out of killing him and into putting him into a pit that had been dug for a well but had no water in it yet. His intention was to go back and rescue him later and return him to their father. However, while he went to take care of other business, the brothers sat down to eat. While they were eating, "taking their lunch break", a group of merchants happened to pass by. Now Judah saw this as an opportunity to get rid of their problem of Joseph while at the same time making some money. The brothers ended up selling Joseph into slavery to the merchants for 20 pieces of silver. When Rueben returned, and didn't find Joseph in the pit, he rent his clothes. I think he might have been afraid of what his father might do when he, being the oldest, didn't bring back the father's favored son safely. Joseph and Jesus were both sold for pieces of silver but for different amounts of it. Here is an article that I found very interesting on this subject. https://learn.openchristian.education/blog/sangwa/joseph-and-Jesus-costs After Joseph was sold to the traveling merchants, Midianites/Ishmaelites, he was taken to Egypt and sold again to Potipher. Midianites and Ishmaelites are being used interchangeably throughout these verses. Although, they are also considered different in some texts. https://apologeticspress.org/ishmaelites-or-midianites-748/ and https://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/gills-exposition-of-the-bible/genes... Egypt was known as Mitsrayim in Hebrew. It was one of the most powerful and advanced civilizations of the ancient world. https://biblehub.com/hebrew/4714.htm For more interesting information about Egypt and the Bible, read https://www.gotquestions.org/Egypt-in-the-Bible.html. Gilead, where the foreign traders came from, basically means "Hill of testimony" in Hebrew. Although, there are some arguments that it may mean "rocky region". It is also referred to in the Bible as the plains of Moab in earlier times. This area is located East of the Jordan River. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilead#Etymology Gilead is also known for its balm, healing substance that dripped from certain trees. God provides all good things for our use, but we must be careful to not let our blessings become stumbling blocks to us and our faith. Spiritual healing can only come from God. https://www.gotquestions.org/land-of-Gilead.html Joseph's brothers couldn't tell Jacob, their father, the truth, so they came up with a lie. They had stripped off of Joseph the coat of many colors that their father had given him. So, they killed a kid goat and dipped the coat in its blood. Then they told their father that they had found it with blood on it and not Joseph. Assuming his favorite son to be dead, torn to pieces by beasts, he mourned heavily for many days and refused to be comforted by anyone even though all of his other children and family tried to console him. He told them that he would go to his grave morning for the loss of his son. This shows how sin can have far-reaching and unintended consequences. It also reflects how hard a parent's grief can be for the loss of their child. It mentions all his daughters in verse 35. Either Jacob had other daughters besides Dinah (Kalisch, Gerlach, 'Speaker's Commentary'), or these included his daughters-in-law, the word being employed as in Ruth 1:11, 12 (Willet, Bush, Murphy), or the term is used freely without being designed to indicate whether he had one or more girls. Potipher, the man to whom Joseph was sold in Egypt, was one of Pharoah's officials, captain of the guard, and he was wealthy. Joseph was a faithful servant who was admired by his master. As a result, Potipher put him in charge of his entire household and all of his possessions. He trusted Joseph. Potipher and his house was blessed by God because of Joseph. The Lord was with Joseph. The Lord made everything he did to prosper. Joseph was a good person and well favored. God blesses his own even if that means blessing those over them. https://biblehub.com/topical/t/the_house_of_potiphar.htm https://www.learnreligions.com/who-was-potiphar-in-the-bible-363356 https://www.gotquestions.org/Joseph-Potiphar.html While serving in Potipher's house, Potipher's wife took notice of Joseph. She pressured him daily to lie with her. He continuously refused her advances because Potipher trusted him. One day while he was conducting business in the house, there were no other men there with him. She caught him unaware, and he left his coat in her hands and fled from her. She took this opportunity to cause a big scene. She told everyone including her husband that he had tried to force himself on her and when she had cried out, he had run away and left his coat behind with her. Upon hearing this, Potipher was very angry. He had Joseph put into the King's prison. Just because we refuse to do wrong does not mean that the world will not falsely accuse us. They falsely accused Jesus too. Even these instances are able to be used for good in our lives by God. The Lord was still with Joseph in prison. The Lord showed him mercy and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. As a result, the keeper of the prison put him above all of the other prisoners and over the prison. Everything done in the prison was done under Joseph's leadership. The Lord was in everything he did and made everything he did to prosper. This goes to show that the Lord is still able to bless us even in the most difficult of situations. We also discussed how this story of Joseph and his brothers selling him into slavery foreshadows the story of Christ and Salvation. For anyone wanting more information on this, I found this website that gives some good insight on the subject, https://comeandreason.com/joseph-a-foreshadow-of-christ/. |
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