The Gifted

    Joseph grew up in the promised land, the land of Canaan.  When he was seventeen he began working the flocks with his brothers (a little late in years).  He was the favorite, so he was privileged and his brothers knew it.  They resented him.  They did not want him around at all because whenever they were just being themselves he would go home and report to daddy.  It did not help that God gifted him with  being able to interpret dreams.  Being gifted is a blessing and a curse.  People will be jealous and it may seem like they want something from you.

    One day Israel gave Joseph a decorative robe.  This was a very nice gift.  It was like Israel was giving Joseph a sports car while he only gave old junk cars to the other son.  I have said it before: favoritism only causes division.  It is good that Israel loved his son, but to elevate him above the other boys set Joseph up to be hated.  God spoke to Joseph through dreams.  The dream was basically letting him know in the end Joseph will come out on top, over his brothers.  If he had kept that information to himself, then things may have been a little different, but everything has purpose. Joseph foolishly went to his brothers to brag about his dream.  They already hated him and this only turned the hatred into bitterness.

    One day Israel sent Joseph to his brothers and they saw him coming before he arrived.  Their hatred drove them to plot his death.  Reuben being the oldest maybe had let certain things go, but he voted to not kill their brother.  Instead, he convinced them to take the fancy robe and throw Joseph into a cistern.  (He plans on rescuing him after a short time, but hoped it would put Joseph in his place.)  Maybe Joseph thought it was all a practical joke.  Maybe he was too stunned to react.  I do think that he was naive enough not to grasp their hatred toward him.  Maybe because he had always been elevated above them, he just thought their attitude was normal.  We do not know what was going on in his head as he sat in his little imprisonment.

    As the boys ate their lunch a caravan came across their path.  On impulse they decided to sell Joseph to be their slave and he was taken to Egypt.  It all seems horrible, but this was just the beginning of Joseph actually living life instead of being a pampered brat and resented brother.  His previous life was the real prison.  

    The brothers went home and told Israel that a ferocious animal had killed Joseph and gave him back the ruined robe.  It must have been horrible for Israel as he mourned with no comfort.  He lost his beloved wife and now their special son together.  That day everything changes and it was a horrible change; however, God can turn the horrible into a gift or blessing.  We have to go to Him and ask Him what it is all about.  Look for the gift in the horrible.  There you can find comfort in hope.

Genesis 37