We will be in this text all week so feel free to just focus on the highlighted portions in your reading today.
5 Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more. 6 He said to them, “Hear this dream that I have dreamed: 7 Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.” 8 His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.
9 Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” 10 But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?” 11 And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.
12 Now his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock near Shechem. 13 And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” And he said to him, “Here I am.” 14 So he said to him, “Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock, and bring me word.” So he sent him from the Valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. 15 And a man found him wandering in the fields. And the man asked him, “What are you seeking?” 16 “I am seeking my brothers,” he said. “Tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock.” 17 And the man said, “They have gone away, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’ ” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.
18 They saw him from afar, and before he came near to them they conspired against him to kill him. 19 They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. 20 Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits. Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams.” 21 But when Reuben heard it, he rescued him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.” 22 And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him”—that he might rescue him out of their hand to restore him to his father. 23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the robe of many colors that he wore. 24 And they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.
25 Then they sat down to eat. And looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing gum, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. 26 Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? 27 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. 28 Then Midianite traders passed by. And they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. They took Joseph to Egypt.
29 When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he tore his clothes 30 and returned to his brothers and said, “The boy is gone, and I, where shall I go?” 31 Then they took Joseph’s robe and slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. 32 And they sent the robe of many colors and brought it to their father and said, “This we have found; please identify whether it is your son’s robe or not.” 33 And he identified it and said, “It is my son’s robe. A fierce animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces.” 34 Then Jacob tore his garments and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days. 35 All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted and said, “No, I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” Thus his father wept for him. 36 Meanwhile the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard.
In the sermon yesterday we focused on putting ourselves in the place of Joseph, viewing this story through his experience. We would be remiss if we walked away from this story only viewing ourselves in the place of Joseph, the righteous one. I think we must also see ourselves in the experience of Joseph's brothers. It's really easy to fault them and wave the finger at them for their sinfulness without reflecting on how we might react in a similar situation.
First, we have to understand the gravity of the offenses they felt towards Joseph. At this point he is the youngest of his siblings and clearly his father's favorite. In this culture the oldest would be entitled to a larger share of the inheritance. Yet, since Joseph was Jacob's favorite the other brothers likely assumed that he would be the recipient of the largest share of their father's inheritance. With Jacob's history of usurping the birthright tradition in his own life, this becomes a really strong probability. So we have wealth and rights in play in this conflict. People tend to get pretty fired about those two things.
Next, Rachel is Joseph's mother. His brothers have other mothers (Leah, Bilhah, and Zilpah). This creates an intrinsic "Us v. Them" mentality. Their family itself is divided into tribes. Joseph is 17 years old at this point so this tension has existed in their home for at least that long and likely longer with the brothers recognizing Jacob's affinity for Rachel and not their own mother.
Finally, Joseph's dreams push them over the edge. Not only do they have the threat of him receiving a larger portion of the inheritance and him being the favored of his father, but now he is prophesying that he will one day rule over them. This spoiled teenager is going to usurp his 10 older brothers and rule them!
The scary part of this story is the realization that apart from the grace of God all of us are capable of this same evil. Remember the sequence of events that lead them here: They hated him — they were jealous of him — they conspired against him — they covered up their actions. We have all experienced at least those first 2 and likely the second 2 as well, albeit to a lesser degree than his brothers. It's easy to look at them from the outside in and condemn their actions. Yet, when we are the ones in the midst of the relational conflict it's easy for this rock of hatred and jealousy to get rolling down the hill and before we know it we are looking for ways to cover up our sinful behavior, hoping nobody will find out.