November 20, 2023 — Does the Bible Say…?      

“Does the Bible say Joseph was really that clueless?”

 “Jacob settled in the land where his father had lived as an alien, the land of Canaan. This is the story of the family of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers; he was a helper to the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he had made him a long robe with sleeves. But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him. Once Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. He said to them, “Listen to this dream that I dreamed. There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright; then your sheaves gathered around it, and bowed down to my sheaf.” His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Are you indeed to have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more because of his dreams and his words.” Genesis 37:1-8

If you are familiar with the story of Joseph and his beautiful and mysterious coat, you know that it leads to a terrible but necessary (according to G-d’s providence) journey. It seems that of all of Jacob’s sons, Joseph was Jacob’s favorite. There are theories as to why including he was Rachel’s child, he was so much younger than his other brothers, and he was a good boy. And because he held the “favorite” status with his father, Joseph was given a special coat. It appeared more like a long cloak with wide sleeves, and contained many bright colors. It would have been seen as a special mark of favor by his other brothers. And as we all know, when there is jealousy and assumed special favors shown to some members of the family and not to others, trouble can be brewing underneath relationships.

But it wasn’t just his coat that created tension within the family, he also had special dreams — dreams that seemed to place him above his brothers, even his parents, as some sort of leader. Here is one of his dreams: “Listen to this dream that I have dreamed. I dreamed that we were out in the field binding sheaves, when suddenly my sheaf stood up, and all your sheaves came around it and bowed down to my sheaf!”

And Joseph wasn’t afraid to share those dreams, as if he was completely oblivious to how the family would perceive the dreams. Could Joseph have been that clueless? Well, each time he had a special dream he would share it with his family – and just did not understand how his dreams would be interpreted by his siblings. Eventually his brothers would sell Joseph into slavery. You will need to read the rest of the story if you are unfamiliar with the ending. His dream is a precursor to how the story ends…just before the people of Israel would be held in bondage in Egypt. So, was Joseph really clueless? Or was his trust in G-d greater than his trust in his family?

Pastor Dave