Posts tagged Rachel

Today’s Reading: Genesis 35, 36 & 37

Before we dig into the meat of today’s reading, it’s important to note the birth of the 12th son of Israel, Benjamin, who was born as his mother Rachel was dying. It is understandable, then, that Benjamin, the youngest of two sons born to Rachel (whom Jacob loved more than his other wives) would have special significance to Jacob – especially after the events of chapter 37.

Ah, Genesis, chapter 37 – a real shining moment in the history of Jacob’s family. Here we see that brother-on-brother jealousy (inherited from Jacob, to be sure) and that sisterhood animosity (from Rachel and Leah) rear it’s ugly head as Joseph is plotted against and sold into slavery by his brothers. But here’s the thing; Joseph isn’t entirely blameless in this matter.

At the beginning of chapter 37, we’re told that Joseph is essentially a tattle-tail and a brown-noser when he gives his father “a bad report” about the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah (that is, Dan, Naphtali, Gad and Asher). We’re not told exactly what he said, but it may have been something as simple as “they’re herding the sheep all wrong” or, perhaps, the revealing of something more nefarious. Whatever the case, Joseph created a name for himself as a daddy’s boy snitch among his brothers.

Now, Jacob doesn’t really help his son’s cause when he sends him back out into the field dressed in a colorful and/or ornate coat. I mean, if you think your little brother is spoiled and then he comes driving up in a new Porsche, that pretty much confirms the suspicion!

So Joseph shows up on the scene with his nice new coat and begins spouting his mouth off about these dreams that he’s having – dreams that are symbolic of him reigning over his brothers, and even over his father and mother. This, kids, is a lesson in keeping your trap shut! Sometimes God reveals things to people that he doesn’t necessarily want you to share with others. In this case, Joseph would have done well to keep his dreams to himself. But, again, Joseph is a teenage, spoiled, daddy’s boy who likes to open his mouth to disparage others and to brag about himself. I can relate, because I was just like him when I was that age!

What Joseph was blissfully unaware of (as most teen boys are) is that he was just building a case for his brothers to hate him. In fact, they would come to hate him so much that they would even consider killing him. I think it’s interesting that we see this tone of sibling rivalry and even murder being passed down all the way from Cain and Abel and rearing its ugly head time and time again.

Ultimately, Joseph’s brothers would decide not to kill him, but to sell him to slave traders instead. Obviously not all the brothers were in on this decision, because Reuben, the eldest of the brothers and de facto leader, seems shocked to find that Joseph is no longer in the cistern when he arrives. And so, Joseph is sold and ultimately ends up as a slave to Potiphar, a high ranking official in Egypt.

Again, I think it’s important to point out that the brothers who sold Joseph and told their father he was dead – those same guys would go on to become the patriarchs of the nation of Israel. The family God would choose to bless was a family of murderous, deceiving brothers born to a deceiving father. This is important to remember because, like these men, we are God’s chosen. And like these men, this distinction is not something we earned. Our actions don’t make us children of God. God’s actions do. It was God who chose Jacob (Israel) and his family, and that was the only way that they become “chosen ones.” How great is a God who can look beyond our serious flaws and choose us anyway?