The Hardest Thing to Do

This kid never ceases to amaze me.

He’s always been my father’s favorite!

His mother...his mother was treated better than my mother.

I’m the oldest and my dad was going to leave him the birthright.

The birthright....my birthright.

My ten brothers and I worked in the field.

But the kid, he learned how to read, write, and do simple math.

We are unlearned. All we know is how to care for sheep and goats.

In speaking of sheep and goats. I remember we were out in the pasture tending my father’s flock.

It was a large flock and we took pride in caring for it....We just like to have a little fun here and there.

This kid, comes and spies on us and gives a report back to father. He snitched on us and father got onto good.

Ooooo! I can’t stand that pampered brat.

We’re out in the sun all day fight off wolves, bears, and lions; and he’s under the tent getting fresh food. While we have to live off of provisions.

It’s not enough that he cut line but his entire existence has plagued me.

I can’t be surprised, father didn’t even really want my mother.

I mean, grandfather had to swindle him into marrying my mother. Even after the brat’s mother’s death, my mom is still treated like she doesn’t matter.

I hate that kid and I wish that he never existed.

Then to make matters worse, my dad bought the pampered brat a nice cloak. He had to spend a fortune on that thing.

He’s never done anything like that for any of us!

Sometimes I wonder if my father even loves me.

There was a time when we all gathered and the brat told us about a dream. He said in his dream,

“We were binding sheaves in the field. Suddenly his sheaf rose and stood upright. Then our sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to his sheaf.”

Is he crazy?

I hope he doesn’t believe that I would ever bow to him.

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing!

Then I looked over at father to see what his response would be and he said nothing to this dreaming brat.

This made my other ten brothers and I resent father and hate the dreaming, uppity brat.

Then the snibbling, snot slinging brat had another dream. In this dream he said that the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to him.”

Here he goes with nonsense again.

Now the brat believes that our father, mothers, and us will bow down to him.

That’s it!

I’ve had it! I am sick of this brat! And if he’s not careful, we’re going to do something about it.

Then father ought to be ashamed of himself for not nipping this in the bud.

I. Joseph sold into slavery

We went out to the pasture again to tend the flocks and we knew that father would send the brat to bring a report.

Well, if he comes out here, he won’t find us! We’re headed south to Dothan. Let’s see what report he gives father now.

We settle in Dothan with the flock and you would never guess who found us.

That brat!

Oh my Lord! Can we not get rid of this kid.

Look at him coming our way with that fancy cloak.

He thinks he’s more than us! He thinks that we are beneath him.

“That’s ok”, said my brother Simeon.

“We got something for the snot nose dreamer. “

“We will kill him and say that an animal killed him.”

Wait a minute Simeon, we can’t kill our own brother!

Do you know what that will do to our father?

Better yet, do you know what punishment God will give us for killing our own brother?

He’s our younger brother, we can’t kill him. We are supposed to protect him.

I hate him just as much as you all do but not enough to kill him. I just can’t go along with that plan.

“Stop being soft Reuben! You have more to gain with his death than any of us! Do you want that brat to take your birthright?” said my brother Simeon

He’s right!

With the brat out the way, the inheritance will be mine!

All of the flocks, tents, land, it’ll all be mine!

Wait, but we can’t kill the kid. That will bring all type of disaster upon us.

“We’re going to kill him whether you like it or not and then we will kill you if you get in the way”, said Simeon.

Levi and my other 9 brothers agreed.

“I can’t stop them from killing the kid.”

Unless, “wait what if we place him in the pit and sell him to be a slave in Egypt? At if we are going to lie to dad, we should at least make a little money off of it.”

I only said this because I had planned to come back home later that night to rescue him.

We gather the brat and throw him down in the pit and he screamed and pleaded with us to spare his life.

The groans and wales really was uncomfortable for all of us except Simeon. He was intending to see this thing through.

I leave my brothers and pretend that I am going hunting. I will come back and fish him out of the pit and save his life.

I get there roughly after midnight.

I cry out to him and hear nothing. I cry out his name again, “Joseph”. Still no response.

I light my torch and shine it down in the pit but he’s not there.

I immediately seek out my brothers and ask them what they had done to our brother.

Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and my father Jacob, I pray that they hadn’t killed our brother. This will crush my father.

I find my brothers and ask them what they had done with the boy.

Simeon told me that they had sold him to some Ishmaelite traders for silver. He’s headed to be a slave in Egypt.

My heart begins to pound. I begin to sweat and become nervous, because I know that father will never forgive us.

Simeon quickly devises a plan on how to tell father.

We tear pieces of Joseph’s cloak and put lamb blood on it.

“Ok everyone! The story is that we were moving the flock back towards the camp and we found pieces of Joseph’s cloak but no body. A wild predator likely killed him. No one is to deviate from the story. If any of you deviate from the story then you will meet the intended fate of our brother” ,”

threatened my brother, Simeon

We all go along with the story, even me. I can’t bear to break my father’s heart in this way. He really never forgave us for slaughtering all the men in Shechem after the prince raped our sister Dinah.

We go back to the camp and tell father the falsehood and I have never heard such a cry and wale in all my life.

He cried aloud and all his wives did also. He tore his clothes and put ashes all over himself.

“Joseph!!!! Joseph!!!! Joseph!!!! There’s no life without Joseph. My father cried

Nothing hurt me, us more than seeing the grief that my father expressed over the supposed loss of Joseph.

Things at the camp were never the same.

I could’ve stopped this. This was my little brother. I am the oldest. I should’ve fought harder to save the boy.

His blood, his life is on my hands. What we did here today, was worse than murdering him.

III. In Egypt

Twenty years pass and there is a famine in the land. There is no food. No grain for food.

Our father gives us money and tells us to travel to Egypt to secure grain.

We do as our father tells us to do.

We make the journey to Egypt to purchase grain.

We get there and seek to by grain and we are sent to the governor’s court.

We stand in line for hours.

We get to the front of the line and hand the servant the money.

The governor whispers something to the servant.

“I don’t like the sound of this.” I whispered to Simeon and Judah.

“Something is not right!” Judah whispered back to Simeon and I.

“You all are spies!” the governor said. “Lock them up!” He shouted.

They take us to prison, all 10 of us. For three days we sit there.

We are summoned before the governor again and he asks us what our intent was in arriving in Egypt.

Simeon shouted in anger, “We are shepherds! We are not spies! We were sent here for grain and the longer we sit here, the longer our family starves.”

“Oh really!” said the governor.

“Tell me more about your family!” he said.

“What does it matter to you?” said Asher.

“It matters not to me but to your life.” said the governor

We told him to all about our family and how one brother was no longer with us.

Then the governor told us to do something that was quite odd.

He told us to go and get our younger brother and bring him back to Egypt so that he could verify our story.

“No my Lord!” My father would not allow it. we all cried

He then told us that our lives depended upon it.

“As a matter of fact, Simeon’s life depends on. If you do not return Simeon will die,”

threatened the governor.

Simeon tells us to go back to Canaan. He will be alright.

We leave and to our surprise, they gave us back the grain.

We make the three day journey back to Canaan. Only to find that the money we paid for the grain was in one of the sacks.

“What has God done to us?” we cried aloud.

“We can’t go back to Egypt now”, said Dan.

“Yes, they will make us slaves”, said Nathali.

“This is God’s vengeance for what we did to Joseph”, said Judah.

We arrive at the camp and tell our father all that had taken place and told him that Simeon is being held hostage unless we bring Benjamin to Egypt with us.

My father refuses and says that he cannot lose Benjamin as he lost Joseph. Benjamin is the last child of Rachel and important to God’s covenant with him.

Days pass and my father is finally convinced to reluctantly allow us to take Benjamin back to Egypt with us.

We make it back to Egypt with Benjamin and something amazing happens.

The governor invites us to dinner at his home.

We see Simeon and Simeon tells us that he hasn’t been treated like a prisoner at all.

In fact, he’s never been treated better.

We wash up and join the governor for dinner at his home.

And his home was amazing!

We sit and have a meal and all is right with the world.

The next morning, the governor prepares to send us on our way but when we get to the gate to depart we are stopped by guards.

The governor storms out and accuses us of stealing his silver cup.

“No my Lord!” We wouldn’t do any such thing to you particularly after you’ve shown us great kindness.” We all said.

“Check their sacks!” said the governor.

The guards check the sacks and lo and behold, they find the cup in Benjamin sack.

“Take him to the prison! We will sell him as a slave!” said the governor while pointing at Benjamin.

We all fell to our knees and begged the governor to please spare him and send us to prison instead.

The atmosphere becomes silent and governor asked us why we would give up our freedom for our little brother.

Then we told him what we had done to our other little brother, Joseph.

The governor quickly retreats for about 30 minutes and he comes out.

Takes off his head covering and says,

“I am your brother Joseph.”

When he says this, our hearts pound for joy. Surely we are all about to die or become slaves!

Genesis: 45:3-11

The New Revised Standard Version Joseph Reveals Himself to His Brothers

3 Joseph said to his brothers,

The New Revised Standard Version Joseph Reveals Himself to His Brothers

But his brothers could not answer him, so dismayed were they at his presence.

4 Then Joseph said to his brothers,

The New Revised Standard Version Joseph Reveals Himself to His Brothers

And they came closer. He said,

The New Revised Standard Version Joseph Reveals Himself to His Brothers

“I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. 5 And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. 6 For the famine has been in the land these two years; and there are five more years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. 7 God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. 8 So it was not you who sent me here, but God; he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. 9 Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay. 10 You shall settle in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, as well as your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. 11 I will provide for you there—since there are five more years of famine to come—so that you and your household, and all that you have, will not come to poverty.

Beginning today, something that I would like for each of you to do is to reflect upon this story of Joseph and his brothers.

What do you notice in the text?

How might God be speaking to you through not only Joseph but his brothers?

So, often we see this story from Joseph’s perspective and we’d like to often think of ourselves as Joseph but have we thought that at times we are a lot like Joseph’s brothers?

I want to leave you with a question as we come back to revisit this text next week.

Is it more difficult for you to forgive?

or....

Is it more difficult for you to ask for forgiveness?

Ponder that question as we talk about that text next Sunday.