Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Fire
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His brothers had gone to pasture their father’s flocks at Shechem.
Israel said to Joseph, “Your brothers, you know, are pasturing the flocks at Shechem. Get ready. I’m sending you to them.” “I’m ready,” Joseph replied.
Then Israel said to him, “Go and see how your brothers and the flocks are doing, and bring word back to me.” So he sent him from the Hebron Valley, and he went to Shechem.
A man found him there, wandering in the field, and asked him, “What are you looking for?”
“I’m looking for my brothers,” Joseph said. “Can you tell me where they are pasturing their flocks?”
“They’ve moved on from here,” the man said. “I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’ ” So Joseph set out after his brothers and found them at Dothan.
This brings up a few questions. Why was Joseph not with his brothers? Could it have been because of the tension? Perhaps after the report Joseph gave about his brothers earlier they did not want him around. Maybe Jacob/Israel was again favoring Joseph by letting him stay home while his brothers did the hard work of tending the flocks. Whatever the reason, Joseph must travel and seek them out.
They saw him in the distance, and before he had reached them, they plotted to kill him.
They said to one another, “Oh, look, here comes that dream expert!
So now, come on, let’s kill him and throw him into one of the pits. We can say that a vicious animal ate him. Then we’ll see what becomes of his dreams!”
This escalated quickly! Simeon and Levi had killed before to avenge their sister’s honor, but even so, this is quite a jump. However, it does tell you how much favoritism and arrogance intensified the sibling rivalry into hatred, and how deep that hatred was.
When Reuben heard this, he tried to save him from them. He said, “Let’s not take his life.”
Reuben also said to them, “Don’t shed blood. Throw him into this pit in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him”—intending to rescue him from them and return him to his father.
Reuben does something good! Reuben really wasn’t the ideal firstborn son, but he finally stands up for good by trying to protect Joseph.
When Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped off Joseph’s robe, the robe of many colors that he had on.
Then they took him and threw him into the pit. The pit was empty, without water.
They sat down to eat a meal, and when they looked up, there was a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying aromatic gum, balsam, and resin, going down to Egypt.
I just have to point out that the brothers throw Joseph into a pit, with no food or water, and then sit down and eat.
Judah said to his brothers, “What do we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood?
Come on, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay a hand on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh,” and his brothers agreed.
When Midianite traders passed by, his brothers pulled Joseph out of the pit and sold him for twenty pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took Joseph to Egypt.
When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes.
He went back to his brothers and said, “The boy is gone! What am I going to do?”
So they took Joseph’s robe, slaughtered a male goat, and dipped the robe in its blood.
They sent the robe of many colors to their father and said, “We found this. Examine it. Is it your son’s robe or not?”
His father recognized it. “It is my son’s robe,” he said. “A vicious animal has devoured him. Joseph has been torn to pieces!”
Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth around his waist, and mourned for his son many days.
All his sons and daughters tried to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “No,” he said. “I will go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” And his father wept for him.
Meanwhile, the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and the captain of the guards.
Harbored sin leads to more sin and destruction.
No one undergoing a trial should say, “I am being tempted by God,” since God is not tempted by evil, and he himself doesn’t tempt anyone.
But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desire.
Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death.
Don’t you know that if you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of that one you obey—either of sin leading to death or of obedience leading to righteousness?
But thank God that, although you used to be slaves of sin, you obeyed from the heart that pattern of teaching to which you were handed over,
and having been set free from sin, you became enslaved to righteousness.
I am using a human analogy because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you offered the parts of yourselves as slaves to impurity, and to greater and greater lawlessness, so now offer them as slaves to righteousness, which results in sanctification.
For when you were slaves of sin, you were free with regard to righteousness.
So what fruit was produced then from the things you are now ashamed of? The outcome of those things is death.
But now, since you have been set free from sin and have become enslaved to God, you have your fruit, which results in sanctification—and the outcome is eternal life!
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.