Jealousy in the People of God

Introduction

This week we begin the last majour section of the book of Genesis and focus on one of it’s most famous characters: Joseph. Not only is this story one of the most well-known in Scripture, it is an important conclusion to the story of the people of God as has been told from Adam right up to this point in the book of Genesis. When you think about the story of Joseph, there are probably several details that come to mind. The coat of many colours, the slavery in Egypt, imprisonment, and of course the dreams. In fact, a popular cartoon produced by Dreamworks based on this story was titled, Joseph, King of Dreams. Indeed, dreams play an important role in the story as there are six of them. In a time before the written Scriptures, God often communicated to people through dreams, visions, or other means we might consider more mystical. Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Daniel 2 bothered him so much because in the ancient world dreams were often viewed as the means by which a divine being would communicate to man, especially to Kings or those in covenant with a god. The presence of dreams in the life of Joseph, dreams that are confirmed to be sent from God, not only give a message but also display a unique relationship that Joseph has with God by the faith which is also unique among his brothers.

There is a lot we could look at, and a lot we will look at, in the story of Joseph. But it’s important to recognize a couple of common themes that define the story as a whole. First, God’s provision for those who are faithful to him and his faithfulness to his word, and we’ll dig into that more as the story progresses. Second, there is a continuing theme of strife in the covenant family. This strife recalls a difficult past, not only in the covenant family, but in the human race as a whole. There is strife between Adam and Eve as a result of the curse, strife ends the life of Abel at the hands of his brother, strife between Abraham and Lot, and of course strife between Jacob and Esau. Conflict with God begets conflict with other people, often those who are close to us.

Joseph Favoured by His Father and God

This strife takes centre stage in our text as we see a war form between Joseph and his brothers, a war fueled by jealousy and shame which drives the men who will become the namesakes of the tribes of God’s people to do the unthinkable. This is no new war, in fact it is not even new in this family. Leah and Rachel had been at war with each other fighting over the attention of their husband and who could have the most children. This conflict undoubtedly transferred in some measure to the sons, making jealousy normal in the family, especially jealousy over their father’s favour. The favour of Jacob, of God, and Joseph’s own righteousness create a perfect storm that fuels the hatred of the older boys.

Joseph Portrayed as Righteous compared with his brothers

Our text begins when, in verse 2, we are told that the following are the generations of Jacob. That is, from here to the end of the book will cover the history of Jacob’s descendants compared to the short list we were given in chapter 36 of Esau’s descendants. But it doesn’t focus on Reuben, the oldest son of Jacob, or Judah, the oldest one who hasn’t ruined his chances with being given the right of the firstborn. It starts with Jacob’s second youngest son and an incident involving his brothers Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher, the sons of Jacob’s concubines. seventeen year old Joseph gives a bad report of these boys, which highlights the distinction between him and them. They are likely near the bottom of the list of Jacob’s favourite sons and they receive a bad report from the young Joseph. The distinction is also in their character. Joseph obviously was not participating in whatever unsavoury behaviour his brothers were practicing, and this puts him even more in limelight of his father while the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah fall even further from their father’s graces. While’s Joseph walks in righteous conduct, he has now been alienated from four of his brothers and the seeds of bitterness are sown.

Joseph Favoured by his Father

As we keep reading into verse 3 we see that Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other sons. This, we are told, is because he was the son of his old age. The meaning of this phrase is a little unclear, but it likely has to do with Joseph being the oldest of Rachel’s two sons. He also acts more righteously than his brothers and in some way becomes the firstborn that Jacob had always wanted.

After Reuben’s disgusting attempt to wrench power form his father, Jacob’s attention turned away from his firstborn and over to the second youngest son, the first son of his favourite wife. This may be because he is a reminder of the women he loved, and so Joseph receives special favour from his father in a family that runs on jealousy. It becomes a recipe for disaster. Jacob than goes out of his way to show this favour openly by making him a robe of many colours, or a robe with long sleeves depending on how you take the translation of this rare Hebrew word. Either way, the point is that this is a very special article of clothing that is clearly made for one purpose; to show that Joseph is the favoured son.

Now, it is quite normal for jealousy to be present when one child is favoured over others. Especially when we are young and immature, if we see our brother or sister get a little more ice cream than we would likely make the injustice known. But remember this was in a time when the older sons got more honour and the oldest son got a double portion of blessing and inherited the tribe as a sort of King or chief. With the patriarch paying so much attention and giving so much honour to his teenage goodie two shoes brother, this double portion and inheritance may be at risk for the older brothers, causing even more division and jealousy in this regard.

Joseph Favoured by God: The Two Dreams

But tensions escalate even more quickly with the two dreams. There are several times throughout the story of Joseph where events are repeated or doubled. Pharoah will have two dreams, the two prisoners will have two dreams, Josephs brothers go to Egypt twice for food and so on. We get an interpretation of this in chapter 41:32 where Joseph says the doubling of the dreams means that it is fixed by God. Even here, at the beginning of the story, we are reminded that God’s plan is at work here. These dreams, which symbolically show Joseph’s family bowing down to him, will only be fulfilled after the terrible events that will follow. God has sovereignly given a hint to future events and confirmed that they are going to happen. Despite the sad things that Joseph will experience, God has already authored those events and fit them together for his glory and for the ultimate good of his people.

But the message that Joseph’s brothers get from this is not about God’s sovereignty. It’s that, not only is Joseph more righteous than them and more loved by their father, but he is also favoured by God. Just as the voice from heaven would declare Christ to be the one God is pleased with, these dreams confirmed that God’s favour and blessing was with Joseph in a way that it was not with his other brothers. This is consistent with how God will act towards Joseph later in his life where, although he suffered many things, God’s favour remained with him.

This becomes the straw that breaks the camels back so to speak. Joseph’s brothers hated him so much that they couldn’t speak to him without showing that anger openly. And although they hated him already, we are told these dreams made them hate him even more. Not only this, but in verse 11 his dream makes them jealous. Their jealousy shows that they understand what God has communicated, that his favour is on Joseph and they will serve him with the honour of the oldest brother. Like Cain before them, they don’t seek God’s face to get the favour of God for themselves, but rather they ultimately decide to get rid of the problem. So the cycle of conflict in the human race continues even in the covenant community of God.

Joseph Betrayed and Sold into Slavery

In verse 12 we are told that the older brothers were pasturing their father’s flock near Shechem, which is about 80 KM north of Hebron where Jacob had settled. Now it seems that Jacob was using Joseph as a sort of supervisor since the incident with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah. He is to go up and check on them and then bring a report back to Jacob. It’s hard to believe that Jacob was really keeping up with the family conflicts because his sons would obviously know why Joseph was there and they would not be happy about it. Nevertheless, Joseph goes on to Shechem but doesn’t find his brothers there. An odd detail is this stranger that informs him on their move to Dothan, another 30 km north of Shechem. Here he is ambushed by his brothers and the rest is history.

A few things to note in this case is that even though the brother want to kill him together when he first comes in sight, there is obvious hesitation to this plan. Specifically from Reuben, the oldest, and Judah, the father of the Kings of Israel. Reuben secretly plots to rescue Joseph by having the others throw him into a pit so he could come back later and get him. This may have been motivated by a desire to win his father’s favour back, but that’s not clear. Judah also goes from wanting to murder his brother to selling him as a slave. When it comes down to it, they find they cannot go as far as Cain did with his brother and so Joseph is sold, rather ironically, to some Ishmaelites.

The parallel with Cain should be noticeable, but it is troubling that this conflict exists within the people of God. When Cain killed Abel, he became the father of a godless nation that was eventually destroyed by the global flood, while the descendants of Seth would go on to be the survivors of the flood that was to purge this evil away from the earth. However, that evil endured in Noah’s children, proving that a global cleansing was not going to get rid of evil in the world.

So God founded the community of faith with his promises to Abraham. A covenant family of priests who would bear his image by showing his character to the world so that the world may be blessed by knowing their God. Now here the cycle has repeated itself. These brothers are led by their passions and their jealousy to sell their brother into slavery and fake his death. They may not have spilt his blood, but they may as well have since their hearts were full of hatred and they never expected to see Joseph ever again. Now the problem was out of the way and Jacob would be forced to turn his focus towards these traitors. At a glance it may seem like the covenant community failed. The one righteous son has been sent to Egypt as a slave and the guilty brothers will inherit the covenant by their own wickedness. Have they cheated the system? Have they managed to manipulate God as well as their father? Is the covenant community doomed to always be torn apart by hatred, jealousy, and wrath until it is destroyed by the judgement of God?

Unfortunately, far too often we see communities of the Christian faith, churches that are supposed to be preaching the good news of the love of Christ and showing that love in their actions, display coldness and even hatred towards other Christians. Social media websites have perhaps made this even worse by making it easier than ever to argue with someone you don’t know well and can’t look in the eye. The result has often been bitterness, resentment, anger, breaking of fellowship, tribalism, and all other manner of division in churches and other places where Christian’s gather and communicate. However, this isn’t something that just came about with the invention of social media; churches and Christians have struggled with this type of jealousy and division right back at the beginning of the church, and someone almost always gets hurt.

Take the Corinthian church, for example, which had set up a hierarchy based on spiritual gifts. If you could speak in tongues your were a more spiritual Christian than if you were gifted in hospitality or even teaching and preaching. There were also arguments based on who their favourite preacher was, whether someone was a follower of Paul or Apollos or Cephas. In the midst of all this bickering they were letting members get away with gross immorality.

Also in 1 Timothy 6:4 listen to how Paul describes a false teacher,

English Standard Version Chapter 6

4 he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions

Oh, how this should grieve our hearts, for we live in a day where an unhealthy craving for controversy is often excused. Many who think they love theology really just love to argue about it. Some who think they love evangelism really just like to yell at or outsmart unbelievers. How many issues over the last year have torn Christians apart limb from limb? Whether it is has been the response to government orders and the virus, the US election, the various social issues that have come up, Christians have been fierce to one another. If we only spent more time meditating on how God loved those Christians that disagree with us so much that he sent his son to die for them and less time thinking about how wrong they are.

Where does this hostility come from? Maybe when we are involved we think it comes from the “other side” not understanding whats right. However, James 4 tells us a different story. Verse 1 asks the question, “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you?” What do you think? What causes church splits? What stops two Christians from ever speaking to each other again? What motivates that Facebook post that mercilessly belittles Christians who have a different take on something that is not a Gospel issue? James’s answer is this: your passions are at war among your members, that is, among the different pieces of the body of Christ.

English Standard Version Chapter 4

2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.

Desire and do not have. Make no mistake, the reason that Cain killed Abel is because Abel got something that he wanted, this was also the motivation behind the actions of Joseph’s brothers. When we fight and squabble, what do we want? Thomas Hobbes, the political philosopher, said that all people are at war with each other all of the time and the things that are at stake in this war motivate all hostile actions. The first is the drive to get what we don’t have but which would be advantageous to have. The second is to keep or protect what we have. And the third is to gain recognition, honour, and glory. He argues that all human desire boils down to these three pursuits, and they are the root of the war we wage on each other constantly as we seek to get, keep, and glorify. Usually the fights we have with other Christians will fall under the latter of those three things. We want to be recognized as the one who was right, the smart, the righteous, the discerning. There is nothing better than hearing someone say, “actually, you’re right” and there’s nothing more painful than admitting, “I’m wrong.”

But James goes an interesting place with that. While Thomas Hobbes assumes that society is and always will be built on that principle that all men are at war with each other, the Bible calls us to something different. James 4:4 reads

James 4:4 ESV

You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

Wait, where did worldliness come from? Well, Hobbes was right, human society in this world will always exist with a constant war for our rights being waged between each member and the rule of law is needed to act as a sort of peacemaker in that grand conflict. Peace in the world is an uneasy compromise where we give up our imagined right to pursue certain desires in exchange for security from losing our rights to someone stronger than us. But James is saying that when the church acts like that, they are getting their cues from the world, not from God. And the spiritual adultery that results from that is us worshiping our desires and our rights rather than the glory and right of God.

Rather than imitating the godliness of Joseph, his brothers hated him for it. Rather than rejoicing in their father’s love for him, they were jealous. Rather than meditating on the divine revelation that God had given Joseph, they sought to kill him so that it’s message would never come true. In short, they were acting like Cain, like the world, like their fallen natures told them to. And when they acted like that, they were not seeking the glory of God. They worshipped their rights, and so often do we.

But when Christ came things changed. When He died on the cross he gave up every right, even the right to live, so that we may benefit from his death. Not only did this wash away the sins of his people and overcome their previously worldly pursuits, it founded a new society, one that is a direct contradiction of what Hobbes said a society is. One in which the citizens follow the example of Christ and lay down their rights and desires out of love that is fueled by a dominating desire to see Christ glorified.

When people in the church of Corinth were suing one another, Paul rebuked them because they were going back to the worldly warfare of their past life. He said it would be better to simply bear the wrong like Jesus bore our wrongs on the cross (1 Cor 6).

1 John 3:16

English Standard Version Chapter 3

16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.

Phil 2:3

English Standard Version Chapter 2

3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves

Conclusion

The church is built to be a place where we would rather give up our rights, even the right to our life, than stain the glory of God in anyway. This leaves room for the kinds of relationship that require a love that sacrifices rather than demands, a care that is done for the good of others rather than our own glory and recognition, words that are meant to build up the body of Christ rather than create controversy, and faithfulness to the life which Christ has predestined us to live.

The story of Joseph does not start int a good place, but as it goes one we will see the glory of God displayed even through these actions. God works even in our weakness and sin to show his greatness. We, as Christians and as a church are going to fail sometimes. We are going to be unhappy and upset and even angry with each other sometimes. Let us be quick to repent of these attitudes and strive to be like Christ while we also commit ourselves to him, knowing that even when we are faithless he remains faithful. He will build us into a society based on Christ-like love if we abide in him firm to the end.