To see Genesis 37:4-36 without my comments click HERE.
In Genesis 37 Joseph was
being prepared by Jacob to receive the family's birthright and
blessing although Joseph never actually received it.
Joseph had a dream that his brothers
and parents would someday bow down to him. One day when his brothers
went to the land of Shechem (to water their sheep), Joseph was sent by
Jacob/Israel to see what his brothers (that kept getting into trouble) were doing. When he arrived at Shechem he found that his brothers
were not there, instead there was a man that was there that knew his
brothers and told Joseph that his brothers went to Dothan.
The word
Dothan means “two wells”. Dothan as well as having two wells
also contained a major trade route to Egypt. It's my opinion that
Joseph's brothers were in Dothan because of the trade route, in which
they could easily take advantage of the merchants passing through.
They were buying and selling as they gambled on the market with the
traders that passed by which was unknown to their father.
When Joseph's brothers saw Joseph coming
they immediately conspired to slay him because they knew Joseph would
report to their father what they were actually doing instead of
tending sheep. Reuben was the eldest and just got done being in
trouble by laying with his father's concubine Bilhah. Reuben tried to save
Joseph's life by having his other brothers put him in a dried well
and he planned to take him out later after his brothers left.
To
illustrate the cruelty of the mindset of his brothers, this chapter tells us when
Joseph was in the well calling for help when his brothers simply ignored him, sat down
and had lunch v25.
Along came some Ishmaelites that were
carrying spices, balm, and Myrrh. These spices came from India,
Mesopotamia, and Gilead. These highly valued spices were in demand by the Egyptians for the Egyptian mummification process and it would be an understatement to say it was high priced cargo. The
Ishmaelites purchased Joseph, who was then 17, for the biblical sum of
twenty pieces of silver from Judah. This is the normal price for a
child slave (Lev 27:5). Because Judah actually was the one that sold him, this may indicate there was animosity between the two over the birthright/blessing.
His brothers, in an attempt to put the
matter at rest, killed a goat and put the blood of the goat on
Joseph's coat to deceive their father Jacob into thinking that Joseph
was killed by a wild animal. Joseph's father (Jacob/Israel) grieved
and could not be comforted by his sons.
Jacob said in verse35 “I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning.”
It's
important to notice Jacob did
not
say that he was going to mourn until he sees Joseph again in heaven
which is what most churches erroneously teach today!
Jacob
obviously believed Joseph was dead and buried in the ground!
I
have written about the subject of Christians going to heaven in
another post.
I
pray all will have a blessed day!
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