Last time, we discussed Joseph's birth and how he was born through his father and mother. Now it is time to get into his story in more detail. In Genesis 37, Jacob has settled back in Canaan with his family, where we find out that he shows Joseph more love than his other sons (Genesis 37:3). This makes sense, right? It is not too far fetched to understand that as parents grow older and still have kids they tend to be softer on their younger children. I don't know about you, but I've met many older men that have numerous children. In each case, older fathers I have met have been very fond of their younger children. I am no psychological expert, but one rationale for older men seemingly becoming better fathers is maybe they have more free-time, more financial resources, and their experience helps them to be more thoughtful, as well as proactive. In Jacob's case, this is a valid point of view; he definitely built his economic resources while working for Laban. Since that time, it seems that he may have also learned many valuable lessons in the process that helped him to become a wise and mature father. I think another good point to note is Jacob's love for Rachel. This is even more important in order to understand why Jacob favored Joseph. She was his first choice to marry and it would make a lot of sense that he favored her children over Leah's. Let's not forget, he was tricked into marrying Leah. So, it would be totally understandable that although he may have been a responsible husband and father, at the same time he held a stronger affection to the family he originally intended to have, which would have been with Rachel.

Another thing I notice here is a younger sibling being rebuked by his older siblings. Even though in the end we know Joseph's dreams were right on, imagine how you would feel if your younger brother told you one day that you would bow to them. On the surface I think most of us may get offended. I know I would have, especially knowing my own little brother. He was coddled more and given much different rearing than I did. My parents were much younger and understandably less mature with me. It was through their experience raising me that led to him being treated much softer than I was. They had time to grow as parents in some ways and changed their behavior a bit by the time he was born. Any older sibling would feel this was unfair and I can only imagine how Joseph's older brothers must have felt seeing Jacob treat him with more love. So, although his brothers obviously are not correct in their treatment of Joseph, let's at least try and understand where they are coming from in order to gain insight into how they came to this state of mind. Jacob initially felt the same way that his sons did about Joseph's dreams. The difference is the reaction of his heart. He holds on to patience and kept the matter in his mind (Genesis 37:11). Later in the story, we see that Jacob recalled this dream. We also see Mary making a similar recollection in the NT during Jesus' ministry (Luke 2:19, 51): "19 but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often....51 Then he returned to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. And his mother stored all these things in her heart."

Now, in the second half of the chapter, the brothers' anger about Joseph's dreams truly manifests itself when they seize the chance to get rid of him. He is there to obey Jacob's directive and check on how they were doing with the flocks. It is easy to see from following the story that this anger was not just as simple as Joseph telling them a dream they did not like. These guys had some deep rooted hatred; and, I would even say the story implies a bit of jealousy for their little brother. He received favor from their father. He was given special gifts. This was a 17 year culmination of sibling rivalry being taken to a new degree. Do you remember, from part 1, when we mentioned the rivalry between their mothers and how parents can pass down certain traits to their children? Well, here we see how bad it can get. At first they were going to kill him, but Reuben stepped up and convinced them to throw him in an empty cistern instead. He secretly planned to retrieve him later (Genesis 37:21-22) and return him to safety. That plan was thwarted, though, when an Ishmaelite caravan from Midian came by. The opportunity to get rid of Joseph and make a profit by selling him into slavery was much more appealing to the brothers who were in on the plot. Reuben was obviously not a part of this because we later see him lamenting once he realized Joseph was no longer in the cistern, in verses 29 and 30. They did not even go to Jacob in person. Instead, they decided to send him a message along with the coat he had given Joseph as a gift as their way of convincing him of his death. This is what they did, but God being the sovereign ruler that He is, had it all in His control. Joseph ended up in the house of Potiphar, an officer of Pharoah, captain of the palace guard. So begins the revelation of God's perfect plan for his servant of integrity, Joseph.