Read with Me
Genesis 37:18-22 (HCSB)
They saw him in the distance, and before he had reached them, they plotted to kill him. They said to one another, “Here comes that dreamer! 20 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!”
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 their hands and return him to his father.
Listen with Me
Neither Joseph nor Jacob had any idea of the depth of animosity that had grown up in the brothers against Joseph. It had become so strong that their desire to kill him was not hyperbole.
As they saw Joseph approaching from a distance, there was no mistaking that it was him. His distinctive robe not only identified him, it also spun up the resentment in his brothers’ hearts to new heights. That was when one of them, we are spared knowing who, recommenced killing him and disposing of his body in one of the many cisterns that dotted the landscape.
A young man traveling alone was certainly liable to becoming prey for the lions and bears that roamed the land at that period in history. An attack would be a perfectly logical explanation that would satisfy their father, although it would doubtlessly make him very sad for a while.
As the brother talked about this scheme with increasing earnestness, Reuben became alarmed. It was one thing to fantasize a bit about getting rid of their pest of a younger brother, but they were making plans to do it! That’s when he spoke up, proposing that they drop him into one of the cisterns to teach him a lesson, but not actually hurt him. Moses writes that he suggested this specifically to keep his other brothers from hurting or killing Joseph so that he could rescue him and take him back to their father.
As the eldest brother, the one who had the most to lose to Joseph, Reuben could have heartily joined in the plot in order to gain back the top spot among the brothers. But he was now nearly thirty years old, and was growing in wisdom and maturity, and thus he could see that this plan would only end in grief. He also believed that by letting his father know that he had single-handedly rescued Joseph from the others, it could perhaps restore him to his father’s favor after he had been caught sleeping with Bilhah, his father’s concubine (Genesis 35:22).
Pray with Me
Father, it’s fascinating to see how You work events to move Your carefully worked out plan forward. In this instance, You protected Joseph, the man chosen as the key to this phase of Your plan, as well as putting the pieces into place that will begin the process of relocating Your people to Egypt exactly as You foretold (Genesis 5:13-16). It is reassuring to know that no matter what people may try to do, they can never derail Your sovereign plan. Amen.