Read with Me
Genesis 37:29-36 (HCSB)
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 young 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 guard.
Listen with Me
Reuben returned from his shift of moving and watching over the sheep with the intention of pulling Joseph out of the cistern immediately. He figured that he would return him unharmed, the hero of the story that he hoped would return him to the good graces of his father. But when he checked the cistern, he found it empty and freaked out. Had the other brothers done away with Joseph while he had been gone? All his plans fell into dust at his feet.
Then he found out that, even though Joseph was still alive, he had been sold to a caravan of Ishmaelites who were already several miles away, down the road to Egypt, beyond their ability to catch up and recover him. It was only then that they all realized that they would have to explain Joseph’s absence to their father. They couldn’t very well just tell Jacob that they had sold his favorite son into slavery. There would be no recovery from that for any of them!
One of the brothers, again, we aren’t told who, came up with a deception that they believed would work. They had kept the special robe that Joseph always wore. What would happen if they tore it up and spattered it all over with goat blood? A reasonable person would see it and assume that the wearer of that robe had been mauled, killed, and possibly even eaten by one of the lions, wolves or bears that roamed the land. Jacob would be saddened by this great loss, it’s true. But they could turn his focus to his remaining children and grandchildren, and he would get over it.
But they badly underestimated the bond that existed between Joseph and his father. Jacob connected the dots easily enough and believed that Joseph had indeed been killed and eaten by a wild animal. But he fell into such a deep depression that no manner of distraction could pull him out of it. In fact, it lasted for twenty years. And every day, as they saw their father continue to live in the darkness, their own guilt grew.
Pray with Me
Father, You can see the end from the beginning, but we are far more limited. We often make emotional decisions without being able to see their far-reaching and long-lasting consequences. We are often tempted to buy our own relief with quick solutions that end up multiplying our sorrows going forward, and we are stunned when things work out so negatively. Help me, Lord, to always walk so close to You that You are able to guide my thoughts and inspire solutions that will fit in with Your plans and that will have no long-term negative impacts. Amen.