From The Pasture to The Pit: The First Leg of Joseph’s Journey

Key Verse:  Genesis 37:18, 20  (NKJV)

Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, they conspired against him to kill him.

Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, ‘Some wild beast has devoured him!  We shall see what will become of his dreams!”

Last week, our focus was on Joseph whose journey had unexpected twists and turns before he experienced the manifestation of the vision God had given him as a young lad.

Joseph was Israel’s favorite son, born of his favorite wife (Rachel), and “the son of his old age”. (Genesis 37:3). The fact that He treated Joseph better than the other sons made the brothers both envy and hate him. So much so that his brothers discussed actually murdering Joseph.  Rueben, the eldest of them all,  convinced them that since Joseph was family, they should not kill him, but throw him into the pit with no water.  The brothers listened and agreed, but Rueben’s secret plan  was to double back alone, rescue Joseph, then return him to their father Israel (also called Jacob).  

Since they agreed to not kill him, Judah’s idea was to sell him, which they did when some Ishmaelites came along headed to Egypt.  (More about that later.)  This is how Joseph got to Egypt where the Ishmaelites, in turn,  sold him to Potipher. The rest of Judah’s plan was to soak Joseph’s coat in goat’s blood, take it back to their father, to make him believe that Joseph had been killed by a wild animal.  So much hatred and deceit.

How many of us would have allowed despair to flood in, feeling as if God had abandoned us if we were in a similar circumstance? How many of us would feel that God Himself had set us up to fail and be humiliated?  Would these developments have caused us to doubt and believe that the dreams & visions were really figments of our imaginations?

Have ever experienced a family member or  someone who was supposed to love you and have your back actually do something that made you feel utterly betrayed?  If not, perhaps you know someone who has experienced that.  What does one do with that hurt, anger, and pain?  How does one process it? Would you be able to forgive that person and be reconciled whether they owned their actions and asked for forgiveness or not?  

We cannot properly respond to that kind of hurt and deception without the help of the Holy Spirit and the  willingness to surrender “control” to Him. Our first thought may be to strike back to get revenge or to give in to crippling feelings of rejection that cause us “shut down” spiritually and emotionally. Those are reactions. Joseph did neither.  He continued to trust in God’s divine plan for his life even though the circumstance looked dim at the time.

We must realize that God would have us to keep our focus on Him to respond properly in a God honoring way, instead of reacting which is a knee jerk  action (requiring no thought). The brothers’ weapon of deceit did not prosper in the end.  Joseph kept his focus on the ultimate plan of God as he was shown in the dreams/visions, and on the faithfulness of his/our God.

Here are two (of several) scriptures that come to mind on which we might focus that would give us some clarity and direction if we ever have to deal with betrayal.  

• Psalm 51:10  (KJV)  Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

• Isaiah 54:17 (NKJV) No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn.  This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their righteousness is from Me,” Says the Lord.

Blessings, 

~CWP~