Title: Joseph being sold! / Genesis 37:12-36
Content Title: Joseph being sold!
Bible: Genesis 37:12-36
Date: 1998. 6. 21 (Sunday) Sunday afternoon at Mission Church
Review: Summary of Genesis 37 / Events of the Dreaming Boy Joseph!
Joseph was left at home with his father when his brothers tended the flocks at Shechem. His father Jacob was curious about the well-being of his sons and what they were doing. So he sends Joseph to his brothers' shepherd to find out how they are doing. In this scene, we can see the sincere and obedient character of Joseph.
* I will go to my brothers (verses 12-14). / When his father Jacob told him to go, he actively showed his will of obedience even though he knew the hatred of his brothers.
* Wandering in the fields (verses 15-16) / Arriving in the fields of Shechem, there were no brothers, but they did not return and actively search for them. Not moderate obedience, but active obedience.
* Goes to Dothan to find his brothers (verse 17) / Joseph's obedience asks for the whereabouts of his brothers and leads them to Dothan where they are. It seems that he has walked the path so far by himself. This road is 110 km long. It is almost 300 miles. I went to my brothers on this wilderness road alone. This is great obedience.
The brothers saw Joseph coming first. As soon as they saw the younger brother who had come 300 miles, the first thing they thought of was to kill him. It was because of a dream Joseph had that they were so upset with their brother.
Human envy is so poisonous. It's not really any other real situation, it's disgusting and he wants to kill his brother because he had the wrong dream... This shows that a person is clearly an evil sinner. It can be seen that a person can become so evil as time passes. They say that he killed his brother Joseph and threw him into a pit and that an evil beast ate it up.
Ex) The reason the Lord was crucified was due to the envy of the rulers of Israel.
* The eldest brother Reuben's suggestion (verses 21-22) / Let's not kill ourselves, but just throw it into the pit. Although he sympathized with his brothers like an older brother, he tries to turn Joseph into his father out of love for his father.
* Removes Joseph's colored clothes, throws him into an empty pit, and eats food (verses 23-25) / The horse does not shed blood, which is the same as a dead life. They will become food for the wild beasts. Taking off your colored clothes is like stripping off your father's love. They took off their colored clothes like thorns on their eyes, tied them up, and threw them into the pit, and the brothers were enjoying their food with peace of mind. The unrepentant appearance of the brothers who put their younger brother to death and sit comfortably and eat food is that of a sinner.
As he sat down to eat, he saw the Ishmaelite merchants passing by on the road in the wilderness. You may have seen slaves, animals and goods being dragged away to be sold.
* Judas' proposal (verses 25-28) / Then Judas makes a wonderful proposal. It's about selling your brother. Of course, he said, "What good is it if you kill him and steal his blood?" One word is nothing more than a way to persuade him to sell him. Because it was not the first time he had such a thought, but the thought he had at the moment he saw the merchants.
Of course, the brothers all agreed with this proposal. Their emotions were extreme, but there was no reason to be afraid to make money. In the end, during Midian's appeal, he sold them to the Ishmaelites for 20 pieces of silver as slaves. At this time, adult slaves were sold for 30 pieces of silver and children for 20 pieces of silver.
* The descendants of Isaac are sold to the descendants of Ishmael / Indeed, Satan's strategy is amazing. The descendants who become God's people and inherit the promise are the descendants of Isaac. As the eldest son, Ishmael was embarrassed and expelled from the house of Abraham. But now the merchants of Ishmael are taking Joseph, the descendant of Isaac, as a slave. Satan, who knew all this, would have been delighted. It is like Jesus being sold to Judas Iscariot for 30 pieces of silver.
* Joseph's colored garments were soaked in goat blood (vv. 31-32). / The colored clothes she wore with extreme love returned to her father with unspeakable heartache and despair. All this was due to the envy of the brothers. The envy has swallowed up both the affection for the younger brother and the respect for the father.
* Jacob's sorrow / He tore his clothes, tied his waist with sackcloth, and mourned for his son for a long time. Even though all his children comforted him, he was not comforted. Jacob's sorrow was so desperate that he wanted to go to the world of the dead with his dead son Joseph.
In Jacob's sorrow, we can say that it is like the sorrow of God the Father, who watched his son's death on the cross and expressed his sorrow with darkness and silence, and with lightning and thunder.
The Israelites took off the colored robe, a sign of their love, which they had given to the Son of God, Jesus, and treated him as a shame. In the end, everything was stained with blood.
* Sold to Egypt (verse 36) / The place we went to sell Joseph was the house of Potiphar, a servant of Pharaoh in the land of Egypt, the captain of the guard. However, the place where the promised descendants go, even if they are sold as slaves, is the place where God's providence is fulfilled. Who knew that I would be sold here as a slave and become Prime Minister! Hallelujah! According to Joseph's words, God sent me ahead of me to save the lives of the whole world during a time of famine.
Realizing that God's providence is being fulfilled no matter how difficult or difficult it is, let us keep our faith by faithfully obeying the word of the Lord with thanksgiving, praise, and whatever we do anytime, anywhere! Then, sooner or later, God's promise... the dreams he has given us will surely come true. Amen!