Chapter 37 opens in verse 1 by telling us that “Jacob lived in the land where his father stayed, the land of Canaan,” explaining that the two brothers are indeed separated as the angel told Rebekah that they would be and further showing us that Jacob was choosing to live as his father did, as a man of God’s promise.
Then the second verse leads us straight into Jacob’s relationship with his son, Joseph, and Joseph’s relationship with his other brothers. Keep in mind that anyone from the seed of the promise will always have hostility with the seed of the enemy as the Lord told us in chapter 3, and as we see here now, too, among the brothers.
Sometimes in this world it truly seems like we can be stuck in a dark pit with no way out and just when it seems like it can’t get any worse, it does - as Joseph experienced here in this chapter. Also, it seems as though when we try to do the right thing like Reuben did in this chapter, the Spirit prohibits us and we can’t seem to see why at the moment. We all know that the Lord works in mysterious ways, but when we’re just looking at one chapter and not the whole story, a lot if people are quick to lose faith in the bigger picture and only focus on the darkness of this one pit. Have you been only looking at the darkness of your pit, failing to keep faith that the Lord might be prohibiting something from working in order for His whole story to play out?
Last Sunday at my church, which I had to watch online due to quarantine, they were explaining 2020 and all of the fear and anxiety they felt for the church when everything had to be shut down, and all that had to take place in order for the church to keep working and they shared this verse:
“Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia.” Acts 16:6 NIV
Sometimes the Spirit keeps us from something and we just don’t know why, as I’m sure Reuben felt in this situation where he tried to save his brother and when he returned to save him found him gone and already sold by his brothers into slavery. In the church‘s story, while they were only seeing a dark pit and didn’t understand the cause either, I was learning more about the Lord in quarantine and felt more comfortable coming to church in my car because then I didn’t have to wear the “newbie” sign on my forehead. The whole process of 2020 which the church and the world saw as a dark pit is what led me to salvation through Jesus Christ. Now, I know that there has been a lot of loss in 2020 and I am not trying to desensitize the hurt and sadness that this past year has brought the world whatsoever. All I am trying to explain is that, like with Joseph’s dark pit, the Lord is always working, even when we may not see it in the moment. The Lord allows plague, war and famine to occur in order for His children to lean on Him and return to His love so that He may bring them to His promised land with Him one day, as we will read more about later towards the end of the Old Testament. Your dark pit is never the end.
We may not always see the whole story when we’re staring at the dark pit, but just like Joseph’s story where he’s now sold into slavery in Egypt, the Lord is always on His throne. He’s always working for good for His people, and He is always faithful. I can’t wait for us to read about how the Lord uses Joseph in Egypt together.
Have a blessed day!
Sof
Right! The children of the enemy will always be envious of our relationship with our Creator, living in the sin that separates them from Him. Just like Jesus Himself was crucified for calling Himself a son of God, so will we be persecuted for being children of God as well. As followers of Christ, we should not only expect... but rejoice when we face persecution, not that we have done anything disrespectful, but because we are living as our model and Savior. If people don’t accept you for your message of the gospel, “shake the dust off from you.” 🤍
I just taught this lesson in my Sunday school class and one of the kids so eloquently reminded the class that people can be jealous of you and hate you but it doesn’t mean you’ve done anything wrong. Such a great reminder that sometimes walking tall in Christ will change others views about it but it doesn’t mean that we’ve done something it’s usually more about the other person than ourselves.
That’s a great point, too!! I love how you pulled out the similarities because as we are all descendants of the promise through Jesus, we all may be facing children of the enemy who are jealous of us and it’s a great reminder that it’s not anything personal and so to always forgive whoever wrongs us! Another girlfriend shared with me over text message how it reminds her to not ever let an ounce of sin into her heart because the envy that they allowed into their hearts lead to jealousy and hatred and then they sold their brother for 20 shekels and she asked how many times in life do we “sell out for sin”? It’s so true sin…
Sofia,
I love how you used the analogy of the dark pit and how we may be going through dark times at the moment but it won’t last forever. It reminds me of the saying it’s always darkness before the dawn.
I also noticed in chapter 37 that Jospeh was going through a similar journey as his dad when Esaú was jealous of Jacob because he was set to inherit the blessing. Esaú was very jealous and wanted to kill his brother because of it. A lot of the violence between siblings have been due to jealously.
I’m interested to see how Joseph’s story unfolds and if he will be able to live out his dreams.
Thank you for sharing!