18 They saw him from afar, and before he came near to them they conspired against him to kill him. 19 They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. 20 Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits. Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams.” 21 But when Reuben heard it, he rescued him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.” 22 And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him”—that he might rescue him out of their hand to restore him to his father. 23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the robe of many colors that he wore. 24 And they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.
25 Then they sat down to eat. And looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing gum, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. 26 Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? 27 Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened to him. 28 Then Midianite traders passed by. And they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. They took Joseph to Egypt.
29 When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he tore his clothes 30 and returned to his brothers and said, “The boy is gone, and I, where shall I go?” 31 Then they took Joseph’s robe and slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. 32 And they sent the robe of many colors and brought it to their father and said, “This we have found; please identify whether it is your son’s robe or not.” 33 And he identified it and said, “It is my son’s robe. A fierce animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces.” 34 Then Jacob tore his garments and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days. 35 All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted and said, “No, I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” Thus his father wept for him. 36 Meanwhile the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard.
(ESV)
STOP! Think a little 🤔 What is God saying to you?
- What is the writer saying?
- How do I apply this to my life?
Joseph’s brothers saw him coming and they conspired together to kill him. Their intention was to report that a fierce animal had killed him and see what would become of his dreams. Reuben (The eldest of the brothers) rescued him by changing the plan. He suggested that instead of killing him, they throw him in a pit. His intention was to come back later, rescue him and return him to his father. When Joseph arrived, they grabbed him, stripped off his robe and threw him in an empty pit.
And then they sat down to eat. While they are having lunch, they see a caravan of Ishmaelite traders heading down from Gilead toward Egypt to trade. Judah (The fourth eldest brother) has his own bright idea. He says, “What profit do we make by killing him, we can make a real profit if we sell him as a slave, then his blood is not on our hands.” (He may have been right, but they were by no means innocent). When the traders come by, they pull Joseph out of the pit and sell him for twenty shekels of silver (8 ounces; just less than 250g).
When Reuben returned to the pit, it was empty. He tore his clothes (a sign of distress and mourning) because he’d lost his opportunity to rescue him and, as eldest, he would be responsible to explain his brother’s disappearance. The brothers then took Joseph’s coat, killed a goat and dipped it in the goat’s blood. They took the coat to their father and said they had found it and wanted him to identify if it was Joseph’s. They left him to recognise it and to come up with his own explanation for what had happened to Joseph. Then Jacob tore his clothes and mourned his son’s death for many days. None of his sons or daughters could console him. He said he would go to death in mourning. In the meantime, Joseph had been sold in Egypt to Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh’s guard.
The brothers think they will improve their relationship with their father by getting rid of his favourite. Their hatred had grown to the point that they were willing to commit murder (God warned Cain that sin was crouching at the door just before he killed Abel, Gen 4:7). God intervenes and, through Reuben and Judah, He preserves Joseph’s life. The brothers then weave together a story of deception using goat’s blood to pretend Joseph had died. The story is rather ironic because Jacob had used a goat to deceive his father (Gen 27:16) and deception had continued in his family. We cannot hope to bring about change for good through deceit and deception. If God isn’t giving you the position or the responsibilities you think you deserve, is there something about your character that you need to work on first?