Genesis 37. Joseph.
Joseph brings a bad report about his brothers to his father (vs.2). Israel (Jacob, Joseph's father) loved Joseph the best of all his children because he was Rachel's son and the Bible says in verse 3 "because he was the son of his old age." So Israel makes him a tunic of many colors.
The fact that Israel loved Joseph the best (and clearly showed it by the coat of many colors and probably other obvious ways as well), made the brothers mad. The brothers "hated him and could not speak peaceably to him" (vs. 4). Then Joseph opens his big mouth and tells him about this dream he has that interpreted comes across as he will rule over his brothers. Then he has another dream about ruling over his brothers and parents--he tells them that one, too!
Verse 10 says "his father rebuked him . . ." for sharing the dream then verse 11 says "his brothers envied him, but his father kept the matter in mind."
Interesting. First of all, was it necessary for Joseph to bring a bad report about his brothers to his dad? Did sharing whatever facts he knew about his brothers help them, or just wound relationships? Should Joseph have kept all these dreams to himself and not shared them? What did he think he was accomplishing by "sharing" them? Obviously, Israel thought these dreams might mean something important because he didn't just brush the thought of the dream aside, but "kept the matter in mind".
Do I sometimes "share" something that needs to be kept in my heart? Or, do I share it with the wrong people? Perhaps Joseph could have just shared it with Rachel, his wife. (Or one of his other wives--Leah?) I think I am probably guilty of "sharing" things when I should just shut up or "ponder them in my heart". Isn't that what Mary did in Luke 2:19? "But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart."
The next part of the story talks about Joseph going to see his brothers while they were out feeding the flocks (per his father's sending him). The brothers see Joseph from afar and make plans to kill him. Reuben tries to deliver Joseph from this and suggests they just throw him in a pit. So, they do that instead.
I find it interesting in verse 25 that they have no feelings of guilt apparently, because then they sit down to eat a meal! That's when they see some foreigners and decide it would be best to sell Joseph so they can make some money. And they also seem to thinking that selling him into slavery is less sinful than killing him. It somehow makes them less guilty. Look at verse 27: (Judah says) "'Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh.' And his brothers listened."
How guilty I am of rationalizing one sin over another! Sin is sin. It's all bad. Bad for me and bad for how it hurts other people.
Reuben evidently wasn't around during the eating and selling into slavery event because when he comes back (I'm guessing from doing the work of tending to the flocks) and sees that Joseph is not in the pit, he is so upset that he tears his own clothes.
Next the brothers kill a goat and tear up Joseph's tunic of many colors and lie to their father about Joseph's whereabouts/death. How could they live with themselves seeing how upset Israel was?
How twisted is it that they tried to comfort him (verse 35)?
It's funny (not really) how we hurt others by our sin and then attempt to comfort them from the pain we caused instead of just coming clean and being honest and asking for forgiveness.
The chapter ends with us finding out that Joseph ends up being sold to Potiphar, an Egyptian officer of Pharoah and captain of the guard.
