Story 58 Jacob’s Favored Son
In all those years of Jacob’s travels, Esau had grown to a man of vast fortunes. The customs of his family had also changed. Esau did not marry women from Abraham’s heritage. His marriages to Canaanite women deeply connected his life and children to the Canaanite nations around him. They worshipped false idols and did not follow in the ways of Abraham or his God. Esau’s marriages showed deep contempt for God’s covenant.
When Jacob returned to the land, it became clear that there was not enough land for two great clans to live on in the area. Someone had to go, and Jacob had the blessings of the firstborn son. There were many places in the Promise Land where Esau could have gone with his flocks to stop the crowding. Instead, he left the area completely. He moved his clan with all of his possessions to a land far away. Once again, Esau’s contempt for the promises of God was clear. Yet in spite of his rebellion the blessings of God were on Esau. God was faithful to his covenant to Abraham even when his descendants were not. They grew to become a whole nation of people called the Edomites. They settled along the hills of the region of Seir.
Jacob married women from family connected to Abraham and Sarah. The worship and culture of his wives were close to those of God’s family, and they honored God’s ways. The clan continued to live in the land of his fathers. They were in Canaan, the land that God had promised them. Yet the land had not been given to them yet. They were still nomads, and other, more powerful cities and nations ruled the region.
At that time, Jacob’s sons tended to the flocks of the family. One day Joseph, Rachel’s firstborn son, was watching over the animals with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah. At some point, they did something out in the fields that Joseph didn’t like. The Bible doesn’t tell us what it was, but it was serious enough that he went back and reported on them to his father. His half brothers weren’t very happy with him about that.
But the real problem was much worse. Jacob loved Joseph more than he loved any of his others sons. Joseph was the eleventh son, and he was born when Jacob was older and ready to enjoy the amusements of a little boy. And this son came to him through Rachel, the great love of his life.
Jacob did not try to hide his special affection for his favored boy. In fact, he showed it off. He made Joseph a kingly robe with lavish decorations. In a world where each family member would only have two or three pairs of clothes, this was truly a remarkable present. It was almost like a royal gift. It was probably a sign to the rest of Jacob’s sons that Joseph was the one he had chosen to lead the family when he was gone. When his other sons saw the magnificent gift, they burned with a heated jealousy.
Why hadn’t Jacob learned from his own parents? Why didn’t he remember how his father Isaac had favored Esau and all the trouble it caused? Why would he allow the terrible pattern to continue with his own sons? We don’t know the answer, but we will see that he would once again suffer terrible consequences for it.
Try to imagine what it would be like to live in those days. The clan of Jacob lived in tents that were grouped together so they could protect each other from hostile invaders. But that also meant that they very close to each other with only cloth and leather walls to protect their privacy.
Imagine how well they knew each other. They all worked together to manage the great wealth of the family. They had travelled all over the region together. Each family member was blessed to take part in the abundance of Jacob’s blessings. But they were also chained to the pain and frustrations of the family. There was nowhere else to go. Joseph’s brothers lived every day of their life watching him get the royal treatment by their own father. It was harsh form of constant shame, and they hated Joseph for it. He made them so jealous that none of them could speak a word of kindness to him. Imagine how lonely it was for Joseph! What a sad family Jacob created with his small heartedness!
One day, Joseph had a dream. He was foolish enough to tell his brothers about it. This is how Joseph described it:
“‘…We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while our sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.’”
Wow. That was quite a dream. Do you understand what it meant. This younger, favorite son of Jacob just told all his older brothers that he was having dreams where they would bow down at his feet. His brothers did not like that at all. They believed dreams were often pictures of the future. They understood that dreams could be potent with truth. Imagine the annoyance and bitterness in their voices when they said, “‘Do you intend to reign over us?’” Surely he was trying to claim his place as head of the family! From that day on, their hatred for Joseph only grew worse. Can you understand why?
Joseph might have learned a lesson from this, but he didn’t. When he had another dream, he went ahead and told them all about it: “‘…this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me,’” he explained. He told this dream to Jacob as well, and his father rebuked him. “‘What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and all your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?’”
The bitterness of Joseph’s brothers continued to intensify, but Jacob kept the dreams in mind. Perhaps God had a purpose in them.