Story 59 Joseph is Sold
Joseph, the beloved son of Rachel and Jacob, grew up quite alone in the household of his father. The sons of Leah and the maidservants were very jealous of this boy who was so clearly the favorite of their father. He wore the lavish coat that their father had made just for him, and he told them of dreams where they would bow down at his feet. It was all too much to bear. Imagine how they ridiculed him behind his back as they tended to the flocks. Trouble was brewing in the house of Jacob.
There came a time when Joseph’s brothers took the family flocks out to the land of Shechem to graze. Jacob wanted to learn how they were doing, so he sent Joseph to check on them. He said, “‘Go and see if all is well with your brothers and with the flocks, and bring word back to me.’” Joseph was seventeen.
Joseph made his way to Shechem. It was a journey of fifty miles. When he got there, he wandered about, but couldn’t find his brothers anywhere. Finally, he asked a stranger if he had seen them. The stranger said yes. He happened to hear his brothers say they were going to the region of Dotham. It was about thirteen miles away. How odd that this man of Shechem would know where Joseph’s brothers were. God had provided Joseph with help at just the right time. It is something he often does for his children.
Joseph headed out to find his brothers. As he drew closer, his brothers saw him coming. He was wearing the beautifully decorated coat that his father had made for him. How they burned with jealousy at the very sight of him! They began to plot how they would kill him. They could get rid of his coat and his dreams forever.
“‘Here comes that dreamer!’ they said to each other. ‘Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we’ll see what becomes of his dreams.’” The violence of the curse was at work in these men! Didn’t they know they were the chosen ones of God? They were acting more like the sons of Caan. They were behaving in the ways of the Serpent.
As Reuben listened to them plot, he realized how serious they were. He was the oldest, and he was responsible for all their actions while they were away from their father. He tried to rescue Joseph from their murderous plans. “‘Let’s not take his life,’ he said. ‘Don’t shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern here in the desert, but don’t lay a hand on him.’” Reuben hoped to come back and rescue Joseph later and return him to his father. It wasn’t very bold for the eldest son. Where was his rebuke? They were plotting murder!
The brothers agreed. When Joseph reached them, they stripped off that hated robe and threw him into a cistern. It was a vast cavern or hole in the ground. Normally it was used to store precious water in the arid heat of the desert. This one was completely dry.
After tossing their half brother into the hole, they sat down to have a meal together. As they ate, a great caravan of camels loaded with spices came into sight. This sparked a new idea in the mind of Judah. “‘What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.’” Judah was at working trying to save Joseph’s life as well, only he did it more boldly than Reuben. Yet his plan was just as malicious as the rest of his brother’s. Kidnapping someone and selling them into slavery was no less a crime than killing them! In those days, the horrors of slavery were thought to be as bad as death itself.
When his brothers heard this, they thought it was a great idea. Not only would it get rid of their brother, but they would have the satisfaction of knowing he had become a slave. So much for bowing down to him! Best of all, they wouldn’t be guilty of murder!
As the Ishmaelite caravan from Midian drew closer, Jacob’s sons hailed them over to talk to them. They got Joseph out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels to the slave traders. Joseph became a possession to be sold once the caravan reached Egypt.
Reuben had not been a part of selling his half brother, and when he came to the cistern to set Joseph free, he found it empty. What had they done? He went to his brothers and said, “‘The boy isn’t there! Where can I turn now?’” He was responsible to make sure Joseph made it safely home.
Reuben was acting like there was nothing he could do. But if he was willing to be bold, there was plenty he could have done. He could have chased the caravan down and saved Joseph! He could have confronted his younger brothers about their terrible sin! Reuben’s goodwill towards Joseph did not stretch very far. He joined his brothers in their sin and allowed Joseph to be carried off to a foreign land.
They took Joseph’s special coat and covered it in blood. When they returned home to Jacob, they showed him the coat. They pretended that they had found it in the wilderness. They asked Jacob if he thought it was the one that belonged to Joseph. Of course it was. Jacob could only assume that the bloody cloth proved Joseph had been attacked and eaten by a wild animal.
Jacob was bitterly upset. He tore his own clothes with grief at the great loss of his treasured son. He put on sackcloth as a sign of his misery and mourned the life of Jacob for days and days. Every one of his sons and his daughter tried to bring him comfort, but nothing helped. He continually wept, saying, “‘…in mourning will I go down to the grave to my son.’”
Meanwhile, Joseph arrived in Egypt. The Ishmaelites from Midian sold Joseph to a man named Potiphar. He was a powerful man who worked as an official to Pharoah, the king of Egypt. He was the captain of the guard.
What in the world was God doing in this sinful family that he had chosen for himself? How could such messed up people be the ones who would bless the world? And how was God going to change these horrible events into something good?