Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Genesis 37:20
Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.
20. one of the pits) Cisterns, or tanks, are necessary in that country for the storage of water. Long droughts are frequent, and the heat very great. Water is needed for the flocks and herds. The tanks are frequently covered with a stone. The aperture is narrow, and the sides of the tank converging.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Gen 37:20
We will say, some evil beast hath devoured him
Plottings of iniquity
This text is no part of revelation.
It is a premeditated falsehood, agreed to and told by Josephs brothers, to account for his absence.
I. THAT WICKED MEN DARE NOT TRUST EACH OTHER TO EXPLAIN THINGS, BUT MUST AGREE TO FALSIFY AND DECEIVE. We will say.
II. THAT IT IS A CHARACTERISTIC OF WICKED MEN TO LAY THE BLAME OF THEIR SINS UPON OTHERS. We will say, a wild beast, etc. From the very first it was so. Adam struck upon that mean device, and threw the blame of his sin upon his wife: The woman that Thou gavest me. I know of no instance in the Bible that so clearly indicates the strength of the tendency as this. Some blame one thing or person, and some another; but, like Josephs brethren, they know there is no wild beast, and they must sooner or later confess their sins and say, We are verily guilty.
III. THAT WICKED MEN FEEL THERE IS A TIME COMING WHEN THEY MUST MAKE OUT A CASE–MUST TELL HOW THINGS HAPPENED, We will say, an evil beast, etc. (T. Kelly.)
The conspiracy
I. THE VICTIM. Joseph. What were his crimes?
1. He had done his duty as superintendent of the shepherds; even though it must have been painful to him to convey bad tidings about his brethren, and painful to grieve his fathers mind by doing so. Yet he only discharged the duty of his office. The fault was theirs, not his.
2. He had been marked as his fathers special favourite and confidant. But they should have tried to be more worthy of trust themselves.
3. He had been favoured with wonderful dreams, in which their future subordinate relation was clearly indicated.
II. THE PLOTTERS.
1. Ten against one. Cowardice of this. Combination of thought and strength for a wicked purpose.
2. Ten brothers against one brother. Fratricical struggles the worst of all. Of all relatives, such near ones as these should agree.
3. Ten men, and brothers, against a youthful brother. Might and numbers are not always a proof of right (once all the world was against our elder Brother).
4. Ten wicked men against one good man. Though hand join in hand, wickedness shall not go unpunished.
5. Ten sons against a father. In plotting against Joseph they were fighting against Jacob. Those who oppose Jesus are rebelling against God.
III. THE PLOT.
1. The opportunity.
(1) They are away from home.
(2) They are alone.
(3) Joseph, in his coat of honour, approaches to inspect the flocks.
2. The conspiracy. The dreamer cometh. All agree on one point. Joseph to be put out of the way. First resolve to kill him and tell a lie to hide the crime (Gen 37:20). Reuben intercedes, intending to rescue him (Gen 37:22). They agree to this, thinking he would die of starvation. Thus they would not shed his blood, and yet would take his life. They strip off his offending coat. Approach of the merchants. Judah would make a profit by the transaction. He little thought of the great profit his wickedness would yield Gen 45:7-8). Joseph is sold. Imagine his cries and tears, &c. Gen 42:21). The remorse of Reuben, and the joy of the rest.
3. The consequences. One sin leads to another. They must resort to lying, &c. The trouble that comes upon Jacob (Gen 42:34-35). Learn:
I. Innocent people are often surrounded by evil (Joh 16:33).
II. Virtue and truth to be pursued, notwithstanding danger.
III. One sin leads to another. Ultimate concealment impossible.
IV. God makes the wrath of man to praise Him.
V. Jesus has saved us from going down into the pit, and has redeemed us from bondage. (J. C. Gray.)
Josephs confinement in a tank
The tank in which Josephs brethren cast him was apparently one of those huge reservoirs excavated by shepherds in the East, that they may have a supply of water for their flocks in the end of the dry season, when the running waters fail them. Being so narrow at the mouth that they can be covered by a single stone, they gradually widen and form a large subterranean room; and the facility they thus afford for the confinement of prisoners was from the first too obvious not to be commonly taken advantage of. In such a place was Joseph left to die–under the ground, sinking in mire, his flesh creeping at the touch of unseen slimy creatures, in darkness, alone; that is to say, in a species of confinement which tames the most reckless and maddens the best balanced spirits, which shakes the nerve of the calmest, and has sometimes left the blankness of idiocy in masculine understandings. A few wild cries that ring painfully round his prison show him he need expect no help from without; a few wild and desperate beatings round the shelving walls of rock show him there is no possibility of escape; he covers his face, or casts himself on the floor of his dungeon to escape within himself, but only to find this also in vain, and to rise and renew efforts he knows to be fruitless. Here, then, is what has come of his fine dreams. With shame he now remembers the beaming confidence with which he had related them; with bitterness he thinks of the bright life above him, from which these few feet cut him so absolutely off, and of the quick termination that has been put to all his hopes. Into such tanks do young persons especially get east; finding themselves suddenly dropped out of the lively scenery and bright sunshine in which they have been living, down into roomy graves where they seem left to die at leisure. They had conceived a way of being useful in the world; they had found an aim or a hope; they had, like Joseph, discerned their place and were making towards it, when suddenly they seem to be thrown out and are left to learn that the world can do very well without them, that the sun and moon and the eleven stars do not drop from their courses or make wail because of their sad condition. High aims and commendable purposes are not so easily fulfilled as they fancied. The faculty and desire in them to be of service are not recognised. Men do not make room for them, and God seems to disregard the hopes He has excited in them. The little attempt at living they have made seems only to have got themselves and others into trouble. They begin to think it a mistake their being in the world at all; they curse the day of their birth. Others are enjoying this life, and seem to be making something of it, having found work that suits and develops them; but, for their own part, they cannot get fitted into life at any point, and are excluded from the onward movement of the world. They are again and again flung back, until they fear they are not to see the fulfilment of any one bright dream that has ever visited them, and that they are never, never at all, to live out the life it is in them to live, or find light and scope for maturing those germs of the rich human nature that they feel within them. All this is in the way to attainment. This or that check, this long burial for years, does not come upon you merely because stoppage and hindrance have been useful to others, but because your advancement lies through these experiences. (M. Dods, D. D.)
Evil and mistaken policy
After this profound scheme no doubt there would follow a chuckle of triumph. The thing was so lucky in its plan, in its seasonableness, in its practicability; it seemed to meet every point of the case; it made an end of the whole difficulty; it turned over a new leaf in the history of the family. Let us understand that our plans are not good simply because they happen to be easy.
Let us understand that a policy is not necessarily sound because it is necessarily final. In the case before us we see both the power and the weakness of men. Let us slay–there is the power; and we will see what will become of his dreams–there is the weakness. You can slay the dreamer, but you cannot touch the dream. You can poison the preacher, but what power have you over his wonderful doctrine? Can you trace it? Where are its footprints? Ten or twelve men have power to take one lad, seventeen years of age, to double him up, and throw him, a dead carcase, into a pit. Wonderful power! What then? And we will see what become of his dreams. A word which perhaps was spoken in scorn or derision, or under a conviction that his dreams would go along with him. Still, underlying all the derision is the fact that, though the dreamer has been slain, the dream remains untouched. The principle applies very widely. You may disestablish an institution externally, politically, financially; but if the institution be founded upon truth, the Highest Himself will establish her. If we suppose that by putting out our puny arms and clustering in eager crowds round the ark of God, we are the only defenders of the faith and conservers of the Church–then be it known unto us that our power is a limited ability, that God himself is the life, the strength, the defence, and the hope of His own kingdom. The principle, then, has a double application–an application to those who would injure truth, and an application tothose who would avail themselves of forbidden facilities to maintain the empire of God amongst men. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Joseph cast into the pit
The favoured son of Jacob was but a type of the Beloved of the Father. Joseph, in being thus murdered in the intention of his brethren, and, as it were, buried in the pit, yet preserved in order to be exalted to the right hand of royalty and power, was a type of Christ crucified, buried, risen, and glorified. Joseph was far away from his father when trouble overwhelmed him, and his loud cries for help died away in the distance without reaching the parental ear. And what were the words of Jesus in the depths of His affliction? (Psa 22:1-2). Pity from man He did not expect, and if His Father had but been near Him, He felt that He could brave every danger and endure every pain. Nay, that suffering would have lost all its sting, and sorrow its misery. But the bitter and the agonizing thing was to feel that He was alone–literally alone in His unparalleled sufferings. He had come to them on a better errand than Josephs, and with a message of mercy from abetter than any earthly father. One would think that a herald from so august a court, and bearing so welcome a message, would have been hailed with acclamations of delight by the Jewish people. That people had long been looking anxiously for their long-promised Messiah. His deportment was far more lovely and prepossessing than Josephs–His innocency of life and warmth of brotherly affection far exceeded Josephs–He was the chiefest among ten thousand, and the altogether lovely. He pleaded with the Jews with a depth of pathos never equalled. Have you ever envied Christ? Do you envy Him His right to the throne of your heart, and have you usurped it, and seated yourself in that throne? There is such a thing, too, as envying the Lord Jesus, in the persons of His happy and highly-favoured followers. Let us cheerfully share our blessings with every afflicted Joseph who is east into the pit of adversity. (E. Dalton.)
No pit can hide from Gods eye
How were Josephs brethren to secure themselves from the reproach of the world, and the indignation of their father? They would cast Josephs body into some pit after they had killed him. But where were they to find a pit deep enough to hide him from the view of God? It was right not to disoblige their father; but was their God less to be regarded than their father? Many heathens will rise up in judgment against those professors of the true religion, who behave in such manner, as if it were a matter of indifference what sins they commit, if they can preserve their characters from suspicion. A certain Hindoo, trained up in the strictest sect of the religion of his country, had macerated his body to such a degree, that his life was in imminent danger. A Christian physician, who went to see him with the governor of the town, begged him to swallow an infusion of the Jesuits bark in wine, which he thought might preserve his life. The religion of the Indian prohibited this cure. The physician promised that none should hear of it. But the poor Indian answered, that he could not hide it from himself, and chose to die, rather than violate his conscience. (G. Lawson, D. D.)
Good intentions must be boldly carried out
Reubens intention was good, and let all due credit be given to every man who has a good intention, a merciful object in view. No one of us has a word to say against such a man. But there are times when everything depends upon tone, precision, definiteness, emphasis. I am not sure that Reuben could not have turned the whole company. There are times when one man can play with a thousand. A little one can put ten thousand to flight. Why? Because wickedness is weakness. There is more craven heartedness among bad men than ever you can find among men who are soundly, living good. Is that a hard message to some of you? You know a very bold wicked man. Well, so you do; but that man is a coward. One day the shaking of a feather will cause him to become pale, and to tremble and turn round suspiciously, and timidly, as if every leaf in the forest had an indictment against him and all the elements in the universe had conspired to destroy him. Here is a call to us, most assuredly. We are placed in critical circumstances. Sometimes eight or nine men upon the board of directors have said that their plan will take this or that particular course. We believe that the plan is corrupt; we believe that it is wicked, displeasing to God, mischievous to man. What is our duty under circumstances such as these? To modify, to pare away, to dilute sound principle and intense conviction, to speak whisperingly, timidly, apologetically? I think not. But to meet the proposition with the definiteness of sound principle, and to be in that minority which in the long run is omnipotent–the minority of God. It is not easy to do this. Far be it from me to say that if I had been in Reubens place I should take a more emphatic course. We are not called upon, in preaching Gods truth, to say what we would have done under such circumstances; but to put out that which is ideal, absolute, final, and then to exhort one another, to endeavour by Gods tender mighty grace to press towards its attainment. (J. Parker. D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 20. Come now and let us slay him] What unprincipled savages these must have been to talk thus coolly about imbruing their hands in an innocent brother’s blood! How necessary is a Divine revelation, to show man what God hates and what he loves! Ferocious cruelty is the principal characteristic of the nations and tribes who receive not the law at his mouth.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Cast him into some pit; partly, as unworthy of burial; partly, to cover their villanous action; and partly, that they might quickly put him out of their sight and minds.
Some evil beast hath devoured him, there being great store of such creatures in those parts. See 1Ki 13:24; 2Ki 2:24.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Come now therefore, and let us slay him,…. Agree to do it, and actually do it:
and cast him into some pit; or, “one of the pits” s, which were near, and were dug for the collection of rainwater, as was usual in those countries where water was scarce:
and we will say, some evil beast hath devoured him; which would seem plausible, since wild beasts were frequent in those parts, as lions and bears, see 1Ki 13:24;
and we shall see what will become of his dreams; who will be the lord then, and reign, and have the dominion, he or we.
s “in unam cisternarum”, Pagninus, Montanus, Drusius; “in unam ex cisternis istis”, Junius Tremellius, Piscator “in unam fovearum”, Schmidt.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
20. And cast him into some pit. Before they perpetrate the murder, they seek a pretext whereby they may conceal their crime from men. Meanwhile, it never enters into their mind, that what is hidden from men cannot escape the eyes of God. But so stupid is hypocrisy, that while it flees from the disgrace of the world, it is careless about the judgment of God. But it is a disease deeply rooted in the human mind, to put some specious color on every extreme act of iniquity. For although an inward judge convicts the guilty, they yet confirm themselves in impudence, that their disgrace may not appear unto others.
And we shall see what will become of his dreams. As if the truth of God could be subverted by the death of one man, they boast that they shall have attained their wish when they have killed their brother; namely, that his dreams will come to nothing. This is not, indeed, their avowed purpose, but turbulent envy drives them headlong to fight against God. But whatever they design in thus contending with God in the dark, their attempts will, at length, prove vain. For God will always find a way through the most profound abyss, to the accomplishment of what he has decreed. If, then, unbelievers provoke us by their reproaches, and proudly boast that our faith will profit us nothing; let not their insolence discourage or weaken us, but let us confidently proceed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(20) Into some pit.Heb., into one of the pits, that is, cisterns dug to catch and preserve the rain water. In summer they are dry, and a man thrown into one of them would have very little chance of escape, as they are not only deep, but narrow at the top. The Jewish interpreters accuse Simeon of being the prime mover in the plot, and say that this was the reason why Joseph cast him into prison (Gen. 42:24).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
20. Let us slay him Here we note the dark and brutal passions to which they had yielded under the power of jealousy and envy . They now show themselves fit for foulest deeds and blackest falsehoods .
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 64:5
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Gen 37:20 Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.
Ver. 20. And we will say. ] So they consult, to cover their murder with a lie. One sin admitted makes way for another. He that hath fallen down one rung of hell’s ladder, knows not where he shall stop, till he break his neck at the bottom.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
and. Note the Figure of speech Polysyndeton (App-6), emphasizing the deliberateness of their actions.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
and let: Psa 64:5, Pro 1:11, Pro 1:12, Pro 1:16, Pro 6:17, Pro 27:4, Tit 3:3, Joh 3:12
Some: 1Ki 13:24, 2Ki 2:24, Pro 10:18, Pro 28:13
and we: 1Sa 24:20, 1Sa 26:2, Mat 2:2-16, Mat 27:40-42, Mar 15:29-32, Joh 12:10, Joh 12:11, Act 4:16-18
Reciprocal: Gen 37:26 – conceal Gen 37:30 – General Gen 37:33 – evil beast Gen 42:36 – Me have ye Gen 43:26 – bowed Exo 2:14 – Who Pro 19:21 – many Mat 26:68 – Prophesy Mar 12:7 – This Mar 15:18 – Hail Luk 23:35 – derided Joh 7:3 – Depart Rom 3:7 – if the truth
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Joseph Rejected by His Brethren
Gen 37:20 -Gen 39:1-23
INTRODUCTORY WORDS
As we proceed to consider Joseph, as rejected of his brethren, there will be discovered an outline of Christ rejected by His people which will stand forth in amazing colors. Truly the hand of God was working in a way that neither Joseph nor the brothers who delivered him, knew.
Let us now consider the five reasons which Christ, Himself, gave for His being refused by His own. In these five statements we will likewise discover the five reasons why men are rejecting Christ today.
1. Christ was rejected by the Jews because they had not His Word abiding in them. They read the Prophets, or they heard them read in their synagogues every Sabbath, and those Prophets testified of Christ and yet they knew it not.
They even went so far as to fulfill all the things concerning Christ up to the hour of His crucifixion until the moment that they took Him down from that Cross, and yet they knew not that they fulfilled the Prophets.
How many there are today who are rejecting Christ because of their ignorance of the Word of God! The world is filled with Bibles, and thousands of pulpits are dedicated to its exposition, and yet the world knows not the Bible.
2. Christ was rejected by the Jews because they believed Him not. He wrought many miracles, and signs, and wonders which portrayed His glory and gave witness to His Messiahship, and yet they did not believe in Him.
He spake before them as none ever had spoken; He lived before them as none other had ever lived; He wrought deeds of love and mercy as none had ever wrought, and yet they believed not on Him.
3. Christ was rejected by the Jews because they would not come unto Him that they might have life. Their wills were unbending and their hearts were filled with rebellion against God. “They turned every one to his own way.”
Having cast off the authority of the Father they were prepared in heart to cast off the authority of the Son. Having rejected the Prophets and having stoned them, or killed them, they found it easy to reject the One of whom the Prophets had written.
4. Christ was rejected by the Jews because they did not have the love of God in them. God loved the Son, but they did not know God, neither did they possess the love of God. They professed to serve God, they boasted that they knew Him, yet, withal, they knew nothing of His love either toward others or toward the Lord Jesus Christ.
5. Christ was rejected by the Jews because they received Him not When Christ was born He had no reception on the part of national Israel. When He was grown His own home city of Nazareth received Him not. For a while the populace followed after Him because of the miracles which He did, but the masses never opened their hearts that He The Word of God with its message is set at naught.
As we have brought before you the reasons why Christ was then rejected, we are sure that we have also suggested the reasons why He is now rejected. The world will not believe today any more than it did then. Innumerable excuses may be given for the rejection of Christ, but the reasons noted above are those which Christ gave in the fifth chapter of John for His rejection.
I. JOSEPH’S BRETHREN SETTING THEMSELVES AGAINST HIM (Gen 37:20)
1. Joseph’s brethren disbelieved his dreams. They said, “We shall see what will become of his dreams.” Joseph had related his dreams to his brethren, but they believed him not. They had no sympathy for Joseph’s visions.
When Christ spoke men believed Him not. He was the Truth, but they preferred to believe a lie. He was Life, but they preferred to abide in death. It is still the same today. might come in and rule and reign in righteousness.
Joseph’s dreams were great prophecies of his future power and glory. This glory was utterly repudiated by his brethren. They would not concede to Joseph any superiority. to themselves.
Here is another striking thing. All of Christ’s Word is set at naught, but the world particularly rejects His prophetic words. Prophecy foretells the coming glory and might of the Son of God, and the complete overthrow of the enemy-this the world will not accept.
2. Joseph’s brethren set themselves in array against Joseph’s dreams. Here is the way the brethren spake: “Let us * * cast him into some pit, [then] * * we shall see what will become of his dreams.” They thought within themselves to utterly undo the words of Joseph. They felt assured that they could forestall any prophecy that Joseph might make.
Once again we are face to face with facts concerning Christ and His brethren. They thought to lift their hand up against God’s beloved Son. They thought that they could make void any prophecy that Christ gave.
All of this is but a pen picture of the spirit of our own day. The Word tells us, “The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against His Anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.” What consummate folly is man’s effort against God!
II. JOSEPH’S BROTHER, REUBEN, SOUGHT TO DELIVER JOSEPH (Gen 37:21-22)
Among the ten brothers there was one who sought to stay the wrath of the rest, thinking that he might, by chance, deliver Joseph to his father. Here was a touch of sunshine against the clouds.
Let us look for its counterpart in the wrath of the Jews against the Lord. This, as we see it, will not be difficult to find.
As the days wore on the antagonism to Christ deepened. The rulers were seeking how they might slay the Lord. Officers had been sent to apprehend the Master; they returned saying, “Never man spake like this Man.” The Pharisees tauntingly replied, “Are ye also deceived?” Then the rulers said, “Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on Him?” It was at this juncture that Nicodemus, the one who had visited Jesus by night, said, “Doth our Law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth?” Thus did one man at least seek to curb the wrath of the Pharisees.
What we now desire to ask, however, and to ask with all of our soul, is this: Who is there among those who now live who will stand forth against the voice of the masses, and step in the breach for Christ?
The world cannot, now, crucify the Son of God. He is risen indeed and hath ascended to the Father. However, the world with an heart of unbelief still hates the Son of God. Where is He who will stand with Reuben, and plead the cause of our Joseph?
Do you cry, “Let Him plead His own case? If He be God let Him deliver Himself.” Never thou fear. Our Christ will yet vindicate His holy Name. He will yet put to rout the enemy. Every knee shall yet bow, and every tongue shall yet confess Christ as Lord. Now, however, He is looking to see who will stand with Him and for Him, against the unbelief of the hour.
Be thou a Reuben. Take up the cause of the Lord. Lift up thy hand against His foes. Cry aloud thy praises of the Christ. One day He will come and will glorify thee.
III. JOSEPH STRIPPED OF HIS COAT OF MANY COLORS (Gen 37:23)
We have already spoken of Joseph’s coat of many colors. We now wish to suggest how the age in which we are living today has sought to rob our Lord Jesus Christ of that robe of His Deity, which is His token of many colors, which designates His glory.
1. The Lord Jesus is defamed as to His Virgin Birth. No one would hesitate in saying that the fact that He was begotten of the Holy Ghost and born of a virgin stands forth as one of the colors which crowns Christ as God. If Jesus were not the Son of God, begotten of the virgin, then He would hare been a sinner the same as all other men who are conceived of natural generation.
2. The Lord Jesus is defamed as to His eternity. Here is one of the colors that stands out so plainly in the Word of God. He came forth from the Father because He had been with the Father. He is described in the Bible as the Word which was with God, and was God, in the beginning. He is described in the Bible as the One by whom and for whom all things are made, and in whom all things consist. The world would rob Christ of that glory.
3. The Lord Jesus is defamed as to His miracle-working power. The Bible says of His first miracle, wherein He turned the water into wine: “This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth His glory.”
The Jews said that Jesus wrought these miracles through Beelzebub. Theologians of today do not always go thus far, but they do endeavor to do away with the miraculous by explaining the miracles upon some supposed natural basis.
4. The Lord Jesus is defamed as to His vicarious atonement. Men seek to take away this color of His God-given coat by stating that His death was due to the increasing wrath of the Jews and His utter inability to avert its catastrophe. They utterly repudiate any vicarious, saving power in His Cross.
IV. JOSEPH CAST INTO A PIT (Gen 37:24)
1. Joseph helpless to his brethren’s wrath. “And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it.” Such is the story of their treatment of Joseph. The next statement is, “And they sat down to eat bread.”
We know that it was after the Lord was nailed to the Cross that they sat down and watched Him there. Thus, it seems that the pit may have to do with the seeming utter helplessness of Christ as He came to the hour of His death.
Not but that the Lord had all power as Deity-not that. But, because of His having voluntarily given Himself over to His persecutors and would-be slayers, He was left helpless in their hands.
Joseph, shut up in the pit, was without an avenue of escape. He could not scale the sides of the pit, he could not lift himself out. Jesus Christ was shut up to the will of the Father. He was shut up by His love for the lost. It was for this cause the Lord did not exert His own power, nor did He call for twelve legions of angels, as He might have done.
2. Joseph suffered while his brethren sat down and ate bread. What spirit of unconcern to the fate of their brother did these sons of Jacob show! They could eat while he was left to die.
As they ate, they, no doubt, talked about Joseph and sought to justify their villainous deed. They simply had made up their minds to get rid of the one whom they despised. They were setting themselves to do away with any possibility of Joseph’s holding any lordship over them.
As Jesus hung on the Cross His haters sat down and watched Him there. They also talked. They talked of their notable achievement against what they termed was a would-be Messiah. They said, “Let us see what He can do now.” They imagined that all of His power was gone. If God had ever “been with Him, they assured themselves that He was now, at least, deserted by Him.
V. JOSEPH SOLD TO THE ISHMAELITES (Gen 37:27-28)
1. A cunning subterfuge. As they sat down to eat, while Joseph languished in the pit, they lifted up their eyes and looked, and behold, a company of Ishmaelites came from Gilead en route to Egypt. One of them said unto his brethren, “What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood? Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him.”
This action of Joseph’s brethren reminds us of the Jews seeking to shift the burden of Christ’s death over on Pilate and the Romans. When Pilate urged them to judge Him according to their own law, they said, “It is not lawful for us to put any man to death.”
Unto this very day the Jews will argue that it was the Romans who crucified Christ. This was true. The guilt, however, of the death of the Lord lay upon the Jews. Peter was not slow to say, “Ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain.”
2. Sold by Judah. We almost catch our breath as we note that it was Judah, one of Joseph’s brethren, who suggested that Joseph should be sold, and it was Judas who sold the Lord Jesus Christ. Joseph was sold for twenty pieces of silver; Jesus was sold for thirty pieces of silver-this was the price by which He was appraised.
Think you that the brethren of Joseph lessened their crime by selling him to the Ishmaelites? They sold him into what they supposed would be abject slavery and death, They never expected to see Joseph again.
We wonder if the twenty pieces of silver did not burn in the pockets of these men as the Ishmaelites moved on their way carrying Joseph with them as merchandise, to be bartered and sold in Egypt.
After Judas had sold his Lord he went and hanged himself, and perhaps, Judah ofttimes wished himself dead, as in the wee hours of the night the last look of his brother haunted him.
VI. THE BLOOD-SPRINKLED COAT OF MANY COLORS (Gen 37:31-32)
While Joseph himself was spared from death, yet a kid of the goats was killed in Joseph’s stead, and the coat of many colors was dipped in the blood.
1. The coat all blood-stained and dirty suggests the humiliation which men placed upon the Lord. Christ was covered with all indignity by the ruthless “brethren” who delivered Him to death. He was buffeted, spit upon, beaten, and exposed to the ribaldry of the maddened mob. A crown of thorns was placed upon His brow, as the people in mockery bowed the knee and cried, “Hail, King of the Jews!”
The Prophet Isaiah in the Spirit described Christ in death, with His visage more marred than any man, and His form more than the sons of men. Thus was Deity set at naught. Yet the God-man bore the ignominy and shame without a word. He gave His back to the smiters and His head to those who plucked out His hair. For the joy that was set before Him He endured the Cross, despising the shame.
Let those of us who suffer, not count it a matter of boast, that we are buffeted for Christ’s sake. Let us gladly bear His reproach.
2. The coat dipped in blood was brought to Jacob with the statement: “This have we found; know now whether it be thy son’s coat or no.”
After the Cross work of Christ was finished, we have every reason to believe that the Blood was carried into the Heavenly Holy of Holies and presented to the Father. We know in the annual feasts of Jehovah, once a year, the high priest carried the blood into the holiest of all and there he sprinkled it upon the mercy seat.
Of this much we are sure, the Blood of Christ is the basis on which God, the Father, accepts the trusting sinner.
Here is a quotation from Hebrews concerning Christ’s sacrifice: “But this man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God.”
VII. JACOB’S GRIEF (Gen 37:34-35)
Travel in memory with us now into that ancient dwelling of the aged patriarch. There we may learn several vital lessons.
1. Sin begun, must be sin continued. The brethren of Joseph not only sold their brother, but when they returned home they were compelled to add sin to sin in order to cover their tracks.
They carried with them the coat of many colors, and as they gave it to their father, they lied saying, “This have we found: know now whether it be thy son’s coat or no.” They played the part of the innocent although they were guilty. They sought to cover their sin by an act of deceit and by a falsehood.
The same men who so treacherously treated their brother, now, with the same maliciousness, trample under their feet all the tender love and devotion of their father toward his son Joseph.
2. Jacob mourning for Joseph. When Jacob saw the coat all stained with blood, he said, “Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces.” Then Jacob rent his own clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son for many days.
As Jacob mourned, his sons and his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted. Thus did Jacob weep for Joseph and said, “I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning.”
3. A cloud with silver lining. As Jacob wept, God was working. The Midianites had sold Joseph to Potiphar an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard.
Is it not often true that if we could look beyond our tears, we would find God working out our own salvation? That which seemed against Jacob was, in fact, for him. In a future sermon we will learn how God had sent Joseph down into Egypt to preserve the lives of Jacob, his sons, and his son’s sons.
AN ILLUSTRATION
TO DIE FIGHTING
Let us have the courage of Joseph.
“‘Sometimes God letteth His people alone till their latter days, and their season of fighting cometh not till they are ready to go out of the world, that they may die fighting and be crowned in the field. But first or last the cross cometh, and there is a time to exercise our faith and patience before we inherit the promises.’
It has been observed that many of those who begin their spiritual career with severe mental conflicts are afterwards filled with peace, and are left unmolested for years. Others have their battle in middle-life, and find the heat of their noontide sun to be their severest trial; while a third class suffer, as our author tells us, at the very close of their pilgrimage. No rule can be laid down as to the varied experiences of the saints; but we suspect that few make the voyage to Heaven over a perpetually glassy sea; the vast majority, at some time or other, are ‘tossed with tempest and not comforted.’
What if we also must die fighting? We shall fall amid the shouts of victory. How surprising will Heaven be to us! One moment almost wrecked, and the next in ‘the Fair Havens.’ Wrestling one moment, and resting the next with the crown about our brows! ‘At eventide it shall be light.'”