LIFE SCRIPTS

1 Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, the land of Canaan. 2 This is the account of Jacob’s family line. Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives, and he brought their father a bad report about them. 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made an ornate robe for him. 4 When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him. 5 Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. 6 He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: 7 We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.” 8 His brothers said to him, “Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?” And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said. 9 Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. “Listen,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” 10 When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, “What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?” 11 His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.
Genesis 37:1‭-‬11 NIV

https://bible.com/bible/111/gen.37.1-11.NIV

Joseph the son of Jacob was a teenage shepherd. But something striking about him was he stood out from the rest of his brothers. Joseph’s ways seemed different from those of his brothers. In verse 2, scripture talks of him bringing a bad report about his brothers to his father. His close relationship to his dad had made him open up to him more than to anyone else of course now that his mother was deceased. However Joseph’s loving relationship with his father was a recipe for trouble. His father was so loving towards him that he made a special coat for him that made him stand out. They hated him all the more and spoke badly of him. This is not the first instance of sibling rivalry in scripture. The story of Cain and Abel was the first. The two stories are similar because the sibling(s) felt jealous over the other one because they seemed more favoured. Comparisons can be a cause for jealousy and bitterness between siblings. Here it was playing out in the open between Joseph and his brothers. But to add salt to injury, Joseph had two dreams which he hesitated not to share with his brothers and father. These were dreams God had given him about the things to come. They were a picture of his future as a ruler of Egypt. God gave Joseph this vision. One might wonder why he spoke so openly about them to people who openly hated him. However God was orchestrating his every decision. The acts of cruelty by his brothers would eventually lead him to a place where God wanted him to be. The destination was eye catching. However the journey there was treacherous. But his comfort was God was by his side. So Joseph’s brothers hated him all the more because of his dreams. Hate is an emotion we can’t control when it takes over our lives. If we choose to flirt with it then we open ourselves to it’s machinations which are beyond our control. It starts small but simmers to a climax. At times we find ourselves hateful because of jealousy. When we see others prosper we ask ourselves ‘why not me?’ Joseph’s brothers must have wondered why this young man seemed to have it all panned out yet they seemed not to ‘hit target’. What they did not have was the great picture. God had their destiny in His hands.