Genesis 37:1-36 Bible Teaching

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Genesis 37.1-36
June 11th 2023
So, after that last chapter of exciting genealogy, we come to the beginning of one of the great stories of the Old Testament, one of my favorites – the story of Joseph.

We read through it last week so let’s begin to cover the story verse by verse

Genesis 37:1 And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan.

The better meaning of this passage suggests that Jacob dwelt in the land where his father (Isaac) roamed. And verse 2

2 These are the generations of Jacob.

Because of the genealogical listings given in the proceeding chapter it is believed that this line here is either saying, Those (mentioned then) were the generations OR here is a story extending from the generations mentioned last week. And Moses adds

Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report.

We do not know what “evil report” Joseph brought to his father but suffice it to say he was ratting them out for some sort of shenanigans and this would not bode well with his brothers feeling toward Joseph right out the gate. But (verse 3) gives us the real reason Joseph was hated of his brothers

3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colors.

This was a mistake on Israels part – big time – but it happens all the time from the hands of undiscerning parents who show affection for one child and lesser to another.

In an expression of this favoritism, we also read that Israel himself was the one who actually (literally) constructed a wonderful coat that he bestowed upon his favorite son.

4 And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.

The meaning of the original words, “they could not speak peaceably” to him, does not refer to them arguing constantly (though that could have been the case) but to speak peace to someone was in reference to a customary salutation exchanged between people when they would greet each other.

If someone would speak peace and the party receiving it would not respond it was a direct way of saying, “I do not favor you.” If nobody spoke peace both parties were saying, “I am willing to injure you.”

Because the brothers could not even speak peace to Joseph meant that they openly expressed their dislike, even hatred for him evidencing that they were willing to injure him.

So here is the setting. We will soon see that Joseph, like Moses, like David and others, are types for the Messiah to come in much of what they do, experience and even say. The parallels to Yeshua are deep – which we will mention along the way but also summarize at the end of the Joseph story which goes from chapter 37 to 50 with the exception of chapter 38 which gives us a sidebar story to consider.

Interestingly, the story of Joseph covers 13 full chapters of Genesis where the creation covers 1.5 and the flood covers a two or three. In fact that last verse of the last chapter ends describing Joseph’s death.

All before we get to Exodus.

Anyway, right off the bat the parallel we see to Jesus is that His brothers also hated him – why?

When Pilate, when he sought to release Jesus over Barabbas we read that he knew that the Jews delivered him up “for envy’s sake.”

Again, envy is desperately desiring what another person possesses where jealousy is not wanting someone to take what we possess.

Jealously is not always bad as scripture even says that God is a jealous God. But envy, which is akin to coveting, is a problem of the human condition.

We are going to see some real envy here in the life of Joseph and his brothers – both from Israels love and gift to Joseph but old Joseph does not hold back in bringing it out of them. Let’s read why (verse 5)

5 And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more.

This is really no different that Jesus telling the Jews that He was their Messiah, the Son of the living God! And the response from both parties were the same – hatred. But it didn’t stop either Joseph or Jesus from doing what they were meant to do (verse 6)

6 And he (Joseph) said unto them, “Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed:”

Scripture helps describe certain believers who have been called by God to be on his errand.

We will read about Elijah and Elisha – look out. Moses, Joshua, David, Ester, Rahab, Daniel, Jeremiah, Mary Magdalene, Peter, John, Stephan, Paul and of course Jesus.

Fearless, “despised” (even of their own), rejected but relentless in their respective representations of God and Truth. When we become His children we automatically have a call placed on our lives – all of us.

They can be different. They can operate differently and it is incumbent on each individual to do what they have been called to do – no matter how daunting or how seemingly small.

Because of Christ and His Spirit of Love given I do not see “arrogance, sharp words or threats” as representative of God in His cause, but I do see resolute stances for light and truth (even in the face of criticisms – and even or especially from our own house of faith) as in harmony with well established biblical typologies and principles.

Expect it – but stand firm in Him above all else. Again, no matter how big or small the call.

In the first chapter of Jeremiah God was speaking to Him and giving Him instruction to go and speak and we read

Jeremiah 1:6 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.
7 But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.
8 Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD.

Ezekiel was told by God something similar, where we read

Ezekiel 2:6 And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.

To me, the call is NEVER to EVER lambast or attack people and their ways with condemnation or judgment – that is not our place in the age of fulfillment. However, when led, sharing the truth in love is central to being His representative. And it will always be both received and rejected.

And the deeper the truth the harder it will be to hear for some – and in most cases you will bear the burden. Like Joseph here

This is what Joseph, even as a 17 year old, is doing. And so, even though his brothers were not welcoming to Him he moves forward with what God had impressed upon Him through dreams. And so he says (verse 7)

7 For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf.

By this time in Genesis we have not read all that much about tilling the ground or tilling the crops but this verse shows that they were agrarian and worked in farming and in animal husbandry.

They had to – it was the way the existed. Naturally they would therefore dream according to what they knew.

The dream is pretty basic and its message clear, right?

But there could be some ancillary content to it because we know Joseph will be who saves the nation by providing them grain later which will ultimately bring his brothers to paying him homage.

At this point, however, the brothers are looking at a 17 year-old, daddy’s favorite wearing an elaborate coat and the response he gets from his already hateful brothers is exactly what we would imagine (verse 8)

8 And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words.

Before we proceed forward where Joseph will unveil yet another dream, what are we to say about dreams in the faith?

In the Tanakh, God makes frequent use of dreams in communicating his will to Man.

The most remarkable instances of this are recorded in the history of Jacob Genesis 28:12; 31:10 Laban Genesis 31:24 Joseph Genesis 37:9-11 Gideon Judges 7:1-25 and Solomon 1st Kings 3:5.

Other significant dreams are also recorded, such as those of Abimelech’s Genesis 20:3-7 Pharaoh’s chief butler and baker Genesis 40:5 Pharaoh Genesis 41:1-8 the Midianites Judges 7:13, and King Nebuchadnezzar Daniel 2:1; 4:10,18

In the Apostolic Record we read about dreams beginning with “the Lord appearing to Joseph in a dream and giving him instructions regarding the infant called, Yeshua, we also read about the wise men from the east being directed in dreams (Matthew 2:12) and then Pilate’s wife dreaming (in Matthew 27:19) and being warned in a dream for her husband “to have nothing to do with the death” of the Lord.

Later we read about a vision of the night in which a “man of Macedonia” stood before Paul and said, “Come over into Macedonia and help us,” which shows that even after Jesus ascended that dreams would be a form of communication regarding spiritual matters in the church-bride.

Then most significantly, for me at least, on the Day of Pentecost, Peter stood up before three thousand men who wanted to know the meaning of their response to the presence of the Holy Spirit that fell on them, and he cites Joel, nearly 2000 years ago, speaking specifically of that time then and says

16 . . . this is that (What you are seeing right here and now) this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;(and then he quotes Joel, who wrote)

17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke:
20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:
21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

So, what about dreams today? If what Peter says still applies because we are still in the last days, then dreams are a significant form of revelation.

Because of my eschatology, however, and seeing that the last days was in Peters day, I do not deny the validity of some dreams but do not assign them the same meaning that they had in that day then.

Can they be revelatory? I can’t see why not? But we need to proceed carefully with the dreamers we have around us.

First of all, it is said that dreams are a very natural release for some people in day to day life. I dream every single night without fail. So what? Most of them mean nothing.

There HAVE been some significant studies of dreams that collectively suggest that they are a way that our minds address things we tuck away (for whatever reason) and do not deal with in the conscious mind.

Maybe. But the problems dreams bring to us as believers is how to tell if they are revelations from God or just products of our own minds?

This is where things can get really slippery and so I stand personally on the following, at this point in my life:

Dreams are personal, subjective and typically reflect the mind and concerns of the individual who have had them.
If the dream is meant to be shared with another, it seems to me that the one introduced to the dream needs to have a similar validation of the content shared.

(for example, if someone says that they have had a dream that you should surrender all your assets over to them maybe you want some sort of verification yourself on the matter. Then,

For a dream to be considered from God it must concur with the principles of scripture – not the flesh.
And finally, which really lands in the arena of my own opinion, dreams today that are said to “reveal God’s will to the world,” the hidden things to the world, warnings of dire circumstances or revelations about heaven and hell and the like ought to be kept quiet because in my estimation such things are usually – usually – from Dark unseen places – even if they tend to appear to reveal God.

This said, I do believe that families – parents and children – can have insightful dreams about each other that might reveal things that are underlying in us or otherwise remain obscured.

Years ago, when my oldest daughter was only about two years old I had the most vivid dream that I will never forget. She was standing on the edge of a wide river playing and I was watching her from a distance.

Suddenly coming down the river I saw a dark object moving toward her under the water. I called out to her, but she said,
“Daddy, Im okay, I’m okay.”

Because her back was to the approaching object, she had no idea of the danger coming and I leapt to my feet running as fast as I could toward her, screaming as loud as I could for her to get away from the waters edge.

But she laughed at me and though my running toward her was funny. And I watched as this now massive black creature got closer and closer to her.

Right when I was about to reach her an enormous black alligator about the size of a small boat, rose up out of the water with a gaping mouth and slammed down on and over her, then immediately disappeared under the muddy waters.

I shot up in bed utterly horrified by the dream and had a heart filled for fear and dread for my oldest from that night on.

Interestingly, Mallory – perhaps as a result of my constant warnings in the face of this dream – was the child who would fully pursue the world, moving to NYC and really embracing some rough and tumble things as she was taken in by its dark gaping mouth.

Mary and I toiled in worry and woe over her and one day, when she seemed to have been overcome by this Dark, Mary came to me and said, “She is going to be okay.” I asked her how she knew this, and she explained that it was revealed to her heart by God in the most direct way she had ever experienced.

I trusted her because she rarely says such things especially when it comes to God.

Many years passed. Mallory was of the Dark world and proudly mocked my views of God.

One day I got a call from Sweden. It was Mallory who through tears said that she had come to faith, had come to see, and had understood personally that there is a God.

I still don’t know if my dream was accurate or if it actually served any purpose in my life. But what was validated was the assurance brought by Mary through the Spirit that this child we love so dearly would be okay.

I remain unconvinced in our day and age that dreams are anything more than the individuals mind dealing with content that they are fixated on, or troubled by.

But I remain even more convinced in our day and age that when God speaks to us by His spirit, and reassures us, that this is from Him and Him alone.

Bottom line, use caution and be slow to use God as the author of your every dream and even slower to believe those who have them on your behalf.

So, Joseph shared his first dream with his brothers. But it doesn’t end here
(verse 9)

9 And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.

Now, we are not sure about a few things relative to this dream. For starters, we do not know the actual meaning of the dream except for the way that his Father Israel seems to have interpreted it, which is found in the next verse where it says

10 And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?

Joseph’s mother was now dead, as we learned last week, so some believe that he had this dream before her death OR that one of the other surviving spouses would stand in as his mother OR that this dream suggested that from a spiritual heavenly point of view Joseph was suggesting superiority to parents and brothers.

We do not know, but because of what will happen with his family once Joseph is established in Egypt and he will be the one to saved them from starvation, it seems that this dream was speaking of Israel, his father, one of his wives and all of His brothers.

How Israel was able to interpret this specific dream this way is also unknown, and it could be that they just knew what everything meant OR Joseph explained the meaning to Israel which is not recorded.

Another question we have is why the sun, moon and stars? Some suggest that this was an astrological reference that was understood by them OR it was merely symbolism that they would understand in that day as well.

All we know it served to tick off his own dad now – and he favored him! Remember the boldness in those who love God above all things?

Remember Jesus teaching that if someone loves father or mother or sister more than Him they are not worthy of Him.

It was not without application then nor today for any and all who seek God first. It is fascinating to me when some folks believe that to honor father and mother means to submit to their religious views when the fact of the matter remains that the ultimate way to honor father and mother is to love, follow and pursuit God in spirit and truth because when this is the aim a person would never treat their parents badly.

Anyway, Joseph dreamed yet another dream. We can see that Israel his father interpreted the sun and moon as representing Joseph’s parents by why only eleven stars?

The sun and the moon and the eleven stars?

It is easy to see Joseph as the twelfth star of the family in this dream but some scholars suggest that these people were well aware of the Zodiac and that the brothers all related to “it” rather than just the stars representing them.

Because we don’t know I won’t belabor it any longer. (verse 10)

10 And he told it (the Dream) to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?
11 And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.

As I mentioned last week, we read in Luke (relative to Jesus having disappeared in the temple at twelve years of age) that after they found him

Luke 2:51 And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart.

So, verse 12 brings us to a new segment in the life of Joseph

12 And his brethren went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem.
13 And Israel said unto Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? come, and I will send thee unto them. And he said to him, Here am I.
14 And he said to him, Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks; and bring me word again. So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.

This was a distance of about 50 miles.

Israel literally says to Joseph –

Go, I beseech thee, and see the peace of thy brethren, and the peace of the flock. Go and see whether they are being prosperous.

It is thought that because of the bloodletting that some of these brothers did in that land that their returning to the area to feed their flocks on the land that they purchased from Hamon that they could have been received poorly by the surrounding villagers. So, he sent Joseph to get an update.

15 And a certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering in the field: and the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou?
16 And he said, I seek my brethren: tell me, I pray thee, where they feed their flocks.
17 And the man said, They are departed hence; for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan.

Dothan was about 8 miles away from Shechem but this measurement could all be way off as many of these places have changed over the years.

Wherever it was, Joseph appears to sort of be wandering around when he meets a man who informs them that his brothers have moved. So, he heads off to find them

18 And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him.

We have similar literature in Matthew 27 after Jesus has been taken and where we read

“When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death.”

We see the same conspiratorial nature of the religious leaders in relation to Paul in Acts 23:12 where Luke wrote,

“And when it was day, certain of the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul.”

Again, these principles remain alive in well on earth toward any and all who will represent or seek the truth no matter what insults they bring to the minds of the religious leaders around them.

And we read at verse 19 (of the brothers)

19 And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh.

Apparently, in Hebrew, this form of speech is riddled with contempt. It is probable that they could discern him by his colorful coat. And so, they say to each other –

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.

In a court of law this is called premediated murder and it is the worst expression of the act. Because it is in the blood and mindset of the very Nation Jesus came to save, we should not find it surprising that the same heart exists in some of the descendants some 1400 plus years later when they mercilessly demand the blood of their own Messiah.

21 And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands; and said, Let us not kill him.

According to Genesis 35:22 Reuben appears to have been a killer whose own father called him (and Levi) cruel.

Josephus, happens to put a long speech in the mouth of Reuben where he supposedly tries to dissuade his brothers from killing Joseph but it could be spurious and a fiction. The scripture does have Reuben say (verse 22)

Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him; that he might rid him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again.

I never realized that Reuban suggested this as a means to return Joseph to Israel but that is what the text says.

So, Reuban apparently now departs and we read

23 And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stript Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colors that was on him;

The removal of his distinctive coat is believed to be so that if they killed him, he would not be identifiable by it; perhaps they removed it by spite or as part of their plan to prove his death to Israel.

We see that parallel to Yeshua and His outer coat.

24 And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it.

Of course, the empty tomb in which Jesus was laid is a type for this even though this appears to have been an empty well.

25 And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmeelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.

Apparently, and going way back to this point in time, it seems like eating after doing evil is an indicator of a truly hardened heart.

I recall two men brutally murdering a young man in San Diego years ago for no reason at all and according to the trial then driving to a burger joint directly after the crime and enjoying lunch.

Proverbs 30:20 so describes an adulterous woman, saying

Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.

This hard heart is what we seek to avoid and like callouses on our feet we have to at times work to remove things that harden us. Its one reason we pursue the word. It reminds us and informs us and gives us insights into the warning signs that our hearts are growing hard and cold.

In any case while they are eating with their seventeen year old brother down in a pit, they look up and see

“A company of Ishmaelites.”

Were these the people who came from Ishmael, first son of Abraham?

In the Chaldee language they are called Arabians, which comes from “bre arab” which means, to mingle, and so it is believed that this was not one caravan of Ishmaelites but a whole bunch of tribes united in travel, including Saracens, Middianites, Arabs, Ishmaelites and whomever else. This will help explain verse 28 in a moment (verse 26)

26 And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood?
27 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 brethren were content.
28 Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; (who were probably part of this large caravan) and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt.

We recall Jesus saying in Joh 3:14 “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”

Later he adds

John 12:32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.

All men – if not here – eventually.

Of course, “sold for pieces of silver” is on the nose for Christ betrayal and so it the fact that Joseph, still as a young man, being taken to Egypt.

Interestingly, “for twenty pieces of silver,” the Anglo-Saxon translates this to, “thirty pence.”

Recalling that Reuben appears to have left the area, we now read

29 And Reuben returned unto the pit; and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes.

Apparently, the caravan came and went and Reuban was uninformed on the trade.

30 And he returned unto his brethren, and said, The child is not; (which seems to mean in other places, the child is dead) and I, whither shall I go?

Reuban was the eldest son and a great deal of responsibility was on his back. He had already greatly disappointed his father through the Shechem deal, then the Bildah deal (where he either laid with his fathers concubine or overturned her bed) and how the well being of this young brother was on him, so “whither shall I go?” was a way of him saying,”what can I do?”

It seems that verse 31 answers this for us as it says

31 And they took Joseph’s coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood;
32 And they sent the coat of many colors, and they brought it to their father; and said, This have we found: know now whether it be thy son’s coat or no.

Pretty callous response of these ten brothers (presumably ten as Benjamin may not be with them as he was so young) and upon seeing the coat we read from Israel

33 And he knew it, and said, It is my son’s coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces.

It seems that the blood added to this conclusion but it could be that to add to the con, they shredded the coveted coat to some extent or another. In a fascinating response we now read

34 And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.

Like Jenny pointed out last week, Israel is once again subjected to another con as God seems to want to purge this trait completely out of his character and/or to teach him repeated lessons about the error of his former ways.

35 And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, “For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him.”

Because Israel is said to only have had one daughter it is believed that this spoke to his sons daughters, so to his daughter in laws.

This shows the deep seated anger the sons had for their father who they let mourn and weep and suffer for a death that did not happen.

They had to have been resentful toward him for showing favor to Joseph. Whether the wifes knew of the deception we cannot say.

36 And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, and captain of the guard.

The word translated here to officer best means, a eunuch. Interestingly, Potipher, who was an eunuch for Pharaoh, was also married. This was not uncommon. The thinking is that lacking testicles and often the male prized member, a man could be trusted to oversee harems owned by the Kings or leaders.

So, why married? Some say for legal reasons. Some say for companionship but as we will see, the woman married to Potipher was a bit lonely for male attention and turned to Joseph to help meet this need.

We will see this unfold next week as we move into Genesis 38!

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