After having buried his father, Jacob stayed in the Promised
Land.
(Genesis 37:1) Jacob lived in
the land of his father’s sojournings, in the land of Canaan.
When God told Jacob that he would inherit the promise made
to Abraham and Isaac, he was able to stop fighting to get it. He finally rested
in the promise that God had given him, knowing that his sons would inherit it.
Just as Abraham, Jacob also rested by faith in God.
(Hebrew 11:8-10) By faith
Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive
as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By
faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in
tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was
looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is
God.
JACOB’S SONS
Starting in chapter 37, the book of Genesis narrates the
story of Jacob’s sons, all of whom made up the nation of Israel… “This is the account of Jacob’s family line.” (Gen.
37:2, NIV).
We saw that Jacob found his rest by having faith in God, but
his sons began fighting for the family’s leadership role.
(Gen. 37:3-4) Now Israel
loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old
age. And he made him a robe of many colors. (4) But when his brothers saw that
their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not
speak peacefully to him.
The word says that Joseph was “the son of his old age”. He
was not the only one born to Joseph in his old age, since Benjamin was the
youngest. According to tradition, the expression “son of his old age” means
that this son is chosen to keep the father company in his old age. The rest of
the sons went to work as usual, while Joseph stayed with his father, keeping
him company all the time. This allowed him to learn directly from his father
and to receive from all of his wisdom.
The problem is that Jacob favored Joseph over the rest of
his sons, and that made them hate Joseph. This favoritism was made even more obvious
when Joseph got a special tunic. The Hebrew term used to describe this tunic is
kethoneth
passim.
The first time that the word kethoneth is used in the
bible is in the beginning of Genesis when God made clothes for Adam and Eve to
cover them after they had sinned.
(Gen. 3:21) And
the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments [heb. kethoneth] of
skins and clothed them.
Another time the term “kethoneth
passim” is mentioned is in Samuel, referring to the tunic that the
daughters of the king wore. (2 Sam. 13:10). This kind of tunic was worn by
royalty. Also, the term kethoneth is
used in relation to the priestly robe:
(Exodus 28:40-41) For Aaron’s
sons you shall make coats [heb.
kethoneth] and sashes and caps. You shall make
them for glory and beauty. (41) And you shall put them on Aaron your
brother, and on his sons with him, and shall anoint them and ordain them and
consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests.
Whoever used the tunic would be distinguished over the
others. When Joseph got the special tunic, Jacob was separating him as the son
who would assume all authority over the family and everyone should regard him as
special.
JOSEPH’S DREAMS
Joseph had a couple of prophetic dreams that confirmed his
destiny as the leader among his brothers. Unfortunately, he was not wise about those
dreams and he told them to his brothers, without realizing that they already
hated him.
(Gen. 37:5-8) Now Joseph had
a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more. (6)
He said to them, “Hear this dream that I have dreamed: (7) Behold, we were
binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And
behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.” (8) His
brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to
rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.
The other dream was similar:
(Gen 37:9-11) Then he dreamed
another dream and told it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have dreamed
another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to
me.” (10) But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his
father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed?
Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the
ground before you?” (11) And his brothers were jealous of him, but his
father kept the saying in mind.
Both dreams revealed the leadership role that Joseph would
play in his family. Right then, nobody knew if they were “dreams of greatness”,
or if they really were prophetic dreams. We will later see what the second
dream is about.
Next time we will see where this hatred among brothers leads
to…
Comments
Post a Comment