Joseph Runs Toward His Brothers as They Plotby CNSDA
37:18Genesis 37:18
And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him.
Joseph had walked about sixty-five miles to Dothan in obedience to his father and love for his brothers, and was hastening to greet them when they recognized him afar off by his bright colored coat. When they saw him approaching from a distance, even before he came near them, they conspired and resolved to kill him. They called him a dreamer and planned to throw him into a pit and claim a wild animal had devoured him.
Their envy, jealousy, hatred, and hostility had grown into a murderous plot. The sight of the coat stirred them to frenzy, so that they gave no thought to his weariness and hunger after the long journey or to his claim upon their hospitality, tender consideration, and brotherly love. Their hostility was stirred by their father's love and partiality for Joseph, which also encouraged faults in Joseph's character. It deepened when Joseph exposed their wrongdoing and urged them to stop sinning.
Reuben opposed killing Joseph and proposed putting him in a wilderness pit without harming him, intending to rescue him and return him to their father. When Joseph arrived they seized him, stripped off the coat they hated, and ignored his pleas. He expected them to kill him and thought of his father's grief and his brothers' guilt, and God saw his distress. They put him in a pit, but on Judah's proposal to sell him rather than let him die, they sold him as a slave. At Dothan their anger turned against him in a cruel deed that separated him from home.
They plotted to kill him because they feared his rise and opposed his rising above them, settling for selling him into slavery to keep him from gaining power and to prevent his dreams and future dominion from coming true. But God overruled the attempt, and the selling led to his becoming a ruler over them and a saviour to his family. Their crime remained guilty even though God brought good from it, so providential good did not lessen the guilt of those who committed it. His rejection and betrayal by his brothers foreshadows Christ's rejection by his own people and betrayal by one of his disciples, for jealous leaders plotted against Jesus to prevent his authority and kingship, yet his death made him the Redeemer and ruler without lessening their guilt. Joseph was virtuous and steadfast in goodness, yet maligned, persecuted, and treated as a criminal, showing that suffering for doing right does not prevent God from bringing signal victories.
Joseph had walked about sixty-five miles to Dothan in obedience to his father and love for his brothers, and was hastening to greet them when they recognized him afar off by his bright colored coat. When they saw him approaching from a distance, even before he came near them, they conspired and resolved to kill him. They called him a dreamer and planned to throw him into a pit and claim a wild animal had devoured him.
Their envy, jealousy, hatred, and hostility had grown into a murderous plot. The sight of the coat stirred them to frenzy, so that they gave no thought to his weariness and hunger after the long journey or to his claim upon their hospitality, tender consideration, and brotherly love. Their hostility was stirred by their father's love and partiality for Joseph, which also encouraged faults in Joseph's character. It deepened when Joseph exposed their wrongdoing and urged them to stop sinning.
Reuben opposed killing Joseph and proposed putting him in a wilderness pit without harming him, intending to rescue him and return him to their father. When Joseph arrived they seized him, stripped off the coat they hated, and ignored his pleas. He expected them to kill him and thought of his father's grief and his brothers' guilt, and God saw his distress. They put him in a pit, but on Judah's proposal to sell him rather than let him die, they sold him as a slave. At Dothan their anger turned against him in a cruel deed that separated him from home.
They plotted to kill him because they feared his rise and opposed his rising above them, settling for selling him into slavery to keep him from gaining power and to prevent his dreams and future dominion from coming true. But God overruled the attempt, and the selling led to his becoming a ruler over them and a saviour to his family. Their crime remained guilty even though God brought good from it, so providential good did not lessen the guilt of those who committed it. His rejection and betrayal by his brothers foreshadows Christ's rejection by his own people and betrayal by one of his disciples, for jealous leaders plotted against Jesus to prevent his authority and kingship, yet his death made him the Redeemer and ruler without lessening their guilt. Joseph was virtuous and steadfast in goodness, yet maligned, persecuted, and treated as a criminal, showing that suffering for doing right does not prevent God from bringing signal victories.