Joseph's youth and his faithfulness to God

Saturday, February 8, 2025

Theme: "Joseph's youth and his faithfulness to God."

Text: Genesis 37:12-28

12. Joseph's brothers having gone to Shechem to feed their father's flock, 13. Israel said to Joseph, Are not your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, I will send you to them. And he answered, Here I am! 14. Israel said to him, Go, I pray you, and see if your brothers are well, and if the flock is well; and you shall bring me back news. So he sent him from the valley of Hebron; and Joseph went to Shechem. 15. A man met him, as he was wandering in the fields. He asked him, saying, What seekest thou? 16. Joseph answered, I seek my brothers; 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. 18. And they saw him afar off; and before he came near them, they conspired to slay him. 19. And they said one to another, Behold, the dreamer cometh. 20. Come now, and let us kill him, and cast him into one of the pits: and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him; and we shall see what will become of his dreams. 21. And Reuben heard it, and delivered him out of their hand. And he said, Let us not take his life. 22. And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood: cast him into this pit which is in the wilderness, and lay not thine hand upon him. He had intended to deliver him out of their hands to return to his father. 23. And when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his coat, the coat of many colors that was upon him. 24. And they took him, and cast him into the pit: and the pit was empty; there was no water in it. 25. And they sat down to eat: and when they looked up, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, and their camels were laden with spices, and balm, and myrrh, which they were carrying into Egypt. 26. And Judah said to his brothers, What profit is it if we kill our brother, and hide his blood? 27. Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and lay not our hand on him: for he is our brother, our flesh. And his brothers hearkened unto him. 28. As the Midianite merchants passed by, they pulled Joseph out of the pit and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver, who took him to Egypt.

Let us remember:

If Joseph had been disobedient to his father, he would not have been sold by his brothers, and God's plan would not have been accomplished in due time. His faithfulness to his father and his love for his brothers were enough for him to go far from Shechem to look for his hungry brothers. On the way, instead of nibbling on his brothers' meal, he kept it well until he reached his destination. When he did not find his brothers, he could have returned to his father, but he continued to Dothan to do good to his brothers. Here, it is Joseph who went to look for his brothers to give them food. Later, his brothers will look for him to have food. Joseph is the symbol of a sheep or even a lamb. His brothers threw him into the cistern without him defending himself, like Jesus who agreed to die for the world. He was sold for twenty shekels of silver, a little less than the thirty pieces that Jesus had cost. Also, the idea of ​​selling Jesus and Joseph always came from a certain Juda(s). God knew that Joseph would be mistreated by his brothers, but he did not prevent it from happening. Rather, he created all the conditions for his will to be accomplished. Jacob, as a good father, could not send the son he loved the most, into the hands of his hateful brothers. God also did not prevent Jesus from coming to save a world from haters. Joseph's clothes being torn by his brothers, he was therefore sold naked or almost; but this was not a reason for resentment towards them. He forgave them easily out of loyalty to God. Every action of Joseph demonstrated his loyalty to God. Excellent Saturday. Amen

Alain Louz.-