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Daily Scripture: Genesis 37:
2 Here is the history of Ya‘akov. When Yosef was seventeen years old he used to pasture the flock with his brothers, even though he was still a boy. Once when he was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives, he brought a bad report about them to their father. 3 Now Isra’el loved Yosef the most of all his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he made him a long-sleeved robe. 4 When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they began to hate him and reached the point where they couldn’t even talk with him in a civil manner.
5 Yosef had a dream which he told his brothers, and that made them hate him all the more. 6 He said to them, “Listen while I tell you about this dream of mine. 7 We were tying up bundles of wheat in the field when suddenly my bundle got up by itself and stood upright; then your bundles came, gathered around mine and prostrated themselves before it.” 8 His brothers retorted, “Yes, you will certainly be our king. You’ll do a great job of bossing us around!” And they hated him still more for his dreams and for what he said.
(ii) 12 After this, when his brothers had gone to pasture their father’s sheep in Sh’khem, 13 Isra’el asked Yosef, “Aren’t your brothers pasturing the sheep in Sh’khem? Come, I will send you to them.” He answered, “Here I am.” 14 He said to him, “Go now, see whether things are going well with your brothers and with the sheep, and bring word back to me.” So he sent him away from the Hevron Valley, and he went to Sh’khem,
(iii) 23 So it was that when Yosef arrived to be with his brothers, they stripped off his robe, the long-sleeved robe he was wearing, 24 and took him and threw him into the cistern (the cistern was empty; without any water in it). 25 Then they sat down to eat their meal; but as they looked up, they saw in front of them a caravan of Yishma‘elim coming from Gil‘ad, their camels loaded with aromatic gum, healing resin and opium, on their way down to Egypt. 26 Y’hudah said to his brothers, “What advantage is it to us if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? 27 Come, let’s sell him to the Yishma‘elim, instead of putting him to death with our own hands. After all, he is our brother, our own flesh.” His brothers paid attention to him. 28 So when the Midyanim, merchants, passed by, they drew and lifted Yosef up out of the cistern and sold him for half a pound of silver shekels to the Yishma‘elim, who took Yosef on to Egypt.
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Reflection Questions:
Jacob strongly favored Joseph, Rachel’s first son, over his other 11 sons. The “dreamcoat” showed Joseph’s favored status. Family therapists now know that being a “chosen child” like Joseph can skew emotional growth and relationships. Jacob cluelessly sent Joseph to see his brothers. They acted on their outrage—their brother lorded it over them, their father undervalued them—and sold Joseph to traders going to Egypt.
Lord God, despite the mess in Joseph’s family, you guided his life. I trust that you are guiding my life, too, beyond any issues that may cause me problems. Amen.
---------------------Insights from Roberta Lyle
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Reflection Questions:
Jacob strongly favored Joseph, Rachel’s first son, over his other 11 sons. The “dreamcoat” showed Joseph’s favored status. Family therapists now know that being a “chosen child” like Joseph can skew emotional growth and relationships. Jacob cluelessly sent Joseph to see his brothers. They acted on their outrage—their brother lorded it over them, their father undervalued them—and sold Joseph to traders going to Egypt.
- Jacob’s mother and father had different favorites, which badly strained his bond with his twin brother Esau, yet he didn’t see the danger of parental bias. Have you been “the favorite” in your family or some other setting? Or have you felt like Joseph’s brothers, pushed aside for “the favorite”? What have those experiences taught you? How can you avoid making either mistake as you relate to your children, or other people?
- Put yourself in Joseph's shoes. Life is good. Oh, sometimes your brothers get mad at you, but still, you can trust your own brothers, right? Wrong. His own family betrayed Joseph terribly. Have you ever felt the pain of betrayal? Did that experience tend to weaken or strengthen your faith at the time? In what ways have you grown stronger because of surviving that painful time?
Lord God, despite the mess in Joseph’s family, you guided his life. I trust that you are guiding my life, too, beyond any issues that may cause me problems. Amen.
---------------------Insights from Roberta Lyle
Roberta Lyle has been on the Resurrection staff since 2006. She oversees the Collection Ministry, coordinating the donations of clothing, beds, food, furnishings, cars and computers and re-purposing them through our ministry partners to provide to those in need in our community.
Today’s Bible story about Joseph reminds me of nine young men who, through grit and teamwork, overcame huge odds and disadvantages and achieved worldwide recognition.
I am talking about the 1936 rowing team from the University of Washington (of course). That team won the gold medal at the 1936 Olympics, as profiled in Daniel James Brown’s bestselling book, The Boys in the Boat. Rowing was an elite sport in the 1930’s and the premier American teams usually came from Ivy League schools. The University of Washington’s team was made up of unlikely athletes who came from farming or working class backgrounds. The main focus of the book is Joe Rantz who was abandoned by his father and step-mother when he was only 15. Joe came home from school one day to find his family packed up and ready to drive off, leaving Joe behind in an unfinished house in the country with only scraps of food in the cupboards.
Work was hard to find during the Depression but Joe managed to support himself, graduate from high school and attend the University of Washington, where he joined the rowing team. As the team approached the Olympic trials Joe was removed from the boat because the coach felt the chemistry on the boat wasn’t right. Not surprisingly, because of his early trials Joe struggled with self doubt and with trusting his teammates. George Pocock, the rowing shell builder who worked on the campus, saw Joe’s potential and told him,“The ability to yield, to bend, to give way, to accommodate, he said, was sometimes a source of strength in men as well as in wood, so long as it was helmed by inner resolve and by principle.”
Just as Joseph, when reunited with his brothers, released any shred of anger he might have harbored against them and realized that God used his situation to bring good to his family and the people, Joe was able to do this as well. He not only overcame the tragedy of his early life but emerged victorious and went on to live life abundantly.
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The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Today’s Bible story about Joseph reminds me of nine young men who, through grit and teamwork, overcame huge odds and disadvantages and achieved worldwide recognition.
I am talking about the 1936 rowing team from the University of Washington (of course). That team won the gold medal at the 1936 Olympics, as profiled in Daniel James Brown’s bestselling book, The Boys in the Boat. Rowing was an elite sport in the 1930’s and the premier American teams usually came from Ivy League schools. The University of Washington’s team was made up of unlikely athletes who came from farming or working class backgrounds. The main focus of the book is Joe Rantz who was abandoned by his father and step-mother when he was only 15. Joe came home from school one day to find his family packed up and ready to drive off, leaving Joe behind in an unfinished house in the country with only scraps of food in the cupboards.
Work was hard to find during the Depression but Joe managed to support himself, graduate from high school and attend the University of Washington, where he joined the rowing team. As the team approached the Olympic trials Joe was removed from the boat because the coach felt the chemistry on the boat wasn’t right. Not surprisingly, because of his early trials Joe struggled with self doubt and with trusting his teammates. George Pocock, the rowing shell builder who worked on the campus, saw Joe’s potential and told him,“The ability to yield, to bend, to give way, to accommodate, he said, was sometimes a source of strength in men as well as in wood, so long as it was helmed by inner resolve and by principle.”
Just as Joseph, when reunited with his brothers, released any shred of anger he might have harbored against them and realized that God used his situation to bring good to his family and the people, Joe was able to do this as well. He not only overcame the tragedy of his early life but emerged victorious and went on to live life abundantly.
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The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, Kansas 66224 United States
913.897.0120
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