After going to Sunday school or church for many years, a child learns the basic stories of the Bible. These stories consist of: Creation, Abraham, Moses, Joseph, etc. Then as these children grow up they see no reason to go back and study these stories anymore because they have heard them “a thousand times.” This may be one of the greatest downfalls of young adults everywhere. Now that they are grown up, they have gone through more real life experiences. The stories that they think they know so well may have more lessons to teach them now then they have ever had. A good example of this is the story of Joseph. Instead of learning that throwing your sibling into a pit and selling them for candy money is bad, students can learn that pride can turn loved ones away and jealousy can make people do what they normally would not.
The passage that starts the story of Joseph is Genesis 37. Joseph is the favorite son of Jacob and was given a coat of many colors. Jacob showing favorites did not help Joseph’s relationship with his brothers. Then to make matters worse, Joseph started having dreams about ruling over his brothers one day which added more friction to their relationship. One day Jacob sent Joseph to go and check on his brothers. When his brothers saw him coming, they started to make a plan to kill him and leave him to be eaten by the animals. Then Reuben, being the good big brother, stepped in and said we do not need to kill him just leave him in the pit. He did this thinking that he would come back later and get him. So the brothers took off his clothes and threw him in the pit then went on and ate dinner right there while Joseph was in the pit with no food or water. Later on the brothers sold Joseph like he was not even part of their family. When Reuben saw that the pit was empty, the only person he thought of was himself. So in the mindset of thinking for themselves, the bothers tricked their father into thinking that Joseph was dead by bringing back his coat of many colors covered in blood. This passage both begins and ends with the coat of many colors. It was a sign of favoritism that brought out pride in Joseph and jealousy in his brother, and in the end was covered in the turmoil that it caused.
When reading any passage, it is important to ask what the author was trying to say to the audience. The author of this book is Moses and his audience is the people of Israel. The Israelites are a family, and in a family there are going to be problems. No matter how hard people try not to, there are always favorites. People who are put on this pedestal often become very prideful and the people looking up at them may become jealous. In this passage, Moses is trying to warn people of this problem. The saying “Pride cometh before a fall” is relevant and true, and jealousy can make any person do something that they would not normally do. Moses used God’s inspiration to warn people of this by showing the harsh truths of what happened in Joseph’s life.
Instead of saying “I have heard that story a thousand times” be open to learning something new. These stories are more than just something to teach in Sunday school to keep children interested. The story of Joseph is about much more than being kind to our siblings. It’s about the root behind what causes humans to react the way that they do. Joseph’s brothers sat and ate dinner after they threw him into a dark pit with no food, water, or clothing because they were jealous of him. Jealousy is a big green monster who is whispers in people’s ears causing them to only think of themselves. What will you say the next time he comes around?
