Devotion for Thursday, August 13th
Kevin Peterson
Devotional Text: Genesis 37 (To read and even listen to this text for free, click here.)
Verse in Focus: “And a man found him wandering in the fields. And the man asked him, ‘What are you seeking?’ ‘I am seeking my brothers,’ he said. ‘Tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock.’ And the man said, ‘They have gone away, for I heard them say, “Let us go to Dothan.”’ So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan. They saw him from afar, and before he came near to them they conspired against him to kill him. They said to one another, ‘Here comes this dreamer. Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits. Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams’” (Genesis 37:15-20).
Related Verse: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).
Devotional Thought:
Joseph’s dreams have clearly gotten him into far more trouble than he thought possible. Would he have shared them with his brothers if he even remotely considered such a horrific, murderous backlash to be a possibility? Probably not. And yet, that brings up a rather interesting question—one that will take us on an interesting journey before we are through. What was God’s purpose in giving those dreams to Joseph? In other words, did God know in advance the effect these dreams would have on both Joseph and his brothers? Of course, the answer is obvious but I don’t know if you’ve caught on to the full implications here. To flesh that out, let’s take a closer look at those dreams.
From a storytelling perspective, those dreams are crucial. For one thing, they provide clear foreshadowing for what is to come. Since most, if not all, of you are familiar with the basic plot of Joseph’s story; you know what I mean by that. These two dreams clearly point to the day yet to come, when Joseph’s brothers will head to Egypt seeking food only to find Joseph second-in-command of that kingdom. They will bow to him, for Joseph is far greater than they and truly holds their lives in his hands (42:6). And those dreams also lay the groundwork for Joseph’s important dream interpretations later on—interpretations that enable these first two dreams to actually come to fruition.
But the dreams are crucial to the story for another reason, namely, they provide the motivation for the brothers to rid themselves of Joseph and set the whole chain of events into motion. Of course, the favoritism of their father toward Joseph, the fancy coat he gave him, and the general nuisance that Joseph was to them, would most definitely have continued to be significant irritations to the 10 brothers. But would those things have been enough to get them to the point of plotting murder? No. Something more is needed to drive them “over the edge.” And that something is a pair of God-given dreams that, though true, make Joseph out to look like an arrogant jerk.
Consider that for just a moment. God blesses Joseph with two dreams illustrating the greater blessing He would accomplish for him in the future, but only so that his brothers will hate him and seriously contemplate murdering him. And with the immediate result that he is thrown into a cistern, sold into slavery, and his father convinced that he’d been killed and eaten by wild animals. Had Joseph known in advance the effect these two dreams would have, I wonder how quick he would have been to share them with others? By the way, we are never told if Joseph ever has another dream, only that God has given him the ability to interpret them. I have a sneaking suspicion he did continue to have dreams, but from here on out he will chose to keep them to himself.
A few thoughts as I bring today’s devotion to a close. Is it fair to say that blessings from God can come with hidden purposes on His part, and could well involve pain and struggle? I’ve always been taught that “the end never justifies the means.” But is seems with God that the very opposite is true. He will use any and every means possible to accomplish the good and blessed end He has in mind. And, finally, is it just me—or does this whole story of Joseph seem to be one big foreshadowing of Jesus? Blessings on your day!
Vaya con Dios!
Pastor Peterson
REMINDER: You can check out previous email devotions from Shepherd of the Valley Devotions by going to http://groups.google.com/group/salmonlutheran
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