Sold! Series

No Ordinary Joe: SOLD!

Genesis 37:12-35

Pastor Jefferson M. Williams

Chenoa Baptist Church

10-02-2021

Brotherly Love?

I could beat up my little brother, but you better not mess with him.

That was my motto when I was growing up. Mark and I fought like cats and dogs, but I would’t tolerate him being picked on any school and actually had to threaten several younger punks for messing with my brother at school.

We fought but we never wanted to kill each other.

I actually Googled “brother kills brother” and the first two pages turned up twelve stories other brother killing brother from all over the world.

The official term for this is fratricide and history is full of such murders.

This shouldn’t surprise us since the very first sibling rivalry ended in murder when Cain killed Abel. (See Gen 4)

Even in King David’s family, Absalom kills Amnon for raping their Tamar, their sister. (See I Sam 13)

Romulus killed his twin brother Remes, the cofounder of Rome.

Claudius kills King Hamlet to become the King of Denmark.

In the Godfather, Michael Corleone has his brother Fredo shot.

But this morning, we are going to see something far worse, far more wicked, than a brother killing a brother. We are going witness a scene where nine brothers conspire to murder their little brother, cover it up, and lie to their dad about it for over twenty years!

Recap

Three weeks ago, we began our series on the life of Joseph entitled, “No ordinary Joe.”

We learned that Joseph was favored by his father Jacob because he was the first born son of his favorite wife, Rachel.

Because Jacob loved Joseph more than the other brothers he had a coat of many colors made for him.

If you remember from that sermon, the color of the tunic was not the important factor but the length. It was long sleeved and came down to the ankles. In other words, it was not work clothes and was more like a tuxedo.

This coat represented Jacob’s decision to make Joseph the heir of the first-born’s blessings since Rueben had forfeited the blessing by sleeping with his step mother.

And because of this coat, the brothers hated him with a murderous rage. Three times it says that they hated him and that they were jealous of Joseph.

We also learned that God spoke to Joseph in dreams. He shared two dreams with his brothers. In one, his sheaf of grain stands up straight while their sheaves bow down to him. In the other, the sun, moon, and eleven stars bow down to him.

The brothers are indignant, and even Jacob rebukes him. But Jacob has also experienced dreams from God so Scripture says, “He kept this in mind.”

Much like Mary who “pondered these things in her heart” (Luke 2:19) concerning Jesus, Jacob wondered to himself if the gift of dreams ran in the family.

That brings us to our study today. Turn with me to Genesis 37 and we will begin at verse 12.

Prayer.

Joseph Sent

“Now his brothers had gone to graze their father’s flocks near Shechem, and Israel said to Joseph, “As you know, your brothers are grazing the flocks near Shechem. Come, I am going to send you to them.”“Very well,” he replied. So he said to him, “Go and see if all is well with your brothers and with the flocks, and bring word back to me.” Then he sent him off from the Valley of Hebron.” (12-14)

First, let’s see that Joseph is sent.

Jacob’s family was semi-nomadic and would travel from place to place looking for pasture to feed their flocks that numbered in the thousands.

Jacob owns a plot of land and the brothers have gone to graze the flocks there. This was about 50 miles north of their home.

Jacob knows that the brothers are dangerously close to Shechem, the place where Simeon and Levi committed mass murder to avenge their sister Dinah’s rape. Jacob was probably worried about their safety and decided to send Joseph to check on them.

They were a long way from home and hadn’t check in so Joseph would travel to them and bring back a report to dad. If you remember from the first sermon, Joseph was good at telling on his brothers.

Notice two things. First, Joseph wasn’t in the fields with the brothers. He doesn’t sleep outside and tend to dirty, dumb sheep. He’s daddy’s favorite.

Second, this is a very unwise decision that Jacob makes. He knows that the brothers hate Joseph’s guts and sending him to check up on them is going to increase their hostility.

But Jacob seems oblivious to the danger and send Joseph on his way.

Joseph Searches

"When Joseph arrived at Shechem, a man found him wandering around in the fields and asked him, “What are you looking for?” He replied, “I’m looking for my brothers. Can you tell me where they are grazing their flocks?” “They have moved on from here,” the man answered. “I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them near Dothan.” (14b-17)