Let us pray. And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brothers, and they hated him yet the more. Genesis 37:5. Heavenly Father, as I greet this new day, I thank you, Lord, that I'm growing in blessing and influence. Like Joseph, I thank you for uncommon favor with everyone I come in contact with. Like his coat of many colors, I thank you that my unique giftings can be seen by all around me. And when others around me plot against my future and try to derail the dreams you've given me, I will refuse to become a slave to their bitterness and envy. I will not allow fear to make me forget my future. I will not abandon my position of power, for I know that he who began a good work is faithful to complete it. I decree and declare that my dreams are still alive and that they will come to pass. In Jesus' name, Amen. Thank you for making prayer a priority in your day. To learn more about the Bible, stay tuned for today's story, brought to you by BibleInAyear. Com.

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The Dreams of Joseph. Before this story, we learned how Jacob's daughter, Dina, was assaulted, raped, and then taken as a wife by Shechem. Out of vengeance, Simon and Levi killed every man in the small city and pillaged all they had. Jacob fled back to Bethel and settled there with his family, and God reassured Jacob of his promise. Now we will learn about how Jacob, now called Israel, favored his youngest son, Joseph. Joseph's favor from his father would bring contempt from his brothers, inspired by the Book of Genesis.

Hello, I'm Pastor Jack Graham with today's episode of the Bible in a Year podcast. Previously, we heard that Jacob had once again abdicated the role of leadership which God had called him. And as a result, there was a great deal of bloodshed, pain, and trouble that spreads throughout Jacob's family. Eventually, Jacob woke up to the tragedies and schemes his disobedience created and turned to God for help and guidance. God, in his love and grace, once again proved faithful to Jacob and his family, and things seemed headed in the right direction. But today, we will see a familiar monster rear its head. Favoritism. We are about to see how God's plans endure in spite failings and jealousy and resentment, pain and hurt. Listen to today's story.

Jacob, now called Israel, lived in the land promised by God to Abraham. In the land of Canaan, he dwelled with his family, increasing in influence and blessings. The land was ripe with green fields and fresh soil. Flocks thrived and grew in number, and the sons of Israel all worked for their father and began raising families of their own. Joseph, who was the youngest brother at 17 years old, often pastured the flock with his brothers. It was not rare for Joseph to bring reports back to his father about anything his brothers did wrong, for he was Israel's favorite, and he knew it. Israel loved Joseph deeply, not just because he was the youngest, but he was also the son of Rachel, who could not have children before him. One day, Israel adorned Joseph with an immaculate robe. It flowed and glistened in the sun. Its colors beamed with regality and clearly represented where Joseph stood among the rest of his eleven brothers. It was evident to his brothers how much their father loved him more, so they hated Joseph for it. It was nearly impossible for them to speak to him without contempt in their voices.

One evening, Joseph tossed and turned in the night from a vivid dream. Joseph awoke and immediately went to tell his brothers about what he had seen. Hear my dream, he asked while they were getting ready to work the fields. We were all binding sheaves of wheat in the field, and all of a sudden my sheave rose and stood upright. 'Your sheaves all gathered around mine and bowed to it. ' Joseph recounted his dream to his brothers, and they all stared at him, irked. 'So are you to reign and rule over us? ' They asked with distain. They hated him for his dreams. Joseph one day would learn how to explain dreams with less pride, but for now, he reveled in the idea of his brothers bowing to him. The next night, he dreamed another dream just as vivid as the one before. Again, he spoke to his brothers in the morning, 'Behold the sun and the moon, and eleven stars were all bowing down to me, ' he told them. This time, It was not only his brothers, but his mother and father as well that bowed to him. This annoyed his brothers as well as Israel.

Israel rebuked Joseph and said, What dreams have you been having? Shall we all fall on the ground before you? Though Israel was cross, he pondered what his son's dreams may have meant. The other brothers, however, were jealous and teemed with anger more and more every day. One day, his brothers went to pasture their father's flocks near the valley of Shechem. Israel decided to send Joseph to help and bring word of how they were doing. Joseph left Hebron and came to Shechem, but could not find his brothers anywhere. Joseph found a man wandering the fields and asked if he had seen his brothers with the flocks. They have gone away. I heard them say they would go to Dothan, the man replied. So Joseph set out to find his brothers at Dothan. As Joseph descended down into Dothan, his brother saw him from afar. Here comes the dreamer, one of them said. We should kill him and throw him into one of these pits. We will see what comes of his dreams when he is devoured by a beast, ' another said. They laughed, but Reuben, the oldest, was not liking where the conversation was headed.

Reuben did not want his brother dead, but he also feared the backlash if he defended Joseph. Let's not take his life, ' Reuben said. Shedding blood is too messy. Instead, we should just throw him in this pit here let him rot. Reuben suggested this so he could come by later to rescue Joseph. Joseph finally arrived and greeted his brothers. He was met with piercing glares. They had looked at him with disdain before, but this time it was different. Their eyes portrayed an ancient evil that had lurkt in the hearts of men since the beginning. All eleven brothers looked at him with the eyes of Cain. Before Joseph could process what was happening, he found himself trapped under the arms of his older brothers. Strong and calloused from tilling the fields and harvesting grain, year after year, their hands clutched his colorful robe and tore it off his body. A fury of chuckles and blows blurred Joseph's vision. He was caught in a mob of anger and hate. Covering his head and face from the fist of his brothers, Joseph could barely look up until he found himself in the air, descending into to a deep pit below.

All the air in Joseph's lungs fled as his back hit the cold, damp ground. Lying face up, he slowly opened his eyes, only to see the marking stairs of his brothers looking down on him. Joseph lay there helpless for hours. It seemed like days. The only water in the pit fell from Joseph's eyes. Afraid and alone, Joseph wept. Later that day, as they sat down to eat, the brothers saw a caravan of Ishmaelite merchants heading to Egypt to sell their goods and slaves. Judah saw them from afar and then turned towards his brothers and said, What does it profit us to kill our brother? The only thing we gain is having to clean up his blood. Why don't we sell him to the Ishmaelites? He is our brother after all. The brothers listened intently. Joseph awoke still in the darkness. He had huddled into the corner of the pit to block himself from the piercing sun. Silhouetted from the base of the pit, Joseph saw a rope fall towards him. Finally, his brothers had ceased their cruel joke and rescued him. Joseph climbed out of the pit, looked towards his brothers, and was immediately tackled to the floor, shackled, and taken away towards Egypt.

With the sun beginning to set behind him, Joseph turned his head towards Canaan. Joseph's dreams seemed to be more fantasy now than they ever had been. His heart was tortured by the rejection of his brothers. Joseph, Israel's prized son, was now a slave. Reuben, who had left while everything had transpired, finally returned to the pit to free Joseph. He looked down and saw that Joseph was gone. Reuben, frantic and concerned for Joseph, tore his clothes and raced to his other brothers. He's gone, Reuben shouted. Reuben's weak attempt at bravery failed. It was him who would have to tell his father what happened. The brothers took Joseph's robe, the only remaining trace of him. They slaughtered a goat and dipped Joseph's robe in the blood. With fake sobs and worried eyes, they went to their father with the robe. Heads held low and perfect theatrics, they said, We have found this. Is this your son's robe? Israel, with tears welling up in his eyes, said, It is my son's robe. A fierce animal must have devoured him. He tore his clothes and mourned for weeks. His sons and daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused.

I shall take my grief down to Sheil. There is no returning from this. The approval the brothers once craved would not be given just because Joseph was gone. More now than ever, their father was distant. Meanwhile, in the hot Egyptian sun, Joseph stood, heat beating down on his face, back torn apart from whips, and a spirit broken by his brothers. Joseph was put on to be sold. The Midnight's then sold him to Potiphar, an officer to Pharaoh, the captain of the guard. There, Joseph's story would start to begin.

As we open today's story, Jacob has finally arrived in the land of his father in Canaan and settled with his family. But before he arrived, his beloved wife, Rachel, had given him one more son, Benjamin. Rachel, however, died during childbirth. Jacob is left with two sons to remind him of his late wife whom he loved so deeply. It's the oldest of these two, the young man named Joseph, on whom Jacob centers his love. Joseph was Jacob's clear favorite, and everyone knew it. Joseph's older brothers resent him for Jacob's attitude toward him. Joseph only makes matters worse when he returns from the fields to tattle on them to Jacob. It's salt in an open wound. Jacob either doesn't notice the division or his family or doesn't bother to get involved. Just as when Lea and Rachel battle for his love, Jacob does nothing to bring peace to his home. In fact, he throws fuel on the fire by making a brightly, beautifully-colored coat to give to Joseph. Now, certainly, there's nothing wrong with giving gifts, even some extravagant ones at times, to your children. God, our Father, loves to lavish us with blessings and favor, but he does so without showing favoritism.

Not so with Jacob. He has a clear choice as his favorite, and his sons, his other sons, are so very resentful of Joseph. So the stage is already set for strife. Then Joseph begins to have dreams, very strange dreams that he interprets as foretelling his position of authority over his family. What he says is true, but it's not said with wisdom or tact or even humility. It is a special gift from God this ability to interpret dreams. It's a gift God will use for greater purposes one day, but Joseph is still a prideful young man of 17 years of age. Rather than seeking God's wisdom as to how to process these dreams and share them with others, he tells his brothers openly, pridefully about them. They were understandably incensed at their younger brother who was telling them that they would one day bow before him. One day, Joseph goes out to find them in the fields, and with murder in their hearts, they scheme to kill him and leave his body in a pit. His oldest brother, Reuben, doesn't want bloodshed, but he lacks the courage to stand up to violence. He proposes that they throw him in a pit and leave him there.

He plans to return and rescue him later, but he never gets the chance. When Joseph arrives, his brother sees him, remove his cloak, the prized gift, the beautiful coat that Jacob had given him, and they threw him into a dry pit. His future is thrown into uncertainty as he lies in the pit helpless. How can his dreams come true if he's down there in this pit? Or what if he dies? Imagine the chaos, the confusion, the fear, the pain this young man must have felt. Did he realize that though his brothers were the ones perpetrating this his actions and attitudes had a part in this. While Reuben is away, the others spot a caravan of Ishmaelites, who are descendants of their great grandfather's son with Sarah's servant, Hagar. And they decide to sell him as a slave, and Joseph is carried away into Egypt. All may seem to be lost at this point, but as Joseph will one day say, what they meant for evil, God will use for good. God may allow evil to come our way. But when we trust him and seek him, as Joseph will do in the coming years, we discover that God is good, that he does good, and he is always working together all things for good, the worst Out of the most terrible circumstances, he can bring the best and great blessings as well.

The brothers go home and hand Jacob the blood stained tunic of Joseph, the blood of an animal that they had slain to cover up their transgressions. Depression. Jacob is heartbroken. It will be years before he sees his son Joseph again. But first, Joseph must endure great pain as a slave and then a prisoner in the land of Egypt, the land of the Pharaoh. But that's a story for another time. So let's pray. Dear God, help us to learn from today's scripture that favoritism can have tragic and long-lasting effects on our families. Give us the strength and the wisdom to get rid of favoritism in our own lives and in our families. Lord God, thank you also that even in the darkest moments, even when we are in the deepest pit, that you are with us and that you can work all things together for our good and your glory. It is in the name of Jesus that we pray. Amen. Thank you for listening to today's Bible in a Year podcast. I'm Pastor Jack Graham from Dallas, Texas. Download the pray. Com app and make prayer a priority in your life. If you enjoyed this podcast, share it with someone you love.

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