Faith in the Journey - Pt. 4

 

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.” But when Reuben heard it, he rescued him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.” And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him”—that he might rescue him out of their hand to restore him to his father. So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the robe of many colors that he wore. And they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it. (Genesis 37:19-24 ESV).

 

Joseph’s brothers hated him because their father “loved Joseph more than any of his other sons.” Joseph had also had dreams in which his brothers bowed down to him, and he had told them about those dreams (cf. Genesis 37:1-11). The brothers hated Joseph so much that they wanted to kill him. One day the opportunity came, as Joseph went out to the fields where his brothers were grazing their flocks. The brothers seized Joseph and threw him into a pit. There is an important entry in this passage. Notice at the end there is almost an addendum: “The pit was empty; there was no water in it.” (v. 24). God was always working for good in Joseph’s journey.

 

Instead of killing him, Joseph’s brothers sold him as a slave to some traveling merchants, who took him to Egypt. Imagine Joseph as a slave being dragged around at the market. Imagine the hardship he endured as a slave in Egypt. There must have been enormous doubt and pain that began to fill his heart. Isn’t this the same thing that happens to us when we are betrayed or abandoned?

 

Looking at the rest of Joseph’s life, we can see that “the Lord was with him” and “gave him success in everything he did” (cf. Genesis 39:3, 23; chapters 40-50). Through that path of hardship Joseph eventually became second in command over Egypt. God used Joseph to save people from a terrible famine, including his whole family and people from all the surrounding nations. In the same way Jesus came to suffer and die for our sake, and through that path of many hardships he rose in victory over death and ascended to heaven, where he now rules over all the earth. His path through suffering has led to blessings for us all. Perhaps we should remember that God can be trusted with the dreams He has given us. He will finish what He has begun in our lives no matter how difficult our path becomes.