Has favoritism in your family wrought destruction of relationships? Before Joseph forgives his brothers, we see the effects of favoritism playing out with long-lasting consequences.
When you’re 17, acting with wisdom isn’t exactly a faculty held by most. In fact, it is often quite the opposite.
Now throw in a father who sets you apart from your older siblings, keeps you from working in the same manner, makes and gives special gifts only to you, asks you to check up on them, and wants you to report back how they’re doing–your family dynamics might need to be reworked.
But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him.
Genesis 37:4 (emphasis added)
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Did you read that?! They hated him… to the point that they couldn’t even speak peacefully to him. Those are a LOT of feelings from his siblings directed at him. Favoritism in a family leads to strife among children.
It’s good to ask, then, does Joseph try to appease the situation or does he continue on like life is normal and all is well?
Joseph assumes he has great liberties to speak–both against his brothers as a tattler but also as a superior by sharing his dreams boldly. He either doesn’t see or chooses to ignore the fact that sharing one dream leads his brothers to hate him more (v. 5b, 8b).
He now has another dream AND SHARES IT WITH THEM AGAIN. Quite a bold move on his part.
After he spouts off and his brothers express disdain and jealousy, he is kept home while they attend the sheep. Murderous intentions were now formed as the hatred and jealousy grew.
As we fast forward past the slavery, Potiphar and his wife, being jailed, and rising to a powerful position, we find the 10 brothers enter back into his life unknowingly.
We see now that Joseph does not immediately throw his arms around them, weep with joy, forgive them, and enter back into relationship with them. This is a great lesson to mimic with regard to Biblical forgiveness and reconciliation.
They claim they are honest men (42:11), so he asks them to prove it. He questioned if they had truly changed over the years and were repentant for the wrongs they had done first. This step was first, to observe if they were genuinely changed before advancing toward reconciliation.
… Check back next week for the conclusion: Joseph forgives his brothers and reconciles with them.
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This story of Joseph has always amazed me, the way it plays out, and the way Joseph forgives in the end.
I’ve always thought of those dreams as the same kind of prophetic dreams as the butler and baker had in prison. I wonder if any of them remembered those dreams when they encountered Joseph later and realized who he was. I love the second half of this story so much.