| Subject: Genesis 37 vss 12-24 Post 179 |
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Hillbilly
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Date Posted: 20:15:56 01/19/12 Thu
Genesis 37:12-24 And his brethren went to feed their father's flock in Shechem. 13 And Israel said unto Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? come, and I will send thee unto them. And he said to him, Here am I. 14 And he said to him, Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks; and bring me word again. So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. 15 And a certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering in the field: and the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou? 16 And he said, I seek my brethren: tell me, I pray thee, where they feed their flocks. 17 And the man said, They are departed hence; for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan. 18 And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him. 19 And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh. 20 Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams. 21 And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands; and said, Let us not kill him. 22 And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him; that he might rid him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again. 23 And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stript Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colours that was on him; 24 And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it.
In the passage we can get an idea of how much territory a flock of sheep might cover in pasturing during the warm months. Shechem (evidently named after Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite) is about 30 miles north of Jerusalem, Dothan (which means two wells) is a little over 44 1/2 miles northeast of Jerusalem. Hebron is about 20 miles south of Jerusalem. The territory covered is up to 60 miles from home for the boys of Jacob. We can easily understand from this that Joseph's "errand" for his father was quite a task. That he wasn't with his brothers may indicate that he was not made a part of the herdsman or shepherd's trade. Daddy kept his favorite safe at home while the rest did the work. We can likely identify with the resentment the 10 brothers of Joseph felt toward him. Benjamin is not with them either and possibly because he is still quite young at this point.
Joseph heads for Shechem and can't find his brothers. He wanderings evoke the curiosity of a man who evidently watched him for some time until he questions him on what he is doing wandering about. Joseph asks of the whereabouts of his brothers and flocks and the man relates that he overheard them planning on going to Dothan where there was supposedly good pasture.
Joseph spots the flocks and heads toward them. While he was quite a distance they recognized him and their hatred and anger flared up against him. "Even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him". We take note that the reason for their desire to kill Joseph is jealousy and envy. He has done nothing to hurt them but they can't stand the position their father has placed him in. It is understood that Joseph will receive the birthright and will be the rightful heir to Jacob's wealth. This scenario is played out in the parable of the owner of the vineyard who sent his son to receive of the fruit of the vineyard. Mark 12:6-8 Having yet therefore one son, his wellbeloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, They will reverence my son. 7 But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours. 8 And they took him, and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard.
"Come now therefore, and let us slay him, ---and we shall see what will become of his dreams." The "dreams" are prophecies. The idea is destroy the dreamer and it will be impossible for the dreams to come true. This was the thought of the priest, Pharisees and Sadducees who conspired to kill Jesus. What they had against Jesus was the words He spoke which were many times prophecies and the position He claimed before God. He was the "beloved Son" and he spoke prophecies that made Him equal to God. Joseph as the heir was equal to Jacob who at this point is a type of the Father in heaven just as Joseph is a type of Jesus the beloved Son. Here also we can see the ignorance of Satan. Had Satan known the plan of God for the redemption of mankind he would have done everything in his power to have stopped the crucifixion. As it was, God did not allow him to know His plan and Satan was determined that by killing Jesus he could stop God's plan. 1 Corinthians 2:7-8 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: 8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
The instigators of the murder plan are probably the sons of the concubines Zilpah and Bilhah. These are the ones of whom Joseph gave evil report of to Jacob. Reinforcing this idea is Reuben, the firstborn; who evidently was apart from the rest, comes forward and stops the murder. He devises a plan whereby he might be able to deliver Joseph from harm and get him back to Jacob. "And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him; that he might rid him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again."(vs.22)
From what next transpires we can deduce that the end is still in doubt as Joseph comes to them and they immediately pounce on him and strip him of his royal coat and cast him into the pit. The pit was probably a dry well as they were in Dothan and Dothan means "two wells". The well would have been deep enough that Joseph could not escape. Simarly from this are reminded that when Jesus was crucified he was stripped of his robe and after death placed in a dug grave. Just as the dry well would have been dug by hand so was the tomb that Jesus was laid in. Just as Joseph did not stay in the pit neither did Jesus stay in the tomb. The word used here is pit instead of well though but as these events are shadows of future events we understand the word pit is many times used for the grave and underworld after death. Psalm 88:3-6 For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave. 4 I am counted with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength: 5 Free among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest no more: and they are cut off from thy hand. 6 Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps.
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