Upcoming Sunday
Old Testament Readings
Sunday 13 August
2017
Genesis
37:1-4, 12-28
Jacob settled in the land where his father had lived as an alien,
the land of Canaan. This is the story of the family of Jacob. Joseph, being
seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers; he was a
helper to the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought
a bad report of them to their father. Now Israel loved Joseph more than any
other of his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he had made
him a long robe with sleeves. But when his brothers saw that their father loved
him more than all his brothers, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably
to him. Now his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock near Shechem. And
Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem?
Come, I will send you to them.” He answered, “Here I am.” So he said to him,
“Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock; and bring
word back to me.” So he sent him from the valley of Hebron. He came to Shechem,
and a man found him wandering in the fields; the man asked him, “What are you
seeking?” “I am seeking my brothers,” he said; “tell me, please, where they are
pasturing the flock.” The man said, “They have gone away, for I heard them say,
‘Let us go to Dothan.’“ So Joseph went after his brothers, and found them at
Dothan. They saw him from a distance, and before he came near to them, they
conspired to kill him. 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 shall say that
a wild animal has devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his
dreams.” But when Reuben heard it, he delivered him out of their hands, saying,
“Let us not take his life.” Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; throw him into
this pit here in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him” —that he might rescue
him out of their hand and restore him to his father. So when Joseph came to his
brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the long robe with sleeves that he
wore; and they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was
no water in it. Then they sat down to eat; and looking up they saw a caravan of
Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels carrying gum, balm, and
resin, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. Then Judah said to his brothers,
“What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come, let us
sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not lay our hands on him, for he is our
brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers agreed. When some Midianite traders
passed by, they drew Joseph up, lifting him out of the pit, and sold him to the
Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.
–––––––––––– –––––––––––– –––––––––––– –––––––––––– ––––––––––––
With
this reading, we begin the story of Joseph.
Because of his dreams, and the favor of Jacob for this son of Rachel,
the other 10 brothers, minus Benjamin, have great contempt, even hatred, for
Joseph. It is this emotion that drives
them to sell Joseph as one would sell a slave.
But in time we will see a remarkable thing happen. God takes what the brothers meant for evil
and redeems these emotions, using them and Joseph, whom they hated, for good. Sold into Egypt, Joseph will become the ruler
who will protect and defend the lives of his
brothers and of his family.
–––––––––––– –––––––––––– –––––––––––– –––––––––––– ––––––––––––
Father Timothy
Alleman
No comments:
Post a Comment