Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
Jealousy can consume someone’s heart to the point it can lead them to attitudes, choices and actions that could destroy their reputation and their lives, am I right? Jealousy can be among the most destructive of all human emotions, and probably you have been wounded by it at one time or another in your life journey.
We’ve come today to one of the most famous of all jealousy stories in the Bible… Jacob’s ‘favorite son’ Joseph. Genesis 37 begins with young Joseph bringing to his father a ‘bad report’ about how his brothers were tending to his father Jacob’s business. The record says: “Now Israel (Jacob) loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made a richly ornamented robe for him. When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated Joseph and could not speak a kind word to him.“ (Gen. 37:3,4) You’ll remember Joseph had been born as Jacob’s 12th child (11 boys & 1 girl). So he was the baby of the family for a while, and Joseph was born to Jacob’s beloved Rachel. Joseph was her only son, until she died giving birth to her second child, Benjamin, Joseph’s younger brother. We don’t know exactly how many years are between these two boys, but their father Jacob loved them both dearly and we imagine a special relationship existed between them.
You’ll remember Jacob grew up with a twin brother Esau. They were the only two children of his parents Isaac and Rebekah, and the sibling rivalry in that family was ferocious. Isaac loved his son Esau, Rebekah loved her son Jacob, and jealousy reigned in that home almost from their birth. It reached fever as Jacob, guided by his mother Rebekah, deceived his father Isaac who was losing his eyesight, and Jacob stole Esau’s firstborn blessing. Jealousy turned to such deep anger, resentment and bitterness in the family that Jacob had to flee for his life. It was more than 20 years before the brothers saw each other again and began to reconcile.
It’s amazing to me that Jacob, having grown up in a jealousy divided home, would allow himself to actually breed jealousy in his family, as he became a husband and father! It began with the deception of Laban, Jacob’s father-in-law didn’t it? Jacob had agreed to work 7 years to earn the hand of Laban’s daughter Rachel in marriage, but on the wedding day, Laban put his eldest daughter Leah in the wedding gown and veil, and it wasn’t until the next morning Jacob realized he had been married to and slept with Leah rather than Rachel! (Now don’t ask me to explain how Jacob couldn’t tell the difference between the sisters until daylight? I don’t quite get that either, but evidently love really is blind sometimes!)
Jacob’s anger and complaint to Laban birthed deep jealousy in Jacob’s family the very first day of his married life! He was given Rachel, after his bridal week, but in exchange for another 7 years of work! As we saw when we read Genesis 30, the jealousy and competition between sister-wives Leah and Rachel, in their deep desire to mother Jacob’s children, drew their maid servants into the envy battle, and Jacob ended up with four jealous wives and children with each of them.
Can you imagine what their ‘tent campus homestead’ was like, my friends? I envision four tent homes…one for Leah and her children, another for Bilhah and her children, another for Zilpah and her children, and finally one for Rachel and her son Joseph. Jacob would have rotated his nights among these four tents, when he was at home and not out in the fields with his business. He tried, I’m sure, to balance his time between these four wives and each of their children, but oh my… 4 wives, 11 sons and one daughter, that would have been quite a challenge, and I presume everyone knew Rachel’s tent was Jacob’s favorite tent. As the children grew up, like all kids they would have wanted their own space, so before long I presume the older boys were in tents of their own. I don’t think it’s hard for any of us to imagine how jealousy was wounding the wives as they competed with each other for Jacob’s love, as well as the children, as they all saw Joseph was the favorite as soon as he was born.
Let’s pause just a moment here… think about jealousy in the homes in your family: your extended family homes, your grandparent homes, your childhood home, your homes after you moved out from living with your parents. If you are a parent or grandparent, what do you see in the homes of your children and grandchildren? No home is free of jealousy, it’s one of the most prevalent human family emotions and it results in widespread wounding and pain. What wounds do you still carry, at whatever age you are now, in whatever part of the world you live…as a result of how jealousy has touched your life, especially jealousy in your own family?
To make matters worse, Joseph as a teenager was having dreams, crazy dreams. Joseph told his dreams to his brothers and they became livid with anger! Come on, let’s listen in… the record says: “Joseph said to his brothers, ‘Listen to this dream I had, we were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.” (Gen. 37:5-7) Look at the brother’s faces, what do you see? Anger, frustration, irritation, bitterness? Do you even see some fists clenching and veins in their necks bulging? As the brothers look at each other, are some of them getting red in their faces? Are you afraid a brawl might break out here?
“His brothers said to him, ‘Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?’ And they hated Joseph all the more because of his dream and what he had said.” With tempers flaring, I think Joseph concluded that might be a good time to leave and run back home to dad. Upon arriving home, the record says “Joseph told his father as well… and his father rebuked him and said, ‘What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?’ His brothers were jealous of Joseph, but his father kept the matter in mind.” (Gen. 37:10,11) I wonder if you said or did things when you were young that caused your parents to file that memory away and reflect on it from time to time, seeking to understand if it had a deeper meaning or was an indicator of who you might grow up to be? Or if you are a parent, did you have this experience with your children?
Have you noticed jealousy doesn’t simply disappear, it festers, it breeds other emotions like resentment which then feeds sarcasm or malicious talk or slander or even plans for retaliation. That was happening in Jacob’s family. Most of Joseph’s older brothers were old enough now to be working far out in the fields shepherding the animals for extended periods of time. Hundreds of animals need grazing land and water, and shepherding is demanding work, especially open range shepherding. Grazing animals move as they graze, with their heads down focused on what they are eating, and usually unaware they may be wandering away from the flock or that a predator animal might be approaching. Keeping the sheep and goats safe, near each other, having plenty of good food and water is hard, lonely work.
Jacob, like any good businessman, wanted frequent updates on his business interests but without cell phones or other communication his only option was to send a messenger to find the flocks and bring back a report. So Jacob sent Joseph. Joseph was 17 years old, certainly old enough to be working permanently out in the fields, but evidently Jacob kept Joseph close to home as his favorite son, and from time to time sent him out to bring back a fresh report. Genesis 37:14 tells us Jacob sent him from their home in Hebron, to the area of Shechem, where they had lived for a while before coming all the way to Jacob’s boyhood homestead in Hebron.
Grazing animals are always moving, my friends, so it took a while, but eventually Joseph found his brothers and their flocks. The Genesis record gives us this insight: “So Joseph went after his brothers and found them near Dothan. But they saw him in the distance and before he reached them they plotted to kill Joseph! ‘Here comes that dreamer!’ they said to each other. “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.” (Gen. 37:17-21) Jealousy out of control can breed murder plans! I’ve always wondered which of Joseph’s brothers was the ringleader, the one turning up the heat? I’m grateful there was at least one wise brother who had a little restraint and wisdom. Reuben, the eldest, cautioned them… “Let’s not take his life… don’t shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern here in the desert, but let’s not kill him.” (Gen. 37:22)
Can you imagine the courage it took for Reuben to stand up to his angry brothers? Let’s pause right here for today and stand there among the brothers watching Joseph coming far in the distance. What do you feel? What do you see in the eyes of the men among whom we are standing? What is the look of contemplating killing, not just any man but actually killing their brother, knowing full well it would break their fathers’ heart? Oh my how jealousy can breed such terrible, horrible attitudes, even destructive plans! Jealousy is a powerful weapon of Satan isn’t it my friends? So what do you and I need to do to root out jealousy in our hearts and protect our hearts from any scheme of the devil to draw us deeper into jealousy. I invite us to sit and reflect on this scene with Jacob’s sons…and look deeply into our own lives, and let’s talk with Jesus about this! Does Jesus see any jealousy in your heart or mine?
Now friends, I have a special song to invite you to enjoy today… it’s a song that COUNTERS JEALOUSY! A song of great truth that calls us to repent and turn from that terrible, evil attitude of jealousy, and worship Jesus, and receive God’s glorious blessing. It’s a global song because jealousy is a global problem, and the only solution is defeating Satan’s attack through the power, the holiness, the love of Jesus! Sometimes we need children’s faces and voices to help us gain fresh perspective on our lives. Let’s worship together friends… all over the world:
Today’s Scripture is Genesis 37:1-22.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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