“Jacob lived in the land of his father’s sojournings, in the land of Canaan. These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was pasturing the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with 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 sons, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a robe of many colors. 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 37:1-4 ESV
Get this: one of the greatest stories about betrayal, violence, oppression, faithfulness and redemption ever told – that is, Joseph’s story – is set in motion because of the simplest of sins. We’re always expert suppressors of the obvious. We flirt with sin and the world, thinking “little sins” aren’t so ghastly as God says they are. But the jealousy of Joseph’s brothers and the inaction – indeed, the cowardice of Jacob – set in motion the slavery, the imprisonment, and all that follows.
A great thing about Christianity is that the Lord doesn’t deal with us as our sins deserve. That’s certainly true. But our sins do have consequences. How awful for us when we realize that we could have been in a place of blessing already had we put to death some sin or another. How stupid of us to think we can keep a pet iniquity – a jealousy, or gossip, or slander…all of which are hatred – and think that the Lord will be okay with it. Imagine a police officer who provides drugs for a few folks. That’s the sad case of many a Christian heart.
God will cleanse His people. And such is the case here with the family of Jacob.
First, there’s no record of Jacob confronting the sin of his boys. They were apparently poor and dishonest workers. This fits the pattern considering the other things we already know about them. But instead of trying to correct and instruct them, he sends his favorite, Joseph, a mere teenager, to effectively spy on them and report back to him. The lack of wisdom here is so evident as to be appalling. Didn’t Simeon and Levi already display the ability to use deceit and violence? They certainly did. It’s often that Christians overlook the power of sin in themselves and their own household and no good can come from it.
In our own case, we must learn the Godly courage of confronting issues with others. If there’s a fracture of trust, if the behavior of others is sinful, we see from Jacob the wrong way to handle it…the easy way. The answer is to bring Christ to the situation by going and confronting the other party in the spirit of reconciliation. Ignoring a sinful pattern is never God’s plan.
It’s also likely that all of this wasn’t on Jacob insofar as scoffers (those who refuse Godly instruction and correction) often do an expert job of avoiding the conversations needed to bring them to the cross and repentance. This is probably what happened and yet Jacob, being the patriarch, was responsible for his family. His decision to basically announce the princely status of Joseph through the robe was also unwise in that it proved to the rest of his sons that they were passed over. In doing so, Jacob left Joseph unprotected against a group of men who had already slaughtered a whole town. They did that through deceit and through the provocation of the rape of their sister. The risk was extremely high in an act like the slaughter of Shechem. There was much less risk in attacking the lone little brother and far greater personal provocation to them.
How many times do we as parents leave our children unprotected against the grave sins of the world? Or from our own just as deadly sins? Many fathers abdicate their priestly roles in the home because they convince themselves that they’re busy providing at work. How many husbands and wives have looked the other way as the sins of the spouse rule the house like a tyrant? And sin is always a tyrant. We must pray, as parents, first and foremost, that our children grow up seeing us as examples of God’s grace – repentant, humble, lovingly obedient to Him, and always showing Christ.
The other thing to note is that Joseph did indeed bring a bad report about the character of his brothers. Jacob responded by making Joseph the robe. This was the sure instigator because sinful hearts lash out when they can’t get their way. In the flesh we don’t rejoice in the truth of God but in getting what we want. The brothers weren’t stupid. They knew what was happening. But instead of being chastened and humbled, and then going to their father in that humility, they were hardened in hatred. The coat became the instigating symbol of all that was wrong with the family of Jacob. Justice was sought as a form of self-remedy – Jacob through Joseph’s spying and making the coat, and the sons’ hatred and plotting. Once again, the Biblical model of lovingly confronting sin in the spirit of restoration is no where to be seen. To 17 year-old Joseph the kidnapping, abuse, and selling into slavery was a monumental shock but it had been an event brewing in sinful hearts for quite some time.
Oh, the things we will do in order to get our way! It’s a sad reality. We become expert witnesses as to why we’re righteous even while denying the principles of biblical responsibility and relationships.
Application
Fathers and mothers: preach and teach the gospel in your home. The danger of the covenant people is that we become arrogant (Romans 11:18). Self-righteousness is our default setting, after all. Sadly, the Christian home has been a breeding ground, not for gospel saturation, but for spiritual pride. Children should regularly hear and see their parents thanking God for grace. More than speaking about the sins of the political world, we should be speaking to our children about our own…and, therefore, glorify the Lord Jesus Christ for the amazing grace He lovingly bestows upon us.
Christianity is not a religious set of rules! It’s a new and abundant life in the Spirit!
It’s clear that the house of Jacob was more concerned with their outward circumstances than they were their own standing before the holy God of the universe. How much different this could have all played out if Jacob’s home had been one saturated in daily discussion of God’s utter holiness, our moral inabilities, and then – always and forever – the grace of God through faith alone.
Watch for the signs of a grace-less home. A family without grace is a family that has sin festering and growing.
Watch for the great danger of jealousy and quarreling.
“Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” Romans 13:13–14 ESV
Note how this verse says something amazing. It’s too often ignored. We naturally are aware of the sinfulness of our sexual culture. Many churches are quite insistent that members not drink or smoke. A large Christian college nearby does its hearty best to rule out sin on campus. The young women have strict dress codes. They don’t allow rock music. They demand that students attend chapel everyday. You can see how this is all meant well but it ignores the plain fact of man’s sinfulness. It brings commandments upon students that are not biblical. Holiness cannot be forced. It can’t be attained through a set of rules. Love and gratitude flow from the new heart that rests in grace, not works. This university has been recently wracked by quarreling and jealousy. Its president has resigned. There were howls of delight from the surrounding (unbelieving) community as they watch with glee as God’s people stumble over the stumbling stone. God’s people cannot be partial. But the college had organized into factions. In obsessing about dress-codes, they violated the commandment against quarreling. They traded a clear commandment for one they wished for.
“Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” Romans 10:1–4 ESV
Indeed! Where was Christ in this? Can a man save himself through works? Where does the Scripture dictate how long a girl’s skirt should be? If a boy can see her knees, is she going to hell? The walk with Christ must always be one of the application of holy principles from the word alone in light of the gospel of salvation through faith. The idea that any man or institution may bind the conscience of another is the stuff of Satan. Quarreling and jealousy are the mark of many Christian homes and churches because we forget that our standing in the Lord is by grace alone. We quarrel over life’s minor details and ignore the weightier matters. We forget that we walk in the Spirit, not in the old written code (Romans 7:6). Do we abolish the law by doing this? By no means! By the righteousness of faith and by walking daily in its all-encompassing light, we uphold the law (Romans 3:31).
To this end we must pray that we walk in the Spirit indeed. Quarreling and jealousy are as bad as sexual sin! So, we make no provision for the flesh (Romans 13:14) and vow to keep no record of wrongs against a brother or sister, nor to be a fault-finder. If a brother or sister sins we prayerfully submit to the Lord’s commandment to go to them…in Christ…with the goal of bringing about repentance. If what they’re doing isn’t a sin (as defined in the Bible) then the problem is ours! We need to shut up about the shortcomings of others lest we bring judgment upon ourselves (Matthew 7:2). Oh, how much misery can be avoided if we adhere to the Scriptures (Matthew 18:15-17; 1 Timothy 5:19-21; James 2:8-13; Proverbs 17:9, 15; 18:2, 12-13, 17).
Joseph’s brothers obviously were untrustworthy workers and resented their father and younger brother. Sinners always demand that others do what they want because they themselves aren’t doing what God wants. Jealousy stems from covetousness, which is idolatry (Colossians 3:5). We must beware when we obsess about titles and things; to fixate on what others allegedly owe us is a sure path to conflict. It proves a lack of godly contentment.
And Jacob should have brought his sons to the Lord. He was obviously unhappy with their work-ethic and their character. Judgment without the offer of redemption is never the Christian way. The vast majority of the world’s philosophies and religions, save Christianity alone, are obsessed with the failures of others. The entire woke movement is based upon this. The lone exceptions are movements of asceticism and personal severity, which does nothing to solve the problem of sin. But at least they don’t cause such horrific quarrels. Where there is no true gospel and repentance of personal sin there’s all forms of conflict, even bloodshed. Later, God will teach Jacob and his family these lessons. The hard way. It’s a beautiful story, yes. But the place of blessing doesn’t have to run through Egypt if we heed His call now.
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