Last week, we took an in-depth look at Joseph’s teenage attitude problem. This week, we’re going to study the effects of Joseph’s bad attitude, and why it’s dangerous to keep one. Let’s jump right into the story.
Genesis 37 NKJV
12Then his brothers went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem. 13And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” …. 14… “Please go and see if it is well with your brothers and well with the flocks, and bring back word to me.” So he sent him … to Shechem.
Once again, we can see that Joseph was in charge of helping his father with the business. He wasn’t working with his brothers, and his father tasked him with the job of some type of overseeing. I’m not sure why his father would send him to gather information in a heated situation. But Joseph eventually finds his brothers…
18Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, they conspired against him to kill him.
This is why walking in love and peacemaking is of the utmost importance. Our attitudes, as Christians, should cause people to see us and think peace, joy, gentleness, and other good fruit. As for Joseph, living in the Old Testament, they should have at least thought, here comes a blessing.
19Then they said to one another, “Look, this dreamer is coming! 20Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, ‘Some wild beast has devoured him.’ We shall see what will become of his dreams!”
I could imagine his brothers laughing as they decided this. But as we studied in depth last week, the dreams just pushed the brothers over the edge. It wasn’t the dreams alone that caused hatred. Remember, the first dream indicated Joseph would control their food, because their grain bowed to his grain, and the second dream indicted Joseph would be the ultimate authority over the family, the chosen family of God, the moon and the stars bowed to the sun (ultimate authority in the ancient world).
21But Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands, and said, “Let us not kill him.” 22And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit which is in the wilderness, and do not lay a hand on him”—that he might deliver him out of their hands, and bring him back to his father.
Reuben, being the oldest, was acting as the wise leader of the brothers, despite their father favoring Joseph. He was still carrying out his ancient roll as first born.
23…Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him. 24Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it.
Arrogance blinds people to the truth and we can see that happening here. On one side, we see these brothers plotting to kill Joseph; and on the other side, we see Joseph prancing around in his coat of authority to tattletale. How could Joseph be so blind to feel completely safe walking up to them? I guess he was really convinced they had to honor him.
Proverbs 16:18 NKJV
Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
Merriam-Webster defines haughty as having or showing an attitude of superiority and contempt for people or things perceived to be inferior. Joseph was doing both, prideful and haughty. People who often experience destructions and falls because of their attitude, can’t ever seem to see it coming. Pride blinds people to truth! It’s like living with horse blinders.
25And they sat down to eat a meal.
Then they lifted their eyes and looked, and there was a company of Ishmaelites, coming from Gilead with their camels, bearing spices, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry them down to Egypt.
The word for spices was commonly used to refer to highly prized spices for religious rituals, medicine, and as luxury items. Gilead’s balm was famous for healing balm that was used throughout the middle east. It was known to actually be effective. Myrrh was expensive, because it’s harvested tree bark. If the person harvests too soon, they can damage the tree. Basically, what the Bible is telling us is that these traders carried goods for the wealthy and were on their way down to Egypt, a very wealthy land. For our purpose, this information tells us that these traders saw some type of high-priced value on Joseph as a slave. They weren’t buying a farmer, sheep herder, or a builder but an educated teenager.
26So Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? 27Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh.” And his brothers listened.
This sin comes back to Judah’s mind later. Remember this part, that he was the one who decided to make the sale.
28Then Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.
Midianites could have been Ishmaelites too. Genesis 25:1-2 tells us Abraham took another wife after Sarah died and fathered 6 more children, one being Medan. Medan, father of the Midianites, and Ishmael were half-brothers, which means the next generation were all cousins.
29Then Reuben returned to the pit, and indeed Joseph was not in the pit; and he tore his clothes. 30And he returned to his brothers and said, “The lad is no more; and I, where shall I go?”
Reuben was obviously upset, and wanted to go get him.
31So they took Joseph’s tunic, killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the tunic in the blood.
Apparently, they were far enough away that Rueben couldn’t catch up with them, so he settled on the lie. We read that they sat down to a meal. Joseph probably left in the morning, traveled all day by donkey, and the meal the brothers sat down to eat was dinner. That information tells us that the sun was going down, and it would have been too dark for Reuben to try and catch up with the camels anyway. Rueben may have been tending to the animals while the brothers sat down to eat and then decided to sell Joseph. Rueben probably ate with his brothers and then returned to the pit in the dark of night to hide what he was doing, but Joseph was gone. I think this situation put Rueben in a bad place, where his brothers may have killed him too if he told the truth. This situation would have caused his brothers to lose everything they gained from their father.
32Then they sent the tunic of many colors, and they brought it to their father and said, “We have found this. Do you know whether it is your son’s tunic or not?”
Interesting lie, “Do you know…?” Think about that! How could they NOT know what Joseph was wearing? He had been wearing it for at least several days, according to the events in the Bible. They were so angry with him they denied knowing what he had been wearing! But the wording of their lie was believed by their father, which is even more shocking, which tells us that Joseph was actually in the tent being educated and not physically working with his brothers, so they could concoct this type of story. From this information, we know he didn’t have the same muscle tone as the brothers had and he was still a teenager, which made him weaker. It was probably very easy for them to overpower him and toss him into the pit.
33And he recognized it and said, “It is my son’s tunic. A wild beast has devoured him. Without doubt Joseph is torn to pieces.” 34Then Jacob tore his clothes …mourned for his son many days. 35 ..he refused to be comforted, and he said, “For I shall go down into the grave to my son in mourning.” …
Jacob didn’t bear any responsibility for correcting Joseph’s attitude problem. That’s why it’s important for parents to correct their children. Allowing them to have attitude problems sets them up for some type of failure in life.
36Now the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard.
As we saw earlier, Joseph was taken by traders of wealthy goods; and he was sold to a prominent man in Egypt.
The dreams God gave Joseph didn’t cause the problem, the attitude behind them did.
I don’t see the mainstream teaching in the Bible that precious sweet Joseph in his special coat just shared his dream, and his brothers became jealous and sold him as a slave. We keep learning that and passing it on, until the Holy Spirit turns the lights on!
Most of us have seen or met a prideful and haughty person somewhere, such as at work, and often times they put someone like that on “reality tv” in a group for entertainment value. They annoy everyone until that person ends up hurt very badly, kicked out, or fired. No one seems to care, and some rejoice by saying, “Good, they deserved it.”
Proverbs 11:2 NKJV
When pride comes, then comes shame; but with the humble is wisdom.
Pride will embarrass you every time, and often times the prideful person can’t even understand the shame or problems they’re causing to themselves.
Proverbs 16:5 NKJV
Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord; though they join forces, none will go unpunished.
Abomination means extreme disgust and hatred; abhorrent. Pride causes a punishment to come, because…
James 4:6 NKJV
… “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
1 Peter 5:5 NKJV
… “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
Those are the Greek translations of the Hebrew scripture in
Proverbs 3:34 NKJV
Surely He scorns the scornful, But gives grace to the humble.
It’s very important for us to self-monitor for pride and avoid it at all costs. The big lesson we can learn from Joseph is no matter what plans God has for you in life, they can be delayed by pride and a haughty spirit. Some people never even get to those plans, because they spend a lifetime delaying in Attitude City.
Before we end this week, let’s take a quick look at strife in the Old Testament and the New Testament so we know what to avoid, why to avoid it, and how to help other people.
Proverbs 6:17-19 NKJV
16 These six things the Lord hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: 17 A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood, 18 A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil, 19 A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren.
No one wants to be an abomination to the Lord. Strife is sowing discord among brethren. We read 6 of these 7 things in the Joseph story, they almost had shedding of innocent blood. It’s important to recognize that God didn’t plan this path for Joseph. God resists this type of behavior. It’s important we understand God didn’t ordain this plan for Joseph, because our faith in Him rests on the stories in the Bible. If you believe God has captivity and prison for you, how well are you going to believe God only has good plans and peace for you (Jeremiah 29:11)? God is love, and He has good plans for you! We just need to work with God not against His plan.
James 3:16 NKJV
16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.
In the Joseph story, we read about the brothers’ envy and self-seeking behavior. They had an Attitude City of their own. We can read about it resulting in confusion and plenty of evil works. The next chapter is about Judah stepping away from his brothers and creating a wild story of his own, confusion and evil works.
If you’re curious about why it works this way, we read it above 3 times, “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Envy and self-seeking are part of the prideful attitude. When God resists you, you’re open to evil works.
Thank you for going through this study with me. The Holy Spirit has been teaching and revealing a lot to me, and I’m excited to share it with you. Next week, will be brand new eye opening revelations from God like you never seen before. If you found yourself owning a house in Attitude City, not to worry, this study will help to bring you to the Abundantly Blessed City.
Lord, please give us all the ability to discern Attitude City on us and especially on others that we don’t get sucked into their Cities of Strife, Gossip, Confusion, and other Dreadful Places. Thank you that Your Hand is upon to protect us and help us move forward to where You want us to be.
Christi
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