Jesus saw them returning in pairs and could hardly contain His smile when each pair arrived.  It was the smile of a parent who sees his child do something for the first time, that smile of accomplishment because He knew they could do it, and the smile of a man who loved His disciples!  He was gratified that they’d learned. 

Luke 10: 17 The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” But He didn’t want them to get the wrong idea so He replied first with encouragement, 18″I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.”

Jesus saw their triumphant faces and so He emphasized where the power truly came from and the matters truly worth rejoicing over.  It’d be way too easy for them to think that it was their accomplishment alone, but “simply humans” can’t do that kind of thing.  It’d be easy for them to get big heads and turn arrogant which leads to unloving behavior…which of course, would ruin their whole ministry so Jesus said,

Luke 10:19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 20 However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

Correction aside, Jesus was really pleased. It was a joyful report!  They’d been tested, and they passed. 

So Jesus prayed aloud 21 At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.

 22 “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” 23 Then he turned to his disciples and said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. 24 For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”

Think about it:

• When you think about Jesus, do you picture Him as smiling and laughing, or only profoundly serious?
• Why do you think Jesus praised the Father in front of the disciples, letting them hear His prayer?
• In what way did that reinforce where the power for ministry comes from?
• Verse 23 suggests that the larger group of 72 (Luke 10:17) were not the audience for the blessing, only the Twelve. Why do you think that is?

Thank You, Father, for the wisdom in giving blessing where blessing will be received with open hearts and bear fruit for the Kingdom. Thank You, Lord, for joy and pleasure and knowing You experience those things too. Thank You, Lord Jesus, for revealing things about Yourself to Your disciples then, and through the power of the Holy Spirit, revealing and teaching things about Yourself to us today. We praise You that we are generations entrusted with the precious Gospel and given power to proclaim it faithfully so we can bring glory to You. Keep us mindful from where both the power to proclaim and the gift of salvation arise! Amen.

If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2019 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this great look at the Easter story to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals remain popular,

• Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
•  A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God  which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014. 
• Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations.  We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17. 
• ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
• Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ.  It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
• Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.

Jesus knew that heading to Jerusalem meant heading to His death.  He knew it was going to be hard on His disciples and that they’d feel lost without Him.  They must be prepared!  Of course, He’d been talking about this very thing for a while now, but those “simply humans” couldn’t understand right now.  He knew that. 

But He loved His disciples and therefore, wanted to use every moment that remained to train the disciples to lead after He had returned to His Father and to lead to the next generations.  There was much work to do and initially there would be very few to do it.  That few would be decreased dramatically before there would be an infusion of many more. 

Jesus endeavored always to train them up, send them out, bring them back and do a debrief.  That way He could train them in an ongoing way, overcome any problems that arose, and answer any questions they had.  He knew that ministry can be confusing and it’s good to have friends.  It gets lonely and it can be dangerous, so He sent them out in pairs. 

Luke 10:1 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. 2 He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. 3 Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. 4 Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.

Their welcome would be every bit as risky and uncertain as was His own.  Some would embrace the message His disciples brought, but others would reject them and become unworthy of peace they came to bring.  Peace that was painful—as peace often is–and would be bought with a price, a price so high that no man who is simply human could ever afford to pay.

Think about it:

• Why is it important to have succession planning for a mission that spans longer than any worker’s season? 
• In what way does this make mankind more dependent upon God? 
• If every task could be accomplished by one able-bodied person, would God even be necessary for the work to happen?

Father God, we thank You that Your plan of redemption is taking centuries to accomplish.  We thank You that in Your wisdom, You chose to save many generations and not just a few.  We thank You that we are building upon the faithfulness of generations of evangelists from 2000 years ago and beyond!  We thank You, Lord Jesus for not leaving us alone, but for asking the Father to send the Holy Spirit, this beautiful gift of Yourself to lead us and guide us after You left the earth!  We praise You that the Holy Spirit can indwell many believers simultaneously and so multiply Your fruit upon this earth.  May the words of our mouths bring glory to You and salt to the earth.  Be glorified in us today!  Amen!

If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2019 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this great look at the Easter story to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals remain popular,

• Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
•  A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God  which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014. 
• Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations.  We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17. 
• ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
• Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ.  It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
• Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.

He was heading to Jerusalem and already had plenty of disciples.  He’d gain and lose quite a few more before it’s all said and done.  He had the Twelve, that more-or-less faithful band (individually and as a group) who stuck by His side over many miles of the journey.  Even when they were arguing about who was the greatest, Jesus loved them.  They didn’t get it that He was the greatest. (After all, He was leading and they were following.) But Jesus just chalked it up to “simply human” and let it go.

There were so many people–all of whom were simply human. They were sometimes hangers-on, wannabes, gapers or yes, critics.  He knew He was a tough act to follow. 

And it would get tougher.  Some people would hate Him and His disciples simply because they were Jews (religious hatred).  Some would hate Him because He was headed for Jerusalem (hatred for a place).  Others would find His teachings too controversial (hating what He stands for).  And then there were the people jumping on Jesus’ demon-driving-bandwagon. They wanted to be part of good things, but for all the wrong reasons.  His disciples pointing out that some are “of us” and some of them “are not” didn’t contribute to unity. In fact, it undermined the cause of discipleship.  To that “you’re not part of our club” mentality, Jesus said to them firmly,

“Don’t stop him, for whoever is not against you is for you.” 

They’d need to remember that advice because going to Jerusalem meant that following would get even harder to do.  Discipleship would have enough obstacles there without creating them.  Crowds come, some maybe wanting to be a part of the next big thing, but crowds also go.  And serving the King of Heaven is always easier desired than accomplished.

52 And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; 53 but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. 54 When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” 55 But Jesus turned and rebuked them. 56 Then he and his disciples went to another village. 57 As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

 59 He said to another man, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” 60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61 Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.” 62 Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

Think about it:

• In what ways is Jesus still a tough act to follow?
• Is it getting easier or harder? Why?
• What kinds of excuses do you see in your life or in the lives of those you know for an unwillingness to follow Jesus?

Father God, please grant us the courage for these last days, that we might bring glory to You by our faithful endurance. Lord Jesus, thank You for being the author and perfecter of our faith and for paving the way ahead of us, showing us by Your example what overcoming looks like. Holy Spirit, embolden us with Your truth and Your righteousness so we may bear fruit for the Kingdom. Make us fit for service to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Amen.

= = =

Beginning with the time that Jesus set out resolutely for Jerusalem until the empty tomb, there’s so much more to Jesus’ story at the time we call Easter, for Him the Passover. Let’s listen in His own words from the Gospel of Luke (with a few of mine for painting the scene) to let His Word shine.

If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2019 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this great look at the Easter story to prepare your heart for Easter!

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Acknowledging that former years’ devotional series remain popular:

• Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
•  A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God  which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014. 
• Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations.  We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17. 
• ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
• Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ.  It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
• Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.

How He’d looked forward to this so many times!  Going home!  He thought back to just a few days earlier when He’d had a mountaintop moment in the presence of His disciples Peter, John, and James (Luke 9:28-36).  It refreshed Him endlessly to have been speaking with Moses and Elijah about His departure which He was about to bring to fulfillment in Jerusalem.  Sure, He’d been at this work since before He was born, but now 30 years into the Incarnation, He was overjoyed at the prospect of being reunified … in the eternal realm … with His Father.  He missed dwelling there away from the earthly realm with all the problems caused by human sin.  But that was the reason He was sent and the reason He came. 

Luke 9:51 As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.  52 And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; 53 but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. 

Jerusalem!  It is there He’d find the one last and pivotal piece of work to finish: The Cross.  It loomed ahead of Him like a glorious and grim finish line.  Glorious, because the moment of reunification in the heavenly realm …but grim also, because there was plenty of rejection between here and there and the battle to be won in His death. 

Think about it:

• Do we often view earth as being so good we wouldn’t want to leave it? 
• Are there any things about the earthly realm you’d miss (e.g. marriage, childbirth, etc.)? 
• What do you think heaven offers that makes those things irrelevant? 

Lord Jesus, we praise You and thank You for being sent to earth to teach us and redeem us.  Thank You, Father, for the sacrifice You also made to show us what love truly looks like.  Thank You, Holy Spirit, for teaching us by taking from what belongs to Christ Jesus and making it known to us.  Help us, Lord, to anticipate Your return and our homecoming with great joy and watchful obedience.  Amen.

= = =

Beginning with the time that Jesus set out resolutely for Jerusalem until the empty tomb, there’s so much more to Jesus’ story at the time we call Easter, for Him the Passover. Let’s listen in His own words from the Gospel of Luke (with a few of mine for painting the scene) to let His Word shine.

If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2019 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this great look at the Easter story to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals remain popular,

===

Acknowledging that former years’ devotional series remain popular:

• Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
•  A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God  which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014. 
• Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations.  We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17. 
• ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
• Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ.  It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
• Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.

Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, March 6th and will continue for 40 days plus the Sabbath rests. This year, the Lent Devotional Series is entitled “More to the Easter Story” and applies the admonition from Advent (“Just tell My story”) to the Easter story because there’s always more than meets the eye.

Given the retail store displays appearing right after any Valentine’s love for chocolate has grown cold–and gets set up in the Clearance Aisle at 70% off– you’d think that Easter was really all about chicks and bunnies, eggs and candies of varying kinds. But there’s more to the Easter story than a superficial commercialization. You won’t find chicks, bunnies, or candies in this Easter story. There’s an egg, but not for hunting.

Beginning with the time that Jesus set out resolutely for Jerusalem until the empty tomb, there’s so much more to Jesus’ story at the time we call Easter, for Him the Passover. Let’s listen in His own words from the Gospel of Luke (with a few of mine for painting the scene) to let His Word shine.

If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2019 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this great look at the Easter story to prepare your heart for Easter!

===

Acknowledging that former years’ devotional series remain popular:

• Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
•  A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God  which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014. 
• Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations.  We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17. 
• ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
• Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ.  It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
• Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.

Genesis 37: 12 Now his brothers had gone to graze their father’s flocks near Shechem, 13 and Israel said to Joseph, “As you know, your brothers are grazing the flocks near Shechem. Come, I am going to send you to them.” “Very well,” he replied. 14 So he said to him, “Go and see if all is well with your brothers and with the flocks, and bring word back to me.” Then he sent him off from the Valley of Hebron.

All of Joseph’s brothers except probably 10-year-old Benjamin were out working with the sheep.  Only Joseph and Benjamin (sons of favorite wife Rachel) would have been at home.  Let that sink in.  How must the other brothers have felt about this?  They’re slaving away near Shechem with their lesser pedigrees in the hot sun with a bunch of stinkin’ sheep.  But Joseph—seventeen and old enough to dream of authority with his famous coat–is hanging out with baby brother and dear old Dad in the shade of a tent in the Valley of Hebron.

Then it’s like he’s Agent 007 getting sent on a mission.  Jacob says, “As you know” … and then sends him to investigate the brothers and report back. 

Only Jacob didn’t know it was a dangerous mission or that Joseph as emissary wouldn’t return as planned.

But let’s not jump ahead of ourselves.  Joseph is sent on a mission to Shechem which was a good four or five-day journey.  He no doubt had a lot to think about as he traveled in the now famous coat.  Pondering dreams?  Fear of the wilderness?  The Ancient Near East equivalent of being afraid to wear Canada Goose jackets or Air Jordans for fear of being killed for what you’re wearing because it’s a prestige item and an invitation for robbers?  Who knows?

.

One wonders if Joseph saw anyone earlier along the journey and whether they thought he might be a dignitary or a rich guy or wanted to get his autograph or kill him and take his coat.  Scripture doesn’t say, hinting that those details are unimportant for the story’s progression. 

What is important is that Joseph obeyed a direct command from Dad to go look in on his brothers and to issue another report.  Since it went so well the last time.  Not.

Think about it:

1. If Joseph had taken it upon himself to observe his brothers and report back, the responsibility would have been his alone and his father would have experienced one level of regret.  What type of regret would that have been?
2. To send your favorite son into a situation that your favoritism created–but you did not see–what does this tell you about the willful blindness of Jacob to the danger he was sending his son into by sending him to do another report? 
3. Have you ever had such a blind spot toward someone or something that you couldn’t see clearly?
4. How does a father sending his son into a situation where he’d be rejected by his brothers and after a time of suffering, rise to being a ruler set a pattern that we’d later see displayed in the life of Christ? 
5. However, when God sent Jesus into this world to suffer and die for human sin, they both knew exactly what was going to happen.  How do we know God knew?  How do we know Jesus knew? 
6. How does Jacob’s not knowing amplify his later regret and reframe his complicity?

As we continue our look at Joseph: A Life With Many Colors, we see the dreamer keeps on dreaming.  And talking about it.  This time, not just to his brothers who are more than tired of this dreamer.  Now he’s telling his father too.

Genesis 37:9 Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. “Listen,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” 10 When he told his father as well as his brothers, 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?”

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Two dreams, two reactions. 

His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind. (Genesis 37:11)

What does it mean that Jacob would keep the matter in mind?

By this point in Joseph’s life (age 17ish), his mother Rachel has already been dead 7 years (which may have created the favoritism to begin with, a transfer of his affections from wife to son).  Rachel died giving birth to Benjamin, Joseph’s only full brother. 

In the dream, who is this “mother” … is she Rachel from beyond the grave?  Leah as adoptive mother?  One of the concubines (Jewish tradition has Bilhah as Jacob’s favorite after Rachel died)?  It’s hard to say.  What isn’t hard to say is that it was tough for the brothers to choke back their total indignation and extreme envy.  What isn’t hard to say is that it’s one thing to give a bad report about siblings, receive and wear a coat of authority given by your father, and to dream about brother-sheaves bowing, but it’s another thing entirely to suggest to your dad and “mom” that your authority will extend over them, too.

(Pausing from the storyline for a moment, we begin to see in the progression in Scripture of the idea of kingship and ruling.  It’s emerging from within the Chosen People, the tribes of Israel.  Maybe that’s why Jacob pondered the significance and whether there was something spiritual, beyond-the-grave-ish about the whole thing.  Maybe he was sensing a dawning of God’s work in fulfilling the covenant he’d heard from God.  Maybe that’s just wishful thinking on my part, wanting to imagine he’s like Mary, the mother of Jesus, treasuring these things up in her heart because there’s a sense of significance even if one can’t put a finger on exactly what it is.  Understanding that what was happening was powerful and real, yet confusing, mysterious, and intriguing all wrapped up into one.)

But it could be Jacob was brooding over having given that stupid coat since it appeared to be a factor causing all this big-headed audacity.  Maybe he was just annoyed because this kid is giving evidence of bucking a long-held tradition of respecting your elders.  It’s hard to say why Jacob kept the matter in mind.

Think about it:

1. In what ways do you think Jacob might be seeing an outcome of his favoritism? 
2. But, also there’s this issue: Jacob had had his own dreams and knew their significance in his life.  In Genesis 28:10-22, Jacob dreamed about angels descending and ascending a staircase and it was evidence to him of God’s presence and the covenant promise of God being extended to himself.  In Genesis 31:1-13, Jacob had a dream that was from God about blessing and providing inside knowledge that God was fully aware of what deception his father-in-law Laban had been doing.  It was unmistakable evidence of God’s omniscience.  Might Jacob have wondered about God’s activity in Joseph’s dreams, too?
3. It’s easy for us to speculate about the dreams and people’s reactions knowing the end of the story.  The truth is Scripture doesn’t tell us why Jacob kept the matter in mind, only that he did.  In what ways does this story of two dreams—even the brothers’ envy—advance the overall narrative of the Chosen People, headed toward slavery and a Mosaic deliverance, a Davidic kingship, and the coming of the Messiah?  That all Scripture is an integrated whole is a thought to keep in mind as we continue to look at Joseph: A Life With Many Colors.

Genesis 37:5 Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more.

As if they needed a reason to hate him more. 

Normally a person wears a coat on his back, covering his shoulders, arms, and part of his torso.  In Joseph’s case as we continue our look at Joseph: A Life With Many Colors, we can guess his coat went to his head.  At least that’s what the half-brothers thought and soon we’ll see that his father, too, was wondering if he’d created a monster with that coat.  And it’s all because of two dreams that Joseph could have kept to himself, but he didn’t. 

(Stepping out of the story for a moment, I’m glad he told the dreams and it made it into Scripture, because it would be proof in the future that what happened was foreseen and foreordained by God. It adds to the narrative and the proof.  You see, before the Holy Spirit’s indwelling, dreams held a special place as evidence of divine revelation.  These dreams are no exception so it’s good that Joseph shared them, and it made it into Scripture).

These are two dreams hinting not only at God’s sovereignty, but also at the importance of dreams for Joseph’s future.  Here’s the first dream, in Genesis 37:6 He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: 7 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.”

Do you see it’s the issue of authority, same as with the coat?

That’s certainly how the brothers interpreted it.  Genesis 37:8 His brothers said to him, “Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?” And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said.

As if they needed a reason.

Think about it:

1. Jacob deceived his brother Esau and his father Isaac to get a birthright and a blessing.  Joseph was gaining the edge over his 11 brothers simply by being Daddy’s favorite.  No deception required.  All he had to do was exist.  How might this have particularly irked Reuben, Leah’s and Jacob’s firstborn who usually received a father’s blessing and double inheritance?
2. Does anything in this first dream indicate this ruling will extend beyond the family dynamic of Joseph’s ruling over his brothers?
3. These guys were herders/shepherds, not farmers.  Do you find it an interesting detail that this dream involved grain?  (See Genesis 41:53-42:3 for insight)

In “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” Charlie Brown goes to the mailbox and it’s empty.  “Rats,” he says, “Nobody sent me a Christmas card today. I almost wish there weren’t a holiday season.  I know nobody likes me.  Why do we have to have a holiday season to emphasize it?”

There’s nothing like evidence of affection elsewhere (or lack thereof to yourself) to send a message straight to the heart.  When it happens, it’s painful whether it’s a shock out of the blue or like proof in your face of what you’ve already known deep in your gut.

Genesis 37:3 Now Israel 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. 4 When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.

Enter the coat, probably one of the most famous things about Joseph, especially thanks to a catchy tune by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Sunday School coloring pages to enjoy with the Crayola 64s, 96, or 120- pack.  In fact, so much attention is paid to the coat that you’d think it is the greatly anticipated unveiling of the Ancient Near East collection from the House of Dior, launching the modeling career of Joseph, son of Jacob.  But that would be to misunderstand the coat.

No one exactly knows what the coat looked like, the same wording of “richly ornamented” being used in 2 Samuel 13:19 to refer to the robe that beautiful and desirable Tamar (virgin daughter of the king) tore after being raped by her half-brother Amnon.  (Half-brothers. Aargh!) 

The visual appearance of the coat is far less clear than the meaning of it. 

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It was a status symbol saying in effect, “You know that management potential you saw displayed in the shepherding field?  It’s now an official title.  He’s headed for management not left to labor like you.”  As we continue our look at Joseph: A Life With Many Colors, make no mistake: It’s all about authority, and undeniable evidence of the special love Jacob had for his son Joseph.

No wonder the half-brothers were ticked off.

They already knew he preferred Joseph. 

They didn’t need a coat to emphasize it.

Think about it:

1. If it was just a coat, they could have saved up and bought one, or had a duplicate made for themselves.  Deep down was it the coat, or was it what it said about the nature of relationship between a father and his various children? 
2. As an illustration for insight, I am not ordained because the denomination that trained me and those for which I have worked and in which I have compatible theology will not ordain women.  Lots of women I know have gotten “online ordination.”  I can’t bring myself to do it.  How does this apply to the question in item (1)?
3. Someday in the biblical future for the Israelites one of the Ten Commandments will be “Do not covet.” How do coveting, envy, and jealousy lead nowhere good? 
4. Read how James describes the progression:   James 1: 14 “but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”  How do you see that playing out here for Joseph’s brothers?

In the Bible there are only a few people whose lives we know about in some degree of detail from their origin/birth to their death:  Adam, Abel, Noah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Samuel, Samson, Solomon, John the Baptist, and Jesus Christ.  That’s my list so far.  There may be others and certainly, if you have additions, I’m all ears.

As we pick up our story of Joseph: A Life With Many Colors, the truth is that Joseph’s brothers (half-brothers, actually) hated him well before the famous coat.  It had been a long time coming, probably from shortly after Joseph was born as the cherished child and pushed them out of favor.  Finally, at seventeen he’d get that coat, but before the coat, he’d gotten the brothers’ goat with an event that became pivotal in turning their anger into future action against him.  It’s what made the coat significant and why it’s a prelude that made it into the biblical coat narrative. 

What event was that?  The report.  The bad report.

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Genesis 37:1 Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, the land of Canaan. 2 This is the account of Jacob. Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah [Dan and Naphtali] and the sons of Zilpah [Gad and Asher], his father’s wives, and he brought their father a bad report about them.

The children of Bilhah and Zilpah are depicted on a human scale as third-rate kids legally adopted by Rachel and Leah, but born to pagan maidservants (concubines), who became Jacob’s “standby wives” doing the fertility bidding of Leah and Rachel in an Old Testament custom for barren women. 

But as Jacob’s actions had shown by preserving Joseph and Rachel (and probably many times before and after), what chance did Leah’s sons (Reuben the firstborn of Jacob, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun), or children of concubines (Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher) stand when faced with a kid who walked on water as far as their dad was concerned? 

When we read Joseph was “tending flocks with his [half-]brothers,” read that as a supervisory role.  At seventeen, Joseph was a combination dad-ordained-overseer and snitch.  His father saw him as the former.  His half-brothers saw him as the latter.

It’d be easy to pass off Joseph as just a bratty kid…but at seventeen in the Ancient Near East, girls were married with babies and young men were gainfully employed, some even married.  All of those brothers being older, their anger was evident at this upstart who was giving them a bad performance review.  After all, from their perspective, he’s seventeen and full of himself.  Who does he think he is?

Think about it:

1. Favoritism breeds all kinds of bad feelings.  Read Romans 2:11 “For God does not show favoritism” and for additional insight. Leviticus 19:15, 1 Timothy 5:21, and James 2:1-9.  What about favoritism offends God?
2. Interactions within blended families are always a challenge.  There was only one wife Jacob ever really wanted: Rachel.  The polygamy thing was all borne out of human response.  Jacob was deceived into marriage with Leah because Laban said Genesis 29:26 “It is not our custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older one.” Human customs somehow justified deception in Laban’s mind.  The concubines also were a convenient answer for barren women to have children, but Jacob never wanted them as actual wives–they were originally just servant girls.  How did the one wanted wife and the one wanted child—and everyone else’s status as unwanted—create a recipe for ongoing familial strife?
3. Read Genesis 27:36 Esau said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob? He has deceived me these two times: He took my birthright, and now he’s taken my blessing!” What do you think about the original seeds of deception taking root in Jacob’s life and the fruit it continued to bear? 
4. Do we ever escape, truly escape, the consequences of our own sin?