Jacob made a coat of many colors for Joseph, his favorite son. This coat fueled his brothers’ jealousy and hatred toward Joseph, and the dream interpretation foretold that his brothers would bow down before him.  Ultimately, this jealousy led to the incident where Joseph’s brothers stripped him of his coat and threw him into a pit. By losing the coat, Joseph lost his father’s love and the identity of his special status. This jealousy drove the brothers to lie to their father, claiming Joseph was dead, and to bring the coat for him to touch.  When asked if it was Joseph’s, the father confirmed it, tore his clothes, and mourned for many days. The brothers’ jealousy, which begets sin, led them to lie to their father and sell Joseph into slavery. Then the brothers told their father Joseph was dead.

The meaning of Joseph’s multicolored coat plays a crucial role, symbolizing the suffering he would endure and the transformation of his identity.

Jacob had two son (Joseph and Benjamin) with His wife Rachael his first love, and six sons (Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah Issachar and Zebulun) by Leah his first wife. Jacob had two sons with Leash’s servant (Gad and Asher) and two more with Racheal’s servant (Dan and Naphtali). From which we get the twelve Tribes of Israel.

Here we see the beginning of sin in the home: parental prejudice and foolishness breed jealousy and hatred, and the parents’ foolishness becomes an example of poor parenting for the children.

When Joseph told his brothers about his dreams, they envied and hated him. Yet those dreams revealed God’s providence and goodness—God prepared everything, using Joseph to bring salvation.

What a gracious God! This distinguished evil from good, fulfilling God’s plan that the brothers would bow down before Joseph.

Later, when famine struck the land of Israel, the people went down to Egypt to buy food. Jacob also sent his sons down to Egypt to buy grain. The brothers had no idea their brother Joseph had become the ruler of the land, managing all the grain in Egypt. They did not recognize Joseph, whom they had sold into slavery.  Joseph knew his ten brothers had come down to Egypt to buy grain for their family’s sustenance.

This jealousy led the brothers to lie to their father and sell him into slavery. They told Jacob he was killed.

Joseph’s brothers referred to him as a dreamer after he shared his dream with them, in which they would bow down before him.

Later there was a famine in the land of Israel that drove the inhabitants to Egypt for food. It also drove Jacob and his sons to Egypt before the Pharoah’s Governor for food. Joseph their brother was the governor over the land and had control of all the corn in Egypt and they did not recognize their brother who they sold into slavery. Joseph’s ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt for the family to survive. We pick up the story here;

Genesis 43:11 And their father Israel said unto them, If it must be so now, do this; take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds:

Israel = Jacob- He wrestled with the Lord.

Genesis 43:12 And take double money in your hand; and the money that was brought again in the mouth of your sacks, carry it again in your hand; peradventure it was an oversight:

Genesis 43:13 Take also your brother, and arise, go again unto the man:

Here we see Jacob preparing and sending fine gifts to Pharaoh. It was customary to present tribute when approaching a king, or to offer gifts before speaking to the king and discussing matters.

This story about Joseph and his brothers teaches us many truths. Envy, jealousy, and any falsehood lead to division and hatred, causing children and brothers to slander one another, secretly favoring some and committing sin. And in marriage too, a heart burdened by sin leads to unequal unions and an unworthy life. The result is repeated fights born of hatred, fueled by revenge, anger, rage, and dishonesty, ultimately destroying life. All this originates in the human heart. Therefore, without the precious blood of Jesus on the cross, we cannot live a righteous life, and the unsaved also know not mercy, love, or grace. Thus, through this passage, we discover God’s guidance and how deeply He loves humanity. May you truly understand this, repent, and live a new life. Believing you can receive eternal life given to those who believe in His only Son, Jesus.

They were to take their best of everything they had and give it to the Pharoah’s Governor for a tribute to gain his trust and be able to trade with him. Would you give to your Lord, God, and King your leftovers? I would hope not! We should only give our first fruits or our best to our Lord and Savior.

Remember that Cain offered not the first fruits nor the best, but only the leftovers. Because of this, Cain was not blessed. His anger turned to rage, and he ultimately killed his brother. All this stemmed from his jealousy, which led him to sin through wickedness and murder. Instead of offering God the best, he hypocritically tried to deceive Him.

God has given us the very best, and continues to give the very best to those who obey Him and follow His commandments even now. You must know that when I do my best, the Lord always rewards me with His very best. We must strive to practice this in our Christian life with God’s only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. For us all, God is the beginning and the end.

For sinners who cannot draw near to God because of sin, salvation was obtained by God giving His best—His only begotten Son. The question is this: Can you take the place of another person’s sin? You cannot and you do not. And we cannot either.

We must always give our best to God. When we do God’s will, God is faithful and true, and blesses us. Repent, confess, and make things right. Then God will bless us.

Look what God did.

Genesis 47:11 And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.

Here we see that Joseph, Pharaoh’s governor, was instructed to give his family—specifically his father Jacob and the brothers who had sold him into slavery—the best land in Egypt to live in after they were revealed as his family. Pharaoh told Joseph,  to give his brothers good land and, if they proved trustworthy, to appoint them as overseers of his livestock.  Pharaoh entrusted Joseph with authority, believing in and trusting his faithfulness. Now we know that when we are faithful to God’s commands, He acts in the same way.

Genesis 50:18 And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants.

Remember the dream? It was true. God manifested it before their eyes.

Genesis 50:19 And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God?

God had place Joseph right where he wanted him so that he would be able to help his brethren and his countrymen survive this famine. Because of this, the entire family was blessed.

Genesis 50:20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.

Throughout this entire story, God’s sovereignty is on full display throughout this story, we see mercy, grace, protection, love and compassion. Man meant to do evil to man but, God meant it for good, Joseph noticed it and told His brothers. His Brothers did not understand the plan of God. We too sometimes fail to understand.

As we meditate on the Word, pray, strive to gather together, focus on God’s Word, and obey, we must become friends of the gospel, widely proclaiming it to all under God’s guidance. We must be focused on the word of God and spreading it abroad or at least to friends. God always walked with Joseph and placed him in a position to do the greatest good for the Israelite nation and his family, because of  his obedience.

God was in control the whole time however the brothers did not see it because of their sins of  jealous anger and hatred for their brother, it placed scales on their eyes that could only be removed by God himself. This sounds like the actions of a few today in society —using temptation upon temptation to seize our hearts and ankles, dragging us down to hell together, leading us to perish and die…

Jacob started out with good intentions and was miss led by his uncle Labin who tricked him into marriage with Leah his oldest daughter. Then Jacob married his first love Rachael creating many more problems in his life. but he was faithful to God. Jacob wrestled with the Angel of the Lord, and so the Lord blessed Him and changed his name to Israel. He bore the scars until his death.   These choices effected the rest of the family. Joseph and his brothers were all effected by this But God loved them and worked out repentance in all their lives. Just like us …

Matthew 9:13 But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                God can remove the scales that are blinding you today if you but ask him! Amen!

Do you want him to remove your sin, repent, and confess and he will help you, and show you mercy. Obedience is better than sacrifice. Amen.!

Our God is same yesterday, today, and for evermore  Amen!

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Selah! Amen!