Genesis 37:3-11 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. Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more. He said to them, “Hear this dream that I have dreamed: Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.” His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?” And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.
Joseph’s first dream was vivid and unambiguous. The brothers were binding sheaves of grain in a field when his sheaf rose and stood upright, and theirs gathered around it and bowed down. He told them. Then came a second dream: the sun, the moon, and eleven stars bowing to him. He told that one too, this time in front of his father. Jacob rebuked him for it. His brothers hated him all the more.
His brothers’ reaction is worth reading slowly. They hated him all the more (Genesis 37:5, 8). And when he told the second dream, his brothers were jealous of him (Genesis 37:11), though his father kept the matter in mind. But the hostility did not begin with the dream. It had been building for years, ever since Jacob gave Joseph a robe unlike anything his brothers had received, a garment that, many scholars suggest, carried the weight of the firstborn’s inheritance. Jacob gave it to his eleventh son. Every older brother understood what it meant. The resentment had taken root long before Joseph ever closed his eyes and dreamed. The dream did not create what was in their hearts. It made visible what they had been carrying in silence. When his sheaf rose and theirs bowed, he was not telling them something new. He was telling them something they already knew and had refused to accept. (Bible Portal)
Reactions to something that seems unfair to our own expectations and self-worth need to be recognized and repented of. Scripture gives clear warning against; envy, jealousy, pride, self-worth, boastful, greed, arrogance and thinking more highly of ourselves than others. It happens in families, workplaces, and as well with neighbors. The two greatest foundational commandments:
- Love God with all your heart, mind, and soul.
- Love others as yourself
When these manifest in and throughout our lives these attributes will be seen; love, peace, joy, gentleness, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control.
The problem is that we don’t always see our blind spots. We might not say or do what Joseph’s brothers did but they can still harbor in our hearts and minds.
What can expose these hidden wrong thoughts?
God’s Word.
Meditating and thinking about God’s Word and things of God.
Keeping our hearts and minds open to the leading and instruction of the Holy Spirit.
Prayerfully asking God to expose what we are blind to.
Having a heart and mind that desires in all thoughts, words, and actions, Jesus be honored and glorified.
