Shechem revisited (Genesis 37) – Rev. Andrew Schmidt

Well, last week we learned of how Jacob had to leave the town or the city of Shechem following the disastrous events of chapter 34.

He wandered south to Hebron and he was there in time to be with his father Isaac before he died.

As chapter 37 verse 1 then says...

Jacob continued to live there where his father had stayed now don't forget that Jacob is also called Israel and that name is used a few times in this chapter well Joseph was Israel's 11th son he was the baby of the family until Benjamin came along and Joseph was Israel's favorite Now parents should not have favourites, it's a very bad idea.

We know that this fault runs in the family and so Israel or Joseph made, sorry Israel or Jacob I should say, made his favourite son Joseph a coat of many colours.

That's the translation used in the musical.

It's probably not the best translation of the rare Hebrew expression, but it doesn't really matter.

The main point to understand is that Jacob made Joseph a special coat because he was his favorite.

Now at the time of events of chapter 37, Joseph was young and you could say he has a slightly inflated opinion of himself.

His brothers already hated him because they could see that he was his father's favorite.

What was he thinking, telling them about his dreams? Yet he did tell them two dreams in which they were all bowing down to him, Joseph, their younger brother.

It says in response that they hated him all the more.

Why do people envy? And why does envy...

turned to hatred see how it says there in verse 11 that his brothers were jealous of him they were jealous of his dreams now you and i can understand them being envious of of being the father's favorite but even so why hate him for that I mean, which survival instinct does this come from? Are they going to get more food or more clothing or will they be better off finding a mate for hating their brother? Envy serves no good purpose, does it? If somebody else has something that I want, whether it's a car or a house or a woman or my parents' affection, it may be natural for me to want what they've got.

but to hate them because they have it, that isn't natural.

The reason for the devil's fall seems to have been that he was envious of God's power and position.

And as a result, he came to hate God for having that power.

So now the devil endeavors to destroy God's work and to train humans to do the same.

This is core evil.

This is more than just people coming into conflict as they try to get by.

And I want to suggest that envy is pretty much the root of evil.

Well, Joseph's brothers were nursing this envy in their hearts, which had become hatred.

And there came an opportunity for them to put it into action.