Daily Devotions
Genesis
"Saying, 'To you I will give the land of Canaan as the allotment of your inheritance,' When they were few in number Indeed very few, and strangers in it." Psalm 105:11-12
Text: Genesis 37:1-36
NOT AT SHECHEM
Joseph immediately made his way to Shechem. He was puzzled as to why he could not find his brothers. They looked after a large flock. They should have been easy to spot! Where should he go from there?
HELP AT HAND
Joseph wandered around the fields in Shechem when a kind-hearted man asked him what he was doing, looking bewildered and lost.
“Now a certain man found him, and there he was,
wandering in the field. And the man asked him, saying,
‘What are you seeking?’
So he said, ‘I am seeking my brothers. Please tell me
where they are feeding their flocks.’
And the man said, ‘They have departed from here, for
I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.”
So Joseph went after his brothers, and found them in Dothan.”
GENESIS 37:15-17
Joseph must have been grateful for this piece of news about the movements of his brothers. Immediately, he made his way to Dothan. He was determined to fulfil his father’s instructions!
AT DOTHAN
Little did Joseph know just how much his brothers hated him! As he drew nearer to Dothan, his brothers espied him a long distance away.
“Now when they saw him afar off, even before
He came near them, they conspired against him to kill him.” GENESIS 37:18
Perhaps this was how the brothers had schemed the massacre of the Shechemites! They took counsel together! A strong conspiracy existed among the sons of Jacob!
A WICKED SCHEME
Catching sight of Joseph caused the blood of the brothers to boil! Swiftly they gathered together to plot how they could have their revenge on Joseph.
“Then they said to one another,
‘Look, this dreamer is coming! Come 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!'” GENESIS 37:19-20
The dreams that Joseph had irked his brothers so deeply they wanted to kill him!