When I was a kid, life was hard
I was the black sheep of the family
I didn’t fit in
I didn’t feel welcome, like I belonged some place else
Joseph was the black sheep to an extent
He had the love of his father and mother
He did not have the acceptance or love with his many brothers
who were born by other mothers
The bible families could be quite large, lots of kids and close family members
The same dad, different moms, and often lots of half siblings
There were some that stood out, some that were hated,
some that did amazing things for God
As was the case with Joseph
Joseph and Benjamin were children of the Rachel, the wife Jacob favored,
the one he worked for for 7 years
and then was tricked into taking Leah as his wife
when he really wanted Rachel
Leah had children before Rachel
Leah had more children than Rachel
However, Joseph and Benjamin were Jacob’s favorites
Joseph’s brothers were important although they didn’t feel like they were
They were jealous of Joseph as he was favored by their father
Joseph was special to God and they called him the dreamer
because he received dreams from the Lord where they would bow to him
Their jealousy gave them wicked thoughts and intentions
and they succumbed to them by almost killing Joseph,
but instead decided to sell him into slavery
God’s hand was on Joseph
They were going to kill him and decided against that and just then,
a band of Egyptians came by and bought him as a slave
The steps of the righteous are ordered by the Lord
The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in His way.
Psalm 37:23
These brothers are the Twelve tribes of Israel
and they included the children of the concubines
God honored that they were descendants of Jacob
Jacob’s sons have been honored by God in the bible throughout time
even though they were envious of Joseph
and angry that he had dreams that they bowed down to him
God gave them that position even though they were less than perfect
Joseph said to them after he had saved all his family from famine,
And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said,
Behold, we be thy servants,. And Joseph said unto them,
Fear not: for am I in the place of God? 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. Genesis 50:18-20
It’s very impressive that they are the twelve tribes of Israel
which will make up the 144,000 in the last days:
And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.
Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Nepthalim were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.
Revelation 7:4-8
The story is very complex
There are many lessons in it:
that God allows bad things to happen to us when we serve Him
and that He has purposes when He allows things to happen
Sorting all that out can be complicated
And, often we cannot see the end at the beginning
but when we get to a certain point,
it all makes sense of why God allowed and orchestrated certain events in our lives
When God uses us for His purposes, it can be hard to figure out
Just trust Him and follow His guidance
There is always a reason or many reasons