Righteous Betrayal
23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the ornate robe he was wearing— 24 and they took him and threw him into the cistern. The cistern was empty; there was no water in it.
25 As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt.
26 Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? 27 Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.†His brothers agreed.
28 So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.
Genesis 37:23-28
One of the remarkable things about the Bible is that it is written across two thousand years, by up to 66 different authors and yet it holds together as a single story about the man Jesus of Nazareth who turns out to be God Himself come in the flesh to die so that sinners can be redeemed as the people of God.
This is the story of history that is captured by the Bible. But one of the amazing things that God has done is woven the story of what will eventually happen to His Son into early episodes of the story.
Do you see it in the story of Joseph? Think about it. Joseph is portrayed as a relatively (not perfectly) righteous young man. Who provokes the jealousy and hatred of his brothers. They decide to kill him.
Now, they don’t kill him. But this is where you need to kind of think a bit more like an ancient Jewish reader. They have a keener sense of imagery than we do (we prefer scientific exactness). Instead, what they do is cast Joseph into a pit - which symbolises death.
They also then sell him for silver to Ishmaelites who will take him into Egypt - which will later become the place of Israel’s slavery and again will represent death.
So the righteous man is betrayed by his own and cast into death. That’s the first part. We will pick up the second on Saturday.
For Today:
Pray:
Praise the Father for the way He has written the Scriptures. Give thanks for Jesus who was betrayed and died for our sins. Ask God for His Holy Spirit to help you and others know and understand Jesus through the Scriptures.
25 As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt.
26 Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? 27 Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.†His brothers agreed.
28 So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.
Genesis 37:23-28
One of the remarkable things about the Bible is that it is written across two thousand years, by up to 66 different authors and yet it holds together as a single story about the man Jesus of Nazareth who turns out to be God Himself come in the flesh to die so that sinners can be redeemed as the people of God.
This is the story of history that is captured by the Bible. But one of the amazing things that God has done is woven the story of what will eventually happen to His Son into early episodes of the story.
Do you see it in the story of Joseph? Think about it. Joseph is portrayed as a relatively (not perfectly) righteous young man. Who provokes the jealousy and hatred of his brothers. They decide to kill him.
Now, they don’t kill him. But this is where you need to kind of think a bit more like an ancient Jewish reader. They have a keener sense of imagery than we do (we prefer scientific exactness). Instead, what they do is cast Joseph into a pit - which symbolises death.
They also then sell him for silver to Ishmaelites who will take him into Egypt - which will later become the place of Israel’s slavery and again will represent death.
So the righteous man is betrayed by his own and cast into death. That’s the first part. We will pick up the second on Saturday.
For Today:
- Do you read the Bible as one story?
- How have you seen the Old Testament point to Jesus?
- Check out what Jesus says in Luke 24:27
Pray:
Praise the Father for the way He has written the Scriptures. Give thanks for Jesus who was betrayed and died for our sins. Ask God for His Holy Spirit to help you and others know and understand Jesus through the Scriptures.
Posted in Genesis
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