Day 13 – Review Genesis 37
Genesis 37 – Hearts Around the Pit
Scripture Reading – Genesis 37:31-36
And they took Joseph’s coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood;
Genesis 37:31 KJV
And they sent the coat of many colours, and they brought it to their father; and said, This have we found: know now whether it be thy son’s coat or no.
Genesis 37:32 KJV
And he knew it, and said, It is my son’s coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces.
Genesis 37:33 KJV
And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.
Genesis 37:34 KJV
And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him.
Genesis 37:35 KJV
And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, and captain of the guard.
Genesis 37:36 KJV
Scripture Review
When I review Genesis 37, I see more than Joseph’s coat and dreams. I see a house in which partiality has wounded relationships, brothers who allow envy to become hatred, and a father who receives convincing evidence without knowing the whole story. Reuben has concern but not enough courage. Judah finds a profitable alternative to murder. Joseph obeys his father, seeks his brothers, and then largely disappears from the dialogue while other people decide what to do with him.
Above every heart is the silent providence of God. The LORD is not named in the chapter’s action, yet the dream remains alive because Joseph remains alive. The brothers say, “we shall see what will become of his dreams.” Genesis invites me to keep reading. Their hands tear off the coat, lower Joseph into a pit, exchange him for silver, and carry a lie home. None of those acts is excused. Still, none can prevent what God has spoken.
Favoritism, envy, fear, self-protection, profit, and deception all converge to remove Joseph from the family and erase the future represented by his dreams.
God means to preserve the covenant family through the very brother they reject, sending Joseph ahead without approving a single sinful choice made against him.
What this asks of me
This chapter warns me not to nourish heart sins and not to confuse partial courage with obedience. It also comforts me when God seems absent from the paragraph. His name may not be visible in every event, but His purpose does not disappear. I should never call evil good; I should also never call evil stronger than God.
Consider
- Which heart in Genesis 37 most closely exposes my own response right now?
- Where do I need to trust God’s unseen providence without excusing human wrongdoing?