Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it for us to kill our brother and cover up his blood? Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened to him. Then some Midianite traders passed by, so they pulled him up and lifted Joseph out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. Thus they brought Joseph into Egypt.
Now Reuben returned to the pit, and behold, Joseph was not in the pit; so he tore his garments. He returned to his brothers and said, “The boy is not there; as for me, where am I to go?” So they took Joseph’s tunic, and slaughtered a male goat and dipped the tunic in the blood; and they sent the varicolored tunic and brought it to their father and said, “We found this; please examine it to see whether it is your son’s tunic or not.” Then he examined it and said, “It is my son’s tunic. A wild beast has devoured him; Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!” So Jacob tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days. Genesis 37:26-34 NASB
If you live long enough, someone, somewhere will mistreat you and even betray you. It might even come from someone that should have treated you very differently. That’s what happened to Joseph. He was sold by his brothers into slavery to strangers by his own brothers. Then they lied about it to their father and broke his heart. In one of the most epic stories of redemption in history- Joseph will now begin his life of suffering, miracle, blessing, and ultimate redemption and exaltation. He is a type of Christ, a forerunner of the One (Jesus), who would also be sold for pieces of silver, suffer on our behalf, rise and be exalted- resulting in the saving of many. When we are “sold out”, we can expect God to be with us in the pit and ultimately redeem us and possibly those very people who despise and use us. Let’s pray for that!
God, as this day begins- I look forward to the appointments and opportunity to be of value to friends. Help me accomplish Your will today. I know You have often rescued me out of the pit. Sometimes I placed myself there, other times, the hand of betrayers have done it. Either way, You have never left me. Let’s walk in a redemptive pattern today. Also, please give Kaenan a good day at work. Looking forward to celebrating Kaister’s birthday tomorrow.
