“ Now Jacob dwelt in the land where his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan. This is the history of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. And the lad was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to his father. Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age. Also he made him a tunic of many colors. But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him. Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more. So he said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf.” And his brothers said to him, “Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, “Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me.” So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?” And his brothers envied him, but his father kept the matter in mind.” (Genesis 37:1-11).
God Himself spoke to Joseph when he was a child in such an amazing way. We sometimes fear that some of the new converts will become arrogant if they receive revelations, but this is marvelous—what a wonderful God we have! God gives Joseph such a powerful revelation.
Jacob rebuked Joseph, but it is said that he observed the saying, because he was a prophet. And we see what kind of prophet Jacob was – in the forty-ninth chapter of Genesis, before his death, he gave a prophecy to each of Joseph’s sons. He was a full-fledged powerful prophet – Jacob, the son of Isaac, the grandson of Abraham.
I would like to note several things here. First, Jacob lived in the land of wandering – still in a foreign land. This is the state of a missionary, when he is still in a foreign land. Understand that the whole earth shall belong to the Lord and His saints. There is already a revelation that this land will be Abraham’s – Abraham saw it from the height of the mountain when Lot separated from him. So it is with a missionary: he comes to a new land not as a “guest”, and he is not afraid of the people living there.
This is the royal gait of a prophet – to walk in a foreign land, but on your own land. This is not granted to everyone. That is why, in many cities and countries, people get mad when they see you walk like the owner. Because we walk at a different speed, with a royal posture, we speak freely, we gesticulate, we talk fearlessly.
We have a “sword”, and it is not visible, but it can strike anything: it cuts steel, it cuts through buildings, it demolishes towers – it destroys Babylon; it works in every place, flowers bloom from it in the dark – you eat the fruit of this tree and get satisfied – and it also cuts off the “head of Goliath”. All this is the rod of God, and the rod digs wells. Yes, for now it is “in a foreign land”, but this is our land. You walk on it like an Angel.
Joseph’s youth was spent with the unfaithful people. Look how interesting it is: it wasn’t the sons of his wives who sinned against Joseph, but the sons of his maids. Joseph was seventeen years old, and he was tending sheep with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah. He was the son of his lawful wife, Rachel. And he brought bad rumors to his father about his brothers not because he was a snitch, but because he wouldn’t take their side: he was on the side of God, on the side of the King. And he could think of nothing better than to tell his father everything, he was jealous that there would be no ugliness in the family, he protected his family. See what a powerful lesson! Who would love such a person?!
Yes, they treated him badly, but after a few years they would bow to him and beg for mercy. He was a brother – that is the reason why he did all those things. It was beautiful.
But at the same time, Joseph’s youth wasn’t spent with his unfaithful brothers – it was spent with his father. While he was with his unfaithful brothers in his flesh, he was with his father in his spirit. He was the heir.
Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons. There were so many other wonderful sons around him – he remembered each one from infancy – but he loved Joseph.
Why? Because he is a prophet!
We should not envy when we see a blessing on someone. We should rejoice and understand that he is chosen among the brothers. There are special ones among us – we must get used to this, we must accept it. There are “Josephs” whom the Lord distinguishes especially: both in a woman’s and in a man’s body – this isn’t that important, it is important to distinguish that this is the anointing of Joseph, which means that a person is rising in the Apostolic mantle.
“The brothers hated him.” Yes, the devil hates the anointing. He hates the anointing of Christ. But Joseph was chosen among the brothers.
“Then his brothers went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem.
«And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” So he said to him, “Here I am.”
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 37:12-13, 15-17).
See what’s interesting here . Who are the Ishmaelites? They are Joseph’s great-uncle. Two generations before Joseph this people already was. Isaac was a relative of Ishmael. That is one generation. The next is Jacob and the children, and the princes of Ishmael. And then Joseph and the grandchildren of Ishmael.
“Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, they conspired against him to kill him. 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!”… when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him. Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it. And they sat down to eat a meal. Then they lifted their eyes and looked, and there was a company of Ishmaelites, coming from Gilead with their camels, bearing spices, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry them down to Egypt. So Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh.” And his brothers listened. Then Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt. Then Reuben returned to the pit, and indeed Joseph was not in the pit; and he tore his clothes. And he returned to his brothers and said, “The lad is no more; and I, where shall I go?” So they took Joseph’s tunic, killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the tunic in the blood. Then they sent the tunic of many colors, and they brought it to their father and said, “We have found this. Do you know whether it is your son’s tunic or not?” And he recognized it and said, “It is my son’s tunic. A wild beast has devoured him. Without doubt Joseph is torn to pieces.” Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son many days. And all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and he said, “For I shall go down into the grave to my son in mourning.” Thus his father wept for him.” (Genesis 37:18-20, 23-35).
Joseph was sold for twenty pieces of silver. And thus he went up the mountain of suffering. He went into a new destiny: a new portal opened up – Joseph begins the path of redemption for his brothers – he went to pass through the furnace. His soul entered into iron fetters, with the purpose to give birth to the Word and bring the Word into freedom – hardened and immortal.
Today I have a prophetic and difficult question: “What is with the descendants of Joseph in the Ishmaelite slavery? What is with the hidden Josephs among the Ishmaelites?”
They have the same blood – Abraham’s. They cannot be our enemies. Joseph redeemed them through suffering, this is a prototype of Jesus.