Bible Study Online Article
Jacob had sent his young son Joseph out to see about his older brothers. Jacob's sons had gone out to graze the sheep around the land of Shechem. Because of this, the promise bearer became concern, being that their history with Shechem had been so conflicting. Joseph would do as his father had instructed him, but much to his surprise - when he reached Shechem, his brothers weren't there. So he would search for them, and thanks to a stranger that saw him looking, Joseph would learn that his brothers had headed towards Dothan. Dothan wasn't far from Shechem, so Joseph headed there to find his brothers. When his brothers saw him approaching, they began plotting a way to murder him, for they hated and envied him. But after Reuben, the oldest of them all had heard this, he didn't want to see Joseph get hurt, so he made a suggesting. "Let's not take his life, or shed any blood. Throw him into this pit (cistern) here in the desert, but don't lay a hand on him," Reuben would say as he pleaded with his brothers. Reuben had made this suggesting, for he was planning to head back later after his brothers had left, to rescue Joseph and to bring him back to his father. Reuben felt that this was a chance for him to gain back some favor with his father, after he had lost his birthright behind his sinful acts, which involved Bilhah - his father's wife. Reuben would leave from his brothers before Joseph had arrived. Now shortly after, Joseph would reach his brothers and upon doing so, they stripped him of his richly ornamented robe that he was wearing. This robe was the one that his father had given him, in which his brothers were jealous of. Next they would throw him into the dry dark empty pit that was located near them. They had no pity, no remorse - their acts were so inhumane, that they would treat their brother in this kind of way. For they threw him into that dark pit, hoping to leave him there to starve, while he died a cold, slow and lonesome death. And while all of this was happening, they ate their meals, in which - Joseph begged for his life. Oh, how they were filled with poisonous malice as their younger brother moaned and began withering away in that dark pit. Soon after they would look up and see a caravan of Ishmaelites and Midianite merchants approaching. This caravan had come from the city of Gilead which was known for its rich resources in commodities, for their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh. Gilead in which it name implies - 'hill of testimony' was a mountainous region that was located east of the 'River Jordan.' The caravan was headed towards Egypt when Joseph brothers had seen it. "What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? Come, let's sell him to the Ishmaelites and Midianites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood," Judah would say amongst them. His brothers would be in agreement with what Judah had said and proposed, so when the caravan had came by - they sold Joseph to them, for twenty shekels of sliver. As the caravan headed off towards Egypt along with Joseph, his brothers would leave and begin their journey back home. After he had saw that his brothers had left the pit in which they threw Joseph, Reuben would head there in order to rescue him. But when he arrived, he would notice that Joseph was no longer there. As he stood there in great distress and anguish - he would tear his clothes. As we get to this part of Joseph's life, many would say that this is unfair treatment and why would God allow for him to go through this type of ordeal. It's this type of thinking in today's world, which has so many questioning the love of the Lord. But, it was the love of the Lord that allowed Joseph to make it out of a situation that would have brought about his demise if God had not stepped in. For if that caravan had not approached, Joseph would have probably died in that pit with his brothers looking over him. Although Joseph is still in a bad situation, he's still alive. We must remember that God is always there for us and he would never turn His back when it comes to those who believe. Keep in mind, we are the ones who turn our backs on Him, when things don't go the way we wish they would go. Little do we know that God had placed us in a position that would lead to great things and in order for those great things to come about in our lives, we will have to go through a little bit of extra training. It's takes training and hard work in order for us to be successful in our lives and sometimes we have to be removed from our current life environments in order for that to happen. The things that happen in our lives are for a reason, no matter how bad they may seem - the fact that we survived it, when it would have consumed many others - speaks volumes. Learn to be a fighter for what you want in life and stop looking for handouts. God created you to be great and not a servant to someone's limited rations. We should be relieved to find out that we have the strength, the will and courage to survive the deep dark valleys in our lives. After surviving the ordeal, now we have gain invaluable wisdom from our experiences. It will be these new found attributes that has been discovered from within, that will gives us the tools to be able to stand on those high successful mountain tops that are fast approaching in our lives, and scream - "Thank you Lord - I made it!"
Jacob - The Path of Uncertainty 69) Joseph the Interpreter of Dreams 71) <-CURRENT PAGE-> 72) Jacob the Father of Sorrow 73) The Importance of Judah's History 76) Tamar's Revenge 78) Joseph the Servant of Favor 79) Potiphar's Wife Pursues Joseph 82) The Dreaming Cupbearer & Baker 84) Joseph's Dark Dreams Interpretation 85) Joseph the Overseer of Egypt  CrossDaily.com Web Search where you can VOTE FOR THIS SITE & other great ones. Christian search engine, directory & voting index. You'll find Bible, chat, churches, jobs, music, reviews, software, theology, & more. See the best sites!
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