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In the last article we learned that Jacob had sent his most trusted and favorite son Joseph out to see about his older brothers. The Sacred Record pointed out that Jacob's sons had gone out to graze the sheep around the land of Shechem. Because of this, Jacob was very concerned, being that his sons history with Shechem had been so conflicting and damning. So after Jacob had asked Joseph to go out and see about his brothers, and being the loyal person that he was -- Joseph would do as his father had instructed him... but much to his surprise when he had reached Shechem, his brothers weren't there. So he would search for them and thanks to a stranger that saw him frantically looking, Joseph would learn that his brothers had headed towards Dothan. Remember that Dothan wasn't far from Shechem, so Joseph right away headed there to look for 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 about their plans, he didn't want to see Joseph get hurt -- so he made a suggesting and a plea to his brothers: "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 had made this plea, with the intent on leaving the area, only to head back later after his brothers had left, in order to rescue Joseph and to bring him back safely 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. So Reuben would leave from his brothers before Joseph had arrived. Now shortly after, Joseph would finally reach his brothers and upon doing so, they immediately stripped him of his richly ornamented robe that he was wearing. Keep in mind that this robe was the one that his father had given him, in which his brothers were jealous of. Be that as it may, they would throw him into the dry, dark empty pit that was located near them. Understand that they had no pity, no remorse, their acts were so inhumane. They had fallen to the lowest of lows, for them to treat their brother in this kind of way. Know that they threw Joseph 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, while Joseph begged for his life: "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..." -- Genesis 37:24,25 Oh, how they were filled with poisonous malice, as their younger brother moaned and began withering away in that dark pit, as they ate their supper. 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. The name "Gilead" which signifies "hill of testimony" -- was a mountainous region that was located east of the River Jordan. The caravan was headed towards Egypt when Joseph's 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. The sons of Jacob would be in total 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. In the mean time after Reuben had saw that his brothers had left the pit in which they threw Joseph, he would head there in order to rescue him. But when he arrived, Reuben would notice that Joseph was no longer there. As he stood there in great distress and anguish, he ripped his clothes. As we get to this part of Joseph's life, many would say that this was unfair treatment and why would God allow for Joseph to go through this type of ordeal? Know that 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 that situation, which would have brought about his demise if God had not been with him and intervene. For if that caravan had not approached, Joseph would have probably died in that "pit of darkness" with his brothers standing by looking down over him. And although Joseph is still in a bad situation, keep in mind that he's still alive. We must remember that God is always there for us and He would never turn His back on those who choose to believe in Him. Also keep in mind that we are the ones who turn our backs on the Lord when things don't go the way we wish they would. Little do we know that God had placed us in a position that would lead to greater things and in order for those great things to come about in our lives, we will have to go through a little bit suffering, extra training and hard work. Know that it takes training and hard work, in order for us to be successful in the things we set out to do. And sometimes we have to be removed from our current life environments, our comfort zones, in order for that to happen. Always remember that the things that happen in our lives are for a reason, no matter how bad they may seem. The mere fact that we're able to survive it, when it would have consumed many others, speaks volumes on why God chose us to go through it in the first place. Learn to be a fighter for what you want in life and stop pointing fingers, making excuses and looking for handouts... you know, taking the easy way out. Never forget that 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. And after having to survived these unexpected ordeals, we have now gained some much needed invaluable wisdom from our experiences. It will be these new found attributes that were discovered from within us, that will give us the tools and strength to go to the next level, spiritually and naturally. To be able to stand on those high mountain tops that we continue to conquer successfully within our lives and scream out loud -- "Thank you Lord for helping me to make it! And Oh! What a view it is... thank you so much." Now that Joseph has been sold into slavery, how will his father Jacob respond? What lie will his sons come up with to keep their malicious deed from being found out? What will happen to Joseph from this point forward? Jacob - The Path of Uncertainty **YOUR CURRENT BIBLE STUDY ONLINE SERIES WOULD BE HERE**
69) Joseph the Interpreter of Dreams 71) <-CURRENT BIBLE STUDY ONLINE 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 
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