We can say a lot about Joseph. He was a dreamer, a prince, a rich man, a brother, also a pest. He was loved by his father, but hated by his brother. Does this sound familiar. Jesus came to his own, but yet his own did not receive him.
Let’s look at why his brother despised him.
1. His father love him more than the rest.
Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours. And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him. Genesis 37:3-4 KJV
2. Joseph told his brother of his dream. This made them more made at him.
Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. His brothers said to him, “Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?” And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said. Genesis 37:5, 8 NIV
3. The plot to get rid of Joseph. They plot to kill Joseph, but the they decided to put him in the pit. Later they sold him to people. Here is the event that unfolded.
But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him. “Here comes that dreamer!” they said to each other. “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.” When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. “Let’s not take his life,” he said. “Don’t shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him.” Reuben said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father. So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the ornate robe he was wearing— and they took him and threw him into the cistern. The cistern was empty; there was no water in it. Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.” His brothers agreed. So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt. Genesis 37:18-24, 27-28 NIV.
The mark Joseph left on his brother was bad at this time. They hated him to the point of death. With Reuben stepping in, he recommended not to kill him. While Joseph was still in the pit, they saw people going to Egypt. They sold him to that group of people.
This is point we see Joseph leaving a mark on people. Some might said he left a bitter taste in his brother life. While other said it was God plan working itself out.
Joseph may had some dreams to let him know what will happen in the future. In order to get to that place in his dream God was in the midst of it all. Each step was a step closer for the dream to come true.
What mark or impact you are leaving on the world around you. What do people have to say about you. Are you making a mark for Christ. Will you be known as just a good person or a person who fears God and have the faith in Jesus Christ. How are you impacting other for Christ and God?
Be a Joseph who stood tall and no matter what happened, he knew God was in it. That was his mark me never gave up in serving God.
Givin H.O.P.E. Ministry of Evangelism 