“A Man in the Field”

Genesis 37:12-28

 

We are continuing to read the story of Joseph. Last week we read about Joseph’s family system and how he was the favorite son. That favoritism was demonstrated by the father with a gift of a special robe of many colors. This favoritism created strife between Joseph and his older brothers, in fact we were told they hated him and would not speak a kind word to him. Joseph didn’t seem to be fazed with their behavior, in fact he managed to create even deeper hatred by telling his father every time his brothers did something wrong. To top things off, Joseph had two dreams in which he was ruling over his brothers. Rather than keeping the dreams to himself, he boldly told them to his brothers and father. Needless to say, Joseph was a spoiled, 17 year old brat. 

 

Today’s narrative begins with a story that demonstrates how such sibling rivalry occurs. We are told that Joseph’s brothers had gone to graze their father’s flocks near Shechem. Notice they didn’t take Joseph with them. However, Israel, the father sends Joseph to go and see how things were going with the brothers and then to bring word back to him. Obviously, Israel doesn’t comprehend the dynamics with his children.  Israel is asking Joseph to do the very thing that irritates his brothers most. Hello!

 

The design between this verse, 15 and verse 30 is quite interesting. It begins with a brother going to look for a brother and can’t find them, which is matched with a closing scene where Reuben will come looking for his brother and cannot find him, asking, “Where am I supposed to go?” 

In between these two verses there will be two deception scenes, one featuring Reuben and the other featuring Judah. 

 

So Joseph leaves the Valley of Hebron to find his brothers. He arrives in Shechem and, verse 15, 

“a man found him wandering around in the fields and asked him, “What are you looking for?”

Joseph replied, verse 16,

“I’m looking for my brothers. Can you tell me where they are grazing their flocks?”

The man answered, verse 17, 

“They have moved on from here, I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’”

What a random moment in the narrative. Joseph is lost, wandering around in a field somewhere and some mysterious man appears and offers exact directions? 

The wording of this encounter emphasizes that the only way he would find his brothers is if this man found him. Think about it, if this man had not found Joseph, the course of history would have been different. This chance encounter is the pivot to this entire narrative. 

We’ve read through enough of Genesis to realize that when a strange thing occurs we should probably stop, consider our mental concordance and ask ourselves, “Can I think of other chance encounters that anybody in this family line has had with a mysterious man?”

Oh, yeah, I can think of a couple of them. 

Abraham had a couple of encounters with men just showing up. One encounter was with Melchizedek in chapter 14. Somehow this priest shows up and they have a feast. Then Melchizedek randomly gives Abraham a blessing and becomes an image of God’s royal blessing on the family of Abraham. 

Then in chapter 18, Abraham lifts his eyes and three men appear. Two of them go down to Sodom, where they are called angels.  One stays back with Abraham and we are told he is Yahweh. 

Then there is the time when Jacob was left alone, at night, and he ends up in a wrestling match with some guy. In fact, it’s the same Hebrew word that is used in this passage to describe him. They spend the entire night wrestling and at dawn, when the light appears, Jacob realizes he had been wrestling with Elohim. 

The narrator doesn’t give us much to work with, but when we meditate on this encounter it should take us back to previous similar encounters and we come to realize had this man not appeared, then Joseph and his entire family would’ve died in the famine that is coming. 

Why do I think this? Let’s jump ahead for a moment, in chapter 45, verse 5, when Joseph reveals who he really is to his brothers, in Egypt he says, 

“And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.”

I’m sure, like me, you have similar encounters with people who, somehow show up out of nowhere, 

or don’t actually fit into what is happening in your lives, but direct you in a certain manner 

that places you where you were supposed to be 

in order to do what God had planned all along. 

When you are doing your best to walk with God and you end up wandering in a field, God in His infinite mercy sends “a man in the field” to make sure you wind up where He wants you to be. How wonderful!

Back to our story. 

Joseph followed the man’s directions and found his brothers near Dothan. The brothers see Joseph coming and before he gets to them, they plotted to kill him. 

Here is their plan #1 - verse 20, 

“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.”

Then Reuben comes along with Plan #2 - verses 21&22,

“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.”

 

Plan 2 begins, verses 23&24

“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.” 

Oh, and by the way, he didn’t drown because, “The cistern was empty; there was no water in it.”

No sooner had they dropped Joseph down a pit, they sat down to break bread together. 

The brothers decide on Plan #2. Let's meditate on their plan. They have Joseph in a pit, and they have a lie to cover their actions. Notice the lie includes a ferocious animal that supposedly devours him. Where has this come up before in the narrative? 

We start again in the garden of Eden. The Hebrew word for terrible animal is “ra’ah” it’s the word “evil.” Adam and Eve were deceived by such an animal, one with malicious intent. 

There is a twist in this story: the evil animal is a lie or deception, whereas in the Eden story the animal was the deceiver. 

Then outside the garden of Eden there was the son Cain, the animal was used as a metaphor for sin. In this story the animal is used for deception. 

We also have the wilderness theme paired with the image of Eden. Joseph was in the “pit” or wilderness, while his brothers enjoyed abundant bread. How ironic! 

Who are the real animals in this story? 

Back to the story. 

The brothers were having their meal and they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt. 

Judah comes up with Plan #3 - verses 26&27

Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? 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.”

We’ve heard this before. If you shed your brother’s blood, you’ll have to cover it up, so it doesn’t cry out to God. Judah echoes Reuben’s thoughts, “Let’s not have our hands against him.” It’s like they realize that if they harm Joseph it’s not going to turn out good for them. 

Self preservation. 

However, if they sell Joseph, then they will gain something….. Money! It’s a win, win solution! 

Oh yeah, and don’t forget, he is their brother, after all. 

Verse 28, 

“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.”

Okay, just three verses ago we read it was the Ishmaelites that were coming. Which group is it? 

Well it turns out that both groups were descendants of sons of Abraham. Ishmael from Hagar and Midian was the son of Abraham’s wife Keturah. There was another son of Keturah, Medan who began the tribe of Medanites. They were all the “un-chosen” sons of Abraham and migrated eastward to the land of the east. 

The Yishmaelites, Midianites or Medanites all become different ways of referring to the non-chosen. The narrator is telling us that the conspiracy against Joseph, includes 10 of Joseph’s brothers along with the wider circle of Abraham’s sons who unknowingly participate in the scheme against the chosen one. 

It’s the whole family working against the purposes of God, whether they know it or not. 

This is certainly something to go and meditate on. 

That you can be participating in a family, a culture, a group that is actually at direct odds with the purposes of God, and you don’t even know it. 

Check in time. 

It may sound odd that someone who is chosen by God could participate in a family, a culture or a group that is actually at direct odds with the purposes of God, and not even know it, but it certainly happened in the first century. Paul writes this to those in the Corinthian church, 1 Corinthians 2:8, 

“None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”

It still happens today. Although this is discouraging, for those who have not been led astray, this gives us hope. We can be assured that God’s purposes cannot be thwarted. However, the way that humans partner with or resist those purposes will determine how bumpy or smooth the ride is. 

May God provide “A Man in the Field” to guide us when we are wandering.

Let’s pray.