Genesis 37:1-11 (ESV)

Jacob lived in the land of his father's sojournings, in the land of Canaan. These are the generations of Jacob.

Joseph, being seventeen years old, was pasturing the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives. And Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a robe 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 peacefully to him.

Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more. He said to them, “Hear this dream that I have dreamed: Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.” His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.

Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?” And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.

We know where this is heading. As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, – Genesis 50:20a (ESV).

But it’s amazing how nuanced this is. Every player has a sin that contributes a key piece. Jacob’s favoritism towards Joseph is wrong, and badly executed to boot. What was he thinking when he gave Joseph that robe? Every parent knows not to do things like this, and wouldn’t want to anyway.

Joseph’s brothers then react especially sinfully. The Hebrew idiom translated as, “could not speak peacefully with him,” is severe. Then Joseph shoots off his mouth about his dreams in a way that’s so over the top it even offends Jacob. This also takes his brothers’ jealousy up a notch – to a dangerous level.

The stage is set.

This is a brief description of a lot of events. The friction between Joseph and his brothers didn’t spring up overnight because of a coat and a couple of dreams; it’s been brewing for years.

We’re all sinful, and we all have issues that have been brewing for years. The key is resentment. The things we resent are fertile ground for the enemy. Is there some resentment in your heart that you need to get on top of? You can’t do it alone.

Ask the Lord to free you of its chains.

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