God's Plan

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

GOD'S PLAN

Gen 37:1-4

7:1 Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, the land of Canaan. 2 This is the account of Jacob. Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives, and he brought their father a bad report about them. 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made a richly ornamented robe for him. 4 When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.

NIV

We remember how destructive the family of Isaac was because, as a father, he loved one son more than another. Isaac,  Jacob, and Esau showed us the dangers of a dysfunctional family. However, everything worked according to God's plan. Israel having twelve sons was also according to God's plan, and Joseph was the key to the survival of the nation of Israel, although they ended up in slavery for four hundred years. Nevertheless, his brothers hated Joseph because he was his father's favorite son. The idea that Israel made a coat of many colors, and how it has been portrayed in many forms of media, does not come from the original language but from incorrect or assumed translations.  The Hebrew words mean tunic and palm, or by hand. The text gives no indication of its color. However, something important about this coat, or tunic, is that Isaac made it by hand for Joseph. It symbolizes God's divine favor on his life.  It gives Joseph a distinctiveness among his brothers, but at the same time, it stirred jealousy or resentment in their hearts. What can we learn from this portion of Joesph's life? Perhaps it was not right for him to give a bad report regarding his brothers. Were they not tending the sheep well enough? Did he, a young seventeen-year-old, know more about tending sheep than his older, more experienced brothers did? Was this God's plan from the get-go, so that Joseph would end up second in command of all Egypt? This part of his life story should show us that even amid disharmony, God has a plan. Sometimes we lose life's harmony, allowing discord or strife to creep into our hearts. We know that is wrong; however, in Joseph's case, it brought about God's plan for Israel. This should give us that one truth in life. God's plan will always be accomplished, one way or another. We wonder how much we mean it when we pray that God's will be done on earth, that is, in our lives, as it is done in heaven. We should also note that we should never speak an unkind word, as his brother did. Still, it was all God’s plan.