The brothers have thrown their youngest sibling into a dry well. Their intent is to kill him, but first, in an ordinary but callous act, they sit down to eat their lunch. There are times when we are staggered by others’ actions, and this is one of them. However, these dark days often become examples of wonderful periods of grace as the true author is writing silently behind the scenes of our lives.
“As they sat down to eat their meal, 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. 26 Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? 27 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. 28 So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekelsof silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.” (Genesis 37 v 25-28)
If you have ever been betrayed by a friend or a colleague, maybe a family member, then you will know it wasn’t what they did to you that twisted the knife, but it was how easy it was for them to hurt you. Over a meal, they decided not to kill their brother (thanks to Judah) but to sell him on. The twist of the knife was the price they were happy to receive for him. It was the price of a slave. Joseph was valued no more than a slave.
This is only one side of the story – the other is to know that God was involved from the beginning.
Often seeming like a coincidence, things begin to happen, and only when we look back a few chapters further do we see the hand of God at work from the beginning of what was a difficult period.
Before the decision to sell Joseph, before they sat down for a meal, before they threw their brother down the cistern, and before Joseph even set out from his father to see if they were okay, a caravan of Midianites had already set out for Egypt.
The brothers meant it for evil, but God was providing the transport for Joseph as a springboard into the next chapter of his life. That sentence alone is worth a pause and ponder.
Twenty shekels of silver, that’s the price of betrayal. Centuries later, the price had risen to thirty pieces of silver. The connection is real. The betrayal is even more so.
In Joseph’s story, as in the gospel, the betrayal is real. The suffering is real. The tears are real. But they are not the final word.
Perhaps you can see some similarities in this story?
Your situation may be very painful, and the anxiety is overwhelming because you do not know what will happen in this chapter, never mind the next. As I read this story, I realise God is the holder of our stories, your story. It doesn’t mean your pain is minimised, nor that it won’t get worse before it gets better. But you are not in the hands of the enemy; rather, your Sovereign God has got you. He is writing your story. Even when it looks like everything is finished, it isn’t. It is often later when we can look back and see the footprint of God in our most difficult chapters of life. Did you spot the particular spice that the traders were carrying? Myrrh was one of the three gifts the Magi brought to Mary and Joseph for the Christ-child. Myrrh was mixed with wine and offered to Jesus on the cross, and it was used by Nicodemus and Joseph to wrap his body as he was laid in the tomb. Once you see it, you cannot unsee it. Centuries previously, there was a cargo with a beautiful scent, speaking of the death and resurrection of another Son, the Son, passing by in a prophetic act.
How beautiful is this?!
Missions Paul 