But when Reuben heard it, he delivered him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.” Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him” -that he might rescue him out of their hand and restore him to his father. So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the long robe with sleeves” that he wore; and they put him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it. Genesis 37: 21- 24, NRSV.
Today we praise You O LORD, for keeping our dreams alive, in spite of all that we have suffered. We ask that as we meet to study Your Word, You will be our teacher. In the blessed name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
Yesterday we saw the circumstances under which Joseph came to his dream. Very unfavorable, to say the least. There was opposition on every hand; even from those w ho loved him. Nevertheless, even in; and I would rather say, especially in, adversity, we can clearly see God working on our behalf, to preserve the dream(s) that He has put in our hearts. In spite of this fact, before it gets better, it will get worse!
The first lesson we can learn from this is that, No one can kill your dream(s). God will use even your enemies, to keep your dreams alive! The first half of our verse for today reads, “But when Reuben heard it, he delivered him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.” Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him.” Hallelujah!
I believe it is significant that it was the eldest son, to whom all the privileges of the birthright belonged, that is here pleading for Joseph’s life. If there was anyone that should have been eager to get rid of Joseph, it should have been Reuben! I said to my husband the other day, “God has no speech problems.” When God makes a statement, even the deaf will hear! It was God who had given Joseph his dreams. And it was God’s responsibility to keep them alive; and He did! He would fulfill His dreams through Joseph, no matter how his brothers or his father felt about those dreams. I believe this is worth saying, “Do not try to interfere with other people’s dreams. You might find yourself fighting against God!” And that is not a good thing to do!
I like the way someone has phrased lesson number two: “You can’t keep a good man [and his dream] down.” (I have slightly altered the phrase to fit the situation). This is no coincidence that “[t]he pit was empty; there was no water in it.” When God saves, He saves to the uttermost! Blessed be the name of the LORD! There is no pit deep enough to keep the “Lion of the Tribe of Judah,” from reaching down and delivering His child! The psalmist, speaking of YHWH said the following, “He drew me up from the desolate pit, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure” (Psalm 40: 2)! It is now time for Judah, the second son, to come to Joseph’s rescue, “Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not lay our hands on him for he is our brother, our own flesh” (Genesis 37: 26, 27). God was working out His plans, by preserving “the dream” alive!
We will continue our conversation tomorrow.