Genesis 37:5-11 Now Joseph had a
dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more.
(6) He said to them, "Hear this dream that I have dreamed:
(7) 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." (8) 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. (9) 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." (10) 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?" (11) And his brothers
were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.
One of the many wonders of Scripture is
how it records for us the manner in which people change under the hand of God.
We have already seen this truth reflected in the life of Jacob and now we shall
see it in the life of Joseph. Joseph was the favourite son and he knew it, he
also sought to remind his brothers of this fact. Furthermore,
Joseph had a reputation for reporting on his brothers to his father, making him
all the less popular with them. When God did speak to Joseph through a
dream, Joseph had two choices, he could wisely, discreetly and in a spirit of
humility seek the counsel and advice of his father as to what these dreams
meant, or he could act in pride and tell his whole family of the great dreams
God had given him. Sadly, Joseph chose the latter and incurs the anger,
resentment and hatred of his brothers and the displeasure of his father. Thus
some time later when Joseph comes to check-up on his brothers, his brothers are
stirred to anger, for they see him coming wearing his special robe and are
aware that he has come to see them so that he might report back to their
father. The result of this is that they conspire together against him, first to
murder him, but then upon the pleas of Reuben, they decide to throw him into
one of the pits. The brothers then see an opportunity to profit from Joseph’s
demise and sell him into slavery.
We seldom realise the subtly and danger
of pride. In many instances Joseph may have not have thought he was acting
pride, yet it was abundantly evident in his attitude and behaviour. Such is the
subtly of pride that it can even rear its head when we are seeking to act
in humility. It is something which we must be on a constant guard against,
seeking to identify it and root it out quickly. Pride left unchecked can lead
only to further sin, and our sin always has consequences. In Joseph’s case, his
pride caused him to be alienated from his brothers; they despised him and
sought to destroy him. Joseph’s pride, exposed the pride of his brothers,
which led them to further sin in conspiring against him, and their combined
pride led to the great sorrow and grief of their father and their family. We
can only wonder about the deep conviction, regret and guilt the brothers must
have felt as they watched their father grieve and refuse to be comforted.
Pride is more often than not the root
of our sin, it was the root of Adam and Eve’s sin and thus the sooner we act
against it, the better. We have a great example to follow in the Lord Jesus
Christ, who, as Paul tells un in Philippian 2:6-8, “though he was in the
form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied
himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the
point of death, even death on a cross.” How is it that Jesus walked in such
humility and how can that help us in our battle against pride? When we consider
the glory of God, then we will have no room for pride. Jesus made this so clear
in his life; he spoke constantly of how he had come so that the Father might be
glorified. His focus was on the glory of God and how he might further increase
that glory. We need to make it our practice to daily remind ourselves of how
glorious and great God is, and that as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ we
are called to do all things so as to further glorify God. If we do this, it
will help us in our battle against pride.
All glorious God, we are mindful of how
ugly pride is in Your sight, especially when it leads us to make much more
ourselves than what we truly are. Help us to consider how immensely glorious
and great You, so that we might be kept from ever glorying in ourselves. We
pray also that You might help us to follow the great example of the Lord Jesus
Christ in this regard. May we make it the aim our lives to live for Your glory
each and every day. Amen.
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