Today's Bible Verse for Study

Genesis 37:12-36

The Brothers Sell Joseph

 

37:12 Now his brothers had gone to graze their father's flocks near Shechem,

 

13 and Israel said to Joseph, "As you know, your brothers are grazing the flocks near Shechem. Come, I am going to send you to them."

 

"Very well," he replied.

 

14 So he said to him, "Go and see if all is well with your brothers and with the flocks, and bring word back to me." Then he sent him off from the Valley of Hebron.

 

When Joseph arrived at Shechem,

 

15 a man found him wandering around in the fields and asked him, "What are you looking for?"

 

16 He replied, "I'm looking for my brothers. Can you tell me where they are grazing their flocks?"

 

17 "They have moved on from here," the man answered. "I heard them say, 'Let's go to Dothan.' "

 

So Joseph went after his brothers and found them near Dothan.

 

18 But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.

 

19 "Here comes that dreamer!" they said to each other.

 

20 "Come now, let's kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we'll see what comes of his dreams."

 

21 When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. "Let's not take his life," he said.

 

22 "Don't shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern here in the desert, but don't lay a hand on him." Reuben said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father.

 

23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the richly ornamented robe he was wearing-

 

24 and they took him and threw him into the cistern. Now the cistern was empty; there was no water in it.

 

25 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 shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.

 

29 When Reuben returned to the cistern and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes.

 

30 He went back to his brothers and said, "The boy isn't there! Where can I turn now?"

 

31 Then they got Joseph's robe, slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood.

 

32 They took the ornamented robe back to their father and said, "We found this. Examine it to see whether it is your son's robe."

 

33 He recognized it and said, "It is my son's robe! Some ferocious animal has devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces."

 

34 Then Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for his son many days.

 

35 All his sons and daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. "No," he said, "in mourning will I go down to the grave to my son." So his father wept for him.

 

36 Meanwhile, the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh's officials, the captain of the guard.

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This is the Word of the Lord ... It is meant to change the way that we think, and the way that we live.

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Commentary by Bob Pardue

Joseph is sold into slavery

Do you have any brothers or sisters?

If so, at one time or another you may have been on the verge of selling one of them into slavery. Am I right?

Well, maybe you didn't go that far but as we saw in the previous passage Genesis 37:1-10 the brothers literally hated Joseph enough to plot his murder.

Their jealousy had become so profound that it was now more of a rage and out of control. Joseph was only spared because God had something else planned for his life. He worked through Reuben and Judah to spare Joseph.

Back to the opening statement. Have you ever been jealous enough of anyone (sibling or others) to think about killing them?

Before answering, look at what happened to Joseph.

We all feel envy and jealousy at times and the time to deal with it is before the jealousy gets out of hand. If you decide not to deal with the jealous feelings these feelings will grow into unchecked rage.

By then it may be too late to control the anger.

The courts would call what Joseph's brothers did a "crime of passion" which means there was very little time to plot and plan for premeditated murder. At least they decided in the end to sell Joseph instead of killing him.

After all, he was "their brother".

When you find yourself keeping tabs of what you have and comparing to what someone else possesses, it's time to deal with your jealousy.

Remember that sin is many times committed in the mind first. Maybe the action is never carried out but it's still a sin just the same.

Let's ask God to forgive us for our thoughts of doing harm to another human being and ask Him to help us with our sin of greed and envy.

Love in Christ

- Bob

Bob Pardue is a member of First Baptist Church in Lancaster, SC. He was ordained as deacon at Rich Hill Baptist in Lancaster.

Comments are welcome. Please email me with any questions or comments you may have.

One reason to start a routine of Baptist Bible study is to understand more about Jesus Christ and develop a more personal relationship with Him.

Study Tips

Don't just read through chapter after chapter. Take time to dig in, study, and try to understand the true meaning and how you can apply the verses to your daily life.

How to Study the Bible

When learning about the Scripture and the teachings of Christ, there are a few guidelines to help you better understand.

1. Know What -- Read the story and find other information about the verses.

2. So What -- What does the story mean? Study the Scripture passages and ask yourself this question. Pray about it and ask God for understanding.

3. Now What -- How does this Bible study apply to me and others? What do we do about it? Start using the lessons in your daily life and use God's Word as your guide. You'll be amazed at the "coincidence" of these verses to events happening in your life.

Studying Scripture for Daily Living

When you take on this challenge of studying Scripture for daily living you'll find it's not such a chore to read chapters. You'll discover insight you never knew existed and, if you are like me, you'll find answers to most situations in your daily living. Try it out and see for yourself.

Studying will Help You Discover Who Christ Is

 I hope these Bible study lessons will start you on the right path to answering the question; "Who is Jesus Christ?".

What are You Going to Receive from Your Bible Study Today?

When you read the Scripture daily, what lesson will you receive to get the true benefits from God's Word? Each person will learn something different and feel a different effect from Bible study lessons.

Set Up Your Own Group

If you do choose to run any type of Bible study, no matter if you are Baptist or of another Christian church, don’t worry, you are not alone. You might even want to talk with your own clergy person to see what they would recommend to get you started.

Once you are moving along, you may have no trouble deciding where to go next. Even better, you can always take what you have studied in church that week, and then expand on that subject during your weekly Bible study sessions.

You Should Go to Church but Scripture Reading Shouldn't Stop There

There is only so much time in church each week, and that means something has been left out. This is the perfect time to get more information and do more talking.

Study the Bible Online

You can also look online for resources to help you with your daily reading. Some resources are free for the taking, and some have a price tag. However, you probably will be happy no matter which way you go.

You can usually get more direction when you take something for a fee, and that is simply because that information is usually more in-depth and useful. Either will work though, and that depends on you.

Ideas for Daily Lessons

A good idea is to get ideas from your fellow students, and you may find that everyone is willing to pitch in to get what you need for your Bible study lessons. Hope you keep Making Christ Known .Com in mind when looking for Christian tutorials. Learning is an ongoing project and reading about the prophets and disciples is no different.

If you are a novice, a good place to start is in Mark or Matthew (leaning toward the former) but you can also learn about the Savior through John or Luke.

The Old Testament

To further your knowledge and get foreshadowing about Christ, you might decide to take on the Old Testament with Genesis or even Judges. I like to think of these chapters and verses as the "history of God" as He related to His people, the Israelites.

I love studying this book and you will too but, as stated above, if you are new to Scripture the New Testament is most likely a better place to begin your education.

Bible Commentaries

You may not realize it or realize enough to think about it until you are old enough to make advanced inferences and engage in challenges of the intellect, but the first Bible commentaries shape you, condition you for future references if not future faiths.

Having faith is a continuos journey and, through commentaries and lessons from the Bible you can develop more knowledge about who Christ is and feel a closeness to God you never knew was possible no matter if you are Baptist, Methodist or Catholic. So, don't give in to the "no time" excuse and engage yourself in a good study program, or at least a daily reading of verses with a commentary.