Jacob lived where his dad sojourned, Canaan. Joseph was 17 and was with his brothers pasturing their sheep. Jacob/Israel loved Joseph more than his other sons and he made him a robe of many colors (and probably long sleeves), and his brothers hated him for this. Joseph then dreamed he and his brothers were binding sheaves (bundling the harvest, like wheat, barley, etc.) in the field and when Joseph’s sheaf rose all his brothers sheaves bowed down to it. Joseph then had a second dream that the sun, moon and 11 stars were bowing down to him. He told it to Jacob and his brothers, Jacob rebuked him and his brothers hated him more. Joseph’s brothers were pasturing the flock and saw Joseph coming and plotted to kill him by throwing him in one of the pits/cisterns and then say that a fierce animal ate him. Reuben rescued Joseph with the intention to rescue him and restore him back to his dad, Jacob. They stripped him of his robe and threw him into an empty pit. When the Ismaelite/Midianite traders passed by they lifted Joseph out of the pit, and sold him to them for 20 shekels of silver, and they took Joseph to Egypt. Reuben must not have been in on the decision to sell Joseph into slavery, so when he returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was gone he tore his clothes. They then took Joseph’s robe, dipped it in blood and brought it to Jacob asking him to identify it and saying they “found it”. Jacob identified it as Joseph’s and they let him assume that a fierce animal devoured him. Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth on his loins, and he mourned for Joseph many days, and he refused to be comforted.
Consider Jesus Christ. He was rejected by sinful men, sold out for not 20 shekels of silver but 30 pieces of silver by Judas. Jesus didn’t bear the whips of Ismaelite/Midianite slave owners, but the cruel whipping/flogging inflicted by the institutionally trained murderers on behalf of the Roman state. Jesus was handed over to the Roman authorities to be crucified by His Jewish brotherhood who originally plotted to murder Him themselves. There was not a Reuben and Judah in God’s providence to save Jesus. Satan tried in the temptation to redirect Jesus from the cross, Peter tried to lead Jesus away from the cross, after the feeding of the 5,000 they tried to make Jesus king. No, God’s King of kings and Lord of lords is not exalted by earthly means, but through suffering. Jesus is the only Savior, but He’s not the kind of Savior that avoids bearing the trial of hell His people deserve. He’s the kind of savior king who faces hell square on and He triumphs for His glory and for the saving of His people. Jesus wasn’t in this to save Himself, but to save people who were deserving only of God’s wrath. I am Joseph’s brothers. We are rebels against God’s chosen one. The irony of Jesus’ death is that He was never the one who deserved it, we deserve it…God’s wrath forever. Jesus had no Savior in His trial, He was doing the saving. Hallelujah, what a Savior! So, as the story of Joseph progresses we will see that God has plans to exalt Joseph even after the coming 13 years of misery. In the end Jesus was exalted by being lifted up on a cross, dying as a substitute for His people, being buried and then raised from the dead three days later. In the end Jesus was exalted by ascending to the right hand of God the Father almighty. Jesus’ exaltation was through suffering. While Joseph’s circumstances are clearly not saving in the same way Jesus’ were, biblically the beginning of his trials here in Genesis 37 are creating a biblical category for us to understand the way that God brings salvation through suffering, even in the face of what appears to be utter hopelessness.