Tehillah Generation Chapel
Daily Manna | Tuesday, August 21, 2018 | Topic: Conscience 103
Scripture: And when they saw Joseph afar off, even before he came near to them, they conspired against him to slay him. Genesis 37:18
Note: Wikipedia defines Hatred or hate as a deep and extreme emotional dislike, especially invoking feelings of anger or resentment. It can be directed against individuals, groups, entities, objects, behaviours, or ideas. Hatred is often associated with feelings of anger, disgust and a disposition towards hostility. It’s such a strong emotion that it was therefore considered unthinkable and shocking that Joseph’s brothers hated him. Joseph wasn’t different from Jesus who was also hated by His own people comprising the twelve tribes of Israel.
It would have been understandable if the emotions Joseph’s brothers had for him had been described in more acceptable or temperate terms as dislike, envy or jealousy. After all, what started this hate dispensation was the iconic coat of many colours. It remarkably differentiated the father’s love for Joseph from the rest of the pack. So, what started out as sheer jealousy or envy against their brother for being favoured among his brothers, quickly degenerated into something more offensive, crazy and completely running out of control.
Some of the offsprings of hatred are clearly defined as feelings of dislike, anger and disgust. It isn’t considered completely out of sync within society for someone to express dislike or anger at someone due to a specific reason, action or inaction. Society is able to tolerate such emotions acceptably without raising red flags. But when such deep and extreme emotional outbursts are witnessed in society, and worse still among siblings, then it calls for the raising of red flags, as the affected person is deemed to be out of order.
What started out therefore as sheer jealousy or envy against their brother, became escalated into a monstrous beast when it spiralled out of control. Joseph’s brothers had been waiting for a trigger to their everyday emotional disgust at the coat of many colours. Joseph’s audacious dreams became the enforced trigger for hatred. The audacity of Joseph’s shared dreams was the presumed assumption by his brothers that he sought an easy route to launch a coup d’etat against the family hierarchical system on inheritance. Through the dreams, Joseph was seen to be trying to circumvent the natural barriers in his way to achieve power, position and wealth. Coupled with their plans to exterminate Joseph, their emotions progressed to deep and extreme emotional level, which is classified as hatred.
Food for thought: Everyday dislike, anger, disgust, envy and jealousy, are warning signals to self check one’s emotions from spiralling out of control into hatred.
Declaration: Hatred stirs up strife: but love covers all sins. Proverbs 10:12
©Author: Rev Fred Aboe
