Tehillah Generation Chapel
Daily Manna | Friday, July 20, 2018 | Topic: Conscience 76
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: We all have a certain image of ourselves. This may represent our opinion of ourselves, the beliefs and principles that we hold dear to our hearts. These values and beliefs, in addition to the image that we’ve had of ourselves in the past, combine to constitute the kind of identity that we possess in the present. The identities that individuals are known for, may fall into various classifications in the minds of others. Some may be classified as having undesirable identities, whereas those deemed with strong identities seem to have values that are desirable to others.
Joseph was young, innocent, a favourite of his father, well behaved as a teenager and trustworthy to Jacob so far as his character was concerned. In addition to all these, Joseph was endued with the ability to dream; a gift from God that led to no small consternation among his brothers. Unfortunately for Joseph, his brothers saw his coat of many colours, together with his dreams as a threat, making him a strong and viable competitor to their right of seniority and by implication, the right of inheritance to their father. This worry, suspicion and their understanding of Joseph’s dreams, led to one of the phenomenal, iconic and fiercest sibling rivalry in history.
When people get to the point of their lives that they have to contend with the idea of rivalry, negative and dangerous emotions come into play when dealing with what they consider to be threats to their interest. When individuals fail to bring these negative emotions under control, they have the disingenuous tendency to seize power over a person’s command control centre and begin to control the activities of the mind, sometimes in a manner that may seem irrational, incompatible and irreconcilable with the known ideals, identity and nature of the person affected. Many times, the actions of the individual may be regretted when they do come to their senses in time. Other times, the damage is already done before one comes to his or her senses.
The conspiracy to kill Joseph by his brothers, was one idea gone too far. It was irrational, senseless and complete madness, knowing that these guys were grandsons of Abraham, who traditionally taught his household to fear the Lord and worship the true God. These brothers were still caught up in the insanity of the proposition to kill their brother. The idea to kill lingered long enough to survive the conspiracy stage, before moving into implementation stage only to be stopped in their tracks by Reuben. Even with the intervention that brought sanity to prevail, the flywheel effect of their anger was still palpable as demonstrated by the violent manner with which they stripped Joseph of his coat of many colours.
Food for thought: Three generations after Abraham, the way of the Lord seemed to be lost on the children of Jacob; losing their way, purpose and focus.
Declaration: For I know Abraham, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which He had spoken of him. Genesis 18:19
©Author: Rev Fred Aboe
