Joseph was the beloved son of Jacob and Rachel, born in Jacob’s old age. He was the eleventh of twelve brothers, yet Jacob loved him more than the rest. As a symbol of this affection, Jacob gave Joseph a richly ornamented robe—a coat of many colors. This favoritism sparked deep jealousy among his older brothers.
But what made things worse was Joseph’s dreams.
One night, Joseph dreamed that he and his brothers were binding sheaves of grain in the field. Suddenly, his sheaf rose and stood upright, while his brothers’ sheaves gathered around and bowed down to his. When Joseph told his brothers, they were furious.
“Do you intend to reign over us?” they asked.
Then came another dream. This time, the sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed down to him. Even his father rebuked him, saying,
“Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?”
Still, Jacob kept the matter in mind.
The tension grew.
One day, Jacob sent Joseph to check on his brothers as they tended flocks near Shechem. Seeing him from a distance, the brothers plotted against him.
“Here comes that dreamer,” they said.
“Let’s kill him and throw him into a cistern.”
But Reuben, the oldest, intervened. He convinced them not to kill Joseph but to throw him into a dry well, planning to rescue him later. While Reuben was away, the others saw a caravan of Ishmaelite traders coming from Gilead. Judah proposed a new plan:
“Let’s sell him instead of killing him.”
They sold Joseph for twenty pieces of silver. The traders took him to Egypt, where Joseph would eventually rise from slave to ruler—but that was still far off.
The brothers dipped Joseph’s colorful robe in goat’s blood and brought it to their father. Jacob, thinking Joseph was torn apart by a wild animal, wept bitterly and refused to be comforted.
Though betrayed and abandoned, God’s plan for Joseph was just beginning. His dreams were not foolish visions—they were prophetic glimpses of a future only God could see. Joseph’s story teaches us that God is with us even in the pit, that He can use pain for purpose, and that our calling often comes with trials.
And through it all, God was setting the stage—not just to save Joseph, but to save many lives.