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A Home in Trouble, March 7
Genesis 37:1-11
And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his
brethren, they hated him.
Genesis 37:4
.
The sin of Jacob, and the train of events to which it led, had not failed to exert
an influence for evil—an influence that revealed its bitter fruit in the character
and life of his sons. As these sons arrived at manhood they developed serious
faults. The results of polygamy were manifest in the household. This terrible
evil tends to dry up the very springs of love, and its influence weakens the
most sacred ties. The jealousy of the several mothers had embittered the family
relation, the children had grown up contentious and impatient of control, and the
father’s life was darkened with anxiety and grief.
There was one, however, of a widely different character—the elder son of
Rachel, Joseph, whose rare personal beauty seemed but to reflect an inward
beauty of mind and heart. Pure, active, and joyous, the lad gave evidence also
of moral earnestness and firmness. He listened to his father’s instructions, and
loved to obey God.... His mother being dead, his affections clung the more
closely to the father, and Jacob’s heart was bound up in this child of his old age.
He “loved Joseph more than all his children.”
But even this affection was to become a cause of trouble and sorrow. Jacob
unwisely manifested his preference for Joseph, and this excited the jealousy of
his other sons.... The father’s injudicious gift to Joseph of a costly coat, or tunic,
... excited a suspicion that he intended to pass by his elder children, to bestow
the birthright upon the son of Rachel. Their malice was still further increased as
the boy one day told them of a dream that he had had....
As the lad stood before his brothers, his beautiful countenance lighted up
with the Spirit of Inspiration, they could not withhold their admiration; but
they did not choose to renounce their evil ways, and they hated the purity that
reproved their sins. The same spirit that actuated Cain was kindling in their
hearts
[73]
9
Ibid., 208-210
.
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