The Jacob Chronicles: Sold Out
A Sermon by. Brent J. Eelman
Genesis 37: 1-4, 12-28
Today we continue the Jacob Chronicles with the 5th installment. Jacob has returned home and is living in the land that was promised to Abraham, his grandfather. He has a large family, 11 children, soon to be 12.
Jacob settled in the land where his father had lived as an alien, the land of Canaan. 2 This is the story of the family of Jacob.
Joseph, being seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers; he was a helper to the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he had made him a long robe with sleeves. 4 But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him.
12 Now his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock near Shechem. 13 And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” He answered, “Here I am.” 14 So he said to him, “Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock; and bring word back to me.” So he sent him from the valley of Hebron.
He came to Shechem, 15 and a man found him wandering in the fields; the man asked him, “What are you seeking?” 16 “I am seeking my brothers,” he said; “tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock.” 17 The man said, “They have gone away, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’ ” So Joseph went after his brothers, and found them at Dothan. 18 They saw him from a distance, and before he came near to them, they conspired to kill him. 19 They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. 20 Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; then we shall say that a wild animal has devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams.” 21 But when Reuben heard it, he delivered him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.” 22 Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him”—that he might rescue him out of their hand and restore him to his father. 23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the long robe with sleeves that he wore; 24 and they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.
25 Then they sat down to eat; and looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels carrying gum, balm, and resin, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. 26 Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? 27 Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers agreed. 28 When some Midianite traders passed by, they drew Joseph up, lifting him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.
The Jacob Chronicles begin with the next generation. The stories of this family are engaging, not merely because they are sacred stories, but because this extended family has so many problems. They fight, they become violent, they cheat each other, they make up and they fall in love. One would think that things would improve from one generation to the next, but that is not the case. Today’s narrative focuses not on Jacob, but on his children, in particular his son Joseph. Joseph, (the younger brother) was an unlikable dreamer. He was a tattletale and the favored child. In short: he was a pain for his brothers.
Today, I want to retell the story, using a rhetorical reporting device, similar to what I used in the first sermon of this series. Then (2) I will draw some insights from the story, and finally (3) attempt to see how this chronicle bears upon our current age.
I
In the first Jacob Chronicle, I envisioned them visiting a family therapist, and I read her report. Today, a generation later, we might imagine this family back in therapy. Here is what the report might say:
“Case 37128:
After processing intake information from the Jacobson family, these are my findings: This family is as large and complex as the root system of Aspen trees. The patriarch of the family, Jacob, is wealthy enough to have two wives -- Leah and Rachel -- and two consorts, Bilha and Zilpah. He has children with all four of the women and this is the source of a great deal of the family conflict.
The children of the wives (Rachel and Leah) believe themselves to be superior to the children of Bilha and Zilpah, although all the children enjoy legal status as children of Jacob.
The family conflict is further heightened by Jacob’s poor parenting skills. He plays favorites and the competition for his attention, affection and blessing continues among all twelve sons.
“Jacob himself is an interesting study. His wife Rachel died during the birth of Benjamin, their youngest son. Although this happened several years ago, Jacob is still suffering from inexhaustible grief. It is apparent that Rachel was his true love, and this affection is now lavished on the children he had with her, particularly Benjamin and Joseph. The favoritism he shows toward Joseph in particular is the root of the current conflict because it is overt. Although he has moments of insight about the limitations of Joseph, Jacob continues to favor him. The current symbol of his favoritism is that he purchased an expensive and unique robe for Joseph. This was an excessively extravagant gift that continues to cause strife for the family.
Ironically, I discovered that Jacob himself is no stranger to parental favoritism as he was his mother’s darling. He also said that it was clear his brother Esau was his father’s favorite. This was the cause of a major conflict in his family of origin. He did indicate, however, that, after many years, he reconciled with his brother Esau.
“The family conflict is currently compounded by two additional factors. First, the immaturity of Joseph. He is aware of his favorite status, and rather than play it down, he flaunts it. He wears the dazzling robe constantly thus adding fuel to the fire of his siblings’ jealousy. Joseph’s arrogance is compounded by his willingness to report his brother’s misdeeds to his father. Joseph takes great delight in “tattling” and that serves to reinforce his inflated sense of self.
“Second, his brothers, though not without their squabbles, have joined together in a united front against him. These two factors came to a head in the tragedy that is the cause of the family’s need for therapeutic intervention.
“After years of Jacob’s obvious favoritism for Joseph, his brothers finally reached a breaking point and attempted to get rid of him. They sold Joseph to slave traders, and his whereabouts are unknown at this time.
The brothers conspired together and came up with a story and fake evidence that their father Jacob still believes that Joseph was killed by an animal. This compounded Jacob’s grief. One brother, Reuben (the oldest) confided that he tried to stop his other siblings. He expressed some guilt about the situation, but the truth is he ultimately participated in the scheme.
“In conclusion: this family demonstrates a great deal of dysfunction. Pathology is rampant: tattling, favoritism, unresolved and misdirected grief, anger, and abuse. This is sibling rivalry run amok. The family is left with a broken and grieving father, Jacob, a guilty older brother, and other siblings who believe they were justified for the grievous actions they took. Their tale is tragic and unfortunately shows little possibility of a viable resolution.”
Some of you may be watching the TV dramatic series Succession. It is in its final season (I managed to
watch only the first), but the plot line is similar. A pathological family situation that focuses
on who will be the inheritor of the family name and power. I believe that this
is an archetype that plays out again and again.
It is what makes for popular TV shows.
It is why the stories of Jacob, and his family are captivating.
Apart from the psychological dynamics and dysfunction, this story offers us a fascinating insight into family process and the work of God.
First, custom and tradition were disregarded in the family dynamics. Middle Eastern tradition dictated that the oldest male should become the family leader. You might recall that this was also reversed in the first chronicle when Jacob stole the blessing and birthright. Jacob in turn favored his youngest children, especially Joseph. The implications of this are revolutionary! In the ancient cultures where custom prescribed authority and power, this story was subversive. It reversed an oppressive hierarchy. Indeed, it offers a foretaste of the teachings of Jesus, “the last shall be first and the first last.”
Second. This story is important to the Hebrew people because it tells how they came to dwell in Egypt. The story is a complete literary unit, (chapters 37-45). I encourage you to read it on your own.
Third, the story solidifies Jacob's importance in the Old Testament. His 12 sons become the patriarchs of the twelve tribes of Israel. (6 were with Leah, 2 with Bilhah, 2 with Zilpah, and 2 with Rachel). 1 in 8000!!
Despite these narrative features, this is, I believe, the most troubling story in the Jacob Chronicles.
First, although we have moved on to a new generation, nothing changed. In fact, things seem to have worsened. Jacob, like his father Isaac, plays favorites among his children. The two children he had with Rachel, Joseph and Benjamin, are favored over the other children. While we don’t know too much about Benjamin, Joseph glories in being the favorite son and flaunts the symbol of it, a fancy robe, in front of his brothers. He behaves in almost the same manner as his father Jacob did. He tattles on his brothers who were born of the servants Bilhah and Zilpah. How arrogant and self-righteous!
He also engenders a similar reaction, not from one brother, but from ten brothers! The text states that “they hated him.” They want to get rid of him and they do! At first they conspire to kill him, but then persuaded by Reuben, they just throw him in a pit. They sell him to slave traders and then concoct a story that he was killed by a wild animal. Joseph, like his father begins the rest of his life in a strange country. This is cruelty to the tenth power! From generation to generation, nothing changes in this family!
Second: this narrative is troubling because of all the loose ends that are not resolved. We don’t know what will happen to Joseph. Poor Jacob, overcome with grief about the loss of the love of his life, Rachel, has his sorrow compounded by the loss of his favorite child. One wonders if he really believed the story that his other sons told him. He had no proof, no corpse, nothing that would satisfy that he really lost his son to an attacking beast.
But there are other loose ends. What happened to the fancy robe? We know that Reuben, the older brother, had second thoughts about the whole situation, but how did the other brothers feel? Were their consciences bothering them? Did they lose sleep over this? Did they ever wake up in the middle of the night and wonder what happened to their brother, Joseph?
And Reuben: he showed remorse early on. Did that guilt trouble him at length, or did it dissipate? Did he “get over” it?
There are so many lose ends to this narrative and it begs for resolution.
Third, from our perspective within the Christian community, we wonder “where is the grace” in this narrative? What good will come from it? It feels like a unredeemed tragedy. Yet it is an utterly human story, a family tragedy, that is not hard to believe. But we also want to believe that there is some good news in this story….in much the same way we want to believe that there is grace and good news in our lives.
III
What does this teach us today?
Jeremiah, in his prophecy of the “new covenant” stated that:
“The parents have eaten sour grapes,
and
the children’s teeth are set on edge.”
In other words, what one generation does is not determinative for the next. The generational cycles of dysfunction would be negated by the new covenant. That is at the heart of the gospel… a new beginning! A reset of the relationship between humanity and the divine! But we still seem to be living with and experiencing the reality of the generations.
There is a commercial that seems be flooding our TV channels lately. It features Rick, a fictional character appearing in advertisements for an insurance company. He is a self-help coach who helps new homeowners keep from "turning into" their parents. I find it to be an irritating advertisement because it touches a sensitive part of me. I often hear my parents speaking in some of the things I say. I use some of their expressions. I have some of their interesting mannerisms and habits.
Murray Bowen, one of the pioneers of family systems therapy, posited that each generation has a systemic impact upon subsequent generations. Karen and I often joke that our parenting has not done anything to our daughter that 10 years of psychotherapy will not undo. I saw a cartoon recently. The caption read: “Annual Meeting of Adult Children of Normal Families.” It pictured a large auditorium. with about three or four people seated.
We should not be surprised that nothing seems to change from one generation to the next in Jacob’s family…. Or in ours. The important question is will this cycle be broken? How will Jacob’s family (and ours) move beyond the inherited baggage of previous generations. From this perspective, the Jacob Chronicles are contemporary narratives and we can often see parts of our family in their lives.
This is why I love the Old Testament stories: All of us live with family secrets. During the 80's and 90's it was fashionable to claim and own our family dysfunction. All of us are human and our families are usually flawed and most of them could be described as dysfunctional....
This chronicle suggests that our families of origin often explain some of our behavior and the way we think and do things... but it is not an excuse! It is an explanation. We read that Jacob eventually took responsibility for his behavior. We anticipate the Joseph will also. This tells you and me that we may come from mixed up, crazy and even abusive families... but the very nature of maturing and growing is to grow away from that, to resist taking our identity and our destiny from our dysfunctional history.
The unfinished nature of today’s story is bothersome. But it rings with reality. Joseph became a slave in Egypt; his brothers sold him out and convinced their father Jacob, that he was dead. Jacob was in pain with grief... and the story probably ended there for that family for a long time.
We live with loose ends:
· We live with conjecture about what happened;
· We live with pain and grief are the realities of life.
· Closure is a luxury that we don't always have.
· There are times when we are left with pain, brokenness, and sorrow: pieces that don’t seem to fit.
· There are things that we don't understand.
· We live with many things that feel incomplete.
That does not mean that God has abandoned us. It means that the story is not yet complete. The apostle Paul put this so succinctly in First Corinthians (13): “Now I see in a mirror dimly, then I shall see face to face... now I know in part, then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood.”
Your story and my story are unfinished. There are loose ends and pieces that do not fit in our lives. We live with nagging questions that are unanswered. Indeed, we see life, our own lives, in a mirror dimly. But we live with the promise that we shall at last see face to face. We shall know at last, what we only partially know. Completion, resolution, closure is the promise of the gospel…. And we shall even be fully understood…. And loved for eternity.
Today’s narrative screams for completion. It makes us uncomfortable. We want resolution, indeed closure. Next week, our chronicles will conclude. Ultimately, in God's time the loose ends are bound....
In the meantime, we live by grace:
· a grace that enables us to thrive amidst lies, confusion, mixed motivations, greed, hate and animosity.
· a grace that enables us to live with all the pieces that do not fit in the jigsaw puzzle that is life;
· a grace that calls us as God's own, partners in redemption;
This is the Good News. Amen.
