For the Genesis 37:31-35 PODCAST, Click Here!
31 So they took Joseph’s tunic, killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the tunic in the blood. 32 Then they sent the tunic of many colors, and they brought it to their father and said, “We have found this. Do you know whether it is your son’s tunic or not?” 33 And he recognized it and said, “It is my son’s tunic. A wild beast has devoured him. Without doubt Joseph is torn to pieces.” 34 Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son many days. 35 And all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and he said, “For I shall go down into the grave to my son in mourning.” Thus his father wept for him. ~ Genesis 37:31-35
Today, we almost conclude our study of Genesis 37 where we are being introduced to the subject of forgiveness which has three parts: the injury, the debt created by the injury and the cancellation of the debt. The injury was seen in our last study where the brothers of Joseph stripped him of his robe, shoved him into a pit, and sold him into slavery to some Ishmaelite traders who lived in Midian.
In v.31-33 of today's passage we read, "31 So they took Joseph’s tunic, killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the tunic in the blood. 32 Then they sent the tunic of many colors, and they brought it to their father and said, 'We have found this. Do you know whether it is your son’s tunic or not?' 33 And he recognized it and said, 'It is my son’s tunic. A wild beast has devoured him. Without doubt Joseph is torn to pieces.'"
Joseph's brothers concocted a story to explain the death of Jacob's most precious son. Ironically, the words, "a kid of the goats" was used later in Leviticus 16 for the Day of Atonement rituals. On that day, two goats were selected. One was made a sacrifice for the sins of the people and one was used as a scapegoat. The scapegoat had the sins of the people confessed over it and then it was released alive into the wilderness to carry away the sins of the people. This goat, killed by his brothers was the scapegoat for their deeds, but they killed it to cover what they did, using its blood as a trick against their father. This incident reminds me of the words in Matthew 27:25 of those who chose the murderer Barabbas over the Lord Jesus to be released that day. Speaking of the Lord Jesus, they said, "His blood be on us and on our children." Instead of accepting their King and rejecting Barabbas, they called for Barabbas to be set free and accepted the bloodguilt of Christ.
Joseph's brothers then sent Joseph's tunic to their father by a messenger. They didn’t even take it to him themselves so that they could be there to help their father through his grief. Their actions couldn’t conceal their own guilt. Then, they admitted as much their guilt when they went down to Egypt looking for food. And the leaders of Israel knew it also when they tried to force the apostles to be quiet about the Lord Jesus.
Jacob, whose name means "deceiver" was once again deceived, and Israel has likewise faced the deception concerning Jesus for two millennia. The scapegoat’s blood has remained and it can only be removed when one turns to the Lord and acknowledges his guilt before Him.
In v.34-35 of today's passage we read, "34 Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son many days. 35 And all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and he said, “For I shall go down into the grave to my son in mourning.” Thus his father wept for him."
When Jacob tore his clothes and put on sackcloth, he did it as a sign of mourning. This is the first time sackcloth is mentioned in the Bible. Weeping has only happened five times so far in Genesis, this is the sixth time. Hagar wept in Genesis 21:16. Abraham in Genesis 23:2 wept early on. Jacob’s brother Esau wept in sadness when Jacob stole his birthright in Genesis 27:38. Then Jacob wept in joy when he married Rachel, the mother of Joseph in Genesis 29:11. Then Esau wept in joy when he and Jacob were reunited in Genesis 33:4.
The sorrow and grief displayed here yet again underscores the second step involved in the process of forgiveness and that is the debt incurred by the injury. The debt that Joseph's brothers' actions produced was an echo of the greatest debt ever created and that is man's separation from the God of the Bible. This is what the Lord Jesus came to this earth to deal with once and for all. When we were separated from God by our rebellion against Him and His culture, we were corralled into the sin pen of Satan himself. It was there that we lived at the mercy of a false view of life. We had chosen sin and death over obedience to God and life. And, we didn't even know it. This is why the Lord Jesus came to us, to be separated from God and life so that we could be separated from sin and reunited to life with God.
As we will see in our next study of the life of Joseph, all of these events were either caused by or allowed by God in order to position Joseph to know God most intimately and to be used by God to help others out of the sin pool of Satan. The God of the Bible is a Master Designer and we can truly trust Him to do the absolute best for us. The role we play in all of this is to trust Him as we encounter Him through our trials. I close with an incredible quote from C.S. Lewis, "God became man to turn creatures into sons: not simply to produce better men of the old kind but to produce a new kind of man."
