Intro to Section 2 - Joseph's Early Years

Joseph was a 17-year old with character. Genesis 37 is filled with some of the problems Joseph faced as a young man. He not only was surrounded by envy, hatred, and jealousy, he had just lost his mother. It is tough for any teen to watch a parent die. It seemed that as much as his father loved him, his brothers hated him. He was in a no-win situation with his older brothers. It was quite obvious that his father loved him more than his other brothers and was grooming him to take over the family. You see, his other brothers had disqualified themselves to rule the family. Reuben was immoral with Bilhah; Simeon and Levi in anger went on a murder spree; and Judah chose to mix in with the Canaanites and be like them. Joseph seemed to be the only one that had a heart for God. Not only did Jacob see this, but God did also. God spoke to Joseph through dreams just as He did to the Patriarchs before him: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God and Jacob had special plans for Joseph. But his brothers had other ideas. Because of their hatred and jealousy, they simply wanted to do away with Joseph, thus doing away with the notion that he would someday rule over them.