‘He Told It To His Brothers’

‘He Told It To His Brothers’

Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more.

Genesis 37:5

When we come to consider Joseph, especially because of his elevation in past literature as, ‘a type of Christ,’ we often hesitate to speak of some of the ways in which he, in fact, differs from Christ. There are many similarities, but there are also marked differences between the two. Our text for today, with the attendant passage which follows it, points to one such contrast. Ecclesiastes 3:7 tells us that there is ‘a time to keep silence,’ and ‘a time to speak.’ Jacob, Joseph’s father, was partial toward Joseph. This was wrong on Jacob’s part and had an adverse effect upon Joseph’s relationship with his brothers. What further exacerbated that rift, was Joseph’s unwise declaration of his revelations. A perusal of the passage, which follows our text, demonstrates that he continued to press his points until even his father found it obnoxious. By contrast, Christ appears to have been all but completely silent during the days of His preparation for public ministry. He was silent when it was time to be silent and He spoke when it was time to speak. Joseph’s unwise revelations would become the gateway to years of humiliation by which God would fit and fashion him into a Christ-like instrument of Israel’s salvation. Let us today meditate upon Christ, that we may learn from Him when to speak and when to be silent.

Our most Holy and Wise God,
we praise You, that You teach us when to be silent
and when to speak.
Evermore guard our tongues,
that we may speak that which is to the praise of Your Glory.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning