Day 38 – Dreams and Danger
When Favor Becomes a Target
However you can engage today, we’re here. Read, listen or both.
The written portion gives an overview, with verses broken down into smaller bites, and journaling/prayer prompts for reflection. In the podcast, Steve Traylor reflects on today’s passage with Scripture reading, a deeper pastoral teaching, and prayer (about 15 minutes). Perfect for morning coffee, commutes, or when your eyes need a rest.
Genesis 37:1–36
(Note: Genesis 36 contains Esau’s genealogy. While important for the historical record, we focus today on Joseph’s story beginning in Genesis 37.)
Step into this study with sober eyes—what follows is deeply painful.
Joseph’s brothers conspire to kill their teenage brother. They throw him into a pit, then sell him into slavery for profit—what we would call human trafficking. They deceive their father for decades, watching him mourn while they know the truth.
This is not heroic faith. This is not patient endurance. This is the human heart exposed—bent toward evil, hardened by sin.
And these are “God’s chosen people.”
Just one chapter ago, these same brothers killed the men of Shechem in vengeful rage (Genesis 34). No civil authority held them accountable. Now they’re plotting another murder.
Scripture’s assessment is sobering: before the flood, “every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time” (Genesis 6:5). We’re not far removed from that reality. Yet God, in His sovereign freedom, chooses to work through this deeply broken family.
Why?
Because God accomplishes His purposes through undeserving sinners—not because of their goodness, but because of His grace.
Your sense of justice is right to be stirred. It should be. These brothers deserve death under God’s own law (Genesis 9:6). But the only reason they’re still breathing—the only reason any of us are—is God’s restraining hand. Without it, we would all sink to these depths and worse.
God is not working with this family because they’re redeemable on their own. He’s working despite their depravity—because only His grace can redeem evil this deep.
And that’s the hope: If God can accomplish His purposes through these sinners, there is hope for anyone. Including you.
1. Favor and Friction
Genesis 37:1–4
Jacob lived in the land of his father’s travels, in the land of Canaan. 2 This is the history of the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. Joseph brought an evil report of them to their father. 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age, and he made him a tunic of many colors. 4 His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, and they hated him, and couldn’t speak peaceably to him.
Jacob loves Joseph more than his other sons.
Jacob’s favoritism is visible. The robe he gives Joseph is a long, ornamented garment—signaling status, authority, and exemption from ordinary field labor. It sets Joseph apart from his brothers in a way they cannot miss.
Every time Joseph’s brothers see that robe, they are reminded: “Father loves him more than us.”
And they hate him for it.
Notice the text: “they couldn’t speak peaceably to him.” This is not just sibling rivalry. This is deep, settled hostility.
Joseph also brings a “bad report” about his brothers to Jacob. Whether Joseph is a truth-teller or a tattletale, the effect is the same: his brothers’ resentment grows.
Jacob’s favoritism plants seeds of division. Joseph’s actions water those seeds. And soon, hatred takes root so deeply that murder seems reasonable.
Journaling/Prayer: Where has favoritism shaped your family? How does knowing that God shows no partiality (Romans 2:11) challenge or comfort you?
If you grew up feeling overlooked or unfairly favored, know this: God does not have favorites. His love for you is not measured against anyone else.
Tell God honestly where favoritism wounded you. Ask Him to heal what unequal love damaged.
2. Dreams and Derision
Genesis 37:5–11
5 Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brothers, and they hated him all the more. 6 He said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: 7 for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and behold, your sheaves came around, and bowed down to my sheaf.”
8 His brothers asked him, “Will you indeed reign over us? Will you indeed have dominion over us?” They hated him all the more for his dreams and for his words. 9 He dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his brothers, and said, “Behold, I have dreamed yet another dream: and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars bowed down to me.” 10 He told it to his father and to his brothers. His father rebuked him, and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Will I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves down to the earth before you?” 11 His brothers envied him, but his father kept this saying in mind.
God gives Joseph two dreams.
In both dreams, Joseph’s family bows down to him.
Joseph tells his brothers these dreams. Not once, but twice.
This is either profound naivety or youthful arrogance. Perhaps Joseph doesn’t realize how his brothers will react. Or perhaps he doesn’t care.
But the brothers understand perfectly: these dreams mean Joseph will rule over them.
And their hatred intensifies.
Even Jacob—who favors Joseph—rebukes him, pushing back against the implication that the whole family would bow before him.
Yet notice what Jacob does: “his father kept this saying in mind.” Jacob remembers. He wonders. Perhaps he recognizes that these dreams are from God.
God was revealing His future purposes for Joseph. Not to glorify Joseph, but to position him where he would one day save his entire family from starvation.
But Joseph doesn’t know that yet. His brothers certainly don’t know that.
All they know is that the favored son now claims divine endorsement.
Journaling/Prayer: When have you been rejected for blessings you didn’t choose? How does knowing that God’s purposes don’t depend on others’ approval help you trust Him?
Not everyone will celebrate what God is doing in your life. Sometimes those closest to you will resent gifts you didn’t ask for.
God’s calling for you does not require others’ approval.
Tell God how rejection has wounded you. Ask Him for wisdom about what to share and what to guard.
3. Plot and Pit
Genesis 37:12–24
12 His brothers went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem. 13 Israel said to Joseph, “Aren’t your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them.” He said to him, “Here I am.”
14 He said to him, “Go now, see whether it is well with your brothers, and well with the flock; and bring me word again.” So he sent him out of the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. 15 A certain man found him, and behold, he was wandering in the field. The man asked him, “What are you looking for?”
16 He said, “I am looking for my brothers. Tell me, please, where they are feeding the flock.”
17 The man said, “They have left here, for I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’”
Joseph went after his brothers, and found them in Dothan. 18 They saw him afar off, and before he came near to them, they conspired against him to kill him. 19 They said to one another, “Behold, this dreamer comes. 20 Come now therefore, and let’s kill him, and cast him into one of the pits, and we will say, ‘An evil animal has devoured him.’ We will see what will become of his dreams.”
21 Reuben heard it, and delivered him out of their hand, and said, “Let’s not take his life.” 22 Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him”—that he might deliver him out of their hand, to restore him to his father. 23 When Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him; 24 and they took him, and threw him into the pit. The pit was empty. There was no water in it.
Jacob sends Joseph to check on his brothers.
Joseph goes obediently.
When the brothers see him coming—still wearing that hated robe—they plot murder.
“Let’s kill him and throw him into a pit. Then we’ll see what becomes of his dreams.”
Only Reuben objects—not from moral conviction, but hoping to secretly rescue Joseph later.
They strip Joseph of his robe and throw him into an empty cistern.
Later, we learn from Genesis 42:21 that Joseph begged them for mercy—and they ignored him. They sat down to eat while their brother cried out from the pit.
This is the depth of human sin: hearts so hardened that a brother’s pleading becomes background noise to a meal.
And yet—even here—God’s providence is at work.
Reuben’s intervention keeps Joseph alive. The empty pit (no water to drown in) preserves him. The brothers’ decision to throw him in rather than kill him immediately creates an opening for what comes next.
God does not cause their sin. But He sovereignly uses their evil intentions to accomplish His saving purposes.
Journaling/Prayer: Where have you felt abandoned by those who should have protected you? How does God’s promise to never leave nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5) speak to that abandonment?
God did not prevent Joseph’s brothers from throwing him in the pit. But He did not abandon Joseph there.
If you’re in a place of isolation and fear—tell God. He has not forgotten you.
4. Sale and Slavery
Genesis 37:25–28
25 They sat down to eat bread, and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing spices and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt. 26 Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? 27 Come, and let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not let our hand be on him; for he is our brother, our flesh.” His brothers listened to him. 28 Midianites who were merchants passed by, and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. The merchants brought Joseph into Egypt.
Judah has an idea: “Why kill him? Let’s sell him.”
They pull Joseph out of the pit. They sell him to traders for twenty pieces of silver—the price of a slave.
Joseph—the favored son, the dreamer, the one destined for greatness—is sold like livestock.
The brothers profit from his sale. Then they go home and lie to their father, claiming Joseph was killed by a wild animal.
This is human trafficking. This is betrayal for profit. This is evil.
And yet—God is sovereignly working.
The caravan “just happens” to pass by at exactly the right time. The brothers choose to sell rather than kill. The traders take Joseph to Egypt—exactly where God will position him to save his family years later.
God’s purposes cannot be thwarted by human sin. In fact, He often accomplishes His will through the very circumstances that seem most opposed to it.
Journaling/Prayer: Where has injustice shaped your life? How does Genesis 50:20 (”You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good”) challenge your understanding of God’s sovereignty?
God does not waste suffering.
Joseph’s slavery was real injustice. But it was also God’s path to saving thousands of lives.
That doesn’t excuse the brothers’ sin. But it does mean God is working purposes we cannot yet see.
Tell God you don’t understand. Ask Him to help you trust when you can’t see His purposes.
5. Grief and Guile
Genesis 37:29–36
29 Reuben returned to the pit, and saw that Joseph wasn’t in the pit; and he tore his clothes. 30 He returned to his brothers, and said, “The child is no more; and I, where will I go?” 31 They took Joseph’s tunic, and killed a male goat, and dipped the tunic in the blood. 32 They took the tunic of many colors, and they brought it to their father, and said, “We have found this. Examine it, now, and see if it is your son’s tunic or not.”
33 He recognized it, and said, “It is my son’s tunic. An evil animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn in pieces.” 34 Jacob tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son many days. 35 All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. He said, “For I will go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” His father wept for him. 36 The Midianites sold him into Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, the captain of the guard.
The brothers take Joseph’s robe. They dip it in goat’s blood. They bring it to their father.
Jacob recognizes it immediately: “Joseph is torn to pieces.”
He mourns for days, weeks, months, years. His other children try to comfort him. But he refuses comfort: “I will go down to Sheol mourning for my son.”
The brothers who sold Joseph must now watch their father grieve—knowing they caused this pain.
And Joseph? He is sold to Potiphar in Egypt—an officer of Pharaoh.
The dreamer is now a slave. The favored son is now property.
But God has not abandoned him.
Journaling/Prayer: Where have you caused harm you cannot undo? How does God’s ability to redeem even the brothers’ evil offer you hope?
The consequences of sin ripple outward. Joseph’s brothers devastated their father for decades.
If you’ve caused harm, confess it to God. Ask Him for courage to pursue reconciliation where possible. Trust that He brings redemption even from our worst failures.
If you’ve grieved while others stood by—know that God is not indifferent. He is with you in your mourning.
Summary
Today we saw a family shattered by favoritism, jealousy, and betrayal.
Joseph—gifted, favored, and arrogant—became the target of his brothers’ murderous hatred. They threw him in a pit, sold him into slavery, and lied to their father about his death.
This is evil. Real, intentional, devastating evil.
And yet—God was sovereignly at work.
Every “coincidence” in this story points to divine providence: The empty pit that preserved Joseph’s life. The caravan that passed by at the right moment. The brothers’ decision to sell rather than kill. Joseph ending up in Egypt—exactly where God needed him to be.
The story of Joseph is ultimately about Genesis 50:20: “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to save many people alive.”
Your suffering is not outside God’s control. What others intend for harm, God can redeem for good—not because the harm is good, but because God is sovereign.
If you’ve been betrayed, sold out, abandoned in a pit—hold on.
God has not forgotten you. And the story is not over.
Action / Attitude for Today
Walk through today holding this hard truth: God’s sovereignty does not prevent all suffering, but it does ensure that suffering is never the final word.
If you’ve been betrayed by those closest to you, choose today to trust that God has not abandoned you in your pit.
Not because betrayal doesn’t hurt. Not because injustice is okay. But because God is working purposes you cannot yet see.
Say this prayer: “God, I don’t understand why You allowed this. I don’t see how anything good can come from this harm. But I choose to trust that You are sovereign—that You see, You remember, and You are working even now. Help me hold on.”
That’s enough.
Because the God who was with Joseph in slavery is the same God who is with you in your suffering.
And if you cannot yet pray that—if you’re too angry, too broken, too numb—then hear this:
God was working even when Joseph couldn’t see it. He is working in your life too—whether you can see it yet or not.
Your story is not over. Hold on.
The Bible for the Broken is published by Aurion Press LLC. © Aurion Press LLC. All rights reserved.