Genesis 37:2 This is the account of Jacob and his family. When Joseph was seventeen years old, he often tended his father’s flocks. He worked for his half-brothers, the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah. But Joseph reported to his father some of the bad things his brothers were doing.
3 Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other children because Joseph had been born to him in his old age. So, one day Jacob had a special gift made for Joseph—a beautiful robe. 4 But his brothers hated Joseph because their father loved him more than the rest of them. They couldn’t say a kind word to him.
5 One-night Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him more than ever. 6 “Listen to this dream,” he said. 7 “We were out in the field, tying up bundles of grain. Suddenly my bundle stood up, and your bundles all gathered around and bowed low before mine!”
8 His brothers responded, “So you think you will be our king, do you? Do you actually think you will reign over us?” And they hated him all the more because of his dreams and the way he talked about them.
9 Soon Joseph had another dream, and again he told his brothers about it. “Listen, I have had another dream,” he said. “The sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed low before me!”
10 This time he told the dream to his father as well as to his brothers, but his father scolded him. “What kind of dream is that?” he asked. “Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow to the ground before you?” 11 But while his brothers were jealous of Joseph, his father wondered what the dreams meant.
There was no doubt about it, as one of the sons of Jacob’s favorite wife Rachel, Joseph was a spoiled brat and an insufferable tattle tale. Rachel only bore two sons, Joseph and Benjamin, dying as she delivered Benjamin. Refusing to show love to his other sons, Jacob favored Joseph so much that he made Joseph a special robe dyed in all the colors of the rainbow. That robe nearly cost Joseph his life, for later his brothers would capture him, stripping that robe off, dipping it in sheep’s blood, and using it as evidence that a wild animal had killed him. Meanwhile, those resentful brothers had sold Joseph to slave traders who carried him off to Egypt where he would serve in a noble household before winding up in prison.
If the brothers were hoping that Jacob would now lavish them with the love he had given only to Joseph, they were sadly mistaken, for Jacob grieved seriously for Joseph, focusing his affections on Benjamin. Their attack on Joseph had netted them nothing.
In Egypt, Joseph first prospered as the steward for Pharaoh’s captain of the guard, Potiphar; however, when Potiphar’s wife tried to force Joseph to have sex with her, Joseph ran. Scorned and embarrassed, Potiphar’s wife lied about Joseph, claiming he had tried to rape her. Joseph wound up in prison. But in prison, Joseph’s administrative abilities rapidly gained him respect from the head jailor, who placed him in charge of all the affairs of the prison. That experience would stand Joseph in good stead, for when Joseph rightly interpreted two dreams for Pharaoh, Pharaoh assigned Joseph to handle collecting grain and storing it in advance of a severe famine.
Hunger drove Jacob’s sons to Egypt to buy grain. As soon as Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them; however, they had no idea that this haughty Egyptian ruler was the younger brother they had sold into slavery. Joseph sold them grain, but then accused them of robbery, jailing them for three days and only releasing them by keeping Simeon as a hostage, demanding that they return with Joseph’s younger brother Benjamin.
Eventually, hunger drove the brothers back to Egypt, bringing Benjamin with them over their father’s stringent protests. That was when Joseph revealed himself in a speech that would echo through the ages.
Genesis 45:3 “I am Joseph!” he said to his brothers. “Is my father still alive?” But his brothers were speechless! They were stunned to realize that Joseph was standing there in front of them. 4 “Please, come closer,” he said to them. So they came closer. And he said again, “I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into slavery in Egypt. 5 But don’t be upset, and don’t be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives. 6 This famine that has ravaged the land for two years will last five more years, and there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. 7 God has sent me ahead of you to keep you and your families alive and to preserve many survivors. 8 So it was God who sent me here, not you! And he is the one who made me an adviser to Pharaoh—the manager of his entire palace and the governor of all Egypt.
9 “Now hurry back to my father and tell him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me master over all the land of Egypt. So come down to me immediately! 10 You can live in the region of Goshen, where you can be near me with all your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and everything you own. 11 I will take care of you there, for there are still five years of famine ahead of us. Otherwise, you, your household, and all your animals will starve.’”
12 Then Joseph added, “Look! You can see for yourselves, and so can my brother Benjamin, that I really am Joseph! 13 Go tell my father of my honored position here in Egypt. Describe for him everything you have seen, and then bring my father here quickly.” 14 Weeping with joy, he embraced Benjamin, and Benjamin did the same. 15 Then Joseph kissed each of his brothers and wept over them, and after that they began talking freely with him.
Joseph began life as a spoiled brat; however, his suffering in Egypt, being falsely accused, being disappointed by those who had promised help, and then assuming a position as the second greatest ruler in the land-all these things had forced him to become a man of sterling character. It’s likely that during those long nights in prison, Joseph might have thought long and hard about all the vicious tales he had carried about his brothers, repenting and agonizing over how he would apologize if he could only see them again. And Joseph longed to see his aged father. Now in God’s timing, everything Joseph had hoped for came true. God brought peace to this troubled family, healing relationships and moving them to Egypt, where they would thrive and survive until God would move them back into Israel.
There are many lessons about God’s peace making we can learn from Joseph’s story. While we try to demand instant answers, God is not in a hurry. It took decades for Joseph to grow into a man of substance and virtue; meanwhile, God was also working on his brothers. Eventually, Joseph realized that God was the One who had brought him to Egypt and who had gifted him with the administrative ability that would save thousands of people, including his own family. Joseph’s brothers also reached a state of repentance, finally understanding the horrors of slavery.
Some family conflicts are resolved swiftly and readily; however, others might take decades to heal. And sadly, sometimes, those involved refuse God’s invitation to make peace. While most of us would choose to identify with Joseph, we must ask ourselves if we resemble his brothers instead. Are we jealous of a parent’s love, resentful of favors we feel have been granted to another sibling? Are our hearts pure?
The first step toward healing of any situation is that we must prayerfully search our own hearts before we can reconcile, identifying those things for which we must repent. Once we have succeeded in doing so, we will find that the reconciliation process may go forward. But what if the family member with whom we have had conflict refuses to reconcile? When we have done everything we can, we must turn the situation over to God and pray earnestly and regularly that God will bring His Shalom, His total peace.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, we confess that we have wounded family members, sometimes without realizing it. Lord, cleanse our hearts and minds and help us to make restitution where that is necessary and to pray persistently for family peace. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
Burunche's Blog 
July 20, 2026 at 3:39 pm
very good devotional!
I have a brother who has not spoken to me in 30 years!
he holds a grudge, thinking that he deserves something from my parents estate, even though there was nothing to inherit!