32 And they sent the robe of many colors and brought it to their father and said, “This we have found; please identify whether it is your son’s robe or not.” 33 And he identified it and said, “It is my son’s robe. A fierce animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces.”
Genesis 37:32-33
Through the Bible: Genesis 35-37
The story of Joseph and his brothers is a familiar one for those who grew up in church. I still remember the flannelgraphs and the coloring pages of Joseph and his coat of many colors, and his brothers throwing him in a pit and then presenting his blood dipped robe to their father and claiming Joseph had been torn in pieces by a wild beast. Their story is a lie. Joseph was actually sold and sent to Egypt. God would eventually use Joseph to save the sons of Israel.
While the brothers’ story is a lie, there is a nugget of truth at its center. Joseph was indeed devoured by a beast. And it’s the same beast (or one of its siblings) that continues to devour God’s children today.
The Beast of Envy
Joseph’s brothers hated him because of his privileged position with their father. As the first child of Jacob’s favorite wife Rachel, Joseph got an outsized share of his father’s affection. The coat of many colors was a symbol of Joseph’s favored status. It was also a tangible focus for his brothers’ jealousy, envy, and wrath. When they saw an opportunity to rid themselves of their boastful little brother, the robe became the centerpiece of their deception. They slaughtered a goat, dipped the robe in the animal’s blood, and brought it to Jacob.
Jacob’s brothers are merely one example of envy and jealousy’s power to destroy. Cain killed his brother out of jealousy. Esau vowed to kill Jacob. Jacob’s wives, the sisters Leah and Rachel were consumed with jealousy toward one another. It was out of envy that the Pharisees delivered Jesus up to be crucified (Matthew 27:18). Paul warned the Galatian Christians that if they continued to bite and devour one another, they would be consumed themselves (Galatians 5:15). James warned in his epistle,
What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions[a] are at war within you?[b] 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
James 4:1-3
Envy is often called the green-eyed monster, and it has lost none of its power to devour us. Guard your heart. Pay attention to what is stirred inside you when you hear of a friend’s promotion, or see a neighbor’s new car, or you are scrolling through someone’s vacation photos on Instagram. Envy is the beast that can tear you to pieces.
The Beast of Sin
I was struck by Jacob’s choice of words in verse 33: “Joseph is no doubt torn to pieces.” In one of the most graphic and disturbing stories in the entire Bible, a woman was literally cut into pieces after she had been brutally raped and left for dead. The pieces were sent throughout the twelve tribes of Israel as a testimony against them, that “such a thing should be done in Israel.” Ironically, this atrocity sparked Israel’s first civil war. In which the nation itself was torn to pieces just like the concubine (see Judges 19-20).
Sin is a beast that tears individuals, families, and even entire nations apart. The beast is not content with merely stealing, killing, and destroying (see John 10:10); it must dismember also. Satan is not just seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). He likes to play with his food before he consumes it.
The Body Broken
The Joseph narrative is rich in symbolism pointing toward Christ.
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