An Assignment Will Lead You To The Pit

Most have taught and believed that if Joseph had not shared his dream with his brothers, he would not have encountered the pit, but is this really how he got thrown into that pit?

In verse 14 of Genesis 37, we are introduced to the genesis and making of Joseph’s low point. Jacob sends Joseph to check up on his older brothers – according to Caribbean parlance, “mako” – and to bring back a report. Where I’m from, because of this assignment, Joseph would be considered nothing less than a prime “sousè”. Where you’re from, he would probably be seen as a “snitch” or a “rat”, and you may feel like you understand why this man-child just wasn’t likable AT ALL. Whatever we may think of him, Joseph had all the makings of a diligent overseer.

Because of the gift of hindsight, we can see that even though Jacob was not fully convinced and even shaken by the types of dreams that Joseph had, he would play a powerful and undeniable role in training him for his eventual position as overseer of Egypt. Jacob, in his actions, was encouraging Joseph to grow into his God-given ability of management and stewardship.

Even if we concede that Joseph’s decision to share his dreams had a role to play, a deeper look at the story shows that the link between Joseph being sent on an assignment by his father and his journey to the pit is more direct than the link between Joseph’s decision to share his dreams and his journey to the pit. True, sharing his dreams caused his brothers to hate him even more than they already did, and it was that hate that gave fuel to their actions on that fateful day at Dothan, but they had hated him anyway. They hated him well before he shared his dreams. Furthermore, many significant things happened between Joseph’s recounting of his dreams and his being thrown into the pit.

The account tells us that at the behest of his father, Joseph traveled from Shechem to the valley of Hebron, where he believed his brothers would be. He got to the valley, but they were not there. His course of action could have been to return to his father and report that his brothers were no longer at the valley of Hebron, but in typical Joseph style – excellence, enthusiasm, and a desire to complete the task at hand – he persisted. He would not return to Jacob until he had seen his brothers and was able to give a report.

Joseph is eventually found wandering around the countryside by a man from the area and uses the opportunity to enquire about where his brothers could be found. The man directed him to Dothan. Again, Joseph could have chosen, at that point, to return to his father to inform him that his brothers had gone to Dothan, but to Dothan he went.

Many times when we find ourselves in a place of lowness on our journey, we often seek to find means to understand why we are where we are. Some of us believe that we have misstepped, some of us believe that we have taken the wrong paths, and some of us believe that we shared our dreams with the wrong people. The truth is that, like Joseph, many of us will encounter this low point – the empty cistern – while on assignment. We will encounter this place of lowness while we are doing exactly what we are to be doing. We will encounter this low place while walking in our giftings. We will encounter this low place on an assignment given to us by our Father.