The Coat of Different Colors
By Stephen Terry
"So when Joseph came to his
brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the ornate robe he was wearing—"
Genesis 37:23, NIV
So much has been written about Joseph
and his many-colored robe that the story cries out for a fresh perspective. The
many points raised in our lesson quarterly this week may all be true, but they
are not all there is to be said on the subject. Yes, there were brothers who
were extremely jealous of Joseph. He was the first born son of Jacob's favorite
wife. No doubt the story of Laban cheating Jacob had been told many times.
Jacob himself probably recounted the story every time one of Leah's sons acted
out to remind them that they were never supposed to have been born. He was
supposed to have married only Rachel. Had Laban not tricked him into marrying
Leah, they would not be around to give him so much grief today.
As they saw reminders every day of
Jacob's feelings toward them contrasted with his feelings toward Joseph, the
jealousy grew. Instead of rejoicing with their brother in his blessings,
they saw any blessing or favor he received as another reason to hate him.
In much the same way, Lucifer hated every honor bestowed upon Jesus and
worked relentlessly to strip Him of everything. That same spirit entered
into the hearts of Joseph's brothers as they plotted what to do about him.
Joseph, naive in his innocence,
apparently had no inkling that his brothers would seek to harm him. Faithful to
his father, he honestly reported his brother's activities to Jacob. When
those activities were wicked, Jacob would reprove them. Like Cain when he was
reproved by God and turned his heart toward evil, Joseph's brothers blamed him
for their problems. Had they repented of their wrong course, God would
have honored and blessed them as well.
Instead they saw the elimination of
Joseph as the solution to their problems. Lucifer saw the elimination of Jesus as
the solution, and every murderer through the ages has felt the same toward his
victim. Casting Joseph into the pit was the first step in a murderous plot.
Reuben, Leah's firstborn, wanted no part of it and planned to rescue Joseph and
return him to Jacob. However, greed overruled hatred and the other brothers
decided to sell Joseph to slavers instead. When Reuben returned, Joseph was
gone.
Looking to cover up their involvement in
Joseph's disappearance, the brothers killed a goat and took the robe, splattered
with the goat's blood to their father. Feigning innocence, they pretended to
not even be able to tell for sure that the coat belonged to their brother.
Callously, they participated not just in Joseph's enslavement but also in
the deception of their father. Thus began the deep, dark secret that would
haunt their family for many years to come. Yet, in spite of the blackness of
their hearts, God was working out His purposes.
As sad a tale as it appears to be on the
surface, Joseph's story is the story of four robes. Each robe was a stepping
stone to something greater. In spite of all that happened to him, he
never lost sight of God's leading in his life. Perhaps it was the dreams
that God sent him when he was young. Something touched Joseph's heart and caused
him to place his entire trust in God. In this, he represented the coming
Messiah as he faithfully walked the path of God's plan for his life. There is
no record in the Bible that he ever wavered in that faith.
The first robe of course is the robe of
many colors that his father, Jacob gave him. Rejoicing in his father's favor,
he wore the coat everywhere, even when he went to check on his jealous brothers
for his father. He saw the coat as a blessing from his father. His
brothers saw the coat as representing everything that was wrong in their
family. But God saw the coat as a stepping stone to something greater and
allowed the brothers to strip the coat from Joseph because He had something
greater to replace it with. Had Joseph continued in his beautiful coat,
he would have missed the greater opportunity.
The second robe was given to Joseph by
Potiphar in
Although he had to pass through prison
to get there, the loss of the second robe was only to prepare him to receive
the third and greater robe. While in prison, he remained faithful to God and to
those who trusted in him. In return, God gave him the gift of interpreting
dreams that eventually came to the attention of Pharaoh. Appearing before
Pharaoh and faithfully sharing his gift and counsel with the ruler, he received
the greater robe prepared for him. (See Genesis 41:42)
Once again, Joseph faithfully honored
the one who had honored him. In that blessing from Pharaoh, the way was
provided not only for Joseph's salvation from his plight, but the salvation of
the entire country from famine. Even his family was saved from starvation
by being able to come to
As he reflected back over the events of
his life, he surely marveled at how God's purposes had unfolded in his life.
Each apparent set back had been the opening of the door to something greater.
He never wavered in his faith in God's leading, but certainly found joy
in the revelation of God's favor over all those years. His brothers in
the darkness of their hearts were still unable to recognize the goodness of
God's character in Joseph. Fearful that the same spirit existed in Joseph's
heart that existed in theirs, they went to him with a deceitful story about
their father's last wish.
The Bible does not say whether Joseph
saw through this subterfuge, but in any event, he held no animosity toward
them. Although they could only see the evil they had done to him, Joseph
looked through different eyes. His response is recorded in Genesis 50:20
-- "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to
accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." NIV Instead of lamenting what he may have lost, he
rejoiced at what had been gained.
But what of the fourth
robe? Each robe was
removed so Joseph could receive a greater one. When did he lose the third one?
Genesis 50:26 gives us the answer: "So Joseph died at the age of a hundred and
ten. And after they embalmed him, he was placed in a coffin in
The book of Revelation tells us of this
robe. "After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude
that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language,
standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes
and were holding palm branches in their hands." Revelation 7:9, NIV This
fourth and final robe is the white robe of Christ's righteousness. It will
never be taken away. It is an eternal sign of God's favor toward those who are
faithful to Him. I want to see Joseph in that beautiful robe. In fact, I
want to wear one, too. Don't you?
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