Hatred
- Posted on DecpmTue, 05 Dec 2017 23:29:38 -06002017-12-05T23:29:38-06:0011 17, 2016
- in Bible, God, Hebrew, Messiah, Study, Torah, Vayeshev, Yeshua
- by Hallelujah Girl
..so they hated him; and could not speak to him peaceably. ~ Genesis 37:4
Jacob predestined Joseph for a life of difficulty by showing him favoritism above his brothers. To make matters worse Joseph was lacking in discretion. Whatever misbehaviour Joseph noted about his brothers he took straight to Jacob. The Midrash explains that Joseph was fast to misrepresent his brothers actions even when they were innocent. Nobody likes a tattletale. His reports may have been sincere, but sometimes all the facts were not reported to Jacob. Then to make matters worse, when Joseph had dreams that told of his brothers bowing down to him, he didn’t hesitate to share with his siblings. All of these events together created a deep animosity between Oseoh and his ten older siblings. Three times in Genesis 37 the Torah tells us that Joseph’s brothers hated him. The brothers resentment toward Joseph was so great that they couldn’t carry on a peaceful conversation even about gentle matters. Whatever Joseph said his brothers interpreted it in a negtive way.
In the book Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, Gad is portrayed on his deathbed, confessing to his sons how he hated Joseph. This is a fictional imagining that has some important insights into the nature of the sin of hatred:
I confess now my sin, my children, that oftentimes I wished to kill him, because I hated him to the death, and there were in no wise in me bowels of mercy towards him. Moreover, I hated him yet more because of his dreams; and I would have devoured him out of the land of the living, even as a calf devoureth the grass from the earth. And now, my children, hearken to the words of truth to work righteousness, and all the law of the Most High, and not go astray through the spirit of hatred, for it is evil in all the doings of men. Whatsoever a man doeth, that doth the hater abhor: though he worketh the law of the L~rd, he praiseth him not; though he feareth the L~rd, and taketh pleasure in that which is righteous, he loveth him not: he dispraiseth the truth, he envieth him that ordereth his way aright, he delighteth in evil-speaking, he loveth arrogance, for hatred hath blinded his soul; even as I also looked on Joseph. The spirit of hatred worketh together with Satan through hastiness of spirit in all things unto men’s death; but the spirit of love worketh together with the law of G~d in long-suffering unto the salvation of men.
When we harbor hate against someone we don’t want to hear words like forgiveness and love. Unfortunately we want to talk about it to everyone–to spread the “bad report”. Spreading the hate, after all “misery loves company”! Gad points out that it is Satan at work here and his work is contrary to Torah.
Love is what defines a follower of Yeshua. “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35). Friends, be on guard of the spirit of hatred and the work of Satan in our midst.
Shalom, Hallelujah Girl!
Tags: #ReadYourBible #ItsAllAboutYeshua #TorahIsTruth, God, Hate, Hebrew, Joseph, love, sibling rivalry, Vayeshev