In the land of Canaan, where the great patriarch Jacob—whom God had renamed Israel—lived with his large family, there was born a son who would become one of the most remarkable figures in all of Scripture. This was Joseph, the eleventh son of Jacob, but the first son born to his beloved wife Rachel.

Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because Joseph had been born to him in his old age and was the child of his most cherished wife. This favoritism was no secret in the household—Jacob made it obvious in many ways, but most notably by giving Joseph a special robe that marked him as favored above his brothers.

This coat was no ordinary garment. Some say it was a robe of many colors, woven with threads of crimson, gold, blue, and purple in intricate patterns that caught the light and displayed the wealth and status of the wearer. Others believe it was a robe with long sleeves that reached to the wrists and ankles, indicating that Joseph was not expected to do the rough manual labor that his brothers performed daily with the flocks.

Whatever its exact appearance, the robe was a constant reminder to Joseph’s ten older brothers that their father loved Joseph best. And this knowledge bred resentment that grew stronger with each passing day.

The brothers’ jealousy was intensified by Joseph’s personality and behavior. At seventeen years old, Joseph was perhaps naïve about the effect his words and actions had on others. He would bring back bad reports about his brothers when they were tending the flocks together, telling their father about their laziness or misconduct. While these reports may have been true, they certainly did not endear Joseph to his siblings.

But what made the brothers’ hatred burn even more fiercely were the dreams that Joseph began to have—vivid, symbolic dreams that he shared with his family without seeming to understand how inflammatory they would be.

One morning, Joseph came to his brothers with excitement shining in his eyes. “Listen to this dream I had,” he said eagerly. “We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.”

His brothers stared at him in disbelief and growing anger. “Do you intend to reign over us?” they demanded. “Will you actually rule us?” From that day forward, they hated him even more because of his dream and his words.

But Joseph, either unaware of their increasing animosity or unable to stop himself, shared another dream with them. “Listen,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”

When Joseph told this dream to his father as well as his brothers, even Jacob rebuked him. “What is this dream you had?” Jacob asked. “Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?”

While Jacob kept the matter in mind, wondering what these dreams might mean, Joseph’s brothers burned with jealousy and resentment. The idea that their younger brother—this favored, pampered boy who wore fine clothes while they did hard work—might one day rule over them was intolerable.

The opportunity for revenge came when Joseph’s brothers had taken the flocks to graze in the distant pastures near Shechem. Jacob, concerned about his sons and the flocks, called Joseph to him.

“Go and see if all is well with your brothers and with the flocks,” Jacob instructed, “and bring word back to me.”

Joseph willingly accepted this mission. He put on his distinctive robe and set out from the Valley of Hebron toward Shechem, a journey of about fifty miles through rocky, sometimes dangerous terrain.

When Joseph reached Shechem, he found that his brothers had moved on. A local man saw him wandering in the fields and asked, “What are you looking for?”

“I’m looking for my brothers,” Joseph replied. “Can you tell me where they are grazing their flocks?”

“They have moved on from here,” the man said. “I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’”

So Joseph continued his journey to Dothan, another fifteen miles north. He had no idea that this decision would change his life forever.

When Joseph’s brothers saw him approaching from a distance, his colorful robe making him easily recognizable even at a great distance, their long-simmering hatred boiled over into murderous rage.

“Here comes that dreamer!” they said to each other with bitter sarcasm. “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.”

But Reuben, the eldest brother who felt some responsibility for Joseph’s safety, intervened. “Let’s not take his life,” Reuben said. “Throw him into this cistern here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him.” Reuben secretly planned to rescue Joseph later and return him safely to their father.

So when Joseph reached his brothers, they immediately attacked him. They stripped him of his beautiful robe—that hated symbol of their father’s favoritism—and threw him into an empty cistern. The pit was deep and dry, making escape impossible for someone trapped at the bottom.

Then, showing callous indifference to Joseph’s cries for help, his brothers sat down to eat their meal as if nothing had happened. Joseph’s desperate pleas echoed from the pit, but his brothers ignored his suffering completely.

As they were eating, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelite merchants approaching from the east, their camels loaded with spices, balm, and myrrh that they were taking down to Egypt to sell.

Judah, another of the brothers, saw an opportunity. “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood?” he asked. “Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.”

His brothers agreed to this plan. When the merchants approached, the brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver—the price of a slave. The Ishmaelites then took Joseph with them toward Egypt, and he disappeared from his brothers’ sight, probably forever.

When Reuben returned to the cistern—perhaps he had been away with some of the animals—he found it empty. In distress, he tore his clothes and cried out to his brothers, “The boy isn’t there! Where can I turn now?”

The brothers then concocted a cruel deception to cover their crime. They took Joseph’s robe, killed a goat, and dipped the garment in its blood. They sent the bloodied robe to their father with the message: “We found this. Examine it to see whether it is your son’s robe.”

When Jacob saw the bloody coat, he immediately recognized it. “It is my son’s robe!” he cried out in anguish. “Some ferocious animal has devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces.”

Jacob’s grief was overwhelming. He tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and mourned for his son many days. All his sons and daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “No,” he said, “I will continue to mourn until I join my son in the grave.” And Jacob wept bitterly for Joseph.

Meanwhile, the Ishmaelites had taken Joseph to Egypt and sold him to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard. Joseph found himself a slave in a foreign land, separated from his family, his freedom, and everything he had ever known.

But though Joseph’s brothers had meant their actions for evil, God was working through even this terrible situation to accomplish His greater purposes. In Egypt, Joseph would experience both great trials and remarkable triumphs. He would be falsely accused and imprisoned, but he would also interpret dreams for Pharaoh and become the second most powerful man in all of Egypt.

Years later, when a severe famine struck the entire region, Joseph’s brothers would come to Egypt seeking grain to keep their families alive. They would unknowingly bow down before Joseph—now a great ruler—just as his childhood dreams had foretold. But they would not recognize the brother they had sold into slavery.

When Joseph finally revealed his identity to them, they were terrified, expecting revenge for their cruelty. But Joseph had learned to see God’s hand in all that had happened to him.

“I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt!” he told them. “And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.”

Joseph explained how God had used their evil intentions to accomplish good: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”

Through Joseph’s wise leadership during the seven years of abundance followed by seven years of famine, not only was Egypt saved from starvation, but many other nations as well—including Joseph’s own family. The very brothers who had sold him into slavery came to depend on him for their survival.

In the end, Joseph brought his entire family—his father Jacob and all his brothers with their families—to live in Egypt, where they could survive the famine and grow into a great nation. The family that had been torn apart by jealousy and cruelty was reunited through forgiveness and divine providence.

Joseph’s story teaches us many profound truths. It shows us that God can work through even the worst circumstances—betrayal, injustice, slavery, false accusation, and imprisonment—to accomplish His good purposes. It demonstrates the power of forgiveness to heal even the deepest wounds and restore broken relationships.

It also reveals how God’s plans often unfold over many years through events that seem disconnected or even tragic at the time. What appeared to be the destruction of Joseph’s life actually became the means of his greatest usefulness and the salvation of his entire family.

The brothers’ jealousy had blinded them to the truth that God was at work in Joseph’s dreams. Instead of rejoicing that God had chosen to reveal His plans to their family through Joseph, they resented the implication that Joseph would one day be in a position of authority over them.

But God’s purposes could not be thwarted by human jealousy and cruelty. The dreams that the brothers had tried to prevent from coming true were fulfilled exactly as God had revealed them—not through Joseph’s manipulation or ambition, but through a series of events that seemed to work against him but actually prepared him for his divinely appointed role.

When Joseph’s brothers finally understood how God had used their evil actions to save many lives, they experienced both the justice and the mercy of God. They saw that their sins had consequences—Joseph had suffered greatly because of what they did to him. But they also experienced forgiveness and reconciliation beyond what they deserved.

Joseph’s example shows us how to respond to injustice and betrayal with faith rather than bitterness. Though he had every human reason to become angry and vengeful, Joseph chose to trust that God was working through his circumstances for good. This faith enabled him to serve effectively wherever God placed him and ultimately to forgive those who had wronged him.

The story of Joseph and his brothers reminds us that God’s plans are bigger than our failures, His grace is greater than our sins, and His love is strong enough to heal the deepest family wounds. Even when we cannot see how current difficulties fit into God’s purposes, we can trust that He is working all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

Through Joseph’s life, we learn that being chosen by God for special purposes does not mean we will be exempt from suffering—indeed, it may mean we will face greater trials as God prepares us for greater service. But we also learn that God’s presence goes with us through every circumstance, and His plans for our lives cannot be defeated by human opposition or seemingly impossible obstacles.