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A steady rain this morning. Showers continuing this afternoon. High 46F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a half an inch..
Cloudy with light rain developing after midnight. Low 42F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.
Updated: January 29, 2023 @ 7:13 am
Have you ever tried to figure out why someone can be loved by one person and hated by another?
It is a strange and complicated problem for many of us to understand, but when we look at the life of Joseph it allows us to unravel some of the complexity concerning this matter.
Joseph is known by most Bible students as a man of great integrity, obedience, humility, suffering, and faith; and because of this you would think that he would be a man that is beloved of everyone.
However, we know that this is never the case, so I think it would benefit us to consider the source of this hatred.
The Bible says Joseph’s brothers “hated him” (Gen. 37:4), because their dad loved Joseph “more than all his children” (Gen. 37:3), and that Jacob showed his love for Joseph by making him “a coat of many colours” (Gen. 37:3).
This seems to be nothing more than the ugly sin of jealousy.
However, the hatred for Joseph just continues to grow in the hearts of his brothers. Joseph has a dream concerning his brothers and himself, and the Bible says because of that dream his brothers “hated him yet the more” (Gen. 37:5), and this same phrase is repeated in Genesis 37:8.
The sin of these brothers does not stop there.
In Genesis 37:11, it says that they “envied him” and Genesis 37:18 says, “they conspired against him to slay him.”
What could possibly be the source of all of this?
We all may be surprised to know that it has nothing to do with circumstances, personalities, favor, or anything else outward for that matter, but it has to do with something every person possesses, which we all inherited from our original parents Adam and Eve.
It is our old sinful nature, our inborn tendency to choose sin.
It is sometimes called in Scripture “the flesh” (Gal. 5:17, 19), which is the source that controlled Joseph’s brothers (cf. Gal. 5:17-21).
How do we overcome this? By a new, or second, birth (cf. John 3:3, 7).
You see, we all received a sinful nature from our first birth, but from this second birth we receive a new nature, one that hates sin, and loves God and His truth.
How do we have this second birth?
By faith in Christ (please read John 3:15, 16, 18, 36)!
So, the next time we are tempted to sin, we should consider the source.
