"And Reuben
said unto them, Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that is in the
wilderness, and lay no hand upon him; that he might rid him out of their hands,
to deliver him to his father again….And Reuben returned unto the pit; and
behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes. And he returned
unto his brethren, and said, The child is not; and I, whither shall I go?"
(Gen. 37:22, 29-30)
A certain man had
twelve sons…
And he loved the
youngest the best.
True, the older ones
had given Israel reason to doubt their fidelity to God and love to their
father. Reuben committed a disgusting sin which showed the entire camp just how
much he disrespected his father; Levi and Simeon had betrayed and murdered an
entire city of people; and many of the other sons had been unfaithful in
tallying flocks and herds and doing whatever they would.
None of that would
inspire confidence or trust.
And so, Jacob loved
Joseph, because he was the "son of his old age" (vs. 3).
The dreams came,
first one, then another. Joseph related the dreams to his brothers and father.
Dreams in those days always had a meaning, and it was a duty to the family to
tell of such a matter. Joseph did his duty.
His brothers?
"They hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words" (vs.
8).
His father?
"His father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou
hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down
ourselves to thee to the earth?...but his father observed the saying"
(vs.10, 11).
The coat of many
colors had already caused a passionate dislike for this favored younger
brother. Now, the dreams added hate upon hate, and none of the elder brothers
could claim any sort of brotherly love for Joseph.
The fated day came
when Jacob sent Joseph to see how the brothers and flocks were doing in
Shechem. At the first beck of duty, Joseph's response was, "Here am
I" (vs. 13). Would his answer have been so quick if he had known what lay
ahead of him?
In Shechem, the
brothers could not be found. And a stranger pointed Joseph not to the field in
which he wandered, but into the land of Dothan. He knew of a certainty that
they were there.
"And when they
saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against
him to slay him" (vs. 18).
Hatred had reached
its limit. Something had to be done.
But Reuben stepped
in. He put up his hands, maybe forcefully and physically restraining his
brothers. "Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit in the
wilderness" (vs. 22).
It doesn't say that
Reuben loved Joseph. But its obvious that Reuben knew better than to kill. He
had a sense of family duty. In fact, he planned to "deliver him to his
father again" (vs. 22).
Contented with
Reuben's answer, the rest of the brothers attacked an unsuspecting Joseph as
soon as he came near. The coat of many colors fell to the ground, and Joseph
was thrown headlong into an old well shaft.
Congratulating one
another, the brothers "sat down to eat bread" (vs. 24). No concern,
no care. Just a sadistic feeling of pleasure at long-withheld revenge.
Reuben? Apparently
he left. Perhaps the actions of his brothers sickened him, and not wanting to
be apart of it, and yet unable to stop it, he decided to wait somewhere else
until he could pull him out and take Joseph back to their father.
Whatever the case
may be, he wasn't there when the caravan passed the brothers camp. And he
didn't hear Judah say, "Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmeelites"
(vs. 27).
The last the
brothers would see of each other for years was Joseph tied to the back of a
camel, headed for Egypt, and the brothers dancing around their bag of 20 silver
coins in fiendish exultancy.
But then, here comes
Reuben. And he found no boy. And oh! the horror, the regret and remorse!
But it was too late.
Joseph was gone.
A thick blanket of
lies was pulled over the wicked deed, and presented to an aged father in the
guise of a torn and bloodied, many-colored coat. And Jacob believed them...and
wept.
We all know that
Joseph was headed to something great. But the pain of the present remains
nonetheless.
And what about
Reuben, who had every intention of saving his brother, but came back too late?
...what about us,
who often have every intention of saving someone else, but come to reach out to them too late?
Can it be possible
that sometimes, we are like Reuben, leaving a soul to weep and wail in a pit of
loneliness, sin and despair, while we wait for "just the right time"
to reach in and lend them a hand out of their misery, only to find that when we
do come back, we are too late?
Verily.
Though sadly.
Suppose Reuben had
come back beforehand. Suppose he had
rescued Joseph.
But then, the story
doesn't go that way.
He was too late.
Oh, God in Heaven,
have mercy.
May we never again
be too late.
Father in Heaven, help me to act when You bid me to…
and may I never again be too late to save a soul for Your Kingdom...
