| Background from Genesis |
| The generations of Jacob |
| Joseph |
I would like to present a series of articles about the life of the sons of Jacob, and especially the life of Joseph. Many perhaps know the records from the book of Genesis about the life of Joseph, be it from school, or perhaps from films, maybe even from a musical. My main concern is rather to bring to life the biblical record and to point out some of the remarkable and important truths which can also be an inspiration and example to us in our lives.
In Genesis 37 the section starts where the story of Joseph begins to unfold. However, it is not the story of Joseph alone.
Genesis 37:1 and 2:
And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan.
These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report.
"These are the generations [of Jacob] …" – a remarkable expression which is also used in a few other places in the book of Genesis regarding several other persons and their generations, such as in Genesis 36.
Genesis 36:1:
Now these are the generations of Esau, who is Edom.
The expression "this is the generation of" or "these are the generations of" appears in a total of 11 places in the book of Genesis, thus dividing the book into 12 parts.
In Genesis 2:4 we can read about "the generations of the heavens and of the earth", next follows in Genesis 5:1 "the generations of Adam", then in Genesis 6:9 come "the generations of Noah", being followed by "the generations of the sons of Noah" in Genesis 10:1, and in Genesis 11:10 follows the section about "the generations of Shem". Shem was that son of Noah through whom the line to Jesus Christ continued. Up to this point we see in these five mentioned "generations" how mankind as a whole stands before God and how God deals with mankind more or less as a whole.
After these then we come to a distinct turning point in Genesis 11:27 with "the generations of Terah". Terah was the father of Abraham. In Genesis 25:12 follows "the generations of Ishmael", who was Abraham's son by Sarah's handmaid Hagar. In Genesis 25:19 "the generations of Isaac" is mentioned, who was the son of promise to Abraham. In Genesis 36:1 we come to "the generations of Esau", the twin brother of Jacob. In Genesis 36:9 this is further elaborated on with "the generations of the generations of Esau the father of the Edomites [the sons of Esau]". Finally, in Genesis 37:2 we read of "the generations of Jacob", and in this section we are told the story of Jacob and his sons.
In those sections which speak of God's chosen people and their forefathers, from Abraham onward, first the generations of the son or sons whose line is not the one of the promised Messiah are given and inserted, and only after that the generations of that son whose line leads to Christ is given in greater detail. For example, Ishmael's generations are mentioned before Isaac's, later on Esau and his generations are mentioned before those of Jacob. In this series about Joseph we will be concerned and will examine this last great section in the book of Genesis .
by the way, there are three more such "generations" or "books of generations" mentioned in the Bible. The first one is one in Numbers 3:1 - "the generations of Aaron and Moses", the second one is in Ruth 4:18 - "the generations of Pharez", and the third one which complements and also is the most significant of all in Matthew 1:1 - "the book of the generation of Jesus Christ".
In the records about the ancestors of the people of Israel, we can notice a tremendous change with the beginning of the history of the generations of Jacob in Genesis 37. Up until this time, the history mainly was concerned with a certain individual person: Terah's son Abraham, then Isaac, then Jacob. But from here onward, the records not only concern Jacob alone, but rather his sons. From them, Israel as a people begins to develop during the period portrayed in this section of the book of Genesis and what follows.
These records about what happened are in part very moving and touching stories, and it is important that we note some of the historical context in order to really understand what happened. When we consider such background information, we can gain a much better understanding of the events and those details which are mentioned in the biblical narrative.
Jacob had a total of twelve sons, eleven of them were born in Padan-Aram (Mesopotamia) while the youngest, Benjamin, was born in the land of Canaan. The eleven were born during the time that Jacob lived in Haran, a city in Aram in northern Mesopotamia to which he had fled in an attempt to get away from his brother Esau. In this "lovely" family quite a number of quite exciting things happened, and some rather bad things were also involved which in time and by God's gracious working however turned to good in the end.
Jacob was quite a very "smart" fellow and at first was very concerned about his own advantage in all things. In the records about him we can see how at times attempts were made to help God along with his promise by means of human endeavors, which - as we can clearly see - is never a very good idea.
His mother Rebecca had learned from God even before the twins were born that the younger of them would eventually reign over the older brother. Then came the time when Isaac desired to bless his two sons, and it appeared as if perhaps God's Word could not be fulfilled because he seemed to want to give the blessing to the wrong boy (whether this ever would have really happened, is of course a totally different matter). The resulting anxiety lead to a rather bad situation, because Rebecca took several steps together with Jacob in order to manage to get the blessing bestowed on Jacob, and which they were (to some degree) also successful in doing. However, the blessing which they thus "stole" wasn't even the full blessing intended. That blessing, Jacob received later on after this other evil had already been brought to light. In reality, Jacob was driven from one lie to the next and even claimed in his answer to his father's question, that he himself was Esau.
Genesis 27:27–29:
And he came near, and kissed him: and he smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the LORD hath blessed:
Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine:
Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee.
In these words with which Isaac did bless Jacob (believing him to be Esau!) several very important points regarding the blessing of Abraham are not included. Those were only included later on in another blessing. This was the blessing which Jacob seems to have had intended for Esau! And yet, Esau became very angry when he heard about this, even though he really had no right and not even a valid reason for such a reaction. It had been him who out of his own volition had sold the right of the firstborn to Jacob. He really now had no right whatever to come to Isaac and intend to claim something which wasn't his any longer in the first place. And now, he even was considering killing his brother.
Genesis 27:41:
And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him: and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob.
Such were Esau's plans, but they did not remain secret for very long, because Rebecca heard about it.
Genesis 27:43 and 44:
Now therefore, my son, obey my voice; and arise, flee thou to Laban my brother to Haran;
And tarry with him a few days [a short while, just a few days] until thy brother's fury turn away;
What she thought to only be "a few days" turned out to stretch to twenty years, and Rebecca was never again to see her beloved son Jacob. That too was a consequence of acting prematurely and of their own power rather than to wait on God to bring to pass what He had said.
Rebecca then mentioned a few more things in this discussion which became important later on. Esau had taken for himself as wives some of the local women which really was causing much pain for both Isaac and Rebecca. Rebecca was therefore determined to make sure that Jacob would not take himself a wife from the daughters of Canaan, and she spoke to Isaac about her concerns and suggested that Jacob would go and take himself a wife from among her relatives in who lived in Padan-Aram. Now, this suggestion was absolutely right and very good.
Isaac then sent his son Jacob to Padan, and upon his departure he gave Jacob another blessing.
Genesis 28:1 and 2:
And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.
Arise, go to Padanaram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother's father; and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother's brother.
In the course of this send off follows now the real blessing which belonged to Jacob. Isaac had known and realized as well what the real situation as far as God's plan for his sons was. In Hebrews 11, this is then called, "By faith, Isaac blessed his sons.“
Genesis 28:3 and 4:
And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people;
And give thee the blessing of Abraham [this he had not said during the previous blessing], to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham.
This is truly remarkable. What a tremendous blessing is bestowed upon Jacob, just before he starts out on his journey to Padan-Aram.
Jacob travels about 60 km (just short of about 40 miles) on that first day as he flees from before his brother Esau and in order to find himself a wife. Jacob, coming from a plush oasis near Beer-Sheba, arrives at a rather stony place after a long day where he rests for the night. The place is somewhat wilderness, very stony, and Jacob most likely had some rather "mixed feelings" to deal with, in part caused by feelings of guilt which he had burdened himself with and of which he now would have to bear the consequences. But then, something very astounding and tremendous happens during this first night that he is away from home. Jacob has hardly fallen asleep when he has a dream. And in his dream, all those stones around him are forming "a latter", more accurately a ramp of stairs, which even reaches up to heaven. He has a vision of God, and in this vision God appears to him and once again promises to him the same as had he had been blessed with before.
Now Jacob, when he left Canaan and departed for Haran, was 77 years old. This can be calculated from some facts which are mentioned later on in other records: He was 130 years old when he stood before Pharaoh, at which time his son Joseph was 39 years old. Also, we learn that Jospeh was born in the 14th year of Jacob's sojourn in Haran, and when we calculate back we learn that Jacob was leaving Canaan at the age of 77.
Such an age of 77 years must of course be viewed in the overall relation to the life span in those times and cannot really be compared directly to the situation of our day and time. Youth, young adulthood and old age were divided up quite differently from how it is today. At the age of 20, youth wasn't quite over yet, as some people seem to think today. Jacob at this age wasn't even married yet. He was on his way to find a wife for himself when he had this tremendous vision and received God's assurance that God would be with him and that the blessing of Abraham would be upon him.
Genesis 28:15:
And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.
Quite remarkable also is that Jacob was given these assurances when he himself was not necessarily walking in close fellowship with God. He had lied and cheated, and now he was on his flight for fear of his brother. He had accomplished nothing great or of any value to somehow "tickle" something out of God. We can learn from this record that God's promises and God's working in our lives are not necessarily dependent upon our conduct. God does what He does because He wants it that way. That which Jacob sees in the vision and the affirmation he hears are in essence the same thing. The angels who are silently moving up and down that ramp are a picture of God's help wherever Jacob would go until he would come back into his homeland.
And so Jacob journeyed onward and came to Haran and there he met Rachel at a well. This beauty seems to have immediately caught his full attention. She was the daughter of Laban, the brother of Jacob's mother, this she was his cousin.
At first, Jacob is greeted and checked out by Laban who also is quite a smart fellow as well. Laban first is trying to find out and establish who it is that is speaking to him.
Genesis 29:13 and 14:
And it came to pass, when Laban heard the tidings of Jacob his sister's son, that he ran to meet him, and embraced him, and kissed him, and brought him to his house. And he told Laban all these things.
And Laban said to him, Surely thou art my bone and my flesh. And he abode with him the space of a month.
Laban recognizes him as a relative and let's Jacob live with him and obviously work for him for a month.
Genesis 29:15:
And Laban said unto Jacob, Because thou art my brother, shouldest thou therefore serve me for nought? tell me, what shall thy wages be?
After a month's time it seems to dawn on Laban to ask about what wages Jacob might consider for his labor. The question gives Jacob opportunity to push ahead and ask to have Rachel for his wife.
Genesis 29:16–18:
And Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel.
Leah was tender eyed; but Rachel was beautiful and well favoured.
And Jacob loved Rachel; and said [apparently somewhat without thinking much and definitely without consulting God in the matter], I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger [as he even emphasizes here] daughter.
"Rachel thy younger daughter" was worth seven years of servitude in Jacob's eyes. Seven years was later the time which Hebrew slaves were to serve their masters and then they were to be released. Jacob basically became Laban's servant or slave. "I will serve thee, out of my own volition I'll be your slave, so I might gain my beloved Rachel." It is also interesting that Rachel, just as before also Rebecca (Isaac's wife) and also Sarah (Abraham's wife) is described here as "beautiful".
Genesis 29:19:
And Laban said, It is better that I give her to thee, than that I should give her to another man: abide with me.
It seems that Laban did not have a very good relationship with his daughters, which becomes even more apparent later on. He is trying to make a deal with everything.
The seven years seem like and are passing like days in the heart and mind of Jacob, he is that much in love with Rachel. Finally, the time of the wedding has come and Laban is arranging a big party. However, at night he carries out a plot by taking his older daughter Leah and bringing her unto Jacob.
Genesis 29:25 and 26:
And it came to pass, that in the morning, behold, it was Leah: and he said to Laban, What is this thou hast done unto me? did not I serve with thee for Rachel? wherefore then hast thou beguiled me?
And Laban said, It must not be so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn.
Now this event also has something remarkable which appears several times throughout this whole story. What one has done to another at some time came back to him in the future. Jacob had done exactly like this to Esau with the help of his mother, they too had pushed the younger ahead of the older by means of a cunning deception. Now here, someone else was successful with such a plot and this time Jacob experienced it for himself what it was like to be at the other end of the stick.
Laban was quite crafty and by these steps managed to get both his daughters married because he also then gave Rachel his younger daughter to Jacob at the end of the week long celebration to be his wife. Once again we can see how Laban dealt with his daughters and how little concern he had for them. Since Jacob didn't have anything to pay dowry, Laban could ask for another seven years of servitude for the second daughter as well.
Now Jacob also did not act properly toward his two wives as time went on, for he favored one and almost disregarded the other. But, it seems that perhaps "some angels were busy climbing up and down those stairs" because the unloved wife became pregnant and bore Jacob several sons. whereas the wife which was so loved by Jacob remained barren.
Genesis 29:32–35:
And Leah conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben: for she said, Surely the LORD hath looked upon my affliction; now therefore my husband will love me.
And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Because the LORD [here again, she gives this son a name which is linked again to the LORD] hath heard that I was hated, he hath therefore given me this son also: and she called his name Simeon.
And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Now this time will my husband be joined unto me, because I have born him three sons: therefore was his name called Levi.
And she conceived again, and bare a son: and she said, Now will I praise the LORD: therefore she called his name Judah; and left bearing.
Leah was actually a remarkable woman. She was, as the names she gave to her sons show, a God fearing woman and she believed in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as can be seen from her use of the name of the LORD when named them. Rachel on the other hand was quite different in this respect, later on we even read that she took some of the idols from her father's house and seemingly was concerned with such idolatry to some degree. Quite remarkable is also that the line to Christ continued through one of the sons of Leah, not a son of Rachel. This came about as Ruben, the oldest of the sons of Jacob, just as Simeon and Levi did forfeit the right of the firstborn later on.
Rachel is quite envious. She is using all kinds of tricks and means to have children with Jacob, including giving her maid to her husband. Such a practice had happened already once before with Abraham and Sarah's maid, and already then it had not been a good idea. The dilemma repeated itself again. Even Leah feels compelled to bring her maid into the situation as well. It is quite something that in this manner a group of 12 sons comes about, nevertheless this whole situation was also reason for enormous tensions within the family.
Only after a few more sons are born and after Rachel comes to her senses and turns to God in her desperation, is her cry heard and God remembered her to bring deliverance to her life.
Genesis 30:22:
And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb.
Since God "hearkened unto her" it must have been that Rachel had started to turn to God and to pray to Him instead of relying on her own means and ideas to get something going.
Genesis 30:23–24:
And she conceived, and bare a son; and said, God hath taken away my reproach:
And she called his name Joseph; and said, The LORD shall add to me another son.
This then is the record of the birth of Jospeh; he was the last of those sons of Jacob who were born in Padan-Aram.
Genesis 30:25:
And it came to pass, when Rachel had born Joseph, that Jacob said unto Laban, Send me away, that I may go unto mine own place, and to my country.
Joseph was born during the last of those fourteen years which Jacob ended up serving for Rachel. Jacob therefore now was 91 years old, Joseph being the eleventh son of Jacob. One more son was to come, but he apparently was not born until about seven or eight years later when they then had returned to the land of Canaan.
But first, Jacob served Laban another six years, which brings the total of years up to twenty years which Jacob spent away from his father Isaac's land. During these six years, God blessed Laban tremendously even though and despite the fact that Laban tried all the time to cheat on Jacob. Jacob receives many things, a large flock, and finally he can leave with all his goods and his family to return to the land of Canaan. This time, once again, he is fleeing – now back to the land where he had come from. Laban chases after him and desires to hinder him, but God intervenes and tells Laban to be friendly to Jacob even before he can reach Jacob and his wives and the children with their herds. The two meet and make a covenant, a treaty, and Laban returns back to Haran from there. Jacob promises to not take any more wives, to care for Laban's daughters and they both make an oath that neither one of them will step foot on to the other's land. They erect a monument of stone, and God is their witness in this matter.
Now then, one danger – Laban – is behind Jacob and his family. However, in front of them lurks another grave danger – Esau. We may remember – what had been Esau's plan? He had desired and planned to murder Jacob. Jacob is now approaching with all that he has, and he makes precautionary arrangements. The first thing, he prays! This is tremendous and something which was never recorded as happening in a similar situation before this. In Genesis 32:10ff we can read how Jacob turned to God and how he reminded God of His promises. And he asks God to deliver him from the hand of his brother Esau. Jacob then prepares a large gift, and he divides up his caravan into two groups, in order to perhaps save a part of his family in case there will be a violent meeting with Esau. Jacob of course did not know what to expect when he would meet Esau again.
Then Jacob sends messengers to Esau, but they are returning with somewhat alarming news, because they report that Esau is already on his way with about 400 armed men. There is not one further word about what Esau may have had in mind with having these armed men with him. Perhaps they were just returning from a war expedition into the land of Edom where they later settled, and now they were coming out to meet Jacob. Jacob naturally is concerned. During the night before they are to meet Esau, they are at the river Jabbok, one of the rivers which flows into the Jordan river. Jacob first arranges for all to cross this river and be on the south side, but he himself remains behind for the night.
And once again, a tremendous thing happens, where Jacob is wrestling with a man and learning a very important and great lesson, which is that it is of no value and impossible to wrestle against God. He finally learns to rely on and trust God. As a blessing, he receives his new name.
Genesis 32:27–30:
And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.
And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there.
And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.
"Israel" – from now on we can read about Jacob as Israel, and his sons later on as a people also carry this very name.
Genesis 32:31:
And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh.
We will see a completely different Jacob from now on, not any longer the crafty, sly and cunning man of days past, but rather a man who has experienced much of God's working in his life in the meantime and who is now very concerned about godliness in his life. He meets Esau and gives him honor and is very kind toward him.
Genesis 33:5:
And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said, Who are those with thee? And he said, The children which God hath graciously given thy servant.
In the Hebrew text this literally reads, "These are the children wherewith God has graced [by whom God has shown His grace toward] your servant."
All that had been present in terms of guilt or other hindrances was now forgotten and had been left behind, as Jacob is looking forward to the future. Esau displays an attitude of kindness as well and offers his protection which Jacob nevertheless does not accept.
He now first comes to Sychem in Samaria and settles there for a short while, he erects an altar there and makes known that now God is the God of Israel.
Simeon and Levi, two of Joseph's brethren, are committing a grave sin against the inhabitants of that city after their sister Dinah had been mistreated by some of the men of the city. These two brothers then took it upon themselves to take revenge on the inhabitants of the city (the record is found in Genesis 34). Such steps Jacob had not approved of, and now the actions of the two also brought a danger to Jacob and his whole family so that Jacob soon afterwards moved away from there.
Jacob at first travels onward to Bethel, the place where he had many years before seen the vision of the latter or ramp reaching up to heaven. Jacob then fulfilled his oath which he had previously made. before he could so so however, he needed to first put away all idols and amulettes and other things connected with other gods. And, in this same place, at Bethel, God once again appeared to Jacob and blessed him again.
Genesis 35:9 and 10:
And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padanaram, and blessed him.
And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel.
God repeated the blessing which He had already bestowed once previously on Jacob.
From there, Jacob then journeyed onward to his father Isaac who lived near Hebron. Isaac was still alive, he lived to be 180 years old, and when he had blessed his two sons many years before this time now he had been 137 years old. 20 years had passed while Jacob had lived in Haran, and now after his return to the land of Canaan perhaps another 10 years had elapsed. Jacob was now about 106 years old, and his son Joseph had reached teenage years, being now about 16 when the family left Bethel to move to Hebron.
On their way between Bethel and Hebron, the last of the sons of Jacob was born. At the birth of his little brother, Joseph lost his mother Rachel who died in childbirth near the city of Bethlehem. Jacob erected a monument upon the grave of his so dearly beloved wife, and then they moved on to Hebron.
Around that time it was, that Ruben, the oldest of the sons of Jacob, was carried away to commit an evil which cost him his right to the blessing of the firstborn later on.
Jacob and his twelve sons arrived at Hebron and lived there for some time while Isaac was also still living in that area.
Finally then, we come to the record in Genesis 37 with which the story of Joseph begins to really unfold.. A little more than 10 years have passed since they returned to Canaan, and Joseph was now about 17 years of age.
I would like to cover a few verses here which we will then consider in more detail in the next study in this series about Joseph. In closing this introductory study it will be sufficient to perhaps simply read through these verses as a preparation for that which is to come.
Genesis 37:2:
These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report.
These sons of Jacob, as already became apparent with the examples of Ruben, Simeon and Levi, were quite a tough bunch and they surely weren't all the time "nice guys" but rather committed evil acts as well. Joseph however was slightly different. He helped them and assisted them with the flock, but he did go to his father and reported to him what kind of evil things they were doing and how they had brought upon themselves an "evil report".
In Joseph we see the good qualities of life combined which had been found so predominantly in Abraham and in Isaac as well as in the later years also in Jacob. There was a tremendous difference between Joseph's character and the character his older brothers had.
Genesis 37:3:
Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours.
This "coat of many colours" was really a "long robe". It was the coat which traditionally only the head of a family and the designated heir were permitted to wear. We can see here also, that Israel favored the son of his favorite and beloved wife Rachel over the others, which was not how it should have been, and such treatment only contributed to tremendous tensions within the family as the anger of the other sons became more and more aroused.
Genesis 37:4:
And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.
The brothers became very angry and allowed their ill feelings of envy to develop to the point of hate and not even wanting to greet their brother. Joseph's conduct then in the process lead to even more trouble.
Genesis 37:5–8:
And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more.
And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed:
For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf.
And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words.
That Joseph went on to tell his dream, and the way in which he conveyed it to them, did not help either toward making peace among them. Not only did the content of the dream aggravate his brothers even more, but also the way in which he seemingly very confidently and perhaps a bit proud of himself told it to his brothers.
Genesis 37:9:
And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.
These dreams were all related to their regular daily activities, the first one had to do with aspects of farming, the second related to being shepherds and caring for flocks. Now, this second dream Joseph told his brethren in the presence of their father.
Genesis 37:10–11:
And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and 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?
And his brethren envied him [Here we can see, how they envy and hate of his brothers grew worse and worse. What previously had only been simmering along now began to slowly but surely boil over.]; but his father observed the saying.
We don't quite know if these dreams were actually a direct revelation God had given to Joseph; as it appears it could also have simply been some things which arose in Joseph's mind from the circumstances they were in. The young man dreams of things related to that which goes on in his everyday life. His father favors him very much, sort of brings him into this position of being over his brethren, and his brothers are definitely envious. Yet, behind it all, there also seem a few other things of great significance, because what is depicted in these dreams does come to pass later on. Also, we are not told if Joseph, in the case that this was a revelation from God to him, really was supposed to even tell these dreams to anybody in this manner.
As we consider the whole story, understand some of the background and what was going on in the land of Canaan, what dangers were lurking there, it becomes evident that God is at work behind the scenes to begin to provide a way for this family to grow into a people according to the promises He had made to their forefathers. And, this was not going to be possible and happen in the land of Canaan, but in a foreign land, as God already had told Abraham some time before.
This should give us somewhat of a foundation and basis for understanding one of the great things which God has done and how He was at work to make it possible for this family to grow into a people from which was to come the promised Messiah and redeemer. We can see how God delivered them from many dangers and how He also disciplined and educated them. What now follows contains a tremendous lesson for Joseph as well as for his brothers. Much of it is connected with pains and evil, but in the end of the whole matter we will see the great blessing which God was able to bless them with.