约瑟被卖往埃及
创世记三十七12至28节
12约瑟的哥哥们往示剑去，放他们父亲的羊。
13以色列对约瑟说：“你哥哥们不是在示剑放羊吗？你来，我要打发你往他们那里去。”约瑟说：“我在这里。”
14以色列说：“你去看看你哥哥们平安不平安，群羊平安不平安，就回来报信给我。”于是打发他出希伯仑谷，他就往示剑去了。
15有人遇见他在田野走迷了路，就问他说：“你找甚么？”
16他说：“我找我的哥哥们，求你告诉我他们在何处放羊。”
17那人说：“他们已经走了，我听见他们说要往多坍去。”约瑟就去追赶他哥哥们，遇见他们在多坍。
18他们远远地看见他，趁他还没有走到跟前，大家就同谋要害死他，
19彼此说：“你看！那做梦的来了。
20来吧！我们将他杀了，丢在一个坑里，就说有恶兽把他吃了，我们且看他的梦将来怎么样。”
21吕便听见了，要救他脱离他们的手，说：“我们不可害他的性命。”
22又说：“不可流他的血，可以把他丢在这野地的坑里，不可下手害他。”吕便的意思是要救他脱离他们的手，把他归还他的父亲。
23约瑟到了他哥哥们那里，他们就剥了他的外衣，就是他穿的那件彩衣，
24把他丢在坑里，那坑是空的，里头没有水。
25他们坐下吃饭，举目观看，见有一伙米甸的以实玛利人从基列来，用骆驼驮着香料、乳香、没药，要带下埃及去。
26犹大对众弟兄说：“我们杀我们的兄弟，藏了他的血，有甚么益处呢？
27我们不如将他卖给以实玛利人，不可下手害他，因为他是我们的兄弟，我们的骨肉。”众弟兄就听从了他。
28有些米甸的商人从那里经过，哥哥们就把约瑟从坑里拉上来，讲定二十舍客勒银子，把约瑟卖给以实玛利人。他们就把约瑟带到埃及去了。
信息分享
事情的开始，是雅各担心十个儿子和羊群的安全。他的十个儿子为了放羊，走到离家以北75公里外的地方寻找草原；后来又继续前移25公里，直到多坍。所以，当约瑟听从父亲吩咐去找兄长的时候，他足足走了100公里的路！
雅各挂心儿子的另一个原因，是因为担心儿子会在示剑附近扎营。他们在几年前曾经在那里杀了许多人（见创三十四章），所以雅各担心当地的人会向他们报复，所以便急于知道他们的情况。
约瑟几经波折才找到哥哥，然而，却遭到兄长们的恶待。你想，一个少年人面对兄长的欺侮，会有甚么反应呢？迷惘、怨恨、懊丧？二十年后，兄长仍然记得约瑟如何哀求他们放他（参创四十二21）。
你可以想像约瑟当时的困境吗？他先被丢在坑里，然后戴着锁链，被商人的车队带走？当车队向南行驶，几乎经过他父家往埃及时，他在想甚么？多坍距离埃及大约三百五十公里，要多久才能走到？当车队每晚在野外露宿时，约瑟心中想些甚么呢？
约瑟被带到埃及后，便被卖作奴隶。他的兄长曾说：「我们且看他的梦将来怎么样。」（19节）他们在有生之年确实看见梦的成就，只是并非如他们所想像。
神要成就祂应许亚伯拉罕的话（创十五13-16），让以色列人进埃及。这位年轻人后来便成为他同胞的拯救者。你觉得，约瑟像不像耶稣基督呢？
JOSEPH - ON HIS WAY TO EGYPT
Genesis 37:12-28
12 Then his brothers went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem.
13 And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.”
So he said to him, “Here I am.”
14 Then he said to him, “Please go and see if it is well with your brothers and well with the flocks, and bring back word to me.” So he sent him out of the Valley of Hebron, and he went to Shechem.
15 Now a certain man found him, and there he was, wandering in the field. And the man asked him, saying, “What are you seeking?”
16 So he said, “I am seeking my brothers. Please tell me where they are feeding their flocks.”
17 And the man said, “They have departed from here, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan.
18 Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, they conspired against him to kill him.
19 Then they said to one another, “Look, this dreamer is coming!
20 Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, ‘Some wild beast has devoured him.’ We shall see what will become of his dreams!”
21 But Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands, and said, “Let us not kill him.”
22 And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit which is in the wilderness, and do not lay a hand on him”—that he might deliver him out of their hands, and bring him back to his father.
23 So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him.
24 Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it.
25 And they sat down to eat a meal. Then they lifted their eyes and looked, and there was a company of Ishmaelites, coming from Gilead with their camels, bearing spices, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry them down to Egypt.
26 So Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood?
27 Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh.” And his brothers listened.
28 Then Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.
Message
How does this story start? Jacob was concerned about his other ten sons and also his vast flocks. Pasture was where you could find it. In searching for it, the brothers had travelled possibly 75 km north of their home. Then they moved again, about 25 km further to Dothan. Joseph had a long walk!
Another major reason for Jaocb's concern was that he thought the brothers might be camped near Shechem. That could be a dangerous place for them. They had murdered a number of people there several years before (see chapter 34). No wonder Jacob was anxious for news.
ACTIONS AND RE-ACTIONS
The sequel to Joseph's search is well-known. What do you think a teen-ager's natural re-actions would be to the brothers' cruelty? Confusion, bitter tears, frustration? Twenty years later his brothers still remembered how Joseph had pleaded with them for his life (see Genesis 42:21).
Can you picture him, first in the dry pit, then probably chained and being led away in the merchants' caravan? What would have been his thoughts as they travelled south almost past his own home and father? It was possibly 350 km to Egypt from Dothan.
How long would it take to walk there? What we're his thoughts as they camped each night?
Finally they arrived in Egypt and Joseph was offered for sale as a slave. The brothers had said: 'We'll see what becomes of his dreams' (v.19). They lived to see it but not in the way they thought.
God was beginning to fulfil his word to Abraham (Genesis 15:13-16) that Israel would go into Egypt. Some day that young man would be the Saviour of his people. Is it any wonder Joseph is the man most like Jesus Christ?