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An elderly man, Jacob, is sick. He knows he is dying and calls for his twelve sons to gather round him for his last words. As he speaks to each of his sons by name, summarising their life to date, foretelling their future and any blessings, he comes to Joseph, a much loved favourite son, and he says:
'Him that was separate from his brethren'.
What did Jacob mean?
How was this son, Joseph, separate from his brothers and what does it mean for us, today?
Let us look at these words from 3 perspectives:
1. The sense of isolation, being separate or different from other people
Joseph was a Hebrew lad from Bible times. (We have written about him in recent posts). Favourite son of his father he was initially 'separate' from his brothers in the preferential treatment his father gave him and the consequent jealousy, hatred and spite this brought on him. How isolated and alone this must have at times made him feel - as his brothers plotted against him to harm him.
At this time he still had the physical presence of his father, who loved him so much, but there came a time when he had dreams. Dreams he shared with his family, until even his father seemed to distance himself from Joseph in a comment he made. We wonder if he felt separated by misunderstanding, and different from the rest of his family.
2. A literal separation
Later in his teenage years Joseph was literally separated from his brothers and family when his unkind brothers sold him as a slave. He was taken miles away to Egypt, a foreign land with a different culture, language and religion.
In Egypt despite the blessings God gave him in all he did, he was separated yet again. This time from his master, who had put great trust in him, and from those who had come to respect him as the overseer of all his master had. In refusing temptation to sin, Joseph was falsely accused, and thrown into prison.
It must have comforted Joseph, as they gathered around his father's deathbed, to now hear his father's deep sympathy and understanding for what he had gone through during his earlier life. He had been acutely, deeply, viciously hurt, as with the sharp wounds of arrows. How alone and bereft of comfort he must have felt in those earlier years! How isolated!
As his father summarised, 'the archers have sorely (bitterly) grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him' (Genesis 49:23).
We can imagine the deep hurt from his brothers' actions as a weight in his heart, so alone and far from home and the love of his father, so alien and different from all those who were now about him. No doubt, a feeling of being unloved as if nobody cared about him, nobody would stand up for him, nobody was 'on his side'.
3. A purposeful separation or consecration
On looking up this word 'separate' in Strong's concordance, the actual meaning here is more than a literal or felt sense of separation. It is actually referring to a person who has been set apart for a particular purpose, or consecrated for a particular service.
Joseph, despite all the troubles he went through, despite all his feelings of isolation and being forgotten, had been set apart by God for a special and greater purpose.
By being sent to Egypt and eventually elevated to a great position of authority and leadership, he was to be the means of saving the lives of his family from famine. And not only the lives of his immediate family, but the lives of his descendants of whom was to come the promised Messiah - our Saviour. In a way we could say that our salvation today was all wrapped up in God's purpose for Joseph's life - 'him that was separate from his brethren'.
Application:
So how does this apply to you and me today?
Can you relate to Joseph's experiences of being different from those around you? Are you literally separated from those you love, care about, your family, your home? Or perhaps you do know that you are loved, and you love in return, you are blessed with friends and family, but even whilst with them, you sometimes just feel as if you are different, separate, alone.
This sense of aloneness can be very isolating. You may feel a restlessness or an emptiness that nothing fills. You want comfort but there doesn't seem to be anywhere/anyone that can truly satisfy and understand you.
Let me comfort you that there is a person that knows how you are feeling. A person who hears your every silent thought, who sees your heart ache, who knows all about you. A person who has felt what you are feeling in his own life. A person who is just like you and me in our humanness, and yet is infinitely more because He is God - Jesus, the Son of God.
Like Joseph, Jesus was hated by those around him. His brothers jeered at and scorned him. His neighbours, those he had been brought up with, rejected him and even wanted to murder him. The Jews, his 'brethren' in the wider sense largely disbelieved who he was and rejected him being their Messiah. They orchestrated his murder, crucifixion.
Jesus, a perfect man, who could not do anything wrong knows what it is like to be hated, isolated, alone. He was different and separate from all those around. As a human living on earth he was physically separate from his Father in heaven.
He is alive today, in heaven. He sees you. He knows your sense of separation. He understands. He cares.
Like Joseph was separated from his brethren in being set apart to be the means of their saving from famine, so Jesus was separated from his brethren in being the Son of God, the Saviour of the world. He was set apart by God, sent to live here as a man purely so that he could lead the perfect life we are unable to live, and so that he could give his life - a perfect sacrifice - which God could accept on behalf of his people.
If you are feeling alone in your heart or literally separate and alone from those you love come to Jesus in prayer. Tell Him your feelings. Ask Him to comfort you today. Ask Him to make the words of the Bible come alive to you as you read them and speak peace into your heart.
And what about these feelings of being different, set apart or consecrated for God's purposes? What does it all mean?
Is God drawing you to Him to become a follower of Him - a disciple? Is your unrest your heart's deep need of your God, your Creator? Is it God speaking to you as a Christian, to remind you that He has a work for you to do - a work He wants you to pray to Him about, to seek His will for you - something He has singled you out for? Perhaps to remind you that the world you now live in is not your eternal home. Your life today is to witness of Him, to honour Him and to glorify Him.
Lastly, as we finish these thoughts, what can we do today to lovingly support those who are feeling separate?
We may be feeling the deep comfort and peace of God in our heart, feeling the comfort of being part of God's family, having fellowship with other believers and being able to identify with other Christians who we read and hear of, but how can we reach out to our brothers and sisters who may be feeling separate and alone? What encouragement can we give them?
May the Lord help us to use the opportunities He gives us to be quick to notice when somebody needs a listening ear, to share comfort, to give time, to encourage, to remember in prayer and to support as people share those feelings of aloneness, their searching for God, or their desires to do a work they believe God has set them apart to do.
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