Joseph, being seventeen years old… Genesis 37:2
We pick up the story of Joseph when he is a teenager, growing up in a pretty tough household. His brothers were not good people. We learn this from three other stories in Genesis.
The first is in the story of Simeon and Levi from Genesis 34. Joseph’s brothers made a deal with the Shechemites, that is, the extended family of a man called Shechem. Shechem had fallen in love with and then slept with their sister Dinah.
The brothers were outraged, but they made a deal with Shechem that they would be at peace with him and blend the families if all of their men were circumcised. The men of Shechem agreed, but while they were still recovering, and in no position to fight, the sons of Jacob launched an assault on the men and completely destroyed the city. Their father, Jacob, said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me by making me stink to the inhabitants of the land” (34:30). In other words, “No one will ever trust my word or the word of this family again.”
The second story is the story of Reuben: “While Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine. And Israel heard of it” (35:22). Reuben was the firstborn son, but he brought disgrace on the family through his sexual indulgence.
The third story is the story of Judah (Gen. 38). Here we read the account of Judah and Tamar. Suffice it to say that this is another story showing another of the brothers to be sexually promiscuous. Judah was a man without sexual boundaries, and he left a trail of broken hearts and wounded lives behind him as he sinned his way farther and farther away from God.
So, at 17 years old, Joseph was surrounded by bad examples—older brothers who could not be trusted, were prone to violence, and were sexually out of control.
What kind of examples did you have when you were 17? How did these examples help shape and influence the direction of your life?
