Genesis 37:29-36 "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? And they took Joseph's coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood; And they sent the coat of many colours, and they brought it to their father; and said, This have we found: know now whether it be thy son's coat or no. And he knew it, and said, It is my son's coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces. And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days. And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him. And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, and captain of the guard."
Actions have consequences. As much as we would like for it to be otherwise at times, this is a true statement. Reuben knew that his brothers plotted to do Joseph harm. He could have gone to Joseph when they saw him coming to them and warned him or even escorted him back to Israel.
Instead, he thought he had figured out a plan to eventually return Joesph to his father and still support his brothers in their jealousy of Joseph. He told his brothers to throw Joseph into a pit and leave him, the idea being that they would not kill him directly but leave him to die from starvation. Reuben’s thinking was that he would go back later, rescue Joseph from the pit, and return him to Israel. Reuben would make himself the hero of this sad tale.
However, the plan went awry when Reuben’s brother sold Joesph to a caravan of merchants headed for Egypt. When Reuben returned to the pit to check on Joesph, Joseph was gone. Reuben’s plan to redeem himself in the eyes of his father disappeared with Joesph. Reuben knew that Israel would be heartbroken.
The brothers decided that all was not lost. Since they had kept Joesph coat, they killed a baby goat and dipped the coat in the blood. They delivered the coat to Israel for him to identify. At that point, Israel declared that an evil beast had devoured Joseph. His mourning was so great that none of his sons or daughters could comfort him.
Dear ones, we need to keep envy out of our lives. It will lead us to make poor decisions and to harm those we ought to love. We cannot serve two masters, and we can never redeem ourselves before our Heavenly Father by our own actions. All of man’s schemes will come up empty. Our only hope of eternity is in the will of the Father, the obedience of the Son to that will, and the work of the Holy Spirit in applying that obedience to us. The glory always belongs to Him!