Irrevocable: It's My Call!
So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe — the richly ornamented robe he was wearing — and they took him and threw him into the cistern.
God made himself known to Abraham and promised to make his descendents a great nation. It was Abraham who was tested when he was commanded to sacrifice his “only son” Isaac. It was Isaac’s son Jacob who God spoke to in dreams and with whom he wrestled at the ford of the Jabbok. And so there would be no mistaking his plan for all of humanity through this family, the Lord himself told Moses at the burning bush, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.”
It was into this special family that Joseph was born, at that time, the youngest of eleven brothers.
His story is well known. His father loved him more than any of his brothers. He made a richly ornamented robe for him. He treated him as his favorite. As a result, his brothers hated him. They were also bothered that he, like his father, had dreams, so they referred to him contemptuously as “that dreamer.” When the opportunity came, their hatred turned to thoughts of murder, and their thoughts to action. Sent one day by his father to check up on his brothers who were grazing the flocks, the word says, “they saw [Joseph] in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.”
Their plot unfolded quickly. They “stripped him of his robe” then threw him into an empty cistern. The intervention of his older brothers kept him from being left for dead, but not from being sold into slavery for twenty shekels of silver. His eventual ascendancy to second in command of all Egypt was an incredible demonstration of the redemptive work of God. In fact, in many ways, Joseph was a type of Christ—a shadow of things to come. He went from privilege to poverty—favorite son of his rich father to lowly slave and prisoner in a foreign land; he was put in the ground only to rise again to great authority, and; he was tested in the wilderness of his troubles where he learned to trust God in all circumstances, even when he was wrongfully accused and punished.
In an odd way, Joseph’s story calls to mind the story of the prodigal son. The prodigal son is a picture of the triumph of love over judgment. Jesus says that when the younger son came to his senses, he decided to go home and seek his father’s mercy. "But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.” Joseph received no such welcome from his brothers who “saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.” The prodigal father moved in love and forgiveness as soon as he saw his son. The older brothers (in both stories, actually) moved in hatred and judgment.
There’s also this: The prodigal father not only embraced his son, but his first order of business was to restore him—to his family, to his position, to his dignity—by ordering his servant to “Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.” Not so for Joseph’s brothers. Their very first order of business was the exact opposite: to strip him of his robe.
The richly ornamented robe was not just a gift of Jacob’s love. It was a prophetic picture of what was coming. Jacob’s whole life was punctuated by prophetic moments, prophetic prayers and prophetic purposes. The robe was a picture of the anointing of God. Joseph was chosen by God. The family might not have realized it and the word says Jacob’s lavish affection for him was because he was the youngest, yet one can't help but wonder if it was also a reflection of God’s favor on his life. But as is frequently the case, God’s favor on one life—a special anointing, a special call, a special assignment—often brings out a special resentment in another, and the misguided notion that if God anoints one, there’s less anointing for the rest of us. Or worse, that God’s anointing on someone else means he loves them more.
God is infinite. He does not become less infinite when he gives freely to one of his children. We do not become less significant when he anoints others for service or calls them into a specific ministry. We who believe in Jesus are all called, chosen by God and equipped for service, each for a different purpose.
We do ourselves and the Kingdom of God a terrible disservice when we resent or covet God’s anointing on other people. Joseph’s brothers immediately took his robe. In their minds, taking the robe stripped him of his special status, returned him to the fold and made him more like them. But the anointing of God is not so easily torn away. The word says that “[t]he gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. “ It’s does not say, however, that men won't try to undermine or destroy them. They will.
They may try to make us feel powerless along the way. Even worthless. But only we can render our gifts and calling useless. By doing nothing.
The apostle Paul put it this way:
But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.