Slaves for Sale

By Mary Vee
Genesis 37: 25-28

Simeon's stomach growled. "Ignore Joseph's cries. I'm hungry." Levi, Dan and the other brothers agreed. They walked away from the pit and unpacked their lunch.

Judah sat under the tree and sprawled out comfortably on the grass. "Think about it, brothers, we could get rid of Joseph and not have to worry about him tattling on us any more."

Issachar laughed. "Who will be father's favorite son then? Maybe me!"

The other brothers laughed until Simeon stood with his fist raised. "If anyone's the favorite, it should be Reuben. He's the oldest."

Judah set his food down. "We were just joking. Come on, sit under the tree and cool off that temper."

Simeon plopped on the ground. "I'll be happy when this is over."

Joseph called up from the pit. "Hey get me out of here. I mean it!"

Simeon balled up his fists. "Can't someone make him be quiet?"

Gad pointed past Simeon toward the road. "Look! There's a caravan. I wonder what their selling?" The brothers ran to see.

Their eyes went wide. Judah gazed at the spices, balm, and myrrh. He turned to one of the Ishmaelites and held up his hand. "Can you wait a moment? Let me talk with my brothers."

"Sure." He reached up and pulled out more items for sale. "Take your time."

Judah called his brothers over. "I have an idea. Listen to this...what good is it to kill Joseph and hide his blood? We could sell him to these Ishmaelites. We'd get money to spend any way we want AND be rid of Joseph. After all, he is our brother."

Simeon stoked his beard. "I like it. We could split the money 8 ways--"

Asher pressed forward. "Don't you mean 9? Reuben isn't here right now, but he helped us put that squirt down in the pit."

Simeon nodded. "Yes. You're right. We split 9 ways. Agree?"

The brothers nodded. Judah led the way back to the pit. They lowered a rope and dangled it in front of Joseph's face. Simeon laughed. "Grab the rope little brother."

Joseph looked up. "You better be sorry...this wasn't funny you know." He grabbed the rope and pulled himself to the opening. His brothers heaved him to his feet. Joseph smoothed his clothing and sighed. "When are you guys gonna--"

Simeon grabbed Joseph's arm. Joseph's eyes went wide. "Where we going?"

The brothers dragged Joseph to the traders caravan. Judah stood out front while the others held their younger brother. "We have an offer. We want to sell this slave to you."

The Ishmaelites looked at Joseph and nodded. "You have a deal. We pay 20 shekels." The trader pulled out the money and gave it to Judah. Two other traders grabbed Joseph and tied him to a camel. "Nice doing business with you."

Simeon held his hand out to get his share. He laughed. "Finally, we're rid of him."

As the caravan disappeared down the road, Reuben returned. He looked at his brothers. "What's going on? Where did you get that money? Where's Joseph?"

It's easy to be fooled into thinking we can do bad things and not get caught. Satan loves to fool us. Maybe we don't know the answer to a question on a test but the person next to us is busy writing something. Maybe we see a coin on the ground but we also see someone who just stood at the same place. Is that finder's keepers? What are other ways Satan tries to fool us? What can we do when Satan tries to fool us? Click on the comment button to say what you think.