阅读经文 

约瑟的哥哥们憎恨他，是因为他们的父亲“爱约瑟过于爱他的众子。”约瑟曾经作梦，他梦见他的兄弟们向他下拜，而他又把梦中见到的告诉了他们。（参创 37:1-11）

约瑟的哥哥们实在非常憎恨约瑟，以至于想置他于死地；有一天，约瑟来到哥哥们放羊的地方，哥哥们见杀害他的机会来了；他们抓住约瑟，把他丢在坑里。

约瑟的哥哥们最终没有杀害他，他们把他卖给路过那里的商人作为奴隶，那些商人把他带到了埃及。想像一下，作为奴隶的约瑟在市场上被人拖着走的情景，想像一下，他在埃及为奴时所忍受的艰辛；他心里充塞着怎么样的痛苦呢？

当我们察看约瑟日后的生活时，我们看到“耶和华与他同在”并“使他所做的尽都顺利”。（参创 39:3、23，40-50）走过艰辛之路的约瑟，终于成为治理埃及全地的二把手。神使用约瑟来拯救当地的百姓免受大饥荒，他更拯救了他自己全家和所有邻近各国的人民。

耶稣为我们受苦和受死，在走过那条充满苦难的路后，祂战胜了死亡、复活、升天，并且治理全地。祂所经历的苦难之路，带给我们每一个人祝福！

Joseph's brothers hated him because their father "loved Joseph more than any of his other sons." Joseph had also had dreams in which his brothers bowed down to him, and he had told them about those dreams (see Genesis 37:1-11).

The brothers hated Joseph so much that they wanted to kill him. One day the opportunity came, as Joseph went out to the fields where his brothers were grazing their flocks. The brothers seized Joseph and threw him into a pit.

Instead of killing him, Joseph's brothers sold him as a slave to some traveling merchants, who took him to Egypt. Imagine Joseph as a slave being dragged around at the market. Imagine the hardship he endured as a slave in Egypt. What kinds of pain would have filled his heart?

Looking at the rest of Joseph's life, we can see that "the Lord was with him" and "gave him success in everything he did" (Genesis 39:3, 23; chap. 40-50). Through that path of hardship Joseph eventually became second in command over Egypt. God used Joseph to save people from a terrible famine, including his whole family and people from all the surrounding nations.

Jesus came to suffer and die for our sake, and through that path of many hardships he rose in victory over death and ascended to heaven, where he now rules over all the earth. His path through suffering has led to blessings for us all!