Genesis 37: Bye, Bye Joseph

I have heard contrasting opinions when it comes to Joseph.  Some see him as an innocent victim of family dynamics that resulted in him suffering unjustly due to the jealousy of his brothers.  Others view him as a snot-nosed little brat who tattles on his brothers and has delusions of grandeur when he dreams of being exalted among his family.  How do you see him?

Personally, I hold the more charitable view of this seventeen year old.  He's the next-to-youngest of twelve sons, an impossible position.  His mother (the best-loved wife of his father) is dead.  Yes, in his immaturity, it probably wasn't the smartest move to tell his family all about his dreams.  But they were indeed prophetic.  God had important plans for Joseph.

Joseph probably never could have imagined that those plans involved him being betrayed by his brothers and sold into slavery.  Yet we will see that what his brothers intended for evil, God uses for good.