In chapter thirty-seven Jacob was an old man. With respect to both time and geography, he had journeyed a long way and had finally come to Hebron. Jacob had passed through many things. Probably no one in the Bible has passed through as many intermixed and complicated situations as Jacob did. He was dealt with by God to such an extent that he had lost nearly all he had cared for. At the time of chapter thirty-seven, Rachel had died, and Jacob was living in Hebron, enjoying the fellowship that his forefathers Abraham and Isaac had known there. It seems that Jacob had retired at Hebron. However, there is no retirement in the spiritual life, and God intervened to upset what appeared to be Jacob's retirement.
I believe that at Hebron Jacob tried his best to have a calm life. As Jacob was in fellowship there he may have had many memories. In the stillness he may have thought, "I shouldn't have grabbed Esau's heel. I shouldn't have cheated Esau or my father. Also, there was no need for me to lose my mother and to flee to my uncle Laban. Moreover, I didn't have to love Rachel so much. My, what trouble loving her caused me! Why was I so foolish? I shouldn't have been cheated by Laban. Why did I promise to work all those years to get Rachel? During the years I was with Laban, I had to suffer the heat and the cold." If you had been Jacob, what would you have done in your retirement? You might have said, "From now on, I simply want to lead a quiet life. There will be no more supplanting, no more heel-holding. Esau, Laban, and Rachel are all gone. Now is the time for me to be quiet and to enjoy life." Surely Jacob must have been enjoying a calm life there in Hebron.
Jacob loved Joseph more than all his other sons, and he made for him a coat of many colors (v. 3). If Jacob had not been in retirement, he would not have been able to make such a coat for Joseph. A busy father could not spend the time to do this. But Jacob was enjoying life and he had plenty of time to make the coat for his favorite son. This is a proof that he had retired. The mention of the coat of many colors is a little window through which we can see Jacob's character, desire, intention, goal, and disposition.
After having had so many dealings under God's hand, Jacob was undoubtedly tired of human life. He was weary of supplanting, cheating, struggling, and fighting. His life was calm and he had a favorite son who was the treasure of his heart. Because of the partiality of his love for Joseph, he made him a coat of many colors. Was Jacob right in doing this? Why did he not make such a coat for Reuben, the oldest, or for Benjamin, the youngest? Although Reuben had defiled himself by committing adultery with Jacob's concubine, Benjamin was the baby of the family and was too young to have done anything wrong. Nevertheless, Jacob's heart was set firstly on Joseph and secondly on Benjamin. Jacob was partial. As we shall see, Jacob's partiality toward Joseph caused him to suffer.
Everything in this chapter is under the sovereign hand of God; nothing is coincidental. For example, immediately after Joseph's brothers had cast him into the pit, a company of Ishmaelites appeared on the scene, and his brothers decided to sell him to them. Then Joseph was taken to Egypt and sold to Potiphar, Pharaoh's chamberlain. All this was under God's sovereignty. In fact, even Jacob's partiality toward Joseph was under God's sovereignty. In chapter thirty-seven God exercised His sovereignty to deal with this partiality so that Jacob might mature.
Prior to this chapter, Jacob was a transformed person; however, he was not yet mature. To be transformed is to be changed in our natural life, whereas to be matured is to be filled with the divine life that changes us. We may be transformed in our natural life, yet not be filled with the divine life. Chapters thirty-seven through forty-five are a record of the process of Jacob's maturity. This process began in 37:1, and it lasted until 45:28. In the last five chapters of this book we see a Jacob who has fully matured. Probably in all his life Jacob never suffered as much as he did in these nine chapters. They are truly a story of Jacob's suffering. In these chapters we have the dealings in the last stage of Jacob's life. The sufferings he underwent here deeply touched his personal feelings. After these chapters, Jacob had no further dealings. Rather, he was fully matured, he was filled with the divine life, and he had the expression of God and the dominion of God.
For God's expression and dominion there is the need of maturity. Only a mature life can bear God's image and exercise His dominion. Even in chapter thirty-seven Jacob could not bear God's image or exercise God's dominion. Although he was transformed, he was not yet mature. His partiality toward Joseph proves that he was not mature. This partial love was a weak point. Do not think that a transformed person cannot be partial in his love or have other weak points. Therefore, God sovereignly placed Jacob under His hand that he might become mature.