Jacob, son of Isaac, had fallen in love with Rachel, and in Genesis chapter 29:18 he answered Laban, "For your younger daughter Rachel I would work seven years." The story of Joseph should begin with the mentioned quotation. This quote should be viewed as the beginning foundation of an ideology that follows the life of Joseph throughout Genesis. It is due to Jacob's love for Rachel that sets up a chain of emotions and reactions that ultimately places Joseph, Jacob's and Rachel's first born, as the a catalyst for the Israelite community to continue the promise God conveyed to Abraham, Joseph's great-grandfather. God said to Abraham in Genesis chapter 15:5, "Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you can. So many will your descendants be." God also said to Abraham in the same chapter verse 13, "Know for certain that your descendants shall be aliens in a land not their own; they will be enslaved and held in oppression for four hundred years." God uses Joseph as an instrument to carry out the promise that he had made to Abraham to increase his descendents. It is not only through Joseph's character and his steadfast belief that he was destined for a higher calling, but through his actions and assumed supernatural interpretation of dreams, which provided a way for Joseph's talents to be ultimately recognized and rewarded through the status he would receive as the plan of God was fulfilled.
             Genesis chapter 37:3 also demonstrates the love that Jacob had for his son Joseph. "Because Joseph was a child of his old age, Israel loved him best of all his sons, and he made him a long robe with sleeves." This last segment of scripture is followed by jealous emotions from Joseph's brothers, which begins a manifestation of a hatred for Joseph so embedded that his brothers would not even greet him. Joseph himself did not help in repairing the torn relationships with his family; in fact, he further widened the ga...