Teaching

Coat of Many Colours

By David Mbué

"… I travail in birth again until Christ is formed in you …" Gal 4:19.

The coat that Israel made for his beloved son was more than a conglomeration of dyes on Mediterranean fabric. Doubtless, there were better ways of creating princely attire without going into exorbitant colour mixing. Besides, a multicoloured coat does not make a great fashion statement.

But neither was fashion the object of Jacob's focus. Joseph had started catching glimpses of the future he envisaged with God. He got in trouble by telling his dreams. Jacob had to rebuke the lad, perhaps in trying to avert the animosity that his big ideas aroused among his envious half brothers. Whatever may have prompted his reaction, Jacob still observed the sayings of his son. Could that have been the purpose of the colourful coat?

Prophetic

Joseph's coat had prophetic overtones. Jacob may have intended it as a reminder of the boy's many, big and striking dreams, but it also symbolized the many graces on the lad's life. He was upright, he detested evil and reported the wrongs of his brothers to their dad, he was intelligent, obedient, hardworking and faithful as a servant and able to interpret dreams, just to mention a few.

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