We found this.

Genesis 37:29, Now Reuben returned to the pit, and behold, Joseph was not in the pit; so he tore his garments. And he returned to his brothers and said, “The boy is not there; as for me, where am I to go?” So they took Joseph’s tunic, and slaughtered a male goat, and dipped the tunic in the blood; and they sent the varicolored tunic and brought it to their father and said, “We found this; please examine it to see whether it is your son’s tunic or not.” Then he examined it and said, “It is my son’s tunic. A wild beast has devoured him; Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!” So Jacob tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his loins, and mourned for his son many days.

We wouldn’t write our own family story like this, we’d clean it up and leave out this kind of deception. God’s word isn’t like that; He lets us see the gory details of deception at its worst and the toll it took on a family. It’s hard enough to get one person to keep a secret, let alone eleven brothers! In deceiving their father, they also deceive themselves by thinking that it’s all right to let him draw his own conclusions while they keep the truth to themselves. And even Rueben and Judah who interceded to save Joseph’s life assented to the deception. Can we avoid deceiving ourselves?

Help us to have no secrets, but to bring everything into Your light of truth!