Genesis 43

Genesis 43

New International Version (NIV)

The Second Journey to Egypt

43 Now the famine was still severe in the land. ² So when they had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go back and buy us a little more food.”

³ But Judah said to him, “The man warned us solemnly, ‘You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.’ ⁴ If you will send our brother along with us, we will go down and buy food for you. ⁵ But if you will not send him, we will not go down, because the man said to us, ‘You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.’”
⁶ Israel asked, “Why did you bring this trouble on me by telling the man you had another brother?”
⁷ They replied, “The man questioned us closely about ourselves and our family. ‘Is your father still living?’ he asked us. ‘Do you have another brother?’ We simply answered his questions. How were we to know he would say, ‘Bring your brother down here’?”
⁸ Then Judah said to Israel his father, “Send the boy along with me and we will go at once, so that we and you and our children may live and not die. ⁹ I myself will guarantee his safety; you can hold me personally responsible for him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him here before you, I will bear the blame before you all my life. ¹⁰ As it is, if we had not delayed, we could have gone and returned twice.”
¹¹ Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be, then do this: Put some of the best products of the land in your bags and take them down to the man as a gift—a little balm and a little honey, some spices and myrrh, some pistachio nuts and almonds. ¹² Take double the amount of silver with you, for you must return the silver that was put back into the mouths of your sacks. Perhaps it was a mistake. ¹³ Take your brother also and go back to the man at once. ¹⁴ And may God Almighty^[a] grant you mercy before the man so that he will let your other brother and Benjamin come back with you. As for me, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved.”
¹⁵ So the men took the gifts and double the amount of silver, and Benjamin also. They hurried down to Egypt and presented themselves to Joseph. ¹⁶ When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, “Take these men to my house, slaughter an animal and prepare a meal; they are to eat with me at noon.”
¹⁷ The man did as Joseph told him and took the men to Joseph’s house. ¹⁸ Now the men were frightened when they were taken to his house. They thought, “We were brought here because of the silver that was put back into our sacks the first time. He wants to attack us and overpower us and seize us as slaves and take our donkeys.”
¹⁹ So they went up to Joseph’s steward and spoke to him at the entrance to the house. ²⁰ “We beg your pardon, our lord,” they said, “we came down here the first time to buy food. ²¹ But at the place where we stopped for the night we opened our sacks and each of us found his silver—the exact weight—in the mouth of his sack. So we have brought it back with us. ²² We have also brought additional silver with us to buy food. We don’t know who put our silver in our sacks.”
²³ “It’s all right,” he said. “Don’t be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks; I received your silver.” Then he brought Simeon out to them.
²⁴ The steward took the men into Joseph’s house, gave them water to wash their feet and provided fodder for their donkeys. ²⁵ They prepared their gifts for Joseph’s arrival at noon, because they had heard that they were to eat there.
²⁶ When Joseph came home, they presented to him the gifts they had brought into the house, and they bowed down before him to the ground. ²⁷ He asked them how they were, and then he said, “How is your aged father you told me about? Is he still living?”
²⁸ They replied, “Your servant our father is still alive and well.” And they bowed down, prostrating themselves before him.
²⁹ As he looked about and saw his brother Benjamin, his own mother’s son, he asked, “Is this your youngest brother, the one you told me about?” And he said, “God be gracious to you, my son.” ³⁰ Deeply moved at the sight of his brother, Joseph hurried out and looked for a place to weep. He went into his private room and wept there.
³¹ After he had washed his face, he came out and, controlling himself, said, “Serve the food.”
³² They served him by himself, the brothers by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because Egyptians could not eat with Hebrews, for that is detestable to Egyptians. ³³ The men had been seated before him in the order of their ages, from the firstborn to the youngest; and they looked at each other in astonishment. ³⁴ When portions were served to them from Joseph’s table, Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as anyone else’s. So they feasted and drank freely with him.

                       ____________________________________________________

The long con continues.  I wonder who this is benefiting.  Joseph is barely keeping it together.  His brothers are really on edge, constantly wary and anxious.  Simeon has been a prisoner for however long it took to walk home, eat all the food they bought, debate with Israel and then walk back!  Maybe it just takes this long to rebuild trust.  Betrayal cuts deep; the closer the relationship the deeper the wound.  Even if Joseph is able to rationalize all of the "Why's" surrounding his circumstances...even if he knows that he is living out God's will...the pain of betrayal clings on.  God may be in the process of redeeming it all, but the reality is that Joseph has lived with deep wounds for years, if not decades.  It seems like there are layers of pain being peeled off throughout these past couple of chapters.  Maybe he did not even know the magnitude of what he was carrying, but it seems like the intensity of the emotion is sweeping over him in waves.  I think it is helpful to realized that even when God is working all things towards good, we can still be carrying the weight of betrayal and receive healing.

Genesis 42

Genesis 42

New International Version (NIV)

Joseph’s Brothers Go to Egypt

42 When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you just keep looking at each other?” ² He continued, “I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us, so that we may live and not die.”

³ Then ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. ⁴ But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with the others, because he was afraid that harm might come to him. ⁵ So Israel’s sons were among those who went to buy grain, for there was famine in the land of Canaan also.
⁶ Now Joseph was the governor of the land, the person who sold grain to all its people. So when Joseph’s brothers arrived, they bowed down to him with their faces to the ground. ⁷ As soon as Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he pretended to be a stranger and spoke harshly to them. “Where do you come from?” he asked.
“From the land of Canaan,” they replied, “to buy food.”
⁸ Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him. ⁹ Then he remembered his dreams about them and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see where our land is unprotected.”
¹⁰ “No, my lord,” they answered. “Your servants have come to buy food. ¹¹ We are all the sons of one man. Your servants are honest men, not spies.”
¹² “No!” he said to them. “You have come to see where our land is unprotected.”
¹³ But they replied, “Your servants were twelve brothers, the sons of one man, who lives in the land of Canaan. The youngest is now with our father, and one is no more.”
¹⁴ Joseph said to them, “It is just as I told you: You are spies! ¹⁵ And this is how you will be tested: As surely as Pharaoh lives, you will not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here. ¹⁶ Send one of your number to get your brother; the rest of you will be kept in prison, so that your words may be tested to see if you are telling the truth. If you are not, then as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!” ¹⁷ And he put them all in custody for three days.
¹⁸ On the third day, Joseph said to them, “Do this and you will live, for I fear God: ¹⁹ If you are honest men, let one of your brothers stay here in prison, while the rest of you go and take grain back for your starving households. ²⁰ But you must bring your youngest brother to me, so that your words may be verified and that you may not die.” This they proceeded to do.
²¹ They said to one another, “Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen; that’s why this distress has come on us.”
²² Reuben replied, “Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you wouldn’t listen! Now we must give an accounting for his blood.” ²³ They did not realize that Joseph could understand them, since he was using an interpreter.
²⁴ He turned away from them and began to weep, but then came back and spoke to them again. He had Simeon taken from them and bound before their eyes.
²⁵ Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to put each man’s silver back in his sack, and to give them provisions for their journey. After this was done for them, ²⁶ they loaded their grain on their donkeys and left.
²⁷ At the place where they stopped for the night one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey, and he saw his silver in the mouth of his sack. ²⁸ “My silver has been returned,” he said to his brothers. “Here it is in my sack.”
Their hearts sank and they turned to each other trembling and said, “What is this that God has done to us?”
²⁹ When they came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them. They said, ³⁰ “The man who is lord over the land spoke harshly to us and treated us as though we were spying on the land. ³¹ But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we are not spies. ³² We were twelve brothers, sons of one father. One is no more, and the youngest is now with our father in Canaan.’
³³ “Then the man who is lord over the land said to us, ‘This is how I will know whether you are honest men: Leave one of your brothers here with me, and take food for your starving households and go. ³⁴ But bring your youngest brother to me so I will know that you are not spies but honest men. Then I will give your brother back to you, and you can trade^[a] in the land.’”
³⁵ As they were emptying their sacks, there in each man’s sack was his pouch of silver! When they and their father saw the money pouches, they were frightened. ³⁶ Their father Jacob said to them, “You have deprived me of my children. Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more, and now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is against me!”
³⁷ Then Reuben said to his father, “You may put both of my sons to death if I do not bring him back to you. Entrust him to my care, and I will bring him back.”
³⁸ But Jacob said, “My son will not go down there with you; his brother is dead and he is the only one left. If harm comes to him on the journey you are taking, you will bring my gray head down to the grave in sorrow.”

                         ________________________________________________

What is Joseph's game?  Is he torturing his brothers in order to exact some revenge?  Is he testing them to see if they are remorseful?  Is he just buying time because he does not know what to do next?  Is he cautious because they could demand that he return home with them? Maybe he is wondering if they killed Benjamin just as they had intended to kill him.  You would think that he had played out this scenario in his head hundreds of times.  What would he do if he ever saw his betrayers again?  What we are able to see is that he is overcome with emotion.  He ties them to himself by taking one brother prisoner and returning their money.  This likely ensures that they will return, probably with Benjamin in tow.  Personally, I think Joseph is simply stalling.  I think he is overcome by the moment, finally able to see how everything has come together to enable him to save his family.  His visions are coming true.  The question of why God's blessings and provisions were poured upon him and yet he continued to live in captivity are being answered.  it seems like a single, clarifying moment.  An epiphany if you will.

Genesis 41

Genesis 41

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Joseph Interprets Pharaoh’s Dream

41 After two whole years, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile, ² and there came up out of the Nile seven sleek and fat cows, and they grazed in the reed grass. ³ Then seven other cows, ugly and thin, came up out of the Nile after them, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile. ⁴ The ugly and thin cows ate up the seven sleek and fat cows. And Pharaoh awoke. ⁵ Then he fell asleep and dreamed a second time; seven ears of grain, plump and good, were growing on one stalk. ⁶ Then seven ears, thin and blighted by the east wind, sprouted after them. ⁷ The thin ears swallowed up the seven plump and full ears. Pharaoh awoke, and it was a dream. ⁸ In the morning his spirit was troubled; so he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them to Pharaoh.

⁹ Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “I remember my faults today. ¹⁰ Once Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and put me and the chief baker in custody in the house of the captain of the guard. ¹¹ We dreamed on the same night, he and I, each having a dream with its own meaning. ¹² A young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. When we told him, he interpreted our dreams to us, giving an interpretation to each according to his dream. ¹³ As he interpreted to us, so it turned out; I was restored to my office, and the baker was hanged.”
¹⁴ Then Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was hurriedly brought out of the dungeon. When he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came in before Pharaoh. ¹⁵ And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.” ¹⁶ Joseph answered Pharaoh, “It is not I; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.” ¹⁷ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream I was standing on the banks of the Nile; ¹⁸ and seven cows, fat and sleek, came up out of the Nile and fed in the reed grass. ¹⁹ Then seven other cows came up after them, poor, very ugly, and thin. Never had I seen such ugly ones in all the land of Egypt. ²⁰ The thin and ugly cows ate up the first seven fat cows, ²¹ but when they had eaten them no one would have known that they had done so, for they were still as ugly as before. Then I awoke. ²² I fell asleep a second time^[a] and I saw in my dream seven ears of grain, full and good, growing on one stalk, ²³ and seven ears, withered, thin, and blighted by the east wind, sprouting after them; ²⁴ and the thin ears swallowed up the seven good ears. But when I told it to the magicians, there was no one who could explain it to me.”
²⁵ Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Pharaoh’s dreams are one and the same; God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. ²⁶ The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years; the dreams are one. ²⁷ The seven lean and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, as are the seven empty ears blighted by the east wind. They are seven years of famine. ²⁸ It is as I told Pharaoh; God has shown to Pharaoh what he is about to do. ²⁹ There will come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt. ³⁰ After them there will arise seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt; the famine will consume the land. ³¹ The plenty will no longer be known in the land because of the famine that will follow, for it will be very grievous. ³² And the doubling of Pharaoh’s dream means that the thing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it about. ³³ Now therefore let Pharaoh select a man who is discerning and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt. ³⁴ Let Pharaoh proceed to appoint overseers over the land, and take one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt during the seven plenteous years. ³⁵ Let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming, and lay up grain under the authority of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it. ³⁶ That food shall be a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine that are to befall the land of Egypt, so that the land may not perish through the famine.”

Joseph’s Rise to Power

³⁷ The proposal pleased Pharaoh and all his servants. ³⁸ Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find anyone else like this—one in whom is the spirit of God?” ³⁹ So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has shown you all this, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. ⁴⁰ You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command; only with regard to the throne will I be greater than you.” ⁴¹ And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.” ⁴² Removing his signet ring from his hand, Pharaoh put it on Joseph’s hand; he arrayed him in garments of fine linen, and put a gold chain around his neck. ⁴³ He had him ride in the chariot of his second-in-command; and they cried out in front of him, “Bow the knee!”^[b] Thus he set him over all the land of Egypt. ⁴⁴ Moreover Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no one shall lift up hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.” ⁴⁵ Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-paneah; and he gave him Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, as his wife. Thus Joseph gained authority over the land of Egypt.
⁴⁶ Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went through all the land of Egypt. ⁴⁷ During the seven plenteous years the earth produced abundantly. ⁴⁸ He gathered up all the food of the seven years when there was plenty^[c] in the land of Egypt, and stored up food in the cities; he stored up in every city the food from the fields around it. ⁴⁹ So Joseph stored up grain in such abundance—like the sand of the sea—that he stopped measuring it; it was beyond measure.
⁵⁰ Before the years of famine came, Joseph had two sons, whom Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, bore to him. ⁵¹ Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh,^[d] “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s house.” ⁵² The second he named Ephraim,^[e] “For God has made me fruitful in the land of my misfortunes.”
⁵³ The seven years of plenty that prevailed in the land of Egypt came to an end; ⁵⁴ and the seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in every country, but throughout the land of Egypt there was bread. ⁵⁵ When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph; what he says to you, do.” ⁵⁶ And since the famine had spread over all the land, Joseph opened all the storehouses,^[f] and sold to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. ⁵⁷ Moreover, all the world came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain, because the famine became severe throughout the world.

                             ___________________________________________________


And so Joseph becomes an overnight success...after years of slavery and imprisonment.  The scope and intricacy of God's plans is staggering.  There is no strategy or plan that would allow a person to go from young son of a migrant family to 2nd in command of a superpower.  The plan simply does not exist.  Joseph is not required to create the situation, he is simply required to be ready for when the moment comes.  There was nothing to tell Joseph that his time had arrived. But he was ready to do what was asked of him at a moment's notice.  How ready are we to respond to an opportunity?  A new job, a new calling, a relationship change, an opportunity to share the gospel, a request to pray for healing, a call from the president asking us to interpret a dream...it could be anything.  We prepare ourselves by keeping our minds, bodies and hearts in shape, able to respond to whatever God gives us.  Spiritual disciplines to grow our hearts, exercise to grow our bodies and learning to grow our minds.  When the opportunity to transform our world comes, will we be in the middle of a video game level and unable to pull ourselves away or will we dive in, prepared through years of training?

Genesis 40

Genesis 40

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

The Dreams of Two Prisoners

40 Some time after this, the cupbearer of the king of Egypt and his baker offended their lord the king of Egypt. ² Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, ³ and he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison where Joseph was confined.⁴ The captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he waited on them; and they continued for some time in custody. ⁵ One night they both dreamed—the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison—each his own dream, and each dream with its own meaning.⁶ When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were troubled. ⁷ So he asked Pharaoh’s officers, who were with him in custody in his master’s house, “Why are your faces downcast today?”⁸ They said to him, “We have had dreams, and there is no one to interpret them.” And Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Please tell them to me.”

⁹ So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, “In my dream there was a vine before me, ¹⁰ and on the vine there were three branches. As soon as it budded, its blossoms came out and the clusters ripened into grapes. ¹¹ Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.” ¹² Then Joseph said to him, “This is its interpretation: the three branches are three days; ¹³ within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office; and you shall place Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, just as you used to do when you were his cupbearer. ¹⁴ But remember me when it is well with you; please do me the kindness to make mention of me to Pharaoh, and so get me out of this place. ¹⁵ For in fact I was stolen out of the land of the Hebrews; and here also I have done nothing that they should have put me into the dungeon.”
¹⁶ When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was favorable, he said to Joseph, “I also had a dream: there were three cake baskets on my head, ¹⁷ and in the uppermost basket there were all sorts of baked food for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating it out of the basket on my head.” ¹⁸ And Joseph answered, “This is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days; ¹⁹ within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head—from you!—and hang you on a pole; and the birds will eat the flesh from you.”
²⁰ On the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, he made a feast for all his servants, and lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants. ²¹ He restored the chief cupbearer to his cupbearing, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand; ²² but the chief baker he hanged, just as Joseph had interpreted to them. ²³ Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.


             __________________________________________


"Do not interpretations belong to God?"  How many people have dreams that are given by God that are ignored because they have no one to interpret them?  How many people have the gift of interpreting dreams but do nothing with it because they don't recognize it as a gift.  How would you know if you had that gift?  Would you just have a hunch that you have always been tuned into dreams?  Would you have especially vibrant dreams or would your ears perk up when someone was talking?  Joseph had dreams that had not come to pass yet, but he was willing to boldly state the meaning of these two dreams...and they turn out to be correct...and he is still stuck in prison.  I wonder if these two successful interpretations were a gift from God to reassure him that his original dreams were still valid and true.

Genesis 39

Genesis 39

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife

39 Now Joseph was taken down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. ² The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man; he was in the house of his Egyptian master. ³ His master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord caused all that he did to prosper in his hands.⁴ So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him; he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had. ⁵ From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had, in house and field. ⁶ So he left all that he had in Joseph’s charge; and, with him there, he had no concern for anything but the food that he ate.

Now Joseph was handsome and good-looking. ⁷ And after a time his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.” ⁸ But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, with me here, my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my hand.⁹ He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except yourself, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” ¹⁰ And although she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not consent to lie beside her or to be with her.¹¹ One day, however, when he went into the house to do his work, and while no one else was in the house, ¹² she caught hold of his garment, saying, “Lie with me!” But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside. ¹³ When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside, ¹⁴ she called out to the members of her household and said to them, “See, my husband^[a] has brought among us a Hebrew to insult us! He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice; ¹⁵ and when he heard me raise my voice and cry out, he left his garment beside me, and fled outside.” ¹⁶ Then she kept his garment by her until his master came home, ¹⁷ and she told him the same story, saying, “The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought among us, came in to me to insult me; ¹⁸ but as soon as I raised my voice and cried out, he left his garment beside me, and fled outside.”
¹⁹ When his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, saying, “This is the way your servant treated me,” he became enraged. ²⁰ And Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined; he remained there in prison. ²¹ But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love; he gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer. ²² The chief jailer committed to Joseph’s care all the prisoners who were in the prison, and whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. ²³ The chief jailer paid no heed to anything that was in Joseph’s care, because the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made it prosper.

              ________________________________________________

Joseph must feel so confused.  It is clear to everyone that God is with him.  Everything that he touches is successful and blessed by God...except he's a slave and unjustly imprisoned.  Other than that, everything is working out great for him.  How would you reconcile that in your head?  You know that you have been faithful and that the Lord favors you.  You approach every task, no matter how menial, with a desire to do your best and yet you keep sinking lower in social status, from 2nd youngest son to slave to prisoner.  Do you stop trying?  Do you stop praying?  Do you stop hoping?  Do you simply keep on keeping on and believe that something good is coming?  Or do you just focus on the present and allow God to deal with the big picture while you take care of immediate concerns?  Fascinating.

Genesis 38

Genesis 38

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Judah and Tamar

38 It happened at that time that Judah went down from his brothers and settled near a certain Adullamite whose name was Hirah. ² There Judah saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua; he married her and went in to her. ³ She conceived and bore a son; and he named him Er.⁴ Again she conceived and bore a son whom she named Onan. ⁵ Yet again she bore a son, and she named him Shelah. She^[a] was in Chezib when she bore him. ⁶ Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn; her name was Tamar. ⁷ But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord put him to death. ⁸ Then Judah said to Onan, “Go in to your brother’s wife and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her; raise up offspring for your brother.” ⁹ But since Onan knew that the offspring would not be his, he spilled his semen on the ground whenever he went in to his brother’s wife, so that he would not give offspring to his brother. ¹⁰ What he did was displeasing in the sight of the Lord, and he put him to death also. ¹¹ Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Remain a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up”—for he feared that he too would die, like his brothers. So Tamar went to live in her father’s house.

¹² In course of time the wife of Judah, Shua’s daughter, died; when Judah’s time of mourning was over,^[b] he went up to Timnah to his sheepshearers, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite. ¹³ When Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep,” ¹⁴ she put off her widow’s garments, put on a veil, wrapped herself up, and sat down at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. She saw that Shelah was grown up, yet she had not been given to him in marriage. ¹⁵ When Judah saw her, he thought her to be a prostitute, for she had covered her face.¹⁶ He went over to her at the roadside, and said, “Come, let me come in to you,” for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. She said, “What will you give me, that you may come in to me?”¹⁷ He answered, “I will send you a kid from the flock.” And she said, “Only if you give me a pledge, until you send it.” ¹⁸ He said, “What pledge shall I give you?” She replied, “Your signet and your cord, and the staff that is in your hand.” So he gave them to her, and went in to her, and she conceived by him. ¹⁹ Then she got up and went away, and taking off her veil she put on the garments of her widowhood.

²⁰ When Judah sent the kid by his friend the Adullamite, to recover the pledge from the woman, he could not find her. ²¹ He asked the townspeople, “Where is the temple prostitute who was at Enaim by the wayside?” But they said, “No prostitute has been here.” ²² So he returned to Judah, and said, “I have not found her; moreover the townspeople said, ‘No prostitute has been here.’” ²³ Judah replied, “Let her keep the things as her own, otherwise we will be laughed at; you see, I sent this kid, and you could not find her.”

²⁴ About three months later Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has played the whore; moreover she is pregnant as a result of whoredom.” And Judah said, “Bring her out, and let her be burned.” ²⁵ As she was being brought out, she sent word to her father-in-law, “It was the owner of these who made me pregnant.” And she said, “Take note, please, whose these are, the signet and the cord and the staff.” ²⁶ Then Judah acknowledged them and said, “She is more in the right than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not lie with her again.

²⁷ When the time of her delivery came, there were twins in her womb. ²⁸ While she was in labor, one put out a hand; and the midwife took and bound on his hand a crimson thread, saying, “This one came out first.” ²⁹ But just then he drew back his hand, and out came his brother; and she said, “What a breach you have made for yourself!” Therefore he was named Perez.^[c] 30 Afterward his brother came out with the crimson thread on his hand; and he was named Zerah.^[d]

                             ^{_______________________________________________________________}

When I was in Junior High, I memorized a lot of scripture as a part of our church's Bible Quiz group.  One of the passages that I memorized was the first chapter of Matthew...the genealogy of Jesus.  Abraham begat Isaac who begat Jacob who begat Judah and his brothers.  Judah begat Perez and Zerah of Tamar.  Perez begat Hezron who begat Ram who begat Nashon who begat Salmon...It goes on for some forty generations.  I still have most of it which is why I cannot remember what color my house walls are.  Anyway, the line of kings goes through this passage.  Judah and his sons behave poorly towards Tamar and so she takes matters into her own hands, making bad choices and risking her life in order to have children and grow her family.  It raises some uncomfortable questions.  Does God honor sinful acts (sleeping with someone you are not married to) done in response to abuses of power (not allowing her to have children)?  What Tamar did was wrong, yet Judah acknowledges that what he did was more wrong.  How many people are in jail, justly convicted of crimes, who will stand before God at the judgement and be acquitted because they were acting in response to someone else's abuses?  How many free men and women will be judged because they caused someone else to sin?  Unsettling to say the least.

genesis 37

Genesis 37

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Joseph Dreams of Greatness

37 Jacob settled in the land where his father had lived as an alien, the land of Canaan. ² This is the story of the family of Jacob.

Joseph, being seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers; he was a helper to the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father.³ Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he had made him a long robe with sleeves.^[a] 4 But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him.
⁵ Once Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. ⁶ He said to them, “Listen to this dream that I dreamed. ⁷ There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright; then your sheaves gathered around it, and bowed down to my sheaf.” ⁸ His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Are you indeed to have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more because of his dreams and his words.
⁹ He had another dream, and told it to his brothers, saying, “Look, I have had another dream: the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” ¹⁰ But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him, and said to him, “What kind of dream is this that you have had? Shall we indeed come, I and your mother and your brothers, and bow to the ground before you?” ¹¹ So his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.

Joseph Is Sold by His Brothers

¹² Now his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock near Shechem. ¹³ And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” He answered, “Here I am.” ¹⁴ So he said to him, “Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock; and bring word back to me.” So he sent him from the valley of Hebron.
He came to Shechem, ¹⁵ and a man found him wandering in the fields; the man asked him, “What are you seeking?” ¹⁶ “I am seeking my brothers,” he said; “tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock.” ¹⁷ The man said, “They have gone away, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers, and found them at Dothan. ¹⁸ They saw him from a distance, and before he came near to them, they conspired to kill him. ¹⁹ They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer.²⁰ Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; then we shall say that a wild animal has devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams.” ²¹ But when Reuben heard it, he delivered him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.” ²² Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him”—that he might rescue him out of their hand and restore him to his father. ²³ So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the long robe with sleeves^[b] that he wore; ²⁴ and they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.
²⁵ Then they sat down to eat; and looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels carrying gum, balm, and resin, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. ²⁶ Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? ²⁷ Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers agreed. ²⁸ When some Midianite traders passed by, they drew Joseph up, lifting him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.
²⁹ When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he tore his clothes. ³⁰ He returned to his brothers, and said, “The boy is gone; and I, where can I turn?” ³¹ Then they took Joseph’s robe, slaughtered a goat, and dipped the robe in the blood. ³² They had the long robe with sleeves^[c] taken to their father, and they said, “This we have found; see now whether it is your son’s robe or not.” ³³ He recognized it, and said, “It is my son’s robe! A wild animal has devoured him; Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces.” ³⁴ Then Jacob tore his garments, and put sackcloth on his loins, and mourned for his son many days. ³⁵ All his sons and all his daughters sought to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and said, “No, I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” Thus his father bewailed him. ³⁶ Meanwhile the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard.

            _________________________________________________

Jealousy makes you do stupid things.  Rachel and Leah have their feud passed on to their children.  Who does Jacob love more?  How can we change that?  To be fair, there is more than enough blame to go around for this scenario. Jacob's favoritism drives a wedge of bitterness and envy throughout his family. Joseph revels in the favor.  I have been around enough teenage guys to know that these two dreams are not the only times that Joseph marked his superiority to his brothers.  Arrogant and naive are a dangerous combination.  Even with all that, the brothers' actions are inexcusable.  You do not kill/sell your brother into slavery because he is young and dumb.  Maybe they are concerned that he will steal their inheritance like his father did, but if that were the case you would think Rueben would be at the front of the line to do away with Joseph.  Instead he is trying to save his little brother.  This simply comes down to jealousy and mistakenly believing that they could get their father to love them more if they removed his favorite son.

Genesis 36

Genesis 36

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Esau’s Descendants

36 These are the descendants of Esau (that is, Edom). ² Esau took his wives from the Canaanites: Adah daughter of Elon the Hittite, Oholibamah daughter of Anah son^[a] of Zibeon the Hivite, ³ and Basemath, Ishmael’s daughter, sister of Nebaioth. ⁴ Adah bore Eliphaz to Esau; Basemath bore Reuel; ⁵ and Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These are the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan.

⁶ Then Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the members of his household, his cattle, all his livestock, and all the property he had acquired in the land of Canaan; and he moved to a land some distance from his brother Jacob. ⁷ For their possessions were too great for them to live together; the land where they were staying could not support them because of their livestock. ⁸ So Esau settled in the hill country of Seir; Esau is Edom.
⁹ These are the descendants of Esau, ancestor of the Edomites, in the hill country of Seir. ¹⁰ These are the names of Esau’s sons: Eliphaz son of Adah the wife of Esau; Reuel, the son of Esau’s wife Basemath. ¹¹ The sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz. ¹² (Timna was a concubine of Eliphaz, Esau’s son; she bore Amalek to Eliphaz.) These were the sons of Adah, Esau’s wife. ¹³ These were the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These were the sons of Esau’s wife, Basemath. ¹⁴ These were the sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah, daughter of Anah son^[b] of Zibeon: she bore to Esau Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.

Clans and Kings of Edom

¹⁵ These are the clans^[c] of the sons of Esau. The sons of Eliphaz the firstborn of Esau: the clans^[d] Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz, ¹⁶ Korah, Gatam, and Amalek; these are the clans^[e] of Eliphaz in the land of Edom; they are the sons of Adah. ¹⁷ These are the sons of Esau’s son Reuel: the clans^[f] Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah; these are the clans^[g] of Reuel in the land of Edom; they are the sons of Esau’s wife Basemath. ¹⁸ These are the sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah: the clans^[h] Jeush, Jalam, and Korah; these are the clans^[i] born of Esau’s wife Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah. ¹⁹ These are the sons of Esau (that is, Edom), and these are their clans.^[j]
20 These are the sons of Seir the Horite, the inhabitants of the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, ²¹ Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan; these are the clans^[k] of the Horites, the sons of Seir in the land of Edom. ²² The sons of Lotan were Hori and Heman; and Lotan’s sister was Timna. ²³ These are the sons of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam. ²⁴ These are the sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah; he is the Anah who found the springs^[l] in the wilderness, as he pastured the donkeys of his father Zibeon. ²⁵ These are the children of Anah: Dishon and Oholibamah daughter of Anah. ²⁶ These are the sons of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran. ²⁷ These are the sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan. ²⁸ These are the sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran. ²⁹ These are the clans^[m] of the Horites: the clans^[n] Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, ³⁰ Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan; these are the clans^[o] of the Horites, clan by clan^[p] in the land of Seir.
³¹ These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom, before any king reigned over the Israelites. ³² Bela son of Beor reigned in Edom, the name of his city being Dinhabah. ³³ Bela died, and Jobab son of Zerah of Bozrah succeeded him as king. ³⁴ Jobab died, and Husham of the land of the Temanites succeeded him as king. ³⁵ Husham died, and Hadad son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the country of Moab, succeeded him as king, the name of his city being Avith. ³⁶ Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah succeeded him as king. ³⁷ Samlah died, and Shaul of Rehoboth on the Euphrates succeeded him as king. ³⁸ Shaul died, and Baal-hanan son of Achbor succeeded him as king. ³⁹ Baal-hanan son of Achbor died, and Hadar succeeded him as king, the name of his city being Pau; his wife’s name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, daughter of Me-zahab.
⁴⁰ These are the names of the clans^[q] of Esau, according to their families and their localities by their names: the clans^[r] Timna, Alvah, Jetheth, ⁴¹ Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon, ⁴² Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, ⁴³ Magdiel, and Iram; these are the clans^[s] of Edom (that is, Esau, the father of Edom), according to their settlements in the land that they held.

                         ___________________________________________________

So Esau did not do too poorly for himself.  The nation of the Edomites came from his line.  He was so prosperous that he and Jacob had to move away from each other because they caused too much impact on the land.  Isaac, just like his father, has two nations rise from his sons.  And Isaac, just like his father, only has one that stays true to his God.  Esau marries Canaanite women who bring their own traditions and idols.  He marries into Ishmael's line, which brings its own baggage.  We do not hear about Esau's relationship with God.  What we know is that the Edomites become a fierce and violent people, burning with rage against the Israelites  and becoming major slavers in the region.  Esau forfeited his birthright and had his blessing stolen, but his legacy could have, should have, been better than that.  He was an heir to God's promise and blessing.  He was not going to possess Canaan and become the chosen people, but he had access to God and could have left a legacy of faithfulness and obedience.  His descendents  could have blessed other nations instead of raiding and selling them into slavery.  Is all of this on Esau?  Of course not.  But you can see him setting the foundational tone that his heirs built upon.

Genesis 35

Genesis 35

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Jacob Returns to Bethel

35 God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel, and settle there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” ² So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you, and purify yourselves, and change your clothes; ³ then come, let us go up to Bethel, that I may make an altar there to the God who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.” ⁴ So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak that was near Shechem.

⁵ As they journeyed, a terror from God fell upon the cities all around them, so that no one pursued them. ⁶ Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him, ⁷ and there he built an altar and called the place El-bethel,^[a] because it was there that God had revealed himself to him when he fled from his brother. ⁸ And Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried under an oak below Bethel. So it was called Allon-bacuth.^[b]
9 God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Paddan-aram, and he blessed him. ¹⁰ God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; no longer shall you be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.” So he was called Israel. ¹¹ God said to him, “I am God Almighty:^[c] be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall spring from you. ¹² The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you.” ¹³ Then God went up from him at the place where he had spoken with him. ¹⁴ Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone; and he poured out a drink offering on it, and poured oil on it. ¹⁵ So Jacob called the place where God had spoken with him Bethel.

The Birth of Benjamin and the Death of Rachel

¹⁶ Then they journeyed from Bethel; and when they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel was in childbirth, and she had hard labor. ¹⁷ When she was in her hard labor, the midwife said to her, “Do not be afraid; for now you will have another son.” ¹⁸ As her soul was departing (for she died), she named him Ben-oni;^[d] but his father called him Benjamin.^[e] 19 So Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem), ²⁰ and Jacob set up a pillar at her grave; it is the pillar of Rachel’s tomb, which is there to this day. ²¹ Israel journeyed on, and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder.
²² While Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine; and Israel heard of it.
Now the sons of Jacob were twelve. ²³ The sons of Leah: Reuben (Jacob’s firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. ²⁴ The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. ²⁵ The sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s maid: Dan and Naphtali. ²⁶ The sons of Zilpah, Leah’s maid: Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan-aram.

The Death of Isaac

²⁷ Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had resided as aliens. ²⁸ Now the days of Isaac were one hundred eighty years. ²⁹ And Isaac breathed his last; he died and was gathered to his people, old and full of days; and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

                     _______________________________________

   I feel sad reading this passage.  I am getting a sense of how alone Jacob must feel.  He loses his father.  He loses his wife.  His eldest son betrays him.  The family has to move again.  It is clear that God is for him, protecting and blessing him in many, many ways.  But within his community, he is clearly a stranger in a strange land with destruction held off only by the hand of God.  He is being faithful in the midst of that reality: erecting altars, removing foreign gods and honoring God's words.  The promise invites him to believe that they will inherit this land and become a nation...right now they are only a few dozen people living among strangers.  It takes a lot of faith to believe when promise is that far removed from reality, especially when you are becoming more and more isolated.