Genesis 37-38

Notes compiled with my BSF group and from Bible study with Pastor Damian Kyle

"This is the history of Jacob" (Genesis 37:2)

Although the rest of Genesis focuses much on Joseph, it ultimately has to do with Jacob and his legacy.

Back in Genesis 15, God told Abraham that his people would spend 400 years in the foreign land before He would bring them back to the land of Canaan.

Why did God take Abraham and his family out of Canaan and into Egypt for that period of time?

1. To wait for the iniquities of the Amorites to become completed in Canaan

2. To protect His people
At this period in time, Jacob's family was small, in terms of a nation (70 males are not enough to fill even a village). Any nation in Canaan could have easily overtaken them. And so, they were guided into Egypt for protection. Would Egypt absorb the Hebrews? Most likely not. Egyptians were very proud of their heritage and would have never thought of intermingling with "immigrants," which makes Egypt a safer haven for God's people than anywhere else. The rest of Genesis describes how God brings His people into Egypt.

3. To develop them from a family into a nation
They entered into Egypt as a family and came out as a nation -- a population of millions of people.



"Joseph brought a bad report of them to his father" (Genesis 37:2)

Some people take this to say that Joseph was being a "snitch." Others say he was doing the right thing--tending flocks was his family's livelihood. By doing a horrible job, the brothers were putting his family at risk, and Joseph reported this to his father with the heart to save the family, as opposed to get his brothers in trouble.

My thoughts?

1. It makes sense
Based on the rest of Joseph's story in the Bible, it makes sense that Joseph was just doing the right thing. He was protecting his family's livelihood. This shows the integrity of Joseph, and integrity among people who are immoral generally does not lead to happy endings.

2. However, people grow and mature
So, Joseph could have been immature as all children are, but then he matured into the role that God intended for him to be--as supported by the rest of Joseph's biography. I don't hold this view, because most pastors say that Joseph and Daniel were the two men (other than Jesus) in the entire Bible in which nothing bad was said about them. Further, Leviticus 5:1 details one of the Laws of Moses that one cannot keep silence when something wrong is being done that would hurt the people.

3. At the end of the day, we don't know how it went down. Only God and Joseph know Joseph's heart.
So, speculate all we want, but it's important to remember that it's all just speculation. 


"Jacob loved Joseph more than all his children" (Genesis 37:3)

Jacob committed the same sins that his parents also committed: favoritism. Worse, he went on to make it very well known of his preference for Joseph, such as that colorful coat. If Joseph's brothers didn't like him because of his righteousness, they certainly wouldn't like him any better now.

Jacob's favoritism toward Joseph led to intense jealousy among the brothers. The brothers thus plotted against their father and staged Joseph's death while selling him as a slave into Egypt instead. In short, because of his favoritism for Joseph, Jacob lost Joseph.


GOD GIVES JOSEPH DREAMS (Genesis 37:5-11)

God gave these dreams to Joseph to encourage him
The road ahead of Joseph would prove to be a very difficult one: He would be sold as a slave into Egypt; his father would not come after him because he would be left assumed dead for more than 20 years; he would be accused of a crime he did not commit. However, God is moving Joseph into position to save His people. Joseph would become the second most powerful man in Egypt, so that he would be in place to save His people from a severe famine. To encourage Joseph, to help him see the endpoint, God gave Joseph powerful revelations of what is to come.

Matthew 7:6
Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces. 

Do not share sacred things with people who do not have the heart to understand or comprehend. Such people will only ruin God-given treasures just to make our lives miserable.

Joseph's brothers would bow down to him
It wasn't enough that Joseph was the favored son. He even received visions that his brothers would bow down to him.
His brothers wanted to kill Joseph because of his visions.


JOSEPH IS SOLD TO THE EGYPTIANS (Genesis 37:12-36)

Jacob sends Joseph to find his brothers
When Joseph didn't find his brothers where Jacob thought they would be, he went the "extra mile" to find out where they could have gone and went there to find them.

We learn something here:
1. Joseph is obedient to his father's wishes
2. When Joseph's brothers lied to Jacob about Joseph's death, we can only imagine how difficult Jacob must have felt--the doubts that could have gone through his head: "If only I hadn't sent Jacob to find his brothers!" And how does this speak of the heart of Joseph's brothers? That they could bear to have their father deal with this great a sorrow and guilt all those years?

Reuben and Judah save Joseph from immediate death
As Joseph's life unfolds through the rest of Genesis, we will see how blessings will be given accordingly.

Joseph is a type of Jesus
Like Jesus, Joseph was rejected by his own family/people.
Like Jesus, Joseph was betrayed for money.
Like Jesus, Joseph was found guilty when he was completely innocent.
Like Jesus, Joseph brought salvation for his family/people. 

Jesus is the greater Joseph, for He didn't just save His family or a nation; He saved all humanity, abolished sin, and conquered death.

God uses everything and anything to His will
It is naive and silly to think that it might be necessary for Joseph’s brothers to sell him to Egypt and endure all the hardship he endured so that he could have the chance to grow and mature spiritually. It is based on this same logic that people conclude that without Judas, there wouldn't be Jesus. 

We need to realize that God’s Will will be done. Period. There is NO ONE who can prevent it from happening. Not Satan. And certainly not man. 

If we abide by God's will, then our lives will be blessed. We will be able to take part in fulfilling God’s will. Look at Joseph.

If we choose to go against God's will, our lives will be cursed. Look what happened to Satan. Look what happened to Judas Iscariot. 

Man may think we can hinder God's will, but in reality, God always uses what we do to fulfill His will. Jesus would have died on that cross to wash away our sins with or without Judas. Read the Scripture carefully, and we will realize that Jesus permitted Himself to be caught and hung on the cross. That is, Jesus' hanging was carried out on God's schedule, not man's! The Pharisees had several opportunities to capture Jesus, yet Jesus always somehow manage to slip away. On the night of Jesus' capture, Jesus announced to His Twelve Apostles that He already knew the one who would betray Him. That pushed Judas to either act that night or never at all. Clearly, Judas made the wrong decision. But that's not the point. The point is, God's will proceeds whether we abide by Him or not. Our only choice is do we want to be on His side working toward His will or on Satan's side working against God's will.

Similarly, it was God's will that Joseph's brothers would bow down to him, that Joseph would deliver his people. Did God need the help of Joseph's brothers to move His will forward? Let us not be so naive. God created the entire universe. If God wanted to place Joseph in the place of power, no man could prevent that.

Joseph's heart was close to God from the beginning. He stood for righteousness, and he never left God--and God never left him. Because of his love for God, God was able to use Joseph, and Joseph was able to conquer all the extreme challenges he faced through his life. Because Joseph never left God, God was able to lead Joseph into greatness.

Even though Joseph was mistreated by his brothers and the people around him, God was able to use Joseph's circumstances and guide Joseph to become the second most powerful person in Egypt.


When we are in a difficult situation, we may feel like God has abandoned us or that He doesn't care. However, God loves us and is always looking out for us--Otherwise, why would He sacrifice His only Son to save us?

Difficulties in our lives are often the result of the following things:
1. Satan is trying to trip us up: Example, Job.
2. God is disciplining us: Example, Paul.
3. Life happens: Example, When I trip and fall.

When we immediately doubt the love of God, we have just pushed away our only source of support!

If Satan is trying to trip us up, and we push God away, who else can help us against Satan?

If God is trying to teach us or discipline us, and we push God away, how will we ever learn? How will we ever mature in the Word of God?

If it’s just bad luck, and we immediately push God away, how deep is our faith? Do we expect God to prevent every little mistake from our lives? Even kids know that in order to learn how to ride a bike, we all have to fall a couple of times. If we are never given the chance to fall, how do we ever learn to stand? Why would we expect our walk with God to be different?

Hence, whenever we are in a difficult situation, the FIRST thing we should do is SEEK God. Not run away. Like Joseph, we should never lose our focus on God. If Joseph had lost that focus, God would have not been able to work through Joseph, and Joseph would have never become the savior God had intended Joseph become.

And of course, always keep in mind that God’s Will will be done. Whether we are in a good position or in a bad position, God has a way of guiding us through it all to reach our final destination. No matter where we are in life, we should never give up; we should never stop looking to God.



JUDAH VEERS OFF THE PATH OF GOD (Genesis 38)

Genesis 38 uses Judah as the representative of the family of Jacob to show how Jacob’s family is veering off the path of God, showing us why it was necessary that God moved to place Joseph on the path of training him to provide a way out for his family, the family that would bring forth the Messiah.

Jacob's family, instead of bringing God's way to the people, started to adopt non-godly habits of the gentiles around them instead.

Example 1: Sons of Judah found no favor in the eyes of the Lord
Both Judah’s first two sons died because they did not walk with God. It is important to note that Onan was struck dead not because of "contraception" issues but because of deception and manipulation. The wife of Onan's brother made herself available to him solely for the purpose of birthing an heir, but he abused that trust by satisfying his own carnal needs and sabotaging the actual deed.

Example 2: Judah followed paganistic practices
During the season of sheering sheep, which was considered a harvest, it was a religious ritual for the Canaanites to engage in sexual intercourse with the temple prostitutes to ensure fertility for their sheep the following year. Instead of worshiping only God, Judah worshiped other gods, committing a sin that God deems an abomination. He also participated in sinful sexual activities that were clearly commanded by God as a sin against the marital covenant.

God's heart is especially tender toward widows and the poor
Like Ruth (Ruth 1), Tamar was widowed and childless. The life of a widow and childless woman was very difficult back then in the sense that she had no one to provide for her. (It's not like women could go out and get a job in those days.) Widowed and childless women thus often ended up on the streets and left destitute.

Like Rahab (Joshua 2), Tamar was a harlot who saved God's people. Tamar helped Judah realize his sin and guided him back toward the path of righteousness. 

God's love for Gentiles, women, the destitute can be seen through Tamar and Rahab. These two women were both included in the genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1)!


CHRISTIANS ARE PERSECUTED SO THAT EVIL CAN FLOURISH

From Joseph's early life, we see that living righteously often do not land us in enviable situations. Christians shine God's truth to people. Some embrace it and repent, whereas others hate it and reject it. Those who hate God's Word reject it because God's truth tells them that they can no longer live the way they do, that they can no longer live in sin. Instead of repenting and turning to God, however, these people focus on shutting the Christians up. They persecute Christians to prevent the spread of the Gospel all because they can go back to living in their sin without being reminded of their guilty conscience.

From Joseph's early life, we should also learn that the only way to endure persecution is by relying on God. Persecution is one of Satan's many methods to knock Christians off the path of righteousness, to sever our intimate relationship with God. Persecution is a direct attack from Satan to weaken our faith so that we would surrender and give up. If we go up against Satan on our own, then yes, we will certainly fail. However, if we continue to rely on God, as Joseph has shown us how to, we will endure. God will guide us through the pain and deliver us to His glory.