Genesis 39 - 40

 To be a great leader you need to be trained.  Joseph’s father, Jacob tried to spare Joseph from responsibilities of work and treated him special.  God knew Joseph could never be the kind of leader God wanted until he learned to be a servant.  God used sufferings and disciplines in Joseph’s life to prepare him to become the second ruler over all of Egypt while having a servant’s heart. 

Genesis 39 – The Faithfulness of Joseph

After Joseph’s brothers sold him to a caravan of Midianites.  He was bought by Potiphar who was one of the Pharaoh’s officials and brought to Egypt as a slave, but God hadn’t abandoned Joseph.  God’s divine plan positioned Joseph in Potiphar’s house.  There Potiphar realized that the Lord was with Joseph.  He saw that Joseph had many skills, was responsible and capable.  Everything he did was successful so he was given authority over everything in Potiphar’s house.  God’s promise to Abraham was happening.  ”I will bless those who bless you….” – Gen. 12:3. 

If you want to be great in God’s kingdom, learn to be the servant of all (Matt. 20:26).  Jesus has many titles, but one of the most meaningful is Servant of the Lord (Matt. 12:18).  By choosing to be a servant for God you will see many blessings.  Joseph was a servant and a slave, but free.  His brothers were free, but slaves to their secrets, lies, shame, and guilt.

Potiphar trusted Joseph.  Joseph also impressed Potiphar’s wife.  He was well-build and handsome and she wanted to sleep with him.  Remember Joseph was a slave and slaves had little choice in the something their masters wanted, but Joseph knew God does not permit such behavior.  She tempted him day after day, but refused her.  She became very angry.  On day she lied and said he tried to rape her.  Instead of Potiphar putting Joseph to death, he put him in prison probably because he really didn’t believe his wife.  He knew what kind or person she was and what kind of man Joseph was.

Joseph, like Jesus, didn’t defend himself.  Instead he suffered for someone else’s sin.  Jesus resisted all temptation and was punished for the sins others.  He is our example and hope when we fall into temptation.

This story of Joseph and the Potiphar’s wife sounds like a soap opera.  Obviously, this story is intended to teach us the importance of fleeing sexual immorality.  Joseph is proof that we can be morally pure in a polluted world. 

How can we resist the temptation to sin?  Be like Joseph.  Be aware of your situation and where you are vulnerable.  Be aware of how temptation works.  Make a commitment to purity and integrity in all of life.  Be focused on your responsibilities and not on your own needs.  Then when tempted, run!

The enemy loves to temp God’s people.  He lives to temp those who say they love God.  That was Joseph.  Temptation is to be refused.  We are to flee or run from it.  We all have temptations day after day just like Joseph.  Our temptations may not be sexual in nature, but they are temptations.  “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man.  And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.  But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.“ – 1 Cor. 10:13.  God provided Joseph a way to escape as He does for all of us, but it’s up to us to take it.

Again Joseph got what he didn’t deserve.  He was sent to prison.  God had blessed him in the pit and as a slave and God continued to bless him in prison.  Nothing could change God’s plan for Joseph’s life.  God was with him and caused the prison guard to like Joseph.  The prison guard put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners. 

Can others trust you?

Do others recognize that God is with you?

Do you work as if you are working for the Lord?

What do you do when you are tempted?

Lessons from Genesis 39:

God is always with His faithful. – Gen. 39:2, 3, 21, 23

Proper service to your master brings grace and promotion. – Gen. 39:4

Faithful servants can be trusted. – Gen. 39:6

Even the faithful face temptation. – Gen. 39:7

God’s faithful can resist temptation – Gen. 39:8

When we sin, we sin against God. – Gen. 39:8-9

Temptation can be persistent. – Gen. 39:10

God always provides a way to escape sin. – Gen. 39:12

When evil people don’t get what they want, they often lie. – Gen. 39:16-20

The righteous can overcome bad circumstances by righteous living. – Gen 39:21-22

Through the discipline of service Joseph proved to be faithful in the small things so that God could promote him to greater things.

Principle:  God uses suffering and discipline to prepare us for great things.

Genesis 40 – The Cupbearer and the Baker

The king’s cupbearer and baker had offended the king so they were put in prison where they met Joseph.  (A cupbearer is the wine taster for the king.)  Joseph saw that they were sad and depressed.  It was not being in prison that made them sad, but their dreams.  God can always find a way to trouble the sinner’s spirit.  Joseph was not consumed with anger, bitterness or self-pity because he was in prison.  Prison didn’t stop him from serving people.  He was kind and compassionate and saw that they were clearly disturbed by their dreams and he desired to interpret them.  This shows the heart of Joseph. 

They asked if there was anyone who could interpret their dreams.  Joseph reminded them that the interpretations of dreams belong to God and they should tell their dreams to Joseph.  His eagerness to hear and interpret the dreams reveals Joseph’s trust in God and confidence of His love and care for him.  The cupbearer’s eagerness shows that he sensed God’s closeness to Joseph.  When you live a holy life, others notice.

Joseph interpreted the cupbearer’s dream telling him he would be found innocent and would be restored to his office in three days.  He asked the cupbearer to remember him and show him kindness so he could get out of prison.  Joseph interpreted the baker’s dream telling him he would be found guilty and in three days and Pharaoh would cut off his head. 

The dreams came to pass just a Joseph had said.  On the third day the baker’s head was cut off and the cupbearer was restored to his previous position in Pharaoh’s house.  However, the cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.  He may have forgotten Joseph, but God never did.

Joseph was wronged again.  Joseph was left in prison two more years.  This must have been the darkest days of Joseph’s life, but this was part of God’s plan.  The time had not come for Joseph to go back to Pharaoh’s house.  We think that God works slowly and we become impatient, but God knows the best time for things to happen in our lives.  He is in control and it will happen when He says it will.

The cupbearer may have been a terrible person, self-absorbed, or totally ungrateful by forgetting Joseph’s kindness.  We blame the chief cupbearer’s ingratitude to Joseph, yet we ourselves act much more ungratefully to the Lord Jesus.  We should never forget the sufferings, promises and love of our Redeemer.

How has God been kind to you when others have not?

Are you available to those around you who are down?

Will you ask why they are so sad?

Are you willing to share the truth even if it is hard to hear?

Do others see you living a holy life?

Do you sometimes feel that God has forgotten you?  The Lord will never leave you.  Maybe you have left the Lord.  If you have left the Lord, He is calling you back.  He wants to forgive you, but you must first ask Him.

God used all those years preparing Joseph to be content regardless of what was going on around him.  God’s presence in our suffering purifies us.  If your hope is in God, you will not be focused on self-pity, but on serving Him by serving others like Joseph did.  Our disappointments take away hope in ourselves and in others.  The only thing left is hope in God.   He uses our disappointments so our only hope is in Him.

You may be experiencing a sour marriage, a rebellious child, a job loss, or a betrayal of friend.  Let’s be real.  People disappoint us in many ways and even mistreat us.  They can be selfish and uncaring.  You can grow bitter and angry and blame them for your problems of you can trust the sovereign God and rejoice in His grace toward you.  They will stand before God for how they’ve treated you and you will give an account for your attitude and response to them.  So be loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, and kind. 

Principles: 

God is always sovereign, even when it seems He has forgotten you.

God uses disappointments so our only hope is in Him.

We see a foreshadowing of the mission of Jesus.  Through his own death and resurrection on the third day, the same day the cupbearer was restored to his position, Jesus came to set the captives free from their prison.  He set people free from the prison of the curse of sin and death.  Joseph shows us Jesus with a message from God.  He brings life or death.  Joseph’s words rescued one prisoner and not the other.  Jesus’ words brings a message that rescues all.

Join me here next week for the next chapter in Genesis.  -- I encourage you to trust in Jesus.

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Genesis 37 - 38

Genesis 37 – Betrayal 

In this chapter we see God’s great power is at work in the events of Joseph’s life.  God used him to fulfill His purpose for Israel and the world.  Jacob made the Promise Land his home.  His son Joseph was Jacob’s favorite because he was born to him in his old age.  Joseph’s brothers were very jealous, which turned into hate for Joseph.  This turned quickly into attempted murder.  Jacob should have remembered how he felt when his father, Isaac loved his brother Esau more than him and all the problems that occurred because of it.

It is human nature to love some more than others.  This is wrong.  We should not hate anyone, but hate the evil and the sin they do.  We should always love the person.  Jacob showed favoritism between his cons.  Jacob loved his son, Joseph so much that he even made him a richly ornamented robe.  How do you think his brothers felt about that?

Showing favoritism is prohibited in Scripture.  It is inconsistent with God’s character.  Favoritism is a sin.  “For God does not show favoritism.” - Romans 2:11.  “My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don’t show favoritism.” - James 2:1.  “If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, you are doing right.  But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.” – James 2:8-9.  Other Scriptures on favoritism are: Col. 3:25, 2 Chron. 19:7, Deut. 10:17, Gal. 3:27-28. Acts 10:34-36, 1 Tim. 5:21 and I could go on.

Favoritism is when you choose a person or thing because of some merit or worth, but Romans 3:23 tells us that all have sinned and fall short of God’s requirements.  None of us deserve God’s favor, but He gives grace to us all. 

Are you guilty of favoritism?  We tend to put people categories by what clothing they wear, the kind of car they drive, the kind of house they live in, their social status, and even their race.  When we do these kinds of things, we are acting contrary to God’s values.  As Christians we are supposed to be imitators of Christ.

Principle:  God does not show favoritism, but accepts all people.

Joseph brought a bad report to his father about his brothers.  Notice Jacob is now called Israel, which was the name God gave him when he became mature in his faith.  Joseph probably thought he was doing the right thing.  If the brothers were doing a bad job at tending the flocks, his family’s livelihood would be at risk.  This showed he had integrity.  However, this was a bad idea, because this made his brothers hate him all the more.  “When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.” – Prov. 10:9.  “He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity.” – Prov. 21:23.

Joseph had a dream that he would be the heir of blessings and boasted this to his brothers.  This made them hate him all the more.  Then he had another dream and boasted about it, too.  In this dream the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to him.  The eleven stars were his brothers.  Now they were even more jealous of him.

One day Israel told Joseph to find his brothers and the flocks they were tending and bring them back.  Joseph was obedient.  He went to find them, but they were not where they were supposed to be so he traveled further and found them.  As Joseph approached they plotted to kill him.  Rueben and Judah convinced the other brothers to not kill him.  Instead they put him in a well so he couldn’t escape.  Joseph probably screamed and cried for them to let him go, but they wouldn’t listen.  Judah suggested they sell Joseph into slavery.  Then, when a caravan of Midianites came by, they sold him for 20 shekels.  They took his robe and soaked it in goat’s blood and took it to their father.  “We found this.  Examine it to see whether it is your son’s robe”. – Gen. 37:32.  Israel assumed a wild animal had killed Joseph.  He was deceived just as he had deceived his brother, Esau in the past.  Then the caravan of Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, an official of the Pharaoh.

Life is not always easy.  We all endure hardships.  God always uses those hardships to bring about His perfect will. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” – Rom. 8:28.  As you look back at your past, I am sure you can see that God’s hand was there.

Joseph was mistreated by his brothers, but God was always with him.  God used Joseph and guided him to be the second most powerful person in Egypt as we will see in later chapters.  Joseph reminds us of Jesus.  Both were rejected by his own people, both were betrayed for money, both were found guilty when they were innocent, both brought salvation to their people.  Jesus was greater and willing gave His life.  He saved all humanity by His death on the cross.

Are you or your family involved in ungodly behavior?

Do you hold envy or bitterness to someone in your family or in your church?

What mistreatment are you enduring?

Do you feel God’s presence?

Do you treat each of your children the same or do you have a favorite?

Principle:  Sometimes God uses hardships to bring about His perfect will.

Genesis 38 – Tamara and Judah

Judah left his brothers.  Perhaps he had enough of his family.  Maybe it was also because of his guilt and all the pain he caused his father who thought Joseph was dead.  So Judah went one way and Joseph another.

Judah married a Canaanite and she bore a son, Er who married a woman named Tamar.  Er was very wicked and the Lord put him to death.  It was the custom that if a man dies and leaves behind a widow with no heirs, then the brother of the deceased would marry his brother’s widow and have children so that the legacy would be massed down.

Judah told his son, Onan to take Tamar and produce offspring for his brother.  Onan was greedy and wanted his brother’s share of the inheritance so he lay with her but refused to have a child with her.  So he spilled his semen on the ground.  This was also wicked in the Lord’s sight so he was put to death.  Judah ignored the sins of his two sons and blamed Tamar for their deaths.  He was not going to lose another so he told her to wait until his son Shelah grew up, hoping Shelah would escape his duty to marry her.  Instead of providing for her, he sent her away to live as a widow in her father’s house.

After a long while Judah’s wife died and Tamar realized Judah wasn’t going to honor her marriage to Shelah.  One day Judah went to where the men were shearing sheep.  When Tamar heard this, she dressed as a prostitute covering her face and waited for him on the road to deceive him.  She was determined to be part of God’s people.  Of course her methods were not right.  He slept with her and she conceived twin boys.  Since her face was covered, Judah didn’t know it was Tamar.  She kept his seal, cord, and staff in order to later prove he was the father. 

Three months later Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law, Tamar is guilty of prostitution, and as a result she is now pregnant.” - Gen. 38:24.  Judah said to bring her to him so he could put her to death.  This was his opportunity to get out of giving her as a wife to Shelah.  She sent a message to Judah, “I am pregnant by the man who owns these… see if you recognize whose seal and cord and staff these are.” – Gen. 38:25.  Judah recognized them and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I wouldn’t give her to my son Shelah.” – Gen. 38:26.  These words reminded Judah of almost exactly the words he and his brothers used to deceive Jacob about the bloody coat they showed their father.  Judah repented quickly and accepted sole blame declaring Tamar righteous.  He accepted her sons, Perez and Zerah as his own.

We see the wonderful grace of God at work in Judah’s life.  Judah was willing to betray his younger brother and sell him into slavery, but wasn’t willing to kill him.  He was willing to confess that he did wrong in his dealings with Tamar.  Later we will see when he dealt with Joseph as governor of Egypt.  He was willing to give up his freedom and even his life for the sake of his brother Benjamin, and to save his father Jacob from grief over loss of another son.  This story of Judah and Tamar magnifies the wonderful grace of God.

Do you accept responsibility when you have done wrong?

Have you repented of your sins?

Do you wish to be part of God’s family?

God’s grace covered both Judah and Tamar’s sin and gave them a place in the Messiah's family.  Tamar is 1 of 4 women recorded in the lineage of Jesus.  “Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar” – Matt. 1:3.  God’s grace is greater than all our sins.  His grace shines clearly in this story of a pagan woman named Tamar.  His grace extends to all people who like Tamar want to be part of God’s family.

Principle:  God works in the worst circumstances of our lives to accomplish His purposes and to transform our character.

Sometimes we wonder why some of these stories are in God’s Word.  We have to remember it’s the ultimate story about God and His grace.  Tamar’s story is used by God to continue the line of the birth of our Savior.  Remember He is working with very imperfect humans to ccomplish His will, purpose and mission for His glory and for our salvation. 

This story is a reminder of how depraved and wicked we are and how completely gracious God is.  The story is a reminder that God’s plans will always be done and that He doesn’t chose anyone based on their own merit.  He chose an idolatrous man to begin a nation in Abraham.  He chose a greedy, brother-selling whoremonger man in Judah who is both father and grandfather to be the ancestor of King Jesus.

If we are saved and call ourselves a Christian, it’s not because of anything we did to deserve it.   We are greedy, idolatrous, selfish prostitutes and whoremongers.  Yet God reaches down from heaven with His sovereign grace and saves us anyway.

God is for all, no matter what we’ve done or where we’ve been.  He loves us.  We can come to Him in the middle of our sin and be made clean.  God saves us and restores us to a right, holy relationship with Him.  There is nothing you have done that God hasn’t seen or that will keep you from coming to Him with a sincere heart that longs for Him.  He will meet you right where you are and restore you to Himself.  So what are you waiting for?  He’s waiting for you.

Join me here next week for the next chapter in Genesis.  -- I encourage you to trust in Jesus.

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Genesis 34 - 36

Genesis 34:1-31 – Trouble in Shechem

God’s desires for his people to be holy and live separate from the world.  Shechem was prominent city and not where Jacob was supposed to be.  He had traveled over 500 miles and had only 50 miles to go to Bethel, where God told him to go.  He bought land and settled there in Shechem for 10 years.  Delayed obedience is disobedience and outside God’s will.  It was a land of wicked and sinful people and a land of idol worshippers.  Jacob’s family was under great influence from Shechem.  In chapter 34 there is no mention of God, only evil.

Jacob did the very same thing Lot had done.  Lot settled in Sodom and we know what kind of place that was.  One day Jacob and Leah’s daughter, Dinah went to visit the women in the city of Shechem.  It was probably an alluring place as the world is today for our children even those from Christian homes.  A man named Shechem (who had the same name as the city) let his lust get the best of him and he raped Dinah.  “When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the ruler of that area, saw her, he took her and violated her.” – Gen. 34:2.  The scripture was clear.  She was raped.  This might have been avoided, if she had not been allowed to go there alone.  It was very dangerous in that day for women to be alone.  Shechem had no sense of doing anything wrong.  It was their culture to take what they wanted.   

Then Shechem wanted to marry Dinah, but he needed her family’s approval.  His father, Hamor after seeing Jacob and all his wealth, wanted his people to intermarry with Jacob’s people.  Her brothers, Simeon and Levi became very anger when they heard about what had happened to Dinah.  They let their emotions get out of control and took matters into their own hands.  They made a cruel plot pretending Shechem could marry Dinah and all their daughters could intermarry with the men of Shechem.  First, all the men had to be circumcised.  The men agreed.  While the men were still hurting and could not fight, Simeon and Levi attacked them killing every man and looted the city.  They took their flocks and carried off all their wealth including their women and children.  The men, women and children of the town were innocent and not responsible for what happened to Dinah. 

Principle:  Settling outside God’s will engages with evil and endangers others.

The people of God were behaving just like the people around them.  What Jacob’s sons did was very wrong, but two wrongs don’t make a right.  What Shechem did was nothing compared to the brutality of Jacob‘s sons.  They used their religion to trick and slaughter, loot their goods and take their wives and children as slaves.  All this could have been avoided if Jacob had gone to Bethel as God had told him and not stayed gone to Shechem.  God wants us to separate ourselves from the world and not live as the world lives. – 2 Cor. 6:17-18.

Jacob was unhappy about his son’s behavior, because they had acted wickedly.  Jacob’s family was not using their special identity as God’s people.  Now Jacob’s whole family was in danger.  Jacob’s sons did not respect God by using circumcision to their advantage.  They used it to take revenge instead of using it as a covenant with God.      

God’s judgment to Simeon and Levi was revealed on Jacob’s deathbed in Genesis 49.  They didn’t escape the consequences of their evil, but would suffer judgment.  They were cursed and would receive no inheritance.  They would be scattered throughout Israel.  However, later the Levites moved into obedience to God, but still had no inherited land.  They became Israel’s tribe of priests.

No one in this story was innocent.  Dinah let her desires lure her to visit the sinful city alone, which was a dangerous thing to do.  Hamor and Shechem wronged her.  Jacob should have done more about the situation, but he seemed more worried about his own safety.  The behavior of Simeon and Levi was the worst.  They were very angry and took revenge.  They were cruel to the men in Shechem and then murdered them.  They certainly didn’t behave like people of God.

Jacob’s sons took revenge for what happened to Dinah.  God’s people should not take revenge.  That’s God’s job.  “Do not repay anyone evil for evil.  Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody.  If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.  Do not take revenge my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord.” – Rom. 12:17-19.  It’s not a sin to be angry.  It’s how you handle it that can become sin.

Where are you compromising God’s Word?

How are you resisting the world?

How is disobedience compromising your family?

When someone wrongs you, do you take revenge or do you leave it for God? 

Do you take polite revenge?

Do you do what is right in the eyes of others?                                                         

Genesis 35:1-15 – Renewal by Repentance

There are murdered people everywhere, Dinah is violated and Jacob is silent.  They didn’t deserve God’s grace, but God remained faithful to Jacob and his family line.  God wanted to pull Jacob out of the pit and restore his relationship with Him.  God reminded Jacob the last time he messed up and Jacob recognized his mistakes.  God gave him 2 commands:  go to Bethel and to settle there and make an altar to Him. 

Jacob served God, but it seems his family did not.  They used idols.  Before they went to Bethel Jacob told them,   “Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes.” – Gen 35:2.  They had to choose between God and their idols.  So they gave them up and repented.  They all journeyed to Bethel.  God’s pure grace protected and preserved Jacob and his family by sending terror to the towns all around them so no one would pursue them for the wrong his sons had done.

We all have idols whether we realize it or not.  An idol can be anything we desire in place of God.  Where you spend most of your time, money and energy can be an idol.  It could be your job, your children, your hobbies, your money or your pleasure.  “Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.” – 1 John 5:21. 

What do you need to be cleansed of?

Where do you spend most of your time?

What is keeping you from recognizing your idols?

Have you repented of your sins?

If so, how has God blessed you?

When Jacob returned to Bethel we read that Rebekah’s nurse, Deborah had died. (Gen. 35:8)  Why are we told about the woman?  We don’t know why she is mentioned other than she was a lifetime loyal servant to the family.  She had been with Rebekah since birth.  She traveled with her when she went to marry Isaac.  She was highly regarded by the whole family.

Maybe we’re told about her because servants of all kinds are very important.  Servants must be truthful, faithful, and obedient.  Christians are servants for God and have a sense of responsibility to God which makes us willingly to do His work.  If that describes you, you are special.  Are you a faithful servant to God?  Jesus is called the Servant of the Lord.  When Jesus came to earth, He took on the role of a servant.  He had come to serve and to give his life as a ransom many. (Matt. 20:28)

God appeared to Jacob again and blessed him.  God re-established His covenant promise and reminded him of his new name, Israel.  Jacob set up a stone pillar and worshipped God as He had been directed.  What a contrast from chapter 34 and 35 – from evil to God’s grace.  When Jacob was at his lowest, God called his name to come back to Him.  Jesus came to earth to pay the price for our sins.  His death gives us salvation from sin and power over sin.  We all sin and when we fall, God desires us to come back to Him.

Principle:  Repentance results in a fresh revelation of God.

Sometime it’s difficult to understand God’s purposes for Jacob.  Why was he so special?  He was a deceiver, a liar, a scheming scoundrel and missed up time and again.  In spite of his repeated failures, God renewed His covenant with him.  God delights in giving grace to great sinners.  He loves to save people out of brokenness and chaos so He can get all the glory.  God still chooses people like Jacob.  He chose you and me so He will gain all the glory in Jesus Christ.

If you have fallen in your faith, it’s not too late to return.  God is there waiting for you.  He loves you and misses you very much.  There is nothing you have done or can do that will turn away God’s forgiveness.  So get out of you spiritual slump and get encouraged from God’s Word.  It may not be easy, but you can take refuge in the help of God.

Genesis 35:16-29 – Deaths of Rachel and Isaac 

Rachel gave birth to another son, Benjamin and then she died.  Benjamin was the only son born in the Promise Land.  Reuben, the oldest son wanted to be the next family leader and grab the family inheritance so he had sex with Bilhah who was Jacob’s concubine.  Jacob knew this was wrong, but he could not control his adult sons.  Jacob decided Reuben must not receive the birthright.  Instead, he gave it to Joseph.

Then Jacob’s final sorrow is the death of his father, Isaac.   Isaac lives 180 years.  I am sure Jacob bore these heartaches with a renewed trust in God.

This family was dysfunctional, like many families today.  But God through His amazing grace works through it all to forgive and bring us to Jesus.  This is very encouraging to know that we don’t have to be perfect.  God loves us in spite of our mistakes.

Principle:  God calls believers to separate our hearts from the world so we resemble Him to the world.

What do you need to resist the world in your life?

How will you pray for your family and your future descendants? 

While we were still sinners He died for us.  We need to trust every Word of God.  He knows more than we do and He knows us.  Because of His resurrection, we have all we need to live a holy life.  He’s calling your name.

Genesis 36:1-43 – Esau’s Descendants

There are now 2 distinct people – Edomites and the Israelites.  The Edomites, Esau’s descendants were godless and lived lives of idolatry.  The Israelites, Jacob’s descendants worshiped God.  The Edomites and the Israelites were enemies.

This chapter is about Esau’s generations.  Reading this chapter makes one think why is this in the Bible.  It’s just a bunch of names that mean nothing to us.  Esau was a successful man and very prosperous and powerful.  But he failed where it most mattered, with God.

I think this chapter was written to contrast Esau’s life with Jacob’s life.  It shows us two roads.  A road of earthly success, fame, and power; and the road of obedience to God’s will.  Esau’s family was outwardly attractive, but God was not a part of it.  Jacob/Israel followed God and Esau did not.  Material prosperity doesn’t equal spiritual prosperity and temporary fame doesn’t equal eternal recognition by God.  Esau’s success and famous name isn’t used much and doesn’t mean anything today, but Israel’s name is used almost daily.

We know that Jesus was a descendant of Jacob.  In preparing for this post, I learned something new as I tend to do each week.  One of Esau’s descendants was Herod.  Herod’s father was an Edomite whose ancestors had converted to Judaism and Herod was raised as a Jew.  Jesus went to the cross, while Herod with all his power and fame relaxed in his luxurious palace.

Principle:  Material prosperity doesn’t equal spiritual prosperity and temporary fame doesn’t equal eternal recognition by God.

Join me here next week for the next chapter in Genesis.  -- I encourage you to trust in Jesus.

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