Genesis 37
– Betrayal
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.
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.
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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