What a phenomenal experience I have had reading through the Bible thus far. I have run into some time constraints over the first month and there have been a couple instances where I had fallen behind a day or two but wow, I can not begin to explain how much God has shown me each day I read His Word. On top of that, the staff at Clear Creek Community Church has done a fantastic job of accenting our journey through the Bible with two series that they have begun in January. The first is our weekend series titled “TXT – Getting_The_Bible” and the second is our mid-week series titled “Man, That’s Weird!”. Both are very well put together and have been a significant blessing to me. If you have not attended these services and would like to hear them, or would like a review, please feel free to Listen Online.

Now, as we finish out the book of Genesis, we have one remaining story that is of profound implication on our salvation. The story of Jacob is considered the 11th sub-book and as can be expected, this sub-book covers the remaining life of Jacob. Of course, this over-arching theme can be misleading as the most prominent character in Chapters 37 through 50 is Jacob’s son Joseph. In general, there is a great demonstration of God’s power, mercy, and will within the remaining chapters of Genesis. Throughout everything that occurs, we see that Joseph is chosen by God to perform God’s work. In times of affliction and persecution, it is through Joseph’s faith and obedience that God relieves Joseph of his burden and reliably holds true to His promises. We see Joseph struggle with man (from his brothers to his master’s wife) and we see JOseph struggle with God. Yet throughout the entire sub-book it is clear that God showers Joseph with His blessing and through Joseph, God’s blessing was poured out over all the land. Joseph was the realization of God’s continuous promise that He would make Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all their descendants a great nation and through them, they would be a blessing to all nations. These same promises, God reiterated throughout the entire book of Genesis. It is here that we see God’s promises brought to fruition through the life of Joseph.

Getting into the details – I will try to overcome the tendency to note everything – we see right off the bat, in Chapter 37, that Joseph is the favored son of Jacob and through that favoritism, jealousy and sin enters the house of Jacob. More importantly than being favored by Jacob, we see that Joseph has a couple of dreams. These dreams signified Joseph’s chosen favor in the eyes of the Lord – as was custom in this time period. What we see that also supports this thought is that these dreams do come true later on in the sub-book. For example, the first dream indicates clearly that Joseph will reign over his brothers and this most certainly occurs later on when Joseph becomes the governor of Egypt. An item I find important to note is that Joseph is the first-born of the children born to Rachel and Benjamin was the second. We see clearly, throughout the 11th sub-book, that when Joseph is believed to be dead, Benjamin becomes the favored of the household. It may be that this is due to Jacob’s initial love for Rachel and not his first wife Leah (whom he was deceived into being with). In either case, the significant part of Chapter 37 is that God has, without a doubt, clearly chosen Joseph as the blessed one of Jacob’s sons. As a result, Joseph is outcasted from his brothers. Though they originally planned to kill Joseph (which Joseph’s brother Reuben prevented) they ended up selling Joseph into slavery. It appears that the ring leader at the time was Judah and the reason may very well be the battle over the families birthright. Though Judah was Jacob’s fourth son, the first three were disqualified for receipt of their birthright due to the sins they had committed. Reuben had a relationship with one of Jacob’s concubines and Simeon and Levi were part of a treacherous slaughter (in which we learned about in a previous post). We will see this rivalry between Judah and Joseph come up later in the descendants of the two. As the brothers returned home, they presented the special robe of Joseph to their father, stained with goats blood to give the indication of Joseph’s death. Needless to say, Jacob was greatly grieved by the portrayed death of his favored son.

While Joseph, sold to a caravan of Midianites, is taken to Egypt, we get a glimpse at the house of Judah. Judah is blessed with three sons Er, Onan, and Shelah. We see in the first 10 verses of Chapter 38 that two of Judah’s sons were “… wicked in the sight of the Lord …” and so the Lord put them both to death. Though we are not certain what caused Er to be wicked in the the Lord’s sight, we see that selfishness was a major part of why Onan was wicked in the Lord’s sight. Both were put to death and out of Judah’s own desire for his third son to live, Judah cast his daughter in law (Tamar) out of his household with a promise that when Shelah grew up, they shall be wed. Through a weird twist of events, Judah and Tamar engage in adultery. As a result, Tamar becomes pregnant and is accused of being immoral. Judah casts judgement on Tamar and it is only when Judah sees his signet, cord, and staff that he left as a pledge to her that Judah realizes he has been immoral with her. Judah recognizes he had not kept his promise of offering his son Shelah to Tamar which may signify his realization of his own wickedness and be the point of which Judah begins to turn his focus from himself to the greater calling he has. The chapter closes out with the birth of twins to Tamar. One is born and in the quick thinking of the midwife, is marked with a scarlet thread on his hand. Interestingly enough, the one without the scarlet thread is fully born first. The names of the two were Perez (youngest but born first without the scarlet thread) and Zerah (first-born). Not sure how important this short story is but we’ll make note of it here.

We see in Chapter 39 that Joseph is blessed and brings the Lord’s blessing on the house of his master the Potiphar – the captain of the guard of Pharaoh. Though tempted on more than one occasion by his master’s wife, Joseph refuses to lie with her and most importantly acknowledges that doing so would be a “… sin against God …”. The constant temptation of his master’s wife could not fade Joseph’s faith and obedience of God. One day, however, Joseph is grabbed by his master’s wife and in an attempt to escape, does so while leaving his garment. That final time, the wife used his garment against Joseph and rallied the men of the household around the idea that Joseph had come to make fools of them all. Without hesitation Joseph’s master puts Joseph in prison. The benefit, however is that Joseph was put in the prison of the king’s prisoners which sets up Joseph’s encounter and eventual release from prison into the Pharaoh’s house. In prison, it is evident that God is with Joseph and as such, Joseph is given oversight of the prison. This provides him access to the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt. Here, Joseph interprets their dreams but does so only through providing credit to God for the interpretations he speaks by stating “… interpretations belong to God …”. The interpretations come true and sets Joseph up for his introduction to Pharaoh in Chapter 41.

Again, in the interpretation of Pharaoh’s dream, Joseph credits God with the interpretation by stating “It is not m; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.” Joseph reiterates this when he states in the interpretation that “God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do.” The importance of these statements is that Joseph had remained faithful to God. God had continuously blessed Joseph and it was through God that Joseph was capable of performing all the wonderful things he did. Joseph acknowledged these things to a people who did not know God, perhaps refused to acknowledge God and persecute those who did. In either case, God watched over Joseph and guided Joseph in all that Joseph did. Through the interpretation of Pharaoh’s dream, Joseph was acknowledged as one who God was with and therefore Pharaoh placed Joseph in a position of power. Joseph was granted governorship of the land of Egypt and Pharaoh (and subsequently the entire people of Egypt) placed their faith in Joseph and Joseph’s ability to see them through the projected famine.

Just as Joseph conveyed the Lord’s plan to Pharaoh, the dreams came true. It was through Joseph’s faithful following of God that he was placed before the people of all the nations as a blessing. The one who provided food and therefore life to the people of the land. Joseph was the enactor of God’s great plan and all the nations were blessed through Joseph just as God had promised so many years before. One important characteristics of Joseph is that even though he was given great power, and great wealth. Even though Joseph was given a wife and two sons (Menasseh, Ephraim) he never forgot nor did he sacrifice his faith in the Lord. Joseph did not compromise his Lord for money, for fame, for power, nor any other worldly item.

So Joseph’s brothers come to Egypt and in a series of encounters, Joseph sees all of his brothers and deciphers that his father, Jacob, is still alive. Joseph tests his brothers by framing them in the theft of his household cup. When caught and returned to Joseph, in a miraculous turn of events we see that Judah offers to be held in the place of his brother Benjamin. Joseph can no longer control himself. After experiencing the great love his brother Judah has shown for Benjamin, Joseph cries out and explains that it is he, their brother Joseph. Many of the household hear this and share with Pharaoh who is pleased and offers the best of the land of Egypt to them. So Jacob and the household of Jacob come to Egypt and settled there. It is extremely important to note that in Chapter 46 (verses 2 through 4) God speaks to Jacob (AKA Israel). In this vision, God commands that Israel go to Egypt and promises again that He will “… make you into a great nation. I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again, and Joseph’s hand shall close your eyes.” This is important to note because Israel was promised the land of Canaan for himself and his descendants and through this commandment from God, Israel can go to Egypt knowing that God will continue to be with him and will bring his descendants back to the promised land.

The remaining few chapters of Genesis provide some reinforcement and insight into God’s plan. Starting in Chapter 48, Jacob blesses the sons of Joseph (notable is that Joseph states “They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” – emphasis added). An item to pay attention to here is that Joseph specifically set his first-born son Menasseh before Jacob’s right hand and Ephraim before Jacob’s left hand. As was customary in that day, the right hand was considered superior and thus to be blessed with the right hand meant you received the higher blessing. A great description of this concept is given by Yancey Arrington in this recording. Even with Joseph’s preparation and strategic placement of his son’s, God’s will was to have Jacob bless Joseph’s son’s in a different way than traditionally set (as seen in Genesis 48: 14-16). We also see in verse 17 that this displeased Joseph and when he attempted to move his father’s (Jacob’s) hand to correct the situation. Through the end of Chapter 48, we are given the clarification that this action was done intentionally and most probably at the direction and guidance of God.

Lastly, we see the blessings of Jacob’s sons by Jacob. This is the first instance in the Bible where a blessing is bestowed upon multiple people and not just one individual. All the sons of Jacob are blessed and these are the 12 tribes of Israel that were his prophecy. The most important part of these blessings is that Jacob split the great promises of God that we’ve talked about so many times before. He grants to Judah what is known as the “messianic promise.” In Genesis 49:10, as Jacob blesses Judah, we see him say: “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.” I’ve added the emphasis on “tribute” because in the footnotes of the ESV Daily Reading Bible and the ESV Study Bible it indicates that tribute is shared with the Hebrew word Shiloh. Shiloh is commonly taken to be a name for the Messiah. It is through the tribe of Judah that David is born and through David’s family that Jesus the Christ is born. The second part of the blessing is given to Joseph’s son Ephraim in Genesis 48:19-26 which pronounces national prestige on the tribe of Ephraim. We see here in this last segment of Genesis how the blessings of God have grown to encompass more than a personal relationship with one small family and has now grown to a nation or community of 12 tribes.

As we close out Genesis, we see the death of Jacob and then the death of Joseph. Before Joseph’s death, in Genesis 50:20, we see how Joseph wraps up the great theme throughout the 11th sub-book. It has been through acts of both evil and good that God’s will and purpose have been carried out. It has been in the face of persecution and great affliction that Joseph suffered throughout the years yet Joseph did not suffer for he had faith in the Lord. Joseph trusted the Lord with his life and his heart and the Lord blessed Joseph and through Joseph, He blessed all those of the world. God has made promises in Genesis and throughout the entire book of Genesis, we see that God continues to keep His promises, even when man has failed to obey Him. God is a gracious and glorious Lord, that is evident, and yet we are only in the first book of His word.

I pray that God continues to provide us with strength to read the words of Scripture and in times of what seems like overwhelming strain on our time, we continue to commit our hearts and our lives to the Lord. When we open the Bible, God speaks. May the Lord bless you abundantly with every breath you take and may you confess that He is King of your life, Lord of your heart, and offeror of your salvation. Trust in Him, have faith in Him, and He will perform far greater things than we could ever imagine.

ESV Daily Reading Bible Halley’s Bible Handbook
ESV Study Bible