Joseph’s Brothers Go to Egypt

Genesis 42:1-38 NLT

Introduction:

“Widespread” famine (verse from the previous lesson)

Genesis 41:57 NLT
⁵⁷ And people from all around came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph because the famine was severe throughout the world.

God’s prophecy to Abraham:

Genesis 15:13 NLT
¹³ Then the Lord said to Abram, “You can be sure that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land, where they will be oppressed as slaves for 400 years.

God is going to use this famine to bring Israel into Egypt, under the rule of Joseph.

Genesis 42:1-38 NLT
Joseph’s Brothers Go to Egypt
42 When Jacob heard that grain was available in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why are you standing around looking at one another? ² I have heard there is grain in Egypt. Go down there, and buy enough grain to keep us alive. Otherwise we’ll die.”
³ So Joseph’s ten older brothers went down to Egypt to buy grain. ⁴ But Jacob wouldn’t let Joseph’s younger brother, Benjamin, go with them, for fear some harm might come to him. ⁵ So Jacob’s sons arrived in Egypt along with others to buy food, for the famine was in Canaan as well.
⁶ Since Joseph was governor of all Egypt and in charge of selling grain to all the people, it was to him that his brothers came. When they arrived, they bowed before him with their faces to the ground. ⁷ Joseph recognized his brothers instantly, but he pretended to be a stranger and spoke harshly to them. “Where are you from?” he demanded.
“From the land of Canaan,” they replied. “We have come to buy food.”
⁸ Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they didn’t recognize him. ⁹ And he remembered the dreams he’d had about them many years before. He said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see how vulnerable our land has become.”
¹⁰ “No, my lord!” they exclaimed. “Your servants have simply come to buy food. ¹¹ We are all brothers—members of the same family. We are honest men, sir! We are not spies!”
¹² “Yes, you are!” Joseph insisted. “You have come to see how vulnerable our land has become.”
¹³ “Sir,” they said, “there are actually twelve of us. We, your servants, are all brothers, sons of a man living in the land of Canaan. Our youngest brother is back there with our father right now, and one of our brothers is no longer with us.”
¹⁴ But Joseph insisted, “As I said, you are spies! ¹⁵ This is how I will test your story. I swear by the life of Pharaoh that you will never leave Egypt unless your youngest brother comes here! ¹⁶ One of you must go and get your brother. I’ll keep the rest of you here in prison. Then we’ll find out whether or not your story is true. By the life of Pharaoh, if it turns out that you don’t have a younger brother, then I’ll know you are spies.”
¹⁷ So Joseph put them all in prison for three days. ¹⁸ On the third day Joseph said to them, “I am a God-fearing man. If you do as I say, you will live. ¹⁹ If you really are honest men, choose one of your brothers to remain in prison. The rest of you may go home with grain for your starving families. ²⁰ But you must bring your youngest brother back to me. This will prove that you are telling the truth, and you will not die.” To this they agreed.
²¹ Speaking among themselves, they said, “Clearly we are being punished because of what we did to Joseph long ago. We saw his anguish when he pleaded for his life, but we wouldn’t listen. That’s why we’re in this trouble.”
²² “Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy?” Reuben asked. “But you wouldn’t listen. And now we have to answer for his blood!”
²³ Of course, they didn’t know that Joseph understood them, for he had been speaking to them through an interpreter. ²⁴ Now he turned away from them and began to weep. When he regained his composure, he spoke to them again. Then he chose Simeon from among them and had him tied up right before their eyes.
²⁵ Joseph then ordered his servants to fill the men’s sacks with grain, but he also gave secret instructions to return each brother’s payment at the top of his sack. He also gave them supplies for their journey home. ²⁶ So the brothers loaded their donkeys with the grain and headed for home.
²⁷ But when they stopped for the night and one of them opened his sack to get grain for his donkey, he found his money in the top of his sack. ²⁸ “Look!” he exclaimed to his brothers. “My money has been returned; it’s here in my sack!” Then their hearts sank. Trembling, they said to each other, “What has God done to us?”
²⁹ When the brothers came to their father, Jacob, in the land of Canaan, they told him everything that had happened to them. ³⁰ “The man who is governor of the land spoke very harshly to us,” they told him. “He accused us of being spies scouting the land. ³¹ But we said, ‘We are honest men, not spies. ³² We are twelve brothers, sons of one father. One brother is no longer with us, and the youngest is at home with our father in the land of Canaan.’
³³ “Then the man who is governor of the land told us, ‘This is how I will find out if you are honest men. Leave one of your brothers here with me, and take grain for your starving families and go on home. ³⁴ But you must bring your youngest brother back to me. Then I will know you are honest men and not spies. Then I will give you back your brother, and you may trade freely in the land.’”
³⁵ As they emptied out their sacks, there in each man’s sack was the bag of money he had paid for the grain! The brothers and their father were terrified when they saw the bags of money. ³⁶ Jacob exclaimed, “You are robbing me of my children! Joseph is gone! Simeon is gone! And now you want to take Benjamin, too. Everything is going against me!”
³⁷ Then Reuben said to his father, “You may kill my two sons if I don’t bring Benjamin back to you. I’ll be responsible for him, and I promise to bring him back.”
³⁸ But Jacob replied, “My son will not go down with you. His brother Joseph is dead, and he is all I have left. If anything should happen to him on your journey, you would send this grieving, white-haired man to his grave.”

Examine the Scriptures

Genesis 42:1-38 NLT
Joseph’s Brothers Go to Egypt
¹ When Jacob heard that grain was available in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why are you standing around looking at one another? ² I have heard there is grain in Egypt. Go down there, and buy enough grain to keep us alive. Otherwise we’ll die.” 

³ So Joseph’s ten older brothers went down to Egypt to buy grain. ⁴ But Jacob wouldn’t let Joseph’s younger brother, Benjamin, go with them, for fear some harm might come to him. 

Jacob would not allow Joseph’s younger brother, Benjamin, to travel with his other sons.
Benjamin was the second son of Rachel, Jacob’s beloved.
Jacob had already “lost” Joseph.

Jacob did not know what had really happened to Joseph, but he did know the character of his other sons.

Refer to Jacob’s blessings for his sons in chapter 49. A brief description of his sons.

Unruly
In their anger they murdered men.
Crippled oxen just for sport.
Like a lion he crouches and lies down – who dares to rouse him.
A sturdy donkey.
 A poisonous viper along the path.
A ravenous wolf devouring his enemies.

Jacob would not allow Benjamin to go with his brothers.  Jacob feared for Benjamin’s safety.

• Jacob knew the character of his sons. 

⁵ So Jacob’s sons arrived in Egypt along with others to buy food, for the famine was in Canaan as well.

Famines were not uncommon in the ancient world.

Famines were devastating in an agrarian society.

Famines were often accompanied by disease and war.

This famine was severe and widespread (worldwide).

Genesis 41:57 NLT  “…throughout the world.”

• Famines were devastating in an agrarian society.

⁶ Since Joseph was governor of all Egypt and in charge of selling grain to all the people, it was to him that his brothers came. When they arrived, they bowed before him with their faces to the ground.  

• Joseph’s dream became a reality. (Over 15 years had elapsed.)

⁷ Joseph recognized his brothers instantly, but he pretended to be a stranger

and spoke harshly to them. “Where are you from?” he demanded.
 “From the land of Canaan,” they replied. “We have come to buy food.”

Joseph would be putting his brothers through various tests to see if they had changed.
In reality, this was God at work.
God was preparing these men to be leaders in Israel.   (God’s sovereignty was at work.)

• God was using events in this story to prepare Joseph’s brothers to be leaders of his chosen people. 

⁸ Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they didn’t recognize him. 

… they didn’t recognize him … for good reason.

15 years have passed.  He had grown from a teenager to an adult.  He was dressed as an Egyptian.  He had a leadership role in Egypt.

Joseph did not look “Jewish”. (My words)

He treated them without a hint of familiarity. 

⁹ And he remembered the dreams he’d had about them many years before. 

He remembered the dreams he’d had about them many years before as they were coming true.

He said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see how vulnerable our land has become.”

Joseph accused his brothers of being spies (verses 9, 12, 14, 16)

Famines were often accompanied by disease and war. (As stated previously.)

Joseph (God) was testing his brothers.

Psalm 139:23-24 NLT
²³ Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
²⁴ Point out anything in me that offends you,
and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

¹⁰ “No, my lord!” they exclaimed. “Your servants have simply come to buy food. ¹¹ We are all brothers—members of the same family. 

We are honest men, sir!

Joseph knew that this was hardly an accurate assessment. 

We are not spies!” 

¹² “Yes, you are!” Joseph insisted. “You have come to see how vulnerable our land has become.” 

¹³ “Sir,” they said, “there are actually twelve of us. We, your servants, are all brothers, sons of a man living in the land of Canaan. Our youngest brother is back there with our father right now, and one of our brothers is no longer with us.” 

… one is no more … NIV & ESV…
… one is gone … CEB
… died a long time ago … ERV
… and one is not … ASV 

¹⁴ But Joseph insisted, “As I said, you are spies! ¹⁵ This is how I will test your story. I swear by the life of Pharaoh that you will never leave Egypt unless your youngest brother comes here! 

The phrase, “I swear by the life of Pharaoh …” would mislead his brothers. 

¹⁶ One of you must go and get your brother. I’ll keep the rest of you here in prison.

Similar to what they had done to Joseph.
Genesis 37:24 NLT
²⁴ Then they grabbed him (Joseph) and threw him into the cistern. Now the cistern was empty; there was no water in it.

Then we’ll find out whether or not your story is true. By the life of Pharaoh, if it turns out that you don’t have a younger brother, then I’ll know you are spies.”

Joseph may have wanted to know that his younger brother had not been harmed by his brothers.

¹⁷ So Joseph put them all in prison for three days. ¹⁸ On the third day Joseph said to them, “I am a God-fearing man. If you do as I say, you will live.  

¹⁹ If you really are honest men, 

choose one of your brothers to remain in prison. The rest of you may go home with grain for your starving families. ²⁰ But you must bring your youngest brother back to me. This will prove that you are telling the truth, and you will not die.” To this they agreed.

Joseph implied that Simeon would die if the brothers did not bring Benjamin back with them.

²¹ Speaking among themselves, they said, “Clearly we are being punished because of what we did to Joseph long ago. We saw his anguish when he pleaded for his life, but we wouldn’t listen. That’s why we’re in this trouble.”

“… we are being punished because of what we did to Joseph …”

“… when he pleaded for his life, but we wouldn’t listen. …”

• The sense of divine retribution began to awaken feelings of remorse in the brothers that they had not experienced up to this time.

²² “Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy?” Reuben asked. “But you wouldn’t listen. And now we have to answer for his blood!”

Reuben recognized they would be held accountable for their actions.

Numbers 32:23 NLT
²³ … and you may be sure that your sin will find you out.

Galatians 6:7 NLT
⁷ Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant.

²³ Of course, they didn’t know that Joseph understood them, for he had been speaking to them through an interpreter. ²⁴ Now he turned away from them and began to weep. 

Joseph had forgiven his brothers.

Joseph may have learned, for the first time, of Reuben’s attempt to save him.

 When he regained his composure, he spoke to them again. Then he chose Simeon from among them and had him tied up right before their eyes.

Joseph did not keep Reuben, but he chose Simeon, the oldest of the brothers who had participated in the crime against him.

²⁵ Joseph then ordered his servants to fill the men’s sacks with grain, but he also gave secret instructions to return each brother’s payment at the top of his sack. 

These actions would “strike the fear of God” into the hearts of the brothers. 

1. 1. 28 “… their hearts sank. Trembling … “What has God done to us?” ” 

1. 1. 35 “The brothers and their father were terrified when they saw the bags of money.” 

He also gave them supplies for their journey home. ²⁶ So the brothers loaded their donkeys with the grain and headed for home.

²⁷ But when they stopped for the night and one of them opened his sack to get grain for his donkey, he found his money in the top of his sack. ²⁸ “Look!” he exclaimed to his brothers. “My money has been returned; it’s here in my sack!” Then their hearts sank. Trembling, they said to each other, “What has God done to us?” 

“What has God done to us?”

Their guilty conscience and fear of vengeance from God surfaced again.

• God was convicting the brothers of their unconfessed sin. 

²⁹ When the brothers came to their father, Jacob, in the land of Canaan, they told him everything that had happened to them. ³⁰ “The man who is governor of the land spoke very harshly to us,” they told him. “He accused us of being spies scouting the land. ³¹ But we said, ‘We are honest men, not spies. ³² We are twelve brothers, sons of one father. One brother is no longer with us, and the youngest is at home with our father in the land of Canaan.’
³³ “Then the man who is governor of the land told us, ‘This is how I will find out if you are honest men. Leave one of your brothers here with me, and take grain for your starving families and go on home. ³⁴ But you must bring your youngest brother back to me. Then I will know you are honest men and not spies. Then I will give you back your brother, and you may trade freely in the land.’”
³⁵ As they emptied out their sacks, there in each man’s sack was the bag of money he had paid for the grain! The brothers and their father were terrified when they saw the bags of money.  

³⁶ Jacob exclaimed, “You are robbing me of my children! Joseph is gone! Simeon is gone! And now you want to take Benjamin, too. Everything is going against me!”

“You are robbing me of my children!

Genesis 43:6 NLT
⁶ “Why were you (speaking to the brothers) so cruel to me?” Jacob moaned. “Why did you tell him you had another brother?”

• Jacob was holding his sons accountable for the loss of Joseph and Simeon.

Clearly, there is dissension within the family.

³⁷ Then Reuben said to his father, “You may kill my two sons (Jacob’s grandsons) if I don’t bring Benjamin back to you. I’ll be responsible for him, and I promise to bring him back.”

Again tried to take the lead in doing the right thing. 

³⁸ But Jacob replied, “My son (clear favoritism over the other brothers) will not go down with you. His brother Joseph is dead, and he is all I have left. If anything should happen to him on your journey, you would send this grieving, white-haired man to his grave.”

The brothers needed to acknowledge their crime against Joseph.

God planned to bring the family into Egypt so that it would grow there into a great nation.  It was necessary that the people who entered into Egypt were faithful to the Lord.

• God was preparing Joseph’s brothers to be leaders of his chosen people.

Romans 12:2 NLT
² Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

(More testing to follow)

Joseph Made Ruler of Egypt

Introduction:

Can Christians have effective roles in secular governments?

This lesson will show that the answer is obviously “yes”.

Joseph demonstrated clearly that a God-fearing individual can have a leadership position and serve a secular nation effectively without compromising his relationship with God in any way.

Genesis 41:37-57 (NLT)
Joseph Made Ruler of Egypt
³⁷ Joseph’s suggestions were well received by Pharaoh and his officials. ³⁸ So Pharaoh asked his officials, “Can we find anyone else like this man so obviously filled with the spirit of God?” ³⁹ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has revealed the meaning of the dreams to you, clearly no one else is as intelligent or wise as you are. ⁴⁰ You will be in charge of my court, and all my people will take orders from you. Only I, sitting on my throne, will have a rank higher than yours.”
⁴¹ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I hereby put you in charge of the entire land of Egypt.” ⁴² Then Pharaoh removed his signet ring from his hand and placed it on Joseph’s finger. He dressed him in fine linen clothing and hung a gold chain around his neck. ⁴³ Then he had Joseph ride in the chariot reserved for his second-in-command. And wherever Joseph went, the command was shouted, “Kneel down!” So Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of all Egypt. ⁴⁴ And Pharaoh said to him, “I am Pharaoh, but no one will lift a hand or foot in the entire land of Egypt without your approval.”
⁴⁵ Then Pharaoh gave Joseph a new Egyptian name, Zaphenath-paneah. He also gave him a wife, whose name was Asenath. She was the daughter of Potiphera, the priest of On. So Joseph took charge of the entire land of Egypt. ⁴⁶ He was thirty years old when he began serving in the court of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. And when Joseph left Pharaoh’s presence, he inspected the entire land of Egypt.
⁴⁷ As predicted, for seven years the land produced bumper crops. ⁴⁸ During those years, Joseph gathered all the crops grown in Egypt and stored the grain from the surrounding fields in the cities. ⁴⁹ He piled up huge amounts of grain like sand on the seashore. Finally, he stopped keeping records because there was too much to measure.
⁵⁰ During this time, before the first of the famine years, two sons were born to Joseph and his wife, Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, the priest of On. ⁵¹ Joseph named his older son Manasseh, for he said, “God has made me forget all my troubles and everyone in my father’s family.” ⁵² Joseph named his second son Ephraim, for he said, “God has made me fruitful in this land of my grief.”
⁵³ At last the seven years of bumper crops throughout the land of Egypt came to an end. ⁵⁴ Then the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had predicted. The famine also struck all the surrounding countries, but throughout Egypt there was plenty of food. ⁵⁵ Eventually, however, the famine spread throughout the land of Egypt as well. And when the people cried out to Pharaoh for food, he told them, “Go to Joseph, and do whatever he tells you.” ⁵⁶ So with severe famine everywhere, Joseph opened up the storehouses and distributed grain to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe throughout the land of Egypt. ⁵⁷ And people from all around came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph because the famine was severe throughout the world.

Examine the Scriptures

Genesis 41:37-57 (NLT)
Joseph Made Ruler of Egypt
³⁷ Joseph’s suggestions were well received by Pharaoh and his officials. 

• Joseph did not need to compromise his values in any way to be well received by Pharaoh and his officials.

• Christians can be effective in leadership positions in a secular government.

Joseph was very much “in the world”.

³⁸ So Pharaoh asked his officials, “Can we find anyone else like this man so obviously filled with the spirit of God?” ³⁹ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has revealed the meaning of the dreams to you, clearly no one else is as intelligent or wise as you are. 

Pharaoh recognized the fact that God was working in Joseph’s life.
(Without understanding fully who God was.)

We should all be living our lives in such a way that others will see Christ in our lives.

Matthew 5:15-16 NLT
¹⁵ No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father. 

• Pray that others will see Christ in your life.

⁴⁰ You will be in charge of my court, and all my people will take orders from you. Only I, sitting on my throne, will have a rank higher than yours.”

Genesis 45:26 NLT … he is governor …      NIV & ESV “ruler”

Genesis 45:8 NLT … the manager of his entire palace and the governor …

⁴¹ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I hereby put you in charge of the entire land of Egypt.” 

Verse 43      So Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of all Egypt. 

Verse 44 … in the entire land of Egypt …

Verse 46 … he inspected the entire land of Egypt …

Genesis 42:6 NLT … Joseph was governor of all Egypt …

Genesis 45:8 NLT … the manager of his entire palace and the governor of all Egypt 

⁴² Then Pharaoh removed his signet ring from his hand and placed it on Joseph’s finger.

This ring was used to “sign” documents and carried the authority of Pharaoh. 

He dressed him in fine linen clothing and hung a gold chain around his neck. 

Emblems of the office.

Signified Joseph’s status as a ruler.

⁴³ Then he had Joseph ride in the chariot reserved for his second-in-command.

Joseph was second-in-command in all of Egypt.

And wherever Joseph went, the command was shouted, “Kneel down!”

This goes beyond what Joseph had dreamed.

So Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of all Egypt. ⁴⁴ And Pharaoh said to him, “I am Pharaoh, but no one will lift a hand or foot in the entire land of Egypt without your approval.”

• Joseph had been faithful over all the little things God had sent his way; now he would become ruler over all the land of Egypt under Pharaoh.

Psalm 105:16-22 NLT (we looked at this passage in the previous lesson)
¹⁶ He called for a famine on the land of Canaan,
cutting off its food supply.
¹⁷ Then he sent someone to Egypt ahead of them—
Joseph, who was sold as a slave.
¹⁸ They bruised his feet with fetters
and placed his neck in an iron collar.
¹⁹ Until the time came to fulfill his dreams,
the Lord tested Joseph’s character.
²⁰ Then Pharaoh sent for him and set him free;
the ruler of the nation opened his prison door.
²¹ Joseph was put in charge of all the king’s household;
he became ruler over all the king’s possessions.
²² He could instruct the king’s aides as he pleased
and teach the king’s advisers. 

⁴⁵ Then Pharaoh gave Joseph a new Egyptian name, Zaphenath-paneah. 

Scholars are uncertain of the meaning of this name.

Speculation includes:

“The Nourisher of the Two Lands, the Living One.”

“God speaks and He lives.” 

He also gave him a wife, whose name was Asenath.

An Egyptian wife.

She was the daughter of Potiphera, the priest of On. 

On, a city which was a center of sun worship. (The sun god, Ra.)

• Joseph was integrated into Egyptian culture.

So Joseph took charge of the entire land of Egypt. ⁴⁶ He was thirty years old when he began serving in the court of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt.

13 years after he was sold by his brothers.

And when Joseph left Pharaoh’s presence, he inspected the entire land of Egypt. 

⁴⁷ As predicted, for seven years the land produced bumper crops. ⁴⁸ During those years, Joseph gathered all the crops grown in Egypt and stored the grain from the surrounding fields in the cities. ⁴⁹ He piled up huge amounts of grain like sand on the seashore. Finally, he stopped keeping records because there was too much to measure. 

⁵⁰ During this time, before the first of the famine years, two sons were born to Joseph and his wife, Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, the priest of On. ⁵¹ Joseph named his older son Manasseh, for he said, “God has made me forget all my troubles and everyone in my father’s family.” ⁵² Joseph named his second son Ephraim, for he said, “God has made me fruitful in this land of my grief.” 

Even though Joseph was being integrated into the Egyptian culture, Joseph did not forget his background and Joseph gave his sons Hebrew names.

Manasseh – forget (forgetful) – “God has made me forget all my troubles and everyone in my father’s family.”

Ephraim – fruitful – “God has made me fruitful in this land of my grief.”

• Even though Joseph was integrated into the Egyptian culture, Joseph did not forget his Hebrew heritage. 

Jacob recognized his grandsons as Hebrews.

Genesis 48:5 NLT
⁵ “Now I (Jacob) am claiming as my own sons these two boys of yours, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born here in the land of Egypt before I arrived. They will be my sons, just as Reuben and Simeon are.

The tribe of Ephraim became one of the strongest tribes of Israel and the leading tribe in the northern kingdom after the division of the twelve tribes.

⁵³ At last the seven years of bumper crops throughout the land of Egypt came to an end. ⁵⁴ Then the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had predicted. The famine also struck all the surrounding countries, but throughout Egypt there was plenty of food. 

The interpretations of Pharaoh’s dreams were coming true.

⁵⁵ Eventually, however, the famine spread throughout the land of Egypt as well. And when the people cried out to Pharaoh for food, he told them, “Go to Joseph, and do whatever he tells you.” ⁵⁶ So with severe famine everywhere, Joseph opened up the storehouses and distributed grain to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe throughout the land of Egypt. ⁵⁷ And people from all around came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph because the famine was severe throughout the world.

 

• Joseph continued to be the “go to” man as the severe famine spread throughout the land of Egypt.

Remember Joseph’s two dreams.

The interpretations of Joseph’s dreams were coming true.

Genesis 37:5-10 NLT
⁵ One night (when he was 17 years old) Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him more than ever. ⁶ “Listen to this dream,” he said. ⁷ “We were out in the field, tying up bundles of grain. Suddenly my bundle stood up, and your bundles all gathered around and bowed low before mine!”
⁸ His brothers responded, “So you think you will be our king, do you? Do you actually think you will reign over us?” And they hated him all the more because of his dreams and the way he talked about them.
⁹ Soon Joseph had another dream, and again he told his brothers about it. “Listen, I have had another dream,” he said. “The sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed low before me!”
¹⁰ This time he told the dream to his father as well as to his brothers, but his father scolded him. “What kind of dream is that?” he asked. “Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow to the ground before you?”

• God communicates through dreams and visions.

Pharaoh’s Dreams

God uses dreams to elevate Joseph into a leadership role in Egypt.

Genesis 41:1-36 (NLT)
Pharaoh’s Dreams
¹ Two full years later, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing on the bank of the Nile River. ² In his dream he saw seven fat, healthy cows come up out of the river and begin grazing in the marsh grass. ³ Then he saw seven more cows come up behind them from the Nile, but these were scrawny and thin. These cows stood beside the fat cows on the riverbank. ⁴ Then the scrawny, thin cows ate the seven healthy, fat cows! At this point in the dream, Pharaoh woke up.
⁵ But he fell asleep again and had a second dream. This time he saw seven heads of grain, plump and beautiful, growing on a single stalk. ⁶ Then seven more heads of grain appeared, but these were shriveled and withered by the east wind. ⁷ And these thin heads swallowed up the seven plump, well-formed heads! Then Pharaoh woke up again and realized it was a dream.
⁸ The next morning Pharaoh was very disturbed by the dreams. So he called for all the magicians and wise men of Egypt. When Pharaoh told them his dreams, not one of them could tell him what they meant.
⁹ Finally, the king’s chief cup-bearer spoke up. “Today I have been reminded of my failure,” he told Pharaoh. ¹⁰ “Some time ago, you were angry with the chief baker and me, and you imprisoned us in the palace of the captain of the guard. ¹¹ One night the chief baker and I each had a dream, and each dream had its own meaning. ¹² There was a young Hebrew man with us in the prison who was a slave of the captain of the guard. We told him our dreams, and he told us what each of our dreams meant. ¹³ And everything happened just as he had predicted. I was restored to my position as cup-bearer, and the chief baker was executed and impaled on a pole.”
¹⁴ Pharaoh sent for Joseph at once, and he was quickly brought from the prison. After he shaved and changed his clothes, he went in and stood before Pharaoh. ¹⁵ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream last night, and no one here can tell me what it means. But I have heard that when you hear about a dream you can interpret it.”
¹⁶ “It is beyond my power to do this,” Joseph replied. “But God can tell you what it means and set you at ease.”
¹⁷ So Pharaoh told Joseph his dream. “In my dream,” he said, “I was standing on the bank of the Nile River, ¹⁸ and I saw seven fat, healthy cows come up out of the river and begin grazing in the marsh grass. ¹⁹ But then I saw seven sick-looking cows, scrawny and thin, come up after them. I’ve never seen such sorry-looking animals in all the land of Egypt. ²⁰ These thin, scrawny cows ate the seven fat cows. ²¹ But afterward you wouldn’t have known it, for they were still as thin and scrawny as before! Then I woke up.
²² “In my dream I also saw seven heads of grain, full and beautiful, growing on a single stalk. ²³ Then seven more heads of grain appeared, but these were blighted, shriveled, and withered by the east wind. ²⁴ And the shriveled heads swallowed the seven healthy heads. I told these dreams to the magicians, but no one could tell me what they mean.”
²⁵ Joseph responded, “Both of Pharaoh’s dreams mean the same thing. God is telling Pharaoh in advance what he is about to do. ²⁶ The seven healthy cows and the seven healthy heads of grain both represent seven years of prosperity. ²⁷ The seven thin, scrawny cows that came up later and the seven thin heads of grain, withered by the east wind, represent seven years of famine.
²⁸ “This will happen just as I have described it, for God has revealed to Pharaoh in advance what he is about to do. ²⁹ The next seven years will be a period of great prosperity throughout the land of Egypt. ³⁰ But afterward there will be seven years of famine so great that all the prosperity will be forgotten in Egypt. Famine will destroy the land. ³¹ This famine will be so severe that even the memory of the good years will be erased. ³² As for having two similar dreams, it means that these events have been decreed by God, and he will soon make them happen.
³³ “Therefore, Pharaoh should find an intelligent and wise man and put him in charge of the entire land of Egypt. ³⁴ Then Pharaoh should appoint supervisors over the land and let them collect one-fifth of all the crops during the seven good years. ³⁵ Have them gather all the food produced in the good years that are just ahead and bring it to Pharaoh’s storehouses. Store it away, and guard it so there will be food in the cities. ³⁶ That way there will be enough to eat when the seven years of famine come to the land of Egypt. Otherwise this famine will destroy the land.”

Examine the Scriptures

Genesis 41:1-36 (NLT)
Pharaoh’s Dreams

¹ Two full years later,

Two years, forgotten, in prison is a long time.
By this time Joseph may have been in Egypt for 12 or 13 years.
Joseph would have been about 30 years old.

Genesis 41:46 NLT
⁴⁶ He was thirty years old when he began serving in the court of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt.

This story is taking “years” to develop.

Matthew 25:23 NLT
²³ “The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. 

 Luke 16:10 NLT
¹⁰ “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. 

• Joseph had proven to be faithful in small matters, now he would be put in charge of larger matters. 

Pharaoh dreamed 

In the ancient Near East, dreams were often viewed as a medium of divine revelation.

A bullet point from our last lesson:

• • • The Egyptians and Babylonians developed a professional class of dream interpreters.

These men were considered to be dream experts.

Another bullet point from our last lesson:

• • • God communicates to individuals through dreams.

Dreams were taken seriously.

Skipping ahead to verse 25, 28 & 32.  

1. 1. 1. 25. … God is telling Pharaoh in advance what he is about to do.  

1. 1. 1. 28. … God has revealed to Pharaoh in advance what he is about to do.  

1. 1. 1. 32. … these events have been decreed by God, and he will soon make them happen.

 These dreams are clearly from God.

 God is telling Pharaoh (an unbeliever) in advance what he is about to do.

• Pharaoh’s dreams were from God.
• God communicates with unbelievers.

(Pharaoh dreamed) that he was standing on the bank of the Nile River.  

² In his dream he saw seven fat, healthy cows come up out of the river and begin grazing in the marsh grass. 

“come up out of the river”

In Egypt, cows liked to stand half-submerged in the Nile among its reeds in refuge from the heat and the flies.  They would come up out of the water for pasture.

There was nothing unusual about this part of Pharaoh’s dream.  This is normal, everyday life in Egypt.

 ³ Then he saw seven more cows come up behind them from the Nile, but these were scrawny and thin. These cows stood beside the fat cows on the riverbank. 

 ⁴ Then the scrawny, thin cows ate the seven healthy, fat cows!

The dream takes a turn to the bizarre.

The weak overtaking the strong. 

At this point in the dream, Pharaoh woke up. 

⁵ But he fell asleep again and had a second dream. This time he saw seven heads of grain, plump and beautiful, growing on a single stalk. ⁶ Then seven more heads of grain appeared, but these were shriveled and withered by the east wind. ⁷ And these thin heads swallowed up the seven plump, well-formed heads!

The second dream was similar to the first dream.

The weak overtaking the strong.

 Then Pharaoh woke up again and realized it was a dream.

 ⁸ The next morning Pharaoh was very disturbed by the dreams.

Pharaoh was very disturbed by the dreams.

• Pharaoh took these dreams seriously.

  So he called for all the magicians and wise men of Egypt.

Repeat:
A bullet point from our last lesson:

• • • The Egyptians and Babylonians developed a professional class of dream interpreters.

These men were considered to be dream experts. 

When Pharaoh told them his dreams, not one of them could tell him what they meant.

The combined expertise of a full council of Pharaoh’s advisors and dream experts failed to provide an interpretation of the two disturbing dreams.

• Pharaoh’s dream experts were unable to interpret his dreams. 

⁹ Finally, the king’s chief cup-bearer spoke up. “Today I have been reminded of my failure,” he told Pharaoh. ¹⁰ “Some time ago, you were angry with the chief baker and me, and you imprisoned us in the palace of the captain of the guard. ¹¹ One night the chief baker and I each had a dream, and each dream had its own meaning. ¹² There was a young Hebrew man

Recognized as Hebrew, not Egyptian.

 with us in the prison who was a slave of the captain of the guard. We told him our dreams, and he told us what each of our dreams meant. ¹³ And everything happened just as he had predicted. I was restored to my position as cup-bearer, and the chief baker was executed and impaled on a pole.”

Joseph had accurately interpreted the dreams of the cup-bearer and baker.

• Joseph had established a good reputation for himself. (Reputations matter.)

God was about to use a Hebrew slave

• Over the years, God had been preparing Joseph “for such a time as this”.

¹⁴ Pharaoh sent for Joseph at once, and he was quickly brought from the prison. After he shaved and changed his clothes, he went in and stood before Pharaoh. ¹⁵ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream last night, and no one here can tell me what it means. But I have heard that when you hear about a dream you can interpret it.”

 ¹⁶ “It is beyond my power to do this,” Joseph replied. “But God can tell you what it means and set you at ease.”

Genesis 40:8
⁸ And they replied, “We both had dreams last night, but no one can tell us what they mean.” “Interpreting dreams is God’s business,” Joseph replied.

• • • “Interpreting dreams is God’s business” 

¹⁷ So Pharaoh told Joseph his dream. “In my dream,” he said, “I was standing on the bank of the Nile River, ¹⁸ and I saw seven fat, healthy cows come up out of the river and begin grazing in the marsh grass. ¹⁹ But then I saw seven sick-looking cows, scrawny and thin, come up after them. I’ve never seen such sorry-looking animals in all the land of Egypt. ²⁰ These thin, scrawny cows ate the seven fat cows. ²¹ But afterward you wouldn’t have known it, for they were still as thin and scrawny as before! Then I woke up.
²² “In my dream I also saw seven heads of grain, full and beautiful, growing on a single stalk. ²³ Then seven more heads of grain appeared, but these were blighted, shriveled, and withered by the east wind. ²⁴ And the shriveled heads swallowed the seven healthy heads. I told these dreams to the magicians, but no one could tell me what they mean.” 

²⁵ Joseph responded, “Both of Pharaoh’s dreams mean the same thing. God is telling Pharaoh in advance what he is about to do. 

Joseph tells Pharaoh that his dreams come from God.

God is telling Pharaoh in advance what he is about to do. 

²⁶ The seven healthy cows and the seven healthy heads of grain both represent seven years of prosperity. ²⁷ The seven thin, scrawny cows that came up later and the seven thin heads of grain, withered by the east wind, represent seven years of famine. 

²⁸ “This will happen just as I have described it, for God has revealed to Pharaoh in advance what he is about to do.  

²⁹ The next seven years will be a period of great prosperity throughout the land of Egypt. ³⁰ But afterward there will be seven years of famine so great that all the prosperity will be forgotten in Egypt. Famine will destroy the land. ³¹ This famine will be so severe that even the memory of the good years will be erased. 

Long famines were rare in Egypt.

³² As for having two similar dreams, it means that these events have been decreed by God, and he will soon make them happen.

• Repetition of a divine revelation was often used for emphasis.

Remember that Joseph also had two similar dreams.

God is in control.  Believe it!

 ³³ “Therefore, Pharaoh should find an intelligent and wise man and put him in charge of the entire land of Egypt. ³⁴ Then Pharaoh should appoint supervisors over the land and let them collect one-fifth of all the crops during the seven good years. ³⁵ Have them gather all the food produced in the good years that are just ahead and bring it to Pharaoh’s storehouses. Store it away, and guard it so there will be food in the cities. ³⁶ That way there will be enough to eat when the seven years of famine come to the land of Egypt. Otherwise this famine will destroy the land.” 

• Not only does Pharaoh hear about the upcoming famine, Pharaoh is also told very clearly how to prepare for the upcoming famine.

Matthew 25:23 NLT
²³ “The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. 

 Luke 16:10 NLT
¹⁰ “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. 

Psalm 105:9-22 NLT
⁹ This is the covenant he made with Abraham
and the oath he swore to Isaac.
¹⁰ He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree,
and to the people of Israel as a never-ending covenant:
¹¹ “I will give you the land of Canaan
as your special possession.”
¹² He said this when they were few in number,
a tiny group of strangers in Canaan.
¹³ They wandered from nation to nation,
from one kingdom to another.
¹⁴ Yet he did not let anyone oppress them.
He warned kings on their behalf:
¹⁵ “Do not touch my chosen people,
and do not hurt my prophets.”
¹⁶ He called for a famine on the land of Canaan,
cutting off its food supply.
¹⁷ Then he sent someone to Egypt ahead of them—
Joseph, who was sold as a slave.
¹⁸ They bruised his feet with fetters
and placed his neck in an iron collar.
¹⁹ Until the time came to fulfill his dreams,
the Lord tested Joseph’s character.
²⁰ Then Pharaoh sent for him and set him free;
the ruler of the nation opened his prison door.
²¹ Joseph was put in charge of all the king’s household;
he became ruler over all the king’s possessions.
²² He could instruct the king’s aides as he pleased
and teach the king’s advisers. 

• “Until the time came to fulfill his dreams, the Lord tested Joseph’s character.” Psalm 105:19

 

 

Joseph Interprets Two Dreams

Dreams

Having dreams vs. interpreting dreams.

Who did God use to interpret other people’s dreams? (Daniel and Joseph)

Genesis 41:14-16 NLT
¹⁴ Pharaoh sent for Joseph at once, and he was quickly brought from the prison. After he shaved and changed his clothes, he went in and stood before Pharaoh. ¹⁵ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream last night, and no one here can tell me what it means. But I have heard that when you hear about a dream you can interpret it.”
¹⁶ “It is beyond my power to do this,” Joseph replied. “But God can tell you what it means and set you at ease.”

Daniel 1:17 NLT
¹⁷ God gave these four young men an unusual aptitude for understanding every aspect of literature and wisdom. And God gave Daniel the special ability to interpret the meanings of visions and dreams.

Genesis 40:1-23 (NLT)
Joseph Interprets Two Dreams
¹ Some time later, Pharaoh’s chief cup-bearer and chief baker offended their royal master. ² Pharaoh became angry with these two officials, ³ and he put them in the prison where Joseph was, in the palace of the captain of the guard. ⁴ They remained in prison for quite some time, and the captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, who looked after them.
⁵ While they were in prison, Pharaoh’s cup-bearer and baker each had a dream one night, and each dream had its own meaning. ⁶ When Joseph saw them the next morning, he noticed that they both looked upset. ⁷ “Why do you look so worried today?” he asked them.
⁸ And they replied, “We both had dreams last night, but no one can tell us what they mean.”
“Interpreting dreams is God’s business,” Joseph replied. “Go ahead and tell me your dreams.”
⁹ So the chief cup-bearer told Joseph his dream first. “In my dream,” he said, “I saw a grapevine in front of me. ¹⁰ The vine had three branches that began to bud and blossom, and soon it produced clusters of ripe grapes. ¹¹ I was holding Pharaoh’s wine cup in my hand, so I took a cluster of grapes and squeezed the juice into the cup. Then I placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.”
¹² “This is what the dream means,” Joseph said. “The three branches represent three days. ¹³ Within three days Pharaoh will lift you up and restore you to your position as his chief cup-bearer. ¹⁴ And please remember me and do me a favor when things go well for you. Mention me to Pharaoh, so he might let me out of this place. ¹⁵ For I was kidnapped from my homeland, the land of the Hebrews, and now I’m here in prison, but I did nothing to deserve it.”
¹⁶ When the chief baker saw that Joseph had given the first dream such a positive interpretation, he said to Joseph, “I had a dream, too. In my dream there were three baskets of white pastries stacked on my head. ¹⁷ The top basket contained all kinds of pastries for Pharaoh, but the birds came and ate them from the basket on my head.”
¹⁸ “This is what the dream means,” Joseph told him. “The three baskets also represent three days. ¹⁹ Three days from now Pharaoh will lift you up and impale your body on a pole. Then birds will come and peck away at your flesh.”
²⁰ Pharaoh’s birthday came three days later, and he prepared a banquet for all his officials and staff. He summoned his chief cup-bearer and chief baker to join the other officials. ²¹ He then restored the chief cup-bearer to his former position, so he could again hand Pharaoh his cup. ²² But Pharaoh impaled the chief baker, just as Joseph had predicted when he interpreted his dream. ²³ Pharaoh’s chief cup-bearer, however, forgot all about Joseph, never giving him another thought.

Examine the Scriptures

Genesis 40:1-23 (NLT)
Joseph Interprets Two Dreams
¹ Some time later, Pharaoh’s chief cup-bearer and chief baker offended their royal master. 

It was of upmost importance that Pharaoh had complete and total trust in the individuals in these positions.

The consequences were predictably severe when these men offended their master.

² Pharaoh became angry with these two officials, ³ and he put them in the prison where Joseph was, in the palace of the captain of the guard. 

Reminder about Joseph
Genesis 39:22-23 NLT
²² Before long, the warden put Joseph in charge of all the other prisoners and over everything that happened in the prison. ²³ The warden had no more worries, because Joseph took care of everything. The Lord was with him and caused everything he did to succeed. 

⁴ They remained in prison for quite some time, and the captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, who looked after them. 

Joseph looked after the men assigned to him.

⁵ While they were in prison, Pharaoh’s cup-bearer and baker each had a dream one night, and each dream had its own meaning.  

Each dream had its own meaning.

Dreams

There are many examples in the Bible where God spoke to individuals through dreams.

Joseph had dreams of his family bowing down before him.

Genesis 37:5-7 NLT
⁵ One night Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him more than ever. ⁶ “Listen to this dream,” he said. ⁷ “We were out in the field, tying up bundles of grain. Suddenly my bundle stood up, and your bundles all gathered around and bowed low before mine!” ….
⁹ Soon Joseph had another dream, and again he told his brothers about it. “Listen, I have had another dream,” he said. “The sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed low before me!”

Warnings from God through dreams:

God spoke to King Abimelech in Genesis 20 concerning his relationship with Abraham’s wife Sarah.

Laban
Genesis 31:24
²⁴ But the previous night God had appeared to Laban the Aramean in a dream and told him, “I’m warning you—leave Jacob alone!”

Magi
Matthew 2:12 NLT
¹² When it was time to leave, they returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them (Magi) in a dream not to return to Herod. 

Pilate’s wife during the trial of Jesus.
Matthew 27:19 NLT
¹⁹ Just then, as Pilate was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him this message: “Leave that innocent man alone. I suffered through a terrible nightmare (dream) about him last night.”

God speaking to:

Jacob (Genesis) 

Solomon
1 Kings 3:5 NLT
⁵ That night the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream, and God said, “What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you!”

Joseph, the husband of Mary

Paul (Visions)

Today: Stories from Leading the Way

• God communicates to individuals through dreams.

False interpretations of dreams:

Daniel 2:1-3 NLT
Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream
¹ One night during the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had such disturbing dreams that he couldn’t sleep. ² He called in his magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and astrologers, and he demanded that they tell him what he had dreamed. As they stood before the king, ³ he said, “I have had a dream that deeply troubles me, and I must know what it means.”

• The Egyptians and Babylonians developed a professional class of dream interpreters.

Deuteronomy 13:1-5 NLT
A Warning against Idolatry
¹“Suppose there are prophets among you or those who dream dreams about the future, and they promise you signs or miracles, ² and the predicted signs or miracles occur. If they then say, ‘Come, let us worship other gods’—gods you have not known before— ³ do not listen to them. The Lord your God is testing you to see if you truly love him with all your heart and soul. ⁴ Serve only the Lord your God and fear him alone. Obey his commands, listen to his voice, and cling to him. ⁵ The false prophets or visionaries who try to lead you astray must be put to death, for they encourage rebellion against the Lord your God, who redeemed you from slavery and brought you out of the land of Egypt. Since they try to lead you astray from the way the Lord your God commanded you to live, you must put them to death. In this way you will purge the evil from among you.

 Jeremiah 27:9 NLT
⁹ “‘Do not listen to your false prophets, fortune-tellers, interpreters of dreams, mediums, and sorcerers who say, “The king of Babylon will not conquer you.” 

• Dreams might be interpreted, left uninterpreted, or misinterpreted. 

⁶ When Joseph saw them the next morning, he noticed that they both looked upset. ⁷ “Why do you look so worried today?” he asked them. 

• Joseph noticed and cared about the men assigned to him. 

⁸ And they replied, “We both had dreams last night, but no one can tell us what they mean.” 

“Interpreting dreams is God’s business,” Joseph replied.

• “Interpreting dreams is God’s business”

“Go ahead and tell me your dreams.”
⁹ So the chief cup-bearer told Joseph his dream first. “In my dream,” he said, “I saw a grapevine in front of me. ¹⁰ The vine had three branches that began to bud and blossom, and soon it produced clusters of ripe grapes. ¹¹ I was holding Pharaoh’s wine cup in my hand, so I took a cluster of grapes and squeezed the juice into the cup. Then I placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.”
¹² “This is what the dream means,” Joseph said. “The three branches represent three days. ¹³ Within three days Pharaoh will lift you up and restore you to your position as his chief cup-bearer. ¹⁴ And please remember me and do me a favor when things go well for you. Mention me to Pharaoh, so he might let me out of this place. 

Joseph’s request:
“Please remember me and do me a favor when things go well for you. Mention me to Pharaoh.” 

¹⁵ For I was kidnapped from my homeland, the land of the Hebrews,

“The land of the Hebrews,”

Joseph understood the promise of the Abrahamic covenant.

and now I’m here in prison, but I did nothing to deserve it.” 

“I’m here in prison, but I did nothing to deserve it.”

Joseph continued to care about others and serve others while he was being treated unfairly.

 ¹⁶ When the chief baker saw that Joseph had given the first dream such a positive interpretation, he said to Joseph, “I had a dream, too. In my dream there were three baskets of white pastries stacked on my head. ¹⁷ The top basket contained all kinds of pastries for Pharaoh, but the birds came and ate them from the basket on my head.”
¹⁸ “This is what the dream means,” Joseph told him. “The three baskets also represent three days. ¹⁹ Three days from now Pharaoh will lift you up and impale your body on a pole. Then birds will come and peck away at your flesh.”

Joseph did not sugar coat his interpretation of the dream.
(Joseph had a track record of telling others exactly what a dream meant.) 

²⁰ Pharaoh’s birthday came three days later, and he prepared a banquet for all his officials and staff. He summoned his chief cup-bearer and chief baker to join the other officials. ²¹ He then restored the chief cup-bearer to his former position, so he could again hand Pharaoh his cup. ²² But Pharaoh impaled the chief baker, just as Joseph had predicted when he interpreted his dream. 

Joseph’s clearly understood God’s revelation of these dreams.  (Joseph was “tuned in” to God.)

• Joseph’s faith was not destroyed by his circumstances.

God had not forgotten Joseph.

• Joseph continued to serve God by serving others while he was in prison.

John 13:14-15 NLT
¹⁴ And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. ¹⁵ I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you.

Meeting others’ needs self-sacrificially is what we ought to do too. 

²³ Pharaoh’s chief cup-bearer, however, forgot all about Joseph, never giving him another thought.

1 Peter 4:10 NLT
¹⁰ God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.

 

 

Joseph in Potiphar’s House

The Story of Joseph Continues.

Promises and challenges for us taken from the story of Joseph.

Genesis 39:1-23 (NLT)
Joseph in Potiphar’s House
¹ When Joseph was taken to Egypt by the Ishmaelite traders, he was purchased by Potiphar, an Egyptian officer. Potiphar was captain of the guard for Pharaoh, the king of Egypt.
² The Lord was with Joseph, so he succeeded in everything he did as he served in the home of his Egyptian master. ³ Potiphar noticed this and realized that the Lord was with Joseph, giving him success in everything he did. ⁴ This pleased Potiphar, so he soon made Joseph his personal attendant. He put him in charge of his entire household and everything he owned. ⁵ From the day Joseph was put in charge of his master’s household and property, the Lord began to bless Potiphar’s household for Joseph’s sake. All his household affairs ran smoothly, and his crops and livestock flourished. ⁶ So Potiphar gave Joseph complete administrative responsibility over everything he owned. With Joseph there, he didn’t worry about a thing—except what kind of food to eat!
Joseph was a very handsome and well-built young man, ⁷ and Potiphar’s wife soon began to look at him lustfully. “Come and sleep with me,” she demanded.
⁸ But Joseph refused. “Look,” he told her, “my master trusts me with everything in his entire household. ⁹ No one here has more authority than I do. He has held back nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How could I do such a wicked thing? It would be a great sin against God.”
¹⁰ She kept putting pressure on Joseph day after day, but he refused to sleep with her, and he kept out of her way as much as possible. ¹¹ One day, however, no one else was around when he went in to do his work. ¹² She came and grabbed him by his cloak, demanding, “Come on, sleep with me!” Joseph tore himself away, but he left his cloak in her hand as he ran from the house.
¹³ When she saw that she was holding his cloak and he had fled, ¹⁴ she called out to her servants. Soon all the men came running. “Look!” she said. “My husband has brought this Hebrew slave here to make fools of us! He came into my room to rape me, but I screamed. ¹⁵ When he heard me scream, he ran outside and got away, but he left his cloak behind with me.”
¹⁶ She kept the cloak with her until her husband came home. ¹⁷ Then she told him her story. “That Hebrew slave you’ve brought into our house tried to come in and fool around with me,” she said. ¹⁸ “But when I screamed, he ran outside, leaving his cloak with me!”
Joseph Put in Prison
¹⁹ Potiphar was furious when he heard his wife’s story about how Joseph had treated her. ²⁰ So he took Joseph and threw him into the prison where the king’s prisoners were held, and there he remained. ²¹ But the Lord was with Joseph in the prison and showed him his faithful love. And the Lord made Joseph a favorite with the prison warden. ²² Before long, the warden put Joseph in charge of all the other prisoners and over everything that happened in the prison. ²³ The warden had no more worries, because Joseph took care of everything. The Lord was with him and caused everything he did to succeed.

Examine the Scriptures

Genesis 39:1-23 (NLT)
Joseph in Potiphar’s House
¹ When Joseph was taken to Egypt by the Ishmaelite traders, he was purchased by Potiphar, an Egyptian officer. Potiphar was captain of the guard for Pharaoh, the king of Egypt.

A prominent court official and a high ranking officer in Egypt.

• God was positioning Joseph for the plans He (God) had in store for Joseph.

² The Lord was with Joseph, so he succeeded in everything he did as he served in the home of his Egyptian master. 

•  The Lord was with Joseph, so he succeeded in everything he did.

 Deuteronomy 31:6 (NLT) A promise to Joshua and the people of Israel.
⁶ So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.”

Hebrews 13:5 (NLT) The promise given to New Testament Christians.
⁵ … For God has said,
“I will never fail you.
I will never abandon you.”

• God said, “I will never abandon you.” (A promise given to New Testament Christians.)

 ³ Potiphar noticed this and realized that the Lord was with Joseph, giving him success in everything he did. 

• Potiphar realized that the Lord was with Joseph, giving him success in everything he did.

• People are watching us. Set a good example for them in all you do.

Set a good example.

1 Timothy 4:12 (NLT)
¹² Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity.

A challenge to us.

1 Peter 2:12(NLT)
¹² Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.

⁴ This pleased Potiphar, so he soon made Joseph his personal attendant. He put him in charge of his entire household and everything he owned. 

Application for us.

Ephesians 6:5-9 (NLT)
⁵ Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ. ⁶ Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. As slaves of Christ, do the will of God with all your heart. ⁷ Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. ⁸ Remember that the Lord will reward each one of us for the good we do, whether we are slaves or free.

 ⁵ From the day Joseph was put in charge of his master’s household and property, the Lord began to bless Potiphar’s household for Joseph’s sake. All his household affairs ran smoothly, and his crops and livestock flourished. 

• The Lord blessed Potiphar’s household for Joseph’s sake.

Genesis 12:1-3 (NLT)
¹ The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. ² I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. ³ I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”

⁶ So Potiphar gave Joseph complete administrative responsibility over everything he owned. With Joseph there, he didn’t worry about a thing—except what kind of food to eat!

 With Joseph in charge, Potiphar didn’t worry about a thing – except what kind of food to eat.

 Joseph was a very handsome and well-built young man, ⁷ and Potiphar’s wife soon began to look at him lustfully. “Come and sleep with me,” she demanded.

Proverbs 7 addresses this sin.  Listen to the concluding verses of Proverbs 7.

Proverbs 7:24-27 (NLT)
²⁴ So listen to me, my sons,
and pay attention to my words.
²⁵ Don’t let your hearts stray away toward her.
Don’t wander down her wayward path.
²⁶ For she has been the ruin of many;
many men have been her victims.
²⁷ Her house is the road to the grave.
Her bedroom is the den of death.

A warning for Joseph and a warning for us.

1 Peter 5:8 (NLT)
⁸ Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.

•  Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil.

 ⁸ But Joseph refused. “Look,” he told her, “my master trusts me with everything in his entire household. ⁹ No one here has more authority than I do. He has held back nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How could I do such a wicked thing? It would be a great sin against God.”

Joseph recognized the seriousness of adultery,

Against his master

But more importantly, against God.

¹⁰ She kept putting pressure on Joseph day after day, but he refused to sleep with her, and he kept out of her way as much as possible. ¹¹ One day, however, no one else was around when he went in to do his work. ¹² She came and grabbed him by his cloak, demanding, “Come on, sleep with me!” Joseph tore himself away, but he left his cloak in her hand as he ran from the house.

Teachings in the New Testament.

1 Corinthians 6:18 (NLT)
¹⁸ Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body.

2 Timothy 2:22 (NLT)
²² Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts.

• Run from sin.

¹³ When she saw that she was holding his cloak and he had fled, ¹⁴ she called out to her servants. Soon all the men came running. “Look!” she said. “My husband has brought this Hebrew slave here to make fools of us! He came into my room to rape me, but I screamed. ¹⁵ When he heard me scream, he ran outside and got away, but he left his cloak behind with me.”

• Potiphar’s wife shifted the blame onto her husband for bringing the Hebrew slave into their home.

¹⁶ She kept the cloak with her until her husband came home. ¹⁷ Then she told him her story. “That Hebrew slave you’ve brought into our house tried to come in and fool around with me,” she said.  

¹⁸ “But when I screamed, he ran outside, leaving his cloak with me!”

Joseph Put in Prison
¹⁹ Potiphar was furious when he heard his wife’s story about how Joseph had treated her. ²⁰ So he took Joseph and threw him into the prison where the king’s prisoners were held, and there he remained. 

• Based on false accusations, Joseph was deemed guilty and imprisoned.

²¹ But the Lord was with Joseph in the prison and showed him his faithful love. 

• God never promised that life would be easy, but He did promise we would never be alone.

Psalm 34:17 (NLT)
¹⁷ The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help.
He rescues them from all their troubles.

 Psalm 145:18-19 (NLT)
¹⁸ The Lord is close to all who call on him,
yes, to all who call on him in truth.
¹⁹ He grants the desires of those who fear him;
he hears their cries for help and rescues them.

Psalm 46:1 (NLT)
¹ God is our refuge and strength,
always ready to help in times of trouble.

Isaiah 41:10 (NLT)
¹⁰ Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.
Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you.
I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.

2 Thessalonians 3:3 (NLT)
³ But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.

1 Peter 5:10 (NLT)
¹⁰ In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation.

 And the Lord made Joseph a favorite with the prison warden. ²² Before long, the warden put Joseph in charge of all the other prisoners and over everything that happened in the prison. ²³ The warden had no more worries, because Joseph took care of everything. The Lord was with him and caused everything he did to succeed.

With Joseph in charge, the prison warden had no worries.

• The Lord was with Joseph in the prison and showed him his faithful love.  The Lord caused everything he did to succeed.

To Be Continued

The Judah Interlude

The story of Joseph is interrupted by this chapter.

This chapter is here because it fits chronologically.

Isaiah 55:8-9 (NLT)
⁸ “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.
“And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.*
⁹ For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so my ways are higher than your ways
and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.

• Our small minds can’t understand why God does some of the things he does.
• God’s sovereignty supersedes manipulative or godless behaviors.

Genesis 38:1-30 (NLT)Judah and Tamar
38 About this time, Judah left home and moved to Adullam, where he stayed with a man named Hirah. ² There he saw a Canaanite woman, the daughter of Shua, and he married her. When he slept with her, ³ she became pregnant and gave birth to a son, and he named the boy Er. ⁴ Then she became pregnant again and gave birth to another son, and she named him Onan. ⁵ And when she gave birth to a third son, she named him Shelah. At the time of Shelah’s birth, they were living at Kezib.
⁶ In the course of time, Judah arranged for his firstborn son, Er, to marry a young woman named Tamar. ⁷ But Er was a wicked man in the Lord’s sight, so the Lord took his life. ⁸ Then Judah said to Er’s brother Onan, “Go and marry Tamar, as our law requires of the brother of a man who has died. You must produce an heir for your brother.”
⁹ But Onan was not willing to have a child who would not be his own heir. So whenever he had intercourse with his brother’s wife, he spilled the semen on the ground. This prevented her from having a child who would belong to his brother. ¹⁰ But the Lord considered it evil for Onan to deny a child to his dead brother. So the Lord took Onan’s life, too.
¹¹ Then Judah said to Tamar, his daughter-in-law, “Go back to your parents’ home and remain a widow until my son Shelah is old enough to marry you.” (But Judah didn’t really intend to do this because he was afraid Shelah would also die, like his two brothers.) So Tamar went back to live in her father’s home.
¹² Some years later Judah’s wife died. After the time of mourning was over, Judah and his friend Hirah the Adullamite went up to Timnah to supervise the shearing of his sheep. ¹³ Someone told Tamar, “Look, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep.”
¹⁴ Tamar was aware that Shelah had grown up, but no arrangements had been made for her to come and marry him. So she changed out of her widow’s clothing and covered herself with a veil to disguise herself. Then she sat beside the road at the entrance to the village of Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. ¹⁵ Judah noticed her and thought she was a prostitute, since she had covered her face. ¹⁶ So he stopped and propositioned her. “Let me have sex with you,” he said, not realizing that she was his own daughter-in-law.
“How much will you pay to have sex with me?” Tamar asked.
¹⁷ “I’ll send you a young goat from my flock,” Judah promised.
“But what will you give me to guarantee that you will send the goat?” she asked.
¹⁸ “What kind of guarantee do you want?” he replied.
She answered, “Leave me your identification seal and its cord and the walking stick you are carrying.” So Judah gave them to her. Then he had intercourse with her, and she became pregnant. ¹⁹ Afterward she went back home, took off her veil, and put on her widow’s clothing as usual.
²⁰ Later Judah asked his friend Hirah the Adullamite to take the young goat to the woman and to pick up the things he had given her as his guarantee. But Hirah couldn’t find her. ²¹ So he asked the men who lived there, “Where can I find the shrine prostitute who was sitting beside the road at the entrance to Enaim?”
“We’ve never had a shrine prostitute here,” they replied.
²² So Hirah returned to Judah and told him, “I couldn’t find her anywhere, and the men of the village claim they’ve never had a shrine prostitute there.”
²³ “Then let her keep the things I gave her,” Judah said. “I sent the young goat as we agreed, but you couldn’t find her. We’d be the laughingstock of the village if we went back again to look for her.”
²⁴ About three months later, Judah was told, “Tamar, your daughter-in-law, has acted like a prostitute. And now, because of this, she’s pregnant.”
“Bring her out, and let her be burned!” Judah demanded.
²⁵ But as they were taking her out to kill her, she sent this message to her father-in-law: “The man who owns these things made me pregnant. Look closely. Whose seal and cord and walking stick are these?”
²⁶ Judah recognized them immediately and said, “She is more righteous than I am, because I didn’t arrange for her to marry my son Shelah.” And Judah never slept with Tamar again.
²⁷ When the time came for Tamar to give birth, it w discovered that she was carrying twins. ²⁸ While she was in labor, one of the babies reached out his hand. The midwife grabbed it and tied a scarlet string around the child’s wrist, announcing, “This one came out first.” ²⁹ But then he pulled back his hand, and out came his brother! “What!” the midwife exclaimed. “How did you break out first?” So he was named Perez. ³⁰ Then the baby with the scarlet string on his wrist was born, and he was named Zerah.

Examine the Scriptures

Genesis 38:1-30 (NLT)
Judah and Tamar
38 About this time, 

            Joseph’s slavery in Egypt.

Judah left home and moved to Adullam, where he stayed with a man named Hirah.            

Northwest of Hebron
Southwest of Jerusalem 

² There he saw a Canaanite woman, the daughter of Shua, and he married her.

Israelites would later be instructed not to marry Canaanite women.

Deuteronomy 7:1-4 (NLT)
The Privilege of Holiness
7 “When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are about to enter and occupy, he will clear away many nations ahead of you: the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. These seven nations are greater and more numerous than you. ² When the Lord your God hands these nations over to you and you conquer them, you must completely destroy them. Make no treaties with them and show them no mercy. ³ You must not intermarry with them. Do not let your daughters and sons marry their sons and daughters, ⁴ for they will lead your children away from me to worship other gods. Then the anger of the Lord will burn against you, and he will quickly destroy you. 

When he slept with her, ³ she became pregnant and gave birth to a son, and he named the boy Er. ⁴ Then she became pregnant again and gave birth to another son, and she named him Onan. ⁵ And when she gave birth to a third son, she named him Shelah.

His Canaanite wife had three sons for his family line.

At the time of Shelah’s birth, they were living at Kezib.           

Southwest of Adullam 

⁶ In the course of time, Judah arranged for his firstborn son, Er, to marry a young woman named Tamar. ⁷ But Er was a wicked man in the Lord’s sight, so the Lord took his life.            

Executed by the Lord for his wickedness.

⁸ Then Judah said to Er’s brother Onan, “Go and marry Tamar, as our law requires of the brother of a man who has died. You must produce an heir for your brother.”

Levirate marriage (duties of a brother in law)

Deuteronomy 25:5-10 (NLT)
⁵ “If two brothers are living together on the same property and one of them dies without a son, his widow may not be married to anyone from outside the family. Instead, her husband’s brother should marry her and have intercourse with her to fulfill the duties of a brother-in-law. ⁶ The first son she bears to him will be considered the son of the dead brother, so that his name will not be forgotten in Israel.
⁷ “But if the man refuses to marry his brother’s widow, she must go to the town gate and say to the elders assembled there, ‘My husband’s brother refuses to preserve his brother’s name in Israel—he refuses to fulfill the duties of a brother-in-law by marrying me.’ ⁸ The elders of the town will then summon him and talk with him. If he still refuses and says, ‘I don’t want to marry her,’ ⁹ the widow must walk over to him in the presence of the elders, pull his sandal from his foot, and spit in his face. Then she must declare, ‘This is what happens to a man who refuses to provide his brother with children.’ ¹⁰ Ever afterward in Israel his family will be referred to as ‘the family of the man whose sandal was pulled off’!

⁹ But Onan was not willing to have a child who would not be his own heir. So whenever he had intercourse with his brother’s wife, he spilled the semen on the ground. This prevented her from having a child who would belong to his brother. 

The child would belong to his brother, Judah’s oldest son, giving him special inheritance rights.

This would reduce the importance of Onan’s family line and his share of Judah’s inheritance. 

¹⁰ But the Lord considered it evil for Onan to deny a child to his dead brother. So the Lord took Onan’s life, too.

The Lord executed Onan.

¹¹ Then Judah said to Tamar, his daughter-in-law, “Go back to your parents’ home and remain a widow until my son Shelah is old enough to marry you.” (But Judah didn’t really intend to do this because he was afraid Shelah would also die, like his two brothers.) So Tamar went back to live in her father’s home. 

¹² Some years later Judah’s wife died. After the time of mourning was over, Judah and his friend Hirah the Adullamite went up to Timnah (hill country of Judah-west of Jerusalem) to supervise the shearing of his sheep. ¹³ Someone told Tamar, “Look, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep.”

¹⁴ Tamar was aware that Shelah had grown up, but no arrangements had been made for her to come and marry him. So she changed out of her widow’s clothing and covered herself with a veil to disguise herself. Then she sat beside the road at the entrance to the village of Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah.  

Hittite inheritance practices called the father-in-law into a levirate marriage in the absence of sons to do so. 

¹⁵ Judah noticed her and thought she was a prostitute, since she had covered her face. ¹⁶ So he stopped and propositioned her. “Let me have sex with you,” he said, not realizing that she was his own daughter-in-law.

Judah is making some very poor choices.

“How much will you pay to have sex with me?” Tamar asked.¹⁷ 
“I’ll send you a young goat from my flock,” Judah promised.
“But what will you give me to guarantee that you will send the goat?” she asked.
¹⁸ “What kind of guarantee do you want?” he replied.
She answered, “Leave me your identification seal and its cord and the walking stick you are carrying.”

Three pieces of identification.

So Judah gave them to her. Then he had intercourse with her, and she became pregnant. ¹⁹ Afterward she went back home, took off her veil, and put on her widow’s clothing as usual.

²⁰ Later Judah asked his friend Hirah the Adullamite to take the young goat to the woman and to pick up the things he had given her as his guarantee. But Hirah couldn’t find her. ²¹ So he asked the men who lived there, “Where can I find the shrine prostitute who was sitting beside the road at the entrance to Enaim?” 

Shrine prostitution was an acceptable practice in the Canaanite culture.

“We’ve never had a shrine prostitute here,” they replied.
²² So Hirah returned to Judah and told him, “I couldn’t find her anywhere, and the men of the village claim they’ve never had a shrine prostitute there.”
²³ “Then let her keep the things I gave her,” Judah said. “I sent the young goat as we agreed, but you couldn’t find her. We’d be the laughingstock of the village if we went back again to look for her.” 

It was not good for one’s reputation to keep asking for the whereabouts of a prostitute. 

²⁴ About three months later, Judah was told, “Tamar, your daughter-in-law, has acted like a prostitute. And now, because of this, she’s pregnant.
“Bring her out, and let her be burned!” Judah demanded.

Double standard??

²⁵ But as they were taking her out to kill her, she sent this message to her father-in-law: “The man who owns these things made me pregnant. Look closely. Whose seal and cord and walking stick are these?”
²⁶ Judah recognized them immediately and said, “She is more righteous than I am, because I didn’t arrange for her to marry my son Shelah.”

Tamar’s inheritance rights.

The rights of the levirate custom.

Remember Ruth and Naomi
A women’s identity was established in relation to males.

 And Judah never slept with Tamar again.

²⁷ When the time came for Tamar to give birth, it w discovered that she was carrying twins. ²⁸ While she was in labor, one of the babies reached out his hand. The midwife grabbed it and tied a scarlet string around the child’s wrist, announcing, “This one came out first.” ²⁹ But then he pulled back his hand, and out came his brother! “What!” the midwife exclaimed. “How did you break out first?” So he was named Perez. ³⁰ Then the baby with the scarlet string on his wrist was born, and he was named Zerah.

Perez – his name means “breach” or “pushing through”

Judah:

Genesis 46:12 (NLT)
¹² The sons of Judah were Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (though Er and Onan had died in the land of Canaan). The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.

Matthew 1:3 (NLT) Genealogy
³ Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah (whose mother was Tamar).
Perez was the father of Hezron.
Hezron was the father of Ram.

Genesis 49:8-10 (NLT) Jacob’s blessing
 ⁸ “Judah, your brothers will praise you.
You will grasp your enemies by the neck.
All your relatives will bow before you.
⁹ Judah, my son, is a young lion
that has finished eating its prey.
Like a lion he crouches and lies down;
like a lioness—who dares to rouse him?
¹⁰ The scepter will not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff from his descendants,
until the coming of the one to whom it belongs,
the one whom all nations will honor.

Revelation 5:5 (NLT)
⁵ But one of the twenty-four elders said to me, “Stop weeping! Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the heir to David’s throne has won the victory. He is worthy to open the scroll and its seven seals.”

Bullet Points from previous lessons:

• God is sovereign.
• God’s sovereignty supersedes manipulative or godless behaviors.
• We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps.
• Living outside of the will of God is sin.
• Partial obedience is disobedience.
• The human heart is deceitful.
• Sin has consequences and sin is always destructive.
• Parental favoritism hurts family relationships.
• God will finish the work He has begun in us.
• God uses flawed people.
• God’s blessings are not a promise of an easy carefree life.
• Sanctification is an ongoing process that will not be complete or reach perfection in this life.

Joseph Sold by His Brothers

This lesson includes all of the bullet points listed above.

Genesis 37:12-36 (NLT)

¹² Soon after this, Joseph’s brothers went to pasture their father’s flocks at Shechem. ¹³ When they had been gone for some time, Jacob said to Joseph, “Your brothers are pasturing the sheep at Shechem. Get ready, and I will send you to them.”
“I’m ready to go,” Joseph replied.
¹⁴ “Go and see how your brothers and the flocks are getting along,” Jacob said. “Then come back and bring me a report.” So Jacob sent him on his way, and Joseph traveled to Shechem from their home in the valley of Hebron.
¹⁵ When he arrived there, a man from the area noticed him wandering around the countryside. “What are you looking for?” he asked.
¹⁶ “I’m looking for my brothers,” Joseph replied. “Do you know where they are pasturing their sheep?”
¹⁷ “Yes,” the man told him. “They have moved on from here, but I heard them say, ‘Let’s go on to Dothan.’” So Joseph followed his brothers to Dothan and found them there.
Joseph Sold into Slavery
¹⁸ When Joseph’s brothers saw him coming, they recognized him in the distance. As he approached, they made plans to kill him. ¹⁹ “Here comes the dreamer!” they said. ²⁰ “Come on, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns. We can tell our father, ‘A wild animal has eaten him.’ Then we’ll see what becomes of his dreams!”
²¹ But when Reuben heard of their scheme, he came to Joseph’s rescue. “Let’s not kill him,” he said. ²² “Why should we shed any blood? Let’s just throw him into this empty cistern here in the wilderness. Then he’ll die without our laying a hand on him.” Reuben was secretly planning to rescue Joseph and return him to his father.
²³ So when Joseph arrived, his brothers ripped off the beautiful robe he was wearing. ²⁴ Then they grabbed him and threw him into the cistern. Now the cistern was empty; there was no water in it. ²⁵ Then, just as they were sitting down to eat, they looked up and saw a caravan of camels in the distance coming toward them. It was a group of Ishmaelite traders taking a load of gum, balm, and aromatic resin from Gilead down to Egypt.
²⁶ Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain by killing our brother? We’d have to cover up the crime.  ²⁷ Instead of hurting him, let’s sell him to those Ishmaelite traders. After all, he is our brother—our own flesh and blood!” And his brothers agreed. ²⁸ So when the Ishmaelites, who were Midianite traders, came by, Joseph’s brothers pulled him out of the cistern and sold him to them for twenty pieces of silver. And the traders took him to Egypt.
²⁹ Some time later, Reuben returned to get Joseph out of the cistern. When he discovered that Joseph was missing, he tore his clothes in grief. ³⁰ Then he went back to his brothers and lamented, “The boy is gone! What will I do now?”
³¹ Then the brothers killed a young goat and dipped Joseph’s robe in its blood. ³² They sent the beautiful robe to their father with this message: “Look at what we found. Doesn’t this robe belong to your son?”
³³ Their father recognized it immediately. “Yes,” he said, “it is my son’s robe. A wild animal must have eaten him. Joseph has clearly been torn to pieces!” ³⁴ Then Jacob tore his clothes and dressed himself in burlap. He mourned deeply for his son for a long time. ³⁵ His family all tried to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “I will go to my grave mourning for my son,” he would say, and then he would weep.
³⁶ Meanwhile, the Midianite traders arrived in Egypt, where they sold Joseph to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. Potiphar was captain of the palace guard.

Examine the Scriptures

Genesis 37:12-36 (NLT)
¹² Soon after this, Joseph’s brothers 

Review
Who were Joseph’s brothers?

Genesis 35:21-26 NLT
²¹ …
These are the names of the twelve sons of Jacob:
²³ The sons of Leah were Reuben (Jacob’s oldest son), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.
²⁴ The sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin.
²⁵ The sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s servant, were Dan and Naphtali.
²⁶ The sons of Zilpah, Leah’s servant, were Gad and Asher.
These are the names of the sons who were born to Jacob at Paddan-aram.

Exodus 1:1-7 NLT
The Israelites in Egypt
1 These are the names of the sons of Israel (that is, Jacob) who moved to Egypt with their father, each with his family: ² Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, ³ Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, ⁴ Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. ⁵ In all, Jacob had seventy descendants in Egypt, including Joseph, who was already there.
⁶ In time, Joseph and all of his brothers died, ending that entire generation. ⁷ But their descendants, the Israelites, had many children and grandchildren. In fact, they multiplied so greatly that they became extremely powerful and filled the land. 

• The 12 sons of Jacob became the heads of the twelve original tribes of Israel.

 Revelation 7:1-8 (NLT)
God’s People Will Be Preserved
7 Then I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds so they did not blow on the earth or the sea, or even on any tree. ² And I saw another angel coming up from the east, carrying the seal of the living God. And he shouted to those four angels, who had been given power to harm land and sea, ³ “Wait! Don’t harm the land or the sea or the trees until we have placed the seal of God on the foreheads of his servants.”
⁴ And I heard how many were marked with the seal of God—144,000 were sealed from all the tribes of Israel:

 

5 from Judah	12,000
from Reuben	12,000
from Gad	12,000
6 from Asher	12,000
from Naphtali	12,000
from Manasseh	12,000
7 from Simeon	12,000
from Levi	12,000
from Issachar	12,000
8 from Zebulun	12,000
from Joseph	12,000
from Benjamin	12,000

 

 went to pasture their father’s flocks at Shechem. ¹³ When they had been gone for some time, Jacob said to Joseph, “Your brothers are pasturing the sheep at Shechem. Get ready, and I will send you to them.”

 “I’m ready to go,” Joseph replied.

Joseph obeyed his father, knowing that his brothers hated him.

¹⁴ “Go and see how your brothers and the flocks are getting along,” Jacob said. “Then come back and bring me a report.” So Jacob sent him on his way, and Joseph traveled to Shechem from their home in the valley of Hebron.

50 miles north of Hebron

 ¹⁵ When he arrived there, a man from the area noticed him wandering around the countryside. “What are you looking for?” he asked.
¹⁶ “I’m looking for my brothers,” Joseph replied. “Do you know where they are pasturing their sheep?”
¹⁷ “Yes,” the man told him. “They have moved on from here, but I heard them say, ‘Let’s go on to Dothan.’” So Joseph followed his brothers to Dothan and found them there.

An additional 15 miles

Dothan was along a main trade route to Egypt.

• Out of obedience to his father, Joseph traveled a minimum of 65 miles before he met up with his brothers.

Joseph Sold into Slavery

¹⁸ When Joseph’s brothers saw him coming, they recognized him in the distance. As he approached, they made plans to kill him. 

• Joseph’s brothers made plans to kill Joseph.

This is clearly premeditated murder.

What had the brothers previously done in Shechem?

Revenge against Shechem
^{Genesis 34:1} One day Dinah, the daughter of Jacob and Leah, went to visit some of the young women who lived in the area. ² But when the local prince, Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, saw Dinah, he seized her and raped her.
⁸ Hamor tried to speak with Jacob and his sons. “My son Shechem is truly in love with your daughter,” he said. “Please let him marry her. ⁹ In fact, let’s arrange other marriages, too. You give us your daughters for our sons, and we will give you our daughters for your sons. ¹⁰ And you may live among us; the land is open to you! Settle here and trade with us. And feel free to buy property in the area.”
¹¹ Then Shechem himself spoke to Dinah’s father and brothers. “Please be kind to me, and let me marry her,” he begged. “I will give you whatever you ask. ¹² No matter what dowry or gift you demand, I will gladly pay it—just give me the girl as my wife.”
¹³ But since Shechem had defiled their sister, Dinah, Jacob’s sons responded deceitfully to Shechem and his father, Hamor. ¹⁴ They said to them, “We couldn’t possibly allow this, because you’re not circumcised. It would be a disgrace for our sister to marry a man like you! ¹⁵ But here is a solution. If every man among you will be circumcised like we are, ¹⁶ then we will give you our daughters, and we’ll take your daughters for ourselves. We will live among you and become one people. ¹⁷ But if you don’t agree to be circumcised, we will take her and be on our way.”
¹⁸ Hamor and his son Shechem agreed to their proposal.
²¹ “These men are our friends,” they said. “Let’s invite them to live here among us and trade freely. Look, the land is large enough to hold them. We can take their daughters as wives and let them marry ours. ²² But they will consider staying here and becoming one people with us only if all of our men are circumcised, just as they are. ²³ But if we do this, all their livestock and possessions will eventually be ours. Come, let’s agree to their terms and let them settle here among us.”
²⁴ So all the men in the town council agreed with Hamor and Shechem, and every male in the town was circumcised. ²⁵ But three days later, when their wounds were still sore, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, who were Dinah’s full brothers, took their swords and entered the town without opposition. Then they slaughtered every male there, ²⁶ including Hamor and his son Shechem. They killed them with their swords, then took Dinah from Shechem’s house and returned to their camp.
²⁷ Meanwhile, the rest of Jacob’s sons arrived. Finding the men slaughtered, they plundered the town because their sister had been defiled there. ²⁸ They seized all the flocks and herds and donkeys—everything they could lay their hands on, both inside the town and outside in the fields. ²⁹ They looted all their wealth and plundered their houses. They also took all their little children and wives and led them away as captives.

• Joseph’s brothers had a history of violence. (Genesis 34)

¹⁹ “Here comes the dreamer!” they said. ²⁰ “Come on, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns. We can tell our father, ‘A wild animal has eaten him.’ Then we’ll see what becomes of his dreams!”

• Joseph’s brothers were ready to murder their brother and lie to their father.

²¹ But when Reuben heard of their scheme, he came to Joseph’s rescue. “Let’s not kill him,” he said. ²² “Why should we shed any blood? Let’s just throw him into this empty cistern here in the wilderness. Then he’ll die without our laying a hand on him.” Reuben was secretly planning to rescue Joseph and return him to his father.

Reuben was secretly planning to rescue Joseph and return him to his father.

• Joseph’s brothers behaved in various ways. Not all of the brothers wanted to kill Joseph.

²³ So when Joseph arrived, his brothers ripped off the beautiful robe he was wearing. ²⁴ Then they grabbed him and threw him into the cistern. Now the cistern was empty; there was no water in it. ²⁵ Then, just as they were sitting down to eat, they looked up and saw a caravan of camels in the distance coming toward them. It was a group of Ishmaelite traders taking a load of gum, balm, and aromatic resin from Gilead down to Egypt.

The Ishmaelites were descendants of Abraham by Hagar (16:15) and the Midianites (37:28) were descended from Abraham by his concubine Keturah (25:2).  The term Ishmaelites became a general designation for desert tribes, so that Midianite traders were also known as Ishmaelites.

²⁶ Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain by killing our brother? We’d have to cover up the crime. ²⁷ Instead of hurting him, let’s sell him to those Ishmaelite traders. After all, he is our brother—our own flesh and blood!” And his brothers agreed. 

Instead of hurting him, let’s sell him to those Ishmaelite traders.

Before the time of the “law”
Private and commercial slave trading was common.

Deuteronomy 24:7 (NLT)
⁷ “If anyone kidnaps a fellow Israelite and treats him as a slave or sells him, the kidnapper must die. In this way, you will purge the evil from among you.

Exodus 21:16 (NLT)
¹⁶ “Kidnappers must be put to death, whether they are caught in possession of their victims or have already sold them as slaves.

• Kidnapping a fellow Israelite, was by the Law of Moses punishable by death. (The Law had not been given at this point in time, but this behavior is clearly unacceptable.)

²⁸ So when the Ishmaelites, who were Midianite traders, came by, Joseph’s brothers pulled him out of the cistern and sold him to them for twenty pieces of silver. And the traders took him to Egypt.

The current price of a slave.

• Joseph was sold for the price of a slave. 

²⁹ Some time later, Reuben returned to get Joseph out of the cistern. When he discovered that Joseph was missing, he tore his clothes in grief. ³⁰ Then he went back to his brothers and lamented, “The boy is gone! What will I do now?” 

³¹ Then the brothers killed a young goat and dipped Joseph’s robe in its blood. ³² They sent the beautiful robe to their father with this message: “Look at what we found. Doesn’t this robe belong to your son?”

More lies and deception.

³³ Their father recognized it immediately. “Yes,” he said, “it is my son’s robe. A wild animal must have eaten him. Joseph has clearly been torn to pieces!” ³⁴ Then Jacob tore his clothes and dressed himself in burlap. He mourned deeply for his son for a long time. ³⁵ His family all tried to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “I will go to my grave (Sheol) mourning for my son,” he would say, and then he would weep. 

• Jacob was deceived by his sons. This deception impacted Jacob’s life for years. 

            Previous deception: 

Genesis 27:18-29 (NLT)
¹⁸ So Jacob took the food to his father. “My father?” he said.
“Yes, my son,” Isaac answered. “Who are you—Esau or Jacob?”
¹⁹ Jacob replied, “It’s Esau, your firstborn son. I’ve done as you told me. Here is the wild game. Now sit up and eat it so you can give me your blessing.”
²⁰ Isaac asked, “How did you find it so quickly, my son?”
“The Lord your God put it in my path!” Jacob replied.
²¹ Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come closer so I can touch you and make sure that you really are Esau.” ²² So Jacob went closer to his father, and Isaac touched him. “The voice is Jacob’s, but the hands are Esau’s,” Isaac said. ²³ But he did not recognize Jacob, because Jacob’s hands felt hairy just like Esau’s. So Isaac prepared to bless Jacob. ²⁴ “But are you really my son Esau?” he asked.
“Yes, I am,” Jacob replied.
²⁵ Then Isaac said, “Now, my son, bring me the wild game. Let me eat it, and then I will give you my blessing.” So Jacob took the food to his father, and Isaac ate it. He also drank the wine that Jacob served him. ²⁶ Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come a little closer and kiss me, my son.”
²⁷ So Jacob went over and kissed him. And when Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he was finally convinced, and he blessed his son. He said, “Ah! The smell of my son is like the smell of the outdoors, which the Lord has blessed!
²⁸ “From the dew of heaven
and the richness of the earth,
may God always give you abundant harvests of grain
and bountiful new wine.
²⁹ May many nations become your servants,
and may they bow down to you.
May you be the master over your brothers,
and may your mother’s sons bow down to you.
All who curse you will be cursed,
and all who bless you will be blessed.”

• Jacob had previously deceived his father Isaac.

³⁶ Meanwhile, the Midianite traders arrived in Egypt, where they sold Joseph to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. Potiphar was captain of the palace guard.

Looking ahead

• Genesis 50:20 (NLT)
  ²⁰ You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.

 

 

Joseph’s Dreams

Genesis 37:1-11

This lesson contains more “personal commentary” than usual.  Normally bulletin points are simply a paraphrase of a verse of scripture that is a part of the lesson.  Personal commentary bullet points are not based on scriptures from this lesson.

Introduction:

Ecclesiastes 3:7 (NLT)
A time to be quiet and a time to speak. 

Proverbs 30:33 (NLT)
As the beating of cream yields butter
and striking the nose causes bleeding,
so stirring up anger causes quarrels.
(Making people angry causes trouble.)

Genesis 37:1-11 (NLT)

Joseph’s Dreams

37 So Jacob settled again in the land of Canaan, where his father had lived as a foreigner.
² This is the account of Jacob and his family. When Joseph was seventeen years old, he often tended his father’s flocks. He worked for his half brothers, the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah. But Joseph reported to his father some of the bad things his brothers were doing.
³ Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other children because Joseph had been born to him in his old age. So one day Jacob had a special gift made for Joseph—a beautiful robe. ⁴ But his brothers hated Joseph because their father loved him more than the rest of them. They couldn’t say a kind word to him.
⁵ One night Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him more than ever. ⁶ “Listen to this dream,” he said. ⁷ “We were out in the field, tying up bundles of grain. Suddenly my bundle stood up, and your bundles all gathered around and bowed low before mine!”
⁸ His brothers responded, “So you think you will be our king, do you? Do you actually think you will reign over us?” And they hated him all the more because of his dreams and the way he talked about them.
⁹ Soon Joseph had another dream, and again he told his brothers about it. “Listen, I have had another dream,” he said. “The sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed low before me!”
¹⁰ This time he told the dream to his father as well as to his brothers, but his father scolded him. “What kind of dream is that?” he asked. “Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow to the ground before you?” ¹¹ But while his brothers were jealous of Joseph, his father wondered what the dreams meant.

Examine the Scriptures

Genesis 37:1-11 (NLT)

Joseph’s Dreams

¹ So Jacob settled again in the land of Canaan, where his father had lived as a foreigner.

Genesis 28:13-15 (NLT)
¹³ At the top of the stairway stood the Lord, and he said, “I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham, and the God of your father, Isaac. The ground you are lying on belongs to you. I am giving it to you and your descendants. ¹⁴ Your descendants will be as numerous as the dust of the earth! They will spread out in all directions—to the west and the east, to the north and the south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants. ¹⁵ What’s more, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. One day I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything I have promised you.” 

Genesis 31:3 (NLT)
³ Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your father and grandfather and to your relatives there, and I will be with you.” 

• Jacob returned to the land of his father and grandfather as the Lord had instructed.

 ² This is the account of Jacob and his family. When Joseph was seventeen years old,

Eleven years had passed since he entered the land of Canaan.

 he often tended his father’s flocks. He worked for his half brothers, the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah.

Joseph worked for his half-brothers.

Joseph was younger than all of his half-brothers.  He was older than his brother Benjamin.

But Joseph reported to his father some of the bad things his brothers were doing.

While this may not have been wrong for Joseph to do, it would cause conflict between and his brothers.

This behavior seems to indicate the fact that he honored his father.

³ Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other children because Joseph had been born to him in his old age.

• Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other children.

This would also cause conflict between Joseph and his brothers. 

So one day Jacob had a special gift made for Joseph—a beautiful robe. 

• The special gift made for Joseph seems to signify the owner as the one whom the father intended to be the future leader of the household, an honor normally given to the oldest son. 

⁴ But his brothers hated Joseph because their father loved him more than the rest of them.

• Joseph’s brothers hated Joseph.

More reason for Joseph’s brothers to hate Joseph.

It was wrong for Jacob to love Joseph more than the rest of his sons.

Scriptures related to showing favoritism:

Romans 2:11 (NLT)
¹¹ For God does not show favoritism.

James 2:9 (NLT)
But if you favor some people over others, you are committing a sin. You are guilty of breaking the law.

James 2:1 (NLT)
A Warning against Prejudice
My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others?

1 Timothy 5:21 (NLT)
 I solemnly command you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus and the highest angels to obey these instructions without taking sides or showing favoritism to anyone. 

• Parental favoritism hurts family relationships.

Sin has consequences.

Parental favoritism resulted in Jacob losing Joseph for a lengthy period of time.

(Rebecca had favored Jacob and the result of this was losing him for more than 20 years.)

They couldn’t say a kind word to him. 

• Personal commentary: Joseph must have known how his brothers felt about him. 

⁵ One night Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him more than ever. 

• In Genesis, God used dreams to reveal His plans (divine revelations).

20:3, 28:12, 31:10-11, 40:5-8, 41:1

God’s divine revelation was not just given to God’s chosen people (others included Abimelech, the cupbearer and the baker, and Pharaoh).

⁶ “Listen to this dream,” he said.  

• Personal commentary: It may have been better for Joseph to keep his dreams to himself.

Ecclesiastes 3:7 (NLT)
 …   A time to be quiet and a time to speak.

Ephesians 4:29 (NLT)
^… Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.

James 3:5 (NLT)
In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches.
But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. 

Proverbs 21:23 (NLT)
 Watch your tongue and keep your mouth shut,
and you will stay out of trouble.

Proverbs 27:2 (NLT)
Let someone else praise you, not your own mouth—
a stranger, not your own lips. 

⁷ “We were out in the field, tying up bundles of grain. Suddenly my bundle stood up, and your bundles all gathered around and bowed low before mine!”

This dream had an agricultural theme. This may have been a hint of the manner in which Joseph’s authority over his brothers would be achieved.

⁸ His brothers responded, “So you think you will be our king, do you? Do you actually think you will reign over us?” And they hated him all the more because of his dreams and the way he talked about them.

• The envy and hatred of Joseph’s brothers is understandable.

Joseph was the 11^th of 12 sons. The youngest of all of his half-brothers.

The brothers did not recognize God’s sovereign choice of Joseph as a leader.

• Personal commentary: Don’t set others up for failure. 

⁹ Soon Joseph had another dream, and again he told his brothers about it. “Listen, I have had another dream,” he said. “The sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed low before me!”

This dream had a celestial theme.  In ancient cultures, astronomical symbols represented rulers.

This second dream reinforces the expectation that Joseph will have authority over the rest of his family.
His father – sun
His mother – moon
His brothers – the stars

¹⁰ This time he told the dream to his father as well as to his brothers, but his father scolded him. “What kind of dream is that?” he asked. “Will your mother and I

Mother refers to Leah.  Rachel had already died (Genesis 35:16-19).

and your brothers actually come and bow to the ground before you?” 

At this point Jacob admonished Joseph.

¹¹ But while his brothers were jealous of Joseph, his father wondered what the dreams meant.

Jacob continued to ponder (think about) the meaning of the dream.

Final thoughts:

Ecclesiastes 3:7 (NLT)
A time to be quiet and a time to speak. 

Proverbs 30:33 (NLT)
As the beating of cream yields butter
and striking the nose causes bleeding,
so stirring up anger causes quarrels.
(Making people angry causes trouble.)

A Brief Look at the Nation of Edom

Genesis 36

I saw three options for Genesis 36.

                        Skip this chapter.

Spend a month of in-depth study.

Hit the highlights (avoid debating the baffling details).

This study is the third option.

Reminder:

2 Timothy 3:16 (NLT)
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true …

Genesis 36 (NLT)
Descendants of Esau
¹ This is the account of the descendants of Esau (also known as Edom). ² Esau married two young women from Canaan: Adah, the daughter of Elon the Hittite; and Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite. ³ He also married his cousin Basemath, who was the daughter of Ishmael and the sister of Nebaioth. ⁴ Adah gave birth to a son named Eliphaz for Esau. Basemath gave birth to a son named Reuel. ⁵ Oholibamah gave birth to sons named Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. All these sons were born to Esau in the land of Canaan.
⁶ Esau took his wives, his children, and his entire household, along with his livestock and cattle—all the wealth he had acquired in the land of Canaan—and moved away from his brother, Jacob. ⁷ There was not enough land to support them both because of all the livestock and possessions they had acquired. ⁸ So Esau (also known as Edom) settled in the hill country of Seir.
⁹ This is the account of Esau’s descendants, the Edomites, who lived in the hill country of Seir.
¹⁰ These are the names of Esau’s sons: Eliphaz, the son of Esau’s wife Adah; and Reuel, the son of Esau’s wife Basemath.
¹¹ The descendants of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz. ¹² Timna, the concubine of Esau’s son Eliphaz, gave birth to a son named Amalek. These are the descendants of Esau’s wife Adah.
¹³ The descendants of Reuel were Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These are the descendants of Esau’s wife Basemath.
¹⁴ Esau also had sons through Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon. Their names were Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.
¹⁵ These are the descendants of Esau who became the leaders of various clans:
The descendants of Esau’s oldest son, Eliphaz, became the leaders of the clans of Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz, ¹⁶ Korah, Gatam, and Amalek. These are the clan leaders in the land of Edom who descended from Eliphaz. All these were descendants of Esau’s wife Adah.
¹⁷ The descendants of Esau’s son Reuel became the leaders of the clans of Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These are the clan leaders in the land of Edom who descended from Reuel. All these were descendants of Esau’s wife Basemath.
¹⁸ The descendants of Esau and his wife Oholibamah became the leaders of the clans of Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These are the clan leaders who descended from Esau’s wife Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah.
¹⁹ These are the clans descended from Esau (also known as Edom), identified by their clan leaders.

Original Peoples of Edom

²⁰ These are the names of the tribes that descended from Seir the Horite. They lived in the land of Edom: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, ²¹ Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These were the Horite clan leaders, the descendants of Seir, who lived in the land of Edom.
²² The descendants of Lotan were Hori and Hemam. Lotan’s sister was named Timna.
²³ The descendants of Shobal were Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam.
²⁴ The descendants of Zibeon were Aiah and Anah. (This is the Anah who discovered the hot springs in the wilderness while he was grazing his father’s donkeys.)
²⁵ The descendants of Anah were his son, Dishon, and his daughter, Oholibamah.
²⁶ The descendants of Dishon were Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Keran.
²⁷ The descendants of Ezer were Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan.
²⁸ The descendants of Dishan were Uz and Aran.
²⁹ So these were the leaders of the Horite clans: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, ³⁰ Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. The Horite clans are named after their clan leaders, who lived in the land of Seir.

 Rulers of Edom

³¹ These are the kings who ruled in the land of Edom before any king ruled over the Israelites
:³² Bela son of Beor, who ruled in Edom from his city of Dinhabah.
³³ When Bela died, Jobab son of Zerah from Bozrah became king in his place.
³⁴ When Jobab died, Husham from the land of the Temanites became king in his place.
³⁵ When Husham died, Hadad son of Bedad became king in his place and ruled from the city of Avith. He was the one who defeated the Midianites in the land of Moab.
³⁶ When Hadad died, Samlah from the city of Masrekah became king in his place.
³⁷ When Samlah died, Shaul from the city of Rehoboth-on-the-River became king in his place.
³⁸ When Shaul died, Baal-hanan son of Acbor became king in his place.
³⁹ When Baal-hanan son of Acbor died, Hadad became king in his place and ruled from the city of Pau. His wife was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred and granddaughter of Me-zahab.
 ⁴⁰ These are the names of the leaders of the clans descended from Esau, who lived in the places named for them: Timna, Alvah, Jetheth, ⁴¹ Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon, ⁴² Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, ⁴³ Magdiel, and Iram. These are the leaders of the clans of Edom, listed according to their settlements in the land they occupied. They all descended from Esau, the ancestor of the Edomites.

Examine the Scriptures

Genesis 36 (NLT)

Descendants of Esau

¹ This is the account of the descendants of Esau (also known as Edom). 

A name change is not all that unusual (Jacob’s name was changed to Israel).

• Esau is the ancestor of the Edomites.

Genesis 25:32-33 (NLT)
³² “Look, I’m dying of starvation!” said Esau. “What good is my birthright to me now?”
³³ But Jacob said, “First you must swear that your birthright is mine.” So Esau swore an oath, thereby selling all his rights as the firstborn to his brother, Jacob. 

• Jacob is the ancestor of the Israelites. 

• This is the story of one of the two nations mentioned in Genesis 25:23.

Review:

Genesis 25:21-23 (NLT)
²¹ Isaac pleaded with the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was unable to have children. The Lord answered Isaac’s prayer, and Rebekah became pregnant with twins. ²² But the two children struggled with each other in her womb. So she went to ask the Lord about it. “Why is this happening to me?” she asked.
²³ And the Lord told her, “The sons in your womb will become two nations. From the very beginning, the two nations will be rivals. One nation will be stronger than the other; and your older son will serve your younger son.”

Genesis 21:13 (NLT)
¹³ But I will also make a nation of the descendants of Hagar’s son because he is your son, too.”

 Acts 17:26 (NLT)
²⁶ From one man he (God) created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries.

• God created all the nations.

Esau’s wives 

² Esau married two young women from Canaan: Adah, the daughter of Elon the Hittite; and Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite. ³ He also married his cousin Basemath, who was the daughter of Ishmael and the sister of Nebaioth.  

Esau married two young women from Canaan.

Genesis 28:1 (NLT)
So Isaac called for Jacob, blessed him, and said, “You must not marry any of these Canaanite women.

Esau also married a descendant of Abraham.

Genesis 28:6-9 (NLT)
⁶ Esau knew that his father, Isaac, had blessed Jacob and sent him to Paddan-aram to find a wife, and that he had warned Jacob, “You must not marry a Canaanite woman.” ⁷ He also knew that Jacob had obeyed his parents and gone to Paddan-aram. ⁸ It was now very clear to Esau that his father did not like the local Canaanite women. ⁹ So Esau visited his uncle Ishmael’s family and married one of Ishmael’s daughters, in addition to the wives he already had. His new wife’s name was Mahalath. She was the sister of Nebaioth and the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son. 

Ishmael, Abraham’s son through Hagar.

• Esau married women from Canaan as well as marrying a descendant of Abraham.

Esau’s sons

⁴ Adah gave birth to a son named Eliphaz for Esau. Basemath gave birth to a son named Reuel. ⁵ Oholibamah gave birth to sons named Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. All these sons were born to Esau in the land of Canaan.

Also found in 1 Chronicles 1

•  The genealogy of Esau is also recorded in 1 Chronicles 1.  Like Genesis 36 it includes Original Peoples of Edom and Rulers of Edom.

Repetition is an indication of importance in scripture. 

Esau moves to Edom 

⁶ Esau took his wives, his children, and his entire household, along with his livestock and cattle—all the wealth he had acquired in the land of Canaan—and moved away from his brother, Jacob. ⁷ There was not enough land to support them both because of all the livestock and possessions they had acquired. ⁸ So Esau (also known as Edom) settled in the hill country of Seir.

• Esau moved away from his brother, out of the land of Canaan.

Like Lot, Esau left for greener pastures.

Genesis 32:3 (NLT)
Jacob Sends Gifts to Esau
³ Then Jacob sent messengers ahead to his brother, Esau, who was living in the region of Seir in the land of Edom.

Deuteronomy 2:2-5  (NLT)
² “Then at last the Lord said to me, ³ ‘You have been wandering around in this hill country long enough; turn to the north. ⁴ Give these orders to the people: “You will pass through the country belonging to your relatives the Edomites, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. The Edomites will feel threatened, so be careful. ⁵ Do not bother them, for I have given them all the hill country around Mount Seir as their property, and I will not give you even one square foot of their land. 

Joshua 24:4 (NLT)
⁴ To Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. To Esau I gave the mountains of Seir, while Jacob and his children went down into Egypt. 

• The sovereignty of God is clearly seen in this story.

⁹ This is the account of Esau’s descendants, the Edomites, who lived in the hill country of Seir.

Note the repetition

¹⁰ These are the names of Esau’s sons: Eliphaz, the son of Esau’s wife Adah; and Reuel, the son of Esau’s wife Basemath.
¹¹ The descendants of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz. ¹² Timna, the concubine of Esau’s son Eliphaz, gave birth to a son named Amalek. These are the descendants of Esau’s wife Adah.
¹³ The descendants of Reuel were Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These are the descendants of Esau’s wife Basemath.
¹⁴ Esau also had sons through Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon. Their names were Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.

 ¹⁵ These are the descendants of Esau who became the leaders of various clans:
The descendants of Esau’s oldest son, Eliphaz, became the leaders of the clans of Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz, ¹⁶ Korah, Gatam, and Amalek. These are the clan leaders in the land of Edom who descended from Eliphaz. All these were descendants of Esau’s wife Adah.

 ¹⁷ The descendants of Esau’s son Reuel became the leaders of the clans of Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These are the clan leaders in the land of Edom who descended from Reuel. All these were descendants of Esau’s wife Basemath.

 ¹⁸ The descendants of Esau and his wife Oholibamah became the leaders of the clans of Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These are the clan leaders who descended from Esau’s wife Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah.

 ¹⁹ These are the clans descended from Esau (also known as Edom), identified by their clan leaders.

 Original Peoples of Edom  (also found in 1 Chronicles 1)

²⁰ These are the names of the tribes that descended from Seir the Horite. They lived in the land of Edom: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, ²¹ Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These were the Horite clan leaders, the descendants of Seir, who lived in the land of Edom.
²² The descendants of Lotan were Hori and Hemam. Lotan’s sister was named Timna.
²³ The descendants of Shobal were Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam.
²⁴ The descendants of Zibeon were Aiah and Anah. (This is the Anah who discovered the hot springs in the wilderness while he was grazing his father’s donkeys.)
²⁵ The descendants of Anah were his son, Dishon, and his daughter, Oholibamah.
²⁶ The descendants of Dishon were Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Keran.
²⁷ The descendants of Ezer were Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan.
²⁸ The descendants of Dishan were Uz and Aran.
²⁹ So these were the leaders of the Horite clans: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, ³⁰ Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. The Horite clans are named after their clan leaders, who lived in the land of Seir.

Esau’s descendants intermingled with the people of the land.

Rulers of Edom (also found in 1 Chronicles 1)

³¹ These are the kings who ruled in the land of Edom before any king ruled over the Israelites:
³² Bela son of Beor, who ruled in Edom from his city of Dinhabah.³³ When Bela died, Jobab son of Zerah from Bozrah became king in his place.
³⁴ When Jobab died, Husham from the land of the Temanites became king in his place.
³⁵ When Husham died, Hadad son of Bedad became king in his place and ruled from the city of Avith. He was the one who defeated the Midianites in the land of Moab.
³⁶ When Hadad died, Samlah from the city of Masrekah became king in his place.
³⁷ When Samlah died, Shaul from the city of Rehoboth-on-the-River became king in his place.
³⁸ When Shaul died, Baal-hanan son of Acbor became king in his place.
³⁹ When Baal-hanan son of Acbor died, Hadad became king in his place and ruled from the city of Pau. His wife was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred and granddaughter of Me-zahab.

 More descendants of Esau  (also found in 1 Chronicles 1)

⁴⁰ These are the names of the leaders of the clans descended from Esau, who lived in the places named for them: Timna, Alvah, Jetheth, ⁴¹ Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon, ⁴² Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, ⁴³ Magdiel, and Iram. These are the leaders of the clans of Edom, listed according to their settlements in the land they occupied. They all descended from Esau, the ancestor of the Edomites.

• Esau’s descendants have grown to a sizeable population.

Edom’s future

Obadiah 10-14 (NLT)
Reasons for Edom’s Punishment
¹⁰ “Because of the violence you did
to your close relatives in Israel,
you will be filled with shame
and destroyed forever.
¹¹ When they were invaded,
you stood aloof, refusing to help them.
Foreign invaders carried off their wealth
and cast lots to divide up Jerusalem,
but you acted like one of Israel’s enemies.
¹² “You should not have gloated
when they exiled your relatives to distant lands.
You should not have rejoiced
when the people of Judah suffered such misfortune.
You should not have spoken arrogantly
in that terrible time of trouble.
¹³ You should not have plundered the land of Israel
when they were suffering such calamity.
You should not have gloated over their destruction
when they were suffering such calamity.
You should not have seized their wealth
when they were suffering such calamity.
¹⁴ You should not have stood at the crossroads,
killing those who tried to escape.
You should not have captured the survivors
and handed them over in their terrible time of trouble.

 Ezekiel 35:1-9 (NLT)
A Message for Edom
¹ Again a message came to me from the Lord: ² “Son of man, turn and face Mount Seir, and prophesy against its people. ³ Give them this message from the Sovereign Lord:
“I am your enemy, O Mount Seir,
and I will raise my fist against you
to destroy you completely.
⁴ I will demolish your cities
and make you desolate.
Then you will know that I am the Lord.
⁵ “Your eternal hatred for the people of Israel led you to butcher them when they were helpless, when I had already punished them for all their sins. ⁶ As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, since you show no distaste for blood, I will give you a bloodbath of your own. Your turn has come! ⁷ I will make Mount Seir utterly desolate, killing off all who try to escape and any who return. ⁸ I will fill your mountains with the dead. Your hills, your valleys, and your ravines will be filled with people slaughtered by the sword. ⁹ I will make you desolate forever. Your cities will never be rebuilt. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 

• A message from God to Edom:
  “I am your enemy, O Mount Seir, and I will raise my fist against you to destroy you completely. ⁴ I will demolish your cities and make you desolate. Then you will know that I am the Lord.”

 

The Deaths of Rachel and Isaac

A story of completion, corruption, and a new beginning.

Jacob’s travels

Rachel’s death

Reuben’s sin

Genealogy

Isaac’s death

Genesis 35:16-29 (NLT)
The Deaths of Rachel and Isaac
¹⁶ Leaving Bethel, Jacob and his clan moved on toward Ephrath. But Rachel went into labor while they were still some distance away. Her labor pains were intense. ¹⁷ After a very hard delivery, the midwife finally exclaimed, “Don’t be afraid—you have another son!” ¹⁸ Rachel was about to die, but with her last breath she named the baby Ben-oni (which means “son of my sorrow”). The baby’s father, however, called him Benjamin (which means “son of my right hand”). ¹⁹ So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). ²⁰ Jacob set up a stone monument over Rachel’s grave, and it can be seen there to this day.
²¹ Then Jacob traveled on and camped beyond Migdal-eder. ²² While he was living there, Reuben had intercourse with Bilhah, his father’s concubine, and Jacob soon heard about it.
These are the names of the twelve sons of Jacob:
²³ The sons of Leah were Reuben (Jacob’s oldest son), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.
²⁴ The sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin.
²⁵ The sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s servant, were Dan and Naphtali.
²⁶ The sons of Zilpah, Leah’s servant, were Gad and Asher.
These are the names of the sons who were born to Jacob at Paddan-aram.
²⁷ So Jacob returned to his father, Isaac, in Mamre, which is near Kiriath-arba (now called Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had both lived as foreigners. ²⁸ Isaac lived for 180 years. ²⁹ Then he breathed his last and died at a ripe old age, joining his ancestors in death. And his sons, Esau and Jacob, buried him.

Examine the Scriptures

Genesis 35:16-29 (NLT)
The Deaths of Rachel and Isaac

¹⁶ Leaving Bethel,

• Jacob and his clan are in the Promised Land. (This is not new for this lesson.)

Jacob and his clan moved on toward Ephrath (another name for Bethlehem).

That name should sound familiar.

Ephrath or Ephrathah

More about Ephrathah

Micah 5:2 (NLT)
A Ruler from Bethlehem
² But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
are only a small village among all the people of Judah.
Yet a ruler of Israel,
whose origins are in the distant past,
will come from you on my behalf. 

But Rachel went into labor while they were still some distance away. Her labor pains were intense. ¹⁷ After a very hard delivery, the midwife finally exclaimed, “Don’t be afraid—you have another son!” 

Another son.
A previous prayer of Rachel was to have another son.  God answered this prayer.

Genesis 30:24 (NLT)
²⁴ And she named him Joseph, for she said, “May the Lord add yet another son to my family.” 

• Rachel had prayed for another son. 

¹⁸ Rachel was about to die, but with her last breath she named the baby Ben-oni (which means “son of my sorrow”). 

The baby’s father, however, called him Benjamin (which means “son of my right hand”). 

Assigning him a place of honor in the family.

A more positive name for the child who was the answer to Rachel’s prayer.

In the Bible names communicated something about the individual to other people.

Benjamin was the only son of Jacob that was born in the Promised Land.

• Jacob’s family was completed with the birth of Benjamin.

¹⁹ So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). ²⁰ Jacob set up a stone monument over Rachel’s grave, and it can be seen there to this day.

“To this day” means that the monument could still be seen in Moses’ day.  The monument was about one mile north of Bethlehem.

Three other monuments are listed in 28:18, 31:45-47, and 35:14.

• Rachel died and was buried near Bethlehem.

²¹ Then Jacob traveled on and camped beyond Migdal-eder. 

The tower of Eder
“Tower of the flock
“Between Bethlehem and Hebron
Towers for guarding flocks against robbers 

²² While he was living there, Reuben had intercourse with Bilhah, his father’s concubine, and Jacob soon heard about it.

Other scriptures addressing this incident:

Genesis 49:3-4 (NLT)
Jacob’s Last Words to His Sons
³ “Reuben, you are my firstborn, my strength,
the child of my vigorous youth.
You are first in rank and first in power.
⁴ But you are as unruly as a flood,
and you will be first no longer.
For you went to bed with my wife;
you defiled my marriage couch. 

Ruben lost his birthright.

1 Chronicles 5:1-2 (NLT)
Descendants of Reuben
5 The oldest son of Israel was Reuben. But since he dishonored his father by sleeping with one of his father’s concubines, his birthright was given to the sons of his brother Joseph. For this reason, Reuben is not listed in the genealogical records as the firstborn son. ² The descendants of Judah became the most powerful tribe and provided a ruler for the nation, but the birthright belonged to Joseph. 

Genesis 48:5-6 (NLT)
⁵ “Now I am claiming as my own sons these two boys of yours (Joseph), Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born here in the land of Egypt before I arrived. They will be my sons, just as Reuben and Simeon are. ⁶ But any children born to you in the future will be your own, and they will inherit land within the territories of their brothers Ephraim and Manasseh. 

Note: Ruben knew that this behavior was wrong.

Genesis 30:4 (NLT)
⁴ So Rachel gave her servant, Bilhah, to Jacob as a wife, and he slept with her.

Genesis 26:9-10 (NLT)
⁹ Immediately, Abimelech called for Isaac and exclaimed, “She is obviously your wife! Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’?”
“Because I was afraid someone would kill me to get her from me,” Isaac replied.
¹⁰ “How could you do this to us?” Abimelech exclaimed. “One of my people might easily have taken your wife and slept with her, and you would have made us guilty of great sin.”

Deuteronomy 22:30 (NLT)
³⁰ “A man must not marry his father’s former wife, for this would violate his father.

• Ruben dishonored his father by sleeping with one of his father’s concubines.

Jacob’s seemingly failure to address this matter immediately was similar to the incident with his daughter Dinah.

Genesis 34:5 (NLT)
⁵ Soon Jacob heard that Shechem had defiled his daughter, Dinah. But since his sons were out in the fields herding his livestock, he said nothing until they returned.

These are the names of the twelve sons of Jacob:
²³ The sons of Leah were Reuben (Jacob’s oldest son), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.
²⁴ The sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin.
²⁵ The sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s servant, were Dan and Naphtali.
²⁶ The sons of Zilpah, Leah’s servant, were Gad and Asher.
These are the names of the sons who were born to Jacob at Paddan-aram. 

Heads of the 12 original tribes.

• The 12 sons of Jacob became the heads of the 12 original tribes of Israel.

The sons of Jacob are listed more than two dozen times in the scriptures (in various forms).

Deuteronomy 27:11-13 (NLT)
¹¹ That same day Moses also gave this charge to the people: ¹² “When you cross the Jordan River, the tribes of Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin must stand on Mount Gerizim to proclaim a blessing over the people. ¹³ And the tribes of Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali must stand on Mount Ebal to proclaim a curse. 

Slightly different in Revelation 7

Revelation 7:4-8 New Living Translation (NLT)
4 And I heard how many were marked with the seal of God—144,000 were sealed from all the tribes of Israel:
5 from Judah              12,000
from Reuben              12,000
from Gad                    12,000
6 from Asher              12,000
from Naphtali            12,000
from Manasseh         12,000
7 from Simeon           12,000
from Levi                    12,000
from Issachar            12,000
8 from Zebulun         12,000
from Joseph               12,000
from Benjamin          12,000
(no Dan listed here) 

The names of the heads of the 12 original tribes are slightly different than the names used to divide the Promised Land.  The Levites were not assigned a section of land since they were given assignments throughout the Promised Land.  A section of land was not named after Joseph, instead, two sections of land were named after his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh.

Note: Reuben is included in each of these lists.

• God uses imperfect people. (The nation of Israel was comprised of less than perfect people.)

²⁷ So Jacob returned to his father, Isaac, in Mamre, which is near Kiriath-arba (now called Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had both lived as foreigners.  

Genesis 13:18 (NLT)
¹⁸ So Abram moved his camp to Hebron and settled near the oak grove belonging to Mamre. There he built another altar to the Lord. 

• Jacob is “back home” with his sons.

Remember Jacob’s vow.

*** Genesis 28:20-21 (NLT)
²⁰ Then Jacob made this vow: “If God will indeed be with me and protect me on this journey, and if he will provide me with food and clothing, ²¹ and if I return safely to my father’s home, then the Lord will certainly be my God. 

²⁸ Isaac lived for 180 years. ²⁹ Then he breathed his last and died at a ripe old age, joining his ancestors in death.

This chapter records the deaths of:
Rebekah’s old nurse, Deborah (v.8)
Rachel (v. 19)
Isaac

• Isaac joins his ancestors in death.

And his (Isaac) sons, Esau and Jacob, buried him.

• Jacob and Esau are once again reunited.

The two brothers previously separated.
Genesis 33:16 (NLT)
¹⁶ So Esau turned around and started back to Seir that same day. 

Jacob and Esau were reunited just as Isaac and Ishmael were at the time of the death of Abraham.

Genesis 25:9 (NLT)
⁹ His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him (Abraham) in the cave of Machpelah, near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite.

Isaac is dead.

The story continues – God has become the God of Jacob.

Acts 7:46 (NLT)
⁴⁶ “David found favor with God and asked for the privilege of building a permanent Temple for the God of Jacob.

• God has become the God of Jacob.