365 Reflections

Genesis 38:1 (ESV) It happened at that time that Judah went down from his brothers and turned aside to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. Genesis 38 is the chapter that appears to be out of place. We just started to get into the story of Joseph. He's on the way to Egypt and our minds are thinking about what may happen to him. Suddenly, we are encountered with this long narrative of sexual dalliance in Judah. Judah goes to the Canaanites and intermarries. He has children, two of which died, and after his wife passes, he ends up sleeping with his son's daughter because she thought she was a cult prostitute. The reality was she positioned herself perfectly to bait him into this action and then turned the tables on his hypocrisy when he found out she was pregnant. Meanwhile, as Judah is the slave of his own desires and deceit, Joseph's life will take the opposite track in the next chapter. Potiphar's wife will pursue Joseph and he will reject her citing such...

Genesis 37:26–28 (ESV) Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? 27 Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened to him. 28 Then Midianite traders passed by. And they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. They took Joseph to Egypt. The patriarch from whom Jesus will come is infamously known here as Judah. Appropriately, his namesake in the New Testament is the one who sells Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. Joseph sold for twenty.  Judah masks his greed with sanctimony. "he is our brother" he proclaims upon the bright idea conceived to make a little money off getting rid of Joseph. Only a truly cruel human would rather sell his brother to slavery than kill him simply for the share in a measly profit. Yet that is what Judah does.  The scriptures move...

Genesis 37:4 (ESV)   But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him. Genesis 37:13 (ESV)   And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” And he said to him, “Here I am.” Genesis 37:16 (ESV)   “I am seeking my brothers,” he said. “Tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock.” Joseph was hated by his brothers. The text gives us a detail early on. From the moment his father showed favoritism, they could not speak peacefully to him. Think about that. They COULD NOT do it! Even if they wanted to. That means every time Joseph had a conversation with his brothers it went poorly. He knew he was the outcast and he felt the pain of their persecution every time they spoke.  To put it in clearer perspective... note these two verses later on in the story: Genesis 37:23-25  (ESV)   So when J...

Joseph has dreams at 17. He tells them to his brothers. Both of them upset his family. My question is, why two? The Bible says that all things will be established by two or three witnesses. That would be one reason for the two dreams. But there's more. God spoke to Abraham about his family twice concerning their innumerability. The first time he spoke of them being like sand on the seashore. The second time like stars in the heavens. Why the two different descriptions? To give shape to God's kingdom. His family would not be simply an earthly family (from the dust), but a heavenly family (by the Spirit of God above us). Through Christ, the Spirit comes down from heaven and inhabits His family. When Joseph has two dreams, God is doing the same thing - revealing to you and I about what kind of King Jesus will be and what kind of Kingdom He will have. The first dream speaks of stalks of grain and sheaves. This kingdom will be one of development and growth from the ground up...

Genesis 36:1 (ESV) These are the generations of Esau (that is, Edom). Genesis 37:2 (ESV)   These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was pasturing the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. What's the story in your family? Genesis 36 is all about Esau's family and descendants. It's an impressive list. It has many lineages and many kings. If you were Jacob's family reading this for the first time you may be intimidated by it all. Especially verse 26 mentioning the kings of Edom before there were any kings of Israel. Verse 40 tells us they had "dwelling places" and "Chiefs." It's a very succinct chapter in which all the history of Edom is outlined for us. There is listed in this chapter no record of family strife or conflict, no wars, no betrayals, no sad moments of death and passing. Just a reco...

Genesis 35:11 (ESV) And God said to him, “I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body. God's command here seems strange. Jacob is an old man at this point. He's not going to bear another son. He's produced 12. But here, amazingly as he finally arrives back at the house of God, "Bethel" the Lord's Word comes to him again, "Be fruitful and multiply." What's going on? Here's what it means. Obviously God knows that our child bearing days are just the beginning of doing the work God has given us to do. And for those who cannot have children, you need to hang on to this verse. Being fruitful and multiplying extends beyond just children. There's a nation in Jacob, there are kings in Jacob. His family will be a mighty army and a tremendous multitude. Jesus will come from Jacob. Another interesting facet of this text is that this moment will...

Genesis 35:5–7 (ESV)   And as they journeyed, a terror from God fell upon the cities that were around them, so that they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. 6 And Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him, 7 and there he built an altar and called the place El-bethel, because there God had revealed himself to him when he fled from his brother. I love this verse in Genesis 35. Jacob is leaving the disgrace of Shechem and no longer trusting in his business acumen. He's going back to the place where God originally met with him. He's going where God wanted him to go in the first place while still living with Laban. He's going back to the wonderful house of God.  And God is surrounding him with protection! Don't you love it? "a terror from God fell upon the cities... so they did not pursue" him. God had his back. Why? Look at what he does  just before this moment: Genesis 35:2–4 (ESV) S...

Jacob never had a great relationship with his father. He was clearly not Isaac's favorite as Esau was. Perhaps that led to his own form of terrible fatherhood when he comes back into the land of Canaan. Jacob stops at Succoth to find business and trade. He's made a financial, not spiritual decision here. God spoke to Him to return where he came from. That was Bethel. But Jacob turned north and ended up in Shechem. Then perhaps one of the hardest chapters in the Bible occurs. Dinah, Leah's daughter, is out with the women of the city when Hamor the Hivite defiles (rapes) her and then desires her as his wife. Jacob hears of it and doesn't respond. In fact, Jacob never gets upset about the ordeal at all. Simeon and Levi do. This is their sister and they won't stand for it. They shrewdly make a deal with the men of the city to form an alliance. They bait all the men to circumcise themselves (ouch) in order to have Dinah and further intermarriages. On the third day af...

Genesis 33:17ff (ESV) But Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built himself a house and made booths for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.  And Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, on his way from Paddan-aram, and he camped before the city. 19 And from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, he bought for a hundred pieces of money the piece of land on which he had pitched his tent. Do you know what happens after Jacob and Esau reunite? Jacob goes back to being Jacob. After stressing out for years about this moment, the day finally arrives and both men meet once again. Jacob has spent the previous day sending gifts to pacify his brother's wrath. He spent the previous morning wrestling with the pre-incarnate Christ who blessed him and changed his name to Israel.  But the name "God Commands" is not quite appropriate for what happens as soon as Jacob realizes his brother holds no grudge and plans no reveng...