Genesis (20-50)

Understand the Context (Genesis 20:1-23:20)

We start the second quarter of our study in the Book of Genesis, the first Book of the Old Testament, with a topic that reveals how God works with us as His people. One of the questions that weighs on believers and nonbelievers, as well, is why do bad things happen to good people? As we completed our first quarter of study in Genesis, we transitioned to the starting place of God’s covenant with humankind. We met Abram and Sarai, and saw God choose them out of humankind as the beginning of a special people. He established a covenant with Abraham, as he would soon be known, as a man who would be the “father of many nations” (Gen 17:1-6). Earlier, when God initiated this discussion, Moses wrote, “And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him for righteousness” (Gen 15:6). That statement became the forerunner for showing people were made righteous by their faith in God through His grace. The Apostle Paul stated it as, “. 8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eoh 2:8-9). This is the foundation of the Abrahamic Covenant and a basic Bible truth. The belief in our heart that Jesus Christ died for our sins and was raised again is the confession that causes our justification – being saved from the penalty of sin (Rom 10:9-10).

After accepting God’s offer of righteousness by our faith, through His grace, God begins to allow things into our lives that help us to grow in Him and move us closer to holiness – this is called sanctification or being saved from the power of our sin. Our final state will be in our glorification – being saved from the presence of sin, which will happen when we leave this earth to spend eternity in God’s presence – where we will be saved from the presence of sin. 

These four chapters (Gen 20-23) show us the tests God allowed into Abraham’s life to help him grow. Some Abraham did very well with; others not so well. But either way, Abraham grew mightily as a man of God and leader among His people. These tests are also models for us to study and learn of how God will work with us in similar ways to help us grow.

In Chapter 20, Abraham’s faith in God is tested as he comes into the kingdom of King Abimelech who is noted for adding women to his harem at every opportunity. Abraham doubts God’s protection and tells the king Sarah is his sister rather than wife.

In Chapter 21, he and Sarah laugh at God’s promise of an heir being born to them as they will soon be 100 and 90 years old, respectively. God challenges Sarah on her laughter and she again fails the test by saying she never laughed.

Later in Chapter 21, Abraham fails to believe God can cause him to have a child with Sarah and allows her to use Hagar to mother Abraham’s child. Later Abraham is again tested when God tells him that Ishmael will not be his heir. Abraham doubted again. He also had another test under King Abimelech which he failed.

In Chapter 22, Abraham is tested by God asking him to sacrifice Isaac, he only son, to the Lord. Abraham succeeds in this test and carries out that sacrifice until God intervenes.  

And finally in Chapter 23, Abraham succeeded in believing God when he purchased the burial cave for Sarah in the place God said would be his possession forever. 

The Command (Genesis 22:1-3)

Now we focus on one of Abraham’s challenges from God to better understand what took place. Verse 22:1-2 states that God tempted Abraham. God got Abraham’s attention and said, “Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou loveth, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering…” (Gen 22:1-2).  The command is clear, concise and easily understood. Understanding why God would ask this of Abraham is not easy. We know that God transcends all time, that is, God is not bounded by time like we are. God is at the creation, at the crucifixion, at the Rapture of the Saints and at the Second Coming all at the same instant. God knows the pain of “so loving the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Here, He is asking the same from Abraham, but not to save the whole world, rather to test his obedience. But consider this, Abraham took his only son, Isaac, to carry the wood of his own sacrifice up the hill of Mount Moriah to be sacrificed. God asked that of Abraham with the picture in His mind that He would have His only Son, Jesus, ascend the same the same hill (then named Calvary), carrying the wood of His sacrifice.  One cannot help but think there was more on God’s mind than simply whether Abraham would obey.

But look at Abraham’s response. There is no record in Genesis 22 that Abraham spent a great deal of time deciding whether he should do as God directed. We can only speculate that Abraham figured that this God making the command was able to have a man of 100 and a woman of 90 have a child, why should he doubt that He could do it again if He really wanted Abraham to sacrifice Isaac? Verse 3 says that Abraham got up the next morning, saddled his donkey, tasked two of his servants to accompany them, tied the wood on the beast, and departed for the place God told him to sacrifice Isaac. There is no doubt that Abraham did not understand what God was doing or why. There is also no doubt, however, that Abraham was on the way to sacrifice the son whom he waited for until he was over 100 years old. 

The Climb (Genesis 22:4-8)

Now we see the third day of the trip. Abraham was approaching Mount Moriah and could see the place far off. Within sight of the place of the sacrifice, Abraham told the two young men who were helping him, to remain where they were. He said they should stay while he and the lad go to worship and will return them when finished.  

Verse 6 shows Abraham loading the wood for the sacrifice on his son and taking the fire and a knife as he and his son headed off together to worship. Next, we hear Isaac speak up as he and his father travel toward the sacrificial site. Isaac asks, “My father, and he said , ‘Here am I, my son.’ And he said, ‘Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?’” (vs. 7) Verse 8 does not offer a lengthy answer explaining the command of the LORD. Abraham simply said, “My son, God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering.”  “ So, they went both of them together” And that is the end of the information on the trip to the sacrificial site.  

The Test (Genesis 22:9-12)

Abraham and Isaac arrived at the place designated for the sacrifice as God had directed him. Abraham set about the work of building the alter and making ready for the sacrifice. After carefully building the alter, Abraham arranged the wood on the alter. He heard no further instruction from God, so Abraham bound Isaac, his son, and laid him on the alter on top of the wood. The Scripture is silent on Isaac’s response to all this. Verse 10 unceremoniously states that “Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.” Abraham must have been thinking, “well, God is not going to stop me, so here it goes.” 

Somehow an angel of the LORD (Hebrew Jehovah) called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham.” So, Abraham stopped and said, “Here am I” (vs. 11). The angel said, “Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.” I can imagine there was a short time of cerebration before Abraham and Isaac continued. For Abraham, the relief of not having to offer his only son on the alter. The covenant that God gave must have made Abraham see the boy’s face with the millions of others who would have been impacted by him. He must of asked if God would provide another son or would God change the mission He had told Abraham he was to keep or would the promise be fulfilled another way. 

Anyway, the episode of Abraham offering his own son as a sacrifice is over. I am sure Abraham untied Isaac at break-neck speed. He probably wanted Issac off that wood as fast as humanly possible. He certainly wanted to eliminate any chance of a “on second thought” from that angel. It was probably only seconds later that Abraham’s mind came back to the reason they were there. They were to offer a sacrifice and worship the Lord in the process.  

Understand the Context (Genesis 24:1-25:18)

Recall in Genesis 15, Abraham was having doubt that he would ever father a child through Sarah so he offered to use Eliezer of Damascus, the trusted steward of his house and all he owned as that heir. This was an accepted Hebrew custom to do so when a benefactor had no heir to receive his property for his family. The designated, trusted servant would be adopted into the family and receive the inheritance into the family. Abraham’s trust in Eliezer continued into Chapter 24 where Abraham sends him to find a wife for his son, Isaac, with the appropriated linage. Eliezer was instructed to look for Isaac’s wife in the linage of Bethuel, a son of Abraham’s brother, Nahor. The details of how Eliezer found and selected Isaac’s wife, Rebekah, is clearly a blessing from God. She was not only perfect for him but brought great comfort to him after his mother, Sarah, died. Eliezer’s work is our focal study below, so enough about it here. 

Chapter 25:1-11 is used for “cleanup” on Abraham’s life story and 12-18 for brief comments on Ishmael’s life. After Sarah died and her body placed in a cave bought by Abraham in Canaan, his faith was proven that he saw Canaan as his long-term home was.  He married a lady named Keturah but refused to allow any children from that marriage to remain with the family, as was the case with Ishmael and his family. Abraham died at the age of 175-years-old, and his body was added to Sarrah’s in the cave at Machpelah in Canaan. This cave would become the family vault as time passed and Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob (later named Israel by God) and Leah, his first wife, even though Rachael was the love of his life and the mother of his favorite two sons, Joseph and Benjamin. She died giving birth to Benjamin. 

Moses reminds us that Ishmael was the son of Abraham by Hagar, Sarah’s Egyptian handmaiden. The twelve sons born to Ishmael, in order of their births, were Nebaioth, Kedar, Abdeel, Midsam, Mishma, Durmah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah. They settled in the lands of Havilah to Shur which are east of Egypt, toward Assyria. Ishmael and sons settled in defiance of his brothers (Gen 25:18). These were the Arab tribes from which the early Muslims descended. “According to Islamic tradition and genealogical records, there are believed to be 12 generations between Ishmael, the son of Abraham, and Muhammad, the prophet of Islam.”  Christianity is six centuries older than Islam.

A Request (Genesis 24:12-14)

Genesis 24:12 shows the messenger and trusted servant of Abraham initiating his assignment to acquire a wife for his master’s son, by praying to his master’s God for the wisdom needed to make the right decision. Verse 13 shows that Eliezer had positioned himself in the place and time where the most likely candidates for Isaac’s wife would likely visit. He knew that he was in the right place and time, but he wanted even more. Verse 14 show Eliezer asking for nothing less than a miracle. He lays out the behaviors and even the verbiage he wants to see and hear the right woman say to him. He wants the woman he asks for a drink of water to respond that she will give him water and also water his camels as well.

And notice also that Eliezer assumes that Jehovah has already made the selection of the right woman, but he needs to see that choice visually revealed by God through her actions. He has the faith to know the one correct choice is already made. In other words, God has previously done the work that his master, Abraham, has assigned to him. As such, Eliezer’s work is not to re-accomplish the work of the Master but to have a visual and audial revelation of His previous decision. This is true faith! We might have asked God simply, “Lord, show us what You have decided.” We may have presumed that the work was for us to do because we were delegated that responsibility. Eliezer knew that Abraham believed that God had is personal hand in every event of his life and selecting a mate for his son must be one of the most important of those events. This woman would birth Esau and Jacob. Jacob would be renamed Israel by God, and his 12 sons would lead the 12 tribes of Israel which still exists to this day. When decisions of this magnitude are made, people of great wisdom reach out quickly to the Master of the universe for answers.  

The Answer (Genesis 24:15-20)

Even before Eliezer finished his prayer to God, God had sent His answer into visual contact for him (Gen 24:15). Recall now, in order for God to reveal the decision He had made, the woman would have to come to the well at the very moment when Eliezer was there and looking for her. God was, in fact, causing both the messenger and His selection to be in the right places at the right times for Abraham’s trusted servant to see God’s personal choice for Isaac’s wife. Verse 15 tells us that this unique woman was qualified to be that wife. She was a Jewess.  She was in the acceptable range of near kin to become his wife. However, if she is the right one, God will have her do and say the things Eliezer asked to see her do and hear her say. Eliezer initiates the meeting knowing that he had to establish the interface to see what God had worked. Verse 17 states that he saw her and ran up to her to establish the medium needed for her to present the evidence Eliezer needed for him to see and hear. Eliezer said, “Please let me drink a little from your jar.” Will she respond as he prayed or shall he look for another? 

Look at verse 18! She told Eliezer to drink, and she quickly lowered her jar to her hand and gave him to drink.  But verse 19 seems to drive the meeting exactly where Eliezer needed to see it go. Rebekah said, “I will draw also for your camels until they have finished drinking.” She emptied her entire jar in the trough and returned to the well to draw more. She repeated this exercise until all his camels had their fill. 

Now someone might say she might had been trained by her father to do this same thing anytime she was asked by any stranger. Not only would the poor girl never return home, but she would also be in grave danger of being taken advantage of by one of the needy travelers. No, it was Jehovah who told her what to do to reveal His will for Eliezer to clearly see His choice for Isaac’s wife. There could be no ambiguity. Eliezer must know his prayers were answered.

Understand the Context (Genesis 25:19-27:46)

In the previous study, we saw Abraham commissioning his most trusted servant, Eliezer, to find a wife for his son, Isaac. Starting this study with Genesis 25:19-26, we find that wife, Rebekah, marrying Isaac. He was 40 years old, and Rebekah was likely in her late teens or early twenties. The Scripture passage reveals that Isaac and Rebekah were having some difficulty conceiving a child, so they prayed for the Lord’s help. He gave them twins. They named the boys Esau and Jacob. When they were being born, the younger one (Jacob) grabbed the heel of the elder one (Esau). Some saw that Jacob trying to exert authority over Esau. 

As the boys grew, Esau became the rugged man. He loved the outdoors as a hunter and tracker. He became a hairy man with the tough skin associated  kind of splitting of the family leads to serious dysfunction, as we will see. 

Genesis 32:24-32 documents a very significant spiritual change in Jacob as he happened to physically wrestle with God. The driving force in Jacob’s life changed from himself to his God. God left him with a limp to remind him of the confrontation. Chapter 26 continues in that vein by showing God confirming the Abrahamic Covenant through Isaac. He would be the one through which God would establish the special race of people who would eventually be called Israel. As we will learn later, God changed Jacob’s name to Israel and his twelve sons would be called the twelve tribes of Israel. Through Isaac, God would see the Abrahamic Covenant fulfilled. 

Our focal passage (Gen 27:18-30) reveals Jacob’s stealing of Esau’s birthright. It describes a discussion between Abraham and Isaac where Abraham asks his favorite son to hunt game and prepare a savory meal for him out of the game he killed. But we also see Rebekah revealed as the mother who intervened for her favorite son and coached Jacob to deceive his father. 

Trap Set (Genesis 27:18-20)

We learn from the beginning of this chapter that Isaac is now very old and nearly blind. He had met with Esau and asked him to go hunting for some game to make Isaac’s favorite dish, a savory meal. Rebekah was within hearing range and feared that Isaac wanted to give his final birthright blessing to Esau. The prophecy was that the older son would serve the younger son, and Rebekah was going to conspire with Jacob to fulfill that prophecy.  She meets quietly with Jacob to let him know her thoughts. It will take a while for Esau to hunt, dress, cook and serve his animals, so she has Jacob get a pair of goats from the farm that she will cook instead. 

The meal was prepared, Jacob was disguised and it was time to set the trap for Isaac. Verse 18 says Jacob came into the room where his father was sitting. Jacob addressed him and said, Here I am.” Isaac responded questioning, “Who are you, my son?” Then the deception begins. Jacob says, “I am Esau your first born; I have done as you told me. Get up, please, sit and eat of my game, that you may bless me” {Gen 27:19).  

Isaac may have been old and feeble, but he was not totally gullible. He knew that the time between his request to Esau and the completion of the task including the cooking was simply too short to match the meal being served. Isaac was skeptical and asked, “How is it that you have it so quickly, my son?” (vs. 20a). 

 But Jacob’s response to his father’s question shows just how far he was willing to go to pull off this deception of his father and thief of her eldest son’s blessing. Jacob replies, “because the LORD your God [Jehovah thy Elohiym] caused it to happen to me” (vs. 20b, author’s brackets). First, in the Hebrew Scriptures, the name of God is so sacred that they will not even write it. Rather, they use the consonants JHVH or YHWH (because of alphabetic ambiguity) to avoid writing it. Second, Jacob is not only willing to use the name of God in vain, but to specify it by adding the name used in Genesis 1:1 for the Creator of the universe.  

Deception Carried Out (Genesis 27:21-27)

But Isaac is still not convinced. In verse 21 he says, “Please come close, that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not.” The problem was that no matter how Jacob smelled or what he said, there was the fact that Jacob could not do Esau’s voice. Look at verse 22, after Isaac felt Jacob, he said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” Isaac did not recognize Jacob because of the goat’s skin that Rebekah put on his arms and neck to deceive him (vs. 23). Nevertheless, verse 23 finishes with the words, “So he blessed him.” Still, in verse 24, Isaac asks again, “Are you really my son Esau?’ Recall that this is the meeting that Isaac told Esau he would give him his birthright blessing (Gen 27:1-4). This blessing, once given, could not be revoked or amended. Hebrew custom said it was final. Isaac knew he had to be absolutely sure he was blessing the correct son. It forces the question in my mind, what must Isaac have thought of Rebekah and Jacob that he was worried they might try to deceive him this way. Whatever it was, I guess I have to admit Isaac was correct! Jacob finishes in verse 24 by assuring his father, “I am” Esau.

Now, Isaac is finally ready to accept the “savory meal” that he requested of Esau (vs. 25). He tells Jacob to bring it to him, and he will eat it, so he can bless him (vs. 25a). The second half of the verse says that Jacob brough the meal for him and included some wine (a staple in those days).  

After Isaac finished the meal, he signaled for Jacob to come to him so he could kiss him. In verse 27, Moses documents that Jacob came close to Isaac at his request, and when he was close, Isaac smelled his garments. He said, “See, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field which the LORD has blessed.” Recall that Rebekah had used the skins of the goats to trick Isaac into thinking Jacob had Esau’s arms and neck. She made the savory meal the way Isaac liked it so he would think it was his son’s meal. And finally, she found some of Esau’s clothes and dressed Jacob in them, so he would smell like Esau. So far, it all worked. Isaac remained skeptical, but he could not explain why Jacob smelled, felt and cooked like Esau but spoke like Jacob. Would he bless?

Understand the Context (Genesis 28:1-22)

Chapter28 serves as a reminder for us to always consider the ramifications of our actions. We recall from Chapter 27 that Jacob and his mother, Rebekah, conspired together to mislead the aged Isaac as to which son he was pronouncing the eldest son’s blessing. After Rebekah overheard Isaac's request for a special meal after which Isaac would pronounce that blessing, Rebekah delivered that meal through the younger son, Jacob, as she helped him masquerade as the elder son, Esau. The plan worked as Rebekah and Jacob successfully stole Esau’s blessing for Jacob. We left that situation with Esau returning from his hunt for his father just after Isaac pronounced his blessing on Jacob instead of Esau. After he discovered there were no remaining blessings for him, he pledged that as soon as the grieving period was completed after Isaac died, he would then murder his brother (Gen 27:41). The next verse says that the words of Esau were rehearsed to Rebekah, and she quickly contacted Jacob and told him to go to her brother, Laban in Haran until his brother Esau’s anger subsided or he forgot “what you have done to him” (vs. 27:44). Notice how Rebekah, the co-conspirator, now finds it convenient to saddle Jacob with the entire guilt. 

So, between Rebekah in Chapter 27 and Isaac in Chapter 28, the advertised travel of Jacob to Haran is to find a proper wife for the young son. At 28:1-5, Isaac directs Jacob to take the 450 mile trip to visit Laban, his mother’s brother in Haran.  The hope is that Esau anger will subside, and Jacob can return. When Esau hears Isaac express his desire that Jacob not marry a woman of Canaan, he marries the daughter of Ishmael, Mahalath. 

Jacob rested in Luz on the way to Haran and found a rock suitable for the evening’s rest. The rock was later endorsed as a holy rock and used as a relic and worship piece. Nevertheless, while Jacob slept, he had a dream which will be discussed as our focal passage below. Luz, the place where Jacob rested, would be renamed Bethel, the house of the Lord. Jacob pledged to call Jehovah his God, to worship Him and pay tithes to Him as displays of his gratitude to God. 

Dreaming (Genesis 28:10-12)

So, whether Jacob is travelling 450 miles from Beersheba to Haran for fear of Esau or to find a proper wife, he is, in fact, on the trip.  Travelling about 30 miles a day was normal and Bethel was 50 miles from Beersheba.  If Jacob makes it as far as Luz (Bethel) for his first stop, he was highly motivated to get away from Beersheba.  In either case, verse 11 says it was night when he arrived. As he looked for a comfortable place to sleep, he found a rock that looked perfect to him to rest his head. So, he made his bed on the ground and used the rock as a pillow. 

Verse 12 begins to lay out the dream he had that night. He saw a ladder in the dream. Some versions call it a staircase; the Hebrew word cullam allows for either, but the ladder interpretation would better fit something with its base on the earth and its top going up into the heavens or heaven. The activity he saw involving the ladder helps with what he was seeing. Jacob said he saw the angels of God going up and down on the ladder. The Hebrew word malak defines them as messengers of God and that is consistent with the context of what happens in the next few verses. The fact that Jacob saw them moving up and down on the ladder is consistent with their function as messengers. They would be numerous and very active as God would send them up and down the ladder that He might send and receive communications from all humankind.  

It is interesting that Jacob is not viewing a vision that has only himself as the recipient or source of these messages.  Frequently, our dreams are focused on self as something sufficiently important to invade our precious sleep. But Jacob sees hundreds if not thousands of messengers carrying thousands of messages up and down, to and from God. It also speaks to Jacob not viewing God as unique only to him in this vision. Thousands of communications are being made between God and His people and God is dealing with them at the hands of these messengers to get it done. The suspense builds because we have the vision firmly in hand and anxiously await what the vision holds for Jacob as he receives it.  

Promised (Genesis 28:13-15)

Jacob sees God giving and receiving the messages from the top of the ladder, and God originates a four-part message to Jacob by a messenger. First, God thinks it important to begin with Jacob by eliminating any possibility of identity ambiguity in his mind. He says, “I am the LORD [Jehovah], the God [Elohym] of your father Abraham and the God [Elohym] of Isaac;” (Gen 28:13, author’s brackets). The uppercase LORD identifies the male singular God of the universe, and the male plural God identified the triune God of the entire creation; that is, “all that was created was created by Him and for Him and there was nothing created that was not created by Him” (John 1:3). And, by the way, this is the same God of your grandfather, Abraham, and your father, Isaac. Now, Jacob knows exactly Whom and by what authority He speaks to him. Second, the LORD God gives the land that Jacob is sleeping on to him and his descendants. 

Verse 14 shows the LORD God’s delineation of whom Jacob’s descendants are to be. They are limitless in number, even as the particles of dust on the earth. These descendants will multiply and populate the earth in all four directions of the compass from this place, and in Jacob and his descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Those who receive the gift of this land will be the descendants of Jacob, and Jacob’s descendants, and they will bless all the families of the earth. The impact of Jacob’s descendants will be felt by all the earth’s inhabitants. It must be noted that God is not just blessing Jews here but foretells of the blessings of Israel spreading to all the people groups of the earth. 

Verse 15 gives the fourth part of the message for Jacob, and this is a great one. God promises Jacob that He will be with him and keep him no matter where he goes, and He will bring him back to this place (that land He just gave him). This is how and why God brought Israel back to their land. And furthermore, God meant He would bring them back to ALL OF THEIR LAND; the land from the river of Egypt (the Nile) to the Euphrates River, just below Haran. This land was deeded by God to these people, and God says He will not leave them until it is done.

Gate of Heaven (Genesis 28:16-17)

Jacob heard and received this message from the Lord and felt the personal lift and blessing from the direct word of the Lord. Verse 16 begins with the fact that he awoke from that sleep having full awareness that God was there and had spoken to him. At the instant he opened his eyes, his mind and voice went to the fact of God’s presence there. He agrees with himself that he had not been aware of that presence until after the dream. Like many of us when we have the visit from the Lord in that first instant after surrendering to His call, Jacob realized something was different now. Something about himself was not the same and something about this place is now, somehow holy, special and set aside - sanctified by God. 

About ten years after I had been saved on March 24, 1974, at the Temple Baptist Church in Los Cruces, NM, I returned to the altar where it happened. The auditorium was missing the 650 people who were there on that Sunday. I was alone at the altar instead of having the 34 others who also surrendered alongside of me as on that day. Pastor Joe Penrod was no longer there. But I fell to my knees as on that day and prayed again. It was not a prayer of surrender but a prayer of thanksgiving for the miracle of new birth He gave me on that day, ten years earlier. I said simply, “My Holy Father, Jesus my Savior and Lord. I believed you died to buy my freedom and my full pardon then, and I believe more strongly today than ever before. Thank you, my Holy One.”

Jacob must have had those same feelings as he awoke to the realization that he had been in the presence of the Creator of the Universe that day. He felt the fear, great respect and admiration of God as he knew He had spoken to him and transferred the Abraham Covenant to him. But like my feelings, it was for far more than just himself. Jacob wanted this place marked; he wanted that rock upon which his head rested that night to be honored throughout eternity so that others would understand that God had been there for him, and would be there anyone else who came with an open heart to hear Him. This place was certainly “The House of God and the Gate to Heaven” for Jacob, and he wanted it marked for anyone else who came this way.  

The Vow (Genesis 28:18-22)

I turned from atheism that day to not only acknowledge that God existed, but that He was my personal God, Creator, Enabler and Master. He sent His Son, Jesus the Christ, to pay for my sins and buy my pardon. I arose from my knees that morning free of the weight of all sin and guilt. I felt different. When the Pastor asked me if I wanted to be baptized, I responded immediately that I did. I was baptized by emersion that evening with dozens of others. Jacob woke up from that dream determined to signal what had happened to him for everyone around. First, he lifted up the stone upon which his head rested that night and put it on a pillar and anointed it with oil recognizing that it represented the place where God came to talk with him and change him, forever. But that was not all he did. Verse 19 tells us that renamed the city of Luz to the name Bethel (Hebrew:  Beth-El, “The House of God”). He wanted all to know that this was the place where he had a personal meeting with his Creator. He would never be the same.

Jacob is driven to make a vow to the Lord. We might more correctly call it a commitment (vs. 20). Many times the translations from Hebrew or Greek to English start with the word “if.” This word makes Jacob’s commitment look more like a deal he is brokering with the Lord. That is not true for him and it is not true for us. It might speak more to us if that word was translated “Because.” That is, “Because God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and garments to wear; and I return to my father’s house in safety…” So, because God is doing these things, Jacob will commit to the LORD being his God (Hebrew: Jehovah mi Elohym) (vs. 21). This is making God his personal Savior and Lord. This is the commitment or confession of Jacob, the supplanter and deceiver. Soon, God will honor his commitment with a new name, Israel (Hebrew: Yisrâʼêl, or “He will rule as God”) (Gen 32:28). 

Jacob remembers the stone and says that the stone as set upon the pillar will be the beginning of God’s House (vs. 22). He finishes his pledge committing to pay a tithe (10%) of all he receives as a gift to God. This is a standard in Scripture and endorsed by Jesus (Matt 23:23, Luke 11:42). 

Understand the Context (John 19-20)

John 19 captures the interface between the power of Rome caught in the political dilemma of local religion gone awry.  The Jewish religious leaders had a law that said any person claiming to be God or His Messiah (Greek: Christis) is guilty of a crime unto death. They believed Jesus’ claim was blasphemy but knew that would not get the Roman death sentence from Pilate. However, if they accused Him of claiming to be the Jew’s King, that would usurp Pilate’s authority as well as Caesar’s. Yet, the Jews had no authority from Rome to enforce capital punishment (18:31-32).  Hence, the dilemma; Pilate interrogated Jesus and reported to the Jews, “I find no guilt in Him” (18:38). He even suggested he could free a prisoner because of the Feast Day, but the Jews insisted he release Barabbas instead (18:39).  Pilate had Jesus severely scourged and presented Him to the crowd, nearly beaten to death. Nevertheless, the crowd, under the influence of the religious leaders demanded His death. Pilate asked, “Then shall I crucify your King?” to which the Chief Priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” (18:15) 

So, Pilate gave the command to crucify Jesus with the charge on His cross saying, “Jesus the Nazarene, The King of the Jews” (19:19). Jesus cried out seven times from the cross: He asked God’s forgiveness on all those doing the crucifixion, He gave John charge of His mother, He saved one of the two being crucified with Him, He quoted Psalms 22:1 asking why God had forsaken Him, He said He was thirsty, He said, “It is finished” (Greek: tetelestia) and he commended His spirit to the Father. Nearly all debts were noted with the Telos when they were paid. The word Jesus uttered, Tetelestia, included verbs discharging the debt of sin from past, present, future and all time in eternity. Then, and only then, did Jesus allow Himself to die.

Joseph of Arimathea was permitted by Pilate to take Jesus’ body off the cross after he verified His death (Mark 15:42-45). Joseph and Nicodemus hastily buried Him in a new tomb as Mary Magdalene and Mother Mary watched (46-47). 

A Removed Stone (John 20:1-2)

But now the evidence that God accepted the sacrifice Jesus made to abolish all sin, forever. Paul says, “1 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 3 For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Rom 8:1-4). So, at dawn on the first day of the week (Sunday), Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James (or Jacob) and Salome came to the tomb with spices to finish the hastily done preparation of Jesus’ body in the tomb (Mark 16:1-2).  Verse 16:3 says they were discussing whom they might get to help them roll the great stone away from the entrance to the tomb. But, when they arrived, “they saw the stone already taken away from the tomb” (John 20:1). Matthew says, “And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled away the stone, and sat upon it” (Matt 28:2). I can only imagine coming to put spices on Jesus’ body but finding the stone rolled back and an angel sitting on it!

Mary has a little difficulty shifting gears from the works of the flesh she intended to do at the grave into the idea of God’s resurrection of Jesus, our Christ. Her first thoughts are more like someone must have broken into the tomb and taken Jesus’ cold, dead body away to another place. So, she bolted out of the area around the tomb to tell her leaders of the terrible theft of Jesus’ body. John tells us that Mary ran to find someone and ran into him and Peter (John 20:2). She told them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.” Mary’s heart is revealed at this moment and it is not on the supernatural but the natural. It is a human thief that has committed this horrific offense, and he has left us no word on where the precious body of our dearest friend and Savior of all humankind has been placed. 

An Empty Tomb (John 20:3-10)

Peter and John wasted no time on trying to discuss the details of what Mary saw. They just wanted to go to the location of the crime to investigate for themselves. The Bible says they ran together for a part of the trip, but John was faster than Peter and arrived at the tombs first (vss. 2-3). I often wonder if this was not a bit of John’s ego showing as he noted that he was faster (recall it was John who wrote this Gospel). But John stopped at the entrance of the tomb and did not go inside. It was Peter who finally arrived and went directly into the tomb. Verse 5 tells us that John stopped and looked inside. Could he have thought he was protecting the integrity of the crime scene? The Scripture says he saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in (vs. 5). Peter, on the other hand, came running to the tomb and went immediately inside, and saw the linens lying there as well (vs. 6). Most interpreters agree that the burial shroud was not only lying there but they were lying the same way as if Jesus’ body was still in them. That is, not unwrapped and thrown on the floor (the way most of us guys would do), but still wrapped the way Joseph and Nicodemus left them on Friday night. Some would ask, “Who cares?” Later, we find the apostles gathered together in a room with the doors locked and the windows drawn for fear of the authorities coming to arrest them, and Jesus came to them. There was no knocking at the door or ringing the doorbell; He simply came into the room. Now, I think that a man who can walk through wood, plaster and building studs would probably not take the time to unwrap the grave clothes, but simply got up and left them where they were.

The face cloth was found in a different place.  It was not with the shroud, but rather, rolled up in a separate place (vs. 7). Did Jesus reach back and grab it to wipe away what might have remained on His face? The Bible now tells us that John finally joined Peter inside the sepulcher (vs. 8).  When John looked at the grave clothes and the face cloth, HE BELIEVED! There was no need for the writer to tell us what he believed. He simply knew there was no need to find the perpetrators of the crime – Jesus was risen. This was not knowledge from what Jesus said, for they did not understand the His promise, yet. It was sufficient for them the simply go home. 

Understand the Context (John 29:1-31:55)

Let us start our look at Genesis 29 – 31 by reviewing where we left Jacob in Chapter 28. Recall that he and his mother, Rebekah had successfully stolen the birthright of Jacob’s older twin, Esau by fooling his father, Isaac into believing he was blessing Esau while blessing Jacob. At the very end of that effort, we saw the completed blessing of Jacob by Isaac just as Esau returned from his hunt for game to prepare Isaac’s favorite meal. Esau was irate and swore that when the grieving for his father was completed, he would eliminate Jacob. Rebekah overheard that conversation as well and had Jacob move 450 miles away from his family home in Beersheba, Canaan to her brother’s home in Haran, Paddan-Aram (Syria). Her brother’s name was Laban and he had two daughters of marrying age, Leah and Rachel. Haran was the city where Eliezer found the well where Rebekah drew water for her family and selected her as Isaac’s wife. On the way to Haran for this trip, Jacob spends an evening in Bethel where he is visited by the Lord and has the “Stairway Vision” of Chapter 28. 

Jacob meets Rachel at the well in Haran and contracts with Laban to work for him for seven years to buy her hand in marriage. Laban agrees to Jacob’s offer but substitutes his older daughter, Leah, for Rachel on the wedding night after all were heavy from partying. Laban has Jacob work an additional seven years to buy Rachel’s hand again. Leah turned out to be a prolific woman while Rachel was barren. So, Leah had the first six sons for Jacob along with one daughter. Rachel, being obsessed with jealousy against Leah, offers her handmaiden, Bilhah, to Jacob resulting two more sons for Jacob. Leah responds by offering her handmaiden to Jacob, and hence, two more sons for Jacob while Rachel remains childless. God finally unlocks Rachel’s womb, and she has a son for Jacob whom they named Joseph, of the “coat-of-many colors” fame. At this point, Jacob decides the time was right for him part ways with Laban and return to Canaan. It had been 20 years since Jacob left Beersheba and last saw Esau. 

Past (Gen 30:25-30)

Verse 30:25 repeats the timing as stated in the previous paragraph with Rachel bearing her first son for Jacob and naming him Joseph, meaning “will the Lord give me another son?” Jacob tells Laban it is time for him to return to his own place in his own country. Jacob only asks for what is his, that is, he wanted his wives and children for which he had already paid 14 years.  He reminded Laban that he had rendered extraordinary service to him across all these years (vs. 26). But Laban was not so quick to release Jacob and lose all that cheap labor. Laban says that God visited him and left a message that Jacob should remain longer. Laban believes the Lord has blessed him because of Jacob (vs. 27). Laban even asks Jacob to name his own price for staying longer (vs. 28). 

But Jacob replies in verse 29 that Laban knows very well that he had provided exceptional service to him over all those years and every direction he turned to do that service for him, it was grand. He went on to remind Laban that his cattle had increased from the very little that Laban gave him to care for to the current multitude of herds under his leadership (vs. 30). Jacob says, as a matter of fact, “the Lord has blessed you wherever I turned.” “But now,” Jacob continues, “When shall I provide for my own household also?”

The Bible tells us in verse 31:2 that Jacob had noticed that Laban’s attitude toward him had changed, and he was no longer as friendly as he once was. Further, Laban’s son were questioning the right of Jacob to take a part of the great wealth Laban had built for himself and his heirs (vs. 31:1). It was clear that the Lord was allowing the politics between these two deceivers to deteriorate to where both men realized their time together was short. Laban’s objectives relative to Jacob was simply to profit all he could as Jacob departed. Jacob’s goal was to capitalize from some of what he built for Laban to seed his own wealth. So, somewhere in the joint resolution of both men’s goals was a mutually favorable point where each could leave the negotiating table with feelings of success.  

Present (Gen 30:31-34)

So, Laban asks Jacob what he must give him for him to agree to stay with him for another contract period. Jacob immediately responded to make sure Laban abandoned the terminology of “giving” anything to him. Jacob has learned (partially from personal introspection) that when one allows another to establish indebtedness in their mind, they feel compelled to do more business with them. Jacob was entirely unhappy with Laban’s business ethics. It was Laban who agreed to give Jacob Rachel’s hand in marriage and then switched to her elder sister during the wedding process. It was Laban who had Jacob work another seven years for Rachel a second time. And when Jacob had married both daughters, it was Laban who would not let Jacob take anything he built for Laban as a legacy for his own wealth. No, Jacob wanted to make it abundantly clear, he wanted no further business relationships with anyone who might be even less ethical than Jacob was. 

The Jamieson, Fausset and Brown Commentary correctly points out that separating the livestock by speckle, spot or color gave Jacob much less access to the sheep and goats than it gave Laban. JFB categorizes that separation as “relatively rare” which means Jacob’s share would be less than 10 percent of the overall herd. That is very generous of Jacob, and it seems that Laban was aware of it. But notice in verse 33 that Jacob goes farther and offers Laban a guarantee of sorts. He states that when Laban comes to calculate Jacob’s wages, if he finds any in the flocks that do not match the agreed upon criteria, he will count them as stolen and return them immediately.  

It is always entertaining to watch two “players” playing each other, and this is one of those times. Laban, not wanting to appear overly excited about the deal Jacob offered, says, “Good, let it be according to your word” (vs. 34). He wants to get Jacob’s final acceptance of this exceptional deal formalized. We can anticipate that Jacob being the “player” he is, has something up his sleeve. Verses 31:5-13 show that Jacob knew the Lord was working something of a miracle and most of what should have gone to Laban, miraculously went to Jacob.  

Understand the Context (Genesis 32:1-33:20)

So, after Jacob used his advanced knowledge of animal genetics to multiply his flocks exponentially compared to Laban’s flocks, Jacob took his unannounced leave from Haran to comply with God’s promise for him to return to homeland near Beersheba in Canaan. In three days, when Laban was told Jacob’s absence, he departed from Haran to overtake Jacob. Laban succeeded just east of the Jordan River north of the Dead Sea after a seven-day journey (Gen 31:23). They stated their mutual anger and disappointment with one another and struck agreement that Jacob’s wives were Laban’s daughters and Jacob’s children were Laban’s grandchildren so, there must be peace between them. Laban called the place Jegar-Sahadutha and Jacob called it Gileed, both were Syrian words meaning the heap of witness.  They agreed that Laban would return to Haran and Jacob would keep God’s commitment to return him to Beersheba.  They agree to a covenant they called Mizpah (Hebrew), “May the LORD watch between you and me when we are absent one from the other” (31:49). Laban added that Jacob must not harm his daughters nor ever marry another, as God is his witness.

Now Jacob must meet with his paternal twin brother, Esau, to make peace out of Esau’s sworn revenge to kill Jacob for stealing his birthright blessing. Jacob sent word to Esau that he had returned after 20 years with Laban and wanted to meet with him. Esau agreed but had Jacob’s messenger announce that Esau was coming with 400 men marching with him. Jacob feared that the 400 men could overtake and destroy him, take all he had, kill his sons and take his wives. Jacob divided all he had into two camps believing if Esau attacked, he could escape with the other half of his estate. 

Before the meeting, God appeared to Jacob as a man, wrestled with him all night long and finally took Jacob’s hip out of socket. Before leaving Jacob’s presence, God announced a blessing on Jacob and gave him the new name of Israel, “because he strove with God and prevailed (32:28).” 

Alone (Genesis 32:22-24)

Jacob had sent his messengers ahead of him to his estranged, paternal-twin brother, Esau, letting him know that he had become a man of some wealth and he wanted to find favor in his lord’s eyes. But the messengers returned with the news that Esau was coming to visit but he was bringing 400 soldiers with him for the meeting (Gen 32:6). Jacob was struck with paralyzing fear as he remembered Esau’s pledge of 20 years earlier that when the grief over Isaac’s death was over, he would kill Jacob (27:41). So, Jacob considered all his wealth and divided his it into two camps. He reasoned that if Esau attacked one camp, he could escape with the other. He also gathered a present for Esau of hundreds of each kind of animals in his flocks to offer ahead of his actual presence. He also marched his wives, maids and children across the river toward Esau (32:22-23). The numbers of livestock a man owned was a presentation of his economic status and power. 

Next, but far more personal, a man’s wives and concubines represented the personal power he had amassed, and the number of children displayed his masculinity. In parading all this ahead of his meeting with Esau, Jacob was announcing to him (and his 400 warriors) that he was willing to share all of his power and status as gifts of reconciliation to his brother. Verses 22 and 23 show that Jacob was willing to flesh out his intent to win his brother’s favor. He was sending his wives, maids and children across the river to go before him as his brother approached. The level of Jacob’s sincerity becomes very obvious as one looks at the size of this gift. 

But as Jacob ushered his wives, maids and children across the river, he was alone and separated from all he cared for. God, however, wanted Jacob to know that he was not alone. In the darkness of the evening and all through the night God manifested Himself as a man and came to wrestle with Jacob. As each hour went by, Jacob’s mind was not as occupied with all he was offering and the fact that he felt he was totally unworthy of any mercy from Esau. Rather, God occupied his mind with the wrestling match.  

New Name (Genesis 32:25-29)

Hour after hour Jacob would try to overpower and overtake the Creator of the universe. Most of us realize that this is not God’s effort to win a battle against Jacob. Rather, this is an effort for the Lord to encourage and strengthen one of His called servants. God has already delivered His message to Jacob transitioning the Abrahamic Covenant through his father, Isaac, to Jacob for fulfillment. But it is in times like these when Jacob needs more.  He may well know what his life mission is, but this same day, he will receive a man who pledged to kill him shortly after Isaac died. That time had passed nearly 20 years ago, but now the opportunity for Esau to accomplish it is just a few miles away. When Jacob heard that Esau had 400 of his trained military forces following him to this meeting, he realized that he was totally lacking any capability to respond this threat. This battle would be more than the loss of a fight; this loss would be on the order of a major massacre. Jacob would not only lose his life, but he would watch the loss of life for everyone who accompanied him on this mission. As his wives, maids, children and servants crossed that river, everything he had was at risk of elimination. 

But is it not at times like this that God always shows up? Jacob’s mind is far from that battle right now. The Lord has completely occupied his mind with this wrestling match. Now, the hours had passed. Both combatants realize the skies are beginning to lighten. As the Lord sees the dawn approaching, He asks Jabob to release Him.  Jacob refused to let Him go until He would bless him. The Lord took one more shot at Jacob to leave him a reminder of the bout: He took his hip out of socket and Jacob would walk with a limp for the rest of his life. The Lord ended the bout and asked Jacob his name, but when Jacob answered, the Lord said, “no longer Jacob but Israel because you strove with the Lord, and you prevailed” (32:28). So, as Jacob prepared to meet his estranged brother, as the sun was rising, Jacob had a new name, Israel, and a new walk, with a permanent limp. Oh, and a new attitude under God’s blessing of him. Jacob needed a miracle, and the Lord has blessed him. Jacob was ready for Esau and his 400 men. He was no longer alone; he stood in the shadow of the Creator. 

Understand the Context (Genesis 34:1-37:1)

Jacob and his family moved to Shechem after his meeting with Esau, his brother.  Today’s study begins with Dinah, that seventh child of Jacob birthed by Leah.  As she walked through the town to learn more of her new surroundings, she caught the eye of Shechem, son of a local chieftain. He was so taken by her that he took her by force, but later felt more than just a physical attraction and asked his father to approach Jacob for a marriage. Dinah’s brothers, Simeon and Levi, deceived Shechem into believing they were in agreement but insisted the men of his clan must all be circumcised before the planned wedding. They agreed, but in the third day, while they were “still in pain,” Dinah’s brothers killed all of them. Jacob learned of the ordeal and corrected his sons (Gen 34:1-31). 

At this point, Jacob hears the voice of the Load telling him to return to Bethel. Last time he was there, he experienced the vision of the staircase with the angels of the Lord moving up and down the stairs. In preparation for their return, Jacob cleansed the entire camp for false gods and idols. On the way to Bethel, they were astonished at the fear demonstrated by the various townspeople as he traversed their areas. It was clear the Lord had prepared the safety of his way.  Chapter 35 also documents the death of Jacob’s beloved wife, Rachael, while she was delivering her second child, Benjamin.  

Chapter 36 (including 37:1) Document the wives of Esau in his dwelling place at Edom, just below the Dead Sea. The list is exhaustive and contains all the wives and each of the children from each of the wives. Moses does the same for all of the wives and children of Jacob as they were gathered in the land God gave them in Canaan. This was also the place where Jacob was called and learn from God that he would receive the Abrahamic Covenant as passed down from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This was the place where Jacob rested his head on a rock and built a pillar and monument, he would be visiting again to receive God’s call. 

Get Up! (Genesis 35:1-4)

At first glance, today’s study in Chapter 35 looks a lot like the study we did of Jacob’s renaming as Israel in Chapter 32, but the teaching reveals that God often requires a personal commitment of His people followed by a public commitment. Jacob’s earlier visit to Bethel was when he received God’s revelation and he made his personal commitment to his renaming and the associated new ministerial calling. There, Jacob was alone with God in a very personal setting. He received his instruct between him and the Master and committed to it in no uncertain way. But, look closer at this meeting with God and observe the commitment to be the same but the setting is far more public. God requires the entire camp to be cleansed of all idols and false gods.  Jacob specifically cleansed his own house first and then went to the other houses to cleanse the rest of the camp. Everyone would be involved with Jacob’s calling this time and they would all be a part of his commitment to God. They became a part of his surrender and commitment as they sacrificed every idol and all worship pieces they had gathered in their travels. His public commitment to God was no less impressive than his personal commitment, but now, all the members of his family, church and nation has become a part of it. They would eagerly help Jacob remember and provide the support he would need to stay in his commitment. After all, everyone was watching.

Look at the example Paul leaves us in Romans 10:8-10 involving the two things that must be done to be saved from the penalty of our sins. He says, “8 But what does it say? “THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART”-- that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, 9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”  We begin our redemption by personally believing something in our hearts. Paul says it is the heart belief which makes us right with God, but that public statement of it that solidifies the agreement with God with the support of all those around. A personal belief supported by a public statement. 

Build (Genesis 35:5-8)

Now, Jacob begins to see the evidence of some supernatural events that are taking place. It starts with him observing that no one is willing to stand in the way of him returning to Bethel. He can see that unexplainable fear in their eyes as his people pass by. He does not understand why, nor even what, is happening, but it is certain that something big has changed. Jacob was not hindered in his travel in any way (vs. 35:5). He successfully arrived at Bethel in the land of Canaan; him and all his company with him.  No one was hurt, no one was hindered and all arrived safely (vs. 6).  This is so much like our personal acknowledgement of Jesus Christ. It is not about an astonishing speaker or a fantastic experience. It is all about an individual finally having enough of God’s revealing Himself that it seems like someone has turned on a very bright light in a very dark room. It makes you want to shout, “I SEE! PRAISE ALMIGHTY GOD IN HEAVEN, I SEE! For the first time in my life, I really see!” Jacob saw the supernatural evidence of change all around him and “HE SAW!” He did not look for explanations; he just saw that God was acting through him and it was overwhelmingly powerful! 

So, Jacob rebuilds the altar he had built privately, and he named it El-Bethel. Look at the excitement here. On his first visit, he saw the stairway with God’s angels moving up and down the stairs with God’s messages. He recognized God and called the place the house of God – Beth-EL. But now it is more to him. The same rocks, the same pedestal, the same place but now it is El Bethel. Coming out of the Hebrew language he is saying “this is now not only the House of God, but it is now my personal God’s House of God. Now I have a relationship with Deity. I have not only seen God and seen His House; but now I realize HE IS MINE!!! This place is MY GOD’S House of God. For the first time, this is personal to me, and it is too much to contain. The father whose daughter Jesus raised and asked him not to tell anyone could not contain what he had seen! “I HAVE TO TELL SOMEBODY!!” This man named Jesus touched the hand of my dead daughter and she got up and came back to me! I must tell somebody what Jesus did for me. In verse 7, Jacob remembered this was the place where God revealed Himself to me, but now, it was different. Now, He did not just show me – I SAW!!! 

In verse 8, there is a death of a beloved servant of Jacob’s mother. God reminds us that there is often a low that follows the highest of highs. But even death has a new feeling when you have seen God’s light! 

Understand the Context (Genesis 37:2-36)

We studied the life of Jacob after he escaped the death threat of his twin brother, Esau. We made note that as he fled, he stopped for a night at Bethel and had a vision of a stairway and a visit from God. There Jacob’s name was changed to Israel, the Abraham Covenant was transferred to him and God promised him he would return to the land of his father. But Jacob followed his mother’s (Rebekah’s) directions and went to Haran to stay with her brother, Laban. Jacob fell in love with Rachael, Laban’s youngest daughter and agreed to work seven years for her hand. Laban agreed but switched Rachael out in favor of his oldest daughter, Leah. Jabob agreed to work seven more years to get Rachael’s hand. Meantime, he had six sons and a daughter with Leah. 

He married Rachael but found her barren. Rachael allowed Jacob to have two sons with her handmaiden (Bilhah), and Leah responded by allowing him to have two sons with her handmaiden (Zilpah). Then Rachael had Joseph, and he quickly became the favored son of Jacob and Rachael.

While the elder ten sons labored in the fields and herds, Joseph came to visit and told his brothers that he had two dreams in which either the ten of them or the ten plus Jacob and Rachael would bow to worship him. The brothers were irate, but it was worsened by Joseph wearing a special coat of many colors Jacob made as he visited their work sight. 

While Rueben, the eldest son, wanted him thrown into a dry well where he could rescue him later, the others pulled him out of the dry pit and sold him while Rueben was absent. Rueben returned to find Joseph already sold. The brothers put goat’s blood on Joseph’s robe to explain to their father that a wild animal killed his favorite son. Jacob and Rachael were in deep grief until a few years later when Rachael conceived again. Rachael named him Ben-oni, “Child of my sorrow.” Jacob renamed him Benjiman, “son of my right hand” as she died in his birth.   

A Dream (Genesis 37:5-8)

Understanding the thought process of young Joseph is very difficult. He knew that the older brothers could see how favored he was by their parents, Jacob and Rachael. It was bad enough that the older brothers worked all day and frequently had to spend the nights watching over the massive herds and acres of crops, but Joseph visited the work sites and flaunted his freedom while they worked. Add to that, Joseph began to see his prophetic capabilities early in life and not only dreamed dreams but interpreted them. He saw the sheaves being tied as they were harvested and saw the bunches standing tall, but something happened: all the sheaves harvested by the others turned in the direction of Joseph’s sheaves and bowed down. His brothers were gifted as well. They went from interpreting their sheaves bowing in the direction of Joseph’s sheaves to show his reign over them. The result: they hated him even more. The Hebrew culture was (and is) highly organized and hierarchical. The younger would never take the place of an elder. But we know the history; Joseph’s dream was exactly what would happen. 

But the abuse of the norms is not over, yet. Jacob gave Joseph a robe of many colors that he would wear during these visits. The brothers would wear shades of tan so they could keep as cool as possible while they kept the flocks and oversaw the fields in the open sun . Joseph in his coat of many bright colors just did not fit in. He stressed his differences from the other ten brothers to the point of pain. He made parental favoritism even more obvious than it was. 

So, Joseph was either purposely turning his brothers against him, or he was clearly out of touch with cultural norms and standard, hierarchical protocols of the Hebrew family. In the background, however, we cannot forget that God is the author and finisher of His plan, and He has a tremendous plan for Joseph. Because of the immense hate he was generating among his brothers, they almost had to reject him from the family.  Only Rueban, as elder brother seemed sufficiently loving for his little brother to want to rescue him from the others. But Joseph had to be sold to Egypt to save them and Israel together. Truly, their evil became his good.  

 A Plot (Genesis 37:18-22) 

So, the ten brothers saw Joseph coming to visit their work site and conspired to put him to death (vs. 18). As he approached verse 19 tells us they said, “Here comes this dreamer!” Still in the general language, they said “let us kill him and throw into one of the pits; and we will say, ‘A wild beast devoured him.’ Then let us see what will become of his dreams” (vs. 20). 

How does a family become this dysfunctional? Surely, the beginning stems from Uncle Laban’s treachery in tricking Jacob into receiving Leah into the bridal chamber after the wedding feast instead of Rachael. Jacob awakes and finds he had consummated a marriage with a woman he did not select to marry. It was Rachael’s older sister instead of Rachael. Was Rachael a party to this debauchery? Did her father force her to stand back at that last moment when her sister entered Jacob’s chambers? Laban offered only that it was customary that the older sister must be married first. Nevertheless, it was Laban who robbed Jacob of the second seven years of labor for the same woman. And the agreement Laban made with Jacob was for Rachael, not Leah. Laban had opportunity to disagree with the contract at that time rather than forcing his will on Jacob later. This marriage was the source of the six oldest sons of Jacob. The next four came from Rachael’s then Leah’s handmaidens. Having four women in the same household claiming one man as husband and father of their children introduces more emotional issues than even the disastrous blended family situations of today. Joseph is about to die because of it.

But Reuben, Leah and Jacob’s first child, the eldest of Jacob’s sons, had some feeling for doing the right thing here. He took the boy away from the others and said, “Let us not take his life. Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit in the wilderness, but do not lay hands on him” (vss, 21-22). Moses tells us that Reuben did this to save the bot out of that pit at a later time and restore him to his father. How did Reuben grow up with some sense of righteousness that the others were missing? Regardless of all this, we know Joseph had an appointment with destiny under God’s hand in Egypt in the not-too-distant future, and Joseph’s dreams would play a role.

Understand the Context (Genesis 38:1-39:23)

The focus of this study is in Chapter 39 as a report on Joseph, the eleventh son of Jacob (Israel) and how completely God blessed him by leading him into situations where he could win favor of anyone who accepted his leadership services. However, Chapter 38 takes us in the direction of one of Joseph’s half brothers by Leah, Judah. He was Leah’s fourth son and has great future importance as the Tribe by which the Southern two Tribes of Israel is named and an ancestor of the Lion of Judah; that is none other than Jesus of Nazareth, our Savior and Lord.

In Chapter 38, however, we see Judah taking a Canaanite woman and having three sons by her (verse 12 calls her Judah’s wife). The names of their sons were Er, Onan and Shelah. Judah contracted a marriage for Er but he was wicked, so the Lord took him (vs. 7). The contract needing to be fulfilled, so Judah sets up Tamar to have a son by Onan, the second son. The Bible says that he refused to allow her to become pregnant by him because it would not be his son, but rather, his brother’s son. This was not accepted by the Lord, so he was taken as well (vss. 9-10). At this point, Judah told Tamar to return to her father’s home as a widow until his third son, Shelah, became of age for marrying.  

When Tamar discovered that Shelah had, in fact, passed that age, she knew she had to act. She had heard that Judah was going to visit Timnah after he lost his wife, so she decided to put off her widow’s garb and masquerade as a harlot at the gate to Timnah. When she saw Judah coming, she made herself available to him and negotiated an advanced  payment of a ring, a clothing cord and a walking staff to hold in earnest of a future payment for her services. Judah agreed and it saved Tamar from humiliation and being burned for playing the harlot.

Chapter 39 is focal for this week’s study and shows the tremendous character of Joseph, another son of Israel. Potiphar was a top leader in Egypt and recognized Joseph’s talents. Unfortunately, his wife also liked Joseph but in a very different way. She tempted Joseph but never succeeded. 

Tempted (Genesis 39:7-10)

God had blessed Joseph with skills and opportunities to apply those skills that allowed him to become very successful in everything he touched. Potiphar, the Egyptian Chief of the Pharaoh’s Bodyguards, was the man who purchased him from the Ishmaelites. He heard of Joseph’s successes in prison and advanced him to be his personal servant and leader of his entire house. The beginning of the second paragraph of Chapter 39 states that “Joseph was handsome in form and appearance” (vs. 6). Potiphar’s wife noticed Joseph in this way and invited him to “lie with me” several times. (vs. 7). 

Joseph explained to her the impossibility of that situation ever taking place. Her husband does not concern himself with anything in the house when Joseph is there (vs. 8). Potiphar has put everything under his authority and has full trust in him to manage it. He entrusted Joseph with all that he had apart from his wife. Joseph told her that he saw no way he could abuse such a great trust. Joseph finishes with the question,  How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?” In other words, Joseph sees no way that he could be evil to this man who trusts him with so much, and also for Joseph, this is a great sin against his God. 

Nevertheless, Joseph’s explanation of why he could not respond to her did nothing to change her drive to have him. Sexual obsession is not made of things like reason and logic. Today, the offense is called sexual harassment, and it is taken more seriously than at any other time in history. Verse 10 summarizes Joseph’s situation very well. He was stuck with seeing Potiphar’s wife daily, that is, “day after day” (vs. 10).  And every time he saw her, he had to reject or ignore her invitations for him to lie with her again.  With Joseph being a slave, the punishment for saying yes to her would likely be death. 

But there was even more at stake than just Joseph’s death. Joseph knew that he was gifted by God for some special purpose. Whether in the prison or in the throne room, Joseph knows that he has been spared from death and from a life in chains by God for a very special purpose. 

Trapped (Genesis 39:11-16)

But, once again, Joseph would be trapped and stripped of his position and possessions. This is how it happened: One day, when Joseph was entering Potiphar’s house to perform his assigned duties, he noticed that none of the regular male workers were present (vs. 11). Potiphar’s wife had already announced to Joseph that she wanted him to “come lie with her” so, Joseph was doing his best to minimize all contact with her. When Joseph came near, she reached out and caught him by his robe, saying again, “lie with me!” (vs. 12). Joseph escaped from her by pulling away, but he left her with his robe still in her hands. He fled from the house as quickly as he could and remained outside. When Potiphar’s wife noticed that he left his garment behind and fled outside, she called for the men of her household, showed them Joseph’s garment and claimed Joseph tried to “make sport” of her and lie with her, but when she screamed loudly, Joseph fled. 

According to Potiphar’s wife, the Hebrew slave they purchased came to her rooms and tried to “make sport” of her by throwing his garment on her bed and attempting to lie with her. She was so shocked at his bold advances that all she could think to do was to scream at the top of her voice in the hope that someone might rescue her and chase him away. Joseph ran from her chamber fearing that someone might hear the scream and catch him in her chamber. He ran off so quickly, however, that he left his garment in her bed just where she laid it when she took it from him. When he ran out of her chamber, he stopped exactly where all of you saw him when you arrived. He was standing outside with the other men, just as he was after leaving her chamber, overwhelmed with the guilt of being caught with the Master’s wife (vs. 15). 

Once she brought this despicable act to the attention of the other men, she started developing an informal witness pool, so she could formalize these charges against Joseph. The witnesses could testify that they saw her holding Joseph’s robe, and had a convincing story that she was describing an actual event. She could successfully destroy Joseph for refusing her advances. 

Understand the Context (Genesis 40:1-41:57)

Just as in the last several studies, this section ties together the chapters to better understand the complete message of Genesis. Last time we drew attention to the fact that Joseph was not only returned to prison because of Potiphar’s wife’s accusation but he was sent to a different prison than the one Potiphar first placed him at purchase. Now, Joseph is in the King’s prison, and he is there with others who offended the highest levels of authority in the domain. The cupbearer and Baker are two men who offended the King. The details are not included, nor do they matter.

Shortly after they were accepted into the prison, the head jailer assigned them to Joseph because the leaders anticipated his very long stay. But both men had dreams the first night of their stays. They were depressed because they could not understand what the dreams might mean for them. They told Joseph of the dreams, and as in the past, Joseph was able to interpret them. The news for the baker was not good. His dream meant that the King was intending to execute him within the next three days. The cupbearer had a much better report from Joseph. His dream had three days in it as well, but his three days would lead to his restoral as cupbearer for the King. Joseph asked only that the cupbearer would remember him when he was restored by the King.  

Chapter 41 picks up two years later. The cupbearer had been serving the King for two years and Joseph was still in the King’s prison. The Pharaoh has a dream involving seven fat cows and seven lean cows, but no one seemed capable of interpreting his dream.  This is where the cupbearer finally remembers Joseph and his abilities to interpret dreams. The cupbearer advises the King about Joseph, and the King was interested in following up. The rest of this story is detailed in the focal passages below.  The preview is that the King is so happy with Joseph’s interpretation that he makes him second only to himself in the entire nation.

Meantime, Joseph was growing his personal family. He had married a lady named Asenath, a daughter of a Portiphera priest. They had two important sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. 

Credit Given (Genesis 41:14-16)

Verse 14 shows the Pharaoh directing his people to contact the jail’s dungeon and have Joseph brought to him. The jailers removed him from the dungeon, allowed him to shave and shower, changed his clothes, and delivered him to the Pharaoh as directed (vs. 14). Verses 1-8 in this chapter recounts the Pharaoh’s dreams and his frustration that none of his sayers nor magicians could interpret his dreams. Verses 9-13 tells of the restored chief cupbearer revealing to Pharaoh that he and the imprisoned chief baker told their dreams to a Hebrew named Joseph and he was able to interpret their dreams, and further, the interpretations came true; the backer was executed, and the cupbearer was restored in service for the King. So, the Pharaoh’s sending for Joseph was an emergency action after all the resources of the King had been depleted. 

Verse 15a gets to the matter at hand as the Pharaoh tells Joseph that he has had two dreams but no one among his vast resources can answer the dreams. Further, he says, “I have heard it said about you, that when you hear a dream, you can interpret it” (vs. 15b).  

As Joseph’s response comes, the tension in the room was notably reduced as Joseph declares that, while he has no capability to interpret on his own, he knows that his God will give Pharaoh the interpretation he is seeking. The way the sentence is written, it might be interpreted that Joseph is promising an answer the Pharaoh wishes to hear rather than simply an accurate interpretation of his dream. The latter is what Joseph is promising.

Notice the confidence with which Joseph responds to the request. First, he wants to make sure the Pharaoh understands that it is not he who will do the interpreting, rather it will be Joseph’s God who provides the answer. Joseph feels a need to be politically accurate here because he has experience with powerful people misjudging where fault belongs. Recall that Joseph has spent at least two years in the Pharaoh’s prison because Potiphar’s wife falsely accused him of attempting adultery with her. So, Joseph wants to make it clear that it is God, through the gifts that He gave Joseph that will do the interpreting, not Joseph, himself. In truth, Joseph may be faulted anyway. 

Cows Consumed (Genesis 41:17-21)

Now, the Pharaoh reveals to Joseph exactly what one of his dreams was. Pharaoh says that while he was standing on the bank of the Nile River, seven fat but sleek cows came up out of the Nile and began grazing on the foliage there (vss. 17-18). Verse 19 follows that there was a second set of seven cows that came up out of the Nile. The latter cows were poor, very ugly and gaunt. Pharaoh adds that these cows were uglier than any cows he had seen in all Egypt. Next, these poor, ugly and gaunt cows overtook and consumed the more healthy, fat and sleek cows, yet there was no change in the ugly cows after eating all the bigger and more healthy cows (vss. 20-21). Then, the Pharaoh says he awoke from his sleep.

The Pharaoh did not share with Joseph that there was a second dream that night (vss. 5-7).  The Pharaoh returned to his sleep after that first dream and dreamed a second time. This time there were “seven ears of grain that came up on a single stalk, plump and good, followed by seven ears, thin and scorched by the east wind that came up after them. Then the thin ears swallowed up the seven plump and full ears.”  Again, the Pharaoh says he awoke. 

While the focal passages do not reveal the interpretation Joseph gave to the Pharaoh, that information is important for understanding the plan the Pharaoh had on the next slide. Joseph starts by telling the Pharaoh that the dreams are one in the same (vs. 26). In other words, the seven fat cows and the seven ears represent seven years of plenty, great abundance throughout the entire land of Egypt, and the seven ugly cows and seven thin ears of corn represent seven years of severe famine in the land (vs. 27-31). 

Joseph says the repetition of the dream means that they were given by God and that God will bring them to bear very soon (vs. 32).  So, the seven years of great abundance in Egypt is very near and the seven years of absolute drought will follow immediately thereafter. Joseph is saying that the beginning of the fulfillment of these prophecies is imminent in Egypt, so any planning for the management of these things must be done quickly.  

Understand the Context (Genesis 42:1-46:34)

The title of the study says it all. After much advertising and commenting on things to come, Joseph will see his two dreams of youth come to fruition: he will in fact stand before his ten older brothers and see them bow down to him. Similarly, he will stand before his eleven brothers and his father (Mother Rachael deceased) and see them bow down to him. So, how did this miraculous fulfillment take place?

As studied last time, Joseph interpreted the Pharaoh’s dreams of seven fat cows and seven lean cows as seven years of abundance followed by seven years of famine. The Pharaoh and his advisors approved the plan Joseph was given from God to manage Egypt through this challenging period and appointed Joseph as second only to the Pharaoh in all matters related to those 14 years. No one except Egypt planned through the seven years of great abundance by saving 20 percent of the abundance for the future. By the second year of the famine, citizens of most countries were beginning to starve. Canaan was no exception, so Jacob sent his ten sons to Egypt to acquire food for the nation (Gen 42:1-5).  

 Joseph was the Governor of Egypt and granted the audience. As Rueben and the others bowed to Joseph, he remembered the dream and the fact of its fulfillment. But the second dream promised all his brothers and Joseph yearned to see the only full brother he had. He made commitments to the ten who delivered Bejamin and Joseph was overcome with emotion. Revealing who he was and helping the older ten to understand that God was in the middle of all they did to him. He assured them that what they had intended for evil, God intended for good.  He explained how God saved the entire nation of Israel, and reunited and protected them in Goshen of Egypt.

But before Joseph could enjoy the beauty of the reunion, he had to ascertain that the murderous attitudes of his brothers had truly changed. He used Benjamin as the token of proof and when he saw the sweetness with which they protected him, he had the evidence of real reunion (Gen 45). 

I Am Joseph (Genesis 45:1-3)

The reunion process, as Joseph worked it out, was a touching story told over Genesis 42-45 and is culminated in the few short sentences below. On the first visit to purchase food, Joseph gave them the food but refunded the money (without their knowledge) as they departed for Canaan (Gen 42:25). But recall, Joseph kept Simeon under guarantee that the others would return with Benjamin, Joseph’s only brother of the same mother. Jacob was afraid to agree with such a proposal because he already lost Joseph, Simeon was in prison in Egypt and they were asking to take his only son of his deceased wife to Egypt as well (Gen 42:36-28). But after the grain they had was gone, they reexamined their stand and Jacob told them to take all the returned money from the first trip, full payment for the current request, a goodly present representing the best of Canaan and his youngest son, Bejamin. Judah assured Jacob that this was the only way and that he would stand personally responsible for any part of the deal going wrong. They arrived in Egypt to stand before Joseph again (vs. 43:15).

This time Joseph had the brothers brought to his own house and had meat prepared for them to eat at noon when he was to return (vss. 43:16-25). As the brothers confessed to finding their first payment for food in their sacks, the steward told them not to worry for he was commanded to place the money there. While Egyptians could not eat at same table with Hebrews, Joseph sent food from his table to theirs and multiplied Benjamin’s share by five (vs. 43:34). When they bowed to Joseph, his eyes were fixed on Benjamin, his brother, but he did not reveal himself until the tests of Chapter 44 were complete.

As they returned with the money and silver chalice they found at their departure, they bowed low and joseph could wait no longer (vs.45:1). He dismissed all the Egyptians and said simply, “I am Joseph.” But the brothers could not react for disbelief and fear. Jospeh hugged and wept so loudly all the house heard him (vs. 2). In verse 3, he asked if his father was still alive, but they could not answer because they were so shocked at his presence with them. 

God Sent Me (Genesis 45:4-8)  

It was obvious to Joseph that his brothers were not reacting in belief, so he asked them to come closer to him (vs. 4). He became a little more specific with them and reminded them that he was their brother Joseph whom they sold into slavery in Egypt. He tried disarming their grief and fear immediately by imploring them not to be grieved or angry with themselves for selling him into slavery to Egypt. He added that it was God who actually caused him to be in Egypt, so he could protect his brothers and God’s promises of their future security in Him. In short, “God sent me before you to preserve life” (vs. 5). Look, he says, the famine forecasted for the world has been active here for two years of the seven predicted; therefore, there are five full years remaining in which there will be no plowing or harvesting. In short, there will not be an end to the famine for another five years.

So, Joseph continues to explain, God has sent me ahead of you to establish a window of protection for you against the famine of the rest of the world. Israel was to come to Egypt for protection against the current calamity. Joseph said this would be a great deliverance given by the Lord. Given these facts, he continued, “it was not you who sent me to Egypt but God, Himself” (vs. 8a). He separated me out from you and orchestrated a series of events that would eventually deliver me to be a father (guide and manager) to the Pharaoh and the lord of all his household and ruler over the entire land of Egypt.

Joseph had the personal insight and God’s revelation to see that He had the survival of Israel in mind throughout this entire ordeal. Not to mention that this was the initiation point for Israel’s four-hundred-year stay as an afflicted stranger in a land that was not their own, as told to Abram by God (vs. 15:13). God again demonstrated that He literally knew the end from the beginning. And with that end in mind, God guided the events of history in a way to have Joseph’s brothers let their jealousy and greed push them into selling their youngest brother into slavery and then use that position to lead him into the second most powerful position in Egypt during this famine. 

Understand the Context (Genesis 49:1-50:26)  

They say, “All good things must come to an end” and this is the end of our study in the Book of Beginnings, Genesis. Chapters 49 -50 leave us with all the final things of this book. It shows us the end of Jacob and the end of Joseph and ushers in a period where the new king did not know Joseph (Ex 1:8). That is, he did not know of Joseph’s interpretation of the Pharaoh’s dream which lead to his rock-solid management of Egypt through seven years of unprecedented prosperity before seven years of severe famine. For the latter period, Egypt became the greatest nation on earth because they were the only nation with food.

Returning to Joseph’s warm and friendly greeting for all eleven of his brothers, we see him setting up a guarantee for Jacob, his eleven brothers and the entire nation of Israel to come to Egypt, live in Goshen and enjoy his blessings as the Governor of Egypt. Joseph amassed some personal wealth during this period by exchanging some of the grain he saved for silver. As the next five years of famine passed away, nations would come from across the world to Egypt for the food of survival At first, they were offering to buy grain for money, but as the famine worsened, they began offering possession of lands and even accepting life in slavery in exchange for food. 

The Jewish Patriarch, Jacob, lived another 17 years in Egypt and died at the age of 147 years. He was buried in Hebron, Canaan in the plot of land bought for the burial of his ancestors (49:29-32).  Jacob arranged for the tribe of Joseph, his first born of Rachael, to be divided into two tribes in the names of Joseph’s sons Manasseh and Ephraim. He gave Ephraim the double blessing of the first born even though Manasseh was the eldest brother. When Jacob died, the fear of Joseph returned to the 10 oldest brothers because they though he might still seek revenge (50:19-20). Joseph wept in disappointment at this news. When Jacob died, he mentioned the coming of the Lion of Judah. When Joseph died, he mentioned a Leader delivering blessings. 

Message Sent (Genesis 50:15-18)  

Genesis 50:15 voices the concern of Joseph’s brothers that he might return to an attitude of vengeance now that Jacob has died. The verse contains the specific quote, “Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him.”  The fact that Jacob died 17 years after Israel came to Egypt at the invitation of Joseph, and he treated them so well over those years might have suggested to them that Joseph’s tears on that first day were sincere. Recall from last week’s study that the brothers were somewhat reluctant to believe they were safe from Joseph’s wrath because of what they had done to him (45:3). It was not until Joseph explained that he understood that it was God who caused him to be in Egypt and to place him in a position to save the lives of his entire family (45:4-8). All of these things happened before Joseph actually tendered the invitation for the family to come to Egypt, and that was 17 years before Jacob died. Not to mention the power of Joseph as he served as the Governor of Egypt. He could have had all 10 brothers executed when they first came before him, but Joseph loved his brothers and fully understood that they were used of God to get him to Egypt. The fear of Joseph’s brother after all this time seems misguided.

They remembered that Jacob had told them to go to Joseph and say, “Please forgive, I beg you, the transgression of your brothers and their sin, for they did you wrong” (vs. 17b). So, they added to what Jacob said in his day the words as they spoke with Joseph after Jacob died, “And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father” (vs. 17c). Somehow the 10 brothers must have thought that Jacob was their protector from Joseph’s wrath as long as he lived, but now, he was no longer. This belief would be irrational considering that Joseph had the power of life or death over all of them including Jacob when they were before him 17 years earlier. The end of verse 17 says that Joseph wept as they spoke to him. I can only imagine the level of disappointment Joseph must have felt after living in his forgiveness of them over the past 17 years. He must have thought this was all settled when they cried together and he told them to go tell their father who I am and to come quickly. Now, Joseph knows the truth. 

Truth Declared (Genesis 50:19-21)  

Joseph’s response is absolutely full of reassurances, not simply at the human level but at the supernatural level, as well. Verse 19 stands as an introductory sentence, but also, a summary. First, Moses wants the reader to know that it is specifically Joseph who is responding to them. Next, the middle part of the sentence is constructed to oppose the fear felt by Joseph’s brothers. Joseph corrects the fear as he transition to the last third of the verse. In other words, Joseph is saying the brothers should not be afraid because of the closing phrase, “for am I in God’s place?” In the form of a question, Joseph is asking his brothers if he is not in the place where God wanted him. From the previous study, Joseph said, “Now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life” (45:5). In short, Joseph was saying that the brothers may have thought they were eliminating a hinderance to the unity of their family, but God was guiding destiny to get His man in place to make sure the Abrahamic Covenant He made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob would be fulfilled. He told Abraham specifically, that he would be afflicted as a stranger in a land which was not their own for 400 years (vs. 15:13). God caused His man to be in the place of nearly absolute power to rescue Israel from a famine that would have certainly taken their lives and reduced the Abrahamic Covenant to an unfulfilled fable. Instead, he caused the spirits of envy, jealousy and hate in the minds of.10 brothers, who were heirs to the covenant, to come against their younger brother in a sinister plot to take his life but resulted in fulfilling the destiny of saving all Israel.  So, Joseph was certainly in the place God wanted him to be, and the entire plan was in place.

Moses correctly summed that the brothers meant it for evil, but God meant it for good to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive” (vs. 20). When Moses says, “So, therefore,” he meant “because of all this” do not be afraid (vs. 21). But instead, Joseph will personally establish provisions for them and their children for untold millennia in the future. They can be comforted knowing that all God promised to Abram will be fulfilled because Joseph is in God’s appointed place to accomplish God’s appointed tasks at God’s appointed time.