Genesis Chapter 37-38 – John Karmelich

1. Today we begin Genesis Part 3. This whole section can be called “Redemption”.

a) Many people divide Genesis into 3 major sections:

i) The first is from Adam to the birth of Abraham.

ii) The second is from Abraham to the events of Joseph’s life.

iii) The third Joseph life’s and death.

iv) Genesis contains a few more things that J, but if you were dividing Genesis into a time line, these are the 3 major sections.

b) For those of you who have been with me since Genesis 1:1, my gratitude that you are still here. You can mark the time by now saying you’ve made it “2/3’s” through Genesis and there is one third to go.

2. One of the challenges of teaching Genesis is deciding what specific topic to focus upon.

a) As lengthy and detailed as these studies are, one can go into far more detail.

i) For example, you can teach Genesis as a book of prophecy (predictions).

ii) You can also teach Genesis as a book on psychology by studying all the different personality types.

iii) You can teach Genesis as a book on science, especially in the early chapters.

b) I made a conscious decision prior to the first Genesis lesson to focus on “personal application” to a follower of Jesus Christ. I nicknamed these lessons “Why Genesis?”
My primary focus is on how these stories apply to our lives today as Christian believers.

c) I stated that because one can do a detailed study of Joseph as a “model” of Jesus.

i) Part of understanding prophecy (bible predictions) is that prophecy is predominately “word-pictures”.

ii) There are parts of the bible that are blunt predictions, but the large “bulk” of bible prediction are simply “word-pictures” being painted that are somehow predictive of future events. Many of these tie to Jesus himself.

iii) When you read through the New Testament, you often read how when Jesus did something, it “fulfilled the Scriptures”. When you go back and study that particular Old Testament Scripture, it often a “word-picture” as opposed to a blunt prediction.

iv) There is a classical Christian expression that goes something like, “The Old Testament is revealed in the New Testament and the New Testament is expanded upon in the Old Testament. All 66 books are designed to be read as a single message system.

v) I state this here because again, you can do a great study of Joseph as a model of Jesus. I remember the first time I read the story of Joseph as a born-again Christian, and I was actually “giddy” noticing all the prophetic aspects of Joseph.
I remember thinking, “Every paragraph about Joseph is also about Jesus”!

a) Remember that the book of Revelation teaches, “For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” (Rev 19:10b, NIV)

d) As we go through the story of Joseph, I probably point out a “prophecy or two” J, but I want the main focus to be on personal application: That is, “What does this story have to do with my life, here and now?”

i) I take the view those that read these studies are Christians.

ii) There are lots of good bible studies out there designed to teach nonbelievers about Jesus. This study is primarily designed for those who do believe in Jesus and want to grow in their faith and knowledge as a believer. Thus, I focus on the personal application of these studies.

e) Now that I’ve got my disclaimers out of the way, I can focus on Joseph. J

3. The story of Joseph is probably one of the most famous in the entire bible.

a) It is the story of a boy, hated by brothers, sold into slavery and this boy ends up being the #2 man of the largest world empire of that day (Egypt). His brothers eventually have to visit Joseph to buy food and don’t recognize him. When they come to Joseph a second time, Joseph reveals who he is, and the rest of the family comes to live with Joseph in Egypt and they all live happily ever after. J

b) There, I’ve just summarized Joseph in 3 sentences. We’re done for today. J

c) The story itself is considered “classical literature”. It is almost a shame to comment upon it as it ruins the beauty of the story itself. If you are not familiar with the story of Joseph,
I encourage you to read it through sometime without this or any other commentary.

d) The story of Joseph is a great visual tale. It makes a great movie or play. I have seen several wonderful productions of Joseph have that have been done in my lifetime.

4. If I had to pick one line to memorize of anything said by Joseph, it would be as follows:

a) You (Joseph’s brothers) intended to harm me (Joseph), but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. (Genesis 50:20 NIV)

i) This verse is six-verses from the end of Genesis.

ii) It is probably one of the most important verses in all of Genesis.

iii) Most of Joseph’s life was a series of tragedies and suffering. Yet Joseph’s attitude in the end is summarized in Genesis 50:20.

iv) Joseph looked back at his life and realized that everything that happened to him was for a reason. God allowed him to go through tremendous suffering for a particular reason.

a) Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery. That got Joseph to Egypt.

b) Joseph was sold to an army captain. He eventually became head of the household. This taught Joseph leadership skills.

c) Joseph was put in jail for years on a false accusation. That gave Joseph the “toughness” to eventually be the ruler of all of Egypt.

d) Joseph’s gift of interpreting dreams got him a trip out of prison to see the Pharaoh himself. The successful interpretation got Joseph the promotion to be the #2 man under Pharaoh himself.

e) With that in mind, now read Genesis 50:20 again.

b) Here’s the personal application, which starts with one of the most famous New Testament verses in the bible:

i) “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28 NIV)

ii) Remember, “All means all, and that is all, “all” means”!

iii) This means that everything that happens in the life of a Christian believer has a purpose, period. Every circumstance, every event, every victory, every tragedy is “God-filtered” for a purpose.

a) The ultimate purpose is for God to be gloried by your life.

b) Sometimes God allows “negative events” to happen over and over again as God is trying to teach you some sort of lesson.

c) Sometimes God allows tragedies and death to occur to make you a better person, or often so you can “relate” as you help someone else going through the same tragedy.

iv) We may not fully understand everything that happens to us, but God does. The one thing I know for sure is that all the events of our lives, like Joseph’s, is “God-filtered”. Nothing that happens to us does not happen for a reason. Once you understand that, once you understand Romans 8:28, once you understand that Joseph is a model of a “God-filtered” life, the pain of life is now more bearable.

v) In tough times, remember the prayer, “Lord, let not these lessons be wasted”.

5. Before we tackle Verse 1, you have to remember there are two “big theme’s” being worked on over the remainder of Genesis:

a) The “Nation of Israel” is being born. Remember that Genesis is a book of “beginning”. Much of Genesis leads up to the birth of the Nation of Israel. The purpose of the nation of Israel is to be “God’s witnesses” to the world and to bring in the Messiah.

i) The “line of the Messiah”, which started with Adam, and through Abraham, will now continue and go through Judah. That is why Chapter 38 is necessary.

ii) Chapter 38 is the only chapter in the remainder of Genesis that does not Joseph as the center focus, other than some moments that still focus on Joseph’s father Jacob.

iii) The purpose of Chapter 38 is to show that the line of the Messiah is carried on, despite some horrible sins committed by Judah. God’s promise of the Messiah, first told to Adam, and more so to Abraham, is an unconditional promise. Therefore, no matter how bad the sins of Chapter 38, the Messiah will come.

b) One also has to remember something else told to Abraham:

i) Then the LORD said to him (Abraham), "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. (Genesis 15:13-14 NIV)

ii) Abraham was the great grandfather of Joseph.

iii) I am certain Abraham told this 400-year prediction to Isaac, who then told Jacob. Although it is not stated in the text of Genesis, I believe that when Jacob and his family went to go visit Joseph in Egypt, Jacob knew “This was it, this was the start of the 400 year period”. Further, God spoke to Jacob near the end of his life and told him essentially, “Don’t be afraid to go to Egypt, I’m making you a great nation down there”. (Ref.: Genesis 46:2-4)

iv) Which gets back to the theme of everything in life being “God filtered.”

a) All the events we are going to read about Joseph are “God filtered”.

b) All of the tragedies about Joseph are designed to prepare Joseph and his brothers for the big-picture idea of getting the family into Egypt for the remainder of their lives.

c) The personal application is to see that everything we do has a purpose. Even the sins we commit are “used” by God for his glory. It doesn’t excuse the sins, it simply means that since God knows all things we do in advance, God can “use” those events for His ultimate purposes. We still suffer due to our mistakes, but they are also eventually used for God’s glory.

c) OK, two and one half pages down, and I haven’t touched verse yet. J Let’s go!

6. Chapter 37, Verse 1: Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, the land of Canaan.
² This is the account of Jacob.

a) The first thing to ask is, “Wait a minute, this is the story of Joseph, why does Verse two say, “This is the account of Jacob”?

b) First, you can read the first two verses as being a “wrap up” of the previous section of Genesis. Personally, I see it differently:

i) Remember that Jacob, renamed “Israel”, is the father of the Nation of Israel.

ii) The story of Joseph is about the “beginning” of the formation of Israel.

iii) Joseph is one of 12 brothers. Those 12 brothers become the 12 “tribes” of Israel that we read about through the rest of the Old Testament.

iv) With that mind, the remainder of Genesis is not just the story of Joseph, it is the story of the formation of the Nation of Israel.

a) That is why this is called “the account of Jacob”.

b) It is not so much about Jacob himself, but about Jacob’s family.

c) As to Verse 1, this verse is a reminder that Jacob didn’t own the land of Israel, but lived there as a stranger, as did his father Isaac and his grandfather Abraham.

i) The point of Verse 1 is that the promises to Abraham haven’t happened yet.

7. Verse 2 (cont.): Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives, and he brought their father a bad report about them. ³ Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made a richly ornamented robe for him. ⁴ When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.

a) Remember that Joseph’s mother Rachel died a few chapters back. (Ref: Genesis 35:19)

i) Joseph was probably raised by his half-brothers and Jacob’s other wives.

b) Also remember that of Jacob’s 4 wives (ok, 2 wives, 2 concubines), Rachel was his favorite.

i) Remember that when Jacob was afraid of seeing his brother Esau, he put Rachel and Joseph in the last group so that if the “one’s in front” were killed, the “one’s in back” (Rachel/Joseph) could make a run for it. (Ref.: Genesis 33:7).

ii) Don’t think the other brother’s didn’t notice Jacob’s favoritism.

iii) The “seeds” of jealously started that far back.

c) Verse 3 says, “Israel (Jacob) loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age;

i) Genesis goes back and forth between calling Jacob, “Jacob” and “Israel”.

a) Sometimes Jacob is still called “Jacob”, even after God renames him.

b) Commentators believe that whenever Jacob is not in “God’s will for the moment”, the name Jacob is used again.

c) When Jacob is doing “God’s will”, or at struggling with God to get God’s will accomplished, the new name “Israel” is used at that point.

d) Here we read of “Israel” loving Joseph over the other brothers”.

(1) I don’t believe God is condoning the favoritism that leads to jealously, I believe God is condoning the fact that “God’s will” of redemption for the Nation of Israel is going to get accomplished through Joseph, and thus the usage of the word “Israel”.

ii) Why does Jacob love Joseph, “because he had been born to him in his old age”?

a) I suspect it means he loves Jacob “like a grandfather”.

b) Grandparents think, “This is my grandson….let the parents do all the dirty work, and I’ll just spoil him”. Jacob figured the older brothers can do all the hard parts of raising him and I can just “enjoy” Jacob.”

c) Whether or not this was the right thing to do, the main point to see is the “seeds of jealously” being planted in Jacob’s brothers by this event.

d) An alternative idea is that Joseph was raised after Jacob matured in his relationship with God.

(1) There is the possibility that Joseph “benefited” from the fact that the last few years of Jacob’s life has seen Jacob grow in his relationship with God. Joseph lived most of his life after Jacob “wrested with the angel” and thus Joseph may have received a better spiritual education than his older brothers. (This is a theory, not a fact.)

d) Now let’s talk about the famous “richly ornamented robe”.

i) The King James Version calls it the “coat of many colors”, which was taken from the original Greek translation completed several hundred years before Christ.

ii) The English Bibles vary on this phrase because it is tough to translate.

iii) Here’s the main thing to remember: This robe is about leadership.

a) Remember that this family was shepherds. To work out in the field requires short-sleeves. Shepherds do not wear a “big robe”.

b) Therefore, this robe-gift implies leadership.

c) If you’re on a construction site, and somebody pulls up in a 3-piece suit, you know its not one of the construction guys. This is one of the “head guys”. That is the idea behind Jacob giving Joseph this robe.

iv) This was “not missed” on Joseph’s brothers. Thus Verse 4 is all about hatred.

a) By Verse 4, we are now at the point where the jealously was so strong, and the anger was pent up so high, they couldn’t even talk to Joseph.

b) On a side note, there is a good lesson here about not letting your anger “pent up” inside of you. The longer you wait, the more damage that is done when it comes out, as in the case of Joseph and his brothers.

8. Verse 5: Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more.
⁶ He said to them, "Listen to this dream I had: ⁷ We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it."

a) In summary Joseph had this dream. The dream is obviously a word-picture about his brothers bowing down to him. Notice it says, “my sheaf” and “your sheaf”.

i) A “sheaf” is a bundle of grain. You can think of each of the brothers as a head of a family, or a head of a tribe. When Joseph becomes head of Egypt, his family has superior rank to the brother’s family.

b) I’ve always wondered about Joseph at this point:

i) Was he naïve about his brother’s jealously of him?

ii) Was he arrogant? Did he think, “I’ve got this dream and I’m going to tell it?”

iii) It is obvious that Joseph lacked tact, but the important thing is that he had the dream and somehow, Joseph knew it was important to tell it to his brothers despite the consequences.

9. Verse 8: His brothers said to him, "Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?" And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said.

a) This verse is here to show that the brothers understood the implication of this dream. They understood that Joseph didn’t just eat some bad pizza and had a nightmare. J
They understood that Joseph was making a prediction about the future.

10. Verse 9: Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. "Listen," he said, "I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me."
¹⁰ When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, "What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?" ¹¹ His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.

a) The main difference between “Dream 1” and “Dream 2” is that the second dream somehow included Joseph’s mother and father bowing down to Joseph.

b) Joseph said in Verse 9 that the “sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down”.

i) Joseph’s father Jacob understood that somehow, the “sun and moon” were references to Jacob and his wives.

ii) When you study Revelation Chapter, 12, it opens with a word picture: “A woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.” (Revelation 12:1b, NIV).

a) This Revelation reference ties back to this vision by Joseph. The writer of Revelation wants you to understand that the vision of Revelation 12 is about the Nation of Israel. The reference to the “sun, moon and 12 stars”, refers to the family of Jacob, which is the nation of Israel.

c) Notice Verse 11, says, “His father kept the matter in mind”.

i) This means, “I won’t react now. I’ll wait and see what happens”.

ii) This verse reminds me of when the (Virgin) Mary was told about the predictions about her son Jesus, “Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.” (Luke 2:19B, NIV).

iii) The concept is the same. Sometimes God gives us information and wants us to store it for future recall.

iv) A similar idea is that of when we hear predictions. When someone tells you “Thus says the Lord…”. The bible calls on to test those prophets and see if comes to pass. (See Deut: 13:1-4, 1^st John 4:1).

11. Verse 12: Now his brothers had gone to graze their father's flocks near Shechem, ¹³ and Israel said to Joseph, "As you know, your brothers are grazing the flocks near Shechem. Come, I am going to send you to them." "Very well," he replied. ¹⁴ So he said to him, "Go and see if all is well with your brothers and with the flocks, and bring word back to me." Then he sent him off from the Valley of Hebron. When Joseph arrived at Shechem, ¹⁵ a man found him wandering around in the fields and asked him, "What are you looking for?" ¹⁶ He replied, "I'm looking for my brothers. Can you tell me where they are grazing their flocks?" ¹⁷ "They have moved on from here," the man answered. "I heard them say, `Let's go to Dothan.' " So Joseph went after his brothers and found them near Dothan. ¹⁸ But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.

a) In summary, Joseph’ brothers are off tending the sheep. Dad sends Joseph off to go check on them and report back. Joseph goes to Shechem, were they were last reported, and discovers they moved on to a town called Dothan. His brothers spot Joseph on the way, and plot to kill him.

i) This tells you that Jacob did not make Joseph work like his brothers. The fact that he gave Joseph the coat means he wanted Joseph to be their leader.

b) If you know nothing else about this paragraph, know the word “Shechem” is bad.

i) Shechem is the place where Joseph’s sister Dinah was raped, and the brothers over-reacted and killed all the men of this town and plundered the goods.

ii) Jacob had to leave the area out of fear of retribution by the neighbors.

iii) Now here were the brothers back where they shouldn’t be. Jacob was aware of it.

iv) The fact that the brothers went to Shechem is a subtle hint that they are not doing God’s will. I’m sure that location reminded the brothers of the murder. That locational reminder probably gave them the idea of killing of killing their brother.

c) I can’t resist the “word-pictures” of Jesus. Here is Joseph, sent to “check on his Jewish brothers”, and they refuse to accept them as their leader (i.e., “king”/Messiah”). They plot to kill him! In their minds they “do” kill Joseph and thought he was dead. When they eventually see him alive again, (in a word-picture) he was “resurrected”.

d) OK what’s the deal with Shechem and Dothan? Why bother mentioning both places?

i) Dothan means: “double place” or “two wells”. A word-picture idea is that the brothers were “double minded” in their plan to deceive Joseph and kill him.

12. Verse 19: "Here comes that dreamer!" they said to each other. ²⁰ "Come now, let's kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we'll see what comes of his dreams." ²¹ When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. "Let's not take his life," he said. ²² "Don't shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern here in the desert, but don't lay a hand on him." Reuben said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father.

a) The simple lesson of these verses is that when God makes a prediction, it comes true despite Satan’s best efforts to stop it.

i) You have to believe the desire to kill Joseph had “demonic roots” in that it would stop God’s redemptive plan for the Nation of Israel.

b) Here’s Reuben, in a sense, coming to the rescue. He is the oldest and leads the others by saying “Let’s just leave him in a pit”. Verse 22 says that Reuben’s plan was to rescue Joseph later. Since Reuben is the oldest, he is also accountable to his father for Joseph.

c) Remember that father-Jacob was known as a “deceiver” his whole life. You can now see that trait being passed on to the children. Even Reuben in his “rescue plan” wanted to use deception in order to save Joseph’s life.

d) I was thinking about this paragraph from Joseph’s perspective.

i) He was minding his own business, doing what his dad told him to do.

ii) He wasn’t guilty of anything, other than a lack of tact dealing with his brothers.

iii) Yet his own brothers left him for dead.

iv) This is the first of many lessons Joseph had to learn how God is in control of his life, even when he doesn’t understand why.

a) One of the difficult things for all believers to deal with is why does God allow horrible circumstances to happen to us?

b)  &n