Chronological Bible Study – Jan 25

What I Noticed Today (Genesis 38-40)

Genesis 38

Genesis 38 breaks away from the story of Joseph to reveal ongoing corruption and deception in Judah’s family.

• After selling Joseph into slavery, Judah left his brothers and stayed in Adullam and married a Canaanite woman.

• Judah had three sons: Er, Onan, and Shelah.
• Judah got a wife named Tamar for Er, but Er was so evil the Lord put him to death.
• Judah told Onan to take Tamar and impregnate her to carry on his brother’s line. Whenever they had sex, he spilled his semen on the ground. This was evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord put him to death also.
• Judah told Tamar to remain a widow in his house until his son Shelah grew up.
• Judah’s wife died, and he mourned for her.
• Then Judah and his friend Hirah the Adulamite, went to Timnah for the sheepshearing.
• When Tamar heard her father-in-law had gone up to Timnah, she changed her clothes and went to Timnah. Judah saw her and thinking she was a prostitute; he slept with her, promising to send a young goat from his flock. Judah left behind his signet ring, cord, and staff as collateral. Tamar was pregnant.
• Judah sent Hirah his friend back with the young goat to retrieve his ring, cord, and staff, but the woman could not be found.
• Hirah returned and reported to Judah, that not only could he not find the woman, but he had also been told there were no prostitutes there.
• Three months later, Judah was told about Tamar being pregnant. Judah called for her to be brought to him, saying she would be burned to death.
• Tamar sent the ring, cord, and staff to Judah and said these belonged to the man who made her pregnant.
• Judah recognized them and knew that Tamar was right because he had kept his other son Shelah from her.
• When it came time to give birth Tamar had twins. The first one put his hand out, and they tied a scarlet thread around it, then he pulled his hand back in. The other brother was then born, and he was named Perez (“breach”). Then the brother with the scarlet thread was born, and they named him Zerah (“scarlet”).

Genesis 39

Genesis 39 returns to the story of Joseph as a servant in the house of Potiphar.

In verses 1-6, God blessed Joseph while he was serving Potiphar:

• The Lord blessed and prospered Joseph in the house of Potiphar.
• When Potiphar saw the Lord was with Joseph, he made Joseph his personal attendant and put him in charge of all his household and all that he owned.
• The Lord blessed the house of Potiphar because of Joseph.

In verses 7-20, Potiphar’s wife tries to seduce Joseph:

• After some time, Potiphar’s wife wanted Joseph to sleep with her, but he refused to say he was loyal to his master, who trusted him, and it was an evil sin against God.
• She continued to ask Joseph to sleep with her, but he always refused. One day she grabbed him by his garment and demanded he sleep with her. He left his garment behind and ran outside.
• She screamed for help, so the household servants heard her.
• When Potiphar returned home, she told him the lie, accusing Joseph of trying to rape her.
• When Potiphar heard this, he was furious and had Joseph thrown into the king’s prison.

In verses 21-23, the Lord blesses Joseph in prison:

• The Lord was with Joseph in prison, and he gained favor with the warden. The warden put Joseph in charge of all the other prisoners. He did not worry about anything that was under Joseph’s authority because the Lord was with Joseph and made him successful.

Some thoughts for additional consideration:

• Jacob shows preferential treatment to his son Joseph, and the result is the other sons turn against their brother and conspire to kill him. This reminds me of what happened with Isaac and his sons Jacob and Esau.
• Lies, deceit, and treachery abound in this family! We may think that we got away with disobeying God when nothing happens, but as we see in these chapters, sometimes God’s judgment is swift and sure.
• Sometimes in life, it seems as though God has abandoned us because of the difficulties we encounter. But living for God sometimes requires us to patiently live through difficulties in order to realize God’s plan for us.

Genesis 40

Genesis 40 describes Joseph’s interpretation of two prisoner’s dreams.

In verses 1-8, two prisoners had troubling dreams they didn’t understand:

• The Pharaoh’s cup-bearer and baker offended Pharaoh and were thrown into prison.
• The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph.
• One night the cupbearer and the baker each had their own dream with its own meaning.
• Joseph explained to them interpretations belonged to God, and he offered to interpret the dreams for them.

In verses 9-19, Joseph interpreted the cupbearer and the baker’s dreams.

• The cupbearer said his dream was a vine with three branches, that budded, blossomed, and had grapes. Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I squeezed the grapes into the cup and placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.
• Joseph explained the dream saying the three branches were three days in which Pharaoh would restore the cupbearer to his position.
• Joseph asked the cupbearer to remember him when he was restored and help him get out of prison.
• The chief baker said his dream was three baskets of bread on top of his head for Pharaoh. Birds were eating the bread out of the basket.
• Joseph interpreted the dream saying the three baskets were three days. In three days, Pharaoh would hang the baker on a tree, and birds would eat his flesh.

In verses 20-23, Joseph’s interpretations were correct:

• In three days, Pharaoh gave a feast for all his servants because it was his birthday. Pharaoh restored the chief cupbearer to his position and hanged the chief baker just as Joseph said.
• But the chief cupbearer forgot all about Joseph.

What did you notice in your study today? Feel free to visit the website and leave a question or a comment.

Tomorrow: Day 26 Genesis 41-42