Jacob's Sons

We have been working our way through Genesis in our study of Faith Foundations. We are looking at the basis of the things we believe as revealed in the Bible. We started in Genesis 1, and are now up to Genesis 33. Last week we were looking at Jacob’s struggles.

What do we see about man?

++Faith and Following God are not inherited

++Man tends to disobedience

++Man naturally relies on/trusts self over God

++Man’s heart is self-centered and self-gratifying

What do we see about God?

++Faithfulness

++Patience

++Mercy

++Grace

Where is hope?

++God works all things for His purpose

++God is faithful to keep his promises even in light of our failings

++God provides a New Identity

Why do we do the things we do?

1 Peter 1:18 NASB 2020

knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers,

Scripturally, we see that we do receive this propensity to sin from our fathers. There are tendencies that we do we receive genetically, and we are certainly influenced by our environment. Hang around with people who complain, and you will find yourself complaining. Hang around with people who tear others down, and you will find yourself tearing others down.

Scripture speaks to this as well.

1 Corinthians 15:33 NIV

Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”

Proverbs 22:24–25 NIV

Do not make friends with a hot-tempered person, do not associate with one easily angered, or you may learn their ways and get yourself ensnared.

Inherited sin and learned sin are two that the scriptures point out.

The world takes that a step further and wants to excuse, or dismiss sin because people ‘had no choice. Look at the environment they grew up in.’

But is that the truth? Is that the whole story?

We will see this today as we continue working through Genesis.

Genesis 33:18–20 NIV

After Jacob came from Paddan Aram, he arrived safely at the city of Shechem in Canaan and camped within sight of the city. For a hundred pieces of silver, he bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, the plot of ground where he pitched his tent. There he set up an altar and called it El Elohe Israel.

El is the God of Israel, or Great is the God of Israel.

Jacob has turned to the Lord and is now worshipping and following him.

Genesis 34

Jacob has 12 sons and a daughter, Dinah.

Dinah went to visit some other ladies, and the son of the ruler of Shechem took and raped Dinah.

Later he and his father come to negotiate a bride price, and Jacob’s sons respond deceitfully. Notice this characteristic of Jacob’s life is now showing up in his sons, just like we talked about earlier.

Jacob’s sons told them that if they and all of the men of Shechem circumcised themselves, then they could have Dinah.

Genesis 34:20–23 NIV

So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate of their city to speak to the men of their city. “These men are friendly toward us,” they said. “Let them live in our land and trade in it; the land has plenty of room for them. We can marry their daughters and they can marry ours. But the men will agree to live with us as one people only on the condition that our males be circumcised, as they themselves are. Won’t their livestock, their property and all their other animals become ours? So let us agree to their terms, and they will settle among us.”

This, again, shows the heart of man—we are self-centered and greedy.

All of them looked forward to gaining the wealth of Jacob, so they all agreed and were circumcised.

How greedy do you have to be to agreed to circumcision?

Then, on the third day, two of Dinah’s brothers of the same mother (Leah), Simeon and Levi, went and slaughtered the ruler, his son, and all the men of the town. Then all of the brothers went and plundered the town.

When this happened, Jacob worried about all of the people of the other surrounding towns coming and carrying out revenge on him and his family.

Genesis 35:1–5 NIV

Then God said to Jacob, “Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.” So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes. Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone.” So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had and the rings in their ears, and Jacob buried them under the oak at Shechem. Then they set out, and the terror of God fell on the towns all around them so that no one pursued them.

God protected Jacob again.

Notice that Jacob’s family were not following the Lord. Only Jacob. But now he tells them all that they should get rid of their other gods that they are worshipping, and worship the Lord.

God then reiterates his promise to Jacob.

Genesis 35:9–13 NIV

After Jacob returned from Paddan Aram, God appeared to him again and blessed him. God said to him, “Your name is Jacob, but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel.” So he named him Israel. And God said to him, “I am God Almighty; be fruitful and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will be among your descendants. The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you.” Then God went up from him at the place where he had talked with him.

After this Rachel gives birth to a second son, and dies in child-birth. This son is Benjamin.

Genesis 34-36 record the deaths of Isaac and the descendants of Esau.

We are going to pick up the account of Jacob’s sons in Genesis 37.

Genesis 37:1–11 NIV

Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, the land of Canaan. This is the account of Jacob’s family line. 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. 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 an ornate robe for him. 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. Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: 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.” 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. 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.” 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?” His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.

Joseph

Joseph is 17.

Honest even to telling the truth to his father when his brothers did things they should not.

Loved by his father.

Hated by his brothers.

God given Dreams of the future.

Hated all the more.

His brothers took the sheep to another area to graze, and Jacob wanted a report. He sends Joseph.

Genesis 37:18–36 NIV

But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him. “Here comes that dreamer!” they said to each other. “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.” When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. “Let’s not take his life,” he said. “Don’t shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him.” Reuben said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father. So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the ornate robe he was wearing— and they took him and threw him into the cistern. The cistern was empty; there was no water in it. As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt. Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.” His brothers agreed. So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt. When Reuben returned to the cistern and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes. He went back to his brothers and said, “The boy isn’t there! Where can I turn now?” Then they got Joseph’s robe, slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. They took the ornate robe back to their father and said, “We found this. Examine it to see whether it is your son’s robe.” He recognized it and said, “It is my son’s robe! Some ferocious animal has devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces.” Then Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for his son many days. All his sons and daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “No,” he said, “I will continue to mourn until I join my son in the grave.” So his father wept for him. Meanwhile, the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard.

Judah

Out for a profit. Self-centered. Greedy. Deceitful.

Genesis 38 then has an account of Judah’s life. And we are going to see a contrast between the brothers.

Judah left his family and lived with another man named Hirah. He married a Canaanite woman and had three sons, Er, Onan, and Shelah.

Judah got a wife for Er named Tamar.

But…

Genesis 38:7–11 NIV

But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the Lord’s sight; so the Lord put him to death. Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to raise up offspring for your brother.” But Onan knew that the child would not be his; so whenever he slept with his brother’s wife, he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from providing offspring for his brother. What he did was wicked in the Lord’s sight; so the Lord put him to death also. Judah then said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Live as a widow in your father’s household until my son Shelah grows up.” For he thought, “He may die too, just like his brothers.” So Tamar went to live in her father’s household.

Genesis 38:12–26 NIV

After a long time Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died. When Judah had recovered from his grief, he went up to Timnah, to the men who were shearing his sheep, and his friend Hirah the Adullamite went with him. When Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is on his way to Timnah to shear his sheep,” she took off her widow’s clothes, covered herself with a veil to disguise herself, and then sat down at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. For she saw that, though Shelah had now grown up, she had not been given to him as his wife. When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. Not realizing that she was his daughter-in-law, he went over to her by the roadside and said, “Come now, let me sleep with you.” “And what will you give me to sleep with you?” she asked. “I’ll send you a young goat from my flock,” he said. “Will you give me something as a pledge until you send it?” she asked. He said, “What pledge should I give you?” “Your seal and its cord, and the staff in your hand,” she answered. So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him. After she left, she took off her veil and put on her widow’s clothes again. Meanwhile Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite in order to get his pledge back from the woman, but he did not find her. He asked the men who lived there, “Where is the shrine prostitute who was beside the road at Enaim?” “There hasn’t been any shrine prostitute here,” they said. So he went back to Judah and said, “I didn’t find her. Besides, the men who lived there said, ‘There hasn’t been any shrine prostitute here.’ ” Then Judah said, “Let her keep what she has, or we will become a laughingstock. After all, I did send her this young goat, but you didn’t find her.” About three months later Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar is guilty of prostitution, and as a result she is now pregnant.” Judah said, “Bring her out and have her burned to death!” As she was being brought out, she sent a message to her father-in-law. “I am pregnant by the man who owns these,” she said. And she added, “See if you recognize whose seal and cord and staff these are.” Judah recognized them and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I wouldn’t give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not sleep with her again.

Judah

What do we see about Judah?

He was at this time not a follower of the Lord. He was self-centered, deceitful, and greedy. He thought of himself, and what he could get out of life.

Prostitution? Not a problem as long as he was doing it for himself, but a problem if it was his daughter-in-law.

Mankind. We are quick to condemn others, but we do not want condemnation for what we do ourselves.

Now back to Joseph...

Genesis 39:1–10 NIV

Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there. The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the Lord was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field. So Potiphar left everything he had in Joseph’s care; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate. Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “Come to bed with me!” But he refused. “With me in charge,” he told her, “my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her.

Joseph was a follower of the Lord. What a difference between him and Judah.

Genesis 39:11–23 NIV

One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside. She caught him by his cloak and said, “Come to bed with me!” But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house. When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand and had run out of the house, she called her household servants. “Look,” she said to them, “this Hebrew has been brought to us to make sport of us! He came in here to sleep with me, but I screamed. When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.” She kept his cloak beside her until his master came home. Then she told him this story: “That Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me. But as soon as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.” When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, “This is how your slave treated me,” he burned with anger. Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined. But while Joseph was there in the prison, the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.

Joseph

God gave him a dream about how he would be given authority over even his own family when he was seventeen.

What happened next should have shaken his faith.

He was betrayed by his brothers.

Sold as a slave.

God was still with him, and he did well, as a slave.

But then his master’s wife tries to seduce him.

He did the right thing and chose to follow the Lord. He fled from the woman.

Again, instead of things going well for doing the right thing, Joseph suffers. He is thrown into prison.

Does God abandon him? No. God is with him and blessing all he does.

Joseph remains faithful to God, even though life is not going well.

What a contrast between Joseph and Judah.

Judah does not follow the Lord. He just seeks pleasure and self-gratification.

Joseph follows the Lord, runs away from evil.

They had the same father. They had the same environment when they grew up. What is the difference?

Are our actions dictated by our parentage and our environment?

Our actions are influenced, not dictated by our parentage and environment.

God makes the difference.