King James Bible Study – [And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. – Mark 8:34]
Date: Thursday, January 25, 2024
Chapters: Genesis Chapters 37-39
Message: God Works All Things Out
Hello My Brother/Sister/Friend,
As I was reading the chapters for today I was reminded how God always works everything right into place as He wants them to be. We may face a lot of difficulties in our walk and purpose that God had called for us, but consider it a huge blessing. Remember what Peter said, [1 Peter 3:14-17 But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; 15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: 16 Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ. 17 For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.]
Now, none of us are sinless, even if we manage to get by without doing too much damage, we still come short as we do not always get this thing right. Nevertheless, God, is always with His faithful, even if the decisions we make are not always ideal, God still works everything out for good, and here is the key, to them that love Him. [Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.]
We are all called for God’s purpose in one way or another, I always say that I much rather be used of God to show of His mercies rather than His wrath. As we continue in the reading of Genesis, we learn that not all of Jacob’s sons lived Godly, in fact, they were quite devilish. We learn this through Joseph, who Jacob would send to check up on them and he would tell him about the evil things they were doing.
[Genesis 37:1-4 And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan. 2 These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report. 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours. 4 And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.]
[with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah,] So, it was Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher, and whatever they were doing it was not good and since he had no authority to rebuke them he would tell their father. This caused a lot of problems for Joseph, they hated him because he told his father what they were up to, and also because Jacob favored him because he was his first son with his beloved Rachel. Now, we may not realize this, but maybe Joseph boasted a little about being the favorite, and that added to the hatred. We sort of get a picture of this when Joseph would describe these interesting dreams to them.
[Genesis 37:6-8 And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed: 7 For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf. 8 And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words.]
[Shalt thou indeed reign over us?] This dream may have been about bringing in the sheaves, but his brothers know that it was in reference to Joseph having some kind of authority over them and one day they would bow down to him. The truth is, Jacob, did not love his sons any more or less than the others, but he did tend to do more for him because he stayed out of trouble. All they saw was this daddy’s boy snitch who told their father every bad thing they did. Well, Joseph had another dream that he told them, but this time they told their father.
[Genesis 37:9-11 And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me. 10 And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth? 11 And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.]
[Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee] Jacob, plainly understood the meaning of the dream and kept the saying in his heart, but he still rebuked him for it. As far as who he was referring to in regards to his mother since she died it may have been Leah as she was technically his stepmother as the others were concubines. He also could have referred to Bilhah, who was Rachel’s handmaid, and since her death was a mother to Joseph. Nevertheless, his brothers envied him so much that when Jacob sent Joseph to Shechem to check on their brothers some of them actually wanted to kill him.
[Genesis 37:14-19 And he said to him, Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks; and bring me word again. So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. 15 And a certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering in the field: and the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou? 16 And he said, I seek my brethren: tell me, I pray thee, where they feed their flocks. 17 And the man said, They are departed hence; for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan. 18 And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him. 19 And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh.]
[even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him] Do you see how they called him, “the dreamer”? They really had no clue that they were playing a part in that dream coming true. However, one of the brothers, Reuben, stepped up and came up with a plan so that he would not be killed.
[Genesis 37:21-25 And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands; and said, Let us not kill him. 22 And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him; that he might rid him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again. 23 And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stript Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colours that was on him; 24 And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it. 25 And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmeelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.]
[And they sat down to eat bread:] These fools, sitting there eating, just watching and waiting to see what would come of Joseph only to see a caravan heading to Egypt. Let me tell you, the longer I walk with Christ the more I discover that He protects my every step, even when I make a wrong turn a time or two, [1 John 2:1-2 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.]
Reuben, was not there with his brothers while they sat there watching what would happen to him. It is very probable that he had pretended to go somewhere with the intention of coming back to the pit and bring him home to his father. That was when Judah spoke out.
[Genesis 37:26-30 And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood? 27 Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmeelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brethren were content. 28 Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt. 29 And Reuben returned unto the pit; and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes. 30 And he returned unto his brethren, and said, The child is not; and I, whither shall I go?]
[Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes.] At this point, Reuben, did not know if he should go find Joseph himself or run for the hills because he knew that once his father found out that Joseph was gone it was not going to go well, and it did not. There was not one person or thing that they could do to comfort Jacob.
[Genesis 37:31-35 And they took Joseph’s coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood; 32 And they sent the coat of many colours, and they brought it to their father; and said, This have we found: know now whether it be thy son’s coat or no. 33 And he knew it, and said, It is my son’s coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces. 34 And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days. 35 And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him.]
[For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning.] How did the brothers expect Jacob to react? Of course, he was going to mourn for his young son. You see, his father was probably blaming himself for what happened, perhaps thinking the whole time why he sent him there by himself. Whenever tragic events actually do happen we tend to go over and over them trying to find some solution as to why it happened. This is a reminder that death has no age limit, we all hope to live to a ripe old age, full of our own dreams come true, but the reality is, life is but a vapor, while we can plan for tomorrow, we only have today to accept Christ, [James 4:13-14 Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: 14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.]
Now, even though this was no tragic event, and the brothers had no idea what would happen to Joseph, little did they realize that God was in the picture. Nevertheless, with Joseph sold to the Egyptians as a slave and Jacob mourning what he thought was the death of his beloved son, the rest of the sons started to separate from each other. Judah, moved further into Canaan, where met a man named, Hirah, by whom he became friends with and he was not the best influence on him. Judah, then meets a woman by whom he had three sons with.
[Genesis 38:1-5 And it came to pass at that time, that Judah went down from his brethren, and turned in to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. 2 And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose name was Shuah; and he took her, and went in unto her. 3 And she conceived, and bare a son; and he called his name Er. 4 And she conceived again, and bare a son; and she called his name Onan. 5 And she yet again conceived, and bare a son; and called his name Shelah: and he was at Chezib, when she bare him.]
[And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite,] This was actually forbidden, but interestingly enough it would be from Judah’s lineage that Jesus would descend from. It is a great wonder of how not only Jesus would come from a family that not only went against their father’s wishes, but God’s as well. Then again, all this is proof that God will turn any bad situation for good to those who love Him. What did the Psalmist say? God, knew everything about us before we came here and yet we are still precious to Him, [Psalms 139:14-17 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. 15 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. 16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. 17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!]
When you stop to think about how long Joseph was in Egypt before their brother’s would find out that he was alive you can get a better picture of what took place during that time frame for them. Well, Judah marrying a Canaanite was not the biggest wonder of this forbidden marriage, it was what he did in regards to his sons or rather what God did that led up to an heir for His only begotten Son to descend from. Judah, took a wife of the Canaanites for his oldest son, Er, who did something so wicked that God killed him on the spot.
[Genesis 38:6-11 And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, whose name was Tamar. 7 And Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD slew him. 8 And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother’s wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother. 9 And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother’s wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother. 10 And the thing which he did displeased the LORD: wherefore he slew him also. 11 Then said Judah to Tamar his daughter in law, Remain a widow at thy father’s house, till Shelah my son be grown: for he said, Lest peradventure he die also, as his brethren did. And Tamar went and dwelt in her father’s house.]
[and raise up seed to thy brother.] The Jews (this even was put into the Law of Moses), have this tradition that the eldest son would be heir to the inheritance of the father. If the eldest son died before having a son, the next eldest would marry his wife and their first born son would be recognized as the heir of the eldest. This would go on as long as there were sons. Well, this tradition did not go over too well with Judah’s sons as two of them died before Tamar was able to have children in the most unconventional way. This reminds me of what Jesus said when the Sadducee’s tried to tempt Him, [Matthew 22:23-24,28-30 The same day came to him the Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection, and asked him, 24 Saying, Master, Moses said, If a man die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. 28 Therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her. 29 Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.]
[And the thing which he did displeased the LORD:] Now, we do not know what wicked thing Er did that angered God so much that he brought death to him, but it must have been pretty bad. As for Shelah, it may have seemed like a ridiculous thing that God would bring death upon someone over something that we would never even dream of, but think about why God did it, it was his attitude. This is just like when Ananias and Sapphira withheld back part of the money that they gave to the church from a sale of land. They were free to do what they wanted with the money, but they agreed to give all to God,
[Acts 5:1-4 But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, 2 And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles’ feet. 3 But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? 4 Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.]
Now, what takes place after this is less than idea, nevertheless, it was imperative that Judah have a son as Jesus would be the one to descend from his lineage. Remember Judah told Tamar that she needed to remain a widow and unmarried until his only living son would come of age? Well, Tamar kept her end of the bargain, but Judah did not. Judah’s wife died, and there he was, Hirah, talking him into seeking comfort through a woman. Well, Judah thought that he was meeting up with a prostitute only it was his daughter-in-law in disguise.
[Genesis 38:12-15 And in process of time the daughter of Shuah Judah’s wife died; and Judah was comforted, and went up unto his sheepshearers to Timnath, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite. 13 And it was told Tamar, saying, Behold thy father in law goeth up to Timnath to shear his sheep. 14 And she put her widow’s garments off from her, and covered her with a vail, and wrapped herself, and sat in an open place, which is by the way to Timnath; for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given unto him to wife. 15 When Judah saw her, he thought her to be an harlot; because she had covered her face.]
[he thought her to be an harlot;] Well, we all know how this ended, she ended up getting pregnant, in fact, she planned it, and it was twins. Judah, did not know it, but God would use this bizarre situation to preserve his seed in not only bringing David, the apple of God’s eye, into the world, but His very own begotten Son also.
[Genesis 38:24-29 And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot; and also, behold, she is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt. 25 When she was brought forth, she sent to her father in law, saying, By the man, whose these are, am I with child: and she said, Discern, I pray thee, whose are these, the signet, and bracelets, and staff. 26 And Judah acknowledged them, and said, She hath been more righteous than I; because that I gave her not to Shelah my son. And he knew her again no more. 27 And it came to pass in the time of her travail, that, behold, twins were in her womb. 28 And it came to pass, when she travailed, that the one put out his hand: and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread, saying, This came out first. 29 And it came to pass, as he drew back his hand, that, behold, his brother came out: and she said, How hast thou broken forth? this breach be upon thee: therefore his name was called Pharez.]
[this breach be upon thee: therefore his name was called Pharez.] This was no breach by accident, God, intended for Pharez to be the firstborn son, who would become the heir to the lineage of Jesus descent, and his name actually does mean breach. When you think of the meaning of the word breach you can get a better understanding of how it relates to Jesus. [Breach; The act of breaking; or state of being broken; a rupture; a break; a gap;]. Jesus, broke the gap between God and man when He mended their broken state upon His death on the cross. Until we receive Christ as our Saviour we have a breach in our soul, but the second that we accept Him, He makes us whole and then we become complete, [John 5:6-8 When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? 7 The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me. 8 Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.]
My goodness, it does not matter if we are under grace or the Law, God’s faithful can definitely make some wrong decisions which God will use for good. Now, if there is anyone in the Bible who can teach us about purpose and how God works all things working together for good, it is Joseph. It turns out that being sold as a slave was not such a bad thing when you are the captain of the guard.
[Genesis 39:1-5 And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmeelites, which had brought him down thither. 2 And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. 3 And his master saw that the LORD was with him, and that the LORD made all that he did to prosper in his hand. 4 And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand. 5 And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the LORD was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field.]
[that the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake;] This is why a worldly company will hire a Christian, they know that they will prosper because God will bless them through the faithfulness and hard work of the Christian. Jesus said this, [Luke 16:10-11 He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. 11 If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?]
Potiphar, knew that God was with Joseph, in fact, that was the incentive that, even though he was a slave, Potiphar would have him run the entire estate. Well, someone else was taken by Joseph, Potiphar’s wife, and she had been watching him for quite some time, becoming infatuated with him. One day, when Joseph entered into Potiphar’s house to fulfill his normal duties, Potiphar’s wife confronted him.
[Genesis 39:7-9 And it came to pass after these things, that his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me. 8 But he refused, and said unto his master’s wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand; 9 There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?]
[can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?] Joseph refused to submit to her, he was not about to sleep with his bosses wife, who had been very good to him, more important he was not about to sin against God. You see, Joseph never hid his faith in God, and that made him a target also and that was all the nonunion that she needed to set him up, she kept pressing him and even grabbed him at one point.
[Genesis 39:12-15,19-20 And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out. 13 And it came to pass, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and was fled forth, 14 That she called unto the men of her house, and spake unto them, saying, See, he hath brought in an Hebrew unto us to mock us; he came in unto me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice: 15 And it came to pass, when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled, and got him out. 19 And it came to pass, when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spake unto him, saying, After this manner did thy servant to me; that his wrath was kindled. 20 And Joseph’s master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were bound: and he was there in the prison.]
[And Joseph’s master took him, and put him into the prison,] I can just imagine her coming up with this ridiculous story and sitting there all day waiting for Potiphar to show up and running up to him, telling him that lie. She thought that she had the last laugh, but in the end, Joseph was actually where he needed to be at that time. And even when he was in prison he won the favor of the guards.
[Genesis 39:21-23 But the LORD was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison. 22 And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners that were in the prison; and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it. 23 The keeper of the prison looked not to any thing that was under his hand; because the LORD was with him, and that which he did, the LORD made it to prosper.]
[because the LORD was with him, and that which he did,] Every faithful, saved, born again Christian will face trials that may or may not be brought on by our own doing or just what is God’s will for us, but each one is used for His purpose and makes us more than able to handle the next situation, it makes us testimonies of what Christ has done through us, [1 Peter 4:12-13 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: 13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.]
Jesus Christ Revealed/Magnified: [Genesis 39:3-4 And his master saw that the LORD was with him, and that the LORD made all that he did to prosper in his hand. 4 And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand.]
Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You for giving me life, and the life You have given me, I know I have made some bad decisions in the past that caused me to be in situations that we not ideal, but You still had a plan and a purpose for me, and used my situation for good when I chose to dedicate my life to You. I have had my ups and downs, and I know I will have more, but I know every fiery trial will all work together for good and for Your glory. I pray this in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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