Tues.’s Devo - Joseph’s Humble Beginnings

Read: Genesis 37:1-38:30; Matthew 12:22-45; Psalm 16:1-11; Proverbs 3:27-32 Jacob settled in the land of Canaan. Joseph was now 17 and Jacob loved him the most since he was Rachel’s son and probably reminded him of her. All of Jacob’s sons knew that Jospeh was the favorite and to make matters worse, Jacob had a special coat made for Joseph. Joseph was a dreamer and had a dream where his brother’s bowed down to him. This made them even hate him even more. He had another dream where his mother and father bowed down to him also. Jacob took note of this dream. One day, Jacob sent Joseph to find his other sons who had been gone for a while with the flocks. When Joseph finally found them in Dothan, they plotted to kill him. Rueben came to his rescue and convinced them to throw him in a well instead. He had planned to rescue him later. (I wonder if he wanted to use this to get back into his father’s good graces after sleeping with his concubine.) Whatever the reason, it backfired on Rueben but ended up saving Joseph. A caravan of of Ismaelite traders passed their way and they decided to sell Joseph to them. They bought him and took him to Egypt. Joseph’s brothers covered up their crime with the blood of a goat to make their father think that Joseph had been eaten by wild animals. They smeared it on the coat they so envied and took it to Jacob. He mourned Joseph’s death and refused to be comforted. The brothers had to live with the guilt and lies. Meanwhile, the Ishmaelite traders sold Joseph to Potiphar who was an officer to the Pharaoh in Egypt. Judah left his father’s household and moved to Adullam which means “a testimony to them”. The people of the land would see how God works with his people. Judah married a woman whose father was named Shua, meaning “depression: a pit”. He would have two evil sons with her named Er and Onan. Er married a woman named Tamar. God killed Er because he was so wicked. Onan was suppose to marry Tamar and have a son for Er but he refused so God killed him, too. Judah had a third son named Shelia but he was afraid that if he gave him to Tamar then he would also die. He was not understanding that it was not Tamar’s fault they were dying, but the wickedness of his sons. When Tamar saw that Judah had no intention of giving her Shelia, she devised her own plot to have a son. She veiled herself and played the harlot with Judah. He took the bait and gave her his seal and staff to have sex with her thinking she was just a prostitute. Tamar got pregnant and when Judah found out he wanted to stone her till she gave him the evidence of who the father was. There was no way Judah would kill his own offspring. He realized that Tamar had been more righteous than him. Tamar had twins and when it came time for her to deliver, one of the babies reached out his hand. The midwife put a scarlet thread around his hand but the other son came out of the womb first. This was all prophetic of these two sons. The would be called Perez who came out first and Zerah who was born with the scarlet thread. Once again we see the picture of the firstborn being earthly and the second born being bought with the blood. Jesus knew the heartbreak of seeing his own house divided. He came to the Jews, God’s chosen people, his family on the earth, and they rejected him and wanted nothing to do with who he was and his mission. They said he was of Satan. Jesus explained that a tree is recognized by its fruits and so are we. Our fruit determine our roots. The Pharisees were suppose to be the keepers of God’s laws but they undermined, perverted and misrepresented God to the people. They always wanted to see signs so Jesus would give them the sign of Jonah. They would see that Jesus would die and be in the belly of the earth for three days then rise from death to live in heaven. Jesus described their generation as evil. It would just get more and more evil because they had rejected Christ. He had cleaned out the evil spirits but they would return and their state would be worse than when he came. Lord, may we walk in your light and become more and more like you every day.