Thumbing through Genesis

In the latter part of Genesis, the story starts to skip around a bit, and becomes a little harder to follow.

Here's what I mean: Genesis 32, Jacob is afraid of Esau, and wrestles with God, gets name changed. / 33, Jacob timidly returns to meet Esau. / 34. Jacob's daughter is (to put it delicately) 'defiled'. Her brothers slay the man who did it, and his family. Then they plunder what's left. Jacob turns tail and runs. / 35. God comes again in a vision and again tells him his new name, reaffirms the covenant. Benjamin born, Rachel dies. Firstborn (Ruben) sleeps with Jacob's concubine (wife), Issac dies. / 36 Genealogy of Esau / 37 Joseph gave a 'bad report' about his half-brothers, was the favorite, got a special robe, had dreams of greatness, told his brothers, they plotted to kill him, then they changed their plan to selling him into slavery.
Then in 38, it leaves off with Joseph headed to Egypt, and jumps over to tell the story of Judah's family. Judah is one of Joseph's brothers, 3rd son of Leah and Jacob.

Judah's daughter in law was trying to have a family, but her 2 husbands died. The first one was wicked, so the Lord killed him. That's all it says. Then she becomes wife of his brother, to raise up a son to the dead brother. God kills him too. Hubby #2 doesn't mind sharing the bedroom, but apparently didn't want to provide the child. Fast forward: and Judah did not give her as wife to the next son when he was of age.

So Tamar is childless, but is supposed to have a member of the family sire a child for her. Then Judah's wife dies. Judah travels, and is seeking the comfort of a woman. Tamar deceives him, poses as a prostitute, and lo and behold, they conceive a child.

Her pregnancy becomes evident to all, and Judah accuses her of immorality, and calls for her to be burned alive. *

She produces the evidence that Judah is the baby's father (oops). Suddenly the call for sexually impure people's execution is forgotten, and she had twins. (Incidentally, one of these twins is in Jesus' family tree.)

From there, it pans back to the story of Joseph, his humiliation, accusation, incarceration, vindication and exaltation.

The famine comes, and he has the encounter with his brothers, where they are tested, left to twist awhile, but finally restored and forgiven.

How do we make sense of all these twists and turns? Yes, in one sense, this is a fairly orderly chronicling of the affairs of life. The births, the deaths, the interactions and the drama of life in their day. It paints some of the broad strokes of what life looked like with them.

In a redemptive history sense, it shows how God's hand of Providence upholds both the weak and the undeserving within His ultimate plan. The weak, as we see the vindication of two women wronged in different ways, Tamar, in particular, upheld by God more than once.

And my favourite: this passage shows Joseph as a type and shadow of Christ.

His own brothers count him an enemy, and seek his life. They plan his death, and put him in a sort of a tomb.

Death is cheated because the slave traders show up, but the garment is still provided as "proof" of his death. Through many twists and turns, he becomes the Prime-Minister of Egypt, second only to Pharaoh.

Consider the life and nature of the brothers in question. Besides attempted murder, kidnapping, and profiting from the trafficking in human slaves (their own brother, no less!), Simeon and Levi murdered a family after arrangements had been made for that family's son to marry Dinah. Ruben slept with his stepmother, Judah was going to execute his daughter-in-law for having slept with him. Sounds like prime-time TV, right?

These were not nice people. They murdered a whole family for defiling their sister, but did nothing when their brother slept with dad's wife. Mercy and justice simply were not words that they had a good grasp of.

Contrasted to that, Joseph lived a life where there was no moral failing in his life that God considered worth pointing out.

Joseph, in a position to jail, sell into slavery, or even kill those wicked brothers who had enslaved him, instead forgave(!) them, and still more amazing, gave them gifts.

Jesus, in a position to justly judge and condemn us to eternal hell for our sins, lived a perfect life, and offers us that righteousness he procured, and absorbs the Divine wrath in himself upon the Cross.

Wicked and undeserving brothers were welcomed and offered grace by the one who held their very lives in his hands.

Wicked and God-denying sinners are welcomed and offered grace by the Redeemer who holds our very eternity in his nail-pierced hands.

Such a glorious gospel!