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This post is such a reminder to me of God’s grace! Some of us look pretty good on the outside, some of us have made a royal mess of our lives. Either way, we are sinners in desperate need of the grace of God – and how merciful He is to save us and redeem our lives from the pit!

In Genesis 37, we have a very troubled family. Keep in mind that Jacob started his real relationship with God much later in life. By that time, he’d had 2 wives, 2 concubines, and 12 sons. The sons had grown up in a very dysfunctional household with four mothers between them, two of whom were sisters – one who was loved, one who was unloved, and two that were forced to marry Jacob to have children on behalf of the other two wives.

Genesis 37:3-4 clarifies the situation further.

“Now Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other children because Joseph had been born to him in his old age. So one day he gave Joseph a special gift—a beautiful robe. But his brothers hated Joseph because of their father’s partiality. They couldn’t say a kind word to him.” (NLT)

More family bliss!

Now, I have heard people defend Joseph valiantly when discussing this chapter. Some claim he’s just naive, some describe him as almost sinless. Let’s face it. He’s a 17 year old boy, his father loves him more than the rest of his brothers and shows him extreme partiality, and they hate him. They couldn’t say a kind word to him. Don’t you think he knows that?

Verses 5-9:

Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more. So he said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: “There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf.” And his brothers said to him, “Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.
Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, “Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me.” (NKJV)

He knows they hate him. He tells them he dreamt they would bow down to him. They hate him even more (shocker!) Then he has another dream, and he tells it to them again! Hmmm… blameless?

Then one day Jacob sends him to find his brothers, who are tending the sheep some distance away. Keep in mind he knew he would be wandering a quite a distance in the wilderness. Look at verse 23-24 (I like the way the NIV says this):

“So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe – the richly ornamented robe he was wearing - and they took him and threw him into the cistern…”

He wore the coat!! A richly ornamented robe. I’m guessing that isn’t a big seller in the hiking apparel section of Cabella’s.

Another reminder: The Bible is not about the people. It’s about God. Please do not get upset that Joseph may not have been flawless. He’s not the point!

Now, when the brothers see him coming from a distance, they start talking about killing him. Two brothers offer specific plans for him: Reuben and Judah. Reuben (vs. 21-22) persuades them not to kill him but to throw him in the cistern, planning to pull him out later and take him back to Jacob. Judah, however, convinces them that they could profit more from this situation by selling him. After carrying out their plan, the brothers return home and Jacob is inconsolable and broken. The text says that all his sons and daughters gathered to comfort him, but he “refused to be comforted.” Is it a big surprise that we see Judah leaving home in chapter 38? Imagine living in that household knowing what he had been responsible for!

My summary of chapter 38: wow. Bad moves, Judah. [make sure you read it!]

Chapter 39: Well done, Joseph!

Judah’s immorality and messed up life in 38 provide a stark contrast to Joseph’s decisions in chapter 39. Joseph, despite his integrity, ends up in prison for a very extended length of time. After years of refining and strengthening, Joseph changes from a 17 year old seemingly arrogant brat to a very godly man who humbly leads the most powerful nation in the world safely through a famine and gives God the glory for it all. That is the work of God’s mercy and grace!

There is another story of grace happening, as well. Judah, responsible for selling his own brother into slavery, and then father of a son through his daughter-in-law (but don’t worry, it’s not that bad – he thought she was a prostitute! *sarcasm*), has an amazing story of grace here in the end of Genesis, as well.

He obviously eventually returns to his family and we see him journeying with the other brothers to Egypt to buy grain, surprisingly to all, from Joseph. After Joseph (to them just a powerful Egyptian ruler) tells them that they must prove the truth of identity by bringing back their youngest brother (Benjamin is Joseph’s only full-blood brother and he wants to see him!), Judah convinces Jacob to let him go by placing his life in pledge. After the ordeal with the silver cup (see ch. 44), all the brothers return to Joseph together. He tells them that only the “thief” should stay (did he ever really intend to reveal who he was to the rest of them? I’m not so sure!), and then we have Judah giving a heartfelt plea in 44:18-34 that boils down to: My father loves him deeply. Please take me instead. That’s quite a change in our boy Judah.

In 46:28, Jacob entrusts Judah with the responsibility of going ahead of them to Egypt and helping find the way, which makes me think that obviously some trust has been rebuilt between them. In 49:10, Jacob gives a prophecy – the promised Seed, the true possessor of the scepter, would come from Judah’s line.

Our God is a merciful God. Some of us don’t look that bad from the overall story of our lives, and we may even have been the victim of some terrible crimes from no fault of our own. But none of us are perfect. Perhaps we’re a deceiver like Jacob, perhaps we’ve destroyed the lives of others like Judah, or perhaps we’re just arrogant like young Joseph!

No one is righteous. Not one. And God can redeem every story. I love that this story not only shows God’s work in the life of Joseph, but also in the life of Judah. Judah’s story was looking pretty bleak, but not one of us is a lost cause.

Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love.
Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins.
Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin.
Psalm 51:1-2 (NLT)

**For more reflections on the Old Testament with personal application, you might want to download a free Bible study ebook!**