Genesis 37 & 38

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Genesis 37:12-36

“And his brethren went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem. 13 And Israel said unto Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? come, and I will send thee unto them. And he said to him, Here am I. 14 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 [ https://bibleatlas.org/shechem.htm]. 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. [https://bibleatlas.org/full/dothan.htm] 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. 20 Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams. 21 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 Ishmaelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt. 26 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 Ishmaelites 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 Ishmaelites 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? 31 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. 36 And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, and captain of the guard.”

Introduction

[Audio version: https://resources.ccphilly.org/detail.asp?TopicID=&Teaching=WED539]

“We’re headed into a record of Joseph, and began to look at his life, the last time we were here right in Genesis, and we traveled as far as far as verse 12 in chapter 37, that’s where we’ll begin this evening, if you’ll turn to chapter 37. Joseph gets more print than anyone in the Book of Genesis, 25 percent of the print in the Book goes to him, he is the predominant character in the Book. At least 13 chapters come his way, God holding his life in front of us, for a myriad of reasons, things that he wants us to see about this young man. In our meeting him, he is the favourite of his father, he is despised by his ten older brothers, he has been given two dreams, the one of the sheaves of grain bowing down in front of his sheaf, and then one of the sun, the moon and the stars coming to do obeisance to him, and no doubt those are pictures of things that he will experience in Egypt, God has given him something in his heart, he does not have a New Testament or an Old Testament, we find no appearances of God in this man’s life, like there was in the life of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. We find him carried away to Egypt, great injustices in his life, and for doing that which was right, not for doing that which is wrong. He’s obedient to his father Jacob, he goes to seek his older brothers, in their jealousy they sell him to the Midianites, the Ishmaelites carried him into Egypt and he’s sold as a slave, and all of that undeserved. Someone might look at Joseph and say ‘Man, oh man, he must have been messing up, the way God’s dealing with him.’ And you can’t do that, you can’t look at someone in the midst of suffering and pain and come to the conclusion this is because of some disobedience or some problem in their life between them and the Lord. You can look at someone that’s living in rebellion, deliberately in sin, and warn them ‘If you continue on that path, God may chasten you, you may end up in trouble,’ but you can’t come upon someone who is in a difficult situation and come to the conclusion that it is because of sin and disobedience. And we see these Pharisaic attitudes in the Church where some will do that to someone that are in a tremendous struggle, and they’re in deeper water, they’re not as shallow as the people that are accusing them, like Job’s counselors that have come upon them. And many of those people are under a circumstance where they’re left saying ‘Lord, if you’re powerful, and if you love me, why is this going on in my life? it stinks Lord, it’s painful, and I’m having a hard time reconciling your sovereignty, your grace, your love, and the pain in my life.’ And Joseph finds himself in one of those circumstances.

Joseph Sent By His Father Jacob To Check Up On His Brothers, They Plot To Kill Him, End Up Selling Him Into Slavery

And we pick up here after he has revealed his dreams to his brothers and his father, it says in verse 11, ‘his brothers envied him, but his father observed the saying,’ thinking about his dreams. “And his brethren went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem.” about 50 miles away from Hebron, where Jacob is [ https://bibleatlas.org/shechem.htm] “And Israel said unto Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? come, and I will send thee unto them. And he said to him, Here am I.” (verse 1) So Joseph, so willing, so obedient, ah, growing up under Israel, the rest in many ways had grown up under Jacob. And maybe Jacob, Israel is concerned because they’re feeding the flock in Shechem, that’s where Simeon and Levi had slaughtered the men of the city, maybe he’s afraid, he hasn’t heard from them for awhile, maybe worried that those in Shechem had finally taken vengeance upon his sons, we don’t know. But he decides to send Joseph, and he just says ‘Here am I,’ “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 [ https://bibleatlas.org/shechem.htm].” (verse 14) So he’s concerned. And all it tells us in verse 15 is this “And a certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering in the field: and the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou?” Now is this an angel? We don’t know. Some divine appointment, that is for sure, just a certain man finds him wandering in the field. “And he said, I seek my brethren: tell me, I pray thee, where they feed their flocks. And the man said, They are departed hence; for I heard them say,” and for some reason this man was involved with them “Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan. [https://bibleatlas.org/full/dothan.htm]” (verses 16-17) Now look, he knows who they are. ‘They’re not here anymore,’ the locals knew they were the children of Israel. Now Dothan is about 15 miles further towards Megiddo (north), Dothan was one of the best pasturelands in the entire land of Canaan in that day. “And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan.” Dothan means “two cisterns,” no doubt there’s a picture here of going from Hebron, they wanted to go no doubt away from Jacob their father, away from Joseph. Hebron means fellowship or communion, they go there to Shechem which means strength, the place of strength, and end up comfortable in Dothan, two cisterns it means, and probably one of those empty cisterns is the pit they cast their brother into. “And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him.” (verse 18) so one of them is keeping watch. “they conspired against him to slay him” which was nothing for Simeon and Levi who had killed a whole town. “And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh.” (verse 19) ‘here comes the little sissy in his technicolor dreamcoat, let’s kill him.’ And Joseph was being obedient to his father, coming to find out about the wellbeing of his brothers. “Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.” (verse 20) well that evil beast was called “envy.” “And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands; and said, Let us not kill him.” (verse 21) Now Reuben is the oldest, Reuben has already sinned against his father by going into Bilhah the handmaid of Rachel, already given up his Birthright as the oldest, and yet no doubt feels some responsibility towards the younger brother, and says ‘Let’s not kill him,’ “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.” (verse 22) that was his plan, to deliver him to his father again. So, this is compromise, and compromise never works, he should have stood up for his younger brother and said ‘You guys are pitiful, this is our brother and you want to kill him, you want to kill him you got to kill me first,’ that’s the way an older brother should act. But he comes up with a compromise, ‘Hey, throw him into the pit and we’ll do this,’ in the back of his mind thinking ‘I’ll get him out of this mess, straighten it out later.’ “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; and they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it.” (verses 23-24) So it was an empty cistern. Joseph comes up, I don’t know what he’s expecting, ‘Hey guys,’ is he going to give them a hug? They grab him, somebody twists his arm, no doubt somebody punches him in the face, they knock him down, the kick him, they drag his coat off of him, and he’s screaming and yelling, they throw him into a pit. We’re told later, when he brethren come down into Egypt, and they don’t know it’s Joseph, and they’re guilty, they say ‘Didn’t he plead with us out of the pit? Wasn’t he crying and pleading with us? We didn’t have any mercy on him, that is why God is going to,’ chapter 42:21 will tell us that. So they took him, they cast him into a pit which was empty, no water, and they start having lunch. just like older brothers, huh. They beat the tar out of him, they take away his technicolor dream coat, they throw him down in the pit, and then they sit down and say grace, ‘Lord, bless this food, help us, bless it to our bodies, and strengthen us so that we can always beat up anybody we want to.’ Isn’t it funny? “And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmaelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.” (verse 25)

Judah Comes Up With The Brilliant Idea, ‘Let’s Sell Joseph To This Ishmaelite Caravan’

“And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood?” ‘I got a better idea,’ “Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and let not our hand be upon him: for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brethren were content.” (verses 26-27) and his brothers said, ‘Great idea, let’s sell him, that’s much better, instead of just killing him, this way we all get some money out of it.’ Good idea, Judah. Now these are all chips off the old block, these are all sons of Jacob. These are all members of a dysfunctional family, four moms, Jacob the conniver, swindler, all of that is playing out here. [There’s a saying that your kids, sons, will end up being ten times worse than you, so if Jacob was a conniver and heal-grabber, we see that his 10 sons really are ten times worse than poor old Jacob. Don’t laugh too hard, especially if you got kids.] “Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt.” (verse 28) It’s a caravan, they’re taking spices down to Egypt. Now what we’re not told here, what’s not described here, is the process. These are Ishmaelites, these are sons of Abraham, they pass by and the brothers say ‘Hey, you guys want to buy a slave? Look at him, he’s strong, he’s young, you’ll get 50 years out of this one, look at his teeth, look at his feet, look at his elbows, he’s healthy, he’s good, he’s smart, well he’s a little beat up, we just beat him up and threw him down in the pit, that’s why he looks so bad, but when he’s not beat up he looks good. And he’s young, he’s strong, how about giving us 100 pieces of silver.’ ‘100 pieces of silver? You’re crazy, we’ll give you 10 pieces of silver,’ ’10 pieces of silver, you’re crazy, give us 75,’ ‘We’ll give you 20 and some spices,’ ‘We don’t want spices,’ ‘OK forget it, we’re headed down to Egypt,’ ‘Alright, 20 it is,’ and poor Joseph is standing there when that whole Middle Eastern bartering process took place, and they sell him for 20 pieces of silver. There’s no coinage yet, just pieces. So with ten barterers each one of them ends up with two pieces of silver. That’s a bad price for a guilty conscience for the next 30 years, two pieces of silver. 30 years after this we’re going to hear their voices saying ‘This is because we did this to our brother,’ still guilty 30 years later. Guilt is a force that is powerful. I’m so glad that Jesus Christ paid for our sins and takes the guilt off of us. Again, I had a cousin, 17, murder-1, was in prison for years, my family sent him money, if he had the lawyers we have today, probably it wouldn’t have happened, but got convicted of murder-1, killed his best friend, over a girl, got out years later, within a year got involved with a girl underage, back in prison, back out again a couple years later, back in prison, back out again, and finally I heard, he may have gotten saved, was living with a Christian family in New Jersey…because one day he took their car, and he drove up near Scranton where he had killed his best friend 30 years before that, and gassed himself in the trunk of the car, took his own life, still guilty, back to the place. And I hope that he had come to know Christ before that. But guilt is a powerful, powerful force. And the price that they got, for the guilt they carried, was stupidity, 20 pieces of silver, bad price. “And Reuben returned” he wasn’t there, he’d gone somewhere “unto the pit; and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes. And he returned unto his brethren, and said, The child is not; and I, whither shall I go?” (verses 29-30) ‘I’m the oldest, I have some responsibility here, what is going to happen now?’ “And they took Joseph’s coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood;” (verse 31) Isn’t it interesting, they’re going to go to Jacob and deceive him with the blood of a goat, as he deceived his father with a goat many years before that, killed the goats, is now going to be deceived with the kid, the blood of the kid of a goat. “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. 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. And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.” (verses 32-34) Now Deborah gone, Rachel gone, Joseph gone, this is a broken, broken man. “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.” (verse 35) so we learn here he had other daughters besides Dinah. All his sons, and his daughters rose up to comfort him, now imagine what it was like for those boys to try to comfort their father knowing they were lying the whole time. We know that’s true in a sense for all of us who lose a loved one. There is one sense in which we never get over it. But Don was telling me, because his father had a stroke, he was there spending some time with his dad, and he had a good friend, years ago when he had lost his son when they were small, when they were boys…years old, Don’s age, and he’s in his 80s now, 60, 52 years ago or something, he said I saw him because he would visit my dad in the hospital, said we were talking, I said ‘How often do you think of your son,’ he said he looked at me and was quiet for a minute and then said ‘Every day of my life,’ for over 50 years. And he said ‘I didn’t ask him the second question, because I knew he would fall apart,’ he said…And for those that we love that have gone on, you know if we ever get over it, is it because we become hard-hearted or desensitized? In one sense we never get over it, we still get ambushed once in awhile. But we’ll get over that when we see that person in glory, and put our arms around them, that’s when we get over it, and we walk into the Lord’s presence and praise him for his remarkable works that he’s done. Jacob says ‘I will go down into the grave mourning for this boy.’ It ends by saying “And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, and captain of the guard.” (verse 36) He’s an officer, some say that he is, the word that means eunuch, can mean that or chamberlain. Captain of the guard, it is chief of the executioner [or it can mean the commanding general of the army as well], or slaughterman. So he’s an officer, he’s a chamberlain at least, we don’t know if he’s a eunuch [with a beautiful wife, no he’s no eunuch], but he’s the head executioner to carry out justice there in Egypt.

Genesis 38:1-30

“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. [https://bibleatlas.org/full/adullam.htm] 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. 6 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 [Hebrew: “whenever”] 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. 12 And in the 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 veil, 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. 16 And he turned unto her by the way, and said, Go to, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee; (for he knew not that she was his daughter in law.) And she said, What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come in unto me? 17 And he said, I will send thee a kid from the flock. And she said, Wilt thou give me a pledge, till thou send it? 18 And he said, What pledge shall I give thee? And she said, Thy signet, and thy bracelets, and thy staff that is in thy hand. And he gave it her, and came in unto her, and she conceived by him. 19 And she arose, and went away, and laid by her veil from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood. 20 And Judah sent the kid by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive his pledge from the woman’s hand: but he found her not. 21 Then he asked the men of that place, saying, Where is the harlot, that was openly by the way side? And they said, There was no harlot in this place. 22 And he returned to Judah, and said, I cannot find her; and also the men of the place said, that there was no harlot in this place. 23 And Judah said, Let her take it to her, lest we be shamed: behold, I sent this kid, and thou hast not found her. 24 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 [that is, “A breach”]. 30 And afterward came out his brother, that had the scarlet thread upon his hand: and his name was called Zarah.”

Judah Marries The Daughter of Shuah, A Canaanitess, Has Three Sons By Her

Now, chapter 38, those of you who did read ahead are probably totally confused. Chapter 38 is sandwiched in here in the story of Joseph, an interesting picture of Judah and his sin, and the Messianic line. Judah is going to marry a Canaanite woman, an unbeliever, Judah is going to make every despicable mistake, he’s going to go into his own daughter-in-law thinking she’s a prostitute. And all of this is going to be a set up, and yet we’re going to see God’s hand winding through human imperfection, frailty, and then Joseph in the next chapter will be the great contrast to that, who flees from Potiphar’s wife instead of yielding, very interesting things that are brought before us here. So, some of this is cultural, we’ll look at this. It says “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.” (verse 1) [https://bibleatlas.org/full/adullam.htm] Evidently Joseph is down in Egypt, we’re not given the exact chronological order of all things here. Hirah is a Canaanite of Adullam, and no doubt at this point Judah’s conscience is guilty, because he’s the one who came up with the idea to sell his brother. He needs to get away from his other brothers, probably there’s a conversation every day ‘I can’t believe you did that, look at Dad, he’s still carrying on, it’s going to kill him, you’re going to kill the old man, I can’t believe you did sell him down in Egypt,’ he just needs to get away from it, he was the one who came up with the plan to sell him. So he heads down, probably guilty conscience, to this Adullamite he seems to know named Hirah. “And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose name was Shuah; and he took her, and went in unto her.” (verse 2) It’s this woman, the daughter of Shuah, “And she conceived, and bare a son; and he called his name Er.” (verse 3) “Er” which means “watcher.” We’re going to see two other children here, she’s going to name the next two, at least in the beginning. Now Judah has compromised, he’s taken a Canaanite woman, which was forbidden, we’ve followed that all along, father Abraham didn’t want a Canaanite woman for Isaac, and Isaac and Rebekah didn’t want one for Jacob. And now here’s Judah, this is the royal line of Christ, the tribe of Judah, he takes this Canaanite woman, has a child, the first one’s name is Er which means “watcher.” And who knows what those little eyes, little eyes of a child watched in their house, as no doubt her religion was a prominent part of the household, no doubt it was immoral in some ways, no doubt Judah is so compromised. Sometimes when we look at the life of David, after David committed adultery and murder, he was impotent in his own household, you know, to try to straighten out his own son Absalom, and try to straighten out the sin of his own house, he was powerless to do that because his own conscience was so guilty, he felt no doubt that he couldn’t say anything to those that were sinning in his own house because of what he had done. In the long run, David was a much better Psalmist than he ever would have been, and we enjoy the benefits of his brokenness in many ways today when we read the Psalms. But he has never been the man, the father and a king that he had been before he so compromised. And Judah here no doubt very much like that, doesn’t take a stand in the home, he names the first son, his name is Er, he obviously, we’re going to see the effect in this little boy’s life as he grows. “And she conceived again, and bare a son; and she called his name Onan.” (verse 4) “Onan” which is “strength.” “And she yet again conceived, and bare a son; and called his name Shelah: and he was at Chezib, when she bare him.” (verse 5) “Shelah” which is “one that breaks.” “And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, whose name was Tamar.” (verse 6) Now he’s at least got involved to the point where he’s picking this wife, and I don’t know what his basis was, she’s a Canaanite. Now “Tamar” means “palm tree,” so if there’s any indication in the name, evidently she was tall and slender and had green hair, just kidding, she was tall and slender, and in the middle of a desert culture, refreshing. We’re going to find out there’s some character involved with this girl. So a woman named Tamar. “And Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD;” and it just says “and the LORD slew him.” (verse 7) whatever that means. Did he just let him die. You know it says our next breath is in his hands, it’s not much for the Lord if he takes his hand off of us for a minute for us to be gone. It says “the LORD slew him.” “And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother’s wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother.” (verse 8) Now it’s the first mention of this in the Bible. It’ll become the Law of the Levite as we get to the Book of Leviticus, a Levite law which means a brother’s wife, if your brother died and had no children, it was your responsibility that the next older son, to take your brother’s wife, to have her conceive so that she would have a son in her brother’s name who died, and the inheritance would go to him, and the family would continue. There are 34 laws that we’ll find in Leviticus, Exodus and Numbers that we find in seed form in the Book of Genesis. 34 of them will be encoded, this is one of them. Evidently in ancient culture this was recognized, it was not written out in law, it wasn’t encoded, but it was recognized. So “go into your brother’s wife.” “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.” (verse 9) Now it tells us his motivation here, he knew that the inheritance of his brother Er would go to whatever son was born out of his relationship with Er’s wife, he knew 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.” So it says he spilled his sperm on the ground instead of impregnating Tamar, because the Hebrew says “that it came to pass, whenever he went into his brother’s wife,” So he used her for pleasure, he used her to satisfy himself, but the point of this continuing line, and he must have heard from Judah his father, is there were promises made to Abraham, ‘through our family a Redeemer is going to come,’ and there’s something very important attached to this that he detested, he had no respect for. This is not masturbation, some say that, we’ll hit that as we go through here. This is a detesting of the Messianic line, no respect for the things of God. And instead of having this woman become pregnant, he uses her continually for his own pleasure, but makes sure that she doesn’t conceive, he doesn’t want to give seed to his brother. “And the thing which he did displeased the LORD: wherefore he slew him also.” (verse 10) This man’s spiritually corrupt. “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.” (verse 11) ‘You’ve been a little rough on my sons, I only have three, you’ve already gone through two of them,’ I don’t know if he’s suspicious in any way. He says “lest perhaps he die also, as his brethren did, “And Tamar went and dwelt in her father’s house.” Now this is an interesting picture. Tamar evidently in her heart has embraced somewhat of the promise that Onan and Er despised. She’s taken hold of in her heart something of the lineage of this family, and the promise of the Messiah, the promises that were made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The third son is too young, Judah says “remain in your father’s house,” and in obedience she does that, hoping to become part of the blessing that’s on this family.

How Tamar Got Judah To Father Twins Within Her

“And in the process of time the daughter of Shuah Judah’s wife died;” which is a blessing in disguise and God’s grace to Judah, because she had brought the whole family in the wrong direction, and Judah’s still young, it seems he’s still around 40 or a little bit younger at this point in time, “and Judah was comforted, and went up unto his sheepshearers to Timnath, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.” (verse 12) So the time of sheering sheep was a time of celebration and so forth, to get his mind over his wife’s death he goes up there. Now verse 12 says “in the process of time,” so evidently a number of years have gone by. Shelah has become a young man, Judah has not kept his word, should have now let Shelah marry Tamar. The woman is older, two brothers have been married to her to raise up seed. And Judah has not kept his word. She now is taking things into her own hands, she hears that Judah’s gone up to sheer sheep, “And it was told Tamar, saying, Behold thy father in law goeth up to Timnath to shear his sheep. And she put her widow’s garments off from her, and covered her with a veil, 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.” (verses 13-14) “When Judah saw her, he thought her to be an harlot; because she had covered her face. And he turned unto her by the way, and said, Go to, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee; (for he knew not that she was his daughter in law.) And she said, What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come in unto me?” (verses 15-16) ‘So you’re going to come into me and use me for your pleasure, and I’m supposed to trust you to send me a goat sometime in the future? How about giving me a deposit, downpayment.’ “And he said, I will send thee a kid from the flock. And she said, Wilt thou give me a pledge, till thou send it? 18 And he said, What pledge shall I give thee? And she said, Thy signet, and thy bracelets, and thy staff that is in thy hand. And he gave it her, and came in unto her, and she conceived by him.” (verses 17-18) now that was hung around his neck, it wasn’t a signet ring, it was a symbol of the family hung around his neck, and he could put the imprint on something and it would give evidence of his person, his family. “and thy bracelets,” which are not bracelets the way we understand it, it is some weaving of gold which is part of his possession, his wealth. “and thy staff,” identifying him as a shepherd, “And he gave it her, and came in unto her, and she conceived by him.” Now there’s a lot of swindlers in his family, it’s a strange family all the way along here. “And she arose, and went away, and laid by her veil from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood.” (verse 19) she dresses like a widow again. Now he must have sent his friend, ‘Look, I can’t go back there, somebody’s going to recognize me, this is a prostitute, this is where she sits, I promised her a kid, she’s got my signet, my gold bracelets and my staff, would you please take this kid and get my stuff back?’ ‘No problem.’ “And Judah sent the kid by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive his pledge from the woman’s hand: but he found her not. Then he asked the men of that place, saying, Where is the harlot, that was openly by the way side? And they said, There was no harlot in this place.” (verses 20-21) “And he returned to Judah, and said, I cannot find her; and also the men of the place said, that there was no harlot in this place. And Judah said, Let her take it to her, lest we be shamed: behold, I sent this kid, and thou hast not found her.” (verses 22-23) ‘Let’s just let the whole thing die, let it fade away, it would be a scandal, I don’t want to be ashamed, so let’s just let this go.’ But he doesn’t realize that God’s kids never get away with anything. You ever notice that? Unbelievers can do stuff, and it’s just amazing what they get away with. Christians, backslidden Christians, you don’t get away with nothing. Aren’t we glad. Christians who are backslidden get busted all the time. And sometimes it’s even by your old unsaved friends ‘Why are you doing that? you tell us all about Jesus, thumping your Bible, now you’re drinking, smoking.’ ‘That was my twin brother, that wasn’t me. I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ But whenever unbelievers start telling you your testimony’s bad, you’ve really blown it by that point in time. So he says ‘Let’s cover this up, I don’t want it to turn into something where CNN or Fox News gets ahold of it, we’ll have a big mess. Let’s just leave it alone.’ And God doesn’t let that happen. However much time it took, from the time he was with her to send his payment, we don’t know, plus three months now. Tamar’s evidently showing. “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.” (verse 24) What a hypocrite! ‘Let’s just get her and burn her, tie her at the stake and burn her,’ which was not uncommon in that day for immorality or for a prostitute, ‘Let’s just get her and burn her.’ This is the ultimate male chauvinism stupidity, here he is in the sin with her. Isn’t it how our sin looks worse on somebody else, doesn’t it? Now he’s guilty of the same immorality. But you know, I think he wants to get rid of her anyhow, because he’s thinking ‘If we burn her then I don’t have to give Shelah my last son to her. So, let’s get her, let’s burn her, that’ll be nice. You guys start collecting the wood, drive the stake in the ground, then we’ll drag her out here, then we’ll burn her.’ So they probably have a crowd by now. “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.” (verse 25) You know, they must have started to drag her out, and she said ‘Wait a minute, before you take me, I can identify the guy who did this to me, in case my father-in-law Judah really wants to know who it is,’ so they said ok, and she grabbed the stuff, and then they take her, and she says, when she was brought forth, she said to her father-in-law, “By the man, whose these are, am I with child: and she said, Discern, I pray thee, whose are these, the signet,” this signet that says Judah, son of Jacob “and bracelets, and staff.” ‘See if you can figure this out, Pop.’ And you can imagine him there, stake ready, collecting wood, and they drag her, he’s inside maybe in a tent, she said ‘Take these in and ask him if he can figure out who the father is.’ And I imagine everything got a little quiet. “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.” (verse 26) ‘She’s more righteous because I didn’t give my son to her, not because I went into her, thought she was a prostitute, lied and ripped her off, because I didn’t give my son to her.’ “And he knew her again no more.” (verse 26c) So he has nothing to do with her after this.

The Birth Of Pharez & Zarah, The Beginning Of The Messianic Line

And of course the interesting thing is, she’s going to have twins here. One of them, Pharez you’re going to find in Matthew chapter 1 in the genealogy of Jesus Christ, along with Tamar’s name. She’s a Canaanite, played the role of a prostitute, became pregnant, and when we look at the genealogy of Jesus, where normally in a Jewish genealogy you only find men, you find Tamar the Canaanite, Rahab the prostitute, a Canaanite, Ruth the Moabitess, Bathsheba, they’re all in the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Messianic line, God’s grace, even in this failing. And that’s why this chapter is stuck in here, in the midst of the story of Joseph preserving the entire nation, the LORD is showing us the Messianic line, in spite of human failure, is continuing because the Covenant he had made [with Abraham] was a covenant with himself that was unbreakable. Now something interesting, and if you’re into this kind of thing you can work it out, or check it out with Chuck Missler’s website [not anymore, Chuck Missler and his wife are both dead, and the website no longer has all that interesting content], and I haven’t done it, but just listening to Chuck Missler, Missler says “encrypted in this chapter, chapter 38, every 49 letters, in chronological order, are these names, ‘Boaz, Ruth, Obed, Jesse, and David,’ the Messianic line.” From these two, Boaz, Ruth, Obed, Jesse, and David, if they’re there we know it’s not coincidence if they’re encrypted there in this chapter. It says “And it came to pass in the time of her travail, that, behold, twins were in her womb.” (verse 27) twins, they ran in the family. “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.” (verse 28) now we shouldn’t be surprised, their grandfather Jacob did the same thing. So beautiful picture of the scarlet thread and everything. “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 [that is, “A breach”].” (verse 29) So she’s travailing and screaming, this is worse than a breach birth because an arm comes out first. And she doesn’t know what to do, the midwife, so she ties a scarlet thread, and then the hand waves and goes back in again. She said ‘You, little rascal, how did your brother start to come out, went back in, you got out before him,’ she names him Pharez, which is “breach,” which is the younger one, the other one would be considered the firstborn, because he put out his arm first. “And afterward came out his brother, that had the scarlet thread upon his hand: and his name was called Zarah.” (verse 30) So, interesting, Judah walks away from his daughter-in-law, has nothing to do with her after this. And there are two boys born, whether he likes it or not, and whether he liked the prophecies from the dreams of Joseph or not, Joseph said ‘All of you will bow down in front of me,’ from his own lineage now the elder’s going to serve the younger, whether he likes it or not, and God works that role out in his family. And the sad thing is, it seems that he ignores these boys, and plays a very little role in their lives. And yet through Tamar and Zerah and Pharez, the line of Jesus Christ is flowing. [Through Pharez, Matthew 1:3, “And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares, begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram;”]

Genesis 39:1-10

“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 Ishmaelites, 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. 6 And he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand; and he knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly person, and well favoured. 7 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? 10 And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her.”

The Amazing Story Of Joseph Down In Egypt Begins

“Now, Joseph, back to Joseph. Is everybody confused now? OK, back to Joseph. Comparatively, how different this young man is than Judah. “And Joseph was brought down to Egypt;” it just tells us that, no more, “and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmaelites, which had brought him down thither.” (verse 1) So, fast trip. Joseph is 18 years old [the Bible says he’s 17 years old here] when he comes into Egypt. Imagine, he’d never been there, he’d never seen anything like this in his life. Many scholars feel that the great pyramid of Giza had already been there for close to a thousand years, the Sphinx, the Nile River, the opulence, the power, scenes, the carvings, this young boy, bound, a slave, brought into the middle of all this. Somewhere in the process, he’s drug out and he’s put on the slave market, he’s stood up. We’re not told whether they stood him up naked, he’s an 18 year old [or maybe still a 17-year-old], and people start bidding on him, again, looking at his teeth, at his feet, you know, ‘Do I hear this? Do I hear that?’ And Potiphar, for some reason, no doubt the LORD puts it on his heart, outbids the competition and buys this young Jewish slave [no, and Sunday-observing Christians always get this wrong. The Jews came from the tribe of Judah, the very person we just covered in the previous chapter! Two whole tribes of Israel, having nothing to do with Judah, the Jews, would come out of Joseph. Let’s get our Bible facts straight here, Joe. We’ll get into more of this in Genesis 48.] How demeaning is that? Stood there like a piece of property, humiliated, sold as a slave, taken by a man who as a piece of his property, back to his home. And it says this in verse 2, “And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.” Joseph somehow, again, maybe from Jacob rehearsing his life with his dream, and the abuses and deception in his life for many years, realizing he’s replaying so many of these things. Joseph, somehow, is not somebody whose given to vengeance and bitterness. There’s no evidence, as we watch this, that Joseph every day is eaten up with an ulcer, saying ‘I am going to get back at my brothers, if it’s the last thing I do,’ because a lot of us here would do that. And a lot of us as Christians wrestle when we’re betrayed, particularly by people that are supposed to be the closest people to us, particularly that have a role in our life, like an older brother or mentor. There’s none of that in Joseph’s life. We don’t get any of that, that he’s there, bitter, envious, looking for vengeance, we don’t get that anywhere in the picture here that he said ‘God, I don’t even want to know who you are, this is what I get for serving you, this is what I get for telling your dreams, if this is what comes to me, why should I ever serve you? Ripped away from my family, sold as a slave, beaten by my brothers, forget it. Why should I EVER serve you? This is what you call the abundant life? Forget it.’ None of that from Joseph. Somehow, and I don’t know how, because I’ve never been through anything like this. Somehow, he decides ‘LORD, you’ve allowed this, I’m going to serve in this man’s house, you’ve put me here, I’m going to be the best servant in his house. I’m going to put my hand to everything I do, with all my might, that maybe it will honour you.’ Now this is a remarkable young man in contrast to his older brother Judah that we’ve just seen and found in so many ways. It says “And his master saw that the LORD was with him, and that the LORD made all that he did to prosper in his hand.” (verse 3) Not by the evidence that you and I might look for. “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.” (verse 4) Potiphar, he served him, because he’s serving the LORD first, and then serving his boss. So there’s a process of time here, a number of years no doubt. Young boy, 18-years-old [or 17], comes into his house, he has some menial task at the beginning. No doubt Joseph does that every day, Joseph at some point might have said ‘You know, if you let me try this it may happen faster, it may be more productive,’ Potiphar said ‘Go on,’ and he saw a blessing, ‘Wow, this kid, he’s got kind of a knack,’ and then he said ‘you know, why don’t you watch that whole area on the Ponderosa for me.’ And then as things got better there he must have said ‘You know, with what you’re doing here, we have to work with these other guys over here, and if we’d hook up this way, things would probably work better,’ and Potiphar must have said ‘Well go on, try that.’ And slowly as time goes on he sees that everything he does is blessed, everything he does prospers, and he ends up giving everything into his hand. Joseph found grace in his sight and he served him, Potiphar made him overseer of his house, “and all that he had he put into his hand.” (verse 4c) “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.” (verse 5) Now Joseph doesn’t have a New Testament, doesn’t have an Old Testament, he doesn’t have the clarity we have, he’s got the memory of his dreams, he’s got the things that he’s heard from Jacob as he was growing up, no doubt he’s got things that were planted in him as a young man. That it’s enough that God’s grace is keeping him here in a remarkable way. It says “And he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand; and he knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly person, and well favoured.” (verse 6) It said he got to the point where Joseph is over everything he owns, Joseph is so trusted, Potiphar, his ulcers go away, he doesn’t worry about anything anymore. It says the only thing he knows is the bread he eats on the table, everything else he owned he left in Joseph’s hand, because the whole place is flourishing and prospering, that he trusted him so implicitly that he didn’t even ask for an accounting, he didn’t even know what he owned anymore. He was so wealthy and so blessed, that he just let Joseph manage his house. And it says “And Joseph was a goodly person, and well favoured.” That’s handsome, he’s got Rachel’s good looks, his mom was beautiful, “well-favoured means he’s well-built, and this phrase is only used of David and Absalom, the only other two people in the Old Testament. Joseph, he’s probably 20, 21 years old, now somewhere in there, it says that he is good looking, and he is well-built, he is the full package. He is intelligent, he’s godly, he’s handsome, he’s strong, he’s got it all going on, and he’s 20, 21 years old. And Satan is not content to just leave him there, flourishing. No doubt even talking to Potiphar, Potiphar must be saying to his friends, ‘I don’t even have to check, this kid is 100 percent trustworthy, and he keeps talking about this God, Jehovah, his granddad, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, his family,’ and he said ‘I wish all my slaves worshipped Jehovah, if they were all like him.’

Potiphar’s Beautiful Wife Tries To Seduce Joseph

So Satan is not content to leave that as it is, and it says this, “And it came to pass after these things,” we’re not sure how long, “that his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me.” (verse 7) Now that doesn’t mean ‘Let’s go out and fib with a bunch of people.’ It means “sleep with me, have sex with me.” Sound, strong, intelligent, handsome, well-built, and it gets in her mind, and she starts watching him, starts looking at him, says ‘Come on, go to bed with me.’ “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:” (verse 8) ok look, no Bible, he’s not filled with the Holy Ghost like you and I are [now I totally disagree with that, as I’ve stated before, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and now Joseph have exhibited the fruits of the Holy Spirit in their lives, as have Moses, Joshua and Caleb, and the 70 elders in Numbers 11, and all the holy prophets. This is one of those weird Calvary Chapel interpretations that the Old Testament saints didn’t have the Holy Spirit indwelling in them, which runs counter to what the Word of God observes as fruit coming out of their lives, which is Spirit-filled fruit.], without the benefits you and I have he makes a choice. Everyone in this room can make a choice. And this reflects our culture. When I was in high school, 1964 to 1968, if there was a young girl who was immoral, everybody knew it. If you’re in high school now, if there’s a girl whose a virgin, everybody knows it. This is very much reflective of the world we live in, where the girls are chasing the guys, she’s chasing him around the house, ‘Come on, Joseph, come on.’ He refuses, he said to 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:” “he wotteth not” [King James for] “he doesn’t know.” “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:” notice please, “how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” (verse 9) Notice the perspective he has. Immorality, adultery, this great wickedness. Egyptian women were notorious for being immoral. And we know this, is this a temptation? Is Joseph tempted? It says, verse 10, “And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her.” Day by day, day in and day out ‘Joseph sleep with me, Joseph sleep with me,’ and she’s probably putting on more perfume each day. This is Egypt, this is where eye makeup is invented, this is where the hair is woven, where the cornrollers, the hair is made up, it’s woven, all this stuff, she’s no doubt putting on perfume like we have today, Passion, Seduction, As An Ox Gone To The Slaughter would be one of them. And I guarantee you this, she’s beautiful. Ugly is no temptation. Now look, there was only ugly 3,000 years ago, this happened in ancient times, it hasn’t happened since then, but back then [laughter], she’s beautiful, I guarantee you, there is no big deal here. Powerful men marry beautiful women. Have you ever seen some of our politicians, their ears are hanging down to their shoulders, their glasses are an inch thick, they have a giant nose, they have some young beautiful thing on their arm [Henry Kissinger comes to mind here for some reason], some Hollywood producer, looks like a basset hound and he has some 21-year-old, powerful men marry beautiful women. This guy is the head of all of the executioners, this guy is a powerful guy in Egypt, and this woman is a beautiful woman, and she’s after Joseph day after day. And he has a million reasons, I’ve heard some of the most stupid excuses, and he could outdo them all. ‘I came from a dysfunctional home, I need healing of the memories, my father slept with four different women all of the time, my older brother slept with one of my father’s women, my other two brothers murdered a whole town, my sister was raped, and I’ve always wanted to get back at somebody,’ you know, just imagine the baggage that he could claim to be carrying, and he says ‘I can’t do this great wickedness.’ It is a choice. Six thousand teenagers a day in the United States get venereal diseases, sexually transmitted diseases, 6,000 a day. Next week we’ll go over some of the statistics of what’s happening in our culture. It is a great wickedness first of all, just anybody who can read, look at what goes on statistically across the country, who can think, who has a mind and a pulse, would realize the impact of immorality in our culture. And it’s not just a great wickedness, he says ‘How can I sin against God, how can I sin against God?’ James would say this, ‘Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God, for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man. But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lusts and enticed. Then, when lust hath conceived, it beareth forth sin, and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death.’ “conceived,” and it’s the word to bring two things together, the sperm meeting the egg. Satan gets involved, he knows what a human mind is, today and back then, he’s got the aid of television, the billboards and advertising today, and he loves to draw pictures in our minds. [He can do that without the aid of all that modern technology, but he uses them nonetheless.] And I’ll tell you this, there’s a struggle, he imagined I’m sure that woman with no clothes on, he imagined yielding to what she is asking, he struggled with it and he fought, and he made a decision not to yield to it. And I’m sure the enemy was there pushing and tempting him. And he knew what it was to struggle, just like every one of us do…I hear it in the church today ‘I’m going to marry her anyway, I’m already married in God’s eyes.’ Well you’re not married in the two eyes I know about, unless he’s got three eyes. The two eyes that gave us the Bible don’t see it that way. ‘Well the wedding license is just a piece of paper,’ well I got news for you, if it’s just a piece of paper before you get married, it’s gonna be just a piece of paper after you get married. And a very interesting thing happens, there’s a roll reversal, and I read the statistics on it. If you are sexually active before the marriage, after the wedding, the wife thinks ‘Well he was not a man of God before the wedding, he obviously couldn’t be the leader then, so I can’t trust him to be the leader now,’ and she will then constantly fight to take the dominant role, knowing that the man was not the leader before the wedding day, and it creates a terrible mess. Oh, it can work out, God is faithful, God can forgive and God can work. It’s like arming your enemy and saying ‘Here, do me a favour, shoot me later when I’m not looking.’ It’s great wickedness and it’s a sin against God. If you are single, if you have not given yourself to someone, you wait. I don’t want my sons and daughters to enter marriage the way I did, I was immoral, my wife was not...that’s not the way God wants it. When you come to the wedding bed he wants that to be the only thing you know, the best thing you know, with nothing to compare it to. Now look, if you’ve been immoral, the Corinthian church which was immoral, and Paul said he wanted to present that church as a chaste virgin before Christ, God recognizes genuine repentance, and is willing to work in our hearts and our lives, if we come to him, if we’ve been involved, and our repentance and our brokenness is real, God removes all of that, and will give us a fresh start. If God gives us more details of this young man’s life than anybody else in the entire Book of Genesis, 13 chapters on Joseph, Romans 15 says the things that were written afore time were written for our learning and our instruction upon whom the ends of the age are come, that we might have hope, for our lessons in all of these things. Now it’s 9 o’clock, we have to stop here…[transcript of a connective expository sermon on Genesis 37:12-36, Genesis 38:1-30 and Genesis 39:1-10, given by Pastor Joe Focht, Calvary Chapel of Philadelphia, 13500 Philmont Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19116]