015 Into the Pit

presentation: https://bemadiscipleship.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/BEMA+015+Into+the+Pit.pdf

Text

Genesis 37-40

Observations

• Joseph lacks some wisdom here... brings a bad report of his brothers to Jacob but then goes about sharing this dream where he is a ruler over them
• Note Every son would have had a coat like Joseph had, but Joseph has a second coat - we know this by the text saying that Joseph's brothers know Jacob loves Joseph more. That is Jacob telling his other sons who he is claiming to be the be-hor (first born - double portion)
  • This is why the brother's reaction is so extreme
  • The point is not really about the colors of the coat (Q: so what is that significance? - something about the Rainbow and sign of Noah maybe??)
• Shcechem is mentioned 3 times really fast
  • Saw this last in the story of Dinah
  • In that story Jacob says that his sons have "made [me] a stink to the people of Schecham"
  • First mention of Schechem is in Genesis 12 right after Abraham's blessing to go and bless all nations
  • First mention is where God gives his people the mission to bless all people, next mention is exactly that family doing the exact opposite of the mission
    • This mention feels like of odd, and it doesn't show up again in the book of Genesis
• Reuben steps in to try and save Joseph's life when his brothers want to throw him down a well and kill him
  • Reuben is actually the be-hor, the first born, so he seems to want to do the right thing and protect his brother, he wants the responsibility of the be-hor
  • Q: Why is Reuben gone when Judah steps up and says to sell Joseph??
  • Reuben then has to represent an idea that he was never in favor of, to Jacob and this might cause a major rif in the family which may explain why Judah leaves in the very next story
• Judah's story is right in between Joseph being sold to Potiphar in Egypt and then the story of Joseph in Potiphar's house picking back up, so Judah's story here is very much interjected right in the middle of Joseph's story
  • Timeline doesn't make a ton of sense, Judah is now older, has kids, wives, etc.
  • The author of Genesis puts these stories together on purpose
  • Genesis 37 and 38 have a lot of parallels
• In Genesis 39 we have Joseph and Potiphar's wife
  • It's Joseph's cloak that incriminates him in Potiphar's eyes... seems like a parallel to Joseph's coat from Jacob
  • Coats in Genesis 37-39 almost feel like "nakedness" in Genesis 1-3
• Marty is hard on Joseph, I see his points - Joseph is really concerned with himself but there's faithfulness to God language kind of peppered in (see Genesis 38:7-9)

Genesis 39:7–9 (LEB)
7And it happened that after these things his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph, and she said, “Lie with me.” 
8But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, my master does not worry about what is in the house, and everything he owns he has put in my hand. 
9He has no greater authority in this house than me, and he has not withheld anything from me except you, since you are his wife. Now how could I do this great wickedness and sin against God?”

• God's covenant people are really spiraling out of control - Abraham and Issac have their shortcomings but their stories are definitely full of men who learn and repent, then Jacob is very unrepentant for most of his life but has the hutz-pah, the fire to keep going and God can work with that. But we now focus in on Joseph, and what does he have? It seems like he just is self-centered and there isn't that hutz-pah... Now I have a hard time unlearning my understanding of Joseph as a man of great faithfulness to God, so seeing Marty's take on this is challenging.
• In defense of Marty's point on Joseph, here is his self-centeredness in the prison

Genesis 40:14–15 (LEB)
14But remember me when it goes well with you, and please may you show kindness with respect to me, and mention me to Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house. 
15For I was surely kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and here also I have done nothing that they should put me in this pit.”
Genesis 40:14–15 (LEB)

• • Here Joseph is really focused on himself, his innocence, and his freedom
  • Joseph asks that the cupberar shows kindness (he-sed) to him, which is a major point of God from Exodus 32 - he is a God full of "faithful love", he-sed... now sure what this means.