After his return from Paddan Aram, Jacob joined his father Isaac in Hebron. The next part of the story shifts to Jacob’s sons, especially Joseph.

Joseph was Jacob’s eleventh son and was mostly an errand boy without very much responsibility. Jacob sent him out from time to time to tend sheep alongside his brothers and one day after spending time with the four sons of Zilpah and Bilhah, he brought back a bad report about them to Jacob.

Joseph’s propensity for speaking up created problems for him in the family. He saw bad things happen and reported on them. He had prophetic dreams and told his brothers about them. He accepted the ornate robe his father gave him as a token that Jacob favored him above his brothers.

Was Joseph a Jerk?

Was Joseph a jerk, or was he simply a truthful guy? Joseph didn’t seek the good things that came to him; he just received them. His jealous brothers gossiped about him, resented him and plotted against him, but Joseph never retaliated. As far as we can see in Scripture, Joseph felt only good will toward the people around him.

The Plot Thickens

The plot really thickened when Jacob sent Joseph on a journey to Shechem where most of his brothers were grazing the flocks. It was a long way to go alone, and when Joseph arrived his brothers were not where he expected them to be. He had to ask for directions to find them.

Grazing sheep involved long days without much to do for restless young men. When Joseph’s disgruntled brothers saw him coming toward them, wearing his flashy robe from Dad, they were probably ready for some action. They quickly hatched a plot to kill him and throw him into a cistern, then tell Dad that a wild animal devoured him. Reuben and Judah talked the brothers out of murder, but they disposed of Joseph anyway by selling him to a passing caravan of Ishmaelite traders.

Complicated Grief

Thus began the Keeping of the Great Secret in Jacob’s family. The brothers took Joseph’s robe, dipped it in goat’s blood, and carried it to Jacob. He seemed to believe their story that some ferocious animal had torn Joseph to pieces. He tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned many days. His children tried to comfort him, but he said, “ ‘No, I will continue to mourn until I join my son in the grave.’ So his father wept for him.” Genesis 37:35.

Jacob seems to have experienced complicated grief. That happens when someone dies in unusual circumstances and the person who mourns for them can’t get closure. For the next thirteen years Jacob lived with all those sons who knew the truth about Joseph, but withheld it from their father. Joseph was alive in Egypt, and Jacob could have gone to buy him back, but his sons kept up the deception and let him mourn endlessly for his beloved child.

Judah and Tamar

Maybe that lie drove a wedge into the family. Judah moved away from his brothers and went west to live near a Canaanite friend named Hirah. If he thought he was running away from trouble at home, he was wrong.

Judah married and had three sons, Er, Onan and Shelah.  He found a wife named Tamar for his first son Er, but Er was wicked and died before producing an heir.

Tamar was given in marriage to the second son, Onan, who was responsible to have a son with her for his brother. According to ancient law, Onan and Tamar’s first son would take Er’s place as primary heir to Judah’s estate, but Onan didn’t want that so he made sure Tamar didn’t become pregnant. God took Onan’s life and Judah sent Tamar away with the promise that he would bring her back when his third son was old enough to marry.

It never happened. Tamar lived like a widow in her father’s house when she should have been married again, this time to Shelah.

Tamar had a tricky plan to right the injustice wrought against her. She disguised herself as a prostitute and seduced her father-in-law Judah. She became pregnant by him and gave birth to twin boys. Her first-born son Perez became Judah’s heir and joined the ancestral line that led to the birth of Jesus Christ.

What About Tamar?

What do we think of Tamar in this story? She was regarded as the property of her father until she became the property of her father-in-law’s family. She was passed from Er to Onan, then denied marriage to Shelah. She and had no prospects for her future until she had a son, so she seduced her father-in-law and became pregnant by him. In the end she had two sons and Judah brought her home and treated her with respect, saying, “She is more righteous than I, since I wouldn’t give her my son Shelah.” Genesis 38:26.

This is an unusual story, and it doesn’t prescribe a course of action for the reader. The Bible  simply reports what happened.

Joseph in Egypt

Joseph was put up for sale as a slave when he arrived in Egypt. Potiphar, who ran a prison for Pharaoh, bought him as household servant. Joseph was such a man of integrity and skill that Potiphar trusted him with everything he owned.

He was also a handsome young man who caught the eye of his master’s wife. When he resisted her attempts to seduce him, she accused him of attempted rape.

When Potophar heard about this episode he burned with anger, but who was he angry with? He could have put Joseph to death over his wife’s charge, but instead he put him safely into the king’s prison. Perhaps Potiphar was more angry with his wife than Joseph.

The Lord was with Joseph in prison and gave him favor with the warden. Soon Joseph was in charge of the whole prison and the Lord gave Joseph success in everything he did.

Foreshadowing Jesus

There are a lot of parallels between the life of Joseph and the life of Jesus.  Here is a list compiled by Erik Raymond of the Gospel Coalition that you can meditate on as you finish your reading today.

1. He was the object of his father’s special love.
2. He had promises of divine exaltation.
3. He was mocked by his family.
4. He was sold for pieces of silver.
5. He was stripped of his robe.
6. He was delivered up to the Gentiles.
7. He was falsely accused.
8. He was faithful amid temptation.
9. He was thrown into prison.
10. He stood before rulers.
11. His power was acknowledged by those in authority.
12. He saves his rebellious brothers from death when they realize who he is.
13. He is exalted after and through humiliation.
14. He embraces God’s purpose even though it brings him intense physical harm.
15. He is the instrument God uses at the hands of the Gentiles to bless his people.
16. He welcomes Gentiles to be part of his family.
17. He gives hungry people bread.
18. People must bow their knee before him.

Joseph, Judah and Tamar all point toward Jesus. Joseph foreshadowed Jesus with his life, Judah’s family became the tribe of kings into which Jesus was born, and Tamar, the Canaanite woman, became one of Jesus’s grandmother’s, thirty-five generations later. From Genesis to Revelation, Jesus is found in every part of the Bible.

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/erik-raymond/wonderful-similarities-joseph-jesus/