40 

1  And it came to pass after these things that the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their lord, the king of Egypt.  Neh. 1:11                              2   And Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief butler and the chief baker.                                                                         vv.20-22                                          3  So he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard,in the prison, the place where Joseph was confined.     39:20                                                4  And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served them; so they were in custody for awhile.

   What The baker and the butler did to offend the Pharaoh we do not know, some speculate the maybe they tried to poison him, or that a fly was found in the wine cup of the Pharaoh, and that maybe some sand or a pebble was found in a loaf of bread. As I said it is mere speculation as to the offense caused by these men, so I won’t dwell on this matter. One thing I can feel comfortable in saying for sure is that God has a special purpose for Joseph. And so I call it divine intervention for His purpose and will in Joseph’s life.     It is interesting to note, and remind the reader, that the Captain of the guard of the prison is none other than Potipher himself (Gen 39:1), So when Joseph was placed in prison by Potipher because of his wife’s accusation against Joseph, it makes it clear to me that this is why Joseph was put in charge of all the prisoners by the keeper of the prison. Either the keeper of the prison already knew of Joseph because of his stature during his time in charge of Potipher’s house and saw how everything prospered under Joseph’s care, or Potipher himself ordered the keeper of the prison to place him in charge of the prisoners.                                                                                                 On the spiritual side of these verses I see another example, or instance; if you will?  Of Joseph being seen here as a type of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ: Joseph is placed in charge of all the prisoners, yet in the instance of the Butler and baker We read in verse four that Joseph served these two men. I am reminded of what Jesus Himself said to his disciples about the master being the servant and the servant is the master during the passover dinner and the  ( John 13:13-16), Wait !! oh but it doesn’t end there, here comes the meat! Which was just revealed to me as I was reading about the passover dinner, but I will only give you a taste of the meat here in this comment. We see that these two men, one identified as the cupbearer; (Gen 40:11,21) He poured the wine and gave it to the Pharaoh, and the baker made the bread for the Pharah to eat. In the New Covenant Jesus took the cup gave thanks, and gave it to his disciples, telling them, “Drink all of it, for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many, for the remission of sins.” (Matt. 26:27-28), As we will read in the following Verses the butler is a symbol of the wine of the New Covenant. Also at the passover dinner, as they ate, Jesus took a loaf of bread and blessed it and broke it, and He gave it to the disciples saying, “Take, Eat; this is my body  (Mark 14: 22, Luke 22:19), here the baker is symbolic of the bread at the passover dinner. I will elaborate more on what I mean by the butler and baker being symbolic of the bread and wine of the New Covenant in verses twenty one thru twenty three of this chapter (which I feel is more appropriate to comment on then, rather than now).                                                    

5  Then the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison, had a dream, both of them, each man’s dream in one night and each man’s dream with it’s own interpretation.          41:1                                          6  And Joseph came in to them in the morning and looked at them, and saw that they were sad.                                                                                                                        7  So he asked Pharaoh’s officers who were with him in the custody of his lord’s house, saying, “why do you look so sad today?”   Neh. 2:2                          8  And they said to him, “We each have had a dream, and there is no interpreter of it.” So Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell them to me, please.”

 In chapter thirty seven we see that Joseph has been given the gift of the interpretation of dreams. Joseph does not boast of himself for this gift, instead he gives all the glory to God, vs. 8. knowing this Joseph may be reflecting back to his own dreams he had when he lived with his family in Canaan, yet still unfulfilled. The butler and the baker (Which are not slaves) but Egyptians of high authority in some form or another, which is why they are entrusted with the food and drink of the Pharaoh (Who is considered a god to the Egyptian people), I am saying this to point out the fact that the Egyptians placed dreams of great importance and meaning in their lives. Joseph exhorts them that it is God alone who interprets dreams. Joseph asking them to tell him of their dreams is not his way of claiming to be God, instead he is saying (In my opinion), and I’m only second guessing here, “Tell me of these dreams and I will go to God and ask him the meanings of them.” not boasting of himself, but giving the glory to God Almighty.

9  Then the chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and said to him,”Behold, in my dream a vine was before me,                                                                                      10  “and in the vine were three branches; it was as though it budded, it’s blossoms shot forth, and it’s clusters brought forth ripe grapes.                          11  “Then the Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes and pressed them into the Pharaoh’s cup, and placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.  12  And Joseph said to him,”This is the interpretation of it:The three branches are three days.                                                      v.20                                            13  “Now within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head  and restore you to your place, and you will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand according to the former manner, when you were his butler.                                                                      14 But remember me when it is well with you, and please show kindness to me, and make mention of me to Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house.      15  “For indeed I was stolen away from the land of the Hebrews; and also I have done nothing here that they should put me into the dungeon.”

In my opinion, verse nine is another example of Joseph being a type of Jesus. The chief butler told Joseph, “In my dream a vine was before me,” Jesus said to his disciples: I am the vine (John. 15:1), Joseph is before the butler, and the vine here in the butler’s dream is Joseph, and he is symbolic of Jesus Christ (Who is the true vine), Joseph being the type of Jesus here,  would never claim to be the vine, for that title belongs to our Lord and savior (Which in my opinion is why he gives no interpretation of the vine), I believe Joseph is well aware of the promise of the coming Messiah, and he would dare not claim to be the Messiah. God may have even revealed the Messiah to him when he went and inquired to the Lord of the butler’s dream. The branches tell of the fate of the butler. Again Jesus said, “I am the vine, you are the branches” in this case, Joseph is symbolic of the vine, and the butler is symbolic of the branches. Let’s not forget that in this dream, the butler saw the branches flowered and the clusters brought forth much grapes. The butler pressed the grapes, poured them into to cup, and layed it in the Pharaoh’s hand: Jesus also said that the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it remains in the vine (John 15:5),The butler took and pruned the grapes,  pressed them in the Pharaohs cup, produced a wonderful drink for the king, and  put the cup in his hand. And it was thru Joseph who revealed this dream to him. We in the church are the branches, just as the butler was, and we cannot bear much fruit nor do nothing by and of ourselves, unless God, thru Jesus, living in us as the vine, reveals His word to us, just as God revealed this dream to the butler thru Joseph.

16  When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said to Joseph, “I also was in my dream, and there were three white baskets on my head.                                                                                                                                                    17 “In the uppermost basket were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, and the birds ate them out of the basket on my head.”                                                        18  So Joseph answered and said, “This is the interpretation of it: The three baskets are three days.                                                     v.20                                                  19  “Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head from you and hang you on a tree; and the birds will eat your flesh from you.”           Deut. 21:22        20  Now it came to pass on the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast for all his servants; and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants      vv. 12, 17                              21  Then he restored the chief butler to his butlership again, and he placed the cup in  Pharaoh’s hand.                                                                                                 

We read earlier that the reason the butler was in prison is because he had offended their lord, the king of Egypt, who is the Pharaoh. The word “Offended” in the Strong’s Lexicon number is (H2398), meaning, “To sin” Jesus Christ said in the passover dinner, before His death, that the wine he gave the disciples was His blood of the New Covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins (Matt. 26:27-28), The butler was forgiven for the sin he committed against his lord, the king of Egypt (The Pharaoh), it may have been the Pharaoh who pardoned the butler, but make no mistake, God put it in his heart to forgive him.  Joseph asked the butler to remember him for the correct interpretation of his dream, so to did Jesus Christ command his disciples, every time they drank the cup which represented His blood, they should do so in remembrance of Him (1 Cor 11:25). Joseph is truly a type of our Lord Jesus Christ in so many ways, and this is just another example of that fact.

22  But he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them.               

As I stated earlier: The baker is symbolic of the bread that Jesus broke and gave to His disciples when He introduced the New Covenant to them. In this covenant Jesus said take, eat, this is my body ( Rom. 11:27, Mark 14:22, Matt. 26:26), Jesus’s blood was poured out for the remission of our sins (Matt 26:28), and His body was hanged from a tree (Acts. 5:30, 10:39, 13:29), That dying to sins, we might live to righteousness; by whose stripes we were healed (1 Pet 2:24), The baker was hanged from a tree, but as Christ rose on the third day, so to the baker will be called to rise again and given his first opportunity to truly live in righteousness, and have everlasting life. 

23  Yet the chief butler did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.  

Jesus asked the butler to remember him when he was released from Jail. Jesus Christ instructed His disciple’s and the church, that whenever they drank of the cup, to do it in remembrance of him (1 Cor 11:25), it took the butler a couple years to remember Joseph (Gen. 41:1), Yet during this time, he probably poured into the Pharaoh’s cup, placed it in his hand, on numerous occasions, too many to count I imagine; it is hard to believe that he never remembered Joseph until the Pharaoh had his dream. But when I think about it, how often does the world, and mainstream christianity, partake of the practice of the wine and bread? typically once a year during the passover season, or the so called easter holiday. People may never go to church all year long, but during their “easter holiday” they will go and take of the cup and wine, and then go back into the world and all it’s evil, not coming to church again until the next year (there was a time I was in the world and guilty of the same) not truly understanding the New Covenant ritual of the wine and Bread. Most churches stop there and forget the foot washing (which Jesus also said we should do) (John 13:12-15), and forget what Jesus had done for us,  they do this in an unworthy manner, not discerning the Lord’s body, and are guilty of the body and blood of the Lord (1 Cor 11:26-29), Don’t get me wrong, at one time in my life, I too took of the bread and wine in an unworthy manner, until I truly came to understand and discern the Lord’s body. Thru His body and blood, there is no condemnation, but forgiveness for all our sins past and present, we cannot think that whatever sin we may have, or may commit, is greater than the sacrifice He gave on calvary long long ago. Joseph told the Butler to remember him, we must never forget What Christ truly did for us on that great and terrible day.

39

1  Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. And Potipher, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, Bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him down there.   Gen 37:36                                           

As I have commented back in chapter thirty seven: of all accounts Joseph was around the age of Seventeen when he was sold into slavery in Egypt, thus beginning the four hundred years of affliction as told to Abraham by God almighty. I would refer the reader to go back to chapter thirty seven in my commentaries to get an understanding of how I came to this determination (as I feel I was led by the Spirit in my understanding),            Abraham lived in Egypt during the time of famine in the land of Canaan (Gen 12:10), during Abraham’s stay he is given the Egyptian handmaid Hagar, who bares a son by Abraham, named Ishmael (the father of the Arab nation), and as we will read later on, Joseph proclaims to his brothers that God brought him into Egypt to preserve the descendants of Israel, again during a time of famine in all the land ( Gen 45:7), so as to save their lives by a great deliverance.   God even describes the Egyptians as His people (Isa 19:25), and in the end times God will humble the people, and then bless them along with Israel, and Assyria. Egypt is used time and time again, in some form or fashion throughout their history, to serve His purpose, and His plan for Israel, and eventually for the salvation of all nations, who would be blessed by Him, who sits at the right hand of God to this day and forever more. God sent His only begotten Son (Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ), into Egypt when He was a child to save him from the Roman soldiers who were sent by King Herod for the purpose of killing Him ( Matt 2:13-15)

2  The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.   vs.21 Gen 26:24; Acts 7:9                                      3  And his Master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all he did to prosper in his hand.  Ps. 1:3                                                                                    4  So Joseph found favor in his sight, and served him. Then he made him overseer of his house, and all that he had put under his authority.                      5  So it was, from the time that he had made him overseer of his house and all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s  house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had in the house and the field.  Gen 12:2, 3                                                                                                                   

Even though Joseph is not blessed with the blessing of Abraham: That of the promised seed in which all nations would be blessed, God is with him and will bless him in all he does throughout his life. Like his father Jacob, Joseph went off to a far place, away from his family, And so to when Jacob went into the land of Padan Aram, in a sense he to was a slave for fourteen years to his mothers brother (Laban the Syrian), laboring in his house for the right to marry Rachel (the wife that was nearest and dearest to his heart). while Jacob and Joseph served their masters, God was with them, and both Laban the Syrian, and Potipher, captain of the guard of Pharaoh, saw that the Lord was with them, and they too were were prosperous in all they had because of the Lord being with both Jacob and Joseph.                                                  The remainder of the book of Genesis is about the life of Joseph, a total of eleven chapters out of fifty are dedicated to his life. only Abraham has more chapters in the book of Genesis that account of his life (thirteen all total). Make no mistake about it, Joseph is near and dear to God’s heart, even though the promised seed does not come through him, yet Joseph is a type of the promised seed of our Lord Jesus Christ, as we have already seen early on in his life, and we will see more similarities between Joseph’s life and that of Jesus Christ. Instead on elaborating on them now, I will point out these similarities as I read through these final chapters and point them out as I go.                                                                                                                                                           There is also one more important aspect of Joseph and his descendants that I must point out concerning the end times, spoken of throughout the scriptures in prophecies. We can find the first prophecy of what is to come of his descendants thousands of years later, on thru the latter days leading up to the return of our Lord and soon coming Jesus Christ. The first part of this prophecy is foretold by Joseph’s father when he was old and nearing the end of his life in Genesis chapter forty eight, and picks up again in chapter forty nine (Gen 48:1-22, 49: 22-36). for those of us who live in Great Britain and America, first and foremost, these prophecies are very important to us. But also to all the other English speaking countries that trace their roots from Great Britain are a part of these prophecies. There is too much to go in detail here, in this format, to explain exactly what I mean. I would recommend that the reader click on the link:  The United States and Great Britain in Bible Prophecy. This can be downloaded, or ordered free of charge through The United Church of God’s website.

6  Thus he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand, and he did not know what he had except for the bread which he ate. Now Joseph was handsome in form of appearance.   Gen 29:17                                                                                                              7  And it came to pass after these things that his master’s wife cast longing eyes on Joseph, and she said, “Lie with me.”   2 Sam. 13:11; ,Prov. 2:16-19          8  But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he has to my hand.                                                                                                                                         

  Potipher trusted Joseph so much that he didn’t even bother to micro manage his house and all that he had. As the earlier verses stated: Potipher Knew that the Lord was with him. Just because the Egyptians worshiped many Gods, this doesn’t mean that they were unaware of the Almighty Creator God. it was only six hundred years ago that the great flood came upon the earth. That is not a very long time when you think about the grand scheme of things. Even though Potipher worshiped many Idols, in my opinion, he knew who the one true God was, he could see that this God, “The God,” was with Joseph, and his trust in Joseph could also be telling in his trust for the one true God, whom he see’s blessing Joseph in all that he does. Which may be why Potipher wasn’t even concerned with all that he had except what he ate.                                                                                                                  Joseph was young during this time, maybe seventeen to twenty years old when he caught the eye of Potipher’s wife, who was probably much older than him, may be fifteen to twenty years older. So Joseph was in his prime, physically speaking. He is described as being handsome in both form and appearance, meaning he was a good looking man who also had a great physique (Like that of a bodybuilder maybe), Joseph undoubtedly was very wise for his age, Which made him even more attractive to the wife of Potipher. Even though Joseph was a slave, he did not live the normal slave life. As he say’s himself, “There is no one greater in this house than I.” most people, with this kind of prestige and power would let this kind of power overwhelm them to the point where they feel that they can do anything they want and no one dare stop them. Not Joseph however, He was his father Jacob’s favorite, meaning, to me at least, that he was brought up in the teachings of the Lord by his father, more than all his other brothers. Joseph was twenty six when his Grandfather Isaac died in the year 2228 Ac; According to my calculations (Determined thru the scriptures), I will Refer the reader back to my commentaries in chapter thirty seven to see how I came up with this determination. In my humble opinion, I believe that not only did Joseph learn the ways of God thru his father Jacob, but also thru the teachings of his Grandfather Isaac, during the first seventeen years of his life, before being sold into slavery. With this said, I believe Joseph was well versed with God’s laws, statutes, and ordinances that were known up to this time. This law against adultery was revealed by God, to the patriarchs as “SIN,” at this point in time since creation, but not all of God’s laws as we know of them today, and during the time of the Exodus, had been revealed to the patriarchs. I say this because anyone who reads this, may be asking themselves about the law of incest, between the marriages of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Who all married there cousins, or stepsister in Abraham’s case), and also had more than one wife (which were called concubines at the time), meaning Hagar, Abraham’s concubine, Bilhah, and Zilpah (Jacobs concubines), and let’s not forget the marriage of Jacob between the two sisters Rachel and Leah (Jacobs cousins). Since the scriptures cannot conflict with one another, it only stands to reason that these laws (although still “sin” since the time of creation in God’s eyes), were not yet given to the patriarchs. And this being the case, God would not hold Abraham, Isaac and Jacob accountable for breaking these laws of God. The patriarchs do not know what God defines as sin until these laws were  revealed to them by the Almighty God ( Rom 7:7-10, Jas 4:17). Verse nine is another example of the laws of God, in this case, one of the “Ten Commandments” were given well before the time of the Exodus, before their was even an Israeli people (for those who say that the laws on mount Sinai were meant strictly for the Israeli nation. The laws of God were meant for all men, not just the Jewish people, just as the Sabbath was made for all men, and not just for the Jewish people.                                                        

9  “There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”  Ps. 51:4; Prov. 6:28                               

Joseph states plainly to Potipher’s wife in verse nine that he cannot do this great wickedness of adultery and sin against God. Make no bones about it, it is Adultery Joseph is speaking of when he refers to this “Great wickedness” as a sin against God. As it is written in 1 Cor 6:18, and referenced in verse twelve: We are to flee fornication for when we commit this sin we are indeed sinning against our own body, which was bought with a price: that being the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor 6:20), We as baptized members of the church receive the Holy Spirit at the time of baptism ( Acts 2:38), We are then joined with Christ, God the father, and the Holy Spirit and become one with them (John 14:16-17, 15:1-5),  They now abide in us, and our body is no longer ours but God’s. therefore our Body becomes a temple of the Holy Ghost ( 1 Cor 6: 13-19, Rom 12:5), so when we defile our body ( As in fornication), we are in essence defiling God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. This is what Joseph is speaking of when he asks, “How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” As it is written, “The two (Man and woman), shall become one flesh (Gen 2:24), so to, we the church are married to God the Father, and also become one. So when a man lies with a harlot we in essence remove ourselves (Our body), from the Lord, in turn for the harlot and become one with the harlot and no longer the Lords. And in this sin we commit adultery against God.

10  So it was, as she spoke to Joseph day by day, that he did not heed her, to lie with her or to be with her.                                                                                                  11  But it happened about this time, when Joseph went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the house was inside,                                            12  that she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside.  1 Cor. 6:18                                13  And so it was, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and fled outside,                                                                                                                                    14  that she called to the men of her house and spoke to them, saying, “See, he has brought into us a Hebrew to mock us. He came into me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice.                                                                                        15  “And it happened, when he heard that I lifted my voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me, and fled and went outside.”                                     

  This wasn’t just a one time temptation Joseph was going thru. It appears that the wife of Potipher was very persistent in her intentions to lie with Joseph, which, in my opinion makes it even more difficult to flee from on a day to day basis, especially when it comes to the lust of the flesh. God intended for man and woman to marry and have many offspring, because of this He made the woman to be very attractive to men, in all ways He created them as something that men just couldn’t resist, so that they wouldn’t shy away from having a relationships with them. Joseph had to be struggling with this temptation continuously, yet he never gave into it. I Imagine that when Joseph was alone at nights in his room that he prayed often, never ceasing, asking for God to give him strength to overcome. It is times like this that we must go to God for strength, for our carnal mind, and fleshly body cannot do this alone, it takes God’s Spirit to help us thru these difficult times. As Paul said, and i’m paraphrasing, That, that I will to do, I do not do, but that, that I will not to do, that I do, (Rom 7:14-25), I think it would be safe to say that all men, at one time or another in their life, have had their Joseph moment, And I think it would also be safe to say that most men have probably caved into the temptation of this lust of the flesh: Oh wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death? (Rom 7:24),  It is in our nature, designed by our Creator, to be sexually drawn to women so as to pro-create. But only according to the laws of God we are to have relations with a woman, and this law can be described, in a sense, back in Gen 2:24, “therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife and they shall be one flesh” The Hebrew definition for cleave is the Strong’s concordance number (H1952), meaning to cling to, adhere to, be joined to one another , stick to. Notice that God says “Cleave to his wife” not just to any woman but his wife.                                                                                       Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, This proverb written in a play: The Mourning Bride, back in the late 1600’s.  This proverb was just as true then, today, and yes even in the time of Joseph. Potipher’s wife wanted Joseph something awful, and when he literally ran from her, it must have felt like a slap in the face to her. she has been rejected in love, and by a slave no doubt, “a Hebrew ! of all people, to toy with me in such a manner’ “Who does he think he is? I’ll show him!” she must have been thinking to herself. The evil that Potipher’s wife intends upon Joseph, God will use it for good, to carry out His plan for the salvation of His people the Hebrew nation.

16  So she kept his garment with her until his master came home.                      17  Then she spoke to him with words like these, saying, “The Hebrew servant whom you brought to us came into me to mock me;                                  18  “so it happened, as I lifted my voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me and fled outside.”                                                                                    19  So it was, when his master heard the words which his wife spoke to him, saying, “your servant did to me after this manner,” that his anger was aroused.  Prov. 6:34, 35                                                                                                                20  Then Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were confined. And he was there in prison.                            vv. 2,5                                                                                                                                 

The Lord is truly with Joseph during this trying time in his life. In my opinion this accusation of rape against Joseph, by Potipher’s wife, would be a death sentence to any slave in Egypt, especially against such an high official as that of Potipher. Yes, Potipher’s anger was kindled, but not enough so as to put to Joseph to death. It was by the grace of God that Joseph survives this ordeal. How else can one explain why Joseph wasn’t put to death? One of God’s commandment’s is to not bear false witness (Exo 20:16), It is also written in God’s laws that by two witnesses may a man be put to death, but by one witness alone both parties must stand before the Lord, Priest’s and judges of the day. If the witness is proven to have falsely accused his brother, then his punishment would be that which the accuser thought should have been done to his brother (Deut 17:6, 19: 15-19), This law was meant to put fear in men who would falsely accuse one another, and put an end to what God considers an “Evil act” (Deut 19: 19, 20). I’m not saying that this law was on the books in Egypt at the time, as a way of explaining why Joseph wasn’t put to death. But what I am saying is that one day we must all stand before the Lord and make an account for the things we have done in this life. Vengeance is mine saith the lord (Rom 12:19), Just as Joseph will one day be ruler over all of Egypt, and he will forgive his brothers for what they did to him, we never read where Joseph  sought revenge against Potipher’s wife once he had the power to do so. But I imagine she trembled at the thought of what would happen to her when he had this authority. Again, Joseph being a type of Jesus in his time,  found it in his heart to forgive her of this “evil act.”

21  But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.   vv. 2, 4                                                22  And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners who were in the prison; whatever they did there, it was his doing.                    vv. 4, 5                                                                                                                            23  The keeper of the prison did not look into anything that was under Joseph’s authority, because the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made it prosper.       vv. 2-5

Once again Joseph’s life is turned upside down, but also once again the Lord is with him, and shows him mercy. Joseph is put in charge of all the prisoners by the overseer of the prison. And as it was in Potipher’s house, the keeper of the prison did not take heed to how Joseph handled the prisoners and left all matters of the prisoners in Joseph’s hands. The Lord was with Joseph all this time, and again everything Joseph did prospered during his stay there, Because the Lord was with him.

• 38

1  It came to pass at that time that Judah departed from his brothers, and visited a certain Adullamite whose name was Hirah.

Chapter thirty seven focused on Jacob’s son Joseph who was his first born of Rachel (The wife he loved the most). This chapter focuses on Judah, shortly after Joseph was sold into slavery by all his eldest brothers. These sons (Judah and Joseph), of Jacob, are the most prominent of all Jacob’s sons: Joseph being the type and symbol of our Lord Jesus Christ, and also the blessings that were given to his sons Manasseh, Ephraim, and him are very significant to America, Britain, and all the English speaking countries in regards to the last days of this earth age (the time of Jacobs trouble: Jer 30:7. Judah’s prominence is the fact that from him will come the blessing God gave to Abraham: in which the promise, that thru his seed, all nations of the earth shall be blessed (Gen 22:18). This chapter tells us of how the promised seed (Jesus Christ) is passed down from Judah to the next generation.                             Judah left his family behind shortly after he conspired with his brothers to sell Joseph into slavery. He is the one who talked his other brothers into selling Joseph to the Ishmaelites, instead of killing him, so that they would not be guilty of shedding their own brothers blood. Kind of Ironic when you think about the fact that Judah is part of the lineage of Jesus Christ, and at the time of His crucifixion Pontius Pilate gave Jesus over to the Jewish people to be crucified, and right afterwards washed his hands, and stated that he is not guilty of shedding the blood of a just man ( Matt 27:22-24). In my opinion, Judah left his family because he could not bare to look into his fathers eyes, knowing that he would have to lie to his father Jacob, by covering up the fate of Joseph and was in fact guilty of his fate. The shame was too much for him to bare. So Judah leaves his fathers sight, in hope of also leaving that guilt feeling he has, that is eating him alive. He goes to a friend of his named Hirah (H2437), interestingly the primitive root that Hirah is derived from in the Strong’s definition is (H2357) meaning to blanch (As with shame), and what is even more interesting, to me at least, is the fact that I didn’t even know this when I made my previous statement that Judah’s “shame was too much for him to bare.”As we will see in this chapter everywhere Judah goes, Hirah is right there with him; to me, meaning that his shame follows him in all his travels. A person can run, but he cannot hide. No matter how far Judah tries to run from his shame it won’t go away from him.

2  And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua, and he married her and went into her.    24:3; 28:1                                            3  So she conceived and bore a son, and called his name Er.                                      4  She conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name Onan.              5  And she conceived yet again and bore a son, and called his name Shelah. He was at Chezib when she bore him.

  Shua is the Canaanite father of the  woman whom Judah marries. Why the Lord gives us the name of Judah’s father-in-law and not the name of his wife I do not understand. Judah has three sons with this woman: Er (H6147), Onan (H209), and Shelah (H7956). Shelah was born in Chezib (H3580), which is a city located in the land of Judah according to it’s inheritance. Interestingly The Hebrew definition for Chezib is false, or falsified if you will. This is derived from the Strong’s definition (H3576), meaning to lie, or to deceive. I say this is interesting because as we will read on a little further in this chapter (Gen 38:11, 26), Judah acknowledges to Tamar (His firstborn’s son’s wife), that she was more righteous than him because he did not give Shelah to her when he grew up, as he promised, thus either deceiving her or lying, or both. I must say however the scriptures do not say Judah intentionally lied or deceived Tamar. Shelah was to marry Tamar so she could concieve a son through him, thus fulfilling the Mosaic law (Deut 25: 5-6), I will discuss this further in the following verses.

6  Then Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar.                     Matt. 1:3                                                                                                                                   7  But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord killed him.     1 Chr. 2:3                                                                                                      8  And Judah said to Onan, “Go into your brother’s wife and marry her, and raise up an heir to your brother.   Deut. 25:5, 6 Matt. 22:24                                        9  But Onan knew that the heir would not be his; and it came to pass, when he went into his brother’s wife, that he emitted on the ground, lest he should give an heir to his brother.    Lev. 15:16                                                                10  And the thing which he did displeased the Lord; therefore He killed him also.      v.7                                                                                                                                        11  Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, “Remain a widow in your father’s house till my son Shelah is grown.” For he said, “Lest he also die like his brothers.” And Tamar went and dwelt in her father’s house.                            vv. 14, 26                                                                                                                             

The marriage between Er and Tamar was arranged by his father Judah. This could help explain why he was found wicked in the sight of the Lord; It could be that Er did not want to marry Tamar. In my opinion, if Er purposely emitted his semen on the ground instead of inside Tamar, so that his name would not be put out of Israel (Deut 25:6), This would be the wicked thing that Er committed in the sight of the Lord that caused God to kill him. So whenever he would lay with her, he would emit his semen on the ground and not inside Tamar, so they could produce offspring. This is what we are told his younger brother Onan did when his father told him to go into Tamar after Er died, so as to raise up an heir for his older brother Er (Deut 25:5,6) And we read in verse nine and ten that the Lord killed Onan for emitting his semen on the ground. According to the Mosaic Law (giving by God to Moses on Mount Sinai), it was an unclean thing to do when a man emitted his semen on the ground (Lev 15:16).                                                                                            Here we see that the Mosaic laws given to Moses, by God, on Mount Sinai, were in effect well before the Exodus. Because they (the Hebrews), were enslaved, and lived in Egypt for four hundred and thirty years, they had been corrupted and strayed away from the one true God, His ways, and started to worship other gods. The Lord Jehovah had to give them His laws all over again on Mount Sinai in order to bring them back to Him. (Exo 6-2, Ps  83:18).

12  And the days were many, and Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua died. And Judah was comforted, and went up to his sheepshearers at Timna, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.                                                                               13  And it was told Tamar, saying, “Look, your father-in-law is going up to Timna to shear his sheep.”                                                                                                    14  So she took off her widows garments, covered herself with a veil and wrapped herself, and sat in an open place which was on the way to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given to him as a wife.           vv. 11, 26                                                                                                                                 

These days that were many are speaking of years that passed, by the time Judah’s wife died. for as Peter said, “One day with the Lord is as a thousand years” (2 Pe 3:8). when we go back to verse eleven Judah had told his daughter-in-law Tamar to go back to her father until his youngest son Shelah is old enough to marry her and carry on the family name. Verse fourteen reveals that Shelah was already full grown when Judah was in Timnah attending to his flock. By these verses (eleven and fourteen), we are able to determine that years have gone by from the time of his son  Onan’s death, and that of his wife. Seeing that Shelah was now full grown, and of age to marry her, and Tired of waiting on Judah to remember his promise to her, Tamar decides to take matters into her own hands in regards to fulfilling the Mosaic law on marriage as described in Deuteronomy 25:5-6. 

15  When Judah saw her, he thought she was a harlot, because she had covered her face.       Lev. 19:29                                                                                                16  Then he turned to her by the way, and said, “Please let me come into you”; for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. So she said, “What will you give me, that you may come into me?”                                             

Judah’s intentions were anything but noble here. He see’s what he thinks is a prostitute, not knowing that it is his daughter-in-law behind the veil. The lust of the flesh in men is strong and hard to overcome. Satan knows the weakness’s of all men, he uses these weakness’s to tempt us and pull us away from God, this is his purpose, he doesn’t want us to have a relationship with our Father above, and any chance he gets, he tugs at our heart and mind to separate us from God. In this instance though, the Lord will use this weakness in Judah to fulfill His plan for mankind, and the seed shall be passed on. God does give men the right to choose their own path in life, but make no bones about it, He will always be the one in control of all things, and His purpose will stand. The seed must live on for the sake of mankind, and like God said back in the garden, “he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Gen 3:15), Satan may win some battles but God will win the war, for He is a man of war (Exo 15:3).

17  And he said, “I will send a young goat from the flock.” So she said, “Will you give me a pledge till you send it?”                                                                                18  Then he said, “What pledge shall I give you?” So she said, “Your signet and cord, and your staff that is in your hand.” Then he gave them to her, and went into her, and she conceived by him.   v. 25:41:42                                                 

Intertwined together (sin and righteousness), is what I see happening in these verses. The righteousness in Tamar (Gen 38:26) and the sin of Judah is being played out. Once again in  his life Judah will shame himself, and his shame will follow him wherever he goes. Yet the Lord will work within this sin to fulfill His master plan of the promised seed in which all nations will be blessed (Gen 22:18). Judah did not keep his promise to Tamar, in that he told her when his youngest son Shelah were grown, he would give him to her, to marry and bare here children, according to the laws of God. Which as we see once again, were in effect, even before the law was given on Mt Sinai to Moses (Deut 25:5-6). Because Judah did not keep his word to Tamar she develops this plot to entice Judah into laying with her so she can concieve, bore a son, and in turn keep the family name alive in the house of Judah. Early on in this chapter we read were Judah selected Tamar to be the wife of his firstborn son Er,vs.6. As we also read here we can see that Tamar knows of the laws of the marriage covenant between man and woman. We do not know if Tamar is from the bloodline of Abraham, or the Israeli people, so it would be wrong to assume she is. But by her actions she does indeed know the Laws of the people of Israel, and she holds them close to her heart. It makes one wonder if the laws given to Moses during the Exodus, were known by all the people of the surrounding area during the times of the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? And if so it would be further proof that the laws of God were for all mankind, back then, and even still today, and not just for the Jewish people (As many would say and teach in this day and age). It would be that as God said to the Israeli people: I did not chose you because you were more in number or the fewest of all people, but because He loved them, and He would keep His oath He swore to their fathers. For God is a faithful God, who keeps His Word. They were to be a Holy people unto Him (Deut 7:6-12). Because of this, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were given the law, and were to be an example, a light to the world, of how to live according to the word of God, and so they were held up to a higher esteem than the rest of the nations during this time, until this day and forever more Amen. Whereas the other nations (even if they knew of the laws of God), were not held in the same regard as the Israeli people, and were not given the law by God Almighty Himself, as it was given to Moses hundreds of years later for this special people.

19  So she arose and went away, and laid aside her veil and put on the garments of her widowhood.                                                                                                  20  And Judah sent the young goat by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive his pledge from the woman’s hand, but he did not find her.                21  Then he asked the men of that place, saying, “Where is the harlot who was openly by the roadside?” and they said, “There was no harlot in this place.”                                                                                                                                                22  So he returned to Judah and said, “I cannot find her. Also, the men of the place said there was no harlot in this place.”                                                                    23  Then Judah said, ” Let her take them for herself, lest we be shamed; for I sent this young goat and you have not found her.”                                                     

There is no shame that Tamar bares for her actions, unlike Judah. She takes off her veil (A representation of Harlotry only), but not of her character. Tamar once again puts on her garments of her true person (a widow), and goes back home. Judah on the other hand takes his shame with him in the form of another man (his friend the Adullamite), Hirah (H2437, derived from H2357), as I discussed back in verse one of this chapter. In this instance Judah sends his friend Hirah (shame), in his place to give to Tamar a kid goat he pledged to her so she would lay with him, and also have his friend Hirah (Shame), bring back the pledge he gave to Tamar, being his signet and cord, and his staff, to assure Tamar he would indeed giver her what he promised. In my opinion, Hirah is representative of the shame that Judah carries with him for the sin he committed with Tamar, unknowing to him that she was his daughter-in-law, just as Hirah is also representative of Judah’s shame in the way that he dealt with his brother Joseph, by suggesting to all his brothers to sell him off into slavery. Everywhere Judah goes Hirah is with him: his shame follows him and haunts him while he is away from his father Israel. Just as we (mankind), sin, are separated from our Father above, and our shame is with us wherever we go until we repent, and confess to our Father above of our sins against him, then we will be released from the shame we carry with us. I would like to interject here one little nugget. Before I even read all of Genesis thirty eight, in my mind (I believe it was Gods spirit), shame was the first word that came to me when i read verse one in this chapter. I didn’t even realize that Judah himself would utter these same words later on in this chapter (Verse 23) or that his friend Hirah’s name is derived from the Strong’s number (H2357). I didn’t know where to go in my comments on this chapter when I first began, all I knew was the word shame had to be incorporated in the first verse and God has lead me this far into my understanding of this chapter. There is more meat to this chapter than meets the eye (The promised seed), and my Father draws closer to me, reveals His understanding to me, and I can learn so much from this chapter than I ever thought I would. You could probably make a sermon out of this one chapter, on shame, guilt, sin, and God’s love, mercy, and grace. What an awesome ! God I serve.

24  And it came to pass, about three months after, that Judah was told, saying, “Tamar your daughter-in-law has played the harlot; furthermore she is with child by harlotry.” So Judah said, “Bring her out and let her be burned!”         Lev. 21:9                                                                                                                25  When she was brought out, she sent to her father-in-law, saying, “By the man to whom these belong, I am with child.” and she said, “Please determine whose these are– the signet and cord, and staff.”    v.18                        26  So Judah acknowledged them and said, “She has been more righteous than I, because I did not give her to Shelah my son.” and he never knew her again.      vv. 11, 14                                                                                                                         

In verse twenty four. Leviticus 21:9 is being referenced here. Leviticus chapter twenty nine speaks of the holiness and the priests of Israel. Verse nine of Leviticus states: ” And the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by going whoring, she profanes her father. She shall be burned with fire. ” at this time and age there was no priesthood established in Israel. Even so, to this reader, it once again appears that the law had been given to man way before the time of Moses and the recorded history of the law being established. If  the law had not yet been given, then by what authority does Judah have in ordering the decree that Tamar should be burned for her sin, and the type of punishment to be given? Also, what constitutes, at this point in time, what sins are punishable by death, and not? reference Genesi 26:”5 and then edit. Is Tamar being sentenced to death for harlotry, adultery or both? The only reference we have is from the book of Leviticus! The Talmud refers to Leviticus as the “Law of the Priests,”and the Law of offerings.” So again I ask this question, was the Law given to man for the first time after the Exodus out Egypt? I say nay nay, We see the Law of offering being established in chapter four of Genesis with Cain and Able (Gen 4:3-4)Then we see the law of clean and unclean meats being referenced at the time of Noah and the flood (Gen 7:1-2), and in this instance the law of the priests is what is being referenced in verse twenty four of this chapter. Just recently ago we were given a second part of a two part sermon on how to discern the truth of God’s word in the bible, in my congregation. We were given a handout (A study guide) to help us in determining truth from half truths, to flat out lies on what God’s word actually says in His book to us (The Bible). two of the rules in this study Guide tells us #1 to determine the audience of the day (Israel,the church, Jew, Gentile… ) when reading the Holy bible, and # 2 Determine the Genre of the book or letter. (Law,Prophets, Writings, the time period…). With this in mind I have come to the following determination on my commentary here: The books of Genesis, and Leviticus were given to Moses by God Himself, as far as I know after the exodus out of Egypt, and before entering into the promised land. These verses, as well as all the scriptures in the book of Genesis were meant for the children of Israel, and the author being Moses, as told by God Himself, for the benefit of all the children of Israel back then, and all the generations to come. I believe this is why we see in many places the law being referenced, in a round about way (if you will), I also believe that the purpose is to show the children of Israel first, then the gentiles, that the law always has been (in one form or another) and always will be until all is fulfilled. (Matt 5:18).

27  Now it came to pass, at the time for giving birth, that behold, twins were in her womb.                                                                                                                                    28  And so it was, when when she was giving birth, that the one put out his hand; and the midwife took a scarlet thread and bound it on his hand, saying, “This one came out first.”                                                                                        29  Then it happened, as he drew back his hand, that his brother came out unexpectedly; and she said, “How did you break through? This breach be upon you!” therefore his name was called Pharez.  Matt. 1:3; Luke. 3:33                  30  Afterward his brother came out who had the scarlet thread on his hand. And his name was called Zerah.

  Just as in the births of Esau and Jacob, Perez, and Zerah were twins, and it appears ironically enough, struggling to be the first to come out of the womb. Zerah’s hand came out first, but for some reason he drew back his hand and then Pharez (H6557) came out first.  It is thru Perez that the promised seed: in which all nations of the earth will be blessed. 

37

1  Now Jacob dwelt in the land where his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan.

A stranger in the land is a recurring theme in the bible, in mainly the old testament, but also the new Testament (Compare  Gen 15:13, 17:8, 23:4,  Exo 2:22, Heb 9: 13), It is the book of Hebrews where sometime ago, I came to the realization that I to am a stranger in a strange land. Even though Isaac was born in the land of Canaan, he was still considered a stranger in the land, in the eyes of God, and He made sure that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were always mindful of that fact. The Hebrew’s Strong’s Lexicon number for stranger is (H4033), it means a temporary dwelling place. By faith Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, lived in the land of promise as a stranger (Heb 9:9), looking forward to the promise of a better place built not by man but by the hands of God Almighty, they embraced them, and confessed themselves that they were strangers in a strange land, looking forward to the promises of a place in heaven where a city awaits them, that they can truly call their own (Gen 9: 10, 13, 16). We, the baptized members of God’s  church, being the spiritual Israel of today, and joint heirs of the promise, are also strangers here on this earth. Waiting for God to call us home, where we will No longer be  a stranger in a strange land, but a child at home.

2  This is the history of Jacob, Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. And the lad was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to his father.

At the age of Seventeen, Joseph, basically tells on his brothers to his father for some kind of evil they did. We are not told what the brothers did that caused Joseph to give them a bad report. The only thing we know is that all eleven brothers were not there. Only the sons of Jacob’s concubines Bilhah, and Zilpah did Joseph give an evil report of. These sons would have been Dan and Naphtali (the sons of Bilhah), and  Gad and Asher (The sons of Bilhah).

3  Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age. Also he made him a tunic of many colors.  25:28                      4  But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.  v.8                

Joseph was Jacobs most cherished of all his children, we are told it was because Joseph was the son of his old age. I would like to think that it was a little more than that: Joseph was also the firstborn son of Rachel, the wife Jacob loved the most. In my opinion, Joseph and Benjamin were his two favorite sons because they were the only sons Jacob and Rachel conceived together. The other brothers were envious of Joseph, and Jacob didn’t help matters by making Joseph a tunic as a sign that he was his favorite son. Jacob might as well have put a target on Josephs back in which to show the brothers where to aim their jealousies. It had to be hard for Joseph growing up day by day, listening to the hateful way in which his brothers spoke to him and treated him. Most younger brothers look up to their older siblings, and look to them for direction in their lives, someone they can go to when they are troubled for whatever cause. Joseph couldn’t do this, who does he go to? who does he look up to? I would have to say it was his father Jacob, and by all accounts of the story of this family, it was Joseph who was closest to the Lord than any of his brothers, because he had his father and only his father to bring him up in the ways of the Lord, and not be influenced by his brothers, who by all accounts, were not living a Godly life. Not to say they didn’t have God in their life, but like Esau, they were far removed from Him. This is only one man’s opinion. in all fairness to his brothers, especially Judah, to whom the promised seed will be passed down to, in which all nations of the earth would be blessed. They are still God’s chosen people, Sons of Israel, And they do follow the one true God.

5  Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more.                                                                                                                           

Before Joseph ever had any of his dreams, his brothers already hated him. After he tells them of this particular dream they begin to hate him even more.

6  So he said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed:                7  “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.”                                                                                                        8  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.                                                                                                       

God gives not only Joseph the gift of interpreting dreams, but as we read here, his brothers also share of this gift. Joseph didn’t have to give them any interpretation of his dream. We will see later on in Joseph’s life that he will indeed reign over them. Throughout the ages God has revealed himself to certain people, even kings, thru dreams and visions. In these dreams and visions He reveals to them certain events that will unfold in the future, sometimes hundreds of years before they come to pass. Other times God reveals Himself to individuals to warn them of their own demise for sins they were about to commit, or have committed (Compare Gen 20:3, 31: 10-13, 31:24, 41:17-25, Dan 2:26-28,  Matt 1:20, 2:13), there are many more places in the bible where God reveals himself to individuals thru dreams, I only touched the surface. The Lord God reveals Himself to us thru many ways. All we have to do is walk outside our homes, and see His creation at work: the beautiful flowers in full bloom, the birds how they fly thru the air with great ease. Look up into the heavens and see the stars, the sun, and the moon at night, and you will know that He exist (Heb 1:10) And He reveals Himself to us through dreams, for He knows the end from the beginning, and all things in between (Isa  46:9-11, 48:3-5,) 

9  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 eleven stars bowed down to me.”  42:6; Rev. 12:1                                                    10  So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him,”What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?”             27:29                                                                                                          11  And his brothers envied him, but his father kept the matter in mind.           

This time not only does the dream show his brothers bowing down to him but also his mother and father. Jacob ask’s his son Joseph if he and his mother would bow down to the earth before him. Joseph’s mother Rachel has been dead now for approximately ten years or more (According to my calculations), So I was left to wonder what Jacob meant when he mentions Joseph’s mother bowing down to him. Did Jacob say this figuratively? from Joseph’s earlier dream we know the sons of Jacob have the gift of interpreting dreams. Jacob to has this gift, Remember the Lord appeared to Jacob in  dreams. Once He appeared Jacob to reveal to him what would become of him and his descendants, and another time to assure him that He was with him during his times of trial, as the Lord promised. (Gen 28:12-16, 31:10). Joseph shares this dream in everyone’s presence. Jacob undoubtedly senses the uneasiness from all his other sons when Joseph tells them of this dream, knowing that they already envy and hate him. In my opinion; by Jacob including Joseph’s mother Rachel into this dream (she already being dead), makes the dream to be unreliable and insignificant: How can one who is dead bow down to Joseph? In saying this, Jacob is in essence saying to everyone (Not just Joseph), that this dream is just that (A dream), and nothing else, hoping to steady his sons into hating Joseph even more than they already do. Yet! Jacob knows better than to just brush off this dream personally. In his mind he doesn’t take this dream lightly (As he probably didn’t in Joseph’s first dream). Jacob will meditate on the dream, maybe even pray to God Almighty about it, and if a time ever comes where this dream is fulfilled, Joseph will act accordingly, knowing then, that God has set Joseph apart from all his other sons, and Joesph will be blessed, him and his descendants, tremendously. 

12  Then his brothers went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem.                      13  And Israel  said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” So he said to him, “Here I am.”     

Shechem is the place where Jacob pitched his tent and lived there for some time. He even went so far as to purchase a field from the Hamorites for one hundred pieces of silver. This is also where Jacob built an altar to God and called the place El (The God of Israel), in which to worship the Almighty One. After Isaac died, we are told that Jacob lived in the travels of his father in the land of Canaan (Gen 37:1)  Jacob is now dwelling near Hebron which is south of Shechem and probably a day or two’s journey from where he sends Joseph off to find his brothers.

14  Then he said to him,”Please go and see if it is well with your brothers and well with the flocks, and bring back word to me.” So he sent him out of the valley of Hebron, and he went to Shechem.      35:27                                             

 the city of Shechem is also the place where the son of Hamor (Shechem) defiled Jacobs daughter Dinah, who is the daughter of Leah, Jacobs first wife. Because of this, Jacobs ten older sons deceived the Hamorites into being circumcised, thinking this would make things right with the house of Israel. However Jacobs sons slaughtered all the males of Shechem and stole all their possessions, their children, and even their wives while the men of Shechem were recovering from their circumcision. Jacob had to leave the land because of this for fear of retribution by all the surrounding cities, and tribes. This is probably why he sends Joseph to find them to make sure they are safe.

15  Now a certain man found him, and there he was, wandering in the field. And the man asked him, saying, “What are you seeking?”                                        16  So he said, “I am seeking my brothers. Please tell me where they are feeding thier flocks.”                                                                                                                    17  And the man said, “They have departed from here, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.'” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan.                                                                                                                                             

Who is this man that  Joseph happens upon? What is the significance of this encounter? This is yet another one of those verses that God inserts into His story to Moses, and inherently to us the reader, that  makes me ask Why? Joseph was wondering in this field looking for his brothers, when he comes upon this man who ask’s him, “what are you seeking?” is this man an angel of the Lord? we are told in the scriptures not to be forgetful to entertain strangers because they could be angels that we are not aware of (Heb 13:2), In the Psalms David sings of angels that God puts charge over us to keep us in all our ways (Psa 91: 11), the fact that we are told Joseph is wondering in a field implies to me that he is at a loss of  where his brothers are, they should be in the area that Joseph is wondering in. So the Lord sends an angel in the form of a man to guide him in the direction he must go. Again, this is just my opinion, there are no referenced scriptures I can point to, that leads me to this conclusion. However I must point out that in the Jewish community, the Rabbi’s say that it is the angel Gabriel. They point to the prophet Daniel  for their understanding of just who this man is (Dan 9:21). If this is an angel sent by the Lord, then the direction He is sending him is into the lions den. In order for Josephs dreams to be fulfilled, and also to fulfill what God told Abraham about the fate of his descendants being afflicted for four hundred years (Gen 15:13), the events which are about to unfold will indeed fulfill the will of God, and in the process He will be glorified, as the One who knows the end from the beginning and all things in between. His words are true and faithful to the end.

18  Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, they conspired against him to kill him.    Mark 14:1                                                                19  Then they said to one another, “Look this dreamer is coming!                      20  “Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, ‘Some wild beast has devoured him.’ We shall see what will become of his dreams!”       Prov. 1:11                                                                                   

In the life of Joseph there are many similarities between him and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This verse here is but one example of these similarities. As referenced here (Mark 14:1), points directly to the similarity between the two. We must  remember that the sons of Jacob will make up what is to become, what I like to call, “The Israeli nation”  one day.  Just as the chief priests and the scribes (Made up of the descendants of Jacob), conspired to kill Jesus, so to the sons of Jacob are conspiring to kill Joseph. Also, as the priests and scribes did, the  the brothers devise a plan so that no one will be none the wiser as to thier evil intent, in the case of the brothers their Father Jacob. as in the case between Esau and Jacob, when Esau sought to kill his brother Jacob, Rebekah made the comment, “Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?” (See my commentary back in Gen 27: 43-45), Woe! to the sons of Jacob if he were to find out that they were the ones who killed his favorite son Joseph. Jacob would require blood from those who killed him. Which leads to another similarity between Joseph and Jesus Christ. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the only begotten son of God. even though we are all His children, God set Jesus apart from the rest of us (Sanctified him), and has made him special above all His other children. In the same turn Jacob  sets Joseph apart from the rest of his children, he makes him a tunic of many colors, signifying the special bond between the two.                       “We shall see what will become of his dreams!” the brothers declare. This is obviously a rhetorical comment on the brothers part, being that they intend to kill him. but when you think about it, it has great significance in both the similarity of Joseph and Jesus Christ, the time of Joseph, and in the latter days when the King of Kings and Lord of Lord returns to this earth to save mankind from itself. As we will see later on the brothers do indeed bow down to Joseph, more than once not knowing who he is (Gen 42:6, 43:26,),   And one day every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess (Isa 45:23, Rom 14:11). The similarities between these two men are too striking to just cast off as coincidence. I call Jesus man in this instance because He did strip Himself of his divinity, and came as a man, in the flesh, so that all nations of the earth would be blessed.

21  But Rueben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands, and said, “Let us not kill him.”       42:22                                                                                                22  And Rueben said to them,  “Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit which is in the wilderness, and do not lay a hand on him” –That he might deliver him out of their hands, and bring him back to his father.   v.29           

Rueben is the firstborn of Jacob’s from his wife Leah (Gen 35:23), Being the firstborn usually comes with it certain responsibilities, and esteem. Typically the firstborn inherits the birthright (Which is the promised seed, in which all nations will be blessed), along with the blessings of land and the inheritance of his fathers goods, but as we have seen in the case of Isaac, it was not Ishmael (firstborn of Abraham through Sarah’s handmaid, Hagar), who inherited the firstborn birthright, but Isaac. I will refer the reader back to my commentary in Gen 16:3-4,  for my explanation as to why this was. In the case of Esau and Jacob (Esau being the firstborn), in this case, we are told that Esau despised his birthright and sold it to Jacob for a pot of Stew (Gen 25: 31-34). This is the esteem part in which I mentioned earlier. Reuben (being the firstborn), should be esteemed as the one whose seed, is that of the promised seed in which all nations of the earth will be blessed. Being the elder brother also would make him responsible for the care of his other brothers, and his fathers house.  Reuben defends his brother Joseph because he feels responsible for him, so he persuades his other brothers not to shed the blood of  Joseph, but instead set him in a well until he can find the opportune time to rescue him from his brothers and bring him safely back to his father.

23  So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him.             vv. 3, 31-33                                                                                                                                     

  This tunic of many colors was made for Joseph by his father personally as a way of showing the deep love he had for his son. To the other brothers this tunic represented favoritism over them, and put Joseph at a higher esteem than the rest, maybe even to the point of getting a greater blessing than the  other brothers, or even taking away the birthright, and so they hated him for it. To strip Joseph of this tunic was a symbolic way of stripping Joseph of any blessings he would inherit in the future, that should be given to them.

24  Then they took and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it.                                                                                                                                  25  And they sat down to eat a meal. Then they lifted their eyes and looked, and their was a company of Ishmaelites, coming from Gilead with their camels, bearing spices, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry them down to Egypt.                                                                                                                                         

The pit that Joseph was cast into is actually a dried up well for water. Since this well had no water in it, there could have been all kinds of living creatures inhabiting this well, from rodents to roaches, snakes, and the like. In the twinkling of an eye Joseph has gone from being a boy of seventeen, with dreams of a future that looked very promising, stripped of the robe his father made for him, a robe that was fit for kings, and princes, to being cast into a pit full of darkness, doom and despair. While his brothers, sit above him eating a meal, having no remorse for what they had just done to their own flesh and blood. It’s as if they are having a feast in celebration of ridding themselves from that which once made them feel insignificant and subservient to their younger brother Joseph. the time that he was in this pit seemed like a lifetime to him. Time enough for him to think of the dreams he had been given, with a promise of being a king over the house of Israel, with his brothers bowing down to him, and yes even his father and mother. Knowing that these dreams of his was a gift from God as to what lie ahead for him, he must be wondering to himself, “How can this be if I am to die in this pit? ‘what would become of my dreams?” As far as he knows his brothers will leave him there to die, never being able to fulfill the promises given in his dreams. But help comes to him in the most unimaginable way. Ishmaelites happen upon Joseph and his brothers. Descendants of Abraham’s firstborn (Ishmael), son of Hagar, Sarah’s Egyptian handmaid.

26  So Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill 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 brothers listened.  42:21                                                                                                                                                    28  Then Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.                                                                         

Judah, the fourth son of Jacob, and ironically enough the one who will inherit the birthright blessing of the promised seed, in which all nations of the earth will be blessed. Thru the Lion of Judah Salvation will come to all nations, tribes and tongues. And Judah will deliver Joseph out of this pit, thus saving him from death, just as the lion of Judah saves us all from death eternal (Gen 49:8-11, Rev 5:4-10). It is Judah, who like Reuben, convinces his brothers not to kill Joseph. Instead Judah convinces his brothers to sale him to the Ishmaelites for a profit. God knows the hearts of men, and  only God knows the heart of Judah in this instance. Judah did not want to kill Joseph and be guilty of his blood, this we know for sure because he even tells his brothers not to let Joseph’s blood be upon them. He had to convince his brothers not to kill Joseph; so he entices his brothers with the things of the world that men love, or should I say lust after? (1 John 2:15-16). In this case it is the lust of the eyes, and of the flesh. The love of Money! this is their weakness, the lust of the eyes in that when they see its beauty they desire to have it, they covet it, knowing that they can buy all kinds of other worldly things with this precious metal. this love for money also produces  in itself the lust of the flesh, in the case of not only the brothers, but all men  who lust after the things of the world, the silver is something they feel they can’t live without, they just have to have it, again, they covet it. Josephs brothers place more value on the silver than they do on their desire to kill him. In my opinion this is what Judah is banking on in order to deliver his brother from certain death.

29  Then Rueben returned to the pit, and indeed Joseph was not in the pit; and he tore his clothes.     v.22                                                                                                30  And he returned to his brothers and said, “The lad is no more; and I, where shall I go?”                                                                                                                     

As I previously stated: Reuben, being the oldest brother, feels a certain responsibility for the well being of all his brothers, including Joseph, no matter how much he hated him. This is what is meant when he says in verse four, “The lad is no more, where shall I go?” But where was Reuben when all this occurred, was he tending to the flocks? did he go back into Shechem, or one of the other surrounding cities for supplies? Why would he leave Joseph alone among a pack of ravenous wolves, ready to devour him at a moments notice, if he meant to deliver him out of the hands of his brothers, so that he could return to his father with Joseph safely? (Gen 37:22). My only logical conclusion I can come to is that it was providence, (Divine guidance from God above), For He will do all His pleasure ( Isa 46: 9-10), and all things work together for the good, according to His purpose (Rom 8:28). 

31  So they took Joseph’s tunic, killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the tunic in the blood.        vv. 3, 23                                                                                                          32  Then they sent the tunic of many colors, and they brought it to their father and said, “We have found this. Do you know whether it is your son’s tunic or not?”                                                                                                                                  33  And he recognized it and said, “It is my son’s tunic. A wild beast has devoured him. Without doubt Joseph is torn to pieces.”                                            34  Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son many days.       v.29                                                                                                       

 The brothers killed a kid of the goats and dipped it in blood as a way of deceiving their father. Jacob also used  a coat from the kid of goats to  deceive his own father Isaac into thinking he was Esau so he could steal the blessings away from his brother.                                                                                           A sacrifice had to be made in order to preserve not only the nation of Israel,but also to bless Egypt, and all the known surrounding peoples, tribes, and tongues. Joseph was sent ahead (As a sacrifice), to Egypt before his brothers and father, so that he could preserve, and deliver them from certain death because of the famine  (Gen 45: 5-8). In the same turn, Joseph eventually was reconciled to his brothers and he forgave them for the sins they had committed against him, for he knew they were truly repentant as he heard them confess of the sin they committed against him (Gen 42:21-23). Compare this story to that of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ: Just as God preordained for Joseph to be sent to Egypt first, to preserve the seed of Jacob, and reconcile his brothers to him, so to God preordained that a sacrifice had to be made; from the foundation of the earth (1 Pet 1:18-23), That He would send us a deliverer (Rom 11:26-27), so as to reconcile man to Him, and we to would be forgiven for the remission of our sins if we would confess, and truly repent from our own sins. Like Joseph, whose brothers left him for dead (so to speak), by selling him into slavery; for to live as a slave is likening to being dead. So to did the chief priests and scribes seek to kill Jesus. As far as Josephs brothers were concerned, he was dead, they had killed him, but he was resurrected before them when they went into Egypt because of the famine in the land. And So to did the Chief priests and scribes kill Jesus, only to find out three days later that he to had been resurrected, and the promise God made to Abraham that all nations of the earth were to be blessed, were fulfilled. Just as all the nations surrounding Egypt had been blessed thru Joseph.

35  And all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and he said,  “For I shall go down into the grave to my son in mourning.” Thus his father wept for him.                                                  36  Now the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, and officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard.  

In the beginning of this chapter we were told that Israel loved Joseph more than any of his children because he was born when Israel was old in his years. I believe personally that he also loved Joseph more than all his children because he was the firstborn of Rachel (The woman he loved the most). Here in the end of this chapter Israel’s love for Joseph is expressed in his mourning over the loss of him. Israel cannot be comforted by anyone, his love for Joseph is so deep, that he even says he will mourn for him for the rest of life. The brothers use a   In verse thirty five it is revealed to us that Dinah was not the only daughter Jacob had. Dinah is just the only one whose life has an important significance in God’s story to us, and role she played in guiding Israel’s destiny as to where they would settle, and be known to the inhabitants in the land in which they were strangers in.                 In verse twenty seven the brothers say they will sell Joseph to a caravan of Ishmaelites that happen to be passing by . Here we read they sell Joseph to the Midianites. The Midianites are a tribe that lives in the land of Ishmael (Abraham’s firstborn son of Hagar). It is the same as me being a Texan, yet I live in America. Not all Americans are Texans, but all Texans are Americans,; just as all Midianites are Ishmaelites, but not all Ishmaelites are Midianites.                                                                                                                                  Joseph is sold to the Midianites, who in turn sale him into slavery to the Egyptians. In my opinion this is the beginning of the four hundred years of slavery the descendants of Abraham’s will endure as told to him in a dream by the Lord God Almighty (Gen 15:12-14). it appears that most scholars, and even in the Jewish teachings, teach that the four hundred years of affliction began at the time of Abraham’s departure from the land of Haran to Canaan, and the extra thirty years (Exo 12:40-41), which Moses states was a total of four hundred and thirty years, was from Abraham’s departure to the land of Canaan,  to the time that Ishmael was mocking Isaac during his weaning celebration when Isaac was but a child. During my own studies of this prophecy I could not buy into this theory, and I will give my reasoning as to why.  In Genesis fifteen verse thirteen Abraham’s seed twice is mentioned as being strangers in a land that is not “theirs,” Abraham was never afflicted or even in slavery at any time while he was alive, neither was His son Isaac.  Joseph is seventeen years old at the beginning of this chapter. The way I understand this chapter he is still seventeen or maybe eighteen from the time of the beginning of this chapter up the end when he was sold into slavery. Abraham’s dream was that his descendants would be afflicted for four hundred years. Moses says they lived in Egypt four hundred and thirty years. How do we reconcile this difference? let me give my opinion. Joseph was the first descendant to be afflicted and sold into slavery to Egypt, and then years later his brothers, and father come into Egypt. Now we know that the dream the Pharaoh had, and interpreted by Joseph would account for fourteen years of Joseph’s time in Egypt (Gen 41:17-30). Before the time of this dream, Joseph was first a slave of a man named Potiphar  who was an officer of the Pharaoh, and captain of the guard. in chapter thirty nine we are told that the Lord was with Joseph and he prospered while in the house of Potiphar, and he made Joseph ruler over all of his household and during this time the Lord blessed Potiphar s house and all that he had for Joseph’s sake (Gen 39:1-5), All this had to take some time for these blessings to be performed upon Potiphar and his household (probably a few years), as a matter of fact, verse five said all this had to come to pass before the blessings came. In my opinion, when Joseph first became a slave to Potiphar it also took some time before he trusted Joseph enough to make him ruler of his house. After this in verse thirty seven it says again that “it came to pass” that the wife of Potiphar made advancements, over and over towards Joseph. Finally, after many refusal’s by Joseph, Potiphar s wife accused Joseph of trying to rape her, in turn he was put into prison (Gen 39:”7-14). While Joseph was in prison, the Lord was once again with him and blessed him  to where he eventually was made overseer of the prison by the keeper of the prison (Gen 39:21-23). During this stay in prison Joseph interprets a couple dreams by other inmates, and he accurately interprets these dreams to the inmates, (Gen 40) This eventually leads Joseph out of prison to go and interpret the dream of the Pharaoh, of the seven years of plenty, followed by seven years of famine. Moses said that his people were in slavery for four hundred and thirty years (Exo 12:20-41). Then in Genesis forty one verse forty six we read that Joseph was thirty years old upon entering the house of the Pharaoh. That would be thirteen years since he entered into Egypt. Then we have the seven years of plenty, followed by seven years of famine. This would add up to twenty seven years since he first entered into Egypt. We do not know exactly when the first seven years of plenty began from the time the Pharaoh appointed Joseph ruler of his house. What we do know is that Joseph  got married, left the Presence of the Pharaoh, and went thru all the land of Egypt. The logistics to make ready the people, and store up all the land of Egypt, for the coming seven years of plenty, would be tremendous and take time. This could account for the extra three years, making it a total of thirty years since Joseph was sold into slavery. The point I am trying to make here is that if we take into account of the time Joseph first entered into Egypt, the time that his brothers and family joined him, and the end of the famine, could add up to about thirty years. Accounting for the extra thirty years we read in Exodus 12:40-41, verses the vision of Abraham’s that it would be four hundred years they were servants to Egypt and finally being afflicted by them (Gen 15:13). Again I want to state that this is my humble opinion as to when the four hundred years of affliction began. Upon naming Ephraim (Joseph’s second born), he states that the Lord caused him to be fruitful in the land of his affliction (Gen 41:52). Joseph calls Egypt “The land of my affliction,” even though Joseph wasn’t a slave for the first thirty years, as a whole, while in Egypt, in his mind he was afflicted the whole time there, one reason could be because his soul yearned to be with his father, another reason maybe was because of what his brothers had done to him. Jacob was in Joseph’s thoughts continuously, it pained him to be away from him, not only that, it hurt Joseph to think of what his brothers had done to him. Yes! he was truly afflicted even in the best of times while in Egypt.  “out of the mouth of babes,” interestingly enough this saying comes from the scriptures (Psa 8:2, Matt 21:16), I didn’t know this when I thought it, but something led me to write it down here, and to see where this saying came from. after discovering where this came from I think it is very fitting I added this to my commentary, which leads me to believe that maybe it is God’s Spirit that led me to this scripture. “He will send us a comforter” (John 14:15-18, Acts 1:8), but I digress.                                                                                                                                       Jacob came into the land of Egypt when he was 130 years of age, and lived for seventeen more years until his passing ( Gen 47:28). According to my genealogy chart, and family tree, which I have kept record of, beginning with the creation of Adam, this puts Jacob arriving in the land of Egypt at the year 2238 AC (After creation); I would refer the reader to go to my charts menu to see the genealogy charts I have recorded to see where and how I get my dates. In my opinion, Jacob himself was never afflicted while in Egypt, as his son Joseph was when he first arrived there. This leads me to believe that the prophecy giving to Abraham, by the Lord: that his descendants would be strangers in a land, serve the people of that land, and eventually be afflicted by these people (Gen 15:13), began at the time of Joseph’s arrival into Egypt when he was seventeen years old. According to Genesis 47:28 Jacob died at the age of one hundred and forty seven years old, after living in Egypt for seventeen years (Gen 47:9), Joseph was approximately thirty six years of age when his father Jacob came into the land of Egypt (Gen 41:46), this is a rough estimate on my part, and cannot be proven thru the scriptures, but based solely upon my research in the matter. With this said, based upon my own conclusions, I personally put the time of the vision given to Abraham (Gen 15:13), began around the years 2200-2206 AC (After Creation). This would make Joseph somewhere between the ages of 30-36 years of age. This is all based upon my premise that the vision given to Abraham in chapter fifteen of Genesis, began with the arrival of Joseph into the land of Egypt.

35

1  Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there; and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother,” Gen 28:19                                                                                             

Then God (H430) said to Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel (H1008)  and dwell there; and make an altar (derived from H2076), there to God (H410). I thought it appropriate to show the original Hebrew words using the Strong’s and BDB Hebrew definition to help clarify what is being said as I am understanding it. So God (Elohim), in the plural sense, is the same Hebrew word for God we see being used throughout the first chapters of Genesis during creation, and beyond. We know that in the beginning all things were created by the Word (Gen 1:1-31),  and the Word became flesh, and He dwelt among us and we beheld His glory as the only Begotten of the Father (John 1:1, 14), This verse could then be read as such: Then God (The word) said to Jacob, arise, go up to the “house of God” (Bethel), and make an altar in which to offer sacrifices to the Almighty God (H410), singular, meaning God the Father (the one true God).                                                                      Now when Jacob was fleeing from the face of his brother Esau, he took a stone and made a pillow, on which he laid his head. That night Jacob had a vision of  Angels ascending, and descending to heaven. When He awoke from this vision he took the stone and made a pillar, poured oil on it, as a way of consecrating the stone to God, and as a marker of the place, and he called the place Bethel (House of God), (Gen 28: 18-19). As I quoted Adam Clarke back in Genesis twenty eight, I will again quote the same commentary here”                                                                                                                        Adam  Clarke’s commentary:                                                                                                      And Jacob – took the stone – and set it up for a pillar – He placed the stone in an erect posture, that it might stand as a monument of the extraordinary vision which he had in this place; and he poured oil upon it, thereby consecrating it to God, so that it might be considered an altar on which libations might be poured, and sacrifices offered unto God.                                                                                                    Typically a pillar was erected as a way of marking a spot to memorialize and event, and altars were built on which to make sacrifices. In order to reconcile why Adam Clarke says that Jacob poured oil on this pillar in which to offer up sacrifices, and make an altar instead I would again like to go to the commentaries on Gen 28:18-19, this time I will be quoting from John Wesley’s notes on the bible:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    He set up the stone for a pillar – To mark the place again, if he came back, and erect a lasting monument of God’s favor to him: and because he had not time now to build an altar here, as Abraham did in the places where God appeared to him, (Gen 12:7), he therefore poured oil on the top of this stone, which probably was the ceremony then used in dedicating their altars, as an earnest of his building an altar when he should have conveniences for it, as afterwards he did, in gratitude to God, (Gen 5:7). Grants of mercy call for our returns of duty and the sweet communion we have with God ought ever to be remembered.

2 And Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, and change your garments.          Gen 31:34                                                                                                            3″Then let us arise and go up to Bethel; and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me in the way which I have gone.”                                                                                                  4 So they gave Jacob all their foreign gods which were in their hands, and the earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob  hid them under the terebinth tree which was by Shechem.                                                                     

Verse one is very revealing about the house of Jacob, his family, and all the people that were with him. By Jacob telling them to “Put away their gods, purify themselves, and change their garments,” we can see that all of his people have been defiled themselves, while living in the midst of the people of the city of Shechem. They have forsaken the God of Israel/Jacob, and have turned to other gods in which to worship. Some of these Idols and jewelry they have, were probably taken from the people of Shechem when they killed all the men and looted to city. Even in the way they dress is not that of a holy people, to which one day the true God will reveal to them this identity of theirs:  A Holy people unto God (Exo 19:1-6), there are similarities in the book of Exodus and what God is doing with Jacob and his people at this moment, like the book of Exodus, God is sending them out from a land which they have been a slave to (Not in a physical sense like in Egypt), but  spiritual. They have become slaves to the gods of the world, not only in worship, but also in the clothes they wear,  and they have started to covet the things of gold and silver in which they wear as earrings on their bodies. The things which ought to not be done in Israel (Gen 34:7). If they are to become a holy people unto God, and a light to the world, they must first leave behind all the things of the world, and purify themselves (Wash themselves clean), from the sins they have committed while in Shechem, before they can come and dwell in the midst of the house of God, that is Bethel. Just as we (The church: spiritual Israel), have been washed clean from our sins by the blood of Christ (Rev 1:5). in which he tore down the veil which kept us from having direct access to the household of God ( Compare Matt 27:50-51, 2 Cor 3:14- 17, Eph 2:13-190. So the people did all that Jacob commanded them, and he took all these false idols and buried them.                   One side note that just came to mind, and that is Rachel (Jacobs wife who he loved the most), when she left Padan Aram, she stole her father’s idols of worship, hid them from Jacob, and even her father when he chased after them asking for those idols (Gen 31: 19, 30-34), by this, we know that even before they came to the city of Shechem Leah was worshiping false Idols. As far as what we read in the scriptures Jacob never knew of this. With this said, did Leah keep from Jacob her idols even now when he asked for everyone to give them up? we don’t know, but I find it an interesting tidbit of information in which to end this commentary. 

5 And they journeyed, and the terror of God was upon the cities that were all around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.

The Lord said He would be with Jacob in his journey’s, (Gen 28:13-15), Emphasis on verse fifteen, “I am with you, and will keep you in every place where you go.” It is God who is putting the fear in all the cities where Jacob goes in his journey to Bethel. “The Lord Will Provide.” This seems to be my mantra as I study the book of Genesis. it has come up numerous times since I first began my own journey into the pursuit of my Father above, and His truths. 

6 So Jacob came to Luz (That is Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him.     Gen 28:19                                                      7  And he built an altar there and called the place El Bethel, because there God appeared to him when he fled from the face of his brother.

Jacob is back in familiar territory now. This is where he had his dream of the angels ascending and descending to heaven, This is the place where God confirms His covenant (The Abrahamic covenant), the promise of inheritance, and more importantly (To me at least), the promised seed, in which all nations of the earth shall be blessed. This is where Jacob built an pillar of stone (Not made of man, but of God, who created the stone), and he anointed the pillar with oil, as a memorial commemorating the encounter he had with the Lord at that time. “THIS”! is where Jacob promised God, that “if” (Such a small word, with such huge implications), He would keep him in his way that he goes, give him food to eat,and put clothes on his back, so that he would return to his father in peace, Then the Lord Jehovah would surely be his God, and he will give a tenth of all that he has to the Almighty God (Gen 28:20-22). So Jacob builds an altar (Again not cut by the hands of men, but of stones created by God Almighty), in which he will offer up sacrifices, giving a tenth of all he has to the Lord. Just a reminder to the reader, during the time of Jacob, men’s wealth was also determined in their livestock, and not by silver or Gold alone.

8 Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died and she  was buried below Bethel under the terebinth tree. So the name of it was called Allon Bachuth.             

  I tarried over this verse for some time wondering why God would mention Deborah in this one verse in the bible. No where else in the scriptures do we see her ever mentioned again. To me, if she was important enough for my Father above to mention her in His word, then it is important for me to understand her importance to Him. At first I thought God was talking in the past tense to the death and burial of Deborah, also I went to the Chabad.org website, and here Rabbi Rashi in his commentary also says that Deborah died on her way to bringing Jacob back from Padan Aram. 

Rabbi Rashi:                                                                                                                                And Deborah…died: What connection does Deborah have with Jacob’s household? However, since Rebecca said to Jacob, “and I will send and take you from there” (above 27:45), [it was] Deborah [whom] she sent to him, to Padan-aram [to instruct him] to leave from there, and she died on the way. I learned this from the words of Rabbi Moshe Hadarshan. — [from Bereishith Rabbathi, p. 113]

 I do not subscribe to the teachings of Rabbi Rashi that Deborah died on her way to bringing Jacob back from Padan Aram. But, even if Rabbi Rashi is correct, this still does not answer my most important question I had: Why is Deborah so important to God, for Him to mention her in this one verse? So I meditated on these verses, and I prayed for God’s guidance on more than one occasion  about it, Heck, I even went so far as to invite my pastor over to my house so we could discuss this one small verse, and maybe he could shed some light for me. In the end, before my pastor came to my house, the Lord God Almighty showed me what I believe to be the truth behind this verse, in a way that only He can do. “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you” (Compare James 4:8  Matt 7:7). I went to the commentaries I sometimes use to help me in my understanding from time to time, and what I got from those commentaries helped me in understanding the “Why” I had been searching for. It is in John Wesley’s commentary that seems to make the most sense to me in regards to the life of Deborah, her importance, and the time of her death (Be it in this present time, and not past tense), therefore I would like to quote what he wrote about Deborah.

John Wesley’s notes on the bible:                                                                                           There he buried Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse – We have reason to think that Jacob, after he came to Canaan, while his family dwelt near Shechem, went himself to visit his father Isaac at Hebron. Rebekah probably was dead, but her old nurse (of whom mention is made Gen_24:59,) survived her, and Jacob took her to his family. While they were at Beth – el she died, and died lamented, so much lamented, that the oak under which she was buried, was called Allon – bachuth, the oak of weeping.

  Jacob did tell his brother Esau that he would follow behind him after his livestock and children were well rested from their journey from Padan Aram (Gen 33:14).  Once his house was built in Succoth, after he purchased a field in Shechem, and his family and people were established there, he would have had the time to journey on to his father house.  Don’t forget also that part of Jacobs promise to God (In order for Jehovah to be his God), that he had to return to his father’s house in peace (Gen 28:21), and he would give a tenth to the Lord of all the he had. As John Wesley points out, Rebekah’s death had already occurred before Jacob arrived back to his fathers house. How and when she died the scriptures do not say. Could this be part of the curse she put upon herself back when she deceived her husband Isaac (Gen 27:13), in stealing the blessing away from her son Esau? just food for thought. The only mention of her death is in Gen 49:31, and only then to say that she was buried in the field of Machpelah (Before Mamre), along with Isaac, Abraham, and Sarah. But I digress. Back to Deborah, Deborah was Rebekah’s nurse, and we know that Jacob lived in the tents, he was a shepherd, because of this Rebekah loved him more than Esau ( Gen 25:27-28),With all this in mind, in my opinion, Deborah helped raise Jacob since his birth. She was like a mother to him, Jacob undoubtedly loved her very much. When Jacob came back to his fathers house he was grieved to hear of the death of his mother, and as a way of helping Jacob cope with this death, Isaac gave Deborah to him in this visit. to me, Deborah was near and dear to Jacobs heart, her, and Leah are probably the two most important women in his life after the death of Rebekah. Because of Jacobs righteousness, like that of Noah: Whose own family was saved because of his righteousness ( Gen 6:8-9), and Lot (Whom I believe was found to be righteous also in God’s eyes), when the angels asked him if there were anymore loved ones in the city for to bring out before God would destroy the city (Gen 19:12-13),  this leads me to believe that the righteous man whom God holds near and dear to His own heart, and because of their righteousness, The Lord sets apart those that the righteous man holds close to his own heart, and in honoring Jacob, Deborah is forever memorialized in this one little verse and has been sanctified thru him. What a great honor it is to be mentioned in Gods holy word, if only in one sentence. This is what I find to be the truth in why God mentioned Deborah in this one little passage that most people glance over. An I myself would like to honor Deborah in the spirit of the Lord with a poem that was mentioned by Adam Clarke, in his own commentary of this verse. the poem was written by a very well respected Roman poet named Virgil, who lived between the years 70 bce and 21 bce:                                                                                                                                                                    Virgil:                                                                                                                                                   As for you, from our shores, Aeneas’ s nurse, the fame of your death eternal, Fuerteventura, you have given                                                                      “Thou too, Cajeta, whose indulgent cares
Nursed the great chief, and form’d his tender years,
Expiring here (an ever-honor’d name!)
Adorn Hesperia with immortal fame:
Thy name survives, to please thy pensive ghost;
Thy sacred relics grace the Latian coast.
Soon as her funeral rites the prince had paid,
And raised a tomb in honor of the dead;
The sea subsiding, and the tempests o’er,
He spreads the flying sails, and leaves the shore.”
Pitt.

9  Then God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Padan Aram, and blessed him.                                                                                                                                10  And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name.” So He called his name Israel.    Gen 32:28                                                                                                                                      11  Also God said to him, “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body.                                                                                                            12  “The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your descendants after you I give this land.” Gen 12:7; 13:15; 26:3, 4; 28:13                13  Then God went up from him in the place where He talked with him.        14  So Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He talked with him, a pillar of stone; and he poured a drink offering on it, and he poured oil on it.             Gen 28:18, 19; 31:45                                                                                                                     15  And Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him, Bethel.          Gen 28:19                                                                                                               

Here again are more verses that I tarried over, this time it is me thinking to myself, “Are verses nine thru sixteen speaking in the present tense or the past tense?” at first I thought God was speaking in the past tense, but when I read the commentary from my own church, and other commentaries, they all speak of these verses being in the present tense, and that this appearance of God happened upon Jacobs arrival to Bethel after fleeing from Shechem. I have read these verses over and over and over, and I have come to the conclusion that this just can’t be, and I will explain why. But before I do, I want to make it clear to the reader that I am not saying I know more than  the Biblical scholars who have studied the bible many, many years more than I have, or that they are wrong. No! I am but a simple man trying to learn the word of God as I understand it and the way I feel His spirit leads me. This also is not a salvational issue, if it were, I would indeed consult with my church and it’s pastors to show me the error of my ways. An I   would like to state to anyone who reads this particular commentary on these verses, if you see the error of my reasoning please email me in the comments section of my website, I am more than glad to hear any input from anyone, as long it is respectful in manner, and based upon sound biblical understanding. With all that said, let me give my opinion (this is my opinion only, and I own it), as to why I believe God is speaking to us in past tense here and why.                                                                                                                        In verses nine thru fifteen I believe what is being told here is a reflection back on the journey’s of Jacob and his encounters with God. verses nine and ten in my opinion is reflecting back to the time (Not long ago), of when Jacob wrestled with God (Gen 32: 24-30), upon his return to the land of Canaan from Padan Aram (Verse nine even says, “God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Padan Aram”), it was also back in Gen 32:28 when God gives Jacob the new name of Israel.  Verses fourteen and fifteen however is speaking of the time when Jacob was on his way to Padan Aram when he was fleeing from the face of his brother Esau, and he had the dream of angels ascending , and descending on a ladder that reached the heavens, where God stood above it ( Gen 28: 12-13), so these verses have to be speaking in past tense. The beginning of verse eleven starts with, “Also God said to him” this is Continuing on from verses nine and ten, there is no other way to interpret this. However the wording is different here than what we read back in chapter thirty two, verse twenty nine. In Gen 32:29 all we are told is that God blessed Jacob, but we are not told of the blessing, what it consisted of, And I must say that when I first read Gen 32:29, I thought to myself,”What was the blessing God gave to Jacob?” well I think I have found the answer to my question here in verses eleven and twelve: “Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body.’ “The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your descendants after you I give this land.” here in Genesis 35:11-12, God is merely filling in the blanks for us, just like He did way back in Genesis 2:4-25. So God is letting the reader know exactly when He gave these blessings, by describing the events leading up to, and following them. Here a little there a little, there a little, line upon line, precept upon precept ( Isa 28:10,13). Verse eleven is a very important verse in another way as well: “A nation, and a company of nations shall proceed from you,” This blessing will be passed on to his son Joseph (whom he loved more than any of his other sons, (Gen 37:3), by Jacob himself,  birthed by the wife whom Jacob loved the most (Rachel), and handed down to Josephs sons Ephraim and Manasseh (Compare Gen 48:3-26,  49:22-26). I would urge the reader her to read or order the free pamphlet, The United States and Britain in Bible prophecy to get a better understanding of this blessing and how it affects us here in the United States, Britain, and all the English speaking nations of the world.                                                                            

16  Then they journeyed from Bethel. and when there was but a little distance to go to Ephrath, Rachel labored in childbirth, and she had hard labor.   Ruth 1:2; Mic. 5:2; Matt. 2:6                                                                                         

How long Jacob stayed in Bethel, before he left for Ephrath (H672), Also known as Bethlehem? The scriptures do not say. And why was Jacob traveling to Ephrath? Another thing that is not told to us in the scriptures, and all the commentaries are silent, in regards to the why that I ask here. The only thing that I can come up with is that, for whatever reason, God told Jacob to go down to Ephrath. Throughout Jacob’s life, whenever he departed from one place to another it is because God told him to (With the exception of when his mother Rebekah told him to go to the land of Padan Aram). Now Ephrath (Bethlehem) we know is the birthplace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

17  Now it came to pass, when she was in hard labor, that the midwife said to her, “Do not fear; you will have this son also.”      Gen 30:24                                 

(Gen 30:24), when Rachel gave birth to Joseph she exclaimed, “The Lord shall add to me another son,” speaking of the future. The midwife who is with Rachel assures her not to fear, she will have this son. this has to be the same midwife who was there with Rachel when she gave birth to Joseph. It would also explain why the midwife makes this statement and why Genesis, chapter thirty, verse twenty four, is being referenced in the Bible.

18  And so it was, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she called his name Ben-Oni, but his father called him Benjamin.                                                    19  So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem), Gen 48:7; Mic. 5:2                                                                                                20  And Jacob set a pillar on her grave, which is the pillar of Rachel’s grave to this day.     1 Sam. 10:2                                                                                                       

  Ben-oni (H1126), The name Rachel gave to her son has great significance to her. Back when Rachel was having trouble conceiving for Jacob she cried out to Jacob, “Give me sons or else I die,” (Gen 30:1), her sister Leah had already bore sons to Jacob, and Rachel was envious of this. Rachel was so desperate to have sons that she even Gave her handmaid Bilhah to Jacob, so that through Bilhah she could have sons. I have already explained back in chapter thirty the reasoning people had back then when the wife would use her handmaid to bear children for them. So I would refer the reader to go back to chapter thirty and read my commentary on the matter. I digress, we read back in chapter thirty Rachel’s agony over not being able have sons. When she finally conceives and gives birth to Joseph she states that God has taken away her reproach (Shame, Disgrace), (Gen 30:23). with all this said, in my opinion, all this time after the birth of Joseph, and now finally the birth of her second son, Rachel has been in a very sorrowful state because she could only give Joseph one son. The birth of Ben-Oni is an answer from God, for her sorrows, just as Joseph was, when she bore him. (Gen 30:22). This is Rachel’s life in a nutshell (If you will), always second fiddle to her sister as far as child bearing, but first in the heart of Jacob. The woman who he truly loved. To Rachel, the name Ben-Oni is was not given by Rachel because of sadness, but because of Joy, For in the end, God again remembered her and took away her reproach. To Jacob however it was truly a sorrowful time,He has just lost the woman he truly loved, and was near and dear to his heart. Not just that, but it wasn’t long ago that he lost Deborah, a woman who was like a mother to him, and also very close to his heart. How could he look at his youngest son and call him “Ben-Oni” for him it would truly be a sorrowful thing to be reminded of the death of his love (Rachel), while given birth to him. So Jacob names him Benjamin  (H1144), “Son of my right hand” The significance of changing Ben-Oni’s name to Benjamin is huge when you think about it. Our Lord Jesus Christ , upon his death and resurrection sat at the right hand of his Father, and still does to this day (Compare Mar 16:19, Acts 7:55-56, 1 Col 3:1).  Rachel gave birth to Benjamin, and died near Bethlehem (which is where our Lord Jesus Christ was born). Just a little nugget here, Jerusalem is on the route from Bethel to Ephrath, near Bethlehem. Could this be where Rachel was buried?  continuing, at the time of the settlement of Canaan, of all the tribes of Israel, the tribe of Benjamin’s descendants were allotted the land all around Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Bethel, in the midst of The tribe of Judah. During the time of the Exodus, right before Israel enters into the promised land, Moses gives his last blessing upon the people of Israel. In this blessing Moses makes what I believe to be a profound statement about the Descendants of Benjamin: That Benjamin sits in between the shoulders of Jehovah (Deut 33:12). Bethel ( The house of God), and Bethlehem (The birthplace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ), and in between these two is Jerusalem, the place where the temple of God was consecrated, where God once dwelt, and will again. If you look at where the tribe of Benjamin was allotted their land, it is right in the midst of Jerusalem, slightly to the north is Bethel, and slightly to the south of Jerusalem is Bethlehem, In between: the shoulders of God As I see it. The tribe of Benjamin ( Son of the right hand), is cradled at the bosom of God, with two of the Holiest places in all Israel, and Christianity, on either side. This is the first thing that came to my mind when contemplating the naming of Benjamin. The more obvious interpretation, is the importance of Jacob saying that Benjamin is the son of his right hand. This is a high honor to be seated at the right hand of the father, especially one who has eleven other sons, to whom the first born is usually bestowed with such honor. Even Joseph, who we are told is the son Jacob loved the most out of all his children (Gen 37:3), was not spoken of in such high esteem.  Benjamin is near and dear to the heart of Jacob, as such God honors him by placing him at the bosom of God (In between His shoulders).

21  Then Israel journeyed and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder.        22  And it happened, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Rueben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine; and Israel heard about it.                        Now the sons of Jacob were twelve:     Gen 49:4                                                               

by all indications, according to the biblical records, and even found in the Talmudic writings, the Tower id Eder is located just outside of Bethlehem. In Hebrew the tower of Eder literally means “The tower of the flock.”(H4026, H4029) Many believe that this is the same tower in which the angels appeared to the shepherds, to proclaim to them the birth of the Messiah. Whether or not this is true I do not know, and there is no definite proof of this to be the case. This tower would be a place in which shepherds would use to watch over their flocks as they graze in the fields. As we see Jacob only pitched his tent here, indicating that this was only a temporary dwelling for him and his family. What I feel compelled to write here about Jacob’s stay in  this tower o Eder, is the similarity of the story Jesus when he appeared to Peter after his resurrection. Often times Israel, and the church are referred to as sheep, as in the case when Jesus asked Peter to tend to his sheep (John 21:15-17). Jacob would stand at the tower watching over his sheep literally, but spiritually I would like to think that he is also watching his sons (the spiritual sheep), of the twelve tribes of Israel, tending to them and raising them up in the ways of the Lord. In verse twenty two we read where Rueben (Jacobs firstborn) lay with Jacobs concubine Bilhah (Rachel’s handmaid), and Israel heard about it, and as I would like to say While he was watching over his lambs (the little ones of Israel) he heard about his one lamb (Rueben), and what he had done.  I find it interesting to note, that in the following verses (22-26), We are told (by their names), who exactly the sons of Jacob are, and who bore them. This, appears (To me at least), to correlate with  my understanding of the spiritual aspect of these verses.                                                              

23  the sons of Leah were Rueben, Jacob’s firstborn, and Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun;                                                                                           24  the sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin;                                                  25  the sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s maidservant, were Dan and Naphtali;          26  and the sons of Zilpah, Leah’s maidservant, were Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Padan Aram.               

With the death of Rachel the twelve tribes of Israel are now established, and  God  is basically putting a period mark by proclaiming to the world who these twelve sons are, mentioning them by their names, and who bore them.  Although we will see later, that Jacob declares Josephs sons as his own, “Just as Rueben and Simeon” (Gen 48:5), making for a total of fourteen tribes of Israel.

27  Then Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kirjath Arba (that is Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had dwelt.  Gen 13:18; 18:1; Josh. 14:15        28  Now the days of Isaac were one hundred and eighty years.                          29  So Isaac breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people, being old and full of days. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him. 

  Abraham bought a parcel of land in the field of Machpelah, which is by Mamre, to bury his Wife Sarah. This is where Abraham settled after the death of Sarah, and he to was buried next to her at his death. As we will see, all the patriarchs; Abraham, Isaac , and Jacob, along with their wives will be buried in the same location except for Jacobs wife Rachel (The wife he loved the most), in Jacobs case it is Leah (his first wife, sister of Rachel), who is buried beside him. Isaac dies at one hundred and eighty years, in the year 2228 AC (After creation), Esau and Jacob were one hundred and twenty years old when their father Isaac passed away, for they were twins. We are not told of the dates in which all the children of Jacob’s were born, or how old Jacob was for that matter. therefore we must read certain parts of the  Genesis account very carefully in order to come to a determination of the age of Joseph. The reason I am focusing on Joseph here more than I am Judah (In which the promised seed is to come from), to which all the nations of the earth will be blessed, is because from here on, to the end of the book of Genesis, Joseph is the main character. Not to take away from the importance of Judah. We will indeed be told of him, and the lineage of his seed. Another reason why I am focused on Joseph’s age is because of the Prophecy God gave to Abraham about his descendants, their demise, and how long they would be afflicted (Gen 15:13, 16). As I said earlier, the scriptures do not give us specific dates as to the age of Jacob when he had all of his children, or that of his children. I went to the commentaries to see if they would give me some clues on this matter. Only a few of the commentaries speak of Joseph, and not Judah, and even then all that is said is that Isaac was alive for at least twelve to fifteen years  after Joseph went into slavery, none mention Josephs age. So I went to chabad.org, and read Rabbi Rashi’s commentary. This is where I found a trove of information in regards to the ages of Jacob, during certain times of his life, and how it correlates to the story of Joseph, his age, and the timeline in which all these events took place from the death of Isaac, to Joseph’s age at the time of his death, and at the time he was sold into slavery by his brothers, down to Jacob’s arrival into Egypt. Rabbi Rashi references  scriptures to show how he determines this timeline (which I don’t think I could have figured out on my own), all the way up to when the whole tribe of Israel goes into the land of Egypt. I have always heard that The Israeli people are very meticulous about keeping chronological records, especially when it comes to the Holy days and when to observe them. In this instance I find this to be true as well. So with that said I would like to copy Rabbi Rashi’s commentary here. I would also recommend to the reader to go to the scriptures he references, in order to prove to yourself the accuracy of these events:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Rabbi Rashi:                                                                                                                                      And Isaac expired: There is no order of earlier and later events (chronological order) in the [narrative of] Torah. The selling of Joseph [actually] preceded Isaac’s demise by 12 years, for when Jacob was born, Isaac was 60 years old, and Isaac died in Jacob’s 120th year, for it is stated: “and Isaac was sixty years old” (Gen. 25:26)-if you subtract 60 from 180 [Isaac’s age at his death], you have 120 left. Joseph was 17 years old when he was sold, and that year was Jacob’s 108th year. How so? He was blessed at the age of 63 [as Rashi explains Gen. 28: 9], for 14 years he hid in the academy of Eber, totaling 77. He worked 14 years for a wife, and at the end of the 14 years, Joseph was born, as it is said: “Now it came to pass when Rachel had borne Joseph, etc.” (Gen. 30:25). The total is 91. [Add to this] the 17 [years] until Joseph was sold, and it totals 108. (Moreover, it is explicit that from when Joseph was sold until Jacob came to Egypt, 22 years had passed, as it is said: “And Joseph was thirty years old, etc.” (Gen. 41:46), and the seven years of plenty and two years of [the] famine [had elapsed before Jacob’s arrival.] This totals 22. And it is written:“The days of the years of my sojournings are one hundred thirty years” (Gen. 47:9). [Since Jacob arrived in Egypt at age 130, 22 years after Joseph had been sold,] it follows that Jacob was 108 when he (Joseph) was sold.) [from Seder Olam, ch. 2]