Genesis Sermons (written)

Genesis 40:1-23
The Spirits in Prison

Introduction: Chapter 40 of Genesis is a single story and though being long, it has to be kept in that context. So today we will go through all 23 verses in one sermon. The last time we looked at a whole chapter in one sermon was Genesis 23 which dealt with Sarah’s death and burial.

Today’s passage shows us how Joseph’s release from prison comes about, but that won’t happen today. The events of the story though come together to ensure that it will happen in the future. God directly and actively works in this woeful place to ensure the outcome. And so we see that when it’s necessary to meet His desired end, He intervenes in the affairs of man.

He isn’t a distant God who is uncaring, nor is He a meddlesome God who actively fiddles with our lives in an unnecessary manner. He is infinitely wise, completely interested, and actively involved when it is needed to meet His plans. But, He allows us to make our own choices and He works with those choices for His good end.

Because He works this way, we have to do our part. When He calls, we need to respond. When He directs, we need to pay attention. And where He leads, it is up to us to follow.

Text Verse: Sing praise to the Lord, you saints of His,
And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.
5 For His anger is but for a moment,
His favor is for life;
Weeping may endure for a night,
But joy comes in the morning. Psalm 30:4, 5

Because of Adam’s sin, separation from the Lord came upon all people. Death was the result, and for each of us that death will last for a moment or for all eternity. The choice is ours. Will we rest in God’s favor through the gift of His Son, or will we be consumed in His anger because we have rejected Him?

The Bible gives us instruction in how to live rightly and it gives us pictures of what God has done to restore us to His favor. It is all to be found in His word and so… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. Despondency in the Pit

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.

We start chapter 40 with the words, “It came to pass…” This shows that it follows after the previous chapter without interruption. One thing led to another. The false accusation of Potiphar’s wife led to Joseph’s imprisonment and that led to what happens now.

The divine hand of God is seen in the guidance and direction of each step. What Joseph sees as one event after another without knowing why they are happening, God sees as a whole which He has preplanned and set in motion to bring about His intended plans.

Into this unfolding tapestry arrive the butler and baker of the king. The butler is the king’s cupbearer; the baker is his personal chef. The occupants of both of these offices were people of very high rank and considered extremely important officials.

They would have had direct access to the royal presence and would have been selected from the most respected of all of the nobles of the land. The Chief of Staff in the White House would be a good example of such a person.

In the case of these two, they were placed in prison where Joseph was because, as it says, they “offended their lord, the King of Egypt.” There are several ancient scholars who make gusses as to what they did, but it’s not certain. What is possible is that the king got sick from what was brought in to be eaten.

If it was something like that, he would be offended by it and that could only lead to trouble for them.

² And Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief butler and the chief baker.

They offended the king and he, in turn, was angry with them. The office of the cupbearer is seen elsewhere in the Bible. Nehemiah was the cupbearer to Atarxerxes, the King of Persia, and in 2 Kings 18, there is a person known as the Rabshakeh which is an Aramaic term for the same position under the king of Babylon.

For the king to be angry with such high-ranking people meant that they had done something which was pretty grave. If he got sick from his meal, that would be enough. And in a few verses we’ll see that his anger will end in a bad way for one of them.

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.

Nothing being coincidental where God is concerned, these two high officials were put into the same place where Joseph is. The Captain of the Guard would have been Joseph’s master, Potiphar, who had him placed in prison. And so now they are there together.

Joseph was confined, but he can move about; he is not literally bound. There is an alliteration in the words in this verse. There is the prison which is ha’sohar and there is the confinement which is asur. It’s stressing that Joseph is bound in the round house.

⁴ And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served them; so they were in custody for a while.

They are in the Round House and Joseph is given charge of them. Their time in this prison isn’t specified, but the term yamim is used. This means “days” but sometimes it’s used to mean an unknown duration, maybe years. This could be the case here because we’re going to see that they are let out on Pharaoh’s birthday.

If they got him sick on or before the previous birthday, then bringing them out a year later would make sense. Whatever amount of time it is, Joseph is given their charge by the captain of the guard.

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 its own interpretation.

Again we see God’s hand working in the story. These weren’t ordinary dreams that pass away when you wake up. They were dreams they both remembered and could sit up and compare with each other. They will be found to be prophetic. Each has his own individual dream which would each have an individual interpretation.

And however many people there were in the prison, only these two are given the memorable dreams. Even Joseph doesn’t have one. It all points to God’s superintendence over the situation which is intended for us to understand that what is happening was planned by Him to meet His purposes.

⁶ And Joseph came in to them in the morning and looked at them, and saw that they were sad.

Here we see that Joseph isn’t bound in the prison, but he was bound in prison. In other words, he did had freedom to move around. In the morning, he came to them and saw their faces. The Hebrew word here is zoaphim. It indicates being enraged.

They had these dreams and they were angry that they had no way of knowing what they meant. If they weren’t in prison, but rather still in Pharaoh’s court, they could have a magician interpret them.

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?”

Madua penkhem raim – Why are your faces evil? For Joseph –

Just one look; that’s all it took, yes, just one look
He could tell that things weren’t right
There was something bothering the cupbearer and the cook
Something had changed about them during the night

He knew something was wrong by the change in their faces.

⁸ And they said to him, “We each have had a dream, and there is no interpreter of it.”

They tell him that together they had dreams. Their answer shows that they were angry because “there is no interpreter of it.” If only they weren’t in this prison, then they could get an answer. But if God is going to give them a dream which should be interpreted, He will give an interpreter for the dream he has given.

It would make no sense otherwise. A dream from God with no interpretation would be a contradictory concept and so Joseph responds accordingly…

^{8 (con’t)} So Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell them to me, please.”

Why would God give a dream and not tell you what it meant
This doesn’t make sense, so please tell it to me
Maybe this is the reason why to prison I have been sent
Interpretations belong to God, surely you must agree

If the dream is from God, then it is given to be interpreted because “interpretations belong to God.” The Source of the dream will be the Source of the interpretation. If Joseph interprets the dream, it is because God has so used him. He’s not claiming to be God’s appointed interpreter, but he is saying the he could be God’s appointed interpreter.

Daniel explained this when he stood in the presence of King Nebuchadnezzar –

“Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, “The secret which the king has demanded, the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, and the soothsayers cannot declare to the king. ²⁸ But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days.” Daniel 2:27-28

And so, like Daniel, Joseph says that God is the interpreter. He doesn’t say “the Lord” but simply God. A pagan would have no reference as to who Jehovah is, but everybody realizes who God is, whether they admit it or not. If someone has a dream from God, then there must be God who gave the dream.

II. The Resurrection of Life

⁹ Then the chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, “Behold, in my dream a vine was before me,

The chief cupbearer speaks first. It doesn’t say why, but when we get to the baker, it will say that he spoke when he saw that the first interpretation was good. I’d suggest that he was scared of speaking up first as his dream disturbed him. When you see what this is pointing to, you will understand why he was afraid.

We might ask, “What are we afraid of?” Are you afraid of a bump in the night? Maybe of financial ruin? Are you afraid of losing a loved one? What about death? Death is pretty permanent and it is 100% guaranteed. Are you ready for yours?

Lord, I don’t think about it often, but I know I will die
Everyone before me has, and in me it will happen too
Only Jesus came back from that place, and so I must ask, “Why?”
What can make me rise again? What is it that I must do?

There is a way to be freed from that fear. Stay tuned and I’ll explain it. In the dream, the cupbearer says that he saw a vine. This is an obvious connection to his office. He is the cupbearer and there is a vine. In Hebrew, the word is gephen and comes from an unused root which means to bend, just as a vine bends as it grows.

In Hosea 10:1, Israel is likened to a vine and in John 15:5, 6 Jesus says, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. ⁶ If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.”

The symbolism is given for us to see Jesus if we can think the picture through clearly. There is an immediate fulfillment which we’ll see in this chapter, but there is an ultimate fulfillment in what will come about in Christ. Stay tuned for the exciting details…

¹⁰ and in the vine were three branches; it was as though it budded, its blossoms shot forth, and its clusters brought forth ripe grapes.

Right before the cupbearer’s eyes, the vine showed three branches which budded, made blossoms, and clusters of ripe grapes. It was as if he were looking at a time-lapse scene on a movie. From vine to grape before his eyes.

Something similar happens overnight after the exodus. When there was a challenge to the priesthood of Levi, the Lord told Moses to have each tribe bring a rod forward with its name inscribed on it. When they did, the following happens as is seen in Numbers 17 –

“And Moses placed the rods before the Lord in the tabernacle of witness. ⁸ Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses went into the tabernacle of witness, and behold, the rod of Aaron, of the house of Levi, had sprouted and put forth buds, had produced blossoms and yielded ripe almonds.” (7:8)

The almond has its significance (shaqed) and the vine has its own. God uses the natural, including agricultural themes, to show us how He works out his plan of redemption. There is never a detail which isn’t exciting in how it fits into the larger themes of the Bible. The more you read this book, the more the themes fit together and the more they reveal of the wisdom of God.

numbers, colors, dust, almonds, wheat, barley, etc. water, types of metal, directions, different animals, incense,

He uses created things to make spiritual applications. Because He created these things, the applications will always fit perfectly with the picture He wants to show us. This book has an unlimited supply of intelligence mixed with love, all put together so that we can understand Him better.

¹¹ Then Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.”

No sooner had the vine budded, blossomed, and put out grapes than the cupbearer was pressing them into Pharaoh’s cup and the cup was being handed to him.

You can learn something about commentators from reviewing their commentaries on this verse. You can see which scholars were teetotalers and which weren’t. Those who are opposed to any hint of drinking alcohol will invariably say that the ripe grapes being brought in and squeezed into the cup was grape juice, not wine.

And then there are those who look at these verses in the context of the whole dream. If the cupbearer saw the vine spread, blossom, bud, and put forth fruit in a single day, then the obvious connotation concerning the pressing of the grapes is that it was his job – whether fermented or not; he was in charge of the process.

This verse has nothing to do with whether the cup had alcohol or not, but rather it is speaking of the process of supplying the king with the fruit of the vine. Little distractions like these among scholars diminish the importance of the passage through petty peeves. And they cause me to grind my teeth…

¹² And Joseph said to him, “This is the interpretation of it: The three branches are three days.

The dream is obvious and yet at the same time it requires a spark of divine interpretation to understand that the branches are three days. Seeing that, the rest falls into place. The term he uses is sheloshet yamim hem – “yet three days.” Before the third day is over, it will come to pass, not at all unlike the death of Christ who was resurrected on the third day.

In the Hebrew way of saying this, we get a sense of what other passages in the Bible mean as well. “The three branches are three days”, “this bread is my body”, “this cup is my blood.” In the Hebrew language a one to one comparison is often used to say something represents something else.

This is why when we take communion, we don’t believe that the bread is literally Jesus’ body, nor is the cup literally Jesus’ blood. That was never the intent of His words, though many attempt to justify this in their theology. DISCUSS trans/con/spiritual/symbolic

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.

The explanation is complete with this verse. Within three days the cupbearer will be brought back into favor with the Pharaoh. One commentator says that each year the Pharaoh would make a new list of his high officials. On or after the previous birthday they were removed from the list and now the list was being updated.

This would be similar then to the president appointing cabinet officers each term and it would make sense as to why this comes about on his birthday. All in all, it’s good news for the cupbearer.

¹⁴ But remember me when it is well with you, and please show kindness to me; make mention of me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this house.

When Joseph speaks, there is no hint that his interpretation could be incorrect. He is so confident in it that he says to the cupbearer that “when it is well with you….” This shows with certainty that he knew what would occur. Which brings us back to his own dreams.

He already knew that his brothers would bow down to him, but he didn’t know how. To ask the cupbearer to intercede for him would be a stretch on even a good day, but he may believe that this was his divinely appointed path to freedom.

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.”

Joseph says gunab ganabthi – “Stolen! I was stolen.” I was taken away from the land of the Hebrews, and I’ve done nothing here to be thrown into this dungeon. The word for “dungeon” is bowr. The same word used to describe the pit his brothers threw him into.

We simply can’t miss the usage of the words which have been given in order to understand what is being pictured. The term ha’sohar or “round room” was used twice. The term bowr, or “pit” is used here. The symbolism is that of a round pit, like a tomb.

Jesus was in the tomb, having done nothing deserving of death. And He was “stolen away from the land of the Hebrews.” Instead, His message has gone to the gentiles… just like Joseph. Keep thinking as we go, it will all make sense.

III. The Resurrection of Condemnation

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.

The cupbearer was the first to give his dream. And now that such a similar dream has been given an A+ rating by the Bureau of Better Dream Interpretations, the baker decides to tell his as well.

His words are translated many different ways. The term in Hebrew is sal’le khori – three white baskets, or three baskets of bread, or some other thing. Mostly likely, it was three baskets of bread. The baskets were wicker and so you would see the bread through them.

Etchings found in Egypt will show men carrying baskets or pots on their head, while women would carry things on their shoulders. If a basket, you would see through the wicker and the color of what was in them would show through.

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.”

The Jewish historian Josephus says that they were loaves in two of the baskets and in the third were other tasty baked goods. The birds swooped down and ate the bread. What should be the bread for Pharaoh is devoured by the birds.

¹⁸ So Joseph answered and said, “This is the interpretation of it: The three baskets are three days.

Once again there is a three-day fulfillment of the dream. As we’ve seen so many times in the Bible so far, and as we will see time and time again in the future, when two things are placed side by side, there is a contrast and yet a confirmation. This is no different. The confirmation is the three days. day/night; OT/NT; good/evil; Jesus – God/Man

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.”

As obvious as this verse seems to read, its not really sure how the baker would die. Some translators say that his head would be lifted off by decapitation and then his body would be nailed to a tree. Some say it means that he would die either by hanging or crucifixion. Josephus says that he was crucified.

However he dies, he would hang on a tree and the birds would eat his flesh. The confirmation is that these events will come in three days. The contrast is that he will die. In the dreams there is life and there is death.

We are in Christ or we are in the devil. There is a curse upon man from sin; there is a blessing upon man in the cross. These dreams likewise contrast and yet they confirm.

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.

Only two birthday parties are mentioned in the Bible, Pharaoh’s and Herod’s. Because both were rulers who supposedly didn’t worship Jehovah, the Jehovah’s Witnesses came to the conclusion that nobody should celebrate a birthday.

This is the crazy kind of thinking that should let you know you’re in a cult. But if you’re in a cult, you won’t think the thinking is crazy. Such is the nature of not paying attention in life. The fact that these rulers’ birthdays are noted has nothing to do with a general celebration of birthdays by the world’s people.

They are mentioned because they are rulers and the celebration affected the outcome of the decisions they made. In the case of Pharaoh, it was the time to reassert his rule and reaffirm his nobles. This is exactly what he will do. His rule and authority will be established through decisions concerning life and death.

Specifically, that of his butler and baker. And so he lifts up their heads. The meaning of this comes from the surrounding context. It means something like “to hold a trial.” Imagine a group of people entering into the presence of the king. They would have their heads down and their eyes averted from his as a sign of respect.

To lift up one’s head then would be to meet their gaze. For those who are in the king’s favor, they would be looked on with approval. For those who were out of his favor, their meeting his eyes would be with a note of disapproval. His gaze would then be their sentence – be it imprisonment or death.

Which is exactly what we see in the next verses…

²¹ Then he restored the chief butler to his butlership again, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.

Whatever made Pharaoh angry with the cupbearer, it was forgiven. He lifted up his head with a favorable gaze and his status was restored. In acknowledgement of that, it says he “placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.” In Hebrew, it’s much more revealing. It says he “set the cup upon Pharaoh’s palm.”

The imagery would be the Pharaoh opening his hand palm up, and the cupbearer gently placing it into the palm.

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

Exactly as Joseph interpreted, so it came to pass. The chief baker went to his death, and the word used here for his hanging is talah. It can mean hanging in a variety of ways, including crucifixion.

However he was hanged, he would have been left in the air for the birds to eat. This would be especially troubling to an Egyptian who believed in embalming and then a trip into the afterlife. Such wouldn’t be the case with the chief baker.

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

In a sad state of affairs, our last verse today closes with the fact that the cupbearer didn’t remember Joseph. If you think about it, who would want to bring up a matter like that to Pharaoh when you just got back into his good graces. You can’t blame the guy.

It’s the most obvious path to take in such a situation, but the fact that Joseph was forgotten stuck with the Jewish people hundreds of years later as the book of Amos records. Joseph’s suffering became an idiom for any time when someone forgot about the affliction of another. In Amos 6, it says this –

“Woe to you who put far off the day of doom,
Who cause the seat of violence to come near;
⁴ Who lie on beds of ivory,
Stretch out on your couches,
Eat lambs from the flock
And calves from the midst of the stall;
⁵ Who sing idly to the sound of stringed instruments,
And invent for yourselves musical instruments like David;
⁶ Who drink wine from bowls,
And anoint yourselves with the best ointments,
But are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.” Amos 6

So, once again, we’re at the end of a story which tells us about things that really happened and what the events ultimately lead to. They are interesting and they give us hope that God is also watching out for us in our moments of affliction. But as always, there is more than just the surface story.

The minute detail is given not just as curious elements of a story that could have been told in far fewer words, but rather to get us to search out those details in order to see the work of Christ for us.

At the ending of the last chapter, we read this – “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. 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.”

A few things we don’t want to lose sight of are that Joseph is picturing Christ, and that Joseph has been sold by his brothers who picture the Jewish people. So what is happening here is an interim story of some sort before he meets up with them again.

Joseph is in prison and all the prisoners have been committed into his care. Regardless of the length of time he is there, this account is picturing the effect of Jesus’ work as seen in His time in the tomb. What occurs here though of long duration for Joseph, is reflecting that short interval and how it bears on the souls of all men.

Joseph has been given charge over the prisoners. Jesus, likewise is in charge of all who are in the prison of death. In Revelation 1:18, it says this – “I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.”

In order to have those keys, He first had to die and prevail over death. Now this power is in His hand, just as Joseph is in charge over those in prison. Paul tells us the reward which followed after the time of trial for Jesus –

Therefore He says:
“When He ascended on high,
He led captivity captive,
And gave gifts to men.”
⁹ (Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? ¹⁰ He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)

So what we have in this chapter is a story of that time in the “lower parts of the earth.” There in the tomb are the souls of men. Into that place two men come, nobles of Pharaoh’s court. There is the cupbearer and the baker. It is the captain of the guard, Potiphar, who entrusted them into Joseph’s care.

The two men picture the saved and the lost of humanity. Both are given a dream and each dream is explained. Both dreams will be fulfilled “on the third day.” Jesus’ time in the tomb was ended on the third day. But His time in the tomb also looks forward to another 3-day interval.

In this instance, the day represents a thousand years. Peter, quoting the 90th Psalm says, “But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” 2 Peter 3:8

The reason why it pictures a thousand years is that Christ came at the year 4000. The final judgment of all men will occur between the year 6000 and the year 7000 depending on if it is the first resurrection or the second resurrection, but all will be judged by the end of the third day – the year 7000.

This is why the Hebrew is specific – “yet three days.” In other words, from the time of Christ’s substitutional and sacrificial death, pictured by Joseph’s time in prison, until the end of the 7th millennium, it will be 3000 years; 3 prophetic days.

This is why it’s important to remember how Joseph was put into prison in the first place. He went, not for his own wrongdoing, but in place of someone else. The two nobles were placed in prison by Potiphar, the captain of the Guard. Potiphar’s name, as explained a few sermons ago, means “Priest of the Bull.”

All people have gone, or will go, into the place where Jesus went. And they are placed into His care by the Priest of the Bull, the sacrificial Mediator between God and man. Either their sins were dealt with before they died, or they weren’t. Only through the death of Christ can we hope for release from the prison of death followed by eternal life.

And then come the dreams. The first dream is that of the cupbearer. He sees a fruitful vine. It buds, blossoms, and bears fruit. The cupbearer then is the person who is found to be in Christ, the true vine, as He himself said –

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. ² Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. ³ You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.” John 15:1-3

On the other hand, there is the baker. He has bread to offer to the king, but instead it is eaten by the birds. This symbolism is seen elsewhere in the Bible. Abraham made an offering to God and the birds came down to it, but he was vigilant to drive them away.

In the gospels, Jesus speaks of the word of God being like the seed that is sown. The seed which fell by the wayside was eaten up by the birds. So it is with this man. His offering was eaten up and Pharaoh found no favor in Him. He pictures the person who is not vigilant, nor does he bear fruit. He is in Adam, not in Christ.

Each of them is told their fate in the interpretation of the dream. The cupbearer will live and be exalted, the baker will die and his flesh will be eaten away. This is by the judgment of Pharaoh, who in the next chapter will represent God, the supreme ruler.

The cupbearer, the wise soul who is fruitful in the true Vine, will be restored to the position he originally had – fellowship with God. Adam had that fellowship in Eden before being sent to the prison of death. This is represented by the cupbearer’s fellowship with Pharaoh before he lost favor and was sent to prison. What he lost, he will have restored.

The baker, on the other hand, had his offering stolen away. When he came before Pharaoh, he had nothing to offer but himself. He was taken from prison and executed. This is what will occur to all lost souls at the final judgment. They will be brought from the prison of death (bowr and ha’sohar), and with nothing acceptable to offer to God, they will receive their sentence – termination in the Lake of Fire.

This passage is a sobering reminder that we all will face God. And it will be on our own, insufficient merits, or on the merits of Christ. The symbolism of death as a prison is given in 1 Peter 3 –

“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, ¹⁹ by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison…” (18, 19)

Jesus Himself tells us of this fact in John 6 – “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” (63)

There are a million more details in this chapter which show the work of Christ, but I’ve tried to give you enough to show you the marvel of what He has done for us. He went to the grave, and carried away our sins so that we might be restored to our original favor with God.

If you have never received this gift of life and of righteousness, please give me just another minute to explain to you why it is so important and how you too can participate in the greatest gift of all, God’s precious Son, Jesus…

Closing Verse: Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, ¹⁵ and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. Hebrews 2:14, 15
Next Week: Genesis 41:1-13 (Speaking Out When the Time is Right) (100th Genesis Sermon)

The Lord has you exactly where He wants you and He has a good plan and purpose for you. Call on Him and let Him do marvelous things for you and through you.

Restored to the Favor of the King

It came to pass after these things
That the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt
“Pharaoh,” as his title rings
Offended their lord, and so he flipped

And Pharaoh was angry with his officers, these two
The chief butler and the chief baker
Their status he withdrew

So he put them in custody
In the house of the captain of the guard
In the prison which must have been dusty
The place where Joseph was confined, life was looking hard

And the captain of the guard
Charged Joseph with them, into his care
And he served in this regard
They were in custody for a while, staying there

Then the butler and the baker of Egypt’s king
Who were confined in the prison
Had a dream, both of them, a curious thing

Each man’s dream in one night
And each man’s dream with its own interpretation
It made them both rather uptight

And Joseph came in to them in the morning
And looked at them, and saw that they were sad
And as if in a forewarning
He wondered what trouble these two had

So he asked Pharaoh’s officers who were with him
In the custody of the house of his lord
Saying, “Why do you look so sad today?”
How can your happiness be restored?

And they said to him, almost in a fit
“You see, we each have had a dream
And there is no interpreter of it
It’s like having a bowl and no ice cream

So Joseph said to them in an attempt to appease
“Do not interpretations belong to God?
So then, tell them to me, please
To give a dream and not reveal it would be kind of odd

Then the chief butler told his dream to Joseph
And said to him, “Behold, you see
In my dream a vine was before my eyes
And in the vine were branches, three

It was as though it budded
Its blossoms shot forth as well
And its clusters with ripe grapes were studded
And there is still more to tell

Then Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand
And I took the grapes and them I pressed
Into Pharaoh’s cup so grand
And placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand, thus the dream progressed

And Joseph said to him, “This is the interpretation of it:
The three branches are three days, this I do submit

Now within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head
And restore you to your place, get ready, it’s just ahead

And you will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand
According to the former way
When you were his butler and life was grand
Get ready, it’s three days from today

But remember me when it is well with you
And please show kindness to me
Make mention of me to Pharaoh, this please do
And get me out of this house quickly

For indeed I was stolen away
From the land of the Hebrews, I submit
And also I have done nothing here, even till this day
That they should put me into this pit

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
And there’s more, so let me continue with the theme

In the uppermost basket (I can’t wait for the explanation ahead)
Were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh,
And the birds ate them out of the basket on my head

So Joseph answered and said
“This is the interpretation of it:
The three baskets are three days, just three days ahead
Like previously, this detail I do submit

Within three days, Pharaoh as you will see
Will lift off your head from you
And hang you openly on a tree
And the birds will eat your flesh, this they will do

Now it came to pass on the third day
Which was the day of remembering Pharaoh’s birth
That he made a feast for all his servants
A feast of happiness and mirth

And he lifted up the head of the chief butler
And of the chief baker among his servants in the land
Then he restored the chief butler to his place again
And he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand

But he hanged the chief baker
As Joseph had interpreted to them
Yet the chief butler did not remember Joseph
Instead, he carelessly forgot about him

There is a prison where men’s souls are bound
And the only release from it is in the work of Jesus
Only through His shed blood can renewed life be found
God has done all of this, all of it, for us

Each story tells us of His glory
Each word shows us of our Lord
It is an amazing and beautiful story
And we find it revealed in His Superior Word

So let our lives be filled with pursuing what He has given
In this glorious book is the recipe for eternal livin’

Hallelujah and Amen…

Genesis 39:11-23
False Accusations, Unjust Punishment

Introduction: I don’t know how many of you have felt like the king of the world one minute and then as far down in the dumps as you could be the next, but its not an uncommon theme, both in the Bible and in real life. Joseph was the favored son of his father, but then was thrown into a pit by his brothers.

Then he was taken out of the pit and sold to Arabs who took him to another country where he was sold again. No sooner is he sold in Egypt, than he was exalted to the chief position in his house. But once again, that will come to a screeching halt.

While we look at the details of these stories, do not hesitate to relate them to your own life. Its a truth that we can’t know what’s good without what’s bad, we can’t truly know what’s sweet without comparing it to what’s bitter. Unless we get sick, we can’t really appreciate what it means to be healthy

Oh God, contrast is what makes the sweet even sweeter
Contrast helps me to know how good feeling good really can be
And knowing the brightness is one hundred percent neater
Having walked before in darkness; now in your light eternally

We can have general ideas about things, but contrast is what helps us to understand things more completely. Joseph’s life is one of peaks and valleys, but so are ours. Through the good and the bad, the Lord was with Joseph. He was a son of the line of promise and God was faithful to be with him in every situation.

If He was with Joseph, who lived prior to Jesus, how much more sure can we be that He is with us now that we have the full measure of God’s love poured out in us through His Son? This is why Paul confidently tells us again and again about the sure hope and promises that we have in Christ.

Don’t lose sight of this. Joseph was never abandoned, and the Lord will never leave you nor forsake you either.

Text Verse: “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
⁹ “For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8, 9

When Joseph was rejected by his family, sold into bondage, or thrown into prison, he must have really wondered about the love of God and the promises passed on to him by his father about the God of Abraham. And yet, he is a model example of one who continues to act with integrity in every situation he faces.

Paul was the same way. He trusted Jesus with every fiber of his being and even in the most difficult of circumstances. He understood that the Lord’s ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts are infinitely above ours.

If you too understand this, then no matter how bad things get, you can know that God is right there with you, and directing you through those things to a great finish line. It is His word which allows us to have this confidence. Therefore, let’s open it again today and see a wonderful example of it in Joseph’s own trials. And so… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. Accusing the Overseer

Let me give a quick review of what happened in the previous verses. Joseph was sold by his brothers and taken down to Egypt where he was bought by Potiphar, the chief of the executioners. Because of his faithful service, he was eventually elevated to the overseer of Potiphar’s entire house.

In turn Potiphar’s house was more than abundantly blessed. Everything from the house to the field prospered. Eventually though, because of his ravishing good looks, Potiphar’s wife cast longing eyes on him. She continuously nagged him to lie with her, but he resisted. Now we start up with verse 11…

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,

“About this time” takes us right back to verse 8 of the chapter which said, “And it came to pass after these things that his master’s wife cast longing eyes on Joseph, and she said, ‘Lie with me.'”

Potiphar’s wife had longing eyes for Joseph and the burning didn’t end when he shunned her the first time. Instead, her passions went right on. She had been rejected by a handsome slave and this probably only made her want him more. In his usual order of duty, we’re told that Joseph went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the house was inside.

According to the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, this was because it was a time of a festival. He tells us that it would be usual for the women to attend these things, but instead she told her husband that she was sick and would stay home.

That would explain why there was no one else around and even Joseph probably didn’t know she was home. In verse ten, it implied that he tried to avoid such entanglements. There it said “day by day, that he did not heed her, to lie with her or to be with her.”

¹² that she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.”

In verse eight, she said these exact same words, shikbah immi. Since verse eight, no other words from her are recorded. And so here we see the Bible do what it does quite a few other times. It is showing the depth of the intent of a statement by a person by exactly repeating it without any intermediary words from them.

This repetition by Potiphar’s wife is intended to show us the perverse nature of the woman and her determined purpose of pursuing this course until she wears Joseph out. Such repetitions are used in films and TV shows nowadays.

One person will be introduced from time to time and they say the exact same thing every time they’re seen. If you wondered where the idea came from, the Bible is a top candidate as a guess. Even if that’s not where Hollywood got the idea, it shows the Bible’s depth of the understanding of humanity by recording things like this.

If God is the Creator, and He is, and this is His word, and it is, then it will give us insights into the nature of man in a way that is timeless. Little insights like these are amazing in their literary and anthropological value.

After having read the Bible though for the 20th time or so, I started making each new time through interesting by looking for something different. On one of those times, I searched for every such repetition in the Bible. I found about a hundred or so of them and then cataloged them in order and then in a few different ways.

If you take time to do things like this, you’ll find simply wonderful tucked away. These are fantastic little treasures that may have never been seen or thought about before. So use your imagination when you study the Bible. It’s an infinite resource of wisdom and beauty for us to peruse.

Yes Lord, Charlie is right about this one, for sure
Searching Your word will only help as I grow day by day
So give me a hunger to pursue You more and more
And in the study of Your word, my hunger I will allay

^{12 (con’t)} But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside.

In the Middle East, even today in some cultures, but throughout the whole area at this time, the people wore garments that were loose around the body. It is hot and having something like this would have been cool and yet fashionable. Slave garments would probably have been of different material, style, and/or color to identify them, but they would follow the general motif of the day.

In Joseph’s case, she got hold of it, probably hoping to pull him closer. A touch will excite more than just words and maybe she was hoping this would do the trick. Instead, away he runs away with either very little, or nothing at all, to cover him.

The same thing happened at the Garden of Gethsemane as one of Jesus’ disciples fled from the guards who arrested Him –

“Now a certain young man followed Him, having a linen cloth thrown around his naked body. And the young men laid hold of him, ⁵² and he left the linen cloth and fled from them naked.” Mark 14:51, 52

Because Mark is the only one who recorded this in the gospels, it’s believed that he was writing about himself. Both Matthew and John do the same thing as they speak about themselves in the third person in their own gospels.

The contrast is notable though. Joseph fled for the honor of what is right; Mark fled in the disgrace of doing what was wrong. One fled to God in righteousness; the other fled from God in cowardice. One will be punished for doing the right thing; the other will be forgiven for doing the wrong thing.

Such is the marvelous tapestry of God’s word as it unfolds before us. And such are the lessons we can learn for ourselves. We very well may be punished or harmed for pursuing righteousness, but God is watching and recording our actions for future rewards.

Likewise, we may take the wrong course and run from what we know is right, and God is there watching and recording in order to demonstrate His great mercy on us – the objects of His affection. Never underestimate the grandeur of the ability of God to use your rights as well as your wrongs in amazing ways.

¹³ And so it was, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and fled outside,

With all of the intrigue the world has seen, Joseph’s actions are all the more surprising. How many times have lovers planned ways of overthrowing homes, spouses, and even empires. If he wanted this woman, he could have turned the situation into a cunning plot that may bring him to freedom and even wealth. Instead, Joseph turns and runs.

In the Morning Bride by William Congreve, the actress Zara says this in Act III, “Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned.” I wonder if Congreve was thinking of this verse after reading the account of Potiphar’s wife?

The woman is scorned by a slave more righteous than she, and so with his garment in her hand, she can now take out her fury in place of the passion she has lost…

¹⁴ that she called to the men of her house and spoke to them, saying, “See, he has brought in to us a Hebrew to mock us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice.

The term “Hebrew” hasn’t been used since Genesis 14:13 when it was first introduced into the pages of the Bible. In other words, this is only the second time it’s been used thus far in Scripture. If Israel is the national identity of the people, the term Hebrew is somewhat synonymous with Israel and yet something deeper. It is the calling of that national group.

Our national identity is American, but who we as a people, first and foremost, should be “Christians.” This is the force and effect of the term Hebrew. When Jonah was asked who he was, his answer was, “I am a Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”

He was identifying himself with the collective group of people who were spiritually tied to the Lord, Jehovah. To Jonah, this identified the “why” of the circumstances which had occurred that had led to the question in the first place.

The term Hebrew is derived from Abraham’s great-great-great-great grandfather Eber. Eber means “he who crossed over” and it signifies that he and his family are the ones who crossed over the Euphrates and away from Babel, the land of apostasy from all truth. This was more than just a physical crossing of a river, but a spiritual crossing over, hence the title being used first of Abraham.

Potiphar’s wife is probably calling him a “Hebrew” as a way of shaming him. In essence she might be saying, “This guy calls himself a Hebrew. If that is a Hebrew, then what a bad thing being a Hebrew must be.” Joseph had done nothing wrong and yet he was being maligned by the use of his identity.

This is exactly the same intent concerning the use of the word “Christian” in 1 Peter 4:16 – “Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter.” It is the biblical model that suffering for what is right is commendable.

Lord, the thought of suffering doesn’t make me tickle with joy
But to suffer for your name is the highest honor of all
And so give me the determination to a humble attitude employ
When suffering comes; yes Lord, on the day of such a call

Something important happens here for us to see. Whether you noticed it or not, Potiphar’s wife has indicted her husband in this verse. “See, he has brought in to us a Hebrew to mock us…” The accusation of Joseph’s actions fall on the one who appointed Joseph. This is the same thing that is seen in Jesus.

Paul, citing the 69th Psalm, shows the same attitude towards Christ as we see in this verse about Joseph and Potiphar – “For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, ‘The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.'” (15:3)

Joseph sets the example and the ultimate realization of it is found in the cross of Christ. Joseph was stripped of his garments and suffered shame in the process. Jesus was likewise stripped of His garments and bore the reproach of many who surrounded him. However, the accusation of Christ is an accusation against God.

The question we should then ask is, “Should we, if we are wrongly accused for our faith as Christians, feel that we are above these things?” No! Rather, we should feel honored if we suffer for having done right and maintained our integrity. In the case of Joseph, the very thing that he had run from is what he is accused of. And in the process, Potiphar shares in the blame.

“He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice.” All wrongs will be made right. Someday, Potiphar’s wife will stand in the presence of the Lord and receive her fair sentence as will we all. As Jesus said in Matthew 12 –

“But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. ³⁷ For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Those who wrongly accuse us may have the temporary victory, but in the end, it is the faithful follower of Christ, who runs to God and away from sin, that will be exalted. Don’t forget this when it’s time to speak up, especially about moral issues which are so quickly degrading our society. God does has your back.

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.”

How would a lady explain having a man’s garments in her hand? A loud yell would do it. Verse 11 said that none of the men of the house was inside. The only way to feign innocence would be to claim she yelled for everyone to hear her, when in fact she knew that there was no one who could.

But the story will work because it plausibly explains why she would have the garment when Joseph was stronger than she was.

II. The Oldest Trick – Passing the Buck

¹⁶ So she kept his garment with her until his master came home.

Potiphar’s wife is using Jacob’s garment to accuse him. This is a parallel to what happened to Jesus. In Luke 23:11, it says, “Then Herod, with his men of war, treated Him with contempt and mocked Him, arrayed Him in a gorgeous robe, and sent Him back to Pilate.”

Later in John 19, we read this –

“So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him. ² And the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and they put on Him a purple robe. ³ Then they said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they struck Him with their hands. ⁴ Pilate then went out again, and said to them, “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you, that you may know that I find no fault in Him.” ⁵ Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, “Behold the Man!”

The robe of Jesus, first placed on Him by Herod and which was then taken off to scourge Him before being put back on Him, was used as an accusation against Him. In essence it was to imply that he was an usurper of the ruler – who to Israel was God alone. By wearing a king’s garments, it implied that He was a King.

This is exactly what Potiphar’s wife is accusing Joseph of. By trying to sleep with her, he would usurp Potiphar’s authority because she was the one thing that was withheld from Joseph. Time and again, every detail is pointing to Jesus.

The meticulous work of God in using real details of real lives is simply amazing. In the case of Joseph, it’s even more so. Not only is he recorded to show us what would come in Christ, but also how God would deliver Israel in the future. But that deliverance of Israel, is given to us to again show the work of Christ!

God is building upon each story in such an intricately marvelous way and every detail is about His entrance into the stream of humanity in the Person of Jesus. And yet, people pray to Mary, confess to popes and priests, and miss the mark of God’s astonishing love which is found in nail-scarred hands longingly held out to us.

¹⁷ Then she spoke to him with words like these, saying, “The Hebrew servant whom you brought to us came in to me to mock me;

The accusation she said to those around her, she now states directly to Potiphar – “The Hebrew servant whom you brought to us…” This is exactly what Adam did to the Lord when he was confronted with his sin. In Genesis 3, we see the first example ever of passing the buck from one’s own guilt to someone else –

“And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” ¹² Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”

Potiphar’s wife, just like Adam, places the blame for her own sin on him. And in turn, Joseph is the recipient of her deserved punishment. Fortunately for us, we too have a recipient for ours. Jesus will bear our guilt, just as Joseph will be forced to bear the guilt of this woman.

¹⁸ so it happened, as I lifted my voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me and fled outside.”

There is truth mixed with lies in this verse; statements which will convict an innocent man. The same happened with Jesus. He stood in front of several councils prior to His crucifixion and people came with testimony which was only partially true or which was misconstrued.

He had actually done no wrong, but He was tried and found guilty. The pattern is first seen in Joseph and ultimately realized in who he is picturing. Joseph is the falsely accused overseer of Potiphar’s house; Jesus is the falsely accused Overseer of God’s house.

And so here we have an amazing picture of man’s fall and redemption. Adam was found naked after disobeying God; Joseph was stripped of his garment; Jesus was stripped of His garment.

Adam blames God by saying He gave her the woman. Potiphar’s wife blames Potiphar, picturing God by saying he brought the Hebrew in to them. And, the chief priests, scribes, and elders blame God as is noted in Matthew 27-

“He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.'” Matthew 27:42, 43

After Adam’s transgression, God covered him with the skins of an animal. After Joseph is cast into the pit, he will be brought out and clothed in garments of fine linen. And when Jesus was brought out of the tomb, he received His heavenly garments.

But even more, He now grants us the same white garments of righteousness, lost by Adam at the fall. In Christ, the circle is complete in returning man to a state of undefiled righteousness in the presence of God – pictured here as the events of Joseph’s life continue to unfold.

The call rings out “not guilty,” though I have sinned so many times
And I look and see a Man hanging bloody on a tree
My guilt was transferred to His cross thus excusing all my crimes
What kind of love has been poured out on undeserving me?

III. The King’s Prisoner

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.

Potiphar’s anger is aroused at what happened, but it doesn’t say at who. We infer that it is Joseph, but it’s not specific. It could have said, “His anger was aroused at Joseph” as the Bible often does. An example of this is when Moses is alone with the Lord.

“So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, and He said: ‘Is not Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well.'” Exodus 4:14

I believe that Joseph’s name is omitted because it pictures Christ. God’s anger was aroused at the sin that had occurred, but it was aroused in a unique way in Christ. He became the Substitute for our sin. What we’ve done wrong was, in fact, judged in Him. This is why Jesus, in the Garden of Gethsemane, said this –

“Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” Luke 22:42

The cup of God’s wrath was handed to Jesus, and He drank it down in our place despite being innocent of any wrongdoing. Potiphar’s anger was aroused as well and he took it out on an innocent man. Looking at the next verse, we can see this more clearly…

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 the prison.

Joseph was Potiphar’s property, and Potiphar is the captain of the executioners. If he believed that Joseph was truly guilty, it is certain he would have had him executed. But because of the accusations of his wife, which couldn’t be substantiated, he took a course of action that shows us the substitutionary work of Jesus.

He sent Joseph to the place where the king’s prisoners were confined. In Hebrew, it is beit ha’sohar, the Round House. It is a very unusual term which is only used eight times in the Bible and all eight are in this particular story and nowhere else.

The Jewish writer Mercer observes, “that it was made under ground, and at the top of it was an hole which let in light, and at which they went into it.” It is a convincing description of what we would think of as the tomb of Jesus; a round area cut out of stone with an entrance which could be covered.

Joseph has taken the blame for what she did even though Potipher surely knew he was innocent. Jesus took the blame for what we have done, even though He is innocent. Every sin will be punished. It will either be in us or in a Substitute. What this account seems to show is that precept. Even down the location – a round hole dug out of rock.

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.

If the sentence of Joseph pictures the sentencing of Jesus, then the Lord’s presence with Joseph in that sentence is to be seen in the same way towards Jesus. In death, the Lord was with Him.

Joseph was never abandoned by the Lord, even though he suffered for a crime he didn’t commit. And Jesus was not left abandoned when He suffered for our crimes. The favor of the Lord was with Him and it remained with Him. Thus the words of the psalm are true, “His mercy endures forever.”

In Psalm 16:10, it says, “For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.” Jesus was raised from the tomb to become the ruler of all of God’s kingdom. Joseph will be in prison, but he won’t be abandoned. Instead, he will be brought out and made ruler over all of Pharaoh’s kingdom.

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.

Again, we’re being asked to view this from a prophetic perspective. There is no doubt about it. If all of the other aspects of what has happened have pointed to Jesus, then we can surely see the same in this verse as well. It is Jesus who has been given authority over all those who are in the prison of the tomb.

He has the complete authority over all the souls of men in the grave. We take passages like this, and we make sermons about how to live nobly in difficult circumstances, which by the way is true, but we miss what God is trying to show us. The details of Joseph’s life were selected to show us the magnificence of the work of Jesus.

There isn’t a verse yet which hasn’t brought closer to understanding  Him and His glory. If we get this right, and if we can focus on that, then all of the “living right” concepts will follow and the right living applications will be much more pronounced in each of us.

Jesus prevailed so that we can prevail. The Lord was with Joseph to show that the Lord was with Jesus. If we are in Christ, then the Lord is with us. Even in death, we can have the absolute assurance that He is the Overseer of our lives and of our souls. Who wouldn’t live right with that kind of knowledge!

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.

Having taken everything that we have seen in this section and viewed it from the lens of the work of Christ, we can take this last verse and see it completely realized in Him. Christ was in the grave, the prison of Joseph, if you will.

The Lord was with Him and whatever He did, the Lord made it prosper. Think on that as I read you this familiar passage from Isaiah which almost mirrors what we’ve seen in these last verses from Genesis 39 –

And they made His grave with the wicked—
But with the rich at His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was any deceit in His mouth.
¹⁰ Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him;
He has put Him to grief.
When You make His soul an offering for sin,
He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,
And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.
¹¹ He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.
By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many,
For He shall bear their iniquities.
¹² Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great,
And He shall divide the spoil with the strong,
Because He poured out His soul unto death,
And He was numbered with the transgressors,
And He bore the sin of many,
And made intercession for the transgressors.

Hallelujah for the work of the Lord and for the beautiful pictures of that work which have been given to show us of His coming. Matthew Henry, who I don’t quote very often, stated this thought about today’s passage quite eloquently. Listen to what he says concerning the life of Joseph and how he pictures Jesus –

“Let us not forget, through Joseph, to look unto Jesus, who suffered being tempted, yet without sin; who was slandered, and persecuted, and imprisoned, but without cause; who by the cross ascended to the throne. May we be enabled to follow the same path in submitting and in suffering, to the same place of glory.”

All of these many stories, pictures, and patterns are wonderful to see and they tell us the of the truth and soundness of our faith, but without that faith, they are just interesting stories which seem to have no final goal or purpose. In God’s redemptive plan though, they come into focus.

First in the preparation, care, and redemption of the Jewish people, but even that only points to the greater work of Christ. If the redemption of Israel were the end of the story, it would be a sad tale for the rest of the world, but through them God did something even more marvelous. He sent His Son, Jesus, to provide redemption to all mankind.

If you’ve never understood this beautiful work and how important it is to you, then give me a moment to share the love of God, which is found in Jesus Christ, to you. You too can be freed from the prison which holds all humans captive. And all because of Him…

Closing Verse: These six things the Lord hates,
Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
¹⁷ A proud look,
A lying tongue,
Hands that shed innocent blood,
¹⁸ A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that are swift in running to evil,
¹⁹ A false witness who speaks lies,
And one who sows discord among brethren. Proverbs 6

Next Week Genesis 40:1-23 (The Spirits in Prison) (99th Genesis Sermon)

The Lord has you exactly where He wants you and He has a good plan and purpose for you. Call on Him and let Him do marvelous things for you and through you.

The Overseer in Prison

But it happened about this point
When Joseph went into the house where Potiphar did abide
To do his work in that lavish joint
And none of the men of the house was inside

That she caught him by his garment as she planned
Saying, “Lie with me.” But he denied
He left his garment in her hand
And fled and ran outside

And so it was, when she looked
That he had left his garment in her hand
And fled outside, yes he booked
His 50-yard dash was really quite grand

That she called to the men of her house
And spoke to them, as she said
“See, he has brought in to us a Hebrew to mock us
He came in to me to lie with me… to take me to bed

And I cried out with a loud voice
I had to you see, I just had no choice

And it happened, when he heard
That I lifted my voice and cried out
That his garment to me was transferred
And he fled and went outside, scared no doubt

So she kept his garment with her
Until his master came home
Then she spoke to him with words like these
Saying, “Something has happened, Sweetie, while I was here alone

The Hebrew servant whom you brought to us
Came in to me to mock me, let me tell you about the fuss

So it happened, as I lifted my voice and cried out
That he left his garment with me
And fled outside, scared no doubt
I’m telling the truth sweetie-pie. You do believe me?

So it was, when his master heard the words of the deceitful planner
The words which his wife spoke to him
Saying, “Your servant did to me after this manner,”
That his anger was aroused, things were looking grim

Then Joseph’s master took him in kind
And put him into the prison
A place where the king’s prisoners were confined
And he was there after his mater’s anger had arisen

But the Lord was with Joseph alright
And showed him mercy you know
And He gave him favor in the sight
Of the keeper of the prison, yes this is so

And the keeper of the prison
Committed to Joseph’s hand
All the prisoners who were there
Joseph’s skills were noted as quite grand

Whatever they did there it was his doing
Because Joseph was honorable in all he was pursuing

The keeper of the prison did not look
Into anything that was under his authority
Because the Lord was with him in that darkened nook
He found favor in the Lord’s eyes, you see

And whatever he did, the Lord made it thrive
And so this is how, in prison, Joseph did survive

We, like Potiphar’s wife are guilty too
But Jesus took our place
And now through Him we can have life anew
Our condemned state, God will with eternal life replace

Let us never forget that high, high price
That was paid for us at Calvary
Where for our sins His shed blood did suffice
The payment made to set us free

Thank You, O God, for our Lord Jesus
And the marvelous work He accomplished for us

Hallelujah and Amen…

Genesis 38:1-23
Judah and Tamar
The Transfer of the Pledge

Introduction: Chapter 38 of Genesis is somewhat like chapter 34. In Chapter 34, we saw the incident with Dinah being violated and then Jacob’s sons killing the whole town. That story was there for a reason, however, that reason was veiled in pictures of things that really happened, but which pointed to something else.

This chapter is the same. It is interesting, it has intrigue, sadness, and joy all mixed into it, just like chapter 34. But it’s more than a fun story. One of the things that it includes is the continuance of the line of Judah which is the tribe Jesus comes from. This is certain. But we could have learned about that in a sentence or two.

All of the extra detail could otherwise be considered fat to be removed unless it is telling us something deeper, something rich, and helpful to our understanding of the reason why things happen as they do. The ultimate meaning of what this chapter is pointing to is actually quite similar to that of Chapter 34.

If you remember how that turned out, then you may also be able to see the fulfillment of the pictures in this story too. If not, pay attention to the historical and cultural details today and then next week we will finish up the chapter with a wonderful explanation of what we are being told.

In all honesty, just like the story about Dinah, I had only an inkling of why this one was given. It turned out that thinking these pictures through has made for one of the most difficult sermons for me yet in the book of Genesis. I frustrated over it, mulled over it, pondered over it, and fretted over it for hours.

Then I went to bed thinking about it. At 3:04 in the morning, I suddenly realized what this story was talking about and by 3:19 I had almost the entire picture in my head. Yes, the night watches were filled with contemplating the Word of God. And because of this, I have a text verse for you today from the 119th Psalm –

Text Verse: My eyes are awake through the night watches,
That I may meditate on Your word. Psalm 119:148

God’s word is a beautiful treasure. But as is the case with most treasure, it isn’t revealed without being searched out. One can’t place the Bible under their pillow and expect the information to ooze in to their brain. Rather, it needs to be read, contemplated, and meditated on.

Even into the darkest hours of the night the psalmist meditated on God’s word, and so should we. Make every effort to spend your days wisely – reading, pondering, and loving God’s precious gift, the Holy Bible. It is living and active and ready to instruct us as we pay heed to it and so… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. Judah’ Unrighteousness

Chapter 38 of Genesis is interesting for what it contains. It seems like a side narrative unless you know why it’s included. It in fact, is a main narrative, just as the life of Joseph is. It is an insert story into the account of Joseph’s life and it is inserted at this point for a reason. Joseph’s life and ordeal is recorded to show how the Israelites ended up in Egypt and how they were cared for when they got there.

At the same time, everything about Joseph is also providing pictures of the coming Messiah. The story of Judah and his family here in chapter 38 is given to show us about the main line which leads to the Messiah. Jesus will come through Judah. Because of this, the story here bears directly on His ancestry.

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

This first verse starts with, “it came to pass at that time.” Just as the previous account was finishing up, the events of this story come about and continue to unfold. Judah, like his brothers, is a shepherd and so he would take his flocks and head out for green pastures. For whatever reason, he decided to go out on his own, leaving his brothers, and to visit someone he met named Hirah.

Hirah means “Nobility.” He’s noted as an Adullamite. Adullam is a town to the south and west of Jerusalem in the lowlands. Adullam means “righteousness” or “justice of the people.”

² And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua, and he married her and went in to her.

While visiting Hirah in Adullam, Judah married a daughter of Shua, who is identified as a Canaanite. Shua means “Wealth.” This verse is one which should tell us about the importance of names that God records in the Bible. Why? Because the name of Judah’s friend is given, the people his friend belongs to is given, and the name of his father’s wife is given.

But the wife’s name isn’t. The one person you’d expect to be named isn’t named at all. This tells us to pay attention when names are given. There is a story within the story we should be looking for. The dating it is hard to pin down, but Genesis 46:12 says this concerning those of Judah’s family that go to Egypt in the future –

The sons of Judah were Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan). The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.

If the sons of Perez actually went to Egypt, then Judah got married at about 14 years old and it happened around the time that they lived in Shechem when Dinah was violated.

But another possibility is that the two sons of Perez were actually born in Egypt, even though they are listed as those who went down to Egypt. This type of speech is seen at other times in the Bible. A person who is still in the loins of the parent is spoken of in a future sense. So either is possible, but either way, Judah is a young man.

³ So she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Er.

Judah’s firstborn is named Er. Er means “Watching” or “Watcher.”

⁴ She conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name Onan.

With no other commentary about the times and life of Judah, the story jumps straight to the next son to be born, Onan, which means “Strong.” But instead of Judah naming him, it says she named him.

⁵ And she conceived yet again and bore a son, and called his name Shelah. He was at Chezib when she bore him.

And yet again, a third son is recorded by name. His name is Shelah which means “Prosperity.” Again the wife names the son and then it notes the he, Judah, was at Chezib when she bore him. Chezib means “false” or “falsehood.”

⁶ Then Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar.

Judah got married at a young age and now he finds a wife for his firstborn at a young age as well. The wife he chooses for her is named Tamar, meaning “Palm Tree.” In the Bible, the palm tree has several connotations. It is a symbol of prosperity, the element of an oasis, and it also is a picture of a faithful and righteous person.

The 92nd Psalm gives this symbolism –

The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree,
He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
¹³ Those who are planted in the house of the Lord
Shall flourish in the courts of our God.
¹⁴ They shall still bear fruit in old age;
They shall be fresh and flourishing,
¹⁵ To declare that the Lord is upright;
He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. (12-15)

Because of this symbolism, depictions of palm trees are said to lavishly ordained the walls of both Solomon’s and Ezekiel’s temples.

⁷ But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord killed him.

This is one of those verses where people really start to take offense against God and against the Bible. Or, there are those that have no problem with this verse, but then struggle with the death of someone that they think is a “good” person. But God is the Creator and this is His world.

If he wants to remove someone for whatever reason, because they are wicked or to save them from what might be a bigger catastrophe in their future, this is His right. In the case of Er, he was wicked in the sight of Jehovah and so Jehovah killed him. I have no problem with this at all.

“The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord.” In Er’s death, God’s plans are worked out. And in each of our lives, we can only count on the breath in our nostrils. Our life will in fact end. The only questions are “when” and “how.”

In an interesting play on “Er” and “wickedness,” the same letters are used in the Hebrew for both words. Er is spelled ayin, resh and “wicked” which is ra is spelled resh, ayin. It is almost as if the Bible is describing him as completely wicked; it being his very nature. Er’s wickedness is great like the people before the Flood of Noah and the people of Sodom.

⁸ And Judah said to Onan, “Go in to your brother’s wife and marry her, and raise up an heir to your brother.”

Because Er is dead and he left no children, Judah tells his second son Onan, to take Tamar as his wife and raise up and heir for Er.

Onan, take your brother’s wife
Take Tamar and go into her
For I want you to raise up another life
Yes, I want you to raise an heir for Er

The word used for this marriage is a special word used just for this purpose. It is where a person acts as a husband for the widow of a brother who died without children.

This is something that will actually be mandated under the Law of Moses, but it was a custom which was obviously known at this time. It is also known to have been practiced in many cultures of the mid-east and Africa.

It is a way of honoring the name of the dead so that their name doesn’t die out. It will also ensure that the inheritance of the firstborn remains alive.

⁹ But Onan knew that the heir would not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in to his brother’s wife, that he emitted on the ground, lest he should give an heir to his brother.

Well, never let anyone say that the Bible hides the faults of man, no matter how unusual they are. Because of the custom of the land and Judah’s direction to him, the first child of Onan wouldn’t be recorded as his. It would be listed under Er. And the inheritance for Er would go to this son rather than to his own.

This didn’t sit well with Onan and so instead of refusing to have Tamar at all, he committed a worse act. He took her as his wife, but he wouldn’t provide a child for her in the process. The Hebrew word literally says he “destroyed to the ground.”

So he treated her shamefully, disgraced the name of his brother, and violated the custom handed down to him by his father.

¹⁰ And the thing which he did displeased the Lord; therefore He killed him also.

Because of this sin against the Lord, the woman, the brother, and his father, the Lord killed Onan also. The questions one might ask are, “Why does the Lord kill Er when there are lots of wicked people on the earth, and yet he doesn’t kill all of them?” and “Why did the Lord kill Onan when there were certainly others who did the same thing as him, but he doesn’t kill them?”

The answer is found in the title of the One who killed them, “the Lord.” It is Jehovah specifically, not just the general title for “God.” When the title “Jehovah” is used, it is speaking of the One who monitors the covenant and the covenant people.

The title Lord, or Jehovah, is only mentioned three times in this chapter and only in the two verses about Er and Onan. What they have done is a violation of the covenant God gave to Abraham and which was passed down to Isaac, then Jacob, and then to the sons of Israel. As Judah is the son in the line of the Messiah, these sons have willfully disgraced the covenant.

What Onan has done here has been used a jillion times as a verse prescribing that one must not do what he did. From that, the concept is built on that one must intend to procreate every time they have relations with their wife.

And from there come mandates against birth control. One concept is built upon another inserting mandates which are beyond what Scripture is stating or even implying. The use of the term “Lord” or Jehovah shows us that this is not at all what is intended.

This is a covenant violation, not merely a human transgression. Otherwise, another term such as  “God” would have been used. The Bible is silent on the issue of birth control, be it using the timing cycle or any other means, and this verse cannot be used as a text against it.

Reuben, Simeon, and Levi have all been excluded from the blessing of leading to the Messiah. And so Jehovah’s eyes and covenant keeping responsibilities are directed toward Judah and his descendants. Jehovah saw these two as unfit and they were killed.

It is His covenant to monitor and He decides how it will be enforced. Now, with the two wicked sons out of the way a new avenue to the Messiah will be sought out.

I would suggest right now that Tamar was probably aware of the covenant and the promise of Messiah through Judah. There is no reason to assume that Judah would have kept it from his wife, nor is there a reason to assume that Er wasn’t made aware of it. And so Tamar heard through him or through Judah himself.

¹¹ Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, “Remain a widow in your father’s house till my son Shelah is grown.”

Tamar has seen two husbands die without bearing children. Judah knows that Shelah is too young to perform his duties by giving her a child in place of those two brothers. And so he says to her to remain a widow in her father’s house until Shelah is old enough to fill the role.

In saying this, it’s indicating that she must remain a widow and not marry outside of the family. As he has a responsibility to the name of his son, she has a responsibility to the dead husband.

^{11 (con’t)} For he said, “Lest he also die like his brothers.”

We can infer that he said this to himself, not to Tamar. What Judah was actually worried about isn’t Tamar, but the life of his third son. In essence, “She must be the cause of the first two dying.” He didn’t want the third to die because of her as well.

^{11 (con’t)} And Tamar went and dwelt in her father’s house.

What is obviously in view here is that Tamar is the one who has suffered the loss of two husbands. Judah may feel that she is to blame, but Tamar may think the opposite. “I’ve lost two husbands from this family already – one was wicked, the other was cruel. When will this pain end?”

And yet, in faithfulness to the family and to the custom, she went back to dwell in her father’s house. She acts in an upright manner, as her name “Palm Tree” implies.

II. A Pledge is Given

¹² Now in the process of time the daughter of Shua, Judah’s wife, died;

Here we have a phrase, v’yirbu ha’yamim, or “and the days were multiplied.” It means an indeterminate amount of time, but it usually means a pretty long period, even several years. Sometime after Judah made his promise to Tamar, his wife dies.

Birth, life, and death are all at the Lord’s discretion, and so it shows us that what is coming is being set up through the Lord’s hand.

^{12 (con’t)} and Judah was comforted, and went up to his sheepshearers at Timnah, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.

After a time of mourning for his wife, it says he went up to his sheepshearers at Timnah, taking along his friend Hirah. Timnah means “a part assigned” or “territory”. The reason for taking his friend is that at the time that the sheep are sheared, it’s usually a time of fun and parties.

The owners would invite friends, and treat their working hands to entertainment, good food, and festivity. This occurs around the end of March after the winter is ending. Because of the festive time, he brings Hirah along as well.

¹³ And it was told Tamar, saying, “Look, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep.”

In what is probably a matter-of-fact happening, someone mentions to Tamar that Judah, her father in law, is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep. Whether the comment was simply an innocuous statement of fact or not, Tamar is going to use it as an opportunity for personal justification.

¹⁴ So she took off her widow’s garments, covered herself with a veil and wrapped herself,

The clothes that she wore while living in her father’s house distinguished her as a widow. She had remained faithful to her trust not only by not marrying, but also by showing those around her that she was a widow and living as a widow. If nothing else, the righteousness of her actions are testified to in the Bible.

However, because of the length of time mentioned in the previous verse, she had figured out that Judah had no intention of giving his third son to her as a husband. This was her right and if she knew of the Messianic blessing, then even more so.

And so she devised a plan, maybe without knowing its outcome, to get him to see the error of his ways. She put on a veil and wrapped herself in a manner that would identify her as a prostitute. The word for “veil” is tsiaph. It is used only three times in the Bible.

The first was when Rebekah covered herself as she approached her husband-to-be, Isaac. The other two are both in this story. She is unknown to Judah because of the veil.

^{14 (con’t)} and sat in an open place which was on the way to Timnah;

Then she sat in an open place on the way to where he was heading. In Hebrew, the term “open place” is bepheta enayim – “the gateway of eyes.” She is dressed as a prostitute and sitting in a location which would identify her as one as well. And the reason for her doing this is seen in the continuation of verse 14…

^{14 (con’t)} for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given to him as a wife.

It had been long enough for Shelah to grow up to the point that she should have been given to him as a wife, but it hadn’t happened. Now, in order to be justified as she should have been by Judah, she will turn the tables on him.

¹⁵ When Judah saw her, he thought she was a harlot, because she had covered her face.

Of course he did. She’s dressed as a harlot in a harloty kind of place, and her face is covered to disguise who she is. So Judah simply thinks it’s a prostitute and not his daughter in law.

The Hebrew word is zonah, a person who sells themselves for hire, but it is used figuratively throughout the Bible when speaking of religious prostitution. An example of this is found in Hosea 9:1 –

Do not rejoice, O Israel, with joy like other peoples,
For you have played the harlot against your God.
You have made love for hire on every threshing floor.

¹⁶ Then he turned to her by the way, and said, “Please let me come in to you”; for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law.

Judah, seeing this woman by the wayside, being unmarried, and being completely unsuspecting of who she really is, makes an offer for a tryst. The Bible notes specifically that “he did not know that she was his daughter in law.” In other words, it implies that if he knew, he wouldn’t have done this.

And that should be obvious because he never propositioned her before. He unsuspectingly was led to do what he otherwise would have refrained from doing.

^{16 (con’t)} So she said, “What will you give me, that you may come in to me?”

A deal is a deal. He has offered and she asks what he is willing to pay for her services. Again, as I mentioned earlier, the Bible doesn’t hide these things.

They are the state of fallen people in a fallen world and the Bible shows what happened, not just to give us fun stories, stories about how stupid we can be, or merely irrelevant stories, but to show us moral lessons and greater pictures of God’s workings in this world.

¹⁷ And he said, “I will send a young goat from the flock.”

Judah’s offer for her services is a goat from the flock, in Hebrew gedi izzim, a kid goat. It’s something that he will send back to her later. But without the payment in hand, she plays the true role of a harlot, expecting something as collateral…

^{17 (con’t)} So she said, “Will you give me a pledge till you send it?”

im titen eravon ad shawl-khekha (2.59) – “so, give me a pledge until you send it.” The word “pledge” here, eravon, signifies an earnest deposit. When the goat is received, then the earnest can be returned.

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.”

When he asks what she wants as a pledge, she asks for three things, his signet, cord, and staff.

khothemkha – your signet. It’s either a ring or a medallion which was used to make impressions in wax or clay. It was used like we use a signature. It is one’s identity. In the case of a king, it would be his symbol of authority. In Haggai 2:23, it is used when speaking of the authority of the Davidic line bestowed by God upon Zerubbabel.

uphtilekha – and your cord. The word comes from pathal – to twist. Some call this a bracelet, some a piece of clothing, but what is most likely is that it was a cord attached to the signet so he could keep it around his neck.

u-matekha – and your staff. This is a walking stick which would have been used as his ensign. In the 110th Psalm it’s used to indicate the scepter, the symbol of the strength and authority, of the Messiah –

The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”
The Lord shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion.
Rule in the midst of Your enemies! (1, 2)

^{18 (con’t)} Then he gave them to her, and went in to her, and she conceived by him.

These three things are taken as a pledge for the kid goat. They show the ensign, the authority, and the identity of Judah. Until he receives them back, she has the title to them.

After obtaining possession of these articles, we are told that Judah received his payment and in turn Tamar receives his seed. She conceives a child through this one encounter. Another divinely directed event in the unfolding moments of man’s redemption, just like what happened with the two daughters of Lot.

¹⁹ So she arose and went away, and laid aside her veil and put on the garments of her widowhood.

In order to avoid receiving the kid goat immediately and thus having to return the pledge, she hurries away from the location. Once home again, she removes the veil and puts on her garments of widowhood. She possesses the pledge and she possesses the child. She is the bearer of the coming Messiah and the possessor of the authority of that Messianic line.

III. The Missing Harlot

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.

For whatever reason, instead of going himself, he sent the goat with his friend the Adullamite. The payment is being offered, and the pledge is expected in return. However, she is gone and she is nowhere to be found.

The term Aduallamite has been used three times. In the first two, Hirah’s name is used in conjunction with it. This time, it leaves his name out and only calls him the Adullamite.

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.”

Hirah asks around for the harlot, but this time a different word is used for “harlot.” It is the Hebrew qedeshah. This is a temple prostitute. One who has sex for religious purposes, not for specifically for money.

The word qedesh is spelled the same and closely related to qadesh. Both carry the connotation of what is holy. He is supposing that this was her type of prostitution. This type of prostitution was common in and around the middle east for many centuries. It was also practiced around the Greek and Roman empires.

But in this case, none of the people around have any knowledge of there being a temple prostitute and they even deny there being one. And so back he goes to Judah…

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.”

His search complete even to inquiring of the people of the place and yet he couldn’t find her. He’s done everything he can, but to no avail. Again, he uses the term qedeshah instead of zonah to describe the harlot.

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.”

Judah is more worried about being laughed at by man than his conduct before God. The tokens of his position, title, and identity also mean less to him than being laughed at. He is unwilling to bear the reproach of his actions even at such a high cost. And then he shrugs it off by saying that he did his part by sending the goat.

If the payment isn’t acceptable, that isn’t his fault, he feels he can do without the pledge. And he feels justified because he went through the motions of his obligation, even though it was for completely perverse purposes.

Well, this is, surprisingly, the point where we have to stop off today. The completion of the story and the chapter will come next week. Until we get there, I hope you’ll think on what you’ve heard and make an effort to place it in a New Testament context. In particular, think on the pledge that Tamar was given.

If you can place that, then the rest of the story will start to make sense. A pledge is something that is provided in anticipation of receiving something else. We, like Tamar, have been given a pledge if we have called on Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

It is the sealing of the Holy Spirit; the guarantee of our promised redemption. As God doesn’t make mistakes, we have the absolute assurance of the fulfillment of this promise. Stand fast on that.

But if you have never called on Jesus, you have no guarantee except the surety that when you die, you will remain separated from God.But in His great mercy, God sent His Son to change that. Please give me a moment to explain to you how you can receive the gift of Jesus and thus, the promise of eternal life.

Closing Verse: Keep my soul, and deliver me;
Let me not be ashamed, for I put my trust in You.
²¹ Let integrity and uprightness preserve me,
For I wait for You. Psalm 25:20, 21

Next Week: Genesis 38:24-30 (The One Who Breaks Through) (96th Genesis Semon) – Make sure to read and study those verses.

The Lord has you exactly where He wants you and He has a good plan and purpose for you. Call on Him and let Him do marvelous things for you and through you.

Judah and Tamar
The Transfer of the Pledge

It came to pass at that time
That Judah from his brothers departed
And visited a certain Adullamite
Whose name was Hirah, the name he was imparted

And Judah saw there a daughter
Of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua
And he married her and went in to her
Soon there would be more than just them two-a

So she conceived and bore a son
And he called his name Er – he was the first one

She conceived again and soon a son she bore
And she called his name Onan, a second son to adore

And she conceived yet again and bore a son
And called his name Shelah
He was at Chezib when she bore that one
And with the third, she cried “Zippity doo dah!”

Then Judah took a wife for his firstborn, Er
And Tamar was the name that was given to her

But Er, Judah’s firstborn
Was wicked in the sight of the Lord
And the Lord killed him because of his scorn
Such is noted in God’s precious word

And Judah said to the second son Onan
“Go in to your brother’s wife and marry her
And raise up an heir to your brother, young man
Fulfill your duty to your dead brother Er

But Onan knew that the heir would not be his
And it came to pass, in actions quite unsound
When he went in to his brother’s wife he did this
That he emitted instead on the ground

Lest he should give an heir to his brother
He thought only of himself, not another

And the thing which he did displeased the Lord
Therefore He killed him also, as says the word

Then to Tamar his daughter-in-law Judah said
“Remain a widow in your father’s house
Till my son Shelah is grown in the days ahead
And I will give to him you as his spouse

“Lest he also die like his brothers” is what Judah said
And Tamar went and dwelt in her father’s house
Because now her second husband was dead

Now in the process of time, as the days passed
The daughter of Shua, Judah’s wife, died
After a time of grief he went up to his sheepshearers
To Timnah, with Hirah the Adullamite at his side

And it was told to Tamar, saying
“Look, up to Timnah is going your father-in-law
To shear his sheep” for this you have been praying
“Get moving Tamar, don’t hem and haw

So she took off her widow’s garments
Covered herself, and with a veil wrapped her face
She went to a spot on the way to Timnah
There she sat in an open place

For she saw that Shelah was grown in life
And she was not given to him as a wife

When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute
Because she had covered her face, she seemed of ill-repute

Then he turned to her by the way, and said
“Please let me come in to you”
For he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law, instead
As if this made it right to do what he did do

So she said, “What thing will it be
That you will give, so you may thus come in to me

And he said, “A young goat from the flock I will tender.”
So she said, “Until then will you to me a pledge render?”

Then he said, “What pledge shall I give you?”
So she said, “Your signet and cord also,
And your staff that is in your hand.” This you shall do
Then what you have promised I will receive, I know

Then he gave them to her, and into her he went
And she conceived by him, in this time that they spent

So she arose and went away
And laid aside her veil that she had wore
And put on the garments of her widowhood, that day
Living without a husband once more

And Judah sent the young goat as was planned
By the hand of the Adullamite, his friend
To receive his pledge from the woman’s hand
But he did not find her as he did intend

Then he asked the men of that place
Saying, “Where is the harlot who did disappear
Who was openly by the roadside and covered her face?”
And they said, “There was no harlot around here.”

So he returned to Judah and said
“I cannot find her, though I looked everywhere
Also, the men of the place, I do dread
Said there was no harlot working there

Then Judah said, “Let her take them for herself,
Lest this get out and we be shamed
For I sent this young goat
And you have not found her, we can’t be blamed

The details are given for us to continue to see
God’s unfolding plan being revealed in history

Every word gives us insights into His loving heart
Each story is to show us more of His Son Jesus
As we read the word, to us it does impart
Wisdom and beauty, given from God to us

And so be sure to cherish the word every day and every night
Let it be your comforting friend and let it be your guiding light

Hallelujah and Amen…