Genesis 36-37

Sunday Morning Bible Study

August 26, 2007

Genesis 36

The last chapter ended with Isaac being buried by his twin sons Jacob and Esau. It’s at this point that we get an interruption to the story of Jacob and are given some genealogy related to Esau.

After the immediate descendants, we are given several lists of “chiefs” and kings in Edom.

There are some facts given that are good reminders.

The descendants of Esau are the Edomites (36:43), later they’ll be called Idumeans (the most famous is Herod the Great who tried to have the baby Jesus killed).

At some point after Jacob comes back into the land, Esau decides to permanently move to the land of “Seir”, the area east of Israel in the south, in modern southern Jordan. (36:6-8)

(Gen 36:6-8 NKJV) Then Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the persons of his household, his cattle and all his animals, and all his goods which he had gained in the land of Canaan, and went to a country away from the presence of his brother Jacob. {7} For their possessions were too great for them to dwell together, and the land where they were strangers could not support them because of their livestock. {8} So Esau dwelt in Mount Seir. Esau is Edom.

When Esau moves to Mount Seir, his family apparently intermarries with the family of Seir the Horite (36:20)

There are several names of interest to us.

1. The Amalekites (vs. 12) were descended from Esau. These would become enemies to Israel.

They would become one of the perennial enemies of Israel. Saul and David fought against the Amalekites. In the days of Queen Esther, one of the Amalekite descendants, Haman would one day try and have the Persians wipe out the Jews.

2. Esau’s firstborn son was named “Eliphaz” (36:4) and his grandson was named “Teman” (36:11).

These names are interesting because they sound very much like the names we see in the book of Job. One of Job’s friends was “Eliphaz the Temanite” (Job 2:11). We believe the book of Job is actually the oldest book of the Bible, being written during the days of the events we’re reading about in Genesis.

3. The other name that’s interesting is found in the list of Edomite kings:

(Gen 36:33 NKJV) And when Bela died, Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his place.

Some have suggested that this may be another form of the name of “Job”

Compare this to some of the things we read about in Job:

(Job 29:7-10 NKJV) "When I went out to the gate by the city, When I took my seat in the open square, {8} The young men saw me and hid, And the aged arose and stood; {9} The princes refrained from talking, And put their hand on their mouth; {10} The voice of nobles was hushed, And their tongue stuck to the roof of their mouth.

(Job 29:25 NKJV) I chose the way for them, and sat as chief; So I dwelt as a king in the army, As one who comforts mourners.

Lesson

You’re not beyond hope

It is not definite that this “Jobab” is our “Job”, but if it were, it would make an interesting point.

We usually classify “Esau” as a picture of the flesh. And though the Bible tells us that “no good thing” can come from our flesh (Rom. 7:18), we do want to be careful not to over generalize about some things in the Bible.

If Job was an Edomite, there was a good man who came from Esau.

There may be people who feel like they will never amount to anything because they have everything against them – they were born from the wrong parents, grew up in the wrong part of town, went to the wrong schools, and nobody expects anything from them but trouble.

Illustration

One of the stories I was following in the news over the last couple of weeks was the rescue efforts to free the six trapped miners in Utah. With each hole they drilled into the mountain we were hoping they would get a sign of life. But after the continued earthquakes, they decided to call off the rescue efforts.

Do you ever feel like you’re one of those miners caught in a place where no one can reach you? Do you feel like you’re beyond being rescued?

Nobody is beyond the mercy of God. Paul wrote,

(1 Tim 1:15 NKJV) This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.

I think Paul wrote this so you and I could say, “Well if God can save Paul, than He can save anyone, including me”.

Genesis 37

:1-11 Joseph’s Dreams

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

Quite a contrast: Esau’s genealogy is full of lists of “chiefs” and “kings”. Meanwhile, Jacob is just living in the land of his father, where they were both just “strangers”.

One commentator (Delitzsch) wrote “that secular, worldly greatness comes swifter than spiritual greatness” (A New Commentary on Genesis, 2:238).

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

seventeen years old – as we mentioned back in Gen. 35, this event actually takes place before grandpa Isaac dies. Jacob is 108 at this time. This also means that Jacob and his family lived in Hebron with Isaac close to twelve years before Isaac dies.

Back in Gen. 35, we read that Isaac died at 180 years old, making Jacob 120 years old at that time (35:28; 25:26).

Jacob was 91 years old when Joseph was born (41:46; 45:11; 47:9), that makes Jacob 108 at this time.

We’ll see that Jacob is already living in the area of Hebron, where Isaac lived, meaning that Jacob must have lived in Hebron close to 12 years before his father died. This event takes some place between Gen. 35:27 and Gen. 35:28.

sons of Bilhah … Zilpah – These are not Joseph’s full brothers, but these are the sons of Jacob’s two concubines. Jacob’s sons are sometimes grouped by their mothers. Bilhah and Zilpah were the handmaids of Leah and Rachel. The sons of Bilhah were Dan and Naphtali. The sons of Zilpah were Gad and Asher.

report – It could be that Joseph was just being an annoying little brother, being a tattletale. It could be that he was concerned for his father’s flock and that his older brothers were acting irresponsibly.

:3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age. Also he made him a tunic of many colors.

of many colors – pac – flat (of the hand or foot), of the tunic reaching to palms

The word is only found in one other story, where David’s daughter Tamar also has a coat of “many colors” which she tears when she is raped by her half-brother Amnon (2Sam. 13).

In both cases it might not be a robe of many colors but a robe with long sleeves.

One suggestion is that this special tunic displayed Jacob’s intention that Joseph would gain the majority of Jacob’s inheritance. Even though Joseph was younger than all the brothers except Benjamin, he was the oldest son of Jacob’s favorite wife Rachel.

:4 But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.

The danger of playing favorites.

You could say that Jacob had his reasons. Rachel was the one true love of his life and Joseph was her firstborn son.

But Jacob saw firsthand the results of playing favorites. His father had favored his twin brother Esau while his mother favored him. It caused nothing but trouble.

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

:6 So he said to them, "Please hear this dream which I have dreamed:

:7 "There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf."

The meaning of the dream seems pretty obvious. There was something superior about Joseph in the dream over his brothers.

The problem with written stories like this one is that we miss the whole nuance of tone of voice. Was Joseph teasing his brothers or was he simply sharing the fact of the matter?

:8 And his brothers said to him, "Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?" So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.

It might be that Joseph made a mistake telling these dreams to his brothers. But thirty years from now things will change. Thirty years from now it will be clear that Joseph’s dreams weren’t silly, they were prophetic. And if Joseph hadn’t told them to his brothers, they might not have seen God’s hand in the circumstances they would face.

:9 Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, "Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me."

:10 So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, "What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?"

It sounds like even Jacob was getting a bit ticked off at the young man.

And yet we can look back knowing what was up ahead for Joseph, and see that there was indeed a prophetic bent to these dreams. There would be a day when these things would come to pass.

When Joseph was exalted as the leader in Egypt, his brothers would be bowing before him as they came to buy food during the famine.

And as ruler over Egypt, Joseph would be in authority over even his father.

your mother and I – interesting that Rachel is mentioned as bowing before Joseph since she is dead by this time. Some think the reference is to Leah since Rachel is dead.

Sun, moon, eleven stars – we’ll see this symbolism later in the Bible, and we already have it interpreted for us here by Jacob.

(Rev 12:1 NKJV) Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars.

The woman represents the nation of Israel, the entire nation.

:11 And his brothers envied him, but his father kept the matter in mind.

The brothers were simply offended by the dream, but Jacob wondered if there wasn’t something more to it.

Offended? What if something offends you is actually true? Would you miss the truth simply because you were offended?

For example:

If I told you your zipper was down, would you get mad at me?

If I were to tell you that you were a sinner, would that offend you?

Share the gospel. We are sinners, but Jesus died for sinners. Jesus forgives sinners. Jesus saves sinners.

:12-28 Jacob sold into Egypt

:12 Then his brothers went to feed their father's flock in Shechem.

It’s strange that they go back to Shechem. It was in Shechem that they had wiped out the city in revenge for their sister’s rape. You would think they would be a little reluctant to show their faces back in that territory.

:13 And Israel said to Joseph, "Are not your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, I will send you to them." So he said to him, "Here I am."

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

Hebron – this is where grandpa Isaac had settled down. Jacob has been living with his pop.

Shechem – about 50 miles north of Hebron.

:15 Now a certain man found him, and there he was, wandering in the field. And the man asked him, saying, "What are you seeking?"

Perhaps Joseph was trying to find the right tracks to follow.

:16 So he said, "I am seeking my brothers. Please tell me where they are feeding their flocks."

:17 And the man said, "They have departed from here, for I heard them say, 'Let us go to Dothan.' " So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan.

Dothan – Dothan – “two wells”; about 15 miles further north of Shechem.

Dothan was where Elisha would one day live. This was where Elisha and his servant were when the Syrians surrounded them. This was where Elisha prayed for his servant’s eyes to be opened and he saw that they were surrounded by chariots of fire (2Ki. 6).

Archaeologists have confirmed that the city was occupied in Jacob’s time.

:18 Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, they conspired against him to kill him.

:19 Then they said to one another, "Look, this dreamer is coming!

this dreamer – literally, “this lord (baal) of dreams”. Just a little hint of sarcasm.

:20 "Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, 'Some wild beast has devoured him.' We shall see what will become of his dreams!"

There are some interesting parallels between Joseph and Jesus:

1. Both were loved by their father.

2. Both were shown to one day rule over their brothers.

3. Both were rejected by their brothers.

4. Both were sent by their father to their brothers.

And this is just the beginning of the comparisons…

:21 But Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands, and said, "Let us not kill him."

Reuben is the oldest son. Apparently he feels some responsibility towards Joseph.

:22 And Reuben said to them, "Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit which is in the wilderness, and do not lay a hand on him"; that he might deliver him out of their hands, and bring him back to his father.

Many years later, when Joseph is testing his brothers to see if they have changed or not and they go through a moment when they begin to feel guilty about what they did:

(Gen 42:21-22 NKJV) Then they said to one another, "We are truly guilty concerning our brother, for we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us, and we would not hear; therefore this distress has come upon us." {22} And Reuben answered them, saying, "Did I not speak to you, saying, 'Do not sin against the boy'; and you would not listen? Therefore behold, his blood is now required of us."

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

:24 Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it.

pit – bowr – pit, cistern. This pit was apparently a cistern, a place where water was collected, except this cistern was dry.

:25 And they sat down to eat a meal. Then they lifted their eyes and looked, and there was a company of Ishmaelites, coming from Gilead with their camels, bearing spices, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry them down to Egypt.

eat a meal – The incident didn’t affect their appetite.

Ishmaelites – descendants from their grandpa Isaac’s half brother. In this passage they will also be called “Midianites”, another group of people who also were descendants of Abraham.

Gilead – the mountainous region north east of Israel across the Jordan.

:26 So Judah said to his brothers, "What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood?

It could be that he’s actually looking out for Joseph, trying to get Joseph away before someone changes their mind about killing him.

It could be that he simply is looking to make a buck.

:27 "Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh." And his brothers listened.

:28 Then Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.

twenty shekels of silver – a male slave between 5-20 years old was worth twenty shekels (Lev. 27:5); an adult male slave was worth thirty (Ex. 21:32). Jesus was sold for thirty.

:29-36 Word of Joseph’s “death”

:29 Then Reuben returned to the pit, and indeed Joseph was not in the pit; and he tore his clothes.

:30 And he returned to his brothers and said, "The lad is no more; and I, where shall I go?"

Apparently Reuben wasn’t in on the plan to sell Joseph.

Did anyone ever tell Reuben about what happened to Joseph? My guess is that at this point the brothers told Reuben what they had done because they come up with a way of covering for Reuben.

:31 So they took Joseph's tunic, killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the tunic in the blood.

They are going to try and tell Jacob that his son was killed by wild animals.

:32 Then they sent the tunic of many colors, and they brought it to their father and said, "We have found this. Do you know whether it is your son's tunic or not?"

:33 And he recognized it and said, "It is my son's tunic. A wild beast has devoured him. Without doubt Joseph is torn to pieces."

:34 Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son many days.

sackcloth – similar to burlap, very rough. This was worn as a sign of mourning. It was intended to make you very, very uncomfortable.

:35 And all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and he said, "For I shall go down into the grave to my son in mourning." Thus his father wept for him.

grave – sh@’owl – sheol, underworld, grave, hell, pit; This is the first time the word “sheol” is used in the Bible, the place of the dead.

In Old Testament times, both the righteous and the unrighteous went to this place after death. Sheol had two compartments, one a place of torment and the other a place of comfort. The place of torment is called “Hell” or “Gehenna”, the place of comfort is called “Paradise” or “Abraham’s bosom”.

It sounds as if Jacob feels like he is going to die from his grief over Joseph.

Lesson

The pain of deception

Illustration

Talking Dog for Sale

This guy sees a sign in front of a house: “Talking Dog for Sale.” He rings the bell and the owner tells him the dog is in the backyard. The guy goes into the backyard and sees a dog sitting there. “You talk?” he asks. “Yep,” the dog replies. “So, what’s your story?” The dog looks up and says, “Well, I discovered this gift pretty young and I wanted to help the government, so I told the CIA about my gift, and in no time they had me jetting from country to country, sitting in rooms with spies and world leaders, because no one figured a dog would be eavesdropping.” “I was one of their most valuable spies eight years running. The jetting around really tired me out, and I knew I wasn’t getting any younger and I wanted to settle down. So I signed up for a job at the airport to do some undercover security work, mostly wandering near suspicious characters and listening in. I uncovered some incredible dealings there and was awarded a batch of medals. Had a wife, a mess of puppies, and now I’m just retired.” The guy is amazed. He goes back in and asks the owner what he wants for the dog. The owner says, “Ten dollars.” The guy says,” “This dog is amazing. Why on earth are you selling him, and so cheap?” The owner replies, “He’s such a liar. He didn’t do any of that stuff.”

The moral of the story: Your value goes down if you don’t tell the truth.

It’s a dangerous road to try and get out of your problems by deceiving other people.

Abraham did it – telling people that Sarah was just his “sister”.

Isaac did it too – telling people that Rebekah was his “sister”.

Rebekah and Jacob did it to Isaac, pretending that Jacob was Esau, and tricking Isaac into giving him the “blessing” – which resulted in Esau’s anger and Jacob spending twenty years away from home.

Laban did it with Jacob – deceiving him about which daughter he’d give him for a wife. He later deceived Jacob about the wages he’d pay him.

When the family left Laban, Rachel stole her father’s household idols.

When Dinah was raped, Jacob’s sons responded with deception, tricking the men of the city of Shechem to become circumcised, and then turning around and killing all of them and taking their wives and children as slaves.

This family has learned to survive through deception.

But they’ve also learned that deception brings pain and grief.

There are people in this world that have learned to get by with deceiving other people.

Yet the newspapers also give us plenty of stories of people who are caught in their lies and have to resign their positions – whether it’s the dean of an Ivy League college, the head of the US Olympic committee, a Los Angeles school board candidate, program director at UCLA, etc, etc, etc.

You read stories about people who live “double lives”, pretending to be one thing on the weekend while living another life during the week.

The lies only end with pain and grief to everyone involved.

On the other hand, learning to live without deception is what matures us.

(Eph 4:15-16 NKJV) but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head; Christ; {16} from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

God desires that we stop deceiving others and ourselves and learn to face up to the truth. It’s facing the truth that leads to healing.

When you are sick, you might not get better if you lie to yourself about what’s wrong. Go to the doctor, get the correct diagnosis, start the treatment.

:36 Now the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard.

Jacob is going to begin his new life as a slave in Egypt.

Lesson

The path to the promise

I think that if anyone had an idea that God had great things for him, it would be Joseph. Not only was he his father’s favorite son, but I can’t help but think that he knew that those dreams weren’t just from his puffed up ego.

And yet his journey is going to take him through thirteen years of hardship.

This is where faith is developed.

Trusting in God even when things get difficult.

This is where character is developed.

The purifying that comes from trials.

We all like the idea of winning the race and receiving the prize, but we don’t often want to go through the training and discipline it takes to win a race.

Look at the people God used in the Bible:

Moses had to spend 40 years tending sheep before he was ready to lead the nation out of Egypt.

Elijah called down fire from heaven, but first he spent 3 ½ years surviving through a famine and running for his life.

Paul wrote most of the New Testament, yet he went through imprisonment, beatings, false accusations, and loneliness.

My point: Don’t run from the difficulties – learn through them. Don’t despise the delays and the hardships – they are the things God will be using to mature you and prepare you for the things ahead.