God Was With Him

Genesis 36-40

The book of Genesis is the account of Israel's origins. It gives the account of Adam, of Noah, of Abraham, of Ishmael, of Isaac, of Esau, of Jacob, and Joseph. For Esau we get a brief genealogy of chieftains that descended from him in the land of Seir. I suppose if we were archaeologists or anthropologists who specialized in Middle Eastern kingdoms four-thousand years ago, we'd find this list fascinating. As it is, it becomes just a long list of hard to pronounce names.

But the story of Judah and Joseph and Jacob's other sons - now that is some fascinating stuff! Joseph must have been a real cocky jerk. And the favoritism that Jacob lavished on him must have been sickening. The eleven other brothers wanted to kill Joseph, they detested him so much. Isn't it interesting how favoritism is still a problem today? And sibling rivalry is still a very modern experience. One has to wonder why Jacob sent Joseph to go report on his brothers? Was Jacob blind to the rage and hatred he was fueling by how he parented?

Click here for more info about cisterns - which is where the Eleven threw Joseph as their alternative to killing him.

The story of Judah is odd and revolting. But it tells us a lot about Judah's character - and the backstory of his firstborn sons, twins. Judah's geneaology matters because from his lineage comes King David, and Jesus. Genesis records the dirty secrets of Israel's forefathers. We also find that the sins of the fathers are passed down through the sons and daughters for many generations. We find this to still be true today.

With Joseph we find that success somehow leads to failure which leads to a new kind of success which leads to a different kind of failure which somehow winds up leading to a new kind of success. Sometimes we might feel that is how our life goes - up and down, up and down. We love the ups and detest the downs. Yet it is the downs that reveal who we really are, and where we are at with God. What little Joseph knew of God was enough for him to trust the God of Jacob and ride out the bizarre twists and turns of his life.

When we adopt a similar attitude, we will be able to ride out the storm as well. Even if if the downs seem to last longer then we think we are capable of enduring. Sometimes we just got to keep on swimming. God was with Jacob, even as he wrestled and flailed. God was with Joseph, even as he strutted and stumbled. And God was with you, and is, and will be, even when you stray and fail.