Lane,
If Joseph "got too close" emotionally to Potiphar's wife, was he then lying when he said to the chief cupbearer, "Now I'm here in jail, but I did nothing to deserve it"? (40:15)
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Sunday, October 18, 2009
The Temptation of Joseph
The Temptation of Joseph
Genesis 39
Reading: Gen 39:1-20 Temptations of Power, Sex, and Bitterness
I. The Story
Waltke--The events of the biblical narrative often echo previous events. These echoes declare that God is sovereign over history. God instructed Noah to build an ark. Then he brought all creatures to Noah to redeem the covenant people and accomplish the salvation of creation in the midst of natural disaster. Now God leads Joseph to build storehouses, and all people are brought to Egypt. In the midst of the natural disaster of famine, God will redeem the covenant people and rescue the world.
a. Potiphar has purchased Joseph.
i. He was the head of the army of Egypt—a high position.
ii. He was named after one of the deities of Egypt.
William A. Ward, “Egyptian Titles In Genesis 39-50”
…attached to the royal palace guard seems indicated by the description of him as “an officer of Pharaoh” and the fact that he himself could throw Joseph into the prison where the prisoners of the state were kept (Gen. 39:1, 20). Only an officer close to the palace would have this kind of authority.
IRONY…If Joseph was actually made Vizier, he thus had direct personal control over Potiphar.
Joseph as “overseer of the house” of Potiphar (Gen. 39:4).
b. Through the desert to Egypt: his brothers having sold Joseph, the teenager is transported across the Sinai to the fertile Nile delta.
i. He left an arrogant brother.
ii. He arrived in Egypt responding to his circumstance in a remarkably different manner.
1. He had accepted his “special status” in the family.
a. His brothers did away with him because he was prideful.
2. With Potiphar’s wife, he denied any special privileges.
a. She did away with him because he was humble.
c. From a slave in the desert to a slave in a household.
d. From the head of a household to a dungeon.
e. From a cell in a dungeon to head of the prison.
f. From head of the prison to prime minister of the land.
Along the way…
II. The Meaning of the Story
a. Temptation of Power—What temptation? Why refused? How declined?
Joseph is placed in a privileged position, though a slave, as the head of household for a man of high position.
i. Difficult to wield power without being overwhelmed by that power.
ii. Potiphar’s wife is all about power, using that power over Joseph. Her power has corrupted her heart.
In contrast…
iii. Joseph used power he was granted to bless those under his influence.
1. Potiphar
2. Later, The head jailer, The cupbearer and the baker in prison, The nation, His family
iv. He was mistreated at the hands of power: [Swindoll]
1. Underserved treatment from family.
2. Unexpected restrictions from circumstances, …either physically or emotionally.
3. Untrue accusations from people.
James descries the tongue as a fire (James 3:5-6). In one day its careless, untrue statements can completely incinerate a reputation that has taken years to build.
b. The Temptation of Sex
i. We know why Potiphar’s wife was seductive.
1. She was power-mad.
Sarna: Sikba ‘immi--Come to bed with me! Her clipped proposition portrays brutish lust.
2. She was flexible.
Further, the attack had flexibility: if Joseph could not be stormed he might be coaxed, for a refusal to be so much with her could look quite unreasonable.
3. She was persistent.
Kidner: v.10—the constant pressure, day after day, was profoundly searching: it was this that would find out Samson twice in his career (Jdg. 14:17; 16:16).
4. She was effective:
Hamilton The word used for the article of clothing by which Potiphar’s wife grabbed Joseph (begged) is the same as that used in the previous chapter to describe the clothing that Tamar …removed (v.14), then put back on (v.19), the widow’s garb.
…it could refer both to an outer garment (2 K. 7:15) and an inner garment (Ezek. 26:16).
By using begged at this point, the narrator may be implying something about Joseph’s own emotional involvement in this story. He is on the verge of acting faithlessly to his master.
This makes Joseph more believable and his story more encouraging to us.
1. His resistance to temptation was being worn down by her persistence.
2. Just before he collapsed, he RAN away.
Knowing Potiphar’s wife was so seductive…
ii. Why did Joseph say “no”?
Kidner Joseph’s reasons for refusal (8,9) were those that another man might have given for yielding, so neutral is the force of circumstances.
1. His freedom from supervision and
2. His rapid promotion, which have corrupted other stewards (Is 22:15-25; Luke 16:1ff.), and
3. His realization that one realm only (9) was barred to him (which others, from Eve onwards, have construed as a frustration) were all arguments to him for loyalty.
Gen. 39:8 But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has put all that he owns in my charge.
Gen. 39:9 “There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?”
Gen. 39:10 As she spoke to Joseph day after day, he did not listen to her to lie beside her or be with her.
iii. How Did Joseph say NO?
Gen. 39:9 “There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?”
Kidner:
a. By giving the proposition its right name of WICKEDNESS (9)
a. he made truth his ally, and
b. “GREAT EVIL”—not just wrong because she’s married, but because she’s not his wife = adultery & fornication
c. contrast Judah, who’s story of consorting with prostitutes we’ve just read
Kidner --saved his honour at the cost of his prospects; the NT recommends it (
19-20—Death was the only penalty Joseph could reasonably expect. His reprieve presumably owed much to the respect he had won; and Potiphar’s mingled wrath and restraint may reflect a faint misgiving about the full accuracy of the charge. But the unfolding story makes it obvious that God who had brought him here was preserving him for his task.
Prison—the Hebrew root suggests a round structure and therefore perhaps a fortress, which is the term used by LXX.
b. by relating all to God (9c) he rooted his loyalty to his master deep enough to hold---“sin against God”
c. by adding a technique that Joseph did NOT have available:
Heb. 3:13 But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
The temptation of Power
The temptation of Sex
c. The Temptation of Despondency, Despair, and Bitterness.
i. Joseph irritated his brothers; then had a change of heart in the desert.
1. Could he see why he was suffering?
ii. Joseph irritated Mrs. Potiphar, was unjustly jailed.
1. Could NOT see why he was suffering!
2. I’M DOOMED REGARDLESS!!
Imprisoned in a round, plastered, like the cistern in Dothan??
3. When I do bad things, I deserve punishment.
4. When I do well, I don’t deserve punishment.
iii. Dilemma:
1. How well must I do to avoid justice?
2. How poorly must I do to deserve justice?
3. MORALISM HAS ONLY ONE SOLUTION TO EVERY PROBLEM:
a. make perfect choices.
iv. This is the pathway of all human religion.
v. GOSPEL: ANOTHER, LATER, JOSEPH WAS CAST INTO JAIL UNJUSTLY, SUFFERING CONDEMNATION WITH GUILTY CRIMINALS .
vi. INSIGHT THAT MORALISM CANNOT GIVE…
1. If Joseph had not been sold into slavery,
2. if Potiphar’s wife had not unjustly accused him,
3. if Potiphar had not had mercy on him and sent him to prison,
THEN, Jacob and his clan would not have survived the famine to come.
God was with him!
God was with him!
Westermann
The unifying motif in chapter 39 is that God was with Joseph. The presence of God is an essential part of blessing.
…Yahweh is on Joseph’s side, showering him with success, and this comes to have a wider effect on the house of the Egyptian as soon as Joseph ahs been appointed overseer. For blessing has a growing and pervasive power, just as it does in the story of Jacob in Laban’s houe.
Gen. 39:5 It came about that from the time he made him overseer in his house and over all that he owned, the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house on account of Joseph; thus the LORD’S blessing was upon all that he owned, in the house and in the field.
Gen. 39:21 But the LORD was with Joseph and ıto him, and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer.
Gen. 39:23 The chief jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph’s charge because the LORD was with him; and whatever he did, the LORD made to prosper.
Psa. 1:1 ¶ How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
Psa. 1:2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
Psa. 1:3 He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.
III. Takeaways
Hamilton--Wisdom literature does not outlaw adultery because God disallows it …The sanctions in Prov. 6 include: self-destruction (v.32); wounds, loss of respect, and public disgrace (v.33); a husband bent on revenge (v.34); no way to buy oneself out of trouble )v.35). Prov. 7;23 comes the closest-perhaps—to connecting adultery and the death penalty: “he does not know that it will cost him his life.” In short, the sanctions are not historical but rational.
1. Practical advice: Run!
I Cor. 6:18 Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body.
2Tim. 2:22 But keep away from youthful passions, and pursue righteousness, faithfulness, love, and peace, in company with others who call on the Lord from a pure heart.
2Pet. 1:4 Through these things he has bestowed on us his precious and most magnificent promises, so that by means of what was promised you may become partakers of the divine nature, after escaping the worldly corruption that is produced by evil desire.
2. God hates adultery not because He wants to stamp out fun!
…violates His covenant model: no broken covenants
…violates His triune nature: the Godhead interrelate as Father, Son, and Spirit; the angels are not welcomed into that circle; humans participate only indirectly; thus, swirling partners misses the model
This is not about Doing Better! This is about reordered LOVES.
Where does God reorder our loves?
i. Transform a heart, through the desert.
ii. God gave sight to the blind, in the darkness of a dungeon.
Genesis 39
Reading: Gen 39:1-20 Temptations of Power, Sex, and Bitterness
I. The Story
Waltke--The events of the biblical narrative often echo previous events. These echoes declare that God is sovereign over history. God instructed Noah to build an ark. Then he brought all creatures to Noah to redeem the covenant people and accomplish the salvation of creation in the midst of natural disaster. Now God leads Joseph to build storehouses, and all people are brought to Egypt. In the midst of the natural disaster of famine, God will redeem the covenant people and rescue the world.
a. Potiphar has purchased Joseph.
i. He was the head of the army of Egypt—a high position.
ii. He was named after one of the deities of Egypt.
William A. Ward, “Egyptian Titles In Genesis 39-50”
…attached to the royal palace guard seems indicated by the description of him as “an officer of Pharaoh” and the fact that he himself could throw Joseph into the prison where the prisoners of the state were kept (Gen. 39:1, 20). Only an officer close to the palace would have this kind of authority.
IRONY…If Joseph was actually made Vizier, he thus had direct personal control over Potiphar.
Joseph as “overseer of the house” of Potiphar (Gen. 39:4).
b. Through the desert to Egypt: his brothers having sold Joseph, the teenager is transported across the Sinai to the fertile Nile delta.
i. He left an arrogant brother.
ii. He arrived in Egypt responding to his circumstance in a remarkably different manner.
1. He had accepted his “special status” in the family.
a. His brothers did away with him because he was prideful.
2. With Potiphar’s wife, he denied any special privileges.
a. She did away with him because he was humble.
c. From a slave in the desert to a slave in a household.
d. From the head of a household to a dungeon.
e. From a cell in a dungeon to head of the prison.
f. From head of the prison to prime minister of the land.
Along the way…
II. The Meaning of the Story
a. Temptation of Power—What temptation? Why refused? How declined?
Joseph is placed in a privileged position, though a slave, as the head of household for a man of high position.
i. Difficult to wield power without being overwhelmed by that power.
ii. Potiphar’s wife is all about power, using that power over Joseph. Her power has corrupted her heart.
In contrast…
iii. Joseph used power he was granted to bless those under his influence.
1. Potiphar
2. Later, The head jailer, The cupbearer and the baker in prison, The nation, His family
iv. He was mistreated at the hands of power: [Swindoll]
1. Underserved treatment from family.
2. Unexpected restrictions from circumstances, …either physically or emotionally.
3. Untrue accusations from people.
James descries the tongue as a fire (James 3:5-6). In one day its careless, untrue statements can completely incinerate a reputation that has taken years to build.
b. The Temptation of Sex
i. We know why Potiphar’s wife was seductive.
1. She was power-mad.
Sarna: Sikba ‘immi--Come to bed with me! Her clipped proposition portrays brutish lust.
2. She was flexible.
Further, the attack had flexibility: if Joseph could not be stormed he might be coaxed, for a refusal to be so much with her could look quite unreasonable.
3. She was persistent.
Kidner: v.10—the constant pressure, day after day, was profoundly searching: it was this that would find out Samson twice in his career (Jdg. 14:17; 16:16).
4. She was effective:
Hamilton The word used for the article of clothing by which Potiphar’s wife grabbed Joseph (begged) is the same as that used in the previous chapter to describe the clothing that Tamar …removed (v.14), then put back on (v.19), the widow’s garb.
…it could refer both to an outer garment (2 K. 7:15) and an inner garment (Ezek. 26:16).
By using begged at this point, the narrator may be implying something about Joseph’s own emotional involvement in this story. He is on the verge of acting faithlessly to his master.
This makes Joseph more believable and his story more encouraging to us.
1. His resistance to temptation was being worn down by her persistence.
2. Just before he collapsed, he RAN away.
Knowing Potiphar’s wife was so seductive…
ii. Why did Joseph say “no”?
Kidner Joseph’s reasons for refusal (8,9) were those that another man might have given for yielding, so neutral is the force of circumstances.
1. His freedom from supervision and
2. His rapid promotion, which have corrupted other stewards (Is 22:15-25; Luke 16:1ff.), and
3. His realization that one realm only (9) was barred to him (which others, from Eve onwards, have construed as a frustration) were all arguments to him for loyalty.
Gen. 39:8 But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has put all that he owns in my charge.
Gen. 39:9 “There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?”
Gen. 39:10 As she spoke to Joseph day after day, he did not listen to her to lie beside her or be with her.
iii. How Did Joseph say NO?
Gen. 39:9 “There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?”
Kidner:
a. By giving the proposition its right name of WICKEDNESS (9)
a. he made truth his ally, and
b. “GREAT EVIL”—not just wrong because she’s married, but because she’s not his wife = adultery & fornication
c. contrast Judah, who’s story of consorting with prostitutes we’ve just read
Kidner --saved his honour at the cost of his prospects; the NT recommends it (
19-20—Death was the only penalty Joseph could reasonably expect. His reprieve presumably owed much to the respect he had won; and Potiphar’s mingled wrath and restraint may reflect a faint misgiving about the full accuracy of the charge. But the unfolding story makes it obvious that God who had brought him here was preserving him for his task.
Prison—the Hebrew root suggests a round structure and therefore perhaps a fortress, which is the term used by LXX.
b. by relating all to God (9c) he rooted his loyalty to his master deep enough to hold---“sin against God”
c. by adding a technique that Joseph did NOT have available:
Heb. 3:13 But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
The temptation of Power
The temptation of Sex
c. The Temptation of Despondency, Despair, and Bitterness.
i. Joseph irritated his brothers; then had a change of heart in the desert.
1. Could he see why he was suffering?
ii. Joseph irritated Mrs. Potiphar, was unjustly jailed.
1. Could NOT see why he was suffering!
2. I’M DOOMED REGARDLESS!!
Imprisoned in a round, plastered, like the cistern in Dothan??
3. When I do bad things, I deserve punishment.
4. When I do well, I don’t deserve punishment.
iii. Dilemma:
1. How well must I do to avoid justice?
2. How poorly must I do to deserve justice?
3. MORALISM HAS ONLY ONE SOLUTION TO EVERY PROBLEM:
a. make perfect choices.
iv. This is the pathway of all human religion.
v. GOSPEL: ANOTHER, LATER, JOSEPH WAS CAST INTO JAIL UNJUSTLY, SUFFERING CONDEMNATION WITH GUILTY CRIMINALS .
vi. INSIGHT THAT MORALISM CANNOT GIVE…
1. If Joseph had not been sold into slavery,
2. if Potiphar’s wife had not unjustly accused him,
3. if Potiphar had not had mercy on him and sent him to prison,
THEN, Jacob and his clan would not have survived the famine to come.
God was with him!
God was with him!
Westermann
The unifying motif in chapter 39 is that God was with Joseph. The presence of God is an essential part of blessing.
…Yahweh is on Joseph’s side, showering him with success, and this comes to have a wider effect on the house of the Egyptian as soon as Joseph ahs been appointed overseer. For blessing has a growing and pervasive power, just as it does in the story of Jacob in Laban’s houe.
Gen. 39:5 It came about that from the time he made him overseer in his house and over all that he owned, the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house on account of Joseph; thus the LORD’S blessing was upon all that he owned, in the house and in the field.
Gen. 39:21 But the LORD was with Joseph and ıto him, and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer.
Gen. 39:23 The chief jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph’s charge because the LORD was with him; and whatever he did, the LORD made to prosper.
Psa. 1:1 ¶ How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
Psa. 1:2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
Psa. 1:3 He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.
III. Takeaways
Hamilton--Wisdom literature does not outlaw adultery because God disallows it …The sanctions in Prov. 6 include: self-destruction (v.32); wounds, loss of respect, and public disgrace (v.33); a husband bent on revenge (v.34); no way to buy oneself out of trouble )v.35). Prov. 7;23 comes the closest-perhaps—to connecting adultery and the death penalty: “he does not know that it will cost him his life.” In short, the sanctions are not historical but rational.
1. Practical advice: Run!
I Cor. 6:18 Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body.
2Tim. 2:22 But keep away from youthful passions, and pursue righteousness, faithfulness, love, and peace, in company with others who call on the Lord from a pure heart.
2Pet. 1:4 Through these things he has bestowed on us his precious and most magnificent promises, so that by means of what was promised you may become partakers of the divine nature, after escaping the worldly corruption that is produced by evil desire.
2. God hates adultery not because He wants to stamp out fun!
…violates His covenant model: no broken covenants
…violates His triune nature: the Godhead interrelate as Father, Son, and Spirit; the angels are not welcomed into that circle; humans participate only indirectly; thus, swirling partners misses the model
This is not about Doing Better! This is about reordered LOVES.
Where does God reorder our loves?
i. Transform a heart, through the desert.
ii. God gave sight to the blind, in the darkness of a dungeon.
Friday, October 16, 2009
What about intermarriage in Egypt?
A couple of questions came in response to my statement that one of the reasons God moved Israel to Egypt was to prevent further intermarriage there, as Judah had done in Canaan.
Certainly, that does not mean that Gentiles were unwelcome in the nation of faith. In fact, the genealogy of Jesus in the Gospels contains the names of women who were not Jewish: Rahab & Tamar.
The point of remaining distinct was that of spiritual separation from pagans, not to the detriment of the pagans but preserving the purity of faith in the nation.
The point of preserving that pure faith was to have a faith to offer to the pagans!
As to the "mixed company" leaving Egypt in the Exodus, Walter Kaiser comments:
38 The “many other people” (‘ereb rab; KJV, “mixed multitude”; cf. the “swarms” of flies in 8:21 [17 MT], ‘arob ) were composed of Egyptians (some “feared the word of the LORD” in 9:20), perhaps some of the old Semitic population left from the Hyksos era and slaves native to other countries. Some of this group must be part of the “rabble” (ha’sapsup lit., “a collection”) mentioned later in Numbers 11:4. Thus the promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:3, of a blessing to “all peoples on the earth,” received another fulfillment in this swarm of foreigners who were impressed enough by the power of God to leave Egypt with Israel after all the plagues had been performed. Another aspect of God’s display of his power was so that the Egyptians could, if they only would, be evangelized (7:5; 8:10, 19; 9:14, 16, 29-30; 14:4, 18).
Hopes that helps!!
Certainly, that does not mean that Gentiles were unwelcome in the nation of faith. In fact, the genealogy of Jesus in the Gospels contains the names of women who were not Jewish: Rahab & Tamar.
The point of remaining distinct was that of spiritual separation from pagans, not to the detriment of the pagans but preserving the purity of faith in the nation.
The point of preserving that pure faith was to have a faith to offer to the pagans!
As to the "mixed company" leaving Egypt in the Exodus, Walter Kaiser comments:
38 The “many other people” (‘ereb rab; KJV, “mixed multitude”; cf. the “swarms” of flies in 8:21 [17 MT], ‘arob ) were composed of Egyptians (some “feared the word of the LORD” in 9:20), perhaps some of the old Semitic population left from the Hyksos era and slaves native to other countries. Some of this group must be part of the “rabble” (ha’sapsup lit., “a collection”) mentioned later in Numbers 11:4. Thus the promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:3, of a blessing to “all peoples on the earth,” received another fulfillment in this swarm of foreigners who were impressed enough by the power of God to leave Egypt with Israel after all the plagues had been performed. Another aspect of God’s display of his power was so that the Egyptians could, if they only would, be evangelized (7:5; 8:10, 19; 9:14, 16, 29-30; 14:4, 18).
Hopes that helps!!
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Questions Asked via Messaging
Here are the questions that I have received over the past weeks; most of these were answered "live" but I thought those who missed the interaction in the room might enjoy the quality of questions being asked!
Beauty sermons from August 2009:
Q: How do you separate the desire for acquiring beauty from materialism?
A: Tough to do so; the two easily merge. It's helpful for me to think of beauty as something to be savoured rather than possessed. Accumulating "beautiful" objects can quickly degenerate into materialism. We often prove to be simple creatures! The experience of beauty is what I am after, not the grasping of things that remind me of beauty.
Q: Is the glory of God reflected in the beauty of the new Jaguar or just in the 'creation' of nature?
A: I understand that human creative acts can reflect beauty; nature's beauty would be God's direct expression of beauty; our creative acts can mimic that. So, yes, the Jaguar IS beautiful! Not dependable, perhaps, but beautiful...
Q: Can you comment on aesthestics such as those that have adorned the Catholic Church as good or bad?
A: Wow, that debate has been alive since Ulrich Zwingli, the Swiss Reformer, emptied all the statuary in his Canon's parishes. I am sympathetic to his arguments, which remind us that "no graven image" is to distract us from the beauty and glory of God. Certainly, that goes all the way back to Augustine in the fifth century, so Zwingli's argument was not new.
I do believe that Zwingli over-reacted to the issue. From childhood, I was made to feel uncomfortable with any depiction of Jesus, so that is a struggle that remains. However, the concept of beauty as expressed in painting, sculpture, etc. does NOT contradict the Commandment.
Q: How do we reconcile that the subjectivity of beauty causes some people to look at God's works without seeing beauty because of personality or spiritual disorder?
A: Paul addresses that directly in Romans 1--we are all accountable to recognize the eternal and divine nature of God in his work of creation. Psalm 19:1-6 is a root of this thought from Paul; it's not original with the apostle. We are broken at every level, thus we cannot savour beauty for all it's worth; often, we cannot even perceive beauty. The English proverb imploring the hearer to "stop and smell the roses" echoes the tendency to move too quickly through the day without even noticing beauty around, though the assumption is that the beauty CAN be perceived.
Q: The language you are using is very close to that of Screwtape. Are you saying that we should desire to possess God in the same sense?
A: Yes, I think I am saying that. We perceive the glory of God and by that perception experience Him; this is what Paul was driving home in Romans 1, not just that we are accountable but that He is available to us. Eccl 3's "eternity in their hearts" is a similar idea--we have the capacity to perceive Him, "through a glass darkly."
Q: How does NT Wright deal with the Scripture that states that the old heaven and earth will pass away and there will be a new heaven and earth?
A: Gingerly. Wright expresses the connection between the two as follows: We work hard in the present, fallen earth, believing that God will somehow take the hard work which He inspires and enables us to accomplish now as the "building blocks or stones" which will be used by Him to construct the new heaven and the new earth. He professes not to fully understand such a process, but that without such a connection, he is left with a sense of futility over work done now.
I find his guesses intriguing but not fully satisfying!
Read NTWright's "Surprised By Hope" for more detail.
Joseph's Life Cyle (which is really about Judah!)
Q: What creates favoritism then?
A: We do. This is a sign of our brokenness, our fallenness, but it is a perversion of God's ability to savour each one of us with a special kind of love and joy. He also is fully justified in preferring Jacob to Esau, based in God's own character and intention.
We are made in His image, so we have similar capacities to savour those whom we love, but we distort and twist it into a raw favouritism. Our choosing one over another looks ugly, because it reflects our brokenness rather than God's wisdom and love.
Judah's sons: Er, Onan, Shelah
Q: You imply that Er's death at God's hand was a deserving death because Er was evil. Is premature death a mark of evil and judgment?
A: Yes. Not always the evil of the dying person, though!!! All death is a a result of evil, since the Fall of Adam and Eve. "Premature" death most often happens because of someone else's evil (murder), rather than that of the dead. There are certainly occasions, like Er and Onan, where God directly intervenes and ends a life based on the devastation that is ABOUT to spread if that life were extended. This is God's role as a Just One. Without belief in a just being who makes such decisions, we are left hopeless in a world full of evil.
Q: Is God's will shaped by our culture? Eg, God's reason for killing Onan?
A: I think this question must have been stimulated by the way that I stated the point, and I don't remember precisely how I made the point.
I will say this: God DOES respond to our actions. Several places in the OT, this is plainly stated (God spoke to David: if you do this, I'll do that, etc.).
God's reasons for killing Onan had to do with the SEED. The SEED promised to Abraham was to go through Judah; Onan's refusal to provide offspring brought quick action from God, who at all times works to fulfill his promises to Abraham, without lapse.
On the other hand, our cultural decisions and tendencies do NOT shape God's intentions nor his will.
Q: How do we know that Judah had been with prostitutes before?
A: Several ways. First, Judah never expressed hesitation at bargaining with the veiled Tamar; his negotiations reflect his comfort and experience. Second, Tamar is said to have known his patterns, an apparent reference to his common behaviour with prostitutes. Third, the narrator is brutal about this, contrasting his behaviour with Tamar's, not defending him as innocent but for this one occurrence. Fourth, ALWAYS TRUST THE NARRATOR, one of the cardinal rules of reading narrative literature. Fifth, Judah's entire response of repentance (She is more just than I) is predicated on a new understanding of his moral condition, implying that this sort of thing was not new with him, but is now seen in a new light.
Beauty sermons from August 2009:
Q: How do you separate the desire for acquiring beauty from materialism?
A: Tough to do so; the two easily merge. It's helpful for me to think of beauty as something to be savoured rather than possessed. Accumulating "beautiful" objects can quickly degenerate into materialism. We often prove to be simple creatures! The experience of beauty is what I am after, not the grasping of things that remind me of beauty.
Q: Is the glory of God reflected in the beauty of the new Jaguar or just in the 'creation' of nature?
A: I understand that human creative acts can reflect beauty; nature's beauty would be God's direct expression of beauty; our creative acts can mimic that. So, yes, the Jaguar IS beautiful! Not dependable, perhaps, but beautiful...
Q: Can you comment on aesthestics such as those that have adorned the Catholic Church as good or bad?
A: Wow, that debate has been alive since Ulrich Zwingli, the Swiss Reformer, emptied all the statuary in his Canon's parishes. I am sympathetic to his arguments, which remind us that "no graven image" is to distract us from the beauty and glory of God. Certainly, that goes all the way back to Augustine in the fifth century, so Zwingli's argument was not new.
I do believe that Zwingli over-reacted to the issue. From childhood, I was made to feel uncomfortable with any depiction of Jesus, so that is a struggle that remains. However, the concept of beauty as expressed in painting, sculpture, etc. does NOT contradict the Commandment.
Q: How do we reconcile that the subjectivity of beauty causes some people to look at God's works without seeing beauty because of personality or spiritual disorder?
A: Paul addresses that directly in Romans 1--we are all accountable to recognize the eternal and divine nature of God in his work of creation. Psalm 19:1-6 is a root of this thought from Paul; it's not original with the apostle. We are broken at every level, thus we cannot savour beauty for all it's worth; often, we cannot even perceive beauty. The English proverb imploring the hearer to "stop and smell the roses" echoes the tendency to move too quickly through the day without even noticing beauty around, though the assumption is that the beauty CAN be perceived.
Q: The language you are using is very close to that of Screwtape. Are you saying that we should desire to possess God in the same sense?
A: Yes, I think I am saying that. We perceive the glory of God and by that perception experience Him; this is what Paul was driving home in Romans 1, not just that we are accountable but that He is available to us. Eccl 3's "eternity in their hearts" is a similar idea--we have the capacity to perceive Him, "through a glass darkly."
Q: How does NT Wright deal with the Scripture that states that the old heaven and earth will pass away and there will be a new heaven and earth?
A: Gingerly. Wright expresses the connection between the two as follows: We work hard in the present, fallen earth, believing that God will somehow take the hard work which He inspires and enables us to accomplish now as the "building blocks or stones" which will be used by Him to construct the new heaven and the new earth. He professes not to fully understand such a process, but that without such a connection, he is left with a sense of futility over work done now.
I find his guesses intriguing but not fully satisfying!
Read NTWright's "Surprised By Hope" for more detail.
Joseph's Life Cyle (which is really about Judah!)
Q: What creates favoritism then?
A: We do. This is a sign of our brokenness, our fallenness, but it is a perversion of God's ability to savour each one of us with a special kind of love and joy. He also is fully justified in preferring Jacob to Esau, based in God's own character and intention.
We are made in His image, so we have similar capacities to savour those whom we love, but we distort and twist it into a raw favouritism. Our choosing one over another looks ugly, because it reflects our brokenness rather than God's wisdom and love.
Judah's sons: Er, Onan, Shelah
Q: You imply that Er's death at God's hand was a deserving death because Er was evil. Is premature death a mark of evil and judgment?
A: Yes. Not always the evil of the dying person, though!!! All death is a a result of evil, since the Fall of Adam and Eve. "Premature" death most often happens because of someone else's evil (murder), rather than that of the dead. There are certainly occasions, like Er and Onan, where God directly intervenes and ends a life based on the devastation that is ABOUT to spread if that life were extended. This is God's role as a Just One. Without belief in a just being who makes such decisions, we are left hopeless in a world full of evil.
Q: Is God's will shaped by our culture? Eg, God's reason for killing Onan?
A: I think this question must have been stimulated by the way that I stated the point, and I don't remember precisely how I made the point.
I will say this: God DOES respond to our actions. Several places in the OT, this is plainly stated (God spoke to David: if you do this, I'll do that, etc.).
God's reasons for killing Onan had to do with the SEED. The SEED promised to Abraham was to go through Judah; Onan's refusal to provide offspring brought quick action from God, who at all times works to fulfill his promises to Abraham, without lapse.
On the other hand, our cultural decisions and tendencies do NOT shape God's intentions nor his will.
Q: How do we know that Judah had been with prostitutes before?
A: Several ways. First, Judah never expressed hesitation at bargaining with the veiled Tamar; his negotiations reflect his comfort and experience. Second, Tamar is said to have known his patterns, an apparent reference to his common behaviour with prostitutes. Third, the narrator is brutal about this, contrasting his behaviour with Tamar's, not defending him as innocent but for this one occurrence. Fourth, ALWAYS TRUST THE NARRATOR, one of the cardinal rules of reading narrative literature. Fifth, Judah's entire response of repentance (She is more just than I) is predicated on a new understanding of his moral condition, implying that this sort of thing was not new with him, but is now seen in a new light.
Joseph & the Multi-Coloured Roller Coaster
Joseph & The Many-Coloured Roller Coaster
Genesis 39-40
Joseph was preferred by God as His own conduit for blessing. 39-40
Preview: Sara’s throat injury
What are you thankful for that didn’t first appear to be a blessing?
a. Unseen depth of our brokenness:
b. Unseen depth of God’s engagement in our lives=GRACE.
c. Unseen CONFUSION of our MIS-perceptions.
I. The Story
A story for the short-sighted; a parable for the defeated.
Joseph on the roller-coaster ride in Egypt:
1. Sold as a slave by his brothers.
2. Rising to the heights in Potiphar’s household.
3. Falsely accused and imprisoned again in the dungeon.
4. Promises from God by the gift of interpretation of OTHER’s dreams!
a. The cupbearer
b. The baker
c. The Pharaoh
5. Rising to the heights in Pharaoh’s court.
a. Through the desert to Egypt: his brothers having sold Joseph, the teenager is transported across the Sinai to the fertile Nile delta.
i. He left an arrogant brother.
ii. He arrived in Egypt quite different.
1. He had accepted his “special status” in the family.
a. His brothers did away with him because he was prideful.
2. With Potiphar’s wife, he denied any special privileges.
a. She did away with him because he was humble.
b. From a slave in the desert to a slave in a household.
c. From the head of a household to a dungeon.
d. From a cell in a dungeon to head of the prison.
Along the way…
e. Power temptation—Joseph is placed in a privileged position, though a slave, as the head of household for a man of the highest position.
f. Sexual temptation
i. “a wicked thing”—not just wrong because she’s married, but because she’s not his wife.
ii. “sin”
Gen. 39:2 The LORD was with Joseph, so he became a successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian.
Gen. 39:3 Now his master saw that the LORD was with him and how the LORD caused all that he did to prosper in his hand.
Gen. 39:4 So Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal servant; and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he owned he put in his charge.
Gen. 39:5 It came about that from the time he made him overseer in his house and over all that he owned, the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house on account of Joseph; thus the LORD’S blessing was upon all that he owned, in the house and in the field.
Gen. 39:6 So he left everything he owned in Joseph’s charge; and with him there he did not concern himself with anything except the food which he ate.
¶ Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance.
Gen. 39:21 But the LORD was with Joseph and extended kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer.
Gen. 39:22 The chief jailer committed to Joseph’s charge all the prisoners who were in the jail; so that whatever was done there, he was responsible for it.
Gen. 39:23 The chief jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph’s charge because the LORD was with him; and whatever he did, the LORD made to prosper.
Gen. 40:4 The captain of the bodyguard put Joseph in charge of them, and he took care of them; and they were in confinement for some time.
Gen. 40:5 Then the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt, who were confined in jail, both had a dream the same night, each man with his own dream and each dream with its own interpretation.
Gen. 40:8 Then they said to him, “We have 1had a dream and there is no one to interpret it.” Then Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell it to me, please.”
Gen. 40:23 Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but aforgot him.
II. The Meaning of the Story
a. Unseen depth of our brokenness:
New Orleans was sinking year by year, decade by decade, century by century. Some realized that, others did not.
When debi and I honeymooned there, I was stunned to see with my own eyes that the Mississippi river, held back by a levee, was ABOVE the level of the protected streets. Parts of the city were 18 feet (5.4m) below sea level.
New Orleans was a disaster waiting to happen, but few knew and no one listened.
i. God sees Joseph’s character, among his brothers.
ii. God oversees the sale of Joseph by his brothers, preventing his murder through the intervention of the fourth son, Judah.
iii. Joseph’s faith response to God.
1. Gen. 40:8-- Then Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell it to me, please.”
2. Gen. 40:15 “For I was in fact kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing that they should have put me into the dungeon.”
WE CAN’T SEE OURSELVES AS WE ARE!!
DiSC—we see ourselves as other’s see us…
b. Unseen depth of God’s engagement in our lives=GRACE.
Divine oversight of Joseph’s life and therefore of Abraham’s offspring.
i. Gen. 39--vv. 2,3, 21, 23--’the Lord was with Joseph’
1. This comment from the narrator explains the movements from the pit to the palace.
2. Joseph makes enemies for…
a. good reasons: lording it over his brothers
b. bad reasons: he refused to betray his lord
ii. He accompanies Joseph through the dessert to Egypt.
iii. He transforms Joseph’s heart on the journey.
1. Transformed from self-absorbed brat who might have delighted in the wife’s invitation.
2. Now, character enough to say, “no, this is sin, and this is wrong.”
3. The INNER TRANSFORMATION HAS EXTERNAL IMPACT.
DEEP INSIDE OUR LIVES, GOD’S PURPOSES ARE UNPACKING AND UNFOLDING.
Joseph was not aware of Judah’s move into the Canaanite camp, marrying a Canaanite woman; the drift towards Canaanites threatened God’s good purposes for Israel; the Egyptians mixed with NO-ONE! They wouldn’t even EAT in the presence of outsiders. In God’s good purposes, Israel was being moved into Egypt, to be preserved and to multiply unmixed for several hundred years.
God is at work in our lives: we just can’t yet see it all.
c. Unseen CONFUSION of our MIS-perceptions.
i. Does this “bad thing” prove God is against me?
1. Things often “go wrong”!
2. Debi’s story:
Her dad was a career Air Force officer; they moved regularly from posting to posting. Twice, the assignment was Guam. During the first assignment, the family moved into officer’s housing, only to be moved again shortly.
You might imagine the frustration of a young mum, having just moved to the island with two very young daughters, only to be told they would have to move again immediately.
So, they did.
A week later, an Air Force plane crashed on approach, INTO THE HOUSE THEY HAD JUST VACATED.
I’m sure my mother-in-law was happy to have moved; and I am happy to be married to the toddler who was NOT in harm’s way.
THINGS OFTEN DO NOT GO THE WAY WE INTEND;
GOD ALWAYS WORKS OUT HIS GOOD INTENTIONS,
EVEN WHEN THEY MIGHT SEEM TO BE GOING AGAINST US.
III. Takeaways
If God is in charge of things, He must be either cruel or incompetent.
i. I’m alone.
ii. I’m deeply wounded by someone close to me, someone I trusted; who’s protecting me??
iii. I’m greatly disappointed by the circumstances of my life; this is NOT the way things were supposed to go.
This story tells us something completely different: God’s wises purposes are a fit with”bad” things that happen in our lives.
* God’s commitment to His own is unbending and without compromise, even though UNSEEN.
* God’s purposes can be recognized if we have eyes to see, but God continues his work even when we remain blind to them.
1. He doesn’t ask us NOT to believe what we see;
2. He asks us to more thoroughly believe what we hear from Him.
* God is delighted with what only God can do.
3. This is not about Doing Better!
a. If good intentions could save the day, they would have!
b. The stories of the Bible have no human heroes;
c. God’s active grace in the stories makes HIM the HERO.
4. Transform a heart, through the desert.
5. Give sight to the blind, in the darkness of a dungeon.
What are you thankful for that didn’t first appear to be a blessing?
We can be thankful that God is active in our lives, though out of sight.
ANOTHER, LATER, JOSEPH CAME TO WALK THE ROADS OF THE CANAANITES; HE SPOKE OF THE DEPTHS OF OUR BROKENNESS, THE GREATER PURPOSES OF GOD THE FATHER, UNFOLDING IN GRACE.
THAT NEW and GREATER JOSEPH WAS ARRESTED, STRIPPED, AND PUT TO DEATH.
All who will hear him, and trust him will become part of his family, and enjoy His friendship, FIND REST FROM WORRY AND ANXIETY, BECAUSE His purposes as good.
Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
in light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
almighty, victorious, thy great name we praise.
To all, life thou givest, to both great and small;
in all life thou livest, the true life of all;
we blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree,
and wither and perish, but naught changeth thee.
Genesis 39-40
Joseph was preferred by God as His own conduit for blessing. 39-40
Preview: Sara’s throat injury
What are you thankful for that didn’t first appear to be a blessing?
a. Unseen depth of our brokenness:
b. Unseen depth of God’s engagement in our lives=GRACE.
c. Unseen CONFUSION of our MIS-perceptions.
I. The Story
A story for the short-sighted; a parable for the defeated.
Joseph on the roller-coaster ride in Egypt:
1. Sold as a slave by his brothers.
2. Rising to the heights in Potiphar’s household.
3. Falsely accused and imprisoned again in the dungeon.
4. Promises from God by the gift of interpretation of OTHER’s dreams!
a. The cupbearer
b. The baker
c. The Pharaoh
5. Rising to the heights in Pharaoh’s court.
a. Through the desert to Egypt: his brothers having sold Joseph, the teenager is transported across the Sinai to the fertile Nile delta.
i. He left an arrogant brother.
ii. He arrived in Egypt quite different.
1. He had accepted his “special status” in the family.
a. His brothers did away with him because he was prideful.
2. With Potiphar’s wife, he denied any special privileges.
a. She did away with him because he was humble.
b. From a slave in the desert to a slave in a household.
c. From the head of a household to a dungeon.
d. From a cell in a dungeon to head of the prison.
Along the way…
e. Power temptation—Joseph is placed in a privileged position, though a slave, as the head of household for a man of the highest position.
f. Sexual temptation
i. “a wicked thing”—not just wrong because she’s married, but because she’s not his wife.
ii. “sin”
Gen. 39:2 The LORD was with Joseph, so he became a successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian.
Gen. 39:3 Now his master saw that the LORD was with him and how the LORD caused all that he did to prosper in his hand.
Gen. 39:4 So Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal servant; and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he owned he put in his charge.
Gen. 39:5 It came about that from the time he made him overseer in his house and over all that he owned, the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house on account of Joseph; thus the LORD’S blessing was upon all that he owned, in the house and in the field.
Gen. 39:6 So he left everything he owned in Joseph’s charge; and with him there he did not concern himself with anything except the food which he ate.
¶ Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance.
Gen. 39:21 But the LORD was with Joseph and extended kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer.
Gen. 39:22 The chief jailer committed to Joseph’s charge all the prisoners who were in the jail; so that whatever was done there, he was responsible for it.
Gen. 39:23 The chief jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph’s charge because the LORD was with him; and whatever he did, the LORD made to prosper.
Gen. 40:4 The captain of the bodyguard put Joseph in charge of them, and he took care of them; and they were in confinement for some time.
Gen. 40:5 Then the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt, who were confined in jail, both had a dream the same night, each man with his own dream and each dream with its own interpretation.
Gen. 40:8 Then they said to him, “We have 1had a dream and there is no one to interpret it.” Then Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell it to me, please.”
Gen. 40:23 Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but aforgot him.
II. The Meaning of the Story
a. Unseen depth of our brokenness:
New Orleans was sinking year by year, decade by decade, century by century. Some realized that, others did not.
When debi and I honeymooned there, I was stunned to see with my own eyes that the Mississippi river, held back by a levee, was ABOVE the level of the protected streets. Parts of the city were 18 feet (5.4m) below sea level.
New Orleans was a disaster waiting to happen, but few knew and no one listened.
i. God sees Joseph’s character, among his brothers.
ii. God oversees the sale of Joseph by his brothers, preventing his murder through the intervention of the fourth son, Judah.
iii. Joseph’s faith response to God.
1. Gen. 40:8-- Then Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell it to me, please.”
2. Gen. 40:15 “For I was in fact kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing that they should have put me into the dungeon.”
WE CAN’T SEE OURSELVES AS WE ARE!!
DiSC—we see ourselves as other’s see us…
b. Unseen depth of God’s engagement in our lives=GRACE.
Divine oversight of Joseph’s life and therefore of Abraham’s offspring.
i. Gen. 39--vv. 2,3, 21, 23--’the Lord was with Joseph’
1. This comment from the narrator explains the movements from the pit to the palace.
2. Joseph makes enemies for…
a. good reasons: lording it over his brothers
b. bad reasons: he refused to betray his lord
ii. He accompanies Joseph through the dessert to Egypt.
iii. He transforms Joseph’s heart on the journey.
1. Transformed from self-absorbed brat who might have delighted in the wife’s invitation.
2. Now, character enough to say, “no, this is sin, and this is wrong.”
3. The INNER TRANSFORMATION HAS EXTERNAL IMPACT.
DEEP INSIDE OUR LIVES, GOD’S PURPOSES ARE UNPACKING AND UNFOLDING.
Joseph was not aware of Judah’s move into the Canaanite camp, marrying a Canaanite woman; the drift towards Canaanites threatened God’s good purposes for Israel; the Egyptians mixed with NO-ONE! They wouldn’t even EAT in the presence of outsiders. In God’s good purposes, Israel was being moved into Egypt, to be preserved and to multiply unmixed for several hundred years.
God is at work in our lives: we just can’t yet see it all.
c. Unseen CONFUSION of our MIS-perceptions.
i. Does this “bad thing” prove God is against me?
1. Things often “go wrong”!
2. Debi’s story:
Her dad was a career Air Force officer; they moved regularly from posting to posting. Twice, the assignment was Guam. During the first assignment, the family moved into officer’s housing, only to be moved again shortly.
You might imagine the frustration of a young mum, having just moved to the island with two very young daughters, only to be told they would have to move again immediately.
So, they did.
A week later, an Air Force plane crashed on approach, INTO THE HOUSE THEY HAD JUST VACATED.
I’m sure my mother-in-law was happy to have moved; and I am happy to be married to the toddler who was NOT in harm’s way.
THINGS OFTEN DO NOT GO THE WAY WE INTEND;
GOD ALWAYS WORKS OUT HIS GOOD INTENTIONS,
EVEN WHEN THEY MIGHT SEEM TO BE GOING AGAINST US.
III. Takeaways
If God is in charge of things, He must be either cruel or incompetent.
i. I’m alone.
ii. I’m deeply wounded by someone close to me, someone I trusted; who’s protecting me??
iii. I’m greatly disappointed by the circumstances of my life; this is NOT the way things were supposed to go.
This story tells us something completely different: God’s wises purposes are a fit with”bad” things that happen in our lives.
* God’s commitment to His own is unbending and without compromise, even though UNSEEN.
* God’s purposes can be recognized if we have eyes to see, but God continues his work even when we remain blind to them.
1. He doesn’t ask us NOT to believe what we see;
2. He asks us to more thoroughly believe what we hear from Him.
* God is delighted with what only God can do.
3. This is not about Doing Better!
a. If good intentions could save the day, they would have!
b. The stories of the Bible have no human heroes;
c. God’s active grace in the stories makes HIM the HERO.
4. Transform a heart, through the desert.
5. Give sight to the blind, in the darkness of a dungeon.
What are you thankful for that didn’t first appear to be a blessing?
We can be thankful that God is active in our lives, though out of sight.
ANOTHER, LATER, JOSEPH CAME TO WALK THE ROADS OF THE CANAANITES; HE SPOKE OF THE DEPTHS OF OUR BROKENNESS, THE GREATER PURPOSES OF GOD THE FATHER, UNFOLDING IN GRACE.
THAT NEW and GREATER JOSEPH WAS ARRESTED, STRIPPED, AND PUT TO DEATH.
All who will hear him, and trust him will become part of his family, and enjoy His friendship, FIND REST FROM WORRY AND ANXIETY, BECAUSE His purposes as good.
Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
in light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
almighty, victorious, thy great name we praise.
To all, life thou givest, to both great and small;
in all life thou livest, the true life of all;
we blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree,
and wither and perish, but naught changeth thee.
Judah & Tamar
A story for the ages…
Judah & Tamar
Or, Brothers & Friends
CENTRAL IDEA OF THE SERIES: God transformed a broken family into a nation that was useful in extending the blessing of God to all.
Resources: Tim Keller’s sermon, Tamar
Sidney Greidanus, Preaching Christ from Genesis
Robert Alter, The Art of Biblical Narrative, Genesis, et al
Bruce Waltke, Genesis
I. The Story
a. Joseph was Jacob’s favoured son, by Rachel.
1. This inappropriate favoritism DAMAGED the other sons.
Notice how often the word “HATED” occurs in the story: vv. 4, 5, 8.
2. Note that this hatred led them to plot murder, against their own brother! This was no mere family spat.
a. Judah arranged a Quick sale—Joseph was sold for a slave, rather than executed as the brothers wanted.
b. The deed was covered by the blood of a GOAT.
i. Goat skin was used by Jacob to deceive his father Isaac, when he stole the blessing.
b. Judah was the fourth son of Leah.
i. Judah identified in the family.
1. Leah was in despair as the unfavoured wife of Jacob. At the birth of her first four sons, she named each one by her state of heart at the time. At Reubens’ birth,
1. Reuben: sounds like—“see, a son” Jacob will notice
2. Simeon: sounds like: “has heard”, God has heard me
3. Levi: sounds like—“will join” me to Jacob
Gen. 29:35 She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “This time I will praise the LORD.” That is why she named him Judah. Then she stopped having children.
4. Judah: sounds like—“sing praise” TO THE LORD only
Alter: no longer expresses hope of winning her husbands’ affection but simply gives thanks to God for granting her male offspring.
ii. Judah interceded for his brother Joseph, to prevent his death by their own brothers.
1. Either murder or removal
2. No particular pain or sacrifice involved for Judah.
iii. Judah had three sons.
1. Er, married Tamar. He was evil; God took his life; Tamar was widowed.
2. Levirate Marriage: Latin word levir, meaning "husband's brother,” practiced by societies with a strong clan structure in which exogamous marriage, i.e. that outside the clan, was forbidden.
a. Brother, brother, brother.
b. When the brothers were all dead, then the father-in-law was to take her and produce offspring for his first-born.
c. This was the rule of the day.
d. The Law of Moses had not yet been given.
3. Onan married Tamar, 38:8, who refused to impregnate her, jealous that her offspring would be called his brother’s. His own biological son would then gain the double portion of Judah’s estate, to the loss of Onan’s own other children! God took his life.
Gen. 38:11 Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Remain a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up”;
for he thought, “I am afraid that he too may die like his brothers.”
Alter: Judah, whose lie about Joseph’s death triggered extravagant grief in his father, Jacob, now has double cause for grief himself; no grief is mentioned.
4. Shelah, the third son, Judah withheld from Tamar, blaming her for the untimely deaths of the first two sons and fearful that marriage to her might end his life as well.
a. JUDAH THEREBY REVEALS A TROUBLING ISSUE OF HIS OWN CHARACTER: His sons are HIS sons, not Tamar’s. Their bad character is a reflection on HIM, not her.
b. Blame-shifting!!
c. Lying—we know from the narrator that JUDAH HAS NO INTENTION OF PROVIDING A THIRD HUSBAND FOR TAMAR.
So Tamar went and lived in her father’s house.
5. Tamar is thus left destitute.
a. Living in her father’s house would be a short-term fix.
i. Life-expectancy was in the mid-30s.
ii. Once her father was dead, why would any brothers be willing to look after her?
1. A slave worked for room and board.
2. A widowed sister may attempt to claim a portion of the legacy!
b. Tamar needed a longer-term plan.
iv. Tamar will not leave Judah’s “well-enough” alone.
1. We may struggle with her demand for a husband; for her, it was a matter of life and death; no husband, no children, no income, no life.
Tamar single-mindedly pursues justice at any cost.
2. She knows Judah well enough to predict his behaviour and sets a trap for him: GOAL IS TO OBTAIN A CHILD.
a. Hearing that Judah is coming to her region as a recent widower, she dresses as a prostitute and sits in the gate of Enaim, a village on the road to Timnah, his destination.
b. “Twin Wells” an allusion to another betrothal type-scene?!?!?
c. Recently bereft, she knew that Judah would be motivated.
d. She had no doubts that Judah would consort with prostitutes.
e. “She saw that Shelah” had grown up; if the young man were with Judah, then this DOUBLES DOWN on his blatant double standard regarding sexual activity.
v. Judah sees the “prostitute” and stops to interact.
1. Assumes she is a prostitute by her dress: she had covered her face.
2. Begins to bargain: “go to you.” V.16.
3. Tamar replies in kind: what is your payment?
4. Judah offers a YOUNG GOAT FROM THE FLOCK.
5. Tamar wants a guarantee of payment.
6. Judah asks what she wants in pledge.
7. Tamar asks for his SEAL, CORD, AND STAFF.
a. Alter: equivalent to driver’s license & credit cards.
vi. The pledge exchanged, the two have intercourse.
1. She conceives.
2. She leaves.
3. She changes into her widow’s garb.
vii. Judah keeps his pledge, sending a goat by his companion.
1. The Adullamite asked for the temple prostitute and hears that no such woman has been seen here.
2. He reports back to Judah.
3. Judah drops the issue to avoid embarrassment.
4. After all, I kept my JUSTLY KEPT MY WORD.
viii. Judah is told that his daughter-in-law has conceived a child as a harlot; three months later.
1. Bring her out.
2. Burn her!
3. Alter—this speed is highlighted …by the unusual use of a passive present participle…literally, “she is-being-taken-out.”
ix. Tamar, on her way to execution, sends the SEAL, CORD, AND STAFF to Judah, saying that her consort owned these and asking, “RECOGNIZE THIS?”
x. Judah did indeed RECOGNIZE THIS.
1. His response changes the course of his life.
a. I did not give her my son Shelah, as I must have.
b. She is more righteous than I.
c. Gen. 42:21 Then they said to one another, “Truly we are guilty concerning our brother, because we saw the distress of his soul when he pleaded with us, yet we would not listen; therefore this distress has come upon us.”
d. Gen. 44:33 “Now, therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the lad a slave to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brothers.
II. The Meaning of the Story God’s grace in our lives is unrelenting.
a. BREAK DOWN: Judah lived a life of self-indulgence, using those around, and denying responsibility for his family.
i. Judah blamed Tamar for the deaths of his first two sons; the truth is that both were evil men, denied long lives by divine judgment. Who would be more culpable for their character: Tamar or Judah?!?
ii. Judah had failed as a son of the covenant: left the land and married a Canannite, even behaved like the Canaanites; failed as a father (wicked sons); failed as a father-in-law (deceived Tamar about Shelah).
iii. GRACE intervenes
iv. When Judah saw the seal, the cord, and the staff…
1. He could have said
a. ‘so what? I’m the man.’
b. ‘The barrenness and wickedness of my sons has nothing to do with me!’
2. Instead, Judah said: SHE IS MORE RIGHTEOUS THAN I.
3. This marks a transition in his life.
a. Rather than blaming this on Tamar, he recognizes that Tamar was pursuing JUSTICE and admits his selfish, oppressive behaviour.
b. Later, at the Climax of this story, not knowing he was standing before Joseph, the brother he had sold into slavery, he pleads to take the place of his younger brother Benjamin, rather than allow the Egyptians to keep Benjamin hostage, to the collapse of his father. Judah would never have made that bargain before being caught by Tamar.
v. Judah’s change of heart Jesus described as…
1. Taking a drink of living water in John 4 at the well in Samaria.
2. Being reborn in John 3, in conversation with Nicodemus.
3. Living or abiding IN Him, in John 15.
vi. The transition into this new life occurs when Judah realizes that he is not better than Tamar.
That sort of brokenness is the doorway into a new relationship with God.
b. BREAK IN: Tamar was twice-widowed, denied a third opportunity to have children, security, and a future.
i. Tamar thought she was owed a child, either by Shelah, or by Judah directly, so she acted in pursuit of JUSTICE.
ii. Judah recognized his own double standard, and withdrew his judgment.
iii. Prostitution is just as wrong as before; social injustice is worse!
1. If we insist on a ranking, this is the divine ranking.
2. Though we should be and might be sexually pure, there are greater sins than sexual sins.
a. Passivity in the face of social justice is a worse sin than sexual impurity.
b. Food, clothing, and shelter are essential to life here.
c. We invite immigration for 235,000 people a year to Canada; we also deny recognition of their training to virtually all outsiders. UNJUST.
d. We know that literacy is essential to survival in our job market, yet we are silent in the face of illiteracy.
3. Jesus spoke to this same principle:
a. Matt. 23:23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and 1cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. Luke 11:42
b. Keeping the tithe does not excuse them from caring for their aging parents!
Until justice is done, we cannot rest.
c. BREAK THROUGH: Perez is born, the promise of blessing fulfilled.
His twin brother stuck out his hand, the midwife tied a scarlet thread, the hand disappeared, then Perez, unmarked, was delivered!
38:29 Then she said, “What a breach you have made for yourself!” So he was named Perez.
Zerah, the RED, or shining one.
i. Perez triumphed over his red-tagged twin brother, just as Jacob triumphed over his twin brother, Esau, The Red.
a. Esau became the father of the Edomites, troubling to Israel.
b. Zerah, the RED, or shining one, became the progenitor of Achan, whose betrayal led to disaster at Jericho.
ii. God was faithful; He took this immoral act, this deception, and used it to produce a son, the father of David.
Questions for Discussion
1. What surprises you most about this story? What disturbs you most?
2. Do you recognize your own rank of injustices? Which is at the top of your list? Which things are lower in your ranking? What is missing from that list? What things should you add to the list of injustices?
3. Name one injustice that you sense the most unease about. How can we help you address that injustice?
4. Judah’s blindness to his own immoral lifestyle endangered others. How does our similar blindness impact those around us? Those not close to us?
5. The grace of God is unrelenting, according to this narrative. God provides Perez through this immoral act, fulfilling His promise to provide a seed that would bless the entire world. How has God’s grace shown itself in your life recently?
Judah & Tamar
Or, Brothers & Friends
CENTRAL IDEA OF THE SERIES: God transformed a broken family into a nation that was useful in extending the blessing of God to all.
Resources: Tim Keller’s sermon, Tamar
Sidney Greidanus, Preaching Christ from Genesis
Robert Alter, The Art of Biblical Narrative, Genesis, et al
Bruce Waltke, Genesis
I. The Story
a. Joseph was Jacob’s favoured son, by Rachel.
1. This inappropriate favoritism DAMAGED the other sons.
Notice how often the word “HATED” occurs in the story: vv. 4, 5, 8.
2. Note that this hatred led them to plot murder, against their own brother! This was no mere family spat.
a. Judah arranged a Quick sale—Joseph was sold for a slave, rather than executed as the brothers wanted.
b. The deed was covered by the blood of a GOAT.
i. Goat skin was used by Jacob to deceive his father Isaac, when he stole the blessing.
b. Judah was the fourth son of Leah.
i. Judah identified in the family.
1. Leah was in despair as the unfavoured wife of Jacob. At the birth of her first four sons, she named each one by her state of heart at the time. At Reubens’ birth,
1. Reuben: sounds like—“see, a son” Jacob will notice
2. Simeon: sounds like: “has heard”, God has heard me
3. Levi: sounds like—“will join” me to Jacob
Gen. 29:35 She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “This time I will praise the LORD.” That is why she named him Judah. Then she stopped having children.
4. Judah: sounds like—“sing praise” TO THE LORD only
Alter: no longer expresses hope of winning her husbands’ affection but simply gives thanks to God for granting her male offspring.
ii. Judah interceded for his brother Joseph, to prevent his death by their own brothers.
1. Either murder or removal
2. No particular pain or sacrifice involved for Judah.
iii. Judah had three sons.
1. Er, married Tamar. He was evil; God took his life; Tamar was widowed.
2. Levirate Marriage: Latin word levir, meaning "husband's brother,” practiced by societies with a strong clan structure in which exogamous marriage, i.e. that outside the clan, was forbidden.
a. Brother, brother, brother.
b. When the brothers were all dead, then the father-in-law was to take her and produce offspring for his first-born.
c. This was the rule of the day.
d. The Law of Moses had not yet been given.
3. Onan married Tamar, 38:8, who refused to impregnate her, jealous that her offspring would be called his brother’s. His own biological son would then gain the double portion of Judah’s estate, to the loss of Onan’s own other children! God took his life.
Gen. 38:11 Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Remain a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up”;
for he thought, “I am afraid that he too may die like his brothers.”
Alter: Judah, whose lie about Joseph’s death triggered extravagant grief in his father, Jacob, now has double cause for grief himself; no grief is mentioned.
4. Shelah, the third son, Judah withheld from Tamar, blaming her for the untimely deaths of the first two sons and fearful that marriage to her might end his life as well.
a. JUDAH THEREBY REVEALS A TROUBLING ISSUE OF HIS OWN CHARACTER: His sons are HIS sons, not Tamar’s. Their bad character is a reflection on HIM, not her.
b. Blame-shifting!!
c. Lying—we know from the narrator that JUDAH HAS NO INTENTION OF PROVIDING A THIRD HUSBAND FOR TAMAR.
So Tamar went and lived in her father’s house.
5. Tamar is thus left destitute.
a. Living in her father’s house would be a short-term fix.
i. Life-expectancy was in the mid-30s.
ii. Once her father was dead, why would any brothers be willing to look after her?
1. A slave worked for room and board.
2. A widowed sister may attempt to claim a portion of the legacy!
b. Tamar needed a longer-term plan.
iv. Tamar will not leave Judah’s “well-enough” alone.
1. We may struggle with her demand for a husband; for her, it was a matter of life and death; no husband, no children, no income, no life.
Tamar single-mindedly pursues justice at any cost.
2. She knows Judah well enough to predict his behaviour and sets a trap for him: GOAL IS TO OBTAIN A CHILD.
a. Hearing that Judah is coming to her region as a recent widower, she dresses as a prostitute and sits in the gate of Enaim, a village on the road to Timnah, his destination.
b. “Twin Wells” an allusion to another betrothal type-scene?!?!?
c. Recently bereft, she knew that Judah would be motivated.
d. She had no doubts that Judah would consort with prostitutes.
e. “She saw that Shelah” had grown up; if the young man were with Judah, then this DOUBLES DOWN on his blatant double standard regarding sexual activity.
v. Judah sees the “prostitute” and stops to interact.
1. Assumes she is a prostitute by her dress: she had covered her face.
2. Begins to bargain: “go to you.” V.16.
3. Tamar replies in kind: what is your payment?
4. Judah offers a YOUNG GOAT FROM THE FLOCK.
5. Tamar wants a guarantee of payment.
6. Judah asks what she wants in pledge.
7. Tamar asks for his SEAL, CORD, AND STAFF.
a. Alter: equivalent to driver’s license & credit cards.
vi. The pledge exchanged, the two have intercourse.
1. She conceives.
2. She leaves.
3. She changes into her widow’s garb.
vii. Judah keeps his pledge, sending a goat by his companion.
1. The Adullamite asked for the temple prostitute and hears that no such woman has been seen here.
2. He reports back to Judah.
3. Judah drops the issue to avoid embarrassment.
4. After all, I kept my JUSTLY KEPT MY WORD.
viii. Judah is told that his daughter-in-law has conceived a child as a harlot; three months later.
1. Bring her out.
2. Burn her!
3. Alter—this speed is highlighted …by the unusual use of a passive present participle…literally, “she is-being-taken-out.”
ix. Tamar, on her way to execution, sends the SEAL, CORD, AND STAFF to Judah, saying that her consort owned these and asking, “RECOGNIZE THIS?”
x. Judah did indeed RECOGNIZE THIS.
1. His response changes the course of his life.
a. I did not give her my son Shelah, as I must have.
b. She is more righteous than I.
c. Gen. 42:21 Then they said to one another, “Truly we are guilty concerning our brother, because we saw the distress of his soul when he pleaded with us, yet we would not listen; therefore this distress has come upon us.”
d. Gen. 44:33 “Now, therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the lad a slave to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brothers.
II. The Meaning of the Story God’s grace in our lives is unrelenting.
a. BREAK DOWN: Judah lived a life of self-indulgence, using those around, and denying responsibility for his family.
i. Judah blamed Tamar for the deaths of his first two sons; the truth is that both were evil men, denied long lives by divine judgment. Who would be more culpable for their character: Tamar or Judah?!?
ii. Judah had failed as a son of the covenant: left the land and married a Canannite, even behaved like the Canaanites; failed as a father (wicked sons); failed as a father-in-law (deceived Tamar about Shelah).
iii. GRACE intervenes
iv. When Judah saw the seal, the cord, and the staff…
1. He could have said
a. ‘so what? I’m the man.’
b. ‘The barrenness and wickedness of my sons has nothing to do with me!’
2. Instead, Judah said: SHE IS MORE RIGHTEOUS THAN I.
3. This marks a transition in his life.
a. Rather than blaming this on Tamar, he recognizes that Tamar was pursuing JUSTICE and admits his selfish, oppressive behaviour.
b. Later, at the Climax of this story, not knowing he was standing before Joseph, the brother he had sold into slavery, he pleads to take the place of his younger brother Benjamin, rather than allow the Egyptians to keep Benjamin hostage, to the collapse of his father. Judah would never have made that bargain before being caught by Tamar.
v. Judah’s change of heart Jesus described as…
1. Taking a drink of living water in John 4 at the well in Samaria.
2. Being reborn in John 3, in conversation with Nicodemus.
3. Living or abiding IN Him, in John 15.
vi. The transition into this new life occurs when Judah realizes that he is not better than Tamar.
That sort of brokenness is the doorway into a new relationship with God.
b. BREAK IN: Tamar was twice-widowed, denied a third opportunity to have children, security, and a future.
i. Tamar thought she was owed a child, either by Shelah, or by Judah directly, so she acted in pursuit of JUSTICE.
ii. Judah recognized his own double standard, and withdrew his judgment.
iii. Prostitution is just as wrong as before; social injustice is worse!
1. If we insist on a ranking, this is the divine ranking.
2. Though we should be and might be sexually pure, there are greater sins than sexual sins.
a. Passivity in the face of social justice is a worse sin than sexual impurity.
b. Food, clothing, and shelter are essential to life here.
c. We invite immigration for 235,000 people a year to Canada; we also deny recognition of their training to virtually all outsiders. UNJUST.
d. We know that literacy is essential to survival in our job market, yet we are silent in the face of illiteracy.
3. Jesus spoke to this same principle:
a. Matt. 23:23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and 1cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. Luke 11:42
b. Keeping the tithe does not excuse them from caring for their aging parents!
Until justice is done, we cannot rest.
c. BREAK THROUGH: Perez is born, the promise of blessing fulfilled.
His twin brother stuck out his hand, the midwife tied a scarlet thread, the hand disappeared, then Perez, unmarked, was delivered!
38:29 Then she said, “What a breach you have made for yourself!” So he was named Perez.
Zerah, the RED, or shining one.
i. Perez triumphed over his red-tagged twin brother, just as Jacob triumphed over his twin brother, Esau, The Red.
a. Esau became the father of the Edomites, troubling to Israel.
b. Zerah, the RED, or shining one, became the progenitor of Achan, whose betrayal led to disaster at Jericho.
ii. God was faithful; He took this immoral act, this deception, and used it to produce a son, the father of David.
Questions for Discussion
1. What surprises you most about this story? What disturbs you most?
2. Do you recognize your own rank of injustices? Which is at the top of your list? Which things are lower in your ranking? What is missing from that list? What things should you add to the list of injustices?
3. Name one injustice that you sense the most unease about. How can we help you address that injustice?
4. Judah’s blindness to his own immoral lifestyle endangered others. How does our similar blindness impact those around us? Those not close to us?
5. The grace of God is unrelenting, according to this narrative. God provides Perez through this immoral act, fulfilling His promise to provide a seed that would bless the entire world. How has God’s grace shown itself in your life recently?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
