Chapter 38 is a bit of a sidebar describing Judah's life after he moved away from the family.

38:1-11 Judah left his brothers and stayed with his friend Hirah of Adullam. He married the daughter of a Canaanite named Shua. They had three sons, Er, Onan and Shelah. Later when Er grew up Judah got him a wife named Tamar. But Er "was wicked in the Lord's sight; so the Lord put him to death." In those days it was customary for a brother to marry the widow and have children in the name of the brother who died. Judah told Onan to sleep with Tamar and produce offspring for Er. "But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his; so whenever he lay with his brother's wife, he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from producing offspring for his brother. What he did was wicked in the Lord's sight; so he put him to death also." Judah's son Shelah was too young to marry so he told Tamar to live as a widow in her own father's house. Judah was afraid to give Tamar to Shelah for he might die like his brothers.

v. 12-19 After a long time Judah's wife died. When he recovered from his grief he went to Timnah where his sheep were being sheared. His friend Hirah went with him. Tamar found out that Judah was nearby so she disguised herself as a prostitute and went to sit by the road to Timnah. She knew she should have been given to Shelah as his wife by now. Judah saw her but did not recognize her as his daughter-in-law. He gave her his staff and his seal with its cord as a pledge that he would later return with a young goat as payment. Judah slept with Tamar and she became pregnant. After this she returned to her father's house and changed back into her widow's clothing.

v. 20-30 Judah sent his friend Hirah with the young goat he promised the "prostitute" but she was nowhere to be found. Judah decided to just let the woman keep what he'd left as pledge to avoid being ridiculed by the men there. About three months later Judah was told that Tamar was guilty of prostitution and was now pregnant. He wanted her to be brought out of her father's house and burned to death. Tamar sent him a message that she was pregnant by the man who owned this staff, seal and cord. Of course Judah realized that he was the father of her child. He said, "She is more righteous than I, since I wouldn't give her to my son Shelah." He allowed her to live and did not sleep with her again. Tamar gave birth to twin boys named Perez ("breaking out") and Zerah ("scarlet"). During the birth Zerah put his hand out first and the midwife tied a scarlet thread to his wrist saying, "This one came out first." But his brother Perez was born first. Jesus descended from Perez.

39:1-23 Now back to the story about Joseph. After his brothers sold him the Ishmaelite traders took him to Egypt where he was bought by Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh's guard. But "the Lord was with Joseph and he prospered" while in slavery. Even Potiphar realized that Joseph's God was with him and "gave him success in everything he did." Potiphar put him in charge of everything he owned and the Lord blessed Potiphar because of him. Joseph was a handsome young man and Potiphar's wife kept pushing him to sleep with her. He flatly refused explaining that he would be sinning against God. One day he happened to be in the house when no other servants were around. She again demanded that he sleep with her. Joseph ran out of the house leaving his cloak behind. Potiphar was very angry when his wife gave him a false report that Joseph tried to seduce her but she screamed and he ran away leaving his cloak behind. He threw Joseph in prison where the king's prisoners were. But even in prison the Lord was with Joseph and he was soon put in charge of the other prisoners.

40:1-23 Later the cupbearer and chief baker offended the king and were put in the same prison. One night the two men each had a dream but they didn't know what their dreams meant. Joseph wanted to hear their dreams because he knew God could interpret them. The cupbearer's dream had a vine with three branches filled with grapes. He squeezed the grapes into Pharaoh's cup and gave the cup to him. Joseph said the dream meant that in three days the cupbearer would be released from prison and go back to his old job as chief cupbearer. Joseph asked him to remember him to Pharaoh and help him get out of prison. The baker's dream was that he had three baskets of bread on his head and birds were eating the bread out of the top basket. Joseph said it meant that in three days Pharaoh would have him executed and hung on a tree where the birds would eat his flesh. The third day was Pharaoh's birthday and he gave a great feast for his officials. He restored the cupbearer to his position and executed the baker just as Joseph had said. But the cupbearer forgot about Joseph and didn't help him get out of prison.

41:1-13 Two more years passed and Pharaoh had a dream. There were seven fat cows that were eaten by seven thin, ugly cows. He woke up but fell asleep and had a second dream in which seven healthy heads of grain were eaten by seven thin heads of grain. Pharaoh was very troubled by his dreams and none of his wise men or magicians could interpret them for him. Suddenly the cupbearer remembered Joseph and told Pharaoh that there was a young man in the prison who interpreted a dream for him.

v. 14-44 Pharaoh sent for him and Joseph said that it is God who interprets dreams, not him. Pharaoh told him his two dreams and Joseph said the two dreams are really one message. There would be seven years of plentiful crops followed by seven years of severe famine. The dream was given in two forms to show that "the matter has been firmly decided by God and God will do it soon." Joseph advised Pharaoh to find a discerning man and appoint commissioners to take 20% of the harvest during the seven good years and store it up for the seven years of famine. The plan seemed good to Pharaoh so he appointed Joseph to be in charge of it. Pharaoh gave Joseph his signet ring, dressed him in fine robes, gave him a gold chain, and had him ride in a chariot as his second-in-command. Only with respect to the throne was Pharaoh greater.

v. 45-57 Joseph's name was changed to Zaphenath-Paneah and he was given Asenath, daughter of the priest of On, to be his wife. Joseph was 30 years old. He traveled throughout Egypt collecting a huge amount of grain and storing it in the cities. His two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, were born during the years of plenty. After the seven years of plenty came the famine. All the lands around Egypt suffered in the famine but there was food in Egypt. When the famine spread to Egypt the people cried out to Pharaoh for food and he told them, "Go to Joseph and do what he tells you." He opened the storehouses and sold grain to the people of Egypt. Soon the people of other countries came to buy grain from Joseph "because the famine was severe in all the world."

42:1-20 Meanwhile, Joseph's father Jacob was still living in Canaan with his eleven brothers. When Jacob heard there was grain in Egypt he sent all his sons except Benjamin to go buy food. Benjamin was Rachel's youngest son and Jacob did not want to lose him as he had lost Joseph. When the brothers arrived in Egypt they went to the governor (Joseph) and bowed before him. They did not recognize him but he recognized them and spoke harshly with them through an interpreter. He remembered the dream he had many years ago that they would bow down before him. He accused them of being spies and put all of them in custody for three days. Joseph told them to send one brother home and bring back Benjamin to prove that they were telling the truth. But after they'd been in custody he changed his mind and kept only Simeon behind while the rest took food to their families. He would not be released until Benjamin was brought to Egypt.

v. 21-38 The brothers thought God was punishing them for what they did to Joseph. Reuben reminded them that he told them not to harm the boy. They didn't realize Joseph could understand what they were saying. He turned away from them and began to weep. He had Simeon taken from them and bound. Joseph ordered that their bags be filled with grain and their money put back in the sacks. The brothers left to return home. When they stopped for the night one of them realized his money had been returned. They were all afraid and said, "What is this that God has done to us?" When they got home they told Jacob why Simeon hadn't returned with them and how the governor wanted to see Benjamin. As they emptied their sacks each man saw that his money had been returned to him. They were all very frightened. Jacob said, "You have deprived me of my children. Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more, and now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is against me!" Reuben, the oldest, said that Jacob could put his own two sons to death if he did not bring Benjamin home safely. But Jacob refused to let him go.

 Much more next time.

--Sandy Blank