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GENESIS 37–38; PSALM 21

Week 3, Day 4

We human beings are a complex lot, and we weave strands of life that continually entangle us. Jacob was inclined, it seems, to love much but not wisely; so even as he had loved Rachel to Leah’s hurt, now he loves Rachel’s son Joseph to the resentment of his siblings and to Joseph’s own pain.

And Joseph, though very bright, is nevertheless not tactful enough to handle his dreams and his ambitions well. The smoldering resentment grows into disaster, and the teenager is sold into slavery. Jacob thus pays dearly for his favoritism. He will spend the next long years of his life mourning the son he thinks is dead, while in truth that son is preparing the way for his family’s well-being. Probably much of our mourning comes from our ignorance. If we knew better how faithfully God is working behind the scenes, we would have more peace.

Not only does God work behind the scenes, but also the divine hand reworks many of our misshapen doings. So it is in the story of Judah and Tamar. Again, the story is told with candor; feelings and reputations are not protected. Judah denies his daughter-in-law the protection of the laws that were intended to provide for women, and Tamar uses a clever plan to make her case. Not much can be said for Judah’s conduct, but at least this: He acknowledged his sin (38:26). The end of the story—God at work behind the scenes—comes in the Gospel of Matthew, when we discover that out of this incestuous relationship came a child who is in the line of the Messiah, our Lord Christ (Matthew 1:3).

PRAYER: Give me the faith to see you at work, O God, even in our human sins and shortcomings; in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Putting yourself in Jacob’s place, list the positive qualities you see in Joseph. Now, putting yourself in the places of Joseph’s brothers, list the negative qualities you find in him.