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BIBLE
STUDY LESSON
For
the week beginning Sunday February 24, 2019
THE
DESCENDANTS OF ESAU
Genesis 36
Genesis 36 comprises the history of the descendants of Esau, the
father of the Edomites, who, dwelled in the land of Seir. As we already know,
Esau, at age 40, married two Canaanite women, Judith, the daughter of Beeri the
Hittite, and Basemath (also called Adah), the daughter of Elon the Hittite
(Genesis 26:34). He also married one other woman, his uncle, Ishmael’s daughter,
Mahalath (also called Basemath) (Genesis 28:9). Here in this passage, however,
we see that two of his wives names are different, and one, Oholibamah, is new
altogether. Judith, his first wife, is not mentioned here at all, and since Scripture
gives us no explanation for this, we’ll just have to accept what’s written here
in this genealogical account.
The appearance of this genealogy, here in
this chapter, serves the same purpose as those earlier for Jephthah and Ham, in
Genesis 10, and Ishmael, in Genesis 25. All three of these accounts, attempt to
tie up loose ends in the lives of the “un-chosen” people, before moving forward
in relating the account of the “chosen line” of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They
also serve to remind us that, even those who are not a part of the “covenant
line” are not forgotten by the Almighty GOD. GOD’s love, mercy, and grace is
showered upon, and extended to, all individuals, at all times, in every
generation.
JOSEPH’S
DREAMS
Genesis
37:1-17
In Genesis 37 we are given further evidence of how the damning
effects of “favoritism” can wreck a human life, and destroy a family’s
structure. Here begins the detailed biblical account of the life of Joseph, the
oldest and “favorite son” of Jacob and his “favorite wife”, Rachel.
This account takes up in the seventeenth
year of Joseph’s life (Genesis 37:2), and ends about three generations later,
with his death at the ripe old age of 110 (Genesis 50:26). At this time, Joseph
was an innocent and naïve lad who was experiencing a lot of dreams, or “prophetic
messages from the LORD” that seemed to forecast a future for him that was much
brighter than that of his brothers, and even of his father, Jacob. In essence,
these dreams revealed how, one day, he would actually rule over the entire
family.
However, because of Joseph’s naivety, he
never really saw the great damage that his honest relating of his dreams, was
causing to his already strained relationship with his brothers. In fact, he
didn’t really fully understand the dreams himself, but, nevertheless, he kept
them on his heart and continued to share them. The sharing of these dreams
became “the straw that broke the camel’s back”, as far his brothers were
concerned, and soon, even Jacob became concerned as to whether or not Joseph’s
dreams were valid.
Jacob, who was the favorite child of his
mother, Rebekah, had always treated Joseph better than he treated his other
sons, since his birth. His open display of favoritism toward Joseph had already
“lit the flames” that were now being fueled by Joseph’s honest reporting of his
dreams to his family. In the end, this all contributed greatly to Joseph’s
brother’s hatred towards him, and ultimately, it led to their plan to eliminate
the object of their distain (which, of course, was Joseph).
In verse 12, Jacob unwittingly sets the
stage for his older sons to have an opportunity to get rid of Joseph once and
for all. Here he sends Joseph on somewhat of a “spy mission” to see what was
taking his sons so long to return from their 50-mile trip to Shechem, where
they were supposed to be pasturing Jacob’s flocks. Joseph’s charge from his
father was to see what his brothers were really doing in Shechem, and then,
report back to him.
When Joseph arrived at Shechem, he did not
see his brothers, but a man noticed him wandering around the countryside, and
he asked young Joseph, what he was looking for. When Joseph told the man that
he was looking for his brothers, the man informed him that they were no longer
there, but rather, had gone over to Dotham, which was about 15 miles away.
JOSEPH SOLD
INTO SLAVERY
Genesis
37:18-36
After his encounter with the man in Shechem, Joseph headed on over
to Dotham to see what his brothers were doing there. However, when he arrived,
his brothers spotted him before he saw them. Immediately, they saw this as an
opportunity to get rid of their younger brother once and for all, and their
first thought, unfortunately, was to kill him and throw his body into a pit.
Here in verses 18-36, we see Joseph’s
brothers struggling in a spiritual battle between their “sin nature” and their
“sense of decency”. At first their plan is to physically slay their little
brother and throw him into a deep pit (Vs.18-19). However, Reuben, the oldest
brother, convinces the other brothers not to kill Joseph, but instead, to throw
him into the pit alive, and leave him there to die. And so they removed
Joseph’s beautiful “coat of many colors” and they tossed him into the pit
alive. Reuben, however, was secretly planning to come back later and rescue
Joseph from the pit, and return him to Jacob (Vs.21-22).
However, after Reuben left, the other
brothers decided on another plan. In the distance, they could see a caravan
approaching, and so, they decided on the spur of the moment, to sell Joseph to
the caravan, who turned out to be Ishmaelite travelers (descendants of
Ishmael), that were headed to Egypt. The Ishmaelites bought Joseph from his
brothers, and upon arriving in Egypt, they re-sold him (into slavery) to a man
named Potipher, who happened to be the captain of the palace guards for the
Pharaoh of Egypt.
Meanwhile, the brothers were on the way
home from Shechem, and along the way, they hatched up a lie to tell their
father, Jacob. They came up with the idea to kill a goat and smear some the
blood from that goat on Joseph’s tunic which they had taken off of him. Then
they would tell Jacob that they found Joseph’s coat along the way, and that he
must have been slain and eaten by wild animals in the wilderness.
When they arrived back home, they told
Jacob their fabricated account, and when he heard it, he couldn’t contain his
grief, and he went into deep mourning for days and days at the very thought of
such a thing happening to his favorite son. This was in total contrast to way
he received the news of his daughter, Dinah’s rape by Shechem, or the news of
his son Reuben sleeping with one of his “least favorite” wives, Bilhah. In both
those instances, he showed absolutely no emotional reaction at all.
This famous account from the pages of this
book of Genesis, serves to show us some of the “spoiled fruit” that
“favoritism” can produce. First of all, favoritism can victimize and make a
person the target of all sorts of abuse and evil within a family, the
workplace, and, even the church. Secondly, favoritism never considers the worth
of others. One can never see the value of others, if their focus is only on “one
individual”. And finally, and perhaps most importantly, favoritism absolutely
hinders spiritual growth in all people who engage in it.
Joseph was an innocent sufferer, and he
suffered greatly, even as the recipient of favoritism. Jacob, who was the donor
of that favoritism, also suffered when he was deceived by his own sons into
thinking that he had lost the one whom he showered his favoritism upon, Joseph.
His “least favorite” children, Joseph’s brothers and sister, were victimized
emotionally and psychologically, because they had to continually watch Joseph
being exalted over them by their father all of their life. Jacob’s favoritism
was at the root of his children’s sinful behavior against him and Joseph, and
this account is a clear indicator of why man should abandon the practice of
favoritism toward certain individuals on earth, and instead, begin to
concentrate on seeking the favor of the Almighty GOD in Heaven.
A Sunday school lesson by,
Larry D. Alexander
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