エピソード

  • God softens hearts

    God softens hearts
    2025/09/09
    Have you ever been in a situation where you had no choice but to face something you had been avoiding? That’s where Jacob and his sons find themselves in Genesis 43.Genesis 43 (ESV)Now the famine was severe in the land. And when they had eaten the grain that they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go again, buy us a little food.” But Judah said to him, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food. But if you will not send him, we will not go down, for the man said to us, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.’” Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly as to tell the man that you had another brother?” They replied, “The man questioned us carefully about ourselves and our kindred, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ What we told him was in answer to these questions. Could we in any way know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?” And Judah said to Israel his father, “Send the boy with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones. I will be a pledge of his safety. From my hand you shall require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever. If we had not delayed, we would now have returned twice.”Ah yes, the old stubborn Jacob… He specifically told his children not to go back to Egypt, because he believed that he had already lost Simeon there. But there is nothing quite so humbling as being brought to your knees by utmost desperation. He finally has to bend his knee to God, because the famine was severe in the land. How often could we spare ourselves pain if we just bent our knees to God’s will earlier… Also here we see Judah begin to emerge as a different man. This is the same Judah who once sold Joseph for silver. Now he offers himself as a pledge for Benjamin’s safety. Sin had once made him selfish, but the hardship he had gone through is beginning to soften his heart. Isn’t this what God often does? He brings us and takes us to the utmost ends of ourselves, so that he can reshapes our character through the process. Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: take some of the choice fruits of the land in your bags, and carry a present down to the man, a little balm and a little honey, gum, myrrh, pistachio nuts, and almonds. Take double the money with you. Carry back with you the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks. Perhaps it was an oversight. Take also your brother, and arise, go again to the man. May God Almighty grant you mercy before the man, and may he send back your other brother and Benjamin. And as for me, if I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.”I bet you didn’t expect pistachios when you opened the Bible today! I certainly didn’t. Anyway, here we see Jacob finally letting go of his stubbornness. Notice his prayer: “May God Almighty grant you mercy.” For all his faults, Jacob knew that if mercy was going to come, it had to come from God. Jacob has had to rely on God’s mercy many times before and in the end, after all his stubbornness he knows deep down that he can still rely on it now. Sometimes that is what faith looks like. We hold on to and grasp something tight for such a long time that it ultimately cripples us. But in the end, in faith and in trusting in God’s mercy, we finally open our hands and entrust it to God. Maybe you feel like this today… here is your opportunity to let it go.So the men took this present, and they took double the money with them, and Benjamin. They arose and went down to Egypt and stood before Joseph. When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, “Bring the men into the house, and slaughter an animal and make ready, for the men are to dine with me at noon.” The man did as Joseph told him and brought the men to Joseph’s house. And the men were afraid because they were brought to Joseph’s house, and they said, “It is because of the money, which was replaced in our sacks the first time, that we are brought in, so that he may assault us and fall upon us to make us servants and seize our donkeys.”Do you see how guilt and fear twist their thinking? Is that not often how guilt and fear work? Instead of trusting in God’s mercy and expecting kindness from Joseph, they expect punishment. They cannot imagine grace. That is what guilt does to the heart… it makes us suspicious. But could it be that we miss out on the joy of blessings that God has sovereignly arranged for us as a result of our fear or guilt? Something to think about…So they went up to the steward of Joseph’s house and spoke with him at the door of the house, and said, “Oh, my lord, we came down the first time to buy food. And when we came to...
    続きを読む 一部表示
    9 分
  • The Sin that Haunts us

    The Sin that Haunts us
    2025/09/08
    Have you ever had the experience where something you thought you got away with, comes back to bite you? Maybe it was some secret sin you committed, which turns out to be not so secret. Maybe it is something you have felt guilty about for a long time, and the guilt just grew and grew until it became a burden to you. We see something of that in our passage today. Today I am going to try something a little different, I will be working through the passage as we go, and pause here and there to make a few devotional comments.Genesis 42 (ESV)When Jacob learned that there was grain for sale in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?” And he said, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain for sale in Egypt; go down and buy grain for us there, that we may live and not die.” So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt. But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with his brothers, for he feared that harm might happen to him. Thus the sons of Israel came to buy among the others who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan.Interestingly we see that the land of Canaan, which would later become the land overflowing with milk and honey, a land known for its abundance, is now the land of famine. This is often how God works to bring about renewal and drive redemption forward. It makes me wonder, with everything going on in the world today, what is God doing at the macro level to help redeem the micro level?Now Joseph was governor over the land. He was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the ground. Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke roughly to them. “Where do you come from?” he said. They said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.” And Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. And Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamed of them. Once God has decreed something to happen, it will happen. God gave Joseph his dreams and here they are coming true! You see, we can fight against God’s plans for us, we can scheme against God’s plans for others, but in the end what God wills, God does. In fact it is often our very sinful and broken actions that are used by God precisely to do his will. So it is with Joseph - what man had intended for evil, God has intended for good. And so it is with Jesus, we killed the Son of God, but He used that very wicked act to bring about the salvation of all who would believe.And he said to them, “You are spies; you have come to see the nakedness of the land.” They said to him, “No, my lord, your servants have come to buy food. We are all sons of one man. We are honest men. Your servants have never been spies.” He said to them, “No, it is the nakedness of the land that you have come to see.” And they said, “We, your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan, and behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is no more.” But Joseph said to them, “It is as I said to you: you are spies. By this you shall be tested: by the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go from this place unless your youngest brother comes here. Send one of you, and let him bring your brother, while you remain confined, that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you. Or else, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies.” And he put them all together in custody for three days.On the third day Joseph said to them, “Do this and you will live, for I fear God: if you are honest men, let one of your brothers remain confined where you are in custody, and let the rest go and carry grain for the famine of your households, and bring your youngest brother to me. So your words will be verified, and you shall not die.” And they did so. Then they said to one another, “In truth we are guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us and we did not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us.” And Reuben answered them, “Did I not tell you not to sin against the boy? But you did not listen. So now there comes a reckoning for his blood.” These brothers’ guilt had presumably haunted them for many years. We cannot escape our sin and wickedness. It sticks to us like superglue. But it seems that in the years the brothers had become wiser as they have become older. They now take responsibility for what they have done, they recognise God’s hand in this and that God often uses our very sin to sanctify us and to change us. They recognise that their distress is because of the distress they caused Joseph. People often say “sin is its own reward”. Turns out that is true.They did not know that Joseph understood them, for there was an interpreter between them. Then he turned away from them and wept. And he returned to them and spoke to them. And he took Simeon from them and ...
    続きを読む 一部表示
    11 分
  • Pit to Power

    Pit to Power
    2025/09/07
    Have you ever noticed how quickly life can turn around? Joseph goes from prison rags to royal robes in a single day. That’s what we see in the rest of Genesis 41.Genesis 41:37–57 (ESV)This proposal pleased Pharaoh and all his servants. And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, in whom is the Spirit of God?” Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discerning and wise as you are. You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command. Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you.” And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.” Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand, and clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain about his neck. And he made him ride in his second chariot. And they called out before him, “Bow the knee!” Thus he set him over all the land of Egypt. Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no one shall lift up hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.” And Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphenath-paneah. And he gave him in marriage Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On. So Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went through all the land of Egypt. During the seven plentiful years the earth produced abundantly, and he gathered up all the food of these seven years, which occurred in the land of Egypt, and put the food in the cities. He put in every city the food from the fields around it. And Joseph stored up grain in great abundance, like the sand of the sea, until he ceased to measure it, for it could not be measured.Before the year of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph. Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, bore them to him. Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh. “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s house.” The name of the second he called Ephraim, “For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”The seven years of plenty that occurred in the land of Egypt came to an end, and the seven years of famine began to come, as Joseph had said. There was famine in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph. What he says to you, do.” So when the famine had spread over all the land, Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. Moreover, all the earth came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the famine was severe over all the earth.What a turnaround. Just hours before, Joseph was a forgotten prisoner. Now Pharaoh himself is exalting him, giving him authority over the whole land of Egypt. He is dressed in royal clothes, given a new name, paraded through the streets while people bow before him.But even with all this glory, Joseph never forgets what God has done. The names of his sons say it all. Manasseh: “God has made me forget all my hardship.” Ephraim: “God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.” Joseph knows who lifted him from the pit to put him in power.And notice this: when the famine comes, Pharaoh tells the people, “Go to Joseph.” Joseph has become the source of bread, not just for Egypt, but for the whole world.Do you see how this points us forward? Joseph is a shadow of Jesus. Jesus, too, was lifted up from suffering and humiliation to glory and authority. And just as the world came to Joseph for bread to survive, the world must come to Jesus for the bread of life. He is the one who gives us what we truly need.For us, this passage is humbling but encouraging. It is humbling, because all the good in our lives comes from God’s hand, not our own. Sure we can trick ourselves, look over the kingdom we have been put in charge of and say to ourselves “I have done this”, but we haven’t. Everything we have is a gift from God that has been sovereignly put there for his purposes.At the same time this passage is encouraging because the same God who was with Joseph in the pit and the place of power, is with us in Jesus himself. He is with us in our afflictions, he is with us in the pit, and he is with us in the places of power. No matter where we go, we carry God-with-us, with us.PrayerFather, thank You for exalting Joseph and providing bread through him. Thank You even more for exalting Jesus, who gives us the bread of life. Help us to remember that every blessing comes from You. Teach us to trust You in hardship and to look to Christ for all we need. In His name, Amen.Reformed Devotionals Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a ...
    続きを読む 一部表示
    6 分
  • Restoration at last

    Restoration at last
    2025/09/04
    Genesis 41:1–36 (ESV)After two whole years, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile, and behold, there came up out of the Nile seven cows, attractive and plump, and they fed in the reed grass. And behold, seven other cows, ugly and thin, came up out of the Nile after them, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile. And the ugly, thin cows ate up the seven attractive, plump cows. And Pharaoh awoke. And he fell asleep and dreamed a second time. And behold, seven ears of grain, plump and good, were growing on one stalk. And behold, after them sprouted seven ears, thin and blighted by the east wind. And the thin ears swallowed up the seven plump, full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream. So in the morning his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was none who could interpret them to Pharaoh.Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “I remember my offenses today. When Pharaoh was angry with his servants and put me and the chief baker in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, we dreamed on the same night, he and I, each having a dream with its own interpretation. A young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. When we told him, he interpreted our dreams to us, giving an interpretation to each man according to his dream. And as he interpreted to us, so it came about. I was restored to my office, and the baker was hanged.”Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they quickly brought him out of the pit. And when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came in before Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.” Joseph answered Pharaoh, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.”Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Behold, in my dream I was standing on the banks of the Nile. Seven cows, plump and attractive, came up out of the Nile and fed in the reed grass. Seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly and thin, such as I had never seen in all the land of Egypt. And the thin, ugly cows ate up the first seven plump cows, but when they had eaten them no one would have known that they had eaten them, for they were still as ugly as at the beginning. Then I awoke. I also saw in my dream seven ears growing on one stalk, full and good. Seven ears, withered, thin, and blighted by the east wind, sprouted after them, and the thin ears swallowed up the seven good ears. And I told it to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me.”Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one; God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years; the dreams are one. The seven lean and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty ears blighted by the east wind are also seven years of famine. It is as I told Pharaoh; God has shown to Pharaoh what he is about to do. There will come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt, but after them there will arise seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will consume the land, and the plenty will be unknown in the land by reason of the famine that will follow, for it will be very severe. And the doubling of Pharaoh’s dream means that the thing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it about.Now therefore let Pharaoh select a discerning and wise man, and set him over the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh proceed to appoint overseers over the land and take one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt during the seven plentiful years. And let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming and store up grain under the authority of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it. That food shall be a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine that are to occur in the land of Egypt, so that the land may not perish through the famine.”Now two years have passed since Joseph interpreted the cupbearer’s dream. Two long years of silence. And then, suddenly, Pharaoh has a dream that no one can explain. The cupbearer finally remembers Joseph and the scene is finally set for Joseph to play his part in God’s plan of salvation. It seems that these two years of being in prison have finally shaved off the rough edges of Joseph’s character. The dreamer who boasted to his brothers that they would all bow down to him, now spurns attention and gives glory to God instead.Now notice Joseph’s response when Pharaoh gives him credit: “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.” Joseph doesn’t claim power for himself. Even though this is his big moment, he points straight to God. How often it is true that God uses our ...
    続きを読む 一部表示
    7 分
  • Poor poor Pharoah, whacha gonna do?

    Poor poor Pharoah, whacha gonna do?
    2025/09/03
    Have you ever felt forgotten by people, maybe even by God? Genesis 40 tells us about Joseph in prison, waiting, hoping, and being left behind.Genesis 40 (ESV)Some time after this, the cupbearer of the king of Egypt and his baker committed an offense against their lord the king of Egypt. And Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, and he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison where Joseph was confined. The captain of the guard appointed Joseph to be with them, and he attended them. They continued for some time in custody.And one night they both dreamed—the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison—each his own dream, and each dream with its own interpretation. When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were troubled. So he asked Pharaoh’s officers who were with him in custody in his master’s house, “Why are your faces downcast today?” They said to him, “We have had dreams, and there is no one to interpret them.” And Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Please tell them to me.”So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph and said to him, “In my dream there was a vine before me, and on the vine there were three branches. As soon as it budded, its blossoms shot forth, and the clusters ripened into grapes. Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup and placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.” Then Joseph said to him, “This is its interpretation: the three branches are three days. In three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office, and you shall place Pharaoh’s cup in his hand as formerly, when you were his cupbearer. Only remember me, when it is well with you, and please do me the kindness to mention me to Pharaoh, and so get me out of this house. For I was indeed stolen out of the land of the Hebrews, and here also I have done nothing that they should put me into the pit.”When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was favorable, he said to Joseph, “I also had a dream: there were three cake baskets on my head, and in the uppermost basket there were all sorts of baked food for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating it out of the basket on my head.” And Joseph answered and said, “This is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days. In three days Pharaoh will lift up your head—from you!—and hang you on a tree. And the birds will eat the flesh from you.”On the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, he made a feast for all his servants and lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants. He restored the chief cupbearer to his position, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand. But he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them. Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.The Joseph story slows down here. Joseph is not in a palace, he’s in prison. He’s waiting. He has been waiting, probably for years. He meets two men with dreams, and God gives him the interpretations. For the cupbearer, it’s good news. He will be restored and find his way back into Pharoah’s good graces. Unfortunately for the baker, it is bad news. He will be executed. As he leaves, Joseph pleads with the cupbearer: “Remember me when it is well with you.” But the chapter ends with the devastating line: “The chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.”Can you imagine that? Joseph had done everything right. He had been faithful to Potiphar, resisted temptation, interpreted dreams truthfully. And yet, he sits in prison, forgotten. But here’s the key: forgotten by men does not mean forgotten or forsaken by God. The Lord was with Joseph, even in the silence. God was working out His plan, even when Joseph could not see it. Of course we see this most clearly in Jesus. On the cross, He too was abandoned by His friends, mocked, forgotten, left to die. In fact, Scripture tells us that Jesus cries out that his Father too had forsaken him. Jesus went through the ultimate forgottening so that God could remember us. But even though there was silence in the prison of the grave, God was working the salvation of the world. The truth is, we may feel overlooked, unappreciated, or forgotten. But in Christ, we are never forsaken. God’s steadfast love holds us fast and he is at work in us even when we cannot see it.PrayerFather, thank You that You never forsake Your children. Thank You for Jesus, who was abandoned for us so that we might never be left alone. Strengthen our faith when we feel forgotten. Help us to trust that You are at work in silence as much as in action. In Jesus’ name, Amen.Thanks for reading Reformed Devotionals Daily! This post is public so feel free to share it.Reformed Devotionals Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support ...
    続きを読む 一部表示
    6 分
  • Tempted but Not Abandoned

    Tempted but Not Abandoned
    2025/09/02
    Have you ever been in a situation where saying no cost you something important? Genesis 39 shows us Joseph in exactly that place. He refuses temptation, but instead of being rewarded, he ends up in prison.Genesis 39 (ESV)Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, had bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. His master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord caused all that he did to succeed in his hands. So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had. From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had, in house and field. So he left all that he had in Joseph’s charge, and because of him he had no concern about anything but the food he ate.Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. And after a time his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.” But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my charge. He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her.But one day, when he went into the house to do his work and none of the men of the house was there in the house, she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house. And as soon as she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled out of the house, she called to the men of her household and said to them, “See, he has brought among us a Hebrew to laugh at us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice. And as soon as he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried out, he left his garment beside me and fled and got out of the house.” Then she laid up his garment by her until his master came home, and she told him the same story, saying, “The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought among us, came in to me to laugh at me. But as soon as I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment beside me and fled out of the house.”As soon as his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, “This is the way your servant treated me,” his anger was kindled. And Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison. But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph’s charge, because the Lord was with him. And whatever he did, the Lord made it succeed.Now we need to remember the context of this story. The previous passage outlined Judah’s failure by treating his daughter in law as a prostitute. And so as we return to Joseph’s story, the contrast is very clear. Things looked like they were going well for Joseph. He had been sold to Potiphar, had worked hard and diligently and Potiphar entrusted him with more and more responsibility. In fact, God was blessing everything he touched. But into that blessing came temptation.Potiphar’s wife sees Joseph and wants him. And he could have easily given in. His brother Judah had given in with way less temptation in the chapter before this one. Joseph could have said to himself “no one will find out”. He could have said, “I deserve this after all I’ve been through.” He could have said, “This will help me get even further ahead in life”. But instead, Joseph calls it what it is: “How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?”That is what it looks like to have a heart of faith. A heart of faith recognises that sin is never just about the people it hurts. It is always and even primarily an offense against the Holy God. Joseph instinctively seemed to have known this. King David wrote about this in psalm 51 where he says to God: “Against you, and you only have I sinned." Joseph understands this and in the face of this temptation he flees. He does the right thing, but doing the right thing doesn’t always bring an earthly reward. In this case it ends up costing Jacob massively. He loses his job, his reputation and his freedom and he ends back up in jail.But the text reminds us of something ...
    続きを読む 一部表示
    7 分
  • A Strange Chapter

    A Strange Chapter
    2025/09/01
    Have you ever wondered why God includes the stories in Scripture that make us uncomfortable? Genesis 38 is one of those chapters. It interrupts Joseph’s story to tell us about Judah and Tamar, a messy and incestuous episode. But God put it here on purpose, let’s find out what that is.Genesis 38 (ESV)It happened at that time that Judah went down from his brothers and turned aside to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. There Judah saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua. He took her and went in to her, and she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Er. She conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name Onan. Yet again she bore a son, and she called his name Shelah. Judah was in Chezib when she bore him.And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord put him to death. Then Judah said to Onan, “Go in to your brother’s wife and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother.” But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his. So whenever he went in to his brother’s wife he would waste the semen on the ground, so as not to give offspring to his brother. And what he did was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and he put him to death also. Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, “Remain a widow in your father’s house, till Shelah my son grows up”—for he feared that he would die, like his brothers. So Tamar went and remained in her father’s house.In the course of time the wife of Judah, Shua’s daughter, died. When Judah was comforted, he went up to Timnah to his sheepshearers, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite. And when Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep,” she took off her widow’s garments and covered herself with a veil, wrapping herself up, and sat at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. For she saw that Shelah was grown up, and she had not been given to him in marriage. When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. He turned to her at the roadside and said, “Come, let me come in to you,” for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. She said, “What will you give me, that you may come in to me?” He answered, “I will send you a young goat from the flock.” And she said, “If you give me a pledge, until you send it—” He said, “What pledge shall I give you?” She replied, “Your signet and your cord and your staff that is in your hand.” So he gave them to her and went in to her, and she conceived by him. Then she arose and went away, and taking off her veil she put on the garments of her widowhood.When Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite to take back the pledge from the woman’s hand, he did not find her. And he asked the men of the place, “Where is the cult prostitute who was at Enaim at the roadside?” And they said, “No cult prostitute has been here.” So he returned to Judah and said, “I have not found her. Also, the men of the place said, ‘No cult prostitute has been here.’” And Judah replied, “Let her keep the things as her own, or we shall be laughed at. You see, I sent this young goat, and you did not find her.”About three months later Judah was told, “Tamar your daughter-in-law has been immoral. Moreover, she is pregnant by immorality.” And Judah said, “Bring her out, and let her be burned.” As she was being brought out, she sent word to her father-in-law, “By the man to whom these belong, I am pregnant.” And she said, “Please identify whose these are, the signet and the cord and the staff.” Then Judah identified them and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not know her again.When the time of her labor came, there were twins in her womb. And when she was in labor, one put out a hand, and the midwife took and tied a scarlet thread on his hand, saying, “This one came out first.” But as he drew back his hand, behold, his brother came out. And she said, “What a breach you have made for yourself!” Therefore his name was called Perez. Afterward his brother came out with the scarlet thread on his hand, and his name was called Zerah.That Genesis 38 exists in our Bibles at all is proof of the truth of scripture. We need to remember that just because something is in the Bible, doesn’t mean that the Bible condones that thing. This passage is one of those passages which describe bad things happening precisely because they reveal the wickedness of sin. This passage is about broken promises, sexual sin and hypocrisy. But like so much of scripture it also has this beautiful thread of God’s grace running through it. So Judah walks away from his brothers and from God’s promises. He marries a Canaanite woman called Shua. His sons are wicked, so wicked ...
    続きを読む 一部表示
    9 分
  • Sold for Silver, Saved by God

    Sold for Silver, Saved by God
    2025/08/31
    Genesis 37:12–36 (ESV)Now his brothers went to pasture their father's flock near Shechem. And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” And he said to him, “Here I am.” So he said to him, “Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock, and bring me word.” So he sent him from the Valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. And a man found him wandering in the fields. And the man asked him, “What are you seeking?” “I am seeking my brothers,” he said. “Tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock.” And the man said, “They have gone away, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.They saw him from afar, and before he came near to them they conspired against him to kill him. They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits. Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams.” But when Reuben heard it, he rescued him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.” And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him”—that he might rescue him out of their hand to restore him to his father. So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the robe of many colors that he wore. And they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.Then they sat down to eat. And looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing gum, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened to him. Then Midianite traders passed by. And they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. They took Joseph to Egypt.When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he tore his clothes and returned to his brothers and said, “The boy is gone, and I, where shall I go?” Then they took Joseph's robe and slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. And they sent the robe of many colors and brought it to their father and said, “This we have found; please identify whether it is your son's robe or not.” And he identified it and said, “It is my son's robe. A fierce animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces.” Then Jacob tore his garments and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days. All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted and said, “No, I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” Thus his father wept for him. Meanwhile the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard.This is where Joseph’s dreams come crashing down. The boy who strutted in his coat of many colours is now stripped of his physical pride and joy, even as God strips the spiritual pride from him. He is thrown into a pit, and sold for twenty pieces of silver. His brothers mock him, “Let’s see what becomes of his dreams now.”Now notice how cold this moment is. They throw their brother into a dry pit and then sit down to eat lunch. Their hatred, which probably grew over many years, has now hardened their hearts towards their brother. Isn’t that just how a nursed grudge works? It dehumanises the other person until we feel nothing for them, even though they too are image bearers. Even Reuben’s attempt to save Joseph fails, and Judah, ever the pragmatist, suggests they make some money off him instead. One day Judas will do the same thing with Jesus. So Joseph is sold off, and the brothers trick their father with a bloodied robe. The dreamer is gone, and Jacob is left weeping.It’s tragic, but it’s also the turning point. What looks like the end is actually the beginning. God is moving Joseph toward Egypt, toward the place where his dreams will finally come true, though in a way no one expected. What his brothers meant for evil, God is going to use for good. There’s something haunting about that bloodied robe though. Remember Jacob had deceived his father with a goat’s skin years before, and now he is deceived by his sons with the blood of a goat. Sin has a way of circling back on us. Jacob’s family is still caught in lies, jealousy, and grief. But God is not defeated. Even here, through betrayal and sorrow, God’s covenant story presses forward.This passage also points us ahead to Jesus. Like Joseph, he was betrayed for silver, rejected by his brothers, stripped of his robe, and handed over to foreigners. But...
    続きを読む 一部表示
    7 分