January 14 - Genesis 37-38:30; 1 Chronicles 2:3-6; 1 Chronicles 2:8; Genesis 39:1-23

Good morning everyone,

Today we will take a look at Joseph’s life from the time he was a strapping young lad of 17 working as a shepherd in his father’s fields up to the time he gets falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife an lands in prison. 

Joseph’s confidence and natural self-assurance was continually fed by a father who loved him the most, this proving to be quite frustrating at best, to his ten older brothers. It was after Joseph revealed to them a dream he had where he saw them all bowing down to him that the brothers finally lost it and while they originally planned to kill him instead sold him into slavery where he would become the property of Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials.

Under the guidance of the Lord Joseph prospered there giving him success in all that he did until Potiphar put Joseph in charge of his entire household. Potiphar’s wife was a woman with too much time on her hands and continually sought to have he way with Joseph, but being the loyal servant to God and Potiphar would have nothing to do with her. One day while Potiphar was away Joseph went to the home to see to his daily work and found all of the servants gone and Potiphar’s wife with trouble written all over her. Once more Joseph runs from her attempt but she grabs on to his cloak and in her humility summons the household servants and proceeds to tell them a lie which ends up with Joseph in prison.

In the middle of the retelling of Josephs story we have the account of Tamar and Judah. When Judah was very young, about 15 he left his family clan and married a Canaaite woman who bore him sons and Tamar was married to Judah’s first born son Er however he was a wicked man so the Lord put him to death. In that day the if widow had no children it would be the responsibility for the brother of the deceased to make sure the widow became pregnant. When Onan would marry Tamar he did not want to raise his brother’s seed and wouldn’t fulfill his duty to Tamar in that way so the Lord saw this as wicked and he was also put to death. 

The choice he made was so much worse that death, because the Messiah was going to descend from Judah and had he followed his fathers instructions, the actual law of the land, instead of being guilty of wickedness he might have had a place of honor in the Messiah’s line of ancestors. Well, Tamar will become pregnant through Judah, making her a part of Jesus’s family tree, forever linking her name to His.

This is a great story and a really good illustration of how if we would just follow God our Father’s instructions we will be blessed beyond our wildest dreams. It is when we choose to be defiant and do things our own way that disaster comes knocking on our door. It is my prayer that we all have an ear to hear the loving voice of Jesus beckoning us to choose Christ.

I pray you have a good day.

God bless you all …