Which path will you choose?

Gen 37-39 Jacob plays favorites which results in the sons hating their brother. How often do we do the same when we play favorites? The contrast between Joseph and Judah is prominent. Joseph is obedient to his father, but Judah flees home and seeks peace away from the sadness of Jacob when Jacob’s mourning goes on for days without end. [Gen 37:34] In turn, Judah’s new wife dies and leaves him without a legacy. His unrighteousness is revealed when he unknowingly seeks sexual satisfaction with a “prostitute” who turns out to be his daughter-in-law Tamar. God will bless Tamar with twins, and they will be in the line of Christ. Tamar longs to be in the line of the family of God. What did she see that caused her to want that?

Now Joseph is sold by his brothers, who hated and envied him. He is bought as a slave and is falsely imprisoned, which is God’s training program to raise him to be that sheaf he saw in his dream. Does he remember all of this?

We see one unrighteous son and one righteous son in these three chapters. We see the fruit of hatred and envy. We see Joseph, who, like Daniel, refuses to defile himself. [Dan 1:8] His words should scream at us: “So how could I do such a great evil and sin against God?” [Gen 39:9] as a testimony of who we should be before the world and God.

Two sons reveal the heart and it is a lesson to us to look within ourselves to how we also think and respond.