Genesis 37-41 & A Lot of Foreshadowing

So Joseph, Jacob's favorite son and first son by Rachel, is eventually sold to the Egyptians, and chapter 37 tells how that happens. Basically, Joseph has a dream that he rules over his brothers, and he's so arrogant that he actually brags about it to his brothers. Remember, Joseph's brothers already hate him, so this little stint just made them hate him even more. Well, while they're all tending to the flocks out in the field, the brothers end up selling Joseph to the Midianites. And they fake his death so they don't have to tell their father, Jacob, the truth. Then the Midianites end up selling Joseph to the Egyptians.

The big thing here though is that Reuben, the oldest son, isn't around when Joseph is sold, so he also believes Jacob is dead. He thinks his brothers killed him. And Judah, the fourth son, is the one who convinces everyone that it's better to sell Joseph than kill him. All the other brothers wanted to kill Joseph, but Judah stepped in and at least spared his life. This event and the time Reuben slept with Jacob's concubine in chapter 35 end up determining the blessings Jacob gives his sons when he's on his deathbed at the end of Genesis.

And this is all a huge deal because this selling-of-Joseph event is the first step leading to the Exodus. Just think, had the brothers simply settled for eye rolls and gossiping behind Joseph's back, the Exodus would have never happened.

So then we get into chapter 38, which talks about Judah and his family. He ends up marrying a Canaanite woman like an idiot and has some children by her. But God hated Judah's sons because they were wicked, so He killed them off. Well, before Judah's firstborn died, he had a wife named Tamar, and she was from Timnah. After some lies and deceit, Judah actually ends up getting his daughter-in-law pregnant with twins. And this is monumental because apparently Jesus is a descendent of one of the twins, Perez. Now, I obviously haven't read the whole Bible, so I don't know the lineage yet. But when I read this in my commentary, I was wide-eyed. This chapter would seem so insignificant had I not known what would come from it.

In chapters 39-41, we get back to Joseph and learn about his life in Egypt. Eventually, he ends of becoming Pharaoh's right-hand man because Joseph is wise and can interpret dreams. He ends up interpreting one of Pharaoh's dreams which warns of famine, and again, this is big because this coming famine is what brings Joseph's whole family, his father Jacob and all his brothers, to Egypt. And refuge in Egypt during the famine is another huge event that leads to the Exodus.

The foreshadowing in these chapters really hit me. It's crazy to think how seemingly small moments end up leading to huge events which still have a massive impact today. The Exodus is huge for Judaism, and Judah and his life are especially huge for Christianity. Reading these chapters is when I really started to understand why it's so important to know God's Word and understand my history. It's not enough to know isolated stories; knowing how it all fits together is what's truly enlightening.