Genesis - 86 part 2 - Gen. 38:9-30 - THE EXTRAORDINARY HAND OF THE LORD

THE STORY OF JOSEPH - lesson 5

GOD'S PARADIGM OF SALVATION OF THE WORLD

JUDAH AND TAMAR - PART 2

What is going on?  Joseph is nearly killed by his brothers, saved by Rueben, and Judah suggests they sell Joseph to a group of Ishmaelite traders.  They sell Joseph and the caravan carries Joseph as a slave to Egypt.  The story is just beginning and then out of nowhere comes Genesis 38 and the saga of Judah and Tamer.  Why did God cause this baffling interruption to the Joseph story?  Perhaps one reason is when we return to Joseph we will see that Joseph will not see his brothers, specifically Judah, for 20 years.  In those 20 years Judah has his encounter with his daughter in law, Tamar.  So, the Lord may have interrupted the Joseph story to do a kind of “meanwhile back at the ranch” side story.  But, this is God’s word!  His written word, especially His Torah, is said to be the Way and the Truth and the Life.  From the face of it, the Judah and Tamar story, though interesting in itself, is still baffling.  There must be something else going on. 

The great scholar Nahum Sarna, the author of the JPS Torah Commentary – Genesis, says there must be more to the Judah and Tamar saga since this saga is closed up in scriptural bookends.  Here’s the verse just before the Judah and Tamar event …

Meanwhile, the Midianites sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, Pharaoh's officer, the captain of the bodyguard. (Gen 37:36)

After this verse is chapter 38 or the Judah and Tamar saga.  Then we read the verse in chapter 39:1 – the verse immediately following the Judah and Tamar story …

Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an Egyptian officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the bodyguard, bought him from the Ishmaelites, who had taken him down there. (Gen 39:1)

These two verses are almost identical repeats of each other. It is as if God packed in the Judah and Tamar story between these verses as to say that He engineered it, designed it exactly as is, so as to seemingly tell us this event, the saga of Judah and Tamar is a “big deal” and it critically related to the Joseph story.  Now, the Torah itself does not tell us why God inspired Moses to write it tis way.  All we can do is guess and speculate.  Dr. Sarna is a brilliant mind and awesome scholar and he thinks the story packed in between Gen. 37:36 and Gen. 39:1 is done on purpose to shake up our minds to really focus on Judah and Tamar.  There must be a significant reason why God is seemingly calling attention to this interruption.  In this podcast we will consider the possibilities.  We’ll find it seems to be a story that is intimately connected to the Joseph story and, on top of that, the coming of Jesus!  Just wait till you study along with me.  The Judah and Tamar saga is a story that gives us insights that God is designing amazing events.  He is behind it all.  Through all this we see the Cross of Christ in the distant horizon of time being planned by יד האלוהים Yad Eloheim - the hand of God.  

The rabbis have a saying for this ...

חיי האבות הם סימנים לבנים

HaYay HaAvot Hem Seemaneem Lay Baneem

The Lives of the Fathers are Signs for the Sons

In light of this the rabbis early on connected Joseph to the Messiah.  They said Joseph was a prototype of the Messiah.  For us that means Jesus.  Over and over again as we see Joseph we see the Messiah, our Jesus.  Joseph is God's model of what a savor of the world should be like.  We will continue to see these unbelievable connections of Joseph and Jesus.  God designed it this way so that Joseph is a picture of the coming Messiah.  And, the Judah and Tamar story adds to God’s engineering for Jesus, His birth, and His mission.

 Here are some resources to study that will add to your knowledge of these awesome and critically important last chapters of Genesis.

Link 1 - a great article from the awesome website, Hebrew4Christians, focusing on one title of the Messiah the rabbis used in the time after the 3rd century A.D., "Maschiach ben Yosef," or Messiah the son of Joseph.  This has to do with the fact the rabbis recognized that the Messiah had to suffer and even die.  They also recognized that the Messiah would also be victorious as well and establish the throne of Israel in Jerusalem in the days called "The Messianic Age" or the day Messiah comes to rule and reign - https://www.hebrew4christians.com/Articles/Mashiach_ben_Yosef/mashiach_ben_yosef.html

Link 2- a second article written by my lead teacher in my graduate program, Dr. Ron Mosely that discusses Joseph is a prototype of the the suffering Messiah just like David is a prototype of the conquering Messiah - https://www.academia.edu/3796976/Twice_Rejected_Mashiach_Ben_Joseph

Link 3 - a link to Netivyah ministries in Jerusalem.  This is a Messianic Jewish ministry founded by Joseph Shulam, an amazing Jewish scholar who helps us reconnect to our Jewish roots of our faith.  This link is to a book written by one of their resident scholars, Elhanan ben Avraham, "Moshiach ben Yosef" (Messiah the Son Of Joseph).  I highly recommend you get this book and all the books you can buy from this ministry - https://netivyah.org/product/mashiach-ben-yoseph/

Rev. Ferret - who is this guy?  What's his background?  Why should I listen to him?  Check his background at this link - https://www.dropbox.com/s/ortnret3oxcicu4/BackgrndTeacher%20mar%2025%202020.pdf?dl=0