Transcript Jacob and Joseph

Jacob and Joseph
Genesis 26 - 50
Jacob, son of Isaac
• God had renewed the covenant with Isaac
• Isaac’s sons – Jacob and Esau
– Jacob – Israelites
– Esau - Edomites
• Rebekah, Isaac’s wife, helped her son
Jacob trick Esau (twin brother) out of his
inheritance
• Esau was terribly upset and planned to kill
Jacob, so Jacob had to leave
• Rebekah asked Isaac to send Jacob away
to find a wife from near Haran. (Laban)
• On the way, he stopped at Bethel
– Dream of ladder with angels between Jacob
and God
– Renewal of the covenant with Jacob
– Bethel later became significant religious
center
• Jacob lived with his uncle Laban
• Wanted to marry Rachel – his cousin
– Didn’t have enough money to “buy” her
– Agreed to work 7 years
– After 7 yrs Laban tricked him and gave him
Leah, her older sister, instead
– He had to agree to work another 7 years
• He married Rachel a week later but still worked the
7 extra years
• Worked another 7 yrs for flocks & herds - wealthy
• The deceiver had met his match
• Jacob and his family left Haran without
telling Laban
– 12 sons; 1 daughter
– Laban caught up at Mizpah (“watch tower”)
– Made a pact – “May the Lord watch between
you and me when we are absent from one
another”
• Didn’t trust each other – may the Lord keep an eye
on you while I can’t, lest you harm me.
• The night before Jacob got home, he
dreaded meeting his brother Esau
• That night he “wrestled” in his sleep with a
“man” – a messenger from God, but the
next day he was sore
– The experience had an impact on him
• Thought I have wrestled with God
– The next day he reconciled with his brother
– Went separate ways
• Jacob was now known as “Israel”
– Jacob – the deceiver
– Israel – he strives with God
• The story now focuses on Joseph
• Jacob showed favoritism toward Joseph,
son of Jacob and Rachel
– Gave his a special coat
– Joseph shared his dreams with his brothers in
which they bowed down to him
– 37:4 – “They hated him and could not speak
peaceably with him.”
– Sold him to merchants traveling to Egypt and
told their father a wild animal had killed him
• Joseph is a slave in Potiphar’s house, a
military official
– Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce Joseph, but he
refuses – ran away
– She lied and said he tried to molest her
– Joseph is imprisoned
– Rose to a prominent position in prison
– Interprets dreams of the Pharaoh's baker and
butler
• Later the butler told Pharaoh about Joseph who
could interpret his own dreams
• Predicted 7 years of good crops and 7 yrs
of famine
• Pharaoh appointed Joseph to store grain
for the famine and to distribute it during
the famine
• Egyptians had a deep-seated prejudice
against the Asiatics
• Yet Joseph rose to a prominent position
• From 1700-1550 BCE Egypt was not ruled
by Egyptians, but by the Hyksos
– Invaders from the east
– Later they were kicked out and native
Egyptians ruled again
• This is when Joseph’s family was later kicked out
of Egypt
• During the famine Joseph’s brothers came
to Egypt for food
– Egypt was fertile – annual flooding of Nile
• Joseph recognized his brothers
– Clothing, position, language kept them from
recognizing him
• He played tricks on them
– Sat them at a meal according to age
– Hid his own silver cup in Benjamin's sack
• Joseph said Benjamin had to stay in Egypt
• Finally identified himself to his brothers
– They were fearful of revenge
– But he said “God sent me before you to save you.”
• Providence of God
• They went home to get Jacob
– The whole family moved to Egypt
– Settled in Goshen, very fertile area
– The family lived there for many Generations