We shall continue with the
study of the Book of Genesis this week.
(1) What does verse 1 appear to signify in terms of the covenant made by God with Abraham?
(2) Jacob was the
direct recipient and victim of the harm and hurt inflicted when Isaac
played favorites in preferring his brother. Consider why he then would
repeat the same
mistake.
a. Did he act "like father like son"?
b. Did he value the child born in his old age?
c. Did he project his love on Joseph due to his deep love for Rachel, the mother of Joseph?
d. Did he see that Joseph possessed godly qualities unequalled by the siblings?
e. Any other reason?
Whatever the reason might be, should Jacob play favorites?
What was the consequence of his action?
(3) Based on what we read about the older sons of Jacob so far, what kind of bad report do you think Joseph had been bringing to his father about his brothers? Should he have done so?
(4) The translations of “a richly ornamented robe” vary considerably and there is no consensus among scholars, except that it would have been a princely garment that distinguished Joseph from his brothers and it was not a garment worn at work. Was this garment the real cause for their hatred of Joseph? Jealousy among siblings is not uncommon. Why would it lead to hatred in this case? What might be the real cause?
(5) Dreams were significant in ancient times. Why didn’t the two dreams of Joseph require interpretation? Should he have told them to his brothers and even his father? Did he not know he was hated? What does this tell us about Joseph’s character?
(6) Why did Jacob keep “the matter in mind”? Would he be thinking about God’s choice for the direct succession of the Abrahamic Covenant? Who ended up being this successor? (see Matt. 1)
(7) What is the main message to you today and how can you apply it to your life?
(1) What happened previously at Shechem (Gen. 34)? Why did Jacob feel the need to send someone to see if all was well (a distance of about 50 miles)?
(2) Why was Joseph not tending the flock with them?
(3) What kind of clothing was he wearing when he went to see his brothers?
(4) Was the plot to kill Joseph something done impromptu?
(5) Did either Jacob or Joseph realize the extent of the brothers' hatred? Why not?
(6) In their conversation what was the particular grudge they held against Joseph? Why did Joseph’s dream bother them so deeply?
(7) Why did Reuben want to rescue Joseph? Was he not the one who was so wicked as to lay with his father’s wife (35:22)?
(8) How did Joseph feel when he was suddenly seized and thrown by the brothers into the cistern?
(9) Why did Judah also want to spare Joseph’s life?
(10) Was the passing through of the Ishmaelite caravan a coincidence?
(11) Now that Joseph was sold as a slave to Egypt, what would the future be like, as far as Joseph was concerned?
(12) How great was this change to Joseph?
(13) Have you had as great and sudden a change in your life?
(14) What is the main message to you today and how can you apply it to your life?
(1) What did Reuben do when he found that Joseph was not in the cistern? Wenham’s translation of v. 30 is “How can I go home?” What did Reuben mean by this?
(2) What can we tell about the relationship among these ten brothers of Joseph?
(3) How did the sons deceive their father, Jacob?
(4) How did Jacob deceive his father, Isaac? Do you see any resemblances?
(5) “What goes around comes around.” What do you think of this?
(6) Whose deception was more evil? Why?
(7) What is the historical significance of this selling of Joseph?
(8) What is the significance of him being sold into the household of the captain of the guard of Pharaoh?
(9) What is the main message to you today and how can you apply it to your life?
(1) For whatever reason, God has chosen Judah as the successor of the Abrahamic Covenant. How did this story of Judah serve to illustrate the continuous threat to destroy God’s covenant?
(2) Why would Judah eventually consider Tamar more righteous than he was? (The better translation is, “She is righteous, not I.” [Waltke, 513])
(3) The story falls into two parts: Vv. 1-11 beginning with “At the time” and vv. 12-30 starting with “After a long time”.
Vv. 1-11
a. What did Judah’s action of leaving his brothers (i.e. his father’s family) moving, and then marrying a Canaanite woman signify? Consider especially how he was given the (unknown-to-him) status of being the chosen heir, and how Abraham and Isaac intentionally avoided the marriage of their son(s) to Canaanite women.
b. Given the fact that both sons of Judah died because the Lord had put them to death due to their wickedness, how would you describe Judah’s moral and spiritual condition?
c. Why was Onan’s action of continuing to have sex with his sister-in-law while spilling the semen on the ground be considered wicked to the point that the Lord would punish him with death?
d. What did Judah do for his third son? Why did he do that? Why did he eventually recognize such an action as not being righteous?
(4) Vv. 12-30
a. What did Judah do immediately after the death of his wife?
b. What did he do after he had recovered from his grief?
c. In contrast, what did Tamar do during all these years?
d. What option did a normal widow, like Tamar, have?
e. Why did she still dress herself daily as a widow?
f. In pretending to be a prostitute, what was she risking?
g. What might be the reason for her having such a determination to bear a child for her husband?
h. In what way was she righteous?
i. The Bible seems to emphasize that Judah “did not sleep with her again”. What might be the significance of this? Waltke remarks that this incident marks the transformation of Judah. Do you agree?
(5) What is the main message to you today?
(1) If you were a teenager like Joseph, and were sold by
your brothers into slavery, how would you feel with respect to the following?
a. Your brothers
b. God
c. Your future
(2) What does it mean that his master “saw” that the Lord was with him?
(3) Can people “see” that the Lord is with you? How? Can you give a few examples?
(4) What kind of a life must Joseph have had in order for God to be seen in his life?
(5) Judging from the way Potiphar trusted Joseph, describe how he thought of the following:
a. Joseph as a person
b. The God of Joseph
(6) As beautiful as the life of Joseph was, both inside and out, did his “prosperity” last?
(7) If Joseph caved in, what excuses or reasons could he have had in sleeping with his master’s wife?
(8) Although under tremendous pressure, what were the reasons why Joseph did not cave in?
(9) What precaution did Joseph take to avoid this temptation?
(10) What then is the essential message of today and how may you apply it in your life?
(1) Given Joseph’s story, how do you understand the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray, in which we are to ask our Father in Heaven, “lead us not into temptation”?
(2) What would result if Joseph just gave in once to his master’s wife?
(3) Why was Joseph so careless as to leave his cloak in the house?
(4) In her accusation of Joseph, what did she say that would gain sympathy and support from people in the household? (Note that they should know all too well that she was promiscuous and that her accusation was probably a lie.)
(5) Who was Joseph to Potiphar? Why would Potiphar not simply kill Joseph in his rage?
(6) Joseph went from being the darling with the
most noble garment in his father’s house, to being a slave in Egypt, and then to a
prisoner with no hope of being released. Consider the following:
a. Under the same conditions, would you have given up on yourself and your future?
b. What kind of attitude can you detect in Joseph even in his circumstance?
c. How special was Joseph?
(7) What is the main message to you today and how can you apply it to your life?
(1) Given the story of the cupbearer and baker, how would you compare life in ancient times and life in the modern times of most of the western world? What might have contributed to such a difference?
(2) We do not know exactly how the two prisoners offended Pharaoh. If you were the cupbearer or the baker, how would you feel being imprisoned by the king?
(3) Which imprisonment was more unjust — that of the two officials or that of Joseph?
(4) How did Joseph demonstrate the difference in experience that God’s children should have in times of sufferings or adversities from those who are without God (see 39:21-23)?
(5) From Joseph’s response to their dreams in v.8, do you think Joseph saw the dreams of the two former servants of the king as pure coincidences?
(6) After interpreting the first dream, what did Joseph do in vv. 14-15? Why did he say what he said?
(7) Was Joseph’s prayer answered, according to v. 23?
(8) Why did God not answer his prayer, even though the dreams and their interpretation by Joseph were no coincidences at all?
(9) What happened eventually in 41:9? Do you know how long it had been since the cupbearer was released? (See 41:1.)
(10) Do you have unanswered prayers? What have you learned today that can help you give praise to God today?
(11) What is the main message to you today?