Lesson 24:  Genesis 38;  Genesis 39; and Genesis 40 

Read Genesis 38:1-11

The sordid story of Judah’s sin with Tamar serves to magnify the grace of God when we remember that the Lord Jesus was descended from Judah (Luke 3:33). Tamar is one of five women mentioned in the genealogy in Matthew 1; three of them were guilty of immorality—Tamar, Rahab (v. 5), and Bathsheba (v. 6). The others are Ruth, a Gentile (v. 5) and Mary, a godly virgin (v. 16). There is a deeper and typological meaning to this story of moral failure.  Genesis 37 closes with an account of Jacob’s sons selling their brother Joseph unto the Midianites, and they in turn selling him into Egypt. This speaks, in type, of Christ being rejected by Israel and delivered unto the Gentiles. From the time that the Jewish leaders delivered their Messiah into the hands of Pilate, they have (as a nation) had no further dealings with Him; and God, too, has turned the focus from them to the Gentiles. Hence it is that there is an important turn in our type at this stage. Joseph is now seen in the hands of the Gentiles. But before we are told what happened to Joseph in Egypt, the Holy Spirit traces for us, in typical outline, the history of the Jewish nation, while the antitypical Joseph is absent from the land.  It is no accident that the story of Joseph is interrupted by chapter 38. The disreputable behavior of other members of Joseph’s family makes his conduct, by contrast, shine like a bright light in a sordid world. Continue Reading Here