Genesis 39

Read Genesis 39 here or at Bible Gateway.

The Hebrew paragraph:

39:1-23 {p} Joseph in Egypt

Today’s paragraph concludes a Strong Theme:

38:1-30 {s} Judah and Tamar
39:1-23 {p} Joseph in Egypt

How can they possibly be related to teach a Strong Theme? But we saw yesterday that Judah departed from his brothers, and dwelt among the Canaanites. And today, Joseph departed from his brothers, and dwelt among the Egyptians, albeit unwillingly.

38:1-39:23 {s+p} Strong Theme: Judah and Joseph departed from their brothers to live among the pagans

Both Canaan and Egypt are types for the kingdom of darkness. This is why God considers these two seemingly unrelated chapters related. God is putting Judah and Joseph together for a reason, as we will continue to discover going forward in the Bible.

We must also note that there is an extraordinary number of threes in these chapters concerning the life of Joseph: he was made overseer three times (for his father, for Potiphar, and for the keeper of the prison); he was cast down three times (into a pit, into slavery, and into prison). Three is a Sign of Messiah in the Bible, that a passage is prophesying of Messiah.

Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Mat 12:38-40 (also revealing that resurrection life is a sign of Messiah in the Bible).

The threes are there to attract our notice. The prophecy of Messiah, is that just as Joseph was cast down, so also was Messiah:

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Phi 2:5-8

If there are questions, these are good resources:

Joseph in Egypt, part one, two, three, four, five, six – Associates for Biblical Research
The Joseph Narrative – Associates for Biblical Research