Lesson 20 – Joseph and his Brothers:
Pride and Prejudice
 Read Genesis 37-38 - www.bible.com/bible/59/gen.37

We often see how children tend to mirror the weaknesses as well as the strengths of their parents. This is evident in many families of the Old Testament. Jacob suffered from parental favoritism as a boy. Now we see how he continues this practice in his relationship with Joseph—with bad results.

God had a plan for Joseph’s life that would include becoming the second most powerful man in the world at that time, and giving him the opportunity through that position to save the lives of every member of his family. But to get to that point, Joseph would need to go through some very trying times. As you read the next few lessons, please think about how you would have felt if you were Joseph and you’d known ahead of time what would happen to you. Often we ask God to show us what is ahead for us, but there are very good reasons why He doesn’t – it is much easier to walk through difficult times one day at a time.

Joseph was not a very wise young man at this point – if he had been, he would not have taunted his brothers with the vision he had seen. Surely he was aware of his brothers’ anger toward himself because of his father’s favoritism. At this point, Joseph trusted more in his father’s ability to protect him, because of his position as his father’s favorite, than he trusted in God.

*Do you ever use your position of favor with someone to intentionally make others fear you or to intimidate someone?

In chapter 38 we see another situation that was not the way God wanted it to be. In that culture, when a man married, the wife became a part of the husband’s family. Should the husband die, his family was responsible for caring for the widow. Judah had not done this with his son’s wife when his son died. In this case, Tamar decided to do things her own way, and deceived Judah when she acted the part of a prostitute.


Even though both Judah and Tamar sinned, God was merciful to them. God didn’t remove His blessing from Judah – God still gave this man His blessing in making him the head of the family through which King David would come, and through King David would also come Jesus Christ.

*Perez (Genesis 38:29) is listed in the genealogies of David (Ruth 4:18) and Jesus (Matthew 1:3). How can this fact help us to appreciate God's grace?
*Even tragedy and evil can be part of God's plan for good. How can these chapters encourage us to trust God in the midst of difficult circumstances?