Latest / Scripture Central / Genesis 37-41 I Come Follow Me I Handmaidens, Harems and Heroines I Lynne Hilton Wilson

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Genesis 37-41 I Come Follow Me I Handmaidens, Harems and Heroines I Lynne Hilton Wilson · Scripture Central

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  Daughters of Jacob, the wife of Judah Tamar Potiphar's wife.
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  Estonia, that we have some fabulous women, great women of
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  faith and great women of not so much faith.
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  But let's start in Genesis 34 with this difficult young girl,
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  Dinah. She's the 7th child of Jacob and
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  Leah. She is the only named daughter.
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  We can't just skip over her. We don't know if the story is an
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  abduction, if she was consenting to a future marriage.
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  The word that's used in Hebrew to refer to these daughters of
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  Jacob, comforting him may have been his birth daughters, may
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  have been his granddaughters, or may have been his daughters in
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  law because there were many by this time.
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  So we're a little bit unsure as to who they were.
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  And as we look at other ancient texts.
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  Hello, welcome back to Scripture Central.
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  I'm Lynn Hilton Wilson, part of the team that tries to build
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  enduring faith in Jesus Christ by illuminating and defending
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  our scriptures. And today we get to look at
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  Genesis 37 to 41. As part of my commentary, I like
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  to focus on the handmaidens, the harems, the heroines.
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  And we've got 7 fabulous women in these chapters.
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  Actually, we skip a couple chapters between last week's
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  Come Follow me lesson in this, and I do not want to skip Dinah.
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  So she's in Genesis 34. I'm going to go to talk about
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  her a little bit and then we'll move on to the daughters of
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  Jacob, the wife of Judah, Tamar Potiphar's wife, Estenia.
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  That we have some fabulous women, great women of faith and
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  great women of not so much faith I want to cover today.
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  But let's start in Genesis 34 with this difficult young girl,
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  Dinah. She's the 7th child of Jacob and
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  Leah. She is the only named daughter.
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  We can't just skip over her. And we also in her stories are
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  introduced with other daughters of Jacob and daughters of the
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  land. So they'll just slip in right to
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  her story, all from Genesis 34. She was probably a teenager when
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  Jacob settled in Canaan. He's settling near the Hivites.
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  He's just adjacent to the city that is later called the city of
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  Shechem. But Jacob buys a field from the
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  locals. He puts up his tents and and
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  begins building an altar. He calls the name El Elo Israel,
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  possibly meaning, you know, mighty is the God of Israel.
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  It's a beautiful name. And we get this tragic story.
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  We don't know if the story is an abduction, if she was consenting
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  to a future marriage, but we do know that our marriages were
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  arranged and that hers was not arranged by her father.
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  And this was very difficult. So we're told in Genesis 34 that
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  Dinah goes out to visit the other girls, the locals, and
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  while she's there, the Prince of the king.
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  And these are small little towns.
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  It's probably closer to look at it as the mayor of the village
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  or something. But one of the leaders of the
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  neighboring community really is smitten by her and sleeps with
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  her, defiles her, but she does not come home.
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  By the time we get to the end of the Old Testament, you're an
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  adult at 12 1/2. And at the age 12, you're no
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  longer a minor. And so the idea that if she is
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  out on her own visiting with the girls in the land, she It may
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  have been a consensual future marriage.
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  But it doesn't sound like the brothers thought that.
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  And as soon as Jacob finds out that his beloved little 7th
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  child of Leah is has been abused, he awaits to talk to his
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  sons. And they act rashly and they act
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  in a way that Jacob is upset about and does not know.
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  And most of you know the story. He says we can't marry you
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  because you're not our faith. You don't have, you are not
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  circumcised. And so the brothers arranged to
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  have everyone in this village circumcised.
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  And sure enough, as the men are in excruciating pain and we have
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  examples of circumcision from very, very ancient texts and
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  artwork and elsewhere, but verse 24 of Section 34 reads all the
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  men who went out to the city gate and listen to Hamar and his
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  son Shechem, and every male of the city was circumcised.
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  So they all agree that they'd like to work with Jacob and his
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  family that like to become neighbors.
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  And they're willing to go through this in order to have
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  the marriages between the two of them.
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  But unfortunately, two of the brothers, at least the second
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  son of Leah Simeon, and the third son, Levi, are absolutely
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  dishonest. I believe it is premeditated
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  murder that leads them to go into the city and kill all of
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  the men who are suffering from their circumcisions.
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  You know, this was a very fatal chance for an an adult male at
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  this time about 50% fatality is one of the books that I read on
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  this. But it it is not an easy thing.
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  And this was excruciatingly difficult to continue on reading
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  what Simeon and Levi do. But it says in verse 29 some
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  sort of kidnapping and ransacking.
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  It says all the little ones and they spoiled even that was left
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  in the house. So the wives and the little
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  ones. So these daughters that had
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  befriended Dinah have now had to watch not only the murder of
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  their brothers and fathers and boyfriends, but now they're also
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  being abducted, is what the text says.
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  Now, I do not know if this is literal or edited afterward, but
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  it is absolutely tragic. And Jacob, the patriarch, voices
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  his anger at his sons. And he says, you know, even even
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  the neighbors are going to think we stink.
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  You know, it's not just their what it did to them, but the
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  entire community is going to have a problem now.
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  So that is a tragic story. We do not hear any more about
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  what happened to all the other people of the village who were
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  abducted and taken, these little ones and the wives.
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  Nor are we told what happened to the girls, nor are we told how
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  Dinah reacted. But the thing that is strange to
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  me, the reason why I even paused to say it wasn't just a
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  kidnapping or a rape, is because Dinah was stayed in the House of
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  Shechem during all these arrangements.
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  Dinah never comes out to talk to her dad.
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  Dinah never comes out earlier when the men are being
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  circumcised. She doesn't take that
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  opportunity to run home to her parents.
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  Now, perhaps, as often is the case in the ancient world, she
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  was too scared, she was too threatened, and she couldn't
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  act. I don't know.
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  But once the older brothers came after the three days after the
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  circumcision, after all the time is when she's finally brought
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  home. So we have a lot of questions on
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  this story, and it is tragic to see good people doing very bad
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  things. None of us are ever released
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  from having anger take over. So I'd like to move on now to
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  our next account. There's another line, though,
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  that's interesting. In this account of Genesis 34
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  about the daughters of Jacob, There's multiple daughters.
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  Would you please marry in and out with us?
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  So it appears that not only in this account in 34, but then
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  also when Joseph is assumed to be killed by his father, we
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  learned more about other daughters of Jacob who come to
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  comfort him. So, you know, we have a lot of
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  information on the sons of Jacob, but we only have a couple
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  of references to these daughters of Jacob.
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  So as we continue on in Genesis 37, the story evolves about
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  Joseph being sold into Egypt. And then the brother, you know,
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  Reuben tries to protect him, Judah tries to sell him and he's
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  sold to captain of the guard, Pharaoh's household.
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  And then the brothers come up with an another atrocious story
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  about a vicious animal has devoured him.
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  Now Joseph is 17 years old when he begins this work and Jacob is
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  absolutely devastated with the news of the loss of his son.
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  And in Genesis 37, verse 33 and the BSB translation it reads it
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  is my son's robe. A vicious animal has devoured
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  him. Joseph has surely been torn to
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  pieces and in response to his sorrow his daughters come.
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  And in verse 35, the NIV reads, all his sons and daughters came
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  to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted.
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  You know, Jacob was absolutely in a horrific place, but the
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  word that's used in Hebrew to refer to these daughters of
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  Jacob, comforting him, may have been his birth daughters, may
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  have been his granddaughters, or may have been his daughters in
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  law because there were many by this time.
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  So we're a little bit unsure as to who they were.
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  And as we look at other ancient texts, these are much later than
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  the Bible. But Josephus by the time of the
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  New Testament claims that there were other daughters.
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  The Testament of the 12th patriarch named the four
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  daughters. We've got the Tarragon of
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  Jonathan that also claimed that these daughters.
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  So we have extra biblical sources also saying Jacob had
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  other daughters. The next woman in our text is in
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  Genesis 38 verses 2 through 5 and 12.
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  And we learned that as Judah moved away from his parents home
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  and he married a Canaanite woman and she was the daughter of
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  Shua. So the daughter of Shua in
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  Hebrew is Bashua. So sometimes she goes by Bashua
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  and sometimes she goes by the unnamed daughter of Shua.
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  But she was able to bear Judah three sons who lived to an older
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  age, three sons of marriageable age.
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  Remember, most women started bearing children very early, but
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  lost most of their children in the first year of life and then
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  at least another third by the time they were 10 years old, is
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  what the anthropologist suggest about the ancient world.
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  So the idea that she had three sons, that we know their names,
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  we know their story, does not mean she only had three sons.
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  But her oldest son, Eyre, died shortly after his marriage to
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  Tamar. That's Genesis 38, seven.
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  And so in that day and age, they had the law, the Leverett law,
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  where if your wife died, then the next son was to marry her,
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  take care of her and raise up seed for the inheritance of his
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  older brother. But that is not what happened in
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  this story. And that causes all the problem.
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  Tamar becomes very careful to live this law.
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  And in fact, she she goes to an extreme that's hard to believe,
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  but she is fulfilling this law literally.
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  So when the second son, Onan was not willing to follow all the
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  way through and raise seed, he was willing to almost go all the
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  way, but not quite enough to raise seed.
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  And so he passed away. The Bible says the Lord killed
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  him. You know, that's interpretation
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  I don't know if I agree with, but the youngest son, Jacob said
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  he's too young, you can't marry him yet.
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  Now, Tamar may have only been a few years older than him.
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  You know, usually the girl is younger than the husband, but
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  whatever his age is, I think it's because Jacob is worried
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  that Tamar is killing his sons. If you want to learn more about
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  this love, right, marriage is described in Deuteronomy chapter
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  25, verses 5 through 10. And it says there, as well as in
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  the places where it's written out in more detail outside of
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  the Bible, biblical texts that are the held by the Jews as
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  sacred literature, that if the brothers do not fulfill their
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  duty, the father-in-law may one time fulfill the duty.
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  As we continue on, we learn a little bit more about Judah's
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  wife in Genesis 38, verses 2 through 5.
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  And we learn that after her oldest two sons died, she also
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  passes away. And Judah goes through a time of
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  mourning. And then he decides to go out
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  with one of his friends to to a sheep shearing experience.
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  And as he's there, he and his friend are in a new place, not
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  near where they're used, where they're known.
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  And Judah approaches a woman who he thinks is a prostitute.
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  Now, actually, Tamar had found out where he was going.
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  She found out what was happening.
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  She knows that he's scared of her.
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  She also knows that that third son is plenty old to procreate
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  right now. And Judah has not given him to
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  Tamar. So she puts herself in a
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  position to fulfill the love right marriage with her
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  father-in-law, Judah. And she disguises herself.
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  In fact, I'm going to read from the NIV.
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  This is verses 15 to 19. When Judas saw her, he thought
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  she was a prostitute for she had covered her face.
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  So at that time and that place, prostitutes covered their face.
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  What will you give me to sleep with you?
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  And the conversation goes on and and Tamar says if you can't give
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  me the goat right now, you've got to give me something right
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  now. Give me a pledge, she says.
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  And he says, OK, I'll give you my staff.
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  A few other things, you know. So she follows through.
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  She has his staff, she has his dependent.
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  They come to an agreement and Tamar becomes pregnant.
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  After she left, she goes back home.
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  She puts takes off the prostitute veil, she puts on her
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  widow's clothing again. And three months later Judah
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  finds out that Tamar is expecting and he comes out and
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  he says that she should be killed.
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  In fact, Genesis 3824 to 26 says bring her out and have her
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  burned to death. But Tamar then says I am
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  pregnant by the man whose staff this is.
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  See if you recognize who seal and cord and staff these are.
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  Of no course Judah recognizes them immediately and says she is
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  more righteous than I. Now this double standard for men
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  and women is wrong and Jesus himself denounces it.
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  But right now Tamar has trapped Judah and he apologizes and he
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  willingly takes ownership of these babies and she has twins.
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  And it appears to me that they are a little premature because
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  the first one slips his arm out and Zara, they put a a red
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  scarlet tie on it. But that is very unusual in full
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  term babies, as I used to work in labor and delivery as a
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  nurse, and that is usually for premature deliveries.
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  But both sons are born. Both sons live.
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  Perez and Zara and Tamar's posterity through these two sons
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  is not only recorded in Genesis, but also in the book of Ruth and
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  the book of Chronicles and then in the New Testament in the
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  Gospel of Matthew. Tamar is the line through which
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  our Savior adopted Father Joseph.
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  His lineage comes through. So we have this 800 year period
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  between her delivery and the time that we get down to King
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  David. But she is the ancestor of
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  David. She is an important figure and
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  why do we have her? Even in the important genealogy
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  of our righteous Joseph, I think we have very unusual situations,
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  in part to parallel with the unusual situation of Mary and
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  Joseph also as types of Christ, as those who are preparing the
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  way for the Savior of the world. The next two women I'd like to
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  speak about are Potiphar's wife and Anna.
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  So welcome back to Egypt. We're now, I'm probably the 15th
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  dynasty. I'm not exactly sure if we're
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  talking about the haikus dynasty here, these foreign Semite
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  rulers who are called the shepherd kings, but it appears
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  to possibly fit into this time period, whether it's the 15th or
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  the 16th dynasty. I don't know whether it's the
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  17th or the 18th, but give us between 1700 and and 15 100 and
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  we are in the Egyptian of the Bible and the Haikos dynasty.
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  I personally feel like the reason why many biblical
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  scholars appreciate the overlap with Joseph coming down to Egypt
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  and the Haikos dynasty is because they would have both
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  been foreign rulers and it makes a little bit more sense
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  regardless of which dynasty we're in and who's our rulers.
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  I'd like to talk about Genesis 39 the the wife of Potiphar.
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  She's one of the most famous adulteresses in Old Testament.
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  But this wife of Potiphar had a very influential sphere because
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  of her powerful husband. As we read through the Genesis
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  account, Joseph is described as hard working, intelligent.
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  You know, he's he's bilingual, she's reading and writing in
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  multiple languages. He's very successful.
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  He's well built, he's handsome. And it sounds as if she is
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  beguiling him at least twice. So somewhere between the age of
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  17 and 27, according to Genesis 37 to 41.
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  We get his ages there. And all of this is on my hand,
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  out and on my slides if you're watching.
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  But for some reason, her rash attraction to him changes when
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  he refuses her second attempt to seduce him.
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  And she becomes so angry that she reverses their roles.
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  And she claims that he lied and that he is trying to rape her.
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  And this tragic story ends with Joseph being imprisoned.
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  And we don't ever hear about this wicked woman again.
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  But we do hear of Joseph, righteous wife annist, and she
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  is married to Joseph. The marriage is probably
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  arranged after he is on the throne beside the Pharaoh,
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  working as his right hand man with the priest of on the Lord
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  blesses their union and she is able to bear two sons during the
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  seven years of plenty. But her name is interesting.
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  You know it. If we go back to the roots of
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  it, not only is she the daughter of the of the priest, but
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  traditionally this area worshipped the sun God raw.
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  And so some people say, you know, maybe she was since her
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  name says she belongs to Nihath, who is one of the primordial
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  creator mother gods in the Egyptian pantheon.
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  But it appears that she converts.
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  I personally feel that Anas converted to her husband's
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  religion. That's what most women did.
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  And in addition to that, her two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim,
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  become leaders in the worship of Jehovah.
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  I assume that her mother tongue was Egyptian.
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  I assume that she began learning a little bit of Hebrew, or at
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  least when her two sons were raised in the community amongst
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  their cousins, they learned it in that direction.
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  But within a few generations, her descendants become the
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  second largest numerical tribe in Israel.
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  And it is her two sons that received these beautiful
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  blessings from their grandfather Jacob that promises that they
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  will have great posterity and be great leaders and their
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  posterity becomes the Book of Mormon people.
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  This is where Lehigh and Soraya's family come in.
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  Now if you want to go back and look at some of the apocryphal
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  writings, there is a book called Joseph and Annis.
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  And it comes from about 200 BC. It's, it's the time when, when
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  the Jews are really struggling with how could a righteous male
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  like, like Joseph marry a, a, a Pagan into a Pagan tribe.
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  But I, I feel like between Anas and Rahab and others, we have so
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  many converts. Even Ruth herself is a convert
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  to the ways of Jehovah, and I think that we not only have the
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  beautiful message of her posterity being these two
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  righteous sons, but her posterity is also Joshua the
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  Prophet, Samuel the Prophetess, Deborah, Micah, and of course
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  Joseph Smith Senior. These great women saturate the
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  text, but we have to pull them out in the story.
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  So I'm grateful for this opportunity to share with you
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  some of my love for these lesser known figures because all of
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  them, we find examples of people who are real, who struggle with
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  difficult things. And I hope as they sought their
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  Messiah, you too can seek your Savior, your Redeemer as you
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  studied the scriptures this year.
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  And I leave this with you, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.