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The name of this week’s parasha is Vayeshev, which means “and he settled”, and covers Genesis 37:1-40:23. Jacob favored Joseph over his other sons, which caused them to resent Joseph, and Joseph was given a special robe by Jacob. When Joseph told his brothers and father about a dream he had in which they bowed to him, they didn’t believe him and Joseph’s brothers became more hostile towards him, but Jacob remembered this dream.
When Jacob sent Joseph to look for his brothers, Joseph found them at Dothan. They saw Joseph coming and planned to kill him, but Reuben suggested they throw Joseph in a pit instead, so that he could later return Joseph to Jacob. When Joseph arrived, they seized his robe and threw him into the empty pit. Judah later persuaded them to sell Joseph to some Ishmaelites heading toward Egypt, but Joseph was found beforehand by some Midianites, who sold him to the Ishmaelites for 20 silver shekels.
When Reuben saw Joseph was missing from the pit, he went to his brothers in desperation. They took Joseph’s robe, covered it in goat blood, and brought it to Jacob – he recognized the robe, assumed Joseph was killed by an animal, and suffered for many years afterward. Meanwhile, Joseph was sold in Egypt to Potiphar, an official of Pharaoh.
In chapter 38, Judah married the daughter of Shua the Canaanite and had 3 sons: Er, Onan, and Shelah. He found a wife named Tamar for Er, but Er was killed by Adonai for his sin. Judah then gave Tamar to Er’s younger brother Onan in Levirate marriage, but Onan refused to procreate with Tamar and was killed for this wickedness. Judah then sent Tamar to her father because he feared that his youngest son Shelah would also die.
After Judah mourned the death of his wife, he went to shear his sheep in Timnah with his friend Hirah the Adullamite. Tamar heard this, dressed like a prostitute and went to Enaim, which was on the way to Timnah, because she wasn’t married to Shelah.
Judah saw Tamar but didn’t recognize her and thought she was a prostitute. He wanted to sleep with her, but the price was a young goat from his flock, so his ring, chord and staff were held as collateral until the goat arrived. After they slept together, Judah sent Hirah with the goat to exchange for his possessions, but Tamar disappeared without a trace.
3 months later, Tamar was discovered to be pregnant and was accused of immorality. Judah ordered her to be burned to death but reconsidered when Tamar showed his possessions she held as collateral and said the man who owned these items impregnated her. Judah declared she was more righteous than him, because he hadn’t kept his promise to give her to Shelah in marriage. Tamar eventually gave birth to twin boys, Perez and Zerah.
In chapter 39, Joseph lives as a slave in Potiphar’s home, and earns Potiphar’s trust to care for all his possessions. Potiphar saw that Adonai was with Joseph and was responsible for Joseph’s success, and as a result, everything that Potiphar owned was blessed.
Potiphar’s wife also noticed Joseph, but for much different reasons. She repeatedly tried to seduce him, but he refused her advances. One day, she grabbed him by his cloak while trying to seduce him, but he fled, leaving the cloak. She showed his cloak to her servants and Potiphar, falsely claiming Joseph had tried to seduce her. Potiphar was enraged and had Joseph imprisoned, but Adonai blessed Joseph by causing the warden to put him in charge of the other prisoners.
In chapter 40, Pharaoh became angry with his cupbearer and baker, and imprisoned them. Joseph was assigned to look after them, and noticing their unhappiness one day, asked what was wrong. They replied they each had a dream but didn’t know what the dreams meant. Joseph said that interpretations belonged to God and asked to hear the dreams.
The cupbearer described his dream in which three branches sprouted grapes that were crushed by the cupbearer in Pharaoh’s cup. Joseph stated that the cupbearer would regain his job in three days and asked the cupbearer to plead his case with Pharaoh, because Joseph was wrongly imprisoned.
The baker then told Joseph his dream of three baskets of bread on his head – the items in the top basket were for Pharaoh, but the birds ate them from the basket. Joseph stated the three baskets stood for three days, upon which the baker would be hanged by Pharaoh, with the birds eating him. The parasha ends with these events happening just as Joseph described them – unfortunately, the cupbearer forgot about Joseph, who remained in prison.
Parasha Vayeshev teaches us that when we’re going through difficulties, it doesn’t mean Adonai has abandoned us; it’s often during hardships that He shows His love for us through His grace and provisions. Joseph could have become bitter because of his hardships, but Joseph trusted in Adonai and Adonai used him to bless others, and Joseph also gained honor and respect.
We also see in this passage that despite human sin and disobedience, Adonai’s plans and purposes will be accomplished. Joseph’s brothers thought they were finally rid of him, but despite their actions and intentions, Adonai would later use Joseph to save them and his family during the famine in Canaan.
Although Judah disobeyed God when he didn’t give Tamar to Shelah in Levirate marriage and brought shame upon himself by unintentionally sleeping with her, God brought good out of these bad situations – their firstborn son, Perez, was an ancestor of David, which also put him in Messiah Yeshua’s genealogy.
To honor God means to walk in obedience. So, let’s show our obedience to Adonai by loyally following Messiah Yeshua as Lord and Savior, and He will turn even our failures into victory!