Adam—Seth—Noah—Shem—Abraham—Isaac—Jacob—Judah—Perez...
The story of Joseph, Genesis 37-50
The final major story of the book of Genesis is one of the most marvelous in the Bible. Jacob’s 12 sons, at least in their earlier lives, were not the “salt of the earth,” not even close. They were murderers, adulterers, liars, deceivers, and they sold their own brother into slavery. More on this crucial point about ancient man in an upcoming article.
But God has His ways, far beyond our comprehension, unless He tells us. He not only made Abraham a great spiritual promise that the needed Redeemer of mankind would come through his descendants, but He made the personal promise that Abraham’s descendants would be incalculable (they still exist on earth, of course), and that they would be given the special land of Canaan. All of this was aiming at the “fulness of time” (Galatians 4:4) when Jesus, the Messiah, would be born as a Jew.
But in Jacob’s day, the number was small. Joseph, who appeared, frankly, to be a snotty little kid, was despised by his brothers because Jacob (foolishly) favored him. His brothers sold Joseph into slavery. He ended up in Egypt. For all his (apparent) early immaturity, he was a good and godly man, and the Lord was with him. Via some miraculous means, Joseph rose to be Pharoah’s right-hand man, and when seven years of famine hit Egypt and much of the Middle East, it was Joeseph’s job to make sure the people of Egypt were supplied (by food from a previous seven years of plenty). By this time, Joseph was in his late-30s.
Long story short, Joseph’s brothers came to Egypt to buy food. Joseph (whom they didn’t recognize, not having seen him for some two decades) tested them to see if they were as rotten as he remembered them being. But they had matured some as well, and eventually Jacob and his family (around 75 people) settled in Egypt under Joseph’s guidance. Again, the story is marvelous, and I cannot do it justice here. The bottom line is, as God had told Abraham would happen, the Jews spent a few centuries in Egypt, and ended up in slavery to those people. They multiplied greatly. And then God brought them their first deliverer, Moses. His story soon.
Do be aware that Egyptologists, while not able to specifically identify Joseph in Egyptian records, do agree that the cultural norms mentioned in the book of Genesis (burial rites, etc.) are spot on with Egyptian records. The guy who wrote the book of Genesis (we know it was Moses, but skeptics deny that, of course) had obviously deep acquaintance with Egypt, its geography, and culture. And since Moses grew up in Pharaoh’s house as the adopted son of his daughter, one cannot be surprised at the accuracy of Egyptian rituals, etc. in the book of Genesis. It’s history, from God, and much of it passed on to Moses from the Jews who had lived in Egypt for centuries.