Genesis 38:1-19 This is another one of those very difficult passages in Genesis. Why does the author interrupt the story of Joseph to tell us about this seemingly unrelated incident with Judah? How does this passage reveal to us Judah's character. Why is that important? What was this whole thing about Onan fulfilling the "duty of a brother-in-law" by taking Tamar as a wife? What really was Onan's sin? What is this whole thing about levirate marriage all about? What did God think about it? What was Judah doing wrong with Tamar? How does this story fill us in on Israel's experience in Egypt? (53 min.)

Keywords Judah, Joseph, Tamar, Levirate Marriage

Genesis 37:12-36 The tragic story of the betrayal of Joseph by his own brothers. Two striking things about Joseph: his spirit of obedience and the distress of his soul. Why did Reuben act so heroically here? Consider all the overwhelming evil that occurs in this passage. If you could have prevented it all, would you have? Why didn't God? With all the evil that Joseph encounters, did God really love Joseph? If God is all powerful and all good, how could he allow such evil? Does such a God really exist? What awesome truth about God can we discover from all the evil in this world? (60 min.)

Keywords Joseph, Jacob, Judah, Evil