Message of the Week

The Little White Community Church

Scripture: Gen. 39:1-8, 10-15, 19-21 May 31, 2026

Message: “Knowing Who You Are and What You Want!”

By Pastor George Gnade

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9:14

Introduction:

1. Of all the sons of Jacob, Judah and Joseph stand out. Over the course of time, the ten northern tribes would be dominated by the two sons of Joseph named Ephraim and Manasseh and eventually be known as the northern kingdom of Israel, while the southern area would be dom-inated by Judah and become known as the Kingdom of Judah.

2. The lives of these two men, therefore, are very impor-tant. It is not by chance that Gen. 38 and 39 have been placed next to each other, revealing their humble beginnings. In the process, these chapters teach us lessons on who we are and what we want.

A. Let us begin with the story of Judah (Gen. 38).

1. This is one of those stories we would not expect to find in the Bible, but God does not cover up the sins of His people. Last week we learned how Judah was primarily responsible for selling his brother Joseph to slave traders on their way to Egypt. 

a. Then he and his brothers dipped Joseph’s clothes in the blood of a goat and told their father he was killed by some wild animal.

b. Living with this lie, he saw the pain in his father’s eyes day after day. Finally he decided to get away for a while (Gen. 38:1). 

2. Being out of fellowship with God, he met and married a Canaanite woman named Shua. Together, they had three sons who grew up over a period of about 20 years (vs.2-5).

a. His oldest son married a girl named Tamar. He was not right with God and died. According to the customs of the day, Judah then gave Tamar to his next son, but he was also very wicked and also died young (vs. 6-10).

b. Not liking what he saw, he knew he was obligated to give Tamar his next son. Using his third son’s age as an excuse, Judah told Tamar she would have to wait for a while. But in his heart, he had no intention of doing this (vs. 11).

3. Sadly, then Judah’s wife Shua died. Being lonely, he sought out female companionship in the wrong places, showing he was still not right with God.

a. Tamar figured this out. Knowing she would remain childless unless she took drastic measures, she decided to dress up like a cult prostitute (vs. 12-15). 

b. This was OK for the Canaanites. They worshiped false gods and could enjoy the pleasures of the flesh. Judah certainly knew better.

c. Tamar knew where Judah was going, covered her face as was customary, and tempted Judah to have sex with her. In exchange, he promised to send her a goat the next day; acting like she didn’t trust him, she asked him for proof of his identity.  Then she disappeared and went back home.

4. In time, it became known that she was pregnant. In righteous rage, Judah condemned her to death. That is when she showed Judah the proof of his identity.

a. Shocked back into reality, he said: “She is more righteous than I inasmuch as I did not give her my son Shelah” (vs.24-26).   So he allowed her to live.

b. Apparently this triggered a need to start the journey back toward God, for we soon find Judah back home with his father and brothers.

c. Meanwhile Tamar had twins, Perez and Zerah. To everyone’s surprise, God chose Perez to become part of the godly line through whom the Christ was actually born

(vs. 27-30 and Matt. 1:2-3).

5. The moral of the story is very plain. When we turn back to God, and truly mean it, He will forgive our past and often create a new and glorious future.

a. But would you want to be Judah? Would you want to go through all the hardships he brought on himself? How do you think Judah felt knowing at least two of his sons died without knowing the Lord, all because he wandered away from the Lord?

b. Judah made some bad choices because he forgot who he was and allowed himself to be deceived. God wants to offer us a better alternative.

B. Let us now compare this to the story of Joseph (Gen. 39).

1. If you remember, Joseph was sold into slavery by his own brothers. But when we stay close to the Lord, God has a way of blessing us anyway.

a. Joseph was sold by the slave traders to a man named Potiphar, a captain of the guard, an officer of some importance who was living in Egypt.

b. During the same 20 years that Judah experienced hardship, the Lord was with Joseph and he became a successful man (Gen. 39:2).

2. In one sentence we discover the secret. It says: “The Lord was with Joseph.” While Joseph was not perfect, he definitely loved the Lord. God guided him to the house of Potiphar, who quickly figured out what a bargain he got for 20 pieces of silver (Gen. 39:2-6). 

a. Joseph quickly worked his way up the ladder until he was placed over all that Potiphar possessed. While still a slave, he was living like a king!

b. David once said: “I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.”

These two chapters illustrate this principle.

c. So we must know who we are and what we want if we are going to receive God’s blessing.

3. But whenever God is at work, Satan strikes back. Potiphar’s wife noticed what was happening and wanted to get into the picture.

a. Her marriage was not a happy one, and she wanted more out of life. Joseph seemed like the perfect person to meet her needs.  Since Potiphar was away quite often, she was lonely. So she was tempted and tried to tempt Joseph. Day after day she tried and he refused (vs. 7-10).

b. One day she got her chance, found him alone when no one was there and grabbed his garment as he fled from her presence. Then she screamed and made a scene and pretended to be a victim of sexual abuse (vs. 11-18).

c. This was a lie but her husband had no choice and placed Joseph in prison, in a place where the king’s prisoners were kept (vs. 19-23).

4. Again we can’t help but feel sorry for Joseph. But even in prison, we read in vs. 21: “But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love, and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.”

In Conclusion:

1. Can you see how these two stories parallel each other? By selling Joseph as a slave, Judah thought he could wipe out the competition and eventually get the birthright. Instead he ended up miserable, lived a very sad life, and because he did not take a stand for the Lord, he gave in to temptation and sin.

a. Seduced by his own daughter-in-law, he eventually had to admit that she was more righteous than he. 

b. Judah could not have fallen farther before finally starting his journey back toward God. Judah either forgot who he was or failed to take it seriously. He thought he knew what he wanted, but went down the wrong path.

2. In contrast, Joseph was sold as a slave, yet was blessed by God in spite of it all. Joseph knew who he was and what he wanted. For him, God was most important. He knew it was better to be a slave for God or even suffer for God than to lose the blessing of God.

a. Like Judah, he was tempted to do wrong and could easily have done so. But would it have been worth it?

b. Joseph made some difficult choices, but he made the right choices. God blessed him for it.

3. In the early church and even today, many Christians greet each other saying: “The Lord be with you and with your spirit.”

a. We who know the Lord are so blessed. We have forgiveness and eternal life. We have and know Christ Jesus our Lord. We are children of the King, part of the family of God, with an inheritance that can never be taken from us.

b. But it is easy to forget who we are. It is so easy to be tempted. It is so easy to start down the wrong path, especially in our culture in our day.

4. God knows how human we are. If you have slipped, ask God to forgive you and get back up. If you have really messed up like Judah did, remember you can still come back to God and let Him have His way with you. Praise God, the end of Judah’s life was not easy but far better than its beginning.

5. But it is so much better to make the right choices in the first place. It is so much better to be like Joseph who knew who he was and what he really wanted. I highly commend that we do likewise. Amen!