This or That.
- AfraOpoku
- September 19, 2026
- Uncategorized
- 0 Comments
A tale of two brothers.
Biblically, the placement of their stories makes for curious comparison.
Same father. Same God. Very different outcomes.
Joseph despite being younger is first in this narration.1
Favoured of his father, he got sold by his step brothers.2 They then lied about it, broke their father’s heart and continued on as if nothing had happened.
Bad in the eyes of man. Evil in the eyes of God. Traumatic in the eyes of Joseph.
The page turns and Judah’s story is told.3
For a son of a patriarchs of faith, this exposé is about as messy as it can get. Judah raised a set of sons who did not prioritise the Lord.4
This unfortunately led to their deaths and then Judah lost his wife.
The fourth son of Jacob who would be a direct forebear of Christ, decides a one night stand with a prostitute would take the edge off; and that prostitute turns out to be his daughter in law.5
After all of this, it’s fair to wonder if God cares at all whether or not we obey His instructions. Maybe Judah just didn’t know right from wrong, because why would God choose his line for the Christ?
Maybe sin isn’t that big a deal.
Maybe God isn’t that bothered if we get a little on the side.
There’s always repentance right?
Before you conclude, watch how the story flips to give us a side by side picture of both men.
At a glance, nothing is going Joseph’s way. Stripped from a place of honour and pride in his father’s house, he’s now the property of an Egyptian official.
Joseph didn’t have much in choices, but what little he had, he offered up to honour the Lord. 6
The more you pay attention to the text, the more you pick up the not so subtle indicators of how God felt about both brothers.
God is mentioned twice in Judah’s story.
Both times, He kills Judah’s sons because their actions. 3 This same God is mentioned 5 times in Joseph’s story7
Four times we hear of how the Lord was with Joseph and caused him to prosper. Once, Joseph talks of how he cannot sin against the Lord and sleep with his mistress.
Joseph had a harder life than Judah.
Joseph stayed the course, even though compromising would have been understandable.
Judah had the easier choice and still failed.
You can look at Judah’s story as God condoning evil.
You can also realise that man often uses free will in ways that don’t align with the Almighty. Joseph could have blamed God and lived his life anyhow; but we wouldn’t have gotten the chance to sense God’s delight.
God is noticeably absent in Judah’s story.
Judah set out to satisfy his needs.
Joseph set out to glorify God; and what a difference motive makes.
When all was said and done, Joseph ended up taking care of Judah and his descendants.
When famine threatened Isreal’s existence, Judah was one of the brothers who bowed to Joseph – a boy whose slavery had been his initiative 8
It’s better to be in a painful place with God than a hedonistic world constantly looking out for number one.
God has a path for us, and the fact that He can make beauty from our messes doesn’t mean He’s not grieved by them. Also true is the fact that the presence of pain doesn’t mean the absence of Hispleasure.
Our standard is not the guy standing by us at church or the dodgy sibling we were raised with. Our standard is the Father who gave his only Son to make a way for us.
Judah turned things around in his latter years, offering to give his life for Joseph’s brother.9
The man who cared only about himself now cared for his father and his family so much that he was willing to lay his life down for them.
Judah grew into the leader God always wanted him to be …and Joseph? He was the leader for their time. The one whose sons were put on the same level as his brothers,10 and the example set for us to follow.
Our paths may not always be easy.
Sometimes we have no trailblazer to follow; but the Lord keeps score, and at the right time, He will repay.
1- Gen 37 v 2-4
2- Gen 37 v 23-28
3- Gen 38 v 1-30
4-Gen 38 v 7-10
5- Gen 38 v 15-18
6-Gen 39 v 9
7-Gen 39 v 1-23
8- Gen 37 v 26
9- gen 44 v 30-34
10- Gen 48 v 5