The Old Testament: What's the Point?

Day 10: Genesis 36-39

The Bible is full of such wicked people. People no different than we are today. I wonder why God thought they were important enough to include them in the Bible. Joseph’s brothers are pretty bad. They want to kill him but instead sell him off to who knows where and then lie to their father Jacob by fabricating this elaborate scheme about Joseph being killed by animals. Then Judah, one of the brothers, sleeps with a prostitute who, unbeknownst to him, is actually his daughter-in-law Tamar. Contrast these people with Joseph, who has values and morals that are quite unnatural for his time. (Apparently it was quite normal to sleep with a prostitute if you were a man—Judah seemed to make this obvious to everyone when he tried to pay the prostitute with a goat. And, when he found out Tamar had slept with someone she wasn’t married to, he wanted to put her to death. Needless to say that I don’t like the double standards here.)

On the contrary, the Lord was with Joseph and everything around him prospered. Joseph was even put in jail because of his values when he wouldn’t succumb to the advances of his master’s wife.

So many people from the line of Abraham behave so badly. I’m not sure what we are supposed to think about these people. I do know that God is sticking with this family. He has not left them. But these chapters just aren’t what you expect from people of God. It just seems like stories about people who have no relationship with God. Really, the only mention of the Lord is in reference to Joseph. The rest of the time, it’s just stories about this family, stories that are mostly full of evildoing.

What is the purpose of the Old Testament in relation to Christians today? This is a question I have been asked and asked myself on numerous occasions. I don’t quite know yet. I hope it’s more than just thinking these people are so evil. Because that’s really all I’m getting out of it right now. Except with Joseph. His story resonates with me in a different way. God watches out for him even when faced with difficult situates.

What are your thoughts on the Old Testament? Why or how do you think it’s relevant for us today? I’m really interested in hearing what you think.