The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it. -Jer. 17:9 KJV
Sin is definitely intergenerational. What began with Jacob stealing the blessing and birthright from his brother Esau, continued throughout Jacob's life. First, his wives plotted continually to have children by Jacob, using their concubines, mandrakes, whatever means possible to get one over on the other, then Joseph is sold into slavery by his brothers who concoct a great lie to tell their father, and finally, Judah, the firstborn, is deceived by his daughter-in-law, Tamar, who resorts to disguising herself as a prostitute in order to get the what Judah promised but would not deliver. The outcomes of all these schemes never produced the desired effect. It takes a long time for the resulting chaos to be put right and sometimes, it never is.
That's how it is in man's world, but not in God's. God's world, and his plans always involve redemption; from Joseph being the one who rescues his entire family from a severe drought, to God's own son coming to provide us a way out of our own dire circumstances and despair, God can make marvelous endings out of the most inauspicious beginning. Unlike the ancients, we don't need a dream to tell us that it will be okay in the end, we have God's word. We don't have to resort to deceitful tactics to ensure our survival, we have God's promise.
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