Not everything in the Bible is what we would call “child-friendly”; there are numerous accounts of despicable things taking place at the hands of people who are supposed to be God’s chosen ones. Betrayal, murder, inappropriate relationships, and more; I guess you could say that the Bible isn’t designed to be a Disney sitcom, but instead, tells the story of real people in real situations. Unfortunately, thanks to sin in our world, those real situations are often bleak, strange, and sometimes down-right gross. That’s what we find in Genesis 38, and I’ll warn you ahead of time, it is not for the faint of heart.
In this story, we have an account of Judah, the man who is later promised to have the Messiah come from his family line (Genesis 49:10), caught up in a dramatic sequence of events with his daughter-in-law, Tamar. Unfortunately for Tamar, everyone she married, quickly died; even though we may not understand the cultural practices of a brother marrying his ex-sister-in-law to preserve their family line, we can understand the grief, disappointment, and the feeling of guilt she must have been under. Even though it wasn’t her fault, it would be difficult not to blame yourself when this happens over and over again.
Skipping ahead and not going into all the gross details about her tricking Judah into giving her a son (what?!), we find out that Tamar finally does bear children and can breathe a sigh of relief. What isn’t immediately obvious to us in this story is how significant these children would later be in the biblical story. Her children are named Perez and Zerah (v. 29-30); and if you skip ahead to the New Testament in Matthew 1:3, Perez is found in the genealogy of Jesus himself! It is through this gross, bleak, and very strange story that God brings about the Savior of the world! This is just one example among many of what the entire book of Genesis is trying to communicate to us: “you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good” (Genesis 50:20).
Just like Judah and Tamar, God can turn our most difficult, strange, and sometimes gross situations into something wonderful and life-changing. Paul tells us in Romans 8:28 that “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God”. How true this is: God can use anything in your life, no matter how dark and disappointing it may be, and turn it into something great, if you will simply love and trust Him with it.
-Talon Paul
Reflection Questions
What do we learn of Er, Onan, Judah and Tamar in Genesis 38? What sins are they guilty of? We are not given all the details of what God is thinking, but from what we do know, why do you think some of these characters are struck dead and others become part of Jesus’ genealogy? (There might be a clue in verse 26)?
What do we learn of God in our reading today? Does He take sin lightly? Does He only work with perfect people? What type of heart and actions is He looking for?
In life we come to places where we are in distress, we feel hopeless, and we feel like our circumstances couldn’t be darker. But God is full of hope and knows his plans for us if we trust him.
We begin in Genesis, Jacob has fled from his home from his brother Esau, and after he left Laban now Jacob is being told by God to return to Bethel, the place where he had stopped after running from his brother and having a dream.
Before they get there Jacob tells his family in Genesis 35:2
“So, Jacob said to his household and all who were with him, get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes. We must get up and go to Bethel. I will build an alter there to the God who has answered me in my day of distress. He has been there with me everywhere I have gone.”
Jacob is telling his family how God has blessed him and that they are not going back to that place of foreign gods. Just as we are not going back to our places of distress and false gods.
Psalm 20:1
“May the Lord answer you in a day of trouble; may the name of Jacob’s God protect you.”
God provides answers in all our times of distress. In our times of trouble, when we don’t understand why things are happening, he knows why things are happening. He provides us comfort in our struggles; we need to lean on him. God will provide.
It is after this that God tells Jacob to be fruitful and multiply, and he reminds Jacob of the promise he had made to Abraham and Isaac concerning the land.
This means something to us too when times get difficult. We will experience the blessings of God at times, but when questionable circumstances come our way, we need to remember how we obtained those blessings. Forgetting about God in times of need would be a sure sign that we are getting on the wrong path.
Matthew 19 also contains a lot of information. Jesus had to deal with the pharisees trying to trip him up constantly, but what stands out to me is Matthew 19:21-22.
“If you want to be perfect,” Jesus said to him, “go sell your belongings and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this, he went away grieving, because he had many possessions.”
This man was faithful to God and had a lot of possessions, but he did not connect his possessions with God’s blessings. The same goes with us, too often we forget that when times are good and we are feeling high in life, that our blessings come from God!
We can’t forget that in our good and bad times that no matter what, we are to devote ourselves to God. Trust in him and he will bring you through everything that you experience.
-Hannah Eldred
Reflection Questions
What are your usual responses when you feel you are in a time of distress? Are they helpful responses?
What can we learn from our Bible passages today regarding how to turn to God?
What can we learn from our Bible passages today regarding who God is and what He does?
Genesis 28:15 – Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.
This is an appropriate text for me right now; in that it speaks to me in trusting God for the outcome. Genesis 27 and 28 tells the story of how Jacob stole his brother’s blessing after he had already manipulated Esau out of his birthright in Genesis 25.
I want to make mention that earlier in Genesis 25 Rebekah was concerned about her pregnancy because according to scripture, “The babies jostled with each other within her.”
When she inquired of the Lord, He told her, “Two nations are in your womb and two peoples within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other and the older will serve the younger.”
So, in the scripture from today (Genesis 27) we learn that Rebekah heard Isaac tell Esau to go out and hunt some wild game and prepare him a tasty meal. Afterward, Isaac was going to give Esau his blessing.
Rebekah took it upon herself to have Jacob go get two choice goats and she prepared a meal that Isaac would enjoy. She also used the goat skins to fool Isaac into believing that Jacob was indeed Esau – using the goat skins to make Jacob’s arms feel hairy. As a result of this trickery, Isaac blessed Jacob instead of Esau.
When Esau showed up, he found out that his father had already given his blessing to Jacob. When Esau pleaded for some sort of blessing the only hope that Isaac could give him was found in Genesis 27:39 & 40:
“Your dwelling will be away from the earth’s richness,
Away from the dew of heaven above. You will live by the sword
And you will serve your brother. But when you grow restless,
You will throw his yoke from off your neck.”
Esau vowed that after his father had died, he would surely kill his brother Jacob.
The things that trouble us in life may not be to such an extreme, but there are some things that I believe we can learn from this story that may help us in times when we are unsure of our path.
I just got home from ReFUEL at Camp Mack. The theme was ‘Peace treaty’. The youth were challenged in many ways. One of the ways they were challenged was to not be in a hurry for the answer that you think God should give you.
Maybe the answer you were hoping for isn’t the one that God is prepared to give….. right now. We can be like Rebekah and try to manipulate the situation in order to achieve the outcome that we were hoping for. The question to ask is, “Is God working in that situation?” Does trying to manipulate the situation always work for the good?
We learn from Genesis 28 that Jacob had to take off and head for Paddan Aram. It was there that he was supposed to live and find a wife from the daughters of Laban. It was on the way there, in Bethel, that Jacob had a dream of a stairway resting on the earth and angels ascending and descending up and down that stairway. It was there that God reiterated the same promise that He had made to Abraham and Isaac. He said,
“I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac.
I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying.
Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread
Out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south.
All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring……”.
Genesis 28:13 & 14
So, from this story, I perceive that we should not be in a hurry to get the answer that we wish God would give. What if God’s plan for your life will end up the way that you would hope, but through a means that would be better for us in the long run.
Surely, we can see that even though Jacob went along with Rebekah’s plan to get the blessing through trickery, God still worked to bring His blessing upon Jacob, but at what cost.
Jacob had to wait 14 years for the wife he wanted. He had to work very hard to achieve the riches that he ended up with. Ultimately, when he went home years later, he was in fear for his life. Why? Because his brother vowed to kill him.
We will never know how God would have worked if Rebekah hadn’t resorted to tricking Isaac into giving his blessing to Jacob instead of Esau. It all worked out for Jacob and Esau. The elder (Esau) didn’t serve his younger brother Jacob. They did reconcile later, but the people from the land of Edom (descendants of Esau) did eventually serve Israel – a fulfillment of the prophecy spoken by God.
So, as I go through life. I want to make sure that I am praying for God’s guidance in my decisions. I don’t want to get in such a hurry that I try to manipulate the situation to create the outcome that I desire. This is so important to me. I need to try to be an example for my daughters, Hannah and Sofie, and others around me. If I am quick to do what I need to do to ensure an outcome, what does that teach others?
-Rick Eldred
(Today and the rest of this week we will hear from various adults and young adults who were at reFuel this past weekend.)
Reflection Questions
Please also read Psalm 16. It speaks clearly of the refuge that we can find in the Lord. And ask yourself these questions:
What is it in my life that I want from God?
Am I being patient and prayerful when it comes to waiting for his timing?
Is God your Refuge?
Do others watching me see my trust in God?
What can I learn of God from His Scriptures today?
God had promised Abraham, in Genesis 17:19, “Your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.”
At this point, Abraham was over 100 years old, and had faithfully followed God. In Genesis 12, Abraham obeyed when God told him to leave his country and family. Abraham allowed Lot to take the lush land around Sodom in Genesis 13, and trusted God to provide for his own flocks and herds on barren mountains. In Genesis 15, Abraham trusted God’s promise that he would have a son in his old age, and God counted that faith as righteousness.
In Genesis 22:2, we find God commanding Abraham, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”
This doesn’t make sense. God had explicitly promised that God’s promises to Abraham would be passed down through Isaac’s descendants, and now God was commanding Abraham to sacrifice him – apparently destroying the promise He had made to Abraham.
By this point, Abraham had developed a very close relationship with God. In fact, we’re told 3 times in the Bible that Abraham was God’s friend (2 Chron 20:7, Isaiah 41:8, James 2:23) – and as far as I know, Abraham is the only person in the Bible of whom this is said.
We’re told in Hebrews 11:19 that Abraham reasoned that God was able to raise the dead, and that He was going to keep His promise.
So early the next morning, Abraham took Isaac and 2 servants and left for the place God told him to go. When they got close, Abraham told the servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and we (emphasis added) will come back to you.”
As they got even closer, Isaac asked his dad, “The fire and wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
Can you imagine how this must have broken Abraham’s heart, looking down into his son’s questioning face, knowing that in a few minutes he would be killing his beloved son, who would be the offering? Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb.” (Actually, God had provided Isaac – as a miracle baby in his parent’s old age.) When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar, arranged the wood, tied up Isaac, and laid him on the altar.
As he was getting ready to kill Isaac, the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and stopped him. Abraham then saw a ram caught in the brush by its horns, and sacrificed it instead. God then promised Abraham, as recorded in Genesis 22:16-18, “I swear by myself, declared the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore… and through your offspring, all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”
I could point out all the similarities of Abraham’s being willing to sacrifice his son Isaac, and God being willing to sacrifice His Son, Jesus. I could point out the significance of another quote from this chapter, “Jehovah Jireh – on the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.” (This was the mountain where Soloman’s temple was built hundreds of years later.) I could point out the importance of obeying God, and the benefits that result.
Instead, I want to comment on who, when, where, how, and why of God’s provision.
Who: God tested Abraham with a very difficult test even after a life of serving God. We see that God provided the ram in this case only after Abraham trusted and obeyed God – even though it didn’t make sense. Assertion: God provides for those who trust Him and obey Him.
When: God provided for Abraham at the very last minute, not before. We’re told in Hebrews 4:16 that we will “receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Assertion: God provides precisely when we need something, not when we think we need it. (i.e. according to God’s timing.)
Where: God provided for Abraham only after Abraham went where God told him to go, and after he obeyed everything God told him to do. Assertion: God will provide if we are where He wants us to be. We should have no expectation of receiving God’s provision if we aren’t where He wants us to be.
How: God didn’t send an angel from heaven with an offering for Abraham to sacrifice, God provided a normal ram, caught in a normal thicket, by it’s normal horns. And God didn’t send a whole flock of sheep, just one ram, because that was all that was needed. Assertion: God will usually provide in ways that are very natural – don’t look for miracles.
Why: In times of testing, it’s easy to only think about our problems, and focus on, “why is this happening to me?” I think there may be two general reasons why trials come. First, we are told in Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” Note that this only applies if we are living according to His purpose. Also note that trials are by definition difficult, and won’t seem to be beneficial at the time. Second, ultimately, everything is for God’s glory. Isaiah 43:7 says, “everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory…” We see an example of this with God destroying Pharaoh and his army for God’s glory in Ex 14:4, 17. Assertion: God allows trials and gives provision for our good and for His glory.
The bottom line is, if we are faithfully following God, times of testing will come. If we remain true to God, if we are where He wants us to be, and if we are obedient to Him, he will provide what we need (not necessarily what we want), at the very last minute, usually through normal means – and this is for our good. If we aren’t following God, the times of testing may just be to bring Glory to Him. I’d rather be in that first group. How about you?
–Steve Mattison
Reflection Questions
Abraham’s thoughts and feelings aren’t recorded much in Genesis, what do you think he may have been thinking and feeling on that 3 day trip to where God wanted him – and after? What similarities do you find in Psalm 11?
How and when has God provided what you needed? What did you learn about God from that experience?
Is there anything that you may be holding onto too tightly, loving more than God? How can you practice trusting and obeying God and not withholding from Him?
What did God reveal about Himself to you in your reading of His words today?
Seek Grow Love 