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Genesis 43:1-14 Jacob’s Surrender

08 Oct

1 Now the famine was still severe in the land. 2 So when they had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go back and buy us a little more food.”

3 But Judah said to him, “The man warned us solemnly, ‘You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.’ 4 If you will send our brother along with us, we will go down and buy food for you. 5 But if you will not send him, we will not go down, because the man said to us, ‘You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.’”

6 Israel asked, “Why did you bring this trouble on me by telling the man you had another brother?”

7 They replied, “The man questioned us closely about ourselves and our family. ‘Is your father still living?’ he asked us. ‘Do you have another brother?’ We simply answered his questions. How were we to know he would say, ‘Bring your brother down here’?”

8 Then Judah said to Israel his father, “Send the boy along with me and we will go at once, so that we and you and our children may live and not die. 9 I myself will guarantee his safety; you can hold me personally responsible for him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him here before you, I will bear the blame before you all my life. 10 As it is, if we had not delayed, we could have gone and returned twice.”

11 Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be, then do this: Put some of the best products of the land in your bags and take them down to the man as a gift—a little balm and a little honey, some spices and myrrh, some pistachio nuts and almonds. 12 Take double the amount of silver with you, for you must return the silver that was put back into the mouths of your sacks. Perhaps it was a mistake. 13 Take your brother also and go back to the man at once. 14 And may God Almighty grant you mercy before the man so that he will let your other brother and Benjamin come back with you. As for me, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved.”

Dear God, I think of this story as Jacob’s surrender. He was willing to let Simeon rot in jail before he would surrender what was most precious to him. Simeon should have been glad that the famine persisted because I get the feeling from this story that if the famine had broken then they would have never gone back for him. But the famine had broken Jacob. He surrendered to you, finally saying in verse 13, “As for me, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved.” In other words, “I give up. If I am going to suffer then I am going to suffer.” Little did he know what blessing you had for him on the other side of the suffering.

Meanwhile, back in Egypt, I wonder what Joseph was thinking. After all, shouldn’t they have been back by now? Would they come back? Would they die? He had been excited about being reunited with his family. Had the window closed? I am sure he was praying to you during this time. I am sure he was asking for your mercy.

Father, help me to surrender to you before I get to the point where all hope seems to be lost. Help me to surrender to you when there is still much hope that things will work out on their own. Help me to surrender to you when things are going perfectly. I don’t want to be a person who is driven to his knees only in bad times, but I want to be someone who is driven to his knees simply out of devotion and surrender to you. I know that I take you for granted. I know I take your blessings for granted. There is no doubt about that. I don’t know how to not take you for granted. But help me to experience you and surrender to you so that you might live through me and be glorified in me.

 
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Posted by on October 8, 2011 in Genesis

 

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Genesis 42:27-38 Protecting Benjamin

08 Oct

27 At the place where they stopped for the night one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey, and he saw his silver in the mouth of his sack. 28 “My silver has been returned,” he said to his brothers. “Here it is in my sack.”

Their hearts sank and they turned to each other trembling and said, “What is this that God has done to us?”

29 When they came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them. They said, 30 “The man who is lord over the land spoke harshly to us and treated us as though we were spying on the land. 31 But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we are not spies. 32 We were twelve brothers, sons of one father. One is no more, and the youngest is now with our father in Canaan.’

33 “Then the man who is lord over the land said to us, ‘This is how I will know whether you are honest men: Leave one of your brothers here with me, and take food for your starving households and go. 34 But bring your youngest brother to me so I will know that you are not spies but honest men. Then I will give your brother back to you, and you can trade[a] in the land.’”

35 As they were emptying their sacks, there in each man’s sack was his pouch of silver! When they and their father saw the money pouches, they were frightened. 36 Their father Jacob said to them, “You have deprived me of my children. Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more, and now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is against me!”

37 Then Reuben said to his father, “You may put both of my sons to death if I do not bring him back to you. Entrust him to my care, and I will bring him back.”

38 But Jacob said, “My son will not go down there with you; his brother is dead and he is the only one left. If harm comes to him on the journey you are taking, you will bring my gray head down to the grave in sorrow.”

Dear God, I kind of like the idea that Jacob is willing to write off Simeon in favor of Benjamin. Seriously, though, I am trying to think of what I would do if I were Jacob. If I were him, even though I was very old, I probably would have gone myself along with one of the boys (leaving Reuben behind since he was the oldest) to get Simeon. Then I would go and ask to be exchanged for my son in prison, hoping for mercy. If I don’t get mercy then I am either in prison with my son or I die (which, at that age, I probably wouldn’t last long in prison anyway).

You wonder if the boys are starting to feel like they should tell their father everything. Should they tell him their secret about Joseph? They are obviously already feeling guilty about it. Should they go that extra step and explain to their father what they think is going on? The answer they ultimately come to is “no”. I wonder if Jacob, in the back of his mind, is thinking that perhaps some of the dishonesty of his past is catching up with him. This is a family with a lot of deception in its past. There are a lot of things for them to look at and wonder if what they sent around isn’t coming back around on them.

Father, it is interesting, but even with the trials I am facing at work, I have never felt personally attacked by you. They have all seemed circumstantial. Things were done poorly. These are challenges I must face. I need your help and power to face them. But I haven’t ever thought that there is something I have been doing wrong that made you bring these difficulties upon me. I am either naïve or I have a clear conscience. In either event, help me to face my challenges with your strength and grace. Love others through me, and use me as an example so that others might be drawn closer to you.

 
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Posted by on October 8, 2011 in Genesis

 

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Genesis 42:18-22 Leaving One Behind

08 Oct

18 On the third day, Joseph said to them, “Do this and you will live, for I fear God: 19 If you are honest men, let one of your brothers stay here in prison, while the rest of you go and take grain back for your starving households. 20 But you must bring your youngest brother to me, so that your words may be verified and that you may not die.” This they proceeded to do. 21 They said to one another, “Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen; that’s why this distress has come upon us.” 22 Reuben replied, “Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you wouldn’t listen! Now we must give an accounting for his blood.”

Dear God, this will be short today since I am doing it on my phone. I just wanted to take a moment to reflect on the idea that the brothers knew that all of this had something to do with what they did to Joseph. They had carried around guilty consciences for several years, and it was the first thing that came to their mind when Joseph started messing with them.

I think all of us are the same way. It is funny to see an employee’s face whenever I ask to speak with them. They want to know “what’s wrong.”. What they don’t say outloud, but probably think inside is, “Uh oh. He found out about _______.”. I know they are thinking this because I do the same thing, and sometimes I actually audibly hear them say, “Uh oh. Did I do something wrong?”

Father, help me to live with a clean conscience, be appropriately humble, and confess my sin to you. Ultimately, be glorified in me.

 
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Posted by on October 8, 2011 in Genesis

 

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Genesis 42:6-17 Familiar Faces from the Past

08 Oct

6 Now Joseph was the governor of the land, the person who sold grain to all its people. So when Joseph’s brothers arrived, they bowed down to him with their faces to the ground. 7 As soon as Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he pretended to be a stranger and spoke harshly to them. “Where do you come from?” he asked.

 “From the land of Canaan,” they replied, “to buy food.”

8 Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him. 9 Then he remembered his dreams about them and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see where our land is unprotected.”

10 “No, my lord,” they answered. “Your servants have come to buy food. 11 We are all the sons of one man. Your servants are honest men, not spies.”

12 “No!” he said to them. “You have come to see where our land is unprotected.”

13 But they replied, “Your servants were twelve brothers, the sons of one man, who lives in the land of Canaan. The youngest is now with our father, and one is no more.”

14 Joseph said to them, “It is just as I told you: You are spies! 15 And this is how you will be tested: As surely as Pharaoh lives, you will not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here. 16 Send one of your number to get your brother; the rest of you will be kept in prison, so that your words may be tested to see if you are telling the truth. If you are not, then as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!” 17 And he put them all in custody for three days.

Dear God, I like how it shows that Joseph did recognize them and remember the dreams. I don’t know how much of him messing with them was anger and how much was testing. We’ll see later that he overhears them talking and weeps behind their backs. I know there must have been a lot of hurt here with him. He had been through a trauma, but at the same time the trauma had not only put him in a position of power, but had also provided for his father, brothers, and their families.

I am scarred by events of the past. We all are. I still feel the affects of our miscarriage sixteen years later. I still feel the affects of the unemployment. I still feel that affects of trials as a parent. Some of those things I can see the blessings through and some are still just scars that I don’t understand. I suppose that part of those events was just drawing me closer to you.

Father, I know that you drew Joseph closer to you through all of his experiences, and I know you are continuing to draw me closer to you through mine. Right now, I am about to leave for a lovely three-day conference that will include fellowship with my dad, worship, and fellowship with others. So be with me as I go to Florida. Give me some rest, but also prepare me for the rest of the fall. Be glorified in me and teach me. And be with my wife and kids. Love and encourage them. Help them to all get along and be at peace with each other.

 
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Posted by on October 8, 2011 in Genesis

 

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Genesis 41:1-8 Dream Weaver

08 Oct

1 When two full years had passed, Pharaoh had a dream: He was standing by the Nile, 2 when out of the river there came up seven cows, sleek and fat, and they grazed among the reeds. 3 After them, seven other cows, ugly and gaunt, came up out of the Nile and stood beside those on the riverbank. 4 And the cows that were ugly and gaunt ate up the seven sleek, fat cows. Then Pharaoh woke up.

5 He fell asleep again and had a second dream: Seven heads of grain, healthy and good, were growing on a single stalk. 6 After them, seven other heads of grain sprouted—thin and scorched by the east wind. 7 The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven healthy, full heads. Then Pharaoh woke up; it had been a dream.

8 In the morning his mind was troubled, so he sent for all the magicians and wise men of Egypt. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them for him.

Dear God, wow, two years. I wonder how Joseph was doing, sitting there in prison for a long time. I wonder what his prayers were like. I wonder if he had stopped praying altogether, or if he was even more strengthened in his faith. I also wonder how things were going back home with Jacob and the fam during this time. We know what was happening with Judah. I wonder what was happening with the rest of them.

Then there is Pharaoh and his dream. Every time we enter a drought like we are in now, I think of this story and wonder if we didn’t just finish the seven good years and we are now in the seven lean years. Did anyone get a dream warning them? Are we prepared if things really go south?

I think that one of the messages of this story is that, it might not be pretty, but you find a way to provide for us. Not only were you showing the Israelites your provision through this story, but you were showing the Egyptians your provision too. You really do give us a way. All we have to do is find it. You know, now that I think about it, you even used the cupbearer’s imprisonment as part of your plan. And who is to say that, if he had told Pharaoh about Joseph earlier that Pharaoh would have done anything about it. Maybe Joseph had to sit in jail those extra two years in order for the plan to unfold the way it did.

Father, I am blessed beyond measure, and I am grateful. Thank you. Please help me to be at peace in my circumstances, and to know how you are guiding me at any given point. Right now, I feel a little lost in the middle of everything, but perhaps that is where you want me. Perhaps you want me to close my eyes, reach out for your hand, and have you lead me. If that is so, then I will relish in this sense of being lost and let you show me each step I should take.

 
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Posted by on October 8, 2011 in Genesis

 

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Genesis 40 Good News and Bad News

08 Oct

1 Some time later, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their master, the king of Egypt. 2 Pharaoh was angry with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, 3 and put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the same prison where Joseph was confined. 4 The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he attended them.

After they had been in custody for some time, 5 each of the two men—the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were being held in prison—had a dream the same night, and each dream had a meaning of its own.

6 When Joseph came to them the next morning, he saw that they were dejected. 7 So he asked Pharaoh’s officials who were in custody with him in his master’s house, “Why do you look so sad today?”

8 “We both had dreams,” they answered, “but there is no one to interpret them.”

Then Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.” 

9 So the chief cupbearer told Joseph his dream. He said to him, “In my dream I saw a vine in front of me, 10 and on the vine were three branches. As soon as it budded, it blossomed, and its clusters ripened into grapes. 11 Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup and put the cup in his hand.”

12 “This is what it means,” Joseph said to him. “The three branches are three days. 13 Within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your position, and you will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, just as you used to do when you were his cupbearer. 14 But when all goes well with you, remember me and show me kindness; mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison. 15 I was forcibly carried off from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing to deserve being put in a dungeon.”

16 When the chief baker saw that Joseph had given a favorable interpretation, he said to Joseph, “I too had a dream: On my head were three baskets of bread. 17 In the top basket were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.”

18 “This is what it means,” Joseph said. “The three baskets are three days. 19 Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head and impale your body on a pole. And the birds will eat away your flesh.”

20 Now the third day was Pharaoh’s birthday, and he gave a feast for all his officials. He lifted up the heads of the chief cupbearer and the chief baker in the presence of his officials: 21 He restored the chief cupbearer to his position, so that he once again put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand— 22 but he impaled the chief baker, just as Joseph had said to them in his interpretation.

23 The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.

Dear God, I wonder what it would be like to know the day you will die. I heard a statistic just within the last week that something like 90% of the people, when asked if they would want to know the day or moment of their death, said they wouldn’t want to know. I can buy that. I know I wouldn’t want to know. So the question remains, why then do I try to hard to figure out my future and what is next? Isn’t it better if I don’t know? Isn’t ignorance bliss?

There are so many variables that lead to what tomorrow brings that there is no way I can account for them all. It is worse than predicting the weather, which is obviously hard enough. I try to do the same for my children too. I try to figure out how this decision will impact future decisions. Even today, I talked with my son about a decision that will impact his future. I know that he cannot conceive of the future and what tomorrow will hold, but I have an inkling of what it will be. I know that the decision will impact his life 15 years from now. So do I pull rank as a dad or do I trust him to make his own decision?

I guess I have totally overlooked the part of this passage where the cupbearer “did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.” Wow, that is unfortunate. He was the one who got the good prophecy. Now, he has forgotten Joseph’s role in giving him hope, and the power of what Joseph did (from you). Perhaps Joseph wasn’t that kind as a jailer. Perhaps he resented Joseph for getting a position of authority while he was a prisoner. There are any number of reasons he could have forgotten Joseph, but the fact is that he did and, at least for the time being, Joseph was stuck.

Father, help me to turn loose of the future and what I THINK it brings, and help me to not forget those who strongly support me. My first step in remembering those who have blessed me is to thank you. Thank you for my life. Thank you for my parents. Thank you for my wife. Thank you for my kids. Thank you for my job. I really want to treat each of these as well as I can. I want to love each of them as much as I can. Be glorified through me as I live my life, and help others through me so that you might be glorified in their lives as well.

 
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Posted by on October 8, 2011 in Genesis

 

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Genesis 20b-23 Favor in Prison

08 Oct

But while Joseph was there in the prison, 21 the LORD was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. 22 So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. 23 The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the LORD was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.

Dear God, I have always wanted to be thought of like Joseph is here. I want people, no matter what my responsibilities are, to not have to pay attention to what I am doing because I have proven myself and they trust me so much. I was thinking about Joseph being a prisoner and eventually becoming the unofficial assistant warden and how he earned that trust over time. It reminds me of a piece of wisdom my dad gave me one time. He told me that, if you are ever promoted in a company, on your first day in your new job you will probably find that your responsibilities haven’t changed that much because you have been instinctively doing those duties all along. While that hasn’t been true all of the time in my career, it has been true most of the time.

Right now, this morning, I feel like I am in a bit of a funk. Not sure what is causing it, but it is a little scary. I almost wonder if I didn’t throw my body chemistry off a little with my long ride on Saturday. Regardless, I need to figure out a way to pull out of this because I have a lot of work to do. I have several things going on in several areas, and I have to get busy. In essence, people have counted on me to be as trustworthy as Joseph, and I need to get going.

Father, help me to work faithfully. Help me to do it with your strength and your power. Help me to adjust to the way I am feeling, and strengthen me to do the absolute best job I can do in all of these areas. Do it all so that my family will feel your love, our patients will receive your care, and the Center will experience your provision.

 
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Posted by on October 8, 2011 in Genesis

 

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Genesis 39:6b-20a Too Much Favor with Potiphar’s Wife

07 Oct

Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, 7 and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “Come to bed with me!”

8 But he refused. “With me in charge,” he told her, “my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. 9 No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” 10 And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her.

11 One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside. 12 She caught him by his cloak and said, “Come to bed with me!” But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.

13 When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand and had run out of the house, 14 she called her household servants. “Look,” she said to them, “this Hebrew has been brought to us to make sport of us! He came in here to sleep with me, but I screamed. 15 When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.”

16 She kept his cloak beside her until his master came home. 17 Then she told him this story: “That Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me. 18 But as soon as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.”

19 When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, “This is how your slave treated me,” he burned with anger. 20 Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined.

Dear God, I heard a story three days ago from a friend who manages a large chain. He said that he has had to fire several people, and he was going to fire yet another one later that day. Why? Because this one woman kept having sex with different coworkers in the office at night. And she was married. Apparently, she had done this at least five times, and what she told the HR person was, “We start drinking and then when I drink I get horny.” Wow. Well, there is something about this story that reminds me of that. It’s hard to imagine that someone would do that. And I am sure that these different men, who have now lost their jobs, would not normally have instigated the behavior (maybe one or two of them would have, but not all five), but they were lured into it by someone who obviously has issues.

I can see where Potiphar’s wife must have had issues too. Maybe she hated her husband. Maybe he cheated on her or had other wives and didn’t give her much attention. Maybe he was great, but she just wanted Joseph. Whatever the case may be, Joseph was able to do something that the five men in my friend’s business didn’t do—resist temptation.

What kinds of temptations do I face? I don’t work in a sexually-charged environment, so I wouldn’t say that is an issue. I guess I am seeing one of my weaknesses coming out this week, and it is in avoiding conflict. We had something happen between a staff member and a volunteer this week that wasn’t good, and both were in the wrong. Now, how do I handle this conflict constructively? I suppose if I were a different type of person I could just blow in and challenge both of them, but that isn’t my personality. So I have been mentally laboring over what to do in order to have the least amount of conflict in this situation. It is my biggest weakness as a manager, and it really frustrates me.

Father, help me to lead this place the way you need it to be led. Help me to lead my staff and volunteers. Help me to lead, to a certain extent, the board. Help me to have vision for our patients. Help me to also lead the local doctors when it comes to charitable services for our patients. Healthcare is getting harder and harder to figure out for people, and I am really starting to hit the ceiling of what I know to do to help people. So help me to navigate all of this with your power, wisdom, and love.

 
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Posted by on October 7, 2011 in Genesis

 

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Genesis 39:1-6a Favor with Potiphar

07 Oct

1 Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there.

2 The LORD was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. 3 When his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD gave him success in everything he did, 4 Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. 5 From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the LORD blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the LORD was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field. 6 So Potiphar left everything he had in Joseph’s care; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.

Dear God, I would love to be a Joseph in the sense that I would want anyone who puts me in charge of something to be able to trust me completely. The idea that Potiphar “did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate” fascinates me.

On the other side of the coin, I would say that one of the real blessings of my job is that I can completely trust the people I have working for me so that I am able to not concern myself with how they are doing their jobs and treating the patients, but focus more on my job. I really don’t know what I would do without our volunteeer director and her conscientiousness. Our clinical director works so hard for our patients, even visiting them in the hospital. Our diabetes educator really cares about our diabetics and wants so badly to do a good job for them. Our healthcare providers are proving to be an excellent team for our patients’ care. The dental assistant has proven to be trustworthy and patient. Our dentist is an asset to the team. Our office administrator works hard and does her absolute best to do a good job. Even our custodian is seemingly above reproach in how he cares for our building. Operationally, I am truly blessed here.

I hope I am instilling these values in my children. It’s funny, but, as a dad, outside of getting them to submit their lives to you, this is probably the most important character trait I want to teach both of my children. I want whoever is over them to find them trustworthy and to not have to concern themselves with anything in their care.

Father, help me to be a man who my bosses can trust. Help me to completely trust those who work for me who have earned that trust. And help me to instill that sense of trustworthiness in my children. I want the kids to be able to be trustworthy for all those they encounter. I want to reward trustworthiness among the staff. And I want to reward the trust put in me by others. As you accomplish all these things, please bless our efforts for your glory’s sake and your plan. Help people to feel completely loved here in our clinic. Help them to feel your presence. Help to provide for their needs and comfort them in their crises.

 
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Posted by on October 7, 2011 in Genesis

 

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Genesis 38 Judah’s Weird Path

07 Oct

1 At that time, Judah left his brothers and went down to stay with a man of Adullam named Hirah. 2 There Judah met the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua. He married her and made love to her; 3 she became pregnant and gave birth to a son, who was named Er. 4 She conceived again and gave birth to a son and named him Onan. 5 She gave birth to still another son and named him Shelah. It was at Kezib that she gave birth to him.

6 Judah got a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. 7 But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the LORD’s sight; so the LORD put him to death.

8 Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to raise up offspring for your brother.” 9 But Onan knew that the child would not be his; so whenever he slept with his brother’s wife, he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from providing offspring for his brother. 10 What he did was wicked in the LORD’s sight; so the LORD put him to death also.

11 Judah then said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Live as a widow in your father’s household until my son Shelah grows up.” For he thought, “He may die too, just like his brothers.” So Tamar went to live in her father’s household.

12 After a long time Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died. When Judah had recovered from his grief, he went up to Timnah, to the men who were shearing his sheep, and his friend Hirah the Adullamite went with him.

13 When Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is on his way to Timnah to shear his sheep,” 14 she took off her widow’s clothes, covered herself with a veil to disguise herself, and then sat down at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. For she saw that, though Shelah had now grown up, she had not been given to him as his wife.

15 When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. 16 Not realizing that she was his daughter-in-law, he went over to her by the roadside and said, “Come now, let me sleep with you.”

“And what will you give me to sleep with you?” she asked.

17 “I’ll send you a young goat from my flock,” he said.

“Will you give me something as a pledge until you send it?” she asked.

18 He said, “What pledge should I give you?”

“Your seal and its cord, and the staff in your hand,” she answered. So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him. 19 After she left, she took off her veil and put on her widow’s clothes again.

20 Meanwhile Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite in order to get his pledge back from the woman, but he did not find her. 21 He asked the men who lived there, “Where is the shrine prostitute who was beside the road at Enaim?”

“There hasn’t been any shrine prostitute here,” they said.

22 So he went back to Judah and said, “I didn’t find her. Besides, the men who lived there said, ‘There hasn’t been any shrine prostitute here.’”

23 Then Judah said, “Let her keep what she has, or we will become a laughingstock. After all, I did send her this young goat, but you didn’t find her.”

24 About three months later Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar is guilty of prostitution, and as a result she is now pregnant.”

Judah said, “Bring her out and have her burned to death!”

25 As she was being brought out, she sent a message to her father-in-law. “I am pregnant by the man who owns these,” she said. And she added, “See if you recognize whose seal and cord and staff these are.”

26 Judah recognized them and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I wouldn’t give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not sleep with her again.

27 When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. 28 As she was giving birth, one of them put out his hand; so the midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it on his wrist and said, “This one came out first.” 29 But when he drew back his hand, his brother came out, and she said, “So this is how you have broken out!” And he was named Perez. 30 Then his brother, who had the scarlet thread on his wrist, came out. And he was named Zerah.

Dear God, this seems to be one of those stories that we just conveniently skip over when telling the Genesis story. We just kind of go from Joseph being sold to Joseph in Potiphar’s house.

What intrigues me about this story is that Judah left after the incident with Joseph. Was he freaked out by it? Was he disgusted? Was he afraid for his own life? Was he planning to leave anyway? I have a feeling that it was the first one. I have a feeling that the guilt over doing what they did to Joseph pushed Judah just a little too far and he freaked out. And then, he went and lived his life with other peoples and had an adventure that I don’t even know what to do with.

I wonder how the Joseph event changed everything for the brothers. I wonder how it changed their relationships with each other. I wonder how it changed their personal lives and their relationships outside of the family. I wonder how it changed their relationships with their father. I am sure that it all seemed like a great idea at the time, but then they were left to live with the knowledge that they were each capable of doing something pretty heinous.

Father, gift me wisdom and insight as I come across different choices in my life. Each action I take causes a reaction in some way. Help me to not overreact to anything, but to be completely measured in what I do in response to the events in front of me. This probably shows up the most in my parenting. I have seen mistakes I made as a father come back to haunt me and my relationships with my children years later. Help to heal the wounds from what I have done in the past, and help me to not make any further decisions that will alienate either of my children, my wife, my family, and my friends. I want to be your man, and I can’t do it if I am recklessly going around and hurting people because of something that seemed the right thing to do at the time.

 
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Posted by on October 7, 2011 in Genesis

 

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