I Am the Lord’s Servant

Nancy Guthrie’s Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room:

It’s hard to imagine how frightening it must have been for teenage Mary to see an angel and hear him speaking to her. The Bible says that “Gabriel appeared to her and said, ‘Greetings, favored women! The Lord is with you!’ Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. ‘Don’t be afraid, Mary,’ the angel told her, ‘for you have found favor with God!’” (Luke 1:28-30). We can’t help but wonder what the angel looked like and what he sounded like.

As frightening as it must have been to see and hear an angel speaking to her, it must have been even more frightening for Mary to process what the angel was telling her–that she was going to become pregnant, even though she had never been intimate with a man. This would be a scandal in her village. Everyone would whisper about her. She would be shunned and perhaps sent away by her fiance, Joseph, because he would think she had been unfaithful to him. And yet, even though she probably had a million questions and concerns, Mary responded to the angel by welcoming whatever God wanted to do. She said, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true” (Luke 1:38). In a sense she said to God, “I’m yours. You can do anything you want with me,” even though she must have known that this situation would be very hard for her, for Joseph, and for her whole family.

It’s easy to label what we consider “good things” in our lives as gifts from God and to welcome them with gratitude. But when difficult things happen, we don’t look at them as part of God’s good plan for us. Mary’s example shows us we can also welcome those things we would not necessarily label “good,” confident that God’s gifts sometimes come in perplexing and even painful packages. When we belong to God, we know he will use whatever he allows into our lives for good. Somehow, in God’s hands, these things also become gifts of his grace toward us.

It takes faith—faith to rest in who God is and his love for us; faith to be confident that he is doing something good in and through our difficult circumstances—to see the hard things in our lives as gifts of God’s grace.

GOD IS ON OUR SIDE

It was a gracious revelation to my human spirit when I discovered that the Word of God was actually on my side, operating in my behalf! I was reading Psalm 71 and I came to this amazing statement: "Thou hast given commandment to save me!" My heart has been warmed with that realization ever since. I believe that the Word of the living God has gone throughout all the earth to save me and keep me! Let the theological experts raise their eyebrow -- I do not care! The living Word has charged Himself with responsibility to forgive, to cleanse and to keep me! Let us not be guilty of under rating the Word of God operating on our behalf I dare to say that there is not an uncontrolled stroke or force anywhere in all of God's mighty universe that can take eternal life away from a trusting, believing, obedient child of God. Let us thank God for the Word! It is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword!

Verse
Let them be confounded and consumed that are adversaries to my soul. Psalm 71:13
Thought
I dare to say that there is not an uncontrolled stroke or force anywhere in all of God's mighty universe that can take eternal life away from a trusting, believing, obedient child of God.
Prayer
Lord, thank you for being infinitely more constant than any foe I could ever face.

BROTHERHOOD OF THE REDEEMED

Anyone making even a quick review of Genesis will discover that God has told us more about His presence in creation and in history than about the details of human civilization. We believe that eternity dwells in the Person of God and that the material universe came into being through God's creation. The first man and woman in the human race were created. They failed in their initial encounter with Satan, our archenemy. Following that, the Genesis record becomes a narrative of human failure against the abiding backdrop of God's faithfulness. God Himself, through the Holy Spirit, points out a universal problem: the natural brotherhood of human beings is a sinful brotherhood. It is the brotherhood of all who are spiritually lost. But the Bible has good news. It is the revelation of a new brotherhood, the brotherhood of the redeemed! We know it in our time as the believing church of our Lord Jesus Christ in all nations. It is a new brotherhood among men based on regeneration-and restoration!

Verse
To them gave he power to become the sons of God. John 1:12

Thought
We believe that eternity dwells in the Person of God and that the material universe came into being through God's creation.

Prayer
Lord, thank for taking me from the brotherhood of the lost to the brotherhood of the redeemed.

CHEAP RELIGION

What passes for Christianity in our day is cheap religion! To listen to the current concepts of Christianity, we would conclude it is little more than bits of beautiful poetry, a man-made bouquet of fragrant flowers, a kindly smile for our neighbor and a couple of good deeds on behalf of a brother or sister. When I consider some of the elements now offered in Christianity as acceptable religion, I have to restrain myself lest I speak too disapprovingly. I fear my words would be so strong that I would have to repent of them! And I read in the Scriptures that there are some things God does not want us to say even about the devil. What do we find surfacing in much of our Christian fellowship? The complaint that God takes a long time to work out His will. We do not want to take the time to plow and cultivate. We want the fruit and the harvest right away. We do not want to be engaged in any spiritual battle that takes us into the long night. We want the morning light right now! We do not want the cross-we are more interested in the crown!

Verse
Neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing. 2 Samuel 24:24

Thought
We want the fruit and the harvest right away. We do not want to be engaged in any spiritual battle that takes us into the long night.

Prayer
Lord, Thank you for the reminder that I have a job to do, and I pray for the grace to complete it.

HUMANS JUDGE THE LORD?

It is a fact that God made us to worship Him, and if we had not fallen with Adam and Eve, worship would have been the most natural thing for us. Sinning was not the natural thing for Adam and Eve, but they disobeyed and fell, losing their privilege of perfect fellowship with God, the Creator. Sin is the unnatural thing; it was never intended by God to be our nature. Men and women who are out of fellowship with God, the Creator, still have an instinct towards some practice of worship. In most of our "civilized" circles, the practice of picking out what we like to worship and rejecting what we do not like is widespread. This has opened up an entire new field for applied psychology and humanism under a variety of religious disguises. Thus men and women set themselves as judges of what the Lord has said-and so they stand with pride and judge the Lord. In the Bible, God takes the matter of worship out of the hands of men and puts it in the hands of the Holy Spirit. It is impossible to worship God without the impartation of the Holy Spirit!

Verse
But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. Matthew 15:9

Thought
In the Bible, God takes the matter of worship out of the hands of men and puts it in the hands of the Holy Spirit.

Prayer
Lord, thank you for the fact that you have given me the Holy Spirit so that I can worship you in spirit and in truth.

POSTPONING OBEDIENCE

A notable heresy has come into being throughout our evangelical Christian circle-the widely accepted concept that we humans can choose to accept Christ only because we need Him as Savior, and that we have the right to postpone our obedience to Him as long as we want to! The truth is that salvation apart from obedience is unknown in the sacred Scriptures. Peter makes it plain that we are "elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience." It seems most important to me that Peter speaks of his fellow Christians as "obedient children." He knew their spirituality-he was not just giving them an exhortation to be obedient. The entire Bible teaches that true obedience to God and His Christ is one of the toughest requirements in the Christian life. Actually, salvation without obedience is a self-contradicting impossibility! Humans do not want to admit it, but the Apostle Paul wrote to the Romans long ago that "by one man's disobedience" came the downfall of the human race!

Verse
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Acts 16:31

Thought
The entire Bible teaches that true obedience to God and His Christ is one of the toughest requirements in the Christian life.

Prayer
Lord, let me always remember that odedience to your will is not just sanctioned, but manditory.

Mercy When Justice Is Deserved

A few weeks back, the junior and senior Sunday school class was discussing the story of Philemon. Philemon was a good man, who most likely treated most of his slaves very well. Thus, when one of his slaves, Onesimus, ran away from him, Philemon—who neither mistreated nor hurt Onesimus unnecessarily—was justifiably frustrated and mad. Once found, a runaway slave was returned to his master who would normally scold and punish his slave as he saw fit. Yet, the letter to Philemon centered on Paul’s pleading on Onesimus’s behalf for Philemon’s mercy where justice was deserved. Philemon was fully justified if he punished Onesimus—that’s what was just—yet Paul entreats him to remember the mercy Philemon received when he received the gospel and treat Onesimus with likewise mercy.

Now read Genesis 50:15-26

Like Philemon, Joseph would have been fully justified if he had chosen to punish his brothers. His brothers sold him into slavery after all; you can’t do much worse than that. His brothers deserved punishment for their actions. Yet, instead of choosing to do what was just, Joseph chose mercy. He knew that he had the right to hurt his brothers as he was hurt (an eye for an eye) but he gave up this right in order to show compassion on his brothers—and by extension, the love and forgiveness of God.
So now we come back to the present. To you. To your specific situation. Have you recently been wronged? Maybe it was really (because most of the time it isn’t) ALL THEIR FAULT. Maybe you truly did absolutely nothing to deserve how your friend, family member, or acquaintance treated you. And you probably have a right to be mad and frustrated. But it is far too easy for us humans to jump to judgment. After all, who are we to judge? We make mistakes all the time; besides, God declares in the Bible that vengeance is His and His alone. Not yours, not mine. His. And before our human nature begins coming up with excuses about how we should STILL have the right to be mad at least, let us look no farther than the ultimate act of mercy: Jesus dying on the cross for our sins. After all, all of Genesis is simply a signpost pointing us to Jesus, is it not? And Joseph is just an example of the mercy that was to be for all humanity. Jesus—God Himself—deserved to punish humankind for our rebellion against our Creator, yet chose to embody humility in his humiliating death on the cross, to save us from our sins.

How can we not be moved? How can we still adamantly declare that we deserve to pay someone back for how they’ve wronged us, when, in fact, this passage, all of Genesis, the whole Bible even points us to the ultimate act of mercy? Forgive my Star Wars allusion, but honestly, let go of your hate. Pray that God will teach you to love as He has loved. And show His mercy and His desire for restoration to your friends today. Who is God putting on your heart that you need—I repeat, NEED—to forgive? I encourage you to prayerfully approach that person today with full forgiveness, keeping in mind that we have already all received the ultimate mercy ourselves.

The Good Death

Read Genesis 49:28-50:14
Part of living a godly life is finishing it in a godly death. Maybe you’ve been to a funeral before; maybe several, so you might have the ability of a comparison, or maybe not. Personally, I’ve been to a number of funerals, probably more than is good for someone my age, but the experiences have left me with an understanding of what it means to have a godly death. The death and mourning may not always look the same, but the focus is the same; God. The life and death of a person who has lived in pursuit of God can be so powerful that even non-believers feel presence of God’s peace and hope during the period of grief and mourning. It was the same at Jacob’s death.

After blessing his sons we see that Jacob gave specific instructions to his sons about where to bury him. This is important because for Jacob it’s not just about being buried in the promised land; there is a spiritual significance about being buried in the same place with his forefathers who also lived under the covenantal promise. It is Jacob identifying himself by his relationship to God even after his death.

How are you living in such a way that those who come after you will identify you by your relationship to God?

Another thing to note about this passage is how the Egyptians mourned Jacob for seventy days. Israel and his descendents were foreigners and shepherds. Yet, the nation mourns for Jacob. Jacob must’ve had a tremendous influence by the life that he lived in Egypt in order to have that kind of national effect as a foreigner. I don’t know about you, but seventy days for actual ceremonial mourning is a long time. How is it that Jacob came to such recognition in Egypt in such a short time? Not only that but after the official mourning time in Egypt Pharaoh granted Joseph’s request to let him return and bury Jacob with his forefathers . . . along with the all of Pharaoh’s officials and dignitaries where they continued in mourning and caused such a stir even among the Canaanites that they renamed Jacob’s place of burial based on this one funeral! I think in a way it makes Jacob’s burial place much more poignant for this ; since the members of Pharaoh’s court could have no doubt of the significance of this burial place to both Jacob and his family, and for the promise of the covenant under which they lived. At the same time it’s a vivid reminder to Jacob’s son through all of this about the purpose of their lives. They may be living in Egypt, but they are pilgrims looking forward to the fulfillment of the promise and the promised land. It’s a moment that Jacob arranges in his death for his sons to come to terms with their own relationship with God and their place in the covenant.

Take some time to consider the ultimate goals that you are pursuing and align yourself with God and his plans for you. Ask for a willing spirit to help you be obedient to the things God desires for you. Ask God to help you understand how to live godly life, and to help you with the love, courage, humility you need to live it.

In Praise of Nobody.

Read: Genesis 49: 1-27

We are now entering the last verses of the book of Genesis. It is important to bear in mind that Genesis was not written to describe where we all came from. It was written as the beginning to the story of God’s chosen people – the nation of Israel. Thus, when we read today’s passage, we need to keep in mind that Jacob’s blessing of his sons tell, at the same time, what will come to pass.

If you note carefully, each of Jacob’s sons will be forerunners to each tribe of Israel. Some of the prophecies were interesting. Keep in mind that Jacob’s favorite sons were Joseph and Benjamin. While Joseph certainly had a reassuring prophecy, Benjamin’s was simply terrible – “ravenous wolf” is not a compliment. Furthermore, Reuben, Simeon and Levi are the oldest three sons, all of whom – especially Reuben- should receive the choicest blessings from Jacob, which is ancient Jewish custom. However, note that Reuben has committed adultery once (Gen. 35); and Simeon and Levi were responsible for massacring the Canaanites in Shechem (Gen. 34). Thus, it seems that the blessings now fall upon Judah.

Judah is really a nobody. He’s not first, but he wasn’t last. Nobody cares so much for him. But note: “the scepter will not depart from Judah,” indicating the possibility that one day, the nation of Israel will have a king. He will, furthermore, be respected among all nations, he’ll get the royal treatment. To top it all off, he’s dashing. Indeed, hundreds of years after, the nation of Judah will arise. King David, when he was selected, was a nobody too, the youngest of the sons of Jesse (who’s he?). We, as Christians, also know that Jesus is often referred to as the “Lion of Judah”, but to his fellow Nazarene neighbors, “wasn’t he the son of Joseph?”

And isn’t this how God works throughout history, choosing the insignificant to do great things? If you read the New Testament, note that Paul is the only author who had a prestigious background – everyone else were nobodies. Paul is interesting, because he was from the tribe of Benjamin, whom Jacob would describe as “a ravenous wolf; in the morning devouring the prey, and at evening dividing the spoil.” This doesn’t sound good, does it? How interesting, then, that Paul, with the same ravenous attitude, went throughout the Mediterranean sharing the Gospel with all people, and in the end, “dividing the spoils” to all? Yes, my friends, our God is a redeeming God.

Maybe you feel like a nobody. You’re not the one with the perfect GPA. Others seem to have thought the exams were easy-peasy, but you thought it was impossible. Some of you seniors are applying to schools. All your friends got into prestigious programs at prestigious schools, and you feel you might not… measure up. This is a relentless world we live in. We all prize status, qualifications, etc. But God doesn’t play human games. Jesus did not play human games. He certainly could’ve gone through school and become a teacher of the law – a very prestigious position in Jewish society. But no, he went into carpentry. He could’ve bossed people around since he’s God, but no – he served us on bended knee. Not only do nobodies matter to God, but He uses them all the time. So if you think you are a nobody relative to your peers, don’t play human games, for God sees you very differently.
 

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

Having been reunited with his father, we see an astounding interaction between Jacob and his favored son Joseph. Despite all of the suffering both of these men have gone through, the idea that God is the source of blessing and the necessary recipient of praise is evident throughout their conversation. Jacob has a great blessing in store for his sons in Genesis 49, but it is evident that Joseph is still the favored son. Among his brothers, he receives double portion, one for Ephraim and one for Manasseh. It is here in Genesis 48 that we see Jacob giving the blessing to his grandsons, whom he adopts for his own. Its important to note that whoever Jacob blesses, God also blesses, consistent with God's promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:3, "I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed."

Read Genesis 48

Jacob is sick and knows he doesn't have much time left. He brings his son Joseph and his now adopted sons Ephraim and Manasseh into his room to give them a blessing. But over the course of the encounter, Jacob reminds the boys of God's hand in Jacob's life and ultimately theirs. He begins by reminding them in Genesis 48:3-4 of how God has kept the promises He made to Jacob. Its both Jacob praising God for what he's done but also reminding Joseph of what God is still doing in the lives of His people. Perhaps there is fear that Joseph will forget the blessing to come and want to stay in Egypt forever, but that is not where God intended them to be.

Again in Genesis 48:15-16 Jacob makes God the center of attention in his encounter with his son. Jacob blesses the boys, the way God wants them to be blessed. Like Jacob over Esau, Jacob also blesses Ephraim, the younger, over Manasseh the first born. Again, Jacob is praising God for how He chose Jacob not based on merit, but by His grace. He is also reminding Joseph that God had much in store for His people, emphasis on the fact that they will at no point deserve it. He reminds Joseph and the boys that it was God who went before Him and led Him as a shepherd, not his own wit or guile.

Finally, in Genesis 48:20-21, Jacob looks to the future for what God will do. He is completely confident that God will follow through with the blessing in their lives so much so that all of Israel (which didn't even exist as a nation yet) would know that it was God at work to bless rather than Ephraim or Manasseh or Joseph working to gain blessing. Once again, Jacob reminds Joseph and the boys that the real blessing is coming. Its not in Egypt, as good as things are now, its in Canaan.

So what then for us? Spend some time reflecting on the blessings that God has given you. We often make the mistake of assuming that God's blessing has to look a certain way. Jacob recognized that the blessing didn't take the form he wanted but rather what God wanted. Remember that the God who led Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph from Ur to Canaan to Egypt and back, is the same God that cares for and leads you now, and the greater blessing is still to come.

Principles Pertaining to Prosperity and Poverty

The material for this devo is borrowed from an article I read by Bob Deffinbaugh called “A Proper Perspective of Poverty and Prosperity”. This is an extremely important as we continue to see the ways our lives are set up with so many opportunities for us to do well in society and earn a good living. At the same time, we have been challenged as a church to see the poverty around us and in the world and how we are suppose to respond as Christians. Let’s see what God is going to share with us in today’s text.

Read Genesis 47:13-31

Here it is important to understand the whole story of Joseph. I hope that you have been following with us in this whole series of Genesis devotions and have come along with us in the narrative. If you haven’t, I hope that you have time to do that. We get to the point of the story where Joseph is in charge and administering food for Pharaoh. This is an extremely important job as there is a severe famine in the land.
As you read this passage, we see that the verses describe the prosperity of Pharaoh and the people of God in amidst poverty and famine. It is important for us to see several principles which help us to more precisely define the relationship between prosperity and poverty. I have selected just two principles from his article:

1) Prosperity is not a right, but a privilege and a responsibility. In the Old Testament God promised Israel prosperity if they would faithfully obey Him and keep His commandments as described in Deuteronomy 15:4-6. But God also made it clear that while this was His promise, this ideal would never be fully realized – “For the poor will never cease to be in the land; therefore I command you, saying, “You shall freely open your hand to your brother, to your needy and poor in your land” Deuteronomy 15:11. In the book of Proverbs it is oft repeated that prosperity is the result of diligence, while poverty is the result of idleness. Paul in Philippians challenges us to learn the secret of contentment which he has in both poverty and prosperity. Wealth is to be employed in ministry to others. Poverty does not prohibit a genuine desire to minister, while prosperity provides greater opportunity and greater responsibility.

2) The problem of poverty cannot be solved simplistically. The simple solution to the problem of the famine in Egypt, we suppose, would have been for Joseph to open up the granaries of Egypt and give the grain to the Egyptians. The question then becomes, “On what basis should the grain be given out?” How would you feel about the fellow who drove up in his new Rolls Royce and asked you to “fill er up” with grain? Welfare is never quite so simple as it first seems. In some scriptures we are told to give to those in need: He who is generous will be blessed, For he gives some of his food to the poor as stated in Proverbs 22:9. Then we see in 2 Thess. 3:10 – “For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: If anyone will not work, neither let him eat.”

We have a wide range of responsibilities to the poor because there are a wide variety of reasons for poverty. To those who are willfully poor, that is, those who will not work, we have no obligation but to rebuke them. We must allow their hunger to prod them into activity. For those who are temporarily without funds, we should loan them money with the expectation of being paid back, but not with interest. Others who are completely helpless should be given what they need with no thought of repayment.

Two primary goals should be fixed in our mind regarding charity that really benefits the recipient: First, it should seek to preserve the dignity of the needy; and second, it should promote the diligence of the needy. In Old Testament times the able-bodied who were in need were provided for by leaving sufficient food for them to glean.

I hope that we reflect on the passage and also these principles to allow God shape our hearts, minds and understanding of how God wants us to live as His disciples. It is important for us to see the ways God continues to lead us and gives us wisdom from Him to be able to handle all of life’s complexities.

Lord You are Good and Your Mercy Endures Forever

Read Genesis 46:28-47:12

Let me bring you back to only a few chapters ago when Joseph’s family was scraping around just to come up with enough food for them and their families. They were desperate, willing to do anything—prostrating themselves at the feet of a foreigner—to beg that they be sold grain to nourish their loved ones. Everything seemed utterly dismal, especially as Joseph’s brothers were tested by God through Joseph: everything from being accused of being spies to being forced to bring Benjamin to Egypt to finding the silver cup in Benjamin’s bag to having to choose whether or not to give up on Benjamin to Judah offering his life in exchange for Benjamin’s. Yet, as we look at the passage for today, we see God’s faithfulness coming to pass. All the seemingly terrible things that happen to Joseph’s family are shown to be all a part of God’s plan: if Joseph hadn’t been sold, then all of them would have been begging for grain from Pharaoh—who probably wouldn’t have any without Joseph’s help! So all of the craziness leading up to this point has been a part of God’s plan; and God’s plan is GOOD! Just look at what begins to happen towards the end of this story (aka today’s passage): Jacob and Joseph are tearfully reunited, Joseph and his entire family are looked upon extraordinarily favorably by Pharaoh, Joseph’s family is allowed to settle in the best part of Egypt in Goshen…what more can one ask for? Jeremiah 29:11 says this: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” How true is this statement! Maybe you’re at that stage where God is still testing you or being strangely silent and you still can’t see God’s mercy being poured out. But rest assured, that time will come. God WILL come, drenching you in his rains of mercy.

Where are you today? Do you feel like you’re in the midst of a famine right now, that you cannot feel God at all? Maybe on a journey to seek food, to try to find nourishment for your soul? Or feeling convicted of your past wrongs, when you haven’t lived as God desired? Perhaps astonishment and a little fear at God’s unexpected blessings in your life? Possibly inadequacy or anxiety about returning to God because you’ve already gone to Him seemingly one-too-many times? Maybe you’re feeling condemned for the things you have or haven’t done? Or having to sacrifice so much for someone you’re supposed to love? Perhaps joy finally as you look back and realize that everything that God has brought you through has been according to His perfect plan for your life? Whatever the case, I believe that you will one day—sooner or later—come out of the darkness of the seemingly endless tunnel you’re in now and be bowled over by God’s great love for you. What that looks like, how that will come about, all those details…only God knows all that. But if you’re in a tough place right now, look at Joseph and his family’s story and be encouraged. God knows about your needs and He will provide for you in abundantly good ways. So don’t give up right now. Keep running the good race and you will see God’s mercy being dumped all over your life in fantastic ways soon. Because our God is good and His mercy endures FOREVER!

Taking the Lead

The last week or so we've been looking at the life of Joseph and seeing the transformation that God is doing in his life. Despite the suffering of being sold into slavery, falsely accused, imprisoned and forgotten, God used Joseph to be a blessing to an entire nation. However, we are again reminded that this narrative is not a story about Joseph but about what God is doing in Israel's redemptive history. In fact, Joseph is not the only one who has gone through a transformation since the start of his story. Today's focus will be on a different brother. Judah.

Read Genesis 44

Judah will ultimately be the chosen line, not Joseph. From Judah's family comes a line of kings and eventually the Messiah. Big shoes to fill. And from the start, Judah is clearly not the man Joseph has become. In Genesis 37, Judah is the one who puts for the plan to sell Joseph in the first place. Genesis 38, Judah's actions are a direct contrast to Joseph resisting the temptation of Potiphar's wife. But somewhere along the way, that changes. Judah begins to take the responsibility that comes with being the leader of the brothers, and the tribe from which many kings would eventually come. We see him make the claim to it in Genesis 43 when he tells Jacob he will take personal responsibility for Benjamin's safety promising his own life. This is in sharp contrast to Reuben's response in Genesis 42 where he promises the lives of his own sons in exchange for Benjamin's. Judah takes ownership and responsibility. Reuben does not. That's why Judah is the spokesman for the brothers, not Reuben, despite Reuben's status as the first born.

Its here in Genesis 44 that we finally see Judah's new status as the leader in action. When faced with the accusation against Benjamin, Judah puts his own life on the line. He goes out of his way to protect not only Benjamin but his father. Genesis 44:33, "Now therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the boy as a servant to my lord, and let the boy go back with his brothers." Though he's done nothing wrong, he offers himself as a sacrifice in order to protect Benjamin and Jacob.

This morning, consider how God might be calling you to be transformed in your attitude. Are you taking responsibility for your actions? Are you being living sacrificially and protecting those who can't protect themselves? Its not until Judah figures this out that he begins to shape up into the leader of the tribe of Kings he's supposed to be. What might God be calling you to do that will require you to be transformed just like Judah?

The First Move

Read: Genesis 45

Before I begin, Genesis 45 seems to be about repentance and reconciliation. In the past, Judah sold Joseph to slave traders with impunity, but now he confesses his mistake and offers to sacrifice himself so that Benjamin can return to Jacob. It is a touching story, but it must be read with Genesis 44 in mind. Nonetheless, we are drawing near to the end of Genesis, and it’s important to realize something that’s going on.

In the movie The Return of the King, Gandalf the White and Peregrin Took were at the balcony of their guest house in Minas Tirith. Gandalf was frustrated at the Steward’s lack of care for the city as Sauron was gearing up for war. Sauron has his pieces in order, and Gandalf, to the best of his ability, has his. He famously remarked, “The board is set, the pieces are moving, the War of our Time has come at last.” As we draw near to the end of Genesis, we need to understand that the board is set for the next great episode of God’s story. The pieces will soon be moved. What is the board being set for?

Joseph is now the regent of all Egypt and has revealed his identity to his brothers, who were afraid that Joseph would retaliate and send them to be executed. Then Joseph told them not to be afraid and not distressed for their sin of selling Joseph to slavery, “for God sent me before you to preserve life… God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors.” (vs. 5 and 7) Pharaoh’s exuberant hospitality and encouragement led Jacob, who was overjoyed at the prospect of seeing his former favorite son, to move the family to Egypt. Thus, the pieces are coming together for Exodus.

As we live in a world that is quickly shifting, it sometimes feels disorienting. The last famous musical artist I knew when I was in high school was the Backstreet Boys and Ricky Martin. Some of you have no idea who Ricky Martin is. “Heart of Worship” was a relatively new song. Now it’s almost a hymn. Technology is moving at breakneck speed. Only a mere 10 years (10!) ago, the fastest speed you can access the internet with was 56K. Some of you don’t know what that means (cable is now at a few MB’s a second). Despite this disorientation, we know God is always in control, that his chess boards and his strategies are all never beyond him. What Satan, what this world can throw at him will never destabilize God. And that is an amazing assurance. Perhaps you feel like this world is just relentless and that you’re always a step behind. You still don’t know how to calculate Riemann sums. Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness seems to be explaining your predicament pretty well. ATP phosphorylation seems to be draining the ATPs out of you. And, worst of all, all that will give your GPA a beating.

But God is never lost. God is always master of the situation. I took a midterm for Old Testament three weeks ago. You know it was bad when an annual tradition has evolved where second-year seminarians hold a breakfast and write encouraging notes on the white board to keep us from becoming frazzled. But what helped entirely was when our professor came in. “I know many of you probably have prayed 1,001 times before this exam, but one more prayer, can’t hurt, right? Let’s pray.” Her first sentence was this: “Holy God, may we understand why we are here [at seminary] and that regardless of how this exam goes, we still belong to you.” Dr. Sakenfeld can pray such a prayer, because she knows well – she’s an Old Testament scholar after all – that God is always in control. His pieces are always in order.

Taking the Lead

The last week or so we've been looking at the life of Joseph and seeing the transformation that God is doing in his life. Despite the suffering of being sold into slavery, falsely accused, imprisoned and forgotten, God used Joseph to be a blessing to an entire nation. However, we are again reminded that this narrative is not a story about Joseph but about what God is doing in Israel's redemptive history. In fact, Joseph is not the only one who has gone through a transformation since the start of his story. Today's focus will be on a different brother. Judah.

Read Genesis 44

Judah will ultimately be the chosen line, not Joseph. From Judah's family comes a line of kings and eventually the Messiah. Big shoes to fill. And from the start, Judah is clearly not the man Joseph has become. In Genesis 37, Judah is the one who puts for the plan to sell Joseph in the first place. Genesis 38, Judah's actions are a direct contrast to Joseph resisting the temptation of Potiphar's wife. But somewhere along the way, that changes. Judah begins to take the responsibility that comes with being the leader of the brothers, and the tribe from which many kings would eventually come. We see him make the claim to it in Genesis 43 when he tells Jacob he will take personal responsibility for Benjamin's safety promising his own life. This is in sharp contrast to Reuben's response in Genesis 42 where he promises the lives of his own sons in exchange for Benjamin's. Judah takes ownership and responsibility. Reuben does not. That's why Judah is the spokesman for the brothers, not Reuben, despite Reuben's status as the first born.

Its here in Genesis 44 that we finally see Judah's new status as the leader in action. When faced with the accusation against Benjamin, Judah puts his own life on the line. He goes out of his way to protect not only Benjamin but his father. Genesis 44:33, "Now therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the boy as a servant to my lord, and let the boy go back with his brothers." Though he's done nothing wrong, he offers himself as a sacrifice in order to protect Benjamin and Jacob.

This morning, consider how God might be calling you to be transformed in your attitude. Are you taking responsibility for your actions? Are you being living sacrificially and protecting those who can't protect themselves? Its not until Judah figures this out that he begins to shape up into the leader of the tribe of Kings he's supposed to be. What might God be calling you to do that will require you to be transformed just like Judah?

God Change Me

Read Genesis 43

I hope you have been able to follow this series as we have been going through the narrative of Joseph’s story. We have now arrived at the point of the story where the famine is still very severe in Israel so they must go back to Egypt to get more food. However, the brothers know that they cannot go back without bringing Benjamin as Joseph has requested his brothers (who do not recognize him) to bring Benjamin if they want to face him.

Genesis 43:14 says “And may God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may release your other brother and Benjamin. If I am bereaved, I am bereaved! Jacob has finally reluctantly says to God, “If I lose my son, I lose my son.” The way Jacob addresses God is by using “El Shaddai” which means God Almighty or God who is sufficient. God will supply all of one’s needs and therefore Jacob calls us to God in this way.

The desperation that has been brought about because of the severe famine and the lost of his favorite son Joseph has forced him to allow God to be God. Jacob however has no idea that the man in Egypt requiring him to send his youngest son ahead is in fact the son that he had lost, Joseph. God is just about to do an amazing work in restoring everything that Jacob had lost and more, but he is in such a state of depression that he can’t see God’s blessing coming towards him. Even though Jacob has known the LORD for over 100 years, Jacob was a man who had a a lot of trouble walking by faith as we have seen from the other stories before this.

We can quickly judge Jacob and wonder how he just can’t just trust God. However, we know the outcome and we know what will happen if he just trusts God to take care of his son Benjamin. But let’s just take a moment to really understand Jacob’s point of view because he already lost one son. He doesn’t want to lose anymore. What would we do in this situation? Have we faced times when we feel like things get worse and worse? We know that God will take care of us and all God’s promises for us, but do we get to points where we just say we can’t do it anymore God. I mean if we truly feel like it is easy for Jacob to place his faith in God, why didn’t we trust Him last week? Why did I get so stressed out over that little crisis last month? Or why am I not trusting him in really important decisions now? As we live our lives in this world we find out that life brings unexpected changes all the time and our first reaction is to fight them. Most of us like for things to remain the same because change messes with our carefully constructed routines. One of the toughest things to do is to change a habit. The habit of pessimism, cynicism, doubt, distrust and negative thinking is perhaps the most difficult habit to change.

Here we see God was in the process of forcing change on Jacob through his circumstances. God does this because he knows that we can’t become what He wants us to become by just remaining as we are. God wants to teach us to be careful when we find ourselves resisting change in our life because we might just be resisting God. Take some time to reflect because God might be allowing that particular situation that’s bothering you to occur in your life in order to bring about the change He requires? I found this prayer and think we should all pray this way - “Lord, change me because I can’t seem to be able to change myself. I give you permission, no in fact, I beg You to change me to be more like You this day.”

God amidst the chaos and confusion

As we dive into God’s word today, I ask that you don’t immediately look for the application because as Henry put it a week or two ago, there’s sometimes simply isn’t a clear-cut, immediately applicable application. Also, whether you had the privilege of hearing Dr. Gallagher speak repeatedly on focusing on the big picture or not, that’s exactly what we want to do here. As you read Genesis 42, try to put yourself in that situation: how did Jacob and his sons feel as their food dwindled and disappeared? How did the brothers feel as they remembered what they had done to Joseph? How did the brothers feel as they returned and there was all this “supernatural” stuff going on?

Read Genesis 42

Put yourself in the 10 brothers’ shoes. You’ve betrayed your baby brother, sold him to slavers, and finally realize what goes around comes around. You recognize that what you did was wrong but you know there’s no way for you to redeem yourself. Feeling hopeless? Because honestly what can you do about that, especially now as it seems you are being punished for your past actions? And now the head honcho wants you to bring your other baby brother down to Egypt, whom your dad WILL NOT let out of his sight because of what happened when he let Joseph out of his sight. So now you’re stuck: you’re a liar and a spy if you don’t return with your baby brother to Egypt (not to mention Simeon being imprisoned there) but your dad doesn’t trust you at all, let alone with the life of your little brother.

And then there’s Joseph. Imagine being in Joseph’s sandals. You have been sold by your brothers into slavery. Yet God is faithful and helps you to rise from the dirt, eventually becoming second in power in all of Egypt! Praise the Lord! And you are charged with the task of selling food to everyone who comes to Egypt to buy grain. And then one day, your broskis come. Those brothers who loved you so much, who cared for you so deeply that they sold you as an animal to slavers. And now they are prostrating themselves before you, begging you to sustain their lives by selling them food. How the tables have turned. Now I get to exact my revenge on these heartless people right? Right? But God placed me here; he blessed me and allowed me to rise to power and become a blessing to so many by giving me the ability to interpret Pharaoh’s dreams and save so many people through our preparations. It was all God’s work. But they were so cruel. But it was God’s plan…

I hope that you were able to see the jumbled variety of emotions that Joseph, his brothers, Jacob, and everyone else in this story were inevitably feeling. And where is God in all of this craziness? Well, remember those dreams that Joseph had last week, a few chapters ago? Well, they sure came to pass in this passage didn’t they? And, as we will see in the next few chapters, that is only the beginning of God fulfilling His words and plans for Joseph and the people around him. Even amidst all the chaos of life, God is still in control. That’s a cool thought. Another cool thought: God enabled Joseph to forgive his brothers; it is no natural thing to forgive people who have wronged you in any small way, let alone sold you to slave traders. Everything eventually points to God in this story. Funny how that seems to work for so much in our lives.

How’s God pointing you to Him today?

Maintaining Focus

Read Genesis 41

A word on dreams: In the Bible it is not uncommon for people to have spiritual dreams. These dreams can be in plain simply understood words, or they can have rich symbolic meaning and need interpretation. The purpose of these dreams, however, is the same; God is trying to communicate with us while we’re in an open and vulnerable state. This can happen even to a person who is a not a follower of God. As we see in this chapter God is communicating to Pharaoh, who is not a believer, in just such a spiritual dream for the benefit of his kingdom, to make himself known to Pharaoh who may never have been aware of him other wise, and also because he had plans for Joseph.
In a relatively short amount of time -1 day- God elevates Joseph from a prisoner to the highest official in the land aside from Pharaoh himself. You will note however, that this came after another two and a half years of waiting in prison for God to help him. Still, God works mightily through Joseph enough to where Pharaoh not only sees that he is blessed by God in interpreting dreams, but also that he has been endowed with wisdom for authority in ruling. All of this, the leadership, fame, recognition, power, and wealth could easily go to a persons head, and quite frequently does, but I think it’s important to note how Joseph reacts to it all. When Pharaoh asks Joseph if he can interpret dreams, Joseph immediately responds that he cannot do it, but that it is God who gives the dreams and the interpretations to the dreams. Joseph retains humility even though he probably realized that this would be his only chance in coming before Pharaoh to be justified. He also consistently redirects attention back to God throughout his interpretation. God is the one who speaks to leaders. God is the one who is concerned about the welfare of Egypt. God is the one who gives advanced warning to leaders so they can be prepared. Pharaoh by the end of it begins to see this as well when he replies that Spirit of God is with Joseph to give him wisdom and discernment. The fact that Joseph has the correct perspective of God and the humility to acknowledge him enables God to use him in great ways to help even the leaders of the nation of Egypt.

Take a moment right now to reflect on your life and your priorities. Are you maintaining your focus on him? The holiday season tends to be one of the busiest times of year and a time to easily lose focus. Ask God to help you keep things in his perspective with humility. How is he speaking to you?

The Trustworthy God

Read: Genesis 40. Daniel 2, if you have time.

Do you know that the interpretation of dreams is a gift from God?

It sounds very “new age” and so abstract, but it’s true: the God who gives us dreams often provides those with a gift to interpret them. Joseph is one of those. The chief cupbearer and the chief baker both have similar dreams that are related to their work. They shared the dreams with Joseph. Note his response: “Don’t interpretations belong to God? Please tell me.” (vs. 8b).

Joseph trusted in God. He was confident that God will reveal to him the meaning of the dreams, since they were God’s to begin with. Oftentimes, don’t we mistake God’s gifts with natural talent? The baker made such a mistake. Joseph gave the cupbearer a very nice interpretation, and he thought, “Wow… maybe if I asked, Joseph would give me a good interpretation too!” But what he forgot was that the interpretations were not Joseph’s. Joseph doesn’t go, “Oh, because the cupbearer is such a nice guy, I’ll give him a good interpretation.” So, you can imagine the surprise he had when his dream, which was quite similar to the cupbearer’s, turned out to be an omen.

You might be tempted to think that Joseph was a prophet, since he could foretell future events. It’s important to know that prophecy in the Bible does not concern far-off-distant events. It is an interpretation of immediate world events in light of God’s commands. Dreams, on the other hand, don’t have to be about near-future events. In Daniel 2, we have another story of a dream. Nebuchadnezzar had a weird dream of a great statue made of four materials, with the strongest and most durable (gold) at the top of the statue, and the weakest (iron and clay) at the bottom. All it took was a stone to topple the statue, but the stone itself became a huge infallible mountain! Daniel proceeded to tell Nebuchadnezzar the dream, and he closed by saying “The great God has informed the king what shall be hereafter. The dream is certain, and the interpretation trustworthy.” (vs. 45) How did Daniel know it was trustworthy? Because it was not his interpretation, but God’s. And God is trustworthy.

I’m not saying you should go out and tell everybody your dreams so that someone can tell you how well you did on last week’s pre-calculus exam. What I am saying is that this God whom we worship is entirely trustworthy. Joseph and Daniel had no way of knowing that their interpretations were on the mark when they told it. They had to trust that God knew what he was saying. So let us place our trust in our trustworthy God.

Maybe some of you are reading this when it’s late in the night. Devotions are probably the last thing you do to close the day. Let us fall into his arms of trust then, as we rest in his safety and security.

Silence Does Not Equal Absence

In Genesis 37 we were introduced to the latest of Abraham's descendants Joseph. Perhaps one of my favorite characters in the book of Genesis, studying the life of Joseph has been such a blessing, especially when you see the incredible transformation that God does in him, changing him from a bratty younger brother to the one who God uses to save his family. But in between these two sides of Joseph, we see some of the incredible circumstances God uses to shape Joseph and transform him into who God wants him to be.

Read Genesis 39 - As you read, write down your observations of:
God's Character/Actions & Joseph's Character/Actions




After writing down your own observations, I'd like to share some of my own. One of the things that Joseph faced in the midst of incredible hardship (slavery and then unjust imprisonment) was the temptation to do what was not pleasing to God. Joseph was good looking (that's right, verse 6, "handsome in form and appearance"), and that was the very thing that got him in trouble. Interesting how sometimes our strengths and the things God blesses us with are what Satan tries to use to stumble us. In any case, Potiphar's wife tries to seduce Joseph. How easy would it have been for Joseph to give in? No one was in the house so no one would have known. He had less to lose from giving in than from resisting. And yet, Joseph stands firm in the face of temptation. But here's the thing that stands out most to me. Joseph didn't have to resist temptation just once, and then Potiphar's wife left him alone. Verse 10 tells us that she came after him "day after day" and every day he resisted temptation. In our own struggle against sin, we have to remember that it is a daily struggle to stand firm against what our desires tell us to do.

As much as the life of Joseph is a story about Joseph, it is that much more a story about who God is. There's something significant in the two book ends to the story of Potiphar's wife. Read Genesis 39:1-6 and 39:19-23. There are some astounding parallels in the story. Joseph excels at what he's doing. Blessing comes to those who are in charge over him because God blesses Joseph. Most significantly, in 39:2 and 39:21, the author of Genesis is clear: God is WITH Joseph. In the midst of slavery and imprisonment, God is with him and has never left him. We can read that so clearly, but remember that Joseph does not have a copy of Genesis next to him as he goes through this suffering. Does he know that God is with him? God regularly spoke to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but with Joseph, He is strangely silent. It would have been easy for Joseph to assume that since God was not speaking to him, he had been forgotten. But let's not mistake the silence of God for the absence of God. Just because He doesn't speak to Joseph doesn't mean He's not with him. In the midst of our own struggle and trials, have we assumed that because God is silent that he's absent? God is with us, no matter the situation. Take some time to ask God to remind you of his presence, even in the silence.

That’s in the Bible

We come to yet again another pretty messed up story. If this was made into a movie, I am sure our parents would not recommend us watching this “rated R” film. This story although is very messed up, I hope seeing it in full context of God’s plan gives us a better hope and understanding of the God that we believe in who is filled with grace and mercy.

Read Genesis 38:1-30

So in order to understand this story in God’s plan, we have to understand who the characters are so please turn to Matthew 1:3. Yes, the genealogy of Jesus includes Judah and Tamar. How can this be after reading such a terrible and awful story on what both Judah and Tamar did? Tomorrow you will read about Joseph and how he fled from sexual temptation while here we see the opposite. Don’t you think the line of Jesus would therefore come from Joseph, a righteous great example for all of us.
I really believe this gives us a good picture of the God that we love and serve. We use words like grace and mercy but when it comes to truly living those words out, I don’t think we know how to. We really have to look to God and His examples to truly understand those words. I mean God takes sinful, broken people and still uses them for His purposes and plans. He says I will take all your messed-up-ness and use it in the line of Jesus who will bring righteousness and restoration for all of the broken pieces of humanity.
From the ESV Study Bible – “Knowing that Tamar has twins, the midwife ties a scarlet thread (v. 28) on the hand of Zerah so that she can identify him as the firstborn, the one who came out first. But before Zerah is fully born, his twin brother breaks out in front of him. Consequently, in the light of the midwife's observation, he is called Perez (v. 29), which means “breach.” Viewed in the light of Genesis as a whole, the unusual nature of this brief birth account, especially with its focus on the identity of the firstborn, suggests that something significant will develop in the line of Perez” – (dramatic music playing) – again look at Matthew 1:3. It is through line of Perez that we will have the lineage to Jesus.
So as we look at this passage, I want you to see that God uses everyone. Yes, everyone – no matter who you are or what you have done, God wants you to be part of His amazing story. Are we able to look at all the ways that people fail us or fail themselves, and look on them with God’s eyes of mercy and grace? Or do we judge and condemn and don’t leave any room for that? Are we able to believe in a God that is truly full of grace and mercy?

God’s Got A Plan

Genesis 37

Ever been sold by your brother or sister to slave traders? Didn’t think so. Now go meet Joseph by reading Genesis 37. Woah right? Super sketch. On the one hand, you may be thinking, “haha, he deserved it…jerk, always bragging about his dreams” yet on the other hand you may be thinking, “wow, his brothers are awful, selling their own brother to slave traders?” And this story is quite shocking. It illuminates a very unhealthy family dynamic within Jacob’s family, ultimately stemming from his own favoritism; all of Jacob’s other sons hate Joseph because he is treated so nicely, similar to a firstborn son would be treated. He gets a colorful robe! Who wouldn’t want a colorful robe back in those days? It’s basically like getting the most awesome, newest [insert article of clothing] that you’ve always wanted! Except that it’s your little sibling who gets it, not you. Oh, the jealousy Joseph’s brosephs must have felt. And of course, Joseph being the naïve, younger sibling he is has the bright idea of sharing all of his dreams with his brothers, all of which seem to point to his future dominion over them. Not the best idea given the circumstances. But before we go any further, I think it’s important to note that Joseph’s dreams were from God. It was in His will for Joseph to dream these dreams and it serves as foreshadowing to God’s future plan for Joseph’s life in saving many. Yet, as we finish Genesis 37, we do not see any inkling of God using Joseph’s life for anything other than hard work and toiling for his slave masters. Keep in mind he is currently a SLAVE! I don’t know exactly what that means for his culture and time period but what I do know is that Joseph was sold and now has fewer rights than a normal human being would. So much for God having a plan for his life…he’s a slave now, there’s no possible way that God would be able to use him right? Right? Wrong. God’s plan is so much bigger than the limited human scope we use to look at the events of our life. We only see the beginning of Joseph’s story in this chapter, yet God already sees the bigger picture and works beyond just this one chapter that we have read today.

So…a challenge for us today: look beyond our present circumstances and pray that God would continue to reveal His broader, bigger plan to us. Pray that He would show you what His plan is for your life and that you would be able to rise above your current struggles to become the person He has called you to be. And I also challenge you to stop and listen to God today; often, it’s really easy to ask all these things of God and we forget to stop to listen to His response. So whatever that may look like for you, listen to Him and wait for His response. For He is faithful.

Israel’s Renewal

Read Genesis 35

Our passage today begins with God calling Jacob back to Bethel for a moment. Now Bethel was the place where God first met with Jacob and revealed himself to him in the dream of the stairway to heaven. It was also where Jacob made a promise that if God was with him, provided for him, and kept him safe that he would worship God. Now, many years later, after God has continually watched over Jacob and his family, God is leading Jacob back to himself and it begins by Jacob returning to where he first met God. Do you ever go back and take time to reflect on the places where God has personally met with you in your life?
One of the first things that Jacob does is to throw away all of the foreign gods, and purify his family and himself of who they were before. They even changed their clothes; which was a symbol in ancient times for changing your character. This is an important example for us as we continue to seek God daily. What are the things that we have let slip into our hearts in place of God? If we are to get back in right standing with God not only do we have to get rid of these things, but our attitude toward them also has to change. Then Jacob begins to fulfill his promise by building an alter to God at Bethel and beginning his life of following God.
God’s reaction to this I think is rather interesting. God comes to him right away. Jacob has just barely turned around and already God comes rushing in with his mercy.God doesn’t require Jacob to be a saint before he reveals himself to him. It is the same way today for us. God is on the lookout for those who are looking for him. God first reminds Jacob that he is no longer who he was but his new name and identity is Israel. Now we know that Jacob had already been renamed Israel by God a few chapters earlier, but apparently he was still living as though he was Jacob and needed God’s reminder that he was in fact a new person. This is also important for us as believers; we have to remember that God is constantly at work in us making a new creation out of us.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17
As if that weren’t already enough God blesses Jacob and gives him the inheritance of his father and grandfather.
This passage is about a moment in the life of Jacob, a turning point, but even more so it is a passage about the nature of God, which we get to see through the life of Jacob. God is gracious, quick to come to those who seek him, full of mercy, creating a new and beautiful person out of a life filled with strife and deceit. That is some of the great nature of God that we get to see in just a moment in the life of Jacob.

Take a moment today and reflect on how you see God working in your life and making you into a new creation. Also, reflect on how you see the character of God and ask him to help you refine your view of him.
 

Living in a World Beset by Sin.

Read: Genesis 34

The Bible contains many narratives where there are no “the moral of the story is…”, leaving the end rather open. Today’s passage is one of them. The temptation is to try to try and finish the story, to figure out what the moral of the story is. But sometimes, we need to just let open endings be left open. After all, we trust that the Holy Spirit has a reason for leaving the endings of the story open.

Today’s passage is a very difficult passage with many interpretations. One of them, of course, is that this passage has to do with purity, and how it’s important to defend it. The view comes from the fact that in those days what Shechem did was essentially to sully the purity of not just Dinah, but all of Jacob’s family as well. Thus, Jacob’s sons responded by destroying the city as a response to it. But the problem with such an interpretation was that they only destroyed one Canaanite city – out of many more. Furthermore, if they were so concerned about purity, why let Dinah walk around so freely in the first place? And is it just to respond to Shechem with lies and then inflict genocide upon his city? This is a passage that seems to elude a final “this guy is wrong”, “this guy is right”. The temptation, then, is to try to twist the passage so that, in the end, some guy is right and some guy is wrong, and from there we have applications to draw on.

What seems to have stood out to me at least was not so much who’s at fault – we can keep discussing this endlessly – but that human issues do not always have an easy answer. That’s because humans are sinful creatures. Oftentimes, when we deal with big issues such as poverty, creation care, etc., it’s tempting to boil them down into easy packages where there is an easy solution, where one side is right and the other wrong. But in this passage, it seems to me that everyone has made some sort of mistake. Dinah was walking to visit the women of the land alone and without company, at a time when women walking alone day or night are easy targets for rape. Shechem… well, he raped Dinah. Jacob was concerned only for survival and to avoid trouble with nearby Canaanites, despite the fact his own daughter was raped. Jacob’s son’s used deception upon Shechem’s people and then wiped them out by the sword.

When we live in a world beset by sin, these are things that should not surprise us. We live in a world filled with rape and violence. People seem to want to look out for their own interests all the time. There’s always deception on every corner of every city. Sin is everywhere. But the question is whether we want to play with such a system. As Christians, we should stand fast against rape, violence, self-centeredness, deception, etc. But how? The answer is never quite so easy. But this should drive us to our knees in prayer, because even though these issues are beyond us, they’re not beyond God.

Another application is that one person’s mistake can lead to many more. If only Dinah weren’t walking around without someone watching over her, maybe all these conflicts would not have happened! Many divisions in the church began because one person just got the ball rolling. All the more reason, therefore, that we keep each other accountable; not because we don’t trust others, but so that we can trust them even more as we partner together to do God’s work.

Reunited!

When we last saw Jacob and Esau together, Jacob was running for his life because Esau wanted to kill him for stealing the blessing from him. Since that time, Jacob has gone through his fair share of suffering and blessing. He fled his home, was taken advantage of by his father in law, and now has a huge family and much wealth on his way back to Canaan. Beyond the change externally was the internal change that Jacob experienced. The Jacob who was self reliant has become the Jacob who trusts God and His promise. We see further evidence of this when he wrestles with God, and God changes his name from Jacob to Israel, which means “He strives with God.” But the amazing thing, is that Jacob is not the only one who’s been changed since that time. Esau is not the man he once was either.

Read Genesis 33

With a group of four hundred men at his back, we could fully expect that Esau was out to finally take his revenge for Jacob’s actions in the past. That was probably what Jacob was thinking too since he put himself in front of all his family to shield them from Esau’s coming wrath. But Esau’s response to seeing Jacob is not what Jacob was expecting. Genesis 33:4 tells us, “Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.” That doesn’t sound like a man out for revenge. It actually is exactly how Jesus describes the father welcoming the prodigal son back in Luke 14. These are words of welcome, compassion, and forgiveness. Though it doesn’t say what leads to Esau’s transformation, one thing is clear: their reconciliation cannot take place if Esau is the same angry man he was when Jacob left. The restoration of their relationship points to the greater restoration that’s taking place. Jacob is being restored to his place in the land of promise, the land that was a physical representation of God’s blessing. But first, Jacob had to be reconciled with Esau.

So what then for us? Are there relationships in your life that need to be reconciled? Perhaps you’re like Jacob and have wronged someone. Consider that maybe God may be calling you to humble yourself and go to the one’s you’ve hurt and ask for forgiveness. Or perhaps you’re like Esau and you need to let go of the anger you’ve been holding on to. Perhaps God is calling you to forgive and be reconciled. In either case, reconciliation with the people God has placed in your life is necessary for God’s blessing to take its full effect.

Wrestling with God

Think of a time where you were coming to an important time in your life and it seemed like everything was crashing around you. You were looking for help but instead you had more people adding to your stress. You try to get away from it all and you take some time to quietly pray but again that is interrupted and you can’t understand why all this is happening in your life. Well, welcome to today’s devotional and what Jacob had to go through.

Read Genesis 32:22-32

We have to know the context of this passage in order to understand what Jacob is going through. There is a strong implication that Jacob sent everyone away so that he could be alone to both think and especially to pray. In Jacob’s mind, the next day was going to be so important because it would bring climax to all his life and his relationship with Esau. All his life he had been wrestling with Esau for the blessing. Esau was the one who had kept him from his blessing, his happiness, his destiny and his father. And now Esau was coming with a small army and tomorrow would be the last battle. So Jacob spent the night before, praying and reflecting. He was asking God for help but instead look at verse 24 on what happens. And Jacob was left alone” but finishes with “and a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day.” This is so strange because we see that he is alone. So how can he be attacked when he is alone, and the answer is that the he was alone but the “man” who attacked him was no ordinary man. The attack really comes out of nowhere and really doesn’t make sense. Jacob would have been extremely surprised because he was looking for God for help and support but rather God wrestles with him.

God assaults Jacob in a life and death struggle that leaves him permanently crippled. This doesn’t make any sense to us as we see a man who is scared and weak. A man who is looking for answers to his prayers that God will fulfill His to bless and to love. Here we find the way that God sometimes responds to prayers of protection with difficulties and hardships. We have to go through suffering and wounds in order to truly learn what God wants us to know and understand. He sometimes allows us to go through great troubles for mysterious reasons that the Bible insists are wise and loving. Suffering and death is not God’s original design for the world and the cross shows his willingness to enter pain and suffering in order to someday end it all without having to judge and end us along with it!

What other things do we learn from this account of wrestling with God. First, we learn that the mysterious wrestler has enormous power in his “touch”. We also know that the wrestler names Jacob which is a sign of authority and power. Lastly, the wrestler is God and God has promised to bless and make Jacob great and be with him. So through this encounter, didn’t all that God want happen. Didn’t he want Jacob to hold on to him in faith and seek the blessing from Him?

We need to start looking at our life and the ways we are praying to God for protection and guidance. Are we looking for God to answer our prayers in the ways we want Him to? Maybe God is answering your prayers in ways that you don’t realize. God may have you go through hardships and trials to truly hold on to God and trust in Him through faith. Take some time to reflect and pray that God would reveal this to you in your life.

Do You REALLY Trust God?

Have you ever experienced one of the moments where someone says that s/he trusts you but then does something that directly contradicts that statement? It’s kind of like saying that you trust someone to catch you when you do the trust fall and then are too afraid to actually do the action of falling into their arms. Keeping this in mind, read Genesis 32:1-21.

See what I mean? Jacob prays to God, “Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, that he may come and attack me, the mothers with the children”—which is great—but still keeps his camp divided into two groups, so that if Esau does attack one of the groups, the other one can escape. Although Jacob knows that God has said to him, “I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude,” he still decides that, instead of trusting in God completely, it would better to say that he trusts in God while setting up precautions against Esau’s anger.

The sad thing is, although we can bash Jacob as much as we want, we are actually really no better. Because if we all think back, we have undoubtedly done the same thing: we don’t completely trust God. I know that I myself do this all the time. As of right this instant I pretty much have no clue what I want to do in the future let alone what I think God wants me to do in the future for college, jobs, goals, etc. And I try to tell God that I trust Him because I know that He’s in control of everything and that He will open whatever doors He chooses (and close whatever ones He desires too). Yet, I still worry and fret; I still think about all the “what-if’s” and try to plan out my entire life because I like to have my time scheduled out always. I think that God has really been challenging me to TRUST HIM and HIM ALONE. This doesn’t mean that I should stop doing my work, throw everything down, lift my hands to heaven, and sit there waiting for God to do something. I’m still called to work hard and utilize the skills that God has given me, but I’m also called to do my best, submit my applications, and trust that God will lead me to right college, instead of worrying about all the possible scenarios in my mind.

So what is God challenging—because change is never, ever easy—you to trust Him with? Does He want you to stop worrying so much about your future? Does He want you to stop setting up back-up plans in case His perfect plan somehow doesn’t work? Or maybe God is calling you to not just jump straight to application, this-is-what-God-wants-me-to-change-today; instead, maybe He just wants you to sit at His feet and listen to Him. Because if you don’t listen to what He has to say and get to know Him, to develop your relationship with Him…how can you ever trust Him? Just like you and your close friends/best friend didn’t just suddenly trust each other. It’s an ongoing process that is learned and cultivated. Because if we learn to trust God deeply and ever-deepen that trust, God will draw you closer and closer to Him and you will learn to see His blessings in ways you’ve never seen before.

A Watchtower

Read Genesis 31:36-55

Laban was never much of a savory character; always looking out for himself, even sometimes to the detriment of others –including family members. So it’s really no surprise that after 20 years of being conned by Laban’s cunning antics and unjust treatment Jacob has built up some intense frustration with his father-in-law. Then you add on top of that when Jacob leaves in fear of his well-being and that of his family, Laban chases them on their way back to Canaan for over a week before giving his family a good frisking to make sure they hadn’t stolen any of his false gods, I’m sure by then Jacob had just about had it. So he calls him out on it and throws it all in his face. Did Jacob have valid arguments?

vs. 39 “What was torn by wild beasts I did not bring to you. I bore the loss of it myself. From my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night.” –It was acceptable in the ancient near east for a shepherd to bring the remains of a torn animal to the master if they had been attacked as proof that they had tried to rescue the animal. Technically it was not right or nice of Laban to require repayment by Jacob.
vs. 41 “I served you fourteen years for your two daughters” – Ouch! A nice way to say you swindled me out of Rachel the first time so I had to work an extra seven years for her.

vs. 42 “ If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been on my side, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed.”- Considering Laban’s legacy this is not altogether inconceivable, especially since Laban’s attitude towards Jacob had recently been affected by his own jealous sons. However we should realize that in his own defense Jacob does not yet recognize Yahweh as his God, but only as the God of his fathers. Jacob’s got some good points. Laban’s a jerk, and impudent at that to suggest that he really still owned everything. They decide to make a covenant and it goes something like this: vs. 48-50 "This heap is a witness between you and me today." Therefore he named it Galeed, 49(M) and Mizpah,[c] for he said, "The LORD watch between you and me, when we are out of one another’s sight. 50If you oppress my daughters, or if you take wives besides my daughters, although no one is with us, see,(N) God is witness between you and me." Does this mean that they made a treaty? Hardly! Laban makes an agreement that if Jacob never comes back across the line of the watchtower that he won’t kill him. So ends what little we know of the life of Laban. It comes and goes with deceitfulness, greed, and violence with no noticeable change of character, and why should it? Laban is never humble enough to recognize the true character of God. It is something worth learning from. Yet Jacob, we know, struggles a lot of the same problems greed, deceptiveness and yet in the end he is redeemed by God. How humble are we allowing God to make us in order to remake our lives in his sight? Ask God to humble you so that he can create in you the person he wants you to be. Ask him to reveal to you the places of sin in your life that he wants to change.

God works through sinful people too

Read: Genesis 31:1-35

Yesterday, you’ve read that Jacob has become wealthy at Laban’s expense. Of course, none of this was too pleasing for Laban and his sons, and Jacob knew that. For twenty years he slaved under his boss and father-in-law’s yoke, but God blessed him, and finally he calls Jacob out of Mesopotamia and sends him back to Isaac. So Jacob took all that was his... except Rachel went further and stole Laban’s household gods, and they fled.

Why on God’s green earth would Rachel do that? In verses 10-16, Jacob made known to her and Leah about God, and she even told Jacob to “do whatever God has told you.” So why steal household gods? In those days, much like many Chinese households today, you see household gods which were there to ensure peace and blessings in your family. In ancient Mesopotamia, where Laban was from, household gods were passed down to the eldest son as a matter of a birthright. Note the parallel between Jacob stealing Esau’s birthright! Yes – just as Jacob stole Esau’s birthright, so did Rachel steal her oldest brother’s birthright.

There is an ethical question that you might be asking. This story was full of people cheating each other. So far, Jacob seemed to be some great trickster, fooling his dad to give him the birthright, sneaking away from Laban without his permission. Laban was tricksy as well. That bit in verse 27 about sending them away with joy and singing to music? That was all a lie – Laban would’ve forced Jacob to stay as his near-slave instead of sending him off back to Canaan! And, true to her father and her husband’s deceptive ways, Rachel steals the household gods, hides it, and fools her dad into not checking what she’s sitting on. Lies, lies, lies! And what does God do? Nothing?

The Biblical narratives show that God works his will regardless of whether we follow it or not. Thus, even though Jacob is such a dishonest prick, God still – in accordance to His promises to Abraham and Isaac – continued to be with and protect Jacob. Isn’t this good news for us, that God still works through us even though we are sinful people?
Nonetheless, sin has its consequences. Jacob didn’t know that Rachel stole her dad’s household gods, so he bravely declared that death will come to whoever has them. Rachel, unfortunately, passed away not long after his arrival to Canaan a few chapters later. Nonetheless, God still works through us despite our sins. Maybe you are withholding yourself from church, from spending time with God, from discipleship groups, etc., because “Oh, God can’t use someone as sinful as me. He should just use someone more holy… like the Doulos people.” First, be assured that the Doulos people are no holier than you are. Secondly, spend time in quiet reflection. Are some of your sins holding you back from letting God do great things through you? Unlike Jacob and Rachel, let us spend some time confessing our sins to God. They can be dishonest people, but we are called to be the opposite. Let us, therefore, be honest to God and open ourselves up to him

vTaking Matters Into Your Own Hands

The farther we travel into the book of Genesis, the more we see the effects of the covenant that God makes with Abraham. Take a moment to reread Genesis 12:1-3. God promised to bless Abraham, and not only Abraham, but his descendents as well. Throughout Abraham’s life and Isaac’s and now Jacob’s we see the effects of God’s faithful blessing. And yet despite God’s faithful fulfillment of His promise, Jacob quickly takes matters into his own hands.

Read Genesis 30:25-43

Jacob really is true to his name. Jacob, meaning literally, “he grasps the heel” was another way of saying “he cheats”. All his life, Jacob’s been living up to his name. He cheats Esau out of the blessing and birthright. And now in his interaction with Laban, he takes matters into his own hands. Jacob again relies on his cunning and trickery to prosper himself. He makes a deal with Laban to take all the spotted/striped/speckled sheep and goats from the flock as fair wages for himself. But this time, Laban is ready to play Jacob at his own game. He returns cunning with cunning and removes all of the blemished animals from the flock. Jacob responds by turning to old folklore to attempt to manipulate the birth of animals that are favorable to him. He puts fresh tree branches into the watering troughs of the herds. Much like Rachel and Leah who relied on old wives tales (mandrakes, see Genesis 30:1-24) to themselves gain blessing, Jacob turns to his own devices now to try and prosper.

So what do we glean from this passage? What was the outcome of Laban’s trickery? Failure. He neither prospers nor keeps Jacob from prospering. What happens to Jacob’s attempt to manipulate? He prospers! So what is the passage saying? Should we take into our own hands our destiny and try to manipulate wealth for ourselves? Not at all. What we actually see here is that above all of Jacob and Laban’s attempts to scheme, God’s remains faithful to His promise. The sticks in the water have nothing to do with how animals breed. That’s just a silly ancient near eastern superstition. But God’s promise is bigger than that. Despite Jacob’s faithlessness in God’s promise, God continued to be faithful to him, a theme that is repeated throughout Jacob’s life. We also see God’s promise at work in another way. God’s promise to Abraham and his descendents was to “bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you.” Laban, though not directly, in essence curses Jacob by trying to take advantage of him. But God is faithful to his promise. Laban doesn’t prosper but rather comes out worse than he began.

God is absolutely faithful in everything that He says He will do, not only to Abraham, but to us as well. So how have we tried to take matters into our own hands rather than trust in God’s promise? Have we ignored the reality of God’s faithfulness in order to construct for ourselves a plan of our own design? Spend some time this morning praising God for His faithfulness. Write down a list to remind yourself daily of the promises that God has made for you in His word.

God’s Mercy Over Our Desire to Take Control

We come to the part of Genesis where we don’t understand a few things. Why did God allow people to have multiple wives and why did God continue to be with His people when they obviously tried to do things their own way? The overall story of Genesis does more to undermine the idea that men can have multiple wives than any simple prohibition could. Genesis 2:24 strongly indicates that marriage as God instituted it was between one man and one woman. We can see through what happens as recorded in Genesis powerful shows the failure of this. We read through the story of Abraham and already saw the problems of Abraham’s relationship with Hagar while being married to Sarah, but the storminess of Jacob’s marriages to four women is laid out in the most detail. It is quite compelling evidence that having multiple wives doesn’t work.

Read Genesis 29:31-30:24

We get so invested in the characters of the story that we forget to see what we learn about the true main character in all of this. The main character is not Jacob, his wives, or his children, but we need to remember that God reveals more of Himself through a story like this. Let’s see how –

First, we see the ways God deals with the lovelessness of Leah. God shows his mercy and compassion by opening Leah’s womb so that she can have children. This is really important because it reinforces that God loves the outcast, the rejected, the outsider. God’s own son came as a poor man, a man who was rejected and killed. He brought salvation in the way of suffering and death, not achievement and power. All through history, therefore, God has preferred as the instruments of his salvation the ones the world rejects. He has to do this over and over again to break us of our addiction to status, influence, beauty, privilege.

God is the husband to Leah that Jacob is not. God is loving the wife who is unloved. God then gives her such a wonderful gift in children. We see however something interested after giving birth to her fourth and final son Judah, that she says “this time, I will praise the LORD”. Commentaries have point out that she finally seems to remove herself from her yearning for her husband’s love. She no longer is in a state of sadness and complaint but rather she finds joy and victory over her idolatry and seems to feel particularly blessed and loved by God. As we will see in the line of Jesus, that is actually Leah’s son Judah who is in this lineage. Not beautiful, loved Rachel, but unattractive rejected Leah. Why? Because even God’s foreshadowing of his salvation must be true to its nature. It is the way of the cross, of repentance, humility, unselfishness, sacrifice. God saves not the great and proud but those who know they are not great at all. It is the people that the world rejects who soonest grasp the gospel of grace.

And yet, God also does not reject Rachel. God opens her womb and she gives birth to Joseph. We will see that God has very special plans for Joseph as well and that he plans an important role and part in God’s history. Through him will come the first concrete fulfillment of God’s promise that through Abraham’s seed the nations of the earth will be blessed.

So we see that these stories show us more of God and His rich mercy for us. He uses every one of us and allows us to see that He wants to show his compassion and love to us. Look to this God to remind you of His great love for each one of us. Then be challenged to share that with those around us who need to hear that God is one that wants to love them.

Devotion

Read Genesis 29:1-30

Have you ever been so devoted and in love with someone that you would do anything for him/her? Well, whether you have or have not, Jacob sure knew a thing or two about being entirely captivated by a woman. Just look at his interactions with Rachel, his future wife. He meets her, and after just a month of interacting with Rachel, he agrees to work for Laban—Rachel’s father—for SEVEN YEARS in order to marry Rachel. Before we get blown away by Jacob’s mind-blowing decision to work for seven years in order to marry a woman he probably barely knew (okay, they knew each other for a month), let me draw your attention to Jacob’s devotion. Just by being willing to work for seven years in order to marry Rachel, Jacob reveals his deep desire to have her as his wife. And when Laban tricks Jacob into marrying Leah, Jacob agrees to work SEVEN MORE YEARS in order to marry Rachel too. Just think about that for a minute. What intense devotion and commitment to Rachel this must have taken.

And then when you stop and think, God loves us with the same—no, even deeper—devotion than Jacob could ever hope for. If our God is so devoted to us…what can we do but devote ourselves BACK to Him? And yet, often we do not devote our lives, just as Jacob did for Rachel, completely for God despite his complete devotion to us.
So how is God asking you to devote your life to Him? What does he want you to sacrifice for Him? How is He revealing to you the joy that comes with devoting yourself completely to Him? Is God convicting you of areas of your life that you are still holding onto, refusing to give to Him? Ask yourself these questions. I also encourage you to talk to your close friends, discipleship group, or accountability partner about what parts of your life God is asking you to devote to Him. How can you be more devoted to God today

From Fugitive to Follower

Read Genesis 28:10-22

Up till now Jacob‟s life has left a lot to be desired. He conned his older brother out of his birthright and stole his dying father‟s blessing. He‟s definitely lived up to his name so far- one who deceives. As a result we find him on the run for his life and fleeing the country. He had certainly made a mess of things. Yet instead of finding God‟s judgment on this estranged son, and fugitive brother, we find his revelation. The purpose? Transformation! Let‟s take a closer look at some more specific points within the passage:
Place: The story starts off with saying it‟s a “certain place”, yet later we see that the place was in fact a city known as Luz, which gets renamed Bethel later on. Why is the name of the place not important at first?
Object: Jacob sleeps on a stone. Is it just any stone?
Revelation: A stairway leading from him on earth to God in Heaven, with the angels ascending from where he was (they were with him) to where God was, and coming down from God to him. God talks to him and tells him that he is with him like he was with his father and grandfather even though Jacob has felt alone on his journey. God desires him even in his current state. God is close to him.
Promise: God reiterates the promise that he originally made to Abraham to Jacob about increasing his descendants, blessing the world through them, and watching over Jacob, and bringing him back to his inheritance. God promises Jacob the spiritual inheritance of being part of the Chosen people. Something that Jacob does not have to deceive or steal to get, but something that far outlasts a physical inheritance. It will also involve the constant joys and struggles that Jacob has with God for the rest of his life.
Confession: Jacob recognizes the LORD‟s presence and work in his life and that even in the most unlikely place God is still at work in amazing ways. His attitude is changed and he stopped thinking about running away for a moment and stood in awe and reverent fear of God. This is important for us because we may be in the same kind of hurry and bustling in our own lives. When do we take time to stand in awe of God?
Object: The stone Jacob is sleeping on is none other than the pillar that becomes the altar at Bethel. This was not any small stone, this was a STONE!!! God also transforms this object into a physical reminder for Jacob of what he has promised. Can you think of any physical reminders God has shown you in your walk with him?
Place: Jacob renames the city of Luz. He calls it Bethel meaning, “House of God”. The place has importance now because of the revelation and the promise. Our loneliest places can still be the “gate of heaven” by which God reaches out to us. For us believers it is even more so since the Holy Spirit is present with us and we are now part of the House of God.
Promise: Jacob promises that if God just even watches over him that he will be faithful and give him a tithe of all he has. His response is one of faith and faith that has a literal response. Do you ever make promises to God because of something He taught you? Did you keep them or is that something you need to pray about?
Transformation: Jacob goes from being a deceiver, a man on the run in fear of his life, estranged from his family, and alone to a man with a purpose, a promise, and the companionship and protection of God. Jacob becomes a man who inherits, by faith, the spiritual blessing of being the father to the twelve tribes of Israel- God‟s Chosen People, who are in turn a blessing to the world. If God can do this for Jacob, then how much more can he do so for us who have been saved in Christ and have the fellowship of the Holy Spirit?
Pray and ask God to remind you of the lessons he has taught you. Pray also that he would quiet your spirit enough to listen to the things he is teaching you now, and that you would stand in awe of Him.

The Wages of Sin

Read Genesis 27:46-28:9

We live in a time where we choose our future spouses. In those days, however, it was the parents who chose spouses for their children. The reason is not so much that they don’t trust their children, but that marriage was not seen as a union of two people (even though it is), but a union of two families. Thus, we should not be surprised that Rebekah finds the Canaanites (“Hittite women”) to be unsuitable wives for Jacob. The Canaanites were seen as “outsiders”. It’d be like your Chinese parents responding to you if you brought, say, a black significant other home. It’s not that they’re racist, but they see blacks as “not-Chinese”. That is, outside of their culture.
Isaac agreed without much discussion, I presume, and told Jacob to go to Padaan-aram, the homeland of the family’s ancestry. Esau, who was not the recipient of Isaac’s blessing, realized too that marrying a Canaanite woman was displeasing to his father. But note verse 9: he found a wife from among Ishmael’s descendants besides the wives that he had. The problem, by the way, was not that he had many wives (it was acceptable back then), but that those wives were Canaanite.

Let’s backtrack. What happened was that Esau married a bunch of Canaanite wives - read: “outsiders”. At the time, it was important to keep the “bloodline pure” from foreign influences. To do otherwise would be unrighteous. Thus, God continued to insist that the nation of Israel never marry foreigners, because Israel’s holiness was at stake. My guess is (and this is not biblically-supported) that Rebekah saw that and worried that her son Jacob would do the same. So, she sent Jacob to find a proper wife.
Esau, on the other hand, noticed that he made a mistake. So he sought to bandage that by adding an acceptable wife to his harem. Unfortunately, that doesn’t solve the problem. Even if he killed his Canaanite wives to marry an acceptable wife, the fact was that he did not regard righteousness as important in the first place! Here, Esau has put himself in a situation where he has to reckon with his mistakes for life. He could marry 1,001 acceptable women, but that doesn’t relieve him of the guilt from his mistakes.

Let us be careful, therefore, of sin where we will have to reckon with its wages for life. I come from a family where many of my uncles and aunts during their teenage years had no regard for holiness, and had sex with many, many others. The many babies that resulted were all aborted. My mom often said, “Our family will one day be judged because so many abortions occurred because they don’t know the importance of making the right decisions.” I’ve heard stories of where teenagers in the same predicament had the courage to carry their babies to term, but it really messed up their schooling, and often the families involved as well. Like Esau, no amount of bandaging can remove their guilt. Although Jesus can remove the guilt, Jesus never promised that he would remove the temporal consequences of those sins. So let us exercise care whenever we make decisions in life.

Shafted!

Have you ever been in a situation where a friend of yours took something of significant value that you felt rightfully belonged to you? It’s happened to me, and I’m sure I’ve done it to others. What happens in that moment? How do you respond? My response is typically one of bitterness and anger. I hold a grudge thinking I deserve what was mine, and hold it against that individual for a long time. But I’m convinced that this isn’t how God wants us to respond.

Read Genesis 27:30-45

If you’ve been reading with us, you know that Jacob decides to take the acquisition of the blessing and birthright into his own hands. Its interesting that both of those were things God had intended for him, but in his haste to acquire them with his own plan, other people ended up getting hurt. How often do we try to get what God has in store for us by our own means, and people are hurt in the process?

But I digress. Esau is hurt by Jacob’s actions. And not just hurt, but enraged. He rightfully should feel shafted. Jacob has tricked him out of both the birthright (the physical inheritance) and the blessing (the spiritual inheritance). Esau is SO mad that he wants to murder Jacob. I think often this is how we respond when we’re hurt, especially by those who matter most to us. The wounds are deeper, the hurts sting longer, and the scars seem to be uglier. We often respond out of bitterness and lash out, hoping to hurt as badly as we’ve been hurt. There’s nothing in that response that comes from God. We see that Esau’s actions cause huge rifts in the relationship he has with his brother Jacob, forcing him to flee. (Though we shouldn’t let Jacob off the hook, since it was his scheming that got him in this mess in the first place)

God is calling us to respond differently then Esau did. He wants us to respond out of love and forgiveness when we’re hurt. God is calling us to give up our rights to the things that we deserve, for the sake of others. Esau himself over time learns to forgive Jacob for the things he had done (Genesis 32-33) The question for us today is, which are you? Think of that specific situation where someone has hurt or taken advantage of you. How did you respond? Are you the Jacob who deceives and tries to get what God has in store for you on your own terms? Or are you the Jacob that trusts God with his life later on in Genesis? Are you the Esau who is so enraged when he’s taken advantage of that he swears to destroy the people closest to him? Spend some time asking God to help you to forgive those who’ve hurt you or taken advantage of you.