Verse of the day: Genesis
38:1 It came to pass at that time
that Judah departed from his brothers, and visited a certain Adullamite whose
name was Hirah.
Joseph
has been sold into slavery, at Judah’s suggestion, in order to keep his
brothers from murdering Joseph. Now we see him separating himself from his
brothers and father, and intermingling with the Canaanites. He befriends Hirah
and marries a Canaanite woman who gives birth to three sons. We read of his two
older sons that they were wicked, and the Lord kills both of them (v. 6-10).
Sadly, it appears that Judah failed to bring up his sons in the ways of God,
resulting in their early deaths, as they are married to Tamar at young ages.
Judah himself was a very young man when he married Shua. After the death of his
two sons he promised Tamar that she would be married to his youngest son Shelah,
but fails to keep his word. We see that Judah’s character is far different from
that of his brother Joseph. Tamar, in realizing that Judah seems to have no
intention of keeping his word, deceives Judah into lying with her and becoming
pregnant by him (v. 12-19). Much can be said about Judah’s choices as a young
man that contributed to much drama, and heartache, in his life. First we see
that he chooses to intermingle with an idolatrous culture. The result of this
is that his sons turn out to be young men of wicked character, costing them
their lives. Young people, listen to me. When you make rebellious choices, you
will not escape painful consequences that will complicate your life later on. As
born again believers, parents, we must do all we can to bring up our children
in the ways of the Lord, disciplining them (Proverbs 13:24), and teaching them
what is right before God, and helping them see the possible consequences of
living like the world (Proverbs 22:6). Intentionally being unequally yoked with
unbelievers will not end well for us and our families, as this is in direct
disobedience to God’s command in His Word (2 Corinthians 6:14). Although we see
a glimpse of goodness in Judah when he convinced his brothers not to kill
Joseph, we see a bit of rebellion in his choice to live amongst the Canaanites.
Nonetheless, we also see that he did not have much of an example to follow
living amongst his brothers, as it is clear that they seemed to always be
entangled in doing wrong (Genesis 37:2). Judah’s dishonesty set him up to be
deceived into having an incestuous relationship with his daughter-in-law. As
outsiders looking into the life of Judah, and his family, is easy to label them
as dysfunctional. However, this is not really about Judah and his family; this is
about God, and who He is in the life of Judah, and who He is in our lives. As we
read the Word of God, from a human perspective, it is sometimes difficult for
us to understand why God would choose certain people to be in the lineage of
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Yet, here we have a wonderful example of God’s
grace in the life of Judah. As a result of this incestuous relationship, Tamar
gives birth to twins, Zerah and Perez. Perez being the younger of the twins, is
chosen, by God, to be in the lineage of Jesus. Many of us, in our young age,
and in our immaturity as Christians, have often found ourselves making unwise
choices. Some of us have had our moments of rebellion and intermingled with the
world, doing sinful things that resulted in painful consequences. May I say
right now that we live for, and serve, a merciful, gracious, loving, forgiving
God, who is willing to pick up the broken pieces of our lives and make something
beautiful from those pieces? This does not mean that we will be exempt from
pain, and loss, as the result of whatever consequences God allows. However, it
does mean that God is willing to still use us if we are willing to turn back to
Him, and trust that He is faithful to His Word when He promises to forgive us
and cleanse us from all unrighteousness, when we repent and confess our sins
and failures to Him (1 John 1:8-2:1). Just like God used Judah, even after all
the choices he made; God still desires to use each of us, even with our scars,
and shattered dreams. We must learn to put our past in the past, and look ahead
to where God wants to take us. The Apostle Paul put it this way in Philippians
3:13 “Brethren, I do not count
myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting
those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are
ahead,”
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