Can God redeem your past? What things in your family or your past do you wish weren’t part of your personal history? Can God really use them for good? Do they disqualify you from serving God or ever being used in a meaningful way? Check out today’s reading in Genesis, especially the story of Judah and Tamar.
Our New Testament reading today is about the heart. What kind of heart do you have? Is it hard, stony, full of thorns, or is it the good ground?
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And now on to the Word …
Today’s Readings:
Genesis 37 & 38
Psalm 9.11-20
Proverbs 3.31-35
Matthew 13.1-30
Can God Redeem Your Past?
Genesis 37 & 38:
God’s Amazing Word
I continue to be blessed by our time in the book of Genesis, the book of beginnings, and I pray that this journey is as fascinating and enjoyable, as well as, practical and enlightening for you as it always is for me. I never tire of these stories. There is so much new to learn every time we study the lives of our spiritual ancestors and every part of God’s amazing Word.
Joseph & His Brothers
Here in chapter 37, we have another seemingly sad story to which many of us can relate as Joseph takes center stage in the narrative.
Joseph is Jacob’s long-awaited son by Rachel, his “first love.” His father openly shows favoritism to him creating a great deal of resentment with his ten older brothers (Gen. 37.3-4).
Joseph seems to enjoy his favored status and then has a couple of dreams that anger his brothers even more:
5 Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more. 6 He said to them, “Hear this dream that I have dreamed: 7 Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.” 8 His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.
9 Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” 10 But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?” 11 And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind (Gen. 37).
Though the dreams would prove to be prophetic, pointing to a time when he would be exalted over his family, it wasn’t wise for him to share them (Gen. 37.5-11).
Pondering Things in Our Hearts
This passage brings to mind a verse in the New Testament about Mary and her infant Son. It says:
And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart (Luke 2.18-19).
Sometimes when God shows us something, we need to ponder it in our own hearts and be selective about sharing it.
Perhaps Mary had learned that lesson earlier. Imagine what would have happened if she had gone around telling people she was pregnant with the Son of God. Even Joseph found it impossible to believe until God spoke directly to him.
But back to Joseph’s story.
The Dreamer is Coming!
Sometime later, Jacob sent Joseph on an errand to check on his brothers. His brothers were some distance away from home grazing the flocks.
18 Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, they conspired against him to kill him. 19 Then they said to one another, “Look, this dreamer is coming! 20 Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, ‘Some wild beast has devoured him.’ We shall see what will become of his dreams!”
When Reuben, one of the brothers, intervened the others hatched another plot:
23 So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him. 24 Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it.
25 And they sat down to eat a meal.
They threw their younger brother into a dry well and then sat down to eat lunch and talk about his fate.
Sold!
25 … Then they lifted their eyes and looked, and there was a company of Ishmaelites, coming from Gilead with their camels, bearing spices, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry them down to Egypt. 26 So Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? 27 Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh.” And his brothers listened. 28 Then Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.
Imagine the shock and horror Joseph must have felt! And little did he know that his trials were just beginning.
This story is a good reminder to us that our preferential treatment of one child often does great damage to his or her relationship with the rest of the family.
But his brothers would suffer the consequences of their actions, as well. Later we’ll learn about the cloud of guilt that would follow them for the rest of their lives. We’ll be talking more about Joseph in some of the next few posts but for now a little more about his brother Judah.
A Bit of Background
Tomorrow’s reading and the rest of Genesis will pick up the story of Jacob’s family with Joseph as the central character, but here in chapter 38, we have the story of Judah and Tamar. This story can be hard to understand without some cultural background.
The story centers around a custom called the levirate marriage where a close family member, especially a single brother, would marry a widow to produce an heir for a brother who had died childless. It had both practical and spiritual significance.
On the practical side, there was no Social Security and no retirement plans. In their old age women, especially, were cared for by their families, usually their children. If there were no children, the woman could find herself with no one to support her.
And spiritually, God was going to bring about His plan through this family and part of that plan involved the preservation of the twelve distinct family lines that would become the twelve tribes of Israel. Even today, tribal heritage is important to the Jewish people and future events.
Judah & Tamar
In chapter 38, Judah marries a Canaanite woman and has three sons.
6 Then Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. 7 But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord killed him. 8 And Judah said to Onan, “Go in to your brother’s wife and marry her, and raise up an heir to your brother.” 9 But Onan knew that the heir would not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in to his brother’s wife, that he emitted on the ground, lest he should give an heir to his brother. 10 And the thing which he did displeased the Lord; therefore He killed him also.
11 Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, “Remain a widow in your father’s house till my son Shelah is grown.” For he said, “Lest he also die like his brothers.” And Tamar went and dwelt in her father’s house.
But when Judah fails to keep his promise to have his youngest son marry Tamar, she disguises herself as a prostitute and deceives Judah himself into sleeping with her.
Although Tamar’s behavior was deceitful and sinful, as was Judah’s failure to keep his word and sleeping with a prostitute, we need to remember that she was a Canaanite and may have been influenced by other pagan groups who included the father-in-law in the levirate marriage practice.
I hope you’ll read the whole story in Genesis 38.
Redeeming the Past
Amazingly, Tamar shows up in the New Testament as one of only five women called by name in the lineage of Jesus Christ (Matt. 1.3). One of her twin sons by Judah, Perez, would continue the Messianic line. A reminder that God is able to take everything and use it for good (Rom. 8.28).
What things in your family or your past do you wish weren’t part of your history? Trust God to use them for good. He can use our suffering, our sin, and our shame to help conform us to the image of His Son (Rom. 8.28-29).
That doesn’t mean we should continue in sinful behavior. While God can use it for good, He doesn’t look the other way. There are always consequences for sin. And while we can choose to sin, we don’t get to choose the consequences!
Instead, let God’s grace and truth motivate you to seek His wisdom and help to go His way.
Such Were Some of You
Steve Viars in his book, Putting Your Past in Its Place, says, “For men and women struggling with past suffering, God stands ready as ‘the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction’ (2 Cor. 1.3-4). People struggling with sin in the past can take heart that the Apostle Paul, after listing a series of behaviors, such as greed, sexual unfaithfulness, and drunkenness, said, ‘But such were some of you’ (1 Cor. 6.11).”
Notice that the verse says, “such were,” past tense. The sin in our pasts does not determine who we are or who we can be in Christ if we will repent, change, and grow with God’s help.
Today’s Other Readings:
Psalm 9.11-20:
The Cry of the Humble
… He does not forget the cry of the humble (v. 12).
Our God is faithful to help those who humbly cry out for His grace when tempted, struggling, or hurt!
Proverbs 3.31-35:
Grace for the Humble
Surely He scorns the scornful, but gives grace to the humble (v. 34).
I think God wants us to get that point today!
Matthew 13.1-30:
Four Kinds of Hearts
In Matthew 13.3-23 we have the “Parable of the Sower.” In the parallel passage, Jesus said:
Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? (Mark 4.13).
We should seek to understand this passage as it helps open our understanding of other parables and principles, as well.
In this parable, Jesus talks about four kinds of ground—that is, four different kinds of hearts— and how each person responds to the Word of God.
By the Wayside
The first is the one where the seed is sown “by the wayside.” This is the hard trampled ground near the side of the road. Since this ground is hard, it’s easy for the birds to come and eat the seed.
A heart that has been hardened by constant rejection of truth will be much more difficult to penetrate. That ground needs to be broken up by a great deal of labor. Perhaps it’s the reason why it takes a tragedy to reach some people.
On Stony Places
The second is the seed sown “on stony places.” The loose soil around the rocks allows the seed to root quickly and easily, but the rocks keep it from developing a good root system.
People whose hearts are like stony ground may be met with cynicism or threats when they share what God is doing in their lives. Or statements like, “You don’t really believe the Bible do you? Don’t you know men wrote it and it’s full of errors?” (Try asking them to show you one!) “And immediately he (or she) stumbles” (Matt. 13.21).
Thorny Ground
The third kind of ground is the one that is full of thorns—the cares of this world. “What will people think?” “If I tell my boyfriend ‘no’ I’ll be alone.” “If I don’t walk over people, how will I get ahead?” “I can’t go to church, I need to work.” “I know I need to get my life right, but I’m too busy right now.”
Good Ground
But the fourth kind of ground is the “good ground.” This is the heart that is open and teachable and willing to trust God and obey His Word. It’s the heart that hungers and thirsts for righteousness and is willing to surrender to God. This is the person who is not just looking to get his or her ticket punched for heaven, but who willingly makes himself or herself a bondservant of Jesus Christ. This one “bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”
Coming Up:
In the coming days, we’ll talk about how to respond to private temptations, whether God tests us and how that might look, about handling betrayal, and responding when others hurt you.
I hope you’ll join us and if this post spoke to you, please share it on your favorite social media platform.
Blessings as you grow in Christ,
Donna ♥
What Is Your Plan for Bible Intake This Year?
I hope you’ll prayerfully consider reading through the Bible with me again or for the first time. The readings only take 15-20 minutes a day and the commentary will help you think more deeply about what you’ve read. So, don’t forget to sign up for my daily email or subscribe here for the YouTube version.
Following along with me can help you stay on track. And I believe you’ll benefit from the additional information I share and grow as you learn to apply God’s Word to your own life.
Here’s a short video about what we’re doing on YouTube, followed by some information about a special on digital discipleship material, and today’s Bible in a Year video on YouTube.
Note about this post:
I began blogging through the Bible in 2012 and have done so every year since then. These posts are the product of many edits and additions throughout those years. Some days I make major changes, other days fewer.
A while ago, I read Jen Wilkin’s book None Like Him about the attributes of God. One is His incomprehensibility. In it, she says, “God is incomprehensible. This does not mean that he is unknowable, but that he is unable to be fully known.”
I have found that to be true each year as I’ve gone back through the Bible. Sometimes I find myself feeling as if a passage just appeared there for the first time. I’m reminded that no matter how many times we read through the Bible, we have only scratched the surface. I hope you feel the same.
Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways,
And how small a whisper we hear of Him!
But the thunder of His power who can understand?” (Job 26.14)
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