Overview of: GenesisToday's Reading:
Gen. 38:1-30
"Judah and Tamar"
Focus Verses: Genesis 38:27-29
27 When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. 28 As she was giving birth, one of them put out his hand; so the midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it on his wrist and said, "This one came out first." 29 But when he drew back his hand, his brother came out, and she said, "So this is how you have broken out!" And he was named Perez.
Insight:
The story of Judah and Tamar comes as a shock to many people as they read through the Bible for the first time. I remember the first time I read it many years ago. I'm sure I said the same thing I've subsequently heard many others say: "What's that about and why is it in the Bible?"
The Bible isn't just a collection of inspiration stories with a tidy moral. It's an authentic account of the messy twists and turns that resulted in the descendants of Abraham becoming a nation. Just consider how evil choices, sibling rivalries, polygamy, sexual immorality, idolatry, and paganism worked against God's promise to build a nation from the children of Abraham.
Yet, God was able to overcome all of these obstacles and sinful inclinations. The story unfolds, skeletons and all, into a story of God's redeeming love and power. He takes the underdogs and the failures and the sins of his people, and manges to weave them into his story of salvation.
The foreign woman Tamar's son, Perez, would one day have a descendant named Boaz (Ruth 4:11-13). Boaz would one day marry another foreign woman named Ruth. Her line of descendants would one day include a shepherd named David who would become Israel's greatest king. His descendants would one day include a baby in a manger, named Jesus, who would be the King of Salvation for all humanity (Matthew 1:2-3).
Response and Action:
God is at work to accomplish his plan to redeem and save. God's redemptive power and love are so great he is able to bring good and life out of the ashes and brokenness of sin and failure. God's grace is greater than all my sin. Not only can God forgive my sins, he is able to transform the failures and shames of my past into something he can use to accomplish something that serves his redemptive and saving will. I will turn to God in faith and turn away from sin. I will give all my brokenness and failure to God, trusting that he is able to renew me and work all things together for his good purpose.
O God, help me to turn away from what is wrong and to do what is right. Help me to love you with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love others with the same love I want to receive. Help me to walk in your ways and to work with you for your saving and redemptive purposes in the world. By your grace, forgive me for my failures, and by your saving power, transform even my failures into something that you can use for good. Through Christ, I pray. Amen.
New Testament for Today: Hebrews 13:20-21
20 May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, 21 equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
In Context: Hebrews 13
Proverb for Today: Prov. 8:32-33
"Now then, my sons, listen to me (wisdom); blessed are those who keep my ways. Listen to my instruction and be wise; do not ignore it."
Resources:
Why Sin Matters: The Surprising Relationship between Our Sin and God's Grace
by Mark R. McMinn
