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BSF Genesis: Week 26, Day 5

Questions:

12.
intermarried with canaanites. Er and Onan, Judah’s sons, both put to death because of wickedness. Things later forbidden (prostitution) are treated as normal

13.
Continued to intermarry with Canaanites, not living as a separate people. They would have no longer been God’s people

14.
No, he too had a Levirate obligation to father children for his son through her. He started the path of unrighteousness

15.
a.
She desired to honor her husband by continuing his line. She was righteous

b.
Gentiles married into the family of Judah

16.
Blames her in 24, confesses in 26

17.
It is factual. She was grafted into the house of Israel through faith, struggle and righteousness

My Daily Journal:

In verse 26 not only does Judah confess his sin but he acknowledges Tamar’s righteousness. This means more than she did something right. The word used here is tsadaq. This is the same word used to describe Noah (Gen. 7:1), the Law (Deu. 4:8), David (1 Sa. 24:17), and even Yahweh (2 Ch. 12:6).

In this story it is easy to get lost in the graphic nature of what is going on. But there is a very interesting thought and application that we can apply from the then and there to the here and now. It is the idea of “unexpected righteousness.” If both Tamar and Judah were called in to court and each gave testimony, the court would surely side with Judah. He is a man, he is wealthy, he comes from a noble and strong family in the lineage of Abraham and Jacob. But we see here it is not the person in the position of authority (Judah, the patriarch and son of Israel) but someone quite unexpected (Tamar, a widow and a foreigner) who is found to be righteous. A label of righteousness is earned and preserved by being such, not given because of social status. (kudos to http://www.theropps.com/papers/Winter1997/Genesis38exegesis.htm)

How we need to remember this is our view of others in the church and in future believers. This was the main tripping stone of the leaders of the law with Jesus – how could this be the messiah? – this is not what we expected. We see in God’s economy that righteousness is from the inside out, not the outside in.

BSF Genesis: Week 26, Day 4

Today’s Scriptures

Questions:

9.
a.
He had created the divide through his favoritism. He pledged to mourn until he died

b.
Until this had occurred the Isrealites would not have survived the famine because without Joseph in Egypt they would not have had access to food. In Egypt the flourished for many years, became enslaved, then were set free by God.

10.
thrown in well, clothes stolen, sold into slavery, sold to Potiphar, falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife, imprisoned, promised to be remembered by cupbearer but forgotten, 2 years pass,

11.
favored in Potiphar’s house, put in charge, fortitude to not sleep with Potiphar’s wife, God with him in prison, put in charge of prisoners, ability to interpret dreams, survived dungeon, honored by Pharoah

My Daily Journal:

I think we see the years of craftiness and cunning that characterized Jacob’s life fully on display with Reuben and Judah. Their over-arching desire was to “fit in.” To fit in with a group, especially one with a moral compass that would conclude that it is a good idea to murder their own brother, means you have to shave a bit off the edges. Think of it literally. We are a stone crafted by the Master, square and true, finely measured. But, that stone won’t fit in with a bunch of crooked other stones. There are three choices: either help the other stones get straight with God, find other stones to connect with or start shaving off bits and pieces of your own self to fit in.

Reuben and Judah both made weak attempts to save Joseph. Both helped keep him from death. But neither still had the moral character, the true shape that matches the cornerstone of the church, that enabled them to stand up to the wrong thinking and action of their brothers. That would have meant they didn’t fit in, just like Joseph didn’t, and we see how that went.

But Christ did not do that. He shaved off nothing. He did not conform to the world, and it hated Him for it. He did not try to fit in with the vision that the religious leaders had, He stayed true to the task the Father had charged Him with.

Fitting in is only a good thing when those who you are trying to fit in with are true and level.

BSF Genesis: Week 25, Day 2

Today’s Scriptures

Question:

3.
No, he saw God at Bethel. He committed to build a house to God there and to return to his father’s household

4.
a.
Dinah did not bring on the danger, but it clearly would have been avoided if they did not live there

b.
To be set apart from the worldly and immoral. To live a life that separates us from sinful things and sinful people

c.
No “sense” of wrongdoing. He did wrong, but didn’t see it that way. He treated her as a possession to be used and acquired

d.
They married. Isaac and Jacob sought their wives from kin, believers. But they also lied out of fear and put their wives at risk. Abraham allowed the mother of his first child to be abused by his wife and sent her out into the wilderness.

5.
intermarry with us, vs 9

My Daily Journal:

There is a very fine line being walked in our questions today regarding Dinah and could things have been avoided. I think it is very important to note that Dinah did not do anything wrong. She was the victim. She was raped.

As a children’s leader I was, at first, very hesitant and concerned about our lesson this week. My inclination was to move through it as quickly as possible. However, this week I had the opportunity to hear Josh McDowell speak. Josh is an amazing evangelist and apologetic who has spread the Word to college campuses for many years. He has written some amazing books including my favorite, More than a Carpenter. But, on this occasion Josh was sharing a movie and discussion about his own childhood which included not only a horribly broken home but also experiencing sexual abuse from the age of 6 to 13. He pointed out that 1 out of 3 children have experienced sexual abuse but we just don’t talk about it.

BSF is not a counseling session or the right venue for disclosure, but we need to be bold in what the bible says and not shy away from teaching the truth as spelled out in the bible. Just like Josh was not to blame for what occurred to him, Dinah is not to blame. This was wrong. This was a sin, whether Shechem, Hamor or her dad or anyone else saw it as such or not. Through all of this story that is the part that troubles me most. We have the accounts of what everyone else was doing but not what was going on with Dinah and the torment that she must have felt. No where does it say she was comforted or cared for through this difficulty, although I trust in God that she was.

We will have women in BSF classes who have experienced rape. We will have men who have forced themselves inappropriately on women and we will have young adults and children who have been or will be involved in inappropriate sexual situations. We don’t need to be graphic, but we need to be clear that this is wrong and if someone is in this situation they need to get with a mature christian and seek help and counseling.

BSF Genesis: Week 24, Day 2

Today’s Scriptures

Questions:

3.
a.
That angel soldiers are camped on the earth . Jacob met with them. Those who would harm Elisha witnessed them

b.
Trust in God, knowing he has set forces of heaven to the ready to battle those who would stand in opposition to Him and His plan

4.
a.
i.
Angels of God met Jacob – “This is the camp of God”

ii.
The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them

iii.
My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight

iv.
We are competent to judge earthly matters. We will judge angels. How much more the things of this life

v.
Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?

b.
The protection of the encampment of angels. When I am apart from family I know that God’s army of angels encircles them and protects them from harm

My Daily Journal:

I believe in God. I believe in the bible. I believe in angels.

That may sound silly to say, but I’m amazed sometimes on the cafeteria approach that some christians take to the words in the bible. Accepting this and that because it says so, but not believing other things because, well, just because those don’t choose to. I don’t think that is how it works. The bible is either true or not. I understand some things are stories and parables and illustrations and some things are specifically relevant to specific people and times. Angels don’t fall into either of these categories.

The fact that there is a supernatural spirit world going on all around us is clearly stated throughout scripture. From the fall of man and an angel guarding the entrance to Eden through to the angels in revelation, they permeate the scriptures. Christ reference angels repeatedly.

So, while we some may choose to ignore them or treat them like dolls or decorations, angels with the strength and power to fight God’s battles and protect his believers are a fact. It is a fact that I love and appreciate.

I leave my family each day to go to work. I drop my children off at school and I have a child away at college. My mother lives alone, my sister lives in another town and I have many other friends and family across the country. I am thankful to the police, firemen and soldiers who do their duty to protect not only me, but my loved ones from earthly harm. I am even more grateful for the angelic protectors who stand guard protecting them from things I do not even see or know are present. What a greater risk and duty they perform!

BSF Genesis: Week 23, Day 5

Today’s Scriptures

Questions:

11.
a.
God said

b.
20 years, Gen 31:38

12.
a.
7 God has not allowed him to harm me, 9 God given them to me, 11 vision in dream, 42 God rebuked you,

b.
Jacob and Isaac both justified action because of their fear, both formed a covenant with the one they had feared. Jesus on the other hand, when faced with swords and clubs, was not afraid. He did not lie out of fear, but told the truth daily

c.
5, God with me, 7 protected me, 9 provided for me, 11 in dream, 12 restored from wrong, 13 remembered vow from Bethel, 16 wives who honored, 24 warned Laban, 42 God provided, 50 witness, 53 judge

13.
a.
He sought to live in honesty and peace. He formed a covenant with the one he ran from to not do him any harm

b.
vs 55, Laban kissed his grandchildren and daughters and blessed them and left. Through God there was the ability to find peace and reconciliation even for one who had repeatedly done wrong. through which both parties were blessed and moved on.

My Daily Journal:

There will come a time when each of us faces the reality that Laban faced in verse 43. “The women are my daughters, the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks. All you see is mine. Yet what can I do today about these daughters of mine, or about the children they have borne?”

We go through life accumulating possessions. This is mine, that is mine, all of this belongs to me.

But, as Laban learned, it doesn’t. We are caretakers. We are servants. We are stewards. Everything on this earth belongs to the one who created it. He is eternal we are temporal.

But, like Laban, we deceive ourselves far more than anyone else deceives us. He calls Jacob the deceiver because he left without notice, but was he really being truthful that he would have thrown a big party send off to all of these things that he considered his own. Who is truly deceiving whom?

But faced with the truth of God, we too will recognize all that we have accumulated is not really ours.

We have all done wrongs in our lives. We have wronged and hurt others and strained and broken relationships over time. The final verses of this chapter provide hope for peace. When Laban did recognize that what he thought he owned, was not truly his, he did a wise thing: he sought to make a covenant of peace. The greatest benefit that he received from that covenant wasn’t the lack of hostility or monetary gain, but it is what we see in verse 55. He gained the opportunity to kiss his grandchildren and his daughters and to bestow his blessing on each of them. These daughters, who earlier in this same chapters felt like they were foreigners to their father, objects that he had sold for personal gain and then squandered that profit, these daughters now bring their children to him, kiss him and kneel before him to receive his blessing.

BSF Genesis: Week 23, Day 3

Today’s Scriptures

Questions:

6.
a.
Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Isaachar, Zebulun, (Dinah), Joseph, Benjamin

b.
God’s love for us is not based on anything we do or earn, but it is an outpouring from him. When we model love differently, we do not follow the example of the creator

c.
Each time she bore a son she praised God for his comfort in what was really paining her heart. We need to do so joyfully.

7.
a.
Her husband’s love and to not live in the shadow of her younger sister. I think so because she was buried in the tomb of the patriarchs, with her husband, and her family

b.
Jesus was born through the tribe of Judah, Leah’s 4th son

c.
God is a long term thinker and giver. We grow impatient in a few minutes or hours, God looks to eternity

My Daily Journal:

I found the change in Leah’s naming of her sons to be very interesting. Leah saw each of her sons as a gift from God. She praised him and honored him for who he was and for giving her these gifts. But we see the way she planned to use those gifts change with each child.

The gift of Reuben was like a bargaining chip to gain the love of her husband. The gift of Simeon and Levi were the same. Surely my husband will love me now.

These gifts were like many of us see good deeds today. Surely this buys me favor with others. Surely this will enable me to deserve what I desire and don’t have today.

But then, with Judah, something changes. The gift of the child is no longer something thought of as a tool or token to gain the loving relationship of a distant human. Everything in the naming of Judah had to do with the relationship between Leah and God. “This time I will praise the Lord.”

Is it any wonder that it was through this son’s descendents that God sent His own son? What gifts from God am I trying to leverage into something I want from someone else instead of appreciating them as gifts from the one who loves me unconditionally and gives me everything?

BSF Genesis: Week 20, Day 4

Today’s Scriptures

Questions:

9.
a.

Riches. Planted crops and reaped 100 fold.

b.
So many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines became envious

c.
Philistines stopped up the wells that Abraham’s servants had dug. As he dug new wells they quarreled with him.

d.
He moved on. He had faith that God would provide.

e.
Each time he moved they found more water. When he reached Rehoboth there was no more quarreling and Isaac praised God and gave Him the credit and glory as well as confidence in His promise to flourish in the land

10.
a.
The king of the Philistines sought out Isaac for a peace agreement because he recognized that God was with Isaac

b.
By living a life dedicated to pleasing the Lord I need not worry about enemies or the enemy.

My Daily Journal:

I recently read a very interesting business book called Abundance by Steven Kotler. One of the key premises of the book is that so much of our thought and social policy revolves around a theory of scarcity. However, historically, time and again, technology innovations have drastically changed the situation at the point where scarcity would have become a problem. An example he uses is London at the turn of the century. They were facing a major problem in regard to the amount of horse manure crowding the streets of London and were looking at regulation and policies to address this problem. However, within a very short period of time, the problem went away as horses were replaced by automobiles.

Don’t we do the same with God? We would think, “that is my well, my father’s servants dug that well, I need to fight for my rights to that well, finding water can be hard and I have all of these animals to water.” But, instead Isaac sees the solution differently. He doesn’t look at the scarcity of wells, but at the abundance of God to provide. He doesn’t just sit back and wait for God to fix things, he moves, he and his servants dig, they work and pray.

Isaac could fight the philistines. He could take his case to the king and force him to alienate one group or the other through his decision. But by relying on God’s abundance, he not only finds water, but also forms an even stronger relationship with men who otherwise would be his enemies.

BSF Genesis: Week 20, Day 3

Today’s Scriptures

Questions:

5.
Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was childless.

6.
Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the open country and Isaac had a taste for wild game. It is good to have pride in our children and their interests and share their passions. It is wrong to love one child over another.

7.
Famine: Do not go down to Egypt, I will be with you and bless you, I will give all these lands and confirm oath to Abraham, through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed

8.
a.
Lied and said his wife was his sister

b.
Confession of wrong. To have recognized that the weakness of the father can often be the weakness of the son.

c.
Be honest with them about the dumb things I have done in my life. Recognize and confess those things that did not bring glory to God as wrongs so as they follow my footsteps, they are the footsteps on the right path.

My Daily Journal:

While Isaac repeated some of the sins of his father, it appears he also learned from some as well. We know that Isaac prayed on behalf of his wife to have children. That was important and good. But as importantly and as good is the fact that the two of them waited 20 years.

They desired children. They prayed for children. But they waited for God’s timing and didn’t take matters into their own hands. There was no Hagar solution.

Additionally, there was one other fact that I missed the first times I read this through. Abraham would have been alive to see his grandsons:

Isaac was born when Abraham was 100
Jacob and Esau where born when Isaac was 60 (Abraham 160)
Abraham died at the age of 175
When Abraham was buried by his sons, his grandsons would have been about the same age Isaac was when Abraham was called to sacrifice him.

BSF Genesis: Week 16, Day 4

Today’s Scriptures

Questions:

11.
a.
The men came to force themselves on the men, Lot offered his virgin daughters, they pressed against Lot, SIL’s thought joke, no one in his family even helped prepare the meal – he only had influence over himself and not a great job of that

b.
When he moved there (Gen 13:13) people were wicked and sinning greatly, Gen 14, Lot carried away as captor, 14:122-24 Abraham’s response to King of Sodom when he returned Lot there

c.
Do not pitch tent along side wickedness. leads to more integration – If God pulls out of a bad situation, don’t go back

12.
Not gone back to Sodom after being captured. He must have chosen to go back.

My Daily Journal:

The convicting message to me was what signs and warnings has God graciously placed in my life that I am choosing to ignore and disobey. All along the choice to be in Sodom had been Lot’s. God didn’t send him there, he chose. He didn’t move in then wicked people move next door, they were there first. He not only lived by there, but he integrated into the community. There wasn’t a mention of a wife when he moved there, but now he is married and has children. His children were raised there. He has a home in town. He calls the men trying to rape and sodomize the angels his friends (19:7). But the signs of trouble had been there all along. God had pulled him out of the city in captivity then through Abraham rescued out of being a literal slave. But Lot chose his own slavery to being surrounded by sin.

What part of my life does God want me to flee? What warnings has He given me that I choose to deny and ignore?

BSF Genesis: Week 16, Day 3

Today’s Scriptures

Questions:

7.
Because God has chosen Abraham to be the father of his chosen people, to educate them that he would always preserve them and bring them back even after being reprimanded and for whom He would one day give His own life to save. To teach Abraham of God’s just mercy

8.
Consider carefully, measuring what we take in against the truth of the scriptures, to accept the spirit and hear the words given to Him. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. Luke 8:8

9.
God is not blind to injustice and horrific acts. He is just.
God is merciful, willing to forget horrific deeds for the well being of even a few10.

10.
a.
The angels themselves took Lot, his wife and daughters by the hand and led them safely. The Lord was merciful.

b.
For his and our education, to reveal His mercy.

c.
Yes – because he should have already known and trusted the Lord’s mercy from Egypt. No – because he sought it for others

d.
intercedes, gives us the words, also knows our hearts and offers intercession for all in accordance with the will of God

e.
Be more bold for others. Be more respectful in my tone. Seek the H/S for guidance and trust in Him

My Daily Journal:

Today I saw the beauty and appropriateness in Abraham’s “prayer”. I liked that the questions called it a prayer. What is a prayer but a discussion with God? So, clearly this was a prayer. But as I looked at it deeper it reminded me of the prayer of Moses and how Abraham and Moses (and, all believers I believe) share a single simple passion. They and we wish (long to) see and more deeply know the Lord. Abraham is not pleading for mercy for Sodom. He is not arguing a point of view or trying to convince the Lord to change His mind. Instead, the focus of his questions is on better knowing God’s character. Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? How far can the faith of a congregation of faithful shine light over the darkness of utter sin? How deep is your mercy and willingness to withhold justice? This really revealed the presence of the Holy Spirit in Abraham to me – that his heart was focused on God and not material possessions. Never once did he ask for the gold or livestock (think ahead to issues with King Saul).