[Linux4christians] Wednesday Genesis 38:12-30

Tue Jul 13 18:54:42 EDT 2010

*Wednesday*

/_Genesis 38:12-30_/

38:12 After some time Judah's wife, the daughter of Shua, died. After 
Judah was consoled, he left for Timnah to visit his sheepshearers, along 
with his friend Hirah the Adullamite. 38:13 Tamar was told, "Look, your 
father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep." 38:14 So she 
removed her widow's clothes and covered herself with a veil. She wrapped 
herself and sat at the entrance to Enaim which is on the way to Timnah. 
(She did this because she saw that she had not been given to Shelah as a 
wife, even though he had now grown up.)

38:15 When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute because she 
had covered her face. 38:16 He turned aside to her along the road and 
said, "Come on! I want to have sex with you." (He did not realize it was 
his daughter-in-law.) She asked, "What will you give me in exchange for 
having sex with you?" 38:17 He replied, "I'll send you a young goat from 
the flock." She asked, "Will you give me a pledge until you send it?" 
38:18 He said, "What pledge should I give you?" She replied, "Your seal, 
your cord, and the staff that's in your hand." So he gave them to her 
and had sex with her. She became pregnant by him. 38:19 She left 
immediately, removed her veil, and put on her widow's clothes.

38:20 Then Judah had his friend Hirah the Adullamite take a young goat 
to get back from the woman the items he had given in pledge, but Hirah 
could not find her. 38:21 He asked the men who were there, "Where is the 
cult prostitute who was at Enaim by the road?" But they replied, "There 
has been no cult prostitute here." 38:22 So he returned to Judah and 
said, "I couldn't find her. Moreover, the men of the place said, 'There 
has been no cult prostitute here.'" 38:23 Judah said, "Let her keep the 
things for herself. Otherwise we will appear to be dishonest. I did 
indeed send this young goat, but you couldn't find her."

38:24 After three months Judah was told, "Your daughter-in-law Tamar has 
turned to prostitution, and as a result she has become pregnant." Judah 
said, "Bring her out and let her be burned!" 38:25 While they were 
bringing her out, she sent word to her father-in-law: "I am pregnant by 
the man to whom these belong." Then she said, "Identify the one to whom 
the seal, cord, and staff belong." 38:26 Judah recognized them and said, 
"She is more upright than I am, because I wouldn't give her to Shelah my 
son." He did not have sexual relations with her again.

38:27 When it was time for her to give birth, there were twins in her 
womb. 38:28 While she was giving birth, one child put out his hand, and 
the midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it on his hand, saying, "This 
one came out first." 38:29 But then he drew back his hand, and his 
brother came out before him. She said, "How you have broken out of the 
womb!" So he was named Perez. 38:30 Afterward his brother came out -- 
the one who had the scarlet thread on his hand -- and he was named Zerah.

/_Prayer_/

Lord, may I obey Your Holy Spirit when He warns me that even a small 
deceit on my part can lead others to deceive as well -- and what I 
thought I had accomplished in the moment may easily become a greater 
hassle than I imagined I was avoiding.

/_Commentary_/

Judah buried and mourned his wife and then decided to travel with his 
friend to Timnah where the sheep were being sheared.

Tamar, left waiting long after Judah's third son Shelah was old enough 
to give her a son in the name of her dead husband Er, decides that Judah 
is vulnerable to a trick.

Tamar disguises herself along the road to Timnah and as she suspected 
Judah mistakes her for the cult prostitute and propositions her. He 
offers her a goat in exchange for sex, but does not have one with her, 
so she requests his "... seal, cord, and staff" as collateral to assure 
that he will keep his promise.

When Tamar later is found to be pregnant Judah intends to punish her 
until she proves, with his "... seal, cord, and staff", that the child 
is his. She had twins, with the curious twist of the first to partially 
leave the womb retreating and the second to be fully-birthed before the 
first finally came out, perhaps an echo of Jacob and Esau.

/_Interaction_/

Consider this:

Following in the pattern of his father Jacob/Israel's mutually-deceitful 
relationship with Laban, Judah became ensnared in one with Tamar.

Discuss this:

Judah had in some way or ways "taught" Tamar that he would be vulnerable 
to the appeal of a cult prostitute. Perhaps it was something he said 
during his mourning for his wife, perhaps she had observed him being 
unfaithful in the past, perhaps it was just the deceitful way he had 
dealt with her. How have people "taught" you that they would be 
vulnerable to certain temptations?

Reflect on this:

The promise Tamar wanted kept by Judah was not a goat for sex but a 
child by Judah's son Shelah to continue the line of Er (which would also 
entitle her to Er's inheritance). She bore instead twins by Judah whose 
standing would have been somewhat equal to that of Shelah.

Share this:

When have you observed someone treating another unfairly then being 
themselves ensnared in an equally disrespectful and unloving manner, 
either by the one they had mistreated, or by another?

/_Faith in Action_/

Prayer:

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you any place in your life where your 
actions and/or words might be "teaching" observers that you are 
vulnerable to temptation.

Action:

I will prayerfully listen to the Holy Spirit as He shows me what it is 
that I say and/or do that conveys the message of my vulnerability to 
specific temptation(s). It may be crude and crass humor about romantic 
relationship, a lust for money or power, a predisposition toward 
"experience" (needing emotional stimulation), a predisposition to danger 
"adrenaline junkie", dressing provocatively, a need to "keep up with the 
Joneses", a pattern of making idols of celebrities (the 
physically-attractive, sports stars, entertainers, the rich, the 
powerful, etc.). I will confess and repent of those things and submit 
them to the Holy Spirit for purging. I will ask at least one fellow 
believer to help me in monitoring my actions and/or words for any sign 
of their return.

Be Specific ____________________________________________________

*Thursday's text will be: */_Genesis 39:1-10_/

-- 

Have an http://Ultrafidian.com Day!  Pastor David
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Personal Site: http://bibleseven.com
Bible Resources: http://bible.org
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