Back to Genesis, Again!

Well folks,

It was a nice reprieve, wasn't it? We spent seven weeks away from the wonderful book of Genesis, and i hope and pray we found ourselves committing to becoming authentic Christ followers. The church, for whatever reason, seems to be lacking in real Jesus disciples at a time when the world needs Jesus and His children to respond to the needs of this hurting world. So. We have made it. We worshipped together on Easter, and we should have some foundational elements to being authentic Jesus followers. Will we put them into practice? I hope so. And so does the world.

But for now, lets return to Genesis. Genesis 38 to be exact. This is a weird chapter that almost seems out of place with the entire Joseph narrative, but it is there, and to honor the Biblical story, we must delve into it. It is a difficult chapter to engage in, because it has so much in it that we find deplorable, but regardless of the content, if we are to have integrity in our faith, we must struggle with the difficult texts as well as the easy ones.

Joseph is gone at this point, his brother Judah was doing his best to protect his name through a male heir. But there was a problem. His oldest son died, leaving a widow: Tamar. According to Jewish law, Judah's other son, Onan must sleep with Tamar and produce an heir. He did. But he short ended the consummation. Onan didn't want to help Tamar or his deceased older brother further their name. Onan wanted his own son.

So Tamar, now a widow, which is like being branded with a Scarlet Letter A in Jewish culture at that time, had to create a way to have her identity and personhood restored. She tricked Judah into sleeping with her, and this whole dysfunctional family comes into view. What does all this have to do with us?

Well, folks, a lot. First of all, it should always give us comfort that God's story, and the story of God's people, always includes people like Judah, who are wonderfully human, just like we are. God uses normal human beings to bring his plan to fruition. No perfect people. Just normal, broken, feeble, selfish, people do stupid things, but then God restores them, and these everyday people, just like you and I, turn into biblical heroes whose stories transcend time itself.

And secondly, to show what happens when we use manipulation and power as a means to get what we want, without regard to the victims we leave behind. If we claim to know more about how things should operate and go than even God, well we should not be surprised when the walls come down and we discover that person, you know the one, the one we damned to hell, yeah she holds the keys to our future, and we, just like Judah, will find ourselves humbled and broken. But it is then that God restores.

That is all for this week. Unless you want to add something.. please do.

Blessings and shalom,
jerry