Week 33 - Genesis Chapters 34-38 (Click on this Title to view an Introduction for the week)

Click on the Title to view Introduction for the week.

Monday, Genesis Chapter 34

Genesis 34

Verse 31

Jane Jones

August 17, 2006

Verse 31:  “They said, ‘Nobody is going to treat our sister like a whore and get by with it.”

THOUGHT

When I read this verse, the first thing I thought of was “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”.  (Getting even) The brothers took revenge. Their desire for justice was right, but their ways of achieving it were wrong. Because of their sin, their father cursed them with his dying breath.  Jacob was so upset with his sons. His sons’ actions brought trouble on Jacob and his family. The brothers wrongly thought that being set apart meant being better. It was their arrogant attitude that led them to the terrible slaughter of innocent people.

Generations later, their descendants lost a part of the Promised Land allotted to them because of these actions. When tempted to return evil for evil, leave revenge to God and spare yourself the dreadful consequences of sin. Turn the cheek and walk away. This is called anger management 101, and God is the teacher. Learn from the example Jesus showed us while on earth.

Our first reaction when someone has wronged is to get even. Road rage is a perfect example.  Turn the anger over to God. If we don’t, we will be continually suffering consequences like Jacob did. Anger will be like a cancer that will eventually destroy us.

PRAYER

Lord, it has been a good week. I just say blessings to You for a love filled weekend. May God touch our hearts and may we learn to turn anger over to our Lord. AMEN

Tuesday, Genesis Chapter 35

Genesis 35

Verse 2

Bart Strayer

August 21, 2006

Verse 2:  So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves.”

THOUGHT

Ya know, this is something we struggle with and don’t realize it. I will unknowingly make gods out the stuff of my life. Material objects, accomplishments, my ministry, just to name a few. The project I am working on has had a wonderful year.  Thank you for your prayers. However, it is easy for me to look beyond God and start focusing my work to the extent that it becomes more than just a ministry to me.  Then I have lost my way and can’t hear God anymore. Creating gods out of the stuff in our lives

can happen with little notice and very fast. It is a fine line that is easy to cross.

PRAYER

Dear God, we thank You for safe travels and time spent with family. We ask that Your hand of guidance would lead us through another week. Help reveal the sinful gods that may build up in our lives. Help us to always look to our one true God, You!  We love You today!!  In Jesus Name. AMEN

Wednesday, Genesis Chapter 36

Genesis 36

Verses 6-8

Bart Strayer

August 22, 2006

Verses 6-8:  Esau took his wives and sons and daughters and all the members of is household, as well as his livestock and all his other animals and all the goods he had acquired in Canaan, and moved to a land some distance from his brother Jacob.  Their possessions were too great for them to remain together; the land where they were staying could not support them both because of their livestock.  So Esau (that is, Edom) settled in the hill country of Seir. 

THOUGHT 

0k, Esau had a lot of descendants.

As we read in verses 6-8, we see the land could not support both Jacob and Esau. We can see how God is working in the lives of these men. Having many head of livestock was a sign of wealth back in this time. Having large wealth and many children went together. We see God had made Jacob wealthy to create the nations that he had promised to Abraham. We don’t have to wait until the end and look back to see God working.  We can see him working right now in all our lives!

PRAYER

Dear God, we thank You for all the work that You are doing in our lives.  Help us to see You working all around us. Help us to recognize the great blessings that You give us, big and small, every day. In Jesus Name.  AMEN

Thursday, Genesis Chapter 37

Genesis 37

Verse 25

Bart Strayer

August 23, 2006

Verse 25:  As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt.

THOUGHT

Something very subtle is stated in this chapter.  If you don’t stop and think, you will miss it. It is something that will shape the history of God’s people and something that will delay the gift of the promise land for centuries. If this event would not have happened, Moses would be unmentioned, the Red Sea would not have had to been parted, and the awesome testimony of God’s goodness would have been forever different. Do you all know what verse I am referring to?  (See above)

“Take them down to Egypt” Ah yes, how Jacob and the twelve Sons (tribes) planted themselves in Egypt starts in this verse. Joseph’s rise to power will forever have an effect on the Israelites tenure in the land of Egypt, but as we see now, God’s plan was altogether different. How will the promise land be given when God’s people left to seek what they think to be “a better life”? 

Sometimes the way up, is first to go down. But God always begins with the end in mind. Joseph going to Egypt may seem like a step sideways, however, the events that are being set into motion now, will make God’s testimony later all the more powerful. Can you see this happening in your life?

PRAYER

Dear God, we thank You for this day and every day. We know that in Your eyes there is no wasted days. Help us to trust that You have no wasted motions in our lives, even when we fail to see You at work. Use our lives to create a wonderful testimony to Your goodness and grace. In Jesus Name. AMEN

Friday, Genesis Chapter 38

Genesis 38

Verse 8

Jeanie Boldt

March 17, 2013

Verse 6: Then Judah said to Onan, “Lie with your brother’s wife and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to produce offspring for your brother.”

THOUGHT

This story is quite hard for us to understand in our living today. However, back at Judah and Tamar’s time this was done. The law about marrying a widow in the family is explained in Deuteronomy 25. Its purpose was to ensure that a childless widow would have a son who would receive her late husband’s inheritance and who, in turn, would care for her. 

Judah wanted it all for himself. First wrong happened when Onan refused to use sex for reproduction. The second wrong occurred when Judah did not send his third son to Tamar when he was of age for reproduction. Ironically, it was Tamar, not Judah, who acted to provide him with legal heirs. By seducing him, she acted more in the spirit of the law than he did when he refused to send his third son to her.

We will be better able to compare the righteous living in our next chapter to the wrong committed in this chapter. Today’s reading vividly contrasts the immoral character of Judah with the moral character of Joseph in the next reading. Judah’s leak of integrity resulted in family strife and deception. In Chapter 39, we see how faithfulness was rewarded with blessings greater than he could imagine both for himself and for his family.

God knows it all. He realizes when our character and actions are not reflections of the righteous living that He has called us to, His punishment is usually hurtful; but a learning tool so that we will be better Christians in His world. We must live with the armor of the Lord on us each and every day so that the devil does not allow us to act with the wrong desires and lusts he may put in our minds. Remain faithful to the Lord. He will then help us remain faithful to our bride or groom and family.

PRAYER

Father, make us pure and holy in thought, word, and deed in our marriages and relationships. We thank You for the full armor You give us to use as protection from wrong doing. Make us righteous in Your sight.  AMEN