GOD, OUR DELIVERER

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, and after a while his master's wife took notice of Joseph and said, "Come to bed with me!"

But he refused. "With me in charge," he told her, "my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?"

And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her.

One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside. She caught him by his cloak and said, "Come to bed with me!" But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.

When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand and had run out of the house, she called her household servants. "Look," she said to them, "this Hebrew has been brought to us to make sport of us! He came in here to sleep with me, but I screamed. When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house."

She kept his cloak beside her until his master came home. Then she told him this story: "That Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me. But as soon as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house."

When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, "This is how your slave treated me," he burned with anger. Joseph's master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined. But while Joseph was there in the prison, the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.

So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph's care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.

Genesis 39:7-23

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

After being sold into slavery, Joseph found everything going his way in Egypt. For as we saw in the opening verses of Genesis, chapter 39, the Lord was with Joseph after he was purchased by the chief of the Egyptian guard, Potiphar, and He caused blessings to be extended over Potiphar’s entire household. Then Potiphar, realizing how much he had prospered after Joseph joined him, gave Joseph control over everything except for the food he ate.

Unfortunately, as we see in today’s passage, Potiphar wasn’t the only one who had taken notice of Joseph for his wife had as well but for nefarious reasons. Let’s look again at these verses to see what happened.

Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, and after a while his master's wife took notice of Joseph and said, "Come to bed with me!”

But he refused. "With me in charge," he told her, "my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?"

And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her.

One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside. She caught him by his cloak and said, "Come to bed with me!" But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.

When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand and had run out of the house, she called her household servants. "Look," she said to them, "this Hebrew has been brought to us to make sport of us! He came in here to sleep with me, but I screamed. When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house."

She kept his cloak beside her until his master came home. Then she told him this story: "That Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me. But as soon as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house."

When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, "This is how your slave treated me," he burned with anger. Joseph's master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined. But while Joseph was there in the prison, the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.

So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph's care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did. Vv.7-23

As we see in today’s passage, Potiphar’s wife tries to entice Joseph into an adulterous tryst. This angers Joseph who reminds Potiphar’s wife that he has been given control of everything in the household except for her. He also calls out her action as sinful saying:

"How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?"

Joseph had experience great good fortune but he didn’t forget where it came from. His very words to Potiphar’s wife shows he was keeping God at the forefront of everything he was doing and so there was no chance that he was going to give in to the seductive advances he faced.

There’s an early lesson for us to learn here because I have always felt that a person can easily get comfortable in the midst of times where the Lord is raining down His blessings and therefore become vulnerable to the temptation to sin.

Perhaps this can come when you’ve found prosperity and someone tries to convince you that you could have even more if you would just be willing to break the law a little. Of course, there would be an emphasis about a very low probability of being caught in the sin to try and spice up the enticement a little.  

Maybe the tempting might have come as you were trying to overcome a certain weakness and another person showed little respect for that effort. For example, you may be trying to stop smoking or drinking and yet someone keeps coming up to ask you if you want to go for a smoke or a drink.  

Indeed, it seems that just when we things start going the way we would like them to go, Satan enters in to lead us toward sin and throw away any progress we’ve been blessed with.

Well, as we go back to the scriptures, we find that Potiphar’s wife wasn’t about to give up and so she continues to go after Joseph day after day with Joseph rejecting her every time. But then a day came when she decided to take her wicked alluring to a whole new level. For when “none of the household servants” were in the house, Potiphar’s wife physically grabs a hold of Joseph and as he pulls away and flees, he leaves his cloak in her hand.

We see where Potiphar’s wife, scheming as she was, took advantage of the matter and accused Joseph of attacking her, falsely claiming that it was only her screams and resistance that fended off the attack. Then she verbally assaults Joseph with ethnic overtones, telling Potiphar:

"That Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me."

In essence, Potiphar’s wife was doubling down on her sinfulness, not only falsely implicating Joseph but also implying that it was her husband’s fault that it happened. She may have just as well said:

"None of this would have ever happened if you hadn’t brought this Hebrew slave in."

Well, we read where Potiphar, Joseph's master, believed his wife’s lie. He took Joseph into custody and "put him in prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined." I’m sure Potiphar’s wife thought she had won but did she really?

For as we’re going to find out in future messages, Joseph going to prison was all about God’s plan for him and despite the sins of Potiphar’s wife, God’s good will prevail over evil.

Friends, this account should bring us encouragement when we fall victim to someone else’s scheme and it feels like evil has gained the victory. For in those times, we should never underestimate what the Lord might have in store for our future. The truth of the matter is that He always has a plan. We just need to be ready to allow it to be executed in our lives.

Going back to Joseph, we find that while he may have ended up in prison, he was far from being alone because “the Lord was with him”, showing him “kindness” and granting him “favor in the eyes of the prison warden." This led to the warden putting "Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there." Further, we read where "the warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph's care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did."

Once again, what seemed like a disastrous point in Joseph’s life turned out to be a blessing as he continues to see the Lord at work every step of the way.

First, He saved him from his murderous brothers.

Then, He blessed him with prosperity even in slavery.

Finally, He showed authority over sinful injustice by leading Joseph to thrive, even while incarcerated.

We should see a common thread in all this for we truly serve a God who is our Deliverer, the One who is our very present help in times of trouble (Psalm 46:1). I hope you will remember this if you are in the midst of some life struggle, temptation, of injustice today. For just as our Lord was with Joseph, so too is he with us and this is good news for us to rejoice and be glad in.

Today, and every day thereafter, let us give thanks to God for He is good and His steadfast love does indeed endure forever (Psalm 136:1).

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

GOD IS WITH US, IN GOOD TIMES AND BAD

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt.

Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh's officials, the captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there. The Lord was with Joseph and he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master.

When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned.

From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the Lord was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field. So he left in Joseph's care everything he had; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.

Genesis 39:1-6

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

After looking at the story of Judah and Tamar in Genesis, chapter 38, we pick back up with the story of Joseph who you may remember had been sold into slavery by his brothers. You’ll recall that they had sold him to the Ismaelites who in turn took him to Egypt where he was purchased by Potiphar, Pharaoh’s captain of the guard.

Now, one can only imagine how Joseph must have felt at this point, going from being Jacob’s favored son to a slave in a faraway, strange land with customs far different than the Israelite culture he grew up in. For him, it was a time of uncertainty, both in what would happen in the present and future.

This brings me to a question for you to ponder in regard to today’s message:

Have you ever found yourself in the midst of uncertainty brought on by unexpected change?

Maybe a tragic loss of a loved one left you suddenly alone and fending for yourself.

Maybe you have lost a job when you needed every penny just to get by.

Maybe you suffered an injury or were diagnosed with an illness that left you unable to do the things you dreamed of doing.

Or maybe you encountered an unplanned expense and were left in a place where you didn’t have the money to cover the cost.

Live life long enough and we will learn one important truth. The only thing that is certain in this worldly life is that it is uncertain.

Well, Joseph was certainly in the midst of uncertainty and he must have missed home badly. Little did he know that his father believed he was dead after his other sons tricked him into believing Joseph had been killed by wild animals.

Given his precarious situation, all would have surely been lost for Joseph if it weren’t for one very important thing. For the scriptures tell us that the Lord was with him and helped Joseph prosper in the house of Potiphar. In fact, we read where Joseph was so successful that he was appointed attendant, placed "in charge of” Potiphar’s “household” and “entrusted to” take care of “everything he owned."

You know, the success of Joseph in the face of hardship should serve as a reminder that the same God that was with Him is with us. And yet, unfortunately we have a tendency to forget this when the hard times come.

When I think about this, I can’t help but remember a famous writing that was simply called "Footprints”. To summarize it, there are two sets of footprints in the sand for a certain distance, representing one person walking with the Lord alongside. Suddenly, the pair of footprints becomes just one set during a time of difficulty for the person. This leads them to assume that the Lord has left them when they needed Him most. In response to this, we find the Lord telling the person that the single set of footprints actually belonged to Him and it was during that time that the Lord was carrying them through their time of hardship.

Friends, what an awesome assurance we have knowing that we serve a loving God who is ready to carry us through the tough times in life. All we need to do is just call on His name.

Well, as we go back to our passage for today, we see where Joseph wasn’t the only one who prospered from the Lord. For we read that Potiphar’s household flourished because of Joseph and Potiphar knew it because he permitted Joseph to have control over everything except his food and "did not concern himself about anything."

Joseph had gained Potiphar’s complete trust and it was all because of the Lord.

So we see where all is working out for Joseph despite the unknown future he had when he entered Egypt under the bondage of the Ishmaelites and it’s happening because God is making it happen.

The same thing can happen for any believer today if they will just place their hope and trust in the One who can do all things, in good times and bad. Ultimately, He has a plan for your life and the scriptures tell us that He is always working things out for the good of those who love Him, those called according to His purposes (Romans 8:28).

All we need to do is keep faith when the trials of life come and trust that our Lord will deliver for us in His perfect way and in His perfect time.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

SUCCESS IN THE MIDST OF ADVERSITY

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

After a long time Judah's wife, the daughter of Shua, died. When Judah had recovered from his grief, he went up to Timnah, to the men who were shearing his sheep, and his friend Hirah the Adullamite went with him.

When Tamar was told, "Your father-in-law is on his way to Timnah to shear his sheep," she took off her widow's clothes, covered herself with a veil to disguise herself, and then sat down at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. For she saw that, though Shelah had now grown up, she had not been given to him as his wife.

When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. Not realizing that she was his daughter-in-law, he went over to her by the roadside and said, "Come now, let me sleep with you."

"And what will you give me to sleep with you?" she asked.

"I'll send you a young goat from my flock," he said.

"Will you give me something as a pledge until you send it?" she asked.

He said, "What pledge should I give you?"

"Your seal and its cord, and the staff in your hand," she answered.

So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him.

After she left, she took off her veil and put on her widow's clothes again. Meanwhile Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite in order to get his pledge back from the woman, but he did not find her. He asked the men who lived there, "Where is the shrine prostitute who was beside the road at Enaim?"

"There hasn't been any shrine prostitute here," they said.

So he went back to Judah and said, "I didn't find her. Besides, the men who lived there said, 'There hasn't been any shrine prostitute here.'"

Then Judah said, "Let her keep what she has, or we will become a laughingstock. After all, I did send her this young goat, but you didn't find her."

About three months later, Judah was told, "Your daughter-in-law Tamar is guilty of prostitution, and as a result she is now pregnant." Judah said, "Bring her out and have her burned to death!"

As she was being brought out, she sent a message to her father-in-law. "I am pregnant by the man who owns these," she said. And she added, "See if you recognize whose seal and cord and staff these are."

Judah recognized them and said, "She is more righteous than I, since I wouldn't give her to my son Shelah." And he did not sleep with her again.

When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. 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." 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. Then his brother, who had the scarlet thread on his wrist, came out and he was given the name Zerah.

Genesis 38:12-30

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

At the end of yesterday’s message, we saw how Tamar, the woman who was married to Judah’s first son, Er, had been reduced to permanent widowhood after first Er, and then his brother, Onan, had been put to death by the Lord because of their sinfulness. This state of widowhood became ever more apparent to her after she had waited and waited for Judah to make good on his promise to allow her to have a child through his youngest son, Shelah, after he got older.

Well, the scriptures for today tell us that Shelah did grow up and Judah had failed to make good on his promise. I’m sure he never expected Tamar to display incredible resiliency and perseverance in her desire to receive what she saw as rightfully hers. The end result of her actions allowed her to regain her dignity and a special place in God’s overall mighty plan.

First, we see where Tamar poses as a shrine prostitute and lures Judah into having sex with her. This comes after the death of Judah’s wife so he no doubt was lonely and vulnerable, yearning for companionship and intimacy as he unknowingly propositions his own daughter-in-law. And although Judah didn’t know who he was dealing with, Tamar certainly knew all about Judah, especially his penchant for not telling the truth. And so anticipating that he might not send a young goat from his flock in exchange for sex and to prevent him from trying to deny having sexual relations with her, she convinces him to make pledge. The scriptures tell us he gave his seal, cord and staff to Tamar as security for the vow he had made and it was only then that Tamar slept with him. Later becoming pregnant.

Interestingly enough, Judah did honor the obligation of his pledge and sent a goat to the prostitute only to find that he had been fooled because no shrine prostitute existed at that time. But three months later, Judah receives news that his daughter-in-law had become a prostitute and became pregnant. And not knowing that Tamar was the one he had slept with, Judah orders Tamar to be burned to death.

Can you imagine what an embarrassment it must have been when Tamar holds up the seal, cord, and staff, saying that the father of her child was the owner of these items?

Immediately realizing what had happened, Judah cries out:

"She is more righteous than I, since I wouldn't give her to my son Shelah."

In other words, Tamar was determined to see that she had a child to carry on the family name and lineage, whether Judah was going to help her or not.

And she succeeded.

In the grand scheme of things, Tamar’s actions were actually part of a broader plan that God had set in motion. For had it not been the will of Lord, she would have never found success in luring Judah to her and she certainly would not have ended up pregnant, bearing two sons by him.

You see, one of the twins born to Tamar and Judah, Perez, would actually go on to be a part of Jesus’ genealogy (Matthew 1:3) and you will also notice that Tamar is listed as well, God’s blessed reward for her unwillingness to give up in the face of adversity.

Friends, life is often hard and we can find ourselves in times of challenge and difficulty. Thankfully, the Word of God offers us inspiration through figures like Tamar who can bring us encouragement and strength in times of need. Let us all adopt her dogged determination, unwavering faithfulness, and unwillingness to give up which allowed her to succeed even though adversity had come her way.  

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

THE CONSEQUENCES OF UNGODLY LIVING

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Judah got a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. But Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the Lord's sight; so the Lord put him to death.

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." But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his; so whenever he lay with his brother's wife, he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from producing offspring for his brother. What he did was wicked in the Lord's sight; so he put him to death also.

Judah then said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, "Live as a widow in your father's house until my son Shelah grows up." For he thought, "He may die too, just like his brothers."

So Tamar went to live in her father's house.

Genesis 38:6-11

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

It’s troubles me today to see the number of people who feel like it’s fine to live an ungodly life. It’s something they are completely comfortable with as they step through each day doing whatever they please with no real concern for what’s right or wrong and no fear of consequences. Indeed, the line between good and evil seems ever more to be smudged or, in a lot of cases, erased all together.

Indeed, ungodliness seems to be the in thing these days and what is even more troubling to me is that you even find professing Christian believers involved in this. Over and over again, I see it on social media in regard to matters the Bible clearly calls sinful and yet Christian believers are endorsing. Unfortunately, this is just an extension of churches that hold onto non-biblical doctrines, churches that have one foot in the world and its ways and the other in the Lord.

As we turn to our passage for today, we need to recap what we learned yesterday from the first five verses of Genesis, chapter 38. There you’ll recall how Judah, the fourth son of Jacob, decided to leave his Israelite kin and associate with the sinful, polytheistic Canaanite people, even going as far as marrying one of their women. In the following verses, we see where that ungodly decision would go on to have serious ramifications after he had three sons with his Canaanite wife, the daughter of Shua.

Judah got a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. But Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the Lord's sight; so the Lord put him to death.

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." But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his; so whenever he lay with his brother's wife, he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from producing offspring for his brother. What he did was wicked in the Lord's sight; so he put him to death also.

Judah then said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, "Live as a widow in your father's house until my son Shelah grows up." For he thought, "He may die too, just like his brothers."

So Tamar went to live in her father's house. Vv.6-11

One truth we know about God is that He will not co-exist with sin. So as Judah willingly chose to turn from the will of the Lord and form a partnership with sinfulness, we find where God didn’t partner with the relationships that resulted.

Point in case was Judah’s first son, Er. The scriptures tell us that he was wicked in the Lord’s sight which should come as no surprise as he was the product of a sinful couple. Er’s transgressions resulted in God taking action, removing the opportunity for him to bear any children after his father selected Tamar to be his wife. Operating outside of the Lord, Judah’s family line was not going to be extended through sons who chose iniquity over the righteousness God desired.

And so, we read where the Lord put Er to death and while we aren’t told how that death happened, the point here is that any man who willfully decides to be wicked in God’s sight can and will face the consequence of death, losing everything in the process.

Going back to our passage, we find Judah trying to adjust after his firstborn son had passed away and of interest, he never turns to God once through this entire story.

Never inquired as to who should be his wife.

Never inquired as to whether or not he should have children.

Never stopped once to inquire why his son had been taken from him.

Judah didn’t do any of this but rather, tried to work things out on his own terms, using worldly, cultural norms in the process.

In this case, he turned to his second son, Onan, and impressed on him the cultural responsibility he now bore with the death of his older brother. That responsibility involved the following:

To honor the death of his brother and compensate for the fact that he had not lived long enough to bear a son, the next son in line, Onan, was to sleep with his dead brother’s widow and then dedicate the first son born to his brother.

In other words, the baby born to the second son would then enjoy the same privilege as if he had been born from the first, a custom was referred to as a “levirate marriage”.

Well, obviously Onan wasn’t a big fan of this cultural norm because we read that when Judah gave Tamar to him so they could engage in sexual relations with the goal of her becoming pregnant, Onan refused to allow his semen to enter Tamar. Instead, the scriptures tell is he would spill “it on the ground."

This was an act that we read was “wicked in the Lord’s sight" so He put Onan to death too. Once again, we don’t know how Onan died but he was wicked like Er was and that wickedness had fatal consequences.

And if you’re keeping score, Judah who sinfully married a Canaanite woman now lost his first two sons from that marriage and this led to him fearing the worse, a fear that only caused him to spiral further into sin.

For not realizing that his first two sons had died because of their wickedness, Judah drew the conclusion that Tamar must be responsible in some way. Maybe he thought she had some curse upon her that caused his sons to die when they were with her but whatever his reasoning, scripture clearly tells us that he believed his youngest son, Shelah, would die "just like his brothers."

And so Judah made up an excuse so to keep Tamar from having sex with Shelah, saying that his youngest son needed to grow up. In essence, Judah told a lie because he misinterpreted what was really happening and this misinterpretation happened because he didn’t consult the Lord. If he had just done that, he would have been told why things happened the way they did and even more importantly, know what needed to happen next.

In the end translation, Judah failed to communicate with the One who is the source of all life’s answers and in a future message, we’ll see how Judah will further pay a price for his unwillingness to ask for the Lord’s counsel.

The lesson here is that when we decide to go it our own way, not consulting the Lord on life’s matters, we can expect to anger the Lord and royally mess up our life situations. We need to know and understand that the Lord will not bless the life of one who is knowingly disobedient and insubordinate to Him.

Going back to our passage for today, we find that Judah, selfishly protecting his son, condemned Tamar to a life of widowhood and as we see in the Bible, this wasn’t a place any woman wanted to end up. This is widows weren’t recognized as having any right to the property and possessions of their deceased husband. That ended up going to the firstborn son and so the widow would typically end up homeless and begging for support, especially if they had no children to care for them.

Thankfully, Tamar was fortunate because she was able to return to her father’s home and while we don’t know for sure, we could possibly see this as the Lord watching over Tamar after being victimized by Judah and his sons. Later, we will see where she reappears in the scriptures to show she is far from a pushover.

This brings us to one final take away from this account for when you decide to go it alone without God, your decisions might be harmful to someone else. There’s definitely a danger that comes with making decisions solely based on one’s own self interest because more often than not, it’s done at the expense of another.

Friends, today’s scripture passage serves as a warning to all who choose to live like there are no consequences for choosing to live contrary to the Lord and His will. Within these verses, God is telling us loud and clear that there are consequences for the wicked, the disrespectful, the disobedient, and the untrusting.

We had better hear this message and work to make corrections now, before it’s too late.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

PREVENTIVE MEASURES TO STAVE OFF FAMILY DYSFUNCTION

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

At that time, Judah left his brothers and went down to stay with a man of Adullam named Hirah. There Judah met the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua. He married her and lay with her; she became pregnant and gave birth to a son, who was named Er. She conceived again and gave birth to a son and named him Onan. She gave birth to still another son and named him Shelah. It was at Kezib that she gave birth to him.

Genesis 38:1-5

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Now, I don’t know too many families today who don’t have problems, especially when children are involved. And sometimes when children grow up into adulthood, they can be more problematic than they were when they were younger. It’s true now and as we see in the scriptures, it was the same way back in Old Testament times.

Different culture. Different era, but surprisingly similar problems when compared to today. We can see this when we take the children of Jacob (Israel) into consideration and as we do, you might realize that your family dysfunction is mild by comparison. For his kids, twelve sons and a daughter, grew into adulthood, here’s a few things that he had to deal with:

1. His only daughter, Dinah, was raped by Shechem, son of Hamor the Hivite (Genesis 34:1-2). Culturally, this sexual assault carried with it a lifelong penalty as Dinah was no longer a virgin and suitable for marriage. She would end up single and childless for the rest of her life.

2. In response to what happened to Dinah, her brothers Simeon and Levi, Jacob’s second and third born sons, slaughtered all the men who resided in Shechem because what the ruler’s son had done to their sister. This murderous, vengeful rampage came after they duped the city’s males to be circumcised so they would be incapacitated and vulnerable to attack.

3. Reuben, the eldest son who was entitled to the family birthright, subsequently threw it all away when he decided to sleep with Bilhah, his father’s concubine. His adulterous actions couldn’t have been more devastating and destructive.

4. And then eleven of Jacob’s sons got together and decided to kill their brother Joseph out of jealousy and hatred for him. Not able to bring themselves to murder him and have his blood on their hands, they instead decided to sell him, their own flesh and blood, into slavery. They then tricked their father into believing Joseph had been killed, bring him the special colored robe that had been stained with goat’s blood.

Now, how would you have liked to be Jacob and have had to deal with all this?  

I don’t think anyone would say they would want to take his place, for sure.

In this account of Jacob’s family, we see three distinct incidents where Jacob’s sons had conducted themselves in a way that dishonored him and, more importantly, God. In fact, Reuben’s actions angered Jacob so much that he transferred the family birthright to Joseph. Yes, you got it, the Joseph who was now sold into slavery.

With all this, surely there wouldn’t be any more dysfunction in this family, right?

Wrong. For in our scripture today, we see Judah, the fourth born son, deciding to break away from his Israelite kin and associate with the Canaanites.

Look again at these opening verses from Genesis, chapter 38:

At that time, Judah left his brothers and went down to stay with a man of Adullam named Hirah. There Judah met the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua. He married her and lay with her; she became pregnant and gave birth to a son, who was named Er. She conceived again and gave birth to a son and named him Onan. She gave birth to still another son and named him Shelah. It was at Kezib that she gave birth to him. Vv.1-5

You may remember how Jacob’s father Isaac was so insistent that his son not marry a Canaanite woman (Genesis 28:1) and so Jacob was sent to his uncle Laban to wed a relative instead.

So why was Isaac so adamant about who his son would marry?

It was really about religious practices when we get right down to it.

The Canaanites lived within a pagan culture, worshipping false gods and idols. Isaac knew that if Jacob intermarried, then he would find his faith corrupted and possibly adopt the religious practices of his wife. This would place his son in a position of enmity with God.

But as we turn back to our passage for today, we find Judah doing what his father didn’t, marrying the “daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua” and then having three sons with her.

I find it interesting that the scriptures give so little credit to the Canaanite woman that Judah marries. We are never even given her name and this is in stark contrast to other biblical birth accounts such as when Jacob’s sons and daughter were born (Genesis 29:31-30:24). And while the mother is identified by name, God’s word does give us the names of the sons that she gave birth to.

As for those sons, we will see what happens with them a future message but it’s almost predictable at this point that things are not going to go well for them.

Why?

When it comes down to it, it’s a matter of God’s favor and as in many places in the Bible, we’re going to see where parents can make decisions that will ultimately impact the lives of their children afterwards.

Going back to the passage for today, we find Judah, a man of the one and only true God, willingly deciding to marry and bear children with a woman who has rejected the one and only true God and chosen to worship many false gods (emphasis on the small "g"). This union of holiness with ungodliness results in three children born out of a sinful union as Judah opts to yoke himself to an immoral Canaanite wife. Subsequently, his children would be brought up in ways that would be displeasing to the Lord.

In support of this, we need to remember that every polytheistic culture disrespects God, the Maker and Master of all created people. We also know through His own words that God doesn’t stand for being disrespected. Consider this excerpt from the Ten Commandments that He would give to the Israelite people through Moses:

"You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in Heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me." Exodus 20:3-5

Friends, today’s lesson carries with it a lot of takeaways and we should be ready to self examine ourselves in response.

First, we need to bear children out of marriages that honor God.

The Bible is full of examples where children born out of non-God endorsed sexual relations ended up in enmity with him and His people. 

Second, our children can suffer in their lives when parents don't honor the Lord with theirs. 

In the Jacob story, we saw where he sinned through deception and this sin ended up evident in the actions of his children later. 

And in our passage for today, we see where Judah deliberately marries an ungodly, pagan woman before having three sons with her, three sons who would grow up ungodly themselves.

Further, we find the Lord promising that there would be consequences for future generations of those who disrespected Him through worshiping anyone or anything else and we know that God always keeps His promises. 

How many more times do we need to see innocent children tainted through the sinfulness of those God has entrusted with the responsibility to parent in His name and for His sake?

Third, we need to seriously consider our actions as we are raising children.

Our kids are always watching us and learning, even when we’re not directly engaging them. They are learning how to become an adult and you are the one they see the most. Make sure they have the right role model to follow, carefully considering every word or action.

Fourth, and as an extension of the third takeaway, make sure that your kids see the Lord in you.

Hopefully, you have a relationship with Him. They need to develop theirs. As a godly parent, you are accountable to the Lord for making sure your children grow up getting to know Him so they can mature in that relationship as an adult and then do for your children what you did for them when they were younger.

In the end translation, if something is important to the parent, the family leader, it will be important to the children. Make the Lord the most important thing in your family and He will bless your family in return. It’s one way to eliminate potential dysfunction like we see in the Jacob family story.  

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

CASCADING SIN

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In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Now his brothers had gone to graze their father's flocks near Shechem, and Israel said to Joseph, "As you know, your brothers are grazing the flocks near Shechem. Come, I am going to send you to them."

"Very well," he replied.

So he said to him, "Go and see if all is well with your brothers and with the flocks, and bring word back to me."

Then he sent him off from the Valley of Hebron.

When Joseph arrived at Shechem, a man found him wandering around in the fields and asked him, "What are you looking for?"

He replied, "I'm looking for my brothers. Can you tell me where they are grazing their flocks?"

"They have moved on from here," the man answered. "I heard them say, 'Let's go to Dothan.'"

So Joseph went after his brothers and found them near Dothan. But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him. "Here comes that dreamer!" they said to each other. "Come now, let's kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we'll see what comes of his dreams."

When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. "Let's not take his life," he said. "Don't shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern here in the desert, but don't lay a hand on him." Reuben said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father.

So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the richly ornamented robe he was wearing-and they took him and threw him into the cistern.

Now the cistern was empty; there was no water in it. 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.

Judah said to his brothers, "What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? Come, let's sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood." His brothers agreed.

So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.

When Reuben returned to the cistern and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes. He went back to his brothers and said, "The boy isn't there! Where can I turn now?"

Then they got Joseph's robe, slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. They took the ornamented robe back to their father and said, "We found this. Examine it to see whether it is your son's robe." He recognized it and said, "It is my son's robe! Some ferocious animal has devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces."

Then Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for his son many days. All his sons and daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. "No," he said, "in mourning will I go down to the grave to my son."

So his father wept for him. Meanwhile, the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh's officials, the captain of the guard.

Genesis 37:12-36

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As we continue our study of Genesis, Chapter 37, we find the animosity within the hearts of Joseph’s brothers boiling over as their bitterness takes them well beyond the limits of mere detestation and into the frightening realm of murderous hostility. And in what could be considered a sequel to the Cain and Abel story, the eleven brothers plot Joseph’s demise as they see him approaching them in the distance, dispatched by Jacob to see how they were doing.

In a twisted way, we see how the brothers began to see that there was no better way to regain their father’s favor than to get rid of his favorite son and the progression of their scheme serves as a warning to all of us. For when sin is crouching at our door, to borrow a saying used by God earlier in this book (Genesis 4:7), reprehensible behavior will follow if we open the door for Satan to enter in and exploit our sinful attitudes.

In the case of the eleven brothers, we know they were selfish, jealous, coveting, and overall hateful. We also know that the Lord was not involved in any of this because if He was then the sinfulness we read of wouldn’t have existed in the first place.

With this and in the spirit of avoiding the mistakes of the eleven brothers in the future, let’s carefully examine how sin cascaded and spiraled out of control:

First, the brothers hated Joseph and that’s where the problem started.

It’s common knowledge that doctors who diagnose illnesses try and get to the root cause.

If we’re going to properly address the sin in our lives, we need to do the same, to get to the bottom of what leads to our transgression and in the case of Joseph’s brothers, this was hatred. In fact, every other iniquity they committed poured out of the hatred and associated jealousy they had for their favored brother, a hatred and jealousy that had them desiring his death.

Of course, the chief instigator of all this was none other than Satan himself and the cure for the sin ailment was right there for the brothers if they had only awakened from the wrong of their ways and turned to the Lord before it was too late. Indeed, God would have led them out of the darkness of hatred and into the light of love but they never gave Him the opportunity to do that. we know happen. And so instead of sin stopping at hatred, it reproduced upon itself exponentially, giving birth to other negative, sinful emotions, emotions that led to them wanting to murder their own sibling.

Before we move on, a quick question:

Do you harbor hatred in your heart for someone and have you allowed it to spread within you, infecting your heart and soul to where you are malicious, hostile, bitter, or resenting?

If so, I would encourage you to turn to Jesus, the Way and the Truth and the Life (John 14:6) and His first formal teaching, often referred to as the Sermon on the Mount. There, we find Him declaring that if any person is angry with another, they will face the same justice and judgment as if they had murdered that person. Here’s exactly what He said:

"You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.” Matt 5:21-22

The bottom line here is that anger and hatred are not of God, His Son Jesus, or His Holy Spirit and so if you are harboring these emotions inside, please repent now and ask the God of light and love to enter in so that He can heal you from the inside out.

Here are the other cascading, sinful actions we find within Joseph’s brothers:

1. The brothers plotted to kill Joseph, throw him into a cistern, and claim he was attacked by a wild animal.

Unwilling to be honest about their sinful murdering of Joseph, the brothers decided to make up a story to tell their father and what makes this so fascinating is that Jacob had a reputation of being a deceiver himself.

For example, you may remember Jacob tricking his father, Isaac, into giving him Esau’s blessing, and duping his also deceitful uncle, Laban, to steal away his flocks and power. Now, we find Jacob’s offspring repeating his sins of the past with him now the target of their deceit.

At the end of our passage, we see where the lie worked to perfection but thankfully Joseph was very much alive thanks to the oldest brother, Reuben, who interceded for his brother before he was killed. Indeed, had it not been for Reuben convincing the other ten brothers to take a different course of action, Joseph would have been dead before he went into the cistern.

2. The brothers plotted to throw Joseph into the cistern and let him die naturally.

Rather than kill Joseph themselves, shedding his blood in the process, the brothers decided to throw Joseph into the cistern and let him die inside it. Thankfully, we read where there was no water in the cistern or Joseph could have possibly drowned but still, without food and water, surely he wouldn’t last long before dying from starvation or dehydration. In fact, one might say that this was even more cruel than just killing him and getting it over with.

And so with their new plan in place, the brothers stripped Joseph of the special, colored robe Jacob had given him and then threw their despised brother into the cistern before sitting down to eat, seemingly unfazed by the potentially deadly act they had just committed.

3. The eleven brothers sold their brother into slavery for 20 pieces of silver.

In what could be viewed as a prelude to Judas betraying Jesus for 30 silver coins, the brothers, feeling guilty about wanting to kill Joseph, decide instead to sell him to the Ishmaelites. In doing this, perhaps the brothers tried to resolve the guilt they felt by feeling they were somehow doing something noble by not killing Joseph but rather sending him off into slavery and an unknown fate.

To them, their end objective had been accomplished. They wanted to be rid of Joseph and now had happened.

4. They deceived their father into believing Joseph was dead.

The eleven brothers had succeeded in dispatching Joseph from their lives but there was still a matter of going back to their father and dealing with him. And so they came up with yet another sinful plan, taking Joseph’s robe of many colors and using it as an instrument of their deception.

The scriptures tell us that they “slaughtered a goat” before dipping the robe in its blood. They then took the robe to their father and Jacob’s response was as you would expect. In that moment, he truly believed that he had lost his beloved son, and not long after he had lost his beloved wife, Rachel.

You know, we can almost picture the other eleven sons gathering around their mourning father and seeking to comfort him, all the while knowing in their hearts what really happened. Surely with Joseph now out of the way, they had to believe that they could now regain Jacob’s favor, even if they had to do it under-handedly.

As this chapter ends, the eleven brothers think they had succeeded with through dishonesty. They had to feel very clever to have pulled everything off the way they did, sensing they were in control of things but it wouldn’t take long for God to show them otherwise. For as we will see, everything happens in the Joseph story in accordance with God’s plan. The eleven brothers weren’t in control at all but rather unwary participants in God placing Joseph right where He wanted him to be to accomplish just what He wanted him to do.

We’ll pick up with the Joseph storyline as he begins to serve Potiphar, one of Pharaoh's officials, the captain of the guard, in Egypt after being sold off by the Midianites but before I close today, a quick summation of what the Lord is teaching us today.

For through His Word and the sinful behavior of Joseph’s eleven brothers, our Lord wants us to seek out, find, and eradicate the roots of sin that are within us, and to do it quickly before they grow up and take us over. He wants us to turn away from the enemy and toward Him before wickedness overcomes and overruns us, allowing Him to enter in and lead us to the righteousness and right living He desires.

Friends, the Lord God Almighty is the only cure for the common sin, the antidote that keeps it from cascading and leading us down the road of destruction. It’s no wonder why He is often referred to as the Great Physician.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

A MATTER OF ATTITUDE

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In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. He said to them, "Listen to this dream I had: We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it." His brothers said to him, "Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?" And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said.

Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. "Listen," he said, "I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me."

When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, "What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?"

His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.

Genesis 37:5-11

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In the first four verses of Genesis, chapter 37, we picked back up with the story of Jacob (also named Israel by God). You’ll remember that we learned how Jacob loved Joseph more than his other eleven sons, even going as far as making a special robe of many colors for his favored boy. Indeed, we see where the robe would serve as a symbolic representation of the special favor Joseph had in the eyes of his father, a special favor that had negative consequences. For the scriptures told us that Joseph’s brothers developed a hatred and jealousy that burned deep within them, a hatred and jealousy that would only grow as we love to our passage today. Let’s look again at those words here:

Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. He said to them, "Listen to this dream I had: We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it." His brothers said to him, "Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?" And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said.

Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. "Listen," he said, "I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me."

When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, "What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?"

His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind. Vv.5-11

In these seven verses, we see the how the brothers’ contempt for Joseph only grew and festered inside their hearts, like a wound that is not treated properly and gets infected. In regard to the mentioned wound, if it’s not given proper attention, it will only spread and become more toxic to the body with potentially deadly results if not tended to. Using this as an analogy, we see the sinful ire inside of Joseph’s brothers was definitely spreading out of control, moving them from anger to hatred to rage, and later, to more deadly thoughts.

So here are some questions to consider before we proceed:

Why were the eleven brothers so angry with Joseph?

Wasn’t it because Jacob loved him more and gave him the special robe?

We know it was and so here’s the final question:

Was that really a good reason to hate Joseph?

Maybe the answer would be “yes” if a person is selfish, conceited and self-centered. After all, did Joseph ask for these things from his father? No, Jacob was the one who initiated everything and yet, his eleven sons directed their rage toward Joseph.

This rage only amplified after Joseph shares a couple of dreams he had, ones in which he ends up being the leader of his brothers and parents. This further incensed his brothers and their negative feelings towards him. We see that even his father, Jacob, rebuked him but at least he resolved to keep “the matter in hand", displaying a wisdom that transcended his sons. In the moment, Jacob didn’t see that there wasn’t any real big deal over what Joseph said.

After all, what would be the big deal if Joseph did end up being in a leadership position over the family. When it comes right down to it, not everyone can be in charge and the proper attitude is to respect those whose authority we fall under.

You know, it’s been said that to be a truly good leader, you first have to learn how to follow properly and with leadership having been such a big part of my life, I can tell you that the statement is true. Applied to this account in Genesis, we see where Joseph’s brothers were not followers and their attitudes show that they weren’t being real brothers either, a problem we will see the Lord fix as this story advances .

You know, the sad part of all this is that it’s not just restricted to Old Testament times. We still see it happening today as it has through the ages as sibling rivalries continue to repeat the terrible mistakes of the past.

At the heart of the matter is that most people don’t like to be second. Rather, they would love to be the center of attention and when someone else gets the favor instead, they have a tendency to not handle things well. Just like Joseph’s brothers, they begin to get angry, then anger morphs into hate, and before long, they can completely look to discredit or even eliminate the favored one. This plot need not involve injuring or killing a person physically but it could definitely involve character assassination or attempting to harm someone emotionally by the things we say or do.

Ask yourself how often people might seek to discredit someone so they can make themselves look better?

This is exactly in line with what I’m talking about here and we need to know that such ugly, sinful behavior is totally displeasing to the Lord. For He would tell us that life isn’t a competition. Rather, He calls us and others to do things in accordance with His will and our only appropriate response is to carry out what He desires in complete obedience, whether His call is to lead or follow.

The bottom line is that our responses to the things of life come down to a matter of attitude and if we have the Lord in our heart and surrender to His way, then we will have a servant’s attitude and do whatever He calls us to do. Conversely, if we have Satan in our heart, then we will do things according to what we think is right, responding in accordance with our own will which is really the same as responding in step with his. Those responses could include anger, hatred, resentfulness, jealousy, and/or envy, or in other words, sin.

Ultimately, we all have a choice and that choice is born out of our inner attitude. The scriptures today are calling us to self examine, especially in matters where someone may have gained preference over us. We are being asked to assess our feelings to see where they fall.

In these instances, are we living with an attitude of selfishness, envy, and covetousness, or are we choosing to rejoice and be glad in the blessings that others receive, even if those blessings are ones we really wanted for ourselves?

My prayer is that your overall life attitude would align with that of the Lord for when we do this, we can be assured that we’ll always be first in His eyes and that’s really all that counts in the end.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.