One Year Bible Readings and Commentary for January 18th Joseph Dreams His Brothers Will Bow Down To Him, Tamar Tricks Judah, Jesus Heals a Demon Possessed Man

 Click Here to Listen to the Four Readings

Click Here To Read the Old Testament Lesson Genesis 37-38

We have seen the dsyfunctional nature of  the Patriarchal families. And unfortunately it is only going to get worse. On the other hand, the fact that the bible is so transparent about their shortcomings, gives even more credence to its authenticity. We have seen greed, lying, deceitfulness, adultery and idolatry. Fortunately it did not cause God to go back on His promises to Abraham. 

Today, we start the poignant saga of Jacob's son, Joseph, the firstborn son to Jacob through Rachel. It is easy to see today that Joseph was Jacob's favorite son and the other brothers knew it. Jacob gave him a special robe to distinguish him from his other sons. In most families parents at least try to give their kids gifts which are somewhat similar in value. 

Joseph is also called a "dreamer". In his first dream, he is in the field and sees his brothers' bundles of grain bowing to him. It is symbolic that one day Joseph would rule over them. You can't really blame the brothers for being a little "miffed" by this. If I were Joseph, I am not sure I would have been so naive to share this dream with my older brothers. 

To make matters worse, he had a second dream much like the first. In it the sun, moon and 11 stars bowed to him. This symbolized not only would his 11 brothers bow down to him, but also his mother and father., as represented by the sun and the moon. Jacob is curious and the brothers are furious. So when they meet him out in the fields, they plot to kill him. Only Reuben, the oldest brother, insisted they throw him into a cistern and not shed his blood.

They figured eventually he would die and someone would find him. Meanwhile Judah reasons that they should avoid a guilty conscience by selling him to a caravan of Ishmaelites. They brought Joseph's robe back stained in blood to explain to Jacob that he had died. Jacob grieved greatly. The traders sold Joseph to Potiphar, the chief of police for King Pharaoh. This would end up being hugely significant for the future of the Jewish people. 

In chapter 38, Judah moves to Adullah. Adullah was about 35 miles southwest of Jerusalem. There was a cave there that later King David hid out in. Judah does what was explicitly forbidden to do by marrying a Canaanite woman. Interestingly the bible only says she is the daughter of Shua. We never learn her name. But she bore Judah three sons Er, Onan and Shelah. Looking to increase his descendants, he tried to arrange for Er to marry Tamar. 

We don't know a lot about Tamar, but she is a Canaanite like Judah's wife. After all, there weren't any of Judah's kin there, Jacob didn't have a lot of choices. Things don't go so well. Er, his first son, is seen as wicked in God's eyes and the Lord strikes him dead. Onan has his own form of deception. When has sex with Tamar, he spills his semen on the ground thus preventing her from getting pregnant. The Lord kills Onan as well. The only son left is Shelah, and since he is too young, Judah waits until Shelah gets older for him to get married to Tamar. Most likely he is scared that the same will happen to his only surviving son. 

Tamar, for her part, was still looking to get married. But given what happened to his first two boys, Judah lies to her and tells her she will bring him back when he is of age. Meanwhile years later it was pretty clear she was never going to marry Shelah, so she hatches a plan. Someone tells her that her father-in-law Judah was going out to shear jis sheep. So she takes off her widow's clothes and dressed up as a prostitute on the road with a veil covering her face.

Judah not knowing who it is contracts her services and agrees to give her a young goat from his flock. I guess that was the going rate. Tamar is not confortable with this arrangement and asks Judah to leave a guarantee that he will fulfill his obligation. So he agrees to give her his walking stick, a cord, and his identification seal. Tamar and Judah have sex and soon thereafter she is pregnant with his son.  

Click Here for a historical background on Judah's cord, seal and walking stick

When Judah sends his friend back, he can't find Tamar as she is no longer hanging out at the town square. Judah rationalizes, "Well at least I tried". Three months later, he learns his daughter in law Tamar is pregnant. He is outraged and urges a public trial. Unfortuantely for him, Tamar had kept the three articles he had given her clearly showing that he was the Father. 

Judah admits that she has acted more nobly than him. Soon thereafter Tamar gives birth two twin sons. And you guessed it the twin boys wrestle in the womb. Sound familiar. When the older boy Zerah comes out first, the midwife ties a scarlet cord around his little hand, perhaps because she wanted to make sure they knew who came out first. And sure enough the other twin boy, Perez, comes first, though technically he should have been the younger brother. 

There is a saying, "the sins of the father visit future generations". We also call it "generational sin".  It reminds any of us who are parents that nobody lives only unto themselves. What we model for our children will have an effect on them for generations to come! 

Click Here for the New Testament Reading Matthew 12:22-45

Jesus and the Prince of Demons

Jesus healed another demon possessed man who could not see or speak. Once again, instead of rejoicing with the man who was healed, the Pharisees use it as an opportunity to try and defame Jesus

Jesus uses a very simple and logical argument to defend himself, and show the stupidity of their claim. Jesus asks them a simple question, "Why would Satan try and cast out one of his own demons." That would be self defeating. It would like cutting off your nose to spite your face. It would be the military planning an attack on itself.  You think they could have come up with a better attack. 

Just like someone is either for or against the devil, you either support Jesus or oppose him. One cannot be moderately for Jesus. If He is the Son of God, then he should be treated as such. Jesus makes a comment that has been the subject of a lot of debate. He says, "Everybody who blasphemies will be forgiven, but he who blasphemies the Holy Spirit will NEVER be forgiven."  

What does he mean by this? The Holy Spirit is the means by which we come to faith. Without the Holy Spirit we are blinded to our need for Jesus. The Holy Spirit uses the Gospel, the Good News about Jesus Christ, to open the eyes of our heart. The Holy Spirit lead us to faith in Christ, so that we might believe and receive Him. So when we reject or blaspheme the Holy Spirit, we reject the very person of God, who draws us to him in the first place.

Even as a believer who possesses the Holy Spirit, we are told in scripture to be careful not to quench the Holy Spirit. The more we quench the Holy Spirit, the farther we move away from God. The Holy Spirit is our counselor and guide, but if we deafen our ears to his voice we will easily become lost. 

The Sign of Jonah

The religious leaders ask for a sign. First of all, it is not like Jesus hasn't given them a ton of signs and miracles already. Clearly, they are trying to trap him and make him look bad.

So Jesus tells them that the only sign they will see him perform is like Jonah being in the belly of the whale for three days. Clearly Jesus is clearly referring to the sign of his resurrection.

"Jonah was indeed a picture of the work of Jesus. Jonah gave his life to appease the wrath of God coming upon others. But death did not hold him; after three days and nights of imprisonment, he was alive and free. This is a glorious picture of Jesus in an unexpected place." (Guzik)

But the bottom line is that even when they did see Jesus risen from the dead, they did not believe. Jesus says that even the evil people of Nineveh repented which is more than he could say about the religous leaders. 

Click Here to Read Psalm 16:1-11

I once asked the Lord to give me a psalm that I could call my own. This was it. I memorized this psalm and said it often. These words say it all,

"I will bless the Lord who guides me; even at night my heart instructs me. I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice. My body rests in safety. For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave. You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever."

This psalm shows the depth of David's relationship with the Lord, and looks forward to the relationship we have with God's Son. As we take our refuge in Jesus, he reminds us that he is ALWAYS with us. Because he is right beside us we CANNOT be moved. His presence makes our heart glad and joyful and our body is secure. Jesus will not let us go down to the pit of hell, but he has shown us the way to the Father.  We will spend our eternal life resting in the joy of God's presence enjoying him in every way!

Click Here to Read Proverbs 3:33-35

We see in these verses the results of trusting in God versus in trusting mockers and fools. Each will reap what they sowed.