Hello My Friend/Guest,

Today is Wednesday January 13, 2010 and we are reading through the Bible in a year. Today's message comes from the reading of the Book of Genesis chapters37-39. If you would like to read the chapters along with us here online you can Click Here to read them or copy & paste this URL onto your browser: http://www.readytofollow.com/bible-january-13

As you read through the Bible, it can be a bit confusing at times, often people will base their opinion of God on the Old Testament or Book of Revelation and if they do not understand what they are reading they either want no part of Him or they do not read it at all, relying on others to tell them what God is trying to say. I remember for the longest time I would not read the book of Revelation because I feared the end of the world (by what people were telling me), I figured if I avoided it that it would not come true. However, we can not escape the fact that the Bible is true, no matter how much we avoid it. Every story line and every word is placed in the Bible in a specific place for a specific reason. I imagine when Moses was writing the Book of Genesis that he too had some questions as to why God did some things, why He killed some people, and why he even used some of the people He used to represent Him. However, He trusted God and knew that every word that He told him was to be used in the exact order that He said and had some purpose to it. While it is best to read the Bible for ourselves, at times, it helps to get someone's help to understand certain stories, even I have to do my research at times to figure out how to word some things. For instance, as we learn about Joseph, Jacob's twelfth son and probably the only one who had any interest in God, we are interrupted by an entire chapter devoted to Jacob's fourth son, Judah. “And it came to pass at that time, that Judah went down from his brethren, and turned in to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose name was Shuah; and he took her, and went in unto her. And she conceived, and bare a son; and he called his name Er. And she conceived again, and bare a son; and she called his name Onan. And she yet again conceived, and bare a son; and called his name Shelah: and he was at Chezib, when she bare him.” - Genesis 38:1-5. Now, Judah was far from being a godly man, in fact, he had no interest in God at all, he married a heathen woman and had three sons by her, whom were not godly either. So, why would God feel the need to mention him in the middle of telling us about Joseph, who was one of the most godliest men in the Bible? It was important that we learn about Judah because was he was to bring forth the seed that would lead to the lineage where Jesus would come.

Well, in the four years that I have been doing these devotions I have never wanted to touch on this subject as I see many others do not as well. Why? Because it relates to some pretty sensual issues that many Christian's want to avoid. However, as I said earlier, we can not avoid the truth as it is important to read and learn all of God's Word, which is why God placed it on my heart to talk about Judah instead of Joseph. Judah chose a wife for his first born son, Er. “And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, whose name was Tamar. And Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD slew him. And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother's wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother. And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother's wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother. And the thing which he did displeased the LORD: wherefore he slew him also.” - Genesis 38:6-10. A lot of people misinterpret these verses, they think that God killed these men because of their sensual practices, but this is not the case. You see, years ago, the eldest son received the inheritance of their father when he passed, so it was imperative that a male be born to carry on the seed. It became a law (which later on Moses made official) that if the eldest son died before he had a son of his own that the next eldest brother would provide the seed that would carry on the eldest brother's legacy. Now, it was never told what Er did that caused God to be so angry with Him, but he must have been pretty wicked for God to kill him. Onan, on the other hand, did not want to have a child that would, by law, be heir to Er because he would have not been the one to receive the inheritance, therefore he would not have a child with Tamar. This is what made God angry,

according to the divine promise, he was to raise up a seed that would continue the paternal inheritance that would continue the direct lineage to Christ, but he failed to do so because he wanted the inheritance for himself.

Interestingly, God actually used Judah to continue the seed by having a son with Tamar, in a peculiar way. As we read about this twisted story, many must wonder that out of all of Jacob's sons you would think that the seed leading to Jesus would have come from Joseph, not the most wicked man of the bunch. However, God is proving to us that we certainly do not receive salvation by merit, but by His grace. Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, even the most wicked, so the worthiness of Christ is of Himself, not His ancestors. Which draws the conclusion that no matter how wicked a family we come from, we are the ones who decide whether or not we want to live for God or follow the wicked path to destruction.

Enjoy the rest of your day/night and God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina

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