- Genesis 38 Daily DEVO He turned to her at the roadside and said, “Come, let me come in to you,” for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. She said, “What will you give me, that you may come in to me?” Genesis 38:16 – Be careful to not let your sadness or anger direct your actions. We see here Judah being saddened by the death of his wife and coming across a “prostitute” (quotations because it was his daughter-in-law in disguise)(yeah I know, messed up). Not only do we see him trying to heal himself with this sinful act, but it goes even deeper as we read on. Judah acknowledges he thought this was a cult prostitute, meaning using her was an offering to a false god. All this directs us to seek wisdom and discernment over our choices, especially when the emotions are heavy. We see in this story just how messed up letting our choices be dictated by our emotions only can get. Be wise, seek the counsel of God’s Word and those who love you in these times. Don’t let your life be ruined by a dumb decision made when you weren’t thinking clearly. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 518
- But as he drew back his hand, behold, his brother came out. And she said, “What a breach you have made for yourself!” Therefore his name was called Perez. Genesis 38:29 – If you didn’t read the whole chapter or are just unfamiliar with this story, here’s the highlights. Sinful action after sinful action takes place in this family. Wickedness, lies, selfishness, lust. We have a father having sex with his daughter in law because he thought she was a cult prostitute. That’s where little baby Perez enters into the story here in Genesis. You know where else Perez is found? Matthew chapter 1, in the genealogy of Jesus. Yes, all this evil took place and people went so far off the path God would have laid out for them, but through all that God was still able to work His master plan of bringing Jesus into the world for our salvation. Settle in the truth then that our mistakes won’t ruin God’s plan. We aren’t in control, He is. He has simply invited us into what He is doing. Yes we will slip up and yes we’ll make poor choices, but those don’t disqualify us nor crumble the work God is able to do through us. God is bigger than that. You can’t thwart it, but you can be a part of it. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1842
- It happened at that time that Judah went down from his brothers and turned aside to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. Genesis 38:1 – This story of Judah and Tamar really has no positive pieces to it outside of the fact that we see later on in history God redeeming this by allowing Judah, Tamar, and their son Perez be a part of Jesus’ family tree. For in this story we see wickedness, death, prostitution, deception, and so much more. Where though did this begin? It began with Judah “turning aside” to a place he shouldn’t have gone and taking a wife from a people God said not to take a wife from. As we study scripture, we certainly do come across directions from God on how to live and how to handle relationships. While we can feel frustrated and upset that God is making such commands for us to follow, thinking He is trying to ruin our lives by demanding such obedience from us to such things, let this example of Judah and Tamar show you where “turning aside” from God’s directions leads you. God commands what He does and demands obedience to what He says for He knows following Him will lead to our best life. We may not want to follow what He says, and we may even want to reject many of the things we see outlined in scripture for us, but if He said it, it must be because obedience to such things will result in our best life. We may not understand, and we may not even want to follow, but let us choose to obey the word of God with both the things we agree with and with those we don’t. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2844
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