DAD;S RAMBLINGS -- A MESSY TAPESTRY

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – MESSY TAPESTRY

"This is the history of Jacob." (Genesis 37:2a)

The history of Jacob and his family is a sordid mess. It is a story of intrigue, of prostitution, of murder, of hatred between brothers. These three chapters make Peyton Place appear tame in comparison.

Jacob had 12 sons by four different women. But his favorite son was Joseph. He loved Joseph more than all of his other children. We have seen in the stories of Isaac and Ishmael, and of Jacob and Esau, how parental favoritism caused so many problems. And so it was with Joseph and his brothers. There was a family feud. They hated him and wanted to kill him, and eventually sold him into slavery. But this is only a small part of this dysfunctional family.

There was also the incident with Judah and his family. Judah had a son named Er by a Canaanite woman. Er married a woman named Tamar. But Er was wicked in God's sight, and the Lord killed him. The custom was for a brother to marry a widow. That lot fell to Judah's second son, Onan. But Onan did not want any children, and he practiced birth control by spilling his semen on the ground. That displeased the Lord and God killed him also. Judah had a third son, Shelah, and Judah promised Tamar that Shelah would marry her in due time. But that promised was not fulfilled. So Tamar enticed Judah into an illicit relationship, and she bore two sons to Judah, Perez and Zerah.

Now, you say, what is the point, John? The point is expressed in Matthew chapter one, which is the lineage of the Lord Jesus. So it is recorded that Abraham begat Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers. Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, and so on. It is incredible that from this mess anything good would result, let alone the lineage of the Lord Jesus.

God does not make people do ugly things. But He has a way of pulling all the threads together to make a beautiful pattern. It is like the bottom of a piece of tapestry. The bottom side looks really messy with all the knots and threads going every which way. But the design on the top side shows wonderful craftsmanship. We are God's handiwork created in Christ Jesus for good works (Ephesians 2:9). We may not do everything perfectly. The underside of life may be messy, with many knots and tangled threads, but when we love God, we can trust God to tie the strings together to fulfill His purposes.

Love, Dad