Daily Treasure

“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 38:3-5).

In these verses we find the names of Judah and his Canaanite woman’s sons who have an impact on our story. They more or less have a supporting role. However two of them are killed off because God slew them. Er did evil in the sight of the Lord and that was his undoing. According to law which we will touch on later, Onan was to marry Tamar and give her children. Onan might have married her but he made sure he wouldn’t father any kids with her. God was displeased with this and He slew Onan. Judah being protective of his youngest son, Shelah, didn’t want to lose another son so he adds to his shame which we will deal with in another devotion.

Sue Winchester
Missouri

PRAY TOGETHER: Pray for Ohio WAC president Frances Etterling and Danita High as they make plans in January for the 2009 WNAC convention.

“And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, whose name was Tamar” (Genesis 38:6).

As we proceed with the story of Tamar, using the term “lady” may not be a good choice of words but for creative purposes we will refer to her as our “leading lady.” Our study writer, Carol Reid, says Tamar’s story is “a truthful story of a real woman, of the man who done her wrong and what she did about it.” All of that has the makings a sizzling movie or a hard-core country song.

Until this Bible study, I had never heard a sermon or been a taught a lesson on Genesis 38. As ladies, we tend to want to shy away from thinking there were such women in the Bible as Tamar. Within our study we see these words: “The time has come for us to prove that the Scriptures have answers and hope for women who’ve been sinful, abused, taken advantage of or hurt.” There are many women in our world that may be just like Tamar. Can they look to us for the help they need to turn their lives around or will we continue to shun them?

Before we can delve further into our story we must meet the remaining cast of characters of our story. We will learn tomorrow how two of these characters will meet their demise early on.

Sue Winchester
Missouri

PRAY TOGETHER: Pray for the WNAC office as they close accounting books for 2008.

“And Judah saw there a daughter Canaanite, whose name was Shuah, and he took her and went unto her” (Genesis 38:2).

Though our lessons are primarily about Tamar, we must first look at Judah. As I mentioned before, he helped sell his brother, Joseph, into slavery. Then for many years led his father to believe Joseph was dead. Judah had two strikes against him when he fled to Canaan and married a Canaanite woman. This was not the will of God and his father would not have approved this union. Not much of a leading man I would say. Judah begat three sons and the oldest one, Er, married a woman named Tamar. Judah is Tamar’s father-in-law. We will learn more about Tamar tomorrow.

Sue Winchester
Missouri

PRAY TOGETHER: Pray for good health and stamina as Christmas Joy team members Michell Smith, Jennifer Spain, Jody Sullivan and Becky Walker minister today.

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16).

The month we are studying about the controversial story of Tamar and her father-in-law, Judah. If you have taken the time to read Genesis 38, you may have wondered why that was even included in the Bible. J. Vernon McGee states this in one of his commentaries, “It gives us some background on the tribe of Judah, out of which the Lord Jesus Christ came. This fact makes it important that it be included in the biblical record.” There is also the fact that God’s people needed to come out from the influence of the immoral Canaanites.

God does not condone sin in any form and judged it harshly in the Old Testament. This was done to purify His people and preserve the nation His Son would come through. As we go through the Bible study and any related materials, may our sensitivity be to what God would have us to learn from this impelling story. Christ was born into a sinful line, becoming sin who knew no sin. It was the only way He could redeem us from our sin.

God wasn’t inspired to only share writings of good people and happy stories. He wanted us to know He loves everyone even if they have a checkered past. Tomorrow we will take a look at one of the two central characters of our Biblical drama.

Sue Winchester
Missouri

PRAY TOGETHER: Christmas Joy team members Jean McCraney, D’Andra Robinson and Chrystal Rowe desire prayer for their efforts today.

PRAY TOGETHER: Pray today for the Christmas Joy team and for the family of Terri DeCresie, Sarah Fletcher and Nelda Highsmith.

PRAY TOGETHER: Twelve women leave today for Central Asia to distribute Christmas Joy gifts to children, January 3-14. Pray for team members Janice Buck and Bobby Bowen.

“…weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning” (Psalm 30:5b).

Whether it is the joy of a holiday season or the joy that will await us all, the feeling we have in our hearts is often hard to put into words. There are various ways we can express joy. Some may cry, laugh, sing or dance. Some may do all of those at one time. Joy is hard to contain. We must share it. Think of this past year. If you survived any trial or crisis, you understand what it is like to feel joy. Tears flowed and you thought they would never cease. Then all at once it seemed like the clouds lifted and you saw the sun shining once again. May you experience all the joy your heart can hold as the year 2009 progresses.

Sue Winchester
Missouri

PRAY TOGETHER: Pray for emotional healing for women with the difficult issues covered in January/February TWG Bible Studies.