013 Genesis 33 – 36; John 8.31 – 8.58
Wow! More outrageous behavior by our fledgling nation. A gentile named Shechem raped Jacob's daughter Dinah. Jacob gives her hand in marriage to Shechem if he and all his people(men) will be circumcised. Can you imagine two of Dinah's brothers go in while these men are still sore (no Morphine drip) and kill all of the men and take the rest captive. Jacob is livid to say the least. They were trouble but notice these words "God spoke to Jacob" that is the saving grace. God told them what to do and they followed God's instructions which had to do with getting rid of the alien gods. The two brothers who did this atrocity were Simeon and Levi. Levi will become the father of the Levitical priesthood--imagine that.
Jacob had twelve sons by four different women and they become the twelve tribes of Israel. Jacob is no longer to be known as Jacob (heel) but Israel (wrestler). The seed of the promise is beginning to grow.
In spite of our sin, God is going to get the job done. The fulfillment of His promises is ultimately left up to Him. It works out much better for us if we would really cooperate. But we can always count on God coming through. Are you resting in His power and allowing Him to use you as He sees fit?
In John, we read about the Son of God setting us free. The freedom we are to enjoy has to do with the freedom to really follow him as we were built to do. We have freedom to be free in Him! Be free today so you can rest in His power and be free to enjoy His promises.
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Thank you,Pastor Terry, for leading us through the Bible this year.
ReplyDeleteI am impressed also that these stories have the same threads of our life today- similar to our news stories and families we work with everyday.
God bless
C.Enockson