April 26th: Genesis 28-29:35; Matthew 9:18-38; Psalm 11:1-7; Proverbs 3:11-12

Today we are reading from Genesis 28-29:35; Matthew 9:18-38; Psalm 11:1-7; Proverbs 3:11-12

Genesis 28-29:35
Genesis 28
1-5 Isaac blesses Jacob and tells him not to marry a Canaanite woman, but one from her mothers relatives. He prays Abraham's blessings on Jacob and his descendants. That they may be fruitful, increase in numbers, become a community of peoples, take possession of the land God gave to Abraham. So Jacob sets out to his moms brothers home to find a wife.

6-9 Esau over heard all of this and when he figured out how his parents felt about Canaanite woman- which he had also married, he went to find a non Canaanite wife- to add to his wives. He married Ishmael's daughter. He wanted to please his father and/or not be overshadowed by Jacobs obedience.

10-15 Jacob leaves home and has a dream at a city called Luz that he renames "Bethel" after what happens one night when he first gets there. He was resting on a stone under his head. He saw a stairway to heaven, with Angels of God ascending and descending from it. At the top God was there, and reaffirming him of the promises He gave to Abraham now being passed to Him. God ends with "I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

16-20 When Jacob wakes up he realizes God was in this place and he wasn't aware of it. It makes him afraid but also makes him say "How awesome is this place!" The house of God and "gate way of heaven" is not where He thought it was! Jacob sets up the stone as a pillar to remind him of what happened in this place. He vows to give God a tenth if God indeed does what He says.

In Chapter 29 Jacob reaches his destination.
1-11
He arrives and meets with some "people of the east" where he is in search of Laban. He sees three flocks of sheep near the well (three is a sign of completion in biblical language).... there he talks to some guys and then Rachel catches his eye. She is a shepherd, taking care of her dads sheep. The well has a big stone that is very heavy. Usually all the guys take it off together. Jacob takes it off for Rachel all by himself. Then he gets emotional and breaks down crying really loudly, after greeting her with a kiss. His head is probably spinning. He has so much time to think over all the things he did wrong (towards Esau) the manipulations, saying good bye for good to his entire family. Setting off on a new journey to a place he doesn't know. Meeting up with God in an unexpected place with God reaffirming to Jacob that He is with him. I find God often comes to us in those moments of despair. He reassures us often of His presence when we feel forsaken. He knows those exact moments when we are hanging by a thread and need his encouragement. Using that as my assumption- that God appears often when we are afraid or in a discouraged state, Jacob was probably really down and had been through a lot of emotional turmoil. This was at the end of a long journey with ups and downs.
Then he finds out he hit the right spot and not only that, but as he is finding out the good news of his family member Laban being right near by, he then sees the mans daughter. Success. He has arrived. He can take some comfort and shelter and refuge in a place where he can finally rest. Who knows how long he had been on edge and fearing for his life with his aggressive brother up to that point. Now he breaks down.

12-14
After Rachel finds out who Jacob is she jets off running to tell her dad. Shepherd girl runs. A little bit of a tomboy? I imagine her as a modern day sporty girl. Laban seems excited to meet Jacob... he rushes to meet Jacob, greets him and kisses him. Listens to all the news Jacob has, and after he is caught up he makes a statement about how they are one big happy family. Must have felt refreshing to Jacob to have a new home away from home.

15-21
Six months in we learn that Jacob has been working for free for Laban, and finally Laban asks him how he, Laban, should pay Jacob for his work. He tells Jacob to name the price. He has become smitten with Rachel, Laban's youngest daughter and is willing to pay 150 thousand dollars for her. (aka work 7 years for her). Laban agrees to the arrangement and says that it's good, but really tricks Jacob. It's not the custom to give the younger one without the older daughter being married off first. It seems like Leah is the "runt of the litter".... she has weak eyes. Rachel is the pretty one with the gorgeous body and who Jacob is wanting to make love to.

22-30
When he works for 7 years it feels like a few days but then he gets tricked into sleeping with Leah. I'm not sure how the uncle pulls this off? I thought Leah had the weak eyes and not Jacob. Did they have sex through a blanket? Was he drunk? Those are the things I'm wondering, because he seems surprised when he awakes the next morning to have Leah instead of Rachel. Is it simply that he went along with it all in a state of shock, going through the feast and taking Leah because she is given to him, not wanting to get anyone upset or thinking he would have them both? Does it only dawn on him the next day that he is only going to get Leah in the end? How must it have felt to have been tricked after he was so deceptive with his own dad? He ends up confronting Laban and agrees to work another 7 years (300 thousand being the total price in our day) for Rachel! It also lets us know that he had to finish off his "bridal week" to Leah before getting Rachel. How depressing for Leah that she gets a week with a guy that doesn't even want her but her sister. And the bible says his love for Rachel was far greater then for her.

Sometimes injustice happens. People are viewed as ugly, they have physical disabilities that make their life difficult, their younger siblings outshine them and get all the attention, they are unwanted, unpopular and unloved.

31-32
This was Leah. Unloved by her husband. Loved by God. Unnoticed by her husband. Noticed by God. Fruitless by the standards of society but God decides: "I see how you always come second and that's not how I view you! It's enough. I'm going to take the underdog and make her shine! You are going to bear fruit, and the other that you think always gets everything she wants, wont be able to this time! It will be all you."

It must have been a shock to Leah to realize she was loved and wanted. I would have been shocked. She realizes that God has seen her pain. He has watched her in her misery. Now she thinks finally she has a thought of gaining the love of her husband. People can get Gods love and attention but ultimately we still wrestle with being wanted and accepted and loved by other people. Too often we keep banging our head against a wall trying to gain the love of people who just cannot appreciate us for who we are, and we know it but we hope we can do something else to gain their love when we are not good enough by ourselves to be loved by them. So sad.

33 Obviously she notices that child #1 does not work at giving her the love of her husband. So when she gets pregnant with child #2 she is happy God has continued to see her pain and bless her.

34 Instead of focusing on the fact that God has heard her and loves her, she is hoping that three times is a charm and thinks she will finally have her husband get attached to her for giving him three sons. She is still banging her head on that brick wall... obsessing with gaining his love. Sometimes we are slow to learn. Three children later and she is still hoping for something that isn't going to happen.

35 It seems that she gives up the fight by child #4 because instead of getting her hopes up all over again for her husband affection she does focus on God this time and praises Him. What a beautiful picture that as she stops clinging to what she doesn't have she is able to see what she does have and be thankful. She names her son "praise" because she is praising the Lord this time and directing her attention where it should go. On the God who actually loves her and cares for her.

It is this child that ends up being the line that leads to Messiah. He is the son that will produce the line of Jesus. Not any of Rachel's children, but her very own son. The one child that she accepts as a gift from God without any bitterness or focus on what she is still missing. Her one child born into life in a spirit of Joy and complete thankfulness to God. The child that symbolises her refocusing her mind. How beautiful!
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on to Matthew
18-26
Religious man and "outcast woman". They would seem to have nothing in common by the standards of society. He is synagogue leader. She is not allowed in the synagogue. She is not only a woman but a perpetually "unclean" woman at every single moment. The religious laws made it so that when a woman had her period she had so many restrictions and was sort of outcasted. But whatever societal differences these two have, they have more in common then they may realize. They both have big faith. The woman believes just touching the coat of Jesus will bring healing. The man believes Jesus will raise his dead child from the grave. They both stand in stark contrast to the people of their day who laugh at Jesus when he talks and have little faith in Him.

Jesus encourages the woman to take heart and commends her faith. He gives the man back his girl. Word about Jesus spreads around after this.

27-31
Some blind men publicly ask Jesus to have mercy on them (heal them?) and when Jesus is indoors he asks them if they believe He can. It's all about faith as the focus here. They are told that they are healed according to their faith- and we see they are both healed which means they were for real in their faith. Jesus asks them to keep quiet about it (not the right time for the word about Him to get out) but we see something really important about real faith- it can't keep quiet. They spread the news everywhere they went. It is a big challenge about how we respond!

32-34 Jesus does a spectacular miracle driving out a demons in a possessed man and making him speak again (because he had been mute). I wonder what it was like for this man to be free of his demons and able to talk. He did use his mouth to talk too! And people were shocked and amazed. Except for the Pharisees that are trying to twist it into something Satanic. Interesting that the hyper spiritual or religious outwardly proclaim God while they actually label things Satanic that make them uncomfortable even if they are things done by God Himself! We should be weary of people who credit Satan for everything- even stuff the bible doesn't claim.

35-38 Jesus is compassionate. He is moved by people. His good news was spread around with practical healing. Both were side by side. He cared deeply for the "harassed and helpless" I think I care more about the harassed and feel like the helpless are often simple minded people who can't tie their shoes... but God cares for the simple as well. He cares about taking care of others. The image of sheep without a shepherd is one of being vulnerable and needing a caretaker. Someone to look out for them and protect them. He encourages His disciples to pray for workers to help with the harvest. He says it is plentiful but the workers are few.
I wonder if, as they prayed, they would feel convicted to be the answer to their own prayers?
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Psalm 11:1-7 is a bold declaration! It starts with "God is my refuge" and goes on to talk about those who challenge Gods goodness and say the enemy is out to get the good and will strike them down. I wonder who the questioner is. Is it our own doubts we each face when we are trying to do what is right and feel under attack? Is it the doubts others try and plant in our mind when they tell us why God is unfair and try and discourage us from trusting in Him to come through for us?
Either way the psalmist is clear that He cant look at it that way! He refuses to give in to a view of God that is not just. He recognizes God is righteous and that he loves Justice. That He is soverign and on His throne, totally in control and totally good. He is fair. He rewards the good and punishes the bad. He is even scary to mess with if you are bad. His punishments arent fluffy or light- they are deadly and horrifying. You dont want to be on the wrong side of Him. Yet we also see more attributes of God: He is all knowing. He sees everyone and knows each persons heart.
I like how it ends with the righteous will see His face. :)

Proverbs 3:11-12
Encourages us to understand that God needs to punish those He loves as well. He tells us to recognize God does it because He loves and delights in us- so not to grow bitter or resentful because sometimes we need a hard lesson to straighten us up.