Psalm
37:8
Refrain
from anger, and forsake wrath!
Fret
not yourself; it tends only to evil.
Well!
That is advice enough for a lifetime! In many of the instances where we have
read about trouble – this cautious word could have saved a lot of the problems
that ensued from rash, angry actions.
Here
are words of hope:
The
salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;
he
is their stronghold in the time of trouble.
The
Lord helps them and delivers them;
he
delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because
they take refuge in him. (Psalm 37:39-40)
This
reading today from Genesis is not an easy thing to get through. The sons of
Jacob deal dishonestly with Shechem and Hamor – but they feel righteous in
doing so, considering what has happened. I also noticed that while the men of
Hamor’s land did what was asked of them (being circumcised) they did so with
the intent of taking for themselves all that Jacob and his household had. This
shows the regard that Jacob’s sons had for their sister in avenging her this
way, and it suggests that Hamor and Shechem were dishonorable by their actions
toward Dinah, and their words among themselves...but still Jacob foresees
trouble because he will now be at enmity with these peoples. He has just settled
here in hopes of staying out of trouble with Esau’s folks and here he is in trouble
early on.
What
do you think about this? I don’t see many possible positive outcomes anywhere.
I can see the seeds of the problems that we read about yesterday with Jeroboam
killing Rehoboam’s emissary. If this is an indication of their dealings with
one another it explains a lot about what happens later.
Today’s
reading from 2 Chronicles has this to say on that question:
But
the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah the man of God: "Say to Rehoboam the
son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, "Thus
says the Lord, You shall not go up or fight against your relatives. Return
every man to his home, for this thing is from me." So they listened to the
word of the Lord and returned and did not go against Jeroboam. (2 Chronicles 11:2-4)
For
a period of three years it says the priests from Jeroboam’s land came and
followed the ways of Solomon and David and things went well, but it also makes
me wonder what happens after these three years are over? What will tomorrow
bring? There is a listing of Rehoboam’s family, and I think I’d need to put
together an ancestry tree to get these straight – but that seems to be the case
when you talk of people and families at the remove of so many years. No wonder
the Lord said not to fight against your relatives...it seems that many of the
peoples all come back to common ancestors.
I
can hear Luke in the reading today of the healing of the lame man in the first
section of chapter 3 in Acts. I also see where it is important for me to have
been reading along in the Old Testament as we come to this section, because
Peter knows and uses all these scriptures to frame and present what he has to
say.
You
are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your
fathers, saying to Abraham, "And in your offspring shall all the families
of the earth be blessed." 26God, having raised up his servant, sent him to
you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness."
(Acts 3:25-26)
I
love the next section where it says the people were amazed at Peter and John
and their boldness, because they recognized that they were “uneducated, common
men” (Acts 4:13)
As
if only special people could possibly know what God was doing, or saying or
only the special people could be part of it – all that is shown to be false in
these two men. And next we read that all the believers prayed for boldness. I
think, that we too can pray for boldness.
Today’s
readings: Psalm 37, Genesis 34, 2 Chronicles 11, Acts 3-4:31
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