Evidence God Plans the End from the Beginning

[The Rogue Tomato]

You read through Genesis and get to the story about Joseph. Then suddenly there's a detour: Chapter 38. Chapter 38 is like a soap opera episode where Tamar plays a harlot in order to get pregnant by Judah. Then Chapter 39 picks up the story of Joseph as it was left off at the end of Chapter 37.

It's convenient that the translators separated the chapters like this, because it strikes me at first the Chapter 38 shouldn't even be in the Bible. It's a lurid tale of deceitful seduction that interrupts the flow of the story of Joseph. If I were writing the story, I would have left out what's told in Chapter 38 out because it's an embarrassment and adds nothing to the story of Joseph. But God wrote the story, i.e., recorded the history. Why?

Many, many years later...

Matthew 1 lists the genealogy of Jesus. Here we see: "Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar"

 

[praise_yeshua]

You read through Genesis and get to the story about Joseph. Then suddenly there's a detour: Chapter 38. Chapter 38 is like a soap opera episode where Tamar plays a harlot in order to get pregnant by Judah. Then Chapter 39 picks up the story of Joseph as it was left off at the end of Chapter 37.

It's convenient that the translators separated the chapters like this, because it strikes me at first the Chapter 38 shouldn't even be in the Bible. It's a lurid tale of deceitful seduction that interrupts the flow of the story of Joseph. If I were writing the story, I would have left out what's told in Chapter 38 out because it's an embarrassment and adds nothing to the story of Joseph. But God wrote the story, i.e., recorded the history. Why?

Many, many years later...

Matthew 1 lists the genealogy of Jesus. Here we see: "Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar"

Too bad you have me on ignore...

Twin sons born from a Gentile. A parrellel to Jacob and Esau.

The faithful live the Gospel regardless of their ancestry. Jew or Gentile.

Claiming this proves God is in orchestrating every single aspect of all of our existence is a rather extreme conclusion given the evidence you're claiming.

It is like claiming you're King because David was king and God is respects no man's "person".

It is an overstatement. An over simplification.

 

[civic]

Too bad you have me on ignore...

Twin sons born from a Gentile. A parrellel to Jacob and Esau.

The faithful live the Gospel regardless of their ancestry. Jew or Gentile.

Claiming this proves God is in orchestrating every single aspect of all of our existence is a rather extreme conclusion given the evidence you're claiming.

It is like claiming you're King because David was king and God is respects no man's "person".

It is an overstatement. An over simplification.

Amen

 

[The Rogue Tomato]

Another good example is how God instructed Moses to strike the rock for water, but only speak to the rock the second time. Since this was symbolic of Jesus, striking the rock the second time was a terrible offense, because it would be like crucifying Jesus a second time.

Jesus said the OT was all about Him. It's right there to see if you have eyes to see. That's why God included Chapter 38.

 

[Dizerner]

Meticulous determination and Biblical inspiration seem to me to be completely unrelated disparate things.

It seems I hear this logic a lot, "If I can't imagine how God could do it, he had to have eliminated free will."

 

[sawdust]

You read through Genesis and get to the story about Joseph. Then suddenly there's a detour: Chapter 38. Chapter 38 is like a soap opera episode where Tamar plays a harlot in order to get pregnant by Judah. Then Chapter 39 picks up the story of Joseph as it was left off at the end of Chapter 37.

It's convenient that the translators separated the chapters like this, because it strikes me at first the Chapter 38 shouldn't even be in the Bible. It's a lurid tale of deceitful seduction that interrupts the flow of the story of Joseph. If I were writing the story, I would have left out what's told in Chapter 38 out because it's an embarrassment and adds nothing to the story of Joseph. But God wrote the story, i.e., recorded the history. Why?

Many, many years later...

Matthew 1 lists the genealogy of Jesus. Here we see: "Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar"

I'm currently reading a book by Francine Rivers about the five women in Christ's genealogy. Each short story is written as a work of fiction but utilises the written word and historical/cultural setting to weave the story. While I find them wonderfully entertaining and uplifting, I strongly suspect that Tamar, Rahab and Ruth (the 3 I have read so far), did not have the level of faith that is portrayed in the book. I think, like most of us, they were desperate people trying to survive in a fallen world and making decisions as they thought best at the time. Yet, they worked out for the best because, as the writer of Lamentations noted, we are not consumed because of the tender kindness, compassion and faithfulness of the Lord God (Lam.3:22-23)

I see God's planning and control of history more like the working out of a jigsaw puzzle. From His omniscience He knows all our decisions, even those potential decisions if we had been born in another place and time and has masterfully pieced them all together in order to work out His will and brought forth this universe in which we live.

I've always liked the saying "man makes his destiny but God holds his fate". No matter the circumstances that come our way, if it forces us to stop, wait and remember the Lord is our portion? Our hope will always be found in Him and He will never disappoint.