Archive for category: GAMEtime Sharing

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Genesis 38:1-11.  Let’s go!

Genesis 38:1-11 (NIV)
1  At that time, Judah left his brothers and went down to stay with a man of Adullam named Hirah.
2  There Judah met the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua. He married her and lay with her;
3  she became pregnant and gave birth to a son, who was named Er.
4  She conceived again and gave birth to a son and named him Onan.
5  She gave birth to still another son and named him Shelah. It was at Kezib that she gave birth to him.
6  Judah got a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar…….

On verses 1-11:  According to the customs of the time, if a man and woman were married and the husband passed away without leaving any children, the deceased man’s closest brother would marry the deceased man’s widow and procreate children with her.  Those children would take on the name of the deceased man.  That way the deceased man’s line could continue and the widow could be provided for financially.  This custom was known as the levirate law of marriage (“levir” in Latin means “husband’s brother”).

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Genesis 36:1-43.  Let’s go!

Genesis 36:1-43 (NIV)
1  This is the account of Esau (that is, Edom).
2  Esau took his wives from the women of Canaan: Adah daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Oholibamah daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite–
3  also Basemath daughter of Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth.
4  Adah bore Eliphaz to Esau, Basemath bore Reuel,……

On verses 1-43:  Here we see the evolution of Esau (also known as Edom) from a man (v1) to a husband (v2-3) to a father (v4-5) to a wealthy businessman (v6-7).  Because Jacob and Esau had so much livestock between the two of them, they could not live in the same vicinity in a sustainable way (v7).  So Esau moves to the hill country of Seir (v8).  It is in Seir that Esau goes from being the patriarch of a large family (v9-14) to becoming a man from whom a city ruled by chiefs would originate, to an entire nation with its own kings (v15-43), the nation known as the Edomites (v43).

Here we see that over time, and over many generations, Esau went from one man to a nation.

What can we learn from this?

First, God doesn’t just see who you are today or who you are in this lifetime.  He sees the story He is writing with your life over generations.  When you see how your life is connected to the generations before you and those who will come after you, you start to see your life from a new perspective.

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Genesis 35:1-15.  Let’s go!

Genesis 35:1 (NIV)
1  Then God said to Jacob, “Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.”

On verse 1:  Keep in mind what happened right before this chapter.  To Jacob’s dismay, Jacob’s sons have massacred a city, kidnapped all the women and children in that city, and taken the wealth of the city as their own.  Jacob is now fearing for his life and the lives of his children and grandchildren (Genesis 34:30).  It’s an incredibly stressful and fearful time for Jacob.  It’s in this context that God tells Jacob to go back to Bethel, to the place where Jacob first encountered God (in Genesis 28:19) many years before and build an altar there.  God reminds Jacob of who God is, how God appeared to Jacob the last time Jacob was fleeing for his life when he ran from his brother Esau (v1). 

What can we learn from this?  When you’re stressed and fearing what will happen in the future, go back – at least in your mind – to the times in your past when God delivered you from similarly stressful and fearful times.  Remember that the same God who delivered you then is faithful to deliver you again now. 

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Genesis 34:1-17.  Let’s go!

Genesis 34:1-4 (NIV)
1  Now Dinah, the daughter Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the land.
2  When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the ruler of that area, saw her, he took her and violated her.
3  His heart was drawn to Dinah daughter of Jacob, and he loved the girl and spoke tenderly to her.
4  And Shechem said to his father Hamor, “Get me this girl as my wife.”

On verses 1-4:  Shechem was in love with Jacob’s daughter Dinah and wanted her more than anything, but he went about it in completely the wrong way, taking her and raping her (v2).  That is what lust does.  Lust says “now”.  Love says “I’ll wait”.  Lust says “me first”.  Love says “you first”.  Lust takes.  Love gives.  Lust violates.  Love protects.  Lust says “I don’t care if it’s wrong. It’s what I feel like doing.”  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth.

Genesis 34:5-12 (NIV)
5  When Jacob heard that his daughter Dinah had been defiled, his sons were in the fields with his livestock; so he kept quiet about it until they came home.
6  Then Shechem’s father Hamor went out to talk with Jacob.
7  Now Jacob’s sons had come in from the fields as soon as they heard what had happened. They were filled with grief and fury, because Shechem had done a disgraceful thing in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter–a thing that should not be done.

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Genesis 32:13-32.  Let’s go!

Genesis 32:13-21 (NIV)
13  He spent the night there, and from what he had with him he selected a gift for his brother Esau:
14  two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,
15  thirty female camels with their young, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys.
16  He put them in the care of his servants, each herd by itself, and said to his servants, “Go ahead of me, and keep some space between the herds.”……

On verses 13-21:  To hopefully appease Esau’s anger and soften Esau’s heart, Jacob sends a series of lavish gifts to Esau consisting of one herd of animals after another.  The picture of Jacob sending all these gifts to Esau makes me think of the way God sends gift after gift in the form of people and other blessings that God places in our lives.  As John 1:16 says, “From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.”  God sends us many gifts so that we would know His heart.  The gifts were always meant to point to the Giver.  Yet our tendency is to focus on the gifts and forget about the Giver.  So the next time you think about the blessings in your life, remember this: God gives us blessings not just for our enjoyment, but even more so that we would know the Giver of those blessings, because knowing the Giver is the greatest blessing of all.