January 15 ▪ Day 15

Scripture Readings

Proverbs 4:18
Genesis 29–30
Matthew 15
Psalms 15

Verse Focus (Proverbs 4:18)

The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn,
     shining ever brighter till the full light of day.

Meditation

When I was in college, the pastor of my church was also a musician. He wrote a “Scripture Song” for Proverbs 4:18 and to this day I cannot read this verse without hearing that tune in my head. I even sang it this morning (although my voice cracked a bit). 🙂

I don’t think this was a proverb I ever paid much attention to until I heard it set to music. But now this is one of my favorite proverbs. I love this image of the righteous — growing steadily brighter and brighter until their light becomes blinding. I think of Jesus’ words about not hiding your light. Sometimes when I read what Jesus says, I tend to discount my light as not being very bright. And yet think of how dawn is — it defeats the darkness and transforms the earth. Once dawn light is revealed, it’s like you can’t look at anything else. As the day becomes brighter, you are able to see so many things. And very quickly the day is too bright to look directly at the source.

I love that there is such comfort and hope in this verse. We may doubt the light within ourselves, but our spiritual life is a journey. And although there may be ups and downs, there is still a steady progression of stronger and stronger light within us, reflected from our Savior Christ Jesus.

Our chapters in Genesis continue the story of Jacob. He arrives in Paddam-aram, and connects with his cousin Rachel at the place where sheep are watered. This echoes the story of how Eliezar met Rebekah. It may have been the sensible way to find out where people lived in ancient times, but it’s a nice reverberation all the same.

Laban welcomes his nephew Jacob warmly, declaring him “my bone and my flesh.” After a month, Laban asks about what kind of wages he should pay Jacob and Jacob offers his service for seven years in exchange for having Laban’s younger daughter Rachel as his wife. Laban agrees to this proposal. Modern readers might shudder at the thought of seven years of labor (we live in such an instant society!), but Scripture tells us that those seven years seemed like just a “few days” to Jacob because he was so in love with Rachel.

Well, we all know how the story goes. Jacob’s time is up and the seven years are completed, so the marriage proceeds. There is a big feast, but Laban deceives Jacob by sending in his daughter Leah instead of his daughter Rachel. Again, a modern reader might wonder how it’s possible that Jacob could not have realized he had the wrong woman until the day after — but they didn’t have modern electricity so the light may have been low, he may have had a bit too much wine, and it’s possible she was heavily veiled.

Did any part of you think, “Turn about is fair play?” After the deception Jacob played on his father and brother, it is a tiny bit satisfying to see him experience what that felt like! But of course Laban and Jacob hash it all out in the morning. Jacob agrees to another seven years of labor for having a second wife, but only has to wait a week before Rachel is given to him as well.

Then we have the story of the many sons of Jacob. Four sons born to Leah, because she was unloved. Rachel is barren all this time, so she comes up with the idea that her maidservant, Bilhah, may be able to bear children for her. So two sons are born to Rachel’s maidservant. So then, of course, Leah does the same, and we have two more sons born to Leah’s maidservant, Zilpah. There is the fighting over the mandrakes — either an aphrodisiac or for enhancing fertility (or both). (Doesn’t that little interchange make you cringe at what it reveals about the family dynamics?) Through the wrangling, Leah ends up with three more children — two sons and a daughter. Finally, Rachel bears a son, Joseph.

At this point, Jacob starts to talk about leaving Haran. He has served his 14 years, and he wants to start putting his efforts towards his own household. By Laban has learned “by divination” that his increase in herds and wealth is because the Lord has been blessing Jacob. So Laban is not eager to see Jacob go. They come to an arrangement whereby Jacob will be able to start building wealth for his own family, while he continues to shepherd Laban’s flocks. I only realized today that Jacob did not take care of his own flocks directly; those were given into the care of Laban’s sons while Jacob continued to watch over Laban’s property.

But, of course, Jacob being who he was, he does what he can to strengthen his own herds by encouraging them to mate when all the flocks come together to be watered, increasing the chances that they will bear speckled young. I find verse 33 particularly ironic as Jacob sites how his “honesty” will be verified just by looking at the flocks. But I also think of how Jesus told us to be “shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves (Matthew 10:16).” Although Jacob is no paragon of virtue, he has also learned the hard way that Laban isn’t always to be trusted.

In Matthew 15, Jesus points out how the traditions his people have built up can actually contradict what God’s word tells us to do. It is a pointed example, but one we should take to heart. In the nearly 2,000 years of Christendom, we have built up traditions of our own. We should take care that what we do has a true Scriptural basis, rather than do things simply because the church has always done it that way. (Yet another reason why it’s so very important to read God’s word and know what it says!)

We have another great example of faith in the story of the Canaanite woman who seeks healing for her daughter. Her superb retort, “…even the dogs eat the crumbs from their master’s table” and her great faith inspire us. But today I was thinking about the beginning of that interaction. She comes shouting her request, but verse 23 says, “But he did not answer her at all.” Is that your experience? Are you shouting at God and getting no answer? Why? Why doesn’t Jesus respond? Even when he does finally say something, it’s like what he says was directed at the disciples rather than addressing the woman herself.

I think about the cultural barriers. This woman wasn’t even a Samaritan, but a Canaanite — a remnant of the race that the Israelites were supposed to destroy. But here she has placed her hope in the Messiah of Israel. When Jesus does reply, he talks about what his mission is — to seek the lost sheep of Israel. Did Jesus know in advance that the Canaanite woman would be able to display such faith? It’s hard to know if he was silent in order to give her more scope for displaying faith, or if he was essentially ignoring her to focus on his purpose. And even though we think of Jesus as always saying “yes” to us, if we study his actions in the gospels he does say “no” a number of times. When there are yet more people to be healed, Jesus says, no, it’s time to move on to the next town. He said “no” by not arriving in time to keep Lazarus from dying. On the other hand, we know he displayed an even greater miracle for Lazarus with that initial “no.” Just as what happened with the Canaanite woman.

And so I get a glimmer of understanding about God’s “no’s.” God is working on something else and He has bigger plans for me than what I realize. Maybe He just wants me to develop patience and perseverance. And maybe He wants to wow me by giving me something better than what I’m asking for. Either way, God’s silence is an opportunity for me to grow in faith.

The chapter concludes with the Jesus’ miracle of feeding the 4,000. Again I think about the smaller details of the story. Jesus had been up on that mountain for three days healing all the sick who were brought to him. Did he even get a chance to sleep at night? Or was the parade of the ill never-ending? And as the three days draws to a close, Jesus says, “I have compassion for the crowd.” He wants to feed them, and worries that they might collapse on the way home without food. That makes me think about the people who were healed on days 2 and 3 — Jesus says the crowd has been with him for three days already, so those who were healed on days 2 and 3 may have been fasting by the time it was their turn. This gives me new appreciation for the whole story.

Psalm 15 asks, “Who may abide on God’s holy hill?” After our last psalm looked at man’s wickedness, it’s good to have another psalm describe what righteousness looks like: those who do good, who speak the truth, who refrain from lies, slander, or slurs; those who lend without interest, who do not accept bribes, who despise wickedness and honor those who fear God. There’s one more thing, too. The second half of verse 4 talks about the person who “keeps an oath even when it hurts, and does not change their mind.”

We do respect those who honor their word and do what they say they will. That kind of integrity is very hard to find. But it’s the phrase “even when it hurts” that I think about. That means tithing even when you’ve had an unexpected bill. Or loaning something because you said you would, even when it turns out that you really need it now, too. Perhaps it has to do with business, with honoring a contract even when another opportunity arises.

Does that mean your word should never be broken? Ideally, yes. But we don’t live in an ideal world. Only you and God can determine if breaking your word is something that should happen. There are certainly many foolish vows that people have made. But if you’ve given your oath for something that violates Scripture, I don’t think it necessarily honors God to keep that word. On the other hand, it might. That’s why it’s important to take everything to God in prayer.

Father God, thank you for this view of what it looks like to live a righteous life. Help us speak the truth and not to lie. Help us to avoid making foolish oaths, but help us also to honor our word even when it’s no longer easy for us to do so. Thank you, though, that with Christ Jesus there is forgiveness for us. We cannot perfectly live up to the righteous life and would not be able to abide on your holy hill if it were not for your grace. I pray that we may all walk closer and closer with you and your Spirit so that your light may shine brighter and brighter through us. Thank you that you are leading us on a journey that will end in a brilliance like the sun (Son). We pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.