Tamar’s Story — Love of Advent

  • December 11, 2023
  • /
  • Erin Newton

Scripture Focus: Matthew 1.1, 3
1 This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham:

3 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar…

Genesis 38.26
26 Judah recognized them and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I wouldn’t give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not sleep with her again.

Reflection: Tamar’s Story — Love of Advent
By Erin Newton

These are the matriarchs of Jesus: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, and Mary. This is Tamar’s story.

Born among the Canaanites, Tamar was not one of Abraham’s kin. She married Er, the son of Judah and Shua, his Canaanite wife, and so became (for a short time) part of Abraham’s lineage.

Marital bliss was not to be found, for Er was evil. I imagine a loveless marriage filled with emotional or physical abuse. Perhaps a husband prone to angry outbursts and critical remarks. Perhaps a husband who sought other women or beat his workers. We are left only to wonder. The wickedness of Er, however, exceeded the tolerance of even God, and God ended his days.

Marital bliss certainly vanished. Tamar was a young widow. Among a people heralded for their covenantal righteousness—bound to be blessings among the nations—Tamar would find another form of abuse.

Judah’s second son, Onan, purposely thwarted his cultural duty to provide an heir for Tamar, though not hesitating to take pleasure in sleeping with her. She is used for her body but denied a child. Such selfishness of Onan exceeded the patience of God, and so God ended his days as well.

The final son, Shelah, is given to Tamar as a vague promise. A long time passes. I imagine Tamar living in her father’s house without a husband or child. Two men had abused her and now she must wait for the third. I imagine she worried he would be as terrible as his brothers.

Judah—a man of the covenant of Abraham, the namesake for the nation of God’s people, the patriarch in charge of Tamar’s honor—seeks out a shrine prostitute without hesitation just as the promises to Tamar have been delayed without hesitation. She takes matters into her own hands, maneuvering the situation so that Judah confuses her with a prostitute. She bears twin boys by Judah and reveals his failure of duty.  

The men tasked to care for Tamar placed their pleasures and priorities over her dignity and honor.

This was no story of godly love. 

But she is not defined by the abuse she suffered at the hands of men or by her assertive (and albeit, morally questionable) actions. Once abused and neglected, Tamar is chosen and honored as one of five women named in Jesus’s family. She is a matriarch of Jesus.

In the love of Jesus belong the abused. 


Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting
I will thank you, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and glorify your Name forevermore. — Psalm 86.12

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.


Today’s Readings
2 Chronicles 11-12  (Listen 6:00)
Psalms 119-25-48 (Listen 15:14)

Read more about The Wrong People
Many of us have felt like we’re the wrong people to build up God’s kingdom…God uses the Tamars…Rahabs…And the Pauls. 

The Wrong People

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Beside Still Waters

  • October 4, 2023
  • /
  • Erin Newton

Scripture Focus: 1 Kings 7.25-26
25 The Sea stood on twelve bulls, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south and three facing east. The Sea rested on top of them, and their hindquarters were toward the center. 26 It was a handbreadth in thickness, and its rim was like the rim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It held two thousand baths.

Job 7.12
12 Am I the sea, or the monster of the deep,
     that you put me under guard?

Matthew 8.27
27 The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”

Reflection: Beside Still Waters
By Erin Newton

I’m quite terrified of the ocean. Maybe I watch too many documentaries or movies about the dangers of the open waters. Too many threats lurk beneath—rip currents, undertows, great white sharks, killer whales, and dare I say, Leviathan.

The sea plays a role in many stories of the Bible, usually as a formidable foe that threatens God’s people: the Red Sea, the raging sea that sends Jonah overboard, and stormy seas threatening the disciples on more than one occasion.

Solomon’s Temple contained features that reflected nature, perhaps the Garden of Eden where God walked among his creation unrestrained. Among the temple furnishings stood a large bronze basin. The enormous size of the bowl was a feat for the Israelite metallurgist. It stood in a fixed location in the Temple—a heavy bronze basin filled with water used for purification and cleansing—and it was called the “Sea.”

The name of the basin is a figurative term for such a large bowl of water, but it strikes at the fearsome image they knew all too well. This Sea, however, is contained, bound, motionless. There are no thrashing waves.

The water served to cleanse the priests (Lev. 8.6) or wash the organs of sacrificed animals (Lev. 8.21). The Sea was no longer a threat, but placed under the watchful eye of God with a renewed purpose. The basin was crowned with gourds and nestled upon the backs of bulls, symbols of life that flow from the cleansing waters.

In the depths of Job’s grief, he calls out to God, asking if he was also constrained like the sea. He recognized the usual threat of the waters but knew that God spoke to the sea and said, “This far you may come and no farther” (Job 38.11).

When a furious storm rolls upon the lake with waves sweeping over the boat, the sea surrenders to the voice of Jesus. Even the winds and the waves obey him.

So why, again, is the Sea in the Temple? Apart from its practical purpose of serving the priests, I think the Sea sits still within the Temple as a reminder—God has this whole world in his hands.

As you enter his presence through prayer, worship, meditation, or reading, look to your left and behold the still waters. The image heralds the supremacy of our God.

Holy, holy, holy is the God of all creation!

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting
In you, O Lord, have I taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness. — Psalm 31.1

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.


Today’s Readings
1 Kings 7 (Listen 7:47)
Psalms 25 (Listen 2:18)

Read more about Counting Waves
The disciples urged Jesus to awake, their voices strained with fear. “Teacher, do you not care if we drown?”

Counting Waves

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Be Amazed — Readers’ Choice

  • August 22, 2023
  • /
  • John Tillman

Scripture Focus: Matthew 7.28-29
28 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, 29 because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law. 

Originally published on February 13, 2023, based on readings from Matthew 7.

Readers’ Choice posts are selected by our readers:
Melissa, Texas — Thank you.

Reflection: Be Amazed — Readers’ Choice
By John Tillman

Matthew and Luke (Luke 6.12-49), draw on imagery from Moses at Sinai when recording the Sermon on the Mount. Out in the wilderness, a leader goes up a mountain. A small group goes with him. Crowds follow below. From the mountain come moral teachings that define a new way to live for a new community.

The crowds following Jesus were a mix of society. Among them would be religious authorities and experts, average Jewish citizens, Roman officials, pagans, Greeks, and of course outcasts from all walks of life. Those who find beauty in Jesus’ words today are similarly diverse. Passages and principles from Matthew 5-7 are well-known and admired. Even those who reject religion, recognize that these teachings describe a beautiful way to live. Even today, the crowds are amazed at Jesus’ teaching.

Jesus’ teaching is a guide, an invitation, to live life in a way that is life-giving. These teachings are tied to Jesus’ authority and to the Law. Jesus often said, “You have heard it said…but I say to you…” Jesus wasn’t canceling or replacing the Law. He was correcting bad interpretations. (Matthew 5.21-22, 27-28, 31-32, 33-34, 38-39, 43-44)

The Law, as it had been taught for centuries, had cracks and corruptions. The poor, outsiders, and widows slipped through these cracks. Many provisions in the law meant to support them were given legal loopholes allowing religious exemptions to true righteousness. (Mark 7.10-13) This is just one example of the blindness and corruption of the religious leaders of the time.

We can’t disconnect Jesus from his divinity when considering his challenging words. If his divine claims are false, all his teachings are only the ideas of a madman. If Jesus is God, as we believe, then he is the ultimate fulfillment of the Law and the ultimate authority in our lives. What corruption do we need Jesus to confront today? What cracks need to be filled in? What sins do we need to escape? 

The Sermon on the Mount isn’t just fluffy ideas about being nice to one another. It describes a kind of exodus. The power structures and selfish principles of the world are overturned one by one and, for those willing, an escape from brutality and greed opens up. His teaching excited the outcasts and frustrated or shocked those in power. It still does today.

Climb the mountain. Join the crowd. Be amazed at Jesus’ teachings. Let them shock, offend, and correct you.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
Bow your heavens, O Lord, and come down; touch the mountains, and they shall smoke. — Psalm 144.5


– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
1 Samuel 14 (Listen 9:01)
1 John 2 (Listen 4:04)

Read more about Killing With our Hearts
Some of the most popular sayings of Jesus are here in Matthew’s fifth chapter. So are many of the most ignored sayings of Jesus.

Killing With our Hearts

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Amazing Jesus — Readers’ Choice

  • August 21, 2023
  • /
  • John Tillman

Scripture Focus: Matthew 8.16-17
16 When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: 
“He took up our infirmities 
and bore our diseases.”

Originally published on February 14, 2023, based on readings from Matthew 8.

Readers’ Choice posts are selected by our readers:
Jon, Hong Kong/TX — I recently came across an old recording of Michael Card at some conference and he talked how about Jesus’ response to faith in others was most frequently amazement.

Reflection: Amazing Jesus — Readers’ Choice
By John Tillman

Matthew closes this section saying that the healings prove something about Jesus.

The central feature of this section of healings is the exemplary faith of the centurion. The centurion who previously would send the servant out on his behalf, went out on behalf of his servant. Jesus is amazed. He says the centurion has greater faith than anyone in Israel. Pause for a moment and think about the people to whom Jesus is comparing the centurion…

No one Jesus has found in Israel has shown greater faith than the centurion? Not Mary, Jesus’ mother? Not the twelve disciples? Not John the Baptist? Not the devout leper in the previous scene who said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean”? None of them had greater faith than the centurion? Apparently. So, does it take “amazing” faith to be healed?

The other time in scripture where Jesus is “amazed” is visiting his hometown, where he would receive no honor and find no faith—yet he still healed. (Matthew 13.58; Mark 6.5-6) Faith is not a currency we purchase miracles with. If it was, how could those bankrupt of faith be healed? Jesus’ healings are connected to his identity and his mission, not our faith. 

Jesus’ healings validate his authority to teach and to forgive sins. (Matthew 9.6) But Jesus’ healings are more than a flex against the religious establishment. They tell us who Jesus is. Matthew records them to prove that Jesus is the one Isaiah prophesied. Jesus took weaknesses and sickness on himself to prove that he was the one who could take upon himself the sickness of death.

Healing is an emotional topic because it touches people we know. I have known people healed through medical science and people whose healing was inexplicable to medical science. I’ve also known people who prayed fervently for healing, yet died.

When someone dies, it sounds like an insensitive cop-out to say ultimate healing will come at the resurrection. I wouldn’t recommend it as a counseling strategy. However, we must remember that resurrection is the only form of healing that is not temporary. Every person you read about being healed in the Bible, died eventually. Every one of them will be ultimately healed at the resurrection.

Even today, healings tell the amazing story that Jesus’ resurrection is real and those who aren’t healed now await the full resurrection-healing that he promises.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting
How great is your goodness, O Lord! Which you have laid up for those who fear you; which you have done in the sight of all. — Psalm 31.19


– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
1 Samuel 13 (Listen 3:54)
1 John 1 (Listen 1:28)

Read more about Pain and Healing
Hosea shows how far God is willing to go to heal and restore. God is committed to our healing and restoration. Call on him.

Pain and Healing

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Supporting our Work

What We Loose On Earth — Readers’ Choice

  • August 18, 2023
  • /
  • John Tillman

Scripture Focus: Matthew 18.3-7, 10, 18-20
3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. 

6 “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. 7 Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come!

10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.

18 “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 

19 “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

Originally published on February 24, 2023, based on readings from Matthew 18.

Readers’ Choice posts are selected by our readers:
Brian, Washington DC — Thank you for this great word on what is happening in Kentucky.

Barbara, Tennessee — Excited and praying for the Lord to loose his Holy Spirit further in our country and world! We are praying for a real outpouring revival…for the Holy Spirit to fall on us!

Reflection: What We Loose On Earth — Readers’ Choice
By John Tillman

I grew up in churches that didn’t just pray for revival but planned them. A joke I often heard from preachers at revivals was that “Like taking a bath every day, we have a revival every year, whether we need it or not.” 

This joke acknowledges the awkwardness that an event on the calendar can be called a revival, but that doesn’t make it so. Calling these meetings “revivals” was aspirational. Revival was what we hoped for.

The term “revival” has often been tainted by unscrupulous, charlatan preachers of the past. Today politicians co-opt the term for political fundraisers which have little to do with the Spirit of God.

Though we can’t put revival on a calendar and we can’t remove the stain of past abuses of the term, it doesn’t mean the genuine article doesn’t exist. A revival movement with all the marks of being genuine sparked at Asbury University in Kentucky on February 8th. 

After that day’s chapel service, a spontaneous, round-the-clock time of prayer, singing, and testimony began. This was led and continued not by plans or schedules but by the hearts of students who were moved to do so. As I write this on Tuesday evening, the continuous service on campus is scheduled to end on Friday, the day this devotional will post. Services are currently being planned to continue in other locations and “The Outpouring,” as it was called, has inspired similar events at churches and other college campuses across the United States.

Many people hearing of this responded with hope but many responded with cynicism. Cynicism is just as lazy as naïveté. Neither requires thoughtful evaluation. 

We would be wise not to do anything to make these young followers of Christ stumble. Revival often begins among young people and Jesus has a special place in his heart for young believers. (Matthew 18.6, 10) Instead of doubting these young people and quenching their spirits, (1 Thessalonians 5.19-22) perhaps we should become like them. Instead of sniping from the sidelines, “Nothing will come of this.” We should pray fervently, “God, use this for your glory!”

Many great movements of God can be traced back to experiences such as the one at Asbury. 

We should not seek to copy-paste the Asbury experience into our communities. But we should seek God’s face, asking him to loose his Spirit on earth in our community in his own unique fashion. (Matthew 18.18)

Divine Hours Prayer: A Reading
In the due course John the Baptist appeared; he proclaimed this message in the desert of Judaea: “ Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” — Matthew 3.1-2

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
1 Samuel 10 (Listen 4:34)
2 Peter 2 (Listen 3:52)

This Weekend’s Readings
1 Samuel 11 (Listen 2:43) 2 Peter 3 (Listen 3:21)
1 Samuel 12 (Listen 4:19) Jude (Listen 3:52)

Read more about A Responsive Heart
Josiah’s revival was unlike anything seen before. No king ever repented and turned back to God like Josiah.

A Responsive Heart

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What will you hear when you read the Bible with us at a sustainable, two-year pace? What will God say to you through his Word?

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