Faithful (Advent) #1 – Study Questions

Kyle Bartholic   -   November 26, 2022

Tamar – Blessing from tragedy.

 

Genesis  38:1-30

 

INTRODUCTION:  There are stories in the Bible that you wouldn’t normally hear in Sunday school or tell your children. In other words, the Bible isn’t always rated G. Sometimes, it is rated R. One of those stories is the story of Judah and Tamar. A desperate situation, a lack of faithfulness and righteousness, and utilitarian ethics all combine to create a pretty startling situation. Even more startling, Matthew reminds us of this situation when he describes the noble birth of Jesus. Why? Well, there is only one good reason, grace. Jesus is the King who came to save sinful humanity. Blessing would come from tragedy, and Matthew reminds us of that reality.

 

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 3 and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, 4 and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5 and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, 6 and Jesse the father of David the king.

And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, 7 and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, 8 and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, 9 and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, 10 and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, 11 and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon. – Matt. 1:1-11

 

Have you ever learned something about your history that deeply changed the perspective of your present? For better or worse, we all have things in our families that we just don’t talk about. Sometimes we can look at our lives, past and present, and wonder if God can actually redeem ALL of it: The painful relationships, the massive mistakes, the blatant rebellion against God himself. The hurt and trauma that has been done to us or the egregious sins of others that we have taken the brunt of. The things that make our chests tighten with emotion and our throats choke back tears. What can God really do with all this mess? If He can redeem it, He truly is a miracle worker.

 

But that is who God is. Redemption is the overarching cry of all of Scripture, leading to its culmination in Jesus Christ’s death on the cross, redeeming all of creation. Through him, God reconciled everything to himself.[1] And the good news for us today is that, God can redeem every part of my story.

 

 

 

GETTING STARTED – As we begin the season of Advent, we take time to intentionally remember Christ’s birth and his coming to earth as Messiah. As a group, share a practice or a tradition that is important for you at this time of the year to remember the importance of Christ’s first coming.

 

 

IN THE WORD –   Let’s dig back into the passage. It is important to strengthen our muscles in reading God’s Word. On Sunday, we walked through the passage in the sermon. Hopefully, that helped you to see the landmarks of the passage with fresh eyes. Now, with your group, go back through it and see what God is saying to you specifically.

First, before you read the passage, take a moment to ask God’s Spirit to quiet your mind and heart and to illuminate the text to you. Second, read the passage aloud to the group. Then, follow the simple method below. (O.P.A)

 

Observe: Make 8-10 observations from the passage. Pay close attention to observe and note repeated words and phrases, names, places, and themes.

Here are some good questions to help make observations in this chapter:

  1. What happened in the narrative? Note any major events, characters, or
    themes?
  2. What do you learn about the main characters in this section? How does the author describe
    them? How do they describe themselves?
  3. Is there a conflict or high point in the passage?
  4. What surprises are there?

 

 

 

Principles: From your list of observations, what patterns or big ideas do you see emerging? Can you distill it down into 2-4 big idea truths?

 

 

 

Apply: Moving from your list of principles, it is time to apply God’s Word. Remember, we believe that God’s Word is living and active and that it can change the way we live Monday- Friday. What is one tangible way to apply a truth from your list above?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1] Excerpt from: Danielle Bartholic’s blog post (11/25/22): www.ccames.org/blog