Sabbath: Finding Rest in Family Ties
Image © Pacific Press
Sabbath Afternoon
Read for This Week’s Study: Genesis 34:1-31; Hebrews 11:17-22; Deuteronomy 4:29; 1 John 3.1-2; Genesis 39:1-23; Ephesians 6:1-13.
Memory Text: “You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen” ( 2 Peter 3.17-18, NKJV).
The young man carefully scanned the horizon. Then, finally, he saw them. He had been looking for his brothers for days. As he approached, waving and calling to the grim-faced group, he got anything but a warm welcome. His own brothers actually wanted to kill him. If it hadn’t been for Reuben, there may have been no story to tell. Reuben convinced the rest just to rough him up a bit and throw him into a dry well. Later, Judah came up with the grand scheme to get rid of him and make a bit of money, too, by selling him to some passing slave traders.
What an example of family dysfunction!
We get to choose many things in life, but not our family. No one is perfect, and none of us have perfect families and perfect family relationships. Some of us are blessed by parents, siblings, and other family members that reflect God’s love, but many have to settle for less than the ideal. Family relationships are often complicated and painful, leaving us restless, hurt, and carrying loads of emotional baggage that we, in turn, off-load on others.
How can we find God’s rest in this area of our lives? This week we turn to the story of Joseph and his family ties in order to watch God at work bringing healing and emotional rest despite dysfunctional family relationships.
Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, August 7.
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Oh what a tangled web we weave. Family relationships! How much of our advice is of the type: "You should do it this way!", when the reality is that it has already been done. Blended families, single parent families, extended families, unequally yoked together families; the list goes on and on, and that does not even include in-laws.
Most of us can recite God's idea for families, but for many of us, the gate has been opened long ago and cannot be shut. We have to live with what has happened and work with what we have. That is the challenge we face.
Dysfunction: the inherent nature, character and impacts arising from 'sin'.
Sin: any and all ways (of being and doing) that are out of harmony with what is necessary for the abundant life that God created and desires us to live.
The thief comes exclusively to steal, kill and destroy. But I (Jesus) have come that you might have life and have it abundantly! (John 10:10)
I believe that Joseph was acting on the principle that
life is 20% of what happens and 80% of how you react to it.
I believe the environment contribute so much to the outcomes of an already dysfunctional family. But we find our hope and rest in God’s promise “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me….” (John 10: 27-28 KJV)
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: for the weapon of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; casting........2 Cor 10:3-5.
Finding Rest in Family Ties
Where is the 'rest' in family ties? Can on truly finds rest in family ties? Who are we 'tied' to, to experience this rest. Added to dysfunctional families are malfunctional families. Because man in a biopsychosocial being, there is a touch of mental health which can lead to mental disease in every human.
Families- Adam and Eve and their children were dysfunctional. Cain, so close to Eden killed his brother. How did he knew to kill? Who told him killing was the solution to his problem?
Can we who claimed to be Christians contribute to many of the unrest in the families? Are we to blame, or should anyone be blamed? As Christians we are 'fighting' in a spiritual battle, therefore we need to follow the guidelines set for us in the guide manual, the bible Eph 6:10-18.
I am really looking forward to this week's study. This should be interesting.
Family is the first institution which God created to provide a secure environment for mankind to thrive and be happy. God intended family to be a source of joy and rest but unfortunately sin has ruined it.
Regardless of the family flaws, no human relationship can be compared with a group of people who are related. A family is a spiritual association whose connection is strongest known to mankind.
The emotional, mental and physical rest found within a family set-up cannot be found elsewhere. No wonder God said that it is was not good for the first created human being to be a lone (Gen.2:18).
As a single person with a family far from ideal, I really hope you are not right.
The church is called to be a family, so I believe it can be the source of this rest you mentioned. And it should also be the strongest connection mentioned. Remember what Jesus said about family ties?
The family unit is the perfect training ground for preparing/equipping its members to function as part of the greater family of humanity. In my opinion, in our day and age, with the Gospel of Righteousness recorded in the form of the Bible and impressed on our hearts by the Holy Spirit, the followers of the Faith of Christ Jesus, the Son of God, do not have any 'valid' excuse for neglecting to treat others rightly. Often, human frailty is misused as an excuse to explain shortcomings.
We have responded individually, accepted the call of God the Father and His Son Christ Jesus to live now as members of His heavenly family; having 24/7 access to the Holy Spirit, we are fully equipped with faith and all we can possibly learn to know how to live a ‘functional’ life.
If we cannot live rightly with each other knowing what has been given us to know and to live by, are we surprised that the people of the world have 'shortcomings'?
Does not all behavior, all actions we take, depend on who we believe that we are responsible to? Could it be that much of our shortcomings might stem from not fully believing that we, as Christians, have an heavenly authority weighing our actions in the balance? If so, this could explain our carelessness.
I am aware that my relationships are build from/by my faith-relationship with my heavenly Father through my beloved Savior Christ Jesus; I believe this with all my heart and being and live accordingly.
Forgiveness gracefully received requires forgiveness gracefully given; to whom much is given, much is required – Luke12:45-46KJV. What all mankind desperately needs is to build a personal, ‘functional’ relationship with our Creator!
Mal.4:2 - ”But unto you that fear my name shall the ‘Su[o]n of Righteousness’ arise with healing in His wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
It always boggles my mind when I consider how diametrically opposed to God we are because of sin, even when we are doing our very best in him to be like him. I'd never considered Lyn Lew's question of "who told Cain killing would solve his problem" The son of prefect created humans now sinners resorting to murder. We are seriously in need of REST. Thanks be to God for his REST!
The old arch enemy was at work! Where else would it come from.
I do believe that the brothers sin was fostered by Jacob having two wife's. Two wife's set the stage for favoritism and then jealousy, and more. Now that does not condone the brothers actions, they are grown men, accountable for their actions. This is not the only story where God made good come out of bad deeds. This is a good story showing us how complete trust in God finds us rest in a not so perfect world, which we shall see if we follow the story to the end.
Quite an eclectic group of verses for study this week. The story of Dinah and the resulting annihilation of the men in the city is one of those stories that many struggle with with regards to God’s allowing this type of massacre. Even more troubling for many, is when it is actually God and/or the Angel of the Lord that wipes out a group of people to make way for the Israelites.
I am dealing with a friend who is hung up on this exact topic and I’m open to any help I can get. He sees two gods; one of the Old Testament and one of the New and he can not reconcile the two.
Hi Jim
A very challenging topic indeed - and one which involves reconfiguring our entire worldview that has been shaped (for many) by growing up within a modern western world context that is essentially ‘light years’ away from ancient Bible culture dynamics.
What kind of help are you looking for so I can target further responses more specifically?
Thank you Phil for responding. I was a religion major in college and I have read a lot about the historical setting of the Israelites. Although I understand that the God of the Old Testament is the same God as the New, I find it very difficult to frame this apparent personality dichotomy in a meaningful way when someone I am talking to is hung up on it. I have not found a simple message that breaks through this perception. The person I have in mind is quite studied in the Bible. He was a one time LDS and he says, quite a studious and devote.
Thanks Jim
I believe there is an explanation but it is not a simple one. The explanation comes from convergence of multiple dimensions. Interested in starting to identify those together with me?
If so, what if we start with the insights you already have from what you have studied.
1) What dimensions are you aware of?
2) Where do you believe there remains gaps to be explained?
It has been a few days and I just came back your comments along with Inge’s. Somewhere along the line I switched my preference to no email notice when someone responds. Sorry about that. I just switched it back. I think Inge’s comment is the right approach and I’m going to try it out on him and see how he receives it. The Holy Spirit will need to intervene because his head is stone hard.
Jim, it seems to me that the story of Dinah is the easy part. God is not responsible, and Jacob is not responsible. In fact, Jacob was greatly troubled by the behavior of his sons. It's not a bedtime story!
But why did God "allow it"? That is really the same question as why does God allow evil to happen at all. Why do good people suffer? And there is no better answer than that personal freedom of choice is of utmost value to God. In fact, Jesus became human just because freedom is so important to God. If it were not, God could have simply annihilated Adam and Eve, erased the memory from the beings in the universe and started over. But God is not like that. He always acts with transparency, and He always respects our freedom. The fact that the Bible includes some terrible sins committed by God's saints is one of the best arguments for the authenticity of the Bible. If believers were to make up a book about God, they surely wouldn't include those stories!
For me, the bottom line for God allowing bad things to happen is that God allows freedom of choice even to Satan and the evil angels. The story of Job gives us just a little glimpse behind the scenes. But we can be sure when the history of this planet is done, all created beings will see that God and His government is good and that Satan and His government is not good - as demonstrated by the history of this world.
The stories of God's intervention in human history to annihilate particular individuals or most of the human race, as in the Flood is a little different question. My understanding is that in the process of preserving a people to represent Him on this planet, God had to intervene at times to preserve a remnant who would carry the truth about Him and salvation to the rest of the world. At the time of the Flood, for instance, the rebellion of humanity was so complete that the Bible says that their thoughts were only evil continually. That none but family members responded to Noah's message of salvation for 120 years is a demonstration of their total rebelliousness. And that the world was filled with violence is an indicator that the human race would have destroyed itself before long even if God had not intervened. The difference was that God preserved a family of eight who would otherwise have perished. In the New Testament, the Flood is compared to judgment at the end of time when rebels against God get their wish - total separation from God. And since God is the Giver and Upholder of life, separation from Him means annihilation.
I believe the same judgment concept applies to the people who occupied the territory God had promised to Abraham. God gave the people a time of probation. They had at least 40 years to consider the miraculous things God did for the Israelites, and they still refused to acknowledge Him as Lord. There was nothing more He could do for them except to grant their desire to have nothing to do with Him, the LifeGiver. He had promised the Israelites that He would drive the people out by using his armies of hornets, but the people did not follow God faithfully, so God generally allowed them to go to battle against the rebels.
I see the bottom line as that most destruction of life can be directly attributed to rebellion and disobedience - the adoption of the ways of the enemy of God. When God approved of the annihilation of certain heathen peoples by the Israelites, it was a type of judgment that helped preserve a remnant to carry the knowledge of God.
God doesn't let go of people easily. He gives people time to repent before either allowing or personally executing judgment (as in the case of Korah, Dathan and Abiram).
Inge, I think this is a very thoughtful, salient explanation. I will try it on him in our next conversation and see how it is received.
With each of us, life on this earth comes with difficult people we may have to rely on. Some circumstances are unjust or anything but humane from the beginning. I’m thankful that God doesn’t expect us to all react the same way to these painful realities.
Of course the Bible is full of examples of human failures and God’s loving power to restore what we would consider the worst of humankind.
I’m glad that God’s grace and mercy include transformation no matter what our family situations involve.
I’m so thankful that God has no favorites when it comes to rescuing people.
Just for the record, it was God, not Reuben, who preserved Joseph's life, if we believe what Joseph told his brothers years later in Egypt when God saved them and their families from the terrible famine through Joseph's influence.
How could any home with multiple wives/mothers not be dysfunctional?! A dysfunctional society is the result of dysfunctional homes.
Should the Title for this week read: "Finding Rest in spite of Family Ties"? Most of us grow up in mostly functional homes, but I have become acquainted with those who were not even close, and it is a wonder they survived as well as they did.
Where was God when His only Son was being brutalize by the very people whom He choose because He loved them and promised their ancestors that He would take care of them. Where was God when they pulled out His beard and spit in His face, where was God when His Son plead for a little water to drink. Who was His Son thinking about as death makes it's claim, and He could not see beyond the portals of the tomb.
How many of us could watch as our loved ones suffer such indignity and torture, and do nothing when it is in our power to something.
What would be our lot if He did.??