The Scoundrel Son of a Scoundrel - Jan 19

Genesis 49:8 Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down before you.

What does God see in the scoundrel? From what we know of Judah, he was not a great man. He lived a life a spotted by obvious flaws and indiscretions. Yet, God chose him from the twelve to put His name on. Joseph would seem the logical choice by all human reason, but God chose the scoundrel.

The only redeeming quality in Judah’s life is during the incident in which Joseph tells the brothers that they may leave but that Benjamin must remain. At this point Judah readily sacrifices his life that his brother may go free and that his father would not be destroyed by sorrow. It is an act of redemption purchased with the price of his own life.

God, it would seem, overlooked an awful lot and chose rather to remember a single incident as the one that Judah would be defined by. Or perhaps there was more to Judah than history would record. Perhaps there was tenderness and forgiveness beneath the blunders that only God could see.

It is amazing to me how God seems to have a special affection for the redeemed tragedies. Perhaps it is the opportunity to display His grace, or perhaps He is attracted to broken, humbled hearts, or perhaps it’s merely because he who is forgiven much, in turn, loves much. One thing is clear; the portrait of repentance followed by redemption is illustrated throughout Jesus’ lineage until He himself completes the work with final strokes crimson.

When I look at my life I see a scoundrel defined by failures, it is my hope that God sees more. He knew the end from the beginning and still at various times and various ways he chose to use me. Did David’s songs as a boy in the fields mean any less because God knew that David would fall? If there’s any solace in this lifetime it is in the fact God’s plan will move forward unhindered by my failures and that in the light of eternity our futility will be short-lived.

Dear Father,

Eternity seems so vague at times. I long for it yet I fear it. I only ask for your assurance and I will carry on. I pray that whatever You saw in Jacob and in Judah that You found was worth redeeming that You would find it in me. It’s my prayer that my tragedy would have a happy ending.