The Marketing of Evil - Part VII -- The Media

David Kupelian has written an excellent book on "The Marketing of Evil". I'm working my way through it slowly and sharing some of his thoughts. But you won't get the full impact of his writing until you read the whole book. Here's another installment of my synopsis of the book, this time on the matter of the media.

Kupelian gives us some examples as to how mainstream media goes totally against the public. For example, take Ronald Reagan. The people loved him, the media hated him (and he gives quote after quote to back this up). But when he died, the media couldn't stop gushing all over him calling him the "Great Communicator" and quoting his now famous line, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall."

Kupleian than takes his readers to the movie, "The Matrix" and uses it as a parallel to the various "matrices" we all get caught in, with special emphasis on the "evolution matrix". The Matrix is all about contradictions. He also gives example after example of contradictions in the life vs. the platform of John Kerry, the Democratic presidential candidate against George Bush. He exposes how the media hid things from the public.

Kupelian writes, "...the more God diminishes in our lives, the more government has to rise to take His place. As William Penn said, 'Men must be governed by God or they will be ruled by tyrants.'"

Kupelian continues, ". . .when people have a real moment-to-moment relationship -- with 'fear and trembling,' as the Good Book says -- with the Living God, they do not look to government to solve all of their problems."

Then he moves to more of the political scene where he describes the role of playing Israel as the "aggressor Goliath" going to pick on the young and unarmed "Arab David". With great detail he exposes the irrationality and insanity of such a thought. Well worth the chapter alone.

But let's move on to the established church, the Catholic Church in this case and see how that ties in with the Boy Scouts of America. Kupelian shows how the media can distort reality. The clergy sex scandal was referred to as a story about "Pedophile Priests". That's convenient says Kupelian but not true. The actual scandal was about "sexual seductions of teenage boys by predatory homosexual men". He gives data from lawyers indicating that 85 per cent of the victims were teenage boys. The media was flaming irate at the fact the church was protecting these "pedophile priests" (but would not refer to them as homosexuals mind you). Yet, they also went ballistic over the so-called "discriminatory" policy of the Boys Scouts of America because they would not allow declared homosexuals to become leaders. So much so, that they managed to mobilize dozens of organizations and corporations, fifty United Way agencies, some local governments and school districts, to withdraw Scout funding or to declare the organization as prejudiced and bigoted. What a hypocrisy.

Kupelian asks the question, "What's behind all this and why does it happen?" You'll need to read the chapter, but let me give you some of his thoughts. Read the following carefully and see if this was not / is not true in your life: "With the promise of reward and/or the threat of punishment -- through intimidation, false love, cruelty, seduction, and endless other ways people appeal to the various hidden weaknesses in all of us -- our lives are shaped and molded by outside influences. In a sense, I'm describing the very machinery of life within the matrix that all of us -- even the most decent and noble -- get caught up in to one degree or another."

He appeals to us to become informed and become "free" of the matrix we have been caught in. Read this book for yourself and for your family.

I approach Kupelian's next chapter called "Blood Confessions: How Lying Marketers Sold America on Unrestricted Abortion" with great angst. See you soon. Your thoughts and comments are always appreciated, either right here on the blog or on FB.

-- Ken Godevenos, Management Consultant to Corporations including Not-for-Profits.

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Potiphar Leaves Joseph In Charge Of Everything - Genesis 39:5-6

And it came about that from the time he made him overseer in his house, and over all that he owned, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house on account of Joseph; thus the Lord’s blessing was upon all that he owned, in the house and in the field. So he left everything he owned in Joseph’s charge; and with him around he did not concern himself with anything except the food which he ate. Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance.

Imagine getting promoted at work to a very senior job and from that point on your employer’s company became a success story – sales doubled, share price soared, new products were developed, and the chairman of the Board knew that you were the reason! Well that in essence was exactly what happened in the case of Potiphar’s house and Joseph. And from earlier verses we know that Potiphar realized all this was because the Lord was with Joseph.

Potiphar was happy to leave “everything he owned” to the care of Joseph. So far, so good. But was there a downside that was missed? I believe so. Potiphar dropped the ball. The scripture says that as long as Joseph was around, Potiphar did not concern himself with anything except eating. Wow. Potiphar lived a carefree life, indulging only in the pleasures and desires of his stomach, his appetite for food. As long as ‘profits’ were being produced with Joseph’s overseeing his household, nothing else mattered to him. But he failed to see the implications of the situation or to put it in the words of Bill Hybels, “he took his eyes off the main event” and failed to realize the new dynamics at play in his life. And what were they?

Well, for starters as long as he was the one running the show, everyone looked to him for direction and leadership. And that most likely included his wife. She may well have been proud of her husband doing so well, getting to the position he had achieved in Pharoah’s kingdom, and providing so well for her. But now as he seemed to concern himself only with what he ate, he lost that attractiveness for her and perhaps for his staff. In fact, it was Joseph they all went to for direction, advice, and leadership. Potiphar was the ‘boss’ in name only. He no longer made things happen or granted favors or made decisions. Joseph was the man.

And then the scripture tells us that Joseph was “handsome in form and appearance”. Take your eye off the ball or the main events in your life and the devil is ready to jump into action. Leave your main responsibilities to others, especially those that are “handsome” or “beautiful” in the case of females turn your attention to mundane things liking eating or whatever else turns your crank, and your spouse is likely to get some ideas.

But what is the lesson for us today from these verses, as spouses, as business owners, as pastors or leaders, and as Christians? Simply this. You can delegate but you cannot abdicate. You can trust but you need to remain connected and aware. Someone else’s faith in God does not always cover you. And finally, make sure that what you focus on in life is what really matters. That is my prayer for us all. We’ll watch this story unfold in the verses ahead.

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Potiphar Notices The Lord Was With Joseph - Genesis 39:3-4

Now his master saw that the Lord was with him and how the Lord caused all that he did to prosper in his hand. So Joseph found favor in his sight, and became his personal servant; and he made him overseer over his house and all that he owned he put in his charge.

Who hasn’t read these two verses before and not wished what was true for Joseph would also be true in our own lives? Looking at this young man’s situation, we see nothing special. He was the second youngest of twelve sons in Jacob’s family. He had accomplished very little by the time he was sold by his older brothers to a traveling group of traders headed to Egypt and ultimately bought by Potiphar, the captain of the Pharaoh’s bodyguard, and employed as a slave/servant in his household.

Yet we note the following: First the Lord was with him. The Bible gives no reason as to why that was the case. God chose him for reasons known only to Himself. God saw something in Joseph that He wanted to both bless as well as use. And there is no evidence at this point that Joseph resisted God in any way. Chapter 37 tells us how Joseph dreamed dreams of success over his brothers, enjoyed the many-colored coat he had been given, obeyed his father when asked to go and find his brothers, and generally was an easy-going young man enjoying life. I would imagine at seventeen years of age as we are told he was (Genesis 37:2), with his father Jacob being quite old, he spent much time listening to Jacob’s account of how he, and Joseph’s grandfather Isaac, and his great-grandfather Abraham, served and obeyed and loved God. I believe Joseph knew all about God and in his own youthful way wanted to serve Him and love and obey Him. And now he’s in Egypt as a servant. He did the only thing he knew how to do well – make the best of it. There is no record of his complaining. God saw that. I wonder if God sees anything like that in you and me. I wonder as Jill Briscoe put it so nicely when I heard her in Toronto on October 24, 2010, “Does He have your heart? Does He have your heart?”

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The Marketing of Evil - Part VI -- Sabotaging Our Schools

We have been providing summaries of David Kupelian's book, "The Marketing of Evil" (2005). This post addresses his chapter on "How Radicals Have Hijacked America's Education System".
The author makes it clear he is not writing to argue for prayer or Bible reading in schools. Instead, he purposes to show how the "government's school system has been cultivated to indoctrinate, to mold, to socialize children, and even to prepare them for the work force, but not to bring forth from within them the noble character and understanding of truth that lie buried within each child."

He quotes clinical psychologist James Dobson as warning, "Do you understand that children are (like) the stem cells for the culture? The environment that you put them in is what they grow up to be. And if you can control what they hear, if you could control what they're told, if you have access to their minds . . . you can make them into just about whatever you want them to be."

Here are some other highlights of the chapter:

* Since the 1999 Columbine school massacre, school boards have gone insane with their 'no tolerance' policies to the point of being ridiculous. He cites many examples.

* He warns us of the "my kid's school is not like that" syndrome.

* Kupelian explains thoroughly the move away from the alphabetic phonic way teaching children how to read an have replaced it with the look-say or whole-word approach, resulting in millions of poor readers. A most interesting section of the book. Parents need to read this. I thank God for my wife and daughters who are taking time to teach my grand-children how to read phonetically. The nine and seven year olds are now avid readers and the younger ones love books and will soon be reading very well.

* The education system has taken a new worldview approach to some critical issues. For example, sex outside marriage is okay as long as you don't get pregnant or a sexually transmitted disease (and even getting pregnant is not too bad, since you can get an abortion); and being 'gay' is normal -- if you think otherwise you are simply a bigot and one full of hate. What nonsense. But that's the teaching of the overall educational system today.

* Many think that a "public" school is a good thing. But they do not realize that the word "public" is really a nice way of saying, "government". Now some things that the government provides are not bad, especially if they're 'free'. But Kupelian asks, "at what cost?" Love this one line, "Free food is great too, but not if it's been poisoned."

* He points out how the educators are not necessarily intentionally trying to hurt children. Rather, they approach education from a totally different worldview -- one where God is non-existent and humans are mere animals.

* Finally, he does discuss 'homeschooling' as one viable alternative.

Another excellent chapter in this book. I wish the readers of this blog could somehow get the whole picture that David is painting all at once. It is truly a book of great impact on one's life. Strongly recommended.

In our next installment in this series we turn our attention to the media 'matrix' and how the press creates a world of illusion we think is real.

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Joseph is Bought by Potiphar - Genesis 39:1-2

Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an Egyptian officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the bodyguard, bought him from the Ishmaelites, who had taken him down there. And the Lord was with Joseph, so he became a successful man. And he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.

Genesis chapter 38 was a unique though important sub-plot to the main story of the book. This chapter (39) takes us back to Joseph and his saga. He had been taken to Egypt by the Ishmaelite traders and sold to Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh’s bodyguard.

Now right from the start of his time in Egypt, we read “the Lord was with Joseph”. Many of us would be satisfied with just that assurance and the presence of God in our lives. But there is something interesting that happens when God comes to be with us and we welcome His participation in our day-to-day business. Scripture says Joseph became a successful man – from the start. That does not mean he became wealthy or powerful. It means he was successful at whatever he had to do in life. In fact, we read that he was simply a servant “in the house of his master the Egyptian”.

Here’s the lesson we can take from this. You or I might have to go into our ‘Egypt’ for a while. But as a Christian, you can know that the Lord will be with you there as well. And you will be successful at whatever you have to experience down there. Not as man would define success, but as God would define it. You’ll have peace and joy and purpose as you serve Him. I think more than ever, with life as it is today and with all the curves that are thrown our way through relationships, government decisions, employment experiences, illnesses, and so much more, the only way for each of us to travel to our own ‘Egypt’ when life takes us there, is to make sure “the Lord is with us” – we can’t leave ‘home’ without Him. It is my prayer that with God by your side, your journey will indeed become a life adventure.

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Tamar Gives Birth to Twins - Genesis 38:27-30

And it came about at the times she was giving birth, that behold, there were twins in her womb. Moreover, it took place while she was giving birth, one put out a hand, and the midwife took and tied a scarlet thread on his hand, saying, “This one came out first.” But it came about as he drew back his hand, that behold, his brother came out. Then she said, “What a breach you have made for yourself! So he was named Perez. And afterward his brother came out who had the scarlet thread on his hand; and he was named Zerah.

So rather than being burned as was the custom for a woman who had sex outside of marriage, Tamar, Judah’s daughter-in-law, was spared as he admitted his part in her pregnancy. In a few short months, Tamar was about to give birth to twins. What happened on that day as the midwife facilitated those births was both interesting and significant. One of the twins managed to stick his hand out of Tamar’s birth canal. Seeing it, the midwife immediately tied a scarlet thread on it to indentify that child as being the firstborn. But it appears that God had other plans. The ‘newly marked’ child withdrew his hand back into the womb and his brother exited the canal first instead.

Surprised at this turn of events, the midwife declares the actual firstborn as having “created a breach” and thus names him Perez (or Pharez in the King James Version). This is indeed the child through which God had intended to fulfill the covenant He had first made with Abraham. This genealogy was to be through Tamar, Judah’s daughter-in-law and not through the sons that his wife Shuah had given him before she died. Why? Perhaps to simply demonstrate to us that God’s ways are indeed not always our ways. Perhaps to show He can use even those who play the role of a prostitute. There is no person that has stooped so low that God cannot make into a beautiful vessel for His purposes. The word ‘perez’ actually means breach or violation. This child broke the rules on who was to be first. God is no respecter of persons when it comes to being first or second or last.

Recently I had the chance of watching a short clip on Jim Cymbala, the Brooklyn Tabernacle Senior Pastor’s series on prayer. It depicted the life of a renowned makeup artist who at one time was commanding three thousand dollars per day but had ended up in the streets because of his drug addictions. Through of the witness and love and care of one model who introduced him to Christ, this man is now back on his feet, working, loving God, involved in the Church, and being a testimony to Christ around the world. There are millions of stories just like his. God is the ultimate Repairman.

The infant with the scarlet thread tied on his hand in our scripture portion is then named Zerah (which means rising) once he was born.

Tamar’s is a story that once again illustrates the “grace of God” in choosing who He wants to call upon and use for His purposes. Regardless of the role she chose to take on, God’s grace extended His Hand to Tamar and she became chosen for His purposes.

No matter how badly you and I have screwed up or have been misused by others today, we need to remember it is impossible for us to have fallen so far down that God cannot reach our up stretched arm and lift us to His loving heart. May you know really know that today.

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The Marketing of Evil -- Synopsis, Part V - Obsessed with Sex

David Kupelian's book "The Marketing of Evil" is a must read if one is to understand how the world has crept into our lives. This is part V in a series in which I have tried to give you some highlights of the book. I don't get any commission for pushing it. I just want people to be aware of what we face every day of our lives. Here's the next installment:

Kupelian pulls no punches. He describes clearly how the advertising world bombards us today with images and suggestions that were totally unacceptable and down-right rude and obscene just a few decades ago. After discussing the competitive techniques and early evening time-slot advertising of erectile dysfunction products, he ends the section with this line, (you can guess what the product is), "Click,TV off. And all across the nation, from sea to shining sea, children look up at their parents and ask, 'Daddy, what's 'an erection' that lasts longer than four hours'?"

Kupelian describes how the pornography industry has taken the world by storm and blazed the way for "hooking up" or casual, recreational sex among middle- and high-school kids, for homosexuality activity, for the striking down of anti-sodomy law in a American state, for the growing sex slave trade in North America, and for child/sexual abuse -- including the American Psychological Association's proclamation in 1999 that claimed child sexual abuse could be harmless and beneficial. Yes, you read it right. You need to read the details about this.

He points out the movie "Birth" with Nicole Kidman, that basically seductively gets us to accept an older woman's sex with a ten year old as oh, so natural.

He then goes to explain how we moved from the Ozzie and Harriet days to where we are. Enter, stage left, Alfred Kinsey and his 'research'. I put the word in quotations because there is great controversy on the validity of the research. (Even today as one young woman claims her father was paid to sexually abuse her for Kinsey's research.) He exposes who Kinsey really was as a person using the words of his own biographers who were pro-Kinsey. There is no shame. He explains the horrors involved and yet the great cover-up. Wonderfully done -- in fact, his explanation on page 140 and 141 is akin to some cover-ups that go on in the church or religious organizations. That part is scary.

Finally, in this chapter he describes how Judaism went against the obsession with sex in its early years and now the whole liberal movement is simply out to change that again -- and they are succeeding. He explains the Satanists approach to sex and ends the chapter on an excellent treatise on the difference between love and sex and how they can integrate beautifully as God had intended.

And remember this is only one of ten chapters in the book. Make a point of picking up a copy at your bookstore or online today. You owe it to yourself, your family, and your children's children.

Next, Part VI of the synopsis on the chapter: Sabotaging Our Schools. Please feel free to comment on this blog.

-- Ken Godevenos, Church and Management Consultant.

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The Marketing of Evil -- Synopsis, Part IV - Multicultural Madness and Family Meltdown

Interspersed with our studies in Genesis, I have been writing a synopsis on the book by David Kupelian, entitled The Marketing of Evil.

Today's review cover chapter 4, Multicultural Madness and chapter 5, Family Meltdown.

Kupelian tells us that multiculturalism has created a moral inversion which proclaims that all cultures are equal. And from there, this extends to all religions are equal. [To me, that's like saying all tires are equal, and therefore all automobiles that drive them or cause them to rotate are equal. Nonsense.) The spillover than moves to the premise that because all cultures are equal, then all sexuality is equal.

From there he shows us how we've gone from the sublime to the ridiculous, by simply believing that all life is equal -- that is, "a rat is a pig is a dog is a boy". Kupelian shows us why PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) do not fight for pro-life. Their reasoning is pathetic and well worth the price of the book.

Kupelian writes: "By equating man with a soulless animal, they (PETA and friends) have effectively negated -- in their minds -- the existence of any divine authority or juge over their lives. And thus they feel liberated from the 'ptriarchial' law-giving Ueo-Christian God they're rebelling against." Multiculturalism (in its fullest sense -- not just what we hear about with respect to immigration) is actually a hatred of and rebellion against Judeo-Christian values when we use it as a basis for equating all sexuality, all life, etc.

Kupelian asks, "What are we to conclude when the head of one of the world's premiere news organizations (Stephen Jukes of Reuters) is so paralyzed by multicultural orthodoxy that he is unable to call the worse terrorist attack in American history, 'a terrorist attack'?

He goes on to say, ""Americans," warned former Reagan staffer and columnist Paul Craig Roberts about the radical Islamic threat to this nation, "might be so politically correct and racially sensitive as to be unable to deal with the problem (of terrorism) at all."

Bottom line: (Kupelian writes) if the marketer can elicit in you a feeling -- the right feeling -- he has won. Game over.

Moving to his chapter on "Family Meltdown" Kupelian makes an interesting observation of how easy and inexpensive it is to get a divorce these days in America as compared to firing an employee.

Kupelian traces the start of the decline of the family back to Vladimir Lenin who, to facilitate the communist revolution, ended up facilitating the break up of the family by instituting de facto no-fault divorce. That's how he could maintain complete control of the people. Then to that was added the communist support for sexual immorality during marriage, approval of abortions, and forcing women out of the home into the workforce. All contributed to the demise of the Russian family.

Finally, the author shares that when a man and a woman have so much going against them (even Christians, and he lists many items), their likelihood of success in marriage is very small. He suggests that the only thing that can possibly keep them together is their mutual love and pursuit of "Truth".

I've recommended this book, even though I have not finished it to others. They have finished it and they tell me the best is yet to come. Get a copy and find out what we're up against and why and what you can do about it.

-- Ken Godevenos, Toronto.

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Judah Learns Who The Harlot Was - Genesis 38:25-26

It was while she was being brought out that she sent to her father-in-law, saying, “I am with child by the man to whom these things belong.” And she said, “Please examine and see, whose signet ring and cords and staff are these?” And Judah recognized them, and said, “She is more righteous than I, inasmuch as I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not have relations with her again.

When Judah had learned that Tamar, his widowed daughter-in-law, was pregnant, he ordered that she be brought out and burned in accordance with the practice of the day for women caught in immorality. While such arrangements were being made, Tamar sent Judah the signet ring, the cords, and staff that Judah had left with her when he thought he had availed himself of the services of a prostitute. With them, she sent him a message that simply said, “Take a look at these. These belong to the man who got me pregnant.”

It is not clear whether anyone else recognized these items. Most likely his friend the Adullamite would have done so, had he seen them at this time. Certainly Judah recognized them with great horror as he realized the ‘harlot’ he had slept with was Tamar. And his remarks are most interesting. “She is more righteous than I.” What was he saying?

It is possible he saw what was at the bottom of this and that he indeed was to blame for what happened because he had failed to give Tamar his last son, Shelah, to have as a husband who could give her children. There are other things to note from this passage as well. Judah had acted in secrecy, visiting who he thought was a prostitute. No one would know except those he had chosen to tell. We often think just that as we do things we hope no one sees or knows about. Yet, almost always, a day of reckoning does arrive.

There are those who think this whole episode especially the part of Tamar sending Judah his things and saying, “see, these belong to the man who got me pregnant, check to see if you recognize them” is a dramatic irony that parallels he and his other brothers sending his brother Joseph’s blood stained coat and asking their father if he recognized it as his son’s (Genesis 37:32,33). With the words he now utters, Judah convicts himself and indirectly confesses his sin.

Perhaps the saddest thing is that after being instrumental in saving the life of Joseph (Genesis 37:26, 27), history now records his sin and unrighteousness, for which he is remembered. While the words “And he did not sleep with her again” tells us he never repeated his sin, it is not clear as to whether or not those that he wronged forgave him. Nevertheless, as we pursue God’s forgiveness of our own sins, this passage serves to remind us that the evidence of true repentance is that the sin be abandoned.

It should be so with us. Let us not sin in secret. Let us recognize the need for forgiveness when we do. Let us abandon the sin we have been forgiven for. Let us forgive others who sin against us. And as we shall soon see, let us always look for the “purpose of God” in all that happens in our lives.

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Judah Learns Tamar is Pregnant - Genesis 38:24

Now it was about three months later that Judah was informed, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has played the harlot, and behold, she is also with child by harlotry.” Then Judah said, “Bring her out and let her be burned!”

Let’s review the story so far. Judah’s eldest marries Tamar and then he dies leaving her childless. The second oldest brother refuses to do his duty and give her a child and he dies. Judah tells Tamar to go back to her father and wait for his third son to become of age, fearing that he too might die. Tamar is heartbroken and feels ill done by but does go to live with her family. Judah’s own wife eventually dies and Judah avails himself of someone he thought was a temple prostitute. When he sent a friend back to pay the prostitute with the young animal he had promised in exchange for the bond (his personal seal ring and his walking rod), she is nowhere to be found. We now pick up the story again.

Three months after his inability to retrieve his bond and complete the transaction as planned, Judah is informed that his daughter-in-law Tamar, a widow, living with her family, had played a prostitute and through that act became pregnant. In his fury, Judah immediately demands that she be “brought forth and be burned” presumably to death.

What’s the lesson? It has often been said that once we walk in another person’s shoes, we can better understand their predicament. We know, for example, that we can understand the mourning of those that have lost loved ones, if we ourselves have experienced such a loss. We understand war better if we have served in armed combat. And so on. Or taken to another plain, we know that we are not perfect. We know that only those without sin should be casting stones at those who have been caught in sin. And we know that people who live in glass houses should not be throwing stones at all. The list of expressions that can apply to some extent or another in Judah’s situation is endless.

There is no doubt he should have taken the time to think things out before he reacted so assertively. Many a series of questions in advance of a judgment would have been wise. Maybe a self-examination. In my role as President of a Mission organization for over eight years now, I find it much easier to understand and explain some of the decisions and actions of other Mission Presidents, church leaders, and even some government officials. I know how things happen and why sometimes those decisions are the best ones no matter what others think or what the media portrays.

On the other hand, at this very moment of writing, I am dealing with a matter in one of our churches, not against an ultimate decision that was made by the leadership, but rather the statements surrounding that decision – that is, where the two parties affected by the decision are saying diametrically opposed things were said and/or happened. The unwillingness of the leadership to deal with this difference openly and in love, rather than just maintain they are right, maintain they alone are telling the truth, and as leaders must automatically be trusted and not questioned, does nothing for that church but to divide it further. Some are opposed to those who seek the truth, claiming that we “should not touch God’s anointed” and any opposition is “the work of the Enemy”. Or, “please, for the sake of unity, let’s let this pass.” Nice thoughts but I am convinced that nothing in the Christian church should trump “truth” because He is Truth and Truth is what we are all about. Jesus would never compromise ‘truth’ for the sake of unity, or to protect one of His chosen twelve. Yes, the Enemy is involved, but only because we fail to operate as spiritual Christians. Otherwise, he would have no toehold. He is the father of lies and when he believes that lies have been uttered he moves right in and goes to town. We need to be careful not to blame the “truth seekers” just because they are raising the heat in the church.

So that is our first lesson from this single verse: when we hear of news that we do not like and feel should be addressed, take time to ask questions so you have all the information, take time to think, and then run the information through a self-examination. Finally, run it through Scripture.

The second lesson, as we will soon find out, is “be sure your sins will find you out” especially as you go after the sins of others. That does not mean you had better never have sinned. No. But it does mean you have dealt with that sin, you have made amends, you have changed your life. You have let God remold you and be available for God to use you again for His Kingdom. Then you move forward with the assurance that as you do what you are required to do, you are under His direction and protection – no matter what that will look like. I pray it will be so with you.

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Judah Tries But Cannot Pay the Harlot - Genesis 38:20-23

When Judah sent the kid by his friend the Adullamite, to receive the pledge from the woman’s hand, he did not find her. And he asked the men of her place, saying, “Where is the temple prostitute who was by the road at Enaim?” But they said, “There has been no temple prostitute here.” So he returned to Judah, and said, “I did not find her; and furthermore, the men of the place said, ‘There has been no temple prostitute here.’” Then Judah said, “Let her keep them, lest we become a laughingstock. After all, I sent this kid, but you did not find her.”

You will remember that Judah left some personal belongings with someone he thought was a prostitute until he could send her the young goat he promised for payment in exchange for her sexual services. He sends his friend the Adullamite with the animal to find her, to compete the deal, and get his personal things back. Having no success in locating her, his friend makes several enquiries as to where he could find the “temple prostitute that was by the road at Enaim”. To his surprise, he is informed that there had never been such a person and he returns to tell Judah.

Judah appears frustrated at the news, but decides to let the matter go lest in any further attempts to find her, he becomes a laughing-stock. He absolves himself of any guilt in the matter by rationalizing that he made a reasonable effort to fulfill his share of the bargain but was unable to. The prostitute could keep Judah’s personal belongings.

As I studied these four verses I struggled as to what possible lesson God might have in this portion of scripture for us. Here are some thoughts:

First, as honorably as we may try to behave after some inappropriate action we have taken in order to ensure that we keep our part of any arrangement, we cannot expect God and others to cooperate fully. I am reminded of my grandchildren. One hits the other after being told not to, and is sent to her room for a “time out”. On her way upstairs, with tears running down her face, she cries out, “but I said I’m sorry!” There is often a consequence that still needs to be experienced.

Second, Judah was smart enough to know when to cut his losses. There is a time in the course of events after we have sinned to just stop trying to justify ourselves. We must leave the matter to God. Even if there are later consequences to be faced, it is best to face them with God rather than without Him.

Third, when we leave something behind as evidence of our sin as Judah did by leaving his personal things with Tamar his daughter-in-law whom he mistook for a prostitute, as inevitably there always is something left behind, we need to realize that this will always serve as a reminder of our sin. We need to learn how to best utilize that reminder to live a more godly and spirit-filled life acceptable to our Creator. Judah did not know what was ahead for him, but I am convinced he was always conscious of the fact that someone had evidence of what he had done. That is often the case with us. We may have sinned; asked forgiveness from those involved; and even received it. But there is always the knowledge that we did sin and that from the world’s perspective, not God’s, that sin may still have its consequences. It is in that realization that we must be fully dependent on our God to see us through. It is in that realization that we must realize that we are indeed at his mercy, not because He may want to punish us when we next step out of line, but because sin, even forgiven sin, has consequences. It is in that realization that only His grace can see us through whatever lies ahead.

Whatever your history or your current situation may be, realize that God hates sin but He loves you. You can be forgiven by Him of any sin you have committed if you ask and have accepted His gift of a personal relationship with Him and of salvation for eternity. And then, no matter what lies ahead, you can be assured of His carrying you through it. I pray you will know the peace He alone can give you today and live with the assurance of being His responsibility going forward, as you fellowship with Him.

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Tamar Plays the Harlot - Genesis 38:12-19

Now after a considerable time Shua's daughter, the wife of Judah, died; and when the time of mourning was ended, Judah went up to his sheepshearers at Timnah, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite. It was told to Tamar, "Behold, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep." So she removed her widow's garments and covered herself with a veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in the gateway of Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah had grown up, and she had not been given to him as a wife. When Judah saw her, he thought she was a harlot, for she had covered her face. So he turned aside to her by the road, and said, "Here now, let me come in to you"; for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said, "What will you give me, that you may come in to me?" He said, therefore, "I will send you a young goat from the flock." She said, moreover, "Will you give a pledge until you send it?" He said, "What pledge shall I give you?" And she said, "Your seal and your cord, and your staff that is in your hand." So he gave them to her and went in to her, and she conceived by him. Then she arose and departed, and removed her veil and put on her widow's garments.

We only know Judah’s wife by her father’s name, thus “Shua’s daughter”. When she dies Judah mourns the appropriate amount of time and then takes off to visit those that were or would be shearing his flocks at Timnah. Timnah is a small town, in the hill country, bordering on the land eventually given to Judah and the land given to Dan. If I read the sentence structure correctly, Judah went with his friend Hirah the Adullamite who you may remember had possibly introduced him to Shua whose daughter he married. So, with all those people knowing about Judah’s visit to Timnah, it was not long before Tamar, now staying with her father, was told about it as well.

Tamar had not forgotten how Judah had set her aside after her own husband died and how he did not demand that his other sons give her children in accordance with the common practice at the time, but rather sent her home to her father’s until his youngest son got older. So, is it time to pay him back? Maybe yes, maybe not. You see Judah had not kept his promise of giving her his youngest son Shelah to provide children for her as he had promised and Shelah had grown up by now. So what does she do? She takes off her mourning clothes which indicated she was a widow, veiled her face, wrapped herself in plain clothes, and went and sat in from of the gate of Enaim, a small city in the lowlands of the land of Judah, on the way to Timnah.

So Judah comes along, sees her, and, as her faced was covered, mistakes her for a prostitute sitting at the gate of the city waiting for customers. Being a widower and seeking sexual pleasure strictly to meet his physical needs, he propositions her. The thought of this being his daughter-in-law never entered his mind.

Tamar of course had a plan that she continued to implement. She asks Judah how he intended to pay her for her services. Judah tells her he will send her a young animal from his flock. In all likelihood, that was very good compensation for the services of a harlot in those days. But Tamar wanted to know what proof of promise she would have until such a payment would be made later. It is not clear whether or he was a bit taken aback by her demand for such proof or whether he repeated her question sincerely asking her to name what she wanted as that proof. In any case, she asked that Judah give her his seal, cord, and staff that he was carrying until the goat he promised had been brought to her. The seal was most likely a signet ring. The cord was likely the fancy twisted thread, which attached the seal or signet ring to his person. The staff was a rod or walking stick that he carried.

Judah quickly (we know not how willingly) agrees to give Tamar who was posing as a prostitute what she requested in order to avail himself of her services and sexual intercourse takes place. The text is very interesting here as it indicates, “she conceived by Judah” prior to even getting up from the actual sex act she had been involved in with Judah. The long-term evident consequences of sin waste no time in starting to appear in one’s life and complicating matters – even if the sinner is not aware of it.

Having delivered her services and having fulfilled her desire to get back at Judah for his failure to deliver on an earlier promise, Tamar now gets up and leaves him. It is later on that she removes her veil and once again dons her widow’s outfit. And she didn’t even know that by having sex with Judah she also met her need for having a child.

So what are we to take from all this? Well for starters, we need to think about any responsibilities to others that we have failed to carry out in our lives. They may well come back to thwart our plans for our own future. Secondly, be sure you know whom you are really dealing with at all times. In my career as a civil servant I was taught early never to say or do anything that I would not be prepared to see in the headlines of the national media the next day. I think that all Christians should live their lives like that. It’s sound advice. Finally, there is a lesson that clearly suggests we would be wise to meet our physical sexual needs in the way that God intended us to. Even for those that are single or widowed, we are to seek God’s will as to whether or not He may want you to marry or remarry as the case may be, and if not, to seek His help and strength in living a life of celibacy, relying on Him for companionship and spiritual intimacy. God bless you today as you live for Him.

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Er’s Wife, Tamar - Genesis 38:6-11

Now Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. But Er, Judah's firstborn, was evil in the sight of the LORD, so the LORD took his life. Then Judah said to Onan, "Go in to your brother's wife, and perform your duty as a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother." Onan knew that the offspring would not be his; so when he went in to his brother's wife, he wasted his seed on the ground in order not to give offspring to his brother. But what he did was displeasing in the sight of the LORD; so He took his life also. Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, "Remain a widow in your father's house until my son Shelah grows up"; for he thought, "I am afraid that he too may die like his brothers." So Tamar went and lived in her father's house.

You have to love scripture. It’s so shocking at times that it makes today’s soap operas look amateurish in comparison when it comes to depicting the drama of life. Here is a story that would normally be beyond belief except for the fact that it is in Scripture and God is the main character. Let’s follow it for a moment.

Judah takes a wife (who is unnamed) and has three sons. Judah gives his eldest son Er a wife whose name is Tamar. But Er was not a good man in God’s sight, so God ended his life, leaving Tamar a widow with no children.

In keeping with custom, Judah goes to Tamar’s brother-in-law (the dead Er’s next oldest brother), Onan, and tells him to sleep with Tamar in order to give his deceased brother some offspring. Later in Scripture, we will see this actually being a Mosaic law required of the Hebrews. Of course, no one knows if anyone asked Tamar about this or whether or not she welcomed it. Most women of that culture, like many Middle Eastern cultures today, simply agreed in silence to what was expected of them by the men in their lives. However, it should be pointed out that as a law of God, there was good reason for it and in this case, this practice did provide widows with children that could later support her. God has a purpose for what He ordains for his children.

Now Onan is no “yes father” type of son. Well, actually he’s an “okay, but it won’t work, cause I’ll outsmart you” type. He agrees to marry Tamar as partial compliance to the custom. Recognizing that any children Tamar has by him won’t be his, he uses the withdrawal method at the time of ejaculation and his sperm is wasted. He did not want to give his brother any children. We can make some notations here.
First, we do not know the real relationship between Onan and his brother prior to Er’s death. We do not know if it was a congenial one or not and that may have somehow influenced Onan’s desire not to cooperate. We do not know if Onan had his own wife. We do not know how Tamar felt about what he did. Neither do we know whether Judah found out from her right away (as compared to finding out months later that indeed she was not pregnant) about Onan’s deed. And if Judah found out, we have no record of what he did about it. All of that is left unsaid and thus to our imagination. What we do know is that God was not pleased with his actions and He ended his life as well. This can be a very emotionally charged portion of Scripture for numerous reasons. Let me explain.

First of all, we have here in just a few verses, not one, but two cases, where God was not pleased with someone’s actions and He took their lives. As some of us have discovered, that kind of action by God does not enamor Him to those who have not yet accepted His Lordship. Why would anyone want to love and worship that kind of God? Every time you mess up morally, you stand a good chance of having your life end. True, the wages of sin are indeed still death today and that was also true back then. God is indeed a Holy God who detests sin. As the Creator, He gets to call the shots. But as God’s letter of love to us unfolds in the rest of the Old Testament and in the entire New Testament, we see how He has provided a way out of this dilemma. I encourage you to skip ahead thousands of studies, verses (and years) to find out about that arrangement.

Secondly, this is the portion of scripture that is used when one is trying to figure out just what the Bible may be saying on the issue of contraception through the withdrawal method and perhaps even masturbation, in which the end result is the same – semen being deposited elsewhere than in a woman’s vagina. I do not purport to be an expert in either of these fields, nor do I wish to get entangled in a discussion on the theological implications of either. What I believe I can say is that scripture is silent on both these topics. Why then did God take Onan’s life? It is possible that God took his life because he was disobedient to what was required of him by custom (or possibly the instruction of God). That is, to provide offspring for his deceased brother. It is disobedience that God will not tolerate. As far as the topics of ‘coitus interruptus’ (the withdrawal method of contraception) and masturbation are concerned, we are best to remain silent on them as the scripture is and allow each family and each couple or individual to determine what he/she should do as God persuades them in their own minds.

But now back to Judah. He has one more son, Shelah, who is too young to marry. He has lost two sons and does not want to take a chance on losing his youngest. Instead he asks Tamar to return to her father’s house and wait until Shelah gets older. Now “what’s wrong with this picture?” you may ask. Well, sending Tamar to her father’s house is the worst thing that could happen to young woman. It is embarrassing no matter what the reason, but especially if she goes there childless after having two husbands and now has to wait for a young boy to grow up before she can get married again. But more importantly, Tamar should have remained as Judah’s responsibility, not her father’s. The onus was on his family, as long as there was another brother living to keep her in the family and supply her sustenance. Instead, he sends her home to be out of sight and out of mind for a while. And Tamar, being left with no other choice, goes.

So again, what are the lessons for us today? I think there are a number. First, we need to realize God does not like man’s disobedience and one way or another He has to deal with it. I know that we are no longer under “the Law” of the Old Testament as Judah and his family was but we still have to be aware of God’s displeasure with our disobedience to what He is convicting us of today in our hearts. And He will address that disobedience. Perhaps it will not be by taking our life because we are His children who have accepted His Son as Lord and Savior. But perhaps it will be by our missing out on a fuller blessing in life today or in rewards in eternity that could have otherwise been ours.

Secondly, I think we need to be careful that we not assume we know exactly why God takes certain action that He does unless He specifically makes that clear to us. Onan died because of disobedience, not because of anything else.

Thirdly, we must realize we have a responsibility to those that come into our family through marriage, even when something goes wrong – like an illness, a separation, or in some cases a divorce where our own relative may be at fault. We cannot just forget about them. That is also true of circumstances where our own blood relative may have died and the “in law” – daughter, son, etc. still lives. And it is especially true where grandchildren are in the picture. One of our good friends had an only daughter who died in childbirth. Her son-in-law has stayed very close to her and allowed her to share quite fully in the life of her grandson. After several years of being a widower, he was remarried to another lovely Christian girl. They now have more children and our friend is still very much a part of their lives. I think that is the way God intends us to respond to the circumstances of life – always loving, always being obedient to God, and always putting others first. Again, may it be so with us.

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Judah’s Meanderings - Genesis 38:1-5

And it came about at that time, that Judah departed from his brothers, and visited a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua; and he took her and went in to her. So she conceived and bore a son and he named him Er. Then she conceived and bore a son and he named him Onan. And she bore still another son and named him Shelah; and it was at Chezib that she bore him.

This chapter starts with the very general phrase “And it came about at that time”. We have no way of really knowing exactly how much time elapsed between the time Jacob was shown his son’s blood-stained coat, the time Joseph was actually sold to Potiphar, and the time that Judah “departed from his brothers”.

The text could have simply recorded that Judah visited some Adullamite named Hirah. Instead, it specifically states first that he “departed from his brothers” in so doing. This was all about finding a wife. He did not follow the custom of going to one’s father and arranging for a dowry. Judah wasn’t going to go through all that. Instead he leaves home at a young age (some calculate at 15 or 16) and heads out to get a wife himself. He meets up with an Adullamite called Hirah. Adullamites were inhabitants of Adullam, a city of Canaan. It was situated west of Hebron. The name “Hirah” means “a noble family”. We are told he “visited” Hirah although it is not certain as to whether or not he knew him beforehand or simply got to know him on this little trek of his away from his family.

Somehow, perhaps through Hirah, perhaps otherwise, he sees the daughter of another man called Shua that means “wealth”. Here is a beautiful woman who comes from a rich family supposedly and here is Judah who is trying on his own to establish himself. What more could he ask for?

We are not given all the details with respect to meeting her family, if he did, or asking her father for permission to marry, if he did. All we know is that he took this woman (and at this point we do not even know her name) and has sex with her. There is no account of a wedding and associated feast. It is likely that they just decided to live together. How quaint. Through this unconventional, absent of his family’s support, absent of God’s blessing, and rather unwise marriage, Judah fathers three sons, Er, Onan, and Shelah, by this Canaanite woman.

What is happening here? The actual writing reminds us of a previous passage we have studied. You will remember Jacob’s daughter going off into town to find out what the rest of the world was all about (Genesis 34) and what ensued from that little trip. Well, in many respects, this is much the same. One could easily see that their Canaanite neighbors were influencing the family of Israel (Jacob) and not for the better. I believe God too was very aware of this.

It is likely that Judah did continue to worship God to a certain extent, as he had been taught. It is also possible that his wife did too; again at least she went through the motions. But there is no doubt that Judah had acted without God’s blessings for his marriage, doing it his way and in his timing. There were bound to be some consequences.

What are the lessons for us today? Simply these: Relationships matter. Good relationships are to be valued; wrong relationships to be avoided. Totally disregarding traditions and the wishes of our God-arranged and God-ordained family is not a wise idea. Doing our own thing totally (without the support of family and more importantly God) is not a good idea.

If we change our friends, we are bound to change our behaviors. We need to know, and somehow convey to our children, that we often imitate those with whom we associate and go totally against the advice of those we no longer respect. Society has been very good at marketing evil to us. Our children have been taught that parents and anyone over thirty is old-fashioned, narrow-minded, ignorant, and so on. For more on this, read The Marketing of Evil by David Kupelian, an excellent read. Worse still, we often define our value by our friends’ values. That alone, could be a most costly error.

There may also be a lesson here with respect to marriage. Many are getting into marriages that are not wise simply because they have ignored both God and family. However, simply us saying so here will not change their mind if they are headstrong about taking such an action. The lesson is not for them, it is for us. We have a responsibility to do all we can to nurture an environment for our children where they, while willing to make their own decisions, will not ignore the advice and the role of both God and family in those decisions. What are you and I doing in that regard? It is never too late. Never too late for anyone who has made an unwise decision with respect to marriage and never too late for a parent whose child may have done likewise. I believe in that in some small way, all relationships and family circumstances can be improved, even those where divorce has taken place, if we allow God to guide all of us in doing our part. May it be so with you today.

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Jacob Mourns for Joseph - Genesis 37:33-36

Then he examined it and said, “It is my son’s tunic. A wild beast has devoured him; Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!” So Jacob tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his loins, and mourned for his son many days. Then all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. And he said, “Surely I will go down to Sheol in mourning for my son.” So his father wept for him. Meanwhile, the Midianites sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, Pharaoh’s officer, the captain of the bodyguard.

Can you imagine holding your beloved child’s coat in your hands and believing your son or daughter will never wear a coat again? I can’t. On the ninth anniversary of 9/11, I was listening to the various tributes being paid. Many of us live with a memory of that day. A good number of us fear the future as a result. But nothing compares to the feelings of a parent whose loss haunts him or her inside every day in the here and now. How does one live with that? Yet, many do and there but for the grace of God go many of us.

Jacob identifies the coat as Joseph’s and accepts as fact (“surely Joseph has been torn to pieces”) his son’s death by a wild beast. I do not know what I would have done if I were one of the brothers. Would I have thought that this was less painful for my father than telling him the truth? A good question to ask is whether or not the others told Reuben the truth. We have no knowledge of that. So, at best we have nine brothers knowing he was sold and on his way to Egypt, we have Jacob thinking an animal killed him, and we’re not sure what Reuben actually believed. And then of course there is Joseph, not knowing what lay ahead.

Jacob, as Reuben did earlier, tears his clothes as part of his mourning. And to that he adds putting sackcloth on his loins. This, along with throwing dust on one’s forehead, was a common means of mourning for the ancient Hebrews. As a father, his mourning went much longer and all the comfort of his sons and daughters did not help. I believe that this reference here to ‘sons and daughters’ refers to not only his children (we know Jacob had one daughter for sure, Dinah) but also to his grandchildren.

In actual fact, the text says Jacob ‘refused’ to be comforted. I have often wondered how a person actually gets to the point that he refuses to be comforted. What drives us to refuse ‘comfort’ even in a time of sorrow? Is it regret? Is it loss of hope? Is it guilt? What is it? Whatever it is, that is not the way God wants it to be. Jacob’s refusal to be comforted was so intense that he believed he would die a mourner. We need to be careful that our loss and its associated mourning which is normal do not cause us to be hardened for the rest of our lives. For by doing so, we may totally miss any future blessing that God may have in store for us. A good example is one who mourns for the loss of a beloved spouse. However, if they became so hardened by such loss, they may miss the blessing God has in store for them with a godly second marriage.

We may also wonder how Jacob’s family could have tried to comfort him with any sincerity. Some may feel he should have been able to sense their deception. However, when one is so hardened in his mourning and refuses to be comforted, he/she often misses the clues that may indeed bring back some hope or joy in their life. Instead, Jacob not only believes that he will die mourning, but in a sense, the utterance is an expression of a subconscious desire to go where his son is. And for the ancient Hebrews, this was indeed Sheol, the place of departed souls. Only there, with his son Joseph, would he find comfort. What a sad state of affairs, to view our life like that following a loss of a loved one. Where is our God? Where is Jacob’s God? I learned early in life that in circumstances like that, God has not moved or hidden Himself. He is always where He was and will be. It is us that have changed our position.

Jacob had a choice but he continued to mourn. This portion of the text ends by informing us that, in the meantime, the traders who bought Joseph sold him to Potiphar, the captain of Pharoah’s bodyguard. The significance of that is great. He was sold into the highest household of the land. And not only that, he was sold into that part of the household that was very close to Pharaoh. The plot does indeed thicken. But you can be sure that God had an amazing purpose for all of this. Just as He has for what happens to you and me.

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The Cover-up - Genesis 37:29-32

Now Reuben returned to the pit, and behold, Joseph was not in the pit; so he tore his garments. He returned to his brothers and said, "The boy is not there; as for me, where am I to go?" So they took Joseph's tunic, and slaughtered a male goat and dipped the tunic in the blood; and they sent the varicolored tunic and brought it to their father and said, "We found this; please examine it to see whether it is your son's tunic or not."

As Joseph heads to Egypt under Midianite escort to be sold, his eldest brother and Jacob’s firstborn, Reuben, returns to the pit and does not find him there. This begs the question “where was Reuben when his brother Judah talked the rest of them into selling him to the caravan of traders?” Good question for which we are not given an answer. It is possible that, as the eldest, he was off on an errand on behalf of the brothers and their sheep-tending business. Or perhaps Judah, knowing how Reuben felt about Joseph and the plans of the brothers to kill him, waited to share his idea until Reuben had taken a little nap after the big meal they had sat down to (vs. 25, 26).

What matters is that Reuben still planned to rescue Joseph from the pit and not finding him there, he tears his garments. The tearing of garments as a symbol of mourning was a custom of the ancient Hebrews, but also of other groups. Much has been written about it and its significance. In a very simple explanation, I believe it is a strong expression of being “totally beside oneself with grief”.

After gathering himself together, he goes to where the other brothers are and tells them of his discovery and the weight that he personally feels, being the oldest, for Joseph’s disappearance. Reuben felt he could not face his father Jacob with the news. As I watch three of our five grandchildren (the ones we live with), aged nine, seven, and five, I can see the eldest even now taking responsibility for her younger brother while the middle child goes on her merry way in life. That must be an innate sense of responsibility that God places in firstborns.

Of course, the other brothers are quick to come to his rescue with yet another deceitful act and it appears that Reuben consented. They take Joseph’s coat of many colors, kill one of their goats, and dip the coat in the animal’s blood, setting up a “terrible event of death through wild animal attack” and of course, a lie. You will remember that back in verse 23 of this chapter, they had taken Joseph’s coat from him and then in verse 24, we were told he was thrown into the pit.

The next step then is to send the bloodstained coat to father. Now scripture is interesting here as the relevant verse says they “sent” the coat and also “brought it” to Jacob. Perhaps some of the brothers stayed behind to tend the sheep while others took it to Jacob. The lie that was conceived is then uttered, “We found this; please examine it to see if it is Joseph’s.” Oh, the pain that Jacob must have felt at that moment. We do not know how many and exactly who of the brothers went back to Jacob with this news. But no matter the number or the individuals involved, any joy in seeing them was greatly overshadowed by the news they had brought him.

What is the lesson for us from these verses? The dysfunctional family that started with Abraham continues its escapades like a daytime soap opera. Hatred, jealousy, lying are all part of the characters’ lives. Redemptive qualities are sprinkled in as in the case of Reuben but are easily overtaken by the wishes of the immoral majority. Perhaps we need to consider our own contributions to the evidence of any “dysfunctional” behavior that others may see in our own family. And if we do happen to claim being the “redemptive” one in the family, we should consider whether that is only ‘intent’ and others can persuade us into doing things we should not, or whether we will stick with what is moral, honorable, just, and the truth.

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The Marketing of Evil -- Synopsis, Part III - Selling Sex & Rebellion to Your Children

Welcome to number three in a series of blogs providing a synopsis of David Kupelian's book, "The Marketing of Evil", 2005. This segment is on the topic of "Who's Selling Sex & Rebellion to Your Children" -- chapter 3 in David's 'must read' book. Here are just a few of the highlights:

* Kupelian starts the chapter off with an excellent example of peer pressure exerted on his own son. Well worth the read. Many can identify with it. How he handled it is also very special.

* He defines 'hip-hop' as "a multimillion-dollar music industry filled with 'the powerful political and sexual images of rap'". His detailed expose of it is eye-opening.

* He names the corporations that literally send spies to infiltrate young people's social settings to gather intelligence on what they can induce these children to buy next. He exposes MTV and Howard Stern's world for what it truly is, pushing the world of the 'mook' for boys and the 'midriff' for girls. You'll want to check both these terms out with reference to the program "The Merchants of Cool" as found on Google.

* In that same program, Mark Crispen-Miller, a NYU communications professor has this to say about how kids are taught to think of you: "It's part of the official rock world view, it's part of the official advertising world view, that your parents are creeps, teachers are nerds and idiots, authority figures are laughable, nobody can really understand kids except the corporate sponsor" of the shows kids watch (MTV being the leaders). Wow.

* In this chapter, there's a section on the idea of "no limits" especially when it comes to sexual behavior where I learned so much -- stuff I never dreamed of nor wanted to learn about. Find out what "suspension" is all about -- and no it was nothing to do with "school" -- it's a sexual fantasy and more. And then, just when you thought you had it all figured out, you learn about the two ultimate thrills -- splitting your tongue, and wait there's more -- the thrill of living for the chase -- yes, that's right, people who chase the bug. No, not a Volkswagen -- the HIV bug. There are men who spend their lives pursuing getting the HIV virus through the right sexual partners. Kupelian quotes one author who writes, "HIV-infected semen is treated like liquid gold." Motivation, you ask? Well, it's all about doing something thrilling that others see as crazy. Great.

* Kupelian points to a desire or a love with death. For example, self-mutilators are said to pursue their specialty due to one or both of the following: A feeling of mental disintegration, of inability to think, and secondly, "a rage that can't be expressed, or even consciously perceived, toward a powerful figure (or figures) in their life, usually a parent." Got it. It's payback time for us folks. To many, physical pain can be a cure for emotional pain. But wait, there is hope -- at least, hope in understanding this. Read on . . .

* Kupelian suggests that all these pursuits are basically as a result of millions of people who have been "freed" by trauma (drugs, illicit sex, bodily mutilation, and so on) from the pain of their own conscience. Or said another way, he writes, "freed from God and the divine law written deep down in every person's heart. Why? Same reason as always: so they can be their own gods and make up their own rules."

* Now here comes the hope. He writes that parents need to understand this: "Your being any way other than genuinely virtuous -- not perfect, mind you, but honestly and diligently seeking to do the right thing at all times -- will tend to drive your children crazy. Here's how the craziness unfolds. Children deserve and desperately need firmness, patience, fairness, limits, kindness, insight, and a good, non-hypocritical example. In other words, they need genuine parental love and guidance. If they don't get this, they will resent you. Even if you can't see it, even if they can't see it, and deny it, they will resent you for failing to give them real love." That's the first step, but here's what happens with this in mind . . .

* It is that resentment (discussed above) that turns into suppressed rage. "It makes children feel compelled to rebel against you and against all authority out of revenge for your having failed them." Hard words. Everything forbidden looks like a road to freedom. They now embrace what they before avoided in a more innocent time. And all of this usually occurs below the level of consciousness.

* Kupelian does end this chapter with two positive thoughts. The first is, if you still have time, to consider counter-acting all the negative influences with home-schooling, a growing practice around the world and one that is driving secular government educators to try and get the courts to make it illegal. The second positive thought is that even if your kids don't come around, "your honest self-examination and confession as a parent will free you from your own guilts and past sins.

My own thought is that maybe we cannot redeem the entire American or North American culture from its current state, but we may be able to redeem our own children from it, or at the very least, ourselves. I say this because I feel as I look around that those who are baby boomers and younger have much to blame on themselves.

Again, the book is a 'must read'. In the next blog in this series, I'll give you a synopsis of Kupelian's thoughts on the "Multicultural Madness". In the meantime, please share this blog with your friends and do subscribe to free notifications on future blogs from Epistoli.

-- Ken Godevenos, We Inform, so You can do Your thing.

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Joseph is Sold - Genesis 37:28

Then some Midianite traders passed by, so they pulled him up and lifted Joseph out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. Thus they brought Joseph into Egypt.

Stop and think for a moment. Joseph is sent to find his brothers who were out tending his father Jacob’s flocks and bring word back to him. His brothers plot to kill him, but one of the brothers, Reuben, persuades them to just throw him in a pit. Later, another brother, Judah, persuades them to sell him to some Ishmaelites, and in particular Midianite, traders who are passing buy in a caravan, carrying spices, and en route to Egypt.

The brothers pull him up from the pit and sell him for twenty shekels of silver, or given there were ten brothers with Benjamin still being at home, two shekels for each of them. Not much is known about the value of a piece of silver in those days, likely a small ingot. But surely it was not enough to make anyone rich and self-supporting for the rest of their lives. But one would estimate that it was better than nothing for their trouble of selling Joseph. The deed was done. Joseph was taken into Egypt, likely to be sold. The separation from his brothers, and more importantly his father, was complete. He was totally alone, except for God.

Have you ever been sold by your brothers? Maybe not literally, but have others ever left you to hang, all by yourself? And if so, what was their gain? Likely it was not much. And the relationship was broken. You were isolated. You felt very alone. But you weren’t. God was there. Well, from personal knowledge, I can tell you that that very experience can be one of the best beginnings of a life worth living.

There is no need to feel alone. Instead, we need to know that God is with us even as we are been carried away into our own ‘Egypt’. And though it does not seem like it at all, the best is yet to come, for He is with us. May it be so with you, today.

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The Marketing of Evil -- Synopsis, Part II - Church and State

David Kupelian's book "The Marketing of Evil" is a must read. It presents very elucidating evidence on just how we're being sold a bill of goods that in essence is not what we want. Chapter two, the subject of this particular blog on its synopsis, is about how the separation of Church and State has been twisted to something that was never intended. Kupelian takes us back to the beginning and moves forward to where we are today -- a situation totally contrary to what America's founding fathers had in mind. Take a look at some of the thoughts highlighted in this chapter:

* We need to accept the painful truth that the American Constitution (and thus the very reins of power) has been stolen from the American people while they were too busy going to work, raising their kids, paying the bills, etc.

* Kupelian asks, "do you really believe the Founding Fathers wanted to make kids into criminals for saying 'Merry Christmas' at school? Did they intend for the Supreme Court to outlaw prayer in the nation's learning institutions when all of their own congressional sessions to this very day open with a prayer?" Good questions.

* When judges "create legislation through judicial fiat that no legislature in the nation could, or would, dare enact . . . they are flouting the U.S. and state constitutions, violating their oaths of office, betraying the trust of current and future generations of Americans, and usurping power that's not legally theirs".

* Kupelian shows how judges are now both turning to International Law to establish American Law while at the same time challenging the sufficiency of the American Constitution to govern America in the years ahead. Really!

* The First Amendment reads in part, "Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion." How does 'Congress' doing that translate to "no State, no Municipal government, no school, etc." shall "make no such law"? Kupelian writes, "This is obviously something the original thirteen states would have rejected outright, given that half of them had state establishments of religion." Interesting.

* Kuplelian goes back to the very origin of the concept of the separation of church and state. It is not what you think. It comes from a famous sermon by Roger Williams, the founder of the Rhode Island Plantation colony, and a Baptist. Thomas Jefferson was referring to that well-known sermon at the time when he wrote his words. You'll need to read the book for all the details but clearly, the intent was that the "church" was to be protected from being overrun by "government", and not the other way around. Most interesting. Clearly today we have a twisting of the truth and the facts at to what Jefferson had in mind.

* Perhaps you knew this and I didn't, but we need to keep in mind that in the U.S., Supreme Court justices can also be impeached, just like presidents. Not a bad thought at all.

Again, I strongly recommend the book, "The Marketing of Evil: How Radicals, Elitists, and Pseudo-Experts Sell Us Corruption Disguised As Freedom" by David Kupelian, WND Books, Nashville, 2005.

In the next blog in this series, we tackle David's third chapter of his book, entitled "Killer Culture: Who's Selling Sex and Rebellion to Your Children?" Stay tuned. Please share this with your friends and make sure you and others are subscribing to Epistoli using the Subscription box above. It's free.

-- Ken Godevenos, We Inform, so You can do Your thing.

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Joseph in the Pit - Genesis 37:23-27

So it came about, when Joseph reached his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the varicolored tunic that was on him; and they took him and threw him into the pit. Now the pit was empty, without any water in it. Then they sat down to eat a meal. And as they raised their eyes and looked, behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing aromatic gum and balm and myrrh, on their way to bring them down to Egypt. Judah said to his brothers, "What profit is it for us to kill our brother and cover up his blood? "Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh." And his brothers listened to him.

Joseph’s brothers plan to kill him and the oldest, Reuben, gets them to revise their plans to simply throw him in a pit. So when Joseph finally reaches his brothers, they take him and strip him of his multi-colored coat that Jacob had given him. They then throw him into the pit. We have no account of exactly what Joseph was feeling at the moment. We can assume that his brothers raged with anger, hatred, and jealously. It is possible they even told him how they felt as he was being thrown into the pit. But what about Joseph? What was he thinking as he was thrown in? Was he afraid? Was he sorry he ticked them off with his dreams? Did he apologize? We do not know.

The next sentence provides us with some critical content with respect to God’s awareness of ‘timing’. It says the pit had no water or anything else in it. Simply put, if a person were to stay down there too long, without food or water or anything to protect himself from wild beasts, he would die. God knew time was of essence.

So, here’s Joseph sweating it out for his life alone in a pit and what do his brothers do? They sit down to have a meal. Isn’t that what happens today? Someone can be struggling in a matter of life or death, and others are having a grand old time. Life goes on as usual. This is true on an individual level as many of us watch those we know suffer. It is also true on a larger scale as we watch whole nations like Haiti and Pakistan suffer through earthquakes and floods, respectively. The reality is that much of our suffering has to be done in solitaire. It is not necessarily the way it should be, but the truth is that it often is.

But God does not forget us even though others seem to. He brings about circumstances that help provide relief of our ensuing danger. Sometimes he uses the very people that have been the cause of our misfortune. Sometimes these circumstances open up entire new and wonderful opportunities for us.

So the brothers look up and see a caravan of Ishmaelite merchants coming along on camels, carrying spices among other things, and heading for Egypt. Those of you that know the ‘rest of the story’ cannot help but marvel at God’s amazing provision in this manner. God must clearly want Joseph in Egypt next in order to carry out His plan for His people and the best way to get him there is via these guys who have an eye for a good deal. But how does God actually bring the transaction about? Well, He uses another brother, Judah, this time. Collectively the group of brothers wanted to kill Joseph. Reuben talks them into just throwing him into a pit. Judah, was the fourth of six sons that Leah bore to Jacob. There is nothing significant about his order of birth, that is the 4th of twelve sons for Jacob, we can tie to his actions here, except that we will be hearing much more about the name ‘Judah’ in the rest of scripture. Anyway, Judah comes up with this idea that killing Joseph or even letting him die won’t gain the rest of the group anything. Instead, he recommends they sell him to the Ishmaelites saving themselves from murdering their own flesh and blood.

Three things to note here. First, God is totally in control of all the players. We can never, never forget that. Second, God uses Ishmaelites to accomplish His purpose. You will remember that Ishmael was the son of Abraham, Joseph’s great-grandfather, who was borne to him by Sarah’s maid, Haggar. Abraham, at Sarah’s request, ended up sending both Ishmael and Haggar away. Many claim that Ishmaelites are the original Arabs and especially Palestinians today. That’s not the point I want to make here. Instead, I want us to be aware that sometimes God uses people that we do not expect Him to use to accomplish His will. We need to be very sensitive to that possibility. But at the same time we need to be careful that we do not translate that use “by God to accomplish His will” into a position that says “they themselves are living in the will of God”. There is a big difference in my opinion.

Third, we see that blood is indeed thicker than water. We are created in a way that says we need to do all we can to protect our kin. God has built into us a sense of guilt that does not allow us to come to their support if we are at all in tune with Him. And that may well have been the case with Judah. For us the lesson is that we must consider our ‘family’ members in a very special way, even those that have sinned against us or caused us grief. Family is family in God’s economy and no argument from us will ever change that before God. It is for that reason that this section ends with the phrase, “And his brothers listened to him.”

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