Calling all biblical scholars
I need a story from the Bible about a person who pretends to be someone he (or she) really isn’t. So far, only two characters come to mind:
1.) Abraham & Sarah when they go into Egypt and say that they aren’t married. They’re merely siblings.
2.) Peter’s denial of having anything to do with Jesus during Jesus’ trial.
I guess there’s Jacob pretending to be Esau, too. Can you think of any other examples?
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Howdy. I'm Matt. My wife, Christy, and I have four kids and two dogs, I'm passionate about orphan care. I'm a die-hard fan of the Evansville Aces, the Indiana Hoosiers, and Star Wars. I'm trying to live life by the Todd family motto: "It behooves us to live!"
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Depending on what your looking for these may not be the best examples but…
Joseph when his brothers come to him in Egypt for food/help, doesn’t reveal who he really is until after he makes them sweat it out a good bit.
And the Pharisees are a great example of putting on the show on the outside, but not living it inside.
hmmmm…the Pharisees are a pretty good example. I’ve been harping on them recently, so it might not be as effective.
I’m trying to think of an instance where God sends a person to do something and the person thinks he/she has to be someone he/she isn’t in order to do what God has called that person to do. Maybe Abraham with Hagar, or possibly Gideon wanting to amass a huge army when God wants him to use a small one.
Thanks for the help. The Joseph story might work well in next week’s sermon.
By the way – do I know you? Your IP Address says you’re from the Hopkinsville area. But I can’t think of anyone I know from the Hopkinsville area.
Kinda the same idea as how God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things? If He can use (fill in the blank) He can use me?
Or are you looking more at the what happens when we avoid His call or just even just Him general?
Jonah might fit in there somewhere.
OH – and Moses when he is called to free the Israelites, now there is list of excuses.
Yeah you know me – I follow facebook links over to your blog every once in awhile and saw this one. Although I don’t know why it shows me being in Hopkinsville.
-Ray
Moses might work. I hadn’t thought of him for some reason.
Have you read In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day? It’s the premise behind my current sermon series. This next week, the main idea is that God has given us specific gifts and talents to use for His glory. We don’t have to pretend to be something we’re not in order to do what He asks us to do.
Yeah – kinda the ‘God uses ordinary people…’ premise. I always seem to go back to that theme, but it’s definitely something we need to keep hearing!
For a while, the Stat Counter said that Kevin and Liz were in Plano, Texas!
No, I haven’t read that. It’s been to long since I have done some good reading – I’ll have to check that one out.
A lot of that plays into the whole idea of one body with many parts, many times we have a narrowed view of the ways that we can use our spiritual gifts and just don’t think that what I am good at helps.
lol – Reminds me of, “If He can use the jawbone of an ass, surely He can use me!”
Yeah, with the way the internet is setup and depending who your ISP is the IP trackers can get confused pretty quickly.
“If He can use the jawbone of an ass, surely He can use me!”
Ha! That’s funny! I’m not sure if I’ve heard that one before.
Thanks for the helpful comments. Feel free to stop by and comment any time! I’ll see what I can do about getting a copy of the book to you (it might be a while, though).
Genesis 38
There is a story in the Bible about a woman named Tamar. She is married into the family of Judah. She is married to his oldest son. He dies and does not produce a child. She is then given to the next son who also dies and does not produce a child. Well Judah is afraid for his youngest son and sends her back to her father. This is the same as disgracing her…especially since she has not had any children. She dresses up as a prostitute and tricks Judah into sleeping with her and she takes his “family” staff. She becomes pregnant and the “family” staff is how she tells Judah that it was her and he is the father. He realizes how he has hurt her, takes her back into his home and vows to never touch her again. She even goes with the family when the goes with all the brothers to Egypt.
I first read about it in a Francine Rivers book. I hope this helps!
Re: Genesis 38
Thanks. I wound up using the part in the Goliath narrative where Saul tries to put his armor on David and he can’t use it because he’s not used to it.
I should have the sermon posted sometime Tuesday morning on.
Re: Genesis 38
It’s in 1 Samuel 17, beginning around verse 32 or so.