"And it came to
pass, as he drew back his hand, that, behold, his brother came out: and she
said, How hast thou broken forth? This breach be upon thee: therefore his name
was called Pharez" (Gen. 38:29).
Tamar, a
first-supposed cursed wife of two of Judah's sons, and now the carrier of
Judah's children, is in labor. The scene of labor is never pretty. It's full of
searing pain and seething fire--but also, shouting joy.
A child is being
born.
The midwife has
discerned that Tamar has two children in her womb. Twins! And to be sure that
all posterity will know for certain which the "firstborn" really is,
when a tiny hand is seen, the midwife ties a cord around it quickly.
But after the mark
is left, the hand withdraws, and a baby without
a cord is delivered.
The midwife stares
at the little boy in shock. "How hast thou broken forth?" she asks
(vs. 29).
"And afterward
came out his brother, who had the scarlet thread upon his hand: and his name
was called Zarah" (vs. 30).
Two boys.
The one who everyone
thought would be first...was last.
And the one that no
one had seen yet...was first.
"But many that
are first shall be last; and the last shall be first" (Matt. 19:30).
Human nature tries
so hard to be first. It's natural. We do it without thinking. "Survival of
the fittest" is engrained into our nature with the sin that produced it.
It takes someone
special--and full of the Spirit of the Lord--to surrender their place as
first...or even their right to be first…
in order to be last.
And yet, our Example
did just that.
He became last. Not
only just last, but the last of the last. Lowest of the low. Smallest of the
small.
His reason?
"And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; that they may be
one, even as we are one" (John 17:22).
First. To last.
That the last. Might
be first.
That is love. In all truth and fullness.
Lord God, give me this same Spirit… May I be willing
to be last that someone else might be first...
Amen!! sister
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