Transcript

Today’s Bible Translation

Bible translation used in today’s episode: Ch. 36-37 WEB; Ch. 38-39 Darby

Podcast Introduction

This is the Law Monday. We’ll read Genesis 36-39 I’m calling this episode “Soap Opera”

We’ll read the chapters, I’ll share some thoughts about the reading, and we’ll have Christmas Question number 5 today. This time you’ll hear the question asked by the Lovely Lady LeeAnn who called it in on the ls fam hotline! And then our Christmas expert, James Cooper of whychristmas.com has the answer.

And at the end, just for fun I’m going to play one of my friend Bryan Duncan’s podcast episodes that includes an unreleased version of a Christmas song. Don’t worry, his podcasts are usually under 3 minutes. In this case it’s a hair longer because the song is 2 and half  minutes long. I think you’ll like it.

Comments on Genesis 38

The chapter starts by telling us about an episode in the life of Judah, one of Joseph’s older brothers. He was the one who came up with the idea to sell Joseph instead of kill him. 

It seems that Judah fell for the daughter of a Canaanite man and had three sons by her. And you heard the story, so I don’t have to retell it. But it ends with Judah having twin sons by his daughter-in-law. One of the sons was Zerah, and the other was Perez, or as the Darby translation rendered the name, Pherez.

Now, there is very little in this chapter that one would say would be good role modeling, right? There was disobedience to God’s law on several levels, wasn’t there. God did not want his people to marry Canaanites. When a married brother died, it was expected that one of the brothers would have a child by the widow, so as to raise the child in the name of the dead brother, and Onan rebelled against that. Judah promised to Tamar that when his youngest son was old enough, he would give him to her to marry, but Judah broke his word. And then Tamar tricked Judah into an incestuous tryst with her so that she would finally be able to have a child.

I mean, there’s enough there to write a whole soap opera about! Some sordid events, right?

So why is this chapter even in the Bible? I have a theory. Remember Perez, one of the twins that resulted from the incestuous event between Judah and Tamar? I neglected to tell you that he is in the genealogical line of Jesus! That’s right. 

Again we see that when God chose to be born into the world, He did not look for the “perfect” family. God brought grace to the world through His son, Jesus, while showing grace to a bloodline that few would have expected the Messiah to come from. 

Time and time again we read of how God uses deeply flawed men and women. He decided that He would use human beings to be part of His plan for redeeming the world. That’s pretty cool. But He hasn’t stopped using humans, because his plan is not finished yet. Not every prophecy has been fulfilled yet. 

And so, beloved, just in case you might think that because of the life you have lived, God would never use you, I want you to remember Genesis 38. No matter what your life used to be like, if you have given your life to Jesus, and if you have asked Him to forgive your sins, God wants to use you. And He will use you, if you let Him.

James Cooper Link

Here is the link to more information on mistletoe.

Support

This a value for value podcast. There are no advertisers because advertising=censorship. If you enjoy the Lifespring Family Audio Bible, decide how much value it brings to you. Only you can make that determination. Then put a number on the value and send it to me here: SUPPORT.

Transcript

Download .txt file.

Genesis 36-39: Soap Opera (LSFAB S13E065)

[TEASER – 0:00]
There’s enough there to write a whole soap opera about.

[INTRO S13E065 – 0:10]
This is the Lifespring Family Audio Bible coming to you from Riverside, California, and podcasting since 2004, I’m your OG Godcaster, Steve Webb. This is the daily podcast where we’re reading through the entire Bible together in a year. The website is lifespringmedia.com. And I am so glad you’re here today. Welcome. If you’re a longtime Lifespring family member, thanks for hanging around with me. And if you’re new, thanks for joining the Lifespring family. Now listen, I don’t consider you a listener, you are family, and we’re so glad you’re here. This is The Law Monday. We’ll read Genesis 36 through 39, and I’m calling the episode “Soap Opera.”

What we’ll do is read the chapters and then I’ll share some thoughts about the reading. And we’ll have Christmas question number five today. This time you’ll hear the question asked by the Lovely Lady LeeAnn who called it in on the Lifespring Family Hotline. And then our Christmas expert James Cooper of WhyChristmas will have the answer. And then at the end, just for fun, I’m going to play one of my friend Bryan Duncan’s podcast episodes that includes an unreleased version of a Christmas song. Now don’t worry, his podcasts are usually under three minutes. And in this case, it’s a hair longer because the song is two and a half minutes long by itself. I think you’ll like it.

Now before we read, let’s pray.

[OPENING PRAYER – 1:28]
Our heavenly Father, you are so good to us and you have blessed us so greatly. Today I ask as we read your word that you would bless our time together and that you would teach us and touch our hearts. I pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.

Okay, let’s begin.

[GENESIS 36 (WEB) – 1:45]
Genesis, chapter 36.

(1) Now this is the history of the generations of Esau (that is, Edom). (2) Esau took his wives from the daughters of Canaan: Adah the daughter of Elon, the Hittite; and Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon, the Hivite; (3) and Basemath, Ishmael’s daughter, sister of Nebaioth. (4) Adah bore to Esau Eliphaz. Basemath bore Reuel. (5) Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These are the sons of Esau, who were born to him in the land of Canaan. (6) Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the members of his household, with his livestock, all his animals, and all his possessions, which he had gathered in the land of Canaan, and they went into a land away from his brother Jacob. (7) For their substance was too great for them to dwell together, and the land of their travels couldn’t bear them because of their livestock. (8) Esau lived in the hill country of Seir. Esau is Edom.

(9) This is the history of the generations of Esau the father of the Edomites in the hill country of Seir: (10) these are the names of Esau’s sons: Eliphaz, the son of Adah, the wife of Esau; and Reuel, the son of Basemath, the wife of Esau. (11) The sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, and Gatam, and Kenaz. (12) Timna was concubine to Eliphaz, Esau’s son; and she bore to Eliphaz Amalek. These are the sons of Adah, Esau’s wife. (13) These are the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These were the sons of Basemath, Esau’s wife. (14) These were the sons of Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon, Esau’s wife: she bore to Esau Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.

(15) These are the chiefs of the sons of Esau: the sons of Eliphaz the firstborn of Esau: chief Teman, chief Omar, chief Zepho, chief Kenaz, (16) chief Korah, chief Gatam, chief Amalek. These are the chiefs who came of Eliphaz in the land of Edom. These are the sons of Adah. (17) These are the sons of Reuel, Esau’s son: chief Nahath, chief Zerah, chief Shammah, chief Mizzah. These are the chiefs who came of Reuel in the land of Edom. These are the sons of Basemath, Esau’s wife. (18) These are the sons of Oholibamah, Esau’s wife: chief Jeush, chief Jalam, chief Korah. These are the chiefs who came of Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, Esau’s wife. (19) These are the sons of Esau (that is, Edom), and these are their chiefs.

(20) These are the sons of Seir the Horite, the inhabitants of the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, (21) Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These are the chiefs who came of the Horites, the children of Seir in the land of Edom. (22) The children of Lotan were Hori and Heman. Lotan’s sister was Timna. (23) These are the children of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam. (24) These are the children of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah. This is Anah who found the hot springs in the wilderness, as he fed the donkeys of Zibeon his father. (25) These are the children of Anah: Dishon and Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah. (26) These are the children of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran. (27) These are the children of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan. (28) These are the children of Dishan: Uz and Aran. (29) These are the chiefs who came of the Horites: chief Lotan, chief Shobal, chief Zibeon, chief Anah, (30) chief Dishon, chief Ezer, and chief Dishan. These are the chiefs who came of the Horites, according to their chiefs in the land of Seir.

(31) These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom, before any king reigned over the children of Israel. (32) Bela, the son of Beor, reigned in Edom. The name of his city was Dinhabah. (33) Bela died, and Jobab, the son of Zerah of Bozrah, reigned in his place. (34) Jobab died, and Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his place. (35) Husham died, and Hadad, the son of Bedad, who struck Midian in the land of Moab, reigned in his place. The name of his city was Avith. (36) Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his place. (37) Samlah died, and Shaul of Rehoboth by the river, reigned in his place. (38) Shaul died, and Baal Hanan the son of Achbor reigned in his place. (39) Baal Hanan the son of Achbor died, and Hadar reigned in his place. The name of his city was Pau. His wife’s name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab.

(40) These are the names of the chiefs who came from Esau, according to their families, after their places, and by their names: chief Timna, chief Alvah, chief Jetheth, (41) chief Oholibamah, chief Elah, chief Pinon, (42) chief Kenaz, chief Teman, chief Mibzar, (43) chief Magdiel, and chief Iram. These are the chiefs of Edom, according to their habitations in the land of their possession. This is Esau, the father of the Edomites.

[GENESIS 37 (WEB) – 7:17]
Genesis, chapter 37.

(1) Jacob lived in the land of his father’s travels, in the land of Canaan. (2) This is the history of the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. Joseph brought an evil report of them to their father. (3) Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age, and he made him a coat of many colors. (4) His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, and they hated him, and couldn’t speak peaceably to him.

(5) Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brothers, and they hated him all the more. (6) He said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: (7) for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and behold, your sheaves came around, and bowed down to my sheaf.”

(8) His brothers said him, “Will you indeed reign over us? Will you indeed have dominion over us?” They hated him all the more for his dreams and for his words. (9) He dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his brothers, and said, “Behold, I have dreamed yet another dream: and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars bowed down to me.” (10) He told it to his father and to his brothers. His father rebuked him, and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Will I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves down to you to the earth?” (11) His brothers envied him, but his father kept this saying in mind.

(12) His brothers went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem. (13) Israel said to Joseph, “Aren’t your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them.” He said to him, “Here I am.”

(14) He said to him, “Go now, see whether it is well with your brothers, and well with the flock; and bring me word again.” So he sent him out of the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. (15) A certain man found him, and behold, he was wandering in the field. The man asked him, “What are you looking for?”

(16) He said, “I am looking for my brothers. Tell me, please, where they are feeding the flock.”

(17) The man said, “They have left here, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’”

Joseph went after his brothers, and found them in Dothan. (18) They saw him afar off, and before he came near to them, they conspired against him to kill him. (19) They said to one another, “Behold, this dreamer comes. (20) Come now therefore, and let’s kill him, and cast him into one of the pits, and we will say, ‘An evil animal has devoured him.’ We will see what will become of his dreams.”

(21) Reuben heard it, and delivered him out of their hand, and said, “Let’s not take his life.” (22) Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him”—that he might deliver him out of their hand, to restore him to his father. (23) When Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped Joseph of his coat, the coat of many colors that was on him; (24) and they took him, and threw him into the pit. The pit was empty. There was no water in it.

(25) They sat down to eat bread, and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing spices and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt. (26) Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? (27) Come, and let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not let our hand be on him; for he is our brother, our flesh.” His brothers listened to him. (28) Midianites who were merchants passed by, and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. They brought Joseph into Egypt.

(29) Reuben returned to the pit, and saw that Joseph wasn’t in the pit; and he tore his clothes. (30) He returned to his brothers, and said, “The child is no more; and I, where will I go?” (31) They took Joseph’s coat, and killed a male goat, and dipped the tunic in the blood. (32) They took the tunic of many colors, and they brought it to their father, and said, “We have found this. Examine it, now, and see if it is your son’s coat or not.”

(33) He recognized it, and said, “It is my son’s coat. An evil animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn in pieces.” (34) Jacob tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son many days. (35) All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. He said, “For I will go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” His father wept for him. (36) The Midianites sold him into Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, the captain of the guard.

[GENESIS 38 (DARBY) – 12:07]
Genesis, chapter 38.

(1) And it came to pass at that time, that Judah went down from his brethren, and turned in to a man of Adullam whose name was Hirah. (2) And Judah saw there the daughter of a Canaanitish man whose name was Shua; and he took her, and went in to her. (3) And she conceived and bore a son; and he called his name Er. (4) And she again conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Onan. (5) And again she bore a son, and she called his name Shelah; and he was at Chezib when she bore him. (6) And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. (7) And Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of Jehovah, and Jehovah slew him. (8) Then Judah said to Onan, Go in to thy brother’s wife, and fulfil to her the brother-in-law’s duty, and raise up seed to thy brother. (9) But when Onan knew that the seed should not be his own, it came to pass when he went in to his brother’s wife, that he spilled it on the ground, in order to give no seed to his brother. (10) And the thing which he did was evil in the sight of Jehovah, and he slew him also. (11) And Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, Remain a widow in thy father’s house, until Shelah my son is grown; for he said, Lest he die also, as his brethren. And Tamar went and remained in her father’s house.

(12) And as the days were multiplied, Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died. And Judah was comforted, and he went up to his sheep-shearers, to Timnah, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite. (13) And it was told Tamar, saying, Behold thy father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep. (14) And she put the garments of her widowhood off from her, and covered herself with a veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in the entry of Enaim, which is on the way to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given to him as wife. (15) And Judah saw her, and took her for a harlot; because she had covered her face. (16) And he turned aside to her by the way, and said, Come, I pray thee, let me go in to thee; for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said, What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come in to me? (17) And he said, I will send thee a kid of the goats from the flock. And she said, Wilt thou give me a pledge, until thou send it? (18) And he said, What pledge shall I give thee? And she said, Thy signet, and thy lace, and thy staff which is in thy hand. And he gave it her, and went in to her; and she conceived by him. (19) And she arose and went away; and she laid by her veil from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood. (20) And Judah sent the kid of the goats by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive the pledge of the woman’s hand; but he found her not. (21) And he asked the men of her place, saying, Where is the prostitute that was at Enaim, by the way-side? And they said, There was no prostitute here. (22) And he returned to Judah, and said, I have not found her; and also the men of the place said, No prostitute has been here. (23) Then Judah said, Let her take it for herself, lest we be put to shame. Behold, I sent this kid, and thou hast not found her.

(24) And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter-in-law has committed fornication, and behold, she is also with child by fornication. And Judah said, Bring her forth, that she may be burned. (25) When she was brought forth, she sent to her father-in-law, saying, By the man to whom these belong am I with child; and she said, Acknowledge, I pray thee, whose are this signet, and this lace, and this staff. (26) And Judah acknowledged them, and said, She is more righteous than I, because I have not given her to Shelah my son. And he knew her again no more. (27) And it came to pass at the time of her delivery, that behold, twins were in her womb. (28) And it came to pass when she brought forth, that one stretched out his hand, and the midwife took it and bound round his hand a scarlet thread, saying, This came out first. (29) 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! on thee be the breach! And they called his name Pherez. (30) And afterwards came out his brother, round whose hand was the scarlet thread; and they called his name Zerah.

[GENESIS 39 (DARBY) – 16:38]
Genesis, chapter 39.

(1) And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, a chamberlain of Pharaoh, the captain of the life-guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hand of the Ishmaelites who had brought him down thither. (2) And Jehovah was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. (3) And his master saw that Jehovah was with him, and that Jehovah made all that he did to prosper in his hand. (4) And Joseph found favour in his eyes, and attended on him; and he set him over his house, and all that he had he gave into his hand. (5) And it came to pass from the time he had set him over his house and all that he had, that Jehovah blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of Jehovah was on all that he had in the house and in the field. (6) And he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand, and took cognizance of nothing with him, save the bread that he ate. And Joseph was of a beautiful form and of a beautiful countenance.

(7) And it came to pass after these things, that his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph, and said, Lie with me! (8) But he refused, and said to his master’s wife, Behold, my master takes cognizance of nothing with me: what is in the house, and all that he has, he has given into my hand. (9) There is none greater in this house than I; neither has he withheld anything from me but thee, because thou art his wife; and how should I do this great wickedness, and sin against God (10) And it came to pass as she spoke to Joseph day by day and he hearkened not to her, to lie with her and to be with her, (11) that on a certain day he went into the house to do his business, and there was none of the men of the house there in the house. (12) Then she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me! But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran out.

(13) And it came to pass, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled forth, (14) that she called to the men of her house, and spoke to them, saying, See, he has brought in a Hebrew man to us, to mock us: he came in to me, to lie with me; and I cried with a loud voice; (15) and it came to pass when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled and went out. (16) And she laid his garment by her until his lord came home. (17) And she spoke to him according to these words, saying, The Hebrew bondman that thou hast brought to us came in to me to mock me; (18) and it came to pass as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled forth.

(19) And it came to pass when his lord heard the words of his wife which she spoke to him, saying, After this manner did thy bondman to me, that his wrath was kindled. (20) And Joseph’s lord took him and put him into the tower-house, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined; and he was there in the tower-house. (21) And Jehovah was with Joseph, and extended mercy to him, and gave him favour in the eyes of the chief of the tower-house. (22) And the chief of the tower-house committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners that were in the tower-house; and whatever they had to do there he did. (23) The chief of the tower-house looked not to anything under his hand, because Jehovah was with him; and what he did, Jehovah made it prosper.

[COMMENTARY – 19:58]
Chapter 36 was mostly genealogy. Chapter 37 was mostly about Joseph, one of the sons of Jacob. Remember Jacob, the one whose very name means “deceiver.” Yeah, that guy, the manipulator. Right. Joseph was his son. So chapter 37 told what a great little brother Joseph was and how his brothers loved him so. Right? Well, maybe not. Joseph was a piece of work, wasn’t he? So his brothers sold him into slavery. Now I’m going to skip chapter 38 for just a moment to say that chapter 39 tells how Joseph became the overseer of Pharaoh’s household, and then Pharaoh’s wife framed him because he wouldn’t have sex with her. You’ve probably heard about Joseph many times, I know that I have heard numerous sermons about him. But I haven’t heard many, perhaps no, sermons based on chapter 38. So I want to take a moment to talk about that.

Chapter 38 starts by telling us about an episode in the life of Judah, one of Joseph’s older brothers. Judah was the one who came up with the idea to sell Joseph instead of kill him.

It seems that Joseph fell for the daughter of a Canaanite man, and had three sons by her. And you heard the story, so I don’t have to retell it, but it ends with Judah having twin sons by his daughter-in-law, one of the sons was Zira. And the other was Perez, or as the Darby translation we read today rendered the name, Pherez.

Well, there’s very little in this chapter that one would say would be good role modeling, right? There was disobedience to God’s law on several levels. God did not want his people to marry Canaanites. And when a brother died, it was expected that one of the remaining brothers would have a child by the widow so as to raise the child in the name of the dead brother. And in this chapter, the brother by the name of Onan rebelled against that. And then Judah promised to Tamar that when his youngest son was old enough, he would give him to her to marry. But Joseph broke his word. And then Tamar tricked Judah into an incestuous tryst with her so that she would finally be able to have a child.

I mean, there’s enough there to write a whole soap opera about. Some sordid events, right?

So why is this chapter even in the Bible? I have a theory. Remember Perez, one of the twins that resulted from the incestuous event between Judah and Tamar? I neglected to tell you that he is in the genealogical line of Jesus. That’s right!

Again, we see that when God chose to be born into the world, he did not look for the perfect – and I’m using air quotes – perfect family. God brought grace to the world through his son Jesus, while showing grace to a bloodline that few would have expected the Messiah to come from.

Time and time again, we read of how God uses deeply flawed men and women. He decided that he would use human beings to be part of his plan for redeeming the world. That’s pretty awesome, isn’t it? But, Beloved, he hasn’t stopped using humans because his plan is not finished yet. Not every prophecy has yet been fulfilled.

And so, just in case you might think that because of the life you’ve lived in the past, God would never use you, I want you to remember Genesis 38. No matter what your life used to be like, if you have given your life to Jesus, and if you have asked him to forgive your sins, God wants to use you. And he will use you if you let him.

[LIFESPRING FAMILY HOTLINE – 23:38]
Aren’t you glad that God chooses to use flawed people? I know I am. But then again, if he didn’t, there would be no one to use at all. Tell me what you think. Call the Lifespring Family Hotline at +1-951-732-8511. If you’re shy and you don’t want to talk in front of people, you can go to comment.lifespringmedia.com and type your comment in. And my email inbox is always open to you, st***@*************ia.com.

Tomorrow is History Tuesday, and we’re going to read one of my favorite books in the Bible. It’s the little book of Ruth. Some of my favorite people are there.

[CHRISTMAS QUESTIONS – 24:16]
Christmas question number five is coming up in a moment. But first, I want to tell you who won the drawing for the tickets to the movie “Johnny Cash: The Redemption of an American Icon.” [cheers] Remember that for each question you sent in, you’d get one entry for the drawing. And there were three tickets to give away. Now before I announce the winners, I want to thank everyone who has sent in Christmas questions. And if you don’t win one of these don’t be too disappointed because I’ve planned another drawing to take place on Christmas Day. But before I tell you about that, I’m guessing you probably want to hear who won.

These names were drawn at random using a random number generator. Each question submitted was assigned a number and then the generator came up with three different numbers. The first number chosen belonged to Howie and Ann whose questions you’ve already heard on the show. The next winner was Charles Wheeler from Eldridge, Iowa. Charles found the show by listening to “No Agenda,” as did our third winner, Chase Jacobson. Each of you sent in good Christmas questions and we’ll be hearing Chase and Charles’s questions in upcoming episodes. I’ve already sent the winners an email telling them how to redeem their free tickets. Thank you so much to everybody who sent questions in. And now I want to encourage you to continue to send in questions because we still have some slots to fill.

As I told you, I want to have a question a day from now until Christmas, and I need more questions to do that. So here’s what I’m going to do. The movie “Jesus Revolution” will be released in February 2023. I’ve seen the movie and it really, truly is great, really great. It’s about how the Jesus Movement started in the late 70s right here in Southern California, and I was an eyewitness to it, a participant, even. And watching the movie was almost like watching my own life in many ways. It shows how a failing pastor by the name of Chuck Smith (played in the movie by Kelsey Grammer) met a hippie evangelist named Lonnie Frisbee who’s played by Jonathan Roumie, who plays Jesus in the tremendous series “The Chosen.” So what happened was Lonnie Frisbee challenged Chuck Smith, again, a failing pastor, to open his church to the hippies. And then the rest was history. A flame of revival began and its effects are still being felt today in the Calvary Chapel churches, and Christian music, and really around the world.

I am a product of the Jesus Revolution. I might not be here if it wasn’t for that. But conditions today are much like they were back then. And we need another Jesus Revolution. Now one of the characters in the movie is a high school boy by the name of Greg Laurie. He’s from a broken family, living with an alcoholic mom who brings various men into their home. And he like, so many other people back then, tried drugs to find answers and fill a hole in his life. And then somebody at his high school invited him to a Bible study. That teenager, Greg Laurie, is now pastor of Harvest Ministries. You may have heard Greg on the radio. He’s my pastor, and the movie “Jesus Revolution” is – in addition to being an excellent production – is one of the evangelistic outreaches of Harvest Ministries. And in case you think it’s going to be cheesy, it’s not. It’s from the same production company that did the Johnny Cash movie. And I told you yesterday about what other projects they’ve done. So really, the movie is great. And I’m excited for its release in February. I want as many people as possible to see it because I think lives will be changed. Because there’s a scene in the movie that shows how a person can accept Jesus. And I believe that some will as they watch. It isn’t done in a cheesy way, but a way that goes exactly along with the story. It’s not shoehorned in.

If you want to see a trailer for the Jesus Revolution movie, go to lifespringmedia.com/jesusrevolution. Of course, that’s all one word, jesusrevolution. So I don’t have any free tickets to give away like I did the Johnny Cash movie, but I’m going to reach into my own pocket to buy these tickets. It’s going to be another Fathom event, and it is not yet showing on Fathom’s website. But as soon as they do become available, I’m going to buy ’em. This time, I’ll give away not two, not three, but four tickets, and we’re going to do the same thing. To be in the drawing all you have to do is send in your Christmas questions. Each question you send in will get you one entry whether or not I use your question on the show. And of course, this is in addition to the drawing I’m going to be doing for a signed copy of my book, “Webb’s Easy Bible Names Pronunciation Guide.” And for that drawing, each question I use on the show gets an entry. So send your questions to st***@*************ia.com and put “Christmas question” in the subject line.

Here’s today’s question called in by my wife, the Lovely Lady LeeAnn.

“Hello, my love. I have a Christmas question for you and James. And ever the romantic. I’m not going the spiritual side. I just want to know, why did they choose mistletoe and why does it have such kiss appeal? I hope everybody has a very merry Christmas. Bye.”

Haven’t I got a sweet wife? I’m so blessed. Well, let’s see what James Cooper’s answer is.

[JAMES COOPER ANSWERS – 29:41]
Well, that’s a really good question. And like many of the ones that I’ve answered already, the answer is no one really knows.

Well, first off, what is mistletoe? Well, it’s a plant that grows on a range of other trees, including willow, apple, and oak trees, and it’s a parasite, meaning that it grows in part of the tree and takes some of its roots’ power from the tree that it’s growing on. The tradition of hanging it in the house supposedly goes back to the time of the ancient Druids. However, there’s actually very little documentary evidence that that ever happened. It’s also meant to possess mystical powers and bring good luck to the household and ward off evil spirits. And it was also used as a sign of love and friendship in Norse mythology, and features in a story called “The Death of Baldur.”

When the first Christians came to Western and Northern Europe, some tried to ban the use of it as it was seen as pagan, but other people still wanted to have it around during the winter festivals. In fact, York Minster church here in the UK used to hold a special mistletoe service during the winter, where wrongdoers in the city of York could come and be pardoned.

But what about kissing under it? Well, some people say it goes back to the story of Baldur, which I mentioned earlier, but again, there’s no real evidence for it. The first recorded dates we have of people kissing under the mistletoe are in England in 1784, where it featured in a song from a musical comedy called “Two to One.” And the custom seemed to have started in England around the 1720s, so the early Georgian period. Now it probably came from the fact that mistletoe was also hanged during a decoration called “kissing bows” or “Christmas bows” which were very popular during this period. They were like early Christmas trees ’cause Christmas trees didn’t arrive in the UK until the 1800s. So they’ve been around since the Middle Ages, but they were extra popular in Georgian times. These bows were made of several rings formed into a bowl shape and covered with greenery, and with mistletoe hung from the bottom. So it seems that it might have just been a custom that came about the people grabbed someone underneath it and gave ’em a kiss. There were also illustrations of kissing under mistletoe but not in bows, just in sprigs of it, in the first book of “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens which was published in 1843. So that probably solidified the custom of kissing under the mistletoe. The original custom was when there was a berry was picked from the sprig when you kissed under it. And when all the berries were gone, there were no more kissing under that sprig of mistletoe.

That sounds lovely and romantic. But did you know the name mistletoe comes from two Anglo-Saxon words “mistle” which means “dung,” and “tan,” which means “stick?” So you could actually translate mistletoe as “poo on a stick.” That’s not really so romantic, is it?

[STEVE WEBB – 32:10]
Well, no, it isn’t. I’m sure the Lovely Lady LeeAnn is going to be somewhat disappointed at that last part, James. Thank you. Links for more information from James will be on the show notes page at lifespringmedia.com/s13e065. And of course, James’ website is whychristmas.com.

[OUTRO S13E065 – 32:37]
Comment on the show by calling the Lifespring Family Hotline at +1-951-732-8511 or by going to comment.lifespringmedia.com or by emailing me at st***@*************ia.com.

If the Lifespring Family Audio Bible makes you smile when you see a new episode in your podcast app, please consider helping to support it. Help me continue to do what I do. Pray about it. Ask the Lord what he would have you do and then go to

[JINGLE SINGERS – 33:03]
lifespringmedia.com/support.

[STEVE WEBB – 33:07]
All right, I’m gonna get out of here now, but before I do, I’m going to play one of Bryan Duncan’s latest podcast episodes because it has a great rendition of a traditional Christmas song. His podcast is called “Nutshell Sermons.” And you can find that in your podcast app or you can go to nutshellsermons.com and subscribe there or just listen online. So until tomorrow, may God bless you richly. Thank you for inviting me to be a part of your day. My name is Steve Webb. Bye.

Okay, Bryan come on in. It’s all yours.

BRYAN DUNCAN, NUTSHELL SERMON PODCAST EPISODE “MY FAVORITE CHRISTMAS SONG” – DEC,3, 2022 – 33:39
Bryan, your lunatic friend. I have two Christmas records out. The first one is “Christmas Is Jesus.” It’s over 20 years old and still gets a lot of airplay. I did another one, it’s called “A NehoSoul Christmas.” It was completely different. A few years ago, We planned to do a third Christmas record, but crowdfunding was just not working. I’m not saying this will never make a record, but it’s not on a record now, and I wanted to play it for you anyway because it’s the first song I think of at Christmas.

[BRYAN DUNCAN SINGS – 34:22]
I heard the bells on Christmas Day.
The old familiar carols play.
And wild and sweet, the words repeat
Of peace on earth goodwill to men.

And in despair, I bowed my head.
“There is no peace on earth,” I said.
For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, goodwill to men.

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep.
God is not dead, nor doth he sleep.
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, with peace on earth
goodwill to men.

I heard the bells on Christmas Day.

[BRYAN DUNCAN – 36:11]
Those golden voices are a group called Straighter Road. I did two acapella songs with them for the third Christmas record that Christopher Redner produced. And I do this live at my concerts even now. I’ve also written several sentimental Christmas songs that I had hoped to record but it’s getting late in my life and it might be too late. Nevertheless, I hope you would contribute something to the value of this song to nutshellsermons.com/support. And thanks again for your appreciation of my music.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Transcript corrected by Denise