Are You a Builder or Do You Tear People Down?

Scripture For The Day 

 June 14, 2023

"Are You a Builder or Do You Tear People Down?" 

Another one-liner. But, again, there is another bigger story behind it. In the genealogy of the Benjamites we learn a small tidbit about Sherah. Be careful how you read the scripture. At first glance, it looks as if her father is Beriah. But remember this is a genealogy list. (And his (Ephraim) daughter was Sherah, who built Bethhoron the nether, and the upper, and Uzzensherah). 1 Chronicles 7:24. So, it’s possible that she was actually Ephraim’s daughter. Either way, she was a descendant of Joseph.

Within the genealogy, in 1st Chronicles, there are thousands of men mentioned, but only 53 women are mentioned. This includes Sherah. But in this one verse, this one mention, we can learn a lot about Sherah. She built three cities. This was not what was expected of women at that time and she is the only woman in the bible listed as planning and building cities. She must have been brilliant. She must have had a lot of confidence to stay strong in that man’s world. It reminded me of a show I recently watched in which a woman back in the nineteen hundreds became an officer of the law. She wasn’t considered a full-fledged officer but only one that would help them to deal with hysterical women. She had a brilliant mind that was able to see more than what they were seeing. Yet, all they knew was that she was a woman and was best suited to take care of hysterical women and make them coffee, etc. which was often the case back in the day. Women were given diminished responsibilities and assumed to be less intelligent than a man.

 The movie “Hidden Figures’ is another prime example of racism and sexism by a group of ignorant men. This is a true story and I encourage you to watch this movie. It takes a lot of courage to look past the ignorance that is in this world and strive to do what you know you can do and what’s been put on your heart to do. As a Child of God, He will give us what we need to do whatever job He puts on our hearts. The vision that Sherah had to build was passed on from generation to generation and it was not about gender. Each of us are given gifts and talents by God. We are made to be creative in some form or another. It all comes from Him. Sherah had a plan. She worked it out. She brought it together and it got done. She didn’t give up.  A commentator mentions that the cities that she had built are still standing today. The last city she built – Uzzensheerah is named after herself. Translated it means “to listen to Sherah”. Many scholars believe that it was an indication of her prayer to God. “Help me, O Lord, to finish this project”.

While studying this visionary and brilliant woman, a question came to my heart this morning… Are you a builder or do you tear people down? Lord help us to be builders. 



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