Dozens of  young people might have felt like shaking the dust off their feet as they walked away from Room C113 shortly before a Bible seminar on Thursday.

They were not welcome at the seminar presented by Michelle Hershberger — but for justifiable reasons.  Coordinators had to send them away because of fire marshal regulations limiting crowd size in the room. The place was packed.

“I’m glad there are so many people interested in this, because this is a Bible study!” said Hershberger, who teaches Bible and youth ministry at Hesston College. She explained that the Bible is misinterpreted numerous times, and through prayer she asked God to “help all of us get through (misinterpretation), to hear what (God) wants to fill us with.”

Hershberger’s seminar — “How a prostitute can be more righteous than a patriarch: Understanding biblical stories in their context”– was about Genesis 38, which was read aloud. The overarching question, “How does this verse have context for us today?” was addressed, as well as a second question, “How can Tamar be more righteous than Judah?”

Audience members divided into groups of two or three as they brainstormed about different “weird things about the story.” When the group as a whole came together, people shouted out their questions, including “Why did Judas get a prostitute?”  and “Were they really going to kill a pregnant woman?”

When someone asked “Why is this story even in the Bible?” Hershberger said that question is “a question that must be asked of all Bible stories.”

“How much of this stuff has double meaning? That is the $64,000 question!” she said.

Hershberger then analyzed Genesis 38 and went through a short inductive Bible study with the remaining time.

Hershberger explained, “When you meet someone from another culture, you must go into a different worldview. I need to take off my Michelle glasses to see the rest of the world.”

She said that applying this cultural context to biblical interpretation is helpful in deciding what a verse truly means.

The group came to the conclusion that although the context was different in Genesis 38, the ultimate lessons—to take care of the widowed and poor, and to stay faithful in marriage—are as relevant as ever in 2009.

“I just read that story in the Bible a few weeks ago and I thought it was weird; so looking at it today it was nice knowing what it actually meant,” said Jonathan Nagy from Lancaster, Pa.

Hershberger made sure that the meaning was not lost on anyone in the group: “If you walk out of this room thinking you don’t have to concern yourself with taking care of the poor, you’ve missed the point.”

Editor’s Note: For a related blog posting by Rachel Halder go to goshen.edu/mpress.