Jan 31: Exodus 4-6

 Jan 31, Exodus 4-6

Exodus 4. Moses is still talking to God. And God is getting Moses ready for what is coming. Moses is worried that they will not believe that he is a messenger of God. God does some really incredible miracles and begins to tell Moses what is coming up and what signs Moses is going to do before the Egyptians. Moses is complaining about his insufficiencies in speech. God asked Moses who made the tongue? I also think that it is quite funny how God comforts Moses with a little humor by giving Moses his brother to be a companion on this journey with, and states in verse 14, “Here is Aaron, your Brother, I know that he can speak well…” Of course God knows that he can speak well, remember it was God who made the tongue… God goes one more step and promises to speak through Moses and through Aaron. Afterwards Moses went to Jethro, his father in law, and basically gets his approval to go back to Egypt to rescue his people. We also see that Moses is told by God, some of the end events that will happen later in Egypt. Like the Nile, turning to blood (verse 9) and the death of the firstborn of Egypt (verse 23).

Ok, before you get confused here in verses 24-26. Let me just remind you that in verse 22, the Lord is telling Moses that he is to lead the Lord’s firstborn out to serve Him. As the Lord is stating this, the covenant of Abraham is remembered, as this promise is remembered and told, as God’s people. God is remembering the covenant that He made with Abraham, back in Genesis 17:5-14, that God would lead these people to the promises land. The promise consisted of God being their God. And these people being devoted to Yahweh. And what was the end of the promise? A covenant signed and sealed in blood; circumcision. And right when God remembers this and is speaking this to Moses, something wasn’t done. Moses hadn't yet circumcised his own 2 sons. This disobedient act wasn’t looked too good upon by God. And we aren’t sure why Moses refused to obey God and circumcise his sons. Some Scholars say that since the religious priests of Egypt were circumcised, it put Moses off in doing the same religious acts as those he had once feed from. But it doesn’t matter who copies the ways of the Lord. When the Lord wants obedience, it doesn’t matter who has abused the ways of the Lord. We are still called to obey. Anyhow. Through the disobedience of Moses, we see that God didn’t take it lightly and sought to kill him, for his neglect in obeying the covenant of the Lord. But we also get to see the  impact of an obeying godly wife. And her influence in her husband’s life. As Moses’s wife, quickly circumcises her sons and puts the bloody flesh on her husbands feet. As she completed the promise of God, for him. Thus, making Moses an obedient man. And one that was continuing in the promises of God, and His soon deliverance of His people, and the fulfillment of the promises of taking them to the promise land. 

As the next verse rolls on; Aaron (Moses’s real brother) goes to meet Moses in the wilderness. Then Aaron and Moses went together back to Egypt and told the Israelites the plan and they all believed and worshipped Yahweh. 

Exodus 5. It all begins. Moses and Aaron make their initial request to Pharaoh from God, to let God’s people go. Pharaoh does not know their ‘God’ or cares what He thinks. Their initial plea is to let them go and sacrifice to Yahweh, with a 3 day journey… Pharaoh did not like this and he ended up making it harder for them by taking away their straw to make bricks and had the Israelites work load be the same. A modern day analogy - you need to build fences, but you are not given the posts or the wire to assemble, but yet you are expected to build it in the same frame. So what happened? Why did Pharaoh do this? If they weren’t slaves and could go, then why didn’t he let them take some vacation time away? Because, a couple verses point to what is really going one. In verse 1, Moses states, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel…” and then in verse 10 it states, “Thus says Pharaoh…” Here we have an interesting observation. Who is telling who - what. Is Pharaoh, the King of Egypt, going to listen to the King of Kings? Or is the King of Kings, going to have to listen to the King of Egypt. Well. Pharaoh decides what he is going to be the King and not only doesn’t give vacation time, but also makes their work harder. Obviously, this is not making the Israelites very happy with Moses. They blame Moses for their hardship and Moses turned to the Lord and asked God why He would do this to His people? Moses wanted an immediate deliverance for the people God never said that it would be quick, but a process. It is the same for us on most instances. We think that it is going to be instant, but instead; it is a long hard process. Moses ends with asking God, “Why did you ever send me? And you haven’t delivered them at all!”

Exodus 6. God doesn’t strike Moses down for this honest expression of emotion, but instead kindly reminds Moses who He is and the promises that He has given to the forefathers. I love how the Lord states, “I will redeem you with an outstretched arm…” And I also love that the Lord states, “I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out of Egypt.” Notice that God is already talking like He did it, it is present tense. He ‘has brought’ them out. Talk about awesome. The Lord is so in control, that He even speaks what He is about to do. When Moses went to go speak to the people, His people, They did not listen because they were brokenhearted. Then it is almost like a second later, the Moses forgets everything that God spoke to him about and questions himself agains. How we do this too. God can be doing all these things, and someone is broken or negative and we forget all the things that we were confident in. It looks like we were going to be given the genealogy again of the sons of Jacob. Just incase you forgot;) What we really get, that is new, is the genealogy of Moses and Aaron. And then we end with the insecurities of Moses. This ‘Moses’ that we have made a Bible superhero, in reality, was a simple man. And the Lord wants us to remember that it was God that was great. And Moses was just a simple man that God used, to work His wonders…

To sum it all up:

• Moses basically set up himself to fail, as he assumes that God works instantaneous. When in reality, God is a God of time and process, which He is overly patient in revealing His power and majesty, which He does for His glory.

Jan 30: Exodus 1-3

 Jan 30, Exodus 1-3

The book of Exodus is the 2nd book of the Old Testament. The name Exodus in the Greek means ‘going out’ or ‘departure’. But in Hebrew the book is called 'Names,'  as that is the first hebrew word of this book. Exodus is ultimately about the fulfillment of God’s promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - to make them into a great nation. God goes to great lengths to keep His promises amongst opposition from the enemy and disbelief from His people. 

Exodus 1. When we left off last time, Joseph had just died. We are introduced to the lineage again of Jacob’s kids… Then we are told of a new king in Egypt who didn't know the family of Jacob or Joseph and the insecurities of that King were starting to show, as the Hebrew nation became great in number. The Egyptians were afraid that the Hebrews (Jacob’s family) would get too strong and would eventually overpower Egypt. The plan was to deal shrewdly with them as they were multiplying and becoming more powerful. The Egyptians made the people of Jacob (or Israel) work as slaves. They weren't literal slaves, but they were oppressed and that idea that they were 'slaves' shows that they had a new master - the King of Egypt. The King of Egypt, also didn't want them getting too many strong men to fight back, so he told all the midwives to kill the Hebrew baby boys that were born. The midwives feared God more, so they did not do what they were told. Instead they wanted to protect the Hebrew babies, for they were the future of God's chosen people. They lied to Pharaoh and basically told him that the Hebrew women birth really fast, before they can even get there, to protect the newborn babies because they fear God. God blessed these ladies and gave them their own families! Here we see that these ladies lied, and not only did God approve, but God blessed them for it. Sometimes, God's sense, doesn't make sense. And because it didn't work having the midwives kill the babies, Pharaoh commands his people to do the dirty work. But to let the little girls live, and the boys thrown into the Nile, which was the river that ran through Egypt. The Nile isn't this little stream, it is more like a mix between the Amazon River and Niagara Falls.  

Exodus 2. Moses, a famous Old Testament name, and you are about to be introduced to him. Remember, at the time that Moses was born, the Pharaoh wanted all the baby boys to be killed… so Moses was born and his mom saw that he was special. She nursed him for a while and hid him for three months. She put him into a basket and sent him down the river to protect him. That might sound easy enough, but Scholars say that it probably took her 3 months to make the basket, made from a mix of bitumen and pitch, is not only a tar that would seal up the basket that she made, but also was a crocodile deterrent. And can you imagine putting your child in a crocodile, hippopotamus (and hippos are territorial and very aggressive) infested water? Talk about faith. Here she trusted that God would protect this baby. Anyhow, the baby makes it through the water, and ends up near royalty. The daughter of Pharaoh, the daughter of the king, saw him floating down a river. She pulled him out. And saw that he was a Hebrew child. How did she know this? Well. Hebrews circumcised their children. Adult Egyptians who worked for the temple, also circumcised themselves, but that was reserved for the religious elites; as well as for Pharaoh's household and no one else. It was an obvious that something was special about this baby, and Scholars believe that the Princess named him 'Hopimoses' which means, 'Hopi (the god of the Nile) drawn out.' Meaning the god of the Nile, gave this baby to her. Since Moses himself, wrote the book that you are reading, it is evident that he didn't want to be associated with another god, other than the One True God. Ok back to the story, Moses’s little sister was watching and made yourself known. It was then that Pharaohs daughter instructed her to go get a nursing woman. As God would have it, the little girl went and grabbed her mother, who was Moses's real mother, to nurse him. Remember how I always say that God works everything out? Well - this is another exceptional example.
This is where the story turns. Moses grows up in the Egyptian style, in Egyptian school, in Egyptian religion, and probably in the Egyptian palace. But Moses, seems to know that his heritage is Hebrew, as they call them "his people." When he gets older, he sees an Egyptian beating a Hebrew – one of Moses's people. He did not like what he saw, so he killed the Egyptian and hid his body. Basically Moses was hoping nobody had seen him. Moving on, the next day Moses saw two of his own Hebrew people arguing, And he went to mediate between them. They looked at him and asked him who made him the judge and if he was going to kill one of them like he did to the guy yesterday… This scared him, and he thought that the thing he did, must be on the gossip train and it was. Pharaoh had heard of it, which was Moses’s fear… out of fear he ran. There away from Egypt, he rests by a well, in Midian. It is kinda funny that a watering well, is where Isaac (through his servant) and Jacob, both met their wives. Anyhow, Moses helps some girls with their sheep. It is interesting to note that in verse 19 it states that 'an Egyptian...' Moses was clearly looking like one. Moses meets the daughters father, and he is a priest of Midian. Who is Midian? And whose line is this? Interesting enough, Midian was one of the sons of Abrahams. Remember the wife that Abrahman took named Keturah. Well Midian was one of her sons, and Abraham sent the other sons away so that they wouldn't have a share in Isaac's inheritance. Back in Genesis 25:1-6, he sent the sons away from Issac, eastward to the east country. Right where Moses ended up going to Midian. So what god is this priest to? The God of Abraham. So he intermarries with the priests daughter, where he lived and married and started to have kids. He knew that he was just a foreign traveler there and it showed in naming his son. Some time later, the king of Egypt, the pharaoh, had died. The Hebrew people were full on oppressed people. Think of a Dictatorship and living underneath it, as non-citizens. So they were treated horrible and their cries made it up to God. God has not forgotten the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob…

Exodus 3. Here we have the famous story of the burning bush. Moses was taking care of some sheep, as we see Moses taking on the Father-in-laws family business, and caught a glimpse of bush that was burning on a mountain, but yet did not burn up. Obviously his curiosity was peaked. Moses went to it. When he was there, God called out to him from the bush and Moses said, “Here I am.” Remember now, they were on a mountain. Gods presence was on the Mountain, which made it holy. This is also what God told Moses to take off his sandals – he was on holy ground. God tells Moses basically that he sees the suffering of his people in Egypt and is sending Moses to be a spokes person for the Hebrews through God and for God. The name that God refers to himself as is I AM. God here reveals Himself to Moses, His name, as Yahweh! Before this time, the patriarchs (which means family lineage) didn't know God by His personal name. How crazy is that?!? Anyhow. We have been talking about the name, the personal name of God since we started this study. God made promises to free his people from affliction. God made promises to be with them. He also knows, that the Pharaoh will not release them unless compelled by a mighty hand through Gods own hand, and only God would let him let His people go, once He had shown His wonders to the Pharaoh and the people of Israel. It is not like the movies, where Pharaoh and Moses are best friends playing and all is well except the fact that a woman gets in the way, then they have to figure out who is king and who gets the girl. That is Hollywood's version of Charlton Heston or a high-end cartoon depicting biblical versions of non-truth. Reality is, Moses was a chosen person by God. And God was going to have Moses go back to Egypt and get God's people out of there. Even more, God was going to make it a show that nobody would forget. Not in a thousand years. 

To sum it all up:

• God will do whatever it takes to fulfill his word.
• As God's people - the Israelites are protected. And so are you, if you are one of God's people. 
• God's guiding hand, was in the story of Moses all along. Can you see God's hand in your story? It might take a while to actually see God, especially when we are down, running away from something, or living in a place that isn't our home. But the God of the Hebrews is still alive and well. Watching us. Guiding us. And as we will see in a little bit. Delivering us from evil... 

Jan 29: Genesis 48-50

 Jan 29, Genesis 48-50

 Jan 29, Genesis 48-50

Genesis 48 Jacob is sick and dying. Regardless of his declining health, he gathers his strength and sits up in bed and he reminds Joseph of the promises that God gave to him and his fathers about their offspring. Jacob then proceeds to bless Joseph’s sons. Not only was Jacob’s health declining, his eyesight was not good. Jacob embraced both boys and placed the greater blessing (the birthright) on the younger son - intentionally. Joseph seeing that the mistake was being made, even tried to correct his Dad. Listen to this observation - “Joseph, like so many others (and like many of us), expected God to work in a certain way, but found that He is often pleased to work differently and sometimes even unconventionally.” (BNCommentary) Do you see that in your own life? How you originally thought it should go, even what is culturally correct, and it didn’t happen that way? God is working! Also from the Bible Knowledge Commentary it states, “For four consecutive generations this re-versed pattern was followed: Isaac over Ishmael, Jacob over Esau, Joseph over Reuben, and Ephraim over Manasseh.” Interesting isn’t it, that God’s ways are not always the obvious, conventional ways, instead they are opposite of what we think they should be. When will we start paying attention, to the fact that God will do things His way?  We need to realize that He wants to do thing for His purposes and for His Glory in His time.

Genesis 49 Jacob, the Patriarch, calls together and blesses all 12 of his sons - please don’t just scan or skim over this! If you have not read the OT (Old Testament) before, this may seem like crazy old school boring history talk. But, we will be referring to this through parts of the OT, as it is significant. I will not break down here all of the prophetic (predictive writings given by God through man to man). I will highlight for you that Jacob does bless each of his sons. He condemns Reuben for sleeping with one of Jacob’s servant wives. He has rich blessings and emphasis on the royal line of Judah and the lineage of Joseph. But, you just read through the list of the 12 tribes of Israel and not all of their futures are butterflies and rainbows. Each blessing was suitable for each man and an idea of what his future tribe would hold. After the blessings, Jacob’s final wish was that he be buried with his fathers, where Abraham bought a cave for Sarah. 

Genesis 50 closes up the book of Genesis. Jacob dies with his family around him. Joseph, being in Egypt, has his father embalmed as was customary Egyptian culture (not Hebrew). Interesting that Jacob, was called Israel here. As if his legacy is now starting and the name, Israel, is revealing to the future of the Hebrews. When Israel died, even the Egyptians wept and mourned for over 2 months. After that, Joseph brought his father to Abraham’s cave to bury him (with Pharaoh’s permission). The brothers were nervous that now that Jacob had died that Joseph was going to take revenge on them. So the brothers make up a story that the dead father’s wishes was for Joseph to forgive them. But this saddened Joseph, as his heart wasn’t bitter against his brothers past sins, that were against him. And instead of harsh words, Joseph has some wise things to say; and included are some of my favorite Scripture: “But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good…” Which in this statement, you learn a lot about God. People can mean things for evil, but God can mean it for good. Interesting thought, isn’t it. 

At the end, Joseph dies too at 110 years of age. He too was embalmed and made his brothers promise to bring him to be buried with his father, one day.

To sum it all up:

God’s plans vs mans plans

• Do you expect God to work in certain ways via certain prayers or certain circumstances? Well, stop it. God is a God of mystery at times and works things out for a much greater plan!
• Genesis covers creation and the beginning. Genesis also covers some of the unveilings of the promises of God. But it doesn’t stop there. And we will see in the next book of the Bible, how the promises of God continue and how He takes care of those He calls - His own.
• Congratulations, you just finished 2 books of the Bible. Job and Genesis. This journey is, like the name of the current book you just finished, Genesis, means the origins or the Beginning… so stay with me on this epic journey reading through God’s Word as we are just in the beginning of finding our how Great our God is.

Jan 28: Genesis 46-47

 Jan 28, Genesis 46-47

Genesis 46 God promises to Jacob that He will be a great nation and that it is good to go to Egypt. God tells him that Joseph will be by his side when Jacob dies. Jacob leaves his home and takes everything with them and moves to a foreign land. We are given the lineage of Jacob. Now, let us not forget that God is promising to make his descendants as numerous as the sands of the beach - but for now, we can still count all his descendants, which are 70 people in all. God is a God of process, and some things take time. Joseph is reunited with his dad after 22 years, and Jacob is so happy he could die! Joseph then gives his family some coaching on how to speak to Pharaoh…

Genesis 47 Joseph went to Pharaoh and told him the good news, that his family is here! Pharaoh wants them to have the best land, so Pharaoh gives them Goshen and offers jobs to Joseph’s family members to be in charge of and take care of his animals. Then Jacob blesses Pharaoh. This is significant as Jacob is mediating God’s blessing (being a liaison for God). Joseph sets his family up and provides for them. 

The famine got worse, as we know that there was 4-5 years left of the famine. All the people came to Joseph and had used all the money they had to buy food, and had no money left. So, they started selling/giving their livestock to him for food. Once that was gone or had dwindled, they started giving/selling their land for the grain. When they had no more animals or land, they started selling themselves to Pharaoh so that they might have grain and live. So, Joseph bought all the land and the Egyptians and it all became Pharaoh’s. The priests didn't sell their land because they had a fixed allowance from Pharaoh, they were the only people group to keep their land. Joseph gave the people seed to plant and at harvest they were to give 1/5 of the harvest to Pharaoh for payment, basically setting up a 20% tax from the King of Egypt. 

Jacob was dying and brought Joseph close to him. Jacob asked Joseph to bury him with his fathers, not in Egypt. Joseph agreed. 

To sum it all up: God is a God of process, but He keeps His word. Regardless...

• Sometimes loved ones die. 
• Sometimes life doesn't seem fair. 
• Sometimes we can’t pay our bills.
• Sometimes life is arduous and frustrating.
• Sometimes life doesn't always make sense. 
• Sometimes the people we love, don't love God.
• Sometimes God will have you in a prominent position to take care of others.
• Sometimes God will have you taking care of things, only to be falsely accused for being righteous.
• Sometimes our lives will look a lot like Joseph’s where God will have us in a prison of sorts for a while, so that when the time is right, God will use you. 
• Sometimes it seems, that God has forgotten you. Truth is - He has not forgotten you, He just has a lot of things to work out and you are part of that. Trust in God and His ways. 

But let me assure you - God knows what you need and everyone else in the world, and will get you and everyone else where He needs you to be. 

Jan 27: Genesis 43-45

 Jan 27, Genesis 43-45

Genesis 43 The Famine continued and was very severe. Meanwhile, however Simeon, the brother, was still back in the prison of Egypt, as he wasn’t to be released until the younger brother was proven. How long was Simeon there for? He was there as long as it took his family back home, to eat all the food they had boughten. This was also when Jacob’s told his sons to go back to Egypt to buy more food. The sons reminded Jacob that the Egyptian man (who was really Joseph) told them that they had to bring the little brother with them next time, as proof of their honesty, or he would not sell them more food. Jacob refused to let Benjamin go, as Rachel was his favorite wife, and she bore him 2 sons - Joseph and Benjamin. Jacob still thinks that Joseph is dead and that Benjamin is all that he has left from Rachel, who died. Now, Judah put his own life on the line as a pledge of security for Benjamin. Finally Jacob relents and had the sons bring some of the choicest fruits, double the money, and some other items with them to bring to the man of Egypt in charge (Joseph). And they all hurried to Egypt. When they arrived, Joseph saw them coming and saw Benjamin. Joseph might have wondered if the other siblings would have killed off Benjamin as Joseph was, and seeing his other brother he quickly made plans for dinner and had his employee bring them into his house. They were tricked last time and had the money that they paid for the grain returned to them in their food sack, and they were certain that they were going to be punished for that. The response from the steward: “peace to you, don't be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has put treasure in your sacks for you, I received your money.” This was a response, that Joseph worked up, so that the Brothers wouldn’t have worried about the money, instead it shows that Joseph loved his family and wouldn’t let his family pay for the grain that God provided all of them. God works things out His ways! Then Joseph comes home and the brothers, including Simeon who was released from prison, all bow to him (like in the dreams…) and when Joseph talked with his little brother Benjamin, he had to run out of the room, as he was overwhelmed with emotion, and he wept alone, probably also wondering what to do. After gaining his composure, he returned, and they all sat down to a massive feast with the Hebrews and Egyptians eating separately, due to cultural differences. Joseph wouldn’t have been sitting with his brothers, but maybe at a table just separated from them. This would have also reiterated that Joseph was Egyptian, and also how imbedded Joseph was the Egyptians. Joseph also seated his brothers in birth order and the brothers noticed that they were sitting next to each other in order of birth. Also for the love that Joseph had to his birth brother, Benjamin received 5 times the portion of food that they brothers received. They all eat and drank until they were full and a little intoxicated. But remember the brothers were older than the cartoons portray them as; Joseph would have been around 39 years old and he was the second youngest brother. 

Genesis 44 came another test for the brothers. Joseph instructed his steward (employee or servant) to fill all the brothers sacks with food and then to put Joseph’s silver cup into Benjamin’s sack. Again, Joseph is setting them up. Why would he do this you might ask? Here is the thing, Joseph had been betrayed by his brothers. He was sold into slavery by them. He might also know that Benjamin, who is the only other brother from Rachel and a known favorite of his father, might be in danger of the same future. If the brothers aren’t sorry for what they have done to Joseph, Benjamin could be sold next. So instead, he devises a way to see if the brothers want to get rid of Benjamin as they got rid of him. If so, he could take Benjamin and save his life. So, he instructs his staff to tell them to leave and then to chase after them accusing them of stealing. When the servant reaches them, he tells the brothers that it was because of the Egyptian Masters stolen cup that he is looking for. The brothers were all confident that none of them had stolen anything, so the brothers told them if anyone of them has the stolen goods they will all become servants and the thief shall die. But the servant states, “No, just the one who stole the cup shall stay in Egypt as a slave.” And it ended up being in Benjamin’s sack of food! The brothers freaked out, as they knew this news would probably kill their father and Judah had even pledged his own life, making him break his vow. They were brought back to Joseph in Egypt, and they fell to the ground again at his feet. Joseph claims that it it was his use of magic, that he knows the future. We know that Joseph here pretends to know, but in reality, set the whole thing up. Judah plead his case before him and explained the nature of the situation with the Father and that not taking Benjamin home would kill him. Judah here, asks for the Egyptian Master to trade places with the younger brother, and asks to be taken a slave instead. Which would have resulted in him not going back home to his son and wife, Tamar, who had two children with him. This wasn’t a flippant response but instead, a sacrifice for Judah, to see Benjamin safe and home with his father. How the attitude had changed. In 22 years, the brothers have gone from trying to kill the favorite son and selling him, to - giving their lives in exchange for the new favored son.  

Genesis 45 - Joseph was about to lose his emotional control and sent his staff away. He revealed to his brothers who he really was. Can you just picture this? An amazing reunion this would be. The brothers can’t even contemplate this reality, that Joseph was this Egyptian Master they had been talking to, and it takes them a bit respond to Joseph. But Joseph had a lot that he had been waiting to say to his brothers. And he said all of it. Later he tells Pharaoh about his family, and the King of Egypt invites his family to come live in Egypt for the remainder of the 5 years of famine that the world would have had to endure. The brothers travel to Canaan to get all the family, as well as tell their dad that Joseph isn’t dead. The chapter ends with Jacob stating that he is ready to travel to Egypt to see his long lost son, before he dies. As people living in the 21st century, it seems as though we desperately want to know our ‘purpose’ in life. It is not enough to just Glorify God and enjoy Him Forever, we want purpose too. Well, here was Joseph’s’ purpose and it wasn't about him, as it starts in verse 5: “And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors.” When we think life sucks and our hope is dismal - remember the story of Joseph - GOD HAS YOU WHERE HE WANTS YOU; TO DO WHAT HE NEEDS TO DO. It is not about us, but it is about what God wants to do and sometimes He uses us. Some people will not be ok with that, as it doesn't focus on us. But as you can see in the story of Joseph, nothing is better than the plan of God. 

To sum it all up:

• God genuinely is in control of all things and that includes you, your future, and your needs. He intertwines everything so that it all works out. Just look at Joseph! I don't believe in luck or coincidence - because nobody is that good to line up all those conversations, relationships and timing for 1 guy to save the food supply for an entire continent. Trust in God. 

Jan 26: Genesis 41-42

 Jan 26, Genesis 41-42

Genesis 41. Two years have passed since Joseph told the dreams of the baker and the cup bearer. Meanwhile, Joseph still is in prison. Then God gives Pharaoh 2 dreams that none of his magicians (guys that interpreted signs) or fortune tellers could figure out. In the ancient culture, having dreams and having them interpreted was very important. The chief cup-bearer had his memory come back to him about Joseph, and he tells Pharaoh about this guy that he was in prison with that interpreted his dream correctly. Pharaoh summoned for Joseph. Joseph was cleaned up - shaved as was the protocol required to enter Pharaoh’s court - and Joseph did not shy away from telling Pharaoh that it was God who interpreted dreams, not Joseph. Pharaoh explains his dreams about some pretty cows and some ugly cows and a second dream with corn, relating that both dreams meant the same thing, through different examples. Through God, Joseph explained what was going to happen in rather good detail. There would be seven years of plenty and seven years of famine for all the land. Joseph told Pharaoh to put someone in charge as an overseer of all of it to manage it and to basically save the people, by storing food in the good years, and selling food to the people in the bad years. Pharaoh believed in Joseph’s interpretation. Truth is, Pharaoh really had to believe that Joseph was interpreting his dream correctly, and trusted in this God that Joseph believed in, which he didn’t. Pharaoh not only believed him, but liked what Joseph had said about putting someone in charge and put Joseph (who was 30 years old at the time) as second in command of all of Egypt. This would be like being made the Vice-President of the United States at 30! Joseph also is given an Egyptian wife, who was also a daughter of the priests of the Egyptian gods, which is interesting. Joseph had storehouses built all over Egypt and planned well, storing up all the grain in the good years for the famine. During this time, we also learned that before the years of famine start, God had blessed Joseph with 2 sons. After the seven years of plenty, just like God said, came seven years of famine and it not only all over Egypt, but over all the earth as well. With news of Egypt having grain for sale, not only did the Egyptians come and buy grain, but so did all those around. Everyone had to come to Joseph to buy grain…

Genesis 42 - Do you remember Jacob? That was Joseph’s dad… Well, he was experiencing the famine as well, back in Canaan. He told his sons that he heard that there was grain for sale in Egypt. The famine was widespread so Jacob sent his sons (except the youngest son, Benjamin) to go and get food in Egypt for all the families of Jacob. Joseph, at 37 years old, was the boss basically of every transaction that had to do with grain selling. Josephs’s brothers came (and Joseph recognized them) and bowed down before him; when he saw his brothers bowing, Joseph remembered his dream and he knew that the Lord had made it come true. If your wondering how the brothers didn’t recognize him, think about a couple things. First thing, is the wealthy Egyptians shaved their heads and wore wigs, as well as attachments for fake facial hair. Also, the men and women of the court, would have wore makeup and extensive jewelry. These things set the Egyptians apart from many other people groups. We also learn that Joseph learned the language of the Egyptians. And since Joseph was the 2nd in command, and also given an Egyptian name (in chapter 41:45), he would have looked, acted, talked, and expected to be Egyptian. The brothers, unaware of Joseph’s non-Egyptian ancestry, swore to their innocence as Joseph started to interrogate them; as they had no idea what was going on. Joseph arrested them under the accusation that they were spies. He released them,after 3 days in prison and under the pretense that they would go home and bring back their little brother, Benjamin, that they had confessed to being alive, to him. Joseph was listening to his brothers talk, and remember Joseph spoke Hebrew back home, and learned Egyptian. Therefore, Joseph could understand what the brothers were talking about, without really needing an interpreter. This allowed him the whole time to understand what his brothers were honestly saying as they bantered back and forth, as they were talking about their guilt and sins about killing Joseph. After 3 days in prison and in exchange for letting them leave, Simeon was taken and bound up as a prisoner as the brothers went home and waited to bring back Benjamin, as proof of their story, of being ‘honest men’. So, when they got home, they told their father what had happened in detail. They had not realized that there was some trickery going on behind the scenes. But their father, Jacob, refused to let Benjamin leave him, to release Simeon, for Jacob feared loosing another favored son, Benjamin. 

To sum it all up:

• Can you start to see how God is orchestrating it all? There are times when you might feel like you are in prison. There are times when you might feel that all hope is lost. But there is the Majestic Creator, who is in control of every one of our stories. They might be hard, messy, frustrating, or unbelievable. But God is working all things to those that love Him, for His Glory. 

Jan 25: Genesis 38-40

Jan 25, Genesis 38-40

This is a longer entry - but required as there is a lot to discuss…

Genesis 38 is not rated G, and yes you are reading the Bible. Here we take a quick but important break to the story of Joseph, and focus on one of Joseph’s brothers, Judah. Judah had left his family and was doing things that he should not have been doing - he married a Canaanite, which was looked so badly upon that her name isn’t even mentioned. Judah had three kids and picked a wife, Tamar, for his firstborn son, Er. But, his son was wicked before the Lord and God put him to death. As was tradition back then, it was the brothers responsibility to marry the wife of the deceased brother, if he was single, and keep the brothers name alive by having a son for the remembrance of the deceased brother. So, Onan, the second brother, knew that the offspring wouldn't be his, but devoted to his brother’s name; so he selfishly spilled his semen on the ground when he went into her, purposely making it so that Tamar couldn’t have a baby in remembrance for his dead brother. Not taking care of his family was wicked before the Lord, and God put him to death also. There was one brother left and Judah told Tamar to wait until he grew up and he would be Tamar’s. Some scholars say that Judah was afraid of marrying off his last son to Tamar, as every husband of hers had died. But either way, Judah did something that was dishonoring to the wife, and sent her home, instead of keeping her with the family, as all woman left their families and joined the husbands family, for life. Meanwhile, Judah’s wife dies and after Judah is done mourning he goes up to the town of Timnah to shear his sheep, obviously ‘shearing sheep’ isn’t the only thing Judah does when he goes to the town of Timnah, as Tamar knows what Judah was about to do. Tamar then sees an opportunity for the tradition of the brothers or fathers responsibility to marry the wife of the deceased brother or son, if he was single, and keep the brother or sons name alive by having a son for the remembrance of the deceased brother or son. With or without Judah’s awareness, Tamar is taking matters into her own hands, so that Judah’s family can fulfill her with a son, in the place of Er. As the Scripture states in verse 14, Tamar saw that the younger son had grown up and Judah had not sent for her. Here Judah isn’t taking care of his responsible matters, so Tamar is going to force the hand of judah’s obedience. She takes off her widows garments and covers her face with a veil. Judah sees her and thinks she is a prostitute and asked her for sex (he didn't know that she was his daughter in law) and she asked what the payment would be. Judah said that he would give her a young goat from his flock, but since he didn't have one with him, he would give her some collateral until he could send it - a signet, cord, and his staff (His seal hung by the cord around his neck). This would be the same thing as a man offering his passport, photo i.d., and his credit card for her to hold, until he could get her the payment. This is what Tamar wanted, proof of who the baby’s father would be. Well, Judah went into Tamar and she gets pregnant as she had hoped, planned, and probably prayed for. She left there and took his collateral and put back on the widows garments. I am not making this stuff up! Judah kept his word and sent a young goat to the woman but she was not to be found. Judah searches for her but can’t find her, remember he wants his i.d. back! But later says forget it and don’t tell anyone, because it was beyond sinful and embarrassing. Three months later, Judah gets all holy on everybody when he finds out that Tamar is pregnant and wants her burned because of her immorality (oh the hypocrisy and irony!). As she was being sent out to be killed, she asked her father in law to identify the i.d. of the babies father, which was all his. At that point, Judah realized that this young woman had forced the obedience of Judah’s family to her, through Judah being deceived. Once Judah realized that he was caught, in the act of rebellion against God, he had the best response…, “She is more righteous than I.” This was a turning point for Judah, as obedience to God grabs his heart from this moment on, and you will learn that he is the Father of the Jews (Judah - Jews). The point that the Bible states, that Judah, “did not know her again,” probably means that he did marry her out of tradition for providing a son for her but also means he honored her and never slept with her again. When it was time for birth - she had twins and the midwife put a thread around the one coming out first to identify it, and after she did the older one went back in and the younger one came out first… We will come back to this! 

Genesis 39 - Back to Joseph, again - I am not making this stuff up! This is an historic story as well. Remember, last time we read about it, Joseph was sold to Potiphar in Egypt. The Lord was with Joseph in these endeavors. Joseph’s master saw that whatever Joseph did, it succeeded (because the Lord was with him), and Joseph became 2nd in charge in the entire household after Potiphar. Since Joseph was in charge, God blessed the entire house of Potiphar because of Joseph. Potiphar's wife wanted to have sex with Joseph, who was handsome, and Joseph refused day after day. Here is the thing in the Ancient world to be aware of - owners had the ‘right’ to have sex with whatever slaves they wanted, but it appears that in verse 9, Joseph states that, “Nothing is held back from him, except his (Potiphar’s) wife.” Stating in the end of the verse that it wasn’t so much Potiphar’s rule, but more God’s rule, that was keeping him free from sinning with her. One day, Potiphar's wife set him up when nobody was in the house and begged him for sex, but he refused. She grabbed his garment and he ran out of the house. She was humiliated and got the men of the house on her side before her husband came home and concocted her little story. Remember, Joseph is still a slave when this happens with very little or no rights. When Potiphar gets home, his wife tells him some variation of the story that Joseph was going to rape her and she screamed. She emphasized that he was a Hebrew and had some blame statements in there about Joseph being ‘Potiphar's’ servant - not her’s… Joseph was then thrown in prison and Joseph was put in charge of a lot of things in prison, because the Lord was with him while he was in there. We are reminded again of God’s Sovereignty and how He makes everything work out, even when it just seems ludicrous what someone has to go through at no fault of their own! The Lord made Joseph succeed for the Lord, not for Joseph. But when things go good for us, we take the credit as if we made all these awesome things happen… we are not that powerful! Sure, we have a part to play, but God is the one orchestrating all the events, we are simply pawns working our way through. Not that pawns are not important, but not as important as God. 

Genesis 40. Some time has passed and Pharaoh was angry with his officers, a cup-bearer and a baker, and had them arrested. They were put into prison with Joseph. One night, both officers had dreams and Joseph interpreted the dreams for them in the morning. The dream of the cup-bearer was interpreted as restoration to his previous job and the the dream of the baker was interpreted as death for him. Joseph asked them to remember him when they got out as he was falsely accused and that is why he was in prison. A few days later it was Pharaoh’s birthday and both dreams came true - the cup-bearer went back to work and the baker was hanged. But, the chief cup-bearer forgets all about Joseph who had interpreted his dreams. How typical it is in our lives as well. When things are bad and we are on our knees promising the world only to forget all of that when things get better and we are back on top and not in need of any help. How long does the cup-bearer forget? We will learn later on it was for two years… But the Lord will make him remember, just in time…

To sum it all up:

• In our selfishness, we sin and God will not have it. It is my plea to you to work out your salvation for God’s Glory and know where you stand - either you are standing for God or standing against Him. Don’t play in the middle ground or sit on the fence. Time is of the essence and we may not have tomorrow to live…
• We are reminded again of God’s Sovereignty and how He makes everything work out,even when it just seems ludicrous what someone has to go through at no fault of their own! As you will see through the story of Joseph. God does see and the Lord will make everything right, in His time…

Jan 24: Genesis 35-37

Jan 24, Genesis 35-37

Genesis 35. I will rarely quote other authors, but this sums it up really well and I wanted to share it… “Two themes run through chapter 35: completion and correction. It is a story of completion because Jacob was back home in the land of promise, with all his family and all his wealth; victory was won, the goal achieved, and the promise fulfilled. But it is also a story of correction, for the family had not completely held to the walk of faith: idols had to be buried and Reuben had to be dealt with.” (Bible Knowledge Commentary). A bit of a breakdown… I know that back in chapter 32 God told Jacob that his name would be Israel… this is not a repeat, but just a confirmation of this name change - also, Jacob’s equality is now alongside the great Abraham and Isaac. In this chapter, Rachel also dies while giving birth to Benjamin and they buried her. More drama - remember Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn and the son of Leah? Well, he went and had sex with one of his fathers concubines, Bilhah (Rachel’s servant). Jacob heard about it and this was a big no-no at the time (and still is, I am pretty sure in most circles…). Later we learn that this action of Reuben gets his privileges of firstborn son removed. 

Genesis 36 - we have the succession of Esau (Edom). For now, Esau has a lineage. In a more detailed study, you can learn things like Esau claiming the town of Seir as his own, that there are some discrepancies in lineage and marriages, and you can learn about the Kings and Chiefs that descend from Esau’s lineage…

Genesis 37 - Jacob now has his own family. He loved Joseph more than the other sons and he gave him a robe of many colors that he had made for him (picture your dad buying you a new BMW 7 series and your brothers get an old Ford Pinto…). Then one day, they are all sitting around and Joseph (who was 17 years old and oldest son of Rachel) had a couple of dreams and shared them with his brothers - and they hate him for it. And were jealous of him for it. Basically, in his dreams, he is in charge and the brothers have to serve him. In that culture, nobody serves the younger brother. When the opportunity knocked to get rid of their brother, they took it. When Joseph went looking for his brothers, when they saw him they conspired together to kill him. Reuben, the oldest, is the one who said, “Don't kill him” and saved his life by having him thrown into a pit (he had planned on coming later to save him…). So the brothers took Joseph and threw him into a waterless pit (God was in control of what was in that pit). After all this, the bad brothers rested and had some lunch (really? - yes…). They saw a bunch of people coming down (Ishmaelites, from Hagar/Ishmael) the road and decided to sell their little brother instead of killing him (Reuben was not there at the time). So they sold him for 20 shekels of silver. The average price of a slave back then sold between 15-30 shekels. To cover up what the brothers had done, and to hide their evidence of sin even more, they slaughtered an animal and ripped up the nice coat and smeared blood all over it to make it look like an animal tore up Joseph. They presented this lie to their father Jacob and he was so upset that he chose not be comforted by any of his family, as he was devastated that his favorite child was gone. In the meantime, his favorite child, Joseph, was just sold in Egypt to Potiphar, who worked for Pharaoh…

To sum it all up:

• We are where we are with the desires that we have for a reason. God does give dreams and God does speak to His kids. It isn't always roses though… sometimes the messages are hard. 
• Regardless of circumstances and how ridiculously tough things may get - never forget that God is with you and will bring you through it. Joseph is a phenomenal testimony to that. Just wait… it is an amazing story about God working things out for good… 
• Delitzsch pertinently remarked that secular, worldly greatness comes swifter than spiritual greatness (A New Commentary on Genesis, 2:238). A promised spiritual blessing demands patience and faith. Waiting while others prosper is a test of one’s faithfulness and perseverance (BNC).

Jan 23: Genesis 32-34

Jan 23, Genesis 32-34

Genesis 32. Jacob was planning on returning to Canaan and was scared to meet his brother Esau after 20 years of fleeing from him. Basically Jacob sends his messengers ahead of him to Esau to ‘butter’ him up before they meet face to face. The messengers returned with some bad news - Esau has 400 men with him (Hanging out with 400 men is usually a sign of intentions for battle). Jacob was afraid so he separated all his people for safety and then he sought the Lord - reminding God of the God’s promise to Jacob to protect him and bring him back to his homeland. It is an example of a very honest prayer. So he sent ahead of him an incredible arrangement of animals in waves to his brother, in order to appease him. Jacob sent his wives and kids ahead of him and he stayed back and that night he wrestled all night with a man, that Jacob is convinced was God, and in the morning, the man touched his hip socket and basically knocked it out of joint - but Jacob wouldn't leave until this man blesses him. Then the strangest thing happens - this man (God in the form of a man) renames him from Jacob to Israel (because he had striven with God and with man, and have prevailed). The name of Israel should sound familiar, now you know where the name of the people and the country come from!

Genesis 33 - Jacob looks up and see his brother coming… and the 400 men with him. He divided all his kids and put the kids and the servants first, then Leah, and finally putting Rachel and Joseph in the back. Out of respect, Jacob bows 7 times to the ground when he meets his brother. But Esau ran to his little brother and kissed Jacob and wept over him - they wept together. There was brief introductions and then Jacob gave a bunch of animals to his brother. Instead of journeying together, Jacob decided to travel at a slower pace than Esau, in order to keep the animals and the kids safe. He ends up building a house - not where his brother is - but in another town. Commentators say that Jacob still did not fully trust his brother, which is why he didn't accept anything from his brother, nor did Jacob/Israel tell his brother, Esau, that he wasn’t going to meet up with him… They have quite a history together obviously and time doesn't heal all wounds (I don't know who made that stupid statement up).

Genesis 34 gets very real! Dinah is the daughter of Jacob and one day was out walking and she was grabbed and raped by Hamor (who was a prince). In that ancient culture this was of the utmost in humiliation and devastation for the woman, not that it isn’t in todays society as well, but she wouldn’t have been able to get married. As a raped woman was considered defiled and unfit for marriage, her life was sadly ruined. Ironically, Hamor was ‘in love’ with Dinah and begged his dad to get Dinah for him as his wife. Dinah’s brothers heard about it and were furious. Jacob heard about it and wrongly didn’t do anything. Hamor spoke with the Jacob and the brothers making an appeal for both groups to share their women in marriage and especially Dinah. The sons of Jacob answered Hamor deceitfully, and said in order to marry the Israelite women, all the men are to be circumcised. After some deliberation, Hamor and his people agreed. On the third day after getting circumcised, when all the men were soar, two of Jacobs boys came in, Simeon and Levi, went into the city with their swords and killed all the males. They took Dinah out of Hamor’s house after killing him, even through it would be a good question to ask what she was doing there in the first place! Then all the sons of Jacob literally plundered the entire city and took everything with them, including the kids and women, back with them. Jacob gets mad at his sons, not because of their deception or murdering, so much as his anger about the neighboring clans that could come and attack them. Jacob did not do a good job protecting his daughter. 

To sum it all up:

• Men are to protect women like sisters. Jacob did a poor job protecting his daughter. Men need to stand up for women, not use them and get what they want. A good man looks out for the women that God has brought into his life, not for selfish gain, but to be a man of integrity. 

Jan 22: Genesis 30-31

Jan 22, Genesis 30-31

Genesis 30. Like we have talked about, having kids in the ancient culture was a very big deal. Like Sarah, Rachel offers her servant to Jacob to sleep with and have a baby for her, which was the culture’s standard, remind you. It works and Bilhah, her servant, gives 2 boys to Rachel and Jacob. You will find in the Old Testament that names meant a lot. The names given to all the kids of Rachel and Leah are wordplays that represented their hearts at the time of giving birth and also represented how they felt towards their husband in the quest for love (names of the kids being struggle, judge, wrestle). As you can tell, the tension between Rachel and Leah is still thick. And we see this important weed, the mandrakes, are a prize. And just so you know, mandrakes were believed to have mystical powers to get someone pregnant. As we see that Leah’s son gathers some for her, to help her possibly achieve another baby. But as we see, Rachel wants those mandrakes badly, as it is obvious that she believes in the power of this herb, and she wants a baby as well. Leah trades Rachel the mystical plant for a night with Jacob. Here we see that Rachel believes in this plant more than she believes in the power of God. And who gets pregnant? Does Rachel with the mandrakes? Nope. Leah becomes pregnant. And not because of the mandrakes, but by the power of God. Finally, God ‘remembers’ Rachel and gives her a son, Joseph. To clarify, God didn't forget Rachel, as we would if we remembered something and it is noted that God was the one who gave her a son, not some plant or another outside thing. Think about it as God listened to her prayers… 

At this point in the story, Jacob wanted to go home, to where his family was. Laban, Jacob’s Uncle, learned by divination that Jacob was the reason that Laban was blessed. Divination (the practice of seeking knowledge of the future or the unknown by ungodly supernatural means, also known as,  witchcraft) is a sin and is against what God wants for us. He does not want us to get our information through demons but through Him. Jacob has been serving Laban for 14 years for his 2 wives and now wants to purchase animals before he leaves. Laban and Jacob make a deal that Jacob can take all the spotted, speckled sheep and black lambs - so that if any animal found in Jacob’s care is not spotted, then Jacob stole it. But Laban was a conniving trickster and removed all of his animals that were spotted a 3 days journey away. Well, Jacob was no dummy either. Basically, Jacob took some poplar sticks and placed them beside the good strong animals that were breeding, and they birthed spotted and speckled babies. Granted - the sticks really had nothing to do with the spotting and specking, God did. But we will learn later that this is just sheer obedience to what God had spoken to him about in a dream. Then we learn that Jacob is very wealthy in animals and servants. 

Genesis 31 - Jacob was well off, Laban was not regarding Jacob with respect Jacob respect anymore, and God told Jacob to return home to his Fathers land. Jacob, obeyed and called all his people together and told the that God wanted them to go, so they were going to go and submitted to him. Jacob didn't tell Laban that he was leaving, and Jacob and his family got a 3 day head start. Laban found out that they left and went after them (took about 10 days to catch up…). Laban and his kinsmen caught up to Jacob. Laban was not impressed that Jacob had ‘tricked’ Laban by leaving (hypocritical of Laban - the king of tricking) and Laban was also upset that someone had stolen his foreign gods. Jacob (didn’t know that his wife Rachel had stolen them) told Laban to go search everything and kill whoever stole them. Laban went through all the tents and everything and couldn't find his gods. Rachel had them under her butt on the camel saddle, and played the ‘it’s my woman time’ card to not get up. Interesting that Rachel hides her fathers idols. This shows that she still longs for her forgiven gods and isn’t willing to give them all up yet.  Story wraps up with Jacob and Laban making a covenant of peace with a rock memorial and boundary between them. As you can tell, the Bible does not paint a fake picture of God’s chosen people. They lied. They tricked. They deceived. They postured. They stole forgiven gods. They disobeyed. But - they came back to God. They pursued God. And God is continuing to purse this family. They are not perfect, as we are not either. But we are to go to a God who is. 

To sum it all up:

• God supernaturally provides and makes a way for everything according to His will and purpose. I hope that is starting to sink in by now - the control that you have is not in your ‘destiny’ but in how you respond to what God is doing in and through you. It is how you respond to life’s circumstances that defines your faith.

Jan 21: Genesis 27-29

Jan 21, Genesis 27-29

Genesis 27. Isaac is getting old and wants to give his final blessings. Isaac wants to eat Esau’s game and sends him out to hunt, cook, and feed him. Then Isaac will bless him. Rebekah was listening to their conversation and told Jacob to pretend to be Esau to get the blessing. Here was the scheme: Rebekah would cook the food. Jacob would wear Esau’s best clothes (Isaac was almost blind in his old age) and put the skin of goats on Jacob’s arms (That dude must have been hairy!). Rebekah had it all figured out, and even accepted the curse on her own head if it goes bad. Jacob went in to his father and presented the food his mom had made. Jacob lied to his father after some discourse and ended up getting the blessing of the first born. Jacob leaves and Esau walks in to present his game and get his blessing, only to find out that Isaac was deceived by the younger brother! The blessing that Isaac gave to Jacob was a big deal - it was the Abrahamic blessing, and additionally it stated that all (including Esau) would serve Jacob. Isaac’s left over ‘blessing’ for Esau is really not a blessing at all, but more of a hard life is promised to him. As you can imagine, this seems to be the last straw, as Esau hates his brother because of this. Esau is livid and threatens to kill his little brother. So, Rebekah tells Jacob to flee to her brother Laban’s house until Esau cools down. Remember how God works… even in our sin and deceit - God is orchestrating things for His good and for future events. 

Genesis 28. Isaac does a final blessing on Jacob and directs him strictly to not marry a Canaanite woman. Jacob is sent away from his family. Esau heard his Dad telling his brother not to marry a Canaanite, so Esau, most likely trying to please his father, went and married an Ishmaelite (remember Hagar and Ishmael?) besides the wives he already had. Jacob is on his way towards his uncles place and lays down to rest and he put a stone under his head. While he was sleeping God gave him a dream (famously called Jacob’s ladder) affirming the Abrahamic promises were now being passed onto Jacob. As we learn, Jacob has a personal experience with God, that changes him and his ideas about this God of Abraham. And from now on, Yahweh will be his God. Jacob’s heart was for the Lord now more than ever and promises to be loyal to God.

Genesis 29 is another example of God supernaturally lining up people and events for His purposes. The story has similarities to Abraham’s servant getting a wife for Isaac. Jacob inquired to some shepherds about Laban and he meets Rachel, a shepherdess and Laban’s daughter. Jacob is overwhelmed with emotion as he is reunited with family again! Laban met up with Jacob and offers him a job. What does Jacob want for payment? He wanted to marry Rachel because he loved her. The arrangement between Jacob and Laban - Jacob works for 7 years for Laban in exchange for Rachel’s hand in marriage. On the wedding night, Laban puts Leah, the older sister, in Jacobs tent instead of Rachel, and Jacob slept with her to consummate the marriage, not knowing it was not Rachel (pry really dark at night with no artificial lighting). Jacob confronted Laban about the deceit and Laban flat out said that in their country the younger daughter is never given in marriage first (what a scandalous man - he could have told hi before if he was a man of integrity). So Jacob served another 7 years for the hand of Rachel and married her. He loved Rachel more than Leah. But, God saw that Leah was hated, God opened her womb. Leah hoped that having kids would help Jacob to love her. It didn't help. Before the end of the chapter she cranks out 4 kids! Rachel couldn't have kids. My guess - Jacob and Rachel probably didn't like Leah because of the tricks and sins of Laban. 

To sum it all up:

• God is in control of all things and uses our sinfulness. 
• God is able to change people from the inside out - has He changed you? Can you tell? 

Jan 20: Genesis 25 & 26

Jan 20, Genesis 25-26

Genesis 25 - We are told here that Abraham took another wife, who gave him more kids. We get a brief introduction to the family of Abraham and we also learn that to all the concubine’s kids, get gifts. But Everything that Abraham had, he gave to Isaac, and basically sent all the other offspring away from Isaac. Abraham died at 175. Isaac and Ishmael buried him by Sarah. After a breakdown of the genealogy of Ishmael, we hear more about the blessed son of Abraham, Isaac. His wife Rebekah couldn't get pregnant, so then Isaac prayed for 20 years for his wife to have a baby. Finally, we learn that she is pregnant - with twins. They were fighting like crazy in Rebecca’s womb and she went to the Lord to find out why. And God told her that 2 nations were inside her womb and that the older shall serve the younger. Esau, the oldest, was born red and hairy. Jacob, the younger, came out holding onto Esau’s heel. Esau was a hunter and also cooked good food. Jacob was a quiet man, who was a homebody. Then we get the famous story of Jacob acquiring Esau’s birthright. Esau came in hungry and Jacob saw his chance, to trade something, that he knew Esau didn’t want anyway. And that was his inheritance and promise from God that they would be the people of the Lord. In a rash decision to fill his belly, Esau traded the promises of God for some lunch. We read in verse 34 that Esau ‘despised his birthright,’ so we know that although Esau didn’t find any value in the Lord’s promise, that Jacob did. And that is what separated these two brothers. One didn’t care about the opportunity that God was giving him. And the other, would jump on the chance to gain the promises of God. But - do not forget about what God told Rebekah - the older shall serve the younger… God’s ways will happen! And yes, God will use us to accomplish His purposes. 

Genesis 26… Now there was a famine in the land, but we see the Lord speaking to Isaac - God speaks when/if He needs to… Not just when we want to hear from Him. We see Isaac being promised the blessings of his father Abraham. This chapter affirms that the blessing has been passed down to Isaac. 

Like Father like son - Isaac travels to a foreign land because of a famine and sadly follows in his father’s footsteps. Just like Abraham, Isaac fears man and tells the Philistines that Rebekah is his sister. This time though, it isn’t a half truth, it is a real lie. And another thing. Did you notice the name? King Abimelech. Scholars think that it is the son or grandson of same King Abimelech that took Sarah from Abraham, and that it was common to have a son named after a king. Either way, we have the same story. After a long time, the King sees Isaac and Rebekah laughing together (or carelessly flirting) and the King figures it out that Isaac had lied to him. It just goes to show a few things. 1. Generational sins - some do pass down. 2. Fear of man over God - God just spoke to Isaac! You would think that would be enough to draw Isaac's loyalty. 3. …A person who truly believes God’s promises obeys His statutes, precepts, and commands (Bible Knowledge Commentary). Do you believe the promises of God? If so - you will trust him when your faith is tried and fear is knocking at your heart. 

Isaac stayed and worked the land there and reaped a hundred fold and God kept blessing Isaac - he became very rich. The king went to Isaac with his leaders and made an oath of security for both parties and agreed to it. Also, finding good water is life changing, and God showed them where the water was. 

At the end of the chapter we learn that Esau married a couple of Hittite women and they made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah. By marrying these women, it proved that Esau wasn’t into the God of the Bible and we see that he was unfit for the birthright or position as heir which he had given up. 

To sum it all up:

• My Grandpa used to say, “A moment of pleasure can ruin the rest of your life.” When I was little, I didn't quite understand what that meant. Now that I am older, it rings true - especially when reflecting on the choices that Esau made. A moment of pleasure can be as simple as a bowl of soup, or something greater. Either way, we are showing our devotion to the Lord or our disloyalty to the Lord. Do you agree with my Grandpa? I think he was spot on… 
• We don't have to repeat the sins of our parents. And as parents, we have to make sure that we stop the sins that are passed down for the future generations. That means working extra hard, and being open and honest with our kids and the mistakes and sins we make and have made in the past. In order to stop a generation of sinful mistakes.