Plymothian

Posted on December 1, 2009 by Plymothian

The story of the Creation was a story of order created from chaos. As we have read Genesis we have seen chaos ordered again and again. God’s people knowingly or unwittingly carry out his plans. Some think that God’s actions have ended or never were. I look at the world and I think, “What in the world is God doing?” I don’t think that the answer is nothing. What role are you playing to influence God’s Creation for good?

Genesis 47:27 – 50:26

²⁷ Now the Israelites settled in Egypt in the region of Goshen. They acquired property there and were fruitful and increased greatly in number.

²⁸ Jacob lived in Egypt seventeen years, and the years of his life were a hundred and forty-seven. ²⁹ When the time drew near for Israel to die, he called for his son Joseph and said to him, “If I have found favor in your eyes, put your hand under my thigh and promise that you will show me kindness and faithfulness. Do not bury me in Egypt, ³⁰ but when I rest with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me where they are buried.”
“I will do as you say,” he said.

³¹ “Swear to me,” he said. Then Joseph swore to him, and Israel worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.

¹ Some time later Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim along with him. ² When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel rallied his strength and sat up on the bed.

³ Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty [a] appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and there he blessed me ⁴ and said to me, ‘I am going to make you fruitful and will increase your numbers. I will make you a community of peoples, and I will give this land as an everlasting possession to your descendants after you.’

⁵ “Now then, your two sons born to you in Egypt before I came to you here will be reckoned as mine; Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine. ⁶ Any children born to you after them will be yours; in the territory they inherit they will be reckoned under the names of their brothers. ⁷ As I was returning from Paddan, [b] to my sorrow Rachel died in the land of Canaan while we were still on the way, a little distance from Ephrath. So I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem).

⁸ When Israel saw the sons of Joseph, he asked, “Who are these?”

⁹ “They are the sons God has given me here,” Joseph said to his father.
Then Israel said, “Bring them to me so I may bless them.”

¹⁰ Now Israel’s eyes were failing because of old age, and he could hardly see. So Joseph brought his sons close to him, and his father kissed them and embraced them.

¹¹ Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face again, and now God has allowed me to see your children too.”

¹² Then Joseph removed them from Israel’s knees and bowed down with his face to the ground. ¹³ And Joseph took both of them, Ephraim on his right toward Israel’s left hand and Manasseh on his left toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them close to him. ¹⁴ But Israel reached out his right hand and put it on Ephraim’s head, though he was the younger, and crossing his arms, he put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, even though Manasseh was the firstborn.

¹⁵ Then he blessed Joseph and said,
       “May the God before whom my fathers
       Abraham and Isaac walked,
       the God who has been my shepherd
       all my life to this day,

¹⁶ the Angel who has delivered me from all harm
       —may he bless these boys.
       May they be called by my name
       and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac,
       and may they increase greatly
       upon the earth.”

¹⁷ When Joseph saw his father placing his right hand on Ephraim’s head he was displeased; so he took hold of his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. ¹⁸ Joseph said to him, “No, my father, this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.”

¹⁹ But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He too will become a people, and he too will become great. Nevertheless, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his descendants will become a group of nations.” ²⁰ He blessed them that day and said,
 “In your [c] name will Israel pronounce this blessing:
 ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’ ”
 So he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.

²¹ Then Israel said to Joseph, “I am about to die, but God will be with you [d] and take you [e] back to the land of your [f] fathers. ²² And to you, as one who is over your brothers, I give the ridge of land [g] I took from the Amorites with my sword and my bow.”

¹ Then Jacob called for his sons and said: “Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come.

² “Assemble and listen, sons of Jacob;
listen to your father Israel.

³ “Reuben, you are my firstborn,
my might, the first sign of my strength,
excelling in honor, excelling in power.

⁴ Turbulent as the waters, you will no longer excel,
for you went up onto your father’s bed,
onto my couch and defiled it.

⁵ “Simeon and Levi are brothers—
their swords [h] are weapons of violence.

⁶ Let me not enter their council,
       let me not join their assembly,
       for they have killed men in their anger
       and hamstrung oxen as they pleased.

⁷ Cursed be their anger, so fierce,
       and their fury, so cruel!
       I will scatter them in Jacob
       and disperse them in Israel.

⁸ “Judah, [i] your brothers will praise you;
your hand will be on the neck of your enemies;
your father’s sons will bow down to you.

⁹ You are a lion’s cub, O Judah;
       you return from the prey, my son.
       Like a lion he crouches and lies down,
       like a lioness—who dares to rouse him?

¹⁰ The scepter will not depart from Judah,
 nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
 until he comes to whom it belongs [j]
 and the obedience of the nations is his.

¹¹ He will tether his donkey to a vine,
       his colt to the choicest branch;
       he will wash his garments in wine,
       his robes in the blood of grapes.

¹² His eyes will be darker than wine,
his teeth whiter than milk. [k]

¹³ “Zebulun will live by the seashore
and become a haven for ships;
his border will extend toward Sidon.

¹⁴ “Issachar is a rawboned [l] donkey
lying down between two saddlebags. [m]

¹⁵ When he sees how good is his resting place
       and how pleasant is his land,
       he will bend his shoulder to the burden
       and submit to forced labor.

¹⁶ “Dan [n] will provide justice for his people
as one of the tribes of Israel.

¹⁷ Dan will be a serpent by the roadside,
       a viper along the path,
       that bites the horse’s heels
       so that its rider tumbles backward.

¹⁸ “I look for your deliverance, O LORD.

¹⁹ “Gad [o] will be attacked by a band of raiders,
but he will attack them at their heels.

²⁰ “Asher’s food will be rich;
he will provide delicacies fit for a king.

²¹ “Naphtali is a doe set free
that bears beautiful fawns. [p]

²² “Joseph is a fruitful vine,
a fruitful vine near a spring,
whose branches climb over a wall. [q]

²³ With bitterness archers attacked him;
they shot at him with hostility.

²⁴ But his bow remained steady,
 his strong arms stayed [r] limber,
 because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob,
 because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,

²⁵ because of your father’s God, who helps you,
 because of the Almighty, [s] who blesses you
 with blessings of the heavens above,
 blessings of the deep that lies below,
 blessings of the breast and womb.

²⁶ Your father’s blessings are greater
 than the blessings of the ancient mountains,
 than [t] the bounty of the age-old hills.
 Let all these rest on the head of Joseph,
 on the brow of the prince among [u] his brothers.

²⁷ “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf;
in the morning he devours the prey,
in the evening he divides the plunder.”

²⁸ All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them, giving each the blessing appropriate to him.

²⁹ Then he gave them these instructions: “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, ³⁰ the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in Canaan, which Abraham bought as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite, along with the field. ³¹ There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried, and there I buried Leah. ³² The field and the cave in it were bought from the Hittites. [v] ”

³³ When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, breathed his last and was gathered to his people.

¹ Joseph threw himself upon his father and wept over him and kissed him. ² Then Joseph directed the physicians in his service to embalm his father Israel. So the physicians embalmed him, ³ taking a full forty days, for that was the time required for embalming. And the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days.

⁴ When the days of mourning had passed, Joseph said to Pharaoh’s court, “If I have found favor in your eyes, speak to Pharaoh for me. Tell him, ⁵ ‘My father made me swear an oath and said, “I am about to die; bury me in the tomb I dug for myself in the land of Canaan.” Now let me go up and bury my father; then I will return.’ ”

⁶ Pharaoh said, “Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear to do.”

⁷ So Joseph went up to bury his father. All Pharaoh’s officials accompanied him—the dignitaries of his court and all the dignitaries of Egypt- ⁸ besides all the members of Joseph’s household and his brothers and those belonging to his father’s household. Only their children and their flocks and herds were left in Goshen. ⁹ Chariots and horsemen [w] also went up with him. It was a very large company.

¹⁰ When they reached the threshing floor of Atad, near the Jordan, they lamented loudly and bitterly; and there Joseph observed a seven-day period of mourning for his father. ¹¹ When the Canaanites who lived there saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “The Egyptians are holding a solemn ceremony of mourning.” That is why that place near the Jordan is called Abel Mizraim. [x]

¹² So Jacob’s sons did as he had commanded them: ¹³ They carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre, which Abraham had bought as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite, along with the field. ¹⁴ After burying his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, together with his brothers and all the others who had gone with him to bury his father.

¹⁵ When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?” ¹⁶ So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father left these instructions before he died: ¹⁷ ‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.” When their message came to him, Joseph wept.

¹⁸ His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said.

¹⁹ But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? ²⁰ You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. ²¹ So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.

²² Joseph stayed in Egypt, along with all his father’s family. He lived a hundred and ten years ²³ and saw the third generation of Ephraim’s children. Also the children of Makir son of Manasseh were placed at birth on Joseph’s knees. [y]

²⁴ Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” ²⁵ And Joseph made the sons of Israel swear an oath and said, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up from this place.”

²⁶ So Joseph died at the age of a hundred and ten. And after they embalmed him, he was placed in a coffin in Egypt.

Questions

Where did the Israelites settle?
Who does Joseph bring for blessing?
How is 50:20 key?
How would the people of Israel be encouraged when they are entering Canaan?
How are you working to bring order to God’s Creation?

Going Deeper

Read through Genesis in one sitting. It will take a couple of hours.

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Genesis 37 – 47

Posted on November 30, 2009 by Plymothian

Hope that you all had a good Thanksgiving. I almost got to the end of Genesis. Tomorrow will be my last reading in Genesis.

Things that are terrible can work for good. The life of Joseph illustrates this. What his brothers meant for evil God used for good. The problem that presents itself is whether God wills the evil that comes into the life of those who suffer. If he doesn’t will the evil, is he powerless to stop it? If he has the power to stop it, why doesn’t he make the path forward more pleasant? This is sometimes called ‘the problem of evil’, C.S. Lewis addressed the issue in The Problem of Pain. My friend Mark addressed the issue for his Ph.D in philosophy. He addressed the issue through Kiekegaard and the hiddenness of God. People think this problem is a big worry for Christians. Do you accept how God works through pain or evil?

Genesis 37-47

(Because of the length of the passage, I am not going to put it here.)

Questions

Whose children is this section covering?
What different positions does Joseph fill?
How does Judah rise in importance over Simeon?
How does God work to preserve his plan?
What terrible things have drawn you closer to God.

Going Deeper

Observation

What is Joseph given by his father?
How is Judah held accountable by his daughter-in-law?
What does Potiphar’s wife hold?
Who steps up and volunteers to be held in place of Benjamin?
Where do the Israelites settle?

Interpretation

What did an ornamented or long-sleeved robe probably represent?
Why is there parallelism between the robes that Joseph’s father gives him and that Potiphar’s wife is left holding?
Why might Judah see a shrine prostitute?
How do the roles of the brothers reflect their roles as future tribes?
What kind of land is Goshen?

Application

Have you seen someone who has gotten themselves in a hole? How have you helped?
Is there a time when you have to step away and let ‘bad’ things happen?
What are your responsibilities to your brother’s family or their spouse?
What position of authority do you hold? How does God use it for good?
How have you fled sexual temptation?

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Genesis 32:1 – 32:20

Posted on November 25, 2009 by Plymothian

If I told you you had a math test in 20 minutes, what would you do? That’s when many people find religion. For Jacob it was no different. The only difference was that instead of facing a math test he was heading home to the brother who he thought wanted to kill him. We see Jacob’s faith developing to a new level. Although he wants to work through various schemes, he also sincerely seeks God in his troubles. Does God bring you into troubles to get your attention and give you the most precious gift in the world – himself?

Genesis 32:1 – 33:20

¹ Jacob also went on his way, and the angels of God met him. ² When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is the camp of God!” So he named that place Mahanaim. [a]

³ Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. ⁴ He instructed them: “This is what you are to say to my master Esau: ‘Your servant Jacob says, I have been staying with Laban and have remained there till now. ⁵ I have cattle and donkeys, sheep and goats, menservants and maidservants. Now I am sending this message to my lord, that I may find favor in your eyes.’ ”

⁶ When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, “We went to your brother Esau, and now he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.”

⁷ In great fear and distress Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups, [b] and the flocks and herds and camels as well. ⁸ He thought, “If Esau comes and attacks one group, [c] the group [d] that is left may escape.”

⁹ Then Jacob prayed, “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, O LORD, who said to me, ‘Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,’ ¹⁰ I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two groups. ¹¹ Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children. ¹² But you have said, ‘I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.’ ”

¹³ He spent the night there, and from what he had with him he selected a gift for his brother Esau: ¹⁴ two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, ¹⁵ thirty female camels with their young, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. ¹⁶ He put them in the care of his servants, each herd by itself, and said to his servants, “Go ahead of me, and keep some space between the herds.”

¹⁷ He instructed the one in the lead: “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘To whom do you belong, and where are you going, and who owns all these animals in front of you?’ ¹⁸ then you are to say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift sent to my lord Esau, and he is coming behind us.’ ”

¹⁹ He also instructed the second, the third and all the others who followed the herds: “You are to say the same thing to Esau when you meet him. ²⁰ And be sure to say, ‘Your servant Jacob is coming behind us.’ ” For he thought, “I will pacify him with these gifts I am sending on ahead; later, when I see him, perhaps he will receive me.” ²¹ So Jacob’s gifts went on ahead of him, but he himself spent the night in the camp.

²² That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. ²³ After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. ²⁴ So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. ²⁵ When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. ²⁶ Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”
But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

²⁷ The man asked him, “What is your name?”
“Jacob,” he answered.

²⁸ Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, [e] because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome.”

²⁹ Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”
But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there.

³⁰ So Jacob called the place Peniel, [f] saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”

³¹ The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, [g] and he was limping because of his hip. ³² Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob’s hip was touched near the tendon.¹ Jacob looked up and there was Esau, coming with his four hundred men; so he divided the children among Leah, Rachel and the two maidservants. ² He put the maidservants and their children in front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph in the rear. ³ He himself went on ahead and bowed down to the ground seven times as he approached his brother.

⁴ But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept. ⁵ Then Esau looked up and saw the women and children. “Who are these with you?” he asked.
Jacob answered, “They are the children God has graciously given your servant.”

⁶ Then the maidservants and their children approached and bowed down. ⁷ Next, Leah and her children came and bowed down. Last of all came Joseph and Rachel, and they too bowed down.

⁸ Esau asked, “What do you mean by all these droves I met?”
“To find favor in your eyes, my lord,” he said.

⁹ But Esau said, “I already have plenty, my brother. Keep what you have for yourself.”

¹⁰ “No, please!” said Jacob. “If I have found favor in your eyes, accept this gift from me. For to see your face is like seeing the face of God, now that you have received me favorably. ¹¹ Please accept the present that was brought to you, for God has been gracious to me and I have all I need.” And because Jacob insisted, Esau accepted it.

¹² Then Esau said, “Let us be on our way; I’ll accompany you.”

¹³ But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are tender and that I must care for the ewes and cows that are nursing their young. If they are driven hard just one day, all the animals will die. ¹⁴ So let my lord go on ahead of his servant, while I move along slowly at the pace of the droves before me and that of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.”

¹⁵ Esau said, “Then let me leave some of my men with you.”
“But why do that?” Jacob asked. “Just let me find favor in the eyes of my lord.”

¹⁶ So that day Esau started on his way back to Seir. ¹⁷ Jacob, however, went to Succoth, where he built a place for himself and made shelters for his livestock. That is why the place is called Succoth. [a]

¹⁸ After Jacob came from Paddan Aram, [b] he arrived safely at the [c] city of Shechem in Canaan and camped within sight of the city. ¹⁹ For a hundred pieces of silver, [d] he bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, the plot of ground where he pitched his tent. ²⁰ There he set up an altar and called it El Elohe Israel.

Questions

What is the problem that Jacob faces upon returning to his homeland?
What does Jacob instruct his messengers to tell Esau?
Who does Esau bring with him?
How is Jacob’s physical wrestle with God representative of his internal struggles?
What are you wrestling with God over?

Going Deeper

Observation

Where does Esau live?
Does Jacob pray before or after his decision to seperate his possessions?
What does Jacob remind God he has said?
What does the angel wrestling with God touch?
Where does Jacob settle?

Interpretation

What signs do you see of Jacob’s unstable faith?
How is God’s grace revealed to Jacob?
Why does God choose Jacob over Esau?
Why doesn’t Jacob go back with Esau as he said he would?
Was God unable to overpower Jacob?

Application

When have you wrestled with a child? How did you conduct yourself?
How does God wrestle with us like a father with a child?
How would you go about protecting your family if they were in danger?
When a threat is removed do you forget God?
How can you use a crisis to get you close to God?

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Genesis 29:1 – 31:55

Posted on November 24, 2009 by Plymothian

Why can’t people see that the ones who drive them most crazy are the ones who are most like themselves? My grandmother would cross her arms and then pout her lips as she told you with disgust the things my aunt would do. She would condemn women as bossy, when she was quite a domineering woman herself. It seems Jacob and Laban are both deceptive and ambitious. It seems that both of them try to manipulate the other for their own gain. They both fall out with each other. However, God works it for good. Who do you get most frustrated with? Is it because you are too alike?

Genesis 29:1-31:55

¹ Then Jacob continued on his journey and came to the land of the eastern peoples. ² There he saw a well in the field, with three flocks of sheep lying near it because the flocks were watered from that well. The stone over the mouth of the well was large. ³ When all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone away from the well’s mouth and water the sheep. Then they would return the stone to its place over the mouth of the well.

⁴ Jacob asked the shepherds, “My brothers, where are you from?”
“We’re from Haran,” they replied.

⁵ He said to them, “Do you know Laban, Nahor’s grandson?”
“Yes, we know him,” they answered.

⁶ Then Jacob asked them, “Is he well?”
“Yes, he is,” they said, “and here comes his daughter Rachel with the sheep.”

⁷ “Look,” he said, “the sun is still high; it is not time for the flocks to be gathered. Water the sheep and take them back to pasture.”

⁸ “We can’t,” they replied, “until all the flocks are gathered and the stone has been rolled away from the mouth of the well. Then we will water the sheep.”

⁹ While he was still talking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess. ¹⁰ When Jacob saw Rachel daughter of Laban, his mother’s brother, and Laban’s sheep, he went over and rolled the stone away from the mouth of the well and watered his uncle’s sheep. ¹¹ Then Jacob kissed Rachel and began to weep aloud. ¹² He had told Rachel that he was a relative of her father and a son of Rebekah. So she ran and told her father.

¹³ As soon as Laban heard the news about Jacob, his sister’s son, he hurried to meet him. He embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his home, and there Jacob told him all these things. ¹⁴ Then Laban said to him, “You are my own flesh and blood.”

After Jacob had stayed with him for a whole month, ¹⁵ Laban said to him, “Just because you are a relative of mine, should you work for me for nothing? Tell me what your wages should be.”

¹⁶ Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. ¹⁷ Leah had weak [a] eyes, but Rachel was lovely in form, and beautiful. ¹⁸ Jacob was in love with Rachel and said, “I’ll work for you seven years in return for your younger daughter Rachel.”

¹⁹ Laban said, “It’s better that I give her to you than to some other man. Stay here with me.” ²⁰ So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.

²¹ Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife. My time is completed, and I want to lie with her.”

²² So Laban brought together all the people of the place and gave a feast. ²³ But when evening came, he took his daughter Leah and gave her to Jacob, and Jacob lay with her. ²⁴ And Laban gave his servant girl Zilpah to his daughter as her maidservant.

²⁵ When morning came, there was Leah! So Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? I served you for Rachel, didn’t I? Why have you deceived me?”

²⁶ Laban replied, “It is not our custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older one. ²⁷ Finish this daughter’s bridal week; then we will give you the younger one also, in return for another seven years of work.”

²⁸ And Jacob did so. He finished the week with Leah, and then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. ²⁹ Laban gave his servant girl Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her maidservant. ³⁰ Jacob lay with Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah. And he worked for Laban another seven years.

³¹ When the LORD saw that Leah was not loved, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. ³² Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, [b] for she said, “It is because the LORD has seen my misery. Surely my husband will love me now.”

³³ She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “Because the LORD heard that I am not loved, he gave me this one too.” So she named him Simeon. [c]

³⁴ Again she conceived, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “Now at last my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” So he was named Levi. [d]

³⁵ She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “This time I will praise the LORD.” So she named him Judah. [e] Then she stopped having children.

¹ When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she became jealous of her sister. So she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die!”

² Jacob became angry with her and said, “Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?”

³ Then she said, “Here is Bilhah, my maidservant. Sleep with her so that she can bear children for me and that through her I too can build a family.”

⁴ So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife. Jacob slept with her, ⁵ and she became pregnant and bore him a son. ⁶ Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me; he has listened to my plea and given me a son.” Because of this she named him Dan. [a]

⁷ Rachel’s servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. ⁸ Then Rachel said, “I have had a great struggle with my sister, and I have won.” So she named him Naphtali. [b]

⁹ When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she took her maidservant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. ¹⁰ Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son. ¹¹ Then Leah said, “What good fortune!” [c] So she named him Gad. [d]

¹² Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. ¹³ Then Leah said, “How happy I am! The women will call me happy.” So she named him Asher. [e]

¹⁴ During wheat harvest, Reuben went out into the fields and found some mandrake plants, which he brought to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”

¹⁵ But she said to her, “Wasn’t it enough that you took away my husband? Will you take my son’s mandrakes too?”
“Very well,” Rachel said, “he can sleep with you tonight in return for your son’s mandrakes.”

¹⁶ So when Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him. “You must sleep with me,” she said. “I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he slept with her that night.

¹⁷ God listened to Leah, and she became pregnant and bore Jacob a fifth son. ¹⁸ Then Leah said, “God has rewarded me for giving my maidservant to my husband.” So she named him Issachar. [f]

¹⁹ Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son. ²⁰ Then Leah said, “God has presented me with a precious gift. This time my husband will treat me with honor, because I have borne him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun. [g]

²¹ Some time later she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.

²² Then God remembered Rachel; he listened to her and opened her womb. ²³ She became pregnant and gave birth to a son and said, “God has taken away my disgrace.” ²⁴ She named him Joseph, [h] and said, “May the LORD add to me another son.”

²⁵ After Rachel gave birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me on my way so I can go back to my own homeland. ²⁶ Give me my wives and children, for whom I have served you, and I will be on my way. You know how much work I’ve done for you.”

²⁷ But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your eyes, please stay. I have learned by divination that [i] the LORD has blessed me because of you.” ²⁸ He added, “Name your wages, and I will pay them.”

²⁹ Jacob said to him, “You know how I have worked for you and how your livestock has fared under my care. ³⁰ The little you had before I came has increased greatly, and the LORD has blessed you wherever I have been. But now, when may I do something for my own household?”

³¹ “What shall I give you?” he asked.
“Don’t give me anything,” Jacob replied. “But if you will do this one thing for me, I will go on tending your flocks and watching over them: ³² Let me go through all your flocks today and remove from them every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb and every spotted or speckled goat. They will be my wages. ³³ And my honesty will testify for me in the future, whenever you check on the wages you have paid me. Any goat in my possession that is not speckled or spotted, or any lamb that is not dark-colored, will be considered stolen.”

³⁴ “Agreed,” said Laban. “Let it be as you have said.” ³⁵ That same day he removed all the male goats that were streaked or spotted, and all the speckled or spotted female goats (all that had white on them) and all the dark-colored lambs, and he placed them in the care of his sons. ³⁶ Then he put a three-day journey between himself and Jacob, while Jacob continued to tend the rest of Laban’s flocks.

³⁷ Jacob, however, took fresh-cut branches from poplar, almond and plane trees and made white stripes on them by peeling the bark and exposing the white inner wood of the branches. ³⁸ Then he placed the peeled branches in all the watering troughs, so that they would be directly in front of the flocks when they came to drink. When the flocks were in heat and came to drink, ³⁹ they mated in front of the branches. And they bore young that were streaked or speckled or spotted. ⁴⁰ Jacob set apart the young of the flock by themselves, but made the rest face the streaked and dark-colored animals that belonged to Laban. Thus he made separate flocks for himself and did not put them with Laban’s animals. ⁴¹ Whenever the stronger females were in heat, Jacob would place the branches in the troughs in front of the animals so they would mate near the branches, ⁴² but if the animals were weak, he would not place them there. So the weak animals went to Laban and the strong ones to Jacob. ⁴³ In this way the man grew exceedingly prosperous and came to own large flocks, and maidservants and menservants, and camels and donkeys.¹ Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were saying, “Jacob has taken everything our father owned and has gained all this wealth from what belonged to our father.” ² And Jacob noticed that Laban’s attitude toward him was not what it had been.

³ Then the LORD said to Jacob, “Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.”

⁴ So Jacob sent word to Rachel and Leah to come out to the fields where his flocks were. ⁵ He said to them, “I see that your father’s attitude toward me is not what it was before, but the God of my father has been with me. ⁶ You know that I’ve worked for your father with all my strength, ⁷ yet your father has cheated me by changing my wages ten times. However, God has not allowed him to harm me. ⁸ If he said, ‘The speckled ones will be your wages,’ then all the flocks gave birth to speckled young; and if he said, ‘The streaked ones will be your wages,’ then all the flocks bore streaked young. ⁹ So God has taken away your father’s livestock and has given them to me.

¹⁰ “In breeding season I once had a dream in which I looked up and saw that the male goats mating with the flock were streaked, speckled or spotted. ¹¹ The angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob.’ I answered, ‘Here I am.’ ¹² And he said, ‘Look up and see that all the male goats mating with the flock are streaked, speckled or spotted, for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you. ¹³ I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and where you made a vow to me. Now leave this land at once and go back to your native land.’ ”

¹⁴ Then Rachel and Leah replied, “Do we still have any share in the inheritance of our father’s estate? ¹⁵ Does he not regard us as foreigners? Not only has he sold us, but he has used up what was paid for us. ¹⁶ Surely all the wealth that God took away from our father belongs to us and our children. So do whatever God has told you.”

¹⁷ Then Jacob put his children and his wives on camels, ¹⁸ and he drove all his livestock ahead of him, along with all the goods he had accumulated in Paddan Aram, [a] to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan.

¹⁹ When Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father’s household gods. ²⁰ Moreover, Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean by not telling him he was running away. ²¹ So he fled with all he had, and crossing the River, [b] he headed for the hill country of Gilead.

²² On the third day Laban was told that Jacob had fled. ²³ Taking his relatives with him, he pursued Jacob for seven days and caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead. ²⁴ Then God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night and said to him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.”

²⁵ Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country of Gilead when Laban overtook him, and Laban and his relatives camped there too. ²⁶ Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done? You’ve deceived me, and you’ve carried off my daughters like captives in war. ²⁷ Why did you run off secretly and deceive me? Why didn’t you tell me, so I could send you away with joy and singing to the music of tambourines and harps? ²⁸ You didn’t even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters good-by. You have done a foolish thing. ²⁹ I have the power to harm you; but last night the God of your father said to me, ‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’ ³⁰ Now you have gone off because you longed to return to your father’s house. But why did you steal my gods?”

³¹ Jacob answered Laban, “I was afraid, because I thought you would take your daughters away from me by force. ³² But if you find anyone who has your gods, he shall not live. In the presence of our relatives, see for yourself whether there is anything of yours here with me; and if so, take it.” Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the gods.

³³ So Laban went into Jacob’s tent and into Leah’s tent and into the tent of the two maidservants, but he found nothing. After he came out of Leah’s tent, he entered Rachel’s tent. ³⁴ Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them inside her camel’s saddle and was sitting on them. Laban searched through everything in the tent but found nothing.

³⁵ Rachel said to her father, “Don’t be angry, my lord, that I cannot stand up in your presence; I’m having my period.” So he searched but could not find the household gods.

³⁶ Jacob was angry and took Laban to task. “What is my crime?” he asked Laban. “What sin have I committed that you hunt me down? ³⁷ Now that you have searched through all my goods, what have you found that belongs to your household? Put it here in front of your relatives and mine, and let them judge between the two of us.

³⁸ “I have been with you for twenty years now. Your sheep and goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten rams from your flocks. ³⁹ I did not bring you animals torn by wild beasts; I bore the loss myself. And you demanded payment from me for whatever was stolen by day or night. ⁴⁰ This was my situation: The heat consumed me in the daytime and the cold at night, and sleep fled from my eyes. ⁴¹ It was like this for the twenty years I was in your household. I worked for you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks, and you changed my wages ten times. ⁴² If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, you would surely have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hands, and last night he rebuked you.”

⁴³ Laban answered Jacob, “The women are my daughters, the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks. All you see is mine. Yet what can I do today about these daughters of mine, or about the children they have borne? ⁴⁴ Come now, let’s make a covenant, you and I, and let it serve as a witness between us.”

⁴⁵ So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar. ⁴⁶ He said to his relatives, “Gather some stones.” So they took stones and piled them in a heap, and they ate there by the heap. ⁴⁷ Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, [c] and Jacob called it Galeed. [d]

⁴⁸ Laban said, “This heap is a witness between you and me today.” That is why it was called Galeed. ⁴⁹ It was also called Mizpah, [e] because he said, “May the LORD keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other. ⁵⁰ If you mistreat my daughters or if you take any wives besides my daughters, even though no one is with us, remember that God is a witness between you and me.”

⁵¹ Laban also said to Jacob, “Here is this heap, and here is this pillar I have set up between you and me. ⁵² This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not go past this heap to your side to harm you and that you will not go past this heap and pillar to my side to harm me. ⁵³ May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.”
So Jacob took an oath in the name of the Fear of his father Isaac. ⁵⁴ He offered a sacrifice there in the hill country and invited his relatives to a meal. After they had eaten, they spent the night there.

⁵⁵ Early the next morning Laban kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then he left and returned home.

Questions

Who came with her father’s sheep?
What were the names of Jacob’s two wives?
Wait … What … Which sheep exactly does everyone end up with?
What does Rachel swipe?
How does God bring his promise to bear through such a disfunctional family?

Going Deeper

Observation

What did Jacob do when Rachel arrived?
What was to be Jacob’s pay for seven years’ work?
Why does God open Leah’s womb?
What did Jacob say to Rachel when he was angry?
What did Jacob take and put directly in front of the flocks when they came to drink?

Interpretation

What does Jacob want? How does he scheme to get it?
What does Laban want? How does he scheme to get it?
What does Leah want? How does she scheme to get it (note: not children)?
What does Rachel want? How does she scheme to get it?
What does God want? How does he bring it to pass despite everyone’s schemes?

Application

What do you want? How do you scheme to get it?
What does this passage teach you about your well-laid plans?
How does God interrupt you?
What examples of God intervening in family conflict have you seen?
How can God heal a marriage that is strained by selfish passions and desires?

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Genesis 28: 1-22

Posted on November 23, 2009 by Plymothian

Jacob makes a deal with God. God is gracious and works with Jacob at this time. However, if Jacob thinks that he has God wrapped around his little finger he is sorely mistaken. Jacob is being transformed from a deceitful, self-centred trickster to a grand patriarch. Jacob’s life is a good study in spiritual transformation. It is primarily the work of God. How is God transforming you?

Genesis 28:1-22

¹ So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed [a] him and commanded him: “Do not marry a Canaanite woman. ² Go at once to Paddan Aram, [b] to the house of your mother’s father Bethuel. Take a wife for yourself there, from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. ³ May God Almighty [c] bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples. ⁴ May he give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham, so that you may take possession of the land where you now live as an alien, the land God gave to Abraham.” ⁵ Then Isaac sent Jacob on his way, and he went to Paddan Aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.

⁶ Now Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and had sent him to Paddan Aram to take a wife from there, and that when he blessed him he commanded him, “Do not marry a Canaanite woman,” ⁷ and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Paddan Aram. ⁸ Esau then realized how displeasing the Canaanite women were to his father Isaac; ⁹ so he went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Ishmael son of Abraham, in addition to the wives he already had.

¹⁰ Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran. ¹¹ When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. ¹² He had a dream in which he saw a stairway [d] resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. ¹³ There above it [e] stood the LORD, and he said: “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. ¹⁴ Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. ¹⁵ I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

¹⁶ When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” ¹⁷ He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”

¹⁸ Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. ¹⁹ He called that place Bethel, [f] though the city used to be called Luz.

²⁰ Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear ²¹ so that I return safely to my father’s house, then the LORD [g] will be my God ²² and [h] this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.”

Questions

From whom is Jacob to take a wife?
What will God do for Jacob?
What is the condition of Jacob’s conditional response to God?
How is Jacob’s response to God inappropriate?
When have you made a deal with God? Why doesn’t God have to uphold his end of your bargaining?

Going Deeper

Observation

What did Isaac do regarding Jacob at the beginning of this passage?
Who must Jacob not marry?
What does Esau realize and what is his remedy?
What vision does Jacob have?
What does Jacob promise to give God in return for his help?

Interpretation

Why was it wrong for Jacob to marry a Canaanite, but perfectly acceptable for him to marry his cousin?
How is God’s drive to fulfil his planned blessing emphasized?
How do you think Jacob pictured God’s relationship with Bethel as opposed to other locations?
How does Jacob put his own life and needs before God’s glory?
What would you predict would be the next stage in Jacob’s development?

Application

Is there anyone that a follower of God should not marry?
Can we marry our cousins?
Is there a location such as The Vatican City or The Temple Mount that is more holy than another location?
What are your biggest needs right now? How do they occupy your mind?
What would be the first step toward putting your own interests aside to worship God in an uninhibited manner?

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Genesis 25:19 – 27:46

Posted on November 22, 2009 by Plymothian

When we have an account of someone in Genesis – ‘This is the account of’ – it is actually an account of their children. Now we have another obstacle to the blessing that God has promised Abraham. This is the account of Isaac’s children. His two grandchildren are seriously messed up. One is a lying, deceiving mother’s boy and the other has such disregard for his inheritance that it makes a mockery og the promises of God. If God was not intervening, we could end both of them wandering into oblivion. How does your family stand as an aostacle to God’s blessing? How does God overcome that or use it for his glory?

Genesis 25:19 – 27:46

¹⁹ This is the account of Abraham’s son Isaac.
Abraham became the father of Isaac, ²⁰ and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram [d] and sister of Laban the Aramean.

²¹ Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. The LORD answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. ²² The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the LORD.

²³ The LORD said to her,
       “Two nations are in your womb,
       and two peoples from within you will be separated;
       one people will be stronger than the other,
       and the older will serve the younger.”

²⁴ When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. ²⁵ The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau. [e] ²⁶ After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob. [f] Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them.

²⁷ The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was a quiet man, staying among the tents. ²⁸ Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

²⁹ Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. ³⁰ He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom. [g] )

³¹ Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”

³² “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?”

³³ But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.

³⁴ Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left.
So Esau despised his birthright.

¹ Now there was a famine in the land—besides the earlier famine of Abraham’s time—and Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines in Gerar. ² The LORD appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live. ³ Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham. ⁴ I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring [a] all nations on earth will be blessed, ⁵ because Abraham obeyed me and kept my requirements, my commands, my decrees and my laws.” ⁶ So Isaac stayed in Gerar.

⁷ When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” because he was afraid to say, “She is my wife.” He thought, “The men of this place might kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is beautiful.”

⁸ When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down from a window and saw Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah. ⁹ So Abimelech summoned Isaac and said, “She is really your wife! Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’?”
Isaac answered him, “Because I thought I might lose my life on account of her.”

¹⁰ Then Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the men might well have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.”

¹¹ So Abimelech gave orders to all the people: “Anyone who molests this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”

¹² Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the LORD blessed him. ¹³ The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy. ¹⁴ He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him. ¹⁵ So all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the time of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up, filling them with earth.

¹⁶ Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Move away from us; you have become too powerful for us.”

¹⁷ So Isaac moved away from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there. ¹⁸ Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died, and he gave them the same names his father had given them.

¹⁹ Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water there. ²⁰ But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen and said, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Esek, [b] because they disputed with him. ²¹ Then they dug another well, but they quarreled over that one also; so he named it Sitnah. [c] ²² He moved on from there and dug another well, and no one quarreled over it. He named it Rehoboth, [d] saying, “Now the LORD has given us room and we will flourish in the land.”

²³ From there he went up to Beersheba. ²⁴ That night the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham.”

²⁵ Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD. There he pitched his tent, and there his servants dug a well.

²⁶ Meanwhile, Abimelech had come to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his personal adviser and Phicol the commander of his forces. ²⁷ Isaac asked them, “Why have you come to me, since you were hostile to me and sent me away?”

²⁸ They answered, “We saw clearly that the LORD was with you; so we said, ‘There ought to be a sworn agreement between us’-between us and you. Let us make a treaty with you ²⁹ that you will do us no harm, just as we did not molest you but always treated you well and sent you away in peace. And now you are blessed by the LORD.”

³⁰ Isaac then made a feast for them, and they ate and drank. ³¹ Early the next morning the men swore an oath to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they left him in peace.

³² That day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug. They said, “We’ve found water!” ³³ He called it Shibah, [e] and to this day the name of the town has been Beersheba. [f]

³⁴ When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. ³⁵ They were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah.

¹ When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called for Esau his older son and said to him, “My son.”
“Here I am,” he answered.

² Isaac said, “I am now an old man and don’t know the day of my death. ³ Now then, get your weapons—your quiver and bow—and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me. ⁴ Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die.”

⁵ Now Rebekah was listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau left for the open country to hunt game and bring it back, ⁶ Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau, ⁷ ‘Bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the LORD before I die.’ ⁸ Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you: ⁹ Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it. ¹⁰ Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing before he dies.”

¹¹ Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “But my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I’m a man with smooth skin. ¹² What if my father touches me? I would appear to be tricking him and would bring down a curse on myself rather than a blessing.”

¹³ His mother said to him, “My son, let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say; go and get them for me.”

¹⁴ So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and she prepared some tasty food, just the way his father liked it. ¹⁵ Then Rebekah took the best clothes of Esau her older son, which she had in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. ¹⁶ She also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goatskins. ¹⁷ Then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made.

¹⁸ He went to his father and said, “My father.”
“Yes, my son,” he answered. “Who is it?”

¹⁹ Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game so that you may give me your blessing.”

²⁰ Isaac asked his son, “How did you find it so quickly, my son?”
“The LORD your God gave me success,” he replied.

²¹ Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near so I can touch you, my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not.”

²² Jacob went close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” ²³ He did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he blessed him. ²⁴ “Are you really my son Esau?” he asked.
“I am,” he replied.

²⁵ Then he said, “My son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing.”
Jacob brought it to him and he ate; and he brought some wine and he drank. ²⁶ Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come here, my son, and kiss me.”

²⁷ So he went to him and kissed him. When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said,
       “Ah, the smell of my son
       is like the smell of a field
       that the LORD has blessed.

²⁸ May God give you of heaven’s dew
and of earth’s richness—
an abundance of grain and new wine.

²⁹ May nations serve you
       and peoples bow down to you.
       Be lord over your brothers,
       and may the sons of your mother bow down to you.
       May those who curse you be cursed
       and those who bless you be blessed.”

³⁰ After Isaac finished blessing him and Jacob had scarcely left his father’s presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting. ³¹ He too prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Then he said to him, “My father, sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.”

³² His father Isaac asked him, “Who are you?”
“I am your son,” he answered, “your firstborn, Esau.”

³³ Isaac trembled violently and said, “Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came and I blessed him—and indeed he will be blessed!”

³⁴ When Esau heard his father’s words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me—me too, my father!”

³⁵ But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.”

³⁶ Esau said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob [a] ? He has deceived me these two times: He took my birthright, and now he’s taken my blessing!” Then he asked, “Haven’t you reserved any blessing for me?”

³⁷ Isaac answered Esau, “I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. So what can I possibly do for you, my son?”

³⁸ Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” Then Esau wept aloud.

³⁹ His father Isaac answered him,
       “Your dwelling will be
       away from the earth’s richness,
       away from the dew of heaven above.

⁴⁰ You will live by the sword
       and you will serve your brother.
       But when you grow restless,
       you will throw his yoke
       from off your neck.”

⁴¹ Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”

⁴² When Rebekah was told what her older son Esau had said, she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Your brother Esau is consoling himself with the thought of killing you. ⁴³ Now then, my son, do what I say: Flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran. ⁴⁴ Stay with him for a while until your brother’s fury subsides. ⁴⁵ When your brother is no longer angry with you and forgets what you did to him, I’ll send word for you to come back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?”

⁴⁶ Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m disgusted with living because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land, from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living.”

Questions

How did the babies act in Rebekah’s womb?
What happened to the wells that Abraham had dug? How does this conflict mirror the main conflict?
What two things does Jacob steal from Esau?
How does God preserve Jacob in spite of his actions?
Have you had any conflict with siblings? What has God been doing through that?

Going Deeper

Observation

When the children were jostling inside her, what did Rebekah do?
What was the birth order of Jacob and Esau?
What colour was the stew Esau ate?
What orders did Abimalech give concerning Isaac and Rebekah?
What are the statements concerning the dew of heaven and service in the blessings of Esau and Jacob?

Interpretation

What kind of person do you think Rebekah consulted?
Why was it important to establish that the rights of the firstborn had been reversed? Whose descendants are reading this?
Why is the colour of the stew mentioned?
How is the story of Abimelech and Isaac similar to his father’s story? How is it the third in a progression of similar stories?
What kind of formula was Isaac drawing from when he gave his blessings?

Application

How do you view your heritage and ancestry? Are you grateful to your parents?
What things are a source of conflict in the family you gre up in?
How do parents today cause conflict in their home?
How could you resolve conflict between your brothers and sisters?
How does God build his plans through your conflict?

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Genesis 23:1 – 25:18

Posted on November 21, 2009 by Plymothian

Abraham now gains land in Canaan. Just a little bit, but the promise is coming to fruition. The event that brings this about is Sarah’s death. Isn’t it strange how God sometimes works through our hardest times to bring about his deeper plan? For my mother and me, this would be true of watching my father die. As he was diagnosed with cancer, we saw him turn to God and die a death of faith. What purpose has there been in times when you have grieved a loved one?

Genesis 23:1 – 25:18

¹ Sarah lived to be a hundred and twenty-seven years old. ² She died at Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her.
³ Then Abraham rose from beside his dead wife and spoke to the Hittites. ^[a] He said, ⁴ “I am an alien and a stranger among you. Sell me some property for a burial site here so I can bury my dead.”

⁵ The Hittites replied to Abraham, ⁶ “Sir, listen to us. You are a mighty prince among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will refuse you his tomb for burying your dead.”

⁷ Then Abraham rose and bowed down before the people of the land, the Hittites. ⁸ He said to them, “If you are willing to let me bury my dead, then listen to me and intercede with Ephron son of Zohar on my behalf ⁹ so he will sell me the cave of Machpelah, which belongs to him and is at the end of his field. Ask him to sell it to me for the full price as a burial site among you.”

¹⁰ Ephron the Hittite was sitting among his people and he replied to Abraham in the hearing of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of his city. ¹¹ “No, my lord,” he said. “Listen to me; I give ^[b] you the field, and I give ^[c] you the cave that is in it. I give ^[d] it to you in the presence of my people. Bury your dead.”

¹² Again Abraham bowed down before the people of the land ¹³ and he said to Ephron in their hearing, “Listen to me, if you will. I will pay the price of the field. Accept it from me so I can bury my dead there.”

¹⁴ Ephron answered Abraham, ¹⁵ “Listen to me, my lord; the land is worth four hundred shekels ^[e] of silver, but what is that between me and you? Bury your dead.”

¹⁶ Abraham agreed to Ephron’s terms and weighed out for him the price he had named in the hearing of the Hittites: four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weight current among the merchants.

¹⁷ So Ephron’s field in Machpelah near Mamre—both the field and the cave in it, and all the trees within the borders of the field—was deeded ¹⁸ to Abraham as his property in the presence of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of the city. ¹⁹ Afterward Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah near Mamre (which is at Hebron) in the land of Canaan. ²⁰ So the field and the cave in it were deeded to Abraham by the Hittites as a burial site.

Isaac and Rebekah

¹ Abraham was now old and well advanced in years, and the LORD had blessed him in every way. ² He said to the chief ^[a] servant in his household, the one in charge of all that he had, “Put your hand under my thigh. ³ I want you to swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living, ⁴ but will go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac.”
⁵ The servant asked him, “What if the woman is unwilling to come back with me to this land? Shall I then take your son back to the country you came from?”

⁶ “Make sure that you do not take my son back there,” Abraham said. ⁷ “The LORD, the God of heaven, who brought me out of my father’s household and my native land and who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, ‘To your offspring ^[b] I will give this land’-he will send his angel before you so that you can get a wife for my son from there. ⁸ If the woman is unwilling to come back with you, then you will be released from this oath of mine. Only do not take my son back there.” ⁹ So the servant put his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and swore an oath to him concerning this matter.

¹⁰ Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and left, taking with him all kinds of good things from his master. He set out for Aram Naharaim ^[c] and made his way to the town of Nahor. ¹¹ He had the camels kneel down near the well outside the town; it was toward evening, the time the women go out to draw water.

¹² Then he prayed, “O LORD, God of my master Abraham, give me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. ¹³ See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. ¹⁴ May it be that when I say to a girl, ‘Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too’-let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.”

¹⁵ Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, who was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor. ¹⁶ The girl was very beautiful, a virgin; no man had ever lain with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jar and came up again.

¹⁷ The servant hurried to meet her and said, “Please give me a little water from your jar.”

¹⁸ “Drink, my lord,” she said, and quickly lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a drink.

¹⁹ After she had given him a drink, she said, “I’ll draw water for your camels too, until they have finished drinking.” ²⁰ So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, ran back to the well to draw more water, and drew enough for all his camels. ²¹ Without saying a word, the man watched her closely to learn whether or not the LORD had made his journey successful.

²² When the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a beka ^[d] and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels. ^[e] ²³ Then he asked, “Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?”

²⁴ She answered him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son that Milcah bore to Nahor.” ²⁵ And she added, “We have plenty of straw and fodder, as well as room for you to spend the night.”

²⁶ Then the man bowed down and worshiped the LORD, ²⁷ saying, “Praise be to the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his kindness and faithfulness to my master. As for me, the LORD has led me on the journey to the house of my master’s relatives.”

²⁸ The girl ran and told her mother’s household about these things. ²⁹ Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban, and he hurried out to the man at the spring. ³⁰ As soon as he had seen the nose ring, and the bracelets on his sister’s arms, and had heard Rebekah tell what the man said to her, he went out to the man and found him standing by the camels near the spring. ³¹ “Come, you who are blessed by the LORD,” he said. “Why are you standing out here? I have prepared the house and a place for the camels.”

³² So the man went to the house, and the camels were unloaded. Straw and fodder were brought for the camels, and water for him and his men to wash their feet. ³³ Then food was set before him, but he said, “I will not eat until I have told you what I have to say.”
“Then tell us,” Laban said.

³⁴ So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant. ³⁵ The LORD has blessed my master abundantly, and he has become wealthy. He has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, menservants and maidservants, and camels and donkeys. ³⁶ My master’s wife Sarah has borne him a son in her ^[f] old age, and he has given him everything he owns. ³⁷ And my master made me swear an oath, and said, ‘You must not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live, ³⁸ but go to my father’s family and to my own clan, and get a wife for my son.’

³⁹ “Then I asked my master, ‘What if the woman will not come back with me?’

⁴⁰ “He replied, ‘The LORD, before whom I have walked, will send his angel with you and make your journey a success, so that you can get a wife for my son from my own clan and from my father’s family. ⁴¹ Then, when you go to my clan, you will be released from my oath even if they refuse to give her to you—you will be released from my oath.’

⁴² “When I came to the spring today, I said, ‘O LORD, God of my master Abraham, if you will, please grant success to the journey on which I have come. ⁴³ See, I am standing beside this spring; if a maiden comes out to draw water and I say to her, “Please let me drink a little water from your jar,” ⁴⁴ and if she says to me, “Drink, and I’ll draw water for your camels too,” let her be the one the LORD has chosen for my master’s son.’

⁴⁵ “Before I finished praying in my heart, Rebekah came out, with her jar on her shoulder. She went down to the spring and drew water, and I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’

⁴⁶ “She quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too.’ So I drank, and she watered the camels also.

⁴⁷ “I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’
“She said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel son of Nahor, whom Milcah bore to him.’
“Then I put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her arms, ⁴⁸ and I bowed down and worshiped the LORD. I praised the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me on the right road to get the granddaughter of my master’s brother for his son. ⁴⁹ Now if you will show kindness and faithfulness to my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, so I may know which way to turn.”

⁵⁰ Laban and Bethuel answered, “This is from the LORD; we can say nothing to you one way or the other. ⁵¹ Here is Rebekah; take her and go, and let her become the wife of your master’s son, as the LORD has directed.”

⁵² When Abraham’s servant heard what they said, he bowed down to the ground before the LORD. ⁵³ Then the servant brought out gold and silver jewelry and articles of clothing and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave costly gifts to her brother and to her mother. ⁵⁴ Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night there.
When they got up the next morning, he said, “Send me on my way to my master.”

⁵⁵ But her brother and her mother replied, “Let the girl remain with us ten days or so; then you ^[g] may go.”

⁵⁶ But he said to them, “Do not detain me, now that the LORD has granted success to my journey. Send me on my way so I may go to my master.”

⁵⁷ Then they said, “Let’s call the girl and ask her about it.” ⁵⁸ So they called Rebekah and asked her, “Will you go with this man?”
“I will go,” she said.

⁵⁹ So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, along with her nurse and Abraham’s servant and his men. ⁶⁰ And they blessed Rebekah and said to her,
       “Our sister, may you increase
       to thousands upon thousands;
       may your offspring possess
       the gates of their enemies.”

⁶¹ Then Rebekah and her maids got ready and mounted their camels and went back with the man. So the servant took Rebekah and left.

⁶² Now Isaac had come from Beer Lahai Roi, for he was living in the Negev. ⁶³ He went out to the field one evening to meditate, ^[h] and as he looked up, he saw camels approaching. ⁶⁴ Rebekah also looked up and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel ⁶⁵ and asked the servant, “Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?”
“He is my master,” the servant answered. So she took her veil and covered herself.

⁶⁶ Then the servant told Isaac all he had done. ⁶⁷ Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah. So she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.
¹ Abraham took ^[a] another wife, whose name was Keturah. ² She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah. ³ Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan; the descendants of Dedan were the Asshurites, the Letushites and the Leummites. ⁴ The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida and Eldaah. All these were descendants of Keturah.
⁵ Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac. ⁶ But while he was still living, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them away from his son Isaac to the land of the east.

⁷ Altogether, Abraham lived a hundred and seventy-five years. ⁸ Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man and full of years; and he was gathered to his people. ⁹ His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite, ¹⁰ the field Abraham had bought from the Hittites. ^[b] There Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah. ¹¹ After Abraham’s death, God blessed his son Isaac, who then lived near Beer Lahai Roi.

Ishmael’s Sons

¹² This is the account of Abraham’s son Ishmael, whom Sarah’s maidservant, Hagar the Egyptian, bore to Abraham.
¹³ These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, listed in the order of their birth: Nebaioth the firstborn of Ishmael, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, ¹⁴ Mishma, Dumah, Massa, ¹⁵ Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah. ¹⁶ These were the sons of Ishmael, and these are the names of the twelve tribal rulers according to their settlements and camps. ¹⁷ Altogether, Ishmael lived a hundred and thirty-seven years. He breathed his last and died, and he was gathered to his people. ¹⁸ His descendants settled in the area from Havilah to Shur, near the border of Egypt, as you go toward Asshur. And they lived in hostility toward ^[c] all their brothers.

Questions

What did Abraham need when Sarah died?
What did God supply?
What did Isaac need when Sarah died?
What did God supply?
What do you need at the moment? How might God supply?

Going Deeper

Observation

From what people group did Abraham buy land?
How much does Abraham pay for land?
Who goes to get Isaac a wife?
Whose daughter is Rebekah?
How do Ishmael’s descendants live?

Interpretation

Are these Hittites the same as ones who lived where Turkey is today?
Why doesn’t Abraham haggle?
Why would a girl travel with a servant to meet her husband after such a short meeting?
Why look in particular for a relative?
Are the Arabs descendants of Ishmael?

Application

Have you been ripped off by a salesperson? How can this be used for good?
Is land important for us to own?
How should a man find a wife?
How can a person find guidance from God about who they should marry?
Are Arabs predisposed to violence?

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Genesis 22

Posted on November 19, 2009 by Plymothian

What was Abraham thinking when God told him to sacrafice his son? What was God thinking? I have often said that he tested Abraham’s faith? However, God knows everything. If that is true, he knew that Abraham was going to pass this test. However, this test has been cited through the ages as the test-case for faith. I do not believe it revealed anything to God that he did not know. This action revealed to all the generations that followed what obedient faith looks like. It is the kind of faith that pursues God before it pursues family. True faith sacrifices everything and loses nothing. Have you given over all that you have?

Genesis 22

¹ Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.

² Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”

³ Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. ⁴ On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. ⁵ He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”

⁶ Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, ⁷ Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”
“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.
“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

⁸ Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.

⁹ When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. ¹⁰ Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. ¹¹ But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.

¹² “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”

¹³ Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram [a] caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴ So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.”

¹⁵ The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time ¹⁶ and said, “I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, ¹⁷ I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, ¹⁸ and through your offspring [b] all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”

¹⁹ Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba.

²⁰ Some time later Abraham was told, “Milcah is also a mother; she has borne sons to your brother Nahor: ²¹ Uz the firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel (the father of Aram), ²² Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph and Bethuel.” ²³ Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. Milcah bore these eight sons to Abraham’s brother Nahor. ²⁴ His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also had sons: Tebah, Gaham, Tahash and Maacah.

Questions

What exactly did God ask Abraham to do?
At what time did Abraham get up to fulfil the task?
What did Abraham do when he stretched out his hand?
What did God know after the test?
What could stop you from walking with God? How could you sacrifice it?

Going Deeper

Observation

What kind of offering is Abraham to offer?
On what day does Abraham see the place of sacrifice?
What is Isaac’s question for his father?
What takes the place of Abraham’s son?
What does Abraham call the place?

Interpretation

What is a burnt offering as opposed to say a wave offering?
Is it significant that the journey takes three days? Explain.
Does Abraham think that Isaac will be raised from the dead?
How is an animal a substitute for a person in the sacrifices of the Old Testament?
In what ways has God provided for Abraham?

Application

In what different ways do you offer things to God?
How far do you go out of your way to do what God asks of you?
Do you believe that yu are safe in God’s hands?
How has a substitute been sacrificed in your place?
How can you figuritively give your children over to God?

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Genesis 20 – 21

Posted on November 18, 2009 by Plymothian

Sarah is now fertile. That means that Abraham can’t travel around claiming that she is his sister and let Abimelech sleep with her. The blessing of Abraham is under threat again. How would we know whose seed has blossomed if Sarah has more than one man’s seed sitting in her womb? God mercifully intervenes and directs Abimelech to treat Abraham with respect and give him his wife back before anything happens. Now the promise is fulfilled – God is gracious.

Genesis 20 – 21

¹ Now Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur. For a while he stayed in Gerar, ² and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” Then Abimelech king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.

³ But God came to Abimelech in a dream one night and said to him, “You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman.”

⁴ Now Abimelech had not gone near her, so he said, “Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation? ⁵ Did he not say to me, ‘She is my sister,’ and didn’t she also say, ‘He is my brother’? I have done this with a clear conscience and clean hands.”

⁶ Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against me. That is why I did not let you touch her. ⁷ Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, you may be sure that you and all yours will die.”

⁸ Early the next morning Abimelech summoned all his officials, and when he told them all that had happened, they were very much afraid. ⁹ Then Abimelech called Abraham in and said, “What have you done to us? How have I wronged you that you have brought such great guilt upon me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should not be done.” ¹⁰ And Abimelech asked Abraham, “What was your reason for doing this?”

¹¹ Abraham replied, “I said to myself, ‘There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’ ¹² Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not of my mother; and she became my wife. ¹³ And when God had me wander from my father’s household, I said to her, ‘This is how you can show your love to me: Everywhere we go, say of me, “He is my brother.” ‘ ”

¹⁴ Then Abimelech brought sheep and cattle and male and female slaves and gave them to Abraham, and he returned Sarah his wife to him. ¹⁵ And Abimelech said, “My land is before you; live wherever you like.”

¹⁶ To Sarah he said, “I am giving your brother a thousand shekels [a] of silver. This is to cover the offense against you before all who are with you; you are completely vindicated.”

¹⁷ Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, his wife and his slave girls so they could have children again, ¹⁸ for the LORD had closed up every womb in Abimelech’s household because of Abraham’s wife Sarah.

¹ Now the LORD was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what he had promised. ² Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. ³ Abraham gave the name Isaac [a] to the son Sarah bore him. ⁴ When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God commanded him. ⁵ Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.

⁶ Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.” ⁷ And she added, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”

⁸ The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast. ⁹ But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking, ¹⁰ and she said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.”

¹¹ The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son. ¹² But God said to him, “Do not be so distressed about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring [b] will be reckoned. ¹³ I will make the son of the maidservant into a nation also, because he is your offspring.”

¹⁴ Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the desert of Beersheba.

¹⁵ When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. ¹⁶ Then she went off and sat down nearby, about a bowshot away, for she thought, “I cannot watch the boy die.” And as she sat there nearby, she [c] began to sob.

¹⁷ God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. ¹⁸ Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”

¹⁹ Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.

²⁰ God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer. ²¹ While he was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from Egypt.

²² At that time Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his forces said to Abraham, “God is with you in everything you do. ²³ Now swear to me here before God that you will not deal falsely with me or my children or my descendants. Show to me and the country where you are living as an alien the same kindness I have shown to you.”

²⁴ Abraham said, “I swear it.”

²⁵ Then Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well of water that Abimelech’s servants had seized. ²⁶ But Abimelech said, “I don’t know who has done this. You did not tell me, and I heard about it only today.”

²⁷ So Abraham brought sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a treaty. ²⁸ Abraham set apart seven ewe lambs from the flock, ²⁹ and Abimelech asked Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs you have set apart by themselves?”

³⁰ He replied, “Accept these seven lambs from my hand as a witness that I dug this well.”

³¹ So that place was called Beersheba, [d] because the two men swore an oath there.

³² After the treaty had been made at Beersheba, Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his forces returned to the land of the Philistines. ³³ Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called upon the name of the LORD, the Eternal God. ³⁴ And Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for a long time.

Questions

Who sent for Sarah and took her?
What had Abraham said to himself?
What happened at the very time that God had promised Abraham?
How has God preserved his promise to Abraham?
How has God preserved his faithfulness to walk with you as you walk with him?

Going Deeper

Observation

Where did Abraham move?
Who prevents Abimelech from sleeping with Sarah? How?
What did God bring to Sarah besides a baby?
What was the so whom Hagar the Egyptian had born to Abraham doing?
What did Abimelech pursuade Abraham to do?

Interpretation

Why was Abraham often in motion from one place to another?
Why is the name Abimelech common for rulers?
How is the word ‘laughter’ used significantly?
How would you describe in your own words the relationship between Hagar, Sarah, Ishmael, and Isaac?
Who were the Philistines?

Application

How protective are you of your family?
How has God protected your family?
How have you been cruel to someone because of your own bitterness?
How has God protected another from your spite?
How has God used difficult relationships, with hurtful interractions, to grow the people involved?

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Genesis 18:16 – 19:38

Posted on November 17, 2009 by Plymothian

Sodomite. Sodomy. The name of the city of Sodom has become a word for anal sex. However, the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was not isolated to one night where men wanted to have anal sex with Lot’s angelic guests. It seems that Abram knew the reputation that these cities enjoyed. He knew that the majority were evil. He asks the question of justice, “How many unrighteous citizens can be saved by a righteous one?” That is what his questioning of the angels means. Lot is unable to persuade the men of Sodom that they don’t want to gang rape his guests. The emphasis here is not on the nature of the sin, but the dull-minded pursuit of sin. In the Hebrew it seems Lot’s future son-in-laws mock him for encouraging them to leave. Even Lot’s wife’s exit is half-hearted. The answer to Abram’s badgering is that only Lot is truly righteous and he has no transforming influence on Sodom or Gomorrah.

Genesis 18:16 – 19:38

Abraham Pleads for Sodom

¹⁶ When the men got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. ¹⁷ Then the LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? ¹⁸ Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. ¹⁹ For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.”

²⁰ Then the LORD said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous ²¹ that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.”

²² The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the LORD. [a] ²³ Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? ²⁴ What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare [b] the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? ²⁵ Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge [c] of all the earth do right?”

²⁶ The LORD said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”

²⁷ Then Abraham spoke up again: “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, ²⁸ what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city because of five people?”
“If I find forty-five there,” he said, “I will not destroy it.”

²⁹ Once again he spoke to him, “What if only forty are found there?”
He said, “For the sake of forty, I will not do it.”

³⁰ Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?”
He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”

³¹ Abraham said, “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?”
He said, “For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.”

³² Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?”
He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.”

³³ When the LORD had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.

Genesis 19

Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed

¹ The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. ² “My lords,” he said, “please turn aside to your servant’s house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning.”
“No,” they answered, “we will spend the night in the square.”

³ But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate. ⁴ Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. ⁵ They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.”

⁶ Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him ⁷ and said, “No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing. ⁸ Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.”

⁹ “Get out of our way,” they replied. And they said, “This fellow came here as an alien, and now he wants to play the judge! We’ll treat you worse than them.” They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door.

¹⁰ But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. ¹¹ Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door.

¹² The two men said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, ¹³ because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the LORD against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it.”

¹⁴ So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry [d] his daughters. He said, “Hurry and get out of this place, because the LORD is about to destroy the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.

¹⁵ With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished.”

¹⁶ When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them. ¹⁷ As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!”

¹⁸ But Lot said to them, “No, my lords, [e] please! ¹⁹ Your [f] servant has found favor in your [g] eyes, and you [h] have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can’t flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I’ll die. ²⁰ Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it—it is very small, isn’t it? Then my life will be spared.”

²¹ He said to him, “Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. ²² But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it.” (That is why the town was called Zoar. [i] )

²³ By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. ²⁴ Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens. ²⁵ Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. ²⁶ But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

²⁷ Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the LORD. ²⁸ He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.

²⁹ So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.

Lot and His Daughters

³⁰ Lot and his two daughters left Zoar and settled in the mountains, for he was afraid to stay in Zoar. He and his two daughters lived in a cave. ³¹ One day the older daughter said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man around here to lie with us, as is the custom all over the earth. ³² Let’s get our father to drink wine and then lie with him and preserve our family line through our father.”

³³ That night they got their father to drink wine, and the older daughter went in and lay with him. He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.

³⁴ The next day the older daughter said to the younger, “Last night I lay with my father. Let’s get him to drink wine again tonight, and you go in and lie with him so we can preserve our family line through our father.” ³⁵ So they got their father to drink wine that night also, and the younger daughter went and lay with him. Again he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.

³⁶ So both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father. ³⁷ The older daughter had a son, and she named him Moab [j] ; he is the father of the Moabites of today. ³⁸ The younger daughter also had a son, and she named him Ben-Ammi [k] ; he is the father of the Ammonites of today.

Questions

What question does the LORD ask himself?
For the sake of how many righteous men will God not destroy the cities?
How many of the men from Sodom come by Lot’s house that night?
How does God show grace to Lot? Describe Lot’s pain.
How do pressures from a wicked culture press in on you? How do you resist?

Going Deeper

Questions

To whom does God reveal his plan first?
How many exchanges about the number of righteous occur between the LORD and Abraham?
Who of the people is saved?
With whom does Lot sleep?
Which two neighbouring nations are born as a result?

Interpretation

Why did God bother having this discussion with Abram if the city was doomed?
Would Lot have been saved if Abraham weren’t his uncle?
In Luke 17: 28-32 is Jesus telling us that Lot’s wife actually went back and was turned to salt as part of the destruction of the city?
How was sleeping with your daughters viewed at this time?
Are Moab and Ammon blessed by the intervention of Abraham?

Application

Why talk to God when he knows the future?
How do your talks (prayers) with God ‘work’?
How can you see someone else’s destruction coming and be their advocate?
How could you pray an ‘intercessory’ prayer today for a friend or relative?
What are your opinions about God’s justice and grace?

Extra: Why did God choose to reveal the truths of Genesis before Jesus came to earth? Why not just reveal the grace and salvation of the New Testament first?

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Isaac and Rebekah

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Genesis 22

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Genesis 18:16 – 19:38

Abraham Pleads for Sodom

Genesis 19

Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed

Lot and His Daughters

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