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Jacob is called back to Bethel-back?  Yes.  This is where he wrote the Led Zeppelin song “Stairway to Heaven”😂 (Genesis 28)

Chapter 34 was God was not mentioned once.  In chapter 35 He is mentioned 11 times in name and 11 more times in place.  After the incident in Shechem, Jacob cleans house of the pagan world that rubbed off on them.  God reminds Jacob of the covenant, and that he is a new creation, his name will be Israel.

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Israel is not having a good season of his life:

• Rebekah’s nurse dies
• Rachel (the wife he loved) dies giving birth to Joseph’s brother, Benjamin.

Remember to take notes on your genealogy  You will want them when we get to chapter 49:

²¹ Israel moved on again and pitched his tent beyond Migdal Eder. ²² While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went in and slept with his father’s concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard of it.

 

Issac dies.  (I guess he wasn’t on his deathbed after all when Jacob deceived him years ago).  I never noticed that before.

²⁹ Then he breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people, old and full of years. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him. ❤️

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Chapter 36 begins… took his wives from the woman of Cannan….well, this can’t be good.  The structure of this chapter is very much like ch 25. After Abraham died there was an account of Ishmael’s genealogy (I truly believe to show us the love and grace given to a child even born in circumstances).  Here Isaac’s death is followed by Esau’s genealogy.

There are over 200 names mentioned: Esau may not have cared about God (not valuing his birthright, But God still cared for him)  If this chapter bored you, something is wrong with you.  JUST kidding, I was just seeing if anyone read this far.  Of course it was boring BUT go back and circle the word Edom (Edomites).  Just in this chapter, you will read it 10 times, and 131 times in the entire Old Testament.

Edom is Southeast of the Promised Land.  I know this does not mean a whole lot to you now, but it will 😁.  The Edomites make their home in the Sier Mountains.  Geography will play a big part in their battles and success.  Who can win fighting up a mountain??  Oh, yeah…God can.

The book of Obadiah would not have been written without Edom, and HEROD THE GREAT is an Edomonite!!  Not to get ahead of myself BUT if the Blessing was given to Jacob (not Esau), imagine when we get to the New Testament and Herod calls himself “king of the Jews”.  Oh no he di’int!  Yes, he did! (we will call them Jews not Hebrews after the captivity).  This Herod even refurbished the entire Temple before Jesus was born in an effort to get the Jews to forget he was from the line of Esau (it didn’t work).

Did you recognize any names?  No? Then you didn’t pay attention in the book of Job. 🤓

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Chapter 37

I have to tell you this.  I grew up outside of NYC.  Seeing or hearing about Broadway shows was common.  Did you know that I have heard the phrase Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat all my life and it wasn’t until recently that I knew it was from the Bible!

Chapter 37: Joseph is 17,  and lacks social skills (hmmm, like many today I guess).  His brothers hate him, and I don’t blame them.

• He is 17…why is he not working hard in the field??
• In verse 2 he “tattles” on his brothers.
• Verse 3-4 we see that he is babied and loved more than the others
• He can be ‘seen’ as arrogant or egotistical when discussing his dreams.

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Joseph has two dreams:

¹¹ His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind. (of course, he did.  He too was spoken to in dreams at Bethel)

I don’t care if you have never read this chapter or if you have read it 10 times.  Look for the details.  Joseph travels from Hebron to Shechem to Dotham: over 100 miles.  Of course Israel is going to worry about them in Shechem…last time they were there it did not turn out so great!

¹⁹ “Here comes that dreamer!” they said to each other. ²⁰ “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.”

Who saves him?  Rueben!  Is he trying to get back into good graces with his father after the ‘concubine incident’?  Look at the map above.  Dothan is on the trade route that heads to Egypt.  Coincidence or Providence??

Do you know what Providence is?  Providence is when God takes ordinary events and arranges them for a predetermined outcome.

If you are wondering what a cistern is:  it is like a rock well that holds water:

20 Sheckles of Silver was the price for a handicapped slave. 😢

³¹ Then they got Joseph’s robe, slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood.

Oh!  Jacob deceived his Isaac with a slaughtered goat.  Now it happens to him by his sons!

 I really hope being in the Bible 24 days is making a difference in your daily walk.

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Chapter 32

It has been about 20 years since Jacob has seen his brother Esau, the last time they were together we read in Genesis 27:14

“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.”

Esau has an army of 400 men with him.  Jacob, scared to death, sends ahead a fortune in gifts to pacify Esau.  Take note that Jacob says he is coming behind.  If the camp is attached, Jacob has no intention of going!  In 32:21 it states

So Jacob’s gifts went on ahead of him, but he himself spent the night in the camp.

Yellow belly!

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Jacob wrestles with God

That night Jacob wrestles with God who has taken on flesh.  Until this point Jacob has referred to God as “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac…But does not refer to him as HIS God.  Part of our walk with the Lord is confession.  We must confess we are a sinner, we require a blessing: a promise of a covenant (Jesus on the Cross) to seal that God is MY GOD, not just your God.    In Genesis 32:26-27 Jacob confesses who he is in God’s eyes

But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”The man asked him, “What is your name?”

“Jacob,” he answered.

I am Jacob!  “I am a deceiver, a heel grabber, a sinner”.    Jacob becomes a new creation with a destiny!  Just like Abraham and Sarah, he is given a new name: Israel “Struggles with God”.

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.

Not only will his walk never be the same (pun intended), but God will make it so that Jacob cannot flee or run from Him anymore (like he always has).  But like all of us at the beginning of our walk, we are still infants in Christ and our “trust” has not developed yet.  (I am still working on it 😞). We will see this “lack of trust” as Jacob (Israel) goes to meet Esau…

He still has a fear of Esau, and lines up his family in the least loved to most loved just in case they are attacked (chapter 33):

Jacob looked up and there was Esau, coming with his four hundred men; so he divided the children among Leah, Rachel and the two female servants.  He put the female servants and their children in front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph in the rear.  He himself went on ahead and bowed down to the ground seven times as he approached his brother.

SMH!!

But wait….did you see it!!  God has changed him: “He himself went ahead and bowed down to the ground…”   He received new courage.  He went from fear “staying behind” to courage “went on ahead”.  Insert smiley face with heart eyes!  Time has healed all wounds for Esau.

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I think it is fair to say that very few people have read the parts of the Bible “in-between” the stories that pastors talk about at church. So when I say:

• “you know the part where Noah gets drunk and naked…” or
• “Lot’s daughters have sex with their dad to get pregnant” or
• “Rachel says she has her period so her dad doesn’t find the hidden idols she is sitting on”

people think I am kidding!  Who needs Netflix when you have the Bible!  Chapter 33 is one of those stories people think I am kidding when I say:

• “One of Jacob’s daughters gets raped and 2 brothers concoct a plan to have them circumcised and on the third day when the pain in their…is at it’s worst they can pounce on them and kill them!!”.

You can’t make this stuff up!!

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Jacob’s sons (but not Jacob himself) are furious when their sister Dinah is violated by a prince in Shechem.  This horrible man now wants her to be his.  Jacob does nothing!.

Look at who Dinah’s biological brothers are: Simeon and Levi (take notes on your Genealogy).  They are ringleaders on a vengeful attack.  They lie and say: “Sure you can have her and we can ignore all the rules about intermarrying if you circumcise ALL your men.  The men say “Let’s snip! It’s a “win-win” situation!  Our ruler gets the girl and we will share in their livestock and wealth” (The Shechamites thought they would gain wealth, and the Hebrews through they would gain wealth.  Lots of deception.  Hmmm, I wonder of the boys learned this from Jacob?).

Well, the story turns out in a “lose-lose” situation.  Just when the pain was at its highest from the circumcision, Simeon and Levi lead an attack on them.  They kill ALL the men! THEN plunder the land!   What was Jacob’s reaction?  read the end of Chapter 34.  SMH!!

Taking notes will help when we get to Chapter 49 and land is distributed to the 12 tribes or why the Covenant gets passed to Judah.

(Handwrite it or edit your PDF….it’s all the same.)😁

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If you did not look at the post from last night you may want to.  I have a choice of cheat sheets.  These are good to write notes on as you read.  Did anyone notice that the line of Jesus comes from Judah and not Reuben?   It is not just because singing the “The Lion of Rueben”  is awkward,  some stuff is going to happen with Reuben, Levi,  and Simeon that will push the blessing all the way to Judah.

Here are his 12 sons:  Spoiler Alert: Jacob is going to have a name change: Israel.  You may have heard of the 12 tribes of Israel.  Well, we are reading the birth of the nations.  So here is another fun fact: Levi does not become a tribe…so how do we still get 12?  Oh I am unglued with excitement!

So let’s have this conversation- What is a concubine and why did God allow this?  A concubine is:

“woman acquired by a man as a secondary wife. Her purpose was to provide a male heir in the case of a barren wife, to provide more children in general to enhance the family’s workforce and wealth, and to satisfy the man’s sexual desires. A concubine was endowed with rights and protections by Hebrew law but was not equal in status to a wife. Although God provided rights and protections for concubines in the Law of Moses, God did not introduce or approve of this marital model.” (It was in the code of Hammurabi)

Leah: Reuben (see, a son) Simeon (one who hears), Levi (attached), Judah(praise), Issachar (reward), Zebulun (honor)

Rachel: Joseph(God has added),  Benjamin (son of my sorrow, it changes)

Zilpha: (Leah’s maidservant)  Gad (good fortune), Asher (happy).

Bilhah: (Rachel’s maidservant) Dan (vindicated) Naphtali (struggle)

Leah did have a daughter: Dinah.  12 boys, 1 girl.  “Bless her heart” (In my head I tried my southern voice…it didn’t work.)

The two names you need to circle are Levi and Judah.  From these sons come two of the most crucial institutions of the old testament.

• Levi-priesthood,
• Judah-kingship.

Let’s talk about the “weird” stuff and clarify it.

• Pay attention to Leah-she just wanted Jacob to love her 😢
• Mandrakes-these are a Mediterranean herb that grows flowers and small orange fruit.  When pulled out of the ground, the root can often look like a human.  These were thought to be an aphrodisiac,  as well as,  an aid for conception.   (My mom is  a Catholic Italian woman=superstitious, I am shocked she didn’t sneak these into my Sunday dinners since I didn’t start having kids till later than she preferred!)
• Jacob’s mating rods-this too was a “theory” like the mandrakes but for animals. It’s been studied that some of the chemical properties of poplar bark and almond bark when steeped in water,(it says Jacob put the stick IN the watering trough) have been shown to raise the reproductive rate of ewes. So again, it was like he was giving fertility medicine to the stronger animals. Chapter 31 will tell us Jacob had some advanced knowledge of which animals would be born due to him knowing which animals were breeding when he struck the deal. (Yet, Laban thought the deal favored his side).

Let’s clarify: neither the mandrakes nor the rods blessed Rachel or the flock.  God did!

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Ch 31: Jacob Flees:

Vs:19 Rachel stole the household gods, called Teraphims.  These gods were idols, little statues,  that the family leader possessed.

Having them around the house gave them a sense of security, spiritual significance, as well as,  social/monetary meaning.  They were thought to advise them in times of need but also they were a part of the family inheritance.  Back in vs 14,  Rachel,  when told by her husband that they were leaving Laban,  the first thing she said was: “What about the money I am to inherit” (paraphrase)  So did she take the idols because she was:

1.  mad at Laban
2.  because she believed in their power
3.  for the inheritance.

??  Either way, for the men out there….woman are smart…we use our menstrual cycle as an excuse for many things!  LOL.

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Laban and Jacob make a Peace Treaty.  Did you catch the difference in their God(s)?

⁵³ May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.”

verse:

So Jacob took an oath in the name of the Fear of his father Isaac. 

Jacob took an oath to God

Laba took an oath to God, and Nahor’s God, and their father’s God.  Ok, let me explain.  Do you remember when Abraham got called out of Ur of the Chaldeans?  He came from a pagan culture.  His family worshipped many gods.  Nahor was Abraham’s brother.  He was raised polytheistic by Terah, his father.

 

 

 

Moving from here to the end of Genesis, you may want to have one of these printed.  Some like super simple, some like more complex.  Check these out.

Click here to print this one:

Click here to print this one:

Click here to print this one:

 

 

Click here to print this one:

Click here to print this one: (This is the one I use), but they are all good.

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So yesterday Jacob took Esau’s birthright.  Yes, it is a big deal, but not nearly as big a deal as what happens today.  There are so many details to this story so we will talk about a few and in 10 years when I do the read-through again, we will catch the rest.

• Esau marries a Hittite! Not just one but two!  We know this is not good because his grandfather, Abraham, made such efforts to make sure Isaac did not marry outside the culture!
  • • Oh My!  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.”
• So we read what might be a familiar story to some, the deception that Jacob and his mom concocted.  Jacob was too scared to pull this off, and he should be! But his “mommy” says “I will take full responsibility”.   Unfortunately, her consequence is going to be that she will never see him again!
• What makes Jacob’s deception so bad was he referenced God’s help in hunting and cooking this meal so quickly!  Oh the humanity!!
• Let’s read the blessing.  Now just like I teach my students: words are like toothpaste, once it is out you cannot put it back in the tube! So once Jacob is blessed….it is done.

²⁸ May God give you heaven’s dew
    and 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.”

This blessing was going to be given to Jacob regardless of human involvement.  Go back to Genesis 25:

²³ The Lord said to her, (Rebekah)

“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.”

Only 2 chapters today people! Only an 8 minute read.

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Chapter 25-

I want to touch back on something I never noticed before until I read today’s reading.  So today we read about Abraham having more children with Keturah.  When I think of Abraham my mind goes to Genesis 12:

² “I will make you into a great nation,
    and I will bless you…

However, it really needs to layer with Ch 15 and 17.

Abram fell facedown, and God said to him,“As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations“.

 

I looked over the names, and one caught my eye.  Now,  if this is your first read-through…how exciting is it for you to say “when I do this again”…Anyway, the name was Midian.  As you read through the ‘Midianites’ will come up often.  When we read Exodus, Moses will flee Egypt, he will go to ‘family’-the Midianites.  But over time they will become corrupt and by the time we read the book of Numbers, they have teamed up with the Moabites (look at your genealogy to recall who Moab is 🤮).  THEN, when we get to the book of Judges they are actually partners with Amalekites and enslave the Hebrews (the story of Gideon).  😢.  Just made me sad as I look at our nation today which should be family, and we are now enemies.  Sorry….back to today’s read.

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• Abraham dies and is buried in the land we spoke about yesterday with Sarah.
• Ishmael’s sons are mentioned.  I love seeing God’s promises fulfilled.
  • Ishmael was promised 2 things:
    • He will be the father to 12 rulers, sons (Gen 17:20)
    • BUT,  he will live in hostility toward all his brothers (16:12)

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Jacob and Esau-

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.”

This prophecy of two nations: Jacob (Israelites) and Esau (Edomites).  The word Edom/Edomites will be mentioned over 150 times in the Bible…we need to know this rivalry began in the womb, and there will strife until the Lord returns.

• I don’t want to scare any of you off with my crazy fascination for genealogy.  BUT if it interests you…this is a GREAT ONE.  Click here.
• Esau means “hairy” (Edom means Red).  Hairy Red Head?😂
• Jacob means “deceiver” “heel grabber” (better than butt grabber I guess)

The story is readable without any recap but here are some notes that might add a layer to the read…

Let’s talk about Birthright verse Blessing:

Birthright:  Natural privileged of the firstborn son (today’s read)

• included a double portion of the inheritance from the father
• would become the head of the family
• would be in charge of the property
• would be in charge of the younger sons, any widows in the family, and unmarried daughters (were they ugly?)

Blessing: (tomorrow’s read)

• the blessing put you in a Covenant relationship with the Lord!
• a promise of divine protection  through the nations to come
• whoever curses them will be cursed, whoever blesses them will be blessed.

The Covenant gets passed Starting at Abraham…..Ends with Jesus.  The deceitful act of stealing the Blessing is 10 times worse than taking the birthright.

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Abimelek- (not the same guy, this is a term the kings in Caanan used for themselves)

Isaac’s dealings with the Philistines portrays Isaac very much walking in his father’s footsteps. He receives similar promises, faces similar tests, fails similarly, but eventually triumphs.  By the end of the story, he is settled in Beersheba and has a treaty with the Philistines in which they acknowledge he has “something”.  That something is the One True God.❤️

I think I want to go back and read the ‘well’ story again.

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Chapter 22

So last night I posted a pre-read to give you time to chew on Genesis 22:1-19.  Click here if you missed it. It begins with “Some time later God tested Abraham”  What is He testing him for?  He was told to leave his county, his people, his father’s household, save Lot from a large army, tithe, circumcise himself, wait 30 years for his wife to get pregnant…what else can Abraham be tested on?

• God’s command to sacrifice Isaac was to test Abraham’s faith in His Promise and Covenant.
• God’s command to sacrifice Isaac was to provide an example of absolute obedience.
  
• God’s command to sacrifice Isaac was to reveal God as Jehovah-Jireh. (The Lord Provides)
• God’s command to sacrifice Isaac was to foreshadow God’s sacrifice of His own Son.

Hebrews  11: 17-19 says “By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, ¹⁸ even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”¹⁹ Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.

He passed the test of believing God’s full measure in the promise that He conquers death.  “Now I know that you fear God”  Abraham believed God’s Promise!!  He was told he would be a father of nations.   Do you put all your faith in the Creator of the universe that when he says “I PROMISE, you will be raised from the dead.  I will PROVIDE a SUBSTITUTE!  God will provide the Lamb (I grew up going to catholic mass: “the lamb that takes away our sins”….I had no idea what that meant).  Do you hope that’s going to happen or do you BELIEVE that is going to happen? 

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 Let’s look at geography…

Then Solomon began to build the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David. – 2 Chron,3:1 

So we are on the land that will be Jerusalem.  Where Jesus, God’s son, his only son, whom he loved,  will come, carry wood on his back….

Abraham had faith from the moment he was told to “Go” or “Leave”.  For 3 days on his heart, his son was dead.

God restated the Covenant of His Promise.

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  all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”

Abraham believed that even if he followed through, God was still God, and would have fulfilled His promise.

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Nahor’s sons:  Printable is in the menu.  If you can’t find it let me know.  BTW, how come no one names their son Uz or Buz anymore??  The point of looking closely at this part of the Scripture is to follow: ²³ Bethuel became the father of Rebekah (and Laban).

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Chapter 23  The death of Sarah.

Why is Abraham wanting to buy this burial site so badly that when the price of the land was offered to him at double the price he doesn’t even negotiate, he just buys it?  Abraham is a foreigner of this land, but he knows that God’s promise will be fulfilled and his descendants WILL be given this land so he wants to secure the cave of Machpelah as a burial site so that when they are given the land,  Sarah’s burial will be there.   Later Abraham, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, and Leah would be buried here too.

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(For Bible Geeks like me: Hebron will be mentioned again: (feel free to skip this)

• Click here: When the 12 spies go into the Promised Land.
• Again click here, when Joshua leads the taking of the Promised Land.
• After Joshua dies, the tribe of Judah takes Hebron Click here.
• Hebron becomes a city of Refuge Click here
• King David ruled in Hebron for 7 years. Click here

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Chapter 24 Rebekah

The servant Eliezar (we know his name from Chapter 15) is told: “Umm, my son is getting old, he is about 40, go get him a wife!   But there are 2 conditions:

1. She must not be a Caananite!   (party girls!). It is important to Abraham that Isaac’s wife be equally yoked believing in the One true God, not a pagan.
2. She must be willing to come back to the land promised to us.(He does not want Isaac to live in an area that will pollute his faith)

So Eliezar prays “can you make this easy on me and give me an unmistakable sign so that I know she is the one”.  (If only this happened on the show The Bachelor!) Just kidding. Eliezar knows the importance of the task so goes to the Lord in prayer.

Before he is done praying….She’s The ONE!  Not only is she the one but she is kind, a servant (offering to feed 10 camels!),  a virgin, not a Canaanite,  and beautiful!  Jackpot!  Look at your family tree above…Bethuel was her father…check #1 off your list.  Bethuel must have passed away because Laban commits her to marriage (Especially when he noticed the expensive jewelry they gave her $$$).

So now what about #2 on the checklist.  Could be a problem because Assyrian Law may not protect a woman from WHO they get to marry BUT they do get a say in WHERE they live.

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

“I will go,” she said.

I picture this in slow motion…both Laban and Eliezar sweating…waiting on an answer…and finally, they hear “IIIII….wiiiiilllll……goooooo”

 

Tomorrow you are going to read 3 deep chapters.  I wanted to carve out the first 19 verses as a pre-read.  Years ago,  I read this, and I met up with a woman later that day.   I said (with astonishment)  “Did you know that Genesis 22 is a foreshadow of the Gospel??” I do love this woman, her name was Tedi,  but she had been marinating in Christian circles all her life and she said: “Well, of course, I do….everyone knows that”.  NO, I didn’t know that!! (as a matter of fact, I had never even heard of this story)

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Chapter 19: So when you hear the words: The Bible story of Sodom and Gomorrah what comes to mind?   But if we read chapter 9 looking at it from God’s perspective does that change the view?   Yes. Let’s start with the New Testament:

⁶ if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; ⁷ and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless ⁸ (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— 2 Peter 2:6-8

What is the theme of this event?  Redemption.  Lot was a righteous man!   The story is about God’s hand on those that are His at the time of judgment. They will be saved.  He will pull us by the hand and save us!

Lot is sitting at the gate of the city (where business and politics are decided) so Lot is obviously an important person in this town.  The 2 angels offered to stay in the square,  however,  Lot insists they get shelter since part of this town’s sin is sexual depravity…he is scared to leave them in public overnight! Like the French Quarter during Mardi Gras!  A Near Eastern law of hospitality says that: a host MUST not allow any harm to come upon his guests, so he makes great efforts in keeping them safe, even offering his virgin daughters.

Lot’s family is warned about God’s coming judgment and not only do they ignore him, but they think he is kidding!!  Ready to read something beautiful:

¹⁶ When he hesitated (meaning Lot), the men (meaning the angels on God’s mission) 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.

If you know this story or have already read it today, after telling them NOT to look back….not at their old life, not at their belongings, not to see if they can return to their old ways, not to want for that life again…Lot’s wife looks back!!  It wasn’t THAT she looked, it was WHY she looked.

Quick Geography Lesson:

• This totally makes historical sense since the Dead Sea has 10 times the salt than the Ocean.
• Pictures below of salt stacks.

Pillar of Salt

Lot’s daughters:

Remember we are trying to read this from a different perspective, but I won’t judge you if you gagged in your mouth.  Lot raised his daughters in an environment of sin.  Sexual immorality was so desensitized that this act of using their father to start a family was not as weird to them as it is to us.  Having descendants was so important in this time and their immoral upbringing was so corrupt that this was not (in their minds) a horrible plan.

BUT….what is the consequence!!!  The sons are Moab “by the father”, and Ben-Ammi “son of my parent” (that must make it weird at casual introductions….”Hi teacher, this is my son ‘by my Father’….”         The Moabites and the Ammonites will become forever enemies of Israel.  We will encounter them 182 times in the Bible so I am glad we took the time to read their origin so it will all make sense.

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Genesis 20:  “She is my sister”

I know this post is too long so I am going to skip the Venn Diagram I drew comparing and contrasting Chapter 12 to 20.  So as much as I want to throw Abraham out of my window and say “Are you kidding me…AGAIN??”  You just saw God take an army of thousands against your 318…you saw Him take Sodom down….you don’t think he has his hand of protection on you ALL the time….”   But then I would have to look in the mirror and say it to myslelf, and that’s not fun.

If you want to see God in a new way this year, underline all the times you see the scriptures say “But God…”  We see an example of it in 20:3 ^“But God came to Abimelek in a dream….”

We do see in these scriptures that Sarah is Abraham’s half-sister.  He’s a brother from another mother. However, a half-truth is still a lie.

“But God….❤️”

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Chapter 21:

Hagar and Ishmael were sent away.  I struggled with this for a while.  Why did Abraham send them off?  Why didn’t he send them with a caravan of supplies?  How would they ever survive?  Actually, it was Abraham’s faith that led him.  God said to Abraham in verse 21:13  ^“I will make the son of the slave into a nation also, because he is your offspring.”  

Abraham trusted God.

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Beersheba:  “the well of the seven” or “the well of the treaty.”

When Abimelech heard the story about his men seizing Abraham’s well,  he about had a heart attack I bet!  On a misunderstanding, The Lord made his entire female community barren for the time he had Abraham’s wife in his custody.  Imagine what might happen for proactively stealing his well!

A well is so important in these times but this well also marks the southern part of the territory God is going to hand to him in His promise.  Abimelech and the men really were afraid and would have given the well back, but Abraham makes it legit (can anyone say that word without MC Hammer in their head) by creating an “oath”.

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Chapter 16:

“The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.”

Before we start throwing a stone at Sarai, you need to know that this is an ancient custom of the day to ensure the birth of an heir.  Through time this actually gets written into the Hammurabi Code (The law of the land before God gave The Law).  In order to unite all of southern Mesopotamia, the Babylonian king wrote a Code of Laws.  We will see many of the laws sprinkled throughout the Bible as a “custom”.  It is important to understand the culture of the time. All 282  codes,  are “If….Then”.  (some were pretty harsh!).  We will talk about this more in February.

Also, when a woman was barren she considered herself “cursed”.  She knew that God had a plan, however, if she was cursed and could not have children she would ‘help’ with the plan. (As if God needs help, Ha!)

Skipping to verse 7: I never noticed before God perused Hagar…not vice versa. I think I just assumed she cried out.  (He is with us even when we are ignoring Him)

Pulling from yesterday’s post we can see this is a Theophany:  The angel of the Lord.

¹¹ The angel of the Lord also said to her:

Poor Ishmael, caught in the adult drama will live a nomadic life in Arabia but will be war-like.  His descendants will be called the Ishmaelites, (See picture) but this large nation he will grow (specified in the next chapter) is never in conflict with Israel, nor are they subject to God’s judgment.

If you are keeping notes:

• Ishmael means “God Hears’
• El Roi- The God who sees me.  (Hagar has the honor of “naming” the Lord for the first time”)
• Beer Lahai Roi- Tiffany, this is not a Pub! “The well of the Living One who sees me”

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No image needed for Chapter 17!  Thank Heavens!

Chapter 17: May I encourage you to grab a pen and circle how many times the word Covenant is used.  God does put responsibility out there for this Everlasting Covenant.  Abram and his descendants do not have a license to live as they please. Twelve years ago,  a wise woman once said to me “You are called to be Holy, not to be happy”, and I say it in my head at least once a week…or once a day…if my sweet husband is on my nerves 😂

Recall:

1. Promise….
2. then Covenant…..
3. then Sign.

Here we are: Chapter 12-15-17

In my time studying and listening to podcasts on this topic I have heard lots of reasons as to why circumcision is the sign:

• the constant reminder of the cutting away of the old,
• applies to the making of male descendants so sexual activity must be disciplined and dedicated to procreation for God (read that twice if your name is Elliot or Charlie…my daughters!!),
• to be set apart (Holy), as they are called to enter a pagan land called Canaan

As always: I read this and God shows me something new that knocks my socks off!

¹³ Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised.

I have always seen the Gentiles (me and you) in God’s plan. But in my Bible today I stopped when I read this.  Those that were bought…that’s me!  Redeemed.

Abram gets a name change to Abraham and Sarai to Sarah.  Abraham means “the father of many nations’.  “ha” or “ah” added to a name means “breath”.  The breath of God is now on them!  This is a new destiny, just like the day of your salvation.  (so call me Patricaha!)

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Chapter 18: Of these 3 visitors, one is clearly the Lord.  (I am not sure if the other 2 create a  or not 🤷‍♀️). Sarah, when told she will bear a child at her age doesn’t just “laugh”, she denies the possibility.  I guess she hasn’t planned a date night in a while!  In her defense, just like Adam and Eve, the conversation WAS between God and Abram, Sarai was not a witness to it.

God himself makes a personal inspection of the city.  Abraham speaks boldly to God and asks if he will refrain from judging a whole nation if there are a few to be found righteous in the city.  Can God find at least 10 righteous people??  Abraham’s Nephew,  Lot,  has been living there…surely he has missioned at least at least 10 right??