Text: Genesis 29:1-35 Introduction In Genesis 29, Jacob arrives in Haran. It will be 20 years before he is able to return to the Promised Land! God had promised to bless Jacob, and had said, “I will not leave you.” And Jacob will, indeed, be blessed with numerous descendants; Jacob will indeed have God divinely overlooking and overruling on his behalf… yet the fulfillment of these divine promises and blessings in Jacob’s life looks very different from what we might expect! Yes, Jacob will eventually become wealthy and have a big family – but before that happens he will be
Jacob’s Dream, God’s Grace
Text: Genesis 28:1-22 Introduction The story of grace continues in Genesis 28. Jacob has up to this point been disobedient to God, selfish in his decisions, and dishonest even with his own family. While Jacob is reaping the consequences of his own sin—alone, homeless, and with uncertain prospects for his future in an unfamiliar land—God is meanwhile pursuing Jacob with his gracious purposes. God breaks into the dream Jacob has formed for himself—which is looking more and more like a nightmare—and God gives him a new, heaven-sent vision. Jacob will succeed because God is gracious, because God will give him—not
Jacob Takes Esau’s Blessing
Text: Genesis 27:1-46 Introduction There are no heroes in Genesis 27. This chapter completes the story of how God’s prophecy concerning Esau and Jacob comes to pass, that the older brother will serve the younger. Yet, throughout this chapter, both parents work against each other and against God’s will in order to side with their favorite child. Both children behave deplorably as well. It is for this very reason that this chapter, as much perhaps as any other in the Bible, reminds us of the offensiveness of grace! There is no one in this chapter who deserves blessing… yet blessing
God’s Covenant with Isaac
Text: Genesis 26:1-35 I. God Appears to Isaac (vv.1-11) As we’ve noticed already in Genesis, there are numerous points of mirror-like similarity btw the lives of Abraham and of Isaac. This is even alluded to here in v.1—Isaac faces a famine in the Promised Land just as Abraham did back in Ge 12:10. And in vv.2-6 Isaac, like Abraham, faces the temptation to flee the famine in the Promised Land and run to Egypt for security. But… The Lord/Yahweh appears to Isaac, as he did Abraham in Gen. 12, and initiates a gracious covenant with Isaac, just has he did with Abraham.
Abraham’s Blessing Is Passed On
Text: Genesis 25:1-34 I. Abraham Dies, Leaving Behind Nations (vv.1-18) vv.1-6 is a summary of additional descendants from Abraham. Yet, the main point of this passage comes in vv.5-6, as we are specifically told thatIsaac is especially chosen among all Abraham’s other children. Not just Ishmael, as we’ve already seen, but among Keturha’s sons as well. To mark this special status, while Abraham ‘gave gifts’ to his other children and sent them away, Isaac alone was Abraham’s heir. vv.7-11 after 175 years, Abraham’s remarkable life comes to its conclusion. Though these verses record Abraham’s death, the emphasis here is on Abraham’s blessed
Abraham Seeks a Wife for Isaac
Text: Genesis 24:1-67 Introduction Genesis 24 ends with the picture-perfect marriage between Rebekah and Isaac. But this is the climax of what is actually the longest single narrative in the book of Genesis! The chapter begins, however, not with a picture-perfect situation but with the the simple, telling statement: “Abraham was old.” Which means Isaac is also getting older, about 40 years old at this point. Now this is sounding less like a whirlwind romance and more like the agonizing, patience-trying, prayer-inducing challenge that many godly people face, isn’t it? How does a long, painful trial end in a picture-perfect
Abraham Buries Sarah in Canaan
Text: Genesis 23:1-20 I. Sarah Dies in the Promised Land (vv.1-2) Consider this remarkable woman and her legacy: He 11:8, 11-12 Sarah’s faith was as integral to bringing about the promised seed as Abraham’s! Sarah, along with Abraham, left familiar homeland and family, wandered for years holding onto God’s promises, and ultimately by faith was supernaturally empowered to conceive when both she and Abraham were ‘as good as dead’ as far as any natural ability to conceive children was concerned. As faithful as Esther and Ruth were in the OT, and as godly as Jesus’ mother Mary was in the NT, we are
Abraham, Abimelech, and Old Sins
Text: Genesis 20:1-18 Introduction Do you ever feel like you haven’t made any progress in your walk with Christ? Like you’re still struggling with sins that you should have defeated and left behind years ago? In Genesis chapter 20 we discover that even Abraham, the father of the faithful, was similarly feeble. In fact, Genesis 20 feels like deja vu as we read an almost identical account to Abraham’s interaction with Pharaoh from earlier in Genesis 12—at the beginning of Abraham’s faith-walk, 25 years before! However, Genesis 20 is not just the story of Abraham and his struggles; it is
The Sin of Sodom and the Mercy of God
Text: Genesis 19:1-38 Introduction Coming in our study of Genesis to chapter 19, the events here recorded are so horrific that it is challenging to even review them in a co-ed, multi-aged meeting. The sin of Sodom, and the accompanying judgment of God upon the city, has rightly and purposefully become proverbial. The destruction of Sodom is such a solemn event, such a warning sign planted into the soil of history, that it is often referenced afterward in Scripture as a reminder of God’s eternal punishment against all sin. Sodom is mentioned 48 times by name in the whole Bible;
A Million Dollars of Candy
What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent? (Luke 11:11). I don’t remember why we started playing this game, but sometime this week I initiated a little game with my kids: what if you won a million dollars? First of all, what would be the first ministry we would give to? And secondly, what would be the first thing that you would like to spend money on?
Is Anything Too Hard for the Lord?
Text: Genesis 18:1-33 Introduction In Genesis 18, God reminds Abraham there is nothing to hard for the Lord. God is sovereignly working, even in our most difficult or lengthy trials. Yet, the Lord confers to Abraham the amazing privilege of being a conduit of blessing to the world. The fact that God is the God of the impossible does not mean Abraham should just sit on the sidelines and watch what happens. The same God who sovereignly brings salvation has also sovereignly chosen Abraham as an instrument through whom He will work. Based then on God’s sovereign working and God’s
Your Name Shall Be Abraham
Text: Genesis 17:1-27 Introduction Thirteen years have passed since the close of chapter 16 and Abram’s son Ishmael being born. In spite of Abram’s efforts to force the timing of God’s promise by having a child with Hagar, he still has to wait 13 more years before God brings about the divine consummation of the divine promise! I. God Confirms His Covenant—Yet Again (vv.1-14) As we’ve noticed before in Abram’s story, the narrator is not subtle when it comes to the timing of the events under consideration. It has now been over 24 years since God first promised Abram descendants!
Sarai, Hagar, and the God Who Sees
Text: Genesis 16:1-16 Introduction Genesis 16 is chiefly the story of two women and their struggles to believe God, to wait on God, to obey God in the hard times and hard places of life. Interestingly, this chapter deals with some common struggles of even faithful, godly women still today: infertility, impatient marriage unions, inactive husbands, fear of not being provided for… and the converse temptation of trying to take control of one’s situation through one’s own strength or ingenuity. Yet this chapter is imminently relevant to every man as well, as we see Abram failing to practice the godly,
Abram’s Faith and God’s Confirming Covenant
Text: Genesis 15:1-21 Introduction Chapters 15, 16, & 17, you might be surprised to discover, are really the story of how Abram over and over again struggles with fear in the midst of his faith in God… and of how God over and over again restores and sustains Abram’s faith through his gracious, patient, covenant promises. The one constant in Abram’s wavering story is God. And we see God’s constancy toward Abram in Genesis 15 as… I. God Seals His Promise with the Stars (vv.1-6) v.1 After these things—connects this conversation to the events that just transpired in chapter 14,
Abram and the Tale of Ten Kings
Text: Genesis 14:1-24 Introduction The Bible is supremely the story of God’s Son, Jesus the Christ. And nowhere is this more apparent than in Genesis 14. As the psalmist will reference later in the Old Testament, and as the writer of Hebrews will make explicit in the New Testament, Genesis 14 is an extremely important passage. Why? Because it points beautifully and powerfully to the glory of God’s Son Jesus. Genesis 14 might be entitled “Abram and the Tale of Ten Kings”. Nine of the kings, though important in their day, are lost to history. But the tenth king—a king