A question from the comments-Who exactly is Laban??

We had a question come up in the comments from one of the posts. I wanted to take a few moments to encourage any and all questions at any time. The question comes from Genesis, we hear so much about Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but what about the man Nahor that is mentioned. Here is the question below and then we will go over the answer:

 I know you are in Job right now while we are still in Genesis. My question comes from Genesis 31:52. Laban is making his covenant with Jacob, he mentions Abraham; which we hear a lot of, he also mentions his grandfather Nahor. Who is Nahor and do Laban's people believe in God?

Great question, let's take a look at the very few times that Nahor is mentioned. 

Genesis 11:26

²⁶ After Terah was 70 years old, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran

What we find out from this verse is that Abram, who later becomes Abraham is brothers with Nahor. 

Later on we hear more about Nahor's family, let's look at Genesis chapter 22.

Genesis 22:20-24

²⁰ Soon after this, Abraham heard that Milcah, his brother Nahor’s wife, had borne Nahor eight sons. ²¹ The oldest was named Uz, the next oldest was Buz, followed by Kemuel (the ancestor of the Arameans), ²² Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel. ²³ (Bethuel became the father of Rebekah.) In addition to these eight sons from Milcah, ²⁴ Nahor had four other children from his concubine Reumah. Their names were Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.

The key verse here is verse 23, it says that Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. Let's look at chapter 24 to see who Rebekah is. 

Chapter 24

A Wife for Isaac

Abraham was now a very old man, and the Lord had blessed him in every way. ² One day Abraham said to his oldest servant, the man in charge of his household, “Take an oath by putting your hand under my thigh. ³ Swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and earth, that you will not allow my son to marry one of these local Canaanite women. ⁴ Go instead to my homeland, to my relatives, and find a wife there for my son Isaac.”

 

⁹ So the servant took an oath by putting his hand under the thigh of his master, Abraham. He swore to follow Abraham’s instructions. ¹⁰ Then he loaded ten of Abraham’s camels with all kinds of expensive gifts from his master, and he traveled to distant Aram-naharaim. There he went to the town where Abraham’s brother Nahor had settled. ¹¹ He made the camels kneel beside a well just outside the town. It was evening, and the women were coming out to draw water.

 

¹⁵ Before he had finished praying, he saw a young woman named Rebekah coming out with her water jug on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel, who was the son of Abraham’s brother Nahor and his wife, Milcah. ¹⁶ Rebekah was very beautiful and old enough to be married, but she was still a virgin. She went down to the spring, filled her jug, and came up again. ¹⁷ Running over to her, the servant said, “Please give me a little drink of water from your jug.” 

29 Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban, who ran out to meet the man at the spring.

Ok, so if we have all of this straight, that means that Abraham had a son named Isaac. Isaac married Rebekah, who had a brother named Laban. So that would mean that Jacob made a covenant with his uncle, because Laban was his mom's brother. 

Now to the second part of your question, Do Laban's people believe in God? I am going to yes, just because of the way that Laban's mentions the covenant in Genesis 31:53

51 “See this pile of stones,” Laban continued, “and see this monument I have set between us. 52 They stand between us as witnesses of our vows. I will never pass this pile of stones to harm you, and you must never pass these stones or this monument to harm me. 53 I call on the God of our ancestors—the God of your grandfather Abraham and the God of my grandfather Nahor—to serve as a judge between us.” 

Since he recognizes God as the God of Jacob's grandfather and his grandfather, they must have similar beliefs, that is what would make them both respect the boundaries agreed upon.

Great question, I don't have anything to post for next week since we are still in the book of Job, so let's keep the questions coming!

Job part 2

 Lately I keep having this feeling, it's something that I have always known, but lately it keeps coming up in my thoughts. I have this feeling that we really do not have a clue how powerful God is. We acknowledge that he made the world, and we know that he can do whatever he wants, but if we go to pray for something it's actually kind of small. It's like winning a shopping spree with Jeff Bezos and then asking him to take us to McDonalds. We have access to the creator of the world, and what do we ask for on a regular basis? We actually ask him to keep everything the same. Normally we ask him that our health stay the same or maybe minimal improvement. We ask that our job go well, or maybe we ask that if someone is mad at us, we want them to forgive us. We want God to make sure that everything goes back to the status quo. Then we can't figure out why we are craving more in life. I know it may seem like I forgot about Job, but I assure you I have not. 

When we last read Job a few days ago, we only got through a few chapters. Job had lost everything and his was health was failing. At that point, his friends show up and everyone is ready to give their opinion. So now we spend chapter after chapter with Job going back and forth with his friends and also with God. I don't want to take away from any of this, but a few things I want to let you know, it's a lot of chapters to read and way too much information for a blog. But the chapters are short, and it is a very quick read. I actually recommend listening to it through the youversion bible app. After all of the back and forth between everyone it is finally time for God to talk to Job. Again, lots of things to go over, so I can't go over all of it. Let's look at how chapter 38 starts:

Chapter 38

 

The LORD Challenges Job

Then the LORD answered Job from the whirlwind: 

 

    2 “Who is this that questions my wisdom 

      with such ignorant words? 

    3 Brace yourself like a man, 

      because I have some questions for you, 

      and you must answer them. 

The title of the chapter is "The Lord challenges Job". That is scary to me before I even start reading the chapter. Then verse three says that he has some questions and that they have to be answered. I probably would have already passed out. Let's hear some of these questions from chapter 38:

⁴ “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you know so much. ⁵ Who determined its dimensions and stretched out the surveying line? ⁶ What supports its foundations, and who laid its cornerstone ⁷ as the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?  

¹² “Have you ever commanded the morning to appear and caused the dawn to rise in the east?  

¹⁶ “Have you explored the springs from which the seas come? Have you explored their depths? ¹⁷ Do you know where the gates of death are located? Have you seen the gates of utter gloom? ¹⁸ Do you realize the extent of the earth? Tell me about it if you know!  ¹⁹ “Where does light come from, and where does darkness go? ²⁰ Can you take each to its home? Do you know how to get there? ²¹ But of course you know all this! For you were born before it was all created, and you are so very experienced! 

When we are reading this, I have two perspectives. First, how scary would that be? Here is God talking to you and demanding an answer. You have no answers, you know that he is the only one that can answer those questions. Second, if we step back a little bit, doesn't this show how powerful God is? Who laid the foundations? Who makes the morning appear? Do you know where the gates of death are located? Only the creator knows the answers. This is the same creator that we ask on a daily basis to keep everything status quo. 

³¹ “Can you direct the movement of the stars— binding the cluster of the Pleiades or loosening the cords of Orion? ³² Can you direct the constellations through the seasons or guide the Bear with her cubs across the heavens? ³³ Do you know the laws of the universe? Can you use them to regulate the earth? ³⁴ “Can you shout to the clouds and make it rain? ³⁵ Can you make lightning appear and cause it to strike as you direct? ³⁶ Who gives intuition to the heart and instinct to the mind? ³⁷ Who is wise enough to count all the clouds? Who can tilt the water jars of heaven ³⁸ when the parched ground is dry and the soil has hardened into clods? 

Who controls the stars? Who controls the weather? Why does God keep asking these questions? This goes on for all of chapters 38 and 39. God is making clear that he made everything and that he is control. God is in control. Think back to the book of Genesis, Joseph was sold as a slave. Joseph was thrown in prison. Joseph interpreted dreams for two people in prison and then forgotten. BUT, God was in control. He was preparing Joseph for something way bigger. This includes saving his whole family. Why do we still question God? Why do we still doubt God? Bad things happen that we will never understand. God is in control! Now as chapter 40 begins, let's see what the next question is that God asks:

Chapter 40

Then the LORD said to Job, 

    2 “Do you still want to argue with the Almighty? 

      You are God’s critic, but do you have the answers?” 

How does Job respond?

Job Responds to the LORD

3 Then Job replied to the LORD, 

    4 “I am nothing—how could I ever find the answers? 

      I will cover my mouth with my hand. 

    5 I have said too much already. 

      I have nothing more to say.” 

So how does this story end? How does Job respond to everything?  Here is Job's response and how the book ends.

Chapter 42

Job Responds to the LORD

Then Job replied to the LORD: 

    2 “I know that you can do anything, 

      and no one can stop you. 

    3 You asked, ‘Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance?’ 

      It is I—and I was talking about things I knew nothing about, 

      things far too wonderful for me. 

    4 You said, ‘Listen and I will speak! 

      I have some questions for you, 

      and you must answer them.’ 

    5 I had only heard about you before, 

      but now I have seen you with my own eyes. 

    6 I take back everything I said, 

      and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.” 

Conclusion: The LORD Blesses Job

7 After the LORD had finished speaking to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “I am angry with you and your two friends, for you have not spoken accurately about me, as my servant Job has. 8 So take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer on your behalf. I will not treat you as you deserve, for you have not spoken accurately about me, as my servant Job has.” 9 So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite did as the LORD commanded them, and the LORD accepted Job’s prayer. 

10 When Job prayed for his friends, the LORD restored his fortunes. In fact, the LORD gave him twice as much as before! 11 Then all his brothers, sisters, and former friends came and feasted with him in his home. And they consoled him and comforted him because of all the trials the LORD had brought against him. And each of them brought him a gift of money and a gold ring. 

12 So the LORD blessed Job in the second half of his life even more than in the beginning. For now he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 teams of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. 13 He also gave Job seven more sons and three more daughters. 14 He named his first daughter Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch. 15 In all the land no women were as lovely as the daughters of Job. And their father put them into his will along with their brothers. 

16 Job lived 140 years after that, living to see four generations of his children and grandchildren. 17 Then he died, an old man who had lived a long, full life. 

Look at verse 6- I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.” Do we respond this way? I know I don't! The book ends with Job being blessed. He showed repentance and was blessed. We may not ever have a crazy story like Job, but we do question God. And again, when we do go to God, we ask for very small things. I know this is another long blog post, but please stick with me for a few more statements. When bad things happen, ask God what you need to learn from it. Ask God what he is trying to show you. Lastly, start being bold! I no longer want the status quo. I want to be part of making an impact. I want to see amazing things! 

The book of Job - updated

 My original plan was to go through the books of the bible in order, but after thinking about it and weighing all of my options, I decided that I would follow the reading plan that so many of us are going through this year. I will put a picture at the bottom of the post showing the reading plan we are following. I also want to encourage everyone that if the reading plan is something you are interested in following, please send an email to motivatedbyjonah@gmail.com and we will find a way to get you a book. The goal is to get as many people reading the bible as possible in 2023. I also feel like I need to apologize for how long that last post was. The book of Genesis had so much content and I really struggled with figuring out what to keep and what had to go. So, for those of you that stuck with it and read, I am sorry and Thank you! 

That long post had an impact on how I handled the book of Job. Genesis was 50 chapters long, and Job is 42 chapters long. That means that I run into the same issues of what to keep and what has to go. Let's just start out by looking at chapter one of Job.

Prologue

There once was a man named Job who lived in the land of Uz. He was blameless—a man of complete integrity. He feared God and stayed away from evil. ² He had seven sons and three daughters. ³ He owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 teams of oxen, and 500 female donkeys. He also had many servants. He was, in fact, the richest person in that entire area.

⁴ Job’s sons would take turns preparing feasts in their homes, and they would also invite their three sisters to celebrate with them. ⁵ When these celebrations ended—sometimes after several days—Job would purify his children. He would get up early in the morning and offer a burnt offering for each of them. For Job said to himself, “Perhaps my children have sinned and have cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular practice. 

So, Job was kind of a big deal! He had so many qualities that people now adays would love. He had an amazing family, he had money and he had enough livestock that he should be set for life. If you are a Godly person, who has great wealth in any way, you can be sure that Satan will notice. Let's see what happens:

Job’s First Test

⁶ One day the members of the heavenly court came to present themselves before the Lord, and the Accuser, Satan, came with them. ⁷ “Where have you come from?” the Lord asked Satan. Satan answered the Lord, “I have been patrolling the earth, watching everything that’s going on.”

⁸ Then the Lord asked Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil.”

⁹ Satan replied to the Lord, “Yes, but Job has good reason to fear God. ¹⁰ You have always put a wall of protection around him and his home and his property. You have made him prosper in everything he does. Look how rich he is! ¹¹ But reach out and take away everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face!”

¹² “All right, you may test him,” the Lord said to Satan. “Do whatever you want with everything he possesses, but don’t harm him physically.” So Satan left the Lord’s presence.

¹³ One day when Job’s sons and daughters were feasting at the oldest brother’s house, ¹⁴ a messenger arrived at Job’s home with this news: “Your oxen were plowing, with the donkeys feeding beside them, ¹⁵ when the Sabeans raided us. They stole all the animals and killed all the farmhands. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.”

¹⁶ While he was still speaking, another messenger arrived with this news: “The fire of God has fallen from heaven and burned up your sheep and all the shepherds. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.”

¹⁷ While he was still speaking, a third messenger arrived with this news: “Three bands of Chaldean raiders have stolen your camels and killed your servants. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.”

¹⁸ While he was still speaking, another messenger arrived with this news: “Your sons and daughters were feasting in their oldest brother’s home. ¹⁹ Suddenly, a powerful wind swept in from the wilderness and hit the house on all sides. The house collapsed, and all your children are dead. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.”

²⁰ Job stood up and tore his robe in grief. Then he shaved his head and fell to the ground to worship. ²¹ He said,

“I came naked from my mother’s womb,

and I will be naked when I leave.

The Lord gave me what I had,

and the Lord has taken it away.

Praise the name of the Lord!”

²² In all of this, Job did not sin by blaming God.

 My first question when I read this was, what does heavenly court mean? When I looked it up in a commentary it said that the phrase is used in the Old Testament to describe angelic beings. It also mentions how, that means that satan is an angelic being. On the surface that sounds like a negative, that is why the commentary mentions that if satan is indeed an angelic being, he is nowhere close to as powerful as God. Sometimes we are guilty of treating God and satan as equal, that is not a true statement at all.

So, Job loses everything, he mourned but did not blame God. When satan realizes that Job isn't going to sin, he tries something more in chapter 2:

Chapter 2

Job’s Second Test

One day the members of the heavenly court came again to present themselves before the Lord, and the Accuser, Satan, came with them. ² “Where have you come from?” the Lord asked Satan.

Satan answered the Lord, “I have been patrolling the earth, watching everything that’s going on.”

³ Then the Lord asked Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil. And he has maintained his integrity, even though you urged me to harm him without cause.”

⁴ Satan replied to the Lord, “Skin for skin! A man will give up everything he has to save his life. ⁵ But reach out and take away his health, and he will surely curse you to your face!”

⁶ “All right, do with him as you please,” the Lord said to Satan. “But spare his life.” ⁷ So Satan left the Lord’s presence, and he struck Job with terrible boils from head to foot.

⁸ Job scraped his skin with a piece of broken pottery as he sat among the ashes. ⁹ His wife said to him, “Are you still trying to maintain your integrity? Curse God and die.”

¹⁰ But Job replied, “You talk like a foolish woman. Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?” So in all this, Job said nothing wrong. 

 Once again, Job did not blame God. This is where I want to pause for a moment. If this happened to you, how would you react?  Before we move on, before we look at anything else, take a moment and think about if you lost not only all of your wealth, but all of your children. What would you say to God? What questions would you have for him? Would you make any demands to him? Now, take a minute and go back and read in chapter one the description of Job's life, is that an accurate description of your life? He was blameless, a person of COMPLETE integrity and he stayed away from evil. None of those words describes me. I feel like I struggle with those things on a regular basis. So again, how would I react if that was me? Everything is gone, I've lost everything. How do I not blame God? How do I not question him? I want to stop there for a few days, I want everyone to focus on reading the next 38 chapters or so. Read about how Job reacted to God and see how Job's friends reacted to all of it. Then, when we come back on Thursday, we will look at how God reacts!

January 5th Genesis part 2

 I hope everyone is enjoying their week! Before we move into part two of Genesis, I just wanted to tell/remind everyone that the main website is motivatedbyjonah.com.  If you go to the website, you can ask questions or send an email with any feedback or comments you want to make.

Now, let's continue with the book of Genesis. When we left off, God has just changed Abraham's name to Israel. Now we want to fast forward a little bit further and go to Chapter 37. Jacob/Israel now has 12 sons, the most well-known son and Jacob's favorite is Joseph.  Joseph was the first son that was born to Rachel, and we know from reading back in chapter 29 that Rachel was the person he loved the most. When you have 12 sons and you very clearly have a favorite, you are most likely going to have some serious issues with jealousy at some point. Let's look at chapter 37 and find out how Jacob showed his love for Joseph and how the others reacted.

So Jacob settled again in the land of Canaan, where his father had lived as a foreigner.

² This is the account of Jacob and his family.

³ Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other children because Joseph had been born to him in his old age. So one day Jacob had a special gift made for Joseph—a beautiful robe. ⁴ But his brothers hated Joseph because their father loved him more than the rest of them. They couldn’t say a kind word to him.

¹² Soon after this, Joseph’s brothers went to pasture their father’s flocks at Shechem. ¹³ When they had been gone for some time, Jacob said to Joseph, “Your brothers are pasturing the sheep at Shechem. Get ready, and I will send you to them.”

“I’m ready to go,” Joseph replied.

¹⁴ “Go and see how your brothers and the flocks are getting along,” Jacob said. “Then come back and bring me a report.” So Jacob sent him on his way, and Joseph traveled to Shechem from their home in the valley of Hebron.

Joseph Sold into Slavery

¹⁸ When Joseph’s brothers saw him coming, they recognized him in the distance. As he approached, they made plans to kill him.

²⁵ Then, just as they were sitting down to eat, they looked up and saw a caravan of camels in the distance coming toward them. It was a group of Ishmaelite traders taking a load of gum, balm, and aromatic resin from Gilead down to Egypt.

²⁷ Instead of hurting him, let’s sell him to those Ishmaelite traders. After all, he is our brother—our own flesh and blood!” And his brothers agreed. ²⁸ So when the Ishmaelites, who were Midianite traders, came by, Joseph’s brothers pulled him out of the cistern and sold him to them for twenty pieces of silver. And the traders took him to Egypt. 

If we ever needed an example on why favoritism is harmful, this is the story to refer too! The brothers were so upset that they sold their brother and then they took the robe that their father had given Joseph, dipped it in animal blood and gave it to their father and had him believe that Joseph must have been attacked by an animal and was dead. Now comes the lesson on how if God has a plan, you will not be able to stop it, no matter what. After being sold, let's see what happens to Joseph, here is what it says in chapter 39

Chapter 39

Joseph in Potiphar’s House

When Joseph was taken to Egypt by the Ishmaelite traders, he was purchased by Potiphar, an Egyptian officer. Potiphar was captain of the guard for Pharaoh, the king of Egypt.

² The Lord was with Joseph, so he succeeded in everything he did as he served in the home of his Egyptian master. ³ Potiphar noticed this and realized that the Lord was with Joseph, giving him success in everything he did All his household affairs ran smoothly, and his crops and livestock flourished. ⁶ So Potiphar gave Joseph complete administrative responsibility over everything he owned. With Joseph there, he didn’t worry about a thing—except what kind of food to eat!

Ok, so everything turns out happily ever after, what a great story! This is a perfect example of doing the right thing and being patient and everything working out. Except, that isn't the end of the story. Potipher had a wife and she really liked Joseph. This is what verses 6 and 7 tell us:

Joseph was a very handsome and well-built young man, ⁷ and Potiphar’s wife soon began to look at him lustfully. “Come and sleep with me,” she demanded.

Potipher's wife eventually finds herself alone with Joseph and once again tries to convince Joseph to sleep with her, he says no and runs away but leaves his cloak behind. With the cloak, Potipher's wife tells everyone that Joseph attacked her. So now Joseph finds himself in prison. How could this happen? Hasn't Joseph been through enough? But now, look at what is says in verse 22:

Joseph Put in Prison

¹⁹ Potiphar was furious when he heard his wife’s story about how Joseph had treated her. ²⁰ So he took Joseph and threw him into the prison where the king’s prisoners were held, and there he remained. ²¹ But the Lord was with Joseph in the prison and showed him his faithful love. And the Lord made Joseph a favorite with the prison warden. ²² Before long, the warden put Joseph in charge of all the other prisoners and over everything that happened in the prison. ²³ The warden had no more worries, because Joseph took care of everything. The Lord was with him and caused everything he did to succeed. 

Once again God takes care of Joseph and puts him in a position to be a leader and be successful. Because Joseph was in this position, he spent time with all of the other prisoners. Two of the prisoners are people who use to work for Pharoah. The chief cup bearer and the chief baker end up in prison with Joseph. While in prison together the cup bearer and the baker both have a dream, but they don't know what the dreams mean. Joseph tells them what they mean, the cup bearer will go back to work for Pharoah and the baker will be killed.  Of course, Joseph is right, and of course when the cup bearer gets his job back, he fails to mention anything about Joseph to Pharoah. That is until Pharoah has a dream and can't figure what it means. Then all of the sudden when Pharoah needs something, the cup bearer remembers Joseph and tells Pharoah about someone who can tell him what his dream means. Here are the dreams that Pharoah had from chapter 41

Chapter 41

Pharaoh’s Dreams

Two full years later, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing on the bank of the Nile River. ² In his dream he saw seven fat, healthy cows come up out of the river and begin grazing in the marsh grass. ³ Then he saw seven more cows come up behind them from the Nile, but these were scrawny and thin. These cows stood beside the fat cows on the riverbank. ⁴ Then the scrawny, thin cows ate the seven healthy, fat cows! At this point in the dream, Pharaoh woke up.

⁵ But he fell asleep again and had a second dream. This time he saw seven heads of grain, plump and beautiful, growing on a single stalk. ⁶ Then seven more heads of grain appeared, but these were shriveled and withered by the east wind. ⁷ And these thin heads swallowed up the seven plump, well-formed heads! Then Pharaoh woke up again and realized it was a dream. 

Joseph explains to Pharoah that both dreams mean the same thing and the fact that he had two similar dreams means that it's all going to happen soon. The dreams meant that they would have seven years of prosperity followed by seven years of famine. Joseph explains that the famine will be so bad, everyone will forget the prosperity. Then Joseph like most good leaders, he didn't just bring an issue, he also comes up with a solution.  Here is what the solution was:

33 “Therefore, Pharaoh should find an intelligent and wise man and put him in charge of the entire land of Egypt. 34 Then Pharaoh should appoint supervisors over the land and let them collect one-fifth of all the crops during the seven good years. 35 Have them gather all the food produced in the good years that are just ahead and bring it to Pharaoh’s storehouses. Store it away, and guard it so there will be food in the cities. 36 That way there will be enough to eat when the seven years of famine come to the land of Egypt. Otherwise this famine will destroy the land.” 

Pharoah loved the solution so much that he put Joseph in charge of all of it. This is Pharoah's response:

Joseph Made Ruler of Egypt

37 Joseph’s suggestions were well received by Pharaoh and his officials. 38 So Pharaoh asked his officials, “Can we find anyone else like this man so obviously filled with the spirit of God?” 39 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has revealed the meaning of the dreams to you, clearly no one else is as intelligent or wise as you are. 40 You will be in charge of my court, and all my people will take orders from you. Only I, sitting on my throne, will have a rank higher than yours.” 

41 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I hereby put you in charge of the entire land of Egypt.” 42 Then Pharaoh removed his signet ring from his hand and placed it on Joseph’s finger. He dressed him in fine linen clothing and hung a gold chain around his neck.

Now comes the fun part, for seven years Joseph did everything the way he needed to and collected food to last for the seven years of famine. When the seven years of famine happen, guess who needs some food? Yes, his brothers! Here is how chapter 42 describes it.

Chapter 42

Joseph’s Brothers Go to Egypt

When Jacob heard that grain was available in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why are you standing around looking at one another? ² I have heard there is grain in Egypt. Go down there, and buy enough grain to keep us alive. Otherwise we’ll die.”

³ So Joseph’s ten older brothers went down to Egypt to buy grain.

⁶ Since Joseph was governor of all Egypt and in charge of selling grain to all the people, it was to him that his brothers came. When they arrived, they bowed before him with their faces to the ground. ⁷ Joseph recognized his brothers instantly, but he pretended to be a stranger and spoke harshly to them. “Where are you from?” he demanded. 

You would think that Joseph would have reacted one of two ways, he would either greet them right away and have a wonderful reunion, or he would punish them right away. Instead, Joseph spends the next few chapters finding out information about the rest of the family and messing with his brothers. He accuses them of being spies and puts them in a situation where they have to bring his younger brother to Egypt. When they finally make a second trip to Egypt for more food, Joseph decides it is now time to reveal himself.  Here is what is in chapter 45:

Chapter 45

Joseph Reveals His Identity

Joseph could stand it no longer. There were many people in the room, and he said to his attendants, “Out, all of you!” So he was alone with his brothers when he told them who he was. ² Then he broke down and wept. He wept so loudly the Egyptians could hear him, and word of it quickly carried to Pharaoh’s palace.

³ “I am Joseph!” he said to his brothers. “Is my father still alive?” But his brothers were speechless! They were stunned to realize that Joseph was standing there in front of them. ⁴ “Please, come closer,” he said to them. So they came closer. And he said again, “I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into slavery in Egypt 

After this Joseph wants his brothers to go back and get his father and bring him to Egypt and that is exactly what they did. Here is chapter 46:

Chapter 46

Jacob’s Journey to Egypt

So Jacob set out for Egypt with all his possessions. And when he came to Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father, Isaac. ² During the night God spoke to him in a vision. “Jacob! Jacob!” he called. “Here I am,” Jacob replied. ³ “I am God, the God of your father,” the voice said. “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make your family into a great nation. ⁴ I will go with you down to Egypt, and I will bring you back again. You will die in Egypt, but Joseph will be with you to close your eyes.” ⁵ So Jacob left Beersheba, and his sons took him to Egypt. They carried him and their little ones and their wives in the wagons Pharaoh had provided for them. ⁶ They also took all their livestock and all the personal belongings they had acquired in the land of Canaan. So Jacob and his entire family went to Egypt—⁷ sons and grandsons, daughters and granddaughters—all his descendants. 

Since this is already a very long post and again, we need to stick the main point of what we are trying to say, I will just tell you that Jacob and Joseph have a beautiful reunion and after seeing Joseph once again, he was ready to die. The book of Genesis ends in chapter 50 with a few key notes. The first thing I want to point out is that once Jacob passed away, Joseph's brothers were worried that he would finally repay them for what they did. When they brought this up to Joseph, he has one of the greatest replies ever. 

¹⁹ But Joseph replied, “Don’t be afraid of me. Am I God, that I can punish you? ²⁰ You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people. 

I've brought this verse up before, and I will continue to bring it up for the rest of my life whenever things happen that I don't understand. People are going to do harm to you, bad things will happen, but I choose to believe that God intended it for good, he will use my situation to help someone.

Here is the final paragraph of the book,

The Death of Joseph

²² So Joseph and his brothers and their families continued to live in Egypt. Joseph lived to the age of 110. ²³ He lived to see three generations of descendants of his son Ephraim, and he lived to see the birth of the children of Manasseh’s son Makir, whom he claimed as his own. ²⁴ “Soon I will die,” Joseph told his brothers, “but God will surely come to help you and lead you out of this land of Egypt. He will bring you back to the land he solemnly promised to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” ²⁵ Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear an oath, and he said, “When God comes to help you and lead you back, you must take my bones with you.” ²⁶ So Joseph died at the age of 110. The Egyptians embalmed him, and his body was placed in a coffin in Egypt. 

In this chapter it explains how God's chosen people made it to Egypt. All of those descendants will become God's chosen people. Listen to what Joseph says and think about how amazing it is. He tells everyone that God will help them and lead them out of Egypt. Why is that so amazing? It's 400 years away and right now everything is going wonderful. He made them swear an oath, that in 400 years they will take his bones back to the land God promised them when they are in a situation that they need God's help. What an amazing book and we skipped over so many other stories. Keep reading, start asking questions! Let's keep this going and move on to the book of Exodus next week!

January 3rd - Genesis

 

As we start this journey it's important to remember what we are trying to accomplish. I think over the last month I have read the book of Genesis 3-4 times. Every time I read it; I found many things I would love to have included but decided that it just didn't fit with what I was trying to say. So, what am I trying to say? Most people know the story of Joseph and many people know the story of the Israelite's trying to leave Egypt, but does everyone know how they got to Egypt? Those Israelite's are God's chosen people, and the story begins with a man named Abram. He was living in a place called Ur and headed for the land of Canaan. Let's look at Genesis chapter 12, I will continue with what I did last year and everything that is from the bible will be in orange.

Chapter 12

The Call of Abram

 The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. ² I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. ³ I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”

Here is the promise from God that he will make a great nation. Let's fast forward to chapter 15 and get a little bit more information on this promise.

Genesis Chapter 15

¹² As the sun was going down, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a terrifying darkness came down over him. ¹³ Then the Lord said to Abram, “You can be sure that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land, where they will be oppressed as slaves for 400 years. ¹⁴ But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and in the end they will come away with great wealth. ¹⁵ (As for you, you will die in peace and be buried at a ripe old age.) ¹⁶ After four generations your descendants will return here to this land, for the sins of the Amorites do not yet warrant their destruction.” 

Now God is being a little more specific and letting Abram know that even though it sounds like an amazing thing, it won't be easy. One day his descendants will have great wealth, but in order to get to that point, they have to be slaves for 400 years. He also lets him know that they will come back to where he is right now. I think verse 16 is also a very interesting verse, but something that I'm not sure goes with anything I am trying to say overall. God tells him that the Amorites currently are in control of the land he is in right now, and even though they are not following God, it's not bad enough that they deserve destruction, yet! That also seems like foreshadowing to me, if you do not obey God, destruction can happen. Most people know a little bit about this story, know that Abraham was the father of the nations, let's look in chapter 17 for how that happened.

Chapter 17

³ At this, Abram fell face down on the ground. Then God said to him, ⁴ “This is my covenant with you: I will make you the father of a multitude of nations! ⁵ What’s more, I am changing your name. It will no longer be Abram. Instead, you will be called Abraham, for you will be the father of many nations. ⁶ I will make you extremely fruitful. Your descendants will become many nations, and kings will be among them!

⁷ “I will confirm my covenant with you and your descendants after you, from generation to generation. This is the everlasting covenant: I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you. ⁸ And I will give the entire land of Canaan, where you now live as a foreigner, to you and your descendants. It will be their possession forever, and I will be their God.”

Here is when God says a line that he will end up saying a lot in the bible and I think it is one of the most beautiful things that we could ever hear. At the end of verse 8, God is speaking, and he says, " and I will be their God". How amazing is that? God is actually looking at someone and saying, I will be their God. I don't want to ruin anything, but I know how this story ends, and it ends with God telling each and every one of us that he is our God. I love that! 

For the sake of time and just overall moving the story along, God continues the covenant with Abraham's son Isaac.

Chapter 21

The Birth of Isaac

The Lord kept his word and did for Sarah exactly what he had promised. ² She became pregnant, and she gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age. This happened at just the time God had said it would. ³ And Abraham named their son Isaac. ⁴ Eight days after Isaac was born, Abraham circumcised him as God had commanded. ⁵ Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born. 

This is why reading the bible is so important, a person can only mention so much in a blog post. So, for right now we just want to mention that Abraham had a son named Isaac and then we are going to fast forward to Isaac having two sons of his own.

Chapter 25

The Births of Esau and Jacob

²¹ Isaac pleaded with the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was unable to have children. The Lord answered Isaac’s prayer, and Rebekah became pregnant with twins. ²² But the two children struggled with each other in her womb. So she went to ask the Lord about it. “Why is this happening to me?” she asked.

²³ And the Lord told her, “The sons in your womb will become two nations. From the very beginning, the two nations will be rivals. One nation will be stronger than the other; and your older son will serve your younger son.”

²⁴ And when the time came to give birth, Rebekah discovered that she did indeed have twins! ²⁵ The first one was very red at birth and covered with thick hair like a fur coat. So they named him Esau. ²⁶ Then the other twin was born with his hand grasping Esau’s heel. So they named him Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when the twins were born.

So now we are at a point where I just want to mention that whenever this time period of the bible is mentioned they always mention the same three names, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Usually, it seems like it's said the God of our ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. So now I just want to show in the bible where it mentions that the covenant is still in place with Jacob and also where God changes Jacob's name to Israel. That is an important text to mention because that is why God's chosen people are called Israelites.

Chapter 28

Jacob’s Dream at Bethel

¹⁰ Meanwhile, Jacob left Beersheba and traveled toward Haran. ¹¹ At sundown he arrived at a good place to set up camp and stopped there for the night. Jacob found a stone to rest his head against and lay down to sleep. ¹² As he slept, he dreamed of a stairway that reached from the earth up to heaven. And he saw the angels of God going up and down the stairway.

¹³ At the top of the stairway stood the Lord, and he said, “I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham, and the God of your father, Isaac. The ground you are lying on belongs to you. I am giving it to you and your descendants. ¹⁴ Your descendants will be as numerous as the dust of the earth! They will spread out in all directions—to the west and the east, to the north and the south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants. ¹⁵ What’s more, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. One day I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything I have promised you.”

Chapter 32

²⁸ “Your name will no longer be Jacob,” the man told him. “From now on you will be called Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have won.” 

I think that is where I want to stop for today, and then pick it up on Thursday. This is a whole lot of information and as of right now all we have really established is that God made a covenant with three people, but it hasn't really started yet. I do think it's important to know those three names, they will come up a lot.