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.