July 2024

READ: Gen. 32:24-32: … I will not let you go unless you bless me. … Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel … Then he blessed him there. So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared. … According to […]

READ: Gen. 32:1-23: … Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me … As Jacob and Laban part ways, and Jacob continues towards Canaan, he knows he must pass through the land of Edom where Esau lives. How will he get through

READ: Gen. 31:22-55: … but last night the God of your father said to me ‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob … So Jacob took an oath in the name of the Fear of his father Isaac. He offered a sacrifice there … After about ten days, Laban catches up with Jacob’s departed caravan in the

READ: Gen. 31:1-21: … I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and where you made a vow to me. Now leave this land at once and go back to your native land. If God has made Jacob rich, He works to bring Jacob back to the land of his family. First,

READ: Gen. 30:25-43: … In this way the man grew exceedingly prosperous and came to own large flocks, and female and male servants, and camels and donkeys. It is evident throughout that Jacob does not deserve on his own that the LORD keeps His covenant and fulfills His promises. Also in this passage, Jacob’s calculating

READ: Gen. 29:31-30:24: … Rachel … became jealous of her sister … Among Jacob’s two wives, who are also sisters, mutual envy arises. Jacob also does not show himself faithful and devoted to both his wives. He is drawn to Rachel more than to Leah because of her physical attractiveness. Leah is neglected in comparison

READ: Gen. 29:1-30: … I served you for Rachel, didn’t I? … Jacob sets out with God’s blessing and arrives in Haran, eight hundred kilometers away from Isaac. When he reaches a well where shepherds are with their flocks and asks about Laban, they point out his cousin Rachel. Overjoyed to meet family, he rolls

READ: Gen. 28:10-22: … He had a dream … He called that place Bethel … this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house … Jacob departs for distant Paddan-Aram, also called Haran. He will stay there for twenty years and never see his mother again. On the way, he

READ: Gen. 27:41-28:9: … Then Isaac sent Jacob on his way … The struggle for the blessing of the LORD was central to the events of chapter 27. But trust in the LORD was lacking.. When the LORD promises us great things, we should not, indeed, we cannot achieve them ourselves.  We should expect blessings

READ: Gen. 27:30-41: … Bless me too, my father! … Esau arrives too late, but is this coincidence? That Isaac blessed Jacob was according to the LORD’s command but against his own will. Yet it happened despite Isaac’s disobedience and Jacob’s deception. So, it is the work of the LORD that Esau arrives late. Isaac