Reading: Devotional

January 27

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God’s Gracious Choice and Call

Genesis 11:27–12:3

I took your father Abraham from beyond the River

and led him through all the land of Canaan,

and made his offspring many.

Joshua 24:3 (ESV)

God’s cleansing of earth with the flood and restart with Noah didn’t solve the sin problem that began with Adam and Eve. But, in these verses we see a radical escalation in God’s plan to restore his sin-plagued creation. God didn’t have much to work with; most, if not all, the people alive at this time were idol worshipers. Abraham and his family were too as Joshua made clear centuries later: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Long ago your ancestors, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates and worshiped other gods’” (Josh. 24:2). (Abraham and his family lived among people who worshiped the moon god.)

If God had been looking for an especially righteous person, he might have gone to the mysterious Melchizedek, to whom we are introduced in Genesis 14. This king of Salem (Jerusalem) was already in Canaan where he was living up to his name, which meant King of Peace. Hebrews 7:1 says that Melchizedek was a priest of God Most High and calls him greater than Abraham.

But God chose unrighteous Abraham, who would respond in belief and by God’s grace be credited with righteousness (see Rom. 4:3). This unmerited grace of God would also be extended to Abraham’s descendants. Years later Moses would caution Israel not to take credit for their own successes but to give God the credit: “After the Lord your God has driven [your enemies] out before you, do not say to yourself, ‘The Lord has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness’” (Deut. 9:4). It’s the very thing every Christian must also remember: “He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy” (Titus 3:5).

January 28

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God’s Promises to Abraham

Genesis 12:1–9

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place

that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise,

as in a foreign land…For he was looking forward to the city

that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.

Hebrews 11:8–10 (ESV)

We don’t know how the call to Abraham came, whether audibly or in another way. Nor do we know whether it came once or with insistent repetition. But Abraham heard God’s call, believed his promise, and responded in faithful obedience to God’s command—he traveled with his wife, nephew, servants, and possessions to the land of Canaan. It was the first step in a lifelong commitment to, and fellowship with, the one who had authority to regulate his movements and the power to bless him.

God’s promise to Abraham had three main components:

·   to give him many descendants;

·   to prosper and protect him and his descendants;

·   to make him a great blessing to the world.

The first of these must have astonished Abraham for Sarah was barren and thought to be cursed in a world where the primary evidence of divine blessing and wealth was children to carry on the family name. The second carried the implication of a homeland for him. And the third, Abraham could hardly imagine. Any hope he had would have fallen far short of what really happened.

In view of these promises, Abraham’s first official act in the new land was to build an altar to the Lord. From this time on, what he looked for in life was the fulfillment of God’s promises. While others worshiped the evidences of the divine in the heavenly bodies and in themselves, Abraham committed himself to the worship of God and staked his future upon God’s existence and faithfulness.

January 29

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Abraham Made Righteous

Genesis 15:1–7

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Ephesians 2:8–9 (ESV)

Abraham had been in the land for some time when God appeared to him in a vision. It was a vision that frightened him, and yet he was glad of the opportunity to question God about the promises he had made. It was especially God’s promise about many descendants that troubled Abraham because, after all this time in Canaan, Sarah was still childless. So Abraham naturally wondered if and when God was ever going to fulfill that promise of children. In fact, he had already nearly given up on it and had been making plans to pass on his estate to his chief servant, Eliezer.

So the Lord corrected Abraham, saying that a son from his own body would be his heir. This amazing statement follows: “Abram believed the Lord, and he credited to him as righteousness.” Before this, Abraham had rightly obeyed God’s call to go to a different land, but as yet he had no righteousness, no ability to stand before God without guilt and as a covenant partner. But now, with Abraham’s belief following this repetition of God’s original promise, Abraham was credited with righteousness, not as something he earned by believing, but as a gift of God to one who believed.

The Scriptures never tire of stressing this: Righteousness before God cannot be earned; it can only be received by faith as the gracious gift of God. And when received, believing sinners are credited with righteousness. Every other religion of the world emphasizes the need to do creditworthy things. Biblical religion alone says that nothing we do is creditworthy enough to make us righteous; righteousness comes only from God, who then enables us to seek and do what is good.

January 30

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The Guarantee of God’s Promises

Genesis 15:8–21

Greater love has no one than this,

that someone lay down his life for his friends.

John 15:13 (ESV)

The covenant-making ceremony in Abraham’s vision was familiar to him as it was to all who lived in his part of the world. Covenant-makers would typically cut animals in half and then walk together between the pieces to show that as the animal halves were incomplete without each other, so also were the two parties to the covenant. What they would be saying by such a joint action is something like this: “May God make me like these animals if I do not fulfill my part of this covenant.” That made this a binding covenant; no one would want to bring the curse of God on their own head and end up like the dead animals.

But here, according to Scripture, it was not the parties to the covenant, God and Abraham, who passed between the pieces, but a smoking firepot and a blazing torch. Both of these were symbolic of the presence of God who would later lead the Israelites through the wilderness by a pillar of smoke and fire.

By passing alone between the divided animals, God made himself responsible for keeping both his part of the covenant and Abraham’s. That didn’t in any way let Abraham or his descendants off the hook of obedience. But neither Abraham nor his descendants would ever be able to fulfill their covenant obligations unless God made them able. That was to be proven time and again as God stuck with his people despite their repeated covenant-breaking disobediences.

Abraham could be sure that this covenant would last, for the Lord of all the earth guaranteed it. It’s the same assurance that the apostle Paul would express: “I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day” (2 Tim. 1:12).

January 31

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Covenant Confirmation

Genesis 17:1–14, 23–27

For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision

outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision

is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter.

Romans 2:28–29 (ESV)

We’re not sure when the covenant-making ceremony of Genesis 15 took place, but it was before Abraham reached the age of eighty-six—his age at the birth of Ishmael. Then Abraham had to wait until he was ninety-nine years old for God to confirm the covenant and tell him more about God’s expectations of him.

At this time God repeated his earlier promises and reinforced them in the change of names he gave Abram and Sarai. From now on they would be known by the names familiar to us, Abraham and Sarah, which in their meanings was another testimony to God’s promise to give them many descendants. In connection with this, God also told Abraham that from now on he and his male descendants would have to be circumcised as a sign of their loyalty to him.

In the earlier ceremony God had emphasized his unbreakable commitment to Abraham by vouching for the fulfillment of both his and Abraham’s pledges, even though Abraham’s own pledge had at that time been merely implied. Now, however, God specifically required a sign in the flesh to demonstrate commitment.

Circumcision was to involve much more than a physical commitment too. That’s why the prophets of Israel later referred to the spiritual reality behind physical circumcision. Jesus himself would emphasize the spiritual reality behind the physical sign when he criticized certain people of his own race: “If you were Abraham’s children… then you would do the things Abraham did” (John 8:39). Circumcision was to be a visible reminder and a testimony to the total commitment—body and soul—that God demanded of Abraham and his offspring.

February 1

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Abraham, Partner of God

Genesis 18:1-21

You have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the

works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet:

Psalm 8:5–6 (ESV)

The Lord said (as if to himself), “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?” (Gen. 18:17). So far, God had called Abraham, given him a home, and made a covenant with him, all of this putting God’s own reputation on the line. It was now time to take Abraham a step farther down the road of partnership with God.

The Lord began to treat Abraham as master of the land and powerful nation long before he became that in fact. He enlisted Abraham in the oversight and governance of the land, talking with him about the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah and sharing what he planned to do about it. It was an object lesson for Abraham, on-the-job-training for ruling. The Lord was modeling the attitude he wanted Abraham to have with his neighbors and in all the circumstances of his life.

God wanted Abraham to appreciate the demands of divine justice. And Abraham did; although he argued for mercy, he knew that Sodom and Gomorrah deserved to be judged by God. But Abraham also had an eye for the righteous who would be destroyed along with the wicked. His heart went out in compassion to them. He did not want them to share the fate of the sinners. In this matter Abraham shared God’s own heart.

The just judge is grieved over unrepentant sinners. Jesus would also demonstrate this in a lament over Jerusalem: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate” (Matt. 23:37–38).

February 2

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The Prayers of God’s Partners

Genesis 18:22–33

I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings

be made for all people…This is good, and it is pleasing in the

sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved

and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

1 Timothy 2:1, 3-4 (ESV)

One motivation for Abraham’s prayer was concern for his nephew Lot. More than that, Abraham felt a kinship with all people, known to him or not, who worshiped the one true Lord. Besides, if God were to destroy the righteous together with the wicked, then Abraham must have wondered what that meant for his own future and for the future of all God’s promises.

So Abraham prayed with persistence, telling God what was on his heart and mind. With each successive concession, he pushed the Lord farther, and each time found out more about the lengths to which God would go to be merciful. Finally Abraham was content with God’s pledge not to destroy Sodom if even ten righteous people were found there.

There is no indication that the Lord was at all displeased by Abraham’s requests. It is not persistence that angers God, but self-centeredness and wickedness. In fact, the Lord wanted Abraham to come to him again and again because his cause was God’s own. Not that Abraham perfectly knew the mind of God; so far he had only a little first-hand evidence of his mercy. Yet he seized the opportunity afforded by their relationship to take on the responsibility of partnership. And God accepted the requests of his partner as good.

Ever since God created the world he’d been giving people chances to fulfill his intentions. It’s still what he wants, so that’s also what God’s faithful people pray for, saying with him, “Today, if you hear [God’s] voice, do not harden your hearts” (Heb. 3:15). That’s as good an admonition for our world as it was for Israel’s.

February 3

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The Sin of Sodom

Genesis 18:20–21; 19:1–9

In the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: they commit adultery and walk in lies; they strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that

no one turns from his evil; all of them have become like Sodom to me.

Jeremiah 23:14 (ESV)

Tradition has it that the sin of Sodom was sexual in nature. This seems clear in the demand the men of the town made to Lot with regard to his visitors: “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them” (Gen. 19:5).

But Sodom’s sin was more than this. Besides Jeremiah’s comparison of disobedient Israel to Sodom is Ezekiel’s (16:49-50): “Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.”

In the New Testament, Jude has the most to say about Sodom: “Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire” (Jude 7).

Jude goes on to indicate other problems: pollution of their own bodies, rejection of authority, abuse of celestial beings, and slander against whatever they did not understand. They took the way of Cain (envy), Balaam (religion for profit), and Korah (rebellion). Their modern counterparts are “grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage” (Jude 16). 

Such are the kind of people who deserve and bring down upon themselves the judgment of God. But for even such as these, with repentance comes mercy. Nor is it ever too late for repentance until death or judgment arrives.

February 4

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Unholy Compromise

Genesis 19

Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what

partnership has righteousness with lawlessness?

Or what fellowship has light with darkness?

2 Corinthians 6:14 (ESV)

Like Abraham, Lot wanted to be a good host to his visitors. But Lot was not able to be as hospitable as he wanted to be because the wicked men of the city surrounded the house and called for the release of the visitors for the pleasure of the townsmen. Lot’s dilemma was connected to an earlier choice he’d made. When he and Abraham parted ways, Lot had chosen the greener pastures of the rich, but wicked, Sodom. It seemed just a little compromise; Lot thought their wickedness would not affect him and his family. But it did. When Lot told his future sons-in-law about the sin of their city, they took his serious words as a joke; their neighbors’ conduct was too common to be regarded as especially sinful. So, like everyone who compromises, Lot became unable to live as consistently as his heart and his religion instructed him.

Lot’s prayer life was affected too. Abraham had shared the Lord’s desire to temper judgment with mercy, and proved by his prayers to be a good partner for God. Lot, with far closer ties to the city, seemed to think only of himself. The angels told Lot to get out—to flee to the mountains and not look back. But Lot asked that he might be permitted to move to another town. He didn’t want to lose everything that he’d worked so hard for. However, Lot obeyed and his life was spared. But his future was much unhappier than the future reserved for God’s eager partner.

Lot’s wife was also affected. She was given the opportunity to leave but couldn’t break her ties to the city and its ways. Her looking back was more than a glance; it signified an unwillingness to leave. So she shared the death that the city experienced. Death is the inevitable end to the path of unholy compromise. How much better it is, like Abraham, to partner with God.

February 5

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The Partner of God Stumbles

Genesis 20

You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently.

Oh, that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes!

Then I shall not be put to shame.

Psalm 119:4–6 (ESV)

After God’s judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham moved south into the territory of Abimilech, king of Gerar. We don’t know what prompted his move; maybe it was a drought. But in what happened in Gerar, we see that Abraham was not a perfect man of faith and partner with God. Yes, God had taken him into his confidence and listened to him in the matter of Sodom and Gomorrah. And yes, Abraham had faith that God would ultimately fulfill the promise of a seed. But his actions were not always the most responsible.

Abraham allowed Sarah, who was to bear the promised seed of God, to be taken by Abimilech into his harem. Abraham was trying to avoid irritating the king. However, in his silence, he put his entire future with God at risk. How could God fulfill his promise if Abraham allowed his wife to become the wife of another man?

Providentially and with great patience, God acted to preserve Abraham and Sarah for the purpose he had called them by preventing Abimilech from coming near Sarah, and at the same time making Abimilech’s entire harem sterile. Soon the king recognized that he and his household were under God’s curse because of Abraham and Sarah. So he quickly sent them away with gifts and a request for prayer that God would lift the curse.

God answered Abraham’s prayer for Abimelech. In mercy, and in spite of Abraham’s wavering faith, God still accepted Abraham as his partner. Once again he guarded him and Sarah so that they might see the fulfillment of God’s promise to them in the birth of a son through Sarah. In fact, that is the next part of the story.

February 6

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The Son Named “Laughter”

Genesis 21:1–20

Can you find out the deep things of God? Can you find

out the limit of the Almighty? It is higher than heaven—

what can you do? Deeper than Sheol—what can you know? 

Job 11:7–8 (ESV)

Abraham and Sarah had earlier thought to do their part to make God’s promise come true. With Sarah’s consent, Abraham had taken her maid as a second wife and had a son by her—Ishmael. Later, when God repeated his promise that Sarah would have a son, Abraham responded by laughing and suggesting to God that he would be satisfied with Ishmael as his heir (Gen. 17:17–18). Sarah, too, had her own moment of laughing incredulity (Gen. 18:9–15). A son born to an old and barren woman was simply too hard to believe.

But who can fathom the mysteries of God? And so, finally, at a mind-boggling age, Sarah gave birth to the promised child. And now she and Abraham saw with their physical eyes what they had previously seen only dimly, and only then with the wavering eyes of faith—the possibility of a future and the promise of a nation begin to take shape.

Abraham named the child Laughter; that’s what Isaac means. He named the child Laughter in memory of his and Sarah’s incredulous laughter, and in tribute to the joy that this son of the promise brought to his household. The naming was accompanied by Isaac’s circumcision as a sign that he too was an heir to the promise and a son of the covenant with the Lord.

Isaac was proof of God’s miraculous presence with Abraham and his family. In the midst of death, Isaac was life and laughter and heir to the blessings promised to Abraham. Isaac’s half-brother, Ishmael, would get a blessing of a sort as well. But, Isaac would be the father of the holy nation of Israel—the people of God’s choosing and God’s everlasting covenant.

February 7

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Abraham’s Unnatural Offspring

Genesis 18:10–14; 21:1–7

Not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel...This means

that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God,

but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.

Romans 9:6b, 8 (ESV)

Humanly speaking, Isaac’s birth was an unnatural one. He was born, beyond all reckoning, to an old and barren woman. His birth was a bigger deal than even Sarah and Abraham recognized. It was in partial fulfillment of God’s pledge to the serpent right after the sin of Adam and Eve had plunged the world into misery: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel” (Gen. 3:15).

However, Jesus, not Isaac, would be the most important representative of the seed of Adam and Eve. Jesus, his birth also an unnatural one, would actually crush the serpent’s head and thereby break the stranglehold that the devil had on God’s fallen creation. And through faith in Jesus other unnatural children of the promise would also be born (see Rom. 9:8).

The apostle continues this theme in his letter to the Galatians. The essence of his argument is that since Christ is Abraham’s seed and since the inheritance still comes by faith, everyone who has faith in Christ becomes united in him as the true seed of Abraham. “If you belong to Christ,” Paul writes, “then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Gal. 3:29). And he concludes his letter by pronouncing God’s peace on those he calls “the Israel of God” (Gal. 6:16).

This means that all true people of God are Abraham’s unnatural offspring—miracle children born only by God’s grace and with the promise of a rich inheritance. We are a holy nation in whom the world must see a witness of shalom, contentment, and laughter until the day Christ returns.

February 8

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Abraham’s Dilemma

Genesis 22:1–2

Search me, God, and know my heart! Try me and

know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous

way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!

Psalm 139:23­–24 (ESV)

This is one of the most difficult stories in the entire Bible. It’s one of the primary reasons that Marcion, a Christian bishop in the second century, decided that the God of the Old Testament was a different deity than the Father of Christ portrayed in the New Testament. In Marcion’s view, God had put Abraham into an impossible situation, forcing him to violate his conscience in order to please God.

However, the church excommunicated Marcion for heresy, correctly holding that we have only one God—the God of all of Scripture. James 1:13 clearly says that God never tempts anyone to sin nor asks people to violate one of his commands in order to obey another. For example, God never forces anyone to choose between the central commands of his law—whether to obey “Love God above all” or “Love your neighbor as yourself.” The first is an issue of faith; the second is an issue of morality, but God wants both of them obeyed simultaneously just as Jesus, God’s premier representative, always did.

So then, however much Abraham struggled with what God had instructed him to do, it wasn’t that he wrestled with the dilemma of whether to violate his conscience or disobey God. Nor was he struggling, as so many of us do, over uncertainty about what God wanted. Abraham’s true difficulty was deciding where he would put his faith even at the cost of losing the most important person in the world to him. Abraham knew that God was testing him to see whether his faith and his hope for the future after all these years was now in God’s gift of Isaac, or in God himself, as the one who had invited Abraham on this life and death journey.

February 9

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Abraham’s Decision

Genesis 22:3-8

By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who

had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son,

of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.”

He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead,

from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.

Hebrews 11:17–19 (ESV)

Abraham’s decision on how to respond to God’s command was by no means as logical and unemotional as may be inferred from the account in Hebrews. For he was about to lose what was considered in his day to be the most important guarantor of a future—his son. And he would lose him for something that looked absolutely impossible and irresolvable, that is, a contradiction between the promise and the command of the Lord.

God had said that his promises to Abraham would be fulfilled through Isaac. But now he told Abraham to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. Abraham believed, however, that God could not compromise his faithfulness by turning against him. As before, when Abraham expected a child from his and Sarah’s good-as-dead bodies, he hoped for more than it seemed possible to hope for. He told Isaac that God himself would provide the lamb. His faith was also his son’s; Isaac, exemplifying the attitude that Jesus would have, cooperated completely in what God required.

Rather than looking to his own sensibilities and his own seed to ensure his future, Abraham looked to the God who had called, sealed, partnered, and blessed him. As Hebrews 11:10 puts it, “He was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” And God responded afterwards by renewing his covenant with Abraham.

It is only in retrospect that we can see that by this test, God was not merely discerning Abraham’s faithfulness, but also refining, strengthening, and encouraging it.

February 10

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The Seriousness of Sin

Genesis 22:9–18

Sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin,

and so death spread to all men because all sinned…Therefore,

as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act

of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.

Romans 5:12, 18 (ESV)

The death of Isaac was the most difficult sacrifice Abraham could have been asked to make. This highlights the seriousness of human sin that makes such an ultimate sacrifice necessary.

The message, emphasized and repeated to generations of Abraham’s descendants, was that there is no forgiveness of sin or peace with God without a suitable sacrifice to pay the price for sin. This same theme, continued in the pages of the New Testament, gives additional insight about both the awfulness of sin and the greatness of God’s gift of Jesus Christ.

Scripture says that Abraham took Isaac to the region of Moriah to sacrifice him. There is some uncertainty about where this was, but some scholars believe that the spot is in Jerusalem at the temple mount, which is the former site of Solomon’s Temple and the area where Jesus was crucified.

If that’s correct, then on the mountain site God chose for Isaac’s sacrifice and where God provided the substitute of a ram in Isaac’s place, the Jewish people later offered sacrifices to God as a substitutionary way to receive the forgiveness of sins. Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice here too. Here he himself became the sacrificial lamb, paying the price for the sins of all humanity.

God didn’t have to give up his one and only son. But he did it for our sakes, in spite of how ugly and deformed sin has made us. God was willing to experience the pain of the death of his beloved son so that his human creatures might have life. Oh that more people would take advantage of God’s offer.

February 11

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The Cost of Discipleship

Genesis 22:1–18

Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me,

and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it,

and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Matthew 10:37-39 (ESV)

One more theme emphasized in this central story of the Old Covenant is the cost of discipleship. The choice Abraham faced is perfectly captured in the comments Jesus made to his disciples in Matthew 10:37-39. And the quality of Abraham’s response is just what Jesus expects from each of his followers.

That is to say, Abraham took up his cross and followed the Lord. He gave up his impulse to save his own life and future to lose it for the sake of God. He put his entire world on the altar, and in doing so gained the world. And we must do as much if we wish to be faithful.

We may not judge the Lord. Nor may we wait to obey until we understand his reasons for what he requires of us. Obedience must sometimes come before understanding. When all avenues seem closed and no hope remains, the only thing left to do is leave the solution to God in order that he may open a way where we cannot yet see one.

God’s testing, for us as it was for Abraham, is to make us fit to live with him—fit for heaven. It is to help us become increasingly submissive and obedient to Christ. As John Calvin once put it (paraphrased), “It is good for us that we reach the end of our wisdom so that we resign ourselves to be led according to God’s will.” Every time we lose our life by faithfully allowing God to refine, strengthen, and encourage us by testing, we become better able to see and more fit to inhabit what the Book of Revelation calls “the New Jerusalem.”

February 12

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Isaac and Rebekah

Genesis 24

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and

supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Philippians 4:6 (ESV)

As Abraham neared the end of his life, he took steps to help Isaac remain faithful to the covenant they had with God. Isaac was not Abraham’s only son, but Abraham knew that it was through Isaac that the Lord’s blessing would be fulfilled (Gen. 21:12).

Abraham’s desires for his son were twofold: that Isaac would not select a wife from among the Canaanites, and that Isaac would not leave the land into which God had led them. A failure in either regard would have betrayed Abraham’s commitment to the Lord and his willingness to trust that God would follow through on his promises.

To that end, Abraham commissioned his chief servant Eliezer to get a wife for Isaac from among Abraham’s kinfolk in the homeland he had left so many years before. Both Abraham and his servant were confident that the God who had given Abraham such great promises would enable the success of this venture.

And so God did. In answer to the prayers of Abraham and his servant, the Lord revealed to Eliezer that Rebekah was the one chosen to be Isaac’s wife. She, together with her father and brother, recognized the hand of the Lord in this encounter and gave their consent to the proposed marriage. It was a testimony of this family’s willingness to cooperate with the Lord’s plan to make a special people of Abraham and his descendants. The parting blessing of Rebekah’s family echoes God’s own blessing on Abraham.

The subsequent marriage and love between Isaac and Rebekah is a further indication of God’s blessing on them and the continuation of the covenant promises.

February 13

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Jacob and Esau

Genesis 25:21–34; 27:1–46

Though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good

or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue,

not because of works but because of him who calls—[Rebekah]

was told, “The older will serve the younger.” So then it depends

not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.

Romans 9:11–12, 16 (ESV)

The births of Jacob and Esau signal both the blessing of the Lord and his continuing involvement in the fulfillment of his promises. Right from the start, God told Rebekah that it was the younger of her sons who would receive the rights and blessings usually awarded to the older. Even if she shared that news with her husband, it did not seem right to Isaac, who preferred the natural ruggedness and leadership abilities of Esau. But, as strong a man as Esau grew to be, he had little regard for the promises of God, showing that by his willingness to sell the inheritance that was his by right of birth.

Jacob, on the other hand, treasured what the birthright represented and sought to obtain what God had said would be his. Unfortunately, he and his mother felt they had to scheme to obtain the Lord’s blessing.

Jacob managed to secure the blessing for himself. But he did not yet understand that his own actions had been entirely unnecessary and even unapproved by God. He paid a big price for his deceitfulness. As a result of taking matters into his own hands, Jacob was forced to flee the murderous anger of his brother.

By God’s grace, Jacob would in time come to realize that the promises of the Lord cannot be purchased. He would also learn to trust in the Lord’s timing. But that would only be after finding himself the victim of another’s deceit—that of his future father-in-law, Laban—and after having to face the prospect of a reunion with the brother he had deceived.

February 14

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Jacob’s Ladder

Genesis 28:10–22

This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him

out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around

those who fear him, and he delivers them. Oh, taste and see that

the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! 

Psalm 34:6–8 (ESV)

When Jacob fled to escape Esau’s anger, he had to leave the place associated with the covenant promises. This was no small thing, for it actually called into question the fulfillment of those promises. The very requirement for Abraham and his descendants to remain in the place associated with God’s promises was likely part of the reason that, years before, Isaac had remained behind while Eliezer traveled abroad to find a wife for him.

But Jacob had now been forced away from the Promised Land by his own impatient conniving. Despite God’s announcement to his mother that he would receive God’s covenant blessings, Jacob must have wondered whether the Lord would still bless him.

The answer came at Luz, where Jacob stopped on the first night to set up camp. In his sleep Jacob saw a stairway connecting heaven and earth with angels moving up and down upon it. God spoke to him, repeating the promises he had made to Abraham. With this, Jacob knew that one day God would graciously, through no merit of Jacob’s own, give him both this land and descendants to inhabit it. He also knew that God would use those descendants to bring blessing to the whole world.

Jacob was so impressed that when he awoke he set up a monument to the Lord and dedicated the place to God. He renamed it Bethel—the house of God. Jacob also pledged to give the Lord a tithe of all his future possessions, understanding that there was no blessing he could receive that did not come by the grace of God. Jacob then continued his journey, considerably more at peace than when he’d arrived at his camp.

February 15

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Covenant Blessings

Genesis 29:1–31:2

Remember his covenant forever, the word that he commanded, for

a thousand generations, the covenant that he made with Abraham,

his sworn promise to Isaac, which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute,

to Israel as an everlasting covenant, saying, “To you I will give

the land of Canaan as your portion for an inheritance.”

1 Chronicles 16:15–18 (ESV)

Jacob traveled to the birthplace of his mother where he met and fell in love with Rachel. He agreed to serve Laban for seven years for the privilege of her hand in marriage. However, in a deception that was quite as remarkable as the one by which Jacob had stolen Esau’s blessing, Laban substituted Leah for Rachel in the wedding. A week later, having agreed to another seven years of service, Jacob was allowed to marry Rachel as well. After fourteen years of service, he contracted for yet another period of service for a share of Laban’s flocks and herds.

There are some peculiar ideas in these chapters about what people of this time thought about human and animal reproduction. However, neither these ideas nor the common practice of taking multiple wives and concubines are commanded or endorsed by Scripture. Indeed, the taking of multiple wives often, as it did with Jacob, led to conflict in the home.

What is clear in these chapters, however, is that God used these sinful people and their peculiar ways to continue to fulfill his covenant promises, even outside of the land associated with these promises. Jacob’s family grew by eleven sons and a daughter during his time with Laban. And his flocks and herds became stronger and more productive than Laban’s—so much so that Laban’s clan became jealous of the ways that God was blessing Jacob’s clan. The Lord was getting Jacob ready to go back home so that he could receive the next installment of God’s covenant blessings.

February 16

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Return to Canaan

Genesis 31:3–55

Therefore come go out from their midst, and be separate from them,

says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you,

and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me.

2 Corinthians 6:17-18 (ESV)

Jacob’s separation from Laban was precipitated by a message from the Lord whom he had met and pledged to serve at Bethel. God told Jacob, “Leave this land at once and go back to your native land.” But, apprehensive of how Laban would receive this news, Jacob waited to leave until Laban was some distance away and shearing his sheep.

Laban caught up with him ten days later. He was very unhappy and apparently even ready to do some violence to Jacob. Laban checked himself, however, after the Lord told him in a dream to be careful with his son-in-law. Laban’s expressed concern was twofold: He had not had a chance to say good-bye to his daughters and grandchildren, and his household gods were missing.

The first concern is understandable; the second may be less so. We don’t know the names of these gods, but they were certainly perceived to have value for protection and blessing, and were a common feature of Mesopotamian households, including the household of Laban. Remember that Laban was the grandson of Abraham’s brother Nahor, who had remained in Haran after God had called Abraham out of idolatry to follow him to a new home and a new life in Canaan (Gen. 11 and Josh. 24:2).

Laban’s family certainly respected the faith of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but Laban and Rachel’s attachment to their household gods indicates that idol worship continued to be common in Haran. So God now recalled Jacob to the land connected with God’s promises. Only if he lived in wholehearted service to the one true God could all of the promises of the Abrahamic covenant be fulfilled.

February 17

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How Jacob Prayed

Genesis 32

Will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily.

Luke 18:7–8a (ESV)

When Jacob left Laban to continue on his way home he was met by angels of God. Despite the positive memories they evoked in him of his first encounter with God, Jacob still worried about seeing Esau again. He planned various strategies to placate his brother, and then took his concerns to God in prayer. Take note particularly of Jacob’s attitude in prayer.

Jacob was desperate. He had done his share of strutting around. But now he was figuratively if not literally on his belly before God, desperate for help. And what went along with Jacob’s sense of desperation was humility; he knew his proper place before God.

Such desperation and humility are fundamental to prayer. Desperation, or at least a deep sense of need, drives us to the only one who can meet that need. Humility is simply our recognition of the difference in status between us and the one who can answer our need.

Jacob’s prayer was also marked by persistence. Often in prayer, we give up too soon. We may reason, “God already knows what I want, anyhow.” And it’s true that he does. But this very fact may be one of the most important reasons that we are to pray with persistence.

Jacob prayed as earnestly as Abraham had done many years before on behalf of Sodom and Gomorrah. He was insistent without losing his humility, and he persevered in his midnight wrestling match with an angel of the Lord until he received the blessing he so desperately wanted. In the process, God changed Jacob’s name and character so that he would become ever more ready to do the work God had planned for this covenant partner.

February 18

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What Jacob Prayed

Genesis 32

God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man,

that he should change his mind. Has he said and will he

not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

Numbers 23:19 (ESV)

The content of prayer is fully as important as the manner of it. One of the most important principles with regard to the content of prayer is that prayer is more about putting us in touch with God’s plans and purposes than about letting him know about ours. We may be most confident about what we pray when we remind God of his promises and ask him to fulfill them.

Jacob does that in verses 9 and 12 of Genesis 32, referring to God’s original promise to his grandfather Abraham, which then came down to Isaac and finally to Jacob himself. Jacob asked God how those promises could possibly be fulfilled if God let Esau finally get his revenge on Jacob.

We need not worry that God is forgetful of his promises. He just wants our partnership in his work. By standing on his promises, our requests don’t become frivolous but remain consistent with the coming of his righteous rule on earth. Such prayer is a way we can agree with God in his work. This assumes, of course, that before, during, and after our prayers, we are being as obedient as possible in doing what we think God calls us to do.

Sometimes, trusting God requires waiting instead of action. It is not always easy to understand which we should be doing—waiting or acting. But if, like Jacob, we take the time necessary for prevailing prayer, often God will be able to get through to us to suggest things we can do to help bring the answers. We work, not so that we might minimize the risk of trusting God so completely, but so that we may cooperate fully with him as the partners he has created us to be.

February 19

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God Helps Jacob to Prosper

Genesis 33:1–35:15

Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel,

for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.

Genesis 32:28 (ESV)

There were two main threats to the ability of Jacob and his family to answer God’s call to live in the land of his fathers. Most important in Jacob’s mind was the hostility of the brother whose blessing he had stolen. However, God answered his prayers about this; Esau met him with a warm welcome and a pledge of friendship.

There was also an implicit threat posed by the native inhabitants of Canaan. Would they be willing to share the land? This question was settled by their sale of property to Jacob.

An even bigger threat in Jacob’s mind was how he and his family could live next to Canaan’s idol worshipers without compromising their calling to be God’s covenant partners. This is the context for understanding the revenge that Jacob’s sons took against the men of Shechem following the rape of their sister and the proposed intermarriage between her and the son of Shechem’s ruler. While Scripture does not condone their actions, it is clear that what they did was a factor in keeping Jacob’s household separate and protected for service to God.

As a sign of his family’s consecration to God, Jacob ordered that they get rid of all idols and purify themselves. He took all the signs of his family’s misplaced loyalty to God—no doubt, including the household gods that Rachel had stolen from her father’s house—and buried them. It was shortly after this that the Lord reaffirmed the new name he had given Jacob following their encounter at Peniel. Jacob would be called Israel to commemorate his prevailing struggle with God. It was also the name that his family would assume in the future as a sign of God’s continuing call and blessings.

February 20

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Favorite Son

Genesis 37:1–11

I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and

make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless

those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse,

and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

Genesis 12:2–3 (ESV)

The key person in the last part of the book of Genesis is Jacob’s eleventh son, Joseph. His is the story of how Jacob’s family transitioned from tribal life in Canaan to become the multitude in Egypt that Moses would later lead back toward the land that God had promised as a homeland to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Joseph was Jacob’s favorite son, the firstborn of his favorite wife. That preference irritated Jacob’s other sons so that they hated Joseph. What made it worse was a bad report Joseph had given their father about them and a dream he’d shared with them in which his brothers were in service to Joseph. Even Jacob thought the content of Joseph’s dreams to be unseemly.

It is popular to read some negative things about Joseph into this story—that he was spoiled, a tattletale, and something of a braggart. However, the biblical writer says nothing critical of Joseph, either here or elsewhere. Joseph cannot be held responsible for any unwise action of Jacob, and what he told his father about his brothers was likely important information about a way they had betrayed Jacob’s trust. Finally, there’s no evidence that Joseph foolishly provoked his family in sharing his dreams; he was just as puzzled as everyone about them.

Scripture portrays Joseph as entirely blameless; there is probably no one else in Scripture, besides Jesus, who is depicted so uncritically. Through Joseph’s life and activity Abraham’s descendants are saved from certain death and grow into a nation—blessings that anticipate the much more complete salvation and blessing that Jesus would later bring Abraham’s spiritual offspring.

February 21

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Joseph Betrayed

Genesis 37:12–36

Even your brothers and the house of your father, even they have

dealt treacherously with you; they are in full cry after you.

Jeremiah 12:6a (ESV)

Rivalry between siblings is not so unusual. But there is a big jump from sibling rivalry and anger at a brother to the premeditation of his murder. This was not only a significant moral failure, but also a complete disregard by the brothers for God’s promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to make them a great nation. If any of the brothers had stopped to think about it at the time, their plan showed contempt for the very Word of God.

Reuben had a special responsibility as the oldest son. Since he was the one who would have to answer his father’s questions on their return home, he was unwilling to have a hand in Joseph’s murder. Judah also had some reservations, but apparently neither brother was willing to openly oppose the rest. Reuben hoped to solve the problem later with a secret rescue. But before he could do that, Judah proposed slavery as a substitute for murder.

Ironically, the slave traders were related to the sons of Jacob. They were descendants of Midian, half-brother of their grand-father Isaac (Gen. 25:1). So it was that these outside-of-the-covenant nomads now removed Joseph from the covenant circle God had drawn with Abraham and his descendants. With that, Joseph’s brothers were certain that he was as much out of their lives as if he had, in fact, been killed by a wild animal—the very thing they now led their father to believe had happened.

Jacob was devastated—refusing to be comforted. If the brothers thought that by eliminating Joseph, their own relationship with their father would improve, they were disappointed. What’s more, although they appeared for the moment to have gotten away with their sin, their lives would deteriorate and their past would eventually catch up with them.

February 22

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Joseph’s Testimony in Potiphar’s House

Genesis 39:1–20

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another,

as good stewards of God’s varied grace.

1 Peter 4:10 (ESV)

Until now, we’ve had little idea of how Joseph had been dealing with the chaos into which his brothers’ betrayal had cast him. Here, however, we begin to see Joseph’s character; he showed that he was determined to remain God’s faithful servant.

The success Joseph had was surprising to Potiphar and his household. You see, this was a culture that believed that gods had territories. Yet, although Joseph was clearly outside the territory of the God of his fathers, it was apparent to Potiphar and everyone else that Joseph’s God was with him and giving him success.

That success was severely threatened by the sexual advances of Potiphar’s wife. Joseph knew that more than chastity was at stake; he recoiled at the idea of violating the trust his master had placed in him. In fact, this idea of kept or broken trust is important to help us understand the nature of sin as God sees it. Many people, if they think of sin at all, see it as a list of acts forbidden by God. That is how the Pharisees of Jesus’s day saw it. But God labels as sin whatever people do to break trust with him. Every sin begins as a breach of trust with God and usually with people too. Of course, every breaking of trust with God then finds expression in what people do with sex or money or language or thoughts or whatever.

Potiphar’s wife did not care to have her own sin exposed so she accused Joseph of attempted rape and had him removed from his position of trust and put into prison. For Joseph, this was like being sold into slavery again. All of his faithfulness appeared to have been for nothing. At least, that’s how a person of lesser integrity might have seen it. But Joseph’s following actions showed that he was still determined to remain faithful to God.

February 23

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Joseph’s Testimony in Prison

Genesis 39:20b–40:23

Bring me out of prison, that I may give thanks to your name! The

righteous will surround me, for you will deal bountifully with me.

Psalm 142:7 (ESV)

If Joseph had been so inclined, he might have questioned why God had raised him up only to bring him down again. But we don’t hear him asking these questions. Even if he did wonder if he’d ever see the outside of prison again, we see him being faithful; his behavior in prison was as it had been in Potiphar’s house—above reproach. And as before, Joseph was a blessing to his masters. Just as Potiphar “did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate” (Gen. 39:6), so now the warden “paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care” (Gen. 39:23).

Joseph’s exemplary character and amazing success did not mean that his time in prison and away from his family was not a hardship. But he accepted his hardship as from the hand of the Lord.

Even so, he could not have known the reason why his liberation would be so long delayed. Later on, Joseph may have recognized, as we now recognize with the benefit of hindsight, that Joseph’s difficulties probably were necessary for his growth in maturity. Joseph’s time in prison also served as an apprenticeship in which he honed the organizational skills he would later need for his position as administrator over all of Egypt.

Joseph’s conduct gives us insight into the conduct of Jesus when he similarly found himself the victim of injustice. Jesus also was humiliated, entirely unjustly, but he entrusted himself to the Father and continued moment by moment in obedience to him. He did that not only to secure our salvation but also to show us with what attitudes and actions we are to meet the challenges and trials of our life. With Joseph and Jesus we can be sure that God means them for good.

February 24

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Joseph’s Promotion by Pharaoh

Genesis 41

When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices…

By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted.

Proverbs 11:10-11 (ESV)

Joseph knew that his ability to interpret dreams—first those of two of Pharaoh’s chief stewards and later those of Pharaoh himself—was only by the power of God at work within him. It was something to which he freely testified at every opportunity. For his faithfulness, Joseph was promoted to be in charge of all the food collection and distribution for the upcoming famine.

Joseph’s next few years were busy ones, first in collecting and storing food, and then in overseeing its distribution. Joseph’s actions in famine relief made him in a real sense a savior of the world. His role was reflected in the Egyptian name he received: Zaphenath-Paneah, which means “redeemer of the world and preserver of life.” But what happened in Egypt was secondary to a greater work to come, one that would involve saving Joseph’s own people, and eventually through them, saving a world experiencing a famine of grace. This famine would be met by Jesus, whose name also means Savior.

Joseph’s success as a savior did not make him proud or forgetful of his continuing dependence on God. We know this by the attitude he displayed later in the story. Another hint of his right priorities at this time was the names he gave to his sons.

·   The first he called Manasseh, which means “causing to forget” explaining that it was because God had made him forget all his troubles. Already at this point Joseph may have anticipated that God would give him the opportunity to be a blessing to his father’s household.

·   Joseph called his second son Ephraim (“doublefruitfulness”). It was his way of saying that God had made him fruitful in the land in which he had been persecuted.

February 25

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The Beginning of Restoration

Genesis 42

Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out,

that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.

Acts 3:19-20 (ESV)

When Joseph saw his brothers standing in front of him, he recognized what it was that God had been doing in his life all these years. Those dreams from his childhood had been God’s way of letting Joseph know that God would use him to preserve his family in the great famine that the world now experienced.

Joseph knew that it wouldn’t be long before he would be reunited with his father and the rest of his family. But he also knew that there was something hanging over the heads of his family that had to be corrected before there could be reconciliation. Forgiveness is not cheap; it is difficult and expensive. Those who receive it need to understand that and to admit their sin and their need for forgiveness. The brothers hadn’t done that yet.

To start with, they underestimated the problems their conspiracy would cause. They expected that getting rid of Joseph would reduce their problems and make their lives better. But it didn’t work that way. Jacob refused to be consoled. And the brothers did not expect the guilt that stuck with them like a leech. The cover-up, even though it fooled Jacob, took its toll on the brothers. They agreed, “Surely we are being punished because of our brother” (Gen. 42:21).

The brothers began to understand that their offense against Joseph had really been an offense against God, and they began to see that they were reaping the rewards of their sin. What an important step in the restoration of those who are guilty before God. Seeing the magnitude of sin and its consequences is the essential first step on the path to peace and reconciliation.

February 26

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Lessons in the Wages of Sin

Genesis 43—44

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God

is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 6:23 (ESV)

The tension in these chapters grows as Joseph’s brothers experience an escalation in the consequences of their prior disdain for the covenant that God had made with the patriarchs, and thereby with them all. They find out for themselves that sin results in death.

First Simeon must remain behind in Egypt as a hostage. He can be released only by Benjamin’s arrival in Egypt. But Jacob will not consider such a thing. Reuben recognizes that the way out of this mess will come only by a sacri­fice as big as the sin that brought the family to this point. So he offers his sons as pledge of his determination to make things right. But Jacob still won’t hear of letting Benjamin go, not until the supply of food runs out and starvation again threatens the survival of Jacob’s whole family. Only then does he allow Benjamin to accompany his other sons back to Egypt.

There, by Joseph’s contrivance, Benjamin is accused of thievery and must remain in Egypt as Joseph’s slave.

To the brothers, this is the worst possible thing that can happen. Judah is the spokesman for the group (Gen. 44:18-34). In his plea it becomes apparent that the brothers’ attitude has completely changed. Previously they had nearly brought their father down to the grave in sorrow. Now, they cannot bear the thought of bringing him more sorrow, and, in fact, are themselves weighed down by his grief. Only now can they be forgiven and restored, since true repentance lives in their hearts.

Judah offers himself in sacrifice for Benjamin. It’s the very sacrifice that his descendant Jesus would make one day, but to bigger effect: his life for the sins of the world.

February 27

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God Sent Me Ahead

Genesis 45

If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in

Sheol you are there…even there your hand shall lead me.

Psalm 139:8, 10b (ESV)

Throughout all of Joseph’s difficulties, his faith that God was with him never wavered. He resisted the advances of Potiphar’s wife, protesting his unwillingness to sin against God. He told Pharaoh’s jailed servants, and later, Pharaoh himself, that he had no ability to interpret dreams but that God did and that he was God’s servant. He gave his sons names that testified to God’s help in overcoming his troubles and rendering fruitful service, even in a foreign land. And now Joseph not only told his brothers, but wholeheartedly believed: “God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance” (Gen. 45:7). 

The brothers weren’t sure whether to trust Joseph’s testimony. Genesis 50:15 explains their recurring doubts after the death of Jacob; they feared that Joseph would now take his revenge on them. But what they found was true forgiveness and reconciliation in the face of great sin. What’s more, they no longer had to worry about the killer famine that claimed so many lives in their world. Joseph brought Jacob and the whole clan from Canaan to live under his protection in Egypt, where they could prosper for a time, even if they would not live happily ever after in that place.

If only God’s people today could have such confidence in God’s presence and protection and his ability to totally transform human plans and make them correspond to his plan. God did it with Joseph; he did it in an even better way in Jesus. And until Jesus returns, God continues his loving and sovereign work for his people, calling them to believe that whatever their situation, it is God who has sent them ahead and who enables them to accomplish his purposes.

February 28

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God’s Plan Includes a Detour to Egypt

Genesis 46:1-7, 28-34; 47:1-12, 27-31

Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in

you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings

I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by.

Psalm 57:1 (ESV)

Jacob was overjoyed to hear that Joseph was still alive. Nevertheless, he had some concerns about immigrating to Egypt. Canaan was the homeland that God promised Abraham. What’s more, God expressly forbade Jacob’s father to go to Egypt during a previous famine. Jacob naturally wondered what such a move would mean for God’s promise of a home in Canaan.

It was with this weighing on his mind that Jacob (also called Israel, the name of the nation he would become) stopped at Beersheba to worship God. There, God spoke to him in a vision, telling him not to fear going to Egypt, for God would go with him there and fulfill the promise to make him a nation. God also reassured Jacob that he would bring his descendants back to the land of the promise.

A related matter to which Joseph, and probably Jacob too, had given some thought was how to avoid religious assimilation in Egypt. Joseph’s wise plan was to settle his family in Goshen, one of Egypt’s most fertile spots and especially suitable for livestock. They could profit financially there, but would also be relatively secluded so that they could fulfill their destiny as a distinct and unique people for God’s own purposes.

Jacob’s sons did prosper and in the process became a blessing to Pharaoh and Egypt as well. Jacob was content to see this as evidence of God’s providential plan. Even so, he knew that God had tied the future of his descendants to the promised land of Canaan. Therefore, he made Joseph promise not to bury him in Egypt, but to return his body to the Promised Land where he could be buried with Abraham and Isaac.

March 1

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Blessings

Genesis 48—49

To all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the

right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood

nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

John 1:12-13 (ESV)

Jacob blessed all of his sons before he died. I’ll list two of the most significant of his blessings:

·   Judah would rule God’s chosen people (see Gen. 49:10). David was the first of these Judean rulers, and as the New Testament makes clear, Jesus was the one who ultimately fulfilled this.

·   Joseph would receive a double inheritance in that his sons would both be blessed as Jacob’s sons. Contrary to Joseph’s expectation, however, his younger son received the blessing that belonged by natural right to his older son. It was another instance in which God’s blessing went to one who could not claim it by right.

One of the main themes of Genesis is that it is only by the grace of God that life and blessing comes to those who don’t deserve it.

·   After Adam and Eve lost their place in Paradise, God gave them a family.

·   When Cain murdered his brother, God gave Seth to Adam and Eve, and Seth and his line lived as God intended, calling on the name of the Lord.

·   After the world again ran amok, God raised up Noah as a preacher of righteousness. Afterwards, in a world cleansed by the flood, Noah became like another Adam.

·   God set Abraham apart for special service and blessing and promised to bless the world through him.

·   Even though the recapture of paradise was proving to be very elusive, by the time the Genesis record ends, Israel was becoming a nation. God’s promise of a permanent homeland had been repeated, and in the meantime, Israel was already beginning to become a blessing to the world.