To The Reader

This is an interesting pairing of chapters. Both pivot around a woman seducing a man- but for very different reasons and with very different results. You may be asking yourself why Joseph’s story gets interrupted by a kind of random account of Judah getting his daughter-in-law pregnant. There is a reason. But first… To better…

The story of Joseph being sold into slavery has multiple levels of meaning. At the most basic level, it is the story of a very dysfunctional blended family. If we “zoom out,” on another level it is a picture of the future family Israel. They are chosen and favored by God above all the other…

Of the many things that happen in chapter 35 I’d like to focus mainly on the Lord making Himself known to Jacob. We don’t know how God called Jacob to return to Bethel, (dream, encounter, vision), we just know that He did and Jacob’s immediate response involved a family-wide cleanup. Remember those teraphim (the household…

Oh… 😞 the incident with Dinah…ugh. Remember how I mentioned that Dinah was probably the little princess of the family? She has 11 big doting brothers. Well, the little princess is a teenager now (probably), and like all clueless teen girls thinks she needs to get out there and see what the big wide world…

Ok… right outa the gate we have another totally wild statement just nonchalantly dropped in the text: “Now as Jacob went on his way, the angels of God met him. And when he saw them, Jacob said, “This is God’s camp.” So he named that place Mahanaim.” Genesis‬ ‭32‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NASB2020‬‬ What. On. Earth just happened?!…

For some reason, this chapter gives me kinda Dukes of Hazzard vibes. Seriously- I got Waylon Jennings in my head right now. So I’m going to apologize in advance for the references to the show. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, you’re probably under 40 or one of my readers from outside…

In another echo of the Abraham and Sarah story, the barren Rachel shoves her female servant Bilhah into Jacob’s arms in order to make a child that she can claim. And Bilhah does bear children. Dan and Naphtali. This sparks a kind of baby-making arms race between the sisters. Leah gives Jacob her handmaid, Zilpah,…

Esau saw a see-saw on the seashore shared by seven shorn sheep sharing shawls. Said shorn sheep were sashaying on said see-saw. So what did Esau say he saw when he saw the see-saw with seven shorn shawl-sharing seashore sheep? 🤪🥸 I’m sorry, y’all. I couldn’t help it. 😆 What Esau actually saw was that…

Friends, the word of the week is: Deceive. Every single narrative we read this week will involve deception. The story of Jacob stealing Esau’s blessing is familiar to anyone who grew up going to Sunday School. Let’s not assume, however, that we know everything there is to know. The biggest hindrance to learning is assuming…

Father Abraham had eight sons: Ishmael, Isaac, Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. We generally only remember the first two. Try to remember Midian. He will pop up again a few times. Interesting that Isaac actually starts the trend of the 2nd son being placed ahead of the firstborn. Good old Father Abraham is…

A bride for Isaac… The Oath The getting of a bride for Isaac starts with a weird (to us) oath. Abraham puts his head servant, his most trusted guy, under oath to select a bride for Isaac from among his kinfolk. He is NOT, under any circumstances to: 1) Take Isaac back to Haran or…

(If you’re thinking- “One chapter. I bet Lacy’s post will be short today.” You have vastly underestimated my powers. 😉) We have to say goodbye to our wonderful mother of faith, Sarah. A lot is (rightly) made of Abraham as the “father of faith.” Let’s take just a moment to appreciate Sarah. “By faith even…