To The Reader

Joseph’s brother’s visit to Egypt #2… It’s been a while since the brothers returned from Egypt. (Minus Simeon). Long enough that they have used up all the grain they brought home. Jacob wanted to smack the boys upside the head for offering the information in Egypt that they had a younger brother. As the only…

Joseph’s brothers visit to Egypt #1… The famine is in full swing when Jacob hears that Egypt has grain for sale. Here’s a link to an episode of Tasting History about ancient Egyptian bread. You can watch it now or later. (Or not at all. I’ll never know. ) It will give you a better…

Two new guys move in to the cell block, the Matitre d’ and the Chef de Cuisine. Joseph gets assigned to “wait on them.” Think of the irony of that. They are the ones who usually wait on Pharaoh. In fact, they’re each in charge of a whole team of servers and chefs. Joseph waits…

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…