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Jacob Meets Esau – Genesis 33
When I was in high school I interacted with a guy who wanted to challenge all aspects of my faith. Years later he did some work for a person I worked with and found out she knew me and asked her to tell
Continue reading...Jacob Wrestles with Yahweh – Genesis 32:22-32
We had a wrestling team in the junior high school I attended, and I learned wrestling and competed for a couple of years. I haven’t done anything more fatiguing and energy depleting than wrestle.
Continue reading...Two Camps – Genesis 32:1-21
Today is, in a sense, a guest post, since I am quoting the excellent remarks by John Walton in his commentary on Genesis. So the present passed on ahead of him, and he himself stayed that night in the
Continue reading...Laban Confronts Jacob – Genesis 31:22-55
I recently heard of a family who, upon departing each other’s company, would repeat the words of Jacob and Laban in their covenant with each other: “The LORD watch between you and me, when
Continue reading...Jacob Runs – Genesis 31:1-22
It is mentioned in this passage that Rachel stole from the family shrine her father’s terephim , a word either signaling idols (images of gods) or representations of ancestors (which were sometimes
Continue reading...God Blesses Jacob – Genesis 30:25-43
We see in this passage that Jacob’s brother-in-law sought information through divination, indicating he was not a Yahweh worshiper. The Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary explains
Continue reading...Jacob’s Children – Genesis 29:31-30:24
“Mandrakes” play a role in this part of Jacob’s life. Walton writes: “The mandrake (Mandragora officinarum) is a stemless, perennial root in the potato family that grows in stony
Continue reading...Jacob Marries Leah and Rachel – Genesis 29:1-30
Walton says, “Marriage customs in the ancient Near East combined legal and festive elements in different ways from current Western practice. The legal aspect did not feature a formal ceremony by
Continue reading...Stairway to Heaven – Genesis 28:10-22
Of the imagery in this dream, Walton writes: His dream presents a ladder or stairway that reaches to heaven. What Jacob is dreaming comes from the cultural world of the ancient Near East. In Mesopotamia
Continue reading...Jacob and Esau Part Ways – Genesis 28:1-9
In a 1984 New York Times Magazine article by John Bowers about brothers, he writes: “I am mystified by siblings who have never competed, who get along magically – or, stranger still, do not
Continue reading...Blessing of Jacob – Genesis 27
The Blessing: Giving the Gift of Unconditional Love and Acceptance, was a popular book in the 1980’s that has now been updated and revised. It powerfully applied the biblical concept of family
Continue reading...Isaac and Abimelech 2 – Genesis 26:17-36
The Abimelech whom Isaac deals with could be the same Abimelech his father Abraham interacted with, or a successor. The name Abimelech means “my father is king,” and may have become a title
Continue reading...Isaac and Abimelech 1 – Genesis 26:1-16
Isaac is now on his own, raising herds of animals, moving about in the land to find pasture, and carrying on the legacy of the promise God made to Abraham. And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from
Continue reading...Birth of Jacob and Esau – Genesis 25:19-34
From Jeanne Steig, a poem entitled “Twins”: Esau said, “I’m feeling faint.” “Aw,” said Jacob, “no you ain’t.” “Papa’s blessing,” Esau cried, “Is mine by rights. But
Continue reading...Abraham’s Death – Genesis 25:1-18
My son-in-law has been doing research on his and our family through Ancestry.com. Our fascination with our families, our ancestors, stems from the very beginning of time with the promise to Adam and
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