Category: Genesis

Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Genesis 35 before reading the devotional below.

God is leading Jacob directly, telling him to move to a new place. Jacob wants to rid his family of all false idols and gods because he’s feeling pretty relieved at the way God answered his prayers when he returned to Esau. He settles in Bethel (also called Luz) in the region of Canaan, which is the land God promised to Abraham. This Promised Land will have to be fought for again several generations later after the Israelites are enslaved in Egypt. We’ll get to that part of the story as we keep reading. In this chapter we see that God renames Jacob, “Israel.”

In today’s chapter there are a lot of monuments and altars built. Jacob creates an altar to God, erects a stone pillar to mark the spot where God changed his name, and builds several burial sites. Often in the Bible the Israelites set up markers or stones to memorialize an event. They particularly want to remember what God has done, and many of these stories include the detail, “It can be seen there to this day.” These first five books of the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) are known as the Torah, and they contain very important historical information about the Jewish people. These stories, inspired by God to be written as they are, were verifiable with stone memorials around the region demonstrating the tangile realities of what God had done.

Here’s your freedom for today:

God’s blessings are worth memorializing.

I don’t know about you, but I tend to keep my memories written down in journals. I also remember dates and often think of important things that happened on specific dates in my life. I have at times kept a record of prayers I have prayed and a record of fulfillments of those prayers. When God moves in my life, I don’t want to forget it! I know my memory may gradually fade, but I want the stories of God’s work in my life to last. I want my children and grandchildren to hear the stories and even see them written down so that they know God was faithful to me. What ways might you memorialize God’s work in your life?

Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Genesis 34 before reading the devotional below.

Trigger warning: today’s chapter has sensitive content about sexual assault. I write that knowing that so many women have experienced some kind of sexual assault and Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, is counted among that number. It’s difficult being a woman in a man’s world. It’s vulnerable, and it’s sometimes unsafe.

I’m thankful for Dinah’s brothers in this story, who first and foremost believed her. That’s huge in and of itself. But they also sought revenge. Whether or not this story is an example of what to do, it makes me glad that her brothers tricked her rapist and destroyed the town on their sister’s behalf. It does seem they went too far as they took the women and children of that town as prisoners. Once again, the life of a woman in a man’s world. Jacob isn’t happy about the whole situation, but he’s mainly worried about survival. Aren’t we all.

Here’s your freedom for today:

In God’s kingdom, everyone is safe.

What happened to Dinah is not okay, and if you’ve been sexually assaulted I want you to know I believe you and I am so sorry that happened to you. I don’t know whether anyone has fought for you the way Dinah’s brothers fought for her, but I do know that in God’s kingdom men and women alike are safe. Evil is going to be gone someday in God’s new heaven and new earth. You can read more about it in Revelation 21 and 22. As a counselor, I can’t wait to be out of a job because all the problems are over. Until then, let’s all be safe spaces for each other as we sit in tiny glimpses of heaven.

Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Genesis 33 before reading the devotional below.

Reading today’s chapter, I’m really surprised I have not heard more sermons about Esau. We often hear about Jesus’ story of the prodigal son, whose father welcomed him back with open arms after the son treats him badly. But Esau is perhaps one of the most powerful stories of forgiveness in the Bible. We’ll see another one soon when we read about one of Jacob’s sons, Joseph, who is probably about 3-5 years old in today’s story. Perhaps watching his Uncle Esau forgive his father was one of Joseph’s earliest memories. Imagine the influence that might have had in his life, and in the entire history of Israel!

Esau had every right to be angry with Jacob, and he certainly would have been well within his rights to at least bring up the offenses between the two of them. Jacob’s apprehension is a sign that it would have been reasonable for Esau not to welcome him back. Verse 4 describes a moving scene: “Then Esau ran to meet him and embraced him, threw his arms around his neck, and kissed him. And they both wept.” That’s not the behavior of a man who has hung on to bitterness over being wronged.

Here’s your freedom for today:

Forgiveness always sets you free.

Reconciliation, which we see in this story, is possible when both parties are willing to lay aside old ways and start over. That’s not always the case in situations where harm has occurred. However, forgiveness is always possible and it’s a key to freedom. Even if Jacob had never returned to his homeland, Esau had found freedom in releasing anger and forgiving his brother. If he had not worked through those feelings of anger, it’s unlikely he would have been ready to embrace his brother and weep with him. Esau could have lived a life of bitterness, longing for the day he might get revenge if Jacob ever crossed his path again. He chose freedom. What do you need to release and forgive today?

Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Genesis 32 before reading the devotional below.

When you’ve stolen from your brother twice and completely altered the course of his life, it’s not a sure thing that he’ll be friendly when you plan your big homecoming. Jacob is nervous about going back, and he is ready to give Esau some big gifts to try to make peace. When he hears that Esau is ready to meet him on the road with a 400-man army, Jacob starts praying.

This story shows us just how fiesty and determined Jacob is. He has a strange midnight encounter with an unidentified man, who seems to be an early appearance of Jesus (God in the form of man). Jacob’s hip is dislocated but refuses to stop the wrestling match without a blessing. In the end, he gets a blessing and a new name: Israel.

Here’s your freedom for today:

God’s best is worth fighting for.

Jacob seems very eager for blessings throughout his life. It’s what drove him to cheat his brother out of his birthright and the blessing from their father, Isaac. He demands a blessing again here. Jacob clearly wants something more, and he relies on spiritual means to get it. He clearly believes in the power of God to speak into his life and make things happen. He’s willing to fight hard to get God’s best for him. What are you fighting for today? What wrestling match do you need to have with God in prayer?

Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Genesis 31 before reading the devotional below.

They say that good fences make good neighbors, and it turns out that they work for family disputes too. Jacob is fed up with Laban’s mistreatment, and now he’s being accused of trying to cheat Laban out of his wealth. They are living in proximity, but back then when they had lots of livestock they weren’t all living in the same house. Jacob decides to flee without telling Laban, and it takes three days for Laban to find out they are gone. In the end, they build a rock wall to signify their separation.

Rachel pulls a fast one and steals her father’s idols, which suggests that there’s some mixing of allegiances to gods in the family. She pulls a “lady problems” excuse to avoid getting caught and it works. The theft goes undetected. It’s unclear why she stole them, but it’s clear that her life was on the line if she were caught.

Here’s your freedom for today:

Freedom is found when we follow the one, true God.

This entire chapter is a story none of us would want to be in. Bad family relationships, fleeing undercover, stealing, lying, and heading back to a place you had to run from in the first place. Jacob’s not leading his family well, and yet he’s the one God is using to build his special nation. Just another example of how God accomplishes his mission regardless of our failings. So many of the problems here could be avoided if Jacob (and Rachel) had a singular focus on the one, true God. They knew him, he was involved in their lives, yet they had other gods and wealth in mind. They are not living free lives as a result. What allegiances are compromising your freedom today?