Category: Genesis

Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Genesis 25 before reading the devotional below.

Abraham’s life looks a lot like the cultures around him, with concubines that were never approved by God. We can’t tell from this passage what God thinks about all this, and if we only looked at Genesis we might think that God is just fine with a swinging lifestyle. (Spoiler alert: he’s not). Other passages in the Old and New Testament paint a picture of monogamy, including Song of Solomon, Hosea, Proverbs 31, and 1 Timothy 3. In these passages we see God’s intention for a husband and wife, and Abraham was not in touch with God’s design.

In today’s passage Isaac has two sons, Jacob and Esau. Jacob will be renamed Israel in the coming chapters, and that is where we get the name Israel as a nation of the Jewish people. These two brothers did not get along, and Esau takes the physical and spiritual implications of his inheritance as a firstborn son lightly when Jacob demands them in exchange for some soup. Not a great plan.

Here’s your freedom for today:

Hang on to God’s good gifts for you.

Impulsive decisions rarely lead to freedom, and Esau learns the hard way that the gift God gave him in the role of firstborn son is something he should have treasured. When we feel desperate, we often think short-term: what’s good for me in this moment? God’s operating on an eternal timeline, so instant gratification rarely leads to eternal rewards. Don’t take for granted all that God has given to you — hold on tight and treasure every good thing.

Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Genesis 24 before reading the devotional below.

Today’s chapter is long, but it is repetitive as the first half tells us what happened and the second half is the re-telling of what happened. Don’t miss the details in the stories — it’s really cool! First, Abraham is looking for a wife for Isaac. Perhaps he’s started to realize that he should be wary of getting too close to the people groups around him, so he sends a servant back to his homeland to find a wife. The servant is a bit overwhelmed by the task and prays that God would help him find the right woman. Before he even finishes praying, God sends the sign he was asking for!

After he tells the woman what God did, she takes him back to her family where he tells the whole story. (And I do NOT recommend this as a normal way to meet women…) The woman, Rebekah, and her family are very excited to hear from Abraham’s servant and also clearly believe that this meeting was directed by God. They return to Abraham’s home and present her to Isaac.

Here’s your freedom for today:

God directs your path.

Often, I have prayers that seem like God takes forever to answer. But there are other times when God is taking action before I even get the words out of my mouth. Ultimately, I think that has more to do with how connected I am to God’s plan than to changes in his speed. God is deliberate and he knows what he’s doing. He’s directing you (even sometimes when you think your plan is your own idea). What prayers is God leading you to pray today?

Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Genesis 23 before reading the devotional below.

Today we mourn the death of Sarah, Abraham’s wife, who lived to be 127 years old. Abraham seeks a proper burial for her and finds some allies in the people groups around him. I was struck by the mention of the Hittites, as they become enemies of the Jewish people down the road. (Check out all the Bible references to the Hittites here.)

It’s not clear from this passage whether or not God is okay with Abraham’s alliances with the Hittites or the Philistines or any of the other nation-states around him. God brought him into this land and promised it to him, but through the later books of Deuteronomy and Joshua we see that God giving Abraham land means driving the current nations out of it. God’s going to destroy those nations, so is he okay with Abraham making friends at this time in history?

Here’s your freedom for today:

God cares who your friends are.

Who are you in alliances with? What groups do you identify with, and have you asked God what he thinks about your associations? Sometimes God brings us into new places, and when he does it is not a given that he wants us to form relationships with anyone in our path. Some groups are not honoring to God, and some may directly lead us away from God. Jewish history is full of poor alliances and bad influences that lead God’s people away from him over and over. When you make friends, be sure they are ones you can keep for eternity. If not, perhaps they’re not the best idea in the first place.

Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Genesis 22 before reading the devotional below.

I’ve often heard people talk about the symbolism of Abraham being willing to give up his only son, just as God later gave up Jesus. But during this series, I remember just writing about how much Abraham loved his son, Ishmael. Today’s chapter starts off with God specifically calling Isaac Abraham’s “only son.” Why is that? It strikes me that God did not want Abraham to be confused on his meaning. “Take your son, your only (legitimate) son — yes, I mean Isaac…” We know Abraham is prone to adding in his own ideas so God is careful to be clear. His plan was always going to be about Isaac.

Here God asks Abraham to sacrifice his son. In this era, there were a variety of religions and many of them involved child sacrifice. God is using a very dramatic object lesson to show Abraham that he is not like any other god. In an act of obedience, Abraham is about to kill Isaac and God stops him, replacing him with a ram instead. I believe God is making a very clear statement that he will never demand a child sacrifice, and he now knows that Abraham will obey him fully.

Here’s your freedom for today:

God is one of a kind.

The God of the Bible is often misunderstood and mischaracterized by people who haven’t studied the Bible. When you read these stories in context and seek to understand the character of God, you see that already in this very first book of the Bible God is continually revealing himself as a provider. He is trustworthy and good, and the obedience he demands is in the context of care and love. God stayed with Noah through the entire ark and flood situation, he hung in there with Abram’s mistakes, and he provided a sacrifice in today’s story to show that he is trustworthy. God hasn’t changed — he’s still like this in your life today. Do you trust that he has good things for you?

Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Genesis 21 before reading the devotional below.

I’m not sure exactly how much time has passed from the last chapter to this one, but it’s a good thing God protected Sarah from sleeping with Abimelech or there might have been confusion about whose baby Isaac actually was… God’s making good on his promises to Abraham and Sarah and they are finally having a son. Eventually this leads to some tension between Sarah and Hagar, and God tells Abraham to send Hagar and Ishmael away. We see here how much Abraham was upset by the situation and loved Ishmael as a son. Many Muslims believe that the Arab people are descended from Ishmael just as the Jewish people are descended from Isaac.

We have to remember that Abraham was a leader of a whole lot of people, just as others like Abimelech. Their agreements are like treaties between nations, and their alliance has far-reaching effects in history. If you have read the Bible before, you’ll notice the significance of the mention of Philistines at the end of the chapter. They aren’t an enemy of Abraham, but they will become a significant enemy of his descendants later on.

Here’s your freedom for today:

God sees your need and provides.

Remember how Abraham took matters into his own hands when he slept with Hagar to have a son? Hagar was driven away early on, even though she was a victim in the whole thing. God saw that and made her the same promise that he made to Abraham about blessing her with many descendants. This time God himself tells Abraham to send her away again, and she feels forgotten as she and Ishmael are dying of thirst in the desert. God’s there, and he sees their need. He keeps his promises, and he provides a well just when they need it most. The Bible doesn’t tell us any more about what happens to them, and perhaps the Islamic people are the descendants that came out of that union (although this is not considered biblical or historical fact). Either way, God took care of them and kept his promise which once again reveals just how good he is.