Category Archives: Read the Bible

Read the Bible: Genesis 39

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It may seem like Joseph just can’t catch a break but he is blessed by God so everything that he puts his hand to prospers. There is finally a lesson we can learn from one of these guys: it is better to please the LORD than to please men or women. Have we talked about Romans 8:28? The story of Joseph in Egypt gives off Romans 8:28 vibes.

Genesis 39 

Joseph was brought down to Egypt. And Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmealites, who had brought him down there

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Read the Bible: Genesis 38

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We have seen some messed up stuff in Genesis already; we’re about to witness some more. Any person in the Bible that does anything seems to have some tragic or fatal character flaw. God uses messed up people because that’s the only kind there are. Just wait ’till you see what God’s makes out of this mess, though.

Genesis  38 

At that time Judah went down from his brothers, and settled near a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah.

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Read the Bible: Genesis 37

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Genesis 37 records a pivotal moment in the history of Israel. This is the beginning of how Israel winds up in Egypt for 400 years so that God can bring them out in the book of Exodus.

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Read the Bible: Genesis 36

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Genesis 35 tells us again that Jacob’s name was changed by God to Israel, and carefully lists his 12 sons grouping them with the mother of each. This information will be important throughout the history of the Hebrews/ Jews and of some importance to Christian scholars. You might want to bookmark that chapter and refer to again some time. Chapter 34 was about the defilement of Dinah and her brother’s violent response to it; some parts of the Bible are more useful to us than others. If you enjoyed the John Wick movies maybe this chapter is in your wheelhouse.

I don’t know what to tell you about Genesis 36. This chapter records the family history of Esau’s descendants.

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Read the Bible: Genesis 35

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Rachel is going to have a second son, giving Jacob a total of 12, but dies in child birth. Isaac also dies at the end of this chapter but he was 180 years old; he lived to see Jacob return and be reconciled to his older brother Esau.

Genesis 35

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Read the Bible: Genesis 34

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Sometimes to make stories from the Bible suitable for Children’s Church or Veggie Tales videos, the details get a little bit sanitized. There are no coloring pages or VBS skits for Genesis chapter 34. This is certainly not the most shocking or the most violent chapter we will read but you do want to brace yourself, it’s not exactly safe for work either. Maybe read the first few verses before you start the player.

Genesis 34

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Read the Bible: Genesis 33

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This is a short chapter and gives me a chance to offer some commentary about slavery in the ancient world and the difficulty of translating Hebrew.

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Read the Bible: Genesis 32

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After 20 years, Jacob finally breaks ties with Laban. But to return home he still has to deal with an older brother who possibly still wants to kill him, and was the reason he left in the first place. Then he wrestles with an angel and claims to have seen the face of God. There is never a dull moment with this guy.

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Read the Bible: Genesis 31

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Jacob finally gathers all he has and flees from Laban in order to return to the land of Canaan. There is a verse in this chapter that is often quoted but maybe it does not exactly mean what a lot people think it means.

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Read the Bible: Genesis 30

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When people say they don’t read the Bible because it’s boring, I can tell they have in fact not read the Bible. There are portions that are a little dry but the book of Genesis is not among them. If the stuff from chapter 30 happened on a modern daytime soap, the audience might find it hard to suspend their disbelief. But of course this is real. In the words of Jack Palance, the truth is stranger than fiction.

Genesis 30

When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister and said to Jacob “Give me children, or I will die.”

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