Read the Bible: Genesis 36

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading →

Satur-deja Vu

Posted on by

If you are unfamiliar with the Holy Nope, it’s basically Pastor Austin Keeler calling out foolishness on social media. I mean, he produces TikTok, YouTube Shorts and FB Reels that usually feature a short clip of someone on social offering up heresy or acting foolish in church. He uses comedy to draw attention to the fact the he is very serious about identifying the truth of scripture. He is pretty harsh on charismatics, women pastors and he is a hard line Calvinist. Which brings me to April Fools Day.

Continue reading →

Read the Bible: Genesis 35

Posted on by

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

Continue reading →

Read the Bible: Genesis 34

Posted on by

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

Continue reading →

Read the Bible: Genesis 33

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading →

Read the Bible: Genesis 32

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading →

Read the Bible: Genesis 31

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading →

Read the Bible: Genesis 30

Posted on by

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.”

Continue reading →

Read the Bible: Genesis 29

Posted on by

Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are great men of the Old Testament, renowned for their faith but sometimes questionable in other aspects. They lived in a different time, in another culture, and remember this is before the Law was given to God’s people. Abraham lied, on two separate occasions, about his wife being his sister; Isaac later did the same thing with one of the same kings. Jacob stole his older brother’s birthright and later his father’s blessing. And now it’s Jacob’s turn to be on the receiving end of some deception. This is just the beginning of the drama for Jacob.

Continue reading →