Introduction

Taking time to spend in God’s word can be a struggle.

This is true for me personally, as well as for my family. I have good intentions, I know in my head all of the reasons why and how and what for. Yet I seem to be always in a perpetual state of trying to build up momentum, to form habits around personal and family worship; I have yet to reach the point where my bodily autopilot kicks in and I can act without effort.

Because of this, I try to lessen the friction. What makes it difficult to spend time in the Scriptures? Where are the roadblocks? For me, one place of friction is in the lack of a reading plan. It’s hard to sit down and open my Bible when I’m either not sure what I’m going to read that day, or I’m not sure that I’ll get any help understanding and applying what I read.

On the family front, my oldest is moving out of the picture book Bibles. So many of them have captured our attention for the past eight years, and continue to capture the attention of our younger kids. But I’ve started to feel the need for something deeper, and wider, to get the stories of Scripture into his imagination. I don’t want to skip through the stories anymore, picking out the most captivating ones. I want my kids to know that many people in the Scripture are not perfect heroes or heroines but fail in devastating ways.

So I started writing. I wrote what I wanted our family to read together, and what I would want to read on my own. I wanted to create something that would ease the friction and help us form faithful habits. My hope is that it will be helpful to you, as well.

Is this, then, just for families? No, I haven’t written it to be. Some of the questions are on the simpler side, but I think are easily adjustable and applicable if you are an adult. And perhaps part of becoming like a little child is setting aside for a moment the complex questions we’ve become used to asking, and approach the text with a childlike curiosity.

One of the things that has guided my interpretation is a voice ringing in my ears: “No synagogue summaries!” My Old Testament professor, Dr. Erika Moore, insisted that in exegesis and interpretation, we could not read the Old Testament as if we were in the synagogue before Christ’s incarnation. Instead, we always ought to be looking for ways in which Christ is typified, or looked forward to, or fulfills, the text. I’m thankful for her faithfulness in pressing my classmates and me to see Christ as the treasure in the field of the Old Testament.

And if Christ is there, then we are too. At the beginning of this project, I read a book that has changed the way I read Scripture: Hans Boersma’s Scripture as Real Presence. Boersma looks back at the early Church Fathers — Augustine, Athanasius, Origen, Irenaeus, and many others — to argue for a return to reading the Old Testament sacramentally, as a text that makes God present to us. This is more than a reading that moves the reader from the Old Testament to the life of Christ to its relevance to us today. He argues that “Because believers are ‘in Christ,’ when they locate his real presence in the Old Testament, they also find their own lives and realities reflected there” (xv). This way of reading is rich and deep, and I have only begun to scratch the surface.

Using This Book

This reading guide is very simple. It begins with reading a chapter of Genesis. If you are pressed for time, or your read-aloud audience has a shorter attention span, I’ve suggested shortened readings for some of the very long chapters. If you aren’t in those categories, read the whole chapter. I’ve then written short reflections on the text, reflections which look for Christ’s presence and consider the implications for us. After that, I’ve suggested one or two questions for discussion. Please, adapt as fits your situation. Some questions might be better left asked but not answered out loud. And if the conversation flows, don’t cut it short! Help your family work the stories into their imagination by considering the thoughts and feelings of the characters. Use the stories to lead them to praise, confession, and supplication. Finally, I’ve offered prayers to use. My goal was to draw on the ideas from the reading and give you a place to start from — keep going if you have more to say to God!

I’ve also included a list of verses that communicate important themes from Genesis. God’s word is worthy of our rumination — of our taking it and turning it over and over in our minds and hearts.

A Prayer

As I wrote, I frequently felt daunted at the weight of what I was doing. Along the way, I discovered a prayer written by St. Hilary of Poitiers. Hilary was a bishop of Poitiers and a Doctor of the Church. He vigorously defended the divinity of Christ against the Arians. In his work On the Trinity, Hilary includes a prayer for illumination. Although his context for writing was vastly different from mine, I prayed the following part of it often when I sat down to write.

We will study the sayings of your prophets and apostles with unflagging attention, and knock for admittance wherever the gift of understanding is safely kept. But yours it is, Lord, to grant our petitions, to be present when we seek you and to open when we knock.

There is an inertia in our nature that makes us dull; and in our attempt to penetrate your truth we are held within the bounds of ignorance by the weakness of our minds. Yet we do comprehend divine ideas by earnest attention to your teaching and by obedience to the faith which carries us beyond mere human apprehension.

So we trust in you to inspire the beginnings of this ambitious venture, to strengthen its progress, and to call us into a partnership in the spirit with the prophets and the apostles. To that end, may we grasp precisely what they meant to say, taking each word in its real and authentic sense. For we are about to say what they already have declared as part of the mystery of revelation: that you are the eternal God, the Father of the eternal, only-begotten God; that you are one and not born from another; and that the Lord Jesus is also one, born of you from all eternity. We must not proclaim a change in truth regarding the number of gods. We must not deny that he is begotten of you who are the one God; nor must we assert that he is other than the true God, born of you who are truly God the Father.

Impart to us, then, the meaning of the words of Scripture and the light to understand it, with reverence for the doctrine and confidence in its truth. Grant that we may express what we believe. Through the prophets and apostles we know about you, the one God the Father, and the one Lord Jesus Christ. May we have the grace, in the face of heretics who deny you, to honor you as God, who is not alone, and to proclaim this as truth.

Scripture Memory

Genesis 1:1

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:26-27

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

Genesis 3:15

And I will put enmity​
between you and the woman,​
and between your offspring and hers;​
he will crush your head,​
and you will strike his heel.

Genesis 12:1-3

The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

Genesis 28:15

I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.

Genesis 50:19-20

But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”

Genesis 1

Read Genesis 1 - 2:3

In the beginning. The Bible opens by telling us the most important things we should know about ourselves and the world we live in. We find out that before anything existed, before any animal or plant or human was alive, God was there. He is the one who made the whole world and everything in it. We are not in charge of ourselves, because we are creatures. We depend on God for our life.

God made it all simply speaking: “Let there be!” Did you know that God’s Word is a who not a what? Jesus is the Word of God, the one who was with God in the beginning. Not only Jesus, but God’s Spirit, too, is there in the beginning. The Spirit hovers over the waters, waiting for God’s creative Word to be spoken.

God made all things good. God only makes things that are perfect and whole: everything that he makes is just the way it should be. This world that God has made, that we live in, is a good and beautiful place with everything that we need to live.

God made people very good. Unlike anything else that he made, he made men and women in his image. This means that we are to act like him in his world, to take care of what God has made and to show the world what he is like.

We are made in God’s image, but Jesus is God’s perfect image, perfectly showing us who our invisible God is. The more we become like Jesus, the more we show God’s character as he does.

What do you think God’s new world smelled like? Sounded like? How do you see pictures of what God is like in the people you know?

Prayer

We praise you, God, for the beautiful world you have made and for your love and wisdom in creating it. We praise you for your kindness in making us in your image. Make us more and more like Jesus, we pray, that we may more clearly show the world what you are like.

Genesis 2

Read Genesis 2:10-25

At the heart of God’s good world is a garden. He made this beautiful garden as a home for the man he had created. But something is wrong — something is not good. God says that it is not good for man to be alone, and so a search begins. Is there any animal that God has made that will be what Adam needs?

None is found. God creates again, meeting Adam’s need perfectly. This time God creates another person — a woman, Adam’s helpmeet, his equal made in the image of God. Together, man and woman, they reflect the character and the heart of God. They are able to work together in God’s beautiful garden, taking care of it and representing God in it.

Together, man and woman, they become the first husband and wife. Marriage is the first human relationship formed by God, and it points us to the end of time. The last marriage, the final husband and wife that all husbands and wives remind us of, is the marriage of Jesus to his bride, the Church. From the very beginning of Creation, God has given us a picture of what we are waiting for: our marriage to Jesus.

Have you ever been alone? How did that feel? How can you work together with someone else to take care of God’s world? to represent God in it?

Prayer

God our creator, thank you that you have not left us alone, but have given us others to work with and love. Help us to faithfully work together in your world, and to remember the marriage that we are waiting for.

Genesis 3

Read Genesis 3

What has happened to God’s good world? An intruder has entered — Satan, God’s enemy, comes in the form of a serpent. Once God’s own majestic angel, Satan rebelled against God. He didn’t want to worship God — he wanted to be in charge. Ever since Satan’s rebellion, his goal has been to thwart God’s plan. And so he comes into God’s good world, in the form of a serpent, determined to ruin it.

Adam and Eve listen to his lie, refusing to trust God and obey his word. They decide to take charge of the world and rule it how they want. Immediately, God’s world breaks. As God warned, their sin would have consequences, deep consequences. When we live under God’s rule, worshiping him, we have life. Apart from God, following after our own power and desires, is death. Their relationship with each other breaks: instead of working together in God’s good world, they would fight with each other, each trying to gain power over the other. Their relationship with the creation breaks: getting their food would be difficult work, and instead of taking care of it they would abuse it. Worst of all, their relationship with God breaks. No longer can they live in the Garden. No longer can they enjoy walking and talking with God. 

But God is not thwarted by Satan’s plan. In God’s curse of the serpent, he also gives a promise to Adam and Eve — a promise that one day, someone would be born who would crush the head of the serpent. You see, God has his own plan that will triumph over Satan and his rebellion. He plans to rescue his world, cleansing his world and his people from sin, healing their broken relationships, and bringing them back to the Garden.

How do you think Adam and Eve felt after they ate the fruit? How does sin make you feel? Are you hiding from God like Adam and Eve did?

Prayer

Lord, we mourn over Adam and Eve’s sin. We mourn that they chose their own desires over you. We do the same, Lord, each day. Forgive us. Help us to run to you and confess, and to trust in your good promise for rescue.

Genesis 4 

Read Genesis 4:1-16

The evil that Adam and Eve brought into the world is spreading. Their son Cain lets hatred and jealousy consume him, and he kills his brother Abel. Later, a descendent of Cain not only kills a young man, but he also brags about it in a song. Sin is not content to stay small and tame. Sin, God tells Cain, is like a wild animal, crouching at your door, ready to devour you.

Sin, like a wild animal, is powerful and dangerous. We cannot conquer it on our own. Especially when sin is in our own hearts! We need something powerful to protect us from sin and its power over our own hearts. We need Jesus, through his death and resurrection, to break the power of sin. And we need the Spirit to help us continue to kill sin in our hearts, to protect it from devouring us. 

What sins in your life feel like a wild animal? Are you trying to tame them, or fight them?

Prayer

Father, help us to see our sin clearly. Do not let us pretend that it isn’t a big deal. Give us the courage and strength to fight our sin each day. Thank you that you have broken sin’s power through the death and resurrection of your Son.

Genesis 5

Read Genesis 5

After the terrible sin described in Genesis 4, this chapter breathes hope into the story. All is not as bad as it could be. Adam and Eve have another son, and this son is the first in a long line of men who follow God. One of them, Enoch, walks so faithfully with God that God spares him from death — instead of dying, he is taken up to heaven!

But the curse cannot be avoided. Seth, we are told, is a son in the image of Adam. Adam’s sin infects everyone connected to him. Following after God is possible, but the curse remains. 

Until someone is born — someone not born from Adam, but born of the Holy Spirit. Free from the curse of sin, the baby that Mary would bear would be free to not only walk faithfully with God perfectly, but also to rescue everyone under the curse. His birth would bring true hope that the curse of sin and death would be broken. 

Can you remember a time when someone or something gave you hope? What difference does it make to have hope because of a promise God has made?

Prayer

Thank you Lord, for restraining evil and giving grace to enable us to follow you. Thank you that Jesus, free of the curse of sin, was able to walk with you perfectly and rescue us from the curse.

Genesis 6

Read Genesis 6

The hopefulness of Seth’s line does not last very long. Soon, the earth is filled with wicked people determined to destroy themselves and the world with their sin. God sees their wickedness, and he is not pleased. What happens to his people and his world matters to God, and so he acts. He prepares to give them their just reward, moving them towards the destruction that they embraced in their wickedness. 

Except for one person. Noah, by God’s grace, finds favor with God and is instructed to build an ark that will save him, his family, and a remnant of the animals. This ark will safely pass through the waters of God’s judgment. In the ark we have a picture of God’s salvation in Jesus Christ. In Jesus, like Noah in the ark, we are kept safe from the destruction that our sin pushes us towards.

What safe place do you go to in times of trouble? What makes Jesus an even better safe place than that place?

Prayer

Father, we mourn over the sin of the world. We thank you that you act justly towards all people, and also that you acted with gracious kindness towards Noah and his family. Thank you for the way you have rescued us from the destruction of sin through Jesus.

Genesis 7

Read Genesis 7

God’s judgment is a fearful thing. The story of Noah and the ark is not a fun little story about Noah gathering animals into a big boat. Sin is ugly and terrible, and because God is just, judgment will come. Jesus and his disciples pointed back to Noah, telling people to remember the judgment of the flood. In the same way, they said, would judgment come again to the wicked.

When the flood came, the people were either in the ark, saved by God, or outside of the ark, swept away from the floods. In the same way, when Jesus comes again, everyone will either be with Jesus, kept safe in the ark of salvation, or outside of Jesus, refusing to trust him. Listen to Jesus, calling to you to come to him and be saved.

Have you ever thought that it would never stop raining? How do you think Noah and his family felt, shut up in the ark?

Prayer

Lord, your judgement is a fearful thing. We thank you for the safety we have in Jesus. Thank you that we have nothing to fear so long as we are kept safe in you.

Genesis 8

Read Genesis 8

After the earth is purified, God dries up the earth so that Noah, his family, and all the animals can come out of the ark. It is a new world and, as he did in the Garden of Eden, God commands the first people and creatures to be fruitful and multiply. 

But everything is not the same as it was in the Garden of Eden. When Noah comes out of the ark, he builds an altar. He then takes some of the animals and birds that had been on the ark, and he sacrifices them on the altar. In Eden, there was no need for sacrifice, because there was no sin. Adam and Eve walked and talked with God, with nothing between them.

Through the flood, God judged sin and started fresh. But the problem of sin was still there, and Noah recognizes that even though God saved him from the flood, the only way he can have fellowship with God is through sacrifice.

When Jesus comes again, God will judge the earth again. But this time, he has promised a new heavens and a new earth — a world not only cleansed from sin, but freed from sin. Sin will be banished, and Jesus, through his sacrifice, made once for all on the cross, will bring us into God’s presence for ever and ever. 

How do you think Noah and his family felt when they finally saw dry land again? 

Prayer

Thank you, Lord, for providing a sacrifice for Noah. Thank you for the perfect sacrifice you have given in Jesus. We praise you that you promise to once again judge the earth, banishing sin and bringing us into your presence forever.

Genesis 9 

Read Genesis 9:1-17

The earth has been purified, but sin still grips people’s hearts. Noah himself, a righteous man, saved by God to be a new Adam, becomes drunk on his wine and acts foolishly.

Yet, God makes a promise to Noah and to everyone after him: never again will he destroy the earth through a flood. God will be patient, but sin remains. How then will God deal with sin, if not through a flood?

God would deal with sin through water and through judgment. On the cross, Jesus would take the judgment of sin. Jesus would bear God’s wrath against sin. And then, through water God would purify his people -- not the drowning flood waters, but the water of baptism. In our baptism, we are like Noah -- kept safe in the ark of Jesus, washed in the waters of baptism.

Have you ever had a fresh, new start, only to mess up? How does God respond to our mistakes and our sin?

Prayer

Father, thank you for your promise to Noah. Thank you for your patience with us, forgiving us even after we’ve been given a fresh start. Thank you for the way you have purified us in baptism; continue to purify us by your Holy Spirit.

Genesis 10 

Read Genesis 10:1-16, 32

The world begins anew. Do you remember the first command that God gave to Adam and Eve when the earth was first made? â€œBe fruitful and multiply.â€ God wanted the people he had made to fill the earth, so that all parts of his world would be cared for.

And so with this new beginning, Noah’s sons obey God’s first command: be fruitful and multiply. They have children, and their children have children, and all these families spread out. They build cities and kingdoms. And with their obedience, history moves on towards the fulfilment of God’s promise: one day, one savior to rescue the world, one mediator to bring God’s people back into his presence.

What are some simple ways that you can obey God each day? How does our obedience look forward to Jesus coming again?

Prayer

We praise you, Lord, for the way you have blessed the people you have made and filled the earth. We praise you for the way you have directed history and cultures, families and nations, all to bring about your salvation.

Genesis 11

Read Genesis 11:1-9; 27-32

The people of the earth have a goal: to make a name for themselves. They want to be great, to be famous and powerful and remembered. These desires are twisted. They want to do all of this in pride and arrogance, apart from God. But God is not threatened. He has to come down to see the tower — it is very small, compared to him! And then God decides to scatter the people in order to protect them. Separated by language, they are unable to work together and so unable to do as much evil as they could together. God restrains them. 

One day, however, God would send his Spirit to his people. His Spirit would reverse the curse of Babel, and people from every nation and tribe and language would be united together — not for arrogant plots of evil, but for joyful worship of God.

What is something you’ve done that seems very big and important? How do you think God sees it? 

Prayer

Father, we confess that too often our pride twists what we do so that we act for our glory, not yours. Forgive us and restrain us from doing what is wrong. We praise you for the gift of your Spirit, and we look forward to the day we will worship you together with people from every nation, tribe, and language.

Genesis 12

Read Genesis 12:1-9

Through Abram, God begins his plan to bring people from every nation, tribe, and language back to him. God calls Abram away from his home. There, Abram was surrounded by idol worshippers, people who did not know or love God. So God commands Abram to leave Ur, to leave his family, people, culture, religion —all that — had previously given him safety and identity.

How could Abram do such a radical thing? Through faith in God’s promises. God promised to make Abram a great nation, to bless him and to make his name great, and to bless all the nations through him. Abram looks forward in faith to the future, recognizing that only in God will he find true blessing. 

Many years later, a descendent of Abram would also leave his father. This man, Jesus, would give up the security and glory of his home in order to secure the blessings that God had promised to Abram. Through Jesus, all the people of the world would be blessed. 

Have you ever had to move? Was it easy, or difficult? What do you think Abram wondered about his new home that God was leading him to?

Prayer

Lord, we praise you for Abram’s faith in following you. We thank you for the way you worked through him to establish your people, Israel. We thank you most of all for Jesus, who willingly left his home in order to bring us home with him. 

Genesis 13 

Read Genesis 13

Lot and Abram’s herdsmen are not getting along. In his wisdom, Abram offers Lot the first pick of the land, that they can separate in peace. Lot looks at the land before him. What does he see? He sees a rich land, almost as rich as the Garden of Eden, and he chooses it. He will go East, toward the cities of Zoar and Sodom. 

But Lot’s eyes — and ours —cannot be trusted. Lot sees the physical wealth of the land, but he misses something much more important. The people in those cities were so wicked that their wickedness would swallow Lot up.

Instead, we need to have eyes of faith, like Abram, who looked to God’s direction and promises instead of the desire of his eyes. We should not be surprised that we can’t trust our eyes. Jesus himself, we are told, did not appear attractive. People did not see him and immediately know that he was the Son of God. Only with eyes of faith can we see past what seems to be beautiful or ugly to what is truly so.

Have you ever thought that something looked good, only to find out that it wasn’t good? What did you do?

Prayer

Lord, forgive us for depending on our sight. Give us eyes of faith, that we might see Jesus clearly, and that we might know the way to go to follow him.

Genesis 14

Read Genesis 14

Having made his home close to Sodom, Lot is swept up in Sodom’s war. Abram’s rescue party is small, but he and his army take back all of the people and possessions that had been captured. God is with them. Abram recognizes this when he refuses the goods that the king of Sodom offers him Abram refuses to put himself in debt of an earthly king when the King of all the Earth had given him the victory.

What about this strange person named Melchizedek? He is a king, but also a priest —something that none of the kings of Israel were allowed to do. We also aren’t told anything about where he comes from. Who are his parents? His children? When was he born, and when did he die? In these puzzles, we have a glimpse of the coming Messiah. Like Melchizadek, Jesus would be both priest and king. And like Melchizadek appears to be, Jesus is eternal: without beginning or end, his priesthood lasts forever.

If you were Abram, would it have been easy for you to turn down the king of Sodom’s offer? Why?

Prayer

Father, thank you for this strange person, Melchizedek. Thank you for the way he points to Jesus. We praise you that in Jesus we have both priest and king, and that his priesthood and kingdom will last forever.

Genesis 15

Read Genesis 15

Abram has wealth in abundance, but he is not satisfied. He laments, asking God how his promises are going to come true when he doesn’t have even one son. To answer him, God makes a covenant with Abram. Before, Abram has received promises; now, those promises are sealed with a covenant. God symbolizes his presence through the smoking pot and the burning lamp. Then he uses the typical form of covenant-making in Abram’s world by cutting up carcasses and passing through them. His covenant with Abram communicates, “Let me be like these animals, if I do not keep my promise to you.”

What is Abram’s side of the promise? He was asleep the whole time! He simply receives. This is always our relationship to God: we do not, cannot do anything to compel or earn God’s blessing to us. Instead, we receive it as a gift — it’s grace.

Do you have a lament that you need to share with God? What would you ask God about?

Prayer

Thank you, Lord, that you listen to our laments and care about what troubles our hearts. Thank you that our relationship with you is a gift. Free us from the burden of thinking we need to earn your blessing.

Genesis 16

Read Genesis 16

Sarai’s impatience — it’s been too long! She has no children! — to see God’s promise fulfilled leads her to make a disastrous demand. And Abram, instead of resisting Sarai’s impatience, obeys.

How we hate to wait. Especially when we know something good is going to happen, or should happen, we make every effort to bring it more quickly. But taking things into our own hands only ends in disaster.

In a storm of contempt and mistreatment, Hagar ends up desperate in the wilderness. But God does not wash his hands of this household’s failures. Instead, he comes to Hagar with kindness and encouragement, giving her a promise and sending her back to Sarai. He meets Sarai and Abram’s impatience — and ours — with patience and compassion.

What is something that you waited — or are waiting — for a long time? What did that feel like? How has God been patient with you?

Prayer

Lord, you know the things that we are waiting for. Give us patience to wait in hope. Remind us of your own patience with us, and give us thankful hearts.

Genesis 17

Genesis 17:1-14

Abram and Sarai wait thirteen more years. God does not forget. He comes to Abram again, and this time gives him two things. The first, his name change, declares God’s promises publicly. His new name, meaning “father of multitudes” is not something he could claim for himself. It could only be God’s doing. The second, the sign of circumcision, pointed to life as God’s gift, and to God’s special blessing and relationship with everyone descended from Abraham. 

Circumcision only marked a small part of a boy or man’s body, but one day, with the coming of Jesus and his sanctifying work through his Spirit, our whole bodies would be given to God. Circumcised hearts, the apostle Paul tells us. With our heart’s desires given over to God, our whole bodies, not just a small part, would be given over to him as well.

How would you feel if you were Abraham, telling others what your new name was? What do you think it looks like for our hearts to be circumcised? 

Prayer

Thank you, Lord, for your goodness to Abraham. Thank you for your increasing goodness to us in circumcising our hearts, that our whole selves might love you. May the way that we live reflect this circumcision. 

Genesis 18

Read Genesis 18

The Lord comes to visit Abraham, and Abraham sets out a feast, just as a good host would do. Did you notice that Abraham does not share the meal with his guests? He serves them and then watches at a distance. One day, the Lord will serve the feast — and at his table, we will sit and eat with him.

After the meal, the Lord gives Abraham warning of what he is going to do to Sodom. Abraham then pleads with God, asking God to spare Sodom for the sake of fewer and fewer people. Isn’t this arrogant, to try to talk God out of what he plans to do? No, what Abraham does here is fulfil the promise that God gave to him, that he would be a blessing to all nations. Abraham takes an opportunity to mediate for the city, to ask God’s mercy on them for the sake of the righteous. In this, Abraham looks forward to a greater mediator — Jesus, who pleads for his people. And as we see in the story of Abraham pleading for Sodom, God is quick to show mercy and forgive.

What is the best meal you’ve ever enjoyed? Did you enjoy it alone or with others?

Prayer

Father, we can only come to you through Jesus. Thank you for his faithful work on our behalf. We praise you that you are quick to show mercy and offer forgiveness. Thank you that not only have you forgiven us, but you also invite us to your table. Come quickly, Lord Jesus, that we might feast with you.

Genesis 19

Read Genesis 19:1-26

Lot is rescued from Sodom — but only just. Even though he knows that the people of Sodom are wicked, he has been surrounded by their wickedness for so long that his heart has been pulled into it. His offer to sacrifice his daughters to the mob, his delay when the angels tell him to flee immediately, and his retreat to the cave, show that he continues to grope about blindly for the right way to walk.

Our hearts will always love something. Only when we love the Lord with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength, can we resist the pull of wealth, pleasure, and security. When our hearts are fixed on him, we can see that nothing and no one else can give us what our hearts long for.

What are some things that you really want? What do they look like next to our glorious, beautiful God?

Prayer

Father, we confess that our hearts are easily drawn away to love things that cannot satisfy us. Draw us back to you. Help us to see your beauty and glory in the face of your Son, Jesus. Fill our hearts with love for you.

Genesis 20 

Read Genesis 20

Abraham has been called and set apart by God, but he is not yet free from the curse of sin. Overcome by fear for his own life, he lies and puts Sarah’s life at risk. He fails to trust that God, who has made a covenant with him, will not fail to be faithful to it.

Although Abraham is faithless, God is faithful. We see his grace in Abimelech's response and in God’s not only preserving Abraham and Sarah, but sending them out of Gerar with silver, animals, and servants. God will do what he says he will do. He is not limited by our failure and faithlessness.

What are you afraid of? Have you taken your fear to God, or are you taking things into your own hands?

Prayer

Father, we confess that fear often overwhelms us, so that we forget your promises and fail to trust you. Strengthen our weak hearts. Remind us of your presence and your power. Help us to take our fears and anxieties to you, knowing that you love to comfort us.

Genesis 21

Read Genesis 21:1-21

Twenty-five years later, the Lord keeps his promise to Abraham and Sarah. How sweet to receive the gift they had waited so long for. But for Sarah, the sweetness is soured when she sees Ishmael mocking Isaac. She does not want anyone to threaten her son.

Where earlier Abraham did not trust the Lord with his own life, the Lord now tells Abraham to trust him with the life of his son. Abraham does so, and even though Hagar and Ishmael come close to death, the Lord does not abandon them. He keeps his promise to Abraham and demonstrates compassion.

In these two scenes, we see that our God is one who does not let death have the final word. From the barren, dead womb of Sarah and from the deadly, waterless wilderness, God brings life: a son, a well. And one day, an empty tomb.

Have you ever received something that you waited a long time for? What did it feel like to finally get it? How do you think Abraham and Sarah felt about the birth of Isaac?

Prayer

God of life, we praise you that you do not let death have the final word, but you keep your promises and bring salvation to your people. Thank you for your faithfulness to Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, and Ishmael, and thank you for your faithfulness to us in Jesus Christ.

Genesis 22 

Read Genesis 22

God’s command to Abraham comes like a punch in the gut. After Isaac’s birth we want to read that they all lived happily ever after — but we don’t. Instead, we read that God makes an incomprehensible request of Abraham.

And Abraham obeys.

How? How can he see his way through this terrible trial that God puts before him? Only with the eyes of faith. Such faith, the writer of Hebrews tells us, that he considered that God could raise him from the dead. Abraham knew God’s promise, and he clung to it. He knew that Isaac was the only way forward for God to keep his covenant, and he knew he was powerful enough to bring him back from the dead.

God spares Isaac — but he does not spare his own son. God the Father gives up his own son, not at the coercion of anyone, but willingly, from the depths of love. And the Son, like Isaac, willingly lays himself on the altar. The Father and the Son love the world, and together they carry out this sacrifice for the life of the world.

What is most precious to you? What would it look like to cling to it? What would it look like to treat it as a gift of God?

Prayer

Father, we cannot comprehend the love that brought Jesus to the cross. We are overwhelmed by it. Draw us into your love more and more, that we may see with eyes of faith and act obediently. 

Genesis 23 

Read Genesis 23

Sarah dies and is buried. We read of Abraham’s negotiations, of his buying a plot of land in Hittite country.

This land is not insignificant. The land that Abraham buys is a small piece of the land that God has promised to him. With its purchase, Abraham declares again his faith in God’s covenant to him: he believes that one day, the land where he buries Sarah will belong to his descendants. And with its purchase, Abraham declares that Sarah’s death does not mean she is excluded from God’s promise: “God is the God of the living.” Death does not have the last word; Sarah belongs in the land of promise, the land of life.

Our baptism is a symbol of death and resurrection: we are “buried with Christ.” But this burial puts us in the land of promise, the land of life, as we are also raised from the dead with Christ.

Do you remember your baptism? If not, ask your parents or someone who was there to tell you about it.

Prayer

Father, we rejoice that death does not have the last word, that you have conquered it and secured eternal life for your people.

Genesis 24 

Read Genesis 24:1-28, 49-61

Two people stand out in this story: Abraham’s servant and Rebekah. The servant faithfully follows Abraham’s instructions, and he also demonstrates patient trust in God’s direction. His prayers and his actions show that he believes that he will only be successful if God blesses his mission.

And Rebekah reminds us of Abraham in her simple, immediate response to the call to go from her home, leaving family and culture as Abraham did, to marry Isaac. “I will go,” she says, and she resists the temptation to stay with her family a little longer, to linger instead of obeying immediately.

Through their actions, we see the importance of obedience and trust. God has made a covenant with Abraham, but in his grace he involves people in the working out of this promise. Through the servant and Rebekah, God’s promise to make Abraham a great nation continues to unfold.

And in his grace he involves us, too. He has given great promises in Jesus, even greater promises that those to Abraham, and he has made us his hands and feet — the way to bring the blessings Jesus has secured to all people of the world.

What is one promise God has made through Jesus? Can you think of a way that you can join God in bringing that promise to others?

Prayer

God, in your gracious wisdom you have brought us into your work in this world. Through the power of your Spirit, help us to live in obedience and trust, that we might be your hands and feet both to the ones who love you, and to the ones who don’t yet love you.

Genesis 25 

Read Genesis 25:19-24

After Isaac and Rebekah married, they waited twenty years for God to give them children. Isaac could have taken things into his own hands, like Sarah and Abraham had done. But instead, he trusted God, and he pleaded with God to give them a child. God answered Isaac’s faithful prayer — with twins!

Even though they were twins, in that culture it mattered who was born first. The firstborn son of a family would have the birthright. When Isaac died, Esau would get the largest part of Isaac’s wealth. Esau would also become the new head of the family. For Esau, this was an incredible blessing, because his family had been chosen by God to bless the whole earth. All of this was worth much more than a bowl of stew! But Esau let his stomach make the decision, and he decided that he ‘t care about his birthright.

Many years later, another man would be very hungry. After forty days in the desert, he had not eaten anything. Satan came and taunted him, “Since you’re God’s Son, command this stone to turn into a loaf of bread.” But Jesus did not give in to his hunger. He resisted Satan, and told him that food is not the only thing we need to live. Not only did Jesus resist Satan’s temptation even though he was hungry, but Jesus also gave up his own body, suffering terrible pain and death, so that we might live.

What does it feel like to be very hungry? When you are hungry, do you let your stomach control you?

Prayer

Lord, forgive us for letting how our bodies feel decide how we act. Help us to remember Jesus’ example in resisting temptation and practicing self-control. Empower us through your Holy Spirit to imitate Jesus.

Genesis 26

Read Genesis 26

These stories of Isaac seem very familiar. The lie about his wife being his sister and the events with wells remind us of similar stories from Abraham’s life. In these similarities, we see Isaac following after Abraham, at least outwardly. Inwardly is more questionable. Isaac doesn’t have any significant expressions of faith in word or action. He is like a boat in calm waters: he dutifully drifts downstream, but no major crisis or test forces him to reckon with God for himself.

Isaac’s path is very easy for Christians who live in places of comfort and safety. It is easy to continue on as your parents have, to accept outwardly all that you’ve been taught. But a life of faith is both inward and outward: we must have both hearts seeking God’s kingdom first, as well as lives obeying God. This kind of faith is demonstrated perfectly in Jesus, and it is his zeal that we ought to imitate.

What’s easy for you to follow along with your parents? Is your heart in what you do?

Prayer

God who sees and knows our hearts and minds, you know the ways in which we obey simply because it’s easy and it’s what everyone else is doing. Renew a right spirit within us, O Lord, that our obedience might flow out of hearts fixed on you.

Genesis 27

Read Genesis 27

Isaac intends to bless Esau, going against God’s prophecy. Esau doesn’t care about God’s promise to his grandfather Abraham — he only wants the wealth that he thought he deserved. Rebekah decides to take the blessing for Jacob anyway, and Jacob goes along with her deception. This family is about to tear apart. 

Each person in Isaac’s family fails to do what was right. And yet, do you know that God still uses them? Their sin doesn’t ruin God’s plan to bring salvation to the whole world. Instead, God is gracious to them. Even though Jacob is deceitful, he isn’t too bad for God to change him and use him. We’ll see in the next few chapters how God does this.

The same is true for us. Our sin is never too great, and we are never too bad for God to change us. Jesus’ blood is enough! We can trust him that even though we have done things we regret, God is in control. We only need to come to him, confessing our sin and asking for forgiveness. God can heal broken families, and he can heal you.

Does something you have done feel too big for God to forgive? What do you need to bring to him and ask him to redeem?

Prayer

God of mercy, we praise you that our sin is never too great for you to forgive, and that our relationships are never too broken for you to heal. Heal us, we pray, for the sake of Jesus.

Genesis 28

Read Genesis 28

Many years after this story takes place, Jesus would tell one of his disciples that he was the ladder that Jacob dreamed about. Just as the ladder connected heaven and earth, so Jesus brings us to God. Without Jesus, we cannot come to God. Jacob didn’t deserve God’s promise to him. So far in his story, Jacob has only tricked people, first his brother and then his father. He hasn’t shown that he’s sorry for what he has done, either. Jacob needed a mediator: he needed someone to go between him and God, and in his vision we see the ladder as a picture of Jesus, going between Jacob and God.

Jacob’s story is all about God’s grace. Jacob hasn’t done anything to deserve God’s promise. But when he meets God, he is transformed: he worships God, and he promises to continue to worship and be faithful to God. Our stories resonate with Jacob’s. We haven’t done anything to deserve God’s grace, to deserve Jesus’ salvation. In fact, God says that before he saves us, we are his enemies! But when God meets us, we are changed, just like Jacob.

How do you think Jacob felt as he ran away from home? How do you think meeting God changed how he felt?

Prayer

Lord, we praise you for the grace you have poured out on us in Jesus. Thank you that though we have done nothing to deserve it, you have saved us and changed us. Continue to change us so that one day we will worship you and follow you perfectly.

Genesis 29

Read Genesis 29:1-30

How do you think Jacob felt when he woke up to find that Laban had tricked him into marrying Leah? Perhaps he felt like Esau had when he discovered that Jacob had tricked their father into giving him the blessing. In that way, Jacob gets what he deserves — the trickster is tricked.

This is justice. And yet, in God’s economy, each getting what they deserve isn’t the only way for God to be just. Because of Jesus, God is able to be both just and merciful. Because Jesus willingly took the curse and penalty of sin on himself at the cross, God’s justice is satisfied. He can then turn to you and to me and offer mercy.

Have you ever been tricked? Did it feel fair or unfair? How has God been merciful to you, not giving you what you deserve?

Prayer

Father, in you justice and mercy meet. In your perfect goodness and holiness, you act with justice and mercy. We praise you, Father! Help us to see each day new mercies in our lives and to praise you for them.

Genesis 30

Read Genesis 29:31-30:24

Rachel and Leah go back and forth in their jealous fighting. Each is determined to have more sons to show that they were blessed by God. Jacob feeds their rivalry with his favoritism of Rachel. They were tearing their family apart, just as Isaac’s family had torn apart.

Remember God’s promise to Jacob, to bless him with offspring who would cover the earth and bless the whole world? Who do you think God chose to carry on the promise? He used Leah, the unloved wife: Leah’s son Judah would one day have Jesus in his family. God’s choice shows us that God’s kingdom is a topsy-turvy kingdom. He doesn’t choose people because they are the best, most beautiful, strongest, or smartest.

You may feel small or weak or unimportant, but those things do not matter to God. His own son, Jesus, was despised and rejected. Yet through Jesus, salvation has come to the whole world.

Are there situations in which you feel weak or small? How about strong and significant? How can you turn to Jesus in those situations, seeking comfort and acknowledging his gifts?

Prayer

Father, we praise you that you delight to use those who the world thinks are unimportant. We praise you that you love to use the unexpected in order to show your glory. Use us, we pray, not because we are especially gifted or skilled, but because you are gracious and kind.

Genesis 31

Read Genesis 31:1-21

Jacob had been with Laban for many years. He worked faithfully for him, but in his greed Laban took advantage of Jacob. God saw how Laban was treating Jacob, and he told Jacob in a dream to leave, to go back to his home.

Jacob obeys right away. He tells his wives about his dream, and he tells them about how God has cared for him this whole time he has been with Laban. Even though Laban has been treating Jacob unfairly, God blessed Jacob and allowed him to grow rich. So Jacob and his whole family flee, running away when Laban is very busy herding his sheep.

When Laban catches up with them, he does not tell Jacob that he is sorry for how he has treated him. Instead, he acts as if Jacob is the one who has done him wrong.

But God does not depend on us to make justice happen. Even though Laban didn’t treat Jacob as he ought to have, God blessed Jacob and kept his promise to him. God showed Jacob -- and us -- that he is trustworthy. His promises of his presence and his blessing are finally fulfilled in Jesus: Jesus is God with us, and through Jesus we have every spiritual blessing.

Have you ever been treated unfairly? How did you react? What would it look like to trust God with justice in that situation?

Prayer

Lord, you hear and see the injustice in our world. We implore you to intervene, to cause justice to fill the earth. Empower us to act with justice ourselves and to speak up for those who suffer. 

Genesis 32

Read Genesis 32

At the end of Jacob’s wrestling match, Jacob realizes that he was actually wrestling with God. He responds in awe and humility: he can’t believe that he is alive after encountering God. God’s presence with Jacob that night was very intentional. God is keeping his promise to Jacob to be with him. This night, in particular, Jacob was very afraid as he thought about facing Esau after all these years. Would he be angry? Would he try to kill him, as he had vowed?

Knowing Jacob’s fears, God reassures Jacob that he is with him. A wrestling match is a strange way of encouraging someone! Yet, God’s presence is not good news for God’s enemies. It’s only when Jacob stops wrestling with God and instead clings to him, pleading God’s blessing, that he realizes that God is there to do good to him.

How have you been reminded of God’s presence? Are you wrestling with God, or clinging to him?

Prayer

Thank you, Father, for your presence with us. Forgive us for the ways in which we are fighting with you, refusing to obey and submit to you. Change our hearts so that we cling to you, knowing that only in you can we find blessing.

Genesis 33

Read Genesis 33

Jacob’s fears must have increased dramatically when he saw Esau coming toward him with four hundred men. But to his amazement, Esau runs toward Jacob, welcoming him with open arms. This is not the greeting of an angry, bitter brother. This is the welcome of forgiveness and grace.

In his welcoming of Jacob, Esau imitates God. Jesus tells a story about a similar welcome: a son despises his father and wastes his wealth, but then comes home after coming to his senses. And the father in Jesus’ story acts as Esau does. He runs to greet him, throwing his arms around him before the son even has a chance to apologize.

Yet, after Jacob and Esau reconcile, they live apart. Esau lives in Edom, while Jacob makes his home in Succoth. The two are not enemies any longer, but neither are they close. In contrast, when the son in Jesus’ story returns home, a feast is thrown for him. He is clothed with the father’s best, and he is welcomed back into the family home.

Amazingly, our Father in heaven treats us better than Esau treated Jacob. We have done more wrong to him through our sin than Jacob did to Esau, and yet he treats us as the father treats the prodigal son in Jesus’ story. He gives us not only open arms and forgiveness, but also life forever in his presence.

Is it usually easy or difficult for you to forgive others? Is there someone you need to forgive, or a hurt that you can bring to God in prayer?

Prayer

Father, it is not always easy to forgive. The hurt others have caused us may be deep. Father, we pray that you would pour your love into our hearts, that we would remember your forgiveness of us, and out of that love, be enabled to forgive others.

Genesis 34

Read Genesis 34

In this story, wickedness is piled onto wickedness. In the end, a woman is terribly harmed and a city is massacred. Lust, unwillingness to stop injustice, and vengeance bring the reality of a sin-cursed world into sharp focus. Jacob’s family, the family of the covenant, is not excluded from the temptations and consequences of sin.

Sometimes, the weight of sin in our own lives, in the lives of our family and those we love, feels so heavy that it threatens to crush us. Hope for healing and wholeness can feel beyond our reach. When we face the story of Dinah or our own stories, we ought to mourn, to cry out against the damage that sin wrecks. And we ought to be willing, unlike Jacob, to face our own failures and guilt.

We do not mourn or examine ourselves alone. With us is Jesus, our faithful high priest, who mourns along with us at the effects of sin in the world. The Spirit is also with us, shining the light of God’s word on the dark places of our hearts, convicting us of sin. And in all of this, the Father of all comfort will encourage our hearts with hope.

What heavy thing do you need to bring to God right now? What sin do you need to ask forgiveness for? What hope can you cling to?

Prayer

Father, sometimes the effects of sin overwhelm us. We suffer, and those who we love suffer. We bring these heavy things to you today. We ask that your Spirit would do its good work in our own hearts. Show us our sin, Father, not that we would despair, but that we would turn to you for forgiveness. We remember your promise that those who mourn will be comforted. Keep your word to us today, we ask.

Genesis 35

Read Genesis 35:1-15

Jacob has failed as a father and as the patriarch of God’s covenant, but God is not finished with him. He commands Jacob to make an altar, a sign of Jacob’s need for redemption. His redemption cannot come through his own effort, as he has clearly failed. Instead, it must be God’s gift.

And so must our own redemption. We cannot overcome sin’s curse by trying harder or doing better. We will fail, again and again. Yet, like God does for Jacob, so he does even more through us: coming to us, providing in Jesus the sacrifice needed for our redemption and the keeping of his covenant promises.

What failure do you need to bring to God? How can you remind someone else of God’s gift of redemption when they fail?

Prayer

Father, we confess our failures to you. We have not done what we ought to have done, and we have done what we should not have. Forgive us and restore us for the sake of Jesus, we pray.

Genesis 36

Read Genesis 36

In this list of Esau’s descendants we see Esau’s wealth and success. Even though Esau does not carry the promise of the covenant to his children, he has many descendants, and his wealth is great. Esau looks successful. And yet, without the promise of the covenant, without aligning himself with his brother and recognizing the special blessing that the covenant brings, Esau’s success will only last for a time.

Appearances can be deceiving. The Scriptures exhort us to look not at what we can see — beauty, wealth, success — but to look at the heart. Only those with treasure in heaven will keep their treasure in any lasting way.

What kinds of treasures won’t last after we die? Which kinds will? Which ones are you setting your heart on?

Prayer

Father, you know that our hearts easily wander, loving things that won’t last. Bring our hearts back to you, we pray, that we may love and long for you.

Genesis 37

Read Genesis 37

In this story, we see that Jacob is not a fair father. He loves his son Joseph more than his other sons, and he gives Joseph a special gift that makes his brothers very jealous. Joseph also flaunts his dreams to his brothers. Overcome with hatred, Joseph’s brothers plot to kill him. In the end, they sell him, gaining money for his life. Jacob’s family is tearing apart, just like Isaac’s.

But even in this terribly sad story, we are able to see someone very beautiful: Jesus. Joseph’s story looks forward to Jesus in many ways. In the beginning of the story, Joseph reminds us of Jesus as the son of the Father, sent to his brothers to bring them back. Like Joseph, Jesus is rejected by his brothers. Like Joseph, Jesus is sold for silver. And then Jesus is killed by his own brothers. However, while Jacob loves Joseph to the exclusion of his brothers, the Father has loved the Son and sent him to us in order to share that love with us. We, who were once enemies, are included in the Father’s love for his Son.

Have you ever been treated unfairly? How did you respond? 

Prayer

God of love, we rejoice in your love for your Son that you have shared with us. May we live out of this love each day and seek to share it with others as you have done with us.

Genesis 38

Read Genesis 38

Judah, a son of the covenant, acts like Esau in his disregard for God’s promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He goes down to Canaan, marries a Canaanite woman, and fails to teach his sons to know and follow the God of his fathers. As a result, the first two are put to death for their wickedness. Instead of turning to God in repentance, Judah continues to spurn God’s covenant by refusing to give Shelah to Tamar to continue the family line. Without grandchildren, Judah’s line will end.

Faced with childlessness and exclusion from Judah’s family, Tamar takes things into her own hands. Like Rebekah, she both aligns herself with God’s covenant promises and also pursues it through deception. She risks her reputation and her life to secure her future in Judah’s family.

While we ought not to justify Tamar’s sin, we can recognize in her the courage to pursue justice for her dead husband and to risk her life for the sake of God’s covenant. In that she resembles people in Jesus’ parables: the widow who persistently demanded justice of the unjust judge, and the man who sold everything in order to buy a field where he had discovered buried treasure. Whether in small circumstances or great, following Jesus always requires courage and persistence.

Have you ever done something wrong in order to make something right? How could you have done things differently?

Prayer

Father, we confess that often in our zeal for what is right, we do what is wrong. Forgive us. Help us to have courage and persistence, and keep us from excusing wrong for the sake of justice.

Genesis 39

Read Genesis 39

Joseph’s situation improves only to plummet. Although he earns his way to becoming his master’s most trusted servant, he finds himself in jail because of the lies of his master’s wife. He conducts himself faithfully in refusing to dishonor his master and sinning against God, and yet he suffers. In all of this, we read that God was with Joseph. Despite his suffering, Joseph is not alone or abandoned.

Joseph’s life illustrates what Jesus warned his disciples of: in this life, there will be trouble. Following Christ is not an easy path, and living with integrity does not guarantee success and the approval of others. And yet, in all that we face, we have the assurance that Joseph did: God is with us. We are not alone or abandoned. God sees all that we do, and he will not fail to honor those who honor him.

How do you think Joseph felt as he sat in that prison cell? In dark places, is it easy or difficult for you to believe that God is with you?

Prayer

Father, you see all that happens to us. You know our suffering and our pain. Help us to not be surprised at suffering as we follow after your Son. Give us faith even in the darkest places.

Genesis 40

Read Genesis 40

Two servants, two dreams. God gives Joseph the interpretation of both. Through Joseph, God gives good news to the cupbearer. He would receive his position back. But the baker receives bad news: soon Pharaoh will hang him.

Joseph gives both interpretations faithfully. Even though he bears bad news, he does not hold back or change God’s words so as not to hurt the baker. He does not proclaim good news when there is none.

In this way, Joseph is a faithful prophet. Unlike him, many later prophets in Israel would only give good reports. They didn’t tell the truth to God’s people; they hid the bad news that God was displeased and that Israel’s sin would have consequences. Joseph’s faithfulness to tell God’s word looks forward to a greater prophet. Jesus does not hold back words of warning and judgment, but faithfully declares the truth.

How do you react to bad news? What kinds of words are hard for you to receive?

Prayer

God of truth, we praise you that your words and judgments are trustworthy. Give us open ears to hear your word, even when it is not pleasant. Give us courage to speak your truth even when it is hard.

Genesis 41

Read Genesis 41:1-44

Once again, God sends dreams. This time Pharaoh dreams, and he dreams about what will happen in his land in the coming years. God uses these dreams to bring Joseph to Pharaoh — the cupbearer finally remembers his promise to Joseph! This time, when Joseph interprets the dreams, he gives the glory to God. It’s not me, he tells Pharaoh. It’s God who will give the interpretation to the dream. Joseph acknowledges what has been true all along: God is with him, and God is the one who gives success.

We are often tempted to look at what we have done with pride. How skillful! How good! How successful! We love the feeling of satisfaction that rushes into our hearts when we’ve done something well — See! Our hearts say, I am worth something. I am important.

We are important. We are worth more than we often think. But our worth is not because of what we’ve done, as if our skills or accomplishments can add to our significance. Our value is only ever found in God’s affirmation: his creation of us, his love for us in sending his son. All that we are, and all that we have done, is his gracious gift to his beloved children.

What is something really great that you have done? What does pride about that accomplishment look like? What would it look like to give glory to God?

Prayer

Father, we confess our pride. We confess that we are easily puffed up and self-important. Forgive us. Remind us of your presence and your gifts. Remind us of your love for us, no matter how many or how few accomplishments we have.

Genesis 42

Read Genesis 42

All these years later, Joseph’s brothers are forced to come to Egypt in order to buy food for their family. Joseph recognizes them, but the brothers don’t recognize him. After all, he looks like an Egyptian now, and he’s the most important person in the land next to Pharaoh! His brothers show him honor by bowing to him, and Joseph remembers his dream -- it has come true.

But Joseph doesn’t tell his brothers who he is, not yet. He wants to test them to see -- are they the same men who intended to kill him, who decided to sell him into slavery? What he overhears tells him that they have changed. They connect what is happening to them now and what they did to Joseph, and they see the consequence as fair. They recognize that what they did to Joseph was wicked.

Still, Joseph continues his test by keeping Simeon with him while the others return. In Jacob’s response, we see that he has not changed: now Benjamin, like Joseph, is Jacob’s favorite, and he decides to keep Benjamin with him rather than save his other son Simeon.

Jacob, in keeping Benjamin, does the opposite of what God has done. God did not hold on to his favorite son. Instead, God sent Jesus willingly to his death, in order to rescue us. And at that time, we weren’t even his sons -- we were his enemies! Unlike Jacob, God’s love for his son wasn’t a selfish love. Instead, because of God’s love, he gave his son for us.

Do you have something very precious to you? How tightly do you hold on to it?

Prayer

Father, how thankful we are that you did not spare your own Son, your beloved Son, but freely gave him up for our salvation. Sanctify us by your Spirit, Lord, that we may loosen our grip on the people and things that are precious to us. May we hold all of them with thankfulness.

Genesis 43

Read Genesis 43

Finally, Jacob agrees to let Benjamin go. Simeon is saved because of Judah’s willingness to sacrifice himself. Judah recognizes what Benjamin means to Jacob, and he guarantees Benjamin’s safety with his own life.

When they arrive, to their astonishment they are not treated as they expected. The stolen money is forgiven with a wave of the hand, Simeon is released, and Joseph lays a rich feast for them. Is this not how God treats us? Like the brothers to Joseph, we are enemies of God. And yet, God graciously forgives us and even now is preparing a feast for us. Unlike Joseph and his brothers, we will not sit at different tables. At that future feast, nothing will separate God and his people.

What does it mean to be an enemy? How are enemies usually treated? How does God treat his enemies?

Prayer

Father, you have graciously chosen to turn your enemies into friends. Thank you for this amazing grace. May we treasure our friendship with you, and by your Spirit may we be drawn more and more into your fellowship.

Genesis 44

Read Genesis 44

Joseph was not finished testing his brothers. He wanted to be sure: had they changed? He set it up so that Benjamin, the youngest, the favorite of his father, was caught in his trap. What would the brothers do? Would they let him go as a slave, just as they had sold Joseph?

No. They didn’t. Instead, Judah says an astonishing thing: “We’re all in this together, the rest of us as guilty as the one with the chalice.” No finger pointing. No declaration of their innocence and Benjamin’s guilt. No disregard for his father’s grief. Instead, Judah offers himself for Benjamin. He selflessly begs Joseph to let him be taken as a slave instead of Benjamin.

This is the beautiful love of Jesus: he gave himself for us. In this giving, we see most clearly his love for us. He chooses suffering and death so that we might live.

How do you think Benjamin felt when he heard Judah’s speech? How does Jesus’ giving of his life allow us to do the same? 

Prayer

Father, how sweet is the name of Jesus. How great his love for us, how worthy of praise is he.

Genesis 45

Read Genesis 45

At last Joseph gives up his charade. He can’t pretend anymore, and he tells his brothers who he is. Can you imagine how afraid the brothers must have felt, not knowing what Joseph would do to them in revenge?

But revenge is not on Joseph’s mind. He has forgiven them, and he tells them how he has seen God use their wickedness for good. If Joseph had never been taken to Egypt, then he would not have been able to save the lives of his family during the famine.

God’s work in Joseph’s life — his providence — isn’t unusual. This is the way that God works all the time: he takes the evil, wicked things that we do, and he uses them for the good of his people. The greatest example of this is the death of Jesus. Killing the son of God — what could be more wicked than that? And yet, God did not let evil have the last word. He never does. Instead, he used the death of his son to conquer sin and death. In Jesus’ death, God has brought salvation to the whole world.

Can you think of something bad that has happened to you? Have you seen yet what good God will bring out of it? How are you waiting in the meantime?

Prayer

Father, your providence is mysterious. We often see the evil that happens and are only able to see the destruction. Give us eyes of faith, that we might see your hand at work in our lives. Give us wisdom to mourn the evil that is committed but not despair, knowing that you are a God who does not let evil have the last word.

Genesis 46

Read Genesis 46

Eager to see the son he thought was dead, Jacob sets out for Egypt with his whole family and everything he owns. Jacob is an old man now, old enough that his sons have to help him onto the wagon that will take him to Egypt. Leaving your home for a strange land can be a fearful thing. God knows this, and so he encourages Jacob. Once more in a dream, he appears to him and tells him — again! — of his covenant promises: his blessing on his descendants, his presence with him, and the land he will give him. Some of these promises are beginning to come to fulfilment: Jacob’s family has grown, and God has been not only with Jacob, but also with Joseph in all that Joseph has done. But Jacob needs faith to trust God, because the true fulfilment of these promises, their completion in Jesus, is still a long way off. Neither he nor his children or grandchildren will see it.

We need to be reminded of God’s promises, just as Jacob was. Many things in our lives can cause us to fear, or cause us to wonder if God is really going to do what he said he would. We may not receive dreams from God as Jacob and Joseph did, but we have something better: we have God’s word to us. In his word, God speaks to us as often as we read it. Because of this gift to us, we can be reminded not only about God’s promises, but also about how God has kept those promises over and over again to his people. His word is good and trustworthy, and we have no reason to fear.

Can you think of a promise that God has made to you? In what way has God kept it? In what way are you still waiting?

Prayer

Father, you are trustworthy and true. We thank you for the many glorious promises you have given to us. Help us to see the ways in which you have kept your promises to us, and help us to be eagerly hopeful of the day when all of your promises will come to their final fulfillment.

Genesis 47

Read Genesis 47

Eventually, the famine devastates both Egypt and Canaan. But in God’s providence, Jacob and his family are right where they need to be: in Egypt, where years’ worth of food has been stored up by Joseph.

Do you remember God’s promises to Abraham, repeated to Jacob? One of the promises was that through their family, all the families of the earth would be blessed. In Joseph’s story, we see part of that promise come true. When Jacob goes down to Egypt, he meets with Pharaoh, and before he leaves, Jacob blesses him. One of the most powerful men in the world, blessed by Jacob!

God also uses Joseph to bring blessing to others. Through Joseph’s wisdom and careful stewardship of the food during the years of plenty, Egypt has enough food. Joseph is able to save not only his own family during the famine, but all of Egypt as well.

In Joseph’s story is a tiny seed of the way God used his people to bless others. Eventually, in Jesus, it’s not just one nation that receives God’s blessing. Through Jesus, people from all nations are saved.

And we, God’s people and Jesus’ body, continue to fulfill this promise. When we love and serve people from every nation, we bring them God’s blessing in Jesus.

What country is your family from? Do you know the story of how the Gospel came to the people in your country? If not, find someone to ask.

Prayer

Father, we praise you that you are not only our God, you are the God of all the people of the earth. Thank you for the way you have brought people from every nation to yourself through Jesus. We pray that your kingdom would continue to grow around the world. We ask that we might be used by you to fulfill your promises.

Genesis 48

Read Genesis 48

Knowing that his father is near death, Joseph goes to see him with his two sons. Jacob had not met them before, but now he blesses them. In his blessing, did you notice what Jacob called God? He said that God has been his shepherd his whole life. This is the first time someone in the Bible calls God a shepherd, but it will become one of the most common pictures of who God is. Jacob recognizes that even though he schemed and planned and tried to get what was best for himself, it was God who took care of him all along.

Joseph saw that his father was giving Ephraim the blessing of the first-born, and he tried to correct him. But Jacob knew what he was doing. Remember, Jacob wasn’t the first-born, either, and yet God had reversed the custom. The older would serve the younger. This was faith on Jacob’s part — faith in God’s way of doing things, not man’s.

In what ways have you experienced God’s shepherding of you?

Prayer

God our Shepherd, who cares for us tenderly and faithfully, we thank you. Give us faith to look to you for all things, and eyes to see the ways in which you have cared for us. Help us to express this care to others, that your praise might fill the earth.

Genesis 49

Read Genesis 49

On his deathbed, Jacob now blesses all of his sons. Except, for some of them, blessing is not what they get. Reuben, Simeon and Levi find that their past comes back to them. Their terrible sins of adultery and of murder continue to have consequences: they lose their standing in the family, and they lose their father’s blessing.

Reuben, Simeon, and Levi missed their father’s blessing because of their sins. Their story reminds us that sin has consequences, and that sometimes those consequences won’t go away quickly. But their story also reminds us that we are not doomed to bear the ultimate consequences for our sin. Ultimately, our sin deserves death. But because of Jesus, “there is therefore now no condemnation.” Our guilt and our punishment have been taken away, born by Jesus on the cross.

Can you think of a time when your sin had consequences, even when you were forgiven? How has Jesus taken away the ultimate consequences of your sin?

Prayer

Father, we confess our sin to you. We recognize that what we have done has consequences, sometimes long-lasting ones. We ask for grace to bear those consequences with humility and hope. We thank you for your gracious mercy in sparing us from the ultimate consequences of our sin.

Genesis 50

Read Genesis 50

Both Jacob and Joseph die in Egypt. Yet, the last thing they ask for is that their children will not keep their bones in Egypt, but will take them back to Canaan. They want their bones to be buried in Canaan, in the Promised Land. They could have been satisfied with Egypt: Joseph was the most powerful man next to Pharaoh, and his family had everything they needed! But their hearts longed after another home, the one God had promised to them. Their desire shows us their faith: they knew that Egypt was only their temporary home. They knew that God would one day keep his promise to give their descendants the land of Canaan. Their eyes were fixed on the future, the future of God keeping his promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Often God’s people are tempted to be satisfied with the here and now so that they don’t look ahead to the promises that God has made. Jesus was tempted to do this: Satan told him that if only he bowed down to him, he could have the whole world right now! No need to wait. But Jesus knew God’s will and God’s promise, and he set his eyes on the future, to what had been promised to him. God’s promise was much, much greater than Satan’s offer.

Like the Israelites, we are in Egypt. We live as strangers and sojourners, looking ahead to the heavenly city that has been promised to us. Like Joseph, we ought to love and serve the people around us, working for their good. But in the meantime, we must not forget to keep our eyes fixed on the future, on what God has promised us in Christ Jesus.

What is good about your life here and now? How might you be tempted to be satisfied with it? What can we remind ourselves about the future that God has promised us?

Prayer

Father, fix our hearts on heaven, on the future hope we have in Jesus Christ. As we live as strangers and sojourners, grant us hearts of love for our communities. May all of our service be done with our hearts longing for the day when your promises are fulfilled, when you bring your heavenly city down and you make the earth new.

Chapter Notes

Chapter 13

In Calvin’s Commentary on Genesis, v. 1, he points out that Lot’s eyes deceive him, that we cannot trust the outward appearance of things.

Chapter 18

In the Brazos Theological Commentary, Reno connects the meal Abram serves his divine guests with the eschatological feast, as well as pointing out that Abraham’s conversation with God about Sodom is a fulfillment of God’s promise to him.

Chapter 23

In the Brazos Theological Commentary, Reno interprets Abraham’s action as faith that burying Sarah in Canaan is to bury her in the land of the living. He also makes the connection to our baptism putting us in the land of life.

Chapter 26

In the Brazos Theological Commentary, Reno interprets the parallels between Isaac’s life and Abraham’s as demonstrating Isaac’s following in Abraham’s footsteps, at least outwardly.

Chapter 32

Bruce Waltke, in his commentary Genesis, notes Jacob’s movement from wrestling to clinging and the subsequent discovery of God’s goodness.

Chapter 36

In the Brazos Theological Commentary, Reno shows the this-worldly nature of Esau’s success.

Chapter 38

Bruce Waltke, in his commentary Genesis, interprets Judah’s behavior as disregarding God’s covenant.

Gordon Wenham, in his commentary Genesis 16-50, speaks highly of Tamar, comparing her to Melchizadek and Abimelek, foreigners who saw God at work in Abraham and aligned themselves with Israel.

Chapter 40

In Calvin’s Commentary on Genesis, v. 2, he identifies Joseph as a faithful prophet, unwilling to adulterate God’s word even though it may have brought reproach upon him.