GENESIS
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Chapter 21
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Chapter 31 blank
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Listen to sermons on the following sections.
V.1 - God was already here in the beginning, This verse assumes God and does not try to prove His existence. We often say that on the first day God made Light, but we see that in the night before that God created the heaven (not the sky that was on day 2, but outer space. The heaven where God dwells He was already dwelling in as far as we know) and the earth (It was covered in water, the planet Earth and it's water was created this first night, not on days 2 and 3. It was only rearranged and made useful on those days.). He did not need to create darkness. It is the absence of light, quite simply nothing. We make a number of things that produce light of some kind, yet no one can make any device that will produce darkness.
V.2 - We are introduced to the second being of the Godhead, the Spirit.
V.3 - When God says something it is instantly done.
V.4 - Light is good and should be separated from darkness.
V.5 - A period of darkness (evening, night) followed by a period light (morning, day) made the first day and have made every day since.
V.6 - God said let there be a sky to separate the water
V.7 - God made the sky. (Colossians 1:13-17 tells us that the one who became Jesus is the one who made it all, therefore He must be God.) Here we are introduced to the third member of the Godhead, the Word (John 1:1-3)
V.8 - This is the second heaven mentioned, and it is not where God dwells either. Where God dwells is what Paul refers to as the third Heaven(2 Corinthians 12:2). Day 2
V.9 - God does not create the land, but rather forms the earth which was "without form" (V.1) by moving the waters together and bringing land to the surface as dry land. The language seems to indicate that there was one ocean(the fact that it is called 'seas' in the KJV is not really an issue, we use the same term to refer to the blue 'skies' above when obviously there is only one sky) and one mass of dry land. Things may very well have changed dramatically with the flood (2 Peter 3:4-7).
V.10 - Earth is the term for our planet as a whole and for the dry land on the surface of it. God continually sees good in the things He has created.
V.11 - Notice the wisdom(Proverbs 8:22-31) with which God creates everything. God makes things in the proper order and with planning and forethought.
V.12 - God created the originals and put within them the power of procreation. The plants reproduce after their own kind, always have always will. You cannot plant a kernal of corn and get an oak tree or an acorn and get a corn stalk.
V.13 - Day 3, notice that because darkness came before light each day begins with evening and continues til the next evening.
V.14 - Notice the purposes of these lights: 1) divide night from day, 2) for signs, 3) for seasons, 4) for days, and 5) for years. The fact that days, seasons, and years are all mentioned here in the same verse is a devastating blow for the "Day-Age Theory" which claims the days here in Genesis 1 are really long eons of time(they need it to fit evolution in). It does not fit with the language God used and the description He gave of an evening and a morning making a day.
V.15 - God finally, gets around to creating some light "sources". What was the source of the light before day 4? (Do Job 38:19 and 1 John 1:5 apply?)
V.16 - Sun, Moon, and Stars all made on the same day, not millions or billions of years apart as evolution claims. The moon is created only four days after the earth. Why then are some stars at seemingly different stages of their existence? There are several possibilities, some are: 1) They were created at different levels of maturity, 2) They were created different sizes, with different amounts of material, 3) They were created to burn at different rates. Remember that the only one that is essential for life is our Sun. God could have made all kinds of things out in space for us to look at and learn about just as He made a multitude of things for us on earth.
V.17 - The final purpose for Sun, Moon, and Stars is to give light on the Earth. At a time when there were no city lights, even on a dark night with a new moon your eyes could adjust to see some from the star light alone.
V.18 - The pattern of day and night is important for mankind and animals and plants, both diurnal and nocturnal. It is good the way God made it.
V.19 - Two-thirds of the way through creation and nothing but plants living, everything is ready for animals and man at this point. Notice there is a distinct connection between what is created on day 1 and on day 4 that will continue with days 2 and 5 as well as 3 and 6. Day 7 alone has no mate. Have you noticed who the main Character is. V. 19 is one of only 4 verses that does not mention or make reference to God. In all there are at least 35 mentions of God in these 31 verses.
V.20 - There is reference here to living creatures that move or swarm of their own accord, the first animal life. Logically God created water plants such as seaweed along with the land plants on day three in preparation for these animals.
V.21 - All living creatures of the sea and air from the microscopic amoeba to the enormous blue whale in the ocean and from the tiniest flying insect just over 1/10 of a millimeter to some birds and possibly flying dinosaurs(all extinct now) that had according to fossil records wingspans up to 23 feet. God created the skies and seas to be inhabited.
V.22 - God did not want to have to recreate each animal so He made them capable of reproducing after their own kind. While there is an indication that Mankind was intended to live forever(3:22), there is no mention of such a thing for any other created lifeform.
V.23 - Some have claimed that we can't know how long those first 3 days were because the Sun was not created yet and it was made to measure days. Others try to use a passage like 2 Peter 3:8 to say it could have been a thousand years. Even if that were true it would not give the millions of years evolutionists claim, however, a day being "as a thousand years and a thousand years as a day" to God does not mean that He does not know the difference in the two. When He communicates with people (outside of figurative prophecy) and says day He means a day as they would understand a day. If the first day was different in time that the fifth or sixth day it would be deceptive to use the same terminology to describe them. Before the first day there was no time, once time began the first day began and ended with the start of the second and time has only been altered two times since that beginning (2 Kings 20:9-11 and Joshua 10:12-14).
V.24 - All of the remaining animals(the land animals) are created. Don't be confused by the phrase "earth bring forth". This is not a reference to evolution, only a reference to the location and lifesustaining resources for the animals. A similar phrase was used to describe the flying and swimming animals and with the plants.
V.25 - The fish do not evolve into land animals, the land animals are made to be land animals. "Kind" is a key word here as well, not every breed of dog or cat or every variation of any paricular kind of animal was created this day. God made every "kind" of animal this is a broader term than even our species. We make grave errors when we try to take our terminology and make God mean what we think. Wolves, Coyotes, Dogs of many breeds can intermingle and produce offspring that are also capable of reproducing. The grouping of animals based on the ability to breed and produce viable offspring that can also reproduce is much closer to the meaning of kind. So, God may have made only one dog-like kind with the genetic capabilities that have led to all the variation we have within that kind today.
V.26 - The most significant statement in all of human history(there would not have been human history without it) is in this verse. God creates man distinct from the animals. Humans are NOT animals (even though some act like animals). See V. 27 for more. This verse declares that God is not a single individual, God speaks and says "us" and "our" (twice). We have already been introduced to God and the Spirit directly, but the Word has been introduced less obviously. This God race shares certain characteristics and now they are discussing creating a being that is in some way similar.
V.27 - Made in the image of God, and yet made male and female, helps us understand that it is not the physical that is like God. There are many ways we are not like God just as there are many ways that a picture (image) of you is not like you. In the case of a picture it looks like you, but cannot think or talk or walk, etc. It only looks like you in a 2 dimensional representation. A statue would be more like you but still not be you. Sometimes your children are more like you than you want to admit, but they are still not you. God in essence made some children that were like him in some ways, but certainly not all. Since God is a Spirit the part of us that is in His image must be the spiritual part.
V.28 - Mankind is to subdue the earth and have dominion over the animals on it and in the sea. This is not a destructive or wasteful position, but a stewardship given by God of which He will demand an account. It is quite clear however that humanity is not on a level at or below that of other created lifeforms. Some have become quite confused about this in our society. I am glad that God isn't and that Jesus wasn't (Matthew 12:10-14).
V.29 - Adam and Eve were vegetarians (actually, strict Vegan would be more accurate.). That does not mean we have to be unless we find no other teaching from the Bible on the topic of food.
V.30 - All of the animals ate only plant life as well. Even those that we consider carnivores.
V.31 - With the creation completed everything was not just good it was very good.
V.2 - We are introduced to the second being of the Godhead, the Spirit.
V.3 - When God says something it is instantly done.
V.4 - Light is good and should be separated from darkness.
V.5 - A period of darkness (evening, night) followed by a period light (morning, day) made the first day and have made every day since.
V.6 - God said let there be a sky to separate the water
V.7 - God made the sky. (Colossians 1:13-17 tells us that the one who became Jesus is the one who made it all, therefore He must be God.) Here we are introduced to the third member of the Godhead, the Word (John 1:1-3)
V.8 - This is the second heaven mentioned, and it is not where God dwells either. Where God dwells is what Paul refers to as the third Heaven(2 Corinthians 12:2). Day 2
V.9 - God does not create the land, but rather forms the earth which was "without form" (V.1) by moving the waters together and bringing land to the surface as dry land. The language seems to indicate that there was one ocean(the fact that it is called 'seas' in the KJV is not really an issue, we use the same term to refer to the blue 'skies' above when obviously there is only one sky) and one mass of dry land. Things may very well have changed dramatically with the flood (2 Peter 3:4-7).
V.10 - Earth is the term for our planet as a whole and for the dry land on the surface of it. God continually sees good in the things He has created.
V.11 - Notice the wisdom(Proverbs 8:22-31) with which God creates everything. God makes things in the proper order and with planning and forethought.
V.12 - God created the originals and put within them the power of procreation. The plants reproduce after their own kind, always have always will. You cannot plant a kernal of corn and get an oak tree or an acorn and get a corn stalk.
V.13 - Day 3, notice that because darkness came before light each day begins with evening and continues til the next evening.
V.14 - Notice the purposes of these lights: 1) divide night from day, 2) for signs, 3) for seasons, 4) for days, and 5) for years. The fact that days, seasons, and years are all mentioned here in the same verse is a devastating blow for the "Day-Age Theory" which claims the days here in Genesis 1 are really long eons of time(they need it to fit evolution in). It does not fit with the language God used and the description He gave of an evening and a morning making a day.
V.15 - God finally, gets around to creating some light "sources". What was the source of the light before day 4? (Do Job 38:19 and 1 John 1:5 apply?)
V.16 - Sun, Moon, and Stars all made on the same day, not millions or billions of years apart as evolution claims. The moon is created only four days after the earth. Why then are some stars at seemingly different stages of their existence? There are several possibilities, some are: 1) They were created at different levels of maturity, 2) They were created different sizes, with different amounts of material, 3) They were created to burn at different rates. Remember that the only one that is essential for life is our Sun. God could have made all kinds of things out in space for us to look at and learn about just as He made a multitude of things for us on earth.
V.17 - The final purpose for Sun, Moon, and Stars is to give light on the Earth. At a time when there were no city lights, even on a dark night with a new moon your eyes could adjust to see some from the star light alone.
V.18 - The pattern of day and night is important for mankind and animals and plants, both diurnal and nocturnal. It is good the way God made it.
V.19 - Two-thirds of the way through creation and nothing but plants living, everything is ready for animals and man at this point. Notice there is a distinct connection between what is created on day 1 and on day 4 that will continue with days 2 and 5 as well as 3 and 6. Day 7 alone has no mate. Have you noticed who the main Character is. V. 19 is one of only 4 verses that does not mention or make reference to God. In all there are at least 35 mentions of God in these 31 verses.
V.20 - There is reference here to living creatures that move or swarm of their own accord, the first animal life. Logically God created water plants such as seaweed along with the land plants on day three in preparation for these animals.
V.21 - All living creatures of the sea and air from the microscopic amoeba to the enormous blue whale in the ocean and from the tiniest flying insect just over 1/10 of a millimeter to some birds and possibly flying dinosaurs(all extinct now) that had according to fossil records wingspans up to 23 feet. God created the skies and seas to be inhabited.
V.22 - God did not want to have to recreate each animal so He made them capable of reproducing after their own kind. While there is an indication that Mankind was intended to live forever(3:22), there is no mention of such a thing for any other created lifeform.
V.23 - Some have claimed that we can't know how long those first 3 days were because the Sun was not created yet and it was made to measure days. Others try to use a passage like 2 Peter 3:8 to say it could have been a thousand years. Even if that were true it would not give the millions of years evolutionists claim, however, a day being "as a thousand years and a thousand years as a day" to God does not mean that He does not know the difference in the two. When He communicates with people (outside of figurative prophecy) and says day He means a day as they would understand a day. If the first day was different in time that the fifth or sixth day it would be deceptive to use the same terminology to describe them. Before the first day there was no time, once time began the first day began and ended with the start of the second and time has only been altered two times since that beginning (2 Kings 20:9-11 and Joshua 10:12-14).
V.24 - All of the remaining animals(the land animals) are created. Don't be confused by the phrase "earth bring forth". This is not a reference to evolution, only a reference to the location and lifesustaining resources for the animals. A similar phrase was used to describe the flying and swimming animals and with the plants.
V.25 - The fish do not evolve into land animals, the land animals are made to be land animals. "Kind" is a key word here as well, not every breed of dog or cat or every variation of any paricular kind of animal was created this day. God made every "kind" of animal this is a broader term than even our species. We make grave errors when we try to take our terminology and make God mean what we think. Wolves, Coyotes, Dogs of many breeds can intermingle and produce offspring that are also capable of reproducing. The grouping of animals based on the ability to breed and produce viable offspring that can also reproduce is much closer to the meaning of kind. So, God may have made only one dog-like kind with the genetic capabilities that have led to all the variation we have within that kind today.
V.26 - The most significant statement in all of human history(there would not have been human history without it) is in this verse. God creates man distinct from the animals. Humans are NOT animals (even though some act like animals). See V. 27 for more. This verse declares that God is not a single individual, God speaks and says "us" and "our" (twice). We have already been introduced to God and the Spirit directly, but the Word has been introduced less obviously. This God race shares certain characteristics and now they are discussing creating a being that is in some way similar.
V.27 - Made in the image of God, and yet made male and female, helps us understand that it is not the physical that is like God. There are many ways we are not like God just as there are many ways that a picture (image) of you is not like you. In the case of a picture it looks like you, but cannot think or talk or walk, etc. It only looks like you in a 2 dimensional representation. A statue would be more like you but still not be you. Sometimes your children are more like you than you want to admit, but they are still not you. God in essence made some children that were like him in some ways, but certainly not all. Since God is a Spirit the part of us that is in His image must be the spiritual part.
V.28 - Mankind is to subdue the earth and have dominion over the animals on it and in the sea. This is not a destructive or wasteful position, but a stewardship given by God of which He will demand an account. It is quite clear however that humanity is not on a level at or below that of other created lifeforms. Some have become quite confused about this in our society. I am glad that God isn't and that Jesus wasn't (Matthew 12:10-14).
V.29 - Adam and Eve were vegetarians (actually, strict Vegan would be more accurate.). That does not mean we have to be unless we find no other teaching from the Bible on the topic of food.
V.30 - All of the animals ate only plant life as well. Even those that we consider carnivores.
V.31 - With the creation completed everything was not just good it was very good.
V.1 - God is not a quitter. The God we serve doesn't quit, He finishes. We should be more like Him.
V.2 - God did not stop because He was tired, but because He was finished. This established the pattern for a week. We do need rest, not entertainment and activities, but actual rest. Some people work harder on their "off days" than they do when they are supposed to be working.
V.3 - Moses makes reference to God "sanctifying" the seventh day. This simply refers to the reason God chose this as His day under the Law of Moses. There is no indication before Mt. Sinai that this day was any more special than the others. It is possible that people did not know about God resting on the seventh day before Moses was inspired to write this account of creation and history.
V.4 - Here an expansion of the details concerning the creation of mankind on day 6 is given.
V.5 - Rain had not fallen on the earth during days 3 through 6.
V.6 - The ground was watered with a mist, possibly something like dew.
V.7 - The first man, a human body + a God's breath of life (The part that makes us like Him or in His image) = a living soul. We will learn more later about the connection and difference between spirit, soul, and body.
V.8 - God prepared a place for man to be just as any good father would.
V.9 - God filled it with trees of beauty and usefulness. He also put the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
V.10 - There was a river of water that split into four (Unheard of in our modern world, much was different then - 2 Peter 3:4-7). God provided for man's needs, food and water.
V.11 - There is no river today matching this name. It is quite possible that the flood changed the surface of the earth so dramatically that none of these rivers even exists now, including the Euphrates. Consider that when Noah and his family exited the ark they would have named the things that they saw with names that were familiar to them. Also consider the possibility that if there was only one land mass and it was divided (Genesis 10:25) then river flows may not be the same as they once were. Remember that Moses is writing at a time well after the flood, but also well before our current time. It is possible that the rivers he refers to flowed then, but not now. Having said that, the best indication is that all of these rivers were in the region we call the middle east and this particular river that went around the whole land of Havilah dried up long ago as that area is somewhat desert-like today. Many have tried to find it and the general area is not too difficult to find, but there is no river there. Here is a bit of info on Havilah from Wikipedia.
V.12 - The info at Wikipedia at least answers to the gold and bdellium mentioned. The problem is that what was once plentiful (like the American Bison roaming the plains) can become nonexistent.
V.13 - We have a general idea of where Ethiopia was because of where it is today, however, there is no Gihon river there. Notice the comments on verse 11. Notice the confusion among people regarding the river Gihon in this Wikipedia article. Aren't you glad that God calls us to find paradise with Him in Heaven and not to try to find the Garden of Eden.
V.14 - Some translations translate Hiddekel as Tigris, which along with the Euphrates, flows from the mountains in and near present day Turkey down through Iraq and eventually joins the Euphrates and runs into the Persian Gulf . The different "solutions" to the question of Eden's location are as spectacular fanciful as they are plentiful. It is interesting that all of the best archaeology points to this area of the world as the first place of civilization. I wonder how Moses knew to describe that as the location of Man's Genesis without scholars to tell him? Could it be God told him?
V. 15 - Notice that even in paradise man had work to do. Without some task to accomplish life would be pointless, not paradise.
V.16 - There were plenty of trees freely available. How were those trees that God had just planted (v. 8-9) full of fruit that Adam could eat? When "scientists" question the age of the Earth it is good to remember that the trees God made and the Man He put in the Garden were full grown. The Earth would have been a full grown planet as well. If a full grown man looks 20 -30 years old, how old does a full grown planet look? Even if the Earth "appears" to be millions of years old, God says it is not. In Chapter 5 we will look at the age of the Earth according to the Bible.
V.17 - God gives the first law. Simple, specific, and easily understood with clear consequences laid out. We parents can learn bundles from God about parenting. Check out these articles on being better fathers. God gave so many good trees to eat from you wouldn't think one no-no would be hard to avoid.
V.18 - The first "not good" thing that God mentions is man being alone. everyone needs human companionship. Isolation can literally drive a person insane.
V.19 - So much for the stupid caveman, Adam names all of the birds and land animals on his first day on the job. Find me a world-renowned, genius scientist who can do that! Human intelligence has not been evolving, if anything, we have devolved.
V.20 - Animals cannot take the place of human companionship. Even "man's best friend" is not a person. Sorry to break it to you.
V.21 - God performed the first surgery. It is of interest that even if Adam had less ribs than Eve, their descendants did not inherit that difference. In fact, it is impossible for a physical change that occurs during life to be passed on to offspring. For example, if someone loses an arm in an injury or a cat loses a tail, their children or kittens will not be born missing that part.
V.22 - This is a rare case where God specifically chose a spouse for someone.
V.23 - Man came first then woman. This is one of two reasons given for man to be in authority over woman. The other is in chapter 3.
V.24 - Marriage is defined. Adam speaks by inspiration - Jesus attributes this saying to God (Matthew 19:4-6) one man + one woman = one flesh or one marriage, anything else is a corruption.
V.25 - There should be no shame between a husband and wife in marriage.
V.2 - God did not stop because He was tired, but because He was finished. This established the pattern for a week. We do need rest, not entertainment and activities, but actual rest. Some people work harder on their "off days" than they do when they are supposed to be working.
V.3 - Moses makes reference to God "sanctifying" the seventh day. This simply refers to the reason God chose this as His day under the Law of Moses. There is no indication before Mt. Sinai that this day was any more special than the others. It is possible that people did not know about God resting on the seventh day before Moses was inspired to write this account of creation and history.
V.4 - Here an expansion of the details concerning the creation of mankind on day 6 is given.
V.5 - Rain had not fallen on the earth during days 3 through 6.
V.6 - The ground was watered with a mist, possibly something like dew.
V.7 - The first man, a human body + a God's breath of life (The part that makes us like Him or in His image) = a living soul. We will learn more later about the connection and difference between spirit, soul, and body.
V.8 - God prepared a place for man to be just as any good father would.
V.9 - God filled it with trees of beauty and usefulness. He also put the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
V.10 - There was a river of water that split into four (Unheard of in our modern world, much was different then - 2 Peter 3:4-7). God provided for man's needs, food and water.
V.11 - There is no river today matching this name. It is quite possible that the flood changed the surface of the earth so dramatically that none of these rivers even exists now, including the Euphrates. Consider that when Noah and his family exited the ark they would have named the things that they saw with names that were familiar to them. Also consider the possibility that if there was only one land mass and it was divided (Genesis 10:25) then river flows may not be the same as they once were. Remember that Moses is writing at a time well after the flood, but also well before our current time. It is possible that the rivers he refers to flowed then, but not now. Having said that, the best indication is that all of these rivers were in the region we call the middle east and this particular river that went around the whole land of Havilah dried up long ago as that area is somewhat desert-like today. Many have tried to find it and the general area is not too difficult to find, but there is no river there. Here is a bit of info on Havilah from Wikipedia.
V.12 - The info at Wikipedia at least answers to the gold and bdellium mentioned. The problem is that what was once plentiful (like the American Bison roaming the plains) can become nonexistent.
V.13 - We have a general idea of where Ethiopia was because of where it is today, however, there is no Gihon river there. Notice the comments on verse 11. Notice the confusion among people regarding the river Gihon in this Wikipedia article. Aren't you glad that God calls us to find paradise with Him in Heaven and not to try to find the Garden of Eden.
V.14 - Some translations translate Hiddekel as Tigris, which along with the Euphrates, flows from the mountains in and near present day Turkey down through Iraq and eventually joins the Euphrates and runs into the Persian Gulf . The different "solutions" to the question of Eden's location are as spectacular fanciful as they are plentiful. It is interesting that all of the best archaeology points to this area of the world as the first place of civilization. I wonder how Moses knew to describe that as the location of Man's Genesis without scholars to tell him? Could it be God told him?
V. 15 - Notice that even in paradise man had work to do. Without some task to accomplish life would be pointless, not paradise.
V.16 - There were plenty of trees freely available. How were those trees that God had just planted (v. 8-9) full of fruit that Adam could eat? When "scientists" question the age of the Earth it is good to remember that the trees God made and the Man He put in the Garden were full grown. The Earth would have been a full grown planet as well. If a full grown man looks 20 -30 years old, how old does a full grown planet look? Even if the Earth "appears" to be millions of years old, God says it is not. In Chapter 5 we will look at the age of the Earth according to the Bible.
V.17 - God gives the first law. Simple, specific, and easily understood with clear consequences laid out. We parents can learn bundles from God about parenting. Check out these articles on being better fathers. God gave so many good trees to eat from you wouldn't think one no-no would be hard to avoid.
V.18 - The first "not good" thing that God mentions is man being alone. everyone needs human companionship. Isolation can literally drive a person insane.
V.19 - So much for the stupid caveman, Adam names all of the birds and land animals on his first day on the job. Find me a world-renowned, genius scientist who can do that! Human intelligence has not been evolving, if anything, we have devolved.
V.20 - Animals cannot take the place of human companionship. Even "man's best friend" is not a person. Sorry to break it to you.
V.21 - God performed the first surgery. It is of interest that even if Adam had less ribs than Eve, their descendants did not inherit that difference. In fact, it is impossible for a physical change that occurs during life to be passed on to offspring. For example, if someone loses an arm in an injury or a cat loses a tail, their children or kittens will not be born missing that part.
V.22 - This is a rare case where God specifically chose a spouse for someone.
V.23 - Man came first then woman. This is one of two reasons given for man to be in authority over woman. The other is in chapter 3.
V.24 - Marriage is defined. Adam speaks by inspiration - Jesus attributes this saying to God (Matthew 19:4-6) one man + one woman = one flesh or one marriage, anything else is a corruption.
V.25 - There should be no shame between a husband and wife in marriage.
V.1 - Satan's first step in temptation - Question what God said. Eve's first mistake - listening to a sneaky snake.
V.2 - Eve's second mistake answering the serpent.
V.3 - Even though there is no record of God telling Eve the one rule, she knows it. Adam and Eve have apparently added an additional part to it "neither shall you touch it".
V.4 - Satan's second step in temptation - Cause doubt, call God a liar, change God's truth into a lie.
V.5 - Satan's third step in temptation - Slander God, impugn His character, impugn His motives.
V.6 - Satan's entire plan of attack is revealed. Satan only has three roads to lead us to sin and he used them all with Eve. Lust of the eyes (pleasant to look at), lust of the flesh(good for food), and the pride of life(desired to make wise) individually or in some combination are the only paths to sin (1 John 2:15-16). Satan's fourth step in temptation - Use the fallen one to tempt another.
V.7 - Sin brings shame.
V.8 - Sin brings fear. Sin brings spiritual death (separation from God), unresolved this becomes eternal. Instead of becoming more like God, they became less like Him. They had sinned, and He never has and never will.
V.9 - God asks questions He knows the answer to for Adam's and Eve's benefit, not His. God is looking for them even though they sinned.
V.10 - Sin corrupts and ruins what was good and natural. Their nakedness was not shameful before the sin.
V.11 - God questions them to bring about sorrow and confession.
V.12 - One sin leads to another. The 'blame someone else and try to avoid responsibility for my actions' game begins. Adam tries to blame Eve and God. The 'woman' 'YOU GAVE me'. Sin damages and destroys relationships. The two who had become one and had the perfect life as husband and wife are now full of strife.
V.13 - Eve blames the serpent.
V.14 - Sin brings punishment. The serpent is cursed by God.
V. 15 - Sin brings hatred, strife, and enmity. God reveals the first prophecy regarding His plan to restore man's relationship with Him. The first messianic prophecy.
V.16 - Sin brings consequences to self and others. Multiplying of sorrow and conception (pain in childbirth possibly), and the husband rules over wife. Here is the second reason that God gives for man to have authority over woman, because of her sin and because man was made first (1 Timothy 2:12-14).
V.17 - Anytime we listen to and follow someone else instead of God it is sin.
V.18 - Sin causes what was pleasant to become unpleasant. Man was given work in the garden as a pleasant part of his perfect life, but know the ground was cursed for him and it would cause sweat and pain.
V.19 - Sin brings physical death. Because of Adam's sin all die. We do not inherit his sin, but the consequences of his sin have passed on all mankind even those who don't sin sometimes die (Romans 5:12-14).
V.20 - There is not a human on earth today that did not descend from Adam and Eve.
V.21 - Sin brings physical death even to the innocent. Animals had to die for God to clothe them with skins. Notice God still cares for and provides for His children even though they have sinned.
V.22 - Man could not be allowed to live eternally in a fallen sinful state.
V.23 - Sin causes the loss of so many good things. Man is driven out of paradise and has lost a perfect relationship with God. The theme of the remainder of the Bible is the revelation of God's plan to redeem man and restore that relationship.
V.24 - Cherubims are mentioned about 90 more times by name either singular or plural and are described in some other cases where they are called living creatures. The flaming sword we know nothing else about, be sure not to get caught up in the things you can't know. Instead, focus on all that you can learn that you don't know yet.
V.2 - Eve's second mistake answering the serpent.
V.3 - Even though there is no record of God telling Eve the one rule, she knows it. Adam and Eve have apparently added an additional part to it "neither shall you touch it".
V.4 - Satan's second step in temptation - Cause doubt, call God a liar, change God's truth into a lie.
V.5 - Satan's third step in temptation - Slander God, impugn His character, impugn His motives.
V.6 - Satan's entire plan of attack is revealed. Satan only has three roads to lead us to sin and he used them all with Eve. Lust of the eyes (pleasant to look at), lust of the flesh(good for food), and the pride of life(desired to make wise) individually or in some combination are the only paths to sin (1 John 2:15-16). Satan's fourth step in temptation - Use the fallen one to tempt another.
V.7 - Sin brings shame.
V.8 - Sin brings fear. Sin brings spiritual death (separation from God), unresolved this becomes eternal. Instead of becoming more like God, they became less like Him. They had sinned, and He never has and never will.
V.9 - God asks questions He knows the answer to for Adam's and Eve's benefit, not His. God is looking for them even though they sinned.
V.10 - Sin corrupts and ruins what was good and natural. Their nakedness was not shameful before the sin.
V.11 - God questions them to bring about sorrow and confession.
V.12 - One sin leads to another. The 'blame someone else and try to avoid responsibility for my actions' game begins. Adam tries to blame Eve and God. The 'woman' 'YOU GAVE me'. Sin damages and destroys relationships. The two who had become one and had the perfect life as husband and wife are now full of strife.
V.13 - Eve blames the serpent.
V.14 - Sin brings punishment. The serpent is cursed by God.
V. 15 - Sin brings hatred, strife, and enmity. God reveals the first prophecy regarding His plan to restore man's relationship with Him. The first messianic prophecy.
V.16 - Sin brings consequences to self and others. Multiplying of sorrow and conception (pain in childbirth possibly), and the husband rules over wife. Here is the second reason that God gives for man to have authority over woman, because of her sin and because man was made first (1 Timothy 2:12-14).
V.17 - Anytime we listen to and follow someone else instead of God it is sin.
V.18 - Sin causes what was pleasant to become unpleasant. Man was given work in the garden as a pleasant part of his perfect life, but know the ground was cursed for him and it would cause sweat and pain.
V.19 - Sin brings physical death. Because of Adam's sin all die. We do not inherit his sin, but the consequences of his sin have passed on all mankind even those who don't sin sometimes die (Romans 5:12-14).
V.20 - There is not a human on earth today that did not descend from Adam and Eve.
V.21 - Sin brings physical death even to the innocent. Animals had to die for God to clothe them with skins. Notice God still cares for and provides for His children even though they have sinned.
V.22 - Man could not be allowed to live eternally in a fallen sinful state.
V.23 - Sin causes the loss of so many good things. Man is driven out of paradise and has lost a perfect relationship with God. The theme of the remainder of the Bible is the revelation of God's plan to redeem man and restore that relationship.
V.24 - Cherubims are mentioned about 90 more times by name either singular or plural and are described in some other cases where they are called living creatures. The flaming sword we know nothing else about, be sure not to get caught up in the things you can't know. Instead, focus on all that you can learn that you don't know yet.
V.1 - Knew his wife= sexual relations, God's plan is for the children to come after marriage.
V.2 - 2nd generation produced a shepherd and a farmer
V.3 - There is no indication that Cain was not supposed to offer produce. The law of Moses allowed many kinds of offerings. We do not have a record of what was allowed or commanded under the patriarchal law that Cain and Abel lived under.
V.4 - Why did God respect Abel's offering and not Cain's? First Abel offered according to God's teaching. Hebrews 11:4 says his offering was "more excellent" and that he did that by "faith". Contrary to popular opinion faith is not a blind leap in the dark or some feeling within, Romans 10:17 tells us that faith comes by hearing the Word of God. Abel offered what was commanded by God in the way it was commanded and with an attitude that pleased God as well. One thing that may have been a factor is the "firstlings" mentioned there is no mention of Cain offering "firstfruits". Of course there could be some specific that we are not told like the attitude. They both had access to the knowledge of how and what to do, or God would have been unjust.
V.5 - Cain should be angry at himself, but instead is angry at everyone else involved. Isn't that the way it often is when one is disobedient. Wonder where he learned to blame others for his shortcomings?
V.6 - God's love and concern for Cain causes Him to try to correct Cain by asking him thought questions.
V.7 - God warns Cain of the danger of anger and sin.
V.8 - First Murder/Death of a Human. Cain knew what death was from Abel's offering of sheep. He cannot be excused by saying he did not understand death.
V.9 - God gives Cain an opportunity to confess and repent and it is met with a lie, a bad attitude, and rebellious questioning of God.
V.10 - Abel's righteous blood cried out to God for vengeance, and is a type or shadow of Christ's righteous blood in Hebrews 12:24. Christ's blood however cried out for mercy and reconciliation instead of wrath and vengeance.
V.11 - Cain receives his punishment from God a seemingly light sentence for a murderer. Sometimes living with the guilt is worse than death. Whatever the case God knew what the most effective punishment would be. The sentence of death for death is not mentioned until after the flood (Genesis 9:5-6).
V.12 - Cain would not be able to get the crops to grow like he had in the past.
V.13 - Cain shows no remorse, regret, penitence, or any other positive emotion even now, only selfishness.
V.14 - Cain speaks of himself 7 times in 2 verses, with no concern for the brother he killed or others affected by his action(Adam and Eve lost a son, their children lost a brother, did Abel have a wife or children, will anyone else be able to tend sheep, etc.). When we sin it always has repurcussions many of which we have not considered.
V. 15 - God still loves Cain. He warns that Cain is not to be killed and marks him for his own protection (Seems odd Cain is worried about being killed, but he is the only killer there is.) The mark was on Cain not his wife or descendants or anyone else and we do not know what it was, nor do we need to know.
V.16 - A sad time whenever someone leaves the prescence of the Lord. Adam and Eve's sin changed the relationship between them (and all mankind) and God, but there was still a relationship. Cain seems to be completely cut off.
V.17 - The first city is built. This Enoch is not the one who never died.
V.18 - The names of Cain's and Seth's descendants are similar, remember there was one language and these similarities should not surprise us.
V.19 - The first bigamist. Just five generations away from Adam and already man is leaving the foundational relationship standard that God established of one man and one woman becoming one flesh (marriage). One man and two women can't become one flesh.
V.20 - Jabal is the first cattleman.
V.21 - Jubal the first musician.
V.22 - Tubal-cain working in brass and iron only 7 generations (about 500-1,000 years, not 2.5 million ) from the beginning of humanity some 5,000-5,500 years ago, not 2,500 to 3,000 as modern science claims.
V.23 - Sin is learned from others and reproduced. Lamech points back to his ancestor, Cain, as his example.
V.24 - Lamech puts himself in the place of God. God had said that if anyone killed Cain it would be avenged 7-fold, Lamech decides that is not enough for him.
V.25 - Follows chronologically with verse 16 Seth takes Abel's place in some ways, but he is not as righteous throughout his life.
V.26 - After Seth's son is born there is a spiritual awakening and men begin to look to God and call on him, but from the death of Abel to the birth of Enos is at least 105 years without people calling on God. What a sad time that must have been.
V.2 - 2nd generation produced a shepherd and a farmer
V.3 - There is no indication that Cain was not supposed to offer produce. The law of Moses allowed many kinds of offerings. We do not have a record of what was allowed or commanded under the patriarchal law that Cain and Abel lived under.
V.4 - Why did God respect Abel's offering and not Cain's? First Abel offered according to God's teaching. Hebrews 11:4 says his offering was "more excellent" and that he did that by "faith". Contrary to popular opinion faith is not a blind leap in the dark or some feeling within, Romans 10:17 tells us that faith comes by hearing the Word of God. Abel offered what was commanded by God in the way it was commanded and with an attitude that pleased God as well. One thing that may have been a factor is the "firstlings" mentioned there is no mention of Cain offering "firstfruits". Of course there could be some specific that we are not told like the attitude. They both had access to the knowledge of how and what to do, or God would have been unjust.
V.5 - Cain should be angry at himself, but instead is angry at everyone else involved. Isn't that the way it often is when one is disobedient. Wonder where he learned to blame others for his shortcomings?
V.6 - God's love and concern for Cain causes Him to try to correct Cain by asking him thought questions.
V.7 - God warns Cain of the danger of anger and sin.
V.8 - First Murder/Death of a Human. Cain knew what death was from Abel's offering of sheep. He cannot be excused by saying he did not understand death.
V.9 - God gives Cain an opportunity to confess and repent and it is met with a lie, a bad attitude, and rebellious questioning of God.
V.10 - Abel's righteous blood cried out to God for vengeance, and is a type or shadow of Christ's righteous blood in Hebrews 12:24. Christ's blood however cried out for mercy and reconciliation instead of wrath and vengeance.
V.11 - Cain receives his punishment from God a seemingly light sentence for a murderer. Sometimes living with the guilt is worse than death. Whatever the case God knew what the most effective punishment would be. The sentence of death for death is not mentioned until after the flood (Genesis 9:5-6).
V.12 - Cain would not be able to get the crops to grow like he had in the past.
V.13 - Cain shows no remorse, regret, penitence, or any other positive emotion even now, only selfishness.
V.14 - Cain speaks of himself 7 times in 2 verses, with no concern for the brother he killed or others affected by his action(Adam and Eve lost a son, their children lost a brother, did Abel have a wife or children, will anyone else be able to tend sheep, etc.). When we sin it always has repurcussions many of which we have not considered.
V. 15 - God still loves Cain. He warns that Cain is not to be killed and marks him for his own protection (Seems odd Cain is worried about being killed, but he is the only killer there is.) The mark was on Cain not his wife or descendants or anyone else and we do not know what it was, nor do we need to know.
V.16 - A sad time whenever someone leaves the prescence of the Lord. Adam and Eve's sin changed the relationship between them (and all mankind) and God, but there was still a relationship. Cain seems to be completely cut off.
V.17 - The first city is built. This Enoch is not the one who never died.
V.18 - The names of Cain's and Seth's descendants are similar, remember there was one language and these similarities should not surprise us.
V.19 - The first bigamist. Just five generations away from Adam and already man is leaving the foundational relationship standard that God established of one man and one woman becoming one flesh (marriage). One man and two women can't become one flesh.
V.20 - Jabal is the first cattleman.
V.21 - Jubal the first musician.
V.22 - Tubal-cain working in brass and iron only 7 generations (about 500-1,000 years, not 2.5 million ) from the beginning of humanity some 5,000-5,500 years ago, not 2,500 to 3,000 as modern science claims.
V.23 - Sin is learned from others and reproduced. Lamech points back to his ancestor, Cain, as his example.
V.24 - Lamech puts himself in the place of God. God had said that if anyone killed Cain it would be avenged 7-fold, Lamech decides that is not enough for him.
V.25 - Follows chronologically with verse 16 Seth takes Abel's place in some ways, but he is not as righteous throughout his life.
V.26 - After Seth's son is born there is a spiritual awakening and men begin to look to God and call on him, but from the death of Abel to the birth of Enos is at least 105 years without people calling on God. What a sad time that must have been.
V.1 - Reemphasizes that man is made in God's image.
V.2 - Mr. and Mrs. Adam, he called 'their' name Adam
V.3 - Adam names Seth, 4:25 says Eve named Seth. We see them working together as one. A chronology (geneology joined with ages) begins here that will help us determine the age of the Earth and how long man has been on the earth. The results are posted below.
V.4 - Adam & Eve could easily have had dozens or even hundreds of children. They had at least 4 by age 130 and likely many more. Cain was concerned that someone would kill him. Who? His brothers and sisters that were already grown most likely. Noah was having children at 500 years old, so Adam and Eve could have far more than the 8 (Cain, his wife, Abel, Seth, other sons - at least 2, & other daughters - at least 2) we know for certain. It would not have been impossible for them if they had 1 child every 3-4 years for 400-600 years to have had 100 to 200 children. And the baby could have been over 300 years old when Adam and Eve died.
V.5 - 32 - These verses give us the time from creation to Noah. Below is a page that shows the scriptures to lead us through the age of the world.
V.2 - Mr. and Mrs. Adam, he called 'their' name Adam
V.3 - Adam names Seth, 4:25 says Eve named Seth. We see them working together as one. A chronology (geneology joined with ages) begins here that will help us determine the age of the Earth and how long man has been on the earth. The results are posted below.
V.4 - Adam & Eve could easily have had dozens or even hundreds of children. They had at least 4 by age 130 and likely many more. Cain was concerned that someone would kill him. Who? His brothers and sisters that were already grown most likely. Noah was having children at 500 years old, so Adam and Eve could have far more than the 8 (Cain, his wife, Abel, Seth, other sons - at least 2, & other daughters - at least 2) we know for certain. It would not have been impossible for them if they had 1 child every 3-4 years for 400-600 years to have had 100 to 200 children. And the baby could have been over 300 years old when Adam and Eve died.
V.5 - 32 - These verses give us the time from creation to Noah. Below is a page that shows the scriptures to lead us through the age of the world.
| age_of_the_world.pdf |
V.1 - Does not come after 5:32 chronologically.
V.2 - The sons of God and daughters of men seems confusing, but likely refers to righteous and unrighteous.
V.3 - 120 years could be a limit on length of life or time before the flood.
V.4 - Mighty men could have fueled many of the legends that people had in later years.
V.5 - What would the world be like if the thoughts were evil continually.
V.6 - Repented does not always mean sin is involved. It may mean to regret the outcome of something even if it was necessary, as it does here.
V.7 - What a shame that all of the animal life on the planet suffered death because of man's wickedness.
V.8 - Anyone who says grace is not taught in the Old Testament has not read very far.
V.9 - Noah was just, perfect, walked with God, and still needed God's grace.
V.10 - Shem, Ham, and Japheth are not triplets. Shem is the youngest. We all descended from these three.
V.11 - The violence at that time was worse than now.
V.12 - All flesh corrupted itself. Imagine living in a world where there was no one who shared your godly values.
V.13 - God's grace always involves Him giving information for man to act upon by faith.
V.14 - Much time could be spent trying to determine what gopher wood is or was, but it is irrelevant to us today since we don't need to build an ark. Noah knew what God was telling him to do and he did it. The most likely explanations are: 1) an extinct type of tree. 2) a type of tree known by a different name now. 3) a scribal error in copying, should have been kopher which means 'pitched' or 'to house in'. 4) a process of layering or laminating the wood. Each has its strengths and weaknesses. If you really want to know you will have to make it to Heaven and ask.
V.15 - The ark's design was not for speed, but for seaworthiness and it was the perfect ratio for that purpose. The ark was also the largest ship on reacord until the late 1800's.
V.16 - 3 floors each 15 ft. high and as long as a football field and a half and half as wide as a football field.
V.17 - How can people be so naive as to think that God will not punish wickedness.
V.18 - First mention of the concept of a covenant. Notice the comparison with 1 Peter 3:21. Water saved Noah's family from the sinful world just as water saves us from sin today.
V.19 - We often hear 2 of each kind of animal was on the ark. Actually, it was 4 of the unclean and 14 of the clean and 14 of the birds. How could they all fit? Remember that only land animals and birds would need to be on the ark and that kind does not mean species or breed. There are hundreds of breeds of dog, but Noah would have only needed 4 dogs those 4 would be ancestors to all the breeds we have today. The same is true of other kinds of animals.
V.20 - Again only the land animals and birds. We think how could Elephants and Dinosaurs fit, but only a few animals are so large and they could have been young ones that would not have been full grown.
V.21 - Food for all the animals and people would have been a large amount, but most can survive on less than we often eat both people and animals. It has been suggested by some that God caused the animals to go into a dormant stage similar to hibernation, but there is nothing in the scriptures to suggest anything miraculous in this area. It would not have been necessary.
V.22 - Noah obeyed ALL that God commanded. What if we did the same?
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Chapter 7
V.1 - The best translation here is come,not go. God will never ask His faithful to go anywhere without Him.
V.2 - Look at the math, 14 clean and 4 unclean of each animal. One pair would have become extinct easily and would not have had the kind of variety that would make that kind of animal resistant to disease and genetic problems.
V.3 - 14 of each bird clean or unclean to spread seed around the world.
V.4 - God gives a 7-day warning.
V.5 - Notice Noah did ALL the Lord commanded.
V.6 - Noah is 600 when the flood comes.
V.7 - Noah's family is in the ark. No one else.
V.8 - The animals are on the ark. Those that need to be.
V.9 - God still believes in male and female. Good thing Noah's sons and the animals were not all homosexual.
V.10 - 7 days later the flood comes. Noah was in the ark for a week getting ready for the flood.
V.11 - Fountains of the Deep - Water was coming up and down. 600th year, 2nd month, 17th day the flood came.
V.12 - Rain fell 40 days and 40 nights. Not just a sprinkle or a short shower every day, but steady constant rain for 960 hours.
V.13 - 16 - Notice that the family went in first and then the animals. Noah and his sons did not have to drive the animals into the ark. Noah did not shut the door, God did.
V.17 - The water rose for forty days as it rained.
V.18 - The ark floated as it was designed to do. Notice God gave no instructions for a rudder, a steering wheel, oars, a sail or anything to drive it. It was not designed to go anywhere because there was nowhere to go.
V.19 - The high hills under the whole heaven were covered. This was not a local flood.
V.20 - The mountains were covered by 15 cubits of water so the ark could float over them.
V.21 - Mankind and land animals died. Even if they could swim, even if a man had a boat it couldn't save him.
V.22 - All breathing things on the land died.
V.23 - Even the birds can't live with no place to land.
V.24 - The earth was completely covered for 150 days.
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Chapter 8
V.1 - God had not forgotten about Noah, but He turned His attention to Noah's needs.
V.2 - Fountains and windows stopped. Even with the water stopping the Earth was covered with water that had to go somewhere. Where did it go? The best theory is that some of it froze at the poles, some of it stayed in the form of lakes and inland seas, some of became underground aquafers, but the majority of it had to go into a deeper ocean. That likely involved seismic activity which raised some areas and lowered others, as well as beginning the process that has led to separate continents. Remember that originally the water was all in one place and all the animals were able to get to the ark. Kangaroos did not swim across the Indian Ocean to get to the ark. Peter tells us that the world that existed before the flood no longer exists(2 Peter 3:5-6).
V.3 - After 150 days the water had receded enough that the ark settled on a mountain in the mountains of Ararat. Not on Mount Ararat, but somewhere in the mountain range. There are constantly people who have suposedly found Noah's Ark, but I am still waiting for the pictures, video footage, etc. Let me ask you if you had a huge supply of wood that had already been felled, planed, cut, etc. would you use it to burn for heat, build a house, etc. or would you go cut down a tree.
V.4 - After 5 months the ark rested, but the mountain could have still been under 15 feet of water.
V.5 - After 8 months the tops of the mountains could be seen.
V.6-7 - Forty days after that Noah sent out a raven that flew around, but did not come back to the ark
V.8-9 - Noah also sent out a dove. The raven may have landed on a floating log or something, but the dove could not find a place to land. The dove came back to the ark.
V.10 - After 7 days the dove was sent out again.
V.11 - This time the dove returned with an olive leaf. Is it any wonder that doves and olive branches are symbols of peace.
V.12 - 7 days later the dove was sent out one more time and did not return.
V.13 - The covering Noah removed could have been the door or a covering over the window, or possibly some portion of the roof. The ground is finally dry enough to support life.
V.14 - Noah and all the rest were in the ark for 1 year and 17 days.
V.15 - God spoke to the fathers of the families at this time. Notice that He only speaks to Noah, not his sons or their wives. This is the Patriarchal Age.
V.16 - God gives command to get out of the ark.
V.17 - The animals were to breed abundantly and fill the Earth.
V.18-19 - Noah did not leave the ark until he had been given instruction from God, and then every one left.
V.20 - Noah built an altar to worship God. He sacrificed one of all the clean animals. God knew what He was doing when He told Noah 14 of the clean animals. What if there had only been two sheep? Oops! Sheep would have been extinct.
V.21 - God decided not to curse the ground because of man anymore.
V.22 - For those scared that global warming (or cooling for that matter)are going to destroy human life, notice that God has promised that seedtime and harvest, summer and winter are going to continue as long as the Earth lasts. Will there be changes in climate? probably. Will it be the end of life? Absolutely not!
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Chapter 9
V.1 - God blesses Noah and his sons. This is the first indication of God speaking to Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
V.2 - God begins making changes in the way things work including different laws. The first change is that the animals that came to Noah on the ark are now going to fear mankind.
V.3 - Second is the dietary change. ALL animals are now edible just like the plants. All the Gentiles remained under this law while the Jews were under the Law of Moses. The Christian Law is the same as the one God gave Noah. (1 Timothy 4:3-5)
V.4 - While it is okay to eat any animal, it is not okay to eat the blood. This one has been consistent from Noah to Moses to Christ.
V.5 - Murder (deliberate killing of a human, not accidental deaths and not deaths of animals) will not go unpunished.
V.6 - The punishment is death, a life for a life. If an animal kills a human, the animal dies. If a human murders another human the killer dies. This is another law that is constant from Noah thru Moses and thru Christ. Governments job is to enforce this law among some other things, and most governments fail miserably at this. Recently, 2009, A whale at SeaWorld killed a trainer and is back doing shows. More recent, 2011, a man in Norway who killed between 50 and 100 people may be out of jail in about 20 years instead of losing his life.
V.7 - God wants Noah's sons to multiply and fill the earth.
V.8 - Again God mentions that He is speaking to Noah's sons. These boys were finally growing up at around 100 years old. Shem's son is born 2 years after the flood. They are now becoming the heads of their own families under the patriarchal system.
V.9 - God's covenant is not just with them, it is also with their descendants.
V.10 - God's covenant is even with the animals.
V.11 - God promises, unconditionally, to never flood the whole world again. This is the covenant spoken of in vs. 9-10. A covenant usually requires something from both parties, but this one does not.
V.12 - God introduces for the first time the idea of a token as a reminder of a covenant. One token that most of us are familiar with is the wedding ring. Sometimes it is even called a token during the ceremony. The ring itself has no meaning or value except as it represents the vows of the covenant of marriage. In the same way God choses something that itself has no meaning or intrinsic value and makes it a token, reminder, and representation of the covenant that He will never flood the whole earth again.
V.13 - The rainbow is that token.
V.14 - When the rain comes the rainbow comes with it.
V.15 - God would not forget His covenant anyway, but the token is a reminder for us as well.
V.16 - When God sees the rainbow He will remember the covenant.
V.17 - Reminder that the rainbow is the token.
V.18 - Ham is the father of Canaan, and the Canaanites.
V.19 - Everyone on Earth today descended from 6 individuals, Shem and his wife, Ham and his wife, Japheth and his wife. Many of us may have a little of each somewhere in our ancestry.
V.20 - Noah plants a vineyard.
V.21 - Even the righteous don't always have self-control. Noah over indulges and gets drunk. Even though there is no known law against alcohol at this point in history, we can see the problems it causes in this situation. Why does getting naked so often come with getting drunk?
V.22 - Ham saw his father's nakedness. This phrase is usually used in the Pentateuch in conection with something sexual. There seems to be more here than just 'oops, dad is naked in there.' Of course the way Ham told his brothers or what he told them may have been the problem as well. There was at least something disrespectful and inappropriate and possibly much worse, according to verse 24
V.23 - Shem and Japheth are careful to respect their father and covered him up.
V.24 - Noah knew 'what his younger son had done unto him'. There was something profound here. Ham is youngest son, Japheth is oldest (10:21). They are not triplets.
V.25 - Noah cursed Canaan. Nobody knows why the son was cursed for the father's misdeeds, but he was. Whether God actually carried out the curse or not is not revealed. This probably doesn't have anything to do with Israel's conquest of the land of Canaan as some claim. The law of Moses made it clear that the son was not to be punished for the father or vice versa.(Deuteronomy 24:16)
V.26 - Canaan will serve Shem. We have no record of whether this happened.
V.27 - Canaan will serve Japheth. We have no record of whether this happened. We don't know if Noah was prophesying, speaking by inspiration, speaking as the governing authority (patriarch), or just really mad about what had been done and ranting about it.
V.28 - Noah lived another 350 years after the flood, but as far as we know he did not have any other children.
V.29 - Noah died at 950. Those born before the flood had exceptionally long lives, but something changed after the flood and the ages people lived dropped rapidly.
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Chapter 10
V.1 - Noah had no grandchildren before the flood.
V.2-5 - Japheth's descendants. These people moved to the North and West to the 'Isles of the Gentiles'. The European nations descended from Japheth.
V.6-20 - Ham's descendants.
V. 8-10 - Nimrod established the first kingdom in Babel and that kingdom rebelled against God in chapter 11. Human Government seems to have a tendency to turn against God.
V.21 - Japheth is the elder brother.
V.22-31 Shem's descendants. Most of the Arabic/Middle Eastern nations, with the exception of the Canaanites, descended from Shem.
V. 25 - Peleg lived during a time when the earth was divided. This could be a reference to the physical separation of the single land mass into separate continents as we have today. (Every indication is that there was only one land mass before the flood, because kangaroos can't swim hundreds of miles.) OR It could have a reference to the division of the languages and people into different language groups in chapter 11.
V.31-32 - References to different languages and national division in these verses, verse 20, and verse 5 is a type of foreshadowing that let's us know that the person writing this was looking back from a time in the future after these events had already taken place.
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V.2 - The sons of God and daughters of men seems confusing, but likely refers to righteous and unrighteous.
V.3 - 120 years could be a limit on length of life or time before the flood.
V.4 - Mighty men could have fueled many of the legends that people had in later years.
V.5 - What would the world be like if the thoughts were evil continually.
V.6 - Repented does not always mean sin is involved. It may mean to regret the outcome of something even if it was necessary, as it does here.
V.7 - What a shame that all of the animal life on the planet suffered death because of man's wickedness.
V.8 - Anyone who says grace is not taught in the Old Testament has not read very far.
V.9 - Noah was just, perfect, walked with God, and still needed God's grace.
V.10 - Shem, Ham, and Japheth are not triplets. Shem is the youngest. We all descended from these three.
V.11 - The violence at that time was worse than now.
V.12 - All flesh corrupted itself. Imagine living in a world where there was no one who shared your godly values.
V.13 - God's grace always involves Him giving information for man to act upon by faith.
V.14 - Much time could be spent trying to determine what gopher wood is or was, but it is irrelevant to us today since we don't need to build an ark. Noah knew what God was telling him to do and he did it. The most likely explanations are: 1) an extinct type of tree. 2) a type of tree known by a different name now. 3) a scribal error in copying, should have been kopher which means 'pitched' or 'to house in'. 4) a process of layering or laminating the wood. Each has its strengths and weaknesses. If you really want to know you will have to make it to Heaven and ask.
V.15 - The ark's design was not for speed, but for seaworthiness and it was the perfect ratio for that purpose. The ark was also the largest ship on reacord until the late 1800's.
V.16 - 3 floors each 15 ft. high and as long as a football field and a half and half as wide as a football field.
V.17 - How can people be so naive as to think that God will not punish wickedness.
V.18 - First mention of the concept of a covenant. Notice the comparison with 1 Peter 3:21. Water saved Noah's family from the sinful world just as water saves us from sin today.
V.19 - We often hear 2 of each kind of animal was on the ark. Actually, it was 4 of the unclean and 14 of the clean and 14 of the birds. How could they all fit? Remember that only land animals and birds would need to be on the ark and that kind does not mean species or breed. There are hundreds of breeds of dog, but Noah would have only needed 4 dogs those 4 would be ancestors to all the breeds we have today. The same is true of other kinds of animals.
V.20 - Again only the land animals and birds. We think how could Elephants and Dinosaurs fit, but only a few animals are so large and they could have been young ones that would not have been full grown.
V.21 - Food for all the animals and people would have been a large amount, but most can survive on less than we often eat both people and animals. It has been suggested by some that God caused the animals to go into a dormant stage similar to hibernation, but there is nothing in the scriptures to suggest anything miraculous in this area. It would not have been necessary.
V.22 - Noah obeyed ALL that God commanded. What if we did the same?
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Chapter 7
V.1 - The best translation here is come,not go. God will never ask His faithful to go anywhere without Him.
V.2 - Look at the math, 14 clean and 4 unclean of each animal. One pair would have become extinct easily and would not have had the kind of variety that would make that kind of animal resistant to disease and genetic problems.
V.3 - 14 of each bird clean or unclean to spread seed around the world.
V.4 - God gives a 7-day warning.
V.5 - Notice Noah did ALL the Lord commanded.
V.6 - Noah is 600 when the flood comes.
V.7 - Noah's family is in the ark. No one else.
V.8 - The animals are on the ark. Those that need to be.
V.9 - God still believes in male and female. Good thing Noah's sons and the animals were not all homosexual.
V.10 - 7 days later the flood comes. Noah was in the ark for a week getting ready for the flood.
V.11 - Fountains of the Deep - Water was coming up and down. 600th year, 2nd month, 17th day the flood came.
V.12 - Rain fell 40 days and 40 nights. Not just a sprinkle or a short shower every day, but steady constant rain for 960 hours.
V.13 - 16 - Notice that the family went in first and then the animals. Noah and his sons did not have to drive the animals into the ark. Noah did not shut the door, God did.
V.17 - The water rose for forty days as it rained.
V.18 - The ark floated as it was designed to do. Notice God gave no instructions for a rudder, a steering wheel, oars, a sail or anything to drive it. It was not designed to go anywhere because there was nowhere to go.
V.19 - The high hills under the whole heaven were covered. This was not a local flood.
V.20 - The mountains were covered by 15 cubits of water so the ark could float over them.
V.21 - Mankind and land animals died. Even if they could swim, even if a man had a boat it couldn't save him.
V.22 - All breathing things on the land died.
V.23 - Even the birds can't live with no place to land.
V.24 - The earth was completely covered for 150 days.
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Chapter 8
V.1 - God had not forgotten about Noah, but He turned His attention to Noah's needs.
V.2 - Fountains and windows stopped. Even with the water stopping the Earth was covered with water that had to go somewhere. Where did it go? The best theory is that some of it froze at the poles, some of it stayed in the form of lakes and inland seas, some of became underground aquafers, but the majority of it had to go into a deeper ocean. That likely involved seismic activity which raised some areas and lowered others, as well as beginning the process that has led to separate continents. Remember that originally the water was all in one place and all the animals were able to get to the ark. Kangaroos did not swim across the Indian Ocean to get to the ark. Peter tells us that the world that existed before the flood no longer exists(2 Peter 3:5-6).
V.3 - After 150 days the water had receded enough that the ark settled on a mountain in the mountains of Ararat. Not on Mount Ararat, but somewhere in the mountain range. There are constantly people who have suposedly found Noah's Ark, but I am still waiting for the pictures, video footage, etc. Let me ask you if you had a huge supply of wood that had already been felled, planed, cut, etc. would you use it to burn for heat, build a house, etc. or would you go cut down a tree.
V.4 - After 5 months the ark rested, but the mountain could have still been under 15 feet of water.
V.5 - After 8 months the tops of the mountains could be seen.
V.6-7 - Forty days after that Noah sent out a raven that flew around, but did not come back to the ark
V.8-9 - Noah also sent out a dove. The raven may have landed on a floating log or something, but the dove could not find a place to land. The dove came back to the ark.
V.10 - After 7 days the dove was sent out again.
V.11 - This time the dove returned with an olive leaf. Is it any wonder that doves and olive branches are symbols of peace.
V.12 - 7 days later the dove was sent out one more time and did not return.
V.13 - The covering Noah removed could have been the door or a covering over the window, or possibly some portion of the roof. The ground is finally dry enough to support life.
V.14 - Noah and all the rest were in the ark for 1 year and 17 days.
V.15 - God spoke to the fathers of the families at this time. Notice that He only speaks to Noah, not his sons or their wives. This is the Patriarchal Age.
V.16 - God gives command to get out of the ark.
V.17 - The animals were to breed abundantly and fill the Earth.
V.18-19 - Noah did not leave the ark until he had been given instruction from God, and then every one left.
V.20 - Noah built an altar to worship God. He sacrificed one of all the clean animals. God knew what He was doing when He told Noah 14 of the clean animals. What if there had only been two sheep? Oops! Sheep would have been extinct.
V.21 - God decided not to curse the ground because of man anymore.
V.22 - For those scared that global warming (or cooling for that matter)are going to destroy human life, notice that God has promised that seedtime and harvest, summer and winter are going to continue as long as the Earth lasts. Will there be changes in climate? probably. Will it be the end of life? Absolutely not!
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Chapter 9
V.1 - God blesses Noah and his sons. This is the first indication of God speaking to Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
V.2 - God begins making changes in the way things work including different laws. The first change is that the animals that came to Noah on the ark are now going to fear mankind.
V.3 - Second is the dietary change. ALL animals are now edible just like the plants. All the Gentiles remained under this law while the Jews were under the Law of Moses. The Christian Law is the same as the one God gave Noah. (1 Timothy 4:3-5)
V.4 - While it is okay to eat any animal, it is not okay to eat the blood. This one has been consistent from Noah to Moses to Christ.
V.5 - Murder (deliberate killing of a human, not accidental deaths and not deaths of animals) will not go unpunished.
V.6 - The punishment is death, a life for a life. If an animal kills a human, the animal dies. If a human murders another human the killer dies. This is another law that is constant from Noah thru Moses and thru Christ. Governments job is to enforce this law among some other things, and most governments fail miserably at this. Recently, 2009, A whale at SeaWorld killed a trainer and is back doing shows. More recent, 2011, a man in Norway who killed between 50 and 100 people may be out of jail in about 20 years instead of losing his life.
V.7 - God wants Noah's sons to multiply and fill the earth.
V.8 - Again God mentions that He is speaking to Noah's sons. These boys were finally growing up at around 100 years old. Shem's son is born 2 years after the flood. They are now becoming the heads of their own families under the patriarchal system.
V.9 - God's covenant is not just with them, it is also with their descendants.
V.10 - God's covenant is even with the animals.
V.11 - God promises, unconditionally, to never flood the whole world again. This is the covenant spoken of in vs. 9-10. A covenant usually requires something from both parties, but this one does not.
V.12 - God introduces for the first time the idea of a token as a reminder of a covenant. One token that most of us are familiar with is the wedding ring. Sometimes it is even called a token during the ceremony. The ring itself has no meaning or value except as it represents the vows of the covenant of marriage. In the same way God choses something that itself has no meaning or intrinsic value and makes it a token, reminder, and representation of the covenant that He will never flood the whole earth again.
V.13 - The rainbow is that token.
V.14 - When the rain comes the rainbow comes with it.
V.15 - God would not forget His covenant anyway, but the token is a reminder for us as well.
V.16 - When God sees the rainbow He will remember the covenant.
V.17 - Reminder that the rainbow is the token.
V.18 - Ham is the father of Canaan, and the Canaanites.
V.19 - Everyone on Earth today descended from 6 individuals, Shem and his wife, Ham and his wife, Japheth and his wife. Many of us may have a little of each somewhere in our ancestry.
V.20 - Noah plants a vineyard.
V.21 - Even the righteous don't always have self-control. Noah over indulges and gets drunk. Even though there is no known law against alcohol at this point in history, we can see the problems it causes in this situation. Why does getting naked so often come with getting drunk?
V.22 - Ham saw his father's nakedness. This phrase is usually used in the Pentateuch in conection with something sexual. There seems to be more here than just 'oops, dad is naked in there.' Of course the way Ham told his brothers or what he told them may have been the problem as well. There was at least something disrespectful and inappropriate and possibly much worse, according to verse 24
V.23 - Shem and Japheth are careful to respect their father and covered him up.
V.24 - Noah knew 'what his younger son had done unto him'. There was something profound here. Ham is youngest son, Japheth is oldest (10:21). They are not triplets.
V.25 - Noah cursed Canaan. Nobody knows why the son was cursed for the father's misdeeds, but he was. Whether God actually carried out the curse or not is not revealed. This probably doesn't have anything to do with Israel's conquest of the land of Canaan as some claim. The law of Moses made it clear that the son was not to be punished for the father or vice versa.(Deuteronomy 24:16)
V.26 - Canaan will serve Shem. We have no record of whether this happened.
V.27 - Canaan will serve Japheth. We have no record of whether this happened. We don't know if Noah was prophesying, speaking by inspiration, speaking as the governing authority (patriarch), or just really mad about what had been done and ranting about it.
V.28 - Noah lived another 350 years after the flood, but as far as we know he did not have any other children.
V.29 - Noah died at 950. Those born before the flood had exceptionally long lives, but something changed after the flood and the ages people lived dropped rapidly.
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Chapter 10
V.1 - Noah had no grandchildren before the flood.
V.2-5 - Japheth's descendants. These people moved to the North and West to the 'Isles of the Gentiles'. The European nations descended from Japheth.
V.6-20 - Ham's descendants.
V. 8-10 - Nimrod established the first kingdom in Babel and that kingdom rebelled against God in chapter 11. Human Government seems to have a tendency to turn against God.
V.21 - Japheth is the elder brother.
V.22-31 Shem's descendants. Most of the Arabic/Middle Eastern nations, with the exception of the Canaanites, descended from Shem.
V. 25 - Peleg lived during a time when the earth was divided. This could be a reference to the physical separation of the single land mass into separate continents as we have today. (Every indication is that there was only one land mass before the flood, because kangaroos can't swim hundreds of miles.) OR It could have a reference to the division of the languages and people into different language groups in chapter 11.
V.31-32 - References to different languages and national division in these verses, verse 20, and verse 5 is a type of foreshadowing that let's us know that the person writing this was looking back from a time in the future after these events had already taken place.
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Chapter 11
v. 1 – There was only one language in the world.
v.2 – Back in chapter 9 God told them to fill the earth, but here all the people are staying together in one group.
v.3-4 - They decided to stay and build a city in the plain of Shinar instead of spreading out as God had commanded. Nimrod was the leader of this kingdom that began at Babel and they began this kingdom as a rebellion against God.
v.5 - Here is some insight into the uses of the terms ‘children of men’ and ‘children of God’. These disobedient people are called the children of men. Think back to chapter 5 and the sons of God and daughters of men. This seems to indicate that the righteous were not very discriminating in their choice of wives. The Lord can see just fine from heaven, the idea here is that God took special notice of what men were doing.
v.6 - Was God scared that the people would get up to heaven and overthrow Him? Certainly not! He simply knew that if they were not disciplined in this rebellious action they would continue to be more rebellious.
v.7 – Again the plural is used as the Godhead discusses this situation amongst themselves.
v.8 – The solution is simply to confuse the one language into many so that the people unable to communicate would not be able to continue.
v.9 – The city is called Babel, confusion. The Lord scattered them since they would not scatter of their own will. God’s will is always accomplished.
v.10-11 – Noah lived 950 years, Shem only lives 600.
v.12-13 – Arphaxad only lives 438 years. Shem outlived his son that was born after the flood. In just 2 generations the life expectancy is cut in half. Something is dramatically different after the flood.
v.14-17 – The next two generations keep life expectancy about the same 400-450 years.
v.18-25 - After those two generations life expectancy drops again to about 230 years. When we look at it Shem not only outlived his son, but also all but one of the next 9 generations. Imagine that, he was alive at the time of his great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, grandchildren’s births as well as the deaths of some, but not all of his children; grandchildren; great grandchildren; great, great, grandchildren; great, great, great, grandchildren; great, great, great, great, grandchildren; great, great, great, great, great, grandchildren; great, great, great, great, great, great, grandchildren. Abraham died and Isaac, Jacob, and even many of Jacob’s children were born before Shem died. How big was his family?
v.26-27 – By the time we get to Abram we have about 2000 years of history in these first 11 chapters. The remaining 39 chapters are only going to cover about 200 years.
v.28 – Terah and his family lived in Ur of the Chaldees. The Chaldees later became the Chaldeans and are better known to most as the Babylonians who centuries later took the nation of Judah captive.
v.29 – There seems to be a good bit of close relationship marriages at this time. Abram and Sarai were half siblings (we find out later – Genesis 20:12), and Nahor possibly married his niece, or there is a Haran other than his brother (This is quite possible since there is no mention of Haran being the father of both Milcah and Lot.). Terah had children by at least two different women.
v.30 – Sarai was barren
v.31 – Terah, Abram, Sarai and Lot left Ur to go to Canaan and stopped in a place called Haran.
v.32 – Terah died at 205, as far as we know he is the last one to live over 200 years, at least in this line.
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Chapter 12
v.1 - God is still speaking to people on an individual level. It is possible that God had told Terah to leave in ch. 11. God tells Abram to leave 3 things: his country, his relatives, and his father’s house; to get much more. If Abram does as he is told he will get a land chosen by God as well as the blessings in vs. 2-3.
You can find a map of the area and Abram's journeys here.
v.2 - God will make his descendants a great nation, bless him, make his name great and make him a blessing to others if and when Abram does his part.
v.3 - God will act on Abram’s behalf and bring a blessing to the whole world through Abram.
v.4 - Abram does 2 of the 3 things, but takes Lot with him. He is already 75 and has no heirs. God’s full blessing can’t come until Abram does it all. How often do we fail to receive God’s full blessing because we won’t go all the way.
v.5 - They come to the land of Canaan.
v.6 - The Canaanites were already at least 1 nation by this time.
v.7 - The Lord “appears” promises that this land will be given to descendants that are not even born yet. Abram builds an altar. We don’t know what form the Lord used to appear to Abram, but this is not the only time. See ch. 18.
v.8 - Abram keeps traveling. East of Bethel (It was not called Bethel until the time of Jacob - 28:19) he built another altar to worship God.
v.9 - Abram goes further south. Indications are that Ur was in the east and Haran (where Terah died) was north west of Ur. Since Abram was traveling south, He must have come into Canaan on the north.
v.10 - Notice who went down to Egypt, Abram. In 13:1 his wife and Lot come up out of Egypt with him. This is an example of Necessary Implication. If they came up out of Egypt, they must have gone down into Egypt even though the Bible does not specifically say so. Is Abram fully trusting God? There is no indication that God told him to go to Egypt.
v.11 - Abram is known as the father of the faithful, but he did not just start out always trusting God completely. In fact, he failed to trust God on multiple occasions. Sarai was beautiful even though she is over 65 by this time.
v.12 - Abram thinks the worst of his fellow man. He seems to be a bit of a cynic. He also seems a little self-centered. Willing to sacrifice his wife’s virtue to save his life. Not exactly the knight in shining armor.
v.13 - He even wants her to lie (commit a sin) to save his neck. Again not trusting God. God has already promised that he will have offspring which he does not yet. Does he think God will let him die without fulfilling that promise.
v.14 - The Egyptians were impressed with Sarai’s beauty.
v.15 - Pharaoh took her into his house, believing that she was Abram’s sister and fair game. Believing a lie can cause us trouble.
v.16 - Pharoah was kind to Abram because of Sarai.
v.17 - God punished Pharaoh’s house for taking a man’s wife. Abram is not being a blessing, but a curse at this point because he is trusting his own devices and understanding instead of the Lord.
v.18 - Pharaoh realizes why he is suffering and confronts Abram.
v.19 - Abram had underestimated the Egyptians morality. Even after being lied to Pharaoh did not kill Abram to keep Sarai.
v.20 - In fact, he sent them on their way and commanded everyone else to let them go as well.
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Chapter 13
v. 1 – Lot came up out of Egypt. Even though there is no record of him going to Egypt, we know he did because of necessary implication.
v. 2 – Abram’s wealth did not keep him from being righteous. Wealth is not sinful.
v. 3 – He went back to Bethel. It was not called that until Jacob named it.
v. 4 – His altar was still there. Notice that worship was a priority in Abram's life.
v. 5 – Lot also had wealth.
v. 6 – The two of them had too much to live on the same land.
v. 7 – Their servants fought over the resources.
v. 8 – Abram was a peace maker. He did not want the strife to affect his relationship with Lot. He wanted to stop the servants fighting as well.
v. 9 – Abram shows his capacity to be unselfish. He gives Lot the first choice of land.
v. 10 – Lot does not think as unselfish and respecting his elders. Lot made the mistake of looking at the land physically instead of spiritually. He chose the land that was green and well-watered without considering the quality of the neighborhood and the neighbors. It was even compared to the Garden of the Lord (Eden).
v. 11 – Lot went east leaving the west for Abram.
v. 12 – Abram lived in Canaan, but Lot pitched his tent toward Sodom.
v. 13 – The people of Sodom were wicked and sinners “exceedingly”.
v. 14-15 – After Lot left (Abram has finally fulfilled the 3rd thing God told him to do in Gen 12:1-3.), God reminds Abram of the land promise that he had made in 12:6-8. He is told to look every direction and see the land God will give to him and his descendants.
v. 16 – God also gives a promise to multiply Abram’s descendants as the dust. Remember at this time He is over 75 and still has no children.
v. 17 – Abram is to look over his inheritance and walk around it.
v. 18 – He moved to Hebron (not named that when he lived there) and built another altar. Notice that everywhere Abram goes he worships God.
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Chapter 14
Genesis 14 v. 1 – These four kings were in the area near Babel notice one is king of Shinar. From Abram’s old stomping grounds. Some people believe that Amraphel was the king now known as Hammurabi.
v. 2 – These five kings include the king of Sodom where Lot is living. Notice that most of these kings are kings over a city and probably the land around that city. These “kings” were really more like a mayor. It was hard to be king over a large area and protect it. Many cities that did not have a king and were under another king often were captured back and forth between two stronger cities or kings.
v. 3 – They came to fight in the valley of Siddim, the salt sea (dead sea).
v. 4-5 – The 5 kings had been under Chedorlaomer for 12 years, and wanted to be free. They rebelled in year 13 and in year 14 Chedorlaomer and his king buddies came to reclaim his land.
v. 6 – Chedorlaomer was a big king, he had a large area. He was based in Persia, but controlled the plains around the Jordan River all the way to Mount Seir near the southern border of Canaan.
v. 7 – They were attacking and beating everyone in the area.
v. 8 – The 5 kings of the plains went together to fight them.
v. 9 – The odds sounded good 4 invading kings against 5 local kings.
v. 10 – It was a slaughter. Those who survived fled to the mountains.
v. 11 – The invaders took all the goods from Sodom and Gomorrah.
v. 12 – They took Lot and his goods as well.
v. 13 – Someone told Abram the Hebrew.
v. 14 – He armed his trained servants – 318 soldiers, and pursued them to Dan (not called that then). Abram was a sort of king in his own right.
v. 15 – He used the divide and conquer method and struck at night. We don’t know how many soldiers these 5 kings had, but surely Abram was outnumbered. God was with Abram. He chased them almost to Damascus.
v. 16 – He brought everything back. He could have tried to rescue Lot and leave the rest, but He rescued everyone. The wicked people of Sodom and Gomorrah did not repent or begin to follow God even after this.
V.17 - The king of Sodom comes out to meet and greet Abram. It is clear that Abram is greater than the king of Sodom and the main reason for that is not wealth or number of people, it is Abram's relationship with God that makes him great.
V.18 - Even though Abram is a great individual, we are introduced to someone greater in this verse, Melchizedek. His name means King of Righteousness (Hebrews 7:2) and he is king of Salem, which means king of peace (Hebrews 7:2). This has led some to believe that it was God the son taking human form, but neither here nor in the passages in Psalms or Hebrews is this idea portrayed. This person that is only mentioned by name once and whose interaction with Abram is covered in 3 verses. Becomes the basis for the entire priesthood of Christ and the New Testament Covenant. This passage and the prophecy in Psalm 110:4 becomes the basis for the teaching of 3 chapters of Hebrews (5-7). We actually learn much more about Melchizedek (spelled Melchisedec in the NT) from the Hebrew writer than we did from Genesis. It also reinforces the law of interpretation that you cannot just change whatever you want. If there had been no Melchizedek before the Levitical priesthood of the Law of Moses, then Christ could not have been a priest. He could be a king because he was from the tribe of Judah and that is where kings originated, but priests had to come out of the tribe of Levi and Jesus did not. It also emphasizes the change in law from Moses to Christ because the Hebrew writer tells us that if the priesthood changed there had to be a change of the law. Notice that in addition to being a double king, he is a priest of God. He nor his ancestry is mentioned anywhere in Genesis, but that is not unusual the Bible is only following one line of descendants, those the Christ will come through.
V.19 - Melchizedek blessed Abram. The Hebrew writer explains that this proves that Melchizedek is greater than Abram in Hebrews 7:7.
V.20 - Abram gave a tithe (literally one tenth) to Melchizedek. This is another evidence of the status of Melchizedek. In fact, the Hebrew writer says that the Levites who receive tithes from others paid them through Abram. We also are reminded that Abram was not the only one who worshiped God.
V.21 - The king of Sodom offered to let Abram keep all the stuff. This shows how much authority the King had. The king did not even consult the people whose stuff Abram had recovered before offerring it to Abram.
V.22-23 - Abram has promised God not to take anything. This will keep the king from claiming he was the reason Abram was rich.
V.24 - Abram does not make decisions for the others who went with him. Some of the soldiers had eaten some things. Some other men that were not his servants went with him as well. Abram told the king to give them their share, but he was trusting God.
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Chapter 15
v.1 - was the word of the Lord here THE WORD? Notice the word came in a VISION. This seems to be the basis for this entire chapter, that everything that happens in this chapter is part of this vision.
v.2 - Abram was concerned about still being childless.
v.3 - one of his sermons was going to inherit his wealth. And there was no one to inherit his name.
v.4 - the Lord said he would have a son of his own to be his heir.
v.5 - God compares Abrams offspring in the future to the number of stars. This is not an exact comparison, God is just saying that he will have so many it would be hard to count.
v.6 - Abram believed the Lord and believed in the Lord. Abram’s faith was counted as righteousness. This does not mean that obedience was not necessary, nor is it an advocation of faith only.
v.7 - God reminds Abram of the promise of the land that he was to inherit.
v.8 - Abram was not afraid to ask God questions, or ask him for proof or evidence of the promises.
v.9 - God told Abram to set up a special type of ritual to finalize the covenant. There was no need for God to do this, but it eased Abram’s mind to have it confirmed in a way similar to the way two people would have confirmed and oath or covenant between them.
v.10 - Abram took the animals and cut them in half and made one on one side and one on the other side, he didn’t divide the birds.
v.11 - Abram kept the birds away. These birds likely represented Satan’s efforts to thwart God’s plan.
v.12 - as the sun is going down in Abram’s vision, he falls asleep and experiences a dream within a dream.
v.13 - the Lord tells Abram the future that his descendants will have to go to a foreign land and serve those people and being mistreated. This process will last 400 years, not that they will suffer 400 years. Part of this includes the time the children of Israel were in Egypt in slavery. In Ex. 12:40 it is called 430 years and in Gen. 15:16 it is called four generations. The 400 is a round number and the 4 generations is likely a reference to those who were actually in Egypt: Levi, Kohath, Amram, Moses.
v.14 - God will punish the nation they serve and they will come out with wealth.
v.15 - God tells Abram that he will die at a good old age and peacefully. This promise shows the limits of Abram’s faith because later he again lies to try to protect his own life.
v.16 - Abram’s descendants will come back to this land of promise but not until the Amorites sins have become overwhelming. God shows mercy and grace even to the sinful.
v.17 - as the vision continues, it gets dark and a smoking furnace and a burning lamp pass between the pieces of the meat that were laid out. These are representations of the Lord Himself confirming the covenant.
v.18 - This is obviously not the day that God initially made the promise, but the day that He confirmed it and gave Abram the details.
v.19-21 - The 10 nations listed were not necessarily the only people living in Canaan, but they were the major tribes or nations. Abram is promised that his descendants will take over all of their land.
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Chapter 16
V. 1 - Despite all of God’s promises Abram and Sarai had no children. God is not bound to keep His promises on our schedule.
V. 2 - Instead of waiting for God Sarai comes up with a plan and the first recorded attempt at surrogate mothering followed Abram’s acceptance of the idea.
V. 3 - Sarai gave Hagar to be a second wife to Abram, but she didn’t really mean it.
V. 4 - Hagar conceived and then despised Sarai.
V. 5 - Sarai now decides it was a bad idea and makes Abram choose between them.
V. 6 - Abram let Sarai do what she wanted with Hagar, and Sarai was harsh. Hagar ran away.
V. 7 - The angel of the Lord found her by a fountain. Some times the "Angel of the Lord" seems to be a manifestation of God perhaps the Son. This appears to be one of those times, notice the promise in verse 10. An angel would not have the authority to make such a promise.
V. 8 - He asked her where she was going. She was just running away from Sarai.
V. 9 - The angel said go back and submit.
V. 10 - The angel also said I will multiply your seed so it shall not be numbered.
V. 11 - You will bear a son and call him Ishmael (Means God will hear).
V. 12 - He will be wild, against everyone and everyone against him.
V. 13 - She called the Lord that spoke to her ‘God who sees’
V. 14 - The well was called Beerlahairoi (well of a living one my seer).
V. 15 - Hagar bore a son and Abram called him Ishmael.
V. 16 - Abram was 86 and still didn’t have the son God had promised.
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Chapter 17
V. 1 - Thirteen(13) years pass in just one verse from the end of chapter 16. We need to remember that God is writing His Autobiography as He deals with man. The day to day activities of man are only significant as they interact with the will of God. A little over 13 chapters cover the entire 175 years of Abraham’s life. We don’t meet him until he is 75 and then there are more large chunks of his life that we don’t know about: from Ishmael’s birth to Isaac’s birth, from Isaac’s birth until God’s test, from the test until Sarah’s death, after Sarah’s death and Isaac’s marriage til Abraham’s death. In all less than 1% of his life is actually revealed. Abraham has a part to play in God’s covenant: Walk before me and be perfect.
V. 2 - If Abraham does his part God will make His covenant and multiply Abraham. 13 more years and Abram and Sarai still have no child.
V. 3 - Look at the reverence Abram has for God. When was the last time you fell on your face before God.
V. 4 - Not just a father, but a father of many nations. Abraham did indeed father many. We often only think of Israel, but there were others.
V. 5 - Name changed to Abraham. Abram means 'high father', Abraham means 'father of a multitude'
V. 6 - Exceeding fruitful, nations, and kings.
V. 7 - Covenant established with him and seed. Everlasting covenant to be Abraham’s God and God of his descendants.
V. 8 - All Canaan for everlasting possession.
V. 9 - You shall keep my covenant you and seed. There was a part for man to do and there still is today.
V. 10 - Every male shall be circumcised.
V. 11 - circumcision was the token of the covenant, not the covenant itself. The covenant was to walk before God and be complete/perfect.
V. 12 - Circumcision was on the 8th day. Perfect day for surgery. Notice this info from Apologetics Press:In Genesis 17:12, God specifically directed Abraham to circumcise newborn males on the eighth day. Why the eighth day? In 1935, professor H. Dam proposed the name “vitamin K” for the factor in foods that helped prevent hemorrhaging in baby chicks. We now know vitamin K is responsible for the production (by the liver) of the element known as prothrombin. If vitamin K is deficient, there will be a prothrombin deficiency and hemorrhaging may occur. Oddly, it is only on the fifth through the seventh days of the newborn male’s life that vitamin K (produced by bacteria in the intestinal tract) is present in adequate quantities. Vitamin K, coupled with prothrombin, causes blood coagulation, which is important in any surgical procedure. Holt and McIntosh, in their classic work, Holt Pediatrics, observed that a newborn infant has “peculiar susceptibility to bleeding between the second and fifth days of life.... Hemorrhages at this time, though often inconsequential, are sometimes extensive; they may produce serious damage to internal organs, especially to the brain, and cause death from shock and exsanguination” (1953, pp. 125-126). Obviously, then, if vitamin K is not produced in sufficient quantities until days five through seven, it would be wise to postpone any surgery until some time after that. But why did God specify day eight? 1. On the eighth day, the amount of prothrombin present actually is elevated above one-hundred percent of normal—and is the only day in the male’s life in which this will be the case under normal conditions. If surgery is to be performed, day eight is the perfect day to do it. Vitamin K and prothrombin levels are at their peak. The chart below, patterned after one published by S.I. McMillen, M.D., in his book, None of These Diseases, portrays this in graphic form.
From: Biblical Accuracy and Circumcision on the 8th Day by Bert Thompson, Ph.D.
http://www.apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=13&article=1118
V. 13 - Circumcision was for everyone born or bought in Abraham’s household. Circumcision was a constant reminder in the flesh of a spiritual covenant.
V. 14 - The uncircumcised were not God’s people. They were cut off for breaking the covenant. This was important enough that the Jews would even do it on the Sabbath day.
V. 15 - Sarai (same root as sarah) changed to Sarah (Mistress, Lady, princess, queen, )could be going from princess to queen with the birth of a prince?
V. 16 - Finally, God explains that He will give Abraham a son by Sarah she would be a mother of nations, however, not as many as Abraham because she is the mother of only one of his 8 children.
V. 17 - Abraham falls on his face laughing. He can’t believe a 100 year old man and 90 year old woman could have a baby.
V. 18 - Abraham is still offering God a compromise: let Ishmael be the one.
V. 19 - God says no, and names the one he will accept: Isaac. The covenant will be with him.
V. 20 - God blessed Ishmael and would multiply him and make a great nation and give him twelve rulers as sons. Ishmael had 12 sons Gen. 25:12-16
V. 21 - Isaac will be born in one year by Sarah and the covenant will be with him.
V. 22 - God “went up” from Abraham. He did not just walk away or fade away, apparently.
V. 23 - Abraham circumcised his entire household.
V. 24 - Abraham is circumcised at 99.
V. 25 - Ishmael was 13.
V. 26 - They were circumcised the same day as part of a covenant that Ishmael would never enjoy the benefits of because he was not the son of promise.
V. 27 - ALL the men of the house were circumcised.
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Chapter 18
Chapter 18 V. 1 - The Lord appears to Abraham again soon after the circumcision. The Father was never seen physically. In fact the scriptures are clear that no man could see Him and live Ex. 33:20. The Spirit is also never referenced as taking human form of any kind, so this must be the Son. One is left to wonder if He took the appearance of the man He would be in the future.
V. 2 - When he saw three men walking his direction he ran to meet them and greeted them humbly.
V. 3 - The word Lord here is different from the word Lord in verse 1. In the KJV you will see LORD all caps to translate Jehovah or Yahweh which always refers to God. Lord without the caps is a translation of Adonai which refers to God or man. The idea of serving visitors or being hospitable is shown here.
V. 4 - The assumption would be that travelers would be hot and tired, it was the heat of the day. The Lord may not have been walking far, but Abraham did not know who it was. Heb. 13:2 seems to indicate this possibility. Water to wash travelers’ feet was still a common practice in Jesus day.
V. 5 - Food since it was apparently near noon. They graciously accepted his hospitality.
V. 6-8 - There was no food ready to eat, Abraham was not running a buffet. There were no TV dinners and no microwave to heat up leftovers. Not even peanut butter and jelly and bread to make sandwiches. Sarah had to make bread, do you know how long that takes? Abraham selected a calf that had to be skinned, butchered, cleaned, prepared and cooked, can you imagine how long that would take? People had to be more patient then.
V. 9 - They ask him where Sarah is and he has not told them his wife’s name. This could have been his first clue that they were not mere mortals.
V. 10 - Some say that this would be the same time next year, but it is also possible that He is speaking of the time it takes for a child to be born. Perhaps Sarah was or would become pregnant shortly. If so then this appearance is about 2-3 months after the last. There is certainly different wording used here than in chapter 17
V. 11 - Sarah had gone through Menopause.
V. 12 - She laughed (within herself) and asked, shall I have pleasure? Is the pleasure simply in having a child, or the process?
V. 13 - The Lord knew she laughed and knew what she thought even though she did not do so out loud.
V. 14 - The Lord reveals Himself verbally. If Abraham did not know before, he certainly should now. And what a question this is. Of course it is rhetorical in nature, Is anything too hard for God? My answer would be only some peoples’ hearts, but even they will be crushed in judgment.
V. 15 - Sarah lied about laughing because of her fear, but we are not told what she was afraid of. The Lord knew.
Shifting gears they head to destroy Sodom
V. 16 - They are still called men even though it is quite clear to everyone that they are not. The old practice of seeing someone out was already alive and kicking 4000 years ago.
V. 17 -18 - The closeness of Abraham’s relationship with God is such that God even revealed secrets to him.
V. 19 - God knows everyone and He chose Abraham because, among other reasons, He knew that Abraham would guide his household to follow God.
V. 20 - 21 - The Lord explains to Abraham the reason they are going to Sodom and Gomorrah. It is not for a pleasant visit. Did the Lord not know how bad it was? Was He not omniscient? Did He have to go to see their wickedness.
V. 22 - The angels headed on toward Sodom leaving Abraham and the Lord.
V. 23 - Look at the level of comfort that Abraham has in talking to and questioning and even negotiating with the Lord.
V. 24 - 25 - Abraham wonders if God would save the city for fifty righteous. I don’t know how many people were in Sodom or Gomorrah but even if they were each small towns of 1000 that would be 1950 wicked to 50 righteous that would be 97.5% wicked. Abraham proclaims the Lords justice and righteousness would never allow him to kill the righteous with the wicked even if it were only a few. Another great question is asked, this time by Abraham: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?
V. 26 - The Lord agrees. Not just to remove the righteous, but to not destroy the wicked! God’s mercy and longsuffering is incomprehensible.
V. 27 - 28 - With the victory under his belt Abraham summons more courage and asks about 45. God agrees again.
V. 29 - But what if there are 40? Won’t do it.
V. 30 - Don’t be mad, but what about 30? Won’t do it.
V. 31 - How about twenty? Won’t destroy it.
V. 32 - Ok, last time what about 10? Won’t kill all the wicked for 10 righteous. What if Noah’s family had been a little bit bigger? This may have been the number Abraham wanted to get to but was afraid to just ask at the start. It is ironic however that the Lord actually knew already that there were not 10 righteous and that the cities would be destroyed. This exchange shows us just how far God is willing to go to save and not destroy.
V. 33 - The Lord went His way, and Abraham went back. The Lord never came to Sodom and Gomorrah as far as we know. He never met up with the angels at Lot’s house at least.
It is interesting that there is an almost identical account in the Koran only it is Mohamed supposedly talking Allah out of making the Muslims pray 50 times a day.
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Chapter 19
V. 1 - Apparently, the Lord Himself did not go on to Sodom with the other heavenly beings after talking with Abraham. Lot meets and greets these angels and is unaware of their nature. The words of Hebrews 13:2 are called to mind again with this encounter.
V. 2 - He invites strangers into his home. How many of us would do that? We have all heard the “ we live in a dangerous world” reasoning. Considering what happens in the rest of the chapter it is hard to imagine our time is any more dangerous. It is interesting that the predators that are most often allowed into our homes are family members or trusted friends. We are so focused on ‘stranger danger’ that we are blind to the fact that it is more rare than the danger of someone trusted.
V. 3 - Lot must have realized the dangers of Sodom, because he pressed them to not stay in the street as they suggested.
V. 4 - Can you imagine a city so corrupt that ALL of the men of the city would want to rape some visitors or tourists who were traveling through? It is possible that not each single individual of the city was outside the house, this could be a figure of speech, a hyperbole. It could be similar to the prophecy from Joel about the coming of the Spirit. God said he would pour out His Spirit on ALL flesh (or people) in Joel 2:28-32 and it is quoted in Acts 2:17-21. He did not mean fish and dogs, only people. He did not mean every individual, but both male and female, Jew and Gentile, young and old, and slave and free. It is possible that the point of the ALL in Sodom is that it was young and old, rich and poor, married and single, etc. Of course it is also possible that it was literally every single individual. Even if not everyone was involved, no one opposed them other than Lot. There were no police, neighborhood watch, etc. There were no good people. Were even Lot’s sons-in-law in the crowd?
V. 5 - The crowd wants to “know” the men that are staying at Lot’s house. Some claim that the people had been inhospitable and are trying to make up for it by getting to know these visitors. This is an absurd claim. Lot refers to what they are doing as wickedness in verse 7. Even though the word could mean getting acquainted, it is also the same word that was used to describe Adam ‘knowing’ Eve before the birth of Cain and Abel. Every indication is that this sexual knowing was what is under discussion in this passage.
V. 6 - Lot goes outside to reason with them. He is either naive or overly optimistic if he thinks they are reasonable. Sin corrupts not only the actions, but the thoughts and mind as well as the soul.
V. 7 - He begs them not to sin in such a grievous way.
V. 8 - He even goes so far as to offer them his 2 virgin daughters, but these men are not interested in women. This speaks to the depths of responsibility one in their culture felt toward a guest. I dare say none of us would sacrifice a family member that we loved to protect a stranger. Remember at this point as far as we know Lot does not know that his visitors are angels. Remember that God is not showing approval of Lot’s actions, only recording them. The Bible does not teach the idea of ‘the lesser of two evils’ it would have been sinful for these men to take and rape Lot’s daughters as well.
V. 9 - The men react violently. They intend to do worse to Lot than his guests. They make the same accusations that people today make when they are confronted with their sin. They accuse him of judging them.
V. 10 - The angels pull Lot inside and save his life.
V. 11 - The angels then struck the men blind. This seems to be more than just a regular blindness since the men became weary trying to find the door. They were so determined to sin that they did not give up when they were struck blind, but kept trying to sin until they were too physically exhausted to keep at it. Some of these people were close to the door to start with and a door is not that hard to find if you are that close to the house, even with your eyes closed. There had to be something miraculous beyond just not seeing.
V. 12 - The angels warn Lot to get any other family he had in the city so they could escape.
V. 13 - They make it clear that the city will be destroyed, in fact, that is why they were sent.
V. 14 - Lot had sons-in-law and married daughters. It is possible that Abraham thought of the size of Lot’s family when he asked the Lord about 10. There may have been even grandchildren. When Lot warned them, they thought it was a joke. At least four people were warned, but would not leave.
V. 15 - The angels had to rush them out the door. Notice the warning: ‘lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.’ Sadly, for much of Lot’s family it is too late they are already consumed by the sins of Sodom.
V. 16 - Lot was hesitating. Maybe he was hoping that more of his family would come. Maybe he was just hoping it wasn’t real. Whatever the reason, the angels had to literally take them by the hand and lead them out of the city.
V. 17 - The angels tell them not to look back and escape to the mountain.
V. 18 - Lot disagrees.
V. 19 - Lot is worried about the dangers of the wilderness of the mountain, but does not realize the danger he is in the middle of.
V. 20 - Lot wants to go to another little town nearby. Isn't that the way we would think, a little town must not be as sinful as a big town.
V. 21 - The angel agrees and says that city will be allowed to survive.
V. 22 - The city is called Zoar, which means little. The angel tells him to hurry because they can’t start until Lot gets to the city.
V. 23 - The Sun was up by the time Lot made it to Zoar.
V. 24 - Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed with fire and brimstone (sulphur) raining down.
V. 25 - It was not only Sodom and Gomorrah but all of their suburbs and the countryside around them that was destroyed.
V. 26 - Lot’s wife just can’t leave it behind and she looks back. The iniquity of Sodom consumes one more of Lot’s family.
V. 27-28 - Abraham gets up this same morning and looks down toward the ruins of the city where his nephew had lived the day before. I wonder if he was looking at the same time Lot’s wife looked back. Both looked at the same scene, but with different eyes, hearts, thoughts, and desires.
V. 29 - Did God let Abraham know that Lot had been saved? God did not save Lot because of his own righteousness alone, but because of Abraham.
V. 30 - Lot and his daughters are afraid to stay in Zoar and go up into the mountains. They live in a cave. I guess that makes Lot a caveman.
V. 31 - Lot’s daughters overreact and assume there is no man left but their father to give them descendants.
V. 32 - The older convinces the younger to get Lot drunk so they can sleep with him to get pregnant.
V. 33 - The first born takes the first night and Lot doesn’t even know it.
V. 34-35 - The younger takes the next night and does the same.
V. 36 - All of Lot’s descendants come from these two pregnancies with his own daughters.
V. 37 - Despite the disgust of the relationship with her father it is fascinating to see the way God works through the sin of mankind to weave His plan. The oldest daughter’s son was Moab, father of the Moabites. One of the Moabites was Ruth the Great grandmother of David and ancestor of Jesus.
V. 38 - The Ammonites descend from the younger.
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Chapter 20
V. 1 - Abraham moved again.
V. 2 - Abraham again lies about Sarah being his sister, this time to Abimelech. He is still not fully trusting God.
V. 3 - God dealt directly with Abimelech through dreams. God warned Abimelech of the danger he was in because of Sarah.
V. 4 - Abimelech had not touched her. He asked if God would slay a righteous nation.
V. 5 - Abimelech was not a wicked person. He had acted with integrity and innocence more so than Abraham and Sarah who had lied to him. Believing a lie can be devastating!
V. 6 - God said that was why he stopped it before the sin could occur.
V. 7 - It seems as though God has allowed this to become a test. Abimelech now has to return her or else he will be punished. Abraham is going to pray for Abimelech.
V. 8 - Abimelech did not delay, or blame others, or make excuses. He told his servants about the dream.
V. 9 - Abimelech called Abraham and wanted to know what he had done to deserve this. Once again Abraham is being a curse rather than a blessing to others because of his selfishness.
V. 10 - Abimelech then asks what Abraham saw that caused him to do this.
V. 11 - Abraham caused all of these problems because he thought. Instead of trusting God he trusted lies to protect him from people he assumed were wicked murderers.
V. 12 - Abraham tries to justify the lie: she really is my half-sister. They had the same father.
V. 13 - Abraham admits that it was his idea. She was just doing him a favor. This was not a one-time thing, it was their way of life. Wherever they went they would lie about who they were to each other.
V. 14 - Abimelech, being an honorable man, returned Sarah and gave Abraham servants and cattle. Sometimes this is difficult for us because it seems that Abraham benefitted from lying. He would have benefitted more had he not lied, however, because he would not have had the reputation of being a liar.
V. 15 - Abimelech is a generous man and allows Abraham to live anywhere in his land even after these events. Are we as quick to forgive?
V. 16 - He gave Abraham a payment on behalf of Sarah. It seems that she got the short end of the stick all the way around. Her husband used her to shield himself. She was in a position to lose her husband and be taken as wife by another man and then when everything comes out in the end Abraham gets paid the restitution money and she got nothing.
V. 17 - Abraham prays for Abimelech and God healed his wife and servants so they could have children. Abraham finally does something that blesses others even though the problem was his fault to start with.
V. 18 - How frustrating must it have been to Abraham and Sarah to watch these people have children because of God’s blessing them while Sarah was still barren.
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Chapter 21
V. 1 - We serve a God who keeps His promises even if they are not on our schedule.
V. 2 - He does what He says when He says and we don’t really have any control over it.
V. 3 - Isaac is named. His name means laughter.
V. 4 - As far as we know Isaac is the first one to be circumcised on the eighth day.
V. 5 - Abraham is a 100 year old father. Ishmael is 14 by now.
V. 6 - The laughter has turned from mocking and scoffing to joy and happiness.
V. 7 - Who would have said it? The Lord did say it. No one else would have imagined it.
V. 8 - “Weaned” often carries with it more than the idea of just not nursing anymore. It sometimes includes the idea of being able to dress and feed oneself which may not come until a later age. Some suggest that a child was considered weaned around 7 or 8 when they could pretty well do for themselves. That is something to celebrate, in our day some don’t accomplish this goal until they are 40 or so.
V. 9 - Ishmael is making fun of his little brother (half-brother) and Sarah doesn’t like it. He could be anywhere from 16 years old or older by the time.
V. 10 - Sarah tells Abraham to get rid of Hagar and Ishmael. She doesn’t want the servants son on equal terms with hers.
V. 11 - Abraham doesn’t seem as concerned about Hagar as he is about His son. He apparently did not continue to have an intimate relationship with Hagar after she became pregnant with Ishmael. Sin is still causing Abraham pain 15 or more years after the fact.
V. 12 - God tells Abraham to listen to Sarah this time, even though he shouldn’t have the first time about Hagar. God says Isaac is the descendant He has chosen.
V. 13 - God will take care of Ishmael because he is Abraham’s son, and he will become a great nation.
V. 14 - Abraham gives them some provisions and sends them off. Hagar doesn’t go anywhere particular, but just wanders. She is probably in shock. Yesterday she had a job and all her needs were provided and her son was an heir to great wealth and today she has a bottle of water and some bread.
V. 15 - After running out of water she put Ishmael under a bush.
V. 16 - She left him there and went away because she didn’t want to see him die. She cried.
V. 17 - Apparently, Ishmael was crying as well because God responded to his voice. The angel of God asked Hagar what was wrong and told her that God had heard his voice. He is called a lad and a child and he was even “cast” under the bush, but he was at least 14-15 by this time.
V. 18 - God promises the boy will not die, but instead will become a great nation.
V. 19 - Then God showed her a well and she got water.
V. 20 - God was with him as he grew and he lived out in the wilderness and got good with a bow and arrows. Nothing more is said about how they survived. They had water and found some source of food to keep living in the wilderness.
V. 21 - Hagar got her son an Egyptian wife since she was an Egyptian. There doesn’t seem to be any more contact with Abraham.
V. 22 - Abimelech notices that God is with Abraham and blessing him in all he does.
V. 23 - Abimelech wants to have a non-aggression treaty for the coming generations. He wants to be sure that Abraham and his descendants don’t cheat him and his descendants.
V. 24 - Abraham agrees. No big summits, no 300-page contracts, just a simple agreement sworn to before God.
V. 25 - Abraham tells Abimelech that Abimelech’s servants had violently taken away a well from him.
V. 26 - Abimelech seems to be an honest man of integrity as seen throughout his dealings with Abraham, and there is no reason to doubt him when he says that he did not know about the well until Abraham told him.
V. 27 - Abraham gave Abimelech sheep and oxen to seal the agreement.
V. 28 - Abraham took 7 of the little girl lambs and separated them.
V. 29 - Even though this was an obvious thing to Abraham, Abimelech had to ask what it meant. There were apparently some cultural differences about the way these covenants were done.
V. 30 - Abraham explained that they were to be the proof that he was the one who had dug the well.
V. 31 - Abraham called it Beersheba, which means ‘well of an oath’ because they made this oath there.
V. 32 - Abimelech and the captain of his army went back home to the land of the Philistines. This agreement did not really last very long. Abraham kept it, but in Genesis 26 Isaac deals falsely with Abimelech just as his father had before this agreement was made. Furthermore, the Philistines and Israelites were at war through much of the time of the judges and kings Saul and David.
V. 33 - Abraham planted some trees and worshiped God there. It seems likely that the grove of trees was a place of worship. In later times gardens and groves of trees are often connected with worship, mostly with idols, but there is no reason to think that Abraham couldn’t worship the Lord in a garden or grove. He could have even placed an altar there, or it may have been a place of prayer and meditation.
V. 34 - Abraham stayed near Abimelech in the Philistines land a long time.
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Chapter 22
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Chapter 23
V. 1 - Sarah is 127, Isaac is 37, Abraham is 137, he will live to 175 almost 40 more years.
V. 2 - Abraham came to mourn, was he not there when she died? She died in Kirjatharba (Hebron), the last time we saw him Abraham was living in Beersheba. He was not “too macho” to cry.
V. 3 - Abraham did not own any of the land that he lived on. He lived on land owned and controlled by the sons of Heth.
V. 4 - When it says ‘give’, Abraham is not looking for charity, he is willing to buy it.
V. 5-6 - They offer him his choice. He can bury her in any of their tombs.
V. 7 - Notice how ceremonial all of the interactions are. Knowing the customs and habits of the people you live among is important.
V. 8 - He wants them to approach Ephron for him. Ephron is not one of the sons of Heth either, but owns some land.
V. 9 - Abraham wants the cave at the end of Ephron’s field, not the whole field, and is willing to pay full price.
V. 10 - Ephron was a Hittite. It was supposed by many historians that the Bible was wrong and that the Hittites never existed, but Archaeological discoveries proved them wrong and the Bible right. Today you will find information on two different groups called Hittites. One a smaller group in Canaan and the other a larger group near Syria. The Bible makes reference to both groups.
V. 11-16 - Ephron and Abraham discuss the price. And finally settle on 400 shekels(10 pounds/ 160 ounces@ $35.29/oz) of silver. $5646.40. Funerals were expensive even back then. The conversation may sound strange to us like Ephron is trying to give it to Abraham and Abraham is insisting on paying. While that is a possibility it is more likely that this was just the way they negotiated prices.
V. 17-18 - Abraham really only wanted the cave as a burial cave, but he winds up buying the field, the cave, and all the trees. I wonder who had the mineral rights? It looks like even then the idea of these things being distinct was there. This was a public sale and there were witnesses to make it sure. The gate of the city was where all of the important business was taken care of in Abraham’s day.
V. 19 - Abraham buried Sarah. We know much more about the purchase of the land than the death and burial of Sarah, and rightfully so, this is the only land Abraham possessed in the promised land, and it is used for generations for burial.
V. 20 - Even a couple hundred years later when Jacob dies his sons bring him back to this cave and it is still here and still a family possession.
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Chapter 39
V. 1 - The Ishmeelites sell Joseph to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officers.
V. 2 - Joseph is not alone, the Lord is with him.
V. 3 - Potiphar notices the way everything Joseph does is prospered by God.
V. 4 - Potiphar puts Joseph in charge of everything in his house.
V. 5 - Potiphar’s household and all he has is blessed by God because of Joseph.
V. 6 - Potiphar trusts Joseph so completely that he knew nothing about his wealth.
V. 7 - Potiphar’s wife becomes enamored with Joseph and wants him to be her lover.
V. 8 - Joseph refuses. He talks of his master’s trust in him.
V. 9 - He can have anything he wants in the house except her because she is his wife. His greatest argument is not the damage it would do to him, her, or Potiphar. Instead it would be a great sin against God. The same God who has blessed him and her and her husband. How could you bite the hand that feeds you.
V. 10 - She keeps trying, but he won’t be with her.
V. 11 - Joseph had to go into the house to work, and there were not any other servants in the house. Just Joseph and Potiphar’s wife alone in the house.
V. 12 - She caught him and wanted him to sleep with her. He runs leaving his outer garment in her hands.
V. 13 - She realizes that she still has his clothes.
V. 14 - She uses the clothes to accuse Joseph of trying to force her.
V. 15 - She claims that he ran when she screamed for help.
V. 16 - She keeps his garment to show her husband.
V. 17-18 - ‘Hell has no fury like a woman scorned.’ All of her plans have failed so she turns to her last resort. She retells the story to her husband, who is naive and trusts her more than he trusted Joseph before.
V. 19 - Potiphar becomes angry and reacts without any other evidence.
V. 20 - Potiphar threw Joseph in prison without a trial or even hearing his side of the story. Being a slave is not a good position.
V. 21 - Even during this difficult time the Lord was with Joseph. How often do we question where the Lord is when the least little thing happens. “How could God let this happen to me?” we often say. The fact is that for a faithful Christian He is right there and helping the Christian through the events. Notice the mercy God shows Joseph. He does the same for us many times, but we are so busy moaning and whining we don’t see the mercy.
V. 22 - Joseph quickly moved into a trusted position with the jailer.
V. 23 - Even in prison the Lord made Joseph prosper. Sold by his brothers, a slave, falsely accused, and wrongly imprisoned; Joseph still trusted God and God still blessed him.
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Chapter 40
V. 1 - We don’t know how long Joseph was in prison. The butler (cupbearer, like Nehemiah) and baker offended Pharaoh.
V. 2 - Specifically, he is angry at the chiefs of the butlers and the bakers. There is no indication of what if anything they had done wrong, only that they offended him.
V. 3 - He put them in the same prison as Joseph. This is all an amazing story of God’s providence. There are so many details that could have affected the results, but God puts them all together.
V. 4 - Joseph is put in charge of them. He serves them during their time in the prison. The word translated a season in the KJV is the same as the word for a day, but can also mean longer. Obviously, in this case it is more than a day because even after their dreams they stay three more days.
V. 5 - the baker and butler each have a unique dream one night while they are under Joseph’s care.
V. 6 - Joseph notices how sad they are. It doesn’t seem like two men in prison being sad would be unusual, but Joseph is observant enough to see that this is not the regular ‘woe is me I am in prison’ kind of sadness.
V. 7 - Joseph is also kind enough to care and ask them what is wrong. The man has enough of his own problems, but he still takes time to show concern to others.
V. 8 - The
v. 1 – There was only one language in the world.
v.2 – Back in chapter 9 God told them to fill the earth, but here all the people are staying together in one group.
v.3-4 - They decided to stay and build a city in the plain of Shinar instead of spreading out as God had commanded. Nimrod was the leader of this kingdom that began at Babel and they began this kingdom as a rebellion against God.
v.5 - Here is some insight into the uses of the terms ‘children of men’ and ‘children of God’. These disobedient people are called the children of men. Think back to chapter 5 and the sons of God and daughters of men. This seems to indicate that the righteous were not very discriminating in their choice of wives. The Lord can see just fine from heaven, the idea here is that God took special notice of what men were doing.
v.6 - Was God scared that the people would get up to heaven and overthrow Him? Certainly not! He simply knew that if they were not disciplined in this rebellious action they would continue to be more rebellious.
v.7 – Again the plural is used as the Godhead discusses this situation amongst themselves.
v.8 – The solution is simply to confuse the one language into many so that the people unable to communicate would not be able to continue.
v.9 – The city is called Babel, confusion. The Lord scattered them since they would not scatter of their own will. God’s will is always accomplished.
v.10-11 – Noah lived 950 years, Shem only lives 600.
v.12-13 – Arphaxad only lives 438 years. Shem outlived his son that was born after the flood. In just 2 generations the life expectancy is cut in half. Something is dramatically different after the flood.
v.14-17 – The next two generations keep life expectancy about the same 400-450 years.
v.18-25 - After those two generations life expectancy drops again to about 230 years. When we look at it Shem not only outlived his son, but also all but one of the next 9 generations. Imagine that, he was alive at the time of his great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, grandchildren’s births as well as the deaths of some, but not all of his children; grandchildren; great grandchildren; great, great, grandchildren; great, great, great, grandchildren; great, great, great, great, grandchildren; great, great, great, great, great, grandchildren; great, great, great, great, great, great, grandchildren. Abraham died and Isaac, Jacob, and even many of Jacob’s children were born before Shem died. How big was his family?
v.26-27 – By the time we get to Abram we have about 2000 years of history in these first 11 chapters. The remaining 39 chapters are only going to cover about 200 years.
v.28 – Terah and his family lived in Ur of the Chaldees. The Chaldees later became the Chaldeans and are better known to most as the Babylonians who centuries later took the nation of Judah captive.
v.29 – There seems to be a good bit of close relationship marriages at this time. Abram and Sarai were half siblings (we find out later – Genesis 20:12), and Nahor possibly married his niece, or there is a Haran other than his brother (This is quite possible since there is no mention of Haran being the father of both Milcah and Lot.). Terah had children by at least two different women.
v.30 – Sarai was barren
v.31 – Terah, Abram, Sarai and Lot left Ur to go to Canaan and stopped in a place called Haran.
v.32 – Terah died at 205, as far as we know he is the last one to live over 200 years, at least in this line.
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Chapter 12
v.1 - God is still speaking to people on an individual level. It is possible that God had told Terah to leave in ch. 11. God tells Abram to leave 3 things: his country, his relatives, and his father’s house; to get much more. If Abram does as he is told he will get a land chosen by God as well as the blessings in vs. 2-3.
You can find a map of the area and Abram's journeys here.
v.2 - God will make his descendants a great nation, bless him, make his name great and make him a blessing to others if and when Abram does his part.
v.3 - God will act on Abram’s behalf and bring a blessing to the whole world through Abram.
v.4 - Abram does 2 of the 3 things, but takes Lot with him. He is already 75 and has no heirs. God’s full blessing can’t come until Abram does it all. How often do we fail to receive God’s full blessing because we won’t go all the way.
v.5 - They come to the land of Canaan.
v.6 - The Canaanites were already at least 1 nation by this time.
v.7 - The Lord “appears” promises that this land will be given to descendants that are not even born yet. Abram builds an altar. We don’t know what form the Lord used to appear to Abram, but this is not the only time. See ch. 18.
v.8 - Abram keeps traveling. East of Bethel (It was not called Bethel until the time of Jacob - 28:19) he built another altar to worship God.
v.9 - Abram goes further south. Indications are that Ur was in the east and Haran (where Terah died) was north west of Ur. Since Abram was traveling south, He must have come into Canaan on the north.
v.10 - Notice who went down to Egypt, Abram. In 13:1 his wife and Lot come up out of Egypt with him. This is an example of Necessary Implication. If they came up out of Egypt, they must have gone down into Egypt even though the Bible does not specifically say so. Is Abram fully trusting God? There is no indication that God told him to go to Egypt.
v.11 - Abram is known as the father of the faithful, but he did not just start out always trusting God completely. In fact, he failed to trust God on multiple occasions. Sarai was beautiful even though she is over 65 by this time.
v.12 - Abram thinks the worst of his fellow man. He seems to be a bit of a cynic. He also seems a little self-centered. Willing to sacrifice his wife’s virtue to save his life. Not exactly the knight in shining armor.
v.13 - He even wants her to lie (commit a sin) to save his neck. Again not trusting God. God has already promised that he will have offspring which he does not yet. Does he think God will let him die without fulfilling that promise.
v.14 - The Egyptians were impressed with Sarai’s beauty.
v.15 - Pharaoh took her into his house, believing that she was Abram’s sister and fair game. Believing a lie can cause us trouble.
v.16 - Pharoah was kind to Abram because of Sarai.
v.17 - God punished Pharaoh’s house for taking a man’s wife. Abram is not being a blessing, but a curse at this point because he is trusting his own devices and understanding instead of the Lord.
v.18 - Pharaoh realizes why he is suffering and confronts Abram.
v.19 - Abram had underestimated the Egyptians morality. Even after being lied to Pharaoh did not kill Abram to keep Sarai.
v.20 - In fact, he sent them on their way and commanded everyone else to let them go as well.
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Chapter 13
v. 1 – Lot came up out of Egypt. Even though there is no record of him going to Egypt, we know he did because of necessary implication.
v. 2 – Abram’s wealth did not keep him from being righteous. Wealth is not sinful.
v. 3 – He went back to Bethel. It was not called that until Jacob named it.
v. 4 – His altar was still there. Notice that worship was a priority in Abram's life.
v. 5 – Lot also had wealth.
v. 6 – The two of them had too much to live on the same land.
v. 7 – Their servants fought over the resources.
v. 8 – Abram was a peace maker. He did not want the strife to affect his relationship with Lot. He wanted to stop the servants fighting as well.
v. 9 – Abram shows his capacity to be unselfish. He gives Lot the first choice of land.
v. 10 – Lot does not think as unselfish and respecting his elders. Lot made the mistake of looking at the land physically instead of spiritually. He chose the land that was green and well-watered without considering the quality of the neighborhood and the neighbors. It was even compared to the Garden of the Lord (Eden).
v. 11 – Lot went east leaving the west for Abram.
v. 12 – Abram lived in Canaan, but Lot pitched his tent toward Sodom.
v. 13 – The people of Sodom were wicked and sinners “exceedingly”.
v. 14-15 – After Lot left (Abram has finally fulfilled the 3rd thing God told him to do in Gen 12:1-3.), God reminds Abram of the land promise that he had made in 12:6-8. He is told to look every direction and see the land God will give to him and his descendants.
v. 16 – God also gives a promise to multiply Abram’s descendants as the dust. Remember at this time He is over 75 and still has no children.
v. 17 – Abram is to look over his inheritance and walk around it.
v. 18 – He moved to Hebron (not named that when he lived there) and built another altar. Notice that everywhere Abram goes he worships God.
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Chapter 14
Genesis 14 v. 1 – These four kings were in the area near Babel notice one is king of Shinar. From Abram’s old stomping grounds. Some people believe that Amraphel was the king now known as Hammurabi.
v. 2 – These five kings include the king of Sodom where Lot is living. Notice that most of these kings are kings over a city and probably the land around that city. These “kings” were really more like a mayor. It was hard to be king over a large area and protect it. Many cities that did not have a king and were under another king often were captured back and forth between two stronger cities or kings.
v. 3 – They came to fight in the valley of Siddim, the salt sea (dead sea).
v. 4-5 – The 5 kings had been under Chedorlaomer for 12 years, and wanted to be free. They rebelled in year 13 and in year 14 Chedorlaomer and his king buddies came to reclaim his land.
v. 6 – Chedorlaomer was a big king, he had a large area. He was based in Persia, but controlled the plains around the Jordan River all the way to Mount Seir near the southern border of Canaan.
v. 7 – They were attacking and beating everyone in the area.
v. 8 – The 5 kings of the plains went together to fight them.
v. 9 – The odds sounded good 4 invading kings against 5 local kings.
v. 10 – It was a slaughter. Those who survived fled to the mountains.
v. 11 – The invaders took all the goods from Sodom and Gomorrah.
v. 12 – They took Lot and his goods as well.
v. 13 – Someone told Abram the Hebrew.
v. 14 – He armed his trained servants – 318 soldiers, and pursued them to Dan (not called that then). Abram was a sort of king in his own right.
v. 15 – He used the divide and conquer method and struck at night. We don’t know how many soldiers these 5 kings had, but surely Abram was outnumbered. God was with Abram. He chased them almost to Damascus.
v. 16 – He brought everything back. He could have tried to rescue Lot and leave the rest, but He rescued everyone. The wicked people of Sodom and Gomorrah did not repent or begin to follow God even after this.
V.17 - The king of Sodom comes out to meet and greet Abram. It is clear that Abram is greater than the king of Sodom and the main reason for that is not wealth or number of people, it is Abram's relationship with God that makes him great.
V.18 - Even though Abram is a great individual, we are introduced to someone greater in this verse, Melchizedek. His name means King of Righteousness (Hebrews 7:2) and he is king of Salem, which means king of peace (Hebrews 7:2). This has led some to believe that it was God the son taking human form, but neither here nor in the passages in Psalms or Hebrews is this idea portrayed. This person that is only mentioned by name once and whose interaction with Abram is covered in 3 verses. Becomes the basis for the entire priesthood of Christ and the New Testament Covenant. This passage and the prophecy in Psalm 110:4 becomes the basis for the teaching of 3 chapters of Hebrews (5-7). We actually learn much more about Melchizedek (spelled Melchisedec in the NT) from the Hebrew writer than we did from Genesis. It also reinforces the law of interpretation that you cannot just change whatever you want. If there had been no Melchizedek before the Levitical priesthood of the Law of Moses, then Christ could not have been a priest. He could be a king because he was from the tribe of Judah and that is where kings originated, but priests had to come out of the tribe of Levi and Jesus did not. It also emphasizes the change in law from Moses to Christ because the Hebrew writer tells us that if the priesthood changed there had to be a change of the law. Notice that in addition to being a double king, he is a priest of God. He nor his ancestry is mentioned anywhere in Genesis, but that is not unusual the Bible is only following one line of descendants, those the Christ will come through.
V.19 - Melchizedek blessed Abram. The Hebrew writer explains that this proves that Melchizedek is greater than Abram in Hebrews 7:7.
V.20 - Abram gave a tithe (literally one tenth) to Melchizedek. This is another evidence of the status of Melchizedek. In fact, the Hebrew writer says that the Levites who receive tithes from others paid them through Abram. We also are reminded that Abram was not the only one who worshiped God.
V.21 - The king of Sodom offered to let Abram keep all the stuff. This shows how much authority the King had. The king did not even consult the people whose stuff Abram had recovered before offerring it to Abram.
V.22-23 - Abram has promised God not to take anything. This will keep the king from claiming he was the reason Abram was rich.
V.24 - Abram does not make decisions for the others who went with him. Some of the soldiers had eaten some things. Some other men that were not his servants went with him as well. Abram told the king to give them their share, but he was trusting God.
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Chapter 15
v.1 - was the word of the Lord here THE WORD? Notice the word came in a VISION. This seems to be the basis for this entire chapter, that everything that happens in this chapter is part of this vision.
v.2 - Abram was concerned about still being childless.
v.3 - one of his sermons was going to inherit his wealth. And there was no one to inherit his name.
v.4 - the Lord said he would have a son of his own to be his heir.
v.5 - God compares Abrams offspring in the future to the number of stars. This is not an exact comparison, God is just saying that he will have so many it would be hard to count.
v.6 - Abram believed the Lord and believed in the Lord. Abram’s faith was counted as righteousness. This does not mean that obedience was not necessary, nor is it an advocation of faith only.
v.7 - God reminds Abram of the promise of the land that he was to inherit.
v.8 - Abram was not afraid to ask God questions, or ask him for proof or evidence of the promises.
v.9 - God told Abram to set up a special type of ritual to finalize the covenant. There was no need for God to do this, but it eased Abram’s mind to have it confirmed in a way similar to the way two people would have confirmed and oath or covenant between them.
v.10 - Abram took the animals and cut them in half and made one on one side and one on the other side, he didn’t divide the birds.
v.11 - Abram kept the birds away. These birds likely represented Satan’s efforts to thwart God’s plan.
v.12 - as the sun is going down in Abram’s vision, he falls asleep and experiences a dream within a dream.
v.13 - the Lord tells Abram the future that his descendants will have to go to a foreign land and serve those people and being mistreated. This process will last 400 years, not that they will suffer 400 years. Part of this includes the time the children of Israel were in Egypt in slavery. In Ex. 12:40 it is called 430 years and in Gen. 15:16 it is called four generations. The 400 is a round number and the 4 generations is likely a reference to those who were actually in Egypt: Levi, Kohath, Amram, Moses.
v.14 - God will punish the nation they serve and they will come out with wealth.
v.15 - God tells Abram that he will die at a good old age and peacefully. This promise shows the limits of Abram’s faith because later he again lies to try to protect his own life.
v.16 - Abram’s descendants will come back to this land of promise but not until the Amorites sins have become overwhelming. God shows mercy and grace even to the sinful.
v.17 - as the vision continues, it gets dark and a smoking furnace and a burning lamp pass between the pieces of the meat that were laid out. These are representations of the Lord Himself confirming the covenant.
v.18 - This is obviously not the day that God initially made the promise, but the day that He confirmed it and gave Abram the details.
v.19-21 - The 10 nations listed were not necessarily the only people living in Canaan, but they were the major tribes or nations. Abram is promised that his descendants will take over all of their land.
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Chapter 16
V. 1 - Despite all of God’s promises Abram and Sarai had no children. God is not bound to keep His promises on our schedule.
V. 2 - Instead of waiting for God Sarai comes up with a plan and the first recorded attempt at surrogate mothering followed Abram’s acceptance of the idea.
V. 3 - Sarai gave Hagar to be a second wife to Abram, but she didn’t really mean it.
V. 4 - Hagar conceived and then despised Sarai.
V. 5 - Sarai now decides it was a bad idea and makes Abram choose between them.
V. 6 - Abram let Sarai do what she wanted with Hagar, and Sarai was harsh. Hagar ran away.
V. 7 - The angel of the Lord found her by a fountain. Some times the "Angel of the Lord" seems to be a manifestation of God perhaps the Son. This appears to be one of those times, notice the promise in verse 10. An angel would not have the authority to make such a promise.
V. 8 - He asked her where she was going. She was just running away from Sarai.
V. 9 - The angel said go back and submit.
V. 10 - The angel also said I will multiply your seed so it shall not be numbered.
V. 11 - You will bear a son and call him Ishmael (Means God will hear).
V. 12 - He will be wild, against everyone and everyone against him.
V. 13 - She called the Lord that spoke to her ‘God who sees’
V. 14 - The well was called Beerlahairoi (well of a living one my seer).
V. 15 - Hagar bore a son and Abram called him Ishmael.
V. 16 - Abram was 86 and still didn’t have the son God had promised.
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Chapter 17
V. 1 - Thirteen(13) years pass in just one verse from the end of chapter 16. We need to remember that God is writing His Autobiography as He deals with man. The day to day activities of man are only significant as they interact with the will of God. A little over 13 chapters cover the entire 175 years of Abraham’s life. We don’t meet him until he is 75 and then there are more large chunks of his life that we don’t know about: from Ishmael’s birth to Isaac’s birth, from Isaac’s birth until God’s test, from the test until Sarah’s death, after Sarah’s death and Isaac’s marriage til Abraham’s death. In all less than 1% of his life is actually revealed. Abraham has a part to play in God’s covenant: Walk before me and be perfect.
V. 2 - If Abraham does his part God will make His covenant and multiply Abraham. 13 more years and Abram and Sarai still have no child.
V. 3 - Look at the reverence Abram has for God. When was the last time you fell on your face before God.
V. 4 - Not just a father, but a father of many nations. Abraham did indeed father many. We often only think of Israel, but there were others.
V. 5 - Name changed to Abraham. Abram means 'high father', Abraham means 'father of a multitude'
V. 6 - Exceeding fruitful, nations, and kings.
V. 7 - Covenant established with him and seed. Everlasting covenant to be Abraham’s God and God of his descendants.
V. 8 - All Canaan for everlasting possession.
V. 9 - You shall keep my covenant you and seed. There was a part for man to do and there still is today.
V. 10 - Every male shall be circumcised.
V. 11 - circumcision was the token of the covenant, not the covenant itself. The covenant was to walk before God and be complete/perfect.
V. 12 - Circumcision was on the 8th day. Perfect day for surgery. Notice this info from Apologetics Press:In Genesis 17:12, God specifically directed Abraham to circumcise newborn males on the eighth day. Why the eighth day? In 1935, professor H. Dam proposed the name “vitamin K” for the factor in foods that helped prevent hemorrhaging in baby chicks. We now know vitamin K is responsible for the production (by the liver) of the element known as prothrombin. If vitamin K is deficient, there will be a prothrombin deficiency and hemorrhaging may occur. Oddly, it is only on the fifth through the seventh days of the newborn male’s life that vitamin K (produced by bacteria in the intestinal tract) is present in adequate quantities. Vitamin K, coupled with prothrombin, causes blood coagulation, which is important in any surgical procedure. Holt and McIntosh, in their classic work, Holt Pediatrics, observed that a newborn infant has “peculiar susceptibility to bleeding between the second and fifth days of life.... Hemorrhages at this time, though often inconsequential, are sometimes extensive; they may produce serious damage to internal organs, especially to the brain, and cause death from shock and exsanguination” (1953, pp. 125-126). Obviously, then, if vitamin K is not produced in sufficient quantities until days five through seven, it would be wise to postpone any surgery until some time after that. But why did God specify day eight? 1. On the eighth day, the amount of prothrombin present actually is elevated above one-hundred percent of normal—and is the only day in the male’s life in which this will be the case under normal conditions. If surgery is to be performed, day eight is the perfect day to do it. Vitamin K and prothrombin levels are at their peak. The chart below, patterned after one published by S.I. McMillen, M.D., in his book, None of These Diseases, portrays this in graphic form.
From: Biblical Accuracy and Circumcision on the 8th Day by Bert Thompson, Ph.D.
http://www.apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=13&article=1118
V. 13 - Circumcision was for everyone born or bought in Abraham’s household. Circumcision was a constant reminder in the flesh of a spiritual covenant.
V. 14 - The uncircumcised were not God’s people. They were cut off for breaking the covenant. This was important enough that the Jews would even do it on the Sabbath day.
V. 15 - Sarai (same root as sarah) changed to Sarah (Mistress, Lady, princess, queen, )could be going from princess to queen with the birth of a prince?
V. 16 - Finally, God explains that He will give Abraham a son by Sarah she would be a mother of nations, however, not as many as Abraham because she is the mother of only one of his 8 children.
V. 17 - Abraham falls on his face laughing. He can’t believe a 100 year old man and 90 year old woman could have a baby.
V. 18 - Abraham is still offering God a compromise: let Ishmael be the one.
V. 19 - God says no, and names the one he will accept: Isaac. The covenant will be with him.
V. 20 - God blessed Ishmael and would multiply him and make a great nation and give him twelve rulers as sons. Ishmael had 12 sons Gen. 25:12-16
V. 21 - Isaac will be born in one year by Sarah and the covenant will be with him.
V. 22 - God “went up” from Abraham. He did not just walk away or fade away, apparently.
V. 23 - Abraham circumcised his entire household.
V. 24 - Abraham is circumcised at 99.
V. 25 - Ishmael was 13.
V. 26 - They were circumcised the same day as part of a covenant that Ishmael would never enjoy the benefits of because he was not the son of promise.
V. 27 - ALL the men of the house were circumcised.
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Chapter 18
Chapter 18 V. 1 - The Lord appears to Abraham again soon after the circumcision. The Father was never seen physically. In fact the scriptures are clear that no man could see Him and live Ex. 33:20. The Spirit is also never referenced as taking human form of any kind, so this must be the Son. One is left to wonder if He took the appearance of the man He would be in the future.
V. 2 - When he saw three men walking his direction he ran to meet them and greeted them humbly.
V. 3 - The word Lord here is different from the word Lord in verse 1. In the KJV you will see LORD all caps to translate Jehovah or Yahweh which always refers to God. Lord without the caps is a translation of Adonai which refers to God or man. The idea of serving visitors or being hospitable is shown here.
V. 4 - The assumption would be that travelers would be hot and tired, it was the heat of the day. The Lord may not have been walking far, but Abraham did not know who it was. Heb. 13:2 seems to indicate this possibility. Water to wash travelers’ feet was still a common practice in Jesus day.
V. 5 - Food since it was apparently near noon. They graciously accepted his hospitality.
V. 6-8 - There was no food ready to eat, Abraham was not running a buffet. There were no TV dinners and no microwave to heat up leftovers. Not even peanut butter and jelly and bread to make sandwiches. Sarah had to make bread, do you know how long that takes? Abraham selected a calf that had to be skinned, butchered, cleaned, prepared and cooked, can you imagine how long that would take? People had to be more patient then.
V. 9 - They ask him where Sarah is and he has not told them his wife’s name. This could have been his first clue that they were not mere mortals.
V. 10 - Some say that this would be the same time next year, but it is also possible that He is speaking of the time it takes for a child to be born. Perhaps Sarah was or would become pregnant shortly. If so then this appearance is about 2-3 months after the last. There is certainly different wording used here than in chapter 17
V. 11 - Sarah had gone through Menopause.
V. 12 - She laughed (within herself) and asked, shall I have pleasure? Is the pleasure simply in having a child, or the process?
V. 13 - The Lord knew she laughed and knew what she thought even though she did not do so out loud.
V. 14 - The Lord reveals Himself verbally. If Abraham did not know before, he certainly should now. And what a question this is. Of course it is rhetorical in nature, Is anything too hard for God? My answer would be only some peoples’ hearts, but even they will be crushed in judgment.
V. 15 - Sarah lied about laughing because of her fear, but we are not told what she was afraid of. The Lord knew.
Shifting gears they head to destroy Sodom
V. 16 - They are still called men even though it is quite clear to everyone that they are not. The old practice of seeing someone out was already alive and kicking 4000 years ago.
V. 17 -18 - The closeness of Abraham’s relationship with God is such that God even revealed secrets to him.
V. 19 - God knows everyone and He chose Abraham because, among other reasons, He knew that Abraham would guide his household to follow God.
V. 20 - 21 - The Lord explains to Abraham the reason they are going to Sodom and Gomorrah. It is not for a pleasant visit. Did the Lord not know how bad it was? Was He not omniscient? Did He have to go to see their wickedness.
V. 22 - The angels headed on toward Sodom leaving Abraham and the Lord.
V. 23 - Look at the level of comfort that Abraham has in talking to and questioning and even negotiating with the Lord.
V. 24 - 25 - Abraham wonders if God would save the city for fifty righteous. I don’t know how many people were in Sodom or Gomorrah but even if they were each small towns of 1000 that would be 1950 wicked to 50 righteous that would be 97.5% wicked. Abraham proclaims the Lords justice and righteousness would never allow him to kill the righteous with the wicked even if it were only a few. Another great question is asked, this time by Abraham: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?
V. 26 - The Lord agrees. Not just to remove the righteous, but to not destroy the wicked! God’s mercy and longsuffering is incomprehensible.
V. 27 - 28 - With the victory under his belt Abraham summons more courage and asks about 45. God agrees again.
V. 29 - But what if there are 40? Won’t do it.
V. 30 - Don’t be mad, but what about 30? Won’t do it.
V. 31 - How about twenty? Won’t destroy it.
V. 32 - Ok, last time what about 10? Won’t kill all the wicked for 10 righteous. What if Noah’s family had been a little bit bigger? This may have been the number Abraham wanted to get to but was afraid to just ask at the start. It is ironic however that the Lord actually knew already that there were not 10 righteous and that the cities would be destroyed. This exchange shows us just how far God is willing to go to save and not destroy.
V. 33 - The Lord went His way, and Abraham went back. The Lord never came to Sodom and Gomorrah as far as we know. He never met up with the angels at Lot’s house at least.
It is interesting that there is an almost identical account in the Koran only it is Mohamed supposedly talking Allah out of making the Muslims pray 50 times a day.
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Chapter 19
V. 1 - Apparently, the Lord Himself did not go on to Sodom with the other heavenly beings after talking with Abraham. Lot meets and greets these angels and is unaware of their nature. The words of Hebrews 13:2 are called to mind again with this encounter.
V. 2 - He invites strangers into his home. How many of us would do that? We have all heard the “ we live in a dangerous world” reasoning. Considering what happens in the rest of the chapter it is hard to imagine our time is any more dangerous. It is interesting that the predators that are most often allowed into our homes are family members or trusted friends. We are so focused on ‘stranger danger’ that we are blind to the fact that it is more rare than the danger of someone trusted.
V. 3 - Lot must have realized the dangers of Sodom, because he pressed them to not stay in the street as they suggested.
V. 4 - Can you imagine a city so corrupt that ALL of the men of the city would want to rape some visitors or tourists who were traveling through? It is possible that not each single individual of the city was outside the house, this could be a figure of speech, a hyperbole. It could be similar to the prophecy from Joel about the coming of the Spirit. God said he would pour out His Spirit on ALL flesh (or people) in Joel 2:28-32 and it is quoted in Acts 2:17-21. He did not mean fish and dogs, only people. He did not mean every individual, but both male and female, Jew and Gentile, young and old, and slave and free. It is possible that the point of the ALL in Sodom is that it was young and old, rich and poor, married and single, etc. Of course it is also possible that it was literally every single individual. Even if not everyone was involved, no one opposed them other than Lot. There were no police, neighborhood watch, etc. There were no good people. Were even Lot’s sons-in-law in the crowd?
V. 5 - The crowd wants to “know” the men that are staying at Lot’s house. Some claim that the people had been inhospitable and are trying to make up for it by getting to know these visitors. This is an absurd claim. Lot refers to what they are doing as wickedness in verse 7. Even though the word could mean getting acquainted, it is also the same word that was used to describe Adam ‘knowing’ Eve before the birth of Cain and Abel. Every indication is that this sexual knowing was what is under discussion in this passage.
V. 6 - Lot goes outside to reason with them. He is either naive or overly optimistic if he thinks they are reasonable. Sin corrupts not only the actions, but the thoughts and mind as well as the soul.
V. 7 - He begs them not to sin in such a grievous way.
V. 8 - He even goes so far as to offer them his 2 virgin daughters, but these men are not interested in women. This speaks to the depths of responsibility one in their culture felt toward a guest. I dare say none of us would sacrifice a family member that we loved to protect a stranger. Remember at this point as far as we know Lot does not know that his visitors are angels. Remember that God is not showing approval of Lot’s actions, only recording them. The Bible does not teach the idea of ‘the lesser of two evils’ it would have been sinful for these men to take and rape Lot’s daughters as well.
V. 9 - The men react violently. They intend to do worse to Lot than his guests. They make the same accusations that people today make when they are confronted with their sin. They accuse him of judging them.
V. 10 - The angels pull Lot inside and save his life.
V. 11 - The angels then struck the men blind. This seems to be more than just a regular blindness since the men became weary trying to find the door. They were so determined to sin that they did not give up when they were struck blind, but kept trying to sin until they were too physically exhausted to keep at it. Some of these people were close to the door to start with and a door is not that hard to find if you are that close to the house, even with your eyes closed. There had to be something miraculous beyond just not seeing.
V. 12 - The angels warn Lot to get any other family he had in the city so they could escape.
V. 13 - They make it clear that the city will be destroyed, in fact, that is why they were sent.
V. 14 - Lot had sons-in-law and married daughters. It is possible that Abraham thought of the size of Lot’s family when he asked the Lord about 10. There may have been even grandchildren. When Lot warned them, they thought it was a joke. At least four people were warned, but would not leave.
V. 15 - The angels had to rush them out the door. Notice the warning: ‘lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.’ Sadly, for much of Lot’s family it is too late they are already consumed by the sins of Sodom.
V. 16 - Lot was hesitating. Maybe he was hoping that more of his family would come. Maybe he was just hoping it wasn’t real. Whatever the reason, the angels had to literally take them by the hand and lead them out of the city.
V. 17 - The angels tell them not to look back and escape to the mountain.
V. 18 - Lot disagrees.
V. 19 - Lot is worried about the dangers of the wilderness of the mountain, but does not realize the danger he is in the middle of.
V. 20 - Lot wants to go to another little town nearby. Isn't that the way we would think, a little town must not be as sinful as a big town.
V. 21 - The angel agrees and says that city will be allowed to survive.
V. 22 - The city is called Zoar, which means little. The angel tells him to hurry because they can’t start until Lot gets to the city.
V. 23 - The Sun was up by the time Lot made it to Zoar.
V. 24 - Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed with fire and brimstone (sulphur) raining down.
V. 25 - It was not only Sodom and Gomorrah but all of their suburbs and the countryside around them that was destroyed.
V. 26 - Lot’s wife just can’t leave it behind and she looks back. The iniquity of Sodom consumes one more of Lot’s family.
V. 27-28 - Abraham gets up this same morning and looks down toward the ruins of the city where his nephew had lived the day before. I wonder if he was looking at the same time Lot’s wife looked back. Both looked at the same scene, but with different eyes, hearts, thoughts, and desires.
V. 29 - Did God let Abraham know that Lot had been saved? God did not save Lot because of his own righteousness alone, but because of Abraham.
V. 30 - Lot and his daughters are afraid to stay in Zoar and go up into the mountains. They live in a cave. I guess that makes Lot a caveman.
V. 31 - Lot’s daughters overreact and assume there is no man left but their father to give them descendants.
V. 32 - The older convinces the younger to get Lot drunk so they can sleep with him to get pregnant.
V. 33 - The first born takes the first night and Lot doesn’t even know it.
V. 34-35 - The younger takes the next night and does the same.
V. 36 - All of Lot’s descendants come from these two pregnancies with his own daughters.
V. 37 - Despite the disgust of the relationship with her father it is fascinating to see the way God works through the sin of mankind to weave His plan. The oldest daughter’s son was Moab, father of the Moabites. One of the Moabites was Ruth the Great grandmother of David and ancestor of Jesus.
V. 38 - The Ammonites descend from the younger.
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Chapter 20
V. 1 - Abraham moved again.
V. 2 - Abraham again lies about Sarah being his sister, this time to Abimelech. He is still not fully trusting God.
V. 3 - God dealt directly with Abimelech through dreams. God warned Abimelech of the danger he was in because of Sarah.
V. 4 - Abimelech had not touched her. He asked if God would slay a righteous nation.
V. 5 - Abimelech was not a wicked person. He had acted with integrity and innocence more so than Abraham and Sarah who had lied to him. Believing a lie can be devastating!
V. 6 - God said that was why he stopped it before the sin could occur.
V. 7 - It seems as though God has allowed this to become a test. Abimelech now has to return her or else he will be punished. Abraham is going to pray for Abimelech.
V. 8 - Abimelech did not delay, or blame others, or make excuses. He told his servants about the dream.
V. 9 - Abimelech called Abraham and wanted to know what he had done to deserve this. Once again Abraham is being a curse rather than a blessing to others because of his selfishness.
V. 10 - Abimelech then asks what Abraham saw that caused him to do this.
V. 11 - Abraham caused all of these problems because he thought. Instead of trusting God he trusted lies to protect him from people he assumed were wicked murderers.
V. 12 - Abraham tries to justify the lie: she really is my half-sister. They had the same father.
V. 13 - Abraham admits that it was his idea. She was just doing him a favor. This was not a one-time thing, it was their way of life. Wherever they went they would lie about who they were to each other.
V. 14 - Abimelech, being an honorable man, returned Sarah and gave Abraham servants and cattle. Sometimes this is difficult for us because it seems that Abraham benefitted from lying. He would have benefitted more had he not lied, however, because he would not have had the reputation of being a liar.
V. 15 - Abimelech is a generous man and allows Abraham to live anywhere in his land even after these events. Are we as quick to forgive?
V. 16 - He gave Abraham a payment on behalf of Sarah. It seems that she got the short end of the stick all the way around. Her husband used her to shield himself. She was in a position to lose her husband and be taken as wife by another man and then when everything comes out in the end Abraham gets paid the restitution money and she got nothing.
V. 17 - Abraham prays for Abimelech and God healed his wife and servants so they could have children. Abraham finally does something that blesses others even though the problem was his fault to start with.
V. 18 - How frustrating must it have been to Abraham and Sarah to watch these people have children because of God’s blessing them while Sarah was still barren.
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Chapter 21
V. 1 - We serve a God who keeps His promises even if they are not on our schedule.
V. 2 - He does what He says when He says and we don’t really have any control over it.
V. 3 - Isaac is named. His name means laughter.
V. 4 - As far as we know Isaac is the first one to be circumcised on the eighth day.
V. 5 - Abraham is a 100 year old father. Ishmael is 14 by now.
V. 6 - The laughter has turned from mocking and scoffing to joy and happiness.
V. 7 - Who would have said it? The Lord did say it. No one else would have imagined it.
V. 8 - “Weaned” often carries with it more than the idea of just not nursing anymore. It sometimes includes the idea of being able to dress and feed oneself which may not come until a later age. Some suggest that a child was considered weaned around 7 or 8 when they could pretty well do for themselves. That is something to celebrate, in our day some don’t accomplish this goal until they are 40 or so.
V. 9 - Ishmael is making fun of his little brother (half-brother) and Sarah doesn’t like it. He could be anywhere from 16 years old or older by the time.
V. 10 - Sarah tells Abraham to get rid of Hagar and Ishmael. She doesn’t want the servants son on equal terms with hers.
V. 11 - Abraham doesn’t seem as concerned about Hagar as he is about His son. He apparently did not continue to have an intimate relationship with Hagar after she became pregnant with Ishmael. Sin is still causing Abraham pain 15 or more years after the fact.
V. 12 - God tells Abraham to listen to Sarah this time, even though he shouldn’t have the first time about Hagar. God says Isaac is the descendant He has chosen.
V. 13 - God will take care of Ishmael because he is Abraham’s son, and he will become a great nation.
V. 14 - Abraham gives them some provisions and sends them off. Hagar doesn’t go anywhere particular, but just wanders. She is probably in shock. Yesterday she had a job and all her needs were provided and her son was an heir to great wealth and today she has a bottle of water and some bread.
V. 15 - After running out of water she put Ishmael under a bush.
V. 16 - She left him there and went away because she didn’t want to see him die. She cried.
V. 17 - Apparently, Ishmael was crying as well because God responded to his voice. The angel of God asked Hagar what was wrong and told her that God had heard his voice. He is called a lad and a child and he was even “cast” under the bush, but he was at least 14-15 by this time.
V. 18 - God promises the boy will not die, but instead will become a great nation.
V. 19 - Then God showed her a well and she got water.
V. 20 - God was with him as he grew and he lived out in the wilderness and got good with a bow and arrows. Nothing more is said about how they survived. They had water and found some source of food to keep living in the wilderness.
V. 21 - Hagar got her son an Egyptian wife since she was an Egyptian. There doesn’t seem to be any more contact with Abraham.
V. 22 - Abimelech notices that God is with Abraham and blessing him in all he does.
V. 23 - Abimelech wants to have a non-aggression treaty for the coming generations. He wants to be sure that Abraham and his descendants don’t cheat him and his descendants.
V. 24 - Abraham agrees. No big summits, no 300-page contracts, just a simple agreement sworn to before God.
V. 25 - Abraham tells Abimelech that Abimelech’s servants had violently taken away a well from him.
V. 26 - Abimelech seems to be an honest man of integrity as seen throughout his dealings with Abraham, and there is no reason to doubt him when he says that he did not know about the well until Abraham told him.
V. 27 - Abraham gave Abimelech sheep and oxen to seal the agreement.
V. 28 - Abraham took 7 of the little girl lambs and separated them.
V. 29 - Even though this was an obvious thing to Abraham, Abimelech had to ask what it meant. There were apparently some cultural differences about the way these covenants were done.
V. 30 - Abraham explained that they were to be the proof that he was the one who had dug the well.
V. 31 - Abraham called it Beersheba, which means ‘well of an oath’ because they made this oath there.
V. 32 - Abimelech and the captain of his army went back home to the land of the Philistines. This agreement did not really last very long. Abraham kept it, but in Genesis 26 Isaac deals falsely with Abimelech just as his father had before this agreement was made. Furthermore, the Philistines and Israelites were at war through much of the time of the judges and kings Saul and David.
V. 33 - Abraham planted some trees and worshiped God there. It seems likely that the grove of trees was a place of worship. In later times gardens and groves of trees are often connected with worship, mostly with idols, but there is no reason to think that Abraham couldn’t worship the Lord in a garden or grove. He could have even placed an altar there, or it may have been a place of prayer and meditation.
V. 34 - Abraham stayed near Abimelech in the Philistines land a long time.
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Chapter 22
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Chapter 23
V. 1 - Sarah is 127, Isaac is 37, Abraham is 137, he will live to 175 almost 40 more years.
V. 2 - Abraham came to mourn, was he not there when she died? She died in Kirjatharba (Hebron), the last time we saw him Abraham was living in Beersheba. He was not “too macho” to cry.
V. 3 - Abraham did not own any of the land that he lived on. He lived on land owned and controlled by the sons of Heth.
V. 4 - When it says ‘give’, Abraham is not looking for charity, he is willing to buy it.
V. 5-6 - They offer him his choice. He can bury her in any of their tombs.
V. 7 - Notice how ceremonial all of the interactions are. Knowing the customs and habits of the people you live among is important.
V. 8 - He wants them to approach Ephron for him. Ephron is not one of the sons of Heth either, but owns some land.
V. 9 - Abraham wants the cave at the end of Ephron’s field, not the whole field, and is willing to pay full price.
V. 10 - Ephron was a Hittite. It was supposed by many historians that the Bible was wrong and that the Hittites never existed, but Archaeological discoveries proved them wrong and the Bible right. Today you will find information on two different groups called Hittites. One a smaller group in Canaan and the other a larger group near Syria. The Bible makes reference to both groups.
V. 11-16 - Ephron and Abraham discuss the price. And finally settle on 400 shekels(10 pounds/ 160 ounces@ $35.29/oz) of silver. $5646.40. Funerals were expensive even back then. The conversation may sound strange to us like Ephron is trying to give it to Abraham and Abraham is insisting on paying. While that is a possibility it is more likely that this was just the way they negotiated prices.
V. 17-18 - Abraham really only wanted the cave as a burial cave, but he winds up buying the field, the cave, and all the trees. I wonder who had the mineral rights? It looks like even then the idea of these things being distinct was there. This was a public sale and there were witnesses to make it sure. The gate of the city was where all of the important business was taken care of in Abraham’s day.
V. 19 - Abraham buried Sarah. We know much more about the purchase of the land than the death and burial of Sarah, and rightfully so, this is the only land Abraham possessed in the promised land, and it is used for generations for burial.
V. 20 - Even a couple hundred years later when Jacob dies his sons bring him back to this cave and it is still here and still a family possession.
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Chapter 24
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Chapter 39
V. 1 - The Ishmeelites sell Joseph to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officers.
V. 2 - Joseph is not alone, the Lord is with him.
V. 3 - Potiphar notices the way everything Joseph does is prospered by God.
V. 4 - Potiphar puts Joseph in charge of everything in his house.
V. 5 - Potiphar’s household and all he has is blessed by God because of Joseph.
V. 6 - Potiphar trusts Joseph so completely that he knew nothing about his wealth.
V. 7 - Potiphar’s wife becomes enamored with Joseph and wants him to be her lover.
V. 8 - Joseph refuses. He talks of his master’s trust in him.
V. 9 - He can have anything he wants in the house except her because she is his wife. His greatest argument is not the damage it would do to him, her, or Potiphar. Instead it would be a great sin against God. The same God who has blessed him and her and her husband. How could you bite the hand that feeds you.
V. 10 - She keeps trying, but he won’t be with her.
V. 11 - Joseph had to go into the house to work, and there were not any other servants in the house. Just Joseph and Potiphar’s wife alone in the house.
V. 12 - She caught him and wanted him to sleep with her. He runs leaving his outer garment in her hands.
V. 13 - She realizes that she still has his clothes.
V. 14 - She uses the clothes to accuse Joseph of trying to force her.
V. 15 - She claims that he ran when she screamed for help.
V. 16 - She keeps his garment to show her husband.
V. 17-18 - ‘Hell has no fury like a woman scorned.’ All of her plans have failed so she turns to her last resort. She retells the story to her husband, who is naive and trusts her more than he trusted Joseph before.
V. 19 - Potiphar becomes angry and reacts without any other evidence.
V. 20 - Potiphar threw Joseph in prison without a trial or even hearing his side of the story. Being a slave is not a good position.
V. 21 - Even during this difficult time the Lord was with Joseph. How often do we question where the Lord is when the least little thing happens. “How could God let this happen to me?” we often say. The fact is that for a faithful Christian He is right there and helping the Christian through the events. Notice the mercy God shows Joseph. He does the same for us many times, but we are so busy moaning and whining we don’t see the mercy.
V. 22 - Joseph quickly moved into a trusted position with the jailer.
V. 23 - Even in prison the Lord made Joseph prosper. Sold by his brothers, a slave, falsely accused, and wrongly imprisoned; Joseph still trusted God and God still blessed him.
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Chapter 40
V. 1 - We don’t know how long Joseph was in prison. The butler (cupbearer, like Nehemiah) and baker offended Pharaoh.
V. 2 - Specifically, he is angry at the chiefs of the butlers and the bakers. There is no indication of what if anything they had done wrong, only that they offended him.
V. 3 - He put them in the same prison as Joseph. This is all an amazing story of God’s providence. There are so many details that could have affected the results, but God puts them all together.
V. 4 - Joseph is put in charge of them. He serves them during their time in the prison. The word translated a season in the KJV is the same as the word for a day, but can also mean longer. Obviously, in this case it is more than a day because even after their dreams they stay three more days.
V. 5 - the baker and butler each have a unique dream one night while they are under Joseph’s care.
V. 6 - Joseph notices how sad they are. It doesn’t seem like two men in prison being sad would be unusual, but Joseph is observant enough to see that this is not the regular ‘woe is me I am in prison’ kind of sadness.
V. 7 - Joseph is also kind enough to care and ask them what is wrong. The man has enough of his own problems, but he still takes time to show concern to others.
V. 8 - The
V. 1 - Joseph spends two more years in the prison before God needs him again. Pharaoh has a dream.
V. 2 - In his dream seven healthy, fat cows came up out of the river and ate in the grass.
V. 3 - After this seven sickly, skinny cows came up and stood next to the healthy ones, but they did not eat the grass.
V. 4 - Instead of eating the grass these sick (in more than one way) cows ate the good cows. Pharaoh woke up after this dream or should we say nightmare.
V. 5 - He went back to sleep and dreamed about seven ears of grain on a stalk full and healthy.
V. 6 - Then seven withered half-formed ears grew.
V. 7 - The thin sickly grain swallowed the seven full ears of grain. Then Pharaoh woke up again.
V. 8 - He was troubled by these dreams and when it was morning he called the magicians (see that as wizards or sorcerors, not magicians or illusionists for entertainment like we have today) and all the wise men of Egypt, and told them his dream, but they could not explain it. Truly Joseph had been right when he said interpretations came from God. When God makes a mystery no one can figure it out on his own.
V. 9 - Now the butler remembers Joseph.
V. 10-13 - The butler recounts the events of two years earlier when he and the baker had their dreams. He tells Pharaoh about the Hebrew who interpreted their dreams accurately.
V. 14 - Do you think Joseph was nervous going to see the Pharaoh? From the dungeon to the palace is a big change in environment. Joseph had to get cleaned up for the meeting.
V. 15 - Pharaoh explains why he called Joseph. Nobody can interpret his dream, but he has heard that Joseph can interpret them.
V. 16 - Joseph again gives the credit to God as he should. Joseph is not just talented at figuring out dreams, the answers come from God.
V. 17-24 Pharaoh tells Joseph of his two dreams and how no one could explain them. The only additional information we gain from what was told earlier is that after the sickly, skinny cows ate the fat, healthy cows they were still as skinny and sickly as before. Pharaoh also says they looked worse than any he had ever seen in the whole land of Egypt.
V. 25 - The first thing Joseph tells Pharaoh is that the dreams are the same (in their meaning at least). God is going to do something and is warning Pharaoh ahead of time.
V. 26 - The seven good cows and ears of grain are seven years.
V. 27 - The seven bad cows and ears of grain are going to be seven years of famine.
V. 28 - Remember that during the Patriarchal age God dealt with the heads of families. Pharaoh would certainly be one that God would deal with through dreams just as he did with Abimelech. It is even remotely possible that this Pharaoh is the one Abraham lied to about Sarah or at least a descendant of that Pharaoh. This is not the first or last time that God sends a message to a Pharaoh of Egypt. Last time and this time they listen, in Moses’ time they will not.
V. 29 - There are going to be seven great harvest years all over Egypt. God did not wait until it was too late to give the message.
V. 30-31 The seven years of famine that come after the seven good will be so bad that everyone will forget about the good years. Joseph repeats this information just like the dream had been repeated.
V. 32 - The reason the dream was sent twice is because it is set by God and coming soon.
V. 33 - Joseph gives Pharaoh some advice to go along with the interpretation. Joseph is not shy even in the presence of the king of all Egypt. He suggests Pharaoh delegate to a wise and discreet man. Wise so he can handle the problem and not be bothering Pharaoh with it constantly. Discreet so that there is not a panic about the problems ahead for the nation.
V. 34 - Joseph suggests putting tax collectors to get a 20% cut of all the crops in the land during the 7 good years.
V. 35 - There may be some indication that there was a food collection that went beyond the 20% of vs. 34. Joseph indicates Pharaoh should store it up so that it will be under his control.
V. 36 - The food is to be saved for the 7 years of famine. The natural tendency of many people is to just enjoy and waste when there is a surplus rather than save for the bad times. It takes wisdom to keep back some for a time of need that is coming.
V. 37 - Everyone that heard agreed that it was a good idea. How unusual is that in government?
V. 38 - Pharaoh asks his servants if there is anyone else like Joseph who has the spirit of God.
V. 39 - Pharaoh recognizes that there is no one better than Joseph because God has shown him all of these things.
V. 40 - Pharaoh puts Joseph in charge of his house and second in command over Egypt. He gave Joseph the right to rule the people and make laws.
V. 41 - Pharaoh puts Joseph over everything and everyone in the entire kingdom except Pharaoh himself. Kinda sounds like the power of the IRS.
V. 42 - Pharaoh gives him the props to go with his new position so he can look the part.
V. 43 - Then Joseph rode in the second chariot and everyone had to bow to him.
V. 44 - Pharaoh basically says that no one can do anything without Joseph’s approval. When Joseph said jump they better jump. I wonder if Joseph thought about Potiphar’s wife and considered revenge. As far as we know he never did anything to ‘get even’ with her for what she had done.
V. 45 - Joseph’s name is changed. It has been suggested that his new name: Zaphnathpaaneah, means something like ‘bringer of life’ which would be appropriate. He also was the beneficiary of an arranged marriage with a priest’s daughter. The priests were special people in Egypt, so this was considered a desirable marriage.
V. 46 - This all happened when Joseph was 30. He was no kid anymore. It has been 13 years since we first met Joseph tattling on his half-brothers.
V. 47 - The seven good years were very good. They would have to be to save up enough to make it through the famine years. It would take 35 years of saving 20% to have enough to last seven years of nothing. The seven bad years surely produced some crops.
V. 48 - He gathered up the food and stored it in all the cities near the fields.
V. 49 - There was so much he had to quit counting it. They didn’t have computers and inventory systems.
V. 50 - Joseph’s sons were born before the famine. As far as we know these are the only children he had, but there may have been daughters that were not mentioned.
V. 51 - The first was Manasseh because God had helped him forget the problems he had. Manasseh literally means ‘causing to forget’.
V. 52 - The second was Ephraim which means ‘double fruit’.
V. 53 - The good years came to an end. What kind of anxiousness must have been in the minds of those who knew this was the last year before the famine they had been dreading for seven years.
V. 54 - The famine started, but because of Joseph’s preparations their was food, bread at least, in Egypt.
V. 55 - When the Egyptians began to run out of their own food during the famine, they hollered to Pharaoh, and he sent them to Joseph. Can you imagine the price you could charge for bread if no one else had any.
V. 56 - The famine was not only in Egypt. Why did God chose to reveal to Pharaoh what He had not revealed to others. Could it be that Pharaoh was more receptive, or that it was closest to where Jacob and his family were. Remember that God is working to bring the savior into the world. He has to protect the line through which that messiah will come. Joseph opened the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians. A strong central government was helpful in making the collection, storage, and orderly distribution of the food possible.
V. 57 - All countries came to Joseph in Egypt to buy because of the famine. No doubt some of the great wealth and power of Egypt in ancient times had to do with these events. Imagine how much stored food there must have been if Egypt supplied not only its own people during a seven year famine, but also had enough to sell to other nations. They could set the price and no one could refuse because of the famine.
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Chapter 42
V. 1 - Even before our modern technology news had a way of traveling. Jacob’s statement to his sons would be similar to us asking, “What are you waiting for?”
V. 2 - Despite the drought, Jacob had wealth to be able to buy, there just wasn’t anything to buy where he was.
V. 3 - Jacob’s family was about 70, plus he had servants and family members all had servants, plus any animals that needed to be fed. They needed to buy a lot of grain. Remember by this time Joseph who was younger than these ten, was already married and had children.
V. 4 - Jacob’s fear over what he thought had happened to Joseph and the death of Rachel made him overly protective of Benjamin, the only other son by Rachel.
V. 5 - It doesn’t matter how much money you have, if there’s nothing to buy.
V. 6 - Joseph’s dreams are fulfilled.
V. 7 - Joseph apparently recognized his brothers by sight even before they spoke.
V. 8 - Either Joseph’s speech, appearance, dress, or his brother’s lack of observation, allowed him to go unrecognized by them.
V. 9 - Joseph takes advantage of their ignorance to get a little information.
V. 10 - Must have been satisfying to hear his brothers call him ‘lord.’
V. 11 - Imagine being in a foreign country where you can’t speak the language and being accused of being a spy. How could you prove you weren’t.
V. 12 - Their fear must be increasing each time Joseph denies their statements.
V. 13 - His brothers have been telling the lie about his death so long that they’ve come to the point they believe it.
V. 14 - Joseph insists that they must be spies.
V. 15 - Joseph wants proof they are not spies. What he is really wanting is evidence that they have matured. The only proof he will accept is if their younger brother will come. He wants to see Benjamin again.
V. 16 - Joseph says one can go back to bring their youngest brother and if he doesn’t then they’ll be convicted of espionage.
V. 17 - Joseph gave him 3 days to think about which one would go back.
V. 18-19 - Joseph makes a compromise to allow only one to stay in prison while the other 9 go back. Knowing the distance of the journey and that it would be impossible for one to carry enough food for all their families. Joseph wants to test his brothers, not cause their families and innocent children or his father and Benjamin to suffer.
V. 20 - Joseph made them promise to bring Benjamin.
V. 21 - At least his brothers do feel some guilt over what they did to him.
V. 22 - Reuben reminds them that he warned them not to do what he did and now they are paying the price of their sins. Reuben shouldn’t pretend to be too innocent though, he did know what they had done and didn’t tell his father or did anything to get Joseph back. Be sure your sin will find you out.
V. 23 - They had done all of this talking not knowing that Joseph knew exactly what they were saying. They should have at least thought about the interpreter understanding what they said.
V. 24 - He is so upset seeing his brothers that he weeps, who says real men don’t cry. They just don’t cry over silly things like breaking a fingernail or seeing a sports team lose a game on TV.
V. 25 - Joseph had their money put back in their grain sacks and gave them extra for the trip home. The KJV says ‘corn’, but this would likely not have been corn as we think of it.
V. 26-27 - After leaving without Simeon they stopped at an inn. One found the money in his sack. Joseph had refused the money from his own family and kindly returned it. I doubt he was doing this to cause them anguish, but sometimes there are unexpected consequences for our actions.
V. 28 - They are afraid because of all the accusations that were made and now they are afraid of being charged as thieves as well as spies.
V. 29-34 - They tell Jacob what they experienced.
V. 35 - They found that all of their money had been returned and Jacob saw it and they were all afraid. I am sure that it was never Joseph’s intention to cause his father to suffer this fear.
V. 36 - Jacob blames the brothers for Joseph’s ‘death’ and counts Simeon as lost. He accuses them of wanting to take Benjamin away. He is looking at all of the negatives. He is not remembering all the ways that God has blessed him. We all find ourselves doing that at times. “All these things are against me.”
V. 37 - Reuben comes up with one of the dumbest ideas in history. He suggests that if he can’t bring Jacob’s son, Benjamin, back then Jacob can kill his grandsons, Reuben’s two sons. No grandparent in their right mind would go for a deal like that. Kind of makes you wonder about Reuben.
V. 38 - Jacob makes it clear that Benjamin will not go because he is Rachel’s only living child and he couldn’t live without Benjamin if something happened. Jacob does not know that the famine is going to be for 7 years. We often make statements about how we would never do this or that, and we don’t know all the future holds.
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Chapter 43
V. 1 - This famine was a very extreme famine, 7 years of suffering throughout the entire known world of their day. It is hard for us having lived in a land of abundance to imagine the difficulties this would bring.
V. 2 - Jacob’s family has eaten all of the food from the first trip to Egypt. Surely they had enough to last at least a year or so. Jacob tells them to go buy some more food. He probably had never experienced any famine like this and had assumed that they would be over the famine by this point.
V. 3 - Judah (Reuben had been the spokesman when they came back from Egypt, but now Judah seems to be taking the lead, it may be because he has a better relationship with his father. Reuben, Simeon, and Levi were all overlooked for the blessing that Judah received. Things might have been different if Jacob had known that it was Judah’s idea to sell Joseph.) reminds him that the man in Egypt told them not to come back unless Benjamin was with them. Had Jacob actually forgotten this? Had he blocked it out and locked it away with his pain at losing Joseph and Simeon?
V. 4 - Judah says they will be glad to go if Benjamin goes with them.
V. 5 - He makes it clear that they are not going without Benjamin. The fears of what would happen if they set foot in Egypt without Benjamin was greater at this point than the fear of starvation.
V. 6 - Jacob plays the ‘what if’ game wondering why they ever mentioned having a brother.
V. 7 - They again twist the truth a bit saying that the man asked them, when it is apparent from the earlier account that they volunteered the information.
V. 8 - Judah begs Jacob to send Benjamin with him so they won’t starve to death. Sometimes people are so afraid of a certain risk that they wait too long and wind up suffering because it is too late.
V. 9 - Judah offers himself and offers to bear the blame for ever if Benjamin goes with him and he doesn’t bring Benjamin back.
V. 10 - Then he reminds his father that they could have already gone and been back already with more food.
V. 11 - Jacob submits to the inevitable. Earlier he said Benjamin would not go, but things have changed and now he has to go. He tells them to take the best their land has to offer: (which is not all that good with the famine) fruits, balm, honey, spices, myrrh, nuts, and almonds.
V. 12 - He also tells them to take twice the money to pay for the first grain they got.
V. 13 - And he finally acknowledges that they can take Benjamin with them.
V. 14 - Jacob finally puts his trust in God. He blesses them asking for God’s mercy and putting events into God’s hands. If he loses Simeon and Benjamin he will accept that. This is a huge change in his spirit from what it had been.
V. 15 - They went and stood before Joseph. Joseph let them see him again.
V. 16 - Joseph sees Benjamin and his demeanor is completely different from what it had been before. If they had been spies they could have just gotten another man to pretend to be their other brother. Of course, Joseph knew they were not spies all along. Joseph has his own servants now. He sends the chief servant to get ready to have a dinner for his brothers.
V. 17 - The brothers are brought to Joseph’s house.
V. 18 - They are afraid that Joseph is out to get them. They think he is going to enslave them.
V. 19-21 - They talk to the steward and try to explain how they found the money in their sacks.
V. 22 - They go on to explain that they have brought that and other money to buy more grain and they don’t know how it happened that their money was put back in their sacks.
V. 23 - He tells them not to worry about it and count it as a blessing from God. He claims that he got their money. Then he brought out Simeon.
V. 24 - He brought them into the house gave them water and let them wash their feet and took care of their donkeys.
V. 25 - The brothers got their present ready to give Joseph when he came home. They knew they were supposed to eat there.
V. 26 - They present the present to Joseph and bow before him again.
V. 27 - Joseph asks about them and their father. Jacob is aging and Joseph wonders if he is still alive.
V. 28 - They said he is alive and in good health and then bowed again.
V. 29 - He turns to Benjamin and blesses him.
V. 30 - Joseph has to rush out of the room to cry in private after seeing Benjamin. He never seems to have had trouble the whole time Simeon was there in the jail. He was more emotionally attached to Benjamin.
V. 31 - He gets control of himself and cleans up his face so they won’t know he was crying. It is time to eat.
V. 32 - They set three tables one for Joseph, one for the brothers, and one for the Egyptians because Egyptians wouldn’t eat with Hebrews even if he is second in the whole country.
V. 33 - The brothers were seated from oldest to youngest and they were shocked.
V. 34 - He gave Benjamin 5 times more food than the other brothers. They enjoyed the meal with him, but in the back of their minds they had to wonder what was going on.
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Chapter 44
V. 1 - Joseph commanded his steward to fill their sacks and put their money back in the top. I am sure he was responsible for doing so the first time as well even though it is not recorded.
V. 2 - Joseph sets his brothers up for the most important test of their character by having his silver cup placed in Benjamin’s sack.
V. 3 - Joseph sent them away the next morning.
V. 4-5 - After they had been gone a little while Joseph sent his steward after them to ask them why they would be so evil as to steal his cup after he had been so good to them. He is also to indicate that the cup has magical properties.
V. 6-7 - He caught them and said what Joseph had told him to say. They are understandably shocked by the accusation since they did not steal anything. Apparently, they knew that God would not be pleased with stealing, and said so making their first argument for innocence.
V. 8 - Their next argument is that their past behavior of bringing back the money that had been “mistakenly” returned to them should show that they were not thieves.
V. 9 - Their last statement of boldness in their innocence is that if the servant finds the cup in any of their possessions that one should be put to death and the rest will be slaves. You have to be confident not only of yourself, but also of your brothers to make this kind of promise. There are not many people in the world that I am so sure of that I would risk enslavement based on their integrity.
V. 10 - Joseph’s servant says that the one who has the cup will be a slave and the rest free to go.
V. 11 - They pulled their sacks down to prove their innocence and the foolishness of this charge.
V. 12 - The servant started with Reuben and went down to Benjamin and found the cup in little Ben’s sack.
V. 13 - They tore their clothes as a show of the suffering in their souls and went back to the city.
V. 14 - They come to Joseph and fall down at his feet, again.
V. 15 - Joseph acts like he has the power to know what people are doing magically through divination.
V. 16 - Judah quits trying to defend them. Perhaps he believes Benjamin really did take the cup. He offers himself and the others as servants. Judah has now become the spokesman not only with their father, but in other circumstances as well.
V. 17 - Joseph mentions another of God’s timeless principles: don’t punish the innocent with the guilty. The one who had the cup will become a slave and the others are free to go home. This is the real test of character. Will they abandon their brother to save their own skins. Last time the sold their brother for money, now there is something more significant than money at stake: their own freedom.
V. 18 - Judah comes to beg and tries do so diplomatically.
V. 19- He reminds Joseph of their first encounter when they talked about their father and brother.
V. 20- Judah reminds him that Benjamin is the only child left from his mother, not realizing that he is talking to the other one that he just said was dead.
V. 21 - And Joseph was the one who wanted Benjamin to come.
V. 22 - They had already explained that if Benjamin left their father would die.
V. 23 - But Joseph had been emphatic that there would be no more food without him coming.
V. 24 - They had shared these events with their father.
V. 25-26 - When Jacob said go buy more food they reminded him they could not go without Benjamin.
V. 27-29 - Then Judah recounts the discussion he had with Jacob before coming on this latest trip.
V. 30-31 - Judah says that if Benjamin doesn’t go back his father will die. This is quite a change from the Judah that convinced the others to sell Joseph.
V. 32 - Judah explains the promise he made to be to blame forever if Benjamin did not come back.
V. 33-34 - He offers, rather pleads with Joseph, to be taken as slave in Benjamin’s place. It would be better to know that his father has Benjamin and never see his own family again than to go home and be to blame for Benjamin’s loss and his father’s sorrowful death. Being willing to sacrifice for another is evidence of true love. Judah has finally reached a level of love for his father that puts his father’s needs above his own.
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Chapter 45
V. 1 - Joseph is finally overcome with emotion and called for all the Egyptians to leave. After they were all gone he revealed himself to his brothers.
V. 2 - He wept so loudly that the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard him. I don’t know how close his house and Pharaoh’s house were, but that is some loud crying even if they were next door neighbors. This was not in the still of the night, but during the middle of the day when the noises of everyday activity was all around.
V. 3 - Joseph announces himself and asks if his father is still alive and his brothers are frozen in fear and speechless. Whether they believed what they were hearing or not is hard to know. Maybe they had convinced themselves that he really was dead.
V. 4 - Joseph calls them closer and tells them again that he is the same Joseph that they sold.
V. 5 - In a reversal of roles, Joseph comforts them and tells them not be angry at themselves. It seems that he ought to be the one angry, but he made peace with the situation long ago. He explains that God sent him to save life.
V. 6 - Joseph explains that there are still 5 years of famine left with no harvest.
V. 7 - He gives God the credit for using him to save the whole family.
V. 8 - He says they did not do it, but God did and made him lord over Pharaoh’s house and ruler of the land.
V. 9 - Then he tells them to hurry back and tell their father that he is alive and ruling Egypt and that he wants Jacob to come and hurry.
V. 10 - He wants the whole family to come and live in the land of Goshen.
V. 11 - Joseph promises to take care of them during the 5 remaining years of famine so they don’t become destitute.
V. 12 - He tries to assure them that it is really him saying all these things.
V. 13 - He tells them again to hurry and bring Jacob.
V. 14 - He and Benjamin hug and weep together.
V. 15 - He kissed them all and wept on them. After all of this they are finally able to talk to him.
V. 16 - Pharaoh heard that Joseph’s brothers had come and was pleased.
V. 17-18 - Pharaoh told Joseph to tell his brothers to go get their father and their families and move to Egypt. He promised to give them the best of the land.
V. 19 - He commanded wagons be taken for the women and children.
V. 20 - He reminds them that the good of all Egypt is theirs.
V. 21 - They left with wagons and provisions for the journey.
V. 22 - Joseph gave them each a new outfit, but he gave benjamin 5 outfits and 300 pieces of silver. I guess he figured the others already got their share of silver when they sold him.
V. 23 - He also sent ten donkeys with goods from Egypt and ten with food for Jacob’s journey.
V. 24 - He sent them away with a warning to be careful not to have problems on the way.
V. 25-26 - They came to Canaan and told Jacob everything, but Jacob couldn’t believe it. He had finally accepted the loss of Joseph and now he had trouble accepting his return. It is interesting how often God blesses in this way.
V. 27 - They told him everything Joseph had said and when he saw the wagons he began to believe it might be real.
V. 28 - Israel finally decides to go see Joseph before he dies. What a change from the attitude a short time ago when he thought he had lost Joseph and Simeon and was about to lose Benjamin and believed all these things were against him.
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Chapter 46
V. 1 - Israel (Jacob) went toward Egypt and offered God sacrifices at Beersheba. Notice it refers to God as “the God of his father Isaac” this does not mean that He was not Jacob’s God, rather it emphasizes the generational faith of this family. They had the same God. Do our children serve the same God we do? Do we serve the same God as our parents.
V. 2-3 - God comes to Jacob in a dream and renews the promise that He will make a great nation and comforts Jacob’s fear and specifies that Egypt is where God will make Israel a great nation. Notice that God is doing the work.
V. 4 - God promises to be with Jacob on the journey and that he will see Joseph again.
V. 5 - Jacob and his grandchildren and daughters-in-law rode in the wagons as the went to Egypt.
V. 6-7 - They took everything and everyone that was part of their family. Can you imagine a whole family with children and grandchildren and cattle and stuff and servants all traveling together and living in the same neighborhood.
V. 8-15 - The names of his sons and their children are given according to their mothers. The first section is Leah’s children. There are 33 in the first two generations.
V. 16-18 - Zilpah’s sons and their children. There are 16 in the first two generations.
V. 19-22 - Rachel’s sons and their children. There are 14 in the first two generations.
V. 23-25 - Bilhah’s sons and their children. There are 7 in the first two generations.
V. 26 - Not counting their wives, 66 of Jacob’s descendants came with him to Egypt.
V. 27 - Counting Jacob, Joseph and Joseph’s 2 sons the total is 70. This still does not count the wives which are most likely included in Stephen’s inspired count of total kinsmen souls coming with Jacob into Egypt being 75 according to Acts 7:14. Another possibility is that the wives remain uncounted and there are some unnamed daughters and granddaughters, verse 7 mentions daughters and sons’ daughters both plural.
V. 28 - Jacob’s trust in Judah has really grown. Judah is sent ahead to help them find out the way to get to Goshen. They didn’t have GPS or an app for that.
V. 29 - Joseph took his chariot and went to Goshen to see his father and hugged and wept for a long time.
V. 30 - Israel said that he was ready to die in peace now that he has seen Joseph.
V. 31 - Joseph is going to go tell Pharaoh that his family has come.
V. 32 - He will tell Pharaoh that they are shepherds and cattlemen and that they brought their animals with them. Pharaoh told them not to worry about bringing their stuff in 45:20
V. 33-34 - Joseph coaches his brothers on how to handle Pharaoh’s questions about their occupation. They should not be ashamed of the fact that they are in animal husbandry, shepherds in particular, even though this is despised by the Egyptians. Our society is much like the Egyptians. There are many who look down on what they consider to be common labor and idolize that which is truly not profitable to society. At some point the value of the labor that produces food and clothing as well as other useful and needed services must be recognized or a society will collapse.
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Chapter 47
V. 1 - Joseph tells Pharaoh that his family has come and is in Goshen.
V. 2 - Joseph only brings 5 of his brothers to meet Pharaoh, but we are not told which ones or why.
V. 3 - Pharaoh asks their occupation and they tell him they are shepherds and have been for generations.
V. 4 - They explain that they have come to sojourn because there are no pastures left in Canaan because of the famine. Then they ask to stay in Goshen.
V. 5-6 - Pharaoh tells Joseph to give his family the best land. He also asks for any of them that are really good to be in charge of Pharaoh’s own cattle.
V. 7 - Joseph brings his father to see Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. In our study on Melchizedek (Melchisedec) and Abraham when Abraham was blessed by Melchizidek we learned that the better individual blesses the lesser according to Hebrews 7:7 “And without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better.” Understanding that we learn that since Jacob blessed Pharaoh, he must be greater or better than Pharaoh. This does not refer to physical stature, or physical wealth, or even position of power and authority in dealing with mankind. This is a spiritual blessing and comes from the person who is spiritually closer to God. Pharaoh may have been king over the greatest nation in the world at the time, but Jacob was father to God’s chosen people.
V. 8 - Pharaoh asked how old Jacob was.
V. 9 - Jacob is 130 years old and he has had a tough life, he calls the days evil and he is not living as long as his ancestors. This fits with the Bible description of the shortening life spans after the flood. It is interesting that this event also gives us an important benchmark for determining the age of the world. See the “Age of the World” document in chapter 5.
V. 10 - Jacob blesses Pharaoh again.
V. 11 - Joseph settles the family in the best of the land referred to here as the land of Rameses, but called the land of Goshen at other times. This area appears to have been on the far eastern side of the Nile delta near the coast and near the river as well. A description and map is available at http://bibleatlas.org/goshen.htm . The city of Rameses was in this region as well.
V. 12 - Joseph fed his family despite the famine.
V. 13 - The famine continued and there was no food and there was a great deal of suffering. The land of Canaan took it especially hard (I know I have never seen a famine so bad that the land fainted. :P), it is good that Jacob and his family are being cared for in Egypt.
V. 14 - All the people of Egypt spent all their money to buy food from Joseph. It is interesting that God does not condemn these events and the people don’t seem upset to buy the food they grew in their own fields a few years ago that had been taken in taxes by Pharaoh and Joseph. Joseph had taxed the people and then sold the same goods back to them and took in all their money.
V. 15 - When they all ran out of money they came to beg for food because they couldn’t buy it.
V. 16 - Joseph takes everyone’s cattle in exchange for more food.
V. 17 - He fed them for another year at the cost of them giving him all of their horses, sheep, cows, and donkeys.
V. 18 - The next year He had all their money and all their livestock, but the famine continued so they need to buy food. They said their was nothing left but the land and their own bodies.
V. 19 - They sold Joseph their land and sold themselves into slavery to keep from starving to death.
V. 20 - What a scheme Joseph had come up with to consolidate the wealth and power under the throne of Pharaoh. All of the land became Pharaoh’s.
V. 21 - He moved the people off their land that they may have lived on for generations and put them in cities. It is possible that this excessive governmental control may have led to the eventual overthrow of this line of Pharaohs and allowed for a new set of Pharaohs to rise up that would not have had fond memories of Joseph as is mentioned in Exodus 1:8.
V. 22 - The religious leaders, the priests of the various state approved gods, were the only ones other than Joseph’s family who were exempted from having to sell their land and themselves. Pharaoh provided for those who were in his favor.
V. 23 - Joseph reminds the people that they are slaves and that he owns their land and then gives them seed to go back and farm the land.
V. 24 - He arranges for them to give 20% of the produce to Pharaoh and they can keep the rest to feed their families and for seed to plant the next year.
V. 25 - They gladly give up their freedom to serve Pharaoh. We sometimes forget that the idea of freedom is a rare thing indeed.
V. 26 - The law continued to the time of Moses that there was a 20% tax on everyone except the priests.
V. 27 - Israel, not only the man, but also his descendants lived and multiplied and had possessions while everyone else struggled. That could cause some jealousy and envy.
V. 28 - Jacob died at 147 years old. Isaac had lived to 180 and Abraham had lived to 175, but there is a general decrease in the ages from the time of the flood with few exceptions like Isaac.
V. 29-31 - Before Israel, the man, died he called Joseph and made him promise not to bury him in Egypt. It was just his body, what difference did it make? He wanted to be buried with his father and grandfather and Joseph agreed. He may have been wanting to remind his boys of their heritage, or maybe he didn’t understand how death worked. Remember that we have the entire Bible’s teaching on death and the afterlife, but there was nothing written when these events occurred. What arrangements do our loved ones want for their funeral? Are we willing to do what will please them? What about our own final arrangements? Are we afraid to talk about it and tell our loved ones what we want? Are we going to leave grieving family members to try to figure it out on their own?
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Chapter 48
V. 1 - After these things refers to the talk Jacob and Joseph had about his funeral, not after his death obviously. These last few verses are not exactly chronological. The statement that Jacob lived 147 years implies his death, and it does, but it is introducing the discussion of the end of his life. Joseph is told that Jacob is sick and he goes with his two sons to see his father.
V. 2 - Jacob had to work to sit up when Joseph came.
V. 3 - Jacob begins by telling Joseph how God appeared to him and blessed him. They may have never talked about this before since Joseph was young when he was sold to Egypt.
V. 4 - God promised to multiply Jacob and make his descendants a multitude. God also promised to give them the land around Luz, or Bethel, which was the land of Canaan. God promised it would be an ‘everlasting possession’ which some have taken to mean they should still be there now and our country has even helped fight wars to make sure they are in that land. The word translated ‘everlasting’ literally refers to a distant time out of sight in the future or past.
V. 5 - Jacob gives the birthright to Joseph. He takes Ephraim and Manasseh as if they were his sons instead of grandsons, so Joseph in essence gets twice as much as his brothers. Note that there is no tribe of Joseph. The birthright normally goes to the oldest, in fact it was a part of the law of Moses later that what Jacob did here by giving it to the son of his favorite wife was not to be done (Deu 21:15-17 If a man have two wives, one beloved, and another hated, and they have born him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son be hers that was hated: (16) Then it shall be, when he maketh his sons to inherit that which he hath, that he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated, which is indeed the firstborn: (17) But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath: for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.)
V. 6 - The children Joseph has after Ephraim and Manasseh will be considered his, but these first two are Jacob’s. As far as we know Joseph had no other children.
V. 7 - Jacob tells how he lost Rachel and buried her in Bethlehem. I imagine Joseph remembered that if he was old enough at the time since that was his mother.
V. 8 - Israel (Jacob) asked Joseph who the boys were. This doesn’t necessarily mean he didn’t know, it could just be a figure of speech like we might use if we saw someone and said, “Well, who do we have here?” I suppose it is possible that Jacob had not met Joseph’s sons before. It could be that he could not see well enough to tell who was there according to verse 10.
V. 9 - Joseph introduces his sons and Jacob wants them to come closer.
V. 10 - Israel could not see well. He brought them close, kissed them, and hugged them.
V. 11 - Jacob says he didn’t expect to see Joseph again, but God has blessed him to not only see Joseph, but also to see his children.
V. 12 - Joseph bowed before his father.
V. 13 - Joseph put the oldest near Jacob’s right hand and the younger toward his left. When blessing the right hand is the higher honor. Joseph expected Jacob to give the older son the greater blessing.
V. 14 - Israel intentionally crossed his hands and put his right on the youngest.
V. 15-16 - Then Israel blessed Joseph and his sons. He called on God who had been with Abraham and Isaac and had taken care of him all his life to bless the boys and multiply them. He asks the ‘Angel’ or messenger who had redeemed him from evil to bless them as well. It could be that he is simply using this term as a reference to God, some may believe that this is a reference to the pre-incarnate Word appearing. We can be sure that this is not authority to pray to angels. He does not say God “and” the angel.
V. 17 - Joseph was upset and tried to move Jacob’s hands.
V. 18 - He reminded his father of which was the older and told him to put his right hand on him.
V. 19 - Jacob said he knew what he was doing and that the younger would be greater. This was true, in fact, the northern tribes of Israel after the division was sometimes called Ephraim, see Hosea 5:12-13 for example.
V. 20 - Jacob wanted the rest of Israel to want to be like Ephraim and Manasseh. He said that being like them would be a compliment and a blessing that would be given.
V. 21 - Jacob prays that God will bring Joseph back to the land they had left behind.
V. 22 - He claims that the extra portion that Joseph is being given is the one he took away from the Amorites with his sword. There is not really a record of Jacob fighting a battle against the Amorites in scripture.
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Chapter 49
V. 1 - Jacob calls his sons and is going to tell them of their future.
V. 2 - He calls on them to listen to him.
V. 3- 4 - Reuben - He is the firstborn he should be Jacob’s pride, but Jacob says he is unstable and will not excel. The reason Jacob gives is that Reuben went up to his father’s bed and defiled it. That is covered in 35:22.
V. 5-7 - Simeon and Levi - for some reason these two are closely connected and they are linked in their fathers proclamation. There is indication of them destroying Shechem (34:24-26) Jacob refers to them killing a man in their anger and tearing down a wall. He mentions instruments of cruelty in connection to them. He doesn’t want them united and calls for them and their descendants to be scattered. This was later accomplished by the Levites being the priests and being scattered throughout the land of Canaan in the inheritance.
V. 8-12 - Judah - He is the first one that Jacob seems to be proud of. He claims that the others will praise him and bow down to him. He is compared to a lion, and the blessing truly belongs to him. Remember the blessing is the line through which Christ will come. In verse 10 a messianic prophecy is given. The scepter refers to kingship and authority as does a lawgiver. Judah is to be the ruling tribe until Shiloh comes and gathers the people. Shiloh is almost unanimously accepted as the Messiah, even by Jews today. There are references to vineyards and agriculture, but we should not think of the eyes red with wine as drunkenness, only a plentifulness of production and wealth.
V. 13 - Zebulun - the references to ships and harbors must be figurative as the land of Zebulan was landlocked. The reference to Zidon may also by hyperbole like the idea of Judah washing his clothes in grape juice.
V. 14-15 - Issachar - He is a hard worker that will take advantage of the good land the comparison to a donkey was a compliment unlike today, they thought highly of the hardworking creatures.
V. 16-18 - Dan - is more subtle. He will be strong in Israel, but he is more like the snake that bites a horse than the lion who just boldly attacks.
V. 19 - Gad - a play on the name Gad meaning a troop. It will take a multitude to overcome him, but you can’t keep him down.
V. 20 - Asher - Asher will produce abundantly.
V. 21 - Naphtali - Seems odd to compare your son to a female deer, but it could be that he was more gentle than some of the others and like Jacob may have been one who stayed around the tents rather than going out into the wild. He talks a good talk and knows what to say.
V. 22-26 - Joseph - Along with Judah, Joseph has the most said about him. He is blessed for being strong during difficult times. He was hated and attacked, but he was strengthened by God, the mighty of Jacob. God will bless Joseph and help him. Jacob claims to have been blessed more than his ancestors and wants all of those blessings to come on Joseph because he was separated from his family for so long.
V. 27 - Benjamin - He is compared to a wolf who destroys the prey and reaps the benefits.
V. 28 - Jacob blessed them each according to what was right for them.
V. 29-32 - Jacob again reminds his sons not to bury him in Egypt, but to take his body back to the cave in Ephron’s field that Abraham bought from the children of Heth. That was where Abraham and Sarah were buried as well as Isaac and Rebekah. Jacob had buried Leah there, but not Rachel or the handmaids. Could it be that he finally learned to love and accept Leah as wife ahead of Rachel or was it just convenient at her death(Leah’s death and burial are not recorded anywhere else) and not at Rachel’s(35:19-20).
V. 33 - Jacob dies. This is the first mention since God breathed into Adam the breath of life that the concept is specifically mentioned. He yielded up the ghost or spirit that had been dwelling in the body. We often think of ourselves as a body with a spirit when we really should think of ourselves as the spirit. The spirit is what makes us who we are. Notice that when Jacob’s body died as his spirit left it the Bible records that he was “gathered unto his people. Not his body, but his spirit. There is a reference here to spiritual life continuing after the death of the body.
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Chapter 50
V. 1 - At Jacob’s death Joseph wept and kissed him. There is no mention of the other brothers, but surely they mourned his death as well.
V. 2 - Israel is embalmed by the Egyptians at Joseph’s command. It would have been difficult to travel with his body back to his burial plot without this.
V. 3 - Apparently the embalming process the Egyptians used took 40 days. Even the Egyptians mourned for Jacob for 70 days. That says a lot about their respect for Joseph.
V. 4-5 - After the mourning time was over, Joseph asks Pharaoh for permission to leave and go bury his father in Canaan as he promised his father. Joseph promised to come back after the funeral.
V. 6 - Pharaoh agrees for him to go.
V. 7 - Pharaoh also sends a crowd of people with Joseph. Pharaoh’s servants, the elders of his house and all the elders of Egypt went with Joseph.
V. 8 - All Joseph’s household and his brothers and Jacob’s household all went as well. They left their little ones and their animals in Goshen. They must have left some nursemaids to watch the little ones, they did not just abandon 3 year olds for weeks while they traveled to Canaan and back.
V. 9 - A large group wound up going with chariots and horses.
V. 10 - They went to the other side of the Jordan and mourned for another 7 days.
V. 11 - The Canaanites called the place the meadow of Egypt.
V. 12 - Even after he was dead Jacob’s sons were respectful and obedient to him.
V. 13 - They buried him in the cave of Machpelah. As far as we know he was the last one buried there. Joseph asks for his bones to be taken when they leave Egypt in the future, and they did (Exodus 13:19), but we don’t know where they buried his body.
V. 14 - They all returned back to Egypt after burying Jacob.
V. 15 - Joseph’s brothers go back to their lying ways. They are afraid that Joseph will get even with them for the evil they did to him.
V. 16-17 - Instead of accepting that he had already forgiven them for it, they sent a messenger and told him that Jacob wanted Joseph to forgive them. The fact is, as far as we know from the scriptures, Jacob never knew about those events.
V. 18 - The brothers go one more time and bow before Joseph offering themselves as his servants.
V. 19 - Joseph reminds them that he is not God. It is not his place to take vengeance.
V. 20 - He knows they were being mean and evil, but he knows God had bigger plans to save people.
V. 21 - He tells them not to be afraid again and promises to take care of them and their children and comforted them.
V. 22 - Joseph lived 110 years. All of the Israelites lived in Egypt.
V. 23 - Joseph saw his sons’ families grow up to the third generation with Ephraim and the second with Manasseh.
V. 24 - Joseph called his family and told them he was going to die. He prophesied that God would bring the Israelites out of Egypt just as he had promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
V. 25 - Joseph made the children of Israel take an oath that they would take him out when they went. None of the other brothers made that kind of request as far as we know. The children of Israel did take his body out according to Exodus 13:19.
V. 26 - Joseph died at 110, they embalmed him and put him in a coffin. There is no record of a big mourning for him like there was for his father, I wonder if people were already forgetting about Joseph saving them in the famine. We know he was soon forgotten from Exodus 1:8.
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V. 2 - In his dream seven healthy, fat cows came up out of the river and ate in the grass.
V. 3 - After this seven sickly, skinny cows came up and stood next to the healthy ones, but they did not eat the grass.
V. 4 - Instead of eating the grass these sick (in more than one way) cows ate the good cows. Pharaoh woke up after this dream or should we say nightmare.
V. 5 - He went back to sleep and dreamed about seven ears of grain on a stalk full and healthy.
V. 6 - Then seven withered half-formed ears grew.
V. 7 - The thin sickly grain swallowed the seven full ears of grain. Then Pharaoh woke up again.
V. 8 - He was troubled by these dreams and when it was morning he called the magicians (see that as wizards or sorcerors, not magicians or illusionists for entertainment like we have today) and all the wise men of Egypt, and told them his dream, but they could not explain it. Truly Joseph had been right when he said interpretations came from God. When God makes a mystery no one can figure it out on his own.
V. 9 - Now the butler remembers Joseph.
V. 10-13 - The butler recounts the events of two years earlier when he and the baker had their dreams. He tells Pharaoh about the Hebrew who interpreted their dreams accurately.
V. 14 - Do you think Joseph was nervous going to see the Pharaoh? From the dungeon to the palace is a big change in environment. Joseph had to get cleaned up for the meeting.
V. 15 - Pharaoh explains why he called Joseph. Nobody can interpret his dream, but he has heard that Joseph can interpret them.
V. 16 - Joseph again gives the credit to God as he should. Joseph is not just talented at figuring out dreams, the answers come from God.
V. 17-24 Pharaoh tells Joseph of his two dreams and how no one could explain them. The only additional information we gain from what was told earlier is that after the sickly, skinny cows ate the fat, healthy cows they were still as skinny and sickly as before. Pharaoh also says they looked worse than any he had ever seen in the whole land of Egypt.
V. 25 - The first thing Joseph tells Pharaoh is that the dreams are the same (in their meaning at least). God is going to do something and is warning Pharaoh ahead of time.
V. 26 - The seven good cows and ears of grain are seven years.
V. 27 - The seven bad cows and ears of grain are going to be seven years of famine.
V. 28 - Remember that during the Patriarchal age God dealt with the heads of families. Pharaoh would certainly be one that God would deal with through dreams just as he did with Abimelech. It is even remotely possible that this Pharaoh is the one Abraham lied to about Sarah or at least a descendant of that Pharaoh. This is not the first or last time that God sends a message to a Pharaoh of Egypt. Last time and this time they listen, in Moses’ time they will not.
V. 29 - There are going to be seven great harvest years all over Egypt. God did not wait until it was too late to give the message.
V. 30-31 The seven years of famine that come after the seven good will be so bad that everyone will forget about the good years. Joseph repeats this information just like the dream had been repeated.
V. 32 - The reason the dream was sent twice is because it is set by God and coming soon.
V. 33 - Joseph gives Pharaoh some advice to go along with the interpretation. Joseph is not shy even in the presence of the king of all Egypt. He suggests Pharaoh delegate to a wise and discreet man. Wise so he can handle the problem and not be bothering Pharaoh with it constantly. Discreet so that there is not a panic about the problems ahead for the nation.
V. 34 - Joseph suggests putting tax collectors to get a 20% cut of all the crops in the land during the 7 good years.
V. 35 - There may be some indication that there was a food collection that went beyond the 20% of vs. 34. Joseph indicates Pharaoh should store it up so that it will be under his control.
V. 36 - The food is to be saved for the 7 years of famine. The natural tendency of many people is to just enjoy and waste when there is a surplus rather than save for the bad times. It takes wisdom to keep back some for a time of need that is coming.
V. 37 - Everyone that heard agreed that it was a good idea. How unusual is that in government?
V. 38 - Pharaoh asks his servants if there is anyone else like Joseph who has the spirit of God.
V. 39 - Pharaoh recognizes that there is no one better than Joseph because God has shown him all of these things.
V. 40 - Pharaoh puts Joseph in charge of his house and second in command over Egypt. He gave Joseph the right to rule the people and make laws.
V. 41 - Pharaoh puts Joseph over everything and everyone in the entire kingdom except Pharaoh himself. Kinda sounds like the power of the IRS.
V. 42 - Pharaoh gives him the props to go with his new position so he can look the part.
V. 43 - Then Joseph rode in the second chariot and everyone had to bow to him.
V. 44 - Pharaoh basically says that no one can do anything without Joseph’s approval. When Joseph said jump they better jump. I wonder if Joseph thought about Potiphar’s wife and considered revenge. As far as we know he never did anything to ‘get even’ with her for what she had done.
V. 45 - Joseph’s name is changed. It has been suggested that his new name: Zaphnathpaaneah, means something like ‘bringer of life’ which would be appropriate. He also was the beneficiary of an arranged marriage with a priest’s daughter. The priests were special people in Egypt, so this was considered a desirable marriage.
V. 46 - This all happened when Joseph was 30. He was no kid anymore. It has been 13 years since we first met Joseph tattling on his half-brothers.
V. 47 - The seven good years were very good. They would have to be to save up enough to make it through the famine years. It would take 35 years of saving 20% to have enough to last seven years of nothing. The seven bad years surely produced some crops.
V. 48 - He gathered up the food and stored it in all the cities near the fields.
V. 49 - There was so much he had to quit counting it. They didn’t have computers and inventory systems.
V. 50 - Joseph’s sons were born before the famine. As far as we know these are the only children he had, but there may have been daughters that were not mentioned.
V. 51 - The first was Manasseh because God had helped him forget the problems he had. Manasseh literally means ‘causing to forget’.
V. 52 - The second was Ephraim which means ‘double fruit’.
V. 53 - The good years came to an end. What kind of anxiousness must have been in the minds of those who knew this was the last year before the famine they had been dreading for seven years.
V. 54 - The famine started, but because of Joseph’s preparations their was food, bread at least, in Egypt.
V. 55 - When the Egyptians began to run out of their own food during the famine, they hollered to Pharaoh, and he sent them to Joseph. Can you imagine the price you could charge for bread if no one else had any.
V. 56 - The famine was not only in Egypt. Why did God chose to reveal to Pharaoh what He had not revealed to others. Could it be that Pharaoh was more receptive, or that it was closest to where Jacob and his family were. Remember that God is working to bring the savior into the world. He has to protect the line through which that messiah will come. Joseph opened the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians. A strong central government was helpful in making the collection, storage, and orderly distribution of the food possible.
V. 57 - All countries came to Joseph in Egypt to buy because of the famine. No doubt some of the great wealth and power of Egypt in ancient times had to do with these events. Imagine how much stored food there must have been if Egypt supplied not only its own people during a seven year famine, but also had enough to sell to other nations. They could set the price and no one could refuse because of the famine.
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Chapter 42
V. 1 - Even before our modern technology news had a way of traveling. Jacob’s statement to his sons would be similar to us asking, “What are you waiting for?”
V. 2 - Despite the drought, Jacob had wealth to be able to buy, there just wasn’t anything to buy where he was.
V. 3 - Jacob’s family was about 70, plus he had servants and family members all had servants, plus any animals that needed to be fed. They needed to buy a lot of grain. Remember by this time Joseph who was younger than these ten, was already married and had children.
V. 4 - Jacob’s fear over what he thought had happened to Joseph and the death of Rachel made him overly protective of Benjamin, the only other son by Rachel.
V. 5 - It doesn’t matter how much money you have, if there’s nothing to buy.
V. 6 - Joseph’s dreams are fulfilled.
V. 7 - Joseph apparently recognized his brothers by sight even before they spoke.
V. 8 - Either Joseph’s speech, appearance, dress, or his brother’s lack of observation, allowed him to go unrecognized by them.
V. 9 - Joseph takes advantage of their ignorance to get a little information.
V. 10 - Must have been satisfying to hear his brothers call him ‘lord.’
V. 11 - Imagine being in a foreign country where you can’t speak the language and being accused of being a spy. How could you prove you weren’t.
V. 12 - Their fear must be increasing each time Joseph denies their statements.
V. 13 - His brothers have been telling the lie about his death so long that they’ve come to the point they believe it.
V. 14 - Joseph insists that they must be spies.
V. 15 - Joseph wants proof they are not spies. What he is really wanting is evidence that they have matured. The only proof he will accept is if their younger brother will come. He wants to see Benjamin again.
V. 16 - Joseph says one can go back to bring their youngest brother and if he doesn’t then they’ll be convicted of espionage.
V. 17 - Joseph gave him 3 days to think about which one would go back.
V. 18-19 - Joseph makes a compromise to allow only one to stay in prison while the other 9 go back. Knowing the distance of the journey and that it would be impossible for one to carry enough food for all their families. Joseph wants to test his brothers, not cause their families and innocent children or his father and Benjamin to suffer.
V. 20 - Joseph made them promise to bring Benjamin.
V. 21 - At least his brothers do feel some guilt over what they did to him.
V. 22 - Reuben reminds them that he warned them not to do what he did and now they are paying the price of their sins. Reuben shouldn’t pretend to be too innocent though, he did know what they had done and didn’t tell his father or did anything to get Joseph back. Be sure your sin will find you out.
V. 23 - They had done all of this talking not knowing that Joseph knew exactly what they were saying. They should have at least thought about the interpreter understanding what they said.
V. 24 - He is so upset seeing his brothers that he weeps, who says real men don’t cry. They just don’t cry over silly things like breaking a fingernail or seeing a sports team lose a game on TV.
V. 25 - Joseph had their money put back in their grain sacks and gave them extra for the trip home. The KJV says ‘corn’, but this would likely not have been corn as we think of it.
V. 26-27 - After leaving without Simeon they stopped at an inn. One found the money in his sack. Joseph had refused the money from his own family and kindly returned it. I doubt he was doing this to cause them anguish, but sometimes there are unexpected consequences for our actions.
V. 28 - They are afraid because of all the accusations that were made and now they are afraid of being charged as thieves as well as spies.
V. 29-34 - They tell Jacob what they experienced.
V. 35 - They found that all of their money had been returned and Jacob saw it and they were all afraid. I am sure that it was never Joseph’s intention to cause his father to suffer this fear.
V. 36 - Jacob blames the brothers for Joseph’s ‘death’ and counts Simeon as lost. He accuses them of wanting to take Benjamin away. He is looking at all of the negatives. He is not remembering all the ways that God has blessed him. We all find ourselves doing that at times. “All these things are against me.”
V. 37 - Reuben comes up with one of the dumbest ideas in history. He suggests that if he can’t bring Jacob’s son, Benjamin, back then Jacob can kill his grandsons, Reuben’s two sons. No grandparent in their right mind would go for a deal like that. Kind of makes you wonder about Reuben.
V. 38 - Jacob makes it clear that Benjamin will not go because he is Rachel’s only living child and he couldn’t live without Benjamin if something happened. Jacob does not know that the famine is going to be for 7 years. We often make statements about how we would never do this or that, and we don’t know all the future holds.
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Chapter 43
V. 1 - This famine was a very extreme famine, 7 years of suffering throughout the entire known world of their day. It is hard for us having lived in a land of abundance to imagine the difficulties this would bring.
V. 2 - Jacob’s family has eaten all of the food from the first trip to Egypt. Surely they had enough to last at least a year or so. Jacob tells them to go buy some more food. He probably had never experienced any famine like this and had assumed that they would be over the famine by this point.
V. 3 - Judah (Reuben had been the spokesman when they came back from Egypt, but now Judah seems to be taking the lead, it may be because he has a better relationship with his father. Reuben, Simeon, and Levi were all overlooked for the blessing that Judah received. Things might have been different if Jacob had known that it was Judah’s idea to sell Joseph.) reminds him that the man in Egypt told them not to come back unless Benjamin was with them. Had Jacob actually forgotten this? Had he blocked it out and locked it away with his pain at losing Joseph and Simeon?
V. 4 - Judah says they will be glad to go if Benjamin goes with them.
V. 5 - He makes it clear that they are not going without Benjamin. The fears of what would happen if they set foot in Egypt without Benjamin was greater at this point than the fear of starvation.
V. 6 - Jacob plays the ‘what if’ game wondering why they ever mentioned having a brother.
V. 7 - They again twist the truth a bit saying that the man asked them, when it is apparent from the earlier account that they volunteered the information.
V. 8 - Judah begs Jacob to send Benjamin with him so they won’t starve to death. Sometimes people are so afraid of a certain risk that they wait too long and wind up suffering because it is too late.
V. 9 - Judah offers himself and offers to bear the blame for ever if Benjamin goes with him and he doesn’t bring Benjamin back.
V. 10 - Then he reminds his father that they could have already gone and been back already with more food.
V. 11 - Jacob submits to the inevitable. Earlier he said Benjamin would not go, but things have changed and now he has to go. He tells them to take the best their land has to offer: (which is not all that good with the famine) fruits, balm, honey, spices, myrrh, nuts, and almonds.
V. 12 - He also tells them to take twice the money to pay for the first grain they got.
V. 13 - And he finally acknowledges that they can take Benjamin with them.
V. 14 - Jacob finally puts his trust in God. He blesses them asking for God’s mercy and putting events into God’s hands. If he loses Simeon and Benjamin he will accept that. This is a huge change in his spirit from what it had been.
V. 15 - They went and stood before Joseph. Joseph let them see him again.
V. 16 - Joseph sees Benjamin and his demeanor is completely different from what it had been before. If they had been spies they could have just gotten another man to pretend to be their other brother. Of course, Joseph knew they were not spies all along. Joseph has his own servants now. He sends the chief servant to get ready to have a dinner for his brothers.
V. 17 - The brothers are brought to Joseph’s house.
V. 18 - They are afraid that Joseph is out to get them. They think he is going to enslave them.
V. 19-21 - They talk to the steward and try to explain how they found the money in their sacks.
V. 22 - They go on to explain that they have brought that and other money to buy more grain and they don’t know how it happened that their money was put back in their sacks.
V. 23 - He tells them not to worry about it and count it as a blessing from God. He claims that he got their money. Then he brought out Simeon.
V. 24 - He brought them into the house gave them water and let them wash their feet and took care of their donkeys.
V. 25 - The brothers got their present ready to give Joseph when he came home. They knew they were supposed to eat there.
V. 26 - They present the present to Joseph and bow before him again.
V. 27 - Joseph asks about them and their father. Jacob is aging and Joseph wonders if he is still alive.
V. 28 - They said he is alive and in good health and then bowed again.
V. 29 - He turns to Benjamin and blesses him.
V. 30 - Joseph has to rush out of the room to cry in private after seeing Benjamin. He never seems to have had trouble the whole time Simeon was there in the jail. He was more emotionally attached to Benjamin.
V. 31 - He gets control of himself and cleans up his face so they won’t know he was crying. It is time to eat.
V. 32 - They set three tables one for Joseph, one for the brothers, and one for the Egyptians because Egyptians wouldn’t eat with Hebrews even if he is second in the whole country.
V. 33 - The brothers were seated from oldest to youngest and they were shocked.
V. 34 - He gave Benjamin 5 times more food than the other brothers. They enjoyed the meal with him, but in the back of their minds they had to wonder what was going on.
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Chapter 44
V. 1 - Joseph commanded his steward to fill their sacks and put their money back in the top. I am sure he was responsible for doing so the first time as well even though it is not recorded.
V. 2 - Joseph sets his brothers up for the most important test of their character by having his silver cup placed in Benjamin’s sack.
V. 3 - Joseph sent them away the next morning.
V. 4-5 - After they had been gone a little while Joseph sent his steward after them to ask them why they would be so evil as to steal his cup after he had been so good to them. He is also to indicate that the cup has magical properties.
V. 6-7 - He caught them and said what Joseph had told him to say. They are understandably shocked by the accusation since they did not steal anything. Apparently, they knew that God would not be pleased with stealing, and said so making their first argument for innocence.
V. 8 - Their next argument is that their past behavior of bringing back the money that had been “mistakenly” returned to them should show that they were not thieves.
V. 9 - Their last statement of boldness in their innocence is that if the servant finds the cup in any of their possessions that one should be put to death and the rest will be slaves. You have to be confident not only of yourself, but also of your brothers to make this kind of promise. There are not many people in the world that I am so sure of that I would risk enslavement based on their integrity.
V. 10 - Joseph’s servant says that the one who has the cup will be a slave and the rest free to go.
V. 11 - They pulled their sacks down to prove their innocence and the foolishness of this charge.
V. 12 - The servant started with Reuben and went down to Benjamin and found the cup in little Ben’s sack.
V. 13 - They tore their clothes as a show of the suffering in their souls and went back to the city.
V. 14 - They come to Joseph and fall down at his feet, again.
V. 15 - Joseph acts like he has the power to know what people are doing magically through divination.
V. 16 - Judah quits trying to defend them. Perhaps he believes Benjamin really did take the cup. He offers himself and the others as servants. Judah has now become the spokesman not only with their father, but in other circumstances as well.
V. 17 - Joseph mentions another of God’s timeless principles: don’t punish the innocent with the guilty. The one who had the cup will become a slave and the others are free to go home. This is the real test of character. Will they abandon their brother to save their own skins. Last time the sold their brother for money, now there is something more significant than money at stake: their own freedom.
V. 18 - Judah comes to beg and tries do so diplomatically.
V. 19- He reminds Joseph of their first encounter when they talked about their father and brother.
V. 20- Judah reminds him that Benjamin is the only child left from his mother, not realizing that he is talking to the other one that he just said was dead.
V. 21 - And Joseph was the one who wanted Benjamin to come.
V. 22 - They had already explained that if Benjamin left their father would die.
V. 23 - But Joseph had been emphatic that there would be no more food without him coming.
V. 24 - They had shared these events with their father.
V. 25-26 - When Jacob said go buy more food they reminded him they could not go without Benjamin.
V. 27-29 - Then Judah recounts the discussion he had with Jacob before coming on this latest trip.
V. 30-31 - Judah says that if Benjamin doesn’t go back his father will die. This is quite a change from the Judah that convinced the others to sell Joseph.
V. 32 - Judah explains the promise he made to be to blame forever if Benjamin did not come back.
V. 33-34 - He offers, rather pleads with Joseph, to be taken as slave in Benjamin’s place. It would be better to know that his father has Benjamin and never see his own family again than to go home and be to blame for Benjamin’s loss and his father’s sorrowful death. Being willing to sacrifice for another is evidence of true love. Judah has finally reached a level of love for his father that puts his father’s needs above his own.
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Chapter 45
V. 1 - Joseph is finally overcome with emotion and called for all the Egyptians to leave. After they were all gone he revealed himself to his brothers.
V. 2 - He wept so loudly that the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard him. I don’t know how close his house and Pharaoh’s house were, but that is some loud crying even if they were next door neighbors. This was not in the still of the night, but during the middle of the day when the noises of everyday activity was all around.
V. 3 - Joseph announces himself and asks if his father is still alive and his brothers are frozen in fear and speechless. Whether they believed what they were hearing or not is hard to know. Maybe they had convinced themselves that he really was dead.
V. 4 - Joseph calls them closer and tells them again that he is the same Joseph that they sold.
V. 5 - In a reversal of roles, Joseph comforts them and tells them not be angry at themselves. It seems that he ought to be the one angry, but he made peace with the situation long ago. He explains that God sent him to save life.
V. 6 - Joseph explains that there are still 5 years of famine left with no harvest.
V. 7 - He gives God the credit for using him to save the whole family.
V. 8 - He says they did not do it, but God did and made him lord over Pharaoh’s house and ruler of the land.
V. 9 - Then he tells them to hurry back and tell their father that he is alive and ruling Egypt and that he wants Jacob to come and hurry.
V. 10 - He wants the whole family to come and live in the land of Goshen.
V. 11 - Joseph promises to take care of them during the 5 remaining years of famine so they don’t become destitute.
V. 12 - He tries to assure them that it is really him saying all these things.
V. 13 - He tells them again to hurry and bring Jacob.
V. 14 - He and Benjamin hug and weep together.
V. 15 - He kissed them all and wept on them. After all of this they are finally able to talk to him.
V. 16 - Pharaoh heard that Joseph’s brothers had come and was pleased.
V. 17-18 - Pharaoh told Joseph to tell his brothers to go get their father and their families and move to Egypt. He promised to give them the best of the land.
V. 19 - He commanded wagons be taken for the women and children.
V. 20 - He reminds them that the good of all Egypt is theirs.
V. 21 - They left with wagons and provisions for the journey.
V. 22 - Joseph gave them each a new outfit, but he gave benjamin 5 outfits and 300 pieces of silver. I guess he figured the others already got their share of silver when they sold him.
V. 23 - He also sent ten donkeys with goods from Egypt and ten with food for Jacob’s journey.
V. 24 - He sent them away with a warning to be careful not to have problems on the way.
V. 25-26 - They came to Canaan and told Jacob everything, but Jacob couldn’t believe it. He had finally accepted the loss of Joseph and now he had trouble accepting his return. It is interesting how often God blesses in this way.
V. 27 - They told him everything Joseph had said and when he saw the wagons he began to believe it might be real.
V. 28 - Israel finally decides to go see Joseph before he dies. What a change from the attitude a short time ago when he thought he had lost Joseph and Simeon and was about to lose Benjamin and believed all these things were against him.
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Chapter 46
V. 1 - Israel (Jacob) went toward Egypt and offered God sacrifices at Beersheba. Notice it refers to God as “the God of his father Isaac” this does not mean that He was not Jacob’s God, rather it emphasizes the generational faith of this family. They had the same God. Do our children serve the same God we do? Do we serve the same God as our parents.
V. 2-3 - God comes to Jacob in a dream and renews the promise that He will make a great nation and comforts Jacob’s fear and specifies that Egypt is where God will make Israel a great nation. Notice that God is doing the work.
V. 4 - God promises to be with Jacob on the journey and that he will see Joseph again.
V. 5 - Jacob and his grandchildren and daughters-in-law rode in the wagons as the went to Egypt.
V. 6-7 - They took everything and everyone that was part of their family. Can you imagine a whole family with children and grandchildren and cattle and stuff and servants all traveling together and living in the same neighborhood.
V. 8-15 - The names of his sons and their children are given according to their mothers. The first section is Leah’s children. There are 33 in the first two generations.
V. 16-18 - Zilpah’s sons and their children. There are 16 in the first two generations.
V. 19-22 - Rachel’s sons and their children. There are 14 in the first two generations.
V. 23-25 - Bilhah’s sons and their children. There are 7 in the first two generations.
V. 26 - Not counting their wives, 66 of Jacob’s descendants came with him to Egypt.
V. 27 - Counting Jacob, Joseph and Joseph’s 2 sons the total is 70. This still does not count the wives which are most likely included in Stephen’s inspired count of total kinsmen souls coming with Jacob into Egypt being 75 according to Acts 7:14. Another possibility is that the wives remain uncounted and there are some unnamed daughters and granddaughters, verse 7 mentions daughters and sons’ daughters both plural.
V. 28 - Jacob’s trust in Judah has really grown. Judah is sent ahead to help them find out the way to get to Goshen. They didn’t have GPS or an app for that.
V. 29 - Joseph took his chariot and went to Goshen to see his father and hugged and wept for a long time.
V. 30 - Israel said that he was ready to die in peace now that he has seen Joseph.
V. 31 - Joseph is going to go tell Pharaoh that his family has come.
V. 32 - He will tell Pharaoh that they are shepherds and cattlemen and that they brought their animals with them. Pharaoh told them not to worry about bringing their stuff in 45:20
V. 33-34 - Joseph coaches his brothers on how to handle Pharaoh’s questions about their occupation. They should not be ashamed of the fact that they are in animal husbandry, shepherds in particular, even though this is despised by the Egyptians. Our society is much like the Egyptians. There are many who look down on what they consider to be common labor and idolize that which is truly not profitable to society. At some point the value of the labor that produces food and clothing as well as other useful and needed services must be recognized or a society will collapse.
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Chapter 47
V. 1 - Joseph tells Pharaoh that his family has come and is in Goshen.
V. 2 - Joseph only brings 5 of his brothers to meet Pharaoh, but we are not told which ones or why.
V. 3 - Pharaoh asks their occupation and they tell him they are shepherds and have been for generations.
V. 4 - They explain that they have come to sojourn because there are no pastures left in Canaan because of the famine. Then they ask to stay in Goshen.
V. 5-6 - Pharaoh tells Joseph to give his family the best land. He also asks for any of them that are really good to be in charge of Pharaoh’s own cattle.
V. 7 - Joseph brings his father to see Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. In our study on Melchizedek (Melchisedec) and Abraham when Abraham was blessed by Melchizidek we learned that the better individual blesses the lesser according to Hebrews 7:7 “And without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better.” Understanding that we learn that since Jacob blessed Pharaoh, he must be greater or better than Pharaoh. This does not refer to physical stature, or physical wealth, or even position of power and authority in dealing with mankind. This is a spiritual blessing and comes from the person who is spiritually closer to God. Pharaoh may have been king over the greatest nation in the world at the time, but Jacob was father to God’s chosen people.
V. 8 - Pharaoh asked how old Jacob was.
V. 9 - Jacob is 130 years old and he has had a tough life, he calls the days evil and he is not living as long as his ancestors. This fits with the Bible description of the shortening life spans after the flood. It is interesting that this event also gives us an important benchmark for determining the age of the world. See the “Age of the World” document in chapter 5.
V. 10 - Jacob blesses Pharaoh again.
V. 11 - Joseph settles the family in the best of the land referred to here as the land of Rameses, but called the land of Goshen at other times. This area appears to have been on the far eastern side of the Nile delta near the coast and near the river as well. A description and map is available at http://bibleatlas.org/goshen.htm . The city of Rameses was in this region as well.
V. 12 - Joseph fed his family despite the famine.
V. 13 - The famine continued and there was no food and there was a great deal of suffering. The land of Canaan took it especially hard (I know I have never seen a famine so bad that the land fainted. :P), it is good that Jacob and his family are being cared for in Egypt.
V. 14 - All the people of Egypt spent all their money to buy food from Joseph. It is interesting that God does not condemn these events and the people don’t seem upset to buy the food they grew in their own fields a few years ago that had been taken in taxes by Pharaoh and Joseph. Joseph had taxed the people and then sold the same goods back to them and took in all their money.
V. 15 - When they all ran out of money they came to beg for food because they couldn’t buy it.
V. 16 - Joseph takes everyone’s cattle in exchange for more food.
V. 17 - He fed them for another year at the cost of them giving him all of their horses, sheep, cows, and donkeys.
V. 18 - The next year He had all their money and all their livestock, but the famine continued so they need to buy food. They said their was nothing left but the land and their own bodies.
V. 19 - They sold Joseph their land and sold themselves into slavery to keep from starving to death.
V. 20 - What a scheme Joseph had come up with to consolidate the wealth and power under the throne of Pharaoh. All of the land became Pharaoh’s.
V. 21 - He moved the people off their land that they may have lived on for generations and put them in cities. It is possible that this excessive governmental control may have led to the eventual overthrow of this line of Pharaohs and allowed for a new set of Pharaohs to rise up that would not have had fond memories of Joseph as is mentioned in Exodus 1:8.
V. 22 - The religious leaders, the priests of the various state approved gods, were the only ones other than Joseph’s family who were exempted from having to sell their land and themselves. Pharaoh provided for those who were in his favor.
V. 23 - Joseph reminds the people that they are slaves and that he owns their land and then gives them seed to go back and farm the land.
V. 24 - He arranges for them to give 20% of the produce to Pharaoh and they can keep the rest to feed their families and for seed to plant the next year.
V. 25 - They gladly give up their freedom to serve Pharaoh. We sometimes forget that the idea of freedom is a rare thing indeed.
V. 26 - The law continued to the time of Moses that there was a 20% tax on everyone except the priests.
V. 27 - Israel, not only the man, but also his descendants lived and multiplied and had possessions while everyone else struggled. That could cause some jealousy and envy.
V. 28 - Jacob died at 147 years old. Isaac had lived to 180 and Abraham had lived to 175, but there is a general decrease in the ages from the time of the flood with few exceptions like Isaac.
V. 29-31 - Before Israel, the man, died he called Joseph and made him promise not to bury him in Egypt. It was just his body, what difference did it make? He wanted to be buried with his father and grandfather and Joseph agreed. He may have been wanting to remind his boys of their heritage, or maybe he didn’t understand how death worked. Remember that we have the entire Bible’s teaching on death and the afterlife, but there was nothing written when these events occurred. What arrangements do our loved ones want for their funeral? Are we willing to do what will please them? What about our own final arrangements? Are we afraid to talk about it and tell our loved ones what we want? Are we going to leave grieving family members to try to figure it out on their own?
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Chapter 48
V. 1 - After these things refers to the talk Jacob and Joseph had about his funeral, not after his death obviously. These last few verses are not exactly chronological. The statement that Jacob lived 147 years implies his death, and it does, but it is introducing the discussion of the end of his life. Joseph is told that Jacob is sick and he goes with his two sons to see his father.
V. 2 - Jacob had to work to sit up when Joseph came.
V. 3 - Jacob begins by telling Joseph how God appeared to him and blessed him. They may have never talked about this before since Joseph was young when he was sold to Egypt.
V. 4 - God promised to multiply Jacob and make his descendants a multitude. God also promised to give them the land around Luz, or Bethel, which was the land of Canaan. God promised it would be an ‘everlasting possession’ which some have taken to mean they should still be there now and our country has even helped fight wars to make sure they are in that land. The word translated ‘everlasting’ literally refers to a distant time out of sight in the future or past.
V. 5 - Jacob gives the birthright to Joseph. He takes Ephraim and Manasseh as if they were his sons instead of grandsons, so Joseph in essence gets twice as much as his brothers. Note that there is no tribe of Joseph. The birthright normally goes to the oldest, in fact it was a part of the law of Moses later that what Jacob did here by giving it to the son of his favorite wife was not to be done (Deu 21:15-17 If a man have two wives, one beloved, and another hated, and they have born him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son be hers that was hated: (16) Then it shall be, when he maketh his sons to inherit that which he hath, that he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated, which is indeed the firstborn: (17) But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath: for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.)
V. 6 - The children Joseph has after Ephraim and Manasseh will be considered his, but these first two are Jacob’s. As far as we know Joseph had no other children.
V. 7 - Jacob tells how he lost Rachel and buried her in Bethlehem. I imagine Joseph remembered that if he was old enough at the time since that was his mother.
V. 8 - Israel (Jacob) asked Joseph who the boys were. This doesn’t necessarily mean he didn’t know, it could just be a figure of speech like we might use if we saw someone and said, “Well, who do we have here?” I suppose it is possible that Jacob had not met Joseph’s sons before. It could be that he could not see well enough to tell who was there according to verse 10.
V. 9 - Joseph introduces his sons and Jacob wants them to come closer.
V. 10 - Israel could not see well. He brought them close, kissed them, and hugged them.
V. 11 - Jacob says he didn’t expect to see Joseph again, but God has blessed him to not only see Joseph, but also to see his children.
V. 12 - Joseph bowed before his father.
V. 13 - Joseph put the oldest near Jacob’s right hand and the younger toward his left. When blessing the right hand is the higher honor. Joseph expected Jacob to give the older son the greater blessing.
V. 14 - Israel intentionally crossed his hands and put his right on the youngest.
V. 15-16 - Then Israel blessed Joseph and his sons. He called on God who had been with Abraham and Isaac and had taken care of him all his life to bless the boys and multiply them. He asks the ‘Angel’ or messenger who had redeemed him from evil to bless them as well. It could be that he is simply using this term as a reference to God, some may believe that this is a reference to the pre-incarnate Word appearing. We can be sure that this is not authority to pray to angels. He does not say God “and” the angel.
V. 17 - Joseph was upset and tried to move Jacob’s hands.
V. 18 - He reminded his father of which was the older and told him to put his right hand on him.
V. 19 - Jacob said he knew what he was doing and that the younger would be greater. This was true, in fact, the northern tribes of Israel after the division was sometimes called Ephraim, see Hosea 5:12-13 for example.
V. 20 - Jacob wanted the rest of Israel to want to be like Ephraim and Manasseh. He said that being like them would be a compliment and a blessing that would be given.
V. 21 - Jacob prays that God will bring Joseph back to the land they had left behind.
V. 22 - He claims that the extra portion that Joseph is being given is the one he took away from the Amorites with his sword. There is not really a record of Jacob fighting a battle against the Amorites in scripture.
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Chapter 49
V. 1 - Jacob calls his sons and is going to tell them of their future.
V. 2 - He calls on them to listen to him.
V. 3- 4 - Reuben - He is the firstborn he should be Jacob’s pride, but Jacob says he is unstable and will not excel. The reason Jacob gives is that Reuben went up to his father’s bed and defiled it. That is covered in 35:22.
V. 5-7 - Simeon and Levi - for some reason these two are closely connected and they are linked in their fathers proclamation. There is indication of them destroying Shechem (34:24-26) Jacob refers to them killing a man in their anger and tearing down a wall. He mentions instruments of cruelty in connection to them. He doesn’t want them united and calls for them and their descendants to be scattered. This was later accomplished by the Levites being the priests and being scattered throughout the land of Canaan in the inheritance.
V. 8-12 - Judah - He is the first one that Jacob seems to be proud of. He claims that the others will praise him and bow down to him. He is compared to a lion, and the blessing truly belongs to him. Remember the blessing is the line through which Christ will come. In verse 10 a messianic prophecy is given. The scepter refers to kingship and authority as does a lawgiver. Judah is to be the ruling tribe until Shiloh comes and gathers the people. Shiloh is almost unanimously accepted as the Messiah, even by Jews today. There are references to vineyards and agriculture, but we should not think of the eyes red with wine as drunkenness, only a plentifulness of production and wealth.
V. 13 - Zebulun - the references to ships and harbors must be figurative as the land of Zebulan was landlocked. The reference to Zidon may also by hyperbole like the idea of Judah washing his clothes in grape juice.
V. 14-15 - Issachar - He is a hard worker that will take advantage of the good land the comparison to a donkey was a compliment unlike today, they thought highly of the hardworking creatures.
V. 16-18 - Dan - is more subtle. He will be strong in Israel, but he is more like the snake that bites a horse than the lion who just boldly attacks.
V. 19 - Gad - a play on the name Gad meaning a troop. It will take a multitude to overcome him, but you can’t keep him down.
V. 20 - Asher - Asher will produce abundantly.
V. 21 - Naphtali - Seems odd to compare your son to a female deer, but it could be that he was more gentle than some of the others and like Jacob may have been one who stayed around the tents rather than going out into the wild. He talks a good talk and knows what to say.
V. 22-26 - Joseph - Along with Judah, Joseph has the most said about him. He is blessed for being strong during difficult times. He was hated and attacked, but he was strengthened by God, the mighty of Jacob. God will bless Joseph and help him. Jacob claims to have been blessed more than his ancestors and wants all of those blessings to come on Joseph because he was separated from his family for so long.
V. 27 - Benjamin - He is compared to a wolf who destroys the prey and reaps the benefits.
V. 28 - Jacob blessed them each according to what was right for them.
V. 29-32 - Jacob again reminds his sons not to bury him in Egypt, but to take his body back to the cave in Ephron’s field that Abraham bought from the children of Heth. That was where Abraham and Sarah were buried as well as Isaac and Rebekah. Jacob had buried Leah there, but not Rachel or the handmaids. Could it be that he finally learned to love and accept Leah as wife ahead of Rachel or was it just convenient at her death(Leah’s death and burial are not recorded anywhere else) and not at Rachel’s(35:19-20).
V. 33 - Jacob dies. This is the first mention since God breathed into Adam the breath of life that the concept is specifically mentioned. He yielded up the ghost or spirit that had been dwelling in the body. We often think of ourselves as a body with a spirit when we really should think of ourselves as the spirit. The spirit is what makes us who we are. Notice that when Jacob’s body died as his spirit left it the Bible records that he was “gathered unto his people. Not his body, but his spirit. There is a reference here to spiritual life continuing after the death of the body.
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Chapter 50
V. 1 - At Jacob’s death Joseph wept and kissed him. There is no mention of the other brothers, but surely they mourned his death as well.
V. 2 - Israel is embalmed by the Egyptians at Joseph’s command. It would have been difficult to travel with his body back to his burial plot without this.
V. 3 - Apparently the embalming process the Egyptians used took 40 days. Even the Egyptians mourned for Jacob for 70 days. That says a lot about their respect for Joseph.
V. 4-5 - After the mourning time was over, Joseph asks Pharaoh for permission to leave and go bury his father in Canaan as he promised his father. Joseph promised to come back after the funeral.
V. 6 - Pharaoh agrees for him to go.
V. 7 - Pharaoh also sends a crowd of people with Joseph. Pharaoh’s servants, the elders of his house and all the elders of Egypt went with Joseph.
V. 8 - All Joseph’s household and his brothers and Jacob’s household all went as well. They left their little ones and their animals in Goshen. They must have left some nursemaids to watch the little ones, they did not just abandon 3 year olds for weeks while they traveled to Canaan and back.
V. 9 - A large group wound up going with chariots and horses.
V. 10 - They went to the other side of the Jordan and mourned for another 7 days.
V. 11 - The Canaanites called the place the meadow of Egypt.
V. 12 - Even after he was dead Jacob’s sons were respectful and obedient to him.
V. 13 - They buried him in the cave of Machpelah. As far as we know he was the last one buried there. Joseph asks for his bones to be taken when they leave Egypt in the future, and they did (Exodus 13:19), but we don’t know where they buried his body.
V. 14 - They all returned back to Egypt after burying Jacob.
V. 15 - Joseph’s brothers go back to their lying ways. They are afraid that Joseph will get even with them for the evil they did to him.
V. 16-17 - Instead of accepting that he had already forgiven them for it, they sent a messenger and told him that Jacob wanted Joseph to forgive them. The fact is, as far as we know from the scriptures, Jacob never knew about those events.
V. 18 - The brothers go one more time and bow before Joseph offering themselves as his servants.
V. 19 - Joseph reminds them that he is not God. It is not his place to take vengeance.
V. 20 - He knows they were being mean and evil, but he knows God had bigger plans to save people.
V. 21 - He tells them not to be afraid again and promises to take care of them and their children and comforted them.
V. 22 - Joseph lived 110 years. All of the Israelites lived in Egypt.
V. 23 - Joseph saw his sons’ families grow up to the third generation with Ephraim and the second with Manasseh.
V. 24 - Joseph called his family and told them he was going to die. He prophesied that God would bring the Israelites out of Egypt just as he had promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
V. 25 - Joseph made the children of Israel take an oath that they would take him out when they went. None of the other brothers made that kind of request as far as we know. The children of Israel did take his body out according to Exodus 13:19.
V. 26 - Joseph died at 110, they embalmed him and put him in a coffin. There is no record of a big mourning for him like there was for his father, I wonder if people were already forgetting about Joseph saving them in the famine. We know he was soon forgotten from Exodus 1:8.
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