Hey! Sorry for not posting yesterday...I really have no excuse, considering that it was a Sunday. I was stuck putting up Christmas decorations with my family all day, and was too tired to post (translation: I was kinda being lazy...). Anyway, hopefully that won't happen again. No promises though.
Also, I have very little time before my bed-time, so don't expect much...
Genesis 31
vs 1-16: Laban's sons are mad because Jacob is getting such a good flock by using his trick with the rods; God appears to him and promises him great blessings; Rachel and Leah tell him to do whatever God commanded him.
vs17-24: Jacob and family flee; Rachel takes her father's images.
vs 25-35: Laban chases them, and is angry; he searches all the tents; Rachel has them, but pretends that the "custom of women" is upon her.
vs 36-42 -- Jacob asks what his sin is; says that God's seen the trials of Jacob and rebuked Laban.
vs 43-55: They make a covenant; Laban departs after blessing his sons and daughters; they make a heap as a witness -- Jacob calls it Galeed; Laban calls it Jegar-sahadutha.
This is a great example of how God will take vengeance on the righteous who are treated wrongfully. He's seen Jacob's trials, and promises to deliver him from them. Awesomeness!
Genesis 32
vs 1-5: God meets with Jacob; Jacob sends messengers to his brother Esau.
vs 6-8: They return saying that Esau is coming w/ 400 men; Jacob's afraid, and divides his flocks, etc into two groups.
vs9-12: He prays for deliverance, and remembers how the Lord had promised to do him good.
vs 13-23: he sets aside goats and rams, etc, for a gift for Esau, because he wants to appease him. They're sent over the brook.
vs 24-32: Jacob wrestles with a man(according to his chapter, it was God), day and night. Jacob's name is now Israel; He calls the place Peniel, because he saw God face to face; the children of Israel don't eat the sinew that shrank.
A great example of God being with the righteous. It's interesting how it says that Jacob wrestled w/ the man...i wonder if that's the correct translation....
Genesis 33
vs 1-20: Jacob and Esau meet, and weep; Esau sees all that the Lord gave Jacob; Jacob insists on Esau taking the gift of goats, etc; Esau goes ahead, and Jacob follows -- they go to Seir. Jacob builds an altar when he comes to Shalem, a city of SHechem -- the altar is called El-elohe-Israel.
Not much to say -- it's amazing how much can change over 20 yrs....when Jacob left, Esau wanted to kill him -- now they rejoice at meeting. Kinda a funny note -- when I first wrote that Esau "meet and weep", I thought of the old "meet and greet". I wonder what would happen if someone made a sign that said "meet and weep" instead of "meet and greet"....lol.
Genesis 34
vs 1-5: Dinah is defiled by Shechem
vs 6-31: The relatives of Shechem realize that wrong was done and agree to make it right -- Simeon and Levi lie and say that Shechem can marry Dinah if all are circumcised; however, instead, Simeon and Levi are angry, and slaughter the people, and pillaged everything -- took all the sheep, gold, etc.
Kinda an interesting story. Simeon and Levi are both interesting characters....I wonder why they didn't keep the promise they'd made -- how could they be soo angry?
Genesis 35
vs1-20: Covenants are renewed; Rachel dies and Benjamin is born.
vs 21-29 -- Generations of Israel are delineated; Isaac dies.
Aww sad...I always feel bad for Jacob when I read this part...it's sad that Rachel, who he loved the most, had to die... :(
Genesis 36
vs1-43: Generations of Esau.
Again, very cool that we have these records!
Genesis 37
vs 1-36: Joseph's brothers are jealous of him; he dreams of the sheaves, and of the sun, moon, and stars worshipping him; he is sent to check on his brothers; as they see him coming, they plot against him; Judah keeps them from killing him; he's cast into a pit, and sold to the Midianites, who sell him to Potiphar.
This story's very interesting....the brothers were also jealous because Joseph, the second youngest, was actually the birthright son, after Reuben lost the right; Joseph is the birthright son because he's the firstborn of the second wife.
Genesis 38
vs 1-30; Judah has 3 sons; Er an Onan are wicked, and slain; Tamar, Er's wife, plays a harlot, and lies with Judah -- she brings forth twins.
An extreme example of how God punishes the wicked -- I wonder why he doesn't do that anymore....of course, doing so would probably mean wiping out most of the world's population, which would probably cause several problems....still, it makes me wonder why God was soo quick to kill people when they were disobedient.....
Genesis 39
vs1-23: Joseph finds favor in Potiphar's eyes, and is essentially over all his house. Potiphar's wife tempts him; when Joseph finally flees, and leaves his garment, Potiphar's wife lies, and says that Joseph was coming on to her, instead of the other way around -- Potiphar throws him in prison, when Joseph had really said "how then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?"
I wonder why Potiphar believed his wife over Joseph....I mean, sure, she was his wife, but hadn't Joseph proven himself to be trustworthy. This shows that even the extremely righteous will have to suffer tribulations. I'm kinda hoping I don't have to go through as much as Joseph though - -betrayed by his brothers, thrown in prison for many years, 7 years of famine -- sheesh -- also shows how hard Satan can work to try and pull us down -- kudos to Joseph for remaining faithful!
Genesis 40
vs 1-23: Joseph is kinda put in charge of the prison; he interprets the dreams of the baker and the butler, both of which come to pass; the butler eventually forgets about him.
It's amazing how a really bad thing can turn into a good thing. Joseph's put in prison, but it sounds like he kinda had the run of the place -- he probably still had restrictions, but sounds like it was much better than just lying on a dirty floor all the time. Again, I feel bad for him though -- he'd told the butler that he'd be restored to his position, which I'm sure made him very happy, but then he had to go and forget the poor guy! Oh well -- shows that Joseph knew that all things would work out -- he had great faith in God!
Again, sorry for not posting yesterday -- I promise I'll do my best so that it doesn't happen again.
~Praise His Name!
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