Category Archives: dependence upon God

Joseph: sons of prosperity

Posted on February 15, 2012 by Jefferson Vann

Genesis 41:37-57.   After so many years of slavery and poverty – Joseph finally gets to be free.  The true test of his character begins.  He talked about God a lot while he was down in the pit.  What does he … Continue reading →

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Joseph: out of the pit

Posted on February 14, 2012 by Jefferson Vann

Genesis 41:1-36.   Joseph had been retrieved from a pit and sold to slave traders.  That is how he wound up in Egypt.  He was  wrongfully accused by his master’s wife, and thrown into another “pit” – a prison.  Years later, … Continue reading →

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Joseph: Potiphar’s wife

Posted on February 12, 2012 by Jefferson Vann

Genesis 39.  The ironies of Joseph’s story are many.  Here is a man that God has destined for greatness – yet he winds up exiled from his people in a foreign land.  He is “handsome in form and appearance” yet … Continue reading →

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Israel: assuming the mantle

Posted on February 8, 2012 by Jefferson Vann

Genesis 35.   The ESV Study Bible writes that “Jacob moves by stages from Shechem to Bethel… During this journey a number of incidents occur”  (including the deaths of Deborah and Rachel).  At the end of his journey, he is “in … Continue reading →

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Jacob: El-Elohe-Israel

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Jefferson Vann

Genesis 33.  Jacob limps away from Peniel, where he had seen the face of God, and his life was delivered.  He now meets up with his brother Esau – whom he hadn’t seen for 20 years.  God has been at … Continue reading →

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Jacob: Peniel

Posted on February 5, 2012 by Jefferson Vann

Genesis 32.  Jacob is at a crisis point in his life.  He has left his father-in-law behind and responded to God’s call to go back to Canaan.  He learns that Esau is preparing to meet him with a band of … Continue reading →

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Jacob: envy and manipulation

Posted on February 3, 2012 by Jefferson Vann

Genesis 29:31-30:43.  The Israelites in Moses’ day would look back upon today’s text and see how God orchestrated the events to produce Jacob’s family and prosperity.  Yet they would also see that their own existence was the result of human … Continue reading →

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Jacob: grace with consequences

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Jefferson Vann

  Genesis 29:1-30.   God is at work in the background of Jacob’s life, making sure that he stays with Laban long enough to cool down the anger of Esau, and so preserve Jacob’s life by his grace.  But God has … Continue reading →

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Jacob’s ladder

Posted on February 1, 2012 by Jefferson Vann

Genesis 28:10-22.  It was either a ladder or a set of steps.  What matters is that it reached to heaven, and vice-versa.  Jacob saw it in his dream, and he saw God’s angels ascending and descending on it.  The LORD … Continue reading →

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Jacob: a wife for the master’s son

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Jefferson Vann

Genesis 27:41-28:9.   Rebekah did not want her son, Jacob, marrying like Esau did.  The Hittite women Esau married had made life bitter for her and Isaac.  But the real reason she wanted Jacob to move back to Paddan-Aram to stay … Continue reading →

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