Devotionals in Genesis: (**denotes very visual lessons)
Genesis 1:1 - In the Beginning
**Genesis 1:3 - Day One: Light!
** Genesis 1:6 - Day Two: Sky!
**Genesis 1:9 - Day Three: Soil and Shrubs
**Genesis 1:14 - Day Four: Sun, Moon, and Stars!
**Genesis 1:20 - Day Five: Fish and Birds!
**Genesis 1:24 - Day Six: Land Animals
**Genesis 1:27 - In God's Image (YEA Lesson)
Genesis 1:31 - God Creates the World!
**Genesis 2:3 - Day Seven: The Sabbath
Genesis 6:8 - Finding Favor
Genesis 9:13 - God Promises With a Rainbow!
**Genesis 9:13 - God's Promises
Genesis 12:1 - Walk, Go, and Come
Genesis 12:3 - A Friend of God
**Genesis 15:6 - What's In a Name?
Genesis 18:23 - Sweep Away
Genesis 22:2 - What's Most Important
Genesis 22:8 - God Provides the Lamb! (Holy Day Lesson - Passover)
**Genesis 22:17a - Blessed!
Genesis 24:51 - Do It Now
Genesis 28:14 - The Covenant
Genesis 41:55 - For the Glory of the Lord
Genesis 45:24 - Do Not Quarrel on the Way
Genesis 1:1 - In the Beginning
**Genesis 1:3 - Day One: Light!
** Genesis 1:6 - Day Two: Sky!
**Genesis 1:9 - Day Three: Soil and Shrubs
**Genesis 1:14 - Day Four: Sun, Moon, and Stars!
**Genesis 1:20 - Day Five: Fish and Birds!
**Genesis 1:24 - Day Six: Land Animals
**Genesis 1:27 - In God's Image (YEA Lesson)
Genesis 1:31 - God Creates the World!
**Genesis 2:3 - Day Seven: The Sabbath
Genesis 6:8 - Finding Favor
Genesis 9:13 - God Promises With a Rainbow!
**Genesis 9:13 - God's Promises
Genesis 12:1 - Walk, Go, and Come
Genesis 12:3 - A Friend of God
**Genesis 15:6 - What's In a Name?
Genesis 18:23 - Sweep Away
Genesis 22:2 - What's Most Important
Genesis 22:8 - God Provides the Lamb! (Holy Day Lesson - Passover)
**Genesis 22:17a - Blessed!
Genesis 24:51 - Do It Now
Genesis 28:14 - The Covenant
Genesis 41:55 - For the Glory of the Lord
Genesis 45:24 - Do Not Quarrel on the Way
In the Beginning
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1
At first glance, you might not think there’s much in this verse. It’s so short! But there’s a wealth of information. Let’s apply the 5Ws to this verse and see what we get.
Who? Who created the the world? The Hebrew word translated “God” is Elohim (#430). Elohim is the Hebrew word most often translated God in the Old Testament. It’s a singular word which shows plurality. Although that sounds confusing, we have words in English which are singular but that show more than one, i.e. family, group, everyone, herd, congregation, etc. What’s interesting about this word Elohim is that it shows that both God the Father and the One who would become Jesus Christ worked together in creating the world. That’s quickly confirmed by looking at Genesis 1:26 where Elohim said, “Let us make man in our image.”
What? What did Elohim make? According to Genesis 1:1, Elohim made the heavens and the earth. The Hebrew word for “heavens” comes from a primitive root which means “to be lofty.” It’s a dual singular noun (#8064) - that is, it has both the meaning of where the clouds are and where the stars are simultaneously. The word for “earth” is erets (#776), and simply means the physical planet. In case you missed it, that’s everything. God made everything! Look at what other Bible verses have to say about what God made:
Exodus 20:11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
John 1:3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
Colossians 1:16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
All of these verses confirm that God made everything, our world in its entirety. There’s nothing here that He didn’t make - visible and invisible!
When? Does it really tell when God made the earth in this verse? Yes. It was in the beginning. The Hebrew word for “beginning” is the Hebrew word (#7225) re’ shith and means “first in place, time, order, or rank; the beginning of a fixed period of time.” In other words, the beginning, when Elohim created our world was at the beginning of a fixed period of time. It wasn’t at His beginning because He has no beginning. Unfortunately, that old saying that it loses something in the translation is true here because in the Hebrew, after Elohim, it says aleph tav. That is, “in the beginning, God, the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the aleph tav created.” If only the English translators would have left that in! Those two little words highlight that God, who is eternal in both directions, created this world in a fixed moment in time.
Where? Where did the material come from that God used to create this world? There’s a couple of verses which tell us where God got His material:
Romans 4:17 as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.
Hebrews 11:3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.
There was a song in The Sound of Music: “Nothing comes from nothing.” That’s our experience. We humans are not creators; we are merely re-arrangers. It reminds me very much of the old joke: The evolution-minded, atheistic scientists said to God, “We can make life now out of dirt. We don’t need you.” God replied, “Wait a minute! Get your own dirt.” And that brings us to the next question:
How? How did God create everything? Although this isn’t one of the 5Ws, it’s certainly a question we would like to answer, and even if the answer isn’t specifically in Genesis 1:1, there are other verses in the Bible which give us more information:
Psalm 33: 6, 9 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host.
For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.
Hebrews 11:3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.
Jeremiah 10:12 It is he who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.
God used His spoken word in power, wisdom, and understanding to create everything. He got it right the first time. There was no going back to the drawing board for improvements. We are not living on Earth version 1.2.
We have one more question to answer: why?
Why? Why did God create everything? Revelation 4:11 says, “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
The KJV translates “by your will” with “for thy pleasure.” We were created by his will. And we exist by his will. This verse emphasizes the ultimate parental warning: I brought you into this world; I can take you out.
He is the Potter; we are the clay. He is God; we are not. He has always existed; we are like the grass which is here today and gone tomorrow. It never hurts to have an accurate picture of how unimportant you really are! Our true value, our only worth, comes from our relationship with Jesus Christ - the One through whom, by whom, and for whom all things were created.
Have you thought about your relationship with God, the Creator of the Universe, lately?
**Day One: Light
Let there be light . . . Genesis 1:3
Materials: bandanas, little objects (ball, paperclip, carabiner, clothespin)
How important is light? It’s very important! Without light we would not be able to see anything. That would make life very hard. We can wear a blindfold and get a little idea of what it would be like to live in total darkness. It would not be easy.
But there are blind people in our world who are still able to function. They’ve learned how to live in a world without being able to see. Just like you’re able to figure out what I’ve put in your hand just by touch. You can still figure out what’s going on in the world around you using your other senses. Walking downstairs at night, in the dark, you move by feel and by sound. You know your mom’s making spaghetti for supper before you ever see the kitchen because you know the smell. People who are blind have been able to figure out how to live in the world without sight, but it’s not easy. They have to rely more on the other senses that God gave them.
But when we talk about seeing, we’re not always talking about actually seeing something. It’s like John Newton’s song, “Amazing Grace.” He writes, “I once was blind, but now I see.” John Newton wasn’t blind. There was nothing wrong with his vision. But there was something wrong with his understanding about the world, the plan of God, sin, and what God desired from him. Once John Newton understood that he was sinning, that sinning was (and is) bad, he could actually “see” the truth.
Have you ever had trouble understanding something? Once your parents explained it to you, did you say, “Oh, I see”? You weren’t really saying that you “saw.” You meant that you understood what they were saying to you.
So let’s talk about the light that God created on Day One of creation week. Where did that light come from? Well, obviously it came from God. But the light wasn’t shining from the Sun or the Moon or the stars. None of them were created until Day Four. So what was the source of the light?
There’s a clue in Revelation 22:5. “And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light. . .” Did you catch that? The Lord God will be our light. He’s the One who gives us light so we can see. And that makes all the sense in the world, because He’s also the One who enlightens us so that we can understand. God is the foundation for creation, for light, for sight, for understanding. Our God is Everything!
So the next time you understand something really cool, just remember it is God who created the light so you can see.
**Day Two: Sky!
Let there be a vault . . . Genesis 1:6
Materials: jar of water, hotpot, container of ice, cookie sheet, towels
Exodus 20:11 says, “For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day.” God made everything in six days. O.K. So on what day of creation did God make water?
Well, we know that God created light on day one. Genesis 1:3 tells us that. But in Genesis 1:2 it says that “darkness was over the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” So it sounds like the earth and the water were created before light on day one. Then, on day two, God began working with the raw materials, the initial creation. He put an expanse between the waters. The NIV says “vault.” The NLT says “space.” The ESV says “expanse.” The KJV says “firmament.” What was it that God created?
New International Version And God said, "Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water."
New Living Translation Then God said, "Let there be a space between the waters, to separate the waters of the heavens from the waters of the earth."
English Standard Version And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.”
King James Bible And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
This expanse divided the waters from the waters. On day two, God created a space between the waters above and the waters below. I think God took the water He created on day one and began working with it. He created the space between the water - what we call sky.
Think about creating water and sky for a moment. All of the laws which apply to water - its ability to exist in three states, its specific heat, its density, the way it freezes, the way it melts, all of the unique properties of water which makes life possible!! We could talk about water and the laws it follows for weeks!
The creation of water and sky is bigger than just the clouds above and the waters below and the sky in between, all of the atmosphere and all its layers. It’s also the water cycle. Think about it: you can envision water starting at the top of the mountain, melting from the glacier and snowpack. The water collects and becomes a stream. Then it becomes a river, and we grab some water to drink, as the river runs by, before it runs all the way to the sea. So then what? How does the water get back to the top of the mountain, to become the snowpack, to become the river so we have water to drink?
God knew we would need a continual source of fresh water to drink. So He incredibly created the water cycle. Those waters above - it’s not just sky. It’s the clouds and the water vapor in the sky. Those clouds rain and provide water, but how do the clouds get back up there to rain again?
Demonstration: Put water in the hotpot. Bring to boil. Look at water vapor rising. What keeps it from just continuing its path? God created all the rules to make the water stop at a certain level and to form clouds. (Hold a cookie sheet over the rising water vapor.) Then He created the rules of nature which would cause those clouds to drop that moisture. (Place ice on top of cookie sheet.) The water rises as water vapor. It forms clouds. It rains again as liquid (rain) or snow and ice (solid).
We could talk about how water expands, not when it freezes, but before it freezes. That makes solid water less dense than liquid water - which helps to keep ponds from freezing all the way to the bottom and killing all the fish every winter.
The separation of water above and water beneath (sky) on Day Two is absolutely amazing!! It’s something to think about the next time you drink a glass of water, or take a bath, or shovel 10 inches of snow.
**Day Three: Soil and Shrubs
. . . let dry ground appear. Genesis 1:9
Materials: clay, small container of soil, water
On Day One, God created Light.
On Day Two, God separated the waters below from the waters above.
On Day Three, God said, “Let dry ground appear.” The earth had to be re-shaped so that the water would not cover the whole earth.
If you had a container full of rocks, and the water covered over the top of the rocks, what would you have to do to get dry rocks? You might make a deep trench in the middle of the water. Or you might push the rocks up out of the water. Maybe you’d heat up the rock until it exploded out of the water over and over until an island appeared.
Well, we do have a deep trench in the middle of the ocean. The Mariana Trench is 1580 miles long, 43 miles wide, and 6.8 miles deep. To put that in perspective, if Mt. Everest were put into the trench at the deepest point, its peak would still be 1.2 miles under water.
We do have land being pushed up out of the water. The earth shifts along fault lines; we call them earthquakes. Sometimes they grate back and forth. Sometimes the pressure pushes one plate under the other, lifting the second plate! That’s how scientists think the Rocky Mountains formed.
We do have soil melting and exploding out of the water over and over again, forming islands. There are numerous volcanoes in the water which erupt, oozing hot magma into an ever-increasing pile until a new island is born. That’s how scientists think the Hawaiian islands were formed.
But God didn’t just make a pile of rocks emerge out of the water; He created soil, land, tillable ground that is good for growing plants. There were nutrients in that soil so that plants would flourish. The soil would hold just the right amount of water, but not hold too much. The soil would be solid, but not so hard that roots couldn’t push through it. How do I know that? Because on Day Three, when God made the dry land, then He said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation” (vs. 11). All of the fruit trees and flowers! Shrubs and grasses! Cacti and vegetables! Think about the incredible diversity of plants and the unique needs of each plant! One plant grows really well where there’s lots of water. Too much water will kill a cactus. One plant needs lots of sunshine. Another plant grows better in the shade. One plant needs more acidic soil. Another needs more alkaline soil. God did all of that. He just spoke all of it into existence.
The land and the plants go together so well. The plants hold the land in place so that water and wind can’t carry the soil out of the country. The soil provides nutrients and grounding (I couldn’t resist) so the plants can grow big and strong.
Sometimes when people think about Day Three of creation, they think only of the formation of land, mountains and valleys, islands and canyons, plateaus and grasslands. But God specifically formed the dry ground as the perfect place to create a plethora of plants.
We sing “we plow the fields and scatter the good seed on the land” as a well-known Thanksgiving song. How appropriate to remember to thank God for creating the wide variety of soil types and plant life!!
**Day 4: Sun, Moon, and Stars
Let there be lights in the vault of the sky . . . Genesis 1:14
Materials: flashlight, globe, ball (to demonstrate revolution/rotation principles)
So we’ve been talking about creation week. On day one, God created light. On day two, God separated the water below from the water above, making sky. On day three, God created dry land and all of the plants. On day four, God created the sun, moon and stars.
Why did God do that? I can think of at least three reasons:
The Sun provides energy that the plants use. The plants take that light energy and turn it into food for themselves and then release oxygen into the air for our use.
God said that the sun, moon, and stars were for signs, seasons, days and years. The revolution of the earth around the sun makes our year. One time around is one year. But as the earth is going around the sun, so the moon is going around the earth. That makes our months. As we watch the moon growing fuller every night, we know we’re getting towards the middle of the month. As we see less and less of it, we know we’re getting towards the end of the month. The rotation of the earth makes one day. So the sun, moon, and stars are God’s calendar in the sky - not just telling us when each day, month, and year begins; the sun, moon, and stars also determine the dates for God’s holy days!
David wrote in Psalm 19, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” The sun, the moon, and the stars are a continual reminder of how great our God is. We depend on the sun for light to see, plants to eat, and trees to build houses out of. The sunlight warms our planet. The seasons determine our planting our gardens and harvesting the food. And God’s calendar reminds us to worship Him, to praise Him and thank Him for Who He is and what He’s done.
It’s really something to think about. God didn’t just speak the sun, moon, and stars into existence; He planned their exact location and their precise interaction with earth. The sun, moon, and stars were not just flung into position; they were carefully planned and placed right where God wanted them. That’s a good reminder for you that God has plans for your life and He’s placed you right where He wants you to be. Now, we just need to recognize His sovereignty and give Him the glory . . . . always.
**Day Five: Fish and Birds
Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens. Genesis 1:20
Materials: needle, thread, button, piece of material
We’ve been talking about creation week for the past month. On day one, God created light, and separated the light from darkness. And there was darkness and light - day one. On day two, God separated the waters above from the waters below. We talked about the sky and the water cycle. On day three, God separated dry land from the water and then He created all the varieties of plants. On day four, God created the sun, moon, and stars. So what did God create on day five? All of the creatures that swim in the waters and the birds that fly in the air.
So let’s think about this progression for a couple of minutes. If I want to sew a button onto material, there’s a logical order that I have to follow. I have to do the steps in order. Otherwise, it won’t work. What if I put the thread through the button? Will that work? No, there are holes in the button, but there aren’t holes in the material. So I have to use the needle. O.K. So I’ll just put the needle through the button into the material. But if I don’t thread the needle first, the button isn’t going to be attached. What if I’m not paying attention? I could end up sewing the button on the wrong side of the material! O.K. So the needle is threaded. The button is on the right side of the material. I can start sewing. But there’s one more problem: if I don’t put a knot in the thread, what will keep the thread from pulling out of the material?
In the same way, when God created our world, He did it in a very logical, sequential way. He created light. Then he separated the waters below from the waters above. Once He had water, then He could put boundaries on the water to create the dry land. Once there was dry land, God created the plants. It wouldn’t have worked to create plants before there was dry land or rain to water them with!! And then God created the sun, moon, and the stars. The plants were already in place; now they were ready for the energy from the sun so they could grow! Everything was done logically and in order - just what you would expect from our God. Everything He does is perfect and right and very good.
So what would you expect God to create next? He created the creatures in the waters and the birds in the air. There were already plants for them to eat. There was the sun to keep them warm. The birds had trees to make nests in. God commanded the water creatures and birds to be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters and the air. And God saw that it was good.
**Day Six: Land Animals
Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds. . . Genesis 1:24
Materials: a plethora of stuffed animals
Exodus 20:11 says, “For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them . . .” So when did God create light? Day one. When did God separate the water above from the water beneath? Day two. When did God create dry land and plants? Day three. When did God create the sun, moon, and stars? Day four. When did God create all the water creatures and birds? Day five. So when did God create all of the land animals? On day six. So name some land animals. Cows, horses, alligators, dogs, cats, monkeys.
What about people? Yes. We live on land. We are included in that category of Exodus 20:11: “For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them.” We’re on the earth. People were created on the sixth day of creation, along with the rest of the land animals.
What about hippopotami? Yes. What about kangaroos? Yes. Both of these are land animals.
What about monitor lizards? Chameleons? Komodo dragons? Yes, the lizard family was also created on day six. So what about dinosaurs? Dinosaurs are part of the lizard family. They are big lizards. So they would also have been created on day six.
Evolutionists would like you to believe that lizards like dinosaurs existed long before people existed. That’s not what the Bible says. They would also like you to believe that dinosaurs evolved into birds. That’s not Biblical either! Not only were birds created before lizards, God created each kind of bird, water creature and land animal. His creation doesn’t just change from one kind of animal into another kind of animal.
We are absolutely amazed at God’s creation. We are delighted by the tiny butterflies and hummingbirds. We are terrified by grizzly bears, cobras, and Komodo dragons. We are comforted (at times) by dogs and cats and horses. We are awe-struck by the clear nights when the stars look close enough to pluck from the canopy. We are grateful for the warm sun. We are thankful for water to drink. And we are, hopefully, motivated to thank and praise God for who He is and the creation which reveals His character, His eternal power, and divine nature to us (Romans 1:20).
**In God’s Image
God created man in his own image. . . . male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27 (ESV)
Materials needed: white board, marker, YEA lesson (YE2E.2 - borntowin.net/yea/primaries/)
If you were asked to describe God, what words would you choose? Loving, merciful, good, holy, beautiful, just, generous, patient, kind, gracious, compassionate, forgiving, steadfast, slow to anger, creative
In Exodus 34:6-7, God described Himself this way after He put Moses in the cleft of the rock, The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”
This would have been God, the One who accompanied the Israelites in the desert, who provided manna and water and protection for them. This is the One who would become Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul makes this abundantly clear in 1 Corinthians 10:1-10
This is significant to us, as Christians, because the Bible says that we who belong to God are being transformed into the image of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18 and Romans 8:29). We are supposed to be changed so that we look more like Him all the time. I’m quite sure that it’s not talking about physical appearance. We all have two eyes, two ears, two legs, two arms - that doesn’t change. It has to be what’s going on within that changes. We must become more loving, merciful, good, holy, beautiful, just, generous, patient, kind, gracious, compassionate, forgiving, steadfast, slow to anger, creative - if we’re indeed the people of God. It’s a witness to the world around us that God is God and that we belong to Him.
So how does that change happen? If you want to be more like God, ask Him to change you. Make it your priority to obey Him - do what He says! Then plan on spending time with Him. How do you spend time with God? Read the Bible, pray, think about what you’ve read, fast, come to church, do things to serve others. It’s a process and doesn’t happen all at once. Eventually, however, people around you should recognize that you look like Jesus in the things that you do. It should be obvious that you belong to Him because you look like Him.
God Creates the World
And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. Genesis 1:31
For each day of creation, God sums it up by saying it was good. But on this last day, this sixth day, of creation week, God sums up the whole thing by saying it was very good.
What do you think of when you hear “very good”?
Do you think, “Oh it was perfect. There were no flaws”?
Yes. But this particular word, in this particular verse, goes much further: there was no sin in our world. There was no evil. There was nothing morally deficient. There was nothing at odds with God. It was indeed very good.
We cannot imagine what that could possibly be like. We are so limited in our fallen world, and we only touch the idea of perfection - morally, constructionally, physically. But someday, in God’s presence, when the last enemy has been destroyed and perfection again reigns, we will have the jaw-dropping opportunity to witness the world as it once was. We will worship the Almighty with our declaration, “It is very good.”
Day Seven: The Sabbath
So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy . . . Genesis 2:3
Materials: jigsaw puzzle (buy blank piece puzzles or print out blank pieces on cardstock)
Let’s review the pieces of Creation Week:
On day one, God created Light, separating darkness from light. And there was evening and morning, the first day.
On day two, God created the sky, separating the waters below from the waters above.
On day three, God created dry land, separating the dry land from the waters, setting a boundary of how far the water could come. Then God created plants.
On day four, God created the sun, moon, and stars.
On day five, God created all the water creatures and all the birds.
On day six, God created all the land animals and Adam and Eve.
But the week wasn’t finished. Like a huge puzzle, it was still missing a piece. What happened on the seventh day of Creation Week?
Genesis 2:1-3 states: Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.
It was the final piece of the puzzle - a day of rest built into every week. And Jesus tells us why God created the sabbath day as part of every week. And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27)
The Sabbath is a blessing from God especially for man. Each week, the Sabbath is the last piece of the puzzle which completes our week.
We think of puzzles like jigsaw puzzles, where all of the pieces are important. But in Hebrew parallel writing structure, the sabbath is the most important piece, the best piece. It’s the day which is most important, the one that gets the most emphasis. Here’s how that looks:
Creation Week: God created:
Light
B. Water below, water above
C. Dry ground/plants
A.’ Sun, Moon, and Stars (re-emphasize light)
B.’ water creatures, birds (re-emphasize water below and expanse above)
C.’ land animals (re-emphasize dry ground)
D. The Sabbath - the pinnacle, the conclusion, the very best part
Out of all the days of creation, the sabbath was the only one that was set apart and made holy by God. Why would that be? I think it’s because it’s pointing to the rest that we will one day have in Jesus Christ - when there’s no more sorrow or death, when we can truly rest in Jesus Christ.
Each sabbath we get a taste of what it means to rest in Jesus and we look forward to the day when there is no more struggle, no more trouble, no more pain. We look forward to when all things are completed - as the sabbath completed Creation Week.
Finding Grace
But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. Genesis 6:8
Heard across playgrounds in the U.S. is a familiar refrain: “Teacher’s pet, teacher’s pet, something, something, teacher’s pet.” Being teacher’s pet is not something to be desired, from most kids’ perspectives. It’s a negative thing to get special privileges from the teacher. It’s a bad thing to have the teacher smile at you too much or to let you do special, important jobs.
Why? Because there’s an implication that it’s not fair. The teacher should treat everyone the same. But wait a minute! It’s human nature to have a favorite - especially when it’s based on actions and attitude. If a student works hard and is cheerful, a teacher naturally enjoys working with that student more than a student who is surly and won’t complete assignments. So what gives?
The implication is that teacher doesn’t always have a favorite because of actions and attitude; sometimes a teacher gives special favor to get something. What if a student’s parent is on the school board? What if a particular student is from a very wealthy family? What if the teacher can get something because she gives favor to a student? That’s unfair - and that’s the inherent implication in the appellation “teacher’s pet.”
Well, the word translated “favor” in Genesis 6:8 is the Hebrew word #2580 chen. It means “favor, grace, kindness, loveliness, charm, preciousness.” Noah found this favor in God’s sight. Why? Although the Bible doesn’t list Noah’s character implicitly, it’s there. It’s almost as if Moses, when writing Genesis, thought it would have been obvious! Noah worked for 120 years building the ark, preaching to the wicked generation who almost certainly mocked him for building an ark for no apparent reason. They preferred the chaos of the society around them to the zoo that Noah was planning. The culture of Noah’s time is a by-word for how wicked the culture will be at the end time, just before Jesus Christ returns. It was bad. But Noah persevered despite the cultural pressure!
So what does it mean to have God’s favor? God blessed Noah’s work - both building the ark and preaching to the people around him, as Noah sought to keep his relationship with God as close as possible. Would you like to have that kind of favor from God? Can you imagine enjoying a close relationship with Him? Can you imagine God blessing everything you do as you serve Him? When we imagine God blessing what we do, I believe our vision is too small! We think in terms of finding our lost car keys or getting safely home from a trip. God thinks in terms of impacting future generations. We think of healing a broken bone. God thinks of healing a nation.
Oh yeah! Our vision is too small! We need to acquire God’s vision. And that’s only going to happen when we seek Him with our whole heart, when we greatly desire a relationship with Him, when His agenda is our goal, when our thoughts are brought into submission to Him. We should seek to do great things for our God, to glorify Him.
There’s an old saying: Go big or go home. I think we should adapt that saying just a little: Go big, so we can go home and hear God say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” Let’s go big and go home!
God Promises With a Rainbow
I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Genesis 9:13, ESV
When you wrap a package, it doesn’t seem quite finished until you put a bow on the top. There’s something about a bow which seals the deal! We all like bows. They’re everywhere: neckties, hairbows, pins, and necklaces.
Why does a bow attract us? Perhaps it’s because bows remind us of the rainbow - the sign God Himself set in the clouds when Noah and his family came off the Ark. Our merciful God probably knew that the first time the clouds began gathering, all of Noah’s family would be afraid that it was going to happen again. After all, you can’t spend over a year on a boat without rain having a profound affect upon your emotions. Imagine how they would be tempted to run for the Ark!
But God set the rainbow, the beautiful rainbow, in the clouds so that when they would see it, they would be assured that God would not destroy the earth with water again. And ever since, we’ve been so captured by the beauty of the rainbow.
We buy prisms so we can throw rainbows whenever we want. We buy kaleidoscopes so we can imitate the wonder of color. We encourage children to draw rainbows, and they readily oblige.
So it is no wonder that such a symbol of life and of God’s promise would be very annoying for Satan. God has given us a beautiful sign every time it rains. It is a perpetual reminder that He is in control and that, in the end, righteousness and love and justice win. It will be a perfect world.
**God’s Promise
I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Genesis 9:13
Materials: CD, flashlight, prism
Do you know how a rainbow works, scientifically? When the light hits the water droplets, the light is bent (or refracted). When you bend light, the various colors bend at different angles. Red bends the most; violet bends the least. They bend in this order: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. Without the moisture in the air, you don’t see the rainbow.
You can use other things to get the light to refract. You can sometimes see the rainbow in butterfly wings, using a prism, or on soap bubbles. The light shining off a CD can also refract to create a rainbow.
I love how God placed the rainbow in the cloud as a promise to the earth that He would never again completely destroy the earth by flood.
But I also love how God created the rainbow using two symbols that we often associate with Him: light and water. Jesus is the light of the world (John 8:12). God is light (1 John 1:5), and in Him there is no darkness at all. Jesus is also the source of living water (John 4:10, 14; John 7:37). If you believe in Jesus, the Light of the world, you will be given the Holy Spirit (John 7:37-39), that living water will flow out of you.
Then the Light of God shining on you and your life will display the promises of God for all to see. You become a witness to the greatness, the majesty, the awesomeness of our God. Your life reflects God’s love and mercy. You testify to everyone around you that God is the source of life and salvation.
God’s promises are displayed for all to see in the rainbow. But God’s promises are also displayed in your life for all to see. Think about how well you allow others to see Jesus in you the next time you see a rainbow.
Walk, Go, and Come
Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.” Genesis 12:1-2
The word “go” is the Hebrew word halakh #1980. It means to walk, go, come. It can refer to human locomotion that has an indefinite destination. It can refer to the characteristics of a lifestyle. It can imply the continuing relationship with God. It is translated in various places as come, enter, lead, or march. As most Hebrew words, it can be used in a variety of situations - the context determines the meaning.
The context determines the meaning! But there’s a big difference between “go” and “come.” What if I tell my dogs to “go to bed,” “go outside,” “go away.” My black labs’ tails sink. Their heads droop. They are very sad to be sent away, but obediently, they slowly go. Now if I say, “Come here, Velvet, Ebony,” I only have to say that once. They are tickled to death that I want them. They come, with doggie smiles, big tail sweeps, and bounding steps.
So look at the contrast between “go” and “come” in Genesis 12:1. It says, “Go from your country.” What if it said, “Come from your country”? What’s the difference? It’s where God is! God has to be in the place where He’s telling Abram to come!
What if God is really saying to Abram, “Come to me?”
In Genesis 22:2 God tells Abram to go again: “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah.” What if God really said, “Come to Moriah”? Moriah is an interesting place. It’s where Abraham was to offer Isaac on an altar. It’s where David built an altar to God after numbering Israel. It’s the site, according to tradition, of the altar of burnt offerings for Solomon’s temple. If it truly was the site of three different altars, it only makes sense that God was calling Abraham to meet him in that place! He really was telling Abram to come to Him.
It really makes a lot of sense that God is calling Abram to come to Him - to come into a closer relationship with Him! Remember that’s part of the definition of halakh: to walk in a continuing relationship with God. In Genesis 12, God is calling Abram to come to Him out of Ur of the Chaldees - where Babylon is! The overtones of that reach all the way to Revelation 18:4! Where else does God say, “Come”? There’s Matthew 11:28: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy-laden and I will give you rest.” Look at John 7:37: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.”
There’s another interesting verse with the word “come.” John 6:44 says that no one came come to Jesus unless the Father who sent Jesus calls that person. If you feel that God is working in your life and is calling you to a closer walk with Him, you are very blessed. It doesn’t happen to everyone, and you can’t decide on your own that you can begin a relationship with Jesus. If God is issuing an invitation to come, I would strongly encourage you to go, or rather, come! Halakh!
A Friend of God
And I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Genesis 12:3
How would you like to be friends with someone who had that kind of power? The ability to bless people who treat you nicely. The power to make someone’s life a mess if they mess with you. Wow! The implications are incredible to think about, aren’t they? The bully on the school playground. The obnoxious, rude neighbor. The tailgating, road rage-exhibiting driver. An unfair, demanding employer.
But that’s not all! God tells Abram that in Abram, all the the families of the earth shall be blessed. This is a promise that is multigenerational, long-term, reaching to the ends of the earth and the end of history! Wow!
How would all families be blessed?
Deuteronomy 4:6-8: Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today?
Think about this! God’s laws make an entire nation noticeable to the nations all around. They see how wise and great that nation is because it serves God. Where did that covenant come from to keep God’s commandments? Abram. And God’s law is not just beneficial for families and nations; it’s also good for individuals. Look at Psalm 19:7 and Psalm 119:97-100.
Psalm 19:7: The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
Psalm 119:97-100 Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day. Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts.
This is amazing! The person who keeps God’s law has more understanding than his teachers, more wisdom than his enemies! What incredible blessings are inherent in keeping God’s law! But, it’s more than just keeping God’s law. Keeping God’s law is beneficial. But, think about keeping God’s law because you want a close relationship with the Creator of the Universe, the Savior of mankind.
Psalm 33:12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!
Think back to Genesis 12:3, where we started - talking about the blessing and curses people around you receive based on how they treat you. And then there’s the fact that this promise is fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ. That takes the relationship that Abram had with God to a whole new level! Here’s a promise that the Messiah is going to come from the physical descendants of Abram! It’s enough to make you feel pretty important and special.
But look at how Abram responded. He fell face down before God and worshipped Him. Consider: the man who was called a friend of God didn’t treat that relationship casually, but fell face down to worship Him; the man who was told people would be blessed and cursed based on how they treated him, and yet he fell face down to worship Him. It would behoove us to consider how we approach God. Do we come before Him with reverence and humility? Or do we come in our daily clothes and casual attitudes, thinking our salvation in Christ is enough when approaching the throne of grace?
David expresses the attitude we should have, regardless of the promises we have in Christ, in Psalm 8:3-4: When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?
We long to be the kind of friend with God that Abram was. We long to have those kinds of promises and that degree of relationship. But we must also never forget that we have to be humble before Him.
What’s in a Name
Memory Verse: And he (Abraham) believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness. - Genesis 15:6
Materials Needed: name cards for each child, YEA book (YE2F.1)
Do you think names matter? Shakespeare pen that “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Perhaps it would smell as sweet, but what if we called them manure flowers? Would you like a bouquet of manure flowers? What if we called them diamonds? Would you like a bouquet of diamonds? We attach meaning to words and to names based on our experiences.
When I was teaching, I had a couple of rough boys. There’s no way I would ever name one of my sons “Kyle.” I had a Kyle who completely ruined the name for me. But the name Kyle means “slender” or “strait (that is, “narrow” or “constricted”). The Bible tells us to find the strait way, the narrow way, because broad is the path that leads to destruction. So perhaps I need to rethink how I feel about the name Kyle.
Names meant something. God changed Abram’s name. He changed Jacob’s name. He changed Saul’s name. Why did God change those names? Each of these men were changed by their relationship with God; it only made sense that what they were called would also change.
So what about the name Isaac? Why did Abraham and Sarah name their son Isaac? It means “laugh” or “laughter.” Why did Sarah laugh when the angel told her she would have a son that time the next year? Abraham and Sarah had wanted a son for a very long time - like 25 years a long time!! Do you think it’s possible that they didn’t think God was going to keep His promise to give them a son? Perhaps she was laughing at the idea of a 90 year-old lady having a baby and chasing him around. But when they did have a son, Abraham and Sarah named him Isaac. Why? Did they want everyone to laugh at him? I suspect they named him Isaac to remind themselves that they had started to doubt God and they shouldn’t have! They might have also wanted the reminder that Isaac, as the child of promise, was bringing them so much joy (laughter) just because he was there - and sometimes you are so happy you just laugh with delight.
So . . . do you like your name? I know that for some of you, your parents were very intentional to choose names based on their meanings.
Bereckyah = God has blessed; Zevadyah = God has given; Shelevah = peaceful, tranquility; Mitkah = sweet; Luke = light-giving; Matthew = Gift of God; Peter = stone, rock; Clara = bright, famous; Abigail = my father’s joy; Noah = rest, respite; Naomi = pleasant, gentle
These are cool names with very important meanings! But like God promised Abraham and Sarah a son, God has promised to those who overcome a new name. What do you think God will name you? What do you think your name will mean?
Sweep Away
Then Abraham drew near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?” Genesis 18:23
When you clean house, how do you do it? Do you pick up one pick of dirt at a time? Or do you get out the broom, sweep all the dirt into a pile, and sweep it all into the dustpan at once? It would be utterly ridiculous to clean house any other way.
That’s the word picture we get from the word “sweep away” in this verse. In the KJV, this phrase is translated “destroy.” The Hebrew word saphap (#5595) means to scrape away, heap up, take away, destroy. It usually has a hostile connotation and is frequently found in the context of judgment.
Can you think of any Biblical occasions when entire peoples were swept away in judgment? How about the flood? What about Sodom and Gomorrah? What about Ninevah? What about the destruction of the peoples who dwelt in Caanan?
It’s interesting. In each of the cases mentioned above, God executed judgment on people because of their wickedness, their evilness, the morally corrupt conduct which was so contrary to God’s ways.
And yet, God did not completely destroy everyone. Out of the flood, God saved Noah and his family. Out of Sodom and Gommorah, God saved Lot, his wife and his two daughters. Out of Ninevah, the entire city was spared because they heeded Jonah’s call for repentance.
In each case, God did not sweep away the righteous with the wicked. Was it because the righteous were so . . . righteous?
It really isn’t, is it? We are all of us guilty of transgressing God’s holy and righteous law. All of our righteous deeds are as filthy rags before God. As Luke 17:10 says, even when we have obeyed all of God’s commands, we are still unprofitable servants because we’ve merely done our duty. God would be totally justified to sweep away all of mankind. Why doesn’t He?
It’s all about relationship, and it is totally mercy and grace from God!
I can’t help but think about Jesus’ admonition to His disciples in Luke 21:36 that we pray to be counted worthy to escape the tribulation. It won’t be because we are righteous; it will only because of our relationship with Jesus Christ - because He is worthy.
One day God is going to clean house. I'd rather not be swept out with the dirt.
What’s Most Important
He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” (Genesis 22:2, ESV)
Imagine you’re given something, a precious item you’ve longed for, something you’ve wanted for years. Then it’s just given to you. What joy! What delight! You treasure it. You’re thankful for it. You enjoy it. But years later, the giver comes up to you and says, “I want it back.” What do you do? Can you possibly be expected to give this precious gift back?
This is where Abraham was. He and Sarah had longed for children for literally decades! Abraham was 100 years old, and Sarah was 90, when Isaac was born. They had waited a long time. They loved Isaac enormously! But God told Abraham to take his son, his only son Isaac, whom he loved and sacrifice him as a burnt offering.
How hard this must have been! Abraham loved Isaac! Not only that, but God had promised many, many descendants to Abraham through Isaac. I might have been wondering if God was taking not only the gift of Isaac, but also the gift of the promise.
Nevertheless, Abraham did as God commanded. Why? Because God had commanded it - and Abraham valued his relationship with God more than he valued the gift.
Think about that. What do you have, in your life, that is most precious to you? Would you give it to God if He asked for it?
You have to. You have to value your relationship with God more than anything He’s given you. Yes, everything you have is a gift from God. We’re just stewards. We’re just servants. But if He’s called you and me into a special relationship with Him, we must value that gift more than any other.
We must honor God through our obedience. That’s what Abraham did. He honored God is obeying the command. When you think about it, Isaac honored his father as well. There’s a very good chance that Isaac was at least a teenager. He could have put up quite a struggle against his father Abraham. But that’s not what’s recorded. Genesis simply records Abraham and Isaac going together, Isaac being laid upon the wood and bound.
So how do you honor God in obedience? What gift can you possibly sacrifice in your life that would honor God and demonstrate how much you value the relationship? Romans 12:1 tells us to “present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual [rational] worship.”
When you stop to think about it, God really wants all of you. He wants you to become a living sacrifice, wholly devoted, to Him. He wants you to bring every thought captive to Jesus Christ. He wants you to totally trust Him, to totally love Him, to totally value Him above all else. God wants an intimate relationship with you.
So, what’s most important to you?
God Provides the Lamb
“God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together. (Genesis 22:8, ESV)
How difficult it must have been for Abraham to take that three day journey to Mount Moriah, knowing what God had requested of him. How painful it must have been to premeditate the action of sacrificing his beloved, promised son. So when Isaac asked where the lamb was for the offering, the question must have been like pouring salt into the wound. Or at least, that’s how I imagine it. Yet, Abraham’s words, recorded here for us, don’t give us any idea of the emotions Abraham was feeling. All they tell us is of Abraham’s faith that God would provide in his hour of great need.
Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together. (Genesis 22:8, ESV)
The phrase “will provide” is Strongs #7200. It’s the same word as in Genesis 17:1 “appeared” and means “to see, to present, to provide, to perceive, to look on.” This makes the New Testament references even more interesting:
John 1:29 records John the Baptist pointing out Jesus and saying, “Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world.”
Peter records Jesus also as being the Lamb of God in 1 Peter 1:19.
John praises the Lamb as worthy to receive glory and honor in Revelation 5:12.
In John 1:36 when John the Baptist pointed out Jesus and said, “Behold the Lamb of God,” one of those who heard him was Andrew. Andrew turned and followed Jesus, and then went to get his brother Simon Peter! Andrew definitely perceived the provided Lamb!
We have a great need too. We are on a death walk, much like Abraham was, unless God provides a lamb in exchange for our lives. God has already provided the Lamb. Only this time, it is not Abraham’s son; it is God who has sacrificed His beloved and only begotten Son that you and I might live. The parallel is unmistakable. You need that Lamb to live. And the good news is that God has already provided the Lamb, His Son. Now we can all walk on together.
Blessed
I will surely bless you . . . Genesis 22:17a
Materials: posterboard, colored markers, assorted stickers, stamps, etc.
We are so blessed! We hear that a lot. But do we believe it, really believe it?! Because if we really believe that we are blessed of God, it changes our lives.
So here’s a simple exercise: Think about why you are blessed. Turning the word “blessed” into an acrostic exercise, think of one word for each letter to describe why you are blessed.
B - belong. We belong to God. We are His. He has adopted us into His family. Not only that, but we belong in our family. We have a home where we live and belong.
L - Loved. We are loved. We are greatly loved by God, after all, He gave us His Son. Likewise, we are greatly loved by our friends and our family.
E - Edified, exhorted, and Encouraged. We have a great church family, friends, and family who all want our best. They encourage us, both to do well in life and to seek God. They build us up, edify us, and exhort us to keep fighting the good fight.
S - Saved. We have been saved by God, He is saving us, and we will be saved when Jesus Christ returns.
S - Sanctified Saints. If we have been saved by God, then He is in the process of sanctifying us, the saints of God - changing us into the image of our Savior.
E - Elated Elect. We belong to God. We’re the saints of God. We are chosen by God. We are the elect of God. And we are elated to be so.
D - Designed. Not only were we designed by God, He has a design for our lives. We have a purpose as His servants. We must remember to be devoted to the duty designed by God for us to do.
We could talk for a very long time about our blessings, and it’s very good to do so. When we remember what God has done, we are motivated to serve Him with thanksgiving. We owe Him everything. And that’s exactly how we should serve Him, with everything that we have and everything that we are.
Do It Now
Behold, Rebekah is before you; take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master's son, as the Lord has spoken. Genesis 24:51
Rebekah’s story is fascinating. First, Abraham has a son, one through whom the promise of many nations is to be fulfilled. But Isaac doesn’t have a wife, and Abraham knows that it would be a very bad idea to take a wife from the people among whom he was dwelling. So he commands his chief servant, the one who was over all of his house, to go back to Haran and find a wife for Isaac from among Abraham’s family.
The servant goes, but he doesn’t just pick anyone off the street. He prays and asks God to show him the right girl, the one who would give water to both him and his camels. He doesn’t even finish praying this request when Rebekah comes. She waters him and his camels, and the servant knows. So he gives gifts to Rebekah and tells him who he is. She invites him back to her house. Rebekah’s mother and brother Laban invite Abraham’s servant to stay and eat with them.
Think about this. It had been a long journey. The chief servant had to have been hungry and tired. A meal and a bed must have sounded wonderful. But the servant felt Abraham’s charge more acutely than the feelings of fatigue and hunger. Before he would even eat with them, he told them why he was there, the prayer he’d asked, and Rebekah’s actions.
Rebekah’s mother’s and brother’s response is interesting. "Behold, Rebekah is before you; take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master's son, as the Lord has spoken." They believed he was who he said he was. They believed that he’d prayed that prayer. They believed that it was God’s will that Rebekah be Isaac’s wife. Take her and go.
But they didn’t mean “take her and go.” The next morning, Abraham’s servant is ready to go. He’s not interested in resting before the long return journey. He’s not interested in dilly-dallying around. He’s found Rebekah. He’s ready to complete his job. Rebekah’s family was not so ready for Rebekah to leave. They wanted her to stay and let them get used to the idea. But when the servant persisted, they left the decision up to her. Rebekah, to her credit, was ready to go right then.
There’s some interesting applications here for us. First, when God gives us a job, we need to do everything in our power to accomplish that job. Just as that servant traveled for a long way, we have to be willing to go out of our way, get out of our comfort zone, to do the job God has given to us. Secondly, we have to trust that He’ll guide us in completing that job. Just as the servant prayed for guidance, we too have to pray daily that God will make our paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6). Lastly, when God gives us a job to do, we need to do it now. Don’t procrastinate. Don’t put off ‘til tomorrow what should be done now.
So, what’s on your to-do list from God? Do it now.
The Covenant
Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Genesis 28:14
There are some fascinating things to note in this scripture:
1) God made this covenant with him before he even had a wife! Think about it! He’s told that his offspring are going to be like the dust of the earth, and he hasn’t even laid eyes on his wife yet!
2) God reiterates to Jacob the command he gave Adam and Eve at the very beginning. In Genesis 1:28 they were told to be fruitful, multiply and fill all the earth. Later in Genesis 11:4, the people of Babel directly defied this directive. They said they wanted to build a tower and make a name for themselves, “lest they be dispersed over all the earth.” So here again, God is telling Jacob to spread out. Be fruitful and multiply.
3) Notice the word “families” - in so many instances, God works with families!
4) Do you know where Jacob was when God told this, Genesis 28:14, to Jacob? He was going to Laban. He was sleeping on a rock for a pillow in Bethel. He dreamed the ladder of angels ascending and descending. So he erected a pillar to God, named the place Bethel (“house of God”), and told God that if He blessed him, he (Jacob) would give Him (God) a tenth of everything.
Interestingly enough, more than 20 years later, God tells Jacob to go to Bethel, to go back to this same place where he’d had the dream. Now Jacob has two wives and 12 children. Jacob tells all of the company with him to get rid of their foreign gods and to purify themselves because they are going into God’s presence. When Jacob gets to Bethel, God tells him to be fruitful and multiply, that he’ll become a company of nations, that God will give him all this land, and he changes Jacob’s name to “Israel.”
Now all of this should sound really familiar!
In Genesis 12:1-3 God tells Abram that he’ll be a great nation and all families of the earth will be blessed.
In Genesis 13:14, God tells Abram to look to the north, south, east, and west. God’s giving him all this land.
In Genesis 13:15 God tells Abram his descendants will be like the dust of the earth.
In Genesis 15:5 God tells Abram his descendants will be like the stars of the heavens.
In Genesis 17:1-8 God meets with Abram in Hebron, tells him to be fruitful and multiply (even though Isaac had not yet been born), tells him he’ll be a multitude of nations, makes the land covenant with him, and changes his name to Abraham.
In Genesis 18:18, the angels on their way to Sodom discuss the fact that in Abraham all nations of the earth will be blessed.
In Genesis 25:23, Rebekah is told that two nations are in her womb.
In Genesis 26:5 Isaac is told his descendants will be like the stars of the heaven and in him all nations will be blessed.
With all of this history prior to Jacob’s encounters with God in Genesis 28 and Genesis 35, it’s no wonder that it sounds very familiar!
But what does it have to do with us, with you and me, today?
Well, Abraham is the father of the faithful; we are counted as children of the promise, children of Abraham if we put our faith in Jesus Christ. (Romans 4:11, Gal 3:9, Gal 3:29)
We may not be getting a land inheritance, but we have an inheritance in God’s kingdom. (Hebrews 11:16, John 14:1-2, Romans 8:17, Matthew 5)
What about all families and/or nations blessed through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and their offspring? Jesus Christ is in the lineage of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And yes, through Jesus Christ all nations of the earth shall be blessed. (Gal 3:8-9, John 3:16)
I would love to be in God’s kingdom and see Abraham’s face when he realizes how God fulfilled this covenant in Jesus Christ! How awesome, how great is our God!
For the Glory of the Lord
When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph. What he says to you, do.” Genesis 41:55
Of all the people in the Bible, Joseph typifies Jesus Christ more than any other I can think of! There are so many instances like this one. Here, Pharaoh tells the people to go to Joseph - that he would provide the needed bread. It foreshadows Jesus’ first miracle in John 2:5 when his mother told the servants to do whatever Jesus told them to - and he subsequently turned the water into wine.
Just as Joseph was sent to his brothers (Gen 37:12), Jesus was sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matt 15:24).
Just as Jesus was hated by his brothers (Gen 37:4), Jesus was hated by the world (Matt 5:11, John 15:18, 1 John 3:13).
Joseph was shown favor by his father (Gen 37:3-11); Jesus was the beloved of the Father (Matt 3:17).
Joseph was falsely accused (Gen 39:14); Jesus was falsely accused (Matt 26:59).
Joseph was sold into slavery for 20 pieces of silver (Gen 37:28); Jesus was sold by Judas by 30 pieces of silver (Matt 27:3).
Joseph’s robe was dipped in blood (Gen 37:31); Jesus’ robed was dipped in blood (Rev. 19:13).
Joseph was tempted by Potiphar’s wife (Gen 39:6-8); Jesus was tempted by Satan (Matt 4).
These are just a few of a similarities! Truly, Joseph’s life was a testimony to the coming Messiah! But this shouldn’t be surprising to us! After all, when Jesus was walking with the disciples on the road to Emmaus, Luke 24:27 says, “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” The Bible is full of foreshadowings of the life of Christ; we just don’t recognize it!
Even Hebrews 11:4 hints at this. Speaking of Abel, it says, “By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.” Did you get this? Abel lived his life in such a way as to testify to God, to glorify God, to be a witness that God exists.
I suspect if we looked deeply into the lives of our favorite Bible characters, we’d see many who were a witness or a foreshadowing of the Messiah. And like these people, our lives should also point others to Jesus Christ!!
1 Peter 2:12 says, “Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.”
Our lives are not about us. We were created for the glory of the Lord. We were made by His will and for His pleasure. How pleasing it must be to God when our lives are a testimony, a witness, a foreshadowing of the great God who we serve.
So, tomorrow morning when you wake up, tell yourself, “Today I will act for the glory of the Lord.”
Amen.
Do Not Quarrel on the Way
Then he sent his brothers away, and as they departed, he said to them, “Do not quarrel on the way.” Genesis 45:24
I love this verse. It makes the story so real! Think about it! Joseph’s brothers have just found Joseph alive - and second in command in Egypt. They’ve just been given plenty of food. Remember the famine? Remember how Jacob had sent them back to Egypt to get food so they wouldn’t die? Now, not only have they been given food - without having to pay for it, they are also moving to the best land in all of Egypt for the duration of the famine. They also get to take Benjamin back to his father uninjured. Things are very good. What would they have to fight about?
I can just imagine Reuben: I told you not to hurt the boy [Joseph]! Now he’s second in command over all of Egypt. Do you know how he could get revenge? Oh, if you had only listened to me!
Then Judah chimes in: Well, at least, I stopped you from killing him.
Then Dan or Naphtali: Yeah, like you didn’t want to kill him. You just wanted the money selling him could bring.
Or Zebulun: Yeah, it was your idea to kill him in the first place.
Judah: It was not. I never wanted to hurt him.
Asher: Like selling him isn’t a death sentence - normally.
Levi: Uh, guys, who’s going to tell Dad that Joseph is still alive? Who’s going to tell him what you guys did - selling him into slavery and sending him to Egypt? I’m not telling Dad.
And another round of fighting ensues. They have the whole trip home to hash out the events of the past, bickering the whole way. Now, I don’t know that they did this. But I know how families can be. I know the little things they can bicker about - even when life is good.
Picking blackberries: Hey! This is my patch. You go get stuck somewhere else. I want these brambles to poke me.
Swimming in the pool - think about it - you’re already wet: Mom! He’s splashing me. Mom! He’s making too many waves.
Oh, the myriad of bickering points: He’s rocking his chair. He’s humming. He’s looking at me. He’s breathing my air.
I know it sounds funny, but, in reality, it isn’t! Bickering may start small, but it escalates. Pretty soon, there are harsh words spoken. Words turn into feelings which express themselves in actions. Pretty soon, you can’t stand to be around your brother.
And it’s not just families - physical brothers and sisters. It also happens in church families. Really. If it didn’t, then why do we have all of these verses?
1 John 3 :10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.
1 John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
1 John 4 :20-21 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
Hebrews 13:1 Let brotherly love continue.
1 Thessalonians 4:9-12 Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more, and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.
1 Peter 1:22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart,
2 Peter 1:7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.
1 Peter 2:17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.
1 Peter 3:8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.
And a favorite around our household is:
Romans 12:9-10: Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.
Christopher once read this verse, “Love one another with brotherly affliction. . .” And although we laugh, that’s really the way we love each other sometimes - with brotherly affliction. We shouldn’t. We have been given so much. God has blessed us beyond measure! We’ve been given a Savior to redeem us from our sins. Even if we’re suffering in this life, we’re assured of a glorious future with Him forever. We have so little to complain about!
Jesus has given us a job to do - go and make disciples of all nations - much like the job Joseph gave to his brothers - go and bring all of the family to me. And like Joseph said to his brothers, Jesus could well say to each of us, “You’ve got a job to do. Don’t quarrel on the way.”
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1
At first glance, you might not think there’s much in this verse. It’s so short! But there’s a wealth of information. Let’s apply the 5Ws to this verse and see what we get.
Who? Who created the the world? The Hebrew word translated “God” is Elohim (#430). Elohim is the Hebrew word most often translated God in the Old Testament. It’s a singular word which shows plurality. Although that sounds confusing, we have words in English which are singular but that show more than one, i.e. family, group, everyone, herd, congregation, etc. What’s interesting about this word Elohim is that it shows that both God the Father and the One who would become Jesus Christ worked together in creating the world. That’s quickly confirmed by looking at Genesis 1:26 where Elohim said, “Let us make man in our image.”
What? What did Elohim make? According to Genesis 1:1, Elohim made the heavens and the earth. The Hebrew word for “heavens” comes from a primitive root which means “to be lofty.” It’s a dual singular noun (#8064) - that is, it has both the meaning of where the clouds are and where the stars are simultaneously. The word for “earth” is erets (#776), and simply means the physical planet. In case you missed it, that’s everything. God made everything! Look at what other Bible verses have to say about what God made:
Exodus 20:11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
John 1:3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
Colossians 1:16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
All of these verses confirm that God made everything, our world in its entirety. There’s nothing here that He didn’t make - visible and invisible!
When? Does it really tell when God made the earth in this verse? Yes. It was in the beginning. The Hebrew word for “beginning” is the Hebrew word (#7225) re’ shith and means “first in place, time, order, or rank; the beginning of a fixed period of time.” In other words, the beginning, when Elohim created our world was at the beginning of a fixed period of time. It wasn’t at His beginning because He has no beginning. Unfortunately, that old saying that it loses something in the translation is true here because in the Hebrew, after Elohim, it says aleph tav. That is, “in the beginning, God, the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the aleph tav created.” If only the English translators would have left that in! Those two little words highlight that God, who is eternal in both directions, created this world in a fixed moment in time.
Where? Where did the material come from that God used to create this world? There’s a couple of verses which tell us where God got His material:
Romans 4:17 as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.
Hebrews 11:3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.
There was a song in The Sound of Music: “Nothing comes from nothing.” That’s our experience. We humans are not creators; we are merely re-arrangers. It reminds me very much of the old joke: The evolution-minded, atheistic scientists said to God, “We can make life now out of dirt. We don’t need you.” God replied, “Wait a minute! Get your own dirt.” And that brings us to the next question:
How? How did God create everything? Although this isn’t one of the 5Ws, it’s certainly a question we would like to answer, and even if the answer isn’t specifically in Genesis 1:1, there are other verses in the Bible which give us more information:
Psalm 33: 6, 9 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host.
For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.
Hebrews 11:3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.
Jeremiah 10:12 It is he who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.
God used His spoken word in power, wisdom, and understanding to create everything. He got it right the first time. There was no going back to the drawing board for improvements. We are not living on Earth version 1.2.
We have one more question to answer: why?
Why? Why did God create everything? Revelation 4:11 says, “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
The KJV translates “by your will” with “for thy pleasure.” We were created by his will. And we exist by his will. This verse emphasizes the ultimate parental warning: I brought you into this world; I can take you out.
He is the Potter; we are the clay. He is God; we are not. He has always existed; we are like the grass which is here today and gone tomorrow. It never hurts to have an accurate picture of how unimportant you really are! Our true value, our only worth, comes from our relationship with Jesus Christ - the One through whom, by whom, and for whom all things were created.
Have you thought about your relationship with God, the Creator of the Universe, lately?
**Day One: Light
Let there be light . . . Genesis 1:3
Materials: bandanas, little objects (ball, paperclip, carabiner, clothespin)
How important is light? It’s very important! Without light we would not be able to see anything. That would make life very hard. We can wear a blindfold and get a little idea of what it would be like to live in total darkness. It would not be easy.
But there are blind people in our world who are still able to function. They’ve learned how to live in a world without being able to see. Just like you’re able to figure out what I’ve put in your hand just by touch. You can still figure out what’s going on in the world around you using your other senses. Walking downstairs at night, in the dark, you move by feel and by sound. You know your mom’s making spaghetti for supper before you ever see the kitchen because you know the smell. People who are blind have been able to figure out how to live in the world without sight, but it’s not easy. They have to rely more on the other senses that God gave them.
But when we talk about seeing, we’re not always talking about actually seeing something. It’s like John Newton’s song, “Amazing Grace.” He writes, “I once was blind, but now I see.” John Newton wasn’t blind. There was nothing wrong with his vision. But there was something wrong with his understanding about the world, the plan of God, sin, and what God desired from him. Once John Newton understood that he was sinning, that sinning was (and is) bad, he could actually “see” the truth.
Have you ever had trouble understanding something? Once your parents explained it to you, did you say, “Oh, I see”? You weren’t really saying that you “saw.” You meant that you understood what they were saying to you.
So let’s talk about the light that God created on Day One of creation week. Where did that light come from? Well, obviously it came from God. But the light wasn’t shining from the Sun or the Moon or the stars. None of them were created until Day Four. So what was the source of the light?
There’s a clue in Revelation 22:5. “And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light. . .” Did you catch that? The Lord God will be our light. He’s the One who gives us light so we can see. And that makes all the sense in the world, because He’s also the One who enlightens us so that we can understand. God is the foundation for creation, for light, for sight, for understanding. Our God is Everything!
So the next time you understand something really cool, just remember it is God who created the light so you can see.
**Day Two: Sky!
Let there be a vault . . . Genesis 1:6
Materials: jar of water, hotpot, container of ice, cookie sheet, towels
Exodus 20:11 says, “For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day.” God made everything in six days. O.K. So on what day of creation did God make water?
Well, we know that God created light on day one. Genesis 1:3 tells us that. But in Genesis 1:2 it says that “darkness was over the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” So it sounds like the earth and the water were created before light on day one. Then, on day two, God began working with the raw materials, the initial creation. He put an expanse between the waters. The NIV says “vault.” The NLT says “space.” The ESV says “expanse.” The KJV says “firmament.” What was it that God created?
New International Version And God said, "Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water."
New Living Translation Then God said, "Let there be a space between the waters, to separate the waters of the heavens from the waters of the earth."
English Standard Version And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.”
King James Bible And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
This expanse divided the waters from the waters. On day two, God created a space between the waters above and the waters below. I think God took the water He created on day one and began working with it. He created the space between the water - what we call sky.
Think about creating water and sky for a moment. All of the laws which apply to water - its ability to exist in three states, its specific heat, its density, the way it freezes, the way it melts, all of the unique properties of water which makes life possible!! We could talk about water and the laws it follows for weeks!
The creation of water and sky is bigger than just the clouds above and the waters below and the sky in between, all of the atmosphere and all its layers. It’s also the water cycle. Think about it: you can envision water starting at the top of the mountain, melting from the glacier and snowpack. The water collects and becomes a stream. Then it becomes a river, and we grab some water to drink, as the river runs by, before it runs all the way to the sea. So then what? How does the water get back to the top of the mountain, to become the snowpack, to become the river so we have water to drink?
God knew we would need a continual source of fresh water to drink. So He incredibly created the water cycle. Those waters above - it’s not just sky. It’s the clouds and the water vapor in the sky. Those clouds rain and provide water, but how do the clouds get back up there to rain again?
Demonstration: Put water in the hotpot. Bring to boil. Look at water vapor rising. What keeps it from just continuing its path? God created all the rules to make the water stop at a certain level and to form clouds. (Hold a cookie sheet over the rising water vapor.) Then He created the rules of nature which would cause those clouds to drop that moisture. (Place ice on top of cookie sheet.) The water rises as water vapor. It forms clouds. It rains again as liquid (rain) or snow and ice (solid).
We could talk about how water expands, not when it freezes, but before it freezes. That makes solid water less dense than liquid water - which helps to keep ponds from freezing all the way to the bottom and killing all the fish every winter.
The separation of water above and water beneath (sky) on Day Two is absolutely amazing!! It’s something to think about the next time you drink a glass of water, or take a bath, or shovel 10 inches of snow.
**Day Three: Soil and Shrubs
. . . let dry ground appear. Genesis 1:9
Materials: clay, small container of soil, water
On Day One, God created Light.
On Day Two, God separated the waters below from the waters above.
On Day Three, God said, “Let dry ground appear.” The earth had to be re-shaped so that the water would not cover the whole earth.
If you had a container full of rocks, and the water covered over the top of the rocks, what would you have to do to get dry rocks? You might make a deep trench in the middle of the water. Or you might push the rocks up out of the water. Maybe you’d heat up the rock until it exploded out of the water over and over until an island appeared.
Well, we do have a deep trench in the middle of the ocean. The Mariana Trench is 1580 miles long, 43 miles wide, and 6.8 miles deep. To put that in perspective, if Mt. Everest were put into the trench at the deepest point, its peak would still be 1.2 miles under water.
We do have land being pushed up out of the water. The earth shifts along fault lines; we call them earthquakes. Sometimes they grate back and forth. Sometimes the pressure pushes one plate under the other, lifting the second plate! That’s how scientists think the Rocky Mountains formed.
We do have soil melting and exploding out of the water over and over again, forming islands. There are numerous volcanoes in the water which erupt, oozing hot magma into an ever-increasing pile until a new island is born. That’s how scientists think the Hawaiian islands were formed.
But God didn’t just make a pile of rocks emerge out of the water; He created soil, land, tillable ground that is good for growing plants. There were nutrients in that soil so that plants would flourish. The soil would hold just the right amount of water, but not hold too much. The soil would be solid, but not so hard that roots couldn’t push through it. How do I know that? Because on Day Three, when God made the dry land, then He said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation” (vs. 11). All of the fruit trees and flowers! Shrubs and grasses! Cacti and vegetables! Think about the incredible diversity of plants and the unique needs of each plant! One plant grows really well where there’s lots of water. Too much water will kill a cactus. One plant needs lots of sunshine. Another plant grows better in the shade. One plant needs more acidic soil. Another needs more alkaline soil. God did all of that. He just spoke all of it into existence.
The land and the plants go together so well. The plants hold the land in place so that water and wind can’t carry the soil out of the country. The soil provides nutrients and grounding (I couldn’t resist) so the plants can grow big and strong.
Sometimes when people think about Day Three of creation, they think only of the formation of land, mountains and valleys, islands and canyons, plateaus and grasslands. But God specifically formed the dry ground as the perfect place to create a plethora of plants.
We sing “we plow the fields and scatter the good seed on the land” as a well-known Thanksgiving song. How appropriate to remember to thank God for creating the wide variety of soil types and plant life!!
**Day 4: Sun, Moon, and Stars
Let there be lights in the vault of the sky . . . Genesis 1:14
Materials: flashlight, globe, ball (to demonstrate revolution/rotation principles)
So we’ve been talking about creation week. On day one, God created light. On day two, God separated the water below from the water above, making sky. On day three, God created dry land and all of the plants. On day four, God created the sun, moon and stars.
Why did God do that? I can think of at least three reasons:
The Sun provides energy that the plants use. The plants take that light energy and turn it into food for themselves and then release oxygen into the air for our use.
God said that the sun, moon, and stars were for signs, seasons, days and years. The revolution of the earth around the sun makes our year. One time around is one year. But as the earth is going around the sun, so the moon is going around the earth. That makes our months. As we watch the moon growing fuller every night, we know we’re getting towards the middle of the month. As we see less and less of it, we know we’re getting towards the end of the month. The rotation of the earth makes one day. So the sun, moon, and stars are God’s calendar in the sky - not just telling us when each day, month, and year begins; the sun, moon, and stars also determine the dates for God’s holy days!
David wrote in Psalm 19, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” The sun, the moon, and the stars are a continual reminder of how great our God is. We depend on the sun for light to see, plants to eat, and trees to build houses out of. The sunlight warms our planet. The seasons determine our planting our gardens and harvesting the food. And God’s calendar reminds us to worship Him, to praise Him and thank Him for Who He is and what He’s done.
It’s really something to think about. God didn’t just speak the sun, moon, and stars into existence; He planned their exact location and their precise interaction with earth. The sun, moon, and stars were not just flung into position; they were carefully planned and placed right where God wanted them. That’s a good reminder for you that God has plans for your life and He’s placed you right where He wants you to be. Now, we just need to recognize His sovereignty and give Him the glory . . . . always.
**Day Five: Fish and Birds
Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens. Genesis 1:20
Materials: needle, thread, button, piece of material
We’ve been talking about creation week for the past month. On day one, God created light, and separated the light from darkness. And there was darkness and light - day one. On day two, God separated the waters above from the waters below. We talked about the sky and the water cycle. On day three, God separated dry land from the water and then He created all the varieties of plants. On day four, God created the sun, moon, and stars. So what did God create on day five? All of the creatures that swim in the waters and the birds that fly in the air.
So let’s think about this progression for a couple of minutes. If I want to sew a button onto material, there’s a logical order that I have to follow. I have to do the steps in order. Otherwise, it won’t work. What if I put the thread through the button? Will that work? No, there are holes in the button, but there aren’t holes in the material. So I have to use the needle. O.K. So I’ll just put the needle through the button into the material. But if I don’t thread the needle first, the button isn’t going to be attached. What if I’m not paying attention? I could end up sewing the button on the wrong side of the material! O.K. So the needle is threaded. The button is on the right side of the material. I can start sewing. But there’s one more problem: if I don’t put a knot in the thread, what will keep the thread from pulling out of the material?
In the same way, when God created our world, He did it in a very logical, sequential way. He created light. Then he separated the waters below from the waters above. Once He had water, then He could put boundaries on the water to create the dry land. Once there was dry land, God created the plants. It wouldn’t have worked to create plants before there was dry land or rain to water them with!! And then God created the sun, moon, and the stars. The plants were already in place; now they were ready for the energy from the sun so they could grow! Everything was done logically and in order - just what you would expect from our God. Everything He does is perfect and right and very good.
So what would you expect God to create next? He created the creatures in the waters and the birds in the air. There were already plants for them to eat. There was the sun to keep them warm. The birds had trees to make nests in. God commanded the water creatures and birds to be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters and the air. And God saw that it was good.
**Day Six: Land Animals
Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds. . . Genesis 1:24
Materials: a plethora of stuffed animals
Exodus 20:11 says, “For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them . . .” So when did God create light? Day one. When did God separate the water above from the water beneath? Day two. When did God create dry land and plants? Day three. When did God create the sun, moon, and stars? Day four. When did God create all the water creatures and birds? Day five. So when did God create all of the land animals? On day six. So name some land animals. Cows, horses, alligators, dogs, cats, monkeys.
What about people? Yes. We live on land. We are included in that category of Exodus 20:11: “For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them.” We’re on the earth. People were created on the sixth day of creation, along with the rest of the land animals.
What about hippopotami? Yes. What about kangaroos? Yes. Both of these are land animals.
What about monitor lizards? Chameleons? Komodo dragons? Yes, the lizard family was also created on day six. So what about dinosaurs? Dinosaurs are part of the lizard family. They are big lizards. So they would also have been created on day six.
Evolutionists would like you to believe that lizards like dinosaurs existed long before people existed. That’s not what the Bible says. They would also like you to believe that dinosaurs evolved into birds. That’s not Biblical either! Not only were birds created before lizards, God created each kind of bird, water creature and land animal. His creation doesn’t just change from one kind of animal into another kind of animal.
We are absolutely amazed at God’s creation. We are delighted by the tiny butterflies and hummingbirds. We are terrified by grizzly bears, cobras, and Komodo dragons. We are comforted (at times) by dogs and cats and horses. We are awe-struck by the clear nights when the stars look close enough to pluck from the canopy. We are grateful for the warm sun. We are thankful for water to drink. And we are, hopefully, motivated to thank and praise God for who He is and the creation which reveals His character, His eternal power, and divine nature to us (Romans 1:20).
**In God’s Image
God created man in his own image. . . . male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27 (ESV)
Materials needed: white board, marker, YEA lesson (YE2E.2 - borntowin.net/yea/primaries/)
If you were asked to describe God, what words would you choose? Loving, merciful, good, holy, beautiful, just, generous, patient, kind, gracious, compassionate, forgiving, steadfast, slow to anger, creative
In Exodus 34:6-7, God described Himself this way after He put Moses in the cleft of the rock, The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”
This would have been God, the One who accompanied the Israelites in the desert, who provided manna and water and protection for them. This is the One who would become Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul makes this abundantly clear in 1 Corinthians 10:1-10
This is significant to us, as Christians, because the Bible says that we who belong to God are being transformed into the image of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18 and Romans 8:29). We are supposed to be changed so that we look more like Him all the time. I’m quite sure that it’s not talking about physical appearance. We all have two eyes, two ears, two legs, two arms - that doesn’t change. It has to be what’s going on within that changes. We must become more loving, merciful, good, holy, beautiful, just, generous, patient, kind, gracious, compassionate, forgiving, steadfast, slow to anger, creative - if we’re indeed the people of God. It’s a witness to the world around us that God is God and that we belong to Him.
So how does that change happen? If you want to be more like God, ask Him to change you. Make it your priority to obey Him - do what He says! Then plan on spending time with Him. How do you spend time with God? Read the Bible, pray, think about what you’ve read, fast, come to church, do things to serve others. It’s a process and doesn’t happen all at once. Eventually, however, people around you should recognize that you look like Jesus in the things that you do. It should be obvious that you belong to Him because you look like Him.
God Creates the World
And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. Genesis 1:31
For each day of creation, God sums it up by saying it was good. But on this last day, this sixth day, of creation week, God sums up the whole thing by saying it was very good.
What do you think of when you hear “very good”?
Do you think, “Oh it was perfect. There were no flaws”?
Yes. But this particular word, in this particular verse, goes much further: there was no sin in our world. There was no evil. There was nothing morally deficient. There was nothing at odds with God. It was indeed very good.
We cannot imagine what that could possibly be like. We are so limited in our fallen world, and we only touch the idea of perfection - morally, constructionally, physically. But someday, in God’s presence, when the last enemy has been destroyed and perfection again reigns, we will have the jaw-dropping opportunity to witness the world as it once was. We will worship the Almighty with our declaration, “It is very good.”
Day Seven: The Sabbath
So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy . . . Genesis 2:3
Materials: jigsaw puzzle (buy blank piece puzzles or print out blank pieces on cardstock)
Let’s review the pieces of Creation Week:
On day one, God created Light, separating darkness from light. And there was evening and morning, the first day.
On day two, God created the sky, separating the waters below from the waters above.
On day three, God created dry land, separating the dry land from the waters, setting a boundary of how far the water could come. Then God created plants.
On day four, God created the sun, moon, and stars.
On day five, God created all the water creatures and all the birds.
On day six, God created all the land animals and Adam and Eve.
But the week wasn’t finished. Like a huge puzzle, it was still missing a piece. What happened on the seventh day of Creation Week?
Genesis 2:1-3 states: Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.
It was the final piece of the puzzle - a day of rest built into every week. And Jesus tells us why God created the sabbath day as part of every week. And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27)
The Sabbath is a blessing from God especially for man. Each week, the Sabbath is the last piece of the puzzle which completes our week.
We think of puzzles like jigsaw puzzles, where all of the pieces are important. But in Hebrew parallel writing structure, the sabbath is the most important piece, the best piece. It’s the day which is most important, the one that gets the most emphasis. Here’s how that looks:
Creation Week: God created:
Light
B. Water below, water above
C. Dry ground/plants
A.’ Sun, Moon, and Stars (re-emphasize light)
B.’ water creatures, birds (re-emphasize water below and expanse above)
C.’ land animals (re-emphasize dry ground)
D. The Sabbath - the pinnacle, the conclusion, the very best part
Out of all the days of creation, the sabbath was the only one that was set apart and made holy by God. Why would that be? I think it’s because it’s pointing to the rest that we will one day have in Jesus Christ - when there’s no more sorrow or death, when we can truly rest in Jesus Christ.
Each sabbath we get a taste of what it means to rest in Jesus and we look forward to the day when there is no more struggle, no more trouble, no more pain. We look forward to when all things are completed - as the sabbath completed Creation Week.
Finding Grace
But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. Genesis 6:8
Heard across playgrounds in the U.S. is a familiar refrain: “Teacher’s pet, teacher’s pet, something, something, teacher’s pet.” Being teacher’s pet is not something to be desired, from most kids’ perspectives. It’s a negative thing to get special privileges from the teacher. It’s a bad thing to have the teacher smile at you too much or to let you do special, important jobs.
Why? Because there’s an implication that it’s not fair. The teacher should treat everyone the same. But wait a minute! It’s human nature to have a favorite - especially when it’s based on actions and attitude. If a student works hard and is cheerful, a teacher naturally enjoys working with that student more than a student who is surly and won’t complete assignments. So what gives?
The implication is that teacher doesn’t always have a favorite because of actions and attitude; sometimes a teacher gives special favor to get something. What if a student’s parent is on the school board? What if a particular student is from a very wealthy family? What if the teacher can get something because she gives favor to a student? That’s unfair - and that’s the inherent implication in the appellation “teacher’s pet.”
Well, the word translated “favor” in Genesis 6:8 is the Hebrew word #2580 chen. It means “favor, grace, kindness, loveliness, charm, preciousness.” Noah found this favor in God’s sight. Why? Although the Bible doesn’t list Noah’s character implicitly, it’s there. It’s almost as if Moses, when writing Genesis, thought it would have been obvious! Noah worked for 120 years building the ark, preaching to the wicked generation who almost certainly mocked him for building an ark for no apparent reason. They preferred the chaos of the society around them to the zoo that Noah was planning. The culture of Noah’s time is a by-word for how wicked the culture will be at the end time, just before Jesus Christ returns. It was bad. But Noah persevered despite the cultural pressure!
So what does it mean to have God’s favor? God blessed Noah’s work - both building the ark and preaching to the people around him, as Noah sought to keep his relationship with God as close as possible. Would you like to have that kind of favor from God? Can you imagine enjoying a close relationship with Him? Can you imagine God blessing everything you do as you serve Him? When we imagine God blessing what we do, I believe our vision is too small! We think in terms of finding our lost car keys or getting safely home from a trip. God thinks in terms of impacting future generations. We think of healing a broken bone. God thinks of healing a nation.
Oh yeah! Our vision is too small! We need to acquire God’s vision. And that’s only going to happen when we seek Him with our whole heart, when we greatly desire a relationship with Him, when His agenda is our goal, when our thoughts are brought into submission to Him. We should seek to do great things for our God, to glorify Him.
There’s an old saying: Go big or go home. I think we should adapt that saying just a little: Go big, so we can go home and hear God say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” Let’s go big and go home!
God Promises With a Rainbow
I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Genesis 9:13, ESV
When you wrap a package, it doesn’t seem quite finished until you put a bow on the top. There’s something about a bow which seals the deal! We all like bows. They’re everywhere: neckties, hairbows, pins, and necklaces.
Why does a bow attract us? Perhaps it’s because bows remind us of the rainbow - the sign God Himself set in the clouds when Noah and his family came off the Ark. Our merciful God probably knew that the first time the clouds began gathering, all of Noah’s family would be afraid that it was going to happen again. After all, you can’t spend over a year on a boat without rain having a profound affect upon your emotions. Imagine how they would be tempted to run for the Ark!
But God set the rainbow, the beautiful rainbow, in the clouds so that when they would see it, they would be assured that God would not destroy the earth with water again. And ever since, we’ve been so captured by the beauty of the rainbow.
We buy prisms so we can throw rainbows whenever we want. We buy kaleidoscopes so we can imitate the wonder of color. We encourage children to draw rainbows, and they readily oblige.
So it is no wonder that such a symbol of life and of God’s promise would be very annoying for Satan. God has given us a beautiful sign every time it rains. It is a perpetual reminder that He is in control and that, in the end, righteousness and love and justice win. It will be a perfect world.
**God’s Promise
I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Genesis 9:13
Materials: CD, flashlight, prism
Do you know how a rainbow works, scientifically? When the light hits the water droplets, the light is bent (or refracted). When you bend light, the various colors bend at different angles. Red bends the most; violet bends the least. They bend in this order: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. Without the moisture in the air, you don’t see the rainbow.
You can use other things to get the light to refract. You can sometimes see the rainbow in butterfly wings, using a prism, or on soap bubbles. The light shining off a CD can also refract to create a rainbow.
I love how God placed the rainbow in the cloud as a promise to the earth that He would never again completely destroy the earth by flood.
But I also love how God created the rainbow using two symbols that we often associate with Him: light and water. Jesus is the light of the world (John 8:12). God is light (1 John 1:5), and in Him there is no darkness at all. Jesus is also the source of living water (John 4:10, 14; John 7:37). If you believe in Jesus, the Light of the world, you will be given the Holy Spirit (John 7:37-39), that living water will flow out of you.
Then the Light of God shining on you and your life will display the promises of God for all to see. You become a witness to the greatness, the majesty, the awesomeness of our God. Your life reflects God’s love and mercy. You testify to everyone around you that God is the source of life and salvation.
God’s promises are displayed for all to see in the rainbow. But God’s promises are also displayed in your life for all to see. Think about how well you allow others to see Jesus in you the next time you see a rainbow.
Walk, Go, and Come
Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.” Genesis 12:1-2
The word “go” is the Hebrew word halakh #1980. It means to walk, go, come. It can refer to human locomotion that has an indefinite destination. It can refer to the characteristics of a lifestyle. It can imply the continuing relationship with God. It is translated in various places as come, enter, lead, or march. As most Hebrew words, it can be used in a variety of situations - the context determines the meaning.
The context determines the meaning! But there’s a big difference between “go” and “come.” What if I tell my dogs to “go to bed,” “go outside,” “go away.” My black labs’ tails sink. Their heads droop. They are very sad to be sent away, but obediently, they slowly go. Now if I say, “Come here, Velvet, Ebony,” I only have to say that once. They are tickled to death that I want them. They come, with doggie smiles, big tail sweeps, and bounding steps.
So look at the contrast between “go” and “come” in Genesis 12:1. It says, “Go from your country.” What if it said, “Come from your country”? What’s the difference? It’s where God is! God has to be in the place where He’s telling Abram to come!
What if God is really saying to Abram, “Come to me?”
In Genesis 22:2 God tells Abram to go again: “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah.” What if God really said, “Come to Moriah”? Moriah is an interesting place. It’s where Abraham was to offer Isaac on an altar. It’s where David built an altar to God after numbering Israel. It’s the site, according to tradition, of the altar of burnt offerings for Solomon’s temple. If it truly was the site of three different altars, it only makes sense that God was calling Abraham to meet him in that place! He really was telling Abram to come to Him.
It really makes a lot of sense that God is calling Abram to come to Him - to come into a closer relationship with Him! Remember that’s part of the definition of halakh: to walk in a continuing relationship with God. In Genesis 12, God is calling Abram to come to Him out of Ur of the Chaldees - where Babylon is! The overtones of that reach all the way to Revelation 18:4! Where else does God say, “Come”? There’s Matthew 11:28: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy-laden and I will give you rest.” Look at John 7:37: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.”
There’s another interesting verse with the word “come.” John 6:44 says that no one came come to Jesus unless the Father who sent Jesus calls that person. If you feel that God is working in your life and is calling you to a closer walk with Him, you are very blessed. It doesn’t happen to everyone, and you can’t decide on your own that you can begin a relationship with Jesus. If God is issuing an invitation to come, I would strongly encourage you to go, or rather, come! Halakh!
A Friend of God
And I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Genesis 12:3
How would you like to be friends with someone who had that kind of power? The ability to bless people who treat you nicely. The power to make someone’s life a mess if they mess with you. Wow! The implications are incredible to think about, aren’t they? The bully on the school playground. The obnoxious, rude neighbor. The tailgating, road rage-exhibiting driver. An unfair, demanding employer.
But that’s not all! God tells Abram that in Abram, all the the families of the earth shall be blessed. This is a promise that is multigenerational, long-term, reaching to the ends of the earth and the end of history! Wow!
How would all families be blessed?
Deuteronomy 4:6-8: Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today?
Think about this! God’s laws make an entire nation noticeable to the nations all around. They see how wise and great that nation is because it serves God. Where did that covenant come from to keep God’s commandments? Abram. And God’s law is not just beneficial for families and nations; it’s also good for individuals. Look at Psalm 19:7 and Psalm 119:97-100.
Psalm 19:7: The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
Psalm 119:97-100 Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day. Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts.
This is amazing! The person who keeps God’s law has more understanding than his teachers, more wisdom than his enemies! What incredible blessings are inherent in keeping God’s law! But, it’s more than just keeping God’s law. Keeping God’s law is beneficial. But, think about keeping God’s law because you want a close relationship with the Creator of the Universe, the Savior of mankind.
Psalm 33:12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!
Think back to Genesis 12:3, where we started - talking about the blessing and curses people around you receive based on how they treat you. And then there’s the fact that this promise is fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ. That takes the relationship that Abram had with God to a whole new level! Here’s a promise that the Messiah is going to come from the physical descendants of Abram! It’s enough to make you feel pretty important and special.
But look at how Abram responded. He fell face down before God and worshipped Him. Consider: the man who was called a friend of God didn’t treat that relationship casually, but fell face down to worship Him; the man who was told people would be blessed and cursed based on how they treated him, and yet he fell face down to worship Him. It would behoove us to consider how we approach God. Do we come before Him with reverence and humility? Or do we come in our daily clothes and casual attitudes, thinking our salvation in Christ is enough when approaching the throne of grace?
David expresses the attitude we should have, regardless of the promises we have in Christ, in Psalm 8:3-4: When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?
We long to be the kind of friend with God that Abram was. We long to have those kinds of promises and that degree of relationship. But we must also never forget that we have to be humble before Him.
What’s in a Name
Memory Verse: And he (Abraham) believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness. - Genesis 15:6
Materials Needed: name cards for each child, YEA book (YE2F.1)
Do you think names matter? Shakespeare pen that “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Perhaps it would smell as sweet, but what if we called them manure flowers? Would you like a bouquet of manure flowers? What if we called them diamonds? Would you like a bouquet of diamonds? We attach meaning to words and to names based on our experiences.
When I was teaching, I had a couple of rough boys. There’s no way I would ever name one of my sons “Kyle.” I had a Kyle who completely ruined the name for me. But the name Kyle means “slender” or “strait (that is, “narrow” or “constricted”). The Bible tells us to find the strait way, the narrow way, because broad is the path that leads to destruction. So perhaps I need to rethink how I feel about the name Kyle.
Names meant something. God changed Abram’s name. He changed Jacob’s name. He changed Saul’s name. Why did God change those names? Each of these men were changed by their relationship with God; it only made sense that what they were called would also change.
So what about the name Isaac? Why did Abraham and Sarah name their son Isaac? It means “laugh” or “laughter.” Why did Sarah laugh when the angel told her she would have a son that time the next year? Abraham and Sarah had wanted a son for a very long time - like 25 years a long time!! Do you think it’s possible that they didn’t think God was going to keep His promise to give them a son? Perhaps she was laughing at the idea of a 90 year-old lady having a baby and chasing him around. But when they did have a son, Abraham and Sarah named him Isaac. Why? Did they want everyone to laugh at him? I suspect they named him Isaac to remind themselves that they had started to doubt God and they shouldn’t have! They might have also wanted the reminder that Isaac, as the child of promise, was bringing them so much joy (laughter) just because he was there - and sometimes you are so happy you just laugh with delight.
So . . . do you like your name? I know that for some of you, your parents were very intentional to choose names based on their meanings.
Bereckyah = God has blessed; Zevadyah = God has given; Shelevah = peaceful, tranquility; Mitkah = sweet; Luke = light-giving; Matthew = Gift of God; Peter = stone, rock; Clara = bright, famous; Abigail = my father’s joy; Noah = rest, respite; Naomi = pleasant, gentle
These are cool names with very important meanings! But like God promised Abraham and Sarah a son, God has promised to those who overcome a new name. What do you think God will name you? What do you think your name will mean?
Sweep Away
Then Abraham drew near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?” Genesis 18:23
When you clean house, how do you do it? Do you pick up one pick of dirt at a time? Or do you get out the broom, sweep all the dirt into a pile, and sweep it all into the dustpan at once? It would be utterly ridiculous to clean house any other way.
That’s the word picture we get from the word “sweep away” in this verse. In the KJV, this phrase is translated “destroy.” The Hebrew word saphap (#5595) means to scrape away, heap up, take away, destroy. It usually has a hostile connotation and is frequently found in the context of judgment.
Can you think of any Biblical occasions when entire peoples were swept away in judgment? How about the flood? What about Sodom and Gomorrah? What about Ninevah? What about the destruction of the peoples who dwelt in Caanan?
It’s interesting. In each of the cases mentioned above, God executed judgment on people because of their wickedness, their evilness, the morally corrupt conduct which was so contrary to God’s ways.
And yet, God did not completely destroy everyone. Out of the flood, God saved Noah and his family. Out of Sodom and Gommorah, God saved Lot, his wife and his two daughters. Out of Ninevah, the entire city was spared because they heeded Jonah’s call for repentance.
In each case, God did not sweep away the righteous with the wicked. Was it because the righteous were so . . . righteous?
It really isn’t, is it? We are all of us guilty of transgressing God’s holy and righteous law. All of our righteous deeds are as filthy rags before God. As Luke 17:10 says, even when we have obeyed all of God’s commands, we are still unprofitable servants because we’ve merely done our duty. God would be totally justified to sweep away all of mankind. Why doesn’t He?
It’s all about relationship, and it is totally mercy and grace from God!
I can’t help but think about Jesus’ admonition to His disciples in Luke 21:36 that we pray to be counted worthy to escape the tribulation. It won’t be because we are righteous; it will only because of our relationship with Jesus Christ - because He is worthy.
One day God is going to clean house. I'd rather not be swept out with the dirt.
What’s Most Important
He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” (Genesis 22:2, ESV)
Imagine you’re given something, a precious item you’ve longed for, something you’ve wanted for years. Then it’s just given to you. What joy! What delight! You treasure it. You’re thankful for it. You enjoy it. But years later, the giver comes up to you and says, “I want it back.” What do you do? Can you possibly be expected to give this precious gift back?
This is where Abraham was. He and Sarah had longed for children for literally decades! Abraham was 100 years old, and Sarah was 90, when Isaac was born. They had waited a long time. They loved Isaac enormously! But God told Abraham to take his son, his only son Isaac, whom he loved and sacrifice him as a burnt offering.
How hard this must have been! Abraham loved Isaac! Not only that, but God had promised many, many descendants to Abraham through Isaac. I might have been wondering if God was taking not only the gift of Isaac, but also the gift of the promise.
Nevertheless, Abraham did as God commanded. Why? Because God had commanded it - and Abraham valued his relationship with God more than he valued the gift.
Think about that. What do you have, in your life, that is most precious to you? Would you give it to God if He asked for it?
You have to. You have to value your relationship with God more than anything He’s given you. Yes, everything you have is a gift from God. We’re just stewards. We’re just servants. But if He’s called you and me into a special relationship with Him, we must value that gift more than any other.
We must honor God through our obedience. That’s what Abraham did. He honored God is obeying the command. When you think about it, Isaac honored his father as well. There’s a very good chance that Isaac was at least a teenager. He could have put up quite a struggle against his father Abraham. But that’s not what’s recorded. Genesis simply records Abraham and Isaac going together, Isaac being laid upon the wood and bound.
So how do you honor God in obedience? What gift can you possibly sacrifice in your life that would honor God and demonstrate how much you value the relationship? Romans 12:1 tells us to “present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual [rational] worship.”
When you stop to think about it, God really wants all of you. He wants you to become a living sacrifice, wholly devoted, to Him. He wants you to bring every thought captive to Jesus Christ. He wants you to totally trust Him, to totally love Him, to totally value Him above all else. God wants an intimate relationship with you.
So, what’s most important to you?
God Provides the Lamb
“God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together. (Genesis 22:8, ESV)
How difficult it must have been for Abraham to take that three day journey to Mount Moriah, knowing what God had requested of him. How painful it must have been to premeditate the action of sacrificing his beloved, promised son. So when Isaac asked where the lamb was for the offering, the question must have been like pouring salt into the wound. Or at least, that’s how I imagine it. Yet, Abraham’s words, recorded here for us, don’t give us any idea of the emotions Abraham was feeling. All they tell us is of Abraham’s faith that God would provide in his hour of great need.
Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together. (Genesis 22:8, ESV)
The phrase “will provide” is Strongs #7200. It’s the same word as in Genesis 17:1 “appeared” and means “to see, to present, to provide, to perceive, to look on.” This makes the New Testament references even more interesting:
John 1:29 records John the Baptist pointing out Jesus and saying, “Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world.”
Peter records Jesus also as being the Lamb of God in 1 Peter 1:19.
John praises the Lamb as worthy to receive glory and honor in Revelation 5:12.
In John 1:36 when John the Baptist pointed out Jesus and said, “Behold the Lamb of God,” one of those who heard him was Andrew. Andrew turned and followed Jesus, and then went to get his brother Simon Peter! Andrew definitely perceived the provided Lamb!
We have a great need too. We are on a death walk, much like Abraham was, unless God provides a lamb in exchange for our lives. God has already provided the Lamb. Only this time, it is not Abraham’s son; it is God who has sacrificed His beloved and only begotten Son that you and I might live. The parallel is unmistakable. You need that Lamb to live. And the good news is that God has already provided the Lamb, His Son. Now we can all walk on together.
Blessed
I will surely bless you . . . Genesis 22:17a
Materials: posterboard, colored markers, assorted stickers, stamps, etc.
We are so blessed! We hear that a lot. But do we believe it, really believe it?! Because if we really believe that we are blessed of God, it changes our lives.
So here’s a simple exercise: Think about why you are blessed. Turning the word “blessed” into an acrostic exercise, think of one word for each letter to describe why you are blessed.
B - belong. We belong to God. We are His. He has adopted us into His family. Not only that, but we belong in our family. We have a home where we live and belong.
L - Loved. We are loved. We are greatly loved by God, after all, He gave us His Son. Likewise, we are greatly loved by our friends and our family.
E - Edified, exhorted, and Encouraged. We have a great church family, friends, and family who all want our best. They encourage us, both to do well in life and to seek God. They build us up, edify us, and exhort us to keep fighting the good fight.
S - Saved. We have been saved by God, He is saving us, and we will be saved when Jesus Christ returns.
S - Sanctified Saints. If we have been saved by God, then He is in the process of sanctifying us, the saints of God - changing us into the image of our Savior.
E - Elated Elect. We belong to God. We’re the saints of God. We are chosen by God. We are the elect of God. And we are elated to be so.
D - Designed. Not only were we designed by God, He has a design for our lives. We have a purpose as His servants. We must remember to be devoted to the duty designed by God for us to do.
We could talk for a very long time about our blessings, and it’s very good to do so. When we remember what God has done, we are motivated to serve Him with thanksgiving. We owe Him everything. And that’s exactly how we should serve Him, with everything that we have and everything that we are.
Do It Now
Behold, Rebekah is before you; take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master's son, as the Lord has spoken. Genesis 24:51
Rebekah’s story is fascinating. First, Abraham has a son, one through whom the promise of many nations is to be fulfilled. But Isaac doesn’t have a wife, and Abraham knows that it would be a very bad idea to take a wife from the people among whom he was dwelling. So he commands his chief servant, the one who was over all of his house, to go back to Haran and find a wife for Isaac from among Abraham’s family.
The servant goes, but he doesn’t just pick anyone off the street. He prays and asks God to show him the right girl, the one who would give water to both him and his camels. He doesn’t even finish praying this request when Rebekah comes. She waters him and his camels, and the servant knows. So he gives gifts to Rebekah and tells him who he is. She invites him back to her house. Rebekah’s mother and brother Laban invite Abraham’s servant to stay and eat with them.
Think about this. It had been a long journey. The chief servant had to have been hungry and tired. A meal and a bed must have sounded wonderful. But the servant felt Abraham’s charge more acutely than the feelings of fatigue and hunger. Before he would even eat with them, he told them why he was there, the prayer he’d asked, and Rebekah’s actions.
Rebekah’s mother’s and brother’s response is interesting. "Behold, Rebekah is before you; take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master's son, as the Lord has spoken." They believed he was who he said he was. They believed that he’d prayed that prayer. They believed that it was God’s will that Rebekah be Isaac’s wife. Take her and go.
But they didn’t mean “take her and go.” The next morning, Abraham’s servant is ready to go. He’s not interested in resting before the long return journey. He’s not interested in dilly-dallying around. He’s found Rebekah. He’s ready to complete his job. Rebekah’s family was not so ready for Rebekah to leave. They wanted her to stay and let them get used to the idea. But when the servant persisted, they left the decision up to her. Rebekah, to her credit, was ready to go right then.
There’s some interesting applications here for us. First, when God gives us a job, we need to do everything in our power to accomplish that job. Just as that servant traveled for a long way, we have to be willing to go out of our way, get out of our comfort zone, to do the job God has given to us. Secondly, we have to trust that He’ll guide us in completing that job. Just as the servant prayed for guidance, we too have to pray daily that God will make our paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6). Lastly, when God gives us a job to do, we need to do it now. Don’t procrastinate. Don’t put off ‘til tomorrow what should be done now.
So, what’s on your to-do list from God? Do it now.
The Covenant
Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Genesis 28:14
There are some fascinating things to note in this scripture:
1) God made this covenant with him before he even had a wife! Think about it! He’s told that his offspring are going to be like the dust of the earth, and he hasn’t even laid eyes on his wife yet!
2) God reiterates to Jacob the command he gave Adam and Eve at the very beginning. In Genesis 1:28 they were told to be fruitful, multiply and fill all the earth. Later in Genesis 11:4, the people of Babel directly defied this directive. They said they wanted to build a tower and make a name for themselves, “lest they be dispersed over all the earth.” So here again, God is telling Jacob to spread out. Be fruitful and multiply.
3) Notice the word “families” - in so many instances, God works with families!
4) Do you know where Jacob was when God told this, Genesis 28:14, to Jacob? He was going to Laban. He was sleeping on a rock for a pillow in Bethel. He dreamed the ladder of angels ascending and descending. So he erected a pillar to God, named the place Bethel (“house of God”), and told God that if He blessed him, he (Jacob) would give Him (God) a tenth of everything.
Interestingly enough, more than 20 years later, God tells Jacob to go to Bethel, to go back to this same place where he’d had the dream. Now Jacob has two wives and 12 children. Jacob tells all of the company with him to get rid of their foreign gods and to purify themselves because they are going into God’s presence. When Jacob gets to Bethel, God tells him to be fruitful and multiply, that he’ll become a company of nations, that God will give him all this land, and he changes Jacob’s name to “Israel.”
Now all of this should sound really familiar!
In Genesis 12:1-3 God tells Abram that he’ll be a great nation and all families of the earth will be blessed.
In Genesis 13:14, God tells Abram to look to the north, south, east, and west. God’s giving him all this land.
In Genesis 13:15 God tells Abram his descendants will be like the dust of the earth.
In Genesis 15:5 God tells Abram his descendants will be like the stars of the heavens.
In Genesis 17:1-8 God meets with Abram in Hebron, tells him to be fruitful and multiply (even though Isaac had not yet been born), tells him he’ll be a multitude of nations, makes the land covenant with him, and changes his name to Abraham.
In Genesis 18:18, the angels on their way to Sodom discuss the fact that in Abraham all nations of the earth will be blessed.
In Genesis 25:23, Rebekah is told that two nations are in her womb.
In Genesis 26:5 Isaac is told his descendants will be like the stars of the heaven and in him all nations will be blessed.
With all of this history prior to Jacob’s encounters with God in Genesis 28 and Genesis 35, it’s no wonder that it sounds very familiar!
But what does it have to do with us, with you and me, today?
Well, Abraham is the father of the faithful; we are counted as children of the promise, children of Abraham if we put our faith in Jesus Christ. (Romans 4:11, Gal 3:9, Gal 3:29)
We may not be getting a land inheritance, but we have an inheritance in God’s kingdom. (Hebrews 11:16, John 14:1-2, Romans 8:17, Matthew 5)
What about all families and/or nations blessed through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and their offspring? Jesus Christ is in the lineage of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And yes, through Jesus Christ all nations of the earth shall be blessed. (Gal 3:8-9, John 3:16)
I would love to be in God’s kingdom and see Abraham’s face when he realizes how God fulfilled this covenant in Jesus Christ! How awesome, how great is our God!
For the Glory of the Lord
When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph. What he says to you, do.” Genesis 41:55
Of all the people in the Bible, Joseph typifies Jesus Christ more than any other I can think of! There are so many instances like this one. Here, Pharaoh tells the people to go to Joseph - that he would provide the needed bread. It foreshadows Jesus’ first miracle in John 2:5 when his mother told the servants to do whatever Jesus told them to - and he subsequently turned the water into wine.
Just as Joseph was sent to his brothers (Gen 37:12), Jesus was sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matt 15:24).
Just as Jesus was hated by his brothers (Gen 37:4), Jesus was hated by the world (Matt 5:11, John 15:18, 1 John 3:13).
Joseph was shown favor by his father (Gen 37:3-11); Jesus was the beloved of the Father (Matt 3:17).
Joseph was falsely accused (Gen 39:14); Jesus was falsely accused (Matt 26:59).
Joseph was sold into slavery for 20 pieces of silver (Gen 37:28); Jesus was sold by Judas by 30 pieces of silver (Matt 27:3).
Joseph’s robe was dipped in blood (Gen 37:31); Jesus’ robed was dipped in blood (Rev. 19:13).
Joseph was tempted by Potiphar’s wife (Gen 39:6-8); Jesus was tempted by Satan (Matt 4).
These are just a few of a similarities! Truly, Joseph’s life was a testimony to the coming Messiah! But this shouldn’t be surprising to us! After all, when Jesus was walking with the disciples on the road to Emmaus, Luke 24:27 says, “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” The Bible is full of foreshadowings of the life of Christ; we just don’t recognize it!
Even Hebrews 11:4 hints at this. Speaking of Abel, it says, “By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.” Did you get this? Abel lived his life in such a way as to testify to God, to glorify God, to be a witness that God exists.
I suspect if we looked deeply into the lives of our favorite Bible characters, we’d see many who were a witness or a foreshadowing of the Messiah. And like these people, our lives should also point others to Jesus Christ!!
1 Peter 2:12 says, “Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.”
Our lives are not about us. We were created for the glory of the Lord. We were made by His will and for His pleasure. How pleasing it must be to God when our lives are a testimony, a witness, a foreshadowing of the great God who we serve.
So, tomorrow morning when you wake up, tell yourself, “Today I will act for the glory of the Lord.”
Amen.
Do Not Quarrel on the Way
Then he sent his brothers away, and as they departed, he said to them, “Do not quarrel on the way.” Genesis 45:24
I love this verse. It makes the story so real! Think about it! Joseph’s brothers have just found Joseph alive - and second in command in Egypt. They’ve just been given plenty of food. Remember the famine? Remember how Jacob had sent them back to Egypt to get food so they wouldn’t die? Now, not only have they been given food - without having to pay for it, they are also moving to the best land in all of Egypt for the duration of the famine. They also get to take Benjamin back to his father uninjured. Things are very good. What would they have to fight about?
I can just imagine Reuben: I told you not to hurt the boy [Joseph]! Now he’s second in command over all of Egypt. Do you know how he could get revenge? Oh, if you had only listened to me!
Then Judah chimes in: Well, at least, I stopped you from killing him.
Then Dan or Naphtali: Yeah, like you didn’t want to kill him. You just wanted the money selling him could bring.
Or Zebulun: Yeah, it was your idea to kill him in the first place.
Judah: It was not. I never wanted to hurt him.
Asher: Like selling him isn’t a death sentence - normally.
Levi: Uh, guys, who’s going to tell Dad that Joseph is still alive? Who’s going to tell him what you guys did - selling him into slavery and sending him to Egypt? I’m not telling Dad.
And another round of fighting ensues. They have the whole trip home to hash out the events of the past, bickering the whole way. Now, I don’t know that they did this. But I know how families can be. I know the little things they can bicker about - even when life is good.
Picking blackberries: Hey! This is my patch. You go get stuck somewhere else. I want these brambles to poke me.
Swimming in the pool - think about it - you’re already wet: Mom! He’s splashing me. Mom! He’s making too many waves.
Oh, the myriad of bickering points: He’s rocking his chair. He’s humming. He’s looking at me. He’s breathing my air.
I know it sounds funny, but, in reality, it isn’t! Bickering may start small, but it escalates. Pretty soon, there are harsh words spoken. Words turn into feelings which express themselves in actions. Pretty soon, you can’t stand to be around your brother.
And it’s not just families - physical brothers and sisters. It also happens in church families. Really. If it didn’t, then why do we have all of these verses?
1 John 3 :10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.
1 John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
1 John 4 :20-21 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
Hebrews 13:1 Let brotherly love continue.
1 Thessalonians 4:9-12 Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more, and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.
1 Peter 1:22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart,
2 Peter 1:7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.
1 Peter 2:17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.
1 Peter 3:8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.
And a favorite around our household is:
Romans 12:9-10: Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.
Christopher once read this verse, “Love one another with brotherly affliction. . .” And although we laugh, that’s really the way we love each other sometimes - with brotherly affliction. We shouldn’t. We have been given so much. God has blessed us beyond measure! We’ve been given a Savior to redeem us from our sins. Even if we’re suffering in this life, we’re assured of a glorious future with Him forever. We have so little to complain about!
Jesus has given us a job to do - go and make disciples of all nations - much like the job Joseph gave to his brothers - go and bring all of the family to me. And like Joseph said to his brothers, Jesus could well say to each of us, “You’ve got a job to do. Don’t quarrel on the way.”