Talk about dysfunctional families! Jacob pretty much takes the cake with Leah, Rachel, and each of their servants. Amazing stuff. By the way, those of you using a One Year Chronological Bible other than the Tyndale NLT, will have already started reading Job. That's because it's unclear to theologians and scholars exactly when the story of Job took place. Because many believe it took place sometime during the Patriarchal period (the time of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob), some chronological Bibles insert Job after Genesis 11 whereas the NLT puts in just after Genesis.
January 8th Genesis 25:1-4, 1 Chron. 1:32-33, Genesis 25:5-6, 12-18; 1 Chron. 128-31, 34; Genesis 25:19-26, 7-11.
January 9th Genesis 25:27-28:5
January 10th Genesis 28:6-30:24
January 11th Genesis 30:25-31:55
January 12th Genesis 32:1-35:27
January 13th Genesis 36:1-19, 1 Chron. 1:35-37, Genesis 36:20-30, Genesis 36:31-42, 1 Chron. 1:43-2:2
January 14th Genesis 37:1-38:30, 1 Chron. 2:3-6,8; Genesis 39:1-23
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
QUESTION: OK so I REALLY don't get the readings for January 12th!! Dinah is raped - Simeon and Levi slaughter the rapist and all the men in the town - the other 10 brothers loot the place - and the Reuben sleeps with his half-brothers' mother! What are we supposed to learn from all this??!!
ReplyDeleteThe drama of the Old Testament, and, all of history for that matter, is the restoration of God's Kingdom Community to that place of intimacy with Him shared back in the Garden before the fall. Embedded in that is God's promise to bring His people into a land flowing with milk and honey... a place (reflective of the Garden) where His Kingdom Community (reflective of humanity before the Fall) can live in Shalom with Him and one another.
The great drama here, then, is how God's people keep getting in the way of the fulfillment of God's promise. Ancient readers would certain be at the edge of their seats asking, "Will they ever make it to the Land of Canaan? What will God do with their disobedience and arrogance?" In all... their stories point the reader to a God who not hates sin... but who ultimately shows grace and mercy. Ultimately... it points us to the Cross. How will we, in spite of ourselves, see Heaven? By His Grace... the same way Israel reached the Promised Land.
It was great to read the story of Joseph again! After all the hardships and heartaches he went through, it all culminates in Joseph's amazingly profound recognition of God's sovereignty in Gen. 45 (see vv.5-8a) and most succinctly described in Gen. 50:20 (a chapter not yet in our reading plan)..."You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives."
ReplyDeleteWow! Joseph's attitude and insight here never cease to amaze and inspire me! We can all stand to be reminded daily of God's sovereignty, but most especially perhaps when we are going through difficult times.
You're not kidding! This is one of those stories we're most familiar with. And yet, it brought me to tears, In fact, I couldn't help but read the whole story through. BTW... have you seen the movie, JOSEPH, with Ben Kinsley? I thought it was very good.
ReplyDelete