Jacob

Gen. 25:1-34; 28:10-15

1Now Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah.

2She bore to him Zimran and Jokshan and Medan and Midian and Ishbak and Shuah.

3Jokshan became the father of Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim and Letushim and Leummim.

4The sons of Midian were Ephah and Epher and Hanoch and Abida and Eldaah. All these were the sons of Keturah.

5Now Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac;

6but to the sons of his concubines, Abraham gave gifts while he was still living, and sent them away from his son Isaac eastward, to the land of the east.

7These are all the years of Abraham's life that he lived, one hundred and seventy-five years.

8Abraham breathed his last and died in a ripe old age, an old man and satisfied with life; and he was gathered to his people.

9Then his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, facing Mamre,

10the field which Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth; there Abraham was buried with Sarah his wife.

11It came about after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac lived by Beer-lahai-roi.

Descendants of Ishmael

12Now these are the records of the generations of Ishmael, Abraham's son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's maid, bore to Abraham;

13and these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, in the order of their birth: Nebaioth, the firstborn of Ishmael, and Kedar and Adbeel and Mibsam

14and Mishma and Dumah and Massa,

15Hadad and Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah.

16These are the sons of Ishmael and these are their names, by their villages, and by their camps; twelve princes according to their tribes.

17These are the years of the life of Ishmael, one hundred and thirty-seven years; and he breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people.

18They settled from Havilah to Shur which is east of Egypt as one goes toward Assyria; he settled in defiance of all his relatives.

Isaac's Sons

19Now these are the records of the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son: Abraham became the father of Isaac;

20and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife.

21Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren; and the LORD answered him and Rebekah his wife conceived. 

22But the children struggled together within her; and she said, "If it is so, why then am I this way?" So she went to inquire of the LORD.

23The LORD said to her,

"Two nations are in your womb;

And two peoples will be separated from your body;

And one people shall be stronger than the other;

And the older shall serve the younger."

24When her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.

25Now the first came forth red, all over like a hairy garment; and they named him Esau.

26Afterward his brother came forth with his hand holding on to Esau's heel, so his name was called Jacob; and Isaac was sixty years old when she gave birth to them.

27When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field, but Jacob was a peaceful man, living in tents.

28Now Isaac loved Esau, because he had a taste for game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

29When Jacob had cooked stew, Esau came in from the field and he was famished;

30and Esau said to Jacob, "Please let me have a swallow of that red stuff there, for I am famished." Therefore his name was called Edom.

31But Jacob said, "First sell me your birthright."

32Esau said, "Behold, I am about to die; so of what use then is the birthright to me?"

33And Jacob said, "First swear to me"; so he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob.

34Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew; and he ate and drank, and rose and went on his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

10Then Jacob departed from Beersheba and went toward Haran.

11He came to a certain place and spent the night there, because the sun had set; and he took one of the stones of the place and put it under his head, and lay down in that place.

12He had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

13And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, "I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants.

14"Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

15"Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."

To refer to why I am doing this - check out my entry on NT Wright and the Tree of Jesse.

Isaac

Gen. 22:1-14

1Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am."


2He said, "Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you."

3So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son; and he split wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.

4On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance.

5Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you."

6Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together.

7Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, "My father!" And he said, "Here I am, my son." And he said, "Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"

8Abraham said, "God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." So the two of them walked on together.

9Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.

10Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.

11But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am."

12He said, "Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me."

13Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son.

14Abraham called the name of that place The LORD Will Provide, as it is said to this day, "In the mount of the LORD it will be provided."

To refer to why I am doing this - check out my entry on NT Wright and the Tree of Jesse.

Father Abraham had many sons ...

Gen. 12:1-3

1 Now the LORD said to Abram,

"Go forth from your country,

And from your relatives

And from your father's house,

To the land which I will show you;

2 And I will make you a great nation,

And I will bless you,

And make your name great;

And so you shall be a blessing;

3 And I will bless those who bless you,

And the one who curses you I will curse

And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed."

To refer to why I am doing this - check out my entry on NT Wright and the Tree of Jesse.

God's Judgment and Grace

Gen. 6:5-8, 13-22; 7:17, 23, 24; 8:1, 6-22

5Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

6The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.

7The LORD said, "I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them."

8But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.

13Then God said to Noah, "The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth.

14"Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall cover it inside and out with pitch.

15"This is how you shall make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.

16"You shall make a window for the ark, and finish it to a cubit from the top; and set the door of the ark in the side of it; you shall make it with lower, second, and third decks.

17"Behold, I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish.

18"But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark--you and your sons and your wife, and your sons' wives with you.

19"And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female.

20"Of the birds after their kind, and of the animals after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive.

21"As for you, take for yourself some of all food which is edible, and gather it to yourself; and it shall be for food for you and for them."

22Thus Noah did; according to all that God had commanded him, so he did.

17Then the flood came upon the earth for forty days, and the water increased and lifted up the ark, so that it rose above the earth.

23Thus He blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky, and they were blotted out from the earth; and only Noah was left, together with those that were with him in the ark.

24The water prevailed upon the earth one hundred and fifty days.

1But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark; and God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided.

6Then it came about at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made;

7and he sent out a raven, and it flew here and there until the water was dried up from the earth.

8Then he sent out a dove from him, to see if the water was abated from the face of the land;

9but the dove found no resting place for the sole of her foot, so she returned to him into the ark, for the water was on the surface of all the earth. Then he put out his hand and took her, and brought her into the ark to himself.

10So he waited yet another seven days; and again he sent out the dove from the ark.

11The dove came to him toward evening, and behold, in her beak was a freshly picked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the water was abated from the earth. 

12Then he waited yet another seven days, and sent out the dove; but she did not return to him again.

13Now it came about in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first of the month, the water was dried up from the earth. Then Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and behold, the surface of the ground was dried up.

14In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry.

15Then God spoke to Noah, saying,

16"Go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your sons' wives with you.

17"Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you, birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, that they may breed abundantly on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth."

18So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him.

19Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by their families from the ark.

20Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

21The LORD smelled the soothing aroma; and the LORD said to Himself, "I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man's heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done.

22"While the earth remains,


Seedtime and harvest,


And cold and heat,


And summer and winter,

And day and night

Shall not cease."

To refer to why I am doing this - check out my entry on NT Wright and the Tree of Jesse.

The Fall

Gen. 3:1-7 and 23-24

1Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?"


2The woman said to the serpent, "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat;

3but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.'"

4The serpent said to the woman, "You surely will not die!

5"For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

6When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.

7Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.

23therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken.

24So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life. 

To refer to why I am doing this - check out my entry on NT Wright and the Tree of Jesse.

Adam and Eve

Gen. 2:7-9, 18-25  

7Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

8The LORD God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed.

9Out of the ground the LORD God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

18Then the LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him."

19Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.

20The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.

21So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place.

22The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.

23The man said,


"This is now bone of my bones,


And flesh of my flesh;


She shall be called Woman,


Because she was taken out of Man."

24For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.

25And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

This reminded me of the theology of the body and specifically the CDs Naked without Shame. The 10 CD series only cost about $5. Chris and I listened to six hours on our way to Florida and then six on the way back to Virginia. It made the ride go fast and it was so interesting. It's the kind of thing I'd want to listen to again just so I could more fully steep myself in it. Also, for a bit of a taste of the theology of the body, you can go to the book review I wrote on Heaven's Song.

To refer to why I am doing this - check out my entry on NT Wright and the Tree of Jesse.

Our story begins with creation ...

Gen. 1:1-31; 2:1-4

¹ In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

2The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. 

3Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light.


4God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.


5God called the light day, and the darkness He called night And there was evening and there was morning, one day.


6Then God said, "Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters."


7God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so.


8God called the expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.

9Then God said, "Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear"; and it was so.


10God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good.


11Then God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them"; and it was so.


12The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good.


13There was evening and there was morning, a third day.


14Then God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years;


15and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth"; and it was so.


16God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also.


17God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth,


18and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good.


19There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.


20Then God said, "Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens."


21God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good.


22God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth."


23There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.


24Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind"; and it was so.


25God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good.


26Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."


27God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.


28God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth."


29Then God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you;


30and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food"; and it was so.

31God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

1Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts.



2By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.


3Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.


4This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made earth and heaven.

To refer to why I am doing this - check out my post on NT Wright and the Tree of Jesse.