Genesis
How to take hold of the transforming power of grace (Genesis 50)
Gen 50:1-26 The late American preacher, Tim Keller, told the story of a teenage Christian girl who knew she was saved by grace, forgiven and that one day she would be with Jesus after her death, yet she felt depressed.…
Where do we see our future lie? (Gen 49:8-33)
Gen 49:8-33 Reading through Jacob’s deathbed speech and finding significance in it for us is, I must admit, difficult. For one thing, many of the sayings are obscure and hard to relate to particular events in Israel’s future. For another,…
How to live with the mystery of God’s election? (Gen 49:1-7)
Gen 49:1-7 Randolph Churchill, the son of the war-time Prime Minister Winston Churchill, was a gifted communicator, bright, handsome, and well-connected. His father indulged him and allowed him at a young age to participate in dinner conversations with politicians of…
Depending on God’s mercy (Genesis 48)
Gen 48:1-22 When I ponder my life and the opportunities I have been given compared to my parents’ generation, I feel humbled. They spent most of their lives under a Communist system that restricted travel and isolated people from the…
Is Joseph exploitative with the Egyptians? (Gen 47:13-31)
Gen 47:13-31 Our reading continues the story of God’s provision that focused earlier on Jacob’s family and hinted at God’s larger concern for His entire world. However, Joseph’s measures to provide sustenance for the Egyptians may seem rather harsh and…
The significance of genealogies and Jacob’s family tree (Gen 46:8-27)
Gen 46:8-27 Genealogies are possibly the most boring parts of the Bible for us, modern readers, but they have an essential function for ancient people. We tend to think of family trees as purely information about who relates to whom,…
Can it be God’s plan, if things go wrong later? (Gen 46:1-47:12)
Gen 46:1-34; 47:1-12 An Old Testament lecturer of mine once suggested that Jacob should have returned to Canaan after the famine and never have settled in Egypt. While I felt that this interpretation was mistaken, it does touch on an…
Trust in the overruling providence of God (Gen 45:1-28)
Gen 45:1-23 Few narratives in the Old Testament have the same emotional appeal for modern readers as that of Joseph and his brothers. Although the story is well known, it can still move us as it explains a tragic, even…
Love that overcomes jealousy (Gen 44:14-34)
Gen 44:14-34 Being unloved in a family is a hard thing to live with, whether the parents wish they had a child who is a boy rather than a girl or vice versa, or whether one child is preferred over…
Is forgiveness genuine when it has boundaries? (Gen 43:15-44:13)
Gen 43:15-34; 44:1-13 I once heard a pastor discuss the prevalence of sexual abuse cases in the Church. He suggested that Christians are often soft targets for such offenders. In other words, it is not that religious people are somehow…