60IN60 Day 26 - Fri Sept 30

It's Day 26 and we're in Genesis 34.

What's the Bible say about the book you're reading today? "All Scripture is inspired by God. . ." (2 Timothy 3:16). So reading the Bible helps me know how God sees things. 

Where God Spoke To Me:
- Nothing really jumped out to me today.

Help:
- Verse 2 - He raped her.
- Verses 3-4, 7, 19 - Yes, this is sick.  As you can see throughout Genesis, there's a lot of dysfunction and evil in this family.
- Verse 8 - Hamor didn't know what had happened.
- Verses 20-24 - Their motive in this was to provide an opportunity to plunder them.  See verse 23.
- Verse 25 - Remember (and this is important to remember throughout the book of Genesis) that not everything the Bible describes is approved by God.  This is an evil response to the original wrong that was done.
- Verse 31 - They justified their evil in their minds.

If you want to read the chapter online, here's a link.

If you have a question or comment, email me at butcher@ymail.com.

60IN60 Day 25 - Thurs Sept 29

It's Day 25 and we're in Genesis 33.

Where God Spoke To Me:
- Nothing really jumped out to me today.

Help:
- Verse 10 - "as one sees the face of God" - That is, he was expecting judgment.
- Verses 14, 17 - Again Jacob deceives, saying he's going to one place and then ending up somewhere else.
- Verse 15 - He accepts Esau's offer.
- Verses 17-18 - Jacob eventually settles in a different city.

If you want to read the chapter online, here's a link.

If you have a question or comment, email me at butcher@ymail.com.

60IN60 Day 24 - Wed Sept 28

It's Day 24 and we're in Genesis 32.

One reason to be in the Bible regularly? It cuts through the clutter. We are surrounded by tons of information, but so much of it is essentially irrelevant to a meaningful life. The Bible speaks to the issues that matter. 

Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 28 - The word "striven" is interesting to me.  God seems to appreciate the fact that Jacob battled with Him.

Help:
- Verses 22-23 - Jacob sent them across and stayed behind, but when it came time to face Esau, he was out front (33:1-3).
- Verses 24-32 - This is an important but peculiar scene.  It is apparently a pre-Incarnate appearance of Christ and they battle.  There is some resonance to the scene of all the times we "wrestle" with God spiritually during difficult times.

If you want to read the chapter online, here's a link.

If you have a question or comment, email me at butcher@ymail.com.

60IN60 Day 23 - Tues Sept 27

It's Day 23 and we're in Genesis 31.

Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 43 - He'd justified in his mind the way he'd mistreated Jacob.  How often do we feel like we've done nothing wrong when we're actually guilty?

Help:
- Verse 20 - Jacob is consistently deceptive.  This is just another example.
- Verse 35 - She lied and said she was having her period and that's why she couldn't stand.

If you want to read the chapter online, here's a link.

If you have a question or comment, email me at butcher@ymail.com.

60IN60 Day 22 - Mon Sept 26

It's Day 22 and we're in Genesis 30.

What's the Bible say about the book you're reading today? "All Scripture is. . . profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16). Reading the Bible will make your day more "profitable."

Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verses 3, 9 - Always trying to force things.

Help:
- Verses 3, 9 - Through Genesis, this seems to be something that people resorted to when getting pregnant became hard.  It pretty much always ends badly.
- Verses 15-16 - It sounds like it denigrated to the place where Jacob was being told where to sleep.
- Verse 22 - As stated before, God is not normally the one who actively decides on fertility issues.  This is unusual because of the historic importance of this family in Israel's story.
- Verses 37-40 - This, of course, has no value in and of itself.  It only worked because God blessed it.  I think He does similar things today - working through our sometimes hair-brained plans - so that we know it's from Him.

If you want to read the chapter online, here's a link.

If you have a question or comment, email me at butcher@ymail.com.

Your Comments and Questions:

- "Genesis 27:20 - This happens pretty often - God's name gets invoked in a lie to make it fly.  I had a friend that was getting a divorce, and she said "God doesn't want me to be unhappy".   That was her justification."

- "Genesis 27:6-13 - This is very dysfunctional   How often do we look at children and teenagers and criticize the way they act or behave, like their behavior is totally their fault, when we should be looking at their home life and their parents. Just like this story in Genesis, the scriptures do not give any indication that this was Jacob's idea or thinking. It was his mother's idea and she put the idea in his head. Instead of looking at the 'unruly children' with disdain, we should pray for them and the situation they are growing up in.  (Disclaimer - I am not suggesting that every child who gets into a bad situation has had poor parents). But most of our behaviors and attitudes we have learned while growing up, either by hearing or observing the adults around us. And that extends beyond family. How important Sunday School is for younger people to learn to discern what is good and right."

60IN60 Day 21 - Sun Sept 25

It's Day 21 and we're in Genesis 29.

Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 32 - Such dysfunction.

Help:
- Verse 10 - As stated before, it was fairly common back then to take your spouse from your extended family.  Most people lived in relatively small groups that necessitated this.
- Verse 11 - The kiss here was not a romantic one, but one of greeting (probably on the cheeks).
- Verses 18-19 - Back then the family had much more say in determining who a woman married.
- Verse 23 - Presumably much drinking had gone on before this, making this mistake in the dark possible.
- Verse 31 - As stated before, God isn't normally the one actively orchestrating fertility issues like this.  This is different because of the historical importance of this family.

If you want to read the chapter online, here's a link.

If you have a question or comment, email me at butcher@ymail.com.

60IN60 Day 20 - Sat Sept 24

It's Day 20 and we're in Genesis 28.

Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verses 6-9 - There is something sad about Esau here trying to do what he thinks will please his parents.  It seems like he's always falling short.

Help:
- Verse 2, 9 - As mentioned before, back then it was fairly common to take your spouse from your extended family.  The fact that most lived in small tribes or small villages necessitated it.
- Verse 9 - Polygamy was common back then.

If you want to read the chapter online, here's a link.

If you have a question or comment, email me at butcher@ymail.com.

Your Comments and Questions:

- "Genesis 26:7  -  I wonder if Isaac knew that his father had done this same thing ?  Had Isaac heard Abraham or Sarah talking about it ?  Did Isaac think it was ok to do because his father had done it ?  Or was it just a common thing for a man in this situation to do ?" - I think that is an interesting part of the story. I think your questions are all good ones and I'm not sure of the answers. The biggest thing I take away from it is that our children are likely to repeat the sins they see their parents doing, which is why we see such generational brokenness passed down.