As we’ve seen, when the book of Genesis turns its focus upon Joseph starting with chapter 36, we’re told that he had a dream in which he and his brothers “were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly” his sheaf “rose and stood upright” while those of …
When last we saw Joseph, he had been sold by his brothers (minus Reuben the eldest and Benjamin the youngest) to some Midianite tradesmen who took him from his home in Canaan where they’d bought him, and brought him down to Egypt in order that they might in turn sell …
Having talked his brothers into selling their younger brother Joseph to Midianite merchants and then lied to their father about it—allowing him to believe that his favorite son had been devoured by wild animals as evidenced by the bloody robe they brought him, a robe that in actuality was bloodied …
As we saw last week, even at the tender age of seventeen Joseph, Jacob’s eleventh son, was an upright young man. Though at that time he was the youngest of the brothers who were shepherding their father’s flock (Benjamin was not yet old enough), he wasn’t afraid of bringing a …
This morning we shift our focus from Jacob to Joseph, his eleventh son. Joseph was also the first son of Rachel,[1] Jacob’s favorite wife whose passing as she was giving birth to Benjamin we noted last week. Baby Benjamin, along with his eleven older brothers, will form the foundation of …
This morning’s account is yet another reminder of what a changed man Jacob was upon choosing to follow God who had revealed himself to his grandfather Abraham, his father Isaac and, finally, to Jacob himself. As we saw at the end of chapter 33, after returning from Paddan Aram he …
This morning we’re going to pick up where we left off on November 22nd, the Sunday before Advent, in our study of Genesis. If you’ll recall, on that Sunday we saw in Genesis 33 how Jacob was able to see God’s face, to experience God’s forgiveness, all because his brother, …
How extraordinary to think that in the person of Jesus Christ, of Jesus Messiah, eternal God dwelled on earth in human form! And how extraordinary to think that through union with him by the Holy Spirit he sends, human form is enabled to dwell eternally with our Father in heaven! …
Have you ever considered the fact that Mary, a virgin betrothed to Joseph, didn’t get to plan her first pregnancy? As one who was engaged, she likely thought about the time after she and Joseph were married when, if God allowed, they would be able to start a family. In …
As I’ve pondered how to introduce our season of Advent this year, I looked at our first Advent reading. As you heard read earlier, it states in part, Today we begin a new Christian year with the season of Advent. The word advent means “coming.” It’s a time of preparation …
