This week we explore John 5 which begins with the story of Jesus healing a man at the Pool of Bethesda. The Greeks built "healing centers" around natural springs and pools because they believed the pagan god of healing would use the water to heal the sick and disabled.
They built a sort of temple around the "healing center" where the sick would sleep, pray and fast while they waited for what they believed was this pagan god and his serpents to churn the water and release the healing powers. When the natural springs would bubble up, the people would then drink or bathe in the water to experience healing miracles and lay around the pool while it was calm.
When Jesus comes to the Pool of Bethesda, he wasn't just there to heal this man - Jesus was there to debunk yet another pagan myth and display His divine power and authority. Immediately, though, and the Jewish people there rebuked the healed man for getting up and picking up the mat he'd been sleeping on by the pool, as Jesus had instructed him to do.
It was the Sabbath and Jewish Law had a lot of rules for the Sabbath, which these people believed the healed man was violating. They focused on this man, healed by a divine miracle, breaking the rules rather than seeing the miracle for what it was.
Have there been times you miss the work of God in your life because you are focused on the wrong things? How did this impact you?
Jesus goes on to proclaim Himself the Son of God, which kindled much hatred in the hearts of the people, and also explained that anyone who does not honor Him as the Son of God does not honor God. Jesus boldly proclaims His position and authority, and rebukes and warns those who do not believe Him.
One of the key things that stands out to me is that Jesus knows the heart, thoughts, intentions, words and deeds of everyone. We do not, but He does. He knows the deepest secrets and cervices of our very hearts and minds. We cannot hide anything from Him, and He will reveal all darkness in us.
How does this knowledge that God knows our very heart and deepest thoughts and intentions help or change you in your relationship with Him?
In John 5:28-29 Jesus gives us an important lesson. We know from all over scripture that only God is good, but here Jesus says "those who have done good things" and "those who have done wicked things". He goes on to explain that those who have done "good things" are those who have faith in Jesus as the Son of God.
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Those who have faith in Jesus are destined for the resurrection of life, while those who do not believe in Jesus as the Son of God are destined for the resurrection of condemnation. No "good works" are done without faith in Jesus Christ, and Jesus tells us this so that we may believe and be saved, as He explains in John 5:33.
Jesus takes it further and explains that just because someone reads scripture, or says they have faith, that does not mean they have a relationship with God. Only those who have true faith in Jesus are saved and enter a personal relationship with God.
What about this passage resonates with you and why?
This study is part of the Study with Me: Chronological Gospels study series. It is an annual 48-week Bible study designed to encourage readers to follow along all year and dive deeper into the meat of the passages designated each week. I pray that you learn more about your Savior and grow in your relationship with Him through this study series. There is a free printable booklet available for download as well which allows you to print and take notes as you go through this study with me.
The Pentateuch: Jacob and His Wives, Genesis 29-32
Rebekah had just sent her younger son, Jacob, away to find a wife with her family in order to keep him away from Esau, who had vowed to kill Jacob. Rebekah instructed Jacob to deceive Isaac, the boys’ father, in order to receive the blessing Isaac intended to give to Esau, the older of the twin boys. Jacob then set out to find Rebekah’s family, and we pick up with him when he comes upon shepherds with their flocks of sheep.
Jacob discovers that these shepherds are from Haran, and they are Laban’s people. Laban was Rebekah’s brother, son of Bethuel. He had two daughters, Leah, the older, and Rachel, the younger. Leah is not described as a beautiful woman, but Rachel takes this praise. Jacob met Rachel on the road and immediately fell for her, and Laban took Jacob in with the agreement that Jacob would work for Laban for seven years in exchange for his daughter, Rachel, as Jacob’s bride.
15 Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my relative, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what should your wages be?” 16 Now Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. 17 Leah’s eyes were [a]delicate, but Rachel was beautiful of form and appearance.
18 Now Jacob loved Rachel; so he said, “I will serve you seven years for Rachel your younger daughter.”
19 And Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to another man. Stay with me.” 20 So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed only a few days to him because of the love he had for her.
Jacob officially met his match with Laban. Jacob had been a deceiver, a heel grabbed, constantly seeking to make his way in the world by means of trickery. His mother, Rebekah, had been deceptive as well, and now her brother, Laban, was doing precisely the same. Jacob worked the seven years, the wedding happened, and the next morning Jacob realizes he had been duped into marrying Leah instead of Rachel as they had agreed. After Jacob impersonated his brother Esau, later Leah impersonates her sister Rachel, and Jacob gets a taste of his own medicine.
Laban claims that it is customary for the older daughter to be married first, but he promised that in exchange for another seven years of labor, Jacob could marry Rachel as well. Jacob wanted Rachel so badly that he agreed to take both sisters as his wives for additional years of work. Jacob was now tied to Laban for 14 years in exchange for his two wives.
21 Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in to her.” 22 And Laban gathered together all the men of the place and made a feast. 23 Now it came to pass in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter and brought her to Jacob; and he went in to her. 24 And Laban gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah as a maid. 25 So it came to pass in the morning, that behold, it was Leah. And he said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served you? Why then have you deceived me?”
26 And Laban said, “It must not be done so in our [a]country, to give the younger before the firstborn. 27 Fulfill her week, and we will give you this one also for the service which you will serve with me still another seven years.”
28 Then Jacob did so and fulfilled her week. So he gave him his daughter Rachel as wife also. 29 And Laban gave his maid Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as a maid. 30 Then Jacob also went into Rachel, and he also loved Rachel more than Leah. And he served with Laban still another seven years.
During the second seven years, Leah was neglected by Jacob who loved Rachel and seems to have begrudged Leah, whom he did not choose to marry. While Leah was neglected by Jacob, she was seen by the Lord. God saw her, had compassion, and blessed her with many children. At first, she began naming the children with the hope her husband would finally love her. She craved the love of her husband. She and her sister clearly didn’t get along well either, leaving Leah surely feeling very alone. She was surely lonely, hurting, and neglected. Yet, God showed her favor and blessed her. Eventually, Leah refocused her praises and attention toward the Lord rather than her husband, and there she found contentment.
31 When the Lord saw that Leah was neglected, he opened her womb; but Rachel was unable to conceive.
Leah was blessed with 6 sons, and we also see a daughter named from Leah. Leah was unloved by her husband, but she was not neglected by the Lord. He cared for her, and gave her many children. Two very important tribes came from her sons Judah and Levi. Judah’s tribe was a kingly line, while Levi’s descendants later became the priestly line. This showed love and favor to Leah, and teaches a vital point that God does not look at what people look at – He values all of His creation, and cares even for those who lack love from people. Leah is a great encouragement for all of us who have faced these kinds of heartaches and loneliness.
When Leah stopped having children for a while, she sent her maid, Zilpah, to bear more children on her behalf. It was customary in that culture and time that if a woman was not able to bear children she would have a slave woman have children with her husband, but the children would be legally the wife’s. Zilpah being Leah’s maidservant, her children legally belonged to Leah. Zilpah bore two sons.
Concubine, Zilpah, Leah’s maid (H2153) – a trickling
Rachel was the favored wife of Jacob – the wife he ended up working 14 years to be able to marry. Rachel was a physically beautiful woman, but as we read through her part in history she reveals herself to be just as deceptive as her husband, aunt, and father. As she was barren for so long, she grew bitter and took it out on Jacob. She begged her sister for mandrakes, which in their culture was believed to increase fertility, showing that Rachel was taking matters into her own hands versus trusting God with her barrenness.
When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she envied her sister. “Give me sons, or I will die!” she said to Jacob.
2 Jacob became angry with Rachel and said, “Am I in the place of God? He has withheld offspring[a] from you!”
Eventually, God gave her a son, the last son born to Jacob for a very long time. Many years later, Rachel would have a second son, the final son of Jacob, making Jacob father to 12 sons who would become the 12 tribes of Israel.
Jacob had two wives, two concubines, and at that point 11 sons. He had been working for Laban, his uncle and father-in-law, for 14 years and wanted to begin planning for the long-term care of his growing family. He knew he would eventually inherit the land promised to Abraham and his father Isaac, and he would need to go back home to claim it. He also knew his brother, Esau, was still back at home but he did not know if Esau still wanted to kill him.
Jacob made a final agreement with Laban to work another seven years, but this time it would be for a portion of the flock. He would take the less desirable flock, leaving the spotless sheep for Laban. Jacob asked for the spotted, speckled, and miscolored animals while leaving the spotless, pure-colored ones for Laban, making it easy to distinguish from one another’s animals. Before sending the flock with Jacob, though, Laban continued to cheat Jacob and separated all the current flock that was the coloring allocated to Jacob, gave them to his own sons, and handed the remaining spotless flock over to Jacob – the coloring designated to belong to Laban.
31 So he said, “What shall I give you?”
And Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep your flocks: 32 Let me pass through all your flock today, removing from there all the speckled and spotted sheep, and all the brown ones among the lambs, and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and these shall be my wages. 33 So my righteousness will answer for me in time to come, when the subject of my wages comes before you: every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the lambs, will be considered stolen, if it is with me.”
34 And Laban said, “Oh, that it were according to your word!” 35 So he removed that day the male goats that were speckled and spotted, all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had some white in it, and all the brown ones among the lambs, and gave them into the hand of his sons. 36 Then he put three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks.
Jacob didn’t ask to be handed the flock, but to continue caring for all of them and over the seven years he would then take all the miscolored and Laban would have the spotless. The flock Jacob was breeding started as spotless, but they produced offspring that were the coloring that was agreed to be Jacob’s. In that time, Jacob showed his faith in God’s provisions, and both he and Laban couldn’t help but acknowledge the favor bestowed on Laban by the Lord while Jacob was with him.
Jacob’s allotted flock was flourishing far greater than Laban’s, Jacob was growing prosperous, his family was expanding nicely, and Laban’s sons were growing envious of the success and growing wealth of Jacob. Jacob realized that he was no longer favored by Laban, and receives instruction from the Lord that it was time to head back home.
Now Jacob heard the words of Laban’s sons, saying, “Jacob has taken away all that was our father’s, and from what was our father’s he has acquired all this wealth.” 2 And Jacob saw the countenance of Laban, and indeed it was not favorable toward him as before. 3 Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your family, and I will be with you.”
Unbeknownst to Jacob, Rachel took along her family’s idols. These idols were false gods that her family worshipped and were seen as an inheritance for the oldest son. It is unknown why Rachel took them, but this was an excuse for Laban to chase after Jacob, accusing him of theft, and we see Jacob begin to stand up for himself and the 20 years of deceit and manipulation he experienced from Laban. Rachel lies to conceal her theft, and we again see a glimpse of Rachel’s true colors. Jacob’s favored wife is beautiful on the outside, but deceptive on the inside.
The relationships especially between Laban, Jacob, Leah, and Rachel were all founded on lies and mistrust, and the fruits of that deception are evident all over this story. Leah was lonely and unloved by her family, Rachel was a bitter liar and a thief, Jacob was a heel grabber through and through, and Laban was a trickster and manipulative head of the family. Eventually, they all parted ways with a covenant between them and the Lord.
51 Then Laban said to Jacob, “Here is this heap and here is this pillar, which I have placed between you and me. 52 This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not pass beyond this heap to you, and you will not pass beyond this heap and this pillar to me, for harm. 53 The God of Abraham, the God of Nahor, and the God of their father judge between us.” And Jacob swore by the [a]Fear of his father Isaac. 54 Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain, and called his brethren to eat bread. And they ate bread and stayed all night on the mountain. 55 And early in the morning Laban arose, and kissed his sons and daughters and blessed them. Then Laban departed and returned to his place.
Jacob continues on his journey home with his large family, flocks, and great wealth he has accrued over those 20 years serving Laban. He knows he will have to face Esau but he does not know what this will be like. He develops a plan to appease his brother, but along the way when Jacob was alone he found himself wrestling with a stranger. Jacob fought and fought, yet neither prevailed until the stranger touched the socket of Jacob’s hip and put it out of joint. Jacob still would not let go – until he received a blessing. In this moment, Jacob was subdued by the Lord and Jacob knew it. He was desperate for a blessing from the Lord, and clung to Him until he received one.
22 The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children,[a] and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 He took them and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had. 24 And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. 25 When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob's hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. 26 Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” 27 And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” 28 Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel,[b] for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” 29 Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. 30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel,[c] saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.” 31 The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip. 32 Therefore to this day the people of Israel do not eat the sinew of the thigh that is on the hip socket, because he touched the socket of Jacob's hip on the sinew of the thigh.
Through these 20 years of hiding from his brother, the Lord taught Jacob that he should have trusted God all this time rather than living in fear, scheming and plotting, manipulating and grasping, thinking he could do better on his own terms. He needed to submit to the Lord, let the Lord lead him and his plans, and recognize that it was God alone who would bless and provide for him, as well as correct and discipline him. Nothing Jacob could do would bring the best outcome God had in store for him. Trusting God was the only way – and likewise, trusting God is the only way for us as well.
Just as we receive a new identity as “Child of God” when we submit to the Lord in faith, Jacob was given a new name - Jacob would now be called Israel. Israel means “to face God” or to “struggle with God” but with the emphasis that God prevails. This name is given to God’s people – the Israelites – who would struggle with God, as well, for centuries. Jacob was the father of the Jewish nation and the people’s hearts so often resemble Jacob’s example.
This week we will explore Mark 2 where there are quite a few big points to hit on. This chapter opens up with the story of the paralytic man being lowered down into the house Jesus was teaching in. I absolutely love this story as it is a great example of the lengths these people went because their faith was so strong. They did what it took to be in the presence of Jesus and believed that He would heal the man.
As they had faith He would do, Jesus healed the man - but not in the way many onlookers expected. He told the man "your sins are forgiven" rather than telling him that he was healed. Jesus then showed His divinity by acknowledging the thoughts of the crowd and displaying His power and authority.
I appreciate these reminders that Jesus knows our inner thoughts and our very heart and intentions. We cannot keep anything hidden from Him. I find this helpful as it reminds me to keep my mind, thoughts, intentions and heart focused on Him and when I realize I am not, I hear this verse 8 where Jesus asks them "Why are you thinking these things in your hearts?" It causes me to evaluate my thoughts and intentions, and to repent and refocus.
What does this passage teach you about Jesus and your relationship with Him?
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When we are convicted, we should be led to repentance. When we repent, this is turning away from sin and turning to righteousness. When we are convicted this is a cause for worship. So often when we realize we have sinned we beat ourselves up and so often that ends up pushing us away from Christ.
I encourage you, though, to take those as opportunities to grow in your faith and come closer to Jesus, not further away. Worship Him with a heart that is grateful for your Savior and the works He is doing in you.
Later we read about Jesus calling on Matthew (Levi) to follow Him, and He was then seen by the Pharisees sitting with and teaching "tax collectors and sinners". The Pharisees cannot understand this, but Jesus explains to them that sinners are like sick people who need a doctor, and He is the Great Physician.
How does seeing Jesus as your Great Physician change your perspective of Him?
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The goal of spending time with those who are not yet believers of Jesus Christ is to help lead them to His truth and to repentance so that they, too, can accept Him as their personal Savior and come into a personal relationship with Him as well. We should not be selfish with our own salvation but go out and share the truth so that others may share in salvation as well.
What are some things you can do in order to draw people to Jesus?
Another point that has taught me a lot within my own relationship with the Lord is that "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." The Lord commands us to take a day of rest, which is intended to be a day of spiritual rest and refreshment as well as physical rest. Spending that time being replenished with and by the Lord and growing in our relationships with Him.
How can/do you participate in the Sabbath? How has/can this help you in your faith?
This study is part of the Study with Me: Chronological Gospels study series. It is an annual 48-week Bible study designed to encourage readers to follow along all year and dive deeper into the meat of the passages designated each week. I pray that you learn more about your Savior and grow in your relationship with Him through this study series. There is a free printable booklet available for download as well which allows you to print and take notes as you go through this study with me.
Before Abraham died at the age of 175 he took a woman named Keturah to be his unofficial wife, which was a form of concubine, making Keturah and Hagar the two concubines of Abraham, both of whom gave him children. Keturah gave him 6 sons, who were as follows with their children and grandchildren.
Zimran
Jokshan
Sheba
Dedan
Asshurim
Letushim
Leummim
Medan
Midian
Ephah
Epher
Hanock
Abidah
Eldaah
Ishbak
Shuah
The covenant between God and Abraham passed to Isaac alone, though, and Abraham bestowed other worthy gifts to his other children and sent them away from the land Isaac and his descendants alone would inherit through the covenant. Abraham clearly didn’t want there to be any confusion about who would inherit this great promise, yet showed love and consideration for all of his children.
5 And Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac. 6 But Abraham gave gifts to the sons of the concubines which Abraham had; and while he was still living he sent them eastward, away from Isaac his son, to the country of the east.
When Abraham died, Isaac would have been about 75 (Abraham was about 100 when Isaac was born Genesis 17-18). Abraham was buried with Sarah on the property he bought from the Hittites as a burial plot for his people. To further establish the covenant passing to Isaac, God blessed Isaac after Abraham’s death.
Genealogy of Ishmael
Ishmael was Abraham’s son by Hagar, who was the slave of Sarah. Sarah had taken it upon herself to propose Abraham have a son through Hagar because Sarah was barren for so long, yet God had promised Abraham a son. Hagar gave birth to Ishmael, and Sarah later was blessed with Isaac, and then Ishmael and Hagar were sent away. Ishmael and Hagar eventually settled in across from Egypt in the lands from Havilah to Shur. God blessed (and cursed) Ishmael, and from him came 12 tribes from his 12 sons.
Isaac and Rebekah had two sons, fraternal twins named Esau and Jacob. After a troublesome birth, Esau came first and Jacob came from the womb holding onto the heel of his brother. This ended up being a sign of how Jacob would live much of his life. God had told Rebekah that the younger son would be served by the older, and Rebekah favored Jacob. Isaac, on the other hand, favored Esau, the oldest son.
21 Now Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived. 22 But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If all is well, why am I like this?” So she went to inquire of the Lord.
24 So when her days were fulfilled for her to give birth, indeed there were twins in her womb. 25 And the first came out red. He was like a hairy garment all over; so they called his name [a]Esau. 26 Afterward his brother came out, and his hand took hold of Esau’s heel; so his name was called [b]Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.
Esau and Jacob are prime examples of why parental favoritism is unhealthy. The Lord had told Rebekah that Jacob would be the leader – not Esau. This would go against tradition, yet it wasn’t so far from what had happened with their father, Isaac. Isaac was the second son, yet he was the one to inherit Abraham’s covenant with God and all that came with it, rather than Ishmael who was born first. Now, it would pass again to the second son, Jacob.
Esau gave away his birthright
In their culture, the birthright of the firstborn was a double portion of the inheritance - the land, slaves, wealth, etc. In this case, it also included the covenant between God and Abraham's descendants. Esau held his birthright with such contempt that he sold it for a bowl of stew and a piece of bread. In this, he vowed it would be Jacob's This kind of vow made between Jacob and Esau was a binding and very serious vow, therefore now Jacob was promised to receive the birthright of the firstborn - all for a meager meal.
29 Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, and he was weary. 30 And Esau said to Jacob, “Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary.” Therefore his name was called [a]Edom.
31 But Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright as of this day.”
32 And Esau said, “Look, I am about to die; so what is this birthright to me?”
33 Then Jacob said, [b]“Swear to me as of this day.”
So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. 34 And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.
While Isaac was dying, he requested Esau hunt some game and make him a special meal, then Isaac would bless Esau. Isaac's blessing would be to pass the covenant on to him, therefore Rebekah stepped in after hearing her husband and convinced Jacob to trick Isaac and take the blessing, and therefore inheritance, for himself. Now, Esau had already vowed that Jacob could have his birthright, but the way it all panned out was deceptive and caused a great rift in an already tense relationship.
5 Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt game and to bring it.6 So Rebekah spoke to Jacob her son, saying, “Indeed I heard your father speak to Esau your brother, saying, 7 ‘Bring me game and make [a]savory food for me, that I may eat it and bless you in the presence of the Lord before my death.’ 8 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to what I command you. 9 Go now to the flock and bring me from there two choice kids of the goats, and I will make savory food from them for your father, such as he loves. 10 Then you shall take it to your father, that he may eat it, and that he may bless you before his death.”
Jacob did as his mother commanded, tricked his father, and took the blessing intended for Esau but that Esau had vowed to give to Jacob for some soup and bread. Esau clearly hadn't intended to keep his promise, and was so furious that upon discovering that Jacob had taken the blessing and inheritance Esau vowed next to kill his brother.
The relationship between the family members was torn and Jacob fled from his brother to avoid Esau killing him. Rebekah sent Jacob away to find a wife among their relatives in Paddan-aram and Jacob has a vision from the Lord along the way there. In this vision, God confirmed His covenant with Jacob. Jacob’s response is astonishment. He places a marker at the spot he’d had the dream, and names it Bethel. Jacob vows that if God is faithful, he will be as well.
Perfect God of Imperfect People
There are many moving pieces in this story, and no one is really in the right. Isaac showed favoritism to the point Esau had been spoiled rotten and was incredibly ungrateful, Rebekah was deceptive and took matters into her own hands, Esau treated the inheritance of God’s covenant with contempt, and Jacob lied, cheated, and stole. In this story of toxic favoritism, questionable parenting, and ungodly behaviors we see, though, that God uses all things and all people for the good of those who love Him, and to fulfill His divine purposes. In this we can be encouraged that while people are corrupt and sinful, God is holy and perfect.
Jacob lived by deceit and his mother’s favoritism for years, and now he began to learn that God was with him. Just like for Jacob, that first time we trust God can be scary, and uncertain, yet reassuring. Jacob took a big step toward God, yet he wasn’t totally ready to trust Him yet. He committed to God if God would truly follow through with His end of the bargain. He wanted to see God show up.
Is there somewhere in your life you are waiting for God to show up?
Are you waiting for God to move a mountain, heal a hurt, bring comfort, grant peace, or provide in some way?
God is faithful, even when we are not. Those first steps are tough, but when we take those steps of faith, we are able to see God show up more clearly. Faith begins to grow, and over time we learn to trust God more.
2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces [a]patience.
In this week's study, we open up with Jesus' first sign where He turned water into wine. I love this story in John 2 because His mother, Mary, pleaded with Jesus to help the wedding hosts and Jesus obliged. Jesus' love for His mother is so beautiful and I love each glimpse we get into their relationship. As a mother myself, I can't imagine what it would be like to be raising the Begotten Son of God, but I do know the love of a mother for her child and this moment is such a mom moment to me.
I also love that through this first sign it says that His disciples believed in Jesus by this display of His glory. Jesus displayed His glory in helping with the wine, which brought praise on the wedding hosts, but it also revealed Jesus' glory and led to true belief in Him.
What about this story jumps out at you and why do you think that is?
The next part of the story tells us about a moment where Jesus was angry. This story is an easy one to miss the true message within. Jesus is showing His anger, and yes God does get angry, but remember that we are instructed to be angry and do not sin. Here, Jesus is displaying righteous anger - this is anger caused by the defiling of God's temple by turning it into a marketplace, a place for profits to be made, versus reserving it with honor as a place of worship.
What is the difference between righteous anger and sinful anger? Why is this important?
Chapter 3 teaches us of the importance of focusing on things of Heaven versus earthly things. Jesus explained to Nicodemus, a Pharisee, that only those born of the Spirit will understand things of Heaven, things of light. Unfortunately, people love the darkness and struggle to enter the light where their sin is revealed.
This is where Jesus says one of the most quoted passages in all of scripture - John 3:16. Don't miss the next verses, though. Because of the love of God, He sent His only begotten Son so that those who will believe in Jesus will have eternal life - but that's not all. Jesus came not to condemn, but to save the world through Him. The world is saved through Jesus - through faith in Jesus as the only begotten Son of God.
Those who choose to live in the light will learn the truth, love the truth, live in the truth, and shine the light of Christ wherever they go. We must be lovers of the light and not lovers of the darkness, attempting to live in and conceal our sin. We must repent and believe in the only Son of God to be saved from the penalty of sin and be born again, made alive by God's Spirit, and receive the promise of eternity with Him.
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What about this passage stands out to you for the very first time?
Through the remainder of John 3 and into John 4 there is a very clear message - all that we have is a gift from God. When we have faith and believe in Jesus, He blesses us immeasurably, and provides rest for our souls. Jesus Christ is the Living Water for the thirsty land of our very soul.
Throughout our lives we are drawn into Jesus by our Heavenly Father. We are given a great thirst that can only be satisfied by Jesus Christ. We all long for Jesus, but so often we are deceived into thinking our longing is for things of this earth instead.
How does this news impact your life today?
Not only is Jesus the Living Water our souls long for, but He is also the Gardener of our souls. He refreshes us, satisfying the thirst of our souls, and then He plants, prunes, and waters us as we grow in our faith and relationship with Him and bear fruit of His Spirit.
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By abiding in Him, we abide in the Vine, and we bear His fruits in this world, planting seeds for the gospel in the lives of others who have not yet discovered that Jesus is what they are longing for. We have been given a great honor to be saved by the grace of God through faith in His Son, and with this we then have another great honor to be used by God for His great purposes.
We see the Samaritan woman go and tell her whole village of her testimony, drawing others to Jesus, and they too came to believe in Him. Testifying to the truth of the gospel, letting the Living Water of Jesus and the fruits of His Holy Spirit plant seeds in the hearts of others through your faithfulness is a vital responsibility and privilege every Christian has.
We are called to be unashamed of the gospel, and we also are taught here that our testimony is meant to be shared with others in order to plant seeds for the gospel and help draw others to Him. We get to participate in God's great plan, doing the work He has prepared for us to do, and sharing our own testimonies along the way.
Who in your life could you share your testimony with this week?
This study is part of the Study with Me: Chronological Gospels study series. It is an annual 48-week Bible study designed to encourage readers to follow along all year and dive deeper into the meat of the passages designated each week. I pray that you learn more about your Savior and grow in your relationship with Him through this study series. There is a free printable booklet available for download as well which allows you to print and take notes as you go through this study with me.
The Pentateuch: Faith and Sacrifice, Genesis 22-24
Abraham finally had the son God had promised to him. He had been tested and there had been moments of great faith and moments he lacked faith. Abraham’s lack of faith in God’s plan and timing led to him having a son, Ishmael, by a woman other than his wife, Sarah, who was now sent away with Hagar, the boy’s mother. God had made it clear that Isaac, Abraham’s son by Sarah, was the son God had promised, and Ishmael was sent away with the promise of an inheritance outside the land of Canaan promised to Isaac.
With this, though, there came the curse that Ishmael and Isaac would forever be in conflict with one another. To this day, many Arabs claim to be descendants of Ishmael. Eventually, the Muslim religion was formed on the claim that Ishmael was the promised son rather than Isaac, and even today there is much conflict between those who claim to be descendants of Ishmael and the Jewish and Christian nations.
But now, in Genesis 22, Abraham has his son whom God had promised. Isaac, who Abraham waited so many years for, was a growing boy, and God commanded Abraham to sacrifice Isaac to Him. This is such a turn in the story. The son God told Abraham would become a great nation is now to be killed in the name of the Lord. This is unthinkable. Yet, here was Abraham. Abraham responded by gathering the needed supplies, men, and his son the very next morning and heading off to the place the Lord had told him to go.
Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!”
And he said, “Here I am.”
2 Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
One question that begs to be asked is – why did God “test” Abraham? As Abraham takes his son to the mountain, we start to see what is really happening here. Isaac asks his father where the sacrificial lamb was. A completely reasonable question. Why had his father not brought one with him? Abraham’s response is key here.
7 But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!”
And he said, “Here I am, my son.”
Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the [a]lamb for a burnt offering?”
8 And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together.
Abraham, full of faith, tells this son whom God has promised will become a great nation, that God will provide the lamb. Abraham trusted that God would either provide an alternative sacrifice or He would raise this boy from the dead. God would provide the lamb because God made a promise, and Abraham believed it even to the point of raising his dagger, ready to sacrifice his son as the Lord commanded. At the very last moment, the Lord stopped Abraham from the deadly plunge and provided a ram stuck in a thicket nearby to take his son’s place on the altar. God provided a scapegoat to be sacrificed in place of Isaac; a ram whose blood would be spilled in Isaac’s place. Abraham’s son was spared.
Because of Abraham’s faith, God reaffirmed the covenant with him yet again. God didn’t test Abraham to see what Abraham would do. God knew exactly what Abraham would do. God showed Abraham that his immense faith would bring him blessings. It was because of Abraham’s incredible faith that God would continue to bless him, and why God made the covenant with him.
15 Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, 16 and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son— 17 blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
Sometimes God needs to show us what our faith will result in. Sometimes we need to be reminded that faith in the Lord is always worth keeping. Abraham was willing to kill his son at the command of the Lord, knowing that God had His reason and would keep His promises even though this command seemed at the time to contradict the promise. By his faith, God spared his son and continued to bless him, and Isaac’s son would eventually become the father of the 12 tribes of Israel.
The Ram in the Thicket
Don’t miss the part of this ram in the thicket. This ram was provided to Abraham to take the place of his son on the altar. In these times, blood sacrifice was made to atone for sin. Blood payment was required in order for sins to be forgiven. Sacrifice is necessary for redemption. So when God provided this ram, the ram took the place of Isaac, spilling its blood instead of Isaac’s.
This is a foreshadowing of what Christ would later do for all mankind. Blood is still the penalty for our sins, yet God provided a scapegoat for us in sending Jesus to earth to live a sinless life and die a horrible death on the cross. Death is what we deserve for our sins, yet Christ took the penalty of all mankind upon Himself. He became our sacrificial lamb so that any who believe in Him and accept His blood as a sacrifice for their own sins would be forgiven and redeemed to God. Faith in the blood of Jesus is the only way to salvation. He is our ram in the thicket, taking our place so that our Father in Heaven need not send those who believe in the Lamb of God to the altar themselves because Christ has already spilled His own blood in their place for their sake.
9 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
After sparing him from death by sending a ram to die in his place, God reaffirms that Abraham’s descendants will be as numerous as the stars and the sand and that they will be given the land that has been promised. God also makes it clear that this blessing is because of Abraham’s faith. Blessings follow obedience to the Lord, and Abraham is a prime example of this. Because of Abraham’s great faith, God blesses Isaac. Abraham would not live to see all the fruits of this promise, but he knew God was faithful and remained obedient to Him. Sometimes we don’t see the fruits of our own faith, but we can have faith that even when we don’t see it, God is working, and God is always faithful.
Later, Sarah passed away and Abraham purchased land from the Hethites to become a burial property, adamantly refusing to take the land as a gift. He buried his wife, Sarah, who is the mother to his promised son, Isaac, and then Abraham turned his attention to finding a suitable wife for his son. He was very selective about the choice. She needed to be from their own people, so he sent a servant to his brother’s land.
Now Abraham was old, well advanced in age; and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. 2 So Abraham said to the oldest servant of his house, who ruled over all that he had, “Please, put your hand under my thigh, 3 and I will make you swear[a] by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell; 4 but you shall go to my country and to my family, and take a wife for my son Isaac.”
Abraham sent the servant with a blessing, full of faith and confidence that the Lord would go with him and lead the servant to the right woman to become his son’s wife. This future bride would be the mother of the promised descendants promised to Abraham by the Lord. God certainly had His choice picked out, and would make sure she was the one brought back to be Isaac’s wife and mother to his children.
The servant also had great faith that God was with him in his mission. Abraham was such a great leader to his people that he not only had great faith himself but instilled great faith in the Lord in those who served him. He led by example, and others followed his example and trusted the Lord. This servant prayed to the Lord very specifically. He asked for a particular sign so he would know who the right woman was without doubt.
12 Then he said, “O Lord God of my master Abraham, please give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham. 13 Behold, here I stand by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. 14 Now let it be that the young woman to whom I say, ‘Please let down your pitcher that I may drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink’—let her be the one You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. And by this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master.”
15 And it happened, before he had finished speaking, that behold, Rebekah,[a] who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, came out with her pitcher on her shoulder. 16 Now the young woman was very beautiful to behold, a virgin; no man had known her. And she went down to the well, filled her pitcher, and came up. 17 And the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please let me drink a little water from your pitcher.”
18 So she said, “Drink, my lord.” Then she quickly let her pitcher down to her hand, and gave him a drink. 19 And when she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.”
These kinds of examples are precious to me. The servant prayed for something very distinct to happen so he would know it was God’s choice, and God answered by the exact means the servant had prayed for. Whenever we see an example of prayer in scripture, it is a beautiful opportunity to grow in our own faith and prayer life. God heard the servant’s prayer and gave him what he had asked for as a sign.
When he arrived in Nahor’s town of Aram-naharaim a girl showed up and offered him a drink from the well and also to give water to his camels. This was exactly what the servant had just prayed to happen as a sign, and that the woman who made this offer would be the one to marry his master’s son. The servant did not hesitate to jump on the answered prayer. Throughout the journey, the servant prayed, worshipped, and trusted the Lord and eventually brought Rebekah back home to marry Isaac.
26 Then the man bowed down his head and worshiped the Lord. 27 And he said, “Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His mercy and His truth toward my master. As for me, being on the way, the Lord led me to the house of my master’s brethren.”
Rebekah was essentially Abraham’s great-great niece, making her a distant cousin to Isaac. This kind of infer-family marriage was incredibly common.
Abraham, Nahor, and Haran were brothers
Milkah was the daughter of Haran
Nahor married Milkah
Nahor and Milkah bore Kemuel
Kemuel fathered Bethuel
Bethuel fathered Rebekah
When the servant returned with Rebekah, Isaac married her and he loved her. She took her place in the tent Sarah had so recently vacated with her passing and was a comfort to her husband.
67 Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent; and he took Rebekah and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.
God is always faithful, even when we are not. Through Abraham’s life, we see this played out. There were times Abraham lacked faith, yet God still stayed true. Then we see when Abraham was faithful, God blessed him greatly. This is true for all of us. When we are faithful to the Lord, with our hearts and minds focused on Him, God blesses our faith. We don’t always see it, and sometimes (often) the blessing is extended to others. Here, Abraham’s son was the one to benefit greater from the blessing, and there was still the promise God had made of 400 years of slavery ahead before the promised land would truly belong to Abraham’s descendants. A lot would happen between the making of the promise and its fulfillment.
Regardless of how long it takes to see the fruit, or if we ever do see it, we can trust that the Lord is always faithful and that our obedience is always rewarded. God provides all that we have and can take it away just the same. These are tactics parents use to teach our kiddos the differences between right and wrong, good behavior and bad behavior, and so on – and we get it from God. God teaches us that obedience brings blessing, and disobedience brings consequences.
There is a price for sin and a reward for faith. We should not choose faith for the sake of the reward, otherwise, that is not faith – that is a transaction. We have faith because of who God is, and that is enough. Believing and trusting in who God is allows us to have such faith as Abraham had, and also because of the loving Heavenly Father God is, He loves to reward His children for their faith.
Faith is not faith because of the blessing, but because of the God whom we serve. Abraham knew this and is a reminder and important example for all of us that those who walk with the Lord can always trust in His faithfulness, yet those living outside the will of God will reap the consequences of their sin. Yet, all are welcome, and the Ram in the Thicket was sent to be a sacrifice for all who would believe and have faith in Him and the blood He spilled for them.
With great faith comes great responsibility, just as Abraham was given. He was now the father of nations, the receiver of such a great promise that came with a great burden to lead his people in the ways of the Lord and instill a deep faith in them as well. His faith impacted generations upon generations. Only God knows the entire depth and width of this impact made by such faithfulness.
Now faith is the [a]substance of things hoped for, the [b]evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.
3 By faith we understand that the [c]worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.
4 By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.
5 By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. 6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
7 By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; 10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
11 By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she[d] bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude—innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.
13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off [e]were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14 For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. 15 And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.
17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 [f]of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,” 19 concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.
The Pentateuch: Covenant and Destruction, Genesis 16-21
God had reaffirmed His covenant with Abram. He promised Abram that he would have a son of his own to be his heir, and that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars. He also promised Abram land and showed Abram a sign of this covenant, to establish the authenticity and genuineness of the covenant, and instructed Abram that it would still be many generations of hardship before the land would be given to his people. God made it clear that these promises would take time to fulfill, which meant Abram would need to have faith and patience.
Yet now, here were Sarai and Abram taking matters into their own hands, making up their own minds how God’s will should come about. In their impatience and frustration at not yet having a child of their own so late in their lives, Sarai suggests and Abram agrees to have a child by Sarai’s slave woman, Hagar. God had reaffirmed His promises to Abram multiple times, yet here Abram was. I can’t help but notice how human this situation is. We human beings certainly still lack the patience and faith to wait for God’s timing and will to be revealed.
Hagar and Ishmael
It was a cultural custom of those times that if a wife could not have children, in order to keep her husband’s line going he would have children with concubines or additional wives. Polygamy was very common because of this. If the man had no children, he had no heirs, so he would have them by a woman other than his wife, or take multiple wives to make sure he would have children to carry on his bloodline and legacy. What Sarai suggested was the custom of the times, but that was not what God wanted them to do. He wanted them to have faith in His promises, trust in His plan, and be patient for His timing.
3 Then Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan. 4 So he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress became despised in her [a]eyes.
5 Then Sarai said to Abram, [b]“My wrong be upon you! I gave my maid into your embrace; and when she saw that she had conceived, I became despised in her eyes. The Lord judge between you and me.”
6 So Abram said to Sarai, “Indeed your maid is in your hand; do to her as you please.” And when Sarai dealt harshly with her, she fled from her presence.
Sarai and Abram decide to have a child through Hagar, and when Hagar becomes pregnant it’s like reality hits them that this was a bad plan. Sarai and Hagar butt heads, Hagar ended up despising Sarai, Sarai became cruel to Hagar, and then Sarai blamed Abram for the conflict. Sarai mistreats Hagar so much that Hagar runs away.
This is a great example of how disobedience to God leads us further from godliness. They disobeyed God by taking matters into their own hands, and then continued to behave sinfully toward one another. The fruits of disobedience were on full display. When God tells us that sin leads to death, death can sometimes mean death to relationships, joy, contentment, faith, and so much more – not just physical death.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the [a]gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Later, an angel of the Lord came and told Hagar to return to Sarai who had been treating her brutally. He made her a promise that her descendants would be too many to count, and tells her what her yet-to-be-born son’s name and fate would be. She praises God as El-roi – the God Who Sees – recognizing that He sees her, truly, in full awareness of her, her circumstances, her pain, and also of her future. Her son will be named Ishmael, which means “God Hears”, indicating that God heard her in her suffering.
11 And the Angel of the Lord said to her:
“Behold, you are with child,
And you shall bear a son.
You shall call his name [a]Ishmael,
Because the Lord has heard your affliction.
12 He shall be a wild man;
His hand shall be against every man,
And every man’s hand against him.
And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.”
13 Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, You-Are-[b]the-God-Who-Sees; for she said, “Have I also here [c]seen Him who sees me?”
Hagar obeyed God and returned, had her son, and when Ishmael was about 13 years old God appeared to Abram once again. This time, God declared Himself Almighty God and commanded Abram to “walk before [Him] and be blameless.” God is telling Abram to trust and obey, and to focus on Him and His will. God again reaffirms the covenant and again takes it a step deeper. Abram becomes Abraham, which means father of nations, promises Abraham the land of Canaan, gives the covenant of circumcision and then confirms that the child promised will come from Sarai, who is now to be named Sarah. Sarah will be blessed, and she will be the mother of nations.
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am [a]Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. 2 And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.”
The prospect of Sarah and Abraham, both nearing 100 years old, becoming parents was dumbfounding. As Abraham and Sarah received this news, they both laughed in bewilderment. Abraham had questions, and Sarah in her embarrassment at laughing attempted to conceal her laughter.
17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” 18 And Abraham said to God, “Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!”
Abraham and Sarah were not perfect people. They missed the mark constantly, following their own plans and not waiting to find out what God’s plan was. They trusted to a degree but lacked the faith to remain faithful and obedient. When their plans didn’t work out as they had expected, their responses were again oh-so-human. Yet these imperfect people who struggled to be faithful all the time were who God chose to bless and use as the father and mother of God’s holy people.
It is so encouraging to see raw humans being used by God in such extraordinary ways. God made it clear they would not live to see the fruits of the promise, and this is yet another example for us still today. We do not often see the ways God is working things out around and ahead of us. We must have faith and hang on to the Lord and His promises, trusting in who God is instead of leaning on what we can understand and see in front of us.
Sodom and Gomorrah
When 3 heavenly visitors came to Abraham, they are revealed to be the Lord Himself with 2 angels to accompany Him. They were there to judge and punish the sins of the wealthy yet corrupt cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Sodom is where Lot and his family now resided. When Abraham was aware of the impending destruction of the place of his nephew’s residence, he pled with the Lord. What if there were still righteous people living there? What if righteous people could still be found? I can only imagine Abraham’s hope that his nephew was faithful to the Lord, even though he was living in such a sinful place – so sinful that the Lord Himself came down to destroy it.
20 And the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, 21 I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know.”
22 Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. 23 And Abraham came near and said, “Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? 24 Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it? 25 Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”
God knew the conversation He was going to have with Abraham. He knew the responses He would get from Abraham, and He also knew what was happening in these sinful cities. He knew there were no righteous remaining there, and He knew He would save Lot for the sake of Abraham. God knew all the ins and out, befores, durings, and afters. He knew all the details, and He gave Abraham the opportunity to know God’s plan, reasons, and means. He let Abraham plea, knowing that it was futile – there were no righteous people left in these places and He knew it. Abraham expressed his understanding of God’s righteousness and His judgment. Abraham was given an opportunity to trust the great Judge of the whole earth, and to speak up for the possibility of righteous people who might be saved. God knew there were none, but He heard Abraham out nonetheless.
This is a beautiful example for us. Even while God knows all the same in our lives and circumstances, He knows the beginning and end, He knows the decisions we will make – God still gives us the opportunity to act, speak up, stand up, respond, ask questions, seek Him, and praise Him. No matter what we’re going through, we can speak to God truthfully, whatever is on our hearts, and He will listen. He already has a plan, but He wants us to trust Him with our hearts, minds, and deeds.
Unfortunately, Sodom and Gomorrah were so far embedded in sin that there had been a great outcry against their sinfulness, and God was going to destroy them and everyone there – except Lot and his daughters. Lot’s wife and sons-in-law were offered the same opportunity to be saved, yet the sons-in-law refused, not taking it seriously, and Lot’s wife disobeyed and looked back. She seems to have clung to the sinful place she was fleeing, and because she failed in this she was turned to a pillar of salt, possibly representing the earthly wealth Sodom was known for and had corrupted so many hearts and lives leading to this horrifying level of utter destruction.
24 Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the heavens. 25 So He [a]overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.
26 But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.
Lot’s family had gained status in Sodom, and the behavior of his wife, and then later that of his daughters, was evidence of how much the sinfulness of the city had influenced them. Lot’s own daughters deceived Lot to a disturbing extent and ended up bearing their father’s sons. These sons ended up fathering the Moabites, who would later be responsible for some of the most carnal seduction of Israel’s history, and the Ammonites who were responsible for human sacrifice. The seed of deep-rooted sinfulness was carried on with these children who were saved from fire and brimstone.
Ishmael and Isaac
After Abraham again fearfully claims Sarah as his sister rather than his wife to save his own neck, God prevents any harm or dishonor from coming upon this chosen woman, and they are yet again shown great mercy. God blesses them, preserves them, and leads them to an alliance of sorts with Abimelech.
God then fulfills his promise and Sarah and Abraham become parents of a son, Isaac. As Isaac grew, Ishmael was caught mocking Isaac. I can only imagine the strain of these relationships at this point. Ishmael would have been well into his teen years at this point and along comes the son that had been promised to his father by God, the one who would replace him and claim the birthright promised by God.
8 So the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the same day that Isaac was weaned.
9 And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, scoffing.[a] 10 Therefore she said to Abraham, “Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac.” 11 And the matter was very [b]displeasing in Abraham’s sight because of his son.
12 But God said to Abraham, “Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your bondwoman. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice; for in Isaac your seed shall be called. 13 Yet I will also make a nation of the son of the bondwoman, because he is your [c]seed.”
God cleared matters up by encouraging Abraham to send Ishmael and Hagar away, and eventually, Ishmael’s descendants became 12 tribes who were primarily in what we know today as Arabia. To this day, there is conflict between the ancestors of Ishmael, the son of Hagar, and those of Isaac, the son of the promise. This child was Abraham’s, so God blessed him in a similar way to how He blessed Isaac – Ishmael’s descendants, too, would be too many to count.
When Hagar had Abraham’s child, they had no idea the agony and conflict this one decision would cause. According to many historical records, Hagar and Ishmael settled in Mecca after they were sent away. Mecca, which is in modern-day Saudi Arabia, to this day is considered a holy Muslim city. Today, many Arabians trace their lineage back to Ishmael, and Muhammed, the founder of Islam, claims to be a direct descendant of Ishmael. The Quran, which is what Islam holds as a sacred text, esteems Ishmael as a prophet and messenger and claims Ishmael is the promised son rather than Isaac.
This is in direct contrast with the descendants of Isaac who would become the nation of Israel, the Jewish people, God’s chosen people. This is also a fulfillment of what God told Hagar while she was pregnant – that her son would be in constant conflict with his brother and his brother’s people, and that he would dwell near them. He was in the adjacent deserts and to this day there is still immense conflict between Arabs, many of whom trace their ancestry to Ishmael, and the Israelites, the descendants of Isaac.
The decision to make up their own minds rather than wait for God has had thousands of years of impact so far. When we choose to follow our own ways instead of seeking and obeying God’s way, we never know the full scale of the ripple effect. We never understand the immensity of the impact. God knows every ounce of it, though, so thankfully He has a plan for all of it, but with our free will comes great responsibility to cling to the Lord and prioritize His will and timing in all things.
In this week's passages we read about the temptation of Jesus. Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness where He fasted and underwent temptations by Satan for 40 days and nights. This story in scripture is incredibly important for all Christians to read as we get to see the Son of God go through temptations and resist as only He can do.
This example of His divine strength should stand as a hope and encouragement to us that Jesus understands what it is like to be tempted, but also, we can trust in His strength to resist our own temptations. By His strength we can endure, persevere, and grow in faith and strength.
What is it about Jesus' time in the wilderness that sticks out to you the most, and why?
The devil leaves, John the Baptist is arrested, and then Jesus ventures over to Galilee which fulfills the prophecy from Isaiah 9:1-2. In the very beginning of His public ministry Jesus immediately jumped into preaching about repentance.
Nevertheless the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed, As when at first He lightly esteemed The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, And afterward more heavily oppressed her, Bythe way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, In Galilee of the Gentiles. 2 The people who walked in darkness Have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, Upon them a light has shined.
Soon after Jesus began His public ministry, He began calling His first disciples to follow Him. We see Andrew go and get his brother Peter, which is a great example to us. Andrew has a habit of going to get others to come and follow Jesus with him. We then see John and James, sons of Zebedee, called to follow Jesus. He then calls on Philip, Nathanael and Matthew to follow Him.
When Jesus calls on Nathanael, Nathanael is stunned that Jesus knows him and understands that Jesus is the Son of God. Nathanael's faith is also a wonderful example to us of how we are called to respond when we learn about Jesus. We should have faith that He is truly who He says He is, that He is in-fact the Only Begotten Son of God.
What stands out the most to you about Jesus calling on these disciples to follow Him?
The remainder of Luke 5 shows us some of the first miracles Jesus performed in His public ministry. We also see Jesus take time away from the crowds and the disciples to pray alone. For me, this speaks volumes about the need for us to take time to do God's work, and also to take time to be alone with God. Even Jesus took time to be alone with God. In our culture there are extremes of people being completely anti-social and introverted, and the opposite of feeding off of social interaction. It can be difficult to find balance.
I am also reminded here that there is a time and a place for being with others, for doing the Lord's word, and for being alone with God. In all of this we also see that no matter where Jesus was, no matter what He was doing or who He was with, He was praying, worshiping, serving, teaching, healing... He was constantly focused on God the Father and His plan.
Are there areas of your life, relationships, or situations where you do not focus on God? How can Jesus' example in our passages encourage you today?
This study is part of the Study with Me: Chronological Gospels study series. It is an annual 48-week Bible study designed to encourage readers to follow along all year and dive deeper into the meat of the passages designated each week. I pray that you learn more about your Savior and grow in your relationship with Him through this study series. There is a free printable booklet available for download as well which allows you to print and take notes as you go through this study with me.
Who wrote the Book of Jeremiah and who did they write it for?
The book of Jeremiah was written by the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah was the son of Hilkiah and was from Anathoth, which was near Jerusalem.
When did the events of the Book of Jeremiah happen?
Jeremiah's ministry was from 626-586 BC, although he began writing the book of Jeremiah in 605 BC during the reign of Jehoiakim and finished writing it after the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC. He was a prophet of the Lord at the same time as Zephaniah, Ezekiel, and Habakkuk.
What was the setting of the Book of Jeremiah?
Jeremiah served in a time of constant power struggles over the throne of Judah. The Jewish people were subjected to King Nebuchadnezzar, and they turned to idolatry rather than the Lord. Jeremiah was rebuking the people and proclaiming God's judgment on them for their idolatry and lack of faith.
Reveals the challenges and inner turmoil of a prophet of the Lord.
Provides an example of a willingness to serve the Lord no matter the hardships.
Encourages believers to remain faithful to the Word of God no matter the suffering they face for their faithfulness.
Teaches the consequences of faithlessness and disobedience to God.
Encourages believers that we can still remain faithful even in the midst of a disobedient culture.
Reminds Christians of the importance of prayer, confession, repentance, and exhorting others to the Truth and Word of God.
Teaches believers the importance of knowing the Word of God intimately and living it out in all circumstances.
Encourages Christians to cling to the promises of God in faith.
Teaches believers that faithfulness to God brings blessing, and disobedience brings consequences.
Reminds believers that we have a responsibility to warn fellow believers of the importance of obedience to God.
Summary
Jeremiah served as a prophet after the death of King Josiah of Judah. Josiah was killed by the Egyptian army leaving Judah subject to the Pharoh Necho. The people of Judah appointed Jehoahaz to be their new king, but Pharoh Necho put his own choice, Jehoiakim, on the throne instead. The people of Judah then turned to idolatry rather than God, sparking Jeremiah's proclamation of God's judgment over them.
In 605 BC Pharoh Necho was defeated by Nebuchadnezzar who allowed Jehoahaz to remain on the throne of Judah until Jehoahaz rebelled and was replaced by Jehoiachin, who was exiled shortly afterward. Zedekiah, Jehoiakim's brother, was then placed on the throne of Judah. He, too, rebelled against Babylon but Zedekiah came to Jeremiah for counsel from the Lord multiple times during this time. Jeremiah encouraged Zedekiah to surrender, but he would not do so, and later Jerusalem was overrun and burned, and thousands of people were captured and sent to Babylon.
Jeremiah was then sent to serve Gedaliah, who was killed shortly after he was appointed Governor of Judah, and Jeremiah then was forced to go to Egypt with Gedaliah's supporters. There he continued to proclaim God's judgment to the Jews for their unfaithfulness, idolatry, and disobedience.
Jeremiah is seen by some as the model of faithfulness, while others see him as a failure. He served as God's prophet for more than 40 years, but the people constantly refused to listen to his warnings. He was put in prison, thrown down a well, taken out of his country against his will, not permitted to marry, and rejected by family, friends, neighbors, kings, and even false prophets. Even still, Jeremiah persisted in warning the people of the impending consequences of their continued sin against the Lord. Through all of the humiliation and hardship, Jeremiah remained faithful and obedient to God.
The Pentateuch: God’s Covenant with Abraham, Genesis 13-15
God had given Abram a new name and a promise, both of which told Abraham that God would make him the father of God’s people. After receiving this promise, Abraham went to Egypt because of a great famine in the land. While there, he was more afraid of the Egyptians than he was trusting in the Lord as he told the Egyptians that his wife was his sister in order to decrease the risk to his own life. Even in Abraham’s lack of faith, God intervened for him. The Egyptians were afflicted because they had treated Abraham’s wife as an available woman rather than a married one.
God is faithful even when we lack faith
The Egyptians sent Abraham and his family away and Abraham took his people to Negev and then to Bethel, back to where he had previously pitched his tent and built an altar to the Lord. Abram, even after his lack of faith in Egypt, was prospering under God’s promise. He followed where God led, and he was very wealthy in livestock and treasures. Even with his great wealth and his moment of weakness in Egypt Abraham continued to call on the name of the Lord.
Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev—he, his wife, and all he had, and Lot with him. 2 Abram was very rich in livestock, silver, and gold. 3 He went by stages from the Negev to Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had formerly been, 4 to the site where he had built the altar. And Abram called on the name of the Lord there.
This is such an important example for all of us. Abraham, the man God chose to be the father of His holy people, had lacked faith, sinned, and had a great horde of wealth that would have surely been a serious temptation to rely on himself. Even in these moments, Abraham sought the Lord, and the Lord was there intervening for Abraham. God’s promise did not change because of Abraham’s sin and temptation – God continued to bless Abraham and hold true to His great covenant with him.
Lot leaves Abraham
In contrast to Abraham, whose focus and faith was in God, Lot, Abraham’s nephew, was focused on wealth and tempted by prosperous lands. When conflict arose between Lot’s people and Abraham’s, Abraham gave Lot a choice.
8 So Abram said to Lot, “Please, let’s not have quarreling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, since we are relatives. 9 Isn’t the whole land before you? Separate from me: if you go to the left, I will go to the right; if you go to the right, I will go to the left.”
Abraham let Lot make the first choice of what land he would claim. He gave Lot the choice and trusted that whichever way Lot chose to go that God would still hold to His promise that Abraham would be given the land that was promised to him. Lot chose to give up his claim on the promised land and move out. He went and settled in an area that looked fertile, and beautiful, and reminded him of the stories he had been told of the Garden of Eden. Interestingly, he chose land that appeared on the surface to be like the holy place God had first placed His people, yet the land ended up being close to nations who were evil and sinful against the Lord. Looks can sure be deceiving, especially when our eyes are not filtered through the Lord but by our own desires.
Abraham then went the other way and settled in Hebron which is part of modern-day Jerusalem. So while Lot went to a sinful region, Abraham went and settled in what would become God’s holy city.
The War in the Siddim Valley
There was a war in the area at the time. Several kingdoms had been forced for 12 years to pay tribute to King Chedorlaomer of Elam. In the thirteenth year, enough was enough and they waged war in rebellion against these tributes they’d been forced to pay for so many years.
The kingdoms forced to serve and pay tribute to King Chedorlaomer of Elam were King Bera of Sodom, King Birsha of Gomorrah, King Shinab of Admah, King Shemeber of Zeboiim, and King Zoar of Bela. King Chedorlaomer of Elam and his allies in the Siddim Valley, King Amraphel of Shinar, King Arioch of Ellasar, and King Tidal of Goiim, defeated the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Emim in Sheveh-kiriathaim, the Horites in the mountains of Seir, the Zuzim in Ham, the Amalekites in Kadesh, and the Amorites in Hazazon-tamar.
When the armies of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela finally met in the Siddim Valley in battle against King Chedorlaomer and his allies, they began to flee but got trapped. Many perished in the asphalt pits of the region while others fled to the mountains. They were defeated. King Chedorlaomer and his allies plundered Sodom and Gomorrah, and also took Abraham’s nephew, Lot, captive with all his people and wealth.
Lot had decided to leave the land God had promised to give to Abraham, chose to settle in a sinful land, and now that same sinful land had been captured and ransacked, and Lot was in bondage to a great enemy.
10 Now the Siddim Valley contained many asphalt pits, and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some fell into them,[a] but the rest fled to the mountains. 11 The four kings took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food and went on. 12 They also took Abram’s nephew Lot and his possessions, for he was living in Sodom, and they went on.
Elam, Shinar, Ellasar, and Goiim were all in what is now Iraq, Iran, and Syria. All of these countries to this day are enemies of the Lord and His promised land.
Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela (later named Zoar) were in what is now Israel and the Jordan Valley. These kingdoms were destroyed for their wickedness and are examples of what happens when evil is allowed to prosper.
Lot is Rescued
After Lot is captured by Elam and their allies, Abraham learns of the situation and goes to rescue him with 318 armed men. Think about this for a second – 4 armies just defeated and pillaged 5 armies. Abraham now takes only 318 men with him to rescue his kinsman from these 4 victorious armies. Even crazier is that Abraham and his men not only went up against impossible numbers, but they defeated the army that held Lot and chased after them all the way to Damascus, what is now the capital of Syria.
According to today’s geography, this is approximately 50 walking miles. Someone hitchhiking would be able to trek this distance in about 16 hours, but back then, with wild untamed terrain and an army of 318 men, they made this journey in pursuit of Lot’s captors. This was after Abraham left his new home in Hebron, which is in modern-day Jerusalem, and brought these 318 men about 125 miles, which would take about 40 hours nowadays in today’s conditions.
About 200 miles with 318 men to chase an army that had just defeated and looted 5 kingdoms in order to rescue his nephew who had left him to live in these sinful lands that had now been conquered. Then, Abraham and his men did defeat this army, reclaim his nephew, all that belonged to his nephew, and the other people and goods that had been captured.
14 When Abram heard that his relative had been taken prisoner, he assembled[a] his 318 trained men, born in his household, and they went in pursuit as far as Dan. 15 And he and his servants deployed against them by night, defeated them, and pursued them as far as Hobah to the north of Damascus. 16 He brought back all the goods and also his relative Lot and his goods, as well as the women and the other people.
So great was this victory that when Abraham had returned to Hebron, another 200-mile trek, the king of Sodom had survived the defeat of his kingdom and came to visit Abraham. The king of Salem, which is thought to be Jerusalem, where Hebron is located, was there with them. The king of Sodom offered a bargain to Abraham, saying that Abraham could have all of the goods, the immense wealth that the armies had looted and Abraham had claimed when rescuing Lot. All the king of Sodom wanted was his people. After all, you cannot have a kingdom without citizens to rule.
Imagine the temptation of all that additional wealth. Abraham was already wealthy, and the Lord had led him to a victory in reclaiming his nephew and all that his men had brought back home with them. In this moment it would have been very easy for Abraham to take the credit, to take the wealth being handed to him, and to accept praises for this great victory.
Abraham did none of these.
Abraham declined this arrangement and gave all the credit to the Lord. He was open and honest about his reason for declining all this wealth, telling the king of the sinful kingdom of Sodom that he had made an oath to the Lord, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, that he will not take a single thing that belongs to the sinful kingdom of Sodom.
21 Now the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the [a]persons, and take the goods for yourself.”
22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to the Lord, God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, 23 that I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich’— 24 except only what the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.”
Abraham resisted the temptation to boast and to take the wealth he was instructed by God to decline, and he gave all the credit and glory to the Lord for the victory and outcomes that unfolded. With this, the king of Salem and priest of God, Melchizedek, blessed Abraham.
18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. 19 And he blessed him and said:
Melchizedek is an interesting character in scripture. In this moment of triumph, Abraham is not only blessed by Melchizedek but also gives Melchizedek his tithe. Tithes are our offerings to the Lord. Melchizedek is spoken of in other parts of scripture, and we see an interesting exploration and explanation in Hebrews.
For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him,
to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated “king of righteousness,” and then also king of Salem, meaning “king of peace,”
without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually.
Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils.
And indeed those who are of the sons of Levi, who receive the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law, that is, from their brethren, though they have come from the loins of Abraham;
but he whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises.
Now beyond all contradiction the lesser is blessed by the better.
Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives.
Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak,
for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.
After all of this, the Lord comes to Abraham in a vision and encourages and blesses Abraham. Abraham had been faithful in so many things, and at this moment he announces his confusion to the Lord. He is honest with God about his confusion over having no children. God then reaffirms and strengthens the covenant with Abraham.
4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.” 5 Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”
6 And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.
Don’t miss this moment. After God made a covenant with him, Abraham had lacked faith in Egypt, argued with his nephew over land, separated from Lot and gave Lot the choice of land, discovered his nephew had been captured, fought armies to win him back, and resisted the temptation to seize the great wealth and honor of such a victory. Abraham was on a rollercoaster of ups and downs. He wasn’t perfect. He made mistakes. He lacked faith sometimes. He was a sinner just like you and me. Yet at this moment, the Lord came to him and blessed him as the father of nations, and counted Abrahams's faith as righteousness.
We don’t need to be perfect, either. What stands out about Abraham is that even when he did the wrong thing, he came back to God. God knew what Abraham’s intentions were. God knew what was in Abraham’s heart. God blessed Abraham’s faith, yet his faith was not flawless. He wavered just like you and I do. Then he got back up and sought the Lord’s will out again, and got right with Him.
God proceeded to make another important point at this juncture. He told Abraham that the promised land He was giving to Abraham would not be won until after Abraham’s offspring were enslaved and oppressed for 400 years. God said He will judge those who enslave his offspring, but that it will take a very long time and 4 generations after Abraham to get there. This would take a lot of patience and a lot of faith.
This is a promise we need to remember. God will keep His promises, and He will keep them in His time and in His ways. Faith requires patience, trust, and hope in the Lord. Faith requires that we believe and obey the Lord even when it doesn’t make sense to us. Sometimes, like Abraham, we will not see the promise fulfilled. Sometimes we will not see the problem solved and justice done. Sometimes we will not see the fruits of a promise kept. God asks us to trust His plan, and have faith that He will keep every promise He makes. Abraham believed this, and it was counted to him as righteousness.
What prayer are you waiting for God to answer? What promise are you waiting for Him to fulfill? Let Abraham’s journey be a needed reminder that God is always honest, and will show up when and how He knows is best and right. Keep trusting. Keep hanging on. Keep your eyes on the Lord. He is always working in ways we do not see, and He is always trustworthy. Let’s have an active faith like Abraham today.
18 On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying:
“To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates— 19 the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”
If you have not accepted the grace of God and chosen to believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, I encourage you to pray to God now and invite Him in, accept Jesus as the sacrifice for your sins, and repent of your sins. Submit it all to God, lay it at His feet, seek the forgiveness of God, welcome Him into your life, and believe that Jesus died and rose again to save you from your sins.
If you would like to learn more about salvation, you can find a couple of studies that may help here:
We begin this week with Matthew 3, Mark 1, and Luke 3. Here we read aboutJohn the Baptist preaching in the wilderness of Judea calling on the people to repent. He declares that the kingdom of heaven is near, and proceeded to baptize people in the Jordan River.
Repentance and baptism are important parts of each person's faith journey. There are so many different beliefs and various traditions regarding both. This passage makes me stop and prayerfully consider if there are any areas of my life I might be harboring sin, or that I have not yet given over fully to the Lord. In these moments of conviction, I find encouragement in recalling my own baptism and what it means for me.
Is there any sin you have not repented of? Take some time to pray to God, repent, and seek Him today. Pray for a clean heart and a renewed spirit, that you may glorify God.
Personally, I love the story of John the Baptist. He is the first person in the New Testament we see martyred for his faith in Jesus, and he was the one sent ahead of Jesus to prepare the way for Him. This is someone people think is a total lunatic. He was bold and fearlessly stood up for his faith and convictions.
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John also got to baptize Jesus, whom he did not feel worthy to even remove Jesus' sandals. Yet Jesus was baptized by John, the heavens opened up, and God declared His pleasure for His Son.
What about this moment stands out to you the most, and why?
Luke 3:7-14 stands out to me as a pivotal moment. John rebukes the people, gives them various encouragements, and tells them to produce fruit consistent with repentance.
What does it mean to produce fruits consistent with repentance? Do you see this in your own life?
It is so important for us to remember that John was a human being just like you and me. He had a God-given job to do and faithfully did it even to death. His methods often make our eyebrows go up to our hairlines, but his boldness is a wonderful example for us to stand strong in our beliefs and faith in Jesus no matter what we face.
At the end of Luke 3, we see another account of Jesus' genealogy. If you are like me, you notice that it is different from that in Matthew 1. I was interested to find out more about this and discovered there are 3 possibilities, but they all seem to tie together into one answer - Luke's account likely includes Mary's AND Joseph's genealogy.
To me, this is one of those moments in scripture where faith takes a front seat. We see 2 very different accounts, but we can rest in the truthfulness and promises of God, and know without a doubt that regardless of the reason for this God's Word is without error. Just because we may not understand does not make the Bible wrong.
I encourage you to do a little digging of your own regarding the genealogies and make some notes of what you discover. What did you learn after doing so?
This study is part of the Study with Me: Chronological Gospels study series. It is an annual 48-week Bible study designed to encourage readers to follow along all year and dive deeper into the meat of the passages designated each week. I pray that you learn more about your Savior and grow in your relationship with Him through this study series. There is a free printable booklet available for download as well which allows you to print and take notes as you go through this study with me.
After Noah had been blessed by God, given a new covenant with the sign of the rainbow to remind both us and God of His promise, Noah cursed his grandson, Canaan. Ham, Canaan's father, had disrespected Noah, mocking Noah after finding him passed out drunk and naked, revealing Ham's heart of rebellion. Canaan and his descendants were cursed to be the slaves of Noah's middle son Shem, while their oldest brother, Japheth, would also benefit from the curse of the youngest brother.
The two of Noah's sons who did the honorable thing by respectfully coving their father's nakedness had been blessed, while Ham's line was cursed for making fun of their father and having sin in his heart. The curse on Canaan is important to remember. Throughout history, the land and tribe of Canaan will be impacted by this curse.
Why is the genealogy of Abraham important?
Genealogy can be a very confusing, exhausting, or even a boring study topic - but wherever there is a list of names in scripture, it tells us an important piece of the story. Through the genealogy of Abraham, we can learn a few key things through these confusing lists of seemingly disorganized names and places.
How many generations were there from Adam to Abraham?
From Adam and Abram, there were 18 generations, Abram being the 19th.
Adam
Seth
Enosh
Kenan
Mehalalel
Jared
Enoch
Methuselah
Lamech
Noah
Shem
Arpachshad
Shelah
Eber
Peleg
Reu
Nahor
Terah
Abram (later renamed Abraham)
What line did Abraham come from?
Abram, later renamed Abraham, came from the line of Shem who was blessed by Noah. Ham's descendants from Canaan were cursed to be the slave of Shem's descendants, and later God promises the land of Canaan to Abraham and all of his descendants.
Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Canaan was the son of Ham who had disrespected his father, Noah, resulting in a curse on Canaan. Canaan was founded by the son of Ham, but was later the land God promised to Abraham and his descendants. From Shem to Abraham there were 8 generations, making Abraham the 9th generation. With the lifespans of people in that time that would have been hundreds of years that each tribe would have been able to settle and build cities, develop livelihoods, and populate the land.
4 So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5 Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the [a]people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan.
Nimrod, son of Ham, founded key kingdoms such as Babylon and Ninevah, located in modern-day Iraq. Babylon is given special accolades for its sinful idolatry and pride. They wanted to make names for themselves by making a tower so tall it reached the top of the skies. God had commanded the people to "be fruitful and multiply over the whole earth". God's instructions were clear - He wanted the entire earth to be populated, which required the current population to spread out and settle all over the world.
Those in Babylon, of Nimrod's tribe, only 2 generations after Noah, had decided they didn't want to be scattered. They wanted to elevate themselves and worked together to defy God's command. This is an example of God giving mankind a choice knowing what they will do, and when they do the wrong thing God has to humble them. He came in and confused their languages, so now the people could not work together as they had - they were forced to disperse and migrate as the Lord had commanded them to do.
Sometimes God has to come in and poke holes in our plans to redirect us back to His plans. We have the choice of obedience or disobedience, and He is always actively working in us to bring us to His path. His path is the best path, every single time. God had said of the Babylonians "If they have begun to do this as one people all having the same language, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them." God saw that the people believed themselves invincible. They had elevated themselves over the Lord in their hearts, seeking to be like God - sound familiar?
5 Then the Lord came down to look over the city and the tower that the humans[a] were building. 6 The Lord said, “If they have begun to do this as one people all having the same language, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let’s go down there and confuse their language so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” 8 So from there the Lord scattered them throughout the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 Therefore it is called Babylon,[b][c] for there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth, and from there the Lord scattered them throughout the earth.
Where did Japhet, Shem, and Ham's descendants settle?
Japheth's descendants migrated primarily to Turkey and Europe. Ham's descendants eventually migrated primarily to Africa and Arabia, and the Egyptians (Mizraim is also translated as Egypt) and the Philistines came from his line. Shem's descendants had scattered but were intermingled with much of Ham's descendants. Eventually, as we see, Abraham (who was from Shem's line) was given Canaan which established the Promised Land.
Why is the genealogy of Abraham so important?
Jesus Christ was born into the world through the line of Abraham, who came from the line of Shem, Noah's middle son. Noah descended from Seth, the 3rd son of Adam and Eve who was born to replace Abel, who was killed by his brother, Cain. This genealogy, while confusing, is vital because it provides us with the first 19 generations leading to the earthly birth of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.
God's covenant with Abraham
We see the genealogy of Abraham, and then begin to learn about Abraham himself. His first name was Abram, which means "[my] father is exalted". God later changed his name to Abraham, which means "father of multitudes". This new name is a sign of the covenant God made with him. God called on Abraham, giving Abraham an opportunity to show his faith and obedience to the Lord. Abraham left the land in which he had lived for 75 years with his family, taking his wife, Sarai (who was also his half-sister), and his nephew, Lot, who was the son of Abraham's brother, Haran.
God called him away from all Abraham knew and promised to make him into a great nation. Abraham is an incredible example and encouragement to all of us. God blessed Abraham because of his faith in the Lord. The blessing came with tough choices and hard work. This blessing didn't come easy. As with Abraham, God will call on us to do hard things that take immense faith in Him. We can trust in the promises and guidance of God just as Abraham did, and also trust that God will bless our faithfulness and obedience to Him.
Now all who have faith in the Lord are called sons of Abraham. All who are welcomed into the family of God are also welcomed into the family of Abraham. So great was his faith that God promised to make him a great nation, and now all believers are adopted into the line of Abraham.
7 Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham.
If you have not accepted the grace of God and chosen to believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, I encourage you to pray to God now and invite Him in, accept Jesus as the sacrifice for your sins, and repent of your sins. Submit it all to God, lay it at His feet, seek the forgiveness of God, welcome Him into your life, and believe that Jesus died and rose again to save you from your sins.
If you would like to learn more about salvation, you can find a couple of studies that may help here:
We don't know a lot about Jesus' life between His birth and Him coming into His ministry, but Matthew 2 touches on some important events during His early life. We see King Herod find out about the birth of the "King of the Jews", deceive the wise men, and then murder children under the age of 2. God sends a message to Joseph warning him of King Herod's intent to murder the baby Jesus and instructs him to flee with Mary and Jesus to Nazareth.
This study is part of the Study with Me: Chronological Gospels study series. It is an annual 48-week Bible study designed to encourage readers to follow along all year and dive deeper into the meat of the passages designated each week. I pray that you learn more about your Savior and grow in your relationship with Him through this study series. There is a free printable booklet available for download as well which allows you to print and take notes as you go through this study with me.
Sometimes the way God protects us is by warning us and making a way to flee from danger. He did this with Jesus and He does this with us as well.
Describe a time God gave you a way of escape to protect you from danger. How did this impact you and your faith?
I also find it important to note that Herod believed these prophecies about a coming Messiah, but instead of worshiping Him Herod committed mass murder of infants and toddlers to protect his earthly kingdom and treasures.
What are some other passages of scripture that come to mind here and how do they encourage and convict you?
In Luke 2:39-52 we again see a small bit about Jesus' early life. We learn that young Jesus becomes strong, wise, and gracious. Fast forward to 12-year-old Jesus. While Joseph and Mary are taking their annual trip to Jerusalem for Passover Jesus decides to stay behind in the temple. Mary and Joseph found Jesus teaching with great authority after they had failed to notice He was missing for several days.
What about this peek into Jesus' early life stands out to you?
This part of the story always makes me laugh because it shows us an example of Mary and Joseph, mortal people, raising their son, the divine Son of God. This would have had to be an incredible task for them.
Throughout these passages, I love seeing so many examples of how God took care of His Son while He dwelt among us on earth, as well as Mary and Joseph who were raising Him. I also enjoy seeing the ways that Jesus' childhood was like any other kid's yet seeing glimpses of His divine nature even as a child. He displays such confidence, which reminds me that as I am also a child of God and am called to be confident in the Lord also.
What does this insight into Jesus' childhood teach you about who God is?
From creation to the birth of Noah, 1,056 years had passed. Noah is a direct descendant of Adam and Eve’s son, Seth, whom God gave them in place of Abel, the son killed by their other son, Cain. Adam was 130 years old when he and Eve had Seth. Seth had Enosh when he was 105, Enosh had Kenan at 90, Kenan had Mahalalel at 70, Mehalalel had Jared at 65, Jared had Enoch at 162, Enoch had Methuselah at 187, Methuselah had Lemech at 187, and Lamech had Noah at 182.
Adam lived 930 years
Seth lived 912 years
Enosh lived 905 years
Kenan lived 910 years
Mehalalel lived 895 years
Jared lived 962 years
Enoch lived 365 years*
Methuselah lived 969 years
Lamech lived 777 years
Noah lived 950 years
All but Lamech died in their old age, whereas Enoch was a man who walked with God until he was no longer on earth because God took him. This “took” (H3947 - lāqaḥ) is to be taken away, taken from, or carried away. So Enoch did not die an earthly death as we know it, but was taken up and away by the Lord. This is the same word the prophets of Bethel used to tell Elisha that the Lord would take Elijah away.
24 Enoch walked with God; then he was not there because God took him.
In the lifetime of Noah, whose name means “bring us relief” or “rest” (H5146 - nōaḥ), mankind was so sinful that God regretted making them. The word used for “regretted” is to be sorry, to grieve, to repent. God saw how wicked mankind had become and was so sorry to have made them He changed directions in His grief for their wickedness and told Noah His plans to wipe them all out, sparing only Noah’s family and 2 of every kind of animal.
6 the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and he was deeply grieved.
The Nephilim giants are credited throughout history as a major source of this corruption of mankind. There are several interpretations for these “sons of God”, in these cases being associated with supernatural beings. The most likely is that these “sons of God” are fallen angels cast out with Satan who left their proper spiritual domain to intermingle with human women, thus procreating abominable offspring, the Nephilim giants.
4 The Nephilim[a] were on the earth both in those days and afterward, when the sons of God came to the daughters of mankind, who bore children to them. They were the powerful men of old, the famous men.
6 One day the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan[a] also came with them. 7 The Lord asked Satan, “Where have you come from?”
“From roaming through the earth,” Satan answered him, “and walking around on it.”
6 and the angels who did not keep their own position but abandoned their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains in deep darkness for the judgment on the great day.
God’s solution to the problem of immense wickedness was to flood the entire earth so forcefully that it wiped out all “breath of life”. There was one man, though, who found favor with God. Noah was a righteous and blameless man who walked with God. He had found grace with God, and was acceptable to Him (H2580 - ḥēn). Because of this, God chose Noah to build what we not refer to as Noah's Ark.
7 Then the Lord said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I created, off the face of the earth, together with the animals, creatures that crawl, and birds of the sky—for I regret that I made them.” 8 Noah, however, found favor with the Lord.
5 and if he didn’t spare the ancient world, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others,[a] when he brought the flood on the world of the ungodly;
7 By faith Noah, after he was warned about what was not yet seen and motivated by godly fear, built an ark to deliver his family. By faith he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
God told Noah of His plans for the flood and gave Noah instructions for a great ark to be built. The ark would carry and protect Noah’s whole family of 8 people, pairs of every kind of animal, and all kinds of food for them to eat while on the ark.
14 “Make yourself an ark of gopher[a] wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it with pitch inside and outside. 15 This is how you are to make it: The ark will be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high.[b] 16 You are to make a roof,[c] finishing the sides of the ark to within eighteen inches[d] of the roof. You are to put a door in the side of the ark. Make it with lower, middle, and upper decks.
17 “Understand that I am bringing a flood—floodwaters on the earth to destroy every creature under heaven with the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish.
Imagine being in Noah’s position. You are the only man credited as righteous in a wicked and sinful world. Not only are you the only one acceptable to God, but you and your family are the only ones who are going to survive a flood that will wipe everyone and everything else out. He not only knew he would be rescued by God, but God gave Noah work to do to prepare. Noah had faith and did everything the Lord instructed him to do, while the rest of the world raged with sin and evil all around him.
God brought the Flood
Noah built this great ark to God’s specifications, and at the age of 600 he loaded his family on board, housed all the animals God sent to him, and sealed up ship before God opened the floodgates of the watery depths. The words here, “watery depths”, lead me back to Genesis 1:2. God created the whole earth from the watery depths which His Spirit had been hovering over before creation. The watery depths God had made the earth from had been unleashed so wildly that even the tallest of mountain peaks were completely covered. God brought forth the watery depths, and then He reigned them back in, revealing I am sure an incredibly transformed and soggy earth with a total of 8 human occupants.
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the sources of the vast watery depths burst open, the floodgates of the sky were opened,
All the wicked people of the earth had been wiped out, Noah and his family had survived, and the animal kingdom he housed on board was being released back to the earth. God tells Noah and his family that he and the animals shall be fruitful and multiply over the whole earth, just as God had told Adam and Eve less than 2,000 years previous to this new beginning.
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Noah, his family, and all the animals on board the ark were held within for a year while the waters flooded the earth and then receded once again, leaving the ark on the top of the mountains of Ararat. God told Noah to come out of the ark with his family and let the animals repopulate the earth. Noah built an altar and made a sacrifice to the Lord, and God made a covenant with Noah and all of his descendants.
20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord. He took some of every kind of clean animal and every kind of clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 When the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, he said to himself, “I will never again curse the ground because of human beings, even though the inclination of the human heart is evil from youth onward. And I will never again strike down every living thing as I have done.
God vowed to never again wipe out all life with floodwaters. He also put Noah and his family in charge of caring for the animals of the earth as He had done with Adam and Eve, and called on his family to repopulate the earth with new generations of people. God knew all the time the wicked inclinations of mankind, but the blood price had been paid for the sins of the world and it was time to start new once more.
God placed a rainbow in the sky as a sign of this covenant, and any time we see a rainbow even today it is a sign from God that He remembers His covenant and will never again wipe out all of creation as He did with the great flood. Noah went on to live to the age of 950 years old.
28 Now Noah lived 350 years after the flood. 29 So Noah’s life lasted 950 years; then he died.
If you have not accepted the grace of God and chosen to believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, I encourage you to pray to God now and invite Him in, accept Jesus as the sacrifice for your sins, and repent of your sins. Submit it all to God, lay it at His feet, seek the forgiveness of God, welcome Him into your life, and believe that Jesus died and rose again to save you from your sins.
If you would like to learn more about salvation, you can find a couple of studies that may help here:
This week we explore Matthew 1 and Luke 2:1-38 for part two of our Chronological Gospels study. Matthew opens up with the genealogy of Jesus. It seems like most people see lists of names and kind of gloss over it, but I encourage you to truly investigate and absorb the names on this list.
What names in the genealogy of Jesus listed in Matthew 1 stand out to you and why?
I love that Rahab, the prostitute from Joshua 2 and Joshua 6, is part of Jesus' genealogy. In Joshua, she was an unexpected participant in the story of Jericho. She hid some men of the Lord, saving their lives, and she was spared when the city fell. We then get to see that she was the mother of Boaz, who later married Ruth, which we learn in Ruth 4.
Each of these people is named in the lineage of Jesus Christ. Every name mentioned in scripture is important and intentional. This passage may seem mundane, but I find it incredible to discover ties to other stories of the Old Testament right here in this list of names. We get to learn so much from a seemingly simple list of people, but each served an incredible role in God's plans to send His Son to earth.
Who else on this list do you recognize from other Bible passages?
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After telling us the lineage of Jesus, we get to read about His birth in Matthew 1:18-25 and again in Luke 2:1-24. This is the fulfillment of the prophecy from Isaiah 7:14 and is a beautiful reminder that God is a promise keeper.
14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.[a]
What promises have you seen God keep in your life and how has this helped your faith?
In Luke 2 we learn that God used the census to lead Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem in order to fulfill the prophecy from Micah 5:2. God works all things together for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28), and He absolutely uses these details, that so often we see as burdensome or as getting in the way, to lead us where He wants us to go.
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From [a]everlasting.”
Explain a time you felt burdened by a situation and later learned God was working in it.
When Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to be presented at the temple, we see beautiful examples from Simeon and Anna. They were led by the Holy Spirit to the knowledge of who Jesus, this little infant in His parent's arms, truly was. They both not only believed what was revealed to them but proclaimed and praised this wonderful news!
This was the news they waited all their lives, and many generations, for, and here He was in their temple. These people who faithfully waited and prayed for the coming of the Messiah were blessed with being participants in presenting this Holy child to the Lord. They welcomed this opportunity and gave great, bold praise to God.
This study is part of the Study with Me: Chronological Gospels study series. It is an annual 48-week Bible study designed to encourage readers to follow along all year and dive deeper into the meat of the passages designated each week. I pray that you learn more about your Savior and grow in your relationship with Him through this study series. There is a free printable booklet available for download as well which allows you to print and take notes as you go through this study with me.
I am a wife, mom, writer, crafter, and above all, a Child of God. I love to study the Bible, fellowship with other Christians, and serve God. I am thrilled to invite you to join me in seeking to satisfy our thirsty souls with the Living Water of Christ, which is what Water On Thirsty Land is here to do.
