GOD in the Old Testament - Part 19

Genesis 33:4-5

    But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept. Then Esau looked up and saw the women and children. "Who are these with you?" he asked.

    Jacob answered, "They are the children God has graciously given your servant."

 

Genesis 33:10-11  

    "No, please!" said Jacob. "If I have found favor in your eyes, accept this gift from me. For to see your face is like seeing the face of God, now that you have received me favorably. Please accept the present that was brought to you, for God has been gracious to me and I have all I need." And because Jacob insisted, Esau accepted it.  

(see all Genesis 33 and 34)

 

Genesis 35:1  

    Then God said to Jacob, "Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau."

 

Genesis 35:3 

"Then come, let us go up to Bethel (which means "house of God"), where I will build an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone."

 

Genesis 35:5  

Then they set out, and the terror of God fell on the towns all around them so that no one pursued them.

 

Genesis 35:7  

There he built an altar, and he called the place El Bethel (which means "God of Bethel"), because it was there that God revealed himself to him when he was fleeing from his brother. 

 

Genesis 35:9-15  

    After Jacob returned from Paddan Aram, God appeared to him again and blessed him. God said to him, "Your name is Jacob (which means "he grasps the heel" a Hebrew idiom for "he deceives"), but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel (probably means "he struggles with God")." So he named him Israel.

    And God said to him, "I am God Almighty; be fruitful and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will be among your descendants. The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you." Then God went up from him at the place where he had talked with him. 

    Jacob set up a stone pillar at the place where God had talked with him, and he poured out a drink offering on it; he also poured oil on it. Jacob called the place where God had talked with him Bethel (which means "house of God").  

(see all Genesis 35 through 38)

    

(parentheses are mine) 

 

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®, Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Limited to 15 verses per post.

GOD in the Old Testament - Part 18

Genesis 32:1-2

    Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. When he saw them, he said, "This is the camp of God!" So he named that place Mahanaim (meaning two camps).

 

Genesis 32:7-12  

    In great fear and distress Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups, and the flocks and herds of cattle as well. He thought, "If Esau comes and attacks one group, the group that is left may escape."

    Then Jacob prayed, "O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, LORD, you who said to me, 'Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,' I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two camps. Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children. But you have said, 'I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.' " 

 

Genesis 32:24-30  

So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob's hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, "Let me go, for it is daybreak."

    But Jacob replied, "I will not let you go unless you bless me."

    So the man asked him, "What is your name?"

    "Jacob," he answered.

    Then the man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob (meaning "he grasps the heel" a Hebrew idiom for "he deceives."), but Israel (probably means "he struggles with God."), because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome."

    Jacob said, "Please tell me your name."

    But he replied, "Why do you ask my name?" Then he blessed him there.

    So Jacob called the place Peniel (meaning "face of God"), saying, "It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared."  (see all Genesis 32) 

  

(parentheses are mine) 

 

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®, Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Limited to 15 verses per post.

GOD in the Old Testament - Part 17

Genesis 31:4-7

    So Jacob sent word to Rachel and Leah to come out to the fields where his flocks were. He said to them, "I see that your father's attitude toward me is not what it was before, but the God of my father has been with me. You know that I've worked for your father with all my strength, yet your father has cheated me by changing my wages ten times. However, God has not allowed him to harm me."

 

Genesis 31:11-13  

"The angel of God said to me in a dream, 'Jacob.' I answered, 'Here I am.' And he said, 'Look up and see that all the male goats mating with the flock are streaked, speckled or spotted, for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you. I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and where you made a vow to me. Now leave this land at once and go back to your native land.' " 

 

Genesis 31:15-16  

"Does he not regard us (Leah and Rachel) as foreigners? Not only has he sold us, but he has used up what was paid for us. Surely all the wealth that God took away from our father belongs to us and to our children. So do whatever God has told you." 

 

Genesis 31:24  

Then God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night and said to him, "Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad." 

 

Genesis 31:29  

"I (Laban) have the power to harm you; but last night the God of your father said to me, 'Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.' " 

 

Genesis 31:41-42  

"If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, you surely would have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hands, and last night he rebuked you."

 

Genesis 31:50  

"If you mistreat my daughters or if you take any wives besides my daughters, even though no one is with us, remember that God is a witness between you and me." 

 

Genesis 31:53  

"May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us." 

    So Jacob took an oath in the name of the Fear of his father Isaac.  (see all Genesis 31) 

  

(parentheses are mine) 

 

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®, Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Limited to 15 verses per post.

GOD in the Old Testament - Part 16

Genesis 30:1-7

    When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she became jealous of her sister. So she said to Jacob, "Give me children, or I'll die!"

    Jacob became angry with her and said, "Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?"

    Then she said, "Here is Bilhah, my servant. Sleep with her so that she can bear children for me and I too can build a family through her."

    So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife. Jacob slept with her, and she became pregnant and bore him a son. Then Rachel said, "God has vindicated me; he has listened to my plea and given me a son." Because of this she named him Dan. (meaning "he has vindicated")

    Rachel's servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. 

 

Genesis 30:16-20  

    So when Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him. "You must sleep with me," she said. "I have hired you with my son's mandrakes." So he slept with her that night.

    God listened to Leah, and she became pregnant and bore Jacob a fifth son. Then Leah said, "God has rewarded me for giving my servant to my husband." So she named him Issachar. (meaning "reward")

    Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son. Then Leah said, "God has presented me with a precious gift. This time my husband will treat me with honor, because I have borne him six sons." So she named him Zebulun. (meaning "honor")

 

Genesis 30:22-24  

    Then God remembered Rachel; he listened to her and enabled her to conceive. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son and said, "God has taken away my disgrace." And she named him Joseph, (meaning "may he add") and said, "May the LORD add to me another son."  (see all Genesis 30) 

  

(parentheses are mine) 

 

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®, Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Limited to 15 verses per post.

GOD in the Old Testament - Part 15

Genesis 28:1-4 

    So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him. Them he commanded him: "Do not marry a Canaanite woman. Go at once to Paddan Aram, to the house of your mother's father Bethuel. Take a wife for yourself there, from among the daughters of Laban, your mother's brother. May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples. May he give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham, so that you may take possession of the land where you now reside as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham."

 

Genesis 28:10-17  

    Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran. When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. There above it stood the LORD, and he said, "I am the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."

    When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it." He was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven."

 

Genesis 28:20-22  

    Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I may return safely to my father's household, then the LORD will be my God and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God's house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth."  (see all Genesis 28 - 29) 

  

(parentheses are mine) 

 

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®, Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Limited to 15 verses per post.

GOD in the Old Testament - Part 14

Genesis 26:23-25 

    From there he went up to Beersheba. That night the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham."

    Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD. There he pitched his tent, and there his servants dug a well.   (see all Genesis 26)

 

Genesis 27:19-23  

    Jacob said to his father, "I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing."

    Isaac asked his son, "How did you find it so quickly, my son?"

    "The LORD your God gave me success," he replied.

    Then Isaac said to Jacob, "Come near so I can touch you, my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not." 

    Jacob went close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, "The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau." He did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he proceeded to bless him. 

 

Genesis 27:26-29  

Then his father Isaac said to him, "Come here, my son, and kiss me." 

    So he went to him and kissed him. When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said,

    "Ah, the smell of my son

        is like the smell of a field

        that the LORD has blessed.

    May God give you heaven's dew

        and earth's richness--

        an abundance of grain and new wine.

    May nations serve you

        and peoples bow down to you.

    Be lord over your brothers,

        and may the sons of your mother bow down to you.

    May those who curse you be cursed

        and those who bless you be blessed."

        (see all Genesis 26-27) 

  

(parentheses are mine) 

 

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®, Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Limited to 15 verses per post.

GOD in the Old Testament - Part 13

Genesis 24:1-4 

    Abraham was now very old, and the LORD had blessed him in every way. He said to the senior servant in his household, the one in charge of all he had, "Put your hand under my thigh. I want you to swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living, but will go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac."

 

Genesis 24:6-7  

    "Make sure that you do not take my son back there," Abraham said. "The LORD, the God of heaven, who brought me out of my father's household and my native land and who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, 'To your offspring I will give this land'--he will send an angel before you so that you can get a wife for my son from there." 

 

Genesis 24:12-14  

    Then he prayed, "LORD, God of my master Abraham, make me successful today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. May it be that when I say to a young woman, 'Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,' and she says, "Drink, and I'll water your camels too'--let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master." 

 

Genesis 24:26-27  

    Then the man bowed down and worshiped the LORD, saying, "Praise be to the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his kindness and faithfulness to my master. As for me, the LORD has led me on a journey to the house of my master's relatives."

 

Genesis 24:42  

    "When I came to the spring today, I said, 'LORD, God of my master Abraham, if you will, please grant success to the journey on which I have come."  

 

Genesis 24:47-48  

    "I asked her, 'Whose daughter are you?'

    "She said, 'The daughter of Bethuel son of Nahor, whom Milkah bore to him.'

    "Then I put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her arms; and I bowed down and worshiped the LORD. I praised the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me on the right road to get the granddaughter of my master's brother for his son."  (see all Genesis 24) 

 

Genesis 25:11  

After Abraham's death, God blessed his son Isaac, who then lived near Beer Lahai Roi.  (see all Genesis 25)   

(parentheses are mine) 

 

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®, Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Limited to 15 verses per post.