GOD in the Old Testament - Exodus - Part 5

Exodus 7:1-6

    Then the LORD said to Moses, "See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. You are to say everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country. But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in Egypt, he will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment I will bring out my divisions, my people the Israelites. And the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it." 

    Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD commanded them.      (see all Exodus 7)

 

Exodus 8:16-19  

    Then the LORD said to Moses, "Tell Aaron, 'Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the ground,' and throughout the land of Egypt the dust will become gnats." They did this, and when Aaron stretched out his hand with the staff and struck the dust of the ground, gnats came on people and animals. All the dust throughout the land of Egypt became gnats. But when the magicians tried to produce gnats by their secret arts, they could not. 

    Since the gnats were on people and animals everywhere, the magicians said to Pharaoh, "This is the finger of God." But Pharaoh's heart was hard and he would not listen, just as the LORD had said. 

 

Exodus 8:24-28  

    And the LORD did this. Dense swarms of flies poured into Pharaoh's palace and into the houses of his officials; throughout Egypt the land was ruined by the flies.

    Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "Go, sacrifice to your God here in the land."

    But Moses said, "That would not be right. The sacrifices we offer the LORD our God would be detestable to the Egyptians. And if we offer sacrifices that are detestable in their eyes, will they not stone us? We must take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God, as he commands us."

    Pharaoh said, "I will let you go to offer sacrifices to the LORD your God in the wilderness, but you must not go very far. Now pray for me."  (see all Exodus 8) 

  

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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 - Exodus - Part 4

Exodus 4:27-31

    The LORD said to Aaron, "Go into the wilderness to meet Moses." So he met Moses at the mountain of God and kissed him. Then Moses told Aaron everything the LORD has sent him to say, and also about all the signs he had commanded him to perform. 

    Moses and Aaron brought together all the elders of the Israelites, and Aaron told them everything the LORD has said to Moses. He also performed the signs before the people, and they believed. And when they heard that the LORD was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.  (see all Exodus 4)

 

Exodus 5:1-4  

    Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the wilderness.' " 

    Pharaoh said, "Who is the LORD, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD and I will not let Israel go."

    Then they said, "The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Now let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God, or he may strike us with plagues or with the sword."

    But the king of Egypt said, "Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their labor? Get back to your work!"

 

Exodus 5:8-9  

"But require them to make the same number of bricks as before; don't reduce the quota. They are lazy, that is why they are crying out, 'Let us go and sacrifice to our God.' Make the work harder for the people so that they keep working and pay no attention to lies."  (see all Exodus 5)

 

Exodus 6:2-3  

    God also appeared to Moses, "I am the LORD. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself fully known to them." 

 

Exodus 6:7-8  

" 'I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession, I am the LORD.' "  (see all Exodus 6) 

  

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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 - Exodus - Part 3

Exodus 3:16-19

    "Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers--the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob--appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites--a land flowing with milk and honey.'

    "The elders of Israel will listen to you. Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, 'The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God.' But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him."  

(see all Exodus 3)

 

Exodus 4:1-5  

Moses answered, "What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, 'The LORD did not appear to you'?"

    Then the LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?"

    "A staff," he replied.

    The LORD said, "Throw it on the ground."

    Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. Then the LORD said to him, "Reach out your hand and take it by the tail." So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. "This," said the LORD, "is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers--the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob--has appeared to you."

 

Exodus 4:14-16  

    Then the LORD's anger burned against Moses and he said, "What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and he will be glad to see you. You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as through he were your mouth and as if you were God to him.

 

Exodus 4:19-20   

    Now the LORD had said to Moses in Midian, "Go back to Egypt, for all those who wanted to kill you are dead." So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey and started back to Egypt. And he took the staff of God in his hand.  

(Exodus 4 continues tomorrow.) 

  

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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 - Exodus - Part 2

Exodus 3:1-15

    Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight--why the bush does not burn up."

    When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, "Moses! Moses!"

    And Moses said, "Here I am."

    "Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." Then he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." At this Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

    Then the LORD said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey--the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt."

    But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"

    And God said, "I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain."

    Moses said to God, "Suppose I go the the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what should I tell them?"

    God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Isrealites, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers--the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob--has sent me to you.' 

    "This is my name forever,

        the name you shall call me

        from generation to generation."

(Exodus 3 continues tomorrow) 

  

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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 - Exodus - Part 1

Exodus 1:15-21

    The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, "When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live." The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, "Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?"

    The midwives answered Pharaoh, "Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive."

    So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.  

(see all Exodus 1)

 

Exodus 2:18-25  

    When the girls returned to Reuel their father, he asked them, "Why have you returned so early today?" 

    They answered, "An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds. He even drew water for us and watered the flock."

    "And where is he?" Reuel asked his daughters. "Why did you leave him? Invite him to have something to eat."

    Moses agreed to stay with the man, who gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage. Zipporah gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom (meaning "a foreigner there"), saying, "I have become a foreigner in a foreign land."

    During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.  (see all Exodus 2) 

   

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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 - Genesis - Part 25

Genesis 49:22-26  

"Joseph is a fruitful vine,

    a fruitful vine near a spring,

    whose branches climb over a wall.

With bitterness archers attacked him;

    they shot at him with hostility.

But his bow remained steady,

    his strong arm stayed limber,

because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob,

    because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,

because of your father's God, who helps you,

    because of the Almighty who blesses you

with blessings of the skies above,

    blessings of the deep springs below,

    blessings of the breast and womb.

Your father's blessings are greater

    than the blessings of the ancient mountains,

    than the bounty of the age-old hills.

Let all these rest on the head of Joseph,

    on the brow of the prince among his brothers." 

    (see all Genesis 49)

 

Genesis 50:16-21

So they sent word to Joseph, saying, "Your father left these instructions before he died: 'This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.' Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father." When their message came to him Joseph wept.

    His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. "We are your slaves," they said.

    But Joseph said to them, "Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, saving the lives of many. So then, don't be afraid. I will provide for you and your children." And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.

 

Genesis 50:24-26  

    Then Joseph said to his brothers, "I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob." And Joseph made the Israelites swear an oath and said, "God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up from this place." 

    So Joseph died at the age of a hundred and ten. And after they embalmed him, he was placed in a coffin in Egypt.  

(see all Genesis 50) 

  

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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 - Genesis - Part 24

Genesis 48:1-4  

     Some time later Joseph was told, "Your father is ill." So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim along with him. When Jacob was told, "Your son Joseph has come to see you," Israel rallied his strength and sat up on the bed.

    Jacob said to Joseph, "God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and there he blessed me and said to me, 'I am going to make you fruitful and increase your numbers. I will make you a community of peoples, and I will give this land as an everlasting possession to your descendants after you.' "

 

Genesis 48:8-9  

    When Israel saw the sons of Joseph, he asked, "Who are these?"

    "They are the sons God has given me here," Joseph said to his father.

    Then Israel said, "Bring them to me so I may bless them."

 

Genesis 48:11  

    Israel said to Joseph, "I never expected to see your face again, and now God has allowed me to see your children too."

 

Genesis 48:15-22  

    Then he blessed Joseph and said,

"May the God before whom my fathers

    Abraham and Isaac walked faithfully,

the God who has been my shepherd

    all my life to this day,

the Angel who has delivered me from all harm

    --may he bless these boys.

May they be called by my name

    and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac,

and may they increase greatly

    on the earth."

    When Joseph saw his father placing his right hand on Ephraim's head he was displeased; so he took hold of his father's hand to move it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head. Joseph said to him, "No, my father, this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head." 

    But his father refused and said, "I know, my son, I know. He too will become a people, and he too will become great. Nevertheless, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his descendants will become groups of nations." He blessed them that day and said, 

    "In your name will Israel pronounce this blessing:

        'May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.' "

So he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.

    Then Israel said to Joseph, "I am about to die, but God will be with you and take you back to the land of your fathers. And to you I give one more ridge of land than to your brothers, the ridge I took from the Amorites with my sword and bow." (Shechem)

(see all Genesis 48)   

  

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GOD in the Old Testament - Genesis - Part 23

Genesis 43:19-23

    So they went up to Joseph's steward and spoke to him at the entrance to the house. "We beg your pardon, our lord," they said, "we came down here the first time to buy food. But at the place where we stopped for the night we opened our sacks and each of us found his silver--the exact weight--in the mouth of his sack. So we have brought it back with us. We have also brought additional silver with us to buy food. We don't know who put our silver in our sacks."

    "It's all right," he said, "Don't be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks; I received your silver." Then he brought Simeon out to them. 

 

Genesis 43:29-30  

    As he looked about and saw his brother Benjamin, his own mother's son, he asked, "Is this your youngest brother, the one you told me about?" And he said, "God be gracious to you, my son." Deeply moved at the sight of his brother, Joseph hurried out and looked for a place to weep. He went into his private room and wept there.

(see all Genesis 43 and 44)

 

Genesis 45:6-9  

"For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve you for a remnant on the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

    "So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt. Now hurry back to my father and say to him, 'This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; don't delay.' "

(see all Genesis 45)

 

Genesis 46:1-4  

    So Israel set out with all that was his, and when he reached Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.

    And God spoke to Israel in a vision at night and said, "Jacob! Jacob!"

    "Here I am," he replied.

    "I am God, the God of your father," he said. "Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph's own hand will close your eyes."

(see all Genesis 46 and 47)     

  

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GOD in the Old Testament - Genesis - Part 22

Genesis 41:37-41

    The plan seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his officials. So Pharaoh asked them, "Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the spirit of God?"

    Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you."

    So Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt."

 

Genesis 41:50-52  

    Before the years of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On. Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh (may be derived from the Hebrew for "forget") and said, "It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father's household." The second son he named Ephraim (sounds like the Hebrew for "twice fruitful") and said, "It is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering."  

(see all Genesis 41) 

 

Genesis 42:18-21  

    On the third day, Joseph said to them, "Do this and you will live, for I fear God: If you are honest men, then let one of your brothers stay here in prison, while the rest of you go and take grain back for your starving households. But you must bring your youngest brother to me, so that your words may be verified and that you may not die." This they proceeded to do.

    They said to one another, "Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen; that's why this distress has come on us." 

 

Genesis 42:27-28  

     At the place where they stopped for the night one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey, and he saw his silver in the mouth of his sack. "My silver has been returned," he said to his brothers. "Here it is in my sack."

    Their hearts sank and they turned to each other trembling and said, "What is this that God has done to us?" 

(see all Genesis 42) 

  

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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 - Genesis - Part 21

Genesis 40:6-8

    When Joseph came to them the next morning, he saw that they were dejected. So he asked Pharaoh's officials who were in custody with him in his master's house, "Why do you look so sad today?" 

    "We both had dreams," they answered, "but there is no one to interpret them."

    Then Joseph said to them, "Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams."

(see all Genesis 40)

 

Genesis 41:14-16  

    So Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was quickly brought from the dungeon. when he had shaved and changed his clothes, he came before Pharaoh.

    Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it."

    "I cannot do it," Joseph replied to Pharaoh," but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires."

 

Genesis 41:25-33  

    Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, "The dreams of Pharaoh are one and the same. God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads of grain are seven years: It is one and the same dream. The seven lean, ugly cows that came up afterward are seven years, and so are the seven worthless heads of grain scorched by the east wind: They are seven years of famine. 

    "It is just as I said to Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do. Seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the land of Egypt, but seven years of famine will follow them. Then all the abundance in Egypt will be forgotten, and the famine will savage the land. The abundance in the land will not be remembered, because the famine that follows will be so severe. The reason the dream was given to Pharaoh in two forms is that the matter has been firmly decided by God, and God will do it soon.

    "And now let Pharaoh look for a discerning and wise man and put him in charge of the land of Egypt."  

(continued tomorrow)

  

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GOD in the Old Testament - Genesis - Part 20

Genesis 39:2-16  

    The LORD was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. When his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the LORD blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the LORD was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field. So Potiphar left everything he had in Joseph's care; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.

    Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, and after a while his master's wife took notice of Joseph and said, "Come to bed with me!"

    But he refused. "With me in charge," he told her, "My master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?" And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her. 

     One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside. She caught him by his cloak and said, "Come to bed with me!" But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.

    When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand and had run out of the house, she called her household servants. "Look," she said to them, "this Hebrew has been brought to us to make sport of us! He came in here to sleep with me, but I screamed. When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house."

    She kept his cloak beside her until his master came home.  

    (see all Genesis 39) 

  

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GOD in the Old Testament - Genesis - 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)

    

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GOD in the Old Testament - Genesis - 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 - Genesis - 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 - Genesis - 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 - Genesis - 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 - Genesis - 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 - Genesis - 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.

GOD in the Old Testament - Genesis - Part 12

Genesis 21:22-24 

    At that time Abimelek and Phicol the commander of his forces said to Abraham, "God is with you in everything you do. Now swear to me here before God that you will not deal falsely with me or my children or my descendants. Show to me and the country where you now reside as a foreigner the same kindness I have shown to you."

    Abraham said, "I swear it."

 

Genesis 21:31-34  

    So that place was called Beersheba, because the two men swore an oath there.

    After the treaty had been made at Beersheba, Abimelek and Phicol the commander of his forces returned to the land of the Philistines. Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the LORD, the Eternal God. And Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for a long time.  (see Genesis 21:22-34)

 

Genesis 22:1-3  

    Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!"

    "Here I am," he replied.

    Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, whom you love--Isaac--and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on the mountain I will show you." 

    Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 

 

Genesis 22:8-12  

    Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together.

    When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!"

    "Here I am," he replied.

    "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."  

(see all Genesis 22-23) 

  

(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 - Genesis - Part 11

Genesis 21:1-7 

    Now the LORD was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what he had promised. Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him. When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God commanded him. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. 

    Sarah said, "God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me." And she added, "Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age." 

 

Genesis 21:11-13  

    The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son. (see verses 8-10) But God said to him, "Do not be so distressed about the boy and your slave woman. Listen to what Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. I will make the son of the slave into a nation also, because he is your offspring." 

 

Genesis 21:17-21  

    God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, "What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation." 

    Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.

    God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer. While he was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from Egypt.  

(see Genesis 21:1-21) 

  

(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 - Genesis - Part 10

Genesis 20:1-7 

    Now Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur. For a while he stayed in Gerar, and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, "She is my sister." Then Abimelek king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.

    But God came to Abimelek in a dream one night and said to him, "You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman."

    Now Abimelek had not gone near her, so he said, "Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation? Did he not say to me, 'She is my sister,' and didn't she also say, 'He is my brother'? I have done this with a clear conscience and clean hands."

    Then God said to him in the dream, "Yes, I know you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against me. That is why I did not let you touch her. Now return the man's wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, you may be sure that you and all who belong to you will die."

 

Genesis 20:11-13  

And Abimelek asked Abraham, "What was your reason for doing this?" 

    Abraham replied, "I said to myself, 'There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.' Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not of my mother; and she became my wife. And when God had me wander from my father's household, I said to her, 'This is how you can show your love for me: Everywhere we go, say of me, "He is my brother." ' " 

 

Genesis 20:17-18  

    Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelek, his wife and his female slaves so they could have children again, for the LORD had kept all the women in Abimelek's household from conceiving because of Abraham's wife Sarah.  (see all Genesis 20) 

  

(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.