GENESIS 21
SARAH GIVES BIRTH TO ISAAC
Just as God promised, Sarah gives birth to a son who is named Isaac. The name Isaac means laughter, symbolic of Abraham and Sarah laughing when God promised them a child. Isaac is circumcised at eight days old, according to God’s commands.
Sarah, who now has a son of her own, sees Hagar’s son Ishmael mocking Isaac and becomes upset. Sarah tells Abraham to cast out her servant Hagar and Ishmael, and God tells Abraham to follow her request.
Hagar wanders into the desert with her son, Ishmael, and they cry out to God. God, hearing their cries, provides a well for them and protects them.
Ishmael would later become the father of a great nation, just as God had promised (Genesis 21:18). Many believe that Islam traces its lineage back to Ishmael, while Judaism and Christianity trace theirs through Isaac. This reminds us that three major world religions all trace their roots to this one family.
Abraham promises to be loyal to Abimelech and they make a trade of animals.
GENESIS 22
GOD TESTS ABRAHAM + PROVIDES A SACRIFICIAL LAMB
God tells Abraham to offer Isaac as a burnt offering. This is devastating to Abraham; Isaac is his only son through Sarah. But Abraham is faithful to God’s commands. He lays the wood for the offering on Isaac, who carries it up the mountain. Abraham builds an altar and lays his beloved son on the wood to sacrifice him. As Abraham is about to kill Isaac, an angel of the Lord tells him not to sacrifice his son. God wanted to know that Abraham was willing to offer his son, but did not require Isaac’s death.
Abraham trusts that God will provide a lamb for the sacrifice. An angel appears, stopping Abraham from sacrificing Isaac. Abraham then sees a ram stuck in the bushes nearby and offers the animal as a burnt offering to God.
This story serves as a prophecy of the crucifixion of Jesus. Just as the angel said, God does provide a lamb, Jesus the sacrificial lamb and God’s only Son, and takes away the sin of the world through His sacrifice.
Because Abraham was willing to sacrifice Isaac, God blesses him and tells him that his offspring will be as many as the sand on the beach and the stars in the sky.
Genesis 22:8 - Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.
GENESIS 23
THE DEATH + BURIAL OF SARAH
Sarah dies at the age of 127. Abraham buys the cave of Machpelah in Canaan and buries her there. Although God had promised Abraham the land of Canaan, this is the first piece he officially owns. It marks a small but significant step in the fulfillment of God’s promise.
GENESIS 24
REBEKAH AGREES TO MARRY ISAAC
Abraham is getting older, and Isaac has not married. Since he is the only offspring of both Sarah and Abraham, he needs to have a wife and children to continue Abraham’s legacy and fulfill the covenant.
Abraham commands his chief servant to find a wife for Isaac but insists that she should not be a Canaanite woman. Abraham’s servant travels to Mesopotamia to find someone for Isaac to marry.
The servant asks God for a specific sign, wanting to find the right person for Isaac. When he goes to the well, he prays for a woman who would care for and give water to his camels. God provides Rebekah, who does exactly that.
Abraham’s servant tells Rebekah what has happened, and Rebekah agrees that it is God’s will for her to marry Isaac. She returns with Abraham’s servant and marries Isaac, who loves her.
GENESIS 25
THE DEATH + LEGACY OF ABRAHAM
Now that Sarah has died, Abraham gets married again to a woman named Keturah who gives him six more sons.
Abraham dies at the age of 175 and leaves his inheritance to Isaac. Isaac and Ishmael bury him in the cave of Machpelah where Sarah was buried. God blesses Isaac after Abraham’s death. Ishmael has twelve sons, as God had previously spoken.
Rebekah is barren, but Isaac prays to God asking for children, and God answers his prayers. Rebekah becomes pregnant with twin boys. Isaac and Rebekah’s children are fighting, even in the womb. God tells Rebekah, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger” (v.23).
Esau is born first, but Jacob arrives quickly after, holding on to Esau’s heel. Esau grows up as a skillful hunter, but Jacob is a quiet man. Isaac loved Esau, while Rebekah loved Jacob.
One day, Esau comes home famished and desperate for something to eat. Jacob convinces him to give up his birthright for a bowl of lentil stew—not a good trade, Esau! Esau gave into temporary desires instead of protecting what was valuable long-term.
GENESIS 26
ISAAC LIES TO KING ABIMELECH
There is another famine in the land, so Isaac travels to Gerar. God reminds Isaac of the promises He made to Abraham that now apply to him.
Isaac tells Abimelech the same lie as Abraham in Genesis 20, trying to disguise his wife for his sister. Abimelech sees Isaac and Rebekah laughing and knows they are married. Abimelech is understanding and tells his people not to kill Isaac or Rebekah.
Isaac has an abundance of crops and livestock, which causes an argument over water and the use of a well. Abimelech visits Isaac and they come to an agreement.
Esau takes two wives, named Judith and Basemath, who make life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah.
GENESIS 27
JACOB TAKES ESAU’S BLESSING
Jacob, with Rebekah’s sneaky instructions, tricks his father Isaac into blessing him instead of Esau. Because Esau is hairy and Jacob is not, Jacob attaches goat skin to himself so that he feels like Esau. Isaac is old and blind and falls for Jacob and Rebekah’s plan.
Esau is furious and wants to kill Jacob, so Rebekah tells Jacob to run away to stay with her brother Laban in Haran.
GENESIS 28
JACOB DREAMS OF A LADDER REACHING TO HEAVEN
Isaac warns Jacob not to marry a Canaanite woman but rather someone from the family of Abraham. Meanwhile, Esau marries a third wife, the daughter of Ishmael.
On his way to Haran, Jacob sleeps in Canaan on a single stone for a pillow. Jacob has a dream about a ladder reaching to heaven with angels descending upon it. God tells Jacob that the covenant He made with Abraham now applies to him. God promises land and tells him that his offspring will be as many as the dust of the earth.
In verse 14, God tells Jacob “In you and your offspring shall all of the families of the earth be blessed.” Here, God is referring to how Jesus will come from the line of Jacob and bless the entire earth!
Jacob sets up a pillar and pours oil on top of it, calling the place “Bethel,” which means “house of God.”
GENESIS 29
JACOB MARRIES BOTH RACHEL + LEAH
While Jacob is visiting the well, he meets Rachel. Jacob wants to marry Rachel and agrees to work for Laban, Rachel’s father, for seven years as a bride price.
After seven years, Laban deceives Jacob and gives him Leah, Rachel’s sister, to marry instead. Leah is not as beautiful as Rachel and Jacob does not love her. Jacob gets a taste of his own tricky medicine!
Jacob agrees to work another seven years to marry Rachel. God sees that Leah is loved less by Jacob and allows her to have children, while Rachel is unable to have children. Leah gives Jacob four sons, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah.
GENESIS 30
JACOB’S CHILDREN THROUGH BILHAH, ZILPAH, LEAH, + RACHEL
Rachel is envious of Leah for being able to have children and tells Jacob that she will die if she does not have children.
Similar to Sarah’s strategy with Hagar in Genesis 16, Rachel gives Jacob her servant Bilhah to have a child with her. Bilhah has two sons with Jacob, named Dan and Naphtali.
Leah also wants to give Jacob more children, so she offers her servant, Zilpah. Zilpah has two sons with Jacob as well, named Gad and Asher.
Leah trades some of her mandrakes with Rachel for a night with Jacob. Leah gets pregnant twice more, first with Issachar and then with Zebulun.
God remembered Rachel and opens her womb, allowing her to conceive. Rachel gets pregnant with Joseph, Jacob’s son whom he loves the most.
GENESIS 31
JACOB’S DISPUTE WITH LABAN
Laban’s demeanor changes towards Jacob, and he alters the amount of Jacob’s pay, leaving Jacob feeling treated unfairly.
Jacob leaves Laban without saying anything, taking Leah and Rachel with him. Laban does not like this and catches up with them seven days later. Laban is angry, but God visits him in a dream and orders him to speak neither good nor bad to Jacob.
Laban rebukes Jacob for leaving but also accuses him of taking his household gods or idols. Jacob is unaware that Rachel has taken them and hidden them. Rachel lies about having them and does not get caught.
Jacob and Laban start to argue about the household gods and about the payment of Jacob's wages, but they eventually come to an agreement and mark it with a pile of stones.
GENESIS 32
JACOB PREPARES TO SEE ESAU + WRESTLES WITH GOD
Jacob is heading back to Canaan and is afraid of seeing Esau. When Jacob left Canaan, Esau wanted to kill him for taking his birthright and blessing.
Jacob sends out messengers to Edom to try and find Esau. They return telling Jacob that Esau is coming to meet him and has 400 men with him. This is scary news to Jacob, so he splits the people, animals, and possessions with him into two camps so that Esau can only claim half of it.
Jacob prays sincerely to God, asks God to deliver him from Esau, and admits that he is not worthy of all that God has done for him. He then sends a generous gift ahead to Esau to try and appease him.
Jacob has an interesting encounter with God: a wrestling match! Jacob says that he saw God face to face and that his life was delivered. But he does not come out unscathed; God touched Jacob’s hip socket, knocking it out and leaving him with a limp.
GENESIS 33
JACOB’S EMOTIONAL REUNION WITH ESAU
Jacob reunites with Esau, and they embrace each other and fall to the ground weeping! This encounter could have been horrible and hostile, but instead, they met each other with kindness and humility.
Jacob encourages Esau to accept his gift because God has been so generous to him. Jacob and Esau end on better terms but still decide to go their separate ways.
GENESIS 34
DINAH + THE SHECHEMITES
Dinah, the daughter of Leah and Jacob, is seized, raped, defiled, and humiliated by a man named Shechem.
When Shechem asks to marry her, Dinah’s brothers demand that all the men in the city be circumcised. While the men are recovering, Simeon and Levi take revenge by killing them and plundering their belongings. Jacob is troubled by their actions and fears retaliation.
GENESIS 35
GOD CHANGES JACOB’S NAME TO ISRAEL
God tells Jacob to go to Bethel and build an altar. Jacob tells his family to get rid of all the household gods and idols they have been carrying and buries them.
Jacob goes to Bethel and God changes his name from Jacob to Israel. God repeats the promise he made with Abraham and Isaac and speaks it over Jacob/Israel. For the sake of clarity, we will continue to call him Jacob.
Rachel dies in childbirth, leaving Jacob with a twelfth son, Benjamin.
Jacob’s oldest son, Reuben, sleeps with Jacob's concubine Bilhah, which is a disgrace to Jacob.
Isaac dies at age 180 and Jacob and Esau bury him.
Genesis 35:10 - And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; no longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.” So he called his name Israel.
GENESIS 36
THE DESCENDANTS OF ESAU
Esau, also known as Edom, is the father of the Edomites, one of Israel’s future enemies.
GENESIS 37
JOSEPH’S DREAMS + HIS BROTHERS’ RESPONSE
Because Joseph is Jacob's favorite son, Jacob gives him a long robe of many colors. This made the other brothers very angry and jealous, so they hated Joseph.
Joseph has a dream where he and his brothers are gathering grain into sheaves. Joseph's sheaf stands upright, and the brothers’ bundles of grain bow down to Joseph’s sheaf. He tells this to his brothers, and they are offended. In Joseph’s second dream the sun, the moon, and eleven stars bow down to him. This dream irritates his brothers even more.
The brothers debate killing Joseph or leaving him in a pit to die. As they are plotting, they say “here comes this dreamer,” mocking Joseph. They decide to sell him as a slave to the Ishmaelites for twenty silver shekels. Reuben, Jacob's oldest son, wants to leave him in the pit, but Judah motions to sell him as a slave instead.
Joseph is taken to Egypt to be a slave to Potiphar, an officer to Pharaoh.
The brothers take Joseph’s colorful robe and dip it in the blood of a goat. They bring the robe to Jacob, who assumes Joseph is dead. Jacob is heartbroken, mourning inconsolably.
Jacob deceived his own father with a stolen coat and dead goat in Genesis 27, and now he is the one being tricked.
GENESIS 38
JUDAH + TAMAR
The story shifts from Joseph and focuses on Judah, one of the sons of Jacob and Leah. Judah lives in Canaan and marries a Canaanite woman who gives him two sons, Er and Onan.
Er marries a woman named Tamar, but Er is wicked in the sight of the Lord, so God kills him. Now, Onan was to marry Tamar. Onan was also evil in God’s sight, wasting his childbearing potential instead of blessing Tamar with a child, so God kills him as well.
Judah later has a third son, named Shelah. Because his first two sons died, Judah promises Tamar that Shelah will marry her when he is older. Because Judah does not want Selah to also die, he does not keep his promise to Tamar.
Tamar takes matters into her own hands and disguises herself, covering her face with a veil. Judah, thinking she was a prostitute, sleeps with her, and she becomes pregnant. When Judah finds out that Tamar is pregnant, he wants her killed. But Tamar covered her tracks by keeping Judah’s personal belongings (his seal, cord, and staff) incriminating him as the one who impregnated her.
Tamar gives birth to twin boys, named Zerah and Perez. Matthew 1:1-6 shows the lineage of Jesus, including Judah and Perez. Even in this unconventional story, God is working to fulfill his promise to Abraham through the line of Judah.
GENESIS 39
POTIPHAR’S WIFE ACCUSES JOSEPH
After being sold by his brothers to the Ishmaelites, Joseph is sold in Egypt to be a servant to Potiphar, a high-ranking officer in Pharaoh’s court.
Joseph is a good-looking man and Potiphar’s wife wants to sleep with him. Joseph doesn’t want trouble with Potiphar or to sin against God, so he denies her advances.
Eventually, she gets frustrated by Joseph’s rejection and grabs him by his garments in a sexual advance. Joseph abandons his garments and runs away. In her anger, she uses his garment against him, claiming he attempted to rape her. Similar to his colorful coat, Joseph's clothing is used against him!
Joseph gets thrown in prison, but God is still with him and helps him succeed.
GENESIS 40
JOSEPH INTERPRETS DREAMS FOR THE CUPBEARER + BAKER
While in prison, two other prisoners have dreams that Joseph is able to interpret.
One of the men is the king’s cupbearer. His dream is about three blossoming branches. Joseph tells him that in three days, he will be restored to his position as cupbearer to the king. Joseph asks the cupbearer to remember him and help him once he is released from prison.
The other person is the king’s baker. His dream is about birds eating from three cake baskets on his head. Joseph tells him that in three days, he will be killed.
Three days later, both of the dreams that Joseph interpreted were fulfilled. The baker is hanged, and the cupbearer returns to his position, but he does not remember Joseph like Joseph previously asked.