In today’s Bible reading*, Jacob (now named Israel) returns to Luz, which he had named Bethel (Bethel means House of God). You may remember that previously (Genesis 28), Jacob/Israel had an encounter with God and dreamed of a stairway to heaven with God’s angels ascending and descending the stairway. Jacob/Israel was so moved by this…
In today’s Bible reading*, we see that Jacob is an early Geneticist. When most people think of the Father of Genetics, they think of Gregor Mendel, the mid-nineteenth-century scientist who experimented with pea plants. He observed that in cross-pollinating the plants, predictable results would follow. But Mendel was not the first person to experiment with…
Isaac gives his son Jacob an important blessing in today’s Bible reading. In Twenty-first Century Western culture, we miss the importance of a father giving his son (or daughter) a blessing. But a blessing is so very important, even today! In the case of Isaac and Jacob, Isaac thought he was giving his blessing to…
In today’s Bible reading*, we read the story of when Rebekah falls in love with Isaac. The culture of the Twenty-first Century Western World is very different than that of Isaac’s day. Abraham sends his servant to the land of his relatives to find a wife for his “firstborn son” Isaac. Abraham was concerned that…
Abraham offers his only son in today’s Bible reading*. Yes, you read that correctly: “his only son”. But didn’t Abraham have a son by Sarah’s servant Hagar? Yes, he did. Ishmael was born fourteen years before Isaac. So why does Moses refer to Isaac as Abraham’s “only” son? Elsewhere we’re told that Isaac was Abraham’s…
In today’s Bible reading*, we read about the depths of depravity of the citizens of Sodom, Lot, and Lot’s daughters. At the same time, we see Abraham’s intercession on behalf of the citizens of Sodom. Much has been said about the sin of the people of Sodom. But as you read the story, you see…
