In today’s Bible reading*, we see another blessing pronounced on a younger son, skipping the older one. A few days ago, I wrote about the importance of passing along a blessing to one’s children. Today, Jacob/Israel pronounces a blessing to Joseph’s sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. Joseph recognized that his father’s hands were on the wrong…
Today’s Bible reading* shows us that Joseph sees the big picture of his purpose and calling. If you remember back to our introduction to Joseph as a young man in Genesis 37:5, he told his brothers about his dream of his brothers and his father bowing down to him. His brothers hated him so much…
We read today* that Joseph has become Egypt’s Prime Minister. After interpreting Pharaoh’s dream, he is put in charge. Pharaoh provides Joseph with his own signet ring, a wife, clothes, and transportation. Basically, Pharaoh gives Joseph everything a man could ask for. Per his recommendation to Pharaoh, for the next seven years, Joseph collects 20%…
Several times in today’s Bible reading*, Moses brings out that the LORD was with Joseph. Moses uses God’s Covenant-making, Covenant-keeping name Yahweh to emphasize that even though it seemed that Joseph’s world was falling apart, God was right there with him in the midst of it all. God was with Joseph when he was put…
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…
