by admin | Feb 20, 2013 | Forgiveness, Genesis, Section Two, The Fear of the Lord
So Judah and his brothers came back to Joseph’s house.1 Suddenly Judah, though not the eldest, has taken the lead in the narrative. He and his brothers threw themselves to the ground before2 Joseph. We are now my lord’s slaves, we and the one in whose possession...
by admin | Feb 16, 2013 | Genesis, Section Two, The Fear of the Lord
The grain Joseph’s brothers brought back from Egypt didn’t outlast the famine. “Return, buy us a little more food,” their father said. But Judah said to him, “The man solemnly warned us, ‘You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ If you send our...
by admin | Jan 30, 2013 | Genesis, Section Two, The Fear of the Lord
After Jacob and his family spent some time in Bethel they moved on to Ephrath (Bethlehem). On the way Rachel went into labor – and her labor was hard. When her labor was at its hardest, the midwife said to her, “Don’t be afraid (yārē’ , תִּירְאִי), for you are...
by admin | Jan 23, 2013 | Genesis, Section Two, The Fear of the Lord
I think I am safe using the word fear to describe Jacob’s prognostication that Simeon and Levi…had brought ruin on him by making him a foul odor among the inhabitants of the land, that the Canaanites and the Perizzites…would join forces against him and attack...
by admin | Jan 5, 2013 | Genesis, Section Two, The Fear of the Lord
God had changed Jacob’s name to Israel.1 Jacob kept the oath he made at Bethel2 that the Lord would become his God. After he left Paddan Aram, Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem in the land of Canaan, and he camped near the city. Then he purchased the portion...
by admin | Dec 14, 2012 | Genesis, Section Two, The Fear of the Lord
When there was a famine in the land Abraham’s son Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines at Gerar.1 The Lord appeared to Isaac and said (Genesis 26:2-5 NET): Do not go down to Egypt; settle down in the land that I will point out to you. Stay in this land....