Day 25 (Genesis 49-50 | Matthew 17:14-18:9 | Psalm 15)

Day 25
Genesis 49:1-50:26
(49 | 50)

Jacob summons his twelve sons. He is about to die, but before he does, he wants to bless each of his sons. He speaks words over each over them, some more positive than others. Joseph, for example, receives a positive word, and is told various blessings will rest on him. Meanwhile Reuben, Jacob's eldest son, is told he will no longer excel due to the fact that he slept with Bilhah, Rachel's maid; Reuben is the son of Leah, so he is no blood relative of Bilhah's. However, the fact that Jacob had slept with her first (she gave birth to Dan and Naphtali) made this act detestable. Jacob then made his sons promise that they would bury him with Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah and Leah in the cave in the field Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite.

Day 24 (Genesis 47:13-48:22 | Matthew 16:21-17:13 | Proverbs 3:1-10)

Day 24
Genesis 47:13-48:22
(47:13-31 | 48)

The famine throughout Egypt and Canaan is so severe that the people have run out of money with which to buy grain from Joseph. It seemed a little mean to ask them to pay for the food in the first place, but that's not the point. The Egyptians then bring their livestock in exchange for food. When even that runs out, they sell their land and themselves to Pharaoh.  Joseph gives the people seeds so they can plant crops so that they won't die, and the land wouldn't become desolate. When doing so, he stipulates that the people had to give up a fifth of any harvest to the Pharaoh. So now all the land in Egypt and, presumably, Canaan belongs to Pharaoh, as do all of their respective peoples and livestock. With the exception, that is, of the priests, whom the Pharaoh provided for. Presumably, the Israelites are also exempt as Joseph had promised to provide for his family.

Day 23 (Genesis 45-47:12 | Matthew 16:1-20 | Psalm 14)

Day 23
Genesis 45:1-47:12
(45 | 46 | 47:1-12)


Joseph has had his fun, and decides now is the time to reveal who he really he is. He sends all his servants out, and tells his brothers who he is, crying very loudly. His brothers are in shock, and a little bit terrified. Understandably, I think, as they probably believed Joseph really was dead after thirteen years of slavery in Egypt. Eventually, Joseph's brothers accept that he really is Joseph, and they all hug each other. Joseph tells his brothers to go back to Canaan to get Jacob, and to move the entire household to Egypt; the seven year famine has another five years to run, but Joseph can provide for them in Egypt.

Day 22 (Genesis 43-44 | Matthew 15:10-39 | Psalm 13)

Day 22
Genesis 43:1-44:34
(43 | 44)

I don't know how much grain Jacob's sons bought and took back to Canaan with them, but it soon runs out. When it does, Jacob tells his sons to go back to Egypt and buy more, Judah replies that the Egyptian official had told them that unless the nine brothers returned with their youngest brother, Benjamin, they would not see him, or their brother Simeon again. Jacob eventually agrees to send Benjamin along with the brothers to Egypt. He sends them with gifts and double the amount of silver, so they can give back the silver they worry was placed back in their bags by mistake.

Day 21 (Genesis 41:41-42:38 | Matthew 14:22-15:9 | Psalm 12)

Day 21
Genesis 41:41-42:38
(41:41-57 | 42)

Pharaoh recognises that God is with Joseph, so he puts Joseph in charge of the whole of Egypt. Only the Pharaoh himself is higher than Joseph in Egypt. So Joseph goes about ensuring God's plan is put in to action throughout Egypt; in the seven years of abundance, he ensures that a fifth of the harvest is stored away in reserve for the seven years of famine. The land produces plentifully, so a lot of produce is stored away - so much so that Joseph gives up on trying to record how much has been stored. During this time, Pharaoh gives Joseph a wife, a woman named Asenath. They have two sons - Manasseh and Ephraim. The seven years of famine follow hot on the heals of the seven years of abundance. When the whole of Egypt begins to be effected by the famine, they turn to Pharaoh for help. He directs them to Joseph. Joseph opens up the stores, and starts selling the stored grain to the Egyptian people.

Day 20 (Genesis 40-41:40 | Matthew 14:1-21 | Proverbs 2:12-22)

Day 20
Genesis 40:1-41:40
(40 | 41:1-40)

Pharaoh throws a bit of a temper tantrum, and has his chief cup bearer and chief baker thrown in prison. They are placed under Joseph's care. After an unspecified amount of time, both men have dreams, and neither know what they mean. So Joseph interprets their dreams for them. He tells the cup bearer that Pharaoh will release and elevate him back to his previous position in three days. He tells the chief baker that Pharaoh will have him hanged in three days. Both of Joseph's interpretations turn out to be correct, but the cup bearer completely forgets about Joseph.

Day 19 (Genesis 38-39 | Matthew 13:26-58 | Psalm 11)

Day 19
Genesis 38:1-39:23
(38 | 39)

Judah, one of Jacob's sons, leaves his ten remaining brothers and goes to stay with a man named Hirah. While there, he meets the daughter of a man named Shua. The name of his daughter isn't given, but Judah marries her and sleeps with her. They have three sons: Er, Onan and Shelah. Judah finds a wife for Er, a woman named Tamar. But Er is wicked in God's eyes, so he is killed. Judah then tried to give Tamar to Onan, telling him to get her pregnant to have children for his brother. But Onan, realising any children would be his brothers and not his, spills his semen on the ground every time he sleeps with her. God sees this, considers it wicked and kills him too. Judah only has one son left, and he's afraid that Shelah will end up dead like his brothers.

Day 18 (Genesis 36-37 | Matthew 13:18-35 | Psalm 10:12-18)

Day 18
Genesis 36:1-37:36
(36 | 37)

Jacob and Esau are both prosperous men, and they both have a lot of livestock and possessions in general. The land can't support them both, so Esau decides to leave the area and settle in the hill country of Seir. Esau becomes the father of the Edomite people. Chapter 37 pretty much just lists his descendants.

Day 17 (Genesis 34-35 | Matthew 12:46-13:17 | Psalm 10:1-11)

Day 17
Genesis 34:1-35:29
(34 | 35)

Jacob has a daughter by Leah, and she is named Dinah. One day, Dinah heads out to visit some of the women of the land. The area is ruled by a man named Hamor the Hivite. His son, Shechem, sees her, takes her and rapes her. He then falls in love with her, and asks his father to get her as a wife for him. When Dinah's eleven brothers find out what happened, they are quite understandably stricken with grief and anger. So when Hamor and Shechem come to Jacob to propose an intermarriage agreement, and, more specifically, to ask for Dinah to be given to Shechem as a wife, Jacob's sons tell them that they'll agree on one condition; that all of their males be circumcised. They argue that it would disgrace them if they were to give their sister to an uncircumcised man. Hamor and Shechem agree, and put the proposal forward to the people in their city. It seemed a reasonable sacrifice to make; they'd all be circumcised, but by intermarrying, they'd gain so much more. So all the men in the city are circumcised.

Day 16 (Genesis 32-33 | Matthew 12:22-45 | Proverbs 2:1-11)

Day 16
Genesis 32:1-33:20
(32 | 33)

When God tells Jacob to leave Laban and head back to his father's household, he's more than happy to obey. But there's one problem; his brother Esau who had sworn to kill him. Jacob sends a messenger ahead to Esau to try to placate him. When the messenger returns to Jacob with news that his brother is coming to greet him with 400 men, Jacob panics. He thinks that Esau is going to kill him, his wives and children, which is a legitimate concern. He decides the best way forward is to send servants ahead with herds of his cattle as a gift to pacify his brother. Jacob spends the night alone in the camp, sending everyone, including his wives and children ahead of him.

Day 15 (Genesis 31 | Matthew 12:1-21 | Psalm 9:13-20)

Day 15
Genesis 31:1-55
 (31)

So it turns out I was wrong yesterday; it was God who was influencing the strength and the frequency of the sheep and goats Laban decided to pay Jacob with. Jacob wasn't influencing much by himself. I wasn't the only one to think that, though. At the very start of the chapter, Laban's sons are overheard saying that Jacob is profiting from what he essentially stole from Laban. Jacob also notices that his cousin's attitude towards him has cooled somewhat. After consulting with his wives, he decides to head back to his father's household, taking his wives, children and possessions with him. Jacob also decides to leave without notifying Laban. Three days later, Laban notices and heads out after Jacob. Laban eventually catches up to Jacob's party, and expresses understandable annoyance at not being able to say goodbye to his daughters and grandchildren. Jacob replies that he was afraid Laban would take his daughters back by force should he try to leave - a reasonable assumption given Laban's history of deception when it comes to his daughters.

Day 14 (Genesis 29-30 | Matthew 11:16-30 | Psalm 9:7-12)

Day 14
Genesis 29:1-30:43
(29 | 30)

In these chapters, both Jacob and his cousin, Laban, show themselves to not be trustworthy. First of all, Jacob says he will work for his cousin for 7 years with his only wages being Laban's youngest daughter, Rachel. Jacob wants to marry Rachel, and Laban agrees. However, after 7 years, Laban gives Jacob his eldest daughter, Leah, instead. Jacob only finds out after he and Leah had consummated their marriage.

Day 13 (Genesis 27-28 | Matthew 10:32-11:15 | Psalm 9:1-6)

Day 13
Genesis 27:1-28:22
(27 | 28)

If nothing else, these two chapters prove that God will use anyone to further his plans; it doesn't matter what we think of them, if God wants to use them, he will use them. Jacob demonstrates this perfectly. We saw yesterday how he acquired his brother Esau's birthrights in exchange for a meal. In today's reading he tricks his father into giving him a blessing intended for Esau. By this stage, Isaac's eyesight has gone, so he relies on his senses of smell and touch. Isaac tells Esau to go and hunt some game for him, and to prepare a delicious meal for him so that he can bless him. When Rebekah hears this, she tells Jacob to go get two goats from the herd from which she can prepare a meal for her husband so that Jacob will get his blessing. Jacob does this, as well as covering his hands and arms with goat pelt to deceive his father into thinking they were hairy like Esau's, and wearing some of Esau's clothes so that he would smell like his brother. When he takes a meal to his father, Isaac falls for the trick, and blesses Jacob, making him lord over his brothers. Esau returns not long after, and is absolutely furious when he hears what his brother has done.

Day 12 (Genesis 25-26 | Matthew 10:1-31 | Proverbs 1:20-33)

Day 12
Genesis 25:1-26:35
(25 | 26)

Chapter 25 sees God's promises to Abraham start to be fulfilled. First of all, Keturah (Abraham's second wife) gives him several children. Some of their children are listed, and the descendants of one of his grandchildren, Dedan, are said to be three different tribes. Secondly, we see Ishmael has twelve children, all of whom become separate tribe leaders. Thirdly, we see Isaac has two sons - Esau and Jacob. Everyone knows you're not supposed to have favourite children, but Isaac and Rebekah did; Isaac favoured Esau, while Rebekah favoured Jacob. Interestingly, we see at this early stage that Jacob is being set up as a bit of a scoundrel. Esau asks Jacob for some food. Jacob agrees to give him food in exchange for his birthrights; this hardly seems fair, especially as they're brothers. But Esau agrees, and Jacob gets Esau's birthrights.

Day 11 (Genesis 24 | Matthew 9:14-38 | Psalm 8)

Day 11
Genesis 24:1-67
(24)

To modern, western eyes, this story might seem a bit absurd. Abraham asks a servant to leave Canaan and go back to Abraham's home land to find a wife for Isaac. Abraham tells the servant that he has to bring the woman back with him, and that if she refuses to come back with him, he is released from the agreement. Under no circumstances is he to take Isaac out of Canaan, as this was the land the LORD had promised to give Abraham's descendants.

Day 10 (Genesis 21-23 | Matthew 8:23-9:13 | Psalm 7:10-17)

Day 10
Genesis 21:1-23:20
(21 | 22 | 23)

The start of the chapter sees God's promise to Abraham and Sarah fulfilled; Sarah gives birth to a boy, and he is given the name Isaac. Skipping ahead slightly to chapter 22, God asks Abraham to do the unthinkable; God asks him to sacrifice Isaac to him as a burnt offering. God asks Abraham to kill his son. I don't know how Abraham felt about the whole thing, but he probably wasn't best pleased; God had promised him that his descendants through Isaac would become a great nation, and that they would be numerous than the stars in the night sky.

Day 9 (Genesis 19-20 | Matthew 7:24-8:22 | Psalm 7:1-9)

Day 9
Genesis 19:1-20:18
(19 | 20)

Genesis 19 is really not a very nice chapter. Two of God's angels turn up in Sodom and are taken in by Lot. The men of Sodom all turn up wanting to have rape the two newcomers. It doesn't say whether the men know Lot's guests are angels, but I think it's doubtful, and probably irrelevant anyway. Lot offers up his virgin daughters to the gang of men, but they want the two angels. The gang of men is struck down by blindness, and the angels warn Lot to take his wife, daughters and their fiancés away from Sodom, as the angels intend to destroy it. Only Lot, his wife and their daughters make it out before the city is destroyed. I find the story disturbing because I'm used to reading about the God who is love; the God who so loved the world that he sent his only son to die on a cross for my sins and yours. I find it difficult to reconcile the God of this story with that God.

Day 8 (Genesis 17-18 | Matthew 6:25-7:23 | Proverbs 1:8-19)

Day 8

Today's passages speak a lot about God's promises, our trust in him, and our allegiance to him. In Genesis, Abraham is still learning to trust in God's promises. At his age, he's not sure if he believes God will come good on it, and Sarah certainly doesn't. In Matthew, Jesus is trying to teach us to walk in God's ways, and that when we do while trusting in God for provision, he will deliver. The proverb is a short and sweet promise about what will happen if you ally yourself with sinners instead of God.

Day 7 (Genesis 14-16 | 5:43-6:24 | Psalm 6)

I can't believe a week has gone already. It doesn't seem like that much time should have passed. Oh well.

Day 7
Genesis 14:1-16:16
(14 | 15 | 16)

Lot is really quite unlucky here. A battle takes place between two groups of allied kings, two of whom are the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah. When these two kings fled the battlefield, the kings of the victorious allegiance seized the towns' goods and food, and left. They also seized Lot and his property. Luckily for Lot, someone managed to escape and tell Abram. Abram immediately gathered a group of his own men and set out to find Lot. Eventually, he managed to recover both Lot and his possessions. Melchizedek, another king who, just to confuse matters, wasn't actually involved in the conflict in any way as far as I can tell, blesses Abram and thanks God for delivering Abram's enemies to him. Abram gives him a tenth of everything he has, and then refuses to take anything from the king of Sodom because he promised the LORD that he wouldn't. I have to say, I don't really understand why that is. Presumably, it made just as little sense to Abram, but he kept his promise anyway.

Day 6 (Genesis 11:10-13:18 | Matthew 5:21-42 | Psalm 5)

Day 6
Genesis 11:10-13:18
(11:10-32 | 12 | 13)

It must be nice, as a Biblical translator, when you come across passages like Genesis 11:12-26. Verses 12-26 follow pretty much exactly the same format in chunks of two verses. The only exception is verse 26, which only deviates slightly, and doesn't have a partner verse. These verses detail the descendants of Shem, Noah's son, and show the direct line between him and Abram. From this point on, the focus shifts on to Abram who, along with his nephew Lot, his wife Sarai, and his father Terah, settled together in a place called Haran.