Genesis 34
Genesis 34:25 Three days later, while all of them were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords and attacked the unsuspecting city, killing every male.
Another sordid tale in scripture. In this chapter we find one of Jacobs daughters, Dinah, who has been taken and defiled by Shechem. It stood out to me that Jacob didnt seem to do anything about it. Even though he found out first, he waited for a day until his sons had returned from tending the sheep to tell them and even think about doing anything. I am not sure that I agree with the actions of both Simeon and Levi...in choosing to destroy an entire city, but it made me wonder if Jacobs lack of action played into their action.
Genesis 35
Genesis 35:23 The sons of Leah:
Reuben the firstborn of Jacob,
Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun.
I dont know why I have never seen this before, but Judah was the son of Leah...not the son of Rebekah. Rebekah is the one that I always thought of as the one that was loved by Jacob the most, and the one that it would have made the most sense to be the line that Jesus came from. But it was from Leah...the one that wasnt loved and looked at as the outcast and outsider. Really awesome to me that even from the very beginning, Jesus is all about the people that we dont expect or think that He should be about. That is awesome! Thank you Lord for being so intentional with everything is showing us your plan for this World and our lives!
Genesis 36
Genesis 36: 2-3, 6-7 Esau took his wives from the women of Canaan: Adah daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Oholibamah daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite— 3 also Basemath daughter of Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth.6 Esau took his wives and sons and daughters and all the members of his household, as well as his livestock and all his other animals and all the goods he had acquired in Canaan, and moved to a land some distance from his brother Jacob. 7 Their possessions were too great for them to remain together; the land where they were staying could not support them both because of their livestock
This chapter is long list of the line of Esau...maybe not the most exciting read of all time, but still a couple of things that I took away. One was the fact that Esau lived outside of the boundaries that God had intended by marrying woman from Canaan. And while it was outside of what he was supposed to do, he was still incredibly wealthy. It just shows that you can have everything that the world has to offer, and if you arent living in, and or doing what God has called you to do, it just isnt going to matter.
Matthew 10
Matthew 10:32-33 “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.
Stop reading this and go read Matthew 10. Seriously. Go do it. This chapter is filled with great thoughts and challenges that all of us need to take so seriously. Can you imagine what it will feel like to have JESUS ACKNOWLEDGE YOU before His Father! The emotions that you would feel, the joy that would happen, the recognition that you would feel...and yet it comes with a clear warning. There is a cost to this. I wonder often what it means to acknowledge God before men. Does it mean that I need to ear my Christianity around and Bible thump people every chance that I get? Does it mean that I need to live a holier then thou lifestyle, trying to do everything that I can to demonstrate for others to see the holiness of myself and my God? No...I honestly believe that it starts with the little things. What does it mean to show God to others? Are we loving those that no one else does? Are we helping the people that are in our neighborhoods? Are we sharing our faith and building relationships with others who need to know who He is and what He is about? We need to live out a faith the shows our faith in God in all that we do. Today.
So far to date...
Books read: 0
Chapters Read: 46
Verses Read: 1399 (Roughly through about 3% of the Bible...)
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