Devotions from Genesis

Passage Read: Genesis 1-4 Meditation Verse: 4:9 Adam and Eve hid from the Lord, but when confronted, they confessed what had happened. People like to say they shifted blame, but they told the truth about what happened, which is useful if someone wants to identify…

Passage Read: Genesis 5-8 Meditation Verse: 8:21 Though God destroyed all men except Noah and his family, He didn't eradicate the wickedness in men's hearts. He acknowledges here that the intent of man's heart remains evil from his youth. So the flood didn't fix man,…

Passage Read: Genesis 9-12 Meditation Verses: 12:14-16 By Joseph's day, the language of the Israelites and Egyptians was different enough to require a translator. The languages were changed at Babel, before Abram was born, and Abram was from another family, whose language likely was different…

Passage Read: Genesis 13-16 Meditation Verses: 13:8-10 Lot was far better off remaining with Abram, though he didn't know that yet. But when he separated from Abram, he chose the river valley because it looked so good for supporting his flocks. He didn't seem concerned…

Passage Read: Genesis 17-20 Meditation Verses: 18:32-33 Sodom and Gomorrah are exceedingly wicked; complaints about them have reached heaven. People want justice and God is sending messengers to confirm the complaints. They stop at Abraham's place and God explains what He's about to do. Abraham,…

Passage Read: Genesis 21-24 Meditation Verses: 21:12-14 Abraham doesn't want to give up Ishmael, but Ishmael is not the son of the promise, so God tells Abraham to send him away. God promises to take care of Ishmael and multiply him, but he must go.

Passage Read: Genesis 25-28 Meditation Verses: 27:1-2 Isaac had to be at least eighty, and he would live at least another twenty years, the time it took for Jacob to pay his debts to Laban and return. He had gone blind and felt his age,…

Passage Read: Genesis 29-32 Meditation Verses: 31:11-13 If it ever occurs to Jacob to leave, he didn't do it, not until the Lord tells him to. Though he is oppressed by his uncle, he keeps his word to serve, even though there was no time…

Passage Read: Genesis 33-36 Meditation Verses: 34:2-4 This appears to be the culture in Canaan and beyond: Take the girl you want, then negotiate with the father (or brother). It happened to Abraham twice, Isaac was warned about the same thing possibly happening, and now…

Passage Read: Genesis 37-40 Meditation Verses: 39:10-14 Surely the other men of the household, the other slaves, knew what was going on. They surely had seen and heard what Potiphar's wife was doing to Joseph. But what could they do? As slaves they couldn't argue…

Passage Read: Genesis 41-44 Meditation Verses: 42:21-22 It is no small thing to hate a brother so much you'd consider killing him, even though in the end you only sold him into slavery. Who knows what would become of the brother you sell into slavery?…

Passage Read: Genesis 45-48 Meditation Verse: 48:11 No one ever tells Jacob how Joseph really got to Egypt. Joseph and his brothers know, and his brothers probably live in fear that Joseph will tell on them, but he never does. It hangs over Joseph's brothers…