Category Archives: Genesis

The Obedience of the Nations Shall be His

The scepter will not depart from Judah Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, Until He to whom it belongs shall come And the obedience of the nations shall be His. (Genesis 49:10) It’s not difficult to look at the first part of this blessing that Jacob gives to his son Judah and recognize thatContinue reading “The Obedience of the Nations Shall be His”

The Holy Work of Parenting

The story is told about a man who wrote a book called Everything You Want to Know About Parenting. He was a bachelor. A few years later he got married, had a child, and a second edition of the book was released. The title had been changed to Some Principles of Parenting. Another child came along and withContinue reading “The Holy Work of Parenting”

The Forbidden Fruit of Genesis 4

There’s a more going on in the story of Cain and Abel than meets the eye. On the surface, it’s the woefully sad story of one brother killing another. It’s a tragedy, but unfortunately it’s not something foreign or unfamiliar to us—the only thing unique is that this is the first occurrence of fratricide. ThatContinue reading “The Forbidden Fruit of Genesis 4”

The Blessing of Blending

There are different stages of marriage. We’re all familiar with the honeymoon phase. Then there is also the juncture when you realize you’ve been married longer than you were single. From there people go to the stage where they really can’t remember much of what it was like before they were married. The most importantContinue reading “The Blessing of Blending”

Something to Shake our Heads About

SMH is social media for “shaking my head.” That’s how the story of Jacob’s twenty years in Paddan Aram (Genesis 29-31) will leave us. It sounds like an ancient reality show. There’s deception, jealousy, power plays, lying, cheating and stealing. For seven years it’s “The Bachelor.” Then it morphs into “Real Housewives of Paddan Aram.”Continue reading “Something to Shake our Heads About”

Settling in at Babel

The Babel story speaks to us on at least a couple of levels. It is most obviously an account of the rebelliousness that started with Adam and Eve and characterizes the early history of the world and is recorded in chapters 3-11. It’s God’s will for the people to “fill the earth” (9:1), and itContinue reading “Settling in at Babel”

One Is All You Need

How are we to understand the dialogue between Abraham and God where Abraham approaches Him and passionately pleads with the Almighty not to “sweep away the righteous with the wicked” and to “do right” (Genesis 18:23ff)? Any way you look at it, it’s an extraordinary conversation that we can’t afford to treat as trivial orContinue reading “One Is All You Need”

Moving out of Memphis

I have been driving through Memphis a few times a year for the last twenty years. Some years it’s more than that, but there’s never been a year when I didn’t make at least a few trips through the city. Going through Memphis is like traveling through any other large cities—you need a fairly highContinue reading “Moving out of Memphis”

Doing Without by Looking Within

Genesis 26 begins by informing us that there is a famine in the land (v. 1). Isaac is “without.” We are reminded by the writer of the famine that occurred earlier during Abraham’ life and are told that what is being experienced by Isaac is not that. A famine is never good news but itContinue reading “Doing Without by Looking Within”