Every Woman's Bible Genesis sampler - Flipbook - Page 5
GENESIS 50
Jacob’s Death and Burial
29 Then Jacob instructed them, “Soon I will die and
join my ancestors. Bury me with my father and
grandfather in the cave in the field of Ephron the
Hittite. 30 This is the cave in the field of Machpelah,
near Mamre in Canaan, that Abraham bought from
Ephron the Hittite as a permanent burial site. 31 There
Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried. There Isaac
and his wife, Rebekah, are buried. And there I buried Leah. 32 It is the plot of land and the cave that my
grandfather Abraham bought from the Hittites.”
33 When Jacob had finished this charge to his sons,
he drew his feet into the bed, breathed his last, and
joined his ancestors in death.
50
Joseph threw himself on his father and
wept over him and kissed him. 2 Then Joseph
told the physicians who served him to embalm his
father’s body; so Jacob* was embalmed. 3 The embalming process took the usual forty days. And the
Egyptians mourned his death for seventy days.
4 When the period of mourning was over, Joseph
approached Pharaoh’s advisers and said, “Please do
me this favor and speak to Pharaoh on my behalf.
5 Tell him that my father made me swear an oath. He
said to me, ‘Listen, I am about to die. Take my body
back to the land of Canaan, and bury me in the tomb
I prepared for myself.’ So please allow me to go and
bury my father. After his burial, I will return without
delay.”
6 Pharaoh agreed to Joseph’s request. “Go and bury
your father, as he made you promise,” he said. 7So Joseph went up to bury his father. He was accompanied
by all of Pharaoh’s officials, all the senior members
of Pharaoh’s household, and all the senior officers of
Egypt. 8Joseph also took his entire household and his
brothers and their households. But they left their little
children and flocks and herds in the land of Goshen.
9A great number of chariots and charioteers accompanied Joseph.
10 When they arrived at the threshing floor of Atad,
near the Jordan River, they held a very great and solemn memorial service, with a seven-day period of
mourning for Joseph’s father. 11The local residents, the
Canaanites, watched them mourning at the threshing
floor of Atad. Then they renamed that place (which is
near the Jordan) Abel-mizraim,* for they said, “This is
a place of deep mourning for these Egyptians.”
76
77
Koinonia
12 So Jacob’s sons did as he had commanded them.
13 They carried his body to the land of Canaan and
buried him in the cave in the field of Machpelah, near
Mamre. This is the cave that Abraham had bought
as a permanent burial site from Ephron the Hittite.
MY STORY WITH COMMUNITY,
WORKPLACE & CHURCH
I MAG E
Work Is More
Than a Four-Letter Word
SCRIPTURE CONNECTION: GENESIS 50:1421
Joseph Reassures His Brothers
14After burying Jacob, Joseph returned to Egypt with
his brothers and all who had accompanied him to his
father’s burial. 15 But now that their father was dead,
Joseph’s brothers became fearful. “Now Joseph will
show his anger and pay us back for all the wrong we
did to him,” they said.
16 So they sent this message to Joseph: “Before your
father died, he instructed us 17to say to you: ‘Please
forgive your brothers for the great wrong they did to
you—for their sin in treating you so cruelly.’ So we,
the servants of the God of your father, beg you to forgive our sin.” When Joseph received the message, he
broke down and wept. 18Then his brothers came and
threw themselves down before Joseph. “Look, we are
your slaves!” they said.
19 But Joseph replied, “Don’t be afraid of me. Am I
God, that I can punish you? 20 You intended to harm
me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to
this position so I could save the lives of many people.
21 No, don’t be afraid. I will continue to take care of
you and your children.” So he reassured them by
speaking kindly to them.
A mentor once encouraged me that, from God’s perspective, work is a four-letter word: GIFT.
Work is God’s gift to us, and when we bring our gifts to the work he assigns, we enter a
divinely directed realm of service.
Joseph’s life was marked by his devotion to God and
the faithful stewardship of assignments he was given. He
The gift of work and
brought his gifts to his work, and God used Joseph in his
our gifts at work
plan to save the children of Israel. Joseph’s example inspires
my view of work, as I labor alongside leaders of more than
have the power to
twelve hundred faith-based nonprofits. Here is what I see in
transform!
Joseph that I want more of in me:
IMAGE
The gift of our work and our gifts at work have the power to transform us and advance
God’s greater purpose.
IMAGINE
If Joseph were your mentor,
what lessons from his life
might help you?
The Death of Joseph
So Joseph and his brothers and their families continued to live in Egypt. Joseph lived to the age of 110.
He lived to see three generations of descendants of
his son Ephraim, and he lived to see the birth of the
children of Manasseh’s son Makir, whom he claimed
as his own.*
24 “Soon I will die,” Joseph told his brothers, “but
God will surely come to help you and lead you out of
this land of Egypt. He will bring you back to the land
he solemnly promised to give to Abraham, to Isaac,
and to Jacob.”
25 Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear an
oath, and he said, “When God comes to help you and
lead you back, you must take my bones with you.”
26 So Joseph died at the age of 110. The Egyptians embalmed him, and his body was placed in a coffin in
Egypt
22
23
“While Joseph was given big
dreams, he trusted God and
focused on the task at hand.
I give thanks that God still
gives us big dreams and the
gift of pursuing them through
everyday faithfulness.”
How would you put his
story to work for you
today?
Discover your purpose and how to make the
most of God’s designs for your four core relationships. We find
our purpose and calling as we relate to (1) God; (2) our family
and friends; (3) our communities, including our workplaces,
neighborhoods, schools, and churches; and (4) the unique
ways God has made each of us to bring more goodness to
God’s world.
• Confidence—Joseph knew God was with him (39:2).
• Conviction—Joseph quickly discerned situations and resisted temptation (39:12).
• Consistency—Joseph focused on the task at hand, ready to put his gifts to work (40:8).
• Compassion—Joseph resisted bitterness and chose forgiveness and mercy (50:20-21).
TAMI HEIM is president
and CEO of Christian
Leadership Alliance and
serves on many nonprofit
boards. She and her
husband lead mission
teams to Haiti to love
and disciple orphans.
50:2 Hebrew Israel. See note on 35:21. 50:11 Abel-mizraim means “mourning of the Egyptians.” 50:23 Hebrew who were born
on Joseph’s knees.
50:1-13 Jacob’s burial in Machpelah signified that Joseph and
his brothers still believed God’s promise to give them their true
home, Canaan, though they lived in Egypt. Sarah was buried
there (23:19), marking Abraham’s first possession of land in
Canaan. Others buried at the cave of Machpelah near Hebron
were Abraham, Isaac, Rebekah, and Leah (49:30-31).
50:22-26 Joseph had succeeded in Egypt and lived a long
life, but he insisted on being buried in Canaan. The book
ends with Joseph’s coffin in Egypt but points ahead to the
day when Abraham’s descendants would return to Canaan,
the land God promised them. Joseph was eventually buried
in Shechem (Joshua 24:32). We tend to think of death as the
tragic end of life, but ancient people were satisfied knowing
their families would carry on.
9
Eve
IDENTIT Y
Ha ar
IDENTIT Y
Ruined to Redeemed
Eve remembers . . .
The fruit looked so good. It was so beautiful I could almost taste it before I bit into it. The
serpent promised that good things would come from it: I would be wise and know everything.
That first bite was so sweet . . .
And then everything changed, dramatically.
If I had only known. I didn’t really understand the consequences. Adam was right there, and
he didn’t stop me either. In fact, he later blamed me. Wasn’t he to blame too? Oh, God, now
what?
The consequences: pain in childbirth, desire to control my
husband. What does that even mean?
God is bigger than
A promise: A descendant of mine will one day crush the
head of the serpent? When? How?
our missteps and our
25driven out of the Garden,
Life became painful. We were
pain. He is always
never to reenter. God gave us clothes, but we had to learn
how to survive. We lost two sons—Cain killed Abel, then
ready to restore and
Cain was banished from our presence. Oh, the pain of loss!
provide.
Yet in the pain, God provided. He gave us Seth, a son to
carry on life. We learned to trust that God is still in charge.
EVE’S STORY IS TOLD IN GENESIS 2:194:26.
Honored by Names
IDENTIFY
“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”
Shakespeare penned these words spoken by Juliet, pondering the significance
of names.
For
What life-changing
events
“I miscarried my second
Hagar, being called by name and being allowed to name bring her honor.
have you experienced?
child, propelling me into
Sarai was unable to get pregnant, despite God’s promise, so she took matters into her own
early menopause. Then,
Where do you find God in
hands and arranged for Hagar, an enslaved Egyptian woman, to sleep with Abram. Hagar
God opened doors to
them?
counsel grieving women
conceived, and her relationship with Sarai turned awful. Hagar was treated so harshly by Sarai
and to a new career in
that she decided to run away.
academia, which I may
God went looking for Hagar and called her by name (16:8). Throughout the story, Abram
not have pursued if I had
and Sarai had never called Hagar by her name. But God knew her and her situation intimately.
a small child at home.”
And they had a one-on-one conversation. Hagar, a Gentile
who was considered property, enjoyed a powerful and tender
exchange with the God of the universe.
When I feel invisible,
When they had finished, Hagar gave God a name (16:13).
I find hope in El-roi,
She is the only one in Scripture to have this honor. She called
him El-roi, which translates to “the God who sees me.”
the God who sees me
Hagar was seen and known by God and was allowed to
and knows my name.
know God right back. Through Hagar’s story, God showed he
values and honors women, even when others might not.
ELIZABETH GLANVILLE, PhD,
is retired faculty from
Fuller Theological Seminary,
School of Mission and
Theology. She is an
international teacher on
missions and leadership
and chaplain for a local
police department and her
retirement community.
IDENTITY These articles showcase both stories of Bible
people and stories of God’s character to shed light on who they
were, their role in God’s mission, and what their lives can teach
us. Many of these explore stories through imaginative, firstperson narrative based on what the Bible suggests the woman
might tell us herself if she could. Learning about these women’s
hopes, struggles, failures, and victories can help us grow in our
own God-given identities.
HAGAR’S STORY IS TOLD IN GENESIS 16; 21; SHE IS ALSO MENTIONED IN GALATIANS 4:2131.
IDENTIFY
Have you ever felt overlooked or invisible?
What was that like?
Have you experienced God
looking and calling for you?
What happened and how
did you respond?
“When I feel invisible or
overlooked, I find hope in
El-roi, the God who sees
me and knows my name
and circumstances. He is
near to you and me as we
look to him.”
VIVIAN MABUNI is a
national speaker, author
of Open Hands, Willing
Heart, and podcast host
of Someday Is Here for
AAPI Christians, with over
thirty years of ministry
experience.
GENESIS 5
12
13
The Birth of Seth
Perspective
Does God okay the “forcible
taking” of women?
SCRIPTURE CONNECTION: GENESIS 6:18
What “sons of God” would forcibly take any
women they wanted to be their wives? This
doesn’t sound very godly at all.
Many scholars resolve this by concluding that
the “sons of God” phrasing refers to spiritual or
angelic beings who had rebelled against God.
Others suggest that it refers to human rulers
who married commoners. Still others argue that
it refers to descendants of Seth who married the
female descendants of Cain.
Regardless, we recognize that the sexual arena
has been a favorite playground for the enemy from
the time man and woman first knew their nakedness (3:7). At the birth of their shame, they covered
their sexual bodies with fig leaves.
This passage from Genesis 6 conceals whether
the human women were consenting to these
unions or were taken against their will. But one
thing is clear: This sexual deviancy wreaked havoc.
VIEWPOINTS
HERS: What does the phrase “took any they
wanted” suggest about how these “sons of God”
esteemed women and interacted with them?
MINE: “I am not a fan of the word victim—at
least with respect to many of my own experiences.
While I acknowledge its appropriate use when I
have been deceived, used, or harmed, I don’t want
to downplay any part of choice I may have had
in a matter: how I show up, how I respond, what
resources I turn to, whether an incident defines or
grows me, whether I reach for God or reject him. I
am not responsible for others’ choices, and sometimes I may not have a choice, but when I do, I can
ask, What choices will I make today?”
YOURS: How might you guard against sexual
trouble and champion sexual responsibility today?
GENESIS 17
26
Perspective
Are concubines God’s plan?
SCRIPTURE CONNECTION: GENESIS 16:110
Today, when we read about concubines, feelings of confusion or even disgust might tempt
us to skip over these Scriptures. But each story
of a marginalized woman in the Bible is another
reminder that things are not the way they are
supposed to be. No woman should be owned by
someone else.
In ancient culture, concubines helped landowners build their households by increasing their
offspring. The Old Testament doesn’t explicitly
condemn polygamy, but it repeatedly demonstrates its perils.
While some societies and individuals value
women only as property, God elevates women
to image-bearing status, marked by his love
and reflecting his glory. Amid a worldly system
that oppresses, God is at work to redeem, and
his people can be a part of that redemption
work.
VIEWPOINTS
HERS: How do we see God care for Hagar,
who was marginalized in this way?
MINE: “How can I trust that God sees me in
circumstances where I am not valued?”
YOURS: When you feel unseen or devalued,
how can you trust God to redeem those parts
of your life?
KAT ARMSTRONG, MA, is a Bible teacher, preacher,
coach, and ministry leader. She cofounded the
Polished Network and authored No More Holding
Back, The In-Between Place, and the Storyline Bible
Studies series.
MISTY ARTERBURN is an author and speaker, contributing to Bible projects, devotionals, and recovery
7 The angel of the LORD found Hagarmaterials
over twenty years. Wife and mom to
beside afor
spring
five,
Misty
the founder of Recovery Girls and the
of water in the wilderness, along the
road
toisShur.
editor
of The One Year Bible for Women.
The angel said to her, “Hagar, Sarai’sgeneral
servant,
where
have you come from, and where are you going?”
“I’m running away from my mistress, Sarai,” she
replied.
9 The angel of the LORD said to her, “Return to your
mistress, and submit to her authority.” 10 Then he
added, “I will give you more descendants than you
can count.”
11And the angel also said, “You are now pregnant and
will give birth to a son. You are to name him Ishmael
(which means ‘God hears’), for the LORD has heard your
cry of distress. 12This son of yours will be a wild man, as
untamed as a wild donkey! He will raise his fist against
everyone, and everyone will be against him. Yes, he will
live in open hostility against all his relatives.”
13 Thereafter, Hagar used another name to refer
to the LORD, who had spoken to her. She said, “You
are the God who sees me.”* She also said, “Have I
truly seen the One who sees me?” 14 So that well was
named Beer-lahai-roi (which means “well of the Living One who sees me”). It can still be found between
Kadesh and Bered.
15 So Hagar gave Abram a son, and Abram named
him Ishmael. 16Abram was eighty-six years old when
Ishmael was born.
8
Abram Is Named Abraham
17
When Abram was ninety-nine years old,
the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am ElShaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Serve me faithfully and
live a blameless life. 2I will make a covenant with
you, by which I will guarantee to give you countless
descendants.”
3At this, Abram fell face down on the ground. Then
God said to him, 4“This is my covenant with you: I will
make you the father of a multitude of nations! 5What’s
more, I am changing your name. It will no longer be
Abram. Instead, you will be called Abraham,* for you
will be the father of many nations. 6I will make you extremely fruitful. Your descendants will become many
nations, and kings will be among them!
7 “I will confirm my covenant with you and your descendants* after you, from generation to generation.
This is the everlasting covenant: I will always be your
God and the God of your descendants after you. 8And
I will give the entire land of Canaan, where you now
live as a foreigner, to you and your descendants. It will
be their possession forever, and I will be their God.”
16:13 Hebrew El-roi. 17:5 Abram means “exalted father”; Abraham sounds like a Hebrew term that means “father of many.”
17:7 Hebrew seed; also in 17:7b, 8, 9, 10, 19.
16:7-12 Hagar’s distress did not go unnoticed. Even though her
son would not be heir of God’s covenant promises to Abram, God
gave Ishmael promises of his own. God’s instruction for Hagar to
return to Sarai was not a universal call for submission to abuse.
Later, God would allow Hagar to leave (21:8-21).
16:13 Hagar was the first person in the Bible to give God a
25Adam had sexual relations with his wife again, and
she gave birth to another son. She named him Seth,*
for she said, “God has granted me another son in
place of Abel, whom Cain killed.” 26 When Seth grew
up, he had a son and named him Enosh. At that time
people first began to worship the LORD by name.
The Descendants of Adam
5
This is the written account of the descendants of
Adam. When God created human beings,* he made
them to be like himself. 2He created them male and
female, and he blessed them and called them “human.”
When Adam was 130 years old, he became the
father of a son who was just like him—in his
very image. He named his son Seth. 4After the
birth of Seth, Adam lived another 800 years, and
he had other sons and daughters. 5Adam lived
930 years, and then he died.
When Seth was 105 years old, he became the father
of* Enosh. 7After the birth of* Enosh, Seth lived
another 807 years, and he had other sons and
daughters. 8Seth lived 912 years, and then he died.
9 When Enosh was 90 years old, he became the
father of Kenan. 10After the birth of Kenan, Enosh
lived another 815 years, and he had other sons
and daughters. 11Enosh lived 905 years, and then
he died.
12 When Kenan was 70 years old, he became
the father of Mahalalel. 13After the birth of
Mahalalel, Kenan lived another 840 years, and
he had other sons and daughters. 14 Kenan lived
910 years, and then he died.
15 When Mahalalel was 65 years old, he became
the father of Jared. 16After the birth of Jared,
Mahalalel lived another 830 years, and he had
other sons and daughters. 17Mahalalel lived
895 years, and then he died.
18 When Jared was 162 years old, he became the father
of Enoch. 19After the birth of Enoch, Jared lived
another 800 years, and he had other sons and
daughters. 20Jared lived 962 years, and then he died.
21 When Enoch was 65 years old, he became
the father of Methuselah. 22After the birth of
Methuselah, Enoch lived in close fellowship with
God for another 300 years, and he had other
3
6
4:25 Seth probably means “granted”; the name may also mean
“appointed.” 5:1 Or man; Hebrew reads adam; similarly in 5:2.
5:6 Or the ancestor of; also in 5:9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 25. 5:7 Or the
birth of this ancestor of; also in 5:10, 13, 16, 19, 22, 26.
5:1-3 This second biblical mention of the image of God helps
to define it. God made humans to be like him. Similarly, Adam
fathered a son who was just like him—in his very image. Our
identity as God’s image implies kinship. We are related to God
in a way analogous to a human family. This passage also affirms
that the human status as God’s image was not lost when Adam
and Eve sinned.
sons and daughters. 23 Enoch lived 365 years,
24 walking in close fellowship with God. Then one
day he disappeared, because God took him.
When Methuselah was 187 years old, he became
the father of Lamech. 26After the birth of
Lamech, Methuselah lived another 782 years,
and he had other sons and daughters.
27 Methuselah lived 969 years, and then he died.
28 When Lamech was 182 years old, he became
the father of a son. 29 Lamech named his son
Noah, for he said, “May he bring us relief* from
our work and the painful labor of farming this
ground that the LORD has cursed.” 30After the
birth of Noah, Lamech lived another 595 years,
and he had other sons and daughters.
31 Lamech lived 777 years, and then he died.
25
32
GENESIS 6
After Noah was 500 years old, he became the
father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
Then the people began to multiply on the earth,
and daughters were born to them. 2 The sons of
God saw the beautiful women* and took any they
wanted as their wives. 3Then the LORD said, “My Spirit
will not put up with* humans for such a long time, for
they are only mortal flesh. In the future, their normal
lifespan will be no more than 120 years.”
4 In those days, and for some time after, giant Nephilites lived on the earth, for whenever the sons of God
had intercourse with women, they gave birth to children who became the heroes and famous warriors
of ancient times.
5:29 Noah sounds like a Hebrew term that can mean “relief” or “comfort.” 6:2 Hebrew daughters of men; also in 6:4. 6:3 Greek
version reads will not remain in.
6:1-4 Obviously the birth of daughters was nothing new, but
in this passage, the daughters take center stage. Their stunning
beauty attracted some unlikely suitors. Scholars have suggested
three possibilities for the identity of the “sons of God” in this
passage: angelic beings who left their stations to cohabit with
Come Close
women, royalty who intermarried with commoners, or members
of Seth’s family who married women from Cain’s family. Language reminiscent of 3:6 (“saw . . . took”) shows the rebellious
nature of this act. The result of these unions was a warrior race
known for its wickedness.
N EEDIN G FAVOR: F INDING G OD’ S G IF T
SCRIPTURE CONNECTION: GENESIS 6:59
Favor. It’s something we pray for often. Favor in
our jobs. Favor in our relationships. Favor in our
personal endeavors. We read about the lives
of women and men in the Bible such as Abel,
Abraham, Noah, Hannah, and Jesus’ mother,
Mary, who all experienced the favor of God in
one way or another. Whether it was for a season
or a lifetime, the blessing of God’s favor truly
changed the lives of these individuals. God’s
favor still has the power to do so for us today.
There are quite a few mentions of God’s
favor (or “grace,” depending on the translation) in the Bible. In a famous proverb, quoted
multiple times in the New Testament, favor
is attached to the character trait of humility
(Proverbs 3:34; see James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5).
Could it be that our humility moves God to
grant us favor? When we think of others who
lost God’s favor, such as Cain or King Saul,
could a lack of humility have contributed?
Favor is a gift; we can’t work ourselves into
it. We accept and receive it by faith through
our relationship with God. As we learn to love
the Giver more than the gift, we will begin to
see strands of his favor weaving throughout
our lives.
COME CLOSE
A World Gone Wrong
6
REFLECT “For you bless the godly, O
LORD; you surround them with your shield
of love.” PSALM 5:12
Lord, thank you for the gift of your gracious favor. May I walk humbly before you
all the days of my life. Amen.
CONSIDER “Humility is the gateway into
the grace and the favor of God.” HAROLD
WARNER
God’s favor is a gift;
greater still is knowing
the gift-Giver.
QUANTRILLA ARD, PhD, is a faith-based
personal and spiritual development author,
speaker, Bible teacher, and literary agent who
believes in the power of collective strength,
community, and fellowship.
These devotionals address real-life
emotions and needs that invite
us to draw near to God. For some,
it’s pain or a problem. For others,
it’s a life season or a startling
opportunity. Each includes a quote
from someone who has faced
a similar need, a relevant Bible
quote, and a prayer.
PERSPECTIVE
Have you ever encountered something in the Bible
and thought, “Wait, what?” Here, we dig into questions we’d like to ask but may
not have thought we could. The Perspective articles take a deep look at these
passages rather than giving us pat answers. They highlight each passage’s
language, meaning, and context to provide deeper wisdom from God’s Word.
These focus especially on aspects of the Bible that may unsettle us.
name: “the God who sees me.” Although she lacked power,
wealth, and status in her household, she was not invisible to
God. And although her son was not the heir of God’s covenant
promise, she was not outside God’s care. God’s promise to bless
all nations through Abram’s family would include the nations
that descended from Ishmael.
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