GENESIS

The Bible's Book of Beginnings

Introduction: The word “Genesis” means “beginnings.” Not only is Genesis the beginning book of the Bible, but it is also the Bible’s book of beginnings. It tells of the beginning of creation, of the human race, of God’s chosen people, and of God’s plan of salvation for fallen humanity.

GENESIS 1:1a

BIBLE TEXT: "In the beginning God..." (Genesis 1:1a KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: The most incredible book ever written begins with the most incredible statement ever uttered: In the beginning God! God is eternally self-existent; He's always been and always will be. No one or nothing is indispensable to Him, but He is indispensable to everyone and everything.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: An infinite God, bound by neither space nor time, is incomprehensible to a finite mind, bound by both. Although many balk at a God bigger than their understanding, I bow before Him, believing that a god no bigger than my reason is unworthy of my reverence. After all, if God was small enough for us to understand, He would be no bigger than we are.

GENESIS 1:1b

BIBLE TEXT: "...God created the heaven and the earth." (Genesis 1:1b KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: The universe did not evolve from nothing, as evolutionary science preposterously proposes, but was created from nothing by God, as Scripture plainly proclaims.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: "The faith of the evolutionist...is a splendid faith indeed, a faith not dependent on anything so mundane as evidence or logic, but rather a faith strong in its childlike trust, relying wholly on omniscient Chance and omnipotent Matter to produce the complex systems and mighty energies of the universe. The evolutionist's faith is not dependent on evidence, but is pure faith—absolute credulity." (Henry Morris)

GENESIS 1:2-3

BIBLE TEXT: "And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light." (Genesis 1:2-3 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: The earth was shrouded in darkness, as well as meaningless and empty, until the Spirit of God moved upon it and God spoke His command within it: "Let there be light.”

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Like our world, God's Word is shrouded in darkness, as well as meaningless and empty to us, until God's Spirit moves upon it and God speaks His command in our hearts: "Let there be light." (2 Corinthians 4:3-6)

GENESIS 1:3

BIBLE TEXT: "And God said, Let there be..." (Genesis 1:3, 6, 14 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: God said, "Let it be!" What comforting words. Nothing can be, if God doesn't let it be.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Nothing can happen in our lives nor in our world outside of the permission of divine providence!

GENESIS 1:4

BIBLE TEXT: "God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness." (Genesis 1:4 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: God divides the light from the darkness, because only He is capable of doing so and because it must be done, since the two are mutually exclusive and totally incompatible. (2 Corinthians 6:14)

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Since darkness is the absence of light, it must be totally devoid of it, lest it be dispelled by the least little flicker of it.

“We must enhance the light, not fight the darkness.” A. D. Gordon

GENESIS 1:5

BIBLE TEXT: "And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day." (Genesis 1:5)

BIBLE TWEET: The "morning" and "evening" of the "first day" of creation, as well as of the other five days of creation, debunk any notion that they represent eons—indefinite periods of time—rather than literal days—twenty-four-hour periods of time. (Genesis 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31)

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: The Bible need not be tailored to fit contemporary scientific theory. Instead, contemporary scientific theory ought to be tested as to whether or not it fits with the Bible.

READ THE BOOKLET: WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT THE AGE OF THE EARTH

GENESIS 1:6-8

BIBLE TEXT: "And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day." (Genesis 1:6-8 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: The sky, created initially as an expanse above the primordial earth, to separate the canopy of water above it from the waters contained upon it, is the canvass of the Creator today upon which He masterfully paints His mutable masterpieces!

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: ”I cannot imagine anyone looking at the sky and denying God.” (Abraham Lincoln)

GENESIS 1:9-10

BIBLE TEXT: "And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good." (Genesis 1:9-10 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: The Creator raised up the continents and reigned in the deep, then, He, who has dominion over them, dubbed them—“Earth” and “Seas.”

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: To stand at the seaside is to see the invisible hand of God, holding back the swells of the sea from the sands of the shore.

“My soul is full of longing for the secret of the sea, and the heart of the great ocean sends a thrilling pulse through me.” (Henry Wadsworth Long Longfellow)

GENESIS 1:11-13

BIBLE TEXT: "And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the third day." (Genesis 1:11-13 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: The Creator’s divine design that all things reproduce “after their kind,” which is stated no less than 10 times in Genesis 1, is scientifically proven by DNA, which precludes the evolution of one kind into another.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: True science never contradicts the truth of Scripture, but inevitably confirms it.

"If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed, which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down…" (Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species)

GENESIS 1:14-19

BIBLE TEXT: "And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day." (Genesis 1:14-19 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: God’s command, “Let there be light,” preceded His creation of the heavenly “lights,” which attributes the source of all light to the Heavenly Father—the “Father of lights”—not to the heavenly bodies. (Genesis 1:3; James 1:17)

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Not only is God light, in whom there is no darkness at all, but there is also no possibility of any light at all, apart from God. (1 John 1:5)

Since God is light and good, neither darkness nor evil can be attributed to God, since darkness is the natural consequence of the absence of light and evil is the natural consequence of the absence of good. In other words, both darkness and evil are natural consequences of the absence of God; that is, of humanity’s choice to live independently of the divine. (James 1:17; Mark 10:18)

GENESIS 1:20-25

BIBLE TEXT: “And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.” (Genesis 1:20-25 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: The infinite capacity of the Creator's craft is clearly seen from mammoth whales to wee minnows, from fast-flying falcons to fleet-footed ostriches, and from industrious ants to indolent sloths.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: All creatures great and small, the Lord God made them all!

ALL THINGS BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL

Cecil Frances Alexander

All things bright and beautiful,

All creatures great and small,

All things wise and wonderful,

The Lord God made them all.

Each little flower that opens,

Each little bird that sings,

He made their glowing colors,

He made their tiny wings.

The rich man in his castle,

The poor man at his gate,

God made them, high or lowly,

And ordered their estate.

The purple-headed mountain,

The river running by,

The sunset and the morning,

That brightens up the sky.

The cold wind in the winter,

The pleasant summer sun,

The ripe fruits in the garden,

He made them every one.

The tall trees in the greenwood,

The meadows where we play,

The rushes by the water,

We gather every day.

He gave us eyes to see them,

And lips that we might tell,

How great is God Almighty,

Who has made all thing well.

GENESIS 1:26

BIBLE TEXT: "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth." (Genesis 1:26 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Man was not made first, in order to help God in His work of creation, but man was made last, as the crowning work of God’s creation. For more than anything else God made, man most manifested God’s glory.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Man was made in the image of God⏤to be an extension of God’s person—to look like God. Man was made in the likeness of God⏤to be an expression of God’s character—to act like God. And man was made to have dominion like God⏤to be an exhibition of God’s power—to reign with God.

GENESIS 1:27

BIBLE TEXT: “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” (Genesis 1:27 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: God, who is a Spirit, as well as triune⏤Father, Son, and Holy Spirit⏤created man in His own image by not only creating man as a spiritual being in a physical body, but also as a triune being, with a body, a soul, and a spirit. (John 4:24; 1 Thessalonians 5:23)

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: All of us have a God-shaped vacuum within us, which can only be filled and satisfied by God, in whose image we were created. To seek to fill the empty vacuum within us with anything else besides our Creator is an exercise in futility.

GENESIS 1:27

BIBLE TEXT: “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” (Genesis 1:27 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Our gender is determined by God, not by us. It's not a matter of choice, but of creation. To deny this undeniable truth, is not just to deny infallible Scripture, but scientific fact.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Gender is objective, not subjective, it's a matter of fact, not of feeling.

GENESIS 1:28

BIBLE TEXT: “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” (Genesis 1:28 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: God’s first command to man, following his creation, was to be fruitful and multiply. Likewise, Christ’s first command to redeemed men, following their recreation, was to be fruitful and multiply. (Matthew 28:18-20)

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Christ did not commission us to make clones of ourselves, but disciples of His. God wants more children like Christ, not more churchgoers like us. (Romans 8:29)

GENESIS 1:29-30

BIBLE TEXT: "And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.” (Genesis 1:29-30 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Only an omniscient and omnipotent Creator could have so carefully crafted creation for the conservation of every created creature.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: All of creation, which subsist on God’s created bounty, was created for God’s exclusive glory. (Isaiah 43:7; Romans 11:36)

THE ANTHROPIC PRINCIPLE

The Anthropic Principle teaches us that the whole universe was designed to support and nourish human life. For instance, consider the following:

If you raise or lower the universe’s rate of expansion by one part in a million, it would rule out the possibility of human life.
If the average distance between stars was any smaller the planetary orbits necessary for human life would not have occurred.
If the ratio of carbon to oxygen had been slightly different than it is, none of us would be around to breathe the air.
And if you changed the tilt of the earth’s axis slightly in one direction we would freeze. If you changed slightly in the other direction we would burn up.

GENESIS 1:31

BIBLE TEXT: "And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.” (Genesis 1:31 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: The elements of creation, pronounced “good” by God on the first five days of creation (Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25), are in their entirety, pronounced “very good” by God on the sixth day of creation.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: God’s creation was no longer just “good,” but “very good,” once it was completed by the creation of man, God’s crowning act of creation, who, more than anything else God created, mirrored and reflected the glory of God, who is the only good." (Mark 10:18)

If, as Jesus taught, God is the only good, then there is no good apart from God. Therefore, the only thing that made creation good was that it glorified the only good, who is God!

GENESIS 2:1

BIBLE TEXT: "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them." (Genesis 2:1 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Contrary to the claim of the cockamamie theory of evolution, the heavens, the earth and everything in them did not naturally evolve over eons by mere chance, but were supernaturally created and completed by the Almighty Creator.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: While evolutionists demand that the religious prove God to them, they are incapable of disproving God to the religious. Therefore, they, to their own chagrin, are just like the religious, in that they too live by faith. Whereas the religious believe in God, the evolutionist believes there is no God. Both have a belief about God that neither can prove to the other. Consequently, evolution is actually a faith; it’s more religion than science.

Whereas the evolutionist believes there is no God, the Christian believes there is a God. If the Christian is wrong, he or she has lost nothing, but if the evolutionist is wrong, he or she has lost everything.

GENESIS 2:2-3

BIBLE TEXT: “And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.” (Genesis 2:2-3 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: The Creator rested on the seventh day, not because He was fatigued, but because creation was finished.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: The sanctification of the Sabbath speaks to us of the fact that God, who is never tired, can always be trusted, for His finished work, either in creation or salvation, is sufficient for us, so much so that we can enter into His rest by our total reliance upon Him.

READ THE BOOKLET: THE SABBATH

GENESIS 2:4-6

BIBLE TEXT: “These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.” (Genesis 2:4-6 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Here we have a summary of God’s creation of every sprig and scrub, which shows God as the sole source and sustainer of all plant life. Although God uses rain to water and man to weed, the wonder of it all is attributable to God alone.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: The canopy of water vapor, which once surrounded the whole earth, as taught in Genesis 1:6-7, would have created a giant greenhouse effect. This means the whole earth, as science has discovered, would have once had a tropical climate, According to the Bible, it did not rain upon the earth until the flood (Genesis 2:5-6), when the canopy of water vapor dissipated and evaporated, falling on the earth in the form of precipitation, which along with the breaking up of the great foundations of the great deep caused the flood. Therefore, the rain that fell on the roof of Noah’s Ark was the first rain that ever fell upon the earth.

GENESIS 2:7

BIBLE TEXT: "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." (Genesis 2:7 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: To deny the Genesis account of creation is to reduce man to a breathless clod, but to believe it raises man to a sublime being, since we know God does not waste His breath.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: In the work of creation, the Creator breathed His life into man, making man a living soul. In the work of salvation, Christ breathes His resurrected life—the Holy Spirit—into the Christian, making the Christian a new creation in Christ. (John 20:22; 2 Corinthians 5:17)

We owe our being to the breath of God, without which we cease to be. (Job 33:4)

GENESIS 2:8

BIBLE TEXT: "And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed." (Genesis 2:8 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Only God can plant a paradise in which to put man, as has been empirically proven by the hell on earth repeatedly planted by umpteen utopians throughout the annals of human history.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Every time man tries to create his own heaven on earth, it turns into hell on earth.

The doctrine of original sin is a doctrine of the Christian Faith empirically verified by all of human history. No matter how many times fallen man attempts to plant for himself a garden of Eden, he always ends up in a Garden of Evil.

GENESIS 2:9

BIBLE TEXT: "And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil." (Genesis 2:9 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: The tree of life, which was once in the midst of paradise lost, is now in the midst of the paradise of God, where the river of life flows around it on both sides down the middle of the street of the heavenly and holy New Jerusalem. (Revelation 2:7; 22:2)

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: As man was created to live on earth by the tree of life—God’s Word and divine revelation—not by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil—man’s wit and human reason—so shall men live forevermore in Heaven.

“Jesus took the tree of death, so you could have the tree of life.” (Timothy Keller)

GENESIS 2:10-14

BIBLE TEXT: “And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone. And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.” (Genesis 2:10-14 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Before the Fall of Man, Adam was in paradise at the Tigris and Euphrates; after the Fall of Man, Israel was in prison at the Tigris and Euphrates. (Psalm 137:1-4)

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Whether it is Adam and Eve’s eventual exile from Eden, by the Tigris and Euphrates, or exiled Israel in Babylon, on the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates, the moral of the story is obvious. There is no paradise for man apart from obedience to God.

An atheist once asked a little boy, “Where do you want to go when you die?” The little boy answered, “To Heaven!” The atheist then asked the boy, “Why do you want to go to Heaven,” to which the boy replied, “Because Jesus is there!” Finally, the atheist asked the little boy, “Suppose Jesus is in Hell, then, where would you want to go?” The boy quickly quipped, “There ain’t no Hell where Jesus is!”

GENESIS 2:15

BIBLE TEXT: "And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it." (Genesis 2:15 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: The Garden of Eden, which God made for man, God commissioned man to maintain for God.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: God, who created the world and sustains it, has committed its care to us, so we should certainly care for it.

The Biblical doctrine of man’s stewardship over the earth is apolitical. It is therefore not to be used by power-hungry politicians to usurp lordship over our planet and its populace.

Man, whose salvation would eventually be achieved on a tree, was assigned in creation the care of the trees. (Galatians 3:13)

GENESIS 2:16-17

BIBLE TEXT: "And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." (Genesis 2:16-17 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Forsaking God's Word and divine revelation for the forbidden fruit of man's wit and human reason is what brought death, both physical and spiritual, into the world.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: To eat the forbidden fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil meant for man to usurp the place of God in his life. It meant that man would not live forever by God’s Word, as he was created to live (Matthew 4:4), but would forfeit eternal life, in order to live by his own wit. Rather than living by what God taught, man would live by what he thought. He wouldn’t take God’s Word for what was good and evil and right and wrong; instead, he would decide for himself what was good and evil and right and wrong.

To disbelieve and disobey God’s Word is to be guilty of self-deification.

GENESIS 2:18

BIBLE TEXT: “And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.” (Genesis 2:18 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: The one "not good" of creation is transformed into a "very good" with the consummation of man by the Creator's creation of woman. (Genesis 1:26-31)

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Woman was created to compliment man; that is, to complete him. However, the Biblical doctrine of complementarianism cuts both ways. It teaches that God created both man (masculinity) and woman (femininity) to complement and complete each other. When both fulfill their God ordained roles, not only are both made whole, but the home, the church, and society as well.

A society that can no longer differentiate between men and women is a doomed society.

GENESIS 2:19-20

BIBLE TEXT: “And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.” (Genesis 2:19-20 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Although the animals got their handle (name) from Adam, no helpmate for Adam was found among the animals.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Having Adam name the animals, after declaring Adam’s need of a helpmate, proves that God has a sense of humor. Adam had to wonder, when it came to each animal to whom he gave a handle, which included the aardvark and orangutan, if it might turn out to be his helpmate.

GENESIS 2:21-22

BIBLE TEXT: “And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.” (Genesis 2:21-22 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: The first surgery was performed by the Great Physician, who removed man’s rib to make man whole.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: “The woman was made of a rib out of the side of Adam; not made out of his head to rule over him nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved.” (Matthew Henry)

GENESIS 2:23-24

BIBLE TEXT: “And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” (Genesis 2:23-24 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: If God is in the equation, one fellow + one female = "one flesh.”

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Leaving and cleaving is the Biblical formula for a successful marriage. Husbands and wives are to leave their parents and to cleave to one another. It is only when husbands and wives are committed to cleaving to one another for a lifetime that they are made inseparable and the intimacy of oneness is made possible between them!

The ideal marriage does not call for the forfeiture of individuality, but for unity in duality.

GENESIS 2:25

BIBLE TEXT: “And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.” (Genesis 2:25 KJV)

BIBLE TEXT: Before sin, which produced self-consciousness, man was not ashamed of his nakedness, because he was not self-conscious, but God-conscious and other-conscious.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Sin is “I” trouble. It is nearsightedness, the inability to see beyond oneself.

In their innocence, Adam and Eve had no inhibitions about their nakedness. They were not afraid of being exposed, being assured that they would be viewed flawlessly by both God and one another. After the Fall, however, everything changed. They were self-conscious of their nakedness and afraid of being exposed, knowing that they were flawed and would be seen as such by both God and one another.

GENESIS 3:1a

BIBLE TEXT: "Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made." (Genesis 3:1a KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Satan slithers his way into our lives subtly disguised, never appearing appalling, but always appealing.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: The devil will never appear to you in a red suit, with horns, pitchfork, and a pointed tail. Instead, he will always appear to you disguised as something alluring, such as a beautiful temptress, the euphoria of an intoxicant, or some irresistible ill-gotten gain.

Satan is a master masquerader, whose many masquerades have been the means to many a man’s demise.

GENESIS 3:1b

BIBLE TEXT: "And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" (Genesis 3:1b KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: The serpent not only subtly insinuates divine injustice, but also suggest that God’s Word is suspect, by both stretching and questioning it.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: The Bible begins with the Serpent stretching God’s Word further than God ever intended for it to go; and it ends by warning us to never do what the Serpent did (Revelation 22:18-19). While God has given us the choice to reject or receive His Word, He has not given us the choice to revise or edit it.

The devil’s diabolical design for our destruction begins with doubt, getting us to doubt whether God is just and His Word is true.

GENESIS 3:2-3

BIBLE TEXT: “And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.” (Genesis 3:2-3 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: When God’s Word is distorted by the devil, muddled in our minds, and misquoted by our mouths, sin is crouching at the door.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Notice, Satan’s distortion of God’s Word—turning its prohibition against eating the fruit of a single tree in the garden into a prohibition against eating the fruit of “every tree in the garden”—resulted in Eve distorting God’s Word as well, by turning its simple prohibition against eating of the forbidden tree into a prohibition against even touching it as well.

As Peter teaches in the New Testament, the tempter has tricked many a person into twisting the Scripture to their own destruction. (2 Peter 3:16)

GENESIS 3:4

BIBLE TEXT: "And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die." (Genesis 3:4 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Having slyly disguised himself, as well as having subtly distorted God’s Word and sown doubts about it, Satan subsequently and straightforwardly denied God’s Word, successfully seducing Adam and Eve to sinfully disbelieve and disobey it.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Since initially used in the shade beneath the forbidden tree of the Garden of Eden, Satan’s strategy has been steadily employed with extraordinary success.

Satan’s strategy is as old as the Garden, but still as guilefully operable as it was in the shade beneath the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

GENESIS 3:5

BIBLE TEXT: "For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." (Genesis 3:5 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: This is the Scripture's most succinct summation of original sin and the ongoing source of all sorrow and suffering in this fallen world. It is simply man's usurpation of God's place in his life as the final arbiter of good and evil.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Man, who was created in the likeness of God (Genesis 1:26), did not become like God in the Fall, but lost his divine similitude by being deceived into self-deification. In other words, by being deceived by the devil into substituting himself for God as the final arbiter of right and wrong, man not only separated himself from God, but also subjected himself, as well as all of God’s creation, to corruption.

The tempter often tempts us, as he did Eve, to disobey God by dangling before us something that God has already given us.

GENESIS 3:6

BIBLE TEXT: "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat." (Genesis 3:6 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Sin entered into the world when Eve decided to live by her sight rather than by what God said. Sin is simply living by your own wits rather than by God’s Word and by human reason rather than by divine revelation.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: We are to live by faith—by believing God’s Word; that is, by believing what God says. We are not to live by sight—by our own wits; that is, by our personal perceptions. (2 Corinthians 5:7)

Right judgments are never reached by adhering to mere appearances, but only by adhering to divine assessments. (John 7:24)

GENESIS 3:7-8

BIBLE TEXT: “And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.” (Genesis 3:7-8 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Before the Fall, man in his innocence, was unclothed and unashamed (Genesis 2:25), but afterward, in his sin, he clothed himself and hid himself, having become self-conscious rather than God-conscious and other-conscious.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: The Fall made man both clothe himself with fig leaves, in a futile attempt to conceal his sinful faults and flaws from others, and hide himself among the trees of the garden, in a foolish attempt to hide his sinful faults and flaws from God.

There is only one tree behind which man’s sin can be hidden from God. It is the cross of Calvary!

GENESIS 3:9

BIBLE TEXT: "And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?" (Genesis 3:9 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: This is arguably the saddest question in the Bible: “Adam, where are you?” It was not asked because Adam had successfully concealed his sin from God, but because Adam needed to confess his sin to God.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: God was not unaware of Adam’s whereabouts, but was admonishing Adam to acknowledge his wrongdoing.

As it was with Adam, so it has been with every sinner ever since, it is God who seeks the sinner, never the sinner who seeks God. (Luke 19:10; Romans 3:11)

GENESIS 3:10

BIBLE TEXT: "And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself." (Genesis 3:10)

BIBLE TWEET: Fig leaves were a futile covering for the Fall, which turned man’s former fellowship with God into a frightening fear of God, since man no longer walked with God, but was now under the wrath of God.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Although man, in his innocence, had no qualms about his nakedness, being absolutely assured of God’s acceptance, he was both ashamed and afraid to be unclothed in his sin, because he knew he was no longer acceptable to God, but alienated from God.

GENESIS 3:11-12

BIBLE TEXT: “And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.” (Genesis 3:11-12 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Again, God asked a rhetorical question (Genesis 3:9), not to obtain information from Adam, which an omniscient God did not need, but a confession from Adam, which a forgiving God requires. However, Adam attempted to acquit himself by accusing others.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Ever since Adam alibied his sin by passing the buck to others rather than blaming himself, his sinful descendants have followed suit, even to the point of placing their guilt, as Adam ultimately did, at the feet of God.

The popular present-day argument that homosexuals’ natural proclivity to sexual perversion is not just innate, but God ordained, makes God to blame for homosexuality and homosexuals out to be blameless. It is also a lie as old as the Garden of Eden, where Adam diverted the blame for his sin to God, by blaming it on the woman whom God had given him.

GENESIS 3:13

BIBLE TEXT: “And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.” (Genesis 3:13 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: As Adam blamed his sin directly on Eve and indirectly on God, Eve blamed her sin on the serpent; after all, the serpent didn’t have a leg to stand on.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Unfortunately, many a sinner, like their mother Eve, and the late comedian, Flip Wilson, commercially claim: “The devil made me do it,”

GENESIS 3:14

BIBLE TEXT: “And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.” (Genesis 3:14 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: The serpent, symbolizing Satan, who was the first to fall, was fittingly the first to be cursed. His curse was most fitting as well, symbolizing how far he had fallen, from aspiring to usurp the throne of God, to crawling in the dust of the earth.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: The greater sin’s foremost aspirations, the greater the sinner’s final degradation.

All self-deification ends in dust eating degradation!

GENESIS 3:15

BIBLE TEXT: “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:15 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: This is not just the first, but one of the foremost Messianic prophesies in the Bible, predicting Christ's virgin birth—the promised seed of the woman—the crucifixion—the serpent bruising Christ's heel—and the resurrection—Christ's fatal blow to the serpent's head.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: This verse is known as the protoevangelium—the first preaching of the Gospel or of the Good News in all of Scripture. From this point forward the whole Bible is employed in expounding upon this extraordinary promise and its eventual fulfillment in the coming of Christ. For this reason, this verse is known as “the Bible in embryo,” as the “sum of history" (His Story), and as “the germ of all prophecy that unfolds into the perfect fragrant bloom of the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the Valley.”

READ THE BOOKLET: ENMITY BETWEEN THE SEED OF THE WOMAN AND THE SEED OF THE SERPENT

GENESIS 3:16

BIBLE TEXT: “Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.” (Genesis 3:16 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Having coaxed man to sin, woman is cursed by God and put under man’s control, which has caused contention between the sexes throughout the centuries.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: The curse of Genesis 3:16 is no more reversed by Women’s Lib than the pain of childbirth is by Lamaze classes.

The fact that I am a woman does not make me a different kind of Christian, but the fact that I am a Christian makes me a different kind of woman.” (Elizabeth Elliot)

GENESIS 3:17-19

BIBLE TEXT: “And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” (Genesis 3:17-19 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: The Fall not only subjected fallen earthlings to corruption, but a fallen earth as well, resulting in man, who sinned by eating the forbidden fruit, being forced to work for his future food by the sweat of his face.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: We have our trespasses to thank for our thorns and thistles.

The thorns and thistles of fallen man’s toil and trouble keep him from being overly taken with this fallen terrestrial orb.

GENESIS 3:20

BIBLE TEXT: “And the man named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all life" (Genesis 3:20 LEB)

BIBLE TWEET: Although Adam initially called his helpmate “woman,” which means “out of man,” he now calls her “Eve,” which means “life,” since he understood that out of her would come the Promised Seed who would restore eternal life to all whose sin had doomed them to return to dust.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: It is a tremendous testimony to the grace of God in the Garden of Eden that though Eve sinned, God’s plan of salvation for her descendants was for a Savior to ultimately come through her progeny.

LEB - Lexham English Bible

GENESIS 3:21

BIBLE TEXT: “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.” (Genesis 3:21 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Adam and Eve’s fig leave finery, just like the filthy rags of our own righteousness (Isaiah 64:6), were inadequate to cover their sin and shame. Therefore, God had to provide covering for their sin, by arraying them in animal skins from animal sacrifices.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: From the very first sin, God made it abundantly clear that there is no forgiveness for sin apart from the shedding of blood (Hebrews 9:22). If life is in the blood (Leviticus 17:11) and the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), then, the only way a sinner can be saved is for a substitute’s life to be poured out and their blood shed in the sinner’s stead.

It’s foolish to take pride in fashion, since our clothes, whether manmade of sackcloth or silk, are merely futile attempts at covering our sin and shame.

GENESIS 3:22-24

BIBLE TEXT: “And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.” (Genesis 3:22-24 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Having separated himself from God by sinning against God, man was no longer fit to share the life of God and to live with God forever, so God exiled him from Eden and prohibited him from partaking of the Tree of Life in the midst of the paradisiacal Garden.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Eden’s exiles were exiled for the following evils: (1) They usurped the place of God in their lives by making themselves the final arbiters of good and evil and right and wrong (2) They opted to live by their wit and reason rather than by God’s Word and divine revelation (3) They opted to live in self-reliance and independent of God rather than in reliance and dependence upon God (4) They opted to live in their own strength rather than God’s Spirit (5) They opted to live in their flesh rather than in faith (6) They opted to go their own way and do whatever they wanted to do rather than fulfill God’s will and do what He wanted them to do, and (7) They opted to live for themselves and their own glory rather than for God and His glory.

God placed Cherubim at the gate of Eden, as He did on the veil of the tabernacle and later the temple (Exodus 26:31-33), as a sign to sinners of the inaccessibility of God. It was not until Christ’s flesh was torn on the cross of Calvary for the sin of the world that the veil of the temple was torn from top to bottom and access to God was regained for all who believe in Christ (Matthew 27:50-51).

GENESIS 4:1-6

BIBLE TEXT: “And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord. And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?” (Genesis 4:1-6 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Cain's sacrifice was rejected, because he offered God the produce of his own hands, but Abel's sacrifice was received, because he offered God a propitiation from his own flock.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Self-righteous religionists are always irate and irked over God's disregard of their religious liturgy and reputable labors.

GENESIS 4:7

BIBLE TEXT: “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.” (Genesis 4:7 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Sin is always crouching at the door, not only to gain entrance into our lives, but to gain control over our lives.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: The arms of the Lord are thrown open to all who come to Him on His terms, like Abel, but the door of our lives is thrown open to sin if we insist upon coming to God on our own terms, like Cain.

GENESIS 4:8

BIBLE TEXT: “And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.” (Genesis 4:8 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Like Cain, many today practice cutthroat religion, attempting to do in God's accepted Abels—Christians—who refuse to countenance all man-made religions.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: "There are those who hate Christianity and call their hatred an all-embracing love for all religions." (G. K. Chesterton)

GENESIS 4:9-10

BIBLE TEXT: “And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper? And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.” (Genesis 4:9-10 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Cain, who was his brother's killer, denied being his brother's keeper, for to callously violate the sanctity of human life is to be void of any real concern or sympathy for all of humanity.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Those guilty of inhumanity are easily detected by their insolence toward divinity.

GENESIS 4:17

BIBLE TEXT: “And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch.” (Genesis 4:17 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: This is the atheist's favorite Bible verse, because it poses the atheist's favorite Bible question: "Where did Cain get his wife?" However, far from being a silver bullet shot through the heart of Scripture, it's just another misfired blank cartridge from the popgun of pagan unbelief.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Instead of shooting blanks at the Bible with the pistol of unbelief, you ought to try believing it. You’ll be eternally grateful you did!

READ THE BOOKLET: WHERE DID CAIN GET HIS WIFE?

GENESIS 5:24

BIBLE TEXT: “And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.” (Genesis 5:24 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Everyone who walks with God will eventually be taken by God and end up eternally with God.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: The closer you walk with God the less chance there is of anything coming between you and God, and the longer you walk with God the closer you’ll be to His place than to yours.

GENESIS 5:25-27

BIBLE TEXT: “And Methuselah lived an hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech. And Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech seven hundred eighty and two years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died.” (Genesis 5:25-27 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Methuselah is not just the longest living man in the Bible, but a Biblical testimony to the long-suffering of God toward sinful man, since his name means, “when he dies, it [the flood] shall come.”

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Methuselah lived so long, because God is so long-suffering (2 Peter 3:5-9). His unusual moniker was meant to underscore God’s undeserved mercy.

READ METHUSELAH: THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES

GENESIS 6:3

BIBLE TEXT: “And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.” (Genesis 6:3 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: God’s Spirit shall not always strive with man, neither when it comes to convicting the sinner of sin nor compelling the saint to service. Therefore, we must not procrastinate when it comes to God’s window of grace or to our door of opportunity.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: God’s patience is not inexhaustible nor His Spirit irresistible. Man can resist God’s Spirit and consequently be given over by God to a reprobate mind. (Romans 1:24, 26, 28)

READ THE UNPARDONABLE SIN

GENESIS 6:5-8

BIBLE TEXT: “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” (Genesis 6:5-8 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord." We should all be extremely grateful for this "But," because if it wasn't in the Bible, none of us would be here today!

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Like Noah, the only way we will escape God’s upcoming judgment of the world is for us too to find grace in the eyes of the Lord.

GENESIS 6:22

BIBLE TEXT: “Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.” (Genesis 6:22 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: There’s no faith in God nor salvation from God apart from obedience to God. As Noah could not have entered the ark of God, unless he had obeyed the commandments of God, neither can you enter the kingdom of God, unless you do the will God. (Matthew 7:21)

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: The ark-building Noah could never have been saved by a faith that didn’t work. Likewise, you can never be saved by a faith that doesn’t work. (James 2:20)

GENESIS 7:5

BIBLE TEXT: “And Noah did according unto all that the Lord commanded him.” (Genesis 7:5 KJV)

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: The ark-building Noah could never have been saved by a faith that didn’t work. Likewise, you can never be saved by a faith that doesn’t work. (James 2:20)

GENESIS 9:6

BIBLE TEXT: “Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.” (Genesis 9:6 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Here we have the divine ordination of human government, for the express purpose of executing murderers. The Bible clearly teaches capital punishment, in order to prevent murderers from becoming repeat offenders.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Contrary to popular opinion, there is no contradiction between the Christian’s support of capital punishment and the Christian’s opposition to abortion, since both are based on the sanctity of human life; that is, on protecting innocent lives.

If you want to know why the Bible clearly teaches capital punishment, this will explain it to you! The vast majority of violent crimes in America are committed by repeat offenders who make up a very small percentage of our overall population.

GENESIS 9:8-17

BIBLE TEXT: “And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you; And with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth. And I will establish my covenant with you, neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.” (Genesis 9:8-17 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: The symbol of the Noahic Covenant was the rainbow. After the flood, God's bow in the clouds was seen as unthreatening, upturned, and unstrung. It served as a sure sign that God would never again destroy the world by a flood.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Although the world will once again become like it was in the days of Noah, at the coming of the Son of Man, God will not judge and destroy it again by a flood, but next time by fire. (Matthew 24:37; 2 Peter 3:3-7)

The confiscation of the rainbow by the LGBTQ community is a sacrilege, which serves as a guarantee of God's judgment upon it, not s a safeguard against it.

GENESIS 10:8-10

BIBLE TEXT: “And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.” (Genesis 10:8-10 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Nimrod, whose name means, "let us rebel," was earth's earliest post-flood rebel. He began his mutiny against Deity in Babel, the site of fallen man's initial attempt to defiantly build his own heaven on earth and his own way into Heaven independently of God.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Here, at Babel, we find the first mention of an earthly kingdom in the Bible. Henceforth, Babel, and subsequently Babylon, become the scriptural symbol of the kingdom of this world, which is the scriptural nemesis of the Kingdom of Heaven.

READ BABYLON

GENESIS 10:19

BIBLE TEXT: “And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as thou comest to Gerar, unto Gaza; as thou goest, unto Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Admah, and Zeboim, even unto Lasha.” (Genesis 10:19 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: As the notorious border towns of Sodom and Gomorrah prove, living on the ledge of sin’s slippery slop always leads to sliding into the slough of licentiousness.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: To cozy up to and become comfortable with sin is to inevitably be conquered and controlled by it.

Evil is a monster of such awful mein

That to be hated needs but to be seen

But seen to often, as to become familiar with its face

We first endure, then pity, and finally embrace. (Alexander Pope)

GENESIS 10:25

BIBLE TEXT: “And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother's name was Joktan.” (Genesis 10:25 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: True science and scriptural truth are never in contradiction. For instance, this verse chronicles and confirms the continental drift theory, science’s contention that the continents were once a solitary land mass that was divided and drifted apart.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: The divine built-in divider of different languages, imposed upon humanity at Babel, was expanded upon in the days of Peleg by different continents and the ensuing additional build-in dividers of different colors (races), clans (ethnicities), countries, customs, and cultures.

While the world celebrates our diversity as a means of unanimity, it’s really a divine means of divisibility, to prevent humanity from unspeakable villainy!

READ THE BABEL EFFECT

GENESIS 11:1-9

BIBLE TEXT: “And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter. And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.” (Genesis 11:1-9 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: The Tower of Babel was this fallen world’s first attempt to come together and make a name for itself by creating its own heaven on earth, through a forged one world government, and its own way to heaven, through a false one world religion.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: The individual sin Adam and Eve committed in the dark shade beneath the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil⏤the sin of man personally usurping the place of God in his own life⏤became the collective sin of all humanity at the Tower of Babel—the sin of mankind corporately usurping the place of God on this fallen planet.

Many contemporary churches are little Towers of Babel. They are monuments men build to themselves where the carnal gather together to make a name for themselves (Genesis 11:1-9). They are not real churches where Christians gather together to magnify the name of Christ. For instance, today's churchgoers often boast about and glory in their "church," but seldom boast about the cross or glory in Christ (Galatians 6:14). They brag about their church's magnificent edifice, their pastor's eloquence, their entertaining church services, or their amusement park like children's program, but seldom speak a word about their Savior. Like many contemporary churches, our country is also a Tower of Babel to many Americans. For instance, consider how many Americans boast about and glory in our country and how few boast about the cross and glory in Christ. Even America's evangelicals appear to be far more passionate about their political activism and winning elections than they are about preaching the Gospel and winning God's elect.

READ THE TOWER OF BABEL

READ THE BABEL EFFECT

GENESIS 11:1-9

BIBLE TWEET: I fear many contemporary churches are little Towers of Babel, places where the carnal gather together to make a name for themselves rather than places where Christians gather together to magnify the name of Christ.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: “Promoting self under the guise of promoting Christ is currently so common as to excite little notice.” (A. W. Tozer)

GENESIS 11:1-9

BIBLE TWEET: Human government should never usurp the place of God, lest government be mistaken for God and us made into government drudges.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: "The truth is that it is only by believing in God that we can ever criticize the government. Once you abolish God, government becomes God.” (G. K. Chesterton)

GENESIS 12:7

BIBLE TEXT: “And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him.” (Genesis 12:7 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Abraham built an altar where God appeared to him, for without personal acquaintance with God there can be no presentable oblation to God nor proper adoration of God.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: The prerequisite to the proper adoration of God is a personal acquaintance with God. You can’t worship God if you don’t know Him, but if you know Him, you can’t help but worship Him.

“To worship God in truth is to recognize Him for being who He is, and to recognize ourselves for who we are.” (Brother Lawerence)

GENESIS 13:12-13

BIBLE TEXT: “Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly.” (Genesis 13:12-13 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: As proven by Lot, who tagged along on his Uncle Abram’s spiritual pilgrimage, all spiritual tagalongs end up pitching their tents toward Sodom. (Genesis 12:4; 13:1)

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: It's not enough for you to tag along with someone else on their personal spiritual pilgrimage. Instead, you need a personal spiritual pilgrimage of your own, lest you become tired of the trip and end up pitching your tent toward some sinful Sodom.

GENESIS 14:22-23

BIBLE TEXT: “And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the Lord, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth,That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich.” (Genesis 14:22-23 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: A true man of God wants others mindful of the fact that all of his means are attributable to the blessing of the Almighty, not to the benevolence of some human benefactor.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: “It is a shameful thing to profess trust in God and yet play the role of a pauper, disclosing one's needs and provoking others to pity.” (Watchman Nee)

GENESIS 15:1

BIBLE TEXT: “After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.” (Genesis 15:1 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: The solution to incapacitating fear is to see God as our invincible shield and inevitable reward, as Abraham was clearly instructed to do in the initial “fear not” of the Bible.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: To be assured of God’s present defense of us and our eternal destiny with Him is a more impregnable fortress against fear than the protection of all of the world’s troops and the possession of all of the world’s treasures.

GENESIS 15:6

BIBLE TEXT: “And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.” (Genesis 15:6 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: The dividend of righteousness is credited to everyone who, like Abram, invests their life and deposits their faith in God. (Galatians 3:6-14)

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: The Doctrine of Imputation: God imputed our sin to Christ on the cross, so that He can impute Christ's righteousness to all Christians who believe in Christ!

GENESIS 16:1-6

BIBLE TEXT: “Now Sarai Abram's wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the Lordhath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai. And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife. And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes. And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the Lord judge between me and thee. But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thine hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face.” (Genesis 16:1-6 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: It is a tragic mistake to try to help God fulfill His promises. Not only does God need no help producing His promised Issacs, but we'll suffer serious consequences from all of our produced Ishmaels.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Abraham and Sarah’s plot to help God produce His promised Issac, only produced their problematic Ishmael, which resulted in the age-old conflict between the descendants of Ishmael—the Arabs—and the descendants of Issac—the Jews. The fact that the Middle-East is presently inflamed is a direct consequence of the past effort of Abraham and Sarah to help God fulfill His promise.

GENESIS 16:11-12

BIBLE TEXT: “And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Behold, thou art with child and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the Lord hath heard thy affliction. And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.” (Genesis 16:11-12 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: This prophecy of the pugnacious Ishmael has come tragically true in today's Religion of the Sword, Islam, which teaches that all Muslims are fighting a holy war against the rest of the world, until all infidels are forced to bow before Allah, the god of Islam.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: There are 123 verses in the Koran that teach fighting and killing for the cause of Allah; in fact, the words “fight” and “kill” appear more often in the Koran than the word “prayer.” According to the Prophet Mohammed, the founder of Islam: “The sword is the key to heaven and hell; a day of blood shed in the cause of Allah, a night spent in arms, is of more avail than two months of fasting and prayer.”

Although the majority of Muslims today are not Arabs, direct descendants of Ishmael, Islam is an Arab religion, which teaches that Arabs are the “most honorable among the people.” In fact, Mohammed said, “Love the Arabs for three reasons: Because I am an Arab, the Koran is in Arabic, and the language of paradise is Arabic.”

GENESIS 17:1

BIBLE TEXT: “And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.” (Genesis 17:1 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Here, for the first time in Scripture, God identifies Himself as EL SHADDAI—the Almighty who is more than enough. God is not only more than enough help, but He is also more than we can handle.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Although we can always trust the Almighty for everything, we should never trifle with Him about anything.

GENESIS 17:3

BIBLE TEXT: “And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying.” (Genesis 17:3 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Sometimes God doesn’t speak up until we fall facedown.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: No man can strut into an audience with the Almighty.

GENESIS 17:15-21

BIBLE TEXT: “And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her. Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear? And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee! And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.” (Genesis 17:15-21 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Too many laugh at God’s miraculous Isaacs and merely ask God to bless their self-made Ishmaels.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: While our self-produced Ishmaels may be temporarily blessed, it is only upon God-given Isaacs that eternal covenants are forever built.

While we may find the seemingly unimaginable promises of God laughable, God will have the last laugh when He performs the utterly impossible.

GENESIS 17:23

BIBLE TEXT: “And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all that were born in his house, and all that were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham's house; and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the selfsame day, as God had said unto him.” (Genesis 17:15-21 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: “Selfsame day” obedience is true obedience; delayed obedience is disobedience.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Our Heavenly Father, like all good parents, knows that a child’s put off obedience is just a subtle way to put over parental defiance.

GENESIS 18:9-15

BIBLE TEXT: “And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent. And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also? And the Lord said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old? Is any thing too hard for the Lord? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son. Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And he said, Nay; but thou didst laugh.” (Genesis 18:9-15 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: God confirms and carries out His certain promises. Although men oftentimes find them hilarious, God never finds them hard to fulfill.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Genuine faith is always based on a divine promise, never on human presumption. It’s based on what God has precisely said He will do, never on what we personally assume He will do.

The promises of God are no laughing matter.

GENESIS 18:14

BIBLE TEXT: “Is any thing too hard for the Lord? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.” (Genesis 18:14 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: The Lord does not do the impossible at our insistence, but only according to His intentions. He does not do it immediately at our demand, but only at His appointed time.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: The Positive Confession Movement makes God into a universal bellhop who serves at our beck and call. Therefore, it is not just heresy, but blasphemy!

GENESIS 18:20-33

BIBLE TEXT: “And the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know. And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the Lord. And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? And the Lord said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes. And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes: Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it. And he spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for forty's sake. And he said unto him, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there. And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord: Peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for twenty's sake. And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten's sake. And the Lord went his way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place." (Genesis 18:20-33 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: To be an intercessor, one must draw close to God, appeal to the character of God, and know when to conclude a prayer to God.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Intercessors must be intimate with God, intercede on the basis of the integrity of God, not their impulses, and intrinsically know when intercession has become ineffective.

Intercession is the truly universal work for the Christian. No place is closed to intercessory prayer; no continent, no nation, no city, no organization, no office. No power on earth can keep intercession out. (Richard Halverson)

GENESIS 19:13

BIBLE TEXT: “For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the Lord; and the Lord hath sent us to destroy it." (Genesis 19:13 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Although asserted by modern-day sodomites, sodomy is not innate, as is attested to by the divine annihilation of ancient Sodom.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: According to the Bible, God's destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah by fire and brimstone is a warning of the punishment of “eternal fire” that awaits all who are guilty of sexual perversion. (Jude 1:7)

The word “sodomy,” which originally meant unnatural sexual relations with a member of the same sex, was derived from the homosexual proclivities of the men of Sodom, whom the Bible describes as “sinners before the Lord exceedingly” (Genesis 13:13). According to Genesis 18:16-33, God determined to destroy the Sodomites because their sin [was so] grievous. It was after an attempt by the city’s male inhabitants to forcefully have sex with a pair of angels that God destroyed Sodom with “fire and brimstone…out of Heaven” (Genesis 19:1-28).

GENESIS 19:15-22

BIBLE TEXT: “And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city. And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the Lord being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city. And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed. And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my Lord: Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die: Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live. And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken. Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do anything till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar." (Genesis 19:15-22 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Like Lot, too many of today's divinely delivered souls seek short pilgrimages and small places rather than mountain peaks and higher ground.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Praying too small is a problem that is pandemic among today’s divinely delivered Zoar dwellers.

GENESIS 19:23-26

BIBLE TEXT: “The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar. Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven; And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt." (Genesis 19:23-26 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Lot's wife is the epitome of false repentance. Instead of truly turning away from sinful Sodom and being forever delivered, she succumbed to the temptation to turn back and was forthwith destroyed.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: True repentance is never repented of; that is, it is a brokenhearted turning from sin and a wholehearted turning to the Savior that will never be turned from. (2 Corinthians 7:8-11)

One of Scripture’s most solemn warnings is found in one of its shortest verses. In Luke 17:32, our Lord said, “Remember Lot’s wife.” As she clearly illustrates and our Lord clearly instructs, no one who turns back is fit for the Kingdom of God (Luke 9:62).

Whereas the New Testament church had pillars of the church (Galatians 2:9), the contemporary church has more pillars of salt (Genesis 19:26).

GENESIS 21:1-7

BIBLE TEXT: “And the Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did unto Sarah as he had spoken. For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old, as God had commanded him. And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him. And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me. And she said, Who would have said unto Abraham, that Sarah should have given children suck? for I have born him a son in his old age." (Genesis 21:1-7 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: The name “Isaac” means “laughter,” for the initial and contemptuous laughter of the elderly and barren Sarah at the fantastic promise of God immediately became celebratory laughter when Isaac was born in miraculous fulfillment of God’s promise.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Make no mistake about it; God has the last laugh on all who laugh at His promises!

The promises of God are no laughing matter!

GENESIS 21:9

BIBLE TEXT: “And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking." (Genesis 21:9 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Ishmael, the son of the slave woman, who represents the flesh, will always mock Issac, the son of the free woman, who represents the Spirit, for there is always animosity between the haughty flesh of man and the Holy Spirit of God. (Galatians 4:22-31; 5:17)

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: What the flesh manually produces will always refuse to play second fiddle to what the Spirit miraculously performs, despite the fact that the promises of God can only be inherited through the work of the Spirit and never through the work of the flesh.

GENESIS 22:1-12

BIBLE TEXT: "And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you. And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together. And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.” (Genesis 22:1-12 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: You will know your faith in God has become the premier thing in your life when you are willing to obey God by offering to Him that which is most prized, priceless and precious in your life!

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: God did not ask anything of Abraham on Mount Moriah that He was not willing to do Himself, for God did sacrifice His Son for us on a mountain called Calvary.

THE SIMILARITIES OF ABRAHAM OFFERING HIS SON ISAAC ON MOUNT MORIAH AND GOD OFFERING HIS SON JESUS ON MOUNT CALVARY

Each son is the father’s beloved son.
The birth of both sons were promised and miraculous.
Both sacrifices were on a mountain.
Both sons carried the wood upon which they were to be sacrificed.
Both sons asked questions of their father.
Both sons were submissive to the will of their father.
Both sacrifices involved thorns, a ram caught in the thorns in one and a crown of thorns in the other.
Both sons were resurrected, one figuratively the other literally.
And the whole world was blessed by both sons, since God’s promised seed came through one and God’s promised salvation through the other.

GENESIS 22:14

BIBLE TEXT: “And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen." (Genesis 22:14 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Abraham praised God as JEHOVAH-JIREH—the Lord provides—for providing a substitutionary lamb for his son Isaac’s salvation. How much more should we praise God as JEHOVAH-JIREH for providing His Son, Jesus Christ, as a substitutionary Lamb for our salvation?

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: God’s name JEHOVAH-JIREH—“the Lord will provide”—guarantees us His promised provision for our every need.

GENESIS 24:26-27

BIBLE TEXT: “And the man bowed down his head, and worshipped the Lord. And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master of his mercy and his truth: I being in the way, the Lord led me to the house of my master's brethren." (Genesis 24:26-27 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: The appropriate response to your success is not to praise your good fortune, but to praise the good Lord. It is not to get up on your high horse and credit yourself, but to bow down before God and give the glory to Him.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Any note you blow on your own horn will be a sour note in the ears of God.

GENESIS 25:8

BIBLE TEXT: “Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people." (Genesis 25:8 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Rather than death prying life from his cold hands, Abraham gave up the ghost, being full of years and having lived a fulfilling life to a calm and contended conclusion.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: The last words of Queen Elizabeth I: “All of my possessions for a moment of time.”

GENESIS 25:29-34

BIBLE TEXT: “And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint: And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom. And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright. And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me? And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright." (Genesis 25:29-34 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: In the greatest spiritual shortchange in all of Scripture, Esau swapped his birthright to his brother Jacob for a bowl of beans, preferring something for his stomach over salvation for his soul.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Tragically, there is no shortage of spiritually shortchanged Esaus in our world today, men and women who swap the salvation of their eternal souls for the satisfying of their earthly appetites.

GENESIS 26:1-5

BIBLE TEXT: “And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar. And the Lord appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of: Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father; And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws." (Genesis 26:1-5 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: As God kept His oath to Issac, the offspring of God’s obedient servant Abraham, He will keep all of His oaths to the obedient offspring of His obedient servants today.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: God is under no self-imposed obligation to keep His oaths to the obstinate nor to their obdurate offspring.

GENESIS 26:22

BIBLE TEXT: “And he removed from thence, and digged another well; and for that they strove not: and he called the name of it Rehoboth; and he said, For now the Lord hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land." (Genesis 26:22 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Rehoboath means “room enough.” Wherever the Lord makes room for us will be found to be room enough.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: All of God's people should be fruitful in the place where God plants them.

GENESIS 26:34-35

BIBLE TEXT: “And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite: Which were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah." (Genesis 26:34-35 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Marriages not made in Heaven can be hell on earth, not only for ourselves, but for our parents and siblings as well.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Many a close-knit family has been unraveled by the addition of an ill-chosen spouse in an ill-conceived and ill-fated marriage.

GENESIS 27:1-4

BIBLE TEXT: “And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his eldest son, and said unto him, My son: and he said unto him, Behold, here am I. And he said, Behold now, I am old, I know not the day of my death: Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and take me some venison; And make me savoury meat, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat; that my soul may bless thee before I die." (Genesis 27:1-4 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Like the blind Isaac, many a shortsighted soul tries to thwart the plans and purposes of God with their preferential prayers. (Genesis 25:23; Romans 9:10-13)

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: It is far more important that our children be blessed by God for doing His bidding than blessed by us for doing ours!

GENESIS 27:5-23

BIBLE TEXT: “And Rebekah heard when Isaac spake to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt for venison, and to bring it. And Rebekah spake unto Jacob her son, saying, Behold, I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother, saying, Bring me venison, and make me savoury meat, that I may eat, and bless thee before the Lord before my death. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command thee. Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats; and I will make them savoury meat for thy father, such as he loveth: And thou shalt bring it to thy father, that he may eat, and that he may bless thee before his death. And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man: My father peradventure will feel me, and I shall seem to him as a deceiver; and I shall bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing. And his mother said unto him, Upon me be thy curse, my son: only obey my voice, and go fetch me them. And he went, and fetched, and brought them to his mother: and his mother made savoury meat, such as his father loved. And Rebekah took goodly raiment of her eldest son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them upon Jacob her younger son: And she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands, and upon the smooth of his neck: And she gave the savoury meat and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob. And he came unto his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I; who art thou, my son? And Jacob said unto his father, I am Esau thy first born; I have done according as thou badest me: arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me. And Isaac said unto his son, How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because the Lord thy God brought it to me. And Isaac said unto Jacob, Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou be my very son Esau or not. And Jacob went near unto Isaac his father; and he felt him, and said, The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau. And he discerned him not, because his hands were hairy, as his brother Esau's hands: so he blessed him." (Genesis 27:5-23 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: There is no better illustration in the Bible of the trouble with trusting one’s feelings than Issac being fooled by his feeling of Jacob’s fleece.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Faith must be the engine of our Christian life and feelings but the caboose. While feelings may follow, they must never be followed, lest we be spiritually derailed!

GENESIS 27:24-29

BIBLE TEXT: “And he said, Art thou my very son Esau? And he said, I am. And he said, Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son's venison, that my soul may bless thee. And he brought it near to him, and he did eat: and he brought him wine and he drank. And his father Isaac said unto him, Come near now, and kiss me, my son. And he came near, and kissed him: and he smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed: Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine: Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee." (Genesis 27:24-29 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Jacob means "supplanter" or “trickster” (Genesis 27:36), but he had one redeemable quality, for which God loved him. He knew he needed a Savior and would do anything to secure the birthright and the blessing to make sure his Savior would come!

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: God loves Jacobs, who desperately believe His Son is indispensable and their salvation imperative, but He hates Esaus, who defiantly believe neither. (Romans 9:13)

GENESIS 27:30-38

BIBLE TEXT: “And it came to pass, as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob was yet scarce gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. And he also had made savoury meat, and brought it unto his father, and said unto his father, Let my father arise, and eat of his son's venison, that thy soul may bless me. And Isaac his father said unto him, Who art thou? And he said, I am thy son, thy firstborn Esau. And Isaac trembled very exceedingly, and said, Who? where is he that hath taken venison, and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have blessed him? yea, and he shall be blessed. And when Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry, and said unto his father, Bless me, even me also, O my father. And he said, Thy brother came with subtilty, and hath taken away thy blessing. And he said, Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he hath supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright; and, behold, now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me? And Isaac answered and said unto Esau, Behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants; and with corn and wine have I sustained him: and what shall I do now unto thee, my son? And Esau said unto his father, Hast thou but one blessing, my father? bless me, even me also, O my father. And Esau lifted up his voice, and wept." (Genesis 27:30-38 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Esau did not weep over losing the birthright, but only over losing the blessing. Although he could not have cared less about Christ, he cried over the consequences and cost of his rejection of Christ.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Esau was tearfully sorry for the consequences of his sin, but never truly repentant of the sin he committed. (Hebrews 12:16-17)

GENESIS 28:12

BIBLE TEXT: “And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it." (Genesis 28:12 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Jacob’s ladder is Jesus, as Christ Himself confirmed. Our Lord alone is the lone ladder from earth to Heaven. (John 1:51)

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Christ, in His Incarnation, descended Jacob’s ladder from Heaven to earth, so that Christians, thanks to their salvation, can ascend Jacob’s ladder from earth to Heaven!

GENESIS 28:16-17

BIBLE TEXT: “And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not. And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven." (Genesis 28:16-17 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: God should always be in the place, when it comes to a house of God. After all, if it's not dwelled in and inhabited by God, it's definitely not God's house.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Every true house of God is a gate to Heaven. If you can’t get to Heaven from it, then, it certainly is no house of God!

GENESIS 30:1-6

BIBLE TEXT: “And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die. And Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said, Am I in God's stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb? And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her. And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife: and Jacob went in unto her. And Bilhah conceived, and bare Jacob a son. And Rachel said, God hath judged me, and hath also heard my voice, and hath given me a son: therefore called she his name Dan." (Genesis 30:1-6 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Many times we lack the patience to wait on God to work, so we work things out ourselves, passing our work off as God's work and what we've given birth to as God's blessing.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Much of what passes for the work of God today is nothing more than our flesh on parade.

GENESIS 30:14-18

BIBLE TEXT: “And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy son's mandrakes. And she said unto her, Is it a small matter that thou hast taken my husband? and wouldest thou take away my son's mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with thee to night for thy son's mandrakes. And Jacob came out of the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, Thou must come in unto me; for surely I have hired thee with my son's mandrakes. And he lay with her that night. And God hearkened unto Leah, and she conceived, and bare Jacob the fifth son. And Leah said, God hath given me my hire, because I have given my maiden to my husband: and she called his name Issachar." (Genesis 30:14-18 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Many a time the results of our bartering is mistaken for God’s blessing. We mistake what we get for mandrakes for a miracle we've gotten from God.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: There’s more human exploration in many a supposed miracle of God today than there is any hint of extraordinary divine might.

GENESIS 31:16

BIBLE TEXT: “For all the riches which God hath taken from our father, that is ours, and our children's: now then, whatsoever God hath said unto thee, do." (Genesis 31:16 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Everyone needs a spouse who will say to them, “Do whatever God says to do!” Unfortunately, most spouses today say, “Do as I say, not what God says,” which explains why the majority of marriages today end in divorce.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Rather that lording it over one another, husbands and wives should make Jesus alone Lord over their home. A home that Jesus is not in and over is a home that will eventually go under.

GENESIS 31:24

BIBLE TEXT: “And God came to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night, and said unto him, Take heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad." (Genesis 31:24 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: There are times when God wants us to keep our mouth shut. Unfortunately, few of us can do it, since most of us are too enamored with the sound of our own voice and empathic about the soundness of our own opinion.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Somethings are left better unsaid, which I usually realize right after I say them.

GENESIS 31:30

BIBLE TEXT: “And now, though thou wouldest needs be gone, because thou sore longedst after thy father's house, yet wherefore hast thou stolen my gods?" (Genesis 31:30 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: If your gods need guarding, lest they be stolen, then, your gods are not gods at all.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: If you have to worry about what you worship being whisked away, it’s certainly not worthy of your worship.

GENESIS 32:24-32

BIBLE TEXT: “And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh. Therefore the children of Israel eat not of the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day: because he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh in the sinew that shrank." (Genesis 32:24-32 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: To be a prince with God, who has power with God in prayer, one must prevail in prayer. For only those who prevail with God in prayer will be entrusted by God with the enormous power of prayer.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Not only will a prince with God, who has power with God and prevails with God in prayer, have a changed walk in life, but he will also leave a lasting legacy to posterity.

A visitor to a monastery, whose monks were devoted to prayer, asked about the prayer warriors' wrestlings with principalities, powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world, and spiritual wickedness in high places (Ephesians 6:12). Surprisingly, the monks answered that their far greater wrestlings in prayer were with God, not the devil.

GENESIS 33:10

BIBLE TEXT: “And Jacob said, Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found grace in thy sight, then receive my present at my hand: for therefore I have seen thy face, as though I had seen the face of God, and thou wast pleased with me." (Genesis 33:10 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Others can see God in us when we are gracious to them, forgiving of them, and willing to accept them.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Christians, like Christ, must accept sinners without approving of sin, for Christ's grace cannot be preached by professed Christians who do not practice it themselves.

GENESIS 35:1-15

BIBLE TEXT: “And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments: And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went. And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem. And they journeyed: and the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob. So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, that is, Bethel, he and all the people that were with him. And he built there an altar, and called the place Elbethel: because there God appeared unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother. But Deborah, Rebekah's nurse died, and she was buried beneath Bethel under an oak: and the name of it was called Allonbachuth. And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padanaram, and blessed him. And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel. And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins; And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land. And God went up from him in the place where he talked with him. And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he talked with him, even a pillar of stone: and he poured a drink offering thereon, and he poured oil thereon. And Jacob called the name of the place where God spake with him, Bethel." (Genesis 35:1-15 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Jacob did not go back to Bethel to once again bargain for God's favors by offering God a tithe, but to seek God's face by offering himself to God in total commitment! (Genesis 28:16-22)

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Jacob's name, which meant "trickster" or "supplanter," was changed to Israel, which meant "prince," when he came back to Bethel to make the maximum commitment, not the minimum one, and to acquaint himself personally with God, not to acquire the blessings of God.

GENESIS 36:43

BIBLE TEXT: “Duke Magdiel, duke Iram: these be the dukes of Edom, according to their habitations in the land of their possession: he is Esau the father of the Edomites." (Genesis 36:43 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Esau was the father of the Edomites, who were the frequent foe of the Israelites, whose father was Jacob. Thus, the feud between the twin brothers was perpetuated by their posterity.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: The Prophet Obadiah prophesied against Edom, not only for gloating over the Babylonians’ defeat of Judah and destruction of Jerusalem, but also for looting Jerusalem and handing over its Jewish captives to their Chaldean conquerers. (Obadiah 1:1-14)

Although the Edomites rejoiced over the destruction of Solomon’s temple by the Babylonians in 587 BC, it would be an Edomite king of Israel, Herod the Great, who would refurbish and extend a rebuilt Jewish temple around 20 BC, which explains why the temple in Jerusalem was called “Herod’s Temple” in Jesus’ day.

GENESIS 37:1-11

BIBLE TEXT: “And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan. These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report. Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours. And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him. And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more. And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed: For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf. And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words. And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me. And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth? And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying." (Genesis 37:1-11 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Not all of our God-given dreams are meant to be publicized and advertised. Sometimes they are better kept internalized, lest others be mystified and antagonized.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Every dreamer of heavenly dreams will have earthly detractors and detesters.

GENESIS 37:23-27

BIBLE TEXT: “And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stript Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colours that was on him; And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it. And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmeelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt. And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood? Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmeelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brethren were content." (Genesis 37:23-27 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: It was Judah, whose name means "praise," who persuaded his brothers to pull Joseph out of the pit.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: There is no quicker way out of the pits of life than to praise the Lord!

GENESIS 39:1-6, 21-23

BIBLE TEXT: “And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmeelites, which had brought him down thither. And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. And his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand. And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand. And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; and the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field. And he left all that he had in Joseph's hand; and he knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly person, and well favoured...But the Lord was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners that were in the prison; and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it. The keeper of the prison looked not to any thing that was under his hand; because the Lord was with him, and that which he did, the Lord made it to prosper." (Genesis 39:1-6, 21-23 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Contrary to popular opinion, flourishing in the most favorable circumstances is not the sure sign of God's favor. As we learn from Joseph, one can flourish under God’s favor in the most unfavorable of circumstances.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: One can be smack-dab in the center of God's will in every misfortune, just as much as one can be out of God's will in every stroke of good fortune.

GENESIS 40:8

BIBLE TEXT: “And they said unto him, We have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter of it. And Joseph said unto them, Do not interpretations belong to God? tell me them, I pray you." (Genesis 40:8 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Interpretations of dreams belong to God, not to fallible oneirocritics and Freudian psychologists. Likewise, the interpretation of Scripture belongs to God, not to fallible scholars and profane skeptics.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: The Holy Spirit, who inspired Scripture, is Himself the Interpreter of Scripture. He alone can provide the correct commentary. This does not mean, however, that He cannot provide it to us personally through others to whom He has graciously granted it previously.

GENESIS 41:15-16

BIBLE TEXT: “And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can interpret it: and I have heard say of thee, that thou canst understand a dream to interpret it. And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace." (Genesis 41:15-16 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: We should give God the glory for our God-given gifts, lest men attribute our abilities to us rather than to God and sing our praises rather than His.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: You have nothing God has not given you nor will God share His glory with you for anything you’ve been given. (1 Corinthians 4:7; Isaiah 42:8)

GENESIS 41:38

BIBLE TEXT: “And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?" (Genesis 41:38 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: It is the indwelling Spirit of God that should distinguish the children of God.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: It is the Spirit of God that makes the people of God stand out for God. However, if the Spirit of God is imperceptible in our lives, we're inconspicuous in this world.

GENESIS 41:38-43

BIBLE TEXT: “And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is? And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art: Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck; And he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, Bow the knee: and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt." (Genesis 41:38-43 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: God lifted Joseph from an extended imprisonment to Egypt’s premiership. Thankfully, as the story of Joseph proves, divine providence has a passkey to all our prison cells, as well as a divine plan for our every imprisoned moment.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: As the story of Joseph teaches us, you should take heart and never lose heart in all of your trials and tribulations, because they just might be the means by which God is making all your dreams come true.

The story of Joseph serves as Scriptural proof positive of the good purposes of divine providence even in life's most difficult problems and dangerous perils.

GENESIS 41:52

BIBLE TEXT: “And the name of the second called he Ephraim: For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction." (Genesis 41:52 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: All of God’s people should be “Ephraims,” those whom God has made fruitful in the land of their affliction.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: The true sign of God's favor in this fallen world is not the absence of afflictions and the abundance of good fortune, but fruitful service in the midst of its many afflictions.

GENESIS 42:1-9

BIBLE TEXT: “Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, Why do ye look one upon another? And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt: get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die. And Joseph's ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt. But Benjamin, Joseph's brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said, Lest peradventure mischief befall him. And the sons of Israel came to buy corn among those that came: for the famine was in the land of Canaan. And Joseph was the governor over the land, and he it was that sold to all the people of the land: and Joseph's brethren came, and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth. And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly unto them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food. And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him. And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come." (Genesis 42:1-9 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: The next time you find yourself in a pit, sold out by others, falsely accused, or suffering injustice, just remember Joseph and realize that God may be using it all to make your dreams come true!

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Joseph’s rough reception for his brothers was not motivated by resentment nor a means of revenge, but meant to reconcile them to himself by moving them to repentance.

GENESIS 43:13

BIBLE TEXT: “Take your brother also, and go back at once to the man." (Genesis 43:13 HCSB)

BIBLE TWEET: In dire and desperate straits, we must go back to the Man at once, taking our brothers with us.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: A resort is a place of rest. Why, then, do we make prayer our last resort rather than are first resort? How much want and worry we would spare ourselves from if we only went to God in prayer at once.

HCSB - Holman Christian Standard Bible

GENESIS 45:7-8

BIBLE TEXT: “And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt." (Genesis 45:7-8 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Just as Joseph was sent down by God into Egypt to become its lord and savior, Jesus was sent down by God into the world to become its Lord and Savior.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Joseph, who is arguably the Old Testament’s best type of Christ, was, like Christ, humbled to be a servant to be exalted to be a sovereign so that he could be a savior to his brethren.

GENESIS 45:25-28

BIBLE TEXT: “And they went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their father, And told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. And Jacob's heart fainted, for he believed them not. And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them: and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived. And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die." (Genesis 45:25-28 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: Jacob, who had been living as though Joseph was dead, came to believe that he was still alive after he heard the words Joseph had spoken and saw the wagons Joseph had sent.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Unbelievers, who live as though Jesus is dead, will only come to believe that He is yet alive when they hear what He has spoken and see what He has wrought!

GENESIS 46:3

BIBLE TEXT: “And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation." (Genesis 46:3 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: As God made physical Israel into a great nation in Egypt, He is making His church, spiritual Israel, into a holy nation in this world. (Romans 9:6-8; Galatians 6:15-16; 1 Peter 2:9)

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: God sees His people according to their destiny, not according to their history or present deficiency.

GENESIS 46:30

BIBLE TEXT: “And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive." (Genesis 46:30 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: As Jacob could die in peace, once he knew Joseph was alive, so can the Christian who knows Jesus is alive.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: It is Christians’ confidence in the ever-living resurrected Christ that makes them confident of their own resurrection into everlasting life.

GENESIS 49:10

BIBLE TEXT: “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be." (Genesis 49:10 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: The prophecy of the scepter never departing from Judah commenced with the crowning of King David and will conclude with the coming of Shiloh—the promised seed of Abraham and rightful heir to David's throne, who will reign forever over the people of God.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: In the past, Kings or Queens of England were crowned by Archbishops of Canterbury with these words, “I give you this crown, until He to whom it rightfully belongs returns again to claim it.”

GENESIS 49:33

BIBLE TEXT: “When Jacob had finished instructing his sons, he drew his feet into the bed and died. He was gathered to his people." (Genesis 49:33 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: No father should die with his instructions to his children incomplete. Nor should any father ever forget that his example will leave a more lasting impression upon his children than his advice.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: “Children are not a distraction from more important work. They are the most important work.” (C. S. Lewis)

My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard. Mother would come out and say, “You’re tearing up the grass.” Dad would reply, “We’re not raising grass, we’re raising boys.” (Harmon Killebrew)

GENESIS 50:19

BIBLE TEXT: “But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God?" (Genesis 50:19 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: We should never usurp the place of God, who alone is the judge of all the earth. (Genesis 18:25)

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Has God deserted Heaven,

And left it up to you

To judge if this or that is right

And what each one should do?

No, I think He’s still in business

And knows when to wield the rod,

So when you’re judging others,

Just remember, you ain’t God!

GENESIS 50:20

BIBLE TEXT: “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive." (Genesis 50:19-20 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: When looked at across one’s shoulder with 20/20 hindsight, as well as through the prism of divine providence, past evils can be seen as providential goods.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Others’ bad intentions toward us are turned by God into our good fortune, for God is always working out everything in our lives for our ultimate good and His ultimate glory! (Romans 8:28)

Abandonment is being satisfied with the present moment, no matter what that moment contains. You are satisfied because you know that whatever that moment has, it contains, in that instant, God’s eternal plan for you. (Madame Guyon)

GENESIS 50:24-25

BIBLE TEXT: “And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence." (Genesis 50:24-25 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: These dying words of Joseph are singled out in Scripture as an example of great faith, for they show his confidence in his people's coming exodus from Egypt and entrance into Canaan, where they would finally possess all the promises of God. (Hebrews 11:22)

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: No one minds to die with Heaven on their mind!

GENESIS 50:26

BIBLE TEXT: “So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old: and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt." (Genesis 50:26 KJV)

BIBLE TWEET: After his death, all who saw Joseph’s unburied coffin in Egypt, would be told not only of his undying faith in God, but also of his undying faith in God’s unfailing promises.

BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Like Joseph, we too should continue to testify to others from our coffins of our undying faith in God and God’s unfailing promises.

The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever. (Isaiah 40:8)