Text: Genesis 35:1-29. When Jacob first ran away from his home (chapter 28), Yahweh met him in a dream and gave him the promises of his fathers. More than 20 years later God brings Jacob back to the same village of the first visit, Bethel, and renewed the covenant. God also changed his name from Jacob (deceiver) to Israel[…]

Text: Genesis 34:1-31. Dinah, the daughter of Jacob and Leah is raped by Shechem, a man who dwells in the land of God’s covenant. Shechem desires to marry Dinah, so Simeon and Levi, both sons of Jacob and Leah, deceive the man and his townsmen into joining the covenant, if all the males will receive the covenant sign of[…]

Text: Genesis 33:1-20. Jacob’s fears about Esau were pacified, because Esau received him favorably (v11). However, Esau’s true character is revealed, again, in this meeting. The reason for Esau’s anger is still there (Jacob’s deception), but now that Esau has all he desires, he has no interest in regaining the blessings that were “taken” from him. It should[…]

Text: Genesis 32:1-32. Jacob is about to be re-united with his brother, Esau, whom he hadn’t seen in 20 years. When Jacob left home, Esau wanted to kill Jacob (27:41), so Jacob fears for his life and the lives of his family. He sends them all ahead, with gifts, intending to pacify Esau before the meeting. Perhaps Jacob intended[…]

Text: Genesis 31:1-55. For twenty years Jacob dwelt with Laban in Abrahams’ original country in Mesopotamia. Much of those years were filled with frustration, and being cheated and harassed by his in-laws. But God kept Jacob safe and prospered him using that period to change him from a self-reliant deceiver into a man who must rely entirely upon God.[…]

Text: Genesis 30:1-43. When studying the genealogy of Jesus Christ, as found in the gospel according to Matthew, it is clear that God uses human weakness to accomplish His purposes in redemption. That is what we see in Genesis 30. Jacob the deceiver, having been deceived, has two wives (polygamy), sisters who rival each other for Jacobs affection,[…]

Text: Genesis 29:1-35. Jacob will become father of the 12 tribes of Israel, but God does it by bringing him into the hands of his deceptive uncle, Laban. Jacob loved Rachel, Laban’s younger daughter, and contracted to serve him in exchange for her hand in marriage. But in the darkness of the wedding night, Laban stealthily supplants his older[…]

Text: Genesis 28:1-22. Esau is angry with Jacob and wants to kill him. So, Isaac sends Jacob to Rebekah’s brother, Laban, to stay there. While on his way, Jacob spends the night near Haran, where Yahweh visits him in a dream, a prophetic vision. Jacob saw a staircase, angels walking up and down the stairs. At the top was[…]