January 9, 2026
SCRIPTURE: “Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and called there on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God” (Genesis 21:33 ESV). OBSERVATION: After making a covenant of peace with Abimelech, Abraham settled at Beersheba and marked this new beginning by planting a tamarisk tree. Abraham publicly worshiped Yahweh in the land God had
January 6, 2026
SCRIPTURE: “And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.)” (Genesis 14:18 ESV). OBSERVATION: Moses recorded this brief but weighty encounter for Israel as part of Abram’s victory narrative after rescuing Lot. Melchizedek, whose name means “king of righteousness,” is a mysterious figure in the Bible: a
January 5, 2026
SCRIPTURE: “I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3 ESV). OBSERVATION: Moses recorded God’s words to Abram as part of the initial call that launched God’s redemptive plan in history. Spoken to a pagan
January 24, 2025
“Judah is a lion’s cub… The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet” (Genesis 49:9-10 ESV). When Jacob, whom God named Israel, was on his deathbed, he called each of his twelve sons to his bedside that he might bless them. The blessing he spoke over his fourth
January 20, 2025
“Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt” (Genesis 41:46 ESV). Joseph is a christological type. His story foreshadows the life of Christ, so that when the time came, the people of God would recognize Jesus as the Messiah. The Scripture records that Joseph was thirty years old
January 17, 2025
“Israel journeyed on and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder.” (Genesis 35:21 ESV). Jacob, whom God had renamed Israel, finally found a place to pitch his tent near Ephrath, which is called Bethlehem. The place was called the “tower of Eder,” or in the Hebrew, “Migdal-Eder,” which means “Tower of the Flock.” It
January 13, 2025
“And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it!” (Genesis 28:12 ESV). On Jacob’s trip to Haran to find a wife, he had a vision from the Lord. As he
January 11, 2025
“Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, east of Mamre (Genesis 25:9 ESV). The last time Isaac and Ishmael were at peace may have been when they buried their father, Abraham. They buried him in the same tomb Abraham
January 9, 2025
‘So Abraham called the name of that place, “The LORD will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided.”’ (Genesis 22:14 ESV). Abraham named the place where he took Isaac to be sacrificed in obedience to the LORD’s command, “Jehovah-Jireh,” which is Hebrew for the
January 8, 2025
“For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him” (Genesis 18:19 ESV). The Lord chose Abraham and gave him a calling to “command”