Exodus 2: A little baby

Exodus 2 has to contain one of the nicest stories in the Bible. It's Egypt, and Hebrew babies are being killed, so Moses' mum pops him in a basket and floats him down the river. God only knows (literally) what she was hoping for, but it couldn't have worked out much better. Downriver, the princess of Egypt finds him and decides to raise him as her own, and Moses's mother sticks her head up, being told by the princess "Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you". (Ex 2:9) What a stunning scripture: when God has a plan for you, nothing will stop that blessing!

Later on we see Moses 'Glancing this way and that and seeing no-one, he killed the Egyptian' (Ex 2:12) Now here's a man with a dodgy past - literally a murderer, but God still used him in a mighty way: nothing is too big for God to handle and forgive!

Finally in this chapter, the Hebrews were groaning in their slavery and 'God heard their groaning' (Ex 2:24). God hears our prayers, so if you have a need, pray about it and believe that he will hear and deliver you.

Exodus 1: Time to leave

Exodus 1:12 tells us an interesting fact about the persecuted Israelites in Egypt: 'the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread'. As the notes in my Bible so eloquently say, 'when we are burdened or mistreated it can make us stronger and develop qualities in us that will prepare us for the future'.

Later in the chapter we see Midwives going against Pharaoh and not killing the Hebrew babies. They lied to Pharaoh, saying they just weren't getting there in time to do it, and God 'gave them families of their own' (vs 21). What jumps out at me here is how God is not looking for ways to punish (which he could have done for the lying), but to bless, which he did for saving the babies.

Genesis: an introduction

OK truth is I am being really slack, but here's the intro I wrote about Genesis:

Genesis is one of those books of the Bible that I have to admit having some negative feelings about, at least early on in my faith. Of all the 66 books that make up the old and new testament, it is this one that I had become majorly numb to. Are you, like me, numb to the wonders of the book of Genesis? It begins with the Sunday School that goes over the stories of creation and Noah and the flood a hundred times, sending you home with a hundred worksheets to colour in. Next are the children’s Bibles, with their multicoloured pictorial representations, again so often giving Noah and creation the big focus. And of course, who can forget the musical Joseph and his Technicolour Dreamcoat, whose audio cassette my mother played to death, to the point where I knew many of the songs word for word. Yet for all its childish vivacity, as a young-in-faith adult Christian I remember finding very little of interest in Genesis, or indeed much of the Old Testament. It seemed to be somehow removed from the loving God, father of Jesus, who I was learning to know in my own faith. The Old Testament in general was something I all but ignored for a good ten years in my Christian walk; I just didn’t get how the God shown there matched up with the one I knew. However, over the last year or two, I have begun to see the beauty of the Old Testament, and through intent study have discovered that it is just as important, just as relevant, and just as fantastic as the New Testament, and so began my journey into Genesis.

Genesis (greek for ‘birth’ or ‘origin’) is where it all began, a historical account of the first days. The oldest copies we currently have are those found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, dating from between 150BC and AD 70. It tells the true stories of creation, Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph, and was itself written by Moses around 1450-1410 BC.

There is a lot to learn in Genesis, and there was barely a chapter that didn’t have some powerful message for me to learn. What I began to see as I studied, was that God was consistently presenting the same values and messages through the different people that the book focuses on; these points are just as relevant to today’s world as they were back then, so let me get on with showing them to you!

Genesis 50: It is finished!

Well today marks the first landmark of this blog, in that the end of Genesis has been reached (literally the end of the beginning!) It's a nice feeling to have read and taken online notes on 50 chapters of the Bible, and after today we are propelled into the depths of Exodus. I think I will come up with some sort of 'the main 6 things I learnt from Genesis' blog, but for today here are the notes on Chapter 50.

Only one thing really jumps out. When Joseph is talking to his brothers, he says to them "Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God?" (Gen 50:20). What he is saying is, in essence, 'don't worry, I am not out to get revenge on you for what you did to me'. I like the way he doesn't say 'you don't deserve any punishment', but simply announces that it is God's place to judge and punish. We hear it a lot, but God truly is our vindicator, and if we leave those who hurt us in his hands we will be blessed.

Genesis 46 - 49

Had an interesting time with God this morning, and really felt him telling me to slow down in the day. As a teacher, I am always cramming work in, working through break and lunch, doing two things at once etc etc, and I felt God say that I won't hear his still small voice if I'm so hectic, so to take things at a calmer pace.

Genesis 46-48 didn't really speak to me, but boy did chapter 49. In it we see Jacob blessing his sons before he dies. Of particular interest was the blessing for Judah: 'Your brothers will praise you; your hand will be on the neck of your enemies, your father's sons will bow down to you...the sceptre will not depart from Judah...he will wash his garments in wine (gen 49:8-11).

This is by far the best blessing of the lot, and it's interesting simply because Judah was the one who convinced his brothers to sell Joseph into slavery (Gen 37). Later on he has sex with what he believes to be a prostitute. My point: he's a sinner, a low down rotten sinner! So why does he get that big blessing? Maybe it's because he turned all that around, and in Gen 44 was the one who offered himself up for the sins of his brothers. Whatever the reason, is this not proof of a God who will forgive you your sins and bless you mightily if you turn from your sins and start doing what is right? I think so!

Genesis 45: Trust God!

It seems the same old themes are coming through time and time again in Genesis, and chapter 45 is no different. In this chapter we see Joseph reveal himself to his brothers, and in verse 8 he tells them "It was not you who sent me here, but God". This just blows me away: thrown down a well, sold into slavery, falsely accused and imprisoned, and able to turn to those who were to blame and tell them 'you meant it for harm, but God turned it to good'. WOW! So how do we apply that to our own lives? We need to trust God in whatever our circumstances; whether we're in the well or the palace, the mountain or the valley, trust God! What a challenge, but what a great one to embark upon, a life full of trust, no matter what comes our way.

Genesis 43&44

OK, nothing from 43, so straight onto 44. In this chapter, Joseph plants the silver cup on his brother to trick him. In verse 2 he tells his steward "Then put my cup, the silver one, in the mouth of the youngest one's sack, along with the silver for his grain". What hit me reading this was how this plan was surely not from God, as it was deceitful. However, God still blessed him mightily. For me, it is evidence that being a follower of God (even one of Biblical proportions such as Joseph) does not mean you can't make mistakes and mess up; furthermore, it indicates that God can and will still bless you and bring his plans for you to fruition, even if you stray from doing what is right. Am I explaining this right?

I guess what I mean is this: I know my salvation is secure, no matter what - when I die I am going to heaven. However, I strive earnestly (calling on God's help) to live a God honouring life day to day. When I mess up, as we all inevitably do (and as Joseph is here), I often worry about the possible consequences of my mistakes bringing everything crashing down around me. I still don't fully have peace about God not only forgiving us, but protecting us from the possible worst case scenario consequences of our actions. For example, Joseph was out of line here, being deceitful and certainly not Godly, but God didn't bring his whole kingdom falling down around him. I think it probably has something to do with God looking at the heart, but I don't have any clear answer. Much of the Bible talks about the consequences of our sin, but if everything we did wrong was punished in a worse case scenario sort of way, surely no-one would live in victory? Perhaps it's the heart that counts: if you are trying to do the right thing and mess up, God forgives and covers you from getting into trouble? But then what happens when you stop doing something you know was wrong: will God protect you from the consequences of it? Let me try and think of a good example: I download films, which is illegal. Let's say I stop because I am convicted it was wrong: will God protect me from the consequences of the copyright owners finding and prosecuting me?

I wonder if it comes down to that scripture where we are told God will not let us go through more than we can handle, meaning we will be protected from the consequences if they would bring such despair on us we couldn't handle it? Or maybe God deals with us on a case by case basis? Final food for thought: can our prayers save us from God's planned 'punishment'? Plenty of times in the Old Testament we see people pleading with God and he hears them and seems to change his mind e.g. Abraham pleading for Sodom.

Anyway, sorry for the ramble, I'm just still confused on this one: answers in the comments section!

Genesis 42: Readership up by 100%

Something quite God-inspired happened today. I think there have now been 3 days where I haven't blogged, and that is in the month and a bit I have been going. As I said in my blurb bit, the main point of this thing is to keep notes for myself, but of course I got a little down-hearted at the complete lack of readers at one point. Well, the day after I missed blogging for the first time, I found I had a follower (God bless you Jayne!) This boosted me to go on. Again, I missed my blog yesterday, and today my good man Jay approached me in Church and said he had been reading! I really felt that both occasions were God inspired encouragement, and so I am back at it now and on track!

Genesis 42 sees Joseph reunited with his brothers, but they don't yet know who he is. In verse 9 we read 'Then he remembered his dreams about them...' Of course, his dreams were of ruling over his family, but what hit me was HOW did he feel about those dreams when he was locked up in prison for something he didn't do? How do we feel when God's promises and our dreams seem a million miles away? Like Joseph we should never falter; we may be in some sort of prison today, but God can still make a way for us to 'lead a nation'.

Beginning in verse 16, Joseph makes a plan where he will imprison all but one of his brothers, but later changes that plan to just keeping one of them, citing 'for I fear God' (Gen 42:18). It seems Joseph changed his plan and went back on his decision, because he knew it wasn't right in God. There's a lot to be said about fearing God, but the main point is that we choose to do the right thing because we know God will bless that.

And finally, in verse 36, Jacob hears that Joseph (still hidden to them as their brother) wants to see Benjamin, and he says "Everything is against me!" (v 36). What hit me here is that he was seeing the natural and fearing, rather than seeing the spiritual (i.e. it was all going to work out well). Now Jacob was a Godly man in his time, and I just wondered what would have happened if he had really sought God on this matter; would God have told him it was going to be OK? Either way, he was stressed out for nothing, because he was acting in the natural, not seeing the spiritual reality that God would work it out for his good. That reminded me of Geoff Lee's brilliant message a few weeks back, which you can ready my blog on here: http://onemanandhisbible.blogspot.com/2010/03/taking-back-what-has-been-taken-from.html

Genesis 41 To God be the glory

In Genesis 41 we see Joseph finally released from prison, interpreting the dreams of the Pharaoh himself. However, in verse 16 Joseph says "I cannot do it...but God will give pharaoh the answer he desires". Only a simple point, but we must acknowledge to ourselves and others that our good points come from God. Every good thing we can do is a gift from God, and if we remember this it will stop us from getting proud.

For something on a totally different track, see verse 34, where Joseph instructs "take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance". Just a practical tip this, but saving 20% of our income seems like a very good figure to reap a harvest in the future. By adopting a living below your means lifestyle it is not too tough to do this; we were saving £700 a month over the last couple of years to clear our debts. The point is, having a buffer zone, savings and money you can fall back on is clearly worthwhile, and they knew it back in Bible times.

Sex Begins in the Kitchen

Whilst perusing my friend's bookcase for a new read, I was grabbed by the somewhat bizarrely titled 'Sex Begins in the Kitchen'. Far from shying away from admitting they owned the book, Neil and Sue actually recommended it, and so began a week of reading, with Claire, a book that is all about marriage relationships. So much of it jumped out at me that I thought I would keep notes here. I am about halfway through the book, and here are the bits that have been really good so far:

1) Men don't just need sex, they need to be wanted sexually
2) We often become the sort of spouse that our gender specific parent was, so can look at their example to see where we are likely to 'go wrong', and what we are going to need to work on.
3) By marrying a middle child, I married someone who will struggle to express their true feelings, and will often seem to go along with something but actually need pressing to find her true opinion on the issue.
4) As a 'carrot-seeker' who gets a lot of his worth out of the affirmation of others, I need to take time out, get out of the house and do things for myself only on a regular basis.
5) People have affairs because their partner is not giving them a certain thing in the relationship; if you meet all their needs then your spouse will have no reason to cheat on you.
6)HIS needs are sexual fulfilment,respect and the need to be needed
HER needs are affection that doesn't lead to sex, honest and open communication and commitment to the family (kids).
7) MY love languages (the way I like to receive love) are physical touch and words of affirmation.
Claire's love languages are quality time and acts of service. Acts of service is going beyond the norm of what you normally do e.g. go to work for me, or cook and clean for Claire. Those are not acts of service, but the norm!
8) I need to communicate with Claire - show an interest in what she is interested in, actively listen, give her my undivided attention and ask her opinion of things.

Well, it's all a bit open this forum, but it's a good way for me to keep notes and it might interest someone in the book!

Genesis 40: Keep your commitments

I have to say that one of the areas God has really been challenging me in is keeping my commitments; I find it all too easy to say yes to something I ultimately don't want to do, only to battle with incredibly cold feet as the event draws closer and closer.

Well, in Genesis 40 we see Joseph, wrongfully imprisoned, interpreting the dreams of the cupbearer, whom he makes vow to put in a good word for him when he is released. In verse 40 we read 'The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him'.

Now, by forgetting Joseph, the cupbearer ultimately left him in prison for another two years before he got out. We need to stick to our commitments and honour our word. We need to be people of integrity, and learn to say no right away if that's what is right. Like the cupbearer, if we go back on something we said we would do, we ultimately let people down.

Genesis 39 (yes 39!)

A big skip now all the way to Genesis 39, and a short and simple message:

Gen 39:2 'The Lord was with Joseph and he prospered'

Nothing too out of the ordinary at first glance when it comes to this verse, except Joseph was a slave in a foreign land, and yet God STILL prospered him. This one really makes me think that circumstances don't matter: God is able to prosper you in any situation.

Genesis 33: Be generous!

Years after cheating Esau out of his birthright, a worried Jacob prepares to meet him. As he approaches, he sends wave after wave of gifts - animals etc, to appease the brother he imagines may well still want to kill him. Anyway, it turns out Esau has forgiven his brother, and says he can have his gifts back, to which Jacob replies "No, please!" said Jacob. "If I have found favour in your eyes, accept this gift from me...Please accept the present that was brought to you, for God has been gracious to me and I have all I need". And because Jacob insisted, Esau accepted it. Gen 33:10-11

What I love here is the way Jacob insisted on being good to his brother, just like that persistence we saw earlier in the blog when it came to Abraham blessing his guests with a meal. Again, it hit me how we should be generous - God gives to us so that we can be a river of giving, not a reservoir to store it all up for ourselves.

Genesis 32: Use the sword

I have only recently begun to understand the concept of using the sword of the spirit, which means to quote scripture to fend off the devil's attacks and lies. In Gen 32 we see Jacob praying, and in verse 12 he says "But you have said 'I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea". What Jacob is doing here is claiming the promises of God and praying them into fruition.

The Bible is filled with amazing promises from God, and we need to memorise them and speak them out. I begin my day by reading out 7 or 8 hand-picked scriptures which are relevant to me and my issues, and I recommend that as good practice for every believer. When we feel fear, or whatever it is,we can speak the scriptures out, refusing to give into the emotions we are experiencing; that's what Jacob was doing here.


Later in the chapter, Jacob wrestles the angel all night long, refusing to let him go "Unless you bless me" (Gen 32:26). What we see here is a call to be relentless, to pursue God wholeheartedly and not give up. Keep on keeping on - your breakthrough could be just around the corner!

Genesis 31: Man plans, God laughs

Well today's message kind of involves chapter 30 too, but I left it for today for purposes that will soon become clear!

In Genesis 30, Laban tries to ruin Jacob by taking all the speckled flocks (the ones whose offspring is vowed to Jacob, and putting 'a three-day journey between himself and Jacob' (Gen 30:36)

Now, in Genesis 31 we see God's reply to Laban's plan when Jacob tells Rachel "God has not allowed him to harm me...God has taken away your father's livestock and has given them to me' Gen 31:8/9

What a lovely verse that shows us how we don't have to worry about things, just do what we know is right to do, and do it with excellence. God will provide for us as he did for Jacob, and of course Laban's plans all came to nothing in the end: take your eyes off of your problems and put them onto God.

Later on in the chapter, God spoke to Laban in a dream, confirming that it was indeed He who had provided in this way with the speckled flocks. Again this amazes me how God is willing to get involved in the run of the mill, everyday parts of our lives: awesome.


After these verses Jacob and Rachel flee from Laban, but Rachel steals his idol, and he comes looking for it. He searches everywhere, but she is sat on it and says to him:

Genesis 31:35 Rachel said to her father "don't be angry, my lord, that I cannot stand up in your presence; I'm having my period" Gen 31:35

Now I'll tell you what I love about this: God did not reveal Rachel's sin. She was in the wrong, and did something very silly and very ungodly, but he was gracious and merciful towards her, knowing she could well be killed if she was found out. This points to something I have been thinking a lot of lately: God is a God of justice, but I am also beginning to believe that does not mean he will bring out the worst consequences for everything we do wrong. We sin every day, and often (I believe as long as our heart is right) he will not only forgive us, but protect us from the worst case consequences of what we've done wrong. I can't say that with 100% confidence yet, but watch this space because it's one of the things I am searching the scriptures for.

Genesis 30: God wants to give you what you want!

Gen 30:15: 'God listened to Leah'

Just like in yesterday's blog, we find our awesome God listening to, and granting the prayers of, his child. What I love is that this is Leah's fifth child he blesses her with, which to me speaks of how God is a god of abundance; it's not like Leah was childless and destitute, but God didn't turn round and say "you've got four, don't be so needy all the time". Inside I know my mental picture of God doesn't add up to the one I see here- I struggle to believe he wants to bless me abundantly,and do good things for me, giving me the desires of my heart. However, I want to change!

Gen 30:22 'Then God remembered Rachel; he listened to her and opened her womb'>

Here we see God doing the same thing for Rachel, even though she was jealous of her sister. God's mercy covered her sin. He didn't say "right, stuff you for your bad attitude'. Again, we see a picture of a God who WANTS to bless us and give us the desires of our hearts, showing mercy and grace when we fail to have the right attitude.

Genesis 29: Ain't no mountain high enough, ain't no valley low enough

Gen 29:31 ‘When the Lord saw that Leah was not loved, he opened her womb’.

I love this scripture, as once again it shows an amazing scene; almighty God is watching the earth, and intervening in the smallest of issues. Basically, Leah isn’t being loved, and so he steps in and blesses her with a baby. What does that mean to us? For a start, it means that we can rest assured that God is watching over us and will take care of us. There is nothing too mundane for him to care about, and I think that’s just wonderful!

Gensis 27 & 28: What God has done for one he will do for all!

As we move into the second half of Genesis, our journey focuses now on Jacob. There wasn't a lot jumping off the page at me, so I went through a couple of chapters today.

Gen 28:15 "I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go...I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you".

Here we see God saying some amazing stuff to Jacob, things I am sure we would all like to hear. I always find it interesting and a tad confusing about which verses we can claim and believe for ourselves, and which (if any) were just specific messages to a person and not ones we can claim. However, since God is no respector of persons (Acts 10:34) I do believe what he has done for one he will do for another, and I would say this is a brilliant verse to speak out when we need some encouragement.

Genesis 26: Family matters

Well today is Easter Sunday, and the sun is shining! I was tempted to go and look at the chapters to do with Jesus' death and ressurection, but I ended up sticking with Genesis to see what God had for me there.

Genesis 26 continues with yesterday's theme of generational sin. In this chapter we see Isaac commiting the same sin his father did: afraid he would be killed so the locals could take his wife, he told them "she is my sister" (v 6). For me it's no coincidence that Isaac did the exact same thing his father did, and it reminds me again of how we need to be a good influence on our family.

Genesis 25: You've gotta eat!

Broken up for Easter now, but still starting my day with God. I am blessed that I won't have to be pulling my eyelids open at 6:15am for a couple of weeks, but I am also aware that I still need to seek God every day. So today is Genesis 25, and a couple of interesting points came up.

Gen 25:`After Abraham's death, God blessed his son Isaac'.

There are a couple of different ways of thinking about this verse. First off, our parents have an effect on us, and we can inherit God's blessings from them if they were close to God. Of course that can go the other way too, and I am testament to the fact that many of us inherit the good AND bad things of our parents. It's a bit of a double edged sword this teaching, and for many of us we will have inherited our share of rubbish from previous generations. However, it also reminds me how important it is for my own children that I seek God and live the life he has for me. I came across a lovely verse on proverbs the other day which basically said the same thing, something like 'if you love God he will look after your kids'.

If we are aware of the bad points we have inherited from our parents, then we can do battle with them, and lookout for their traps. For example, I have inherited my mother's worrying attitude,and so KNOW I need to build myself up with scripture and prayer etc.

Genesis 25:21 Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. The Lord answered his prayer.

I just love this: God answers prayer.It really hit me reading this how God involves himself in our own everyday desires, needs and requests, such as having a baby. The God who made the world is listening: what are you going to ask him for?

Genesis 25:32 "Look,I am about to die"

Here we see Esau so hungry that he gives away his birthright for a meal. God really spoke to me here about how we need to eat and eat well, because we can often fall into sin if we are hungry. It's an odd, but accurate observation I think.

Genesis 24: reap what you sow

Missed another day yesterday, but still did my Bible study. If I'm honest, I am losing a bit of the desire to write the blog, but I keep telling myself it's a good place to record things,and a valuable site if only for me!

OK, Genesis 24. Here we see a couple of really nice examples of generosity. First off, there's Rebekah, who not only drew water from the well but also offered to 'Draw water for your camels too' (Gen 24:19). This would have required a lot more work, but ultimately God used this as a sign that Rebekah was the woman for Jacob. I guess the message is treat everyone well, and in the meantime you could well be entertaining God's annointed. Either way, you'll reap a reward.

The same thing is seen later in the chapter. Rebekah's generosity continues in verse 25, where she tells the servant "we have plenty of straw and fodder, as well as room for you to spend the night". This above and beyond generosity is such a good example, and a continuation of the theme from a couple of days ago. God calls us to be generous.