One timeline gives Jacob’s birth date as 1836. Gregor Mendel was born in 1822. But one is BC; the other is AD. How did Jacob know Gregor’s secret? Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own place and to my country.” That’s Genesis 30:25. Jacob’s family has grown substantially; […]
Read More… from July 27, 2021 — Seeing Spots Before His Eyes
You don’t suppose Jacob’s family could be a picture of something much bigger, a family united from every nation? We haven’t seen the last of Jacob’s boys, Benjamin, born to Rachel. But it’s fitting to take a look at Jacob’s family’s portrait. God is always working behind the scenes. In fact, divine sovereignty is God […]
Boys, boys, boys! That’s all we’ve been hearing about. But now—imagine—a girl with 10 older brothers! Did I say at the end of the last episode that Leah conceived again? Well, she conceived again, and again, and again! First Issachar, then Zebulun, her sixth son for Jacob. Then one more: “Afterward she bore a daughter, […]
Imagine a plant being a key player in a Bible story! And a plant with a root that looks human! What next! The New Testament describes people who “will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables” (2 Tim 4:4). When people reject God’s truth, they don’t live in a […]
Read More… from July 22, 2021 — Who Is Hungry For Mandrakes?
Who said, “All is fair in love and war”? Certainly not the Lord! He says love “is kind.” What a contrast! Our story in Genesis 30 describes, in quick-fire action, the matrimonial duel between Jacob’s two wives. What is their ammunition? Baby boys! In chapter 28, Leah shoots first, with Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah. […]
We love flattery; God wants honesty. The strange thing is, by grace God’s view of us is way higher than we would ever dream for ourselves. The phrase “warts and all” is said to have first occurred when Oliver Cromwell instructed Sir Peter Lely to paint his portrait without any flattery. And he did! So […]
Heaven’s perspective is always better than earth’s. Our eyes stop at the horizon; God sees all the way to forever. “Leah was unloved” (Gen 29:31). A lonely woman, living in a household with her younger sister who is more beautiful and the object of her husband’s affection. Used as a bartering chip by her father […]
Read More… from July 19, 2021 — The Good Viewpoint Is God’s Viewpoint
Don’t be disheartened when things seem not to be working out, Christian. Those who love God know a secret: all things will work together for good, sooner or later. At first, we read that Jacob “loved Rachel more than Leah” (Gen 29:30). Have you heard where an arrangement like that ever worked? I’m no mathematician, […]
When problems arise, we need to go to God about them. If not, trying to solve them on our own can often turn problems into disasters! Our title asks, “Who says, ‘Two are better than one’?” Well, the Bible does! Here are the words of Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, “Two are better than one, because they have […]
Read More… from July 15, 2021 — Who Says “Two Are Better Than One”?