Picturepocket's Blog

Tag: Bible

  • The Undeserving Poor

    The Undeserving Poor

    I remember when I was 26 years old and and working retail. I volunteered a couple hours a week at a soup kitchen in a church basement. You could work in the kitchen or sit out in the tabled area with the youth that were served. Either way, I remember the leader telling us that…

  • Genesis 36: Everybody’s Kids

    Genesis 36: Everybody’s Kids

    In Genesis 35:23-26 there is a summary of all the male children from Israel organized by mother starting with the sisters. Leah had Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. Rachel had Joseph and Benjamin. The servant Bilhah had Dan and Naphtali, and Zilpha had Gad and Asher for a total of twelve sons.  Genesis…

  • Genesis 35: Return & Rebellion 

    Genesis 35: Return & Rebellion 

    God calls Jacob to visit the place he first met him in the desert when he ran from Esau. Decades earlier Jacob dreamt of a ladder with angels and made an altar at a place he called Bethel. Jacob tells his family to bathe and leave their foreign gods behind. They hide their idols and…

  • Genesis 34: Dinah

    Genesis 34: Dinah

    If you remember at this time, Jacob/Israel had twelve children: eleven sons and one daughter from Leah named Dinah. A son of Hamor, a Hivite named Shechem, saw her, assaulted her and kidnapped her. He went to his father and asked him to make her his wife.  Jacob and his sons heard that she had…

  • Genesis 33: Home Again

    Genesis 33: Home Again

    After wrestling alone with God, Jacob is now prepared to face his brother Esau. He puts all his babies and their mamas in a line, starting with the servants, then Leah, and finally Rachel and their son Joseph. Jacob then leads his family parade.  Esau runs to meet his estranged twin, embracing him and kissing…

  • Genesis 32: Wrestling with God

    Genesis 32: Wrestling with God

    On his journey home, angels of God met Jacob again in the wilderness. He names the place Mahanaim, meaning two camps. For Jacob, returning home after 20 years will not be smooth. He left in a hurry after tricking his older twin brother not only out of his inheritance but also out of his father’s…

  • Genesis 30:25-43 Family Feud

    Genesis 30:25-43 Family Feud

    After Jacob‘s fourteen years of service to Laban, and his twelve kids, he lets his father-in-law know that it’s time for him to go back home. Laban says that divination told him he’s prospered because of Jacob, so asks him to name his wages. Jacob agrees to take all the spotted and speckled goats and…

  • Genesis 30 Part 1: Babies Я Us

    Genesis 30 Part 1: Babies Я Us

    Rachel starts the chapter with her husband’s love, but no children and envy for her sister’s four boys. She demands Jacob give her a child or she will die. Dramatic much? He gets mad at her and asks, am I God to close your womb?  Rachel takes her servant Bilhah and makes her sleep with…

  • Genesis 29: False Fiancée

    Jacob completes his long journey to Haran and arrives at the local watering hole, literally. He sees shepherds gathering at a well to water their sheep. Jacob asks if they know his Uncle Laban. They tell him to ask his daughter.  After one look at his shepherdess cousin Rachel, Jacob’s smitten. He rolls away the…

  • Genesis 28: Wivalry 

    This chapter continues telling about the conflict between adult twins Esau and Jacob.  Their father Isaac, sends the younger one, Jacob, off to Paddan-aram to find a wife from Rebekah’s brother Laban’s family near Haran, the town named for Abraham’s brother. Isaac repeats God’s blessing to Abraham of offspring and nations to Jacob. Isaac specifically…