Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Gen. 24-29)

In our last two days of readings this week, we see the life of the first Patriarch end and the lives of his son and grandson continue the covenantal blessing from God.  Did you LOVE the story of Abraham securing a wife for his son Isaac?  I guess I'm a hopeless romantic, but it doesn't get much more beautiful than this one.

1. How did Abraham go about finding a wife for his son Isaac?  What were his instructions?
2. What did his servant do in Gen. 24:12-14, specifically the first words of v. 12?
3. This was a rather bold and specific prayer Abraham's servant made, but would we expect him to do any less?  Should we do any less?  I am always so blessed when my father-in-law tells me how they prayed for the future spouses of all their children as they were growing up, and how I am God's answer to their prayers for Michael.  Do you pray for your children's future spouses?  If not, why not start today!  The person they choose to spend the rest of their life with will greatly impact their future and yours.  While you're at it, pray for the parents raising those precious children that will become part of your family.  They might just be praying for you and your child, too!
4. What did God do in response to the servant's prayer?  Take special note of these words:  Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. (Gen. 24:15a; emphasis mine)  Don't you love how God already has the answer planned--He just wants us to join Him in His perfect plan so we can rejoice in His provision!  (We tend to notice his provision more when we've been praying for it!)  Rebekah's brother and father see God's hand in it, too.  Read her brother Laban's words in Gen. 24:50-52.  How did the servant respond to all of this?

I absolutely love reading the part of this story when the servant is returning with Rebekah and she sees Isaac from afar.  When she learns that the man she sees is her groom, she covers herself with a veil...just like a bride.  Then the two become husband and wife through the act of becoming one flesh, and "Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death."  Now that is a love story worth preserving for all time!

Were you ready for Abraham to die so soon?  I wasn't.  I know he was 175 years old, but I wasn't ready for his part of the story to be over just yet.  But I suppose we can get all the other details of his life one day in heaven.  I might just have to pull up my chair and ask him to tell "the rest of the story."  I can hardly wait!

I cannot even fathom the family dynamics at Abraham's funeral.  Did you notice God is already keeping His promise to bless Abraham's descendants?  See if you can find the verse in ch. 25 that tells us this.

Now it's your turn.  Study the birth of Esau and Jacob in Gen. 25:19-34, and see how many significant things you can find for this family and the future nation that will come from them.  Remember to take special note of names and their meanings, because they usually prophesy what will happen in that person's life.  See if you can find study notes in your Bible that explain the significance of the birthright in Biblical history.

Did you find some interesting stuff?  Now look at ch. 26.

1. What does God tell Isaac to do in verse 2?  Sound familiar? 
2. Read God's words to Isaac in vv. 3-5.  Why does God promise to do all of this for Isaac (see verse 5)?  The reality is, our obedience (or disobedience) impacts our children and future descendants.  (More about this when God gives Moses the Ten Commandments.)
3. Did vv. 6-11 sound like a rediculous re-run?  I mean, really, did Abraham forget to tell Isaac not to repeat this deception of the "shes's my sister" line?  What was the name of the king, and in what land did they settle?  Compare this with Gen. 20:2.  Really?  A king by the same name in the same country fell for the same sinful deception by the same family of patriarchs.  What a weird coincidence.  Read Matthew Henry's commentary, stating that this was not the same man, but another by the same name.  Soap opera stuff, sister.
4. What did the LORD do in v. 24, and what was Isaac's response in v. 25?  How do we know that the LORD is once again keeping His promise?  Read vv.28-29 for the answer.  Isaac is now God's witness to other nations!
5. As a further reminder of our need to pray for our children's future spouses and raise them to choose godly partners for life, read about the family strife caused by Esau's heathen Hittite wives in Gen. 26:35.  Let us not take this truth lightly!  Not only do we need to pray for the ones they will marry, but we need to prepare our children to be good spouses themselves.

In Genesis 27, Rebekah falls to the temptation of being deceptive.  God had promised her that Jacob would rule over his brother (Gen. 25:23), but she's not willing to wait for God to do this.  So, like her mother-in-law Sarah, she takes matters into her own hands. 

• This is an excellent section of Scripture for you to take and dig deeper, using the 3-question method at the bottom of your reading plan.  Be sure to write down all that you learn.

Genesis 28 opens with Isaac sending Jacob to his brother-in-law Laban to find a wife (same place Abraham sent his servant to find a wife for Isaac).  He speaks quite a blessing over his son in the first few verses.  On his way, Jacob lays down to sleep and has an incredible dream.  You may have heard of "Jacob's ladder" in children's bible stories or songs.

1. What promise does the LORD give Jacob during this dream?
2. What does Jacob say about that place?
3. What does he do there, and what does he vow to do in the future?

Genesis 29 is another love story of a groom finding his bride, but this one gets messy (thanks to the father-of-the-bride).  I love how, when the other shepherds gathered at the well tell Jacob they need to wait to remove the stone until the other flocks arrive, but then Jacob sees Rachel approaching and turns into macho-man.  Did you catch that?  What did he do all by himself in verse 10?  Rolling stones away seems to be God's specialty, doesn't it?  Either God or some serious adrenaline helped Jacob roll that stone all on his own!

As you read how things unfolded for Jacob and Rachel, I'm sure you were outraged at Laban's deceitfulness.  This repeated sin seems to be the downfall of this whole family, doesn't it?  But did you feel sorry for Leah, too?  Notice the names she gives her sons and what she says:

1. Reuben--"for now my husband will love me"
2. Simeon--"because the LORD has heard that I am hated"
3. Levi--"now this time my husband will be attached to me"
4. Judah--"This time I will praise the LORD."

My heart goes out to Leah, because it was her father's sin that brought this upon her.  She didn't really have a choice in the matter.  Her words after her first three sons' births are so sad to me.  What woman could endure knowing she is not loved by her husband?  She hopes for the best each time, but it is not to be.

So finally, when she brings forth her fourth son, she gives him a very different name than the others--Judah, the Hebrew word for "praise."  She resolves that in the midst of her difficult life, she will praise the LORD.  God is good, whether or not her circumstances are good.  This son, Judah, is not only a turning point in her life with God but a turning point for all mankind.  From Judah's descendants would come the promised Messiah--Jesus Christ!

Let's close with the blessing Jacob will prophesy over his fourth son in our readings next week, and the words spoken to the disciple John concerning the fulfillment of this prophesy in Revelation.

Genesis 49:8-10 

 ⁸ “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.
⁹ You are a lion’s cub, O Judah;
   you return from the prey, my son.
Like a lion he crouches and lies down,
   like a lioness—who dares to rouse him?
¹⁰ The scepter will not depart from Judah,
   nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
until he comes to whom it belongs
   and the obedience of the nations is his.  

Revelation 5:5
And one of the elders said to me, "Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals." 

Leah, weep no more, but rather praise your God, because your promised Redeemer will surely come.

Sacrifice (Genesis 20-23)

And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "In you shall all the nations be blessed."  Gal. 3:8

In today's readings, we watch as God directs a divine drama of the gospel.  The actors cast for these leading roles?  Abraham and Isaac.  But it didn't seem much like a beautiful drama at the time; to father and son it must have seemed like a horror story.

More on this in a little, but first I want to make a clarification from yesterday's blog just to be sure I didn't confuse anyone.  I've learned that what I mean and what I say can come across as two different things (the down-side to us not being able to do this face-to-face), so please ask if you are ever unsure.  I probably don't even need to explain this, but I'd rather err on the side of doing so.

When I referred to having Joshua circumcised on the eighth day of his life, I want to be clear that we did not do that for spiritual or religious reasons.  Circumcision is no longer a requirement for God's people--it falls under the old covenant of the Old Testament.  Jesus ushered in a new covenant with His death and resurrection, and physical circumcision has no place in the new covenant.  We will learn much more about this at the end of the year when reading Paul's letters, because he and the apostles get into quite a discussion over the whole issue.  For our purposes today, circumcision is strictly a health-based decision, as well as a stigma-based one (boys' locker room kind of stuff here--ask your husband or your brother for more details if you like, because that's as far as I'm taking it).  Many people choose not to circumcise their sons today, and that is perfectly normal and acceptable.

Now, I want to reiterate the really amazing lesson for us in all of this, which is why I shared it yesterday in my post.  Our sovereign God, who created our intricate bodies and knows every single detail of how they function, knows that vitamin K will be most fully present in the male body on the eighth day of life.  Read this excerpt from an article by Apologetics Press:

On the eighth day, the amount of prothrombin present actually is elevated above one-hundred percent of normal—and is the only day in the male’s life in which this will be the case under normal conditions. If surgery is to be performed, day eight is the perfect day to do it. Vitamin K and prothrombin levels are at their peak. The chart below, patterned after one published by S.I. McMillen, M.D., in his book, None of These Diseases, portrays this in graphic form.




Dr. McMillen observed:

We should commend the many hundreds of workers who labored at great expense over a number of years to discover that the safest day to perform circumcision is the eighth. Yet, as we congratulate medical science for this recent finding, we can almost hear the leaves of the Bible rustling. They would like to remind us that four thousand years ago, when God initiated circumcision with Abraham....
Abraham did not pick the eighth day after many centuries of trial-and-error experiments. Neither he nor any of his company from the ancient city of Ur in the Chaldees ever had been circumcised. It was a day picked by the Creator of vitamin K (1984, p. 93).   ApologeticsPress.org

Isn't our God so amazing?!  What I pray you grasp here, dear sister, is that God's commands are always for our good.  They are our hedge of protection in life.  When we are living within the boundaries of God's commands, we are sheltered under His Almighty protection.  But if we choose to step outside that boundary, we face the unknown on our own like a child running away from home.  God really does have a reason for everything He says and does.  Oh that we would learn to believe Him!

Now for a man who "believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."  (Rom. 4:3)

As you read ch. 20, did you want to slap your hand to your forehead and say, "Are you kidding?  Didn't Abraham already make this mistake and learn his lesson?"  Well, let me ask you...do you always get it right after you are reprimanded and called to task when you've done wrong?  Or are you as likely as I am to make the same stupid mistakes numerous times before learning your/my lesson?  Notice that God doesn't give up on Abraham, though, and He does't give up on you or me either.

1. Who suffered the consequences of Abraham's deception this time, and what was that consequence?  (see vv. 17-18). 
2. Look carefully at verse 17--what did Abraham do to correct the wrong he had caused? 
3. How did Abraham come out of all of this, and how does this support the promise God gave to him when He first called him in Genesis 12?
4. In Genesis 21:1, what do you find comforting?
5. Just so you know, in biblical times children were usually weaned around the age of three.  Compare Genesis 16:16 and Genesis 21:5.  How old was Ishmael when Isaac was born?  Add 2-3 years, and you know how old they are as the feast in ch. 21 takes place.
6. What instruction did God give Abraham concering the family feud in Gen. 21:10-12?  What was the result of this (vv. 14-21)?  Did God keep His promise to Abraham regarding Hagar and Ishmael?
7. What did Abraham call God in Gen. 21:33?

This next chapter, Genesis 22, is of huge significance to the rest of the story (i.e. all the way through Revelation 22:21).  This is when God "preached the gospel in advance to Abraham."  Let's get a front row seat for this divine drama they have no idea they are about to perform.

• In verse 1, what do we learn God is doing?

Now, why do you think God decided to test Abraham?  For what they are worth (probably not much), here are my thoughts based on what I have learned over the years about the way God tends to work in the lives of those He calls to be His own.  You see, our God is like any true lover.  He wants to be sure He has the whole heart, mind and soul of His true love--you...and me.  (Deut. 6:5; Mark 12:30)  In this case it's Abraham He's after. 

But there's even more at stake here, because Abraham is the one from whom the entire nation of Israel (God's chosen people under the old covenant) will come, as well as all Gentile believers of every nation under the new covenant.  Not only is that a great blessing, but a great responsibility as well.  Abraham has certainly enjoyed the LORD's favor up to this point.  We have seen him conquer kings, be blessed by Melchizadek, save the lives of his foolish family members, and collect quite the number of flocks, herds, servants and peoples.  He apparently has a very beautiful wife, or he wouldn't keep lying about their relationship, and kings wouldn't keep taking her as their new wife!  He is successful in negotiating deals.  Finally, he receives the precious child of promise--Isaac--who will be his heir and from whom all nations on earth will be blessed...from whom will come the Messiah

I have been re-reading a classic book that I highly recommend every Christian read on their faith journey, and the chapter I recently finished illustrates the truth of what takes place in Genesis 22 beautifully...and painfully.  The book is Hind's Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard.  It is a must-read.  And it has given me some insight into what God was asking of Abraham in this moment.

You see, God asked Abraham to sacrifice the very promise He had given to Abraham.  It was more than just his son Isaac (and that was quite a bit!).  It was everything Abraham had staked his entire life on when he followed God's call to leave Ur and go to the land God would show him, that God would make him into a great nation and all people's on earth would be blessed through him.  What God was asking Abraham to do in this time of testing was to give it all back to God.  If Abraham obeyed, he would be showing his LORD without a shadow of a doubt that God and God alone was the most important thing to him in life--not the promise, not his son, not his wife, not his own life, not his possessions--that God was all he wanted and all he needed, and that he was willing to give up everything in order to have God.  (Sounds rather like Jesus' words regarding the cost of discipleship, doesn't it?)

Now I want you to see the beauty of all that takes places during this drama.  Read it with these roles in mind:  Abraham--plays the part of God the Father; Isaac--plays the part of Jesus his only Son; the ram--substitutionary sacrifice (which is also Jesus).  Now read through Genesis 22 and find the following:

1. ...words God uses to describe Isaac (vv. 2, 12, 16).  Compare these to Matt. 3:17 and John 1:14. 
2. ...how Abraham describes what he and Isaac are about to do (v. 5)--i.e. what does he call it?
3. ...what Isaac carried to the place of sacrifice (v.6).  Compare this to John 19:17.
4. ...the significance of Abraham's response to Isaac in v. 8.  Compare to John 1:29. 
5. ...what Abraham bound Isaac to (v. 9).  What does this foreshadow with Christ?
6. ...what God does when Abraham is willing to sacrifice his only son
7. ...how God knows Abraham truly fears Him
8. ...God's provision for the sacrifice instead of Abraham's son.  Contrast this with Mark 15:39.  How does it unfold differently for God and His only Son?
9. ...the name Abraham gave the place of sacrifice/worship.  This is the Hebrew word Jehovah-jireh.
10. ...God's response to Abraham's complete and total surrender to Him (vv. 17-18).  Who benefited from Abraham's obedience?  (look for as many people as you can find in these two verses)

Wow.  What a role to play--the part of God sacrificing His only Son.  Thankfully, Abraham walked back down that mountain with his son Isaac walking with him.  I imagine they both worshipped their Jehovah-jireh all the way down, through tears of joy!  When it came time for the Father and the Son to perform the real deal, it ended in rejoicing as well on Easter morning!

In chapter 23, we read about the death of Sarah and Abraham securing a burial site for her body.  This is significant because all of the Patriarchs and their wives will be buried at this same place.  In fact, Joseph will even give instructions to his future descendants in Egypt to carry his bones back to Canaan one day so that he might be buried with his fathers on this same site...and Moses will carry them bones all the way home.

Hebrews 11:11-19 (English Standard Version)
¹¹By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. ¹²Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.

 ¹³These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. ¹⁴For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. ¹⁵If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.
 ¹⁷By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, ¹⁸of whom it was said, "Through Isaac shall your offspring be named." ¹⁹ He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.  

Covenant (Gen. 15-19)

Are you enjoying your Biblical soap opera yet? 

If you are at all like me, the wickedness of human beings' natural inclinations, and our disgusting habit of acting upon our sinful desires, might cause you to avoid soap operas and most of what is on t.v. these days.  You know what they say:  "what you think about, you bring about," and "garbage in, garbage out."  So why in the world would I choose to let that junk on t.v. go into my subconscious?  But when it comes to God's Word, it has divine power to instruct us and help us turn from sin rather than commit sin.  (see 2 Timothy 3:16-17)  I pray you have been a student of these lessons from God this week.

Since I did not have the opportunity to blog about yesterday's readings, I will do two days in one.  So hang on...here we go!

1. In chapter 14, why does Lot find out his choice of places to live was a poor one?  What happens to Lot and his family in verses 11-12?  (As we know, the situation will grow much worse in ch. 19.)
2. What is Abram called in 14:13?  Abram the ____________  This is the first time we read of him being called by this name, as he is now the leader of a new nation.  God granted Abram great success, too, in defeating these kings in order to rescue his nephew.  God's promises to Abram are already coming to pass--blessed to be a blessing.
3. Now don't skip over this brief section on Melchizadek, because he is incredibly significant to all of us!  Who was he, and what did he do in verses 18-20?  What did Abram do in response (notice another first that is recorded)?  Also, notice God being called by a new name:  God Most High ("El Elyon" in Hebrew).
4. Did you think that is all God had to say about Melchizadek?  Think again!  Turn to Hebrews 6:19-7:17 for some amazing insight about this mysterious priest.  Who does he resemble?  What future Priest will come in the same order as Melchizadek?  We will talk much more about this when we get to the study of Hebrews, and all the references to Levi and Aaron will make much more sense after we study Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, so hang in there!
5. Genesis 15:1 has a beautiful promise.  What does God promise to be for His people?  Abram responds by calling God by a new name again:  Sovereign LORD ("Adonai" in Hebrew).  Then God gives Abram another promise in verses 4-5.  Read Abram's response and the resulting blessing for all who respond in faith to God:  "Abram believed the LORD, and He credited it to him as righteousness."  (Gen. 15:6)  Now that is the only kind of credit I want!
6. God makes a covenant with Abram in Gen. 15 in which they both play a part.  What did God tell him to do, and then what did God do?
7. In Genesis 15:13-16, God let Abram know what will happen to his descendants in the future.  What is this prophecy?  At the end of Genesis and the beginning of Exodus, we will read as this comes to pass.  Do you know the name of the man God will send as their deliverer?  (Ex. 3:6-10)
8. In Genesis 16, things get messy.  The sin of unbelief is serious to God.  What happens in verse 2?  Did you notice a hint of frustration with God coming from Sarai?  Unfortunately, we can probably all relate with that.  Then she decides to take matters into her own hands, helping God out, so that the LORD can keep His promise to them.  NOT a wise move.  We are still suffering the consequences of her actions today, as the conflict between the descendants of the two sons of Abraham (Ishmael and Isaac) cause much war, slaughter and persecution today (how many soldiers and civilians do you know that have been over in Afghanistan or Iraq, and how many horror stories of persecution have you heard of our fellow Christians in Muslim dominated countries?).  Sister--next time you think taking matters into your own hands instead of waiting on God is no big deal, THINK AGAIN!  What looks like a great back-up plan could be a huge deception from the Enemy.
9. In the midst of this sad story, we see the slave girl Hagar call God by a new name:  the God who sees me ("El Roi" in Hebrew) in Gen. 16:13.  Dear one, He sees you and is concerned for you, coming to your aid in your time of need.  In regards to my comments in question 8, be sure to take note of what the angel of the LORD prophecied about Ishmael in verses 11-12.  Not a pretty future.
10. Now we get to a beautiful chapter of Scripture--Genesis 17!  This time God calls Himself by a new name:  God Almighty ("El Shaddai" in Hebrew).  I love Abram's response to God's command to "walk before Me and be blameless."  What does Abram do?  O that we would all fall on our faces before the Almighty God who alone can make us blameless!  Then what does God do in verse 5, and why?  Names have incredible significance in Biblical times, so always take note of their meaning.  In verse 15 we see this again.  What does God tell Abraham to call his wife?  Not just the name--look at its meaning.  What did He just tell him to call her?  Princess!!!  I love it!  Don't you want your husband to call you princess?  Me too!  Why was she to be called by this name?
11. Abram does it again in verse 17, but this time he doesn't just fall on his face at the promise--he laughs!  Sarah will laugh, too, when she hears the LORD speak this promise--and then she has the gall to argue with Him about it (this seems like it would have been a funny conversation to watch--Gen. 18:15).  Because of their laughter, what was their son's name to be, and what does it mean?
12. Now let's take a look at one of the most crucial points in Abraham's life, a covenant between his descendants and God that would mark them forever as God's children.  Read Gen. 17:7-14.  What beautiful promise did God make to Abraham regarding his descendants at the end of verse 8?  What assurance for our children!  My heart's greatest desire is that the one true God will be their God forever.  Read how this was true for Abraham's descendants in Psalm 48:14.
13. What is this covenant God is making between Himself and Abraham, and why?  (see vv. 10-11)  When a new baby boy is born, when is he to be circumcised?  I have to share with you the amazing provision of God in this aspect of His instructions.  During our last pregnancy with Joshua, we learned that by the eighth day of life, vitamin K (which gives your blood the ability to clot) has fully come in so that you can be cut and not bleed to death.  Do you see why God gave the command to do this sign of the covenant on the eighth day?  I love the preciseness of God!  (and yes...we had Joshua circumcised on the eighth day because we thought this was such a beautiful work of God--why inject it into his body on the first day when God provides it naturally by the 8th?  We didn't know this with Caleb.)
14. Who was to be circumcised (vv. 12-13)?  What happened to those who weren't, and why (v. 14)?  Now this gets exciting after the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, because all of this changes.  We'll get to that much later this year, but for now, see a glimpse of what God is truly after in each of His children:  Romans 2:25-29 (The Message)  This is not just an outward sign, but a spiritual work within our hearts.  The "cutting off of flesh" from the body was to symbolize the "cutting off of sin" from our hearts.  For those of you who want to discover even more about this beautiful sign that points ahead to what God now does in baptism instead of circumcision, look up the following verses:  Deut. 10:16; Deut. 30:6; Jer. 4:4; Rom. 2:29 and Col. 2:11.  The intense pain that comes with physical circumcision (I did NOT enjoy watching this aspect of Joshua's procedure, or when they handed Caleb to me screaming after his), is a stark indicator of the pain that comes when God our Healer cuts the flesh from our hearts, removing our sin nature and marking us with His Holy Spirit to help us walk in His ways instead.  The Refiner's fire hurts, but as it hurts it brings healing and joy unspeakable.  We will see this over and over again in the lives of the people we will study this year.  I have surely seen it in my own life as well.
15. In contrast to Abraham and his entire household being set apart as God's people, we read about the wickedness of the people of Sodom and how it affects Lot's family.  We read in ch. 18 that Abraham is visited by three men.  Who are these men?  (Gen. 18:20-21; Gen. 19:1)  I can't even wrap my mind around how incredible that visit must have been!  Abraham is quite the host, too.  Then he becomes quite the uncle.  What does he do on behalf of his nephew Lot in verses 22-33?  Abraham refers to God by a new name:  God our Judge ("Shophet" in Hebrew).
16. Lot seeks to be a good host to the two angels, just like his uncle.  But unlike his uncle Abraham, Lot is not nearly so obedient when they are trying to save his neck in answer to Abraham's prayer.  What were the Sodomites trying to do to the angels (you may need to read different translations to get the full meaning of this sin)?  What wicked thing did Lot offer to do in order to get them to stop?  What do you think his wife, daughters and future sons-in-law thought about his offer to the Sodomites?  How do the angels intervene?
17. As God is about to destroy Sodom, the angels tell Lot and his family to flee and not look back.  What does Lot's wife do?  What is the result?  Verse 29 tells us why God spared Lot's family.  For whose sake does He spare them?  Then Lot goes to the hills out of fear (ironically, where he told the angels he did not want to run because he feared what would happen to them).  Once again, Lot's poor choice of dwelling places leads to wickedness within his own family, this time by his two daughters.  (What do you expect, considering the example their own father had set for them?)
18. I encourage you to summarize in a letter to God what you have learned in reading these six chapters.  God has likely taught you some beautiful and hard truths through this--much more than just what I have covered.  Ask God what He wants to say to you, then sit and listen, writing it down beside your letter to Him.  This is the most important thing we could do in response to the study of God's Word.  One day you will look back upon what you have written and treasure it with all your heart.  No doubt you will treasure it today, too.

Here is a recap of our names of God so far: 
Elohim (Creator God)
Jehovah/Yaweh (the LORD; covenant maker/keeper)
El Elyon (God Most High)
Adonai (Sovereign LORD)
El Roi (the God who sees me)
El Shaddai (God Almighty)
Shophet (God our Judge/Ruler)

May I leave you with this thought from our readings today:  "Is anything too hard for the LORD?"  Gen. 18:14