Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Genesis

In April, I started reading the book of Genesis.  I've taken some notes for my own reference as I've read through this book of the Bible. 
In Genesis I learned about:
  • Creation
  • Adam and Eve
  • Sin
  • Cain and Abel
  • Noah, the ark and the flood
  • Babel and the confusion of languages
  • Abram and Sarai leave their land, end up in Egypt for awhile and lie about Sarai; they say she's Abram's sister; then they must leave
  • Abram and Sarai separate from Lot to maintain their herds with resources in other areas
  • Abram rescues Lot after he's captured
  • God agrees to give Abram and Sarai a son, then his inheritance won't go to a slave
  • Sarai gives Abram her slave, Hager, and Abram impregnates her
  • Hager births Ishmael
  • Abram becomes Abraham and will become the father of many nations
  • Circumcision
  • Issac is promised to Abraham and Sarah
  • Abraham tries to bargain with God over Sodom and Gomorrah to save the good people, if there are 10 there God will not destroy the cities
  • Lot and his family leave Sodom, but his wife becomes a pillar of salt when she looks back at the cities being destroyed
  • Lot's daughters get him drunk and sleep with him to impregnate themselves and continue their family
  • Abraham and Sarah again lie about their relationship to Abimelech in Gerar
  • Isaac is born to Sarah and Abraham
  • Sarah is jealous of Hagar and Ishmael and sends them away so Issac can be Abraham's heir
  • God tests Abraham and sends him to a mountain to sacrifice Issac
  • Sarah dies
  • Abraham's servant finds a wife for Issac, Rebekah
  • Abraham marries again, Keturah
  • Isaac and Rebekah struggle to get pregnant; they pray to God
  • Rebekah gets pregnant with twins and prays to God as they struggle inside
  • God says two groups of people will be born from her and they will struggle; the older will serve the younger
  • Esau and Jacob are born to Rebekah and Isaac
  • Esau was a hunter; Jacob stayed near the tents
  • Esau came home after a long trip of hunter and was starving and needed food, Jacob agreed to provide for him if Esau promised to share his inheritance with Jacob from Isaac
  • Esau agreed, he cared little about the material blessings from Issac
  • Isaac lies to Abimelech about Rebekah being his wife for fear of his life; he feared they may kill him to have his wife
  •  Abimelech learned the truth and decreed no one to touch him or his wife or they would loose their lives
  • Isaac reaps a great harvest from the land and become very wealthy
  • Abimelech forces him to leave fear he has more power than them
  • Isaac moves to new land and lives there when Abimelech returns for peace and acknowledgement of God's blessing of Isaac
  • Easu marries two Hittite women, Judith and basemath
  • Isaac in his old age sends Esau to to hunt a meal for him and promises him his blessing when he returns, Jacobs brings goats instead and disguises himself as Esau and receives the blessing
  • Esau is angry and plans to kill Jacob, but Rebekah, their mother, sends Jacobs away to save him
  • Jacob goes to Northwest Mesopotamia to Laban, his uncle's to find a wife
  • Esau marries Mahalath, Ishmael's daughter
  • Jacob has a dream about a ladder into heaven; he makes a promise for God to be with him and protect him; Jacob will give God on-tenth of all he receives from God
  • Jacob works for Laban to marry Rachel
  • Laban tricked Jacob and have him Leah (his older daughter) 
  • He worked for Laban again to earn Rachel as his second wife 
  • Leah have him many boys and Rachel none
  • Rachel gave her slave, Bilhah, to Jacob who bore sons
  • Leah gave her slave, Zilpah, to Jacob to bear children in jealousy of her sister
  • Rachel also bore sons then
  • Jacob tricks Laban into taking his healthy livestock to raise as his own after serving his seven years for Laban
  • Jacob ran away without telling Laban
  • Rachel, Jacob's wife, stole her father, Laban's, idols
  • Laban went in search of Jacob and his idols; he found Jacob, but Rachel continued to hide the idols
  • Jacob and Laban do agree to separate and built "a pile to remind us
  • Jacob sends for Esau who comes with 400 men
  • Jacob is anxious about his arrival and sends gifts ahead, but Esau is grateful to see him again
  • Jacob and Esau agree to travel to Edom, but at different paces to accommodate the young flocks and children
  • A daughter of Jacob's, Dinah is attached and raped
  • Jacob's daughters deceive the men of the man who raped their sister; they told them to be circumcised and they could have their women as their wives, but they murdered them and looted their land
  • By God's direction, Jacob took h I s family to Bethel to make an offering and clean themselves
  • Jacob becomes Israel
  • Rachel dies during childbirth
  • Joseph was Israel's favorite son and wore a special coat made for him
  • His brothers disliked him, especially after he shared his dream that they would bow down to him
  • Jacob was sold into slavery by his brothers after they decided not to kill him
  • The coveted his coat in goat blood and told their father he was killed
  • Jacob ran away without telling Laban
  • Rachel, Jacob's wife, stole her father, Laban's, idols
    Laban went in search of Jacob and his idols; he found Jacob, but Rachel continued to hide the idols
    Jacob and Laban do agree to separate and built "a pile to remind us"
  • Jacob sends for Esau who comes with 400 men
  • Jacob is anxious about his arrival and sends gifts ahead, but Esau is grateful to see him again
  • Jacob and Esau agree to travel to Edom, but at different paces to accommodate the young flocks and children
  • A daughter of Jacob's, Dinah is attached and raped
  • Jacob's daughters deceive the men of the man who raped their sister; they told them to be circumcised and they could have their women as their wives, but they murdered them and looted their land
  • By God's direction, Jacob took h I s family to Bethel to make an offering and clean themselves
  • Jacob becomes Israel
  • Rachel dies during childbirth
  • Joseph was Israel's favorite son and wore a special coat made for him
  • His brothers disliked him, especially after he shared his dream that they would bow down to him
  • Jacob was sold into slavery by his brothers after they decided not to kill him
  • The coveted his coat in goat blood and told their father he was killed
  • Judah and his sons and daughter in laws story is told
  • Joseph is sold and poisoned by the wife of his master; she accused him of sexual relations
  • Joseph interprets the dreams of a wine server and baker in jail
  • Joseph is taken from jail to interpret the dreams of the King, he explains it is not him who can explain, but his God
  •  The dream told of seven good years of harvest, followed by seven years of hunger
  • The King decided Joseph was the person to control Egypt to save them from the seven bad years, so he stored grain from the good years to get them through the bad years
  • His brothers come from their land to Egypt because of their need for food, Jacob recognizes them, although they don't recognize him
  • Joseph accused them of being spies, sent them to jail, then sent all but one of them back with food and their money they came with; they had been released to feed their families and bring their 11th brother, the youngest brother back with them
  •  The brothers finally convince their father to allow them to go back with their brother and Joseph was thrilled to see his brother Benjamin
  • Joseph sends them back with a stolen item from his kings goods, he sent men after them and brought them back for Benjamin's staged theft
  • Joesph reveals to them who he is when they return and they go back to bring their father back to Joseph
  • Joseph sees his father, his father and total family will settle in Goshen, near them, but away from Egyptians
  • They were provided the food they needed and their animals too
  • The people of Egypt came to Joseph when they ran out of money; they traded their animals for food, then their land and finally themselves as slaves for food to survive
  • Joseph returned the land to them for harvest, but 1/5 was the kings at harvest, which continues today
  • Jacob made Joseph promise him they would not bury him in Egypt when he passed
  • Jacob blesses Josephs two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim in the end of his life
  • Jacob blesses his sons and they become the 12 tribes of Israel
  • As promised, Joseph took his father to be buried with a large group of people
  • When they returned to Egypt, Joseph's brothers feared him, but they were welcoming by Joseph and God
  • Joseph passed and asked his bones be taken out of Egypt

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