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Joseph, a Fruitful Bough
Our Savior said that “the one who endures to the end will be saved” (Matt. 24:13). Confessing Christ once is not enough, our profession of faith is useless if we do not possess a living faith in God and ...Read More
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Gad, Asher, and Naphtali
Matthew Henry reflects on the different skills and personalities of Jacob’s sons in Genesis 49. “Among God’s Israel then,” he writes, “is to be found a great variety of dispositions, contrary to each other, yet all contributing to ...Read More
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Dan the Serpent
Hebrews 12:1–2 says the Christian life is a marathon. Even though all with true faith are justified in God’s sight and are secure in their salvation from the moment they first trust Jesus, believers are not those ...Read More
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Issachar’s Servitude
What do you desire for yourself and your family? Are you looking to maintain a comfortable existence? Are you unwilling to take a risk by sharing Christ with friends and neighbors? If you have children, will you be disappointed if ...Read More
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The Messiah’s Kingdom
Ambrose of Milan comments on today’s passage, saying Jesus “is the Lord by nature but a brother by grace” (The Patriarchs, 4.17). God is not a person with whom contact is impossible; He is not “wholly other.” Without ...Read More
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Judah’s Scepter
The King and His kingdom will be the subject of tomorrow’s study. For now, consider that Judah’s repentance and exaltation illustrates the biblical principal that “whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Matt. 23:12). Judah’s greatest son ...Read More
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Simeon and Levi Divided
The different destinies of Levi and Simeon show that Jacob’s words could be tempered by grace. Though cursed and scattered, Levi was later exalted not of his own merits but because of the Lord’s mercy. Our God is ...Read More
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Rueben Gets His Due
As John Chrysostom preached, Reuben shows us that “no advantage comes to us from natural advantage unless accompanied by good deeds of free will” (Homilies on Genesis, 67.5). We cannot expect to escape God’s discipline when we transgress ...Read More
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A Mountain for Joseph
John Calvin comments: “Until our faith rises to lay hold on those things which are removed afar off, we know not what it is to set our seal to the word of God.” The Christian life is future-oriented. We by ...Read More
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Joseph’s Protest
John Calvin comments, saying the Lord purposely changed “the law of nature, to teach us that what he freely confers upon us, is entirely the result of his own will.” We tend to think, at least subconsciously, that God chooses ...Read More
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Jacob: Lesson Learned
Jacob learned the ways of the Lord who exalts what men might forget (Matt. 19:30) and gives a better blessing to the younger Ephraim while relying on God’s ways honestly, nobly, and carefully. If an outsider were called ...Read More
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God’s Mercy on Jacob
Matthew Henry comments: “The eye of faith may be very clear even when the eye of the body is very much clouded.” At the end, Jacob does not dwell on the hardships of his life, he recognizes the great blessing ...Read More
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Two More Sons of Israel
John Calvin says that Joseph’s rush to see his father one last time shows he regards it “a greater privilege to be a son of Jacob, than to preside over a hundred kingdoms.” Joseph saw his father’s great ...Read More
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A Father’s Last Request
John Calvin offers comments about the patriarchs, saying that “not even death itself could extinguish the power of their faith.” All of us must look beyond the end of our own lives and trust God to keep all of His ...Read More
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Fruitfulness in Egypt
Israel, called to be a new Adam, failed to keep covenant and increased transgression (Rom. 3:9–20; 7:7–13). As our perfect representative, Jesus succeeded where Israel failed, and in so doing, He also succeeded where Adam failed ...Read More
