S – The proposal pleased Pharaoh and all his servants, ³⁸ and he said to them, “Can we find anyone like this, a man who has God’s spirit in him?” ³⁹ So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one as discerning and wise as you are. ⁴⁰ You will be over my house, and all my people will obey your commands.^, Only I, as king, will be greater than you.

Genesis 41:37–40 CSB

O –  Commentary:

Pharaoh recognized that Joseph was the man for the job; he had the spirit of God and was intelligent and wise. God showed his sovereign rule in Egypt; Israelites who later read the account could be confident that God would save them as he had promised.

 New Living Translation Study Bible 

A – From the prison to the palace in one day.  Yet, it was two years after Joseph initially interpreted the cup bearer’s dream.   God’s timing is difficult because many times it involves patience.  I am still learning and growing in this.  Our faith and trust grows but the waiting is hard to understand and accept.  In the end, God and his purposes are worth it.

R – Heavenly Father, you are Omnipresent and All Knowing.  Strengthen our resolve in waiting on you in the promises and milestones you have for us.  We put our faith and trust in you.  Help us to see your hand daily and encourage us to keep going.

S – Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph; he forgot him. 

Genesis  40:23 CSB

O – Commentary:

chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph’s request in v. 14 is forgotten, and he remains in prison. Yet the earlier mention of God’s favor with Joseph hints that something good is looming on the horizon, despite the bleak outlook (39:2).

Faithlife Study Bible

A – When we face difficult situations, God has not forgotten us.  Even so, the next verse in chapter 41 starts with “At the end of two years.”  That seems like a long time for someone to keep their faith in God when they are still in prison.  Our trust that God’s timing is perfect  and purposes for our good will sustain us in even the most difficult segments of the journey.

R – Heavenly Father, the one true God.  We worship and surrender to you alone.  Meet us where our faith is today in our relationship with you.  We want to know you more and trust you implicitly.  Give us strength and wisdom to follow you today.

S – Judah recognized them and said, “She is more in the right than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not know her intimately again. 

Genesis 38:26 CSB

O –  Commentary:

She is more righteous than I am: Judah acknowledged that he had shirked his responsibility to provide an heir. It was sinful for Judah to go to a prostitute, but Tamar had a legal right to be the mother of Judah’s child and had acted on that right. In the book of Ruth, the elders analogously blessed the marriage of Boaz and Ruth, praying that God would make Ruth like Tamar (Ruth 4:12; cp. Matt 1:3, 5).

 New Living Translation Study Bible 

A – Even in the craziness of this story, righteousness prevailed.  When Judah did not fulfill the custom and responsibility, Tamar acted upon her right.  God is righteous and just.  And, his plans will not be stopped.  Only he can take a crazy situation like this and see his will carried out righteously.

R – Heavenly Father, you are righteous and just.  In all situations, we surrender our will so yours can be accomplished.  Grow our faith to trust you in all situations.

S – He told his father and brothers, and his father rebuked him. “What kind of dream is this that you have had?” he said. “Am I and your mother and your brothers really going to come and bow down to the ground before you?” ¹¹ His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind. 

Genesis 37:10–12 CSB

O – Commentary:

The brothers … hated Joseph all the more (37:5, 8) and were jealous of him, but Jacob pondered the matter (v. 11). He knew how God works; he was well aware that God could select the younger to rule over the elder, and that God could declare His choice in advance by an oracle or a dream.

“Genesis,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures

A – God’s ways are not our ways.  He looks at the heart and realized that all of the older brothers were not the ones to lead the family.  He also knew the future and needed someone to take care of Israel’s family when the future famine came.  God takes all of this and begins to establish Joseph’s path to leadership in Egypt.

R- Heavenly Father, you are all powerful and have no limits.  Help us to trust in you when we don’t understand your path and direction.  Grow our faith to look beyond our own desires.  We invite you to lead and guide us today.

S – Esau took his wives, sons, daughters, and all the people of his household, as well as his herds, all his livestock, and all the property he had acquired in Canaan; he went to a land away from his brother Jacob

Genesis 36:6 CSB

O – Commentary:

The account of Esau stresses two points. First, Esau’s sons were born … in the land of Canaan (36:5) before he moved to Seir (36:8). Jacob’s children, by contrast, were almost all born outside the land but then moved into it. God was giving the land to Jacob and his descendants and so made room for them by providing for Esau in a different place. Second, Esau’s other name was Edom. Israel often struggled with the Edomites 

 New Living Translation Study Bible 

A – Esau makes another decision that actually fulfills God’s plan for Israel to occupy the promised land.  Like Lot, he choose “greener pastures” instead of God’s promise.  We need to make sure we are in alignment with God’s plan more than our own wishes and desires.  What looks good might not be the best in God’s overall plan.

R – Heavenly Father, you are the Creator of all.  Give us the discernment and wisdom to walk in your will.  Empower us to make decisions that keep us aligned with your purposes. Help us hear your voice and promptings as we move forward with you.

S – We must get up and go to Bethel. I will build an altar there to the God who answered me in my day of distress. He has been with me everywhere I have gone.” 

Genesis 35:3 CSB

O – When Jacob first encountered God at Bethel (28:10–22), he erected a pillar (matsevah in Hebrew) and anointed it (see 28:18–22). Now he is instructed to build an altar at the same location.

Faithlife Study Bible 

A – When Jacob was first was at Bethel, he said “This is God’s house and dwelling place” and God promised to be with him wherever he went.  Now, Jacob is affirming God’s presence wherever he travelled.  This is a shift for us today.  God is not in one place – He is every where at all times. Yet, he is intimately present to us.  

R – Heavenly Father, you are omnipresent – you are all place at once.  Thank you for your unlimited presence to everyone in all places.  More importantly, thank you for knowing us intimately.  You know us and see us.  Help us to continue to grow in your presence, power and peace.

S – Jacob heard that Shechem had defiled his daughter Dinah, but since his sons were with his livestock in the field, he remained silent until they returned

Genesis 34:5 CSB

O – Commentary:

Jacob’s response to this crime is surprising. When he heard that Dinah had been defiled, he said nothing about it until his sons came home. Because Jacob did not act, his sons did, though without the wisdom and integrity necessary for justice. Dinah’s full brothers were shocked and furious that Shechem had done such a disgraceful thing against Jacob’s family (literally a disgraceful thing in Israel; this is the first use of the name Israel to describe the family). This sexual crime was an outrage against the community of God’s people and deserved punishment, but the leader of the clan did nothing.

 New Living Translation Study Bible 

A – God is just and his justice will be served.  We cannot turn away from an incident and just hope it takes care of itself.  Especially if we are in a leadership role.  We must leverage our wisdom and integrity to bring correction and justice when necessary.

R – Heavenly Father, you are holy and just.  Give us courage to move towards the situations where injustice or correction is necessary.  Also, align our actions with wisdom and integrity.  We invite you to empower us in all aspects in these situations.

S – But Esau ran to meet him, hugged him, threw his arms around him, and kissed him. Then they wept. ⁵ When Esau looked up and saw the women and children, he asked, “Who are these with you?” 

He answered, “The children God has graciously given your servant…”

⁹ “I have enough, my brother,” Esau replied. “Keep what you have.” 

Genesis 33:4–9 CSB

O – Commentary:

Esau, however, eagerly ran to meet Jacob and embraced him … kissed him, and they both wept. What a change is made when “God fights” in His way. In talking with Esau, Jacob constantly referred to himself as your servant or “his servant” (vv. 5, 14) and to his brother as “my lord” (vv. 8, 13–15) whereas Esau simply called Jacob “my brother”

“Genesis,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures

A – It is amazing to see how God works.  Jacob knows he is different and living out a relationship with God.  While we don’t read about Esau’s journey, he is different.  Their meeting is not resentment or bitterness.  Instead it is reconciliation and relationship.  It gives us hope for those relationships which are difficult and distant.  God can change those to something better.

R – Heavenly Father, you are Jehovah Shalom, God of Peace.  We invite you to work in our relationships – the ones which are difficult and challenging.   Please bring peace and reconciliation where there is strife and resentment.  We know you can do anything.

S – Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. ²⁵ When the man saw that he could not defeat him, he struck Jacob’s hip socket as they wrestled and dislocated his hip. ²⁶ Then he said to Jacob, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” 

But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” 

²⁷ “What is your name?” the man asked. 

“Jacob,” he replied. 

²⁸ “Your name will no longer be Jacob,” he said. “It will be Israel because you have struggled with God and with men and have prevailed

Genesis 32:24–28 CSB

O – Commentary:

The blessing took the form of a new name—Israel. This name probably means “God fights,” as the popular etymology signifies. The explanation was then given that Jacob had fought with God and with men. It is easy to comprehend his having fought with men but that he fought “with God” is more difficult to understand. Throughout Jacob’s entire life he had been dragging God’s blessing out under all circumstances for his own use, under “his own steam.” He was too self-willed and too proud to let the blessing be given to him.

So “God fights” was now his name. This meant, first, that God chose, because of the patriarch’s stubbornness and pride, to fight against him. Second, it meant that God would fight for Israel.

Jacob’s new name would remind him and others of this fight in which he had overcome. These words were full of hope to the Israelites. If one could contend successfully with God, he could then win the battle with man. Thus the name “God fights” and the explanation that Jacob had “overcome” obtained the significance of a promise for the nation’s forthcoming struggles.

“Genesis,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures,

A – We fight with God to have our way instead of his way.  Yet, God fights for us with us.  He will challenge our own will so his will is accomplished.  He also fights the enemy and his forces that seek to rob, kill and destroy us.  God does fight and it causes us to be grateful.

R – Heavenly Father, you are a fighter.  Thank you for fighting us and others so that your will is accomplished in us.  Empower us to build our faith so we fight you less and surrender to you more.

S – I am the God of Bethel, where you poured oil on the stone marker and made a solemn vow to me. Get up, leave this land, and return to your native land.’ ” 

Genesis 31:13 CSB

O – Commentary:

While messengers in the ancient Near East were entitled to speak in place of the one sending them, elsewhere in the ot the Angel of Yahweh is said to be the embodiment of Yahweh’s own essence (see Exod 23:20–23; compare Deut 4:37; Judg 2:1–3).

Faithlife Study Bible 

A – When God speaks, we need to listen and obey.  God reminded Jacob of his place of worship and commitment.  When we accepted Christ, we had a similar experience.  Listening to God through prayer will keep us centered in his presence and will.

R – Heavenly Father, we worship and surrender to you.  Speak to us and we will listen.  We want to hear your voice.  Empower us today to walk in your presence and accomplish all that you have for us.