Genesis | God Running

The Redemptive Power of Connection: Genesis 50:7, 9, 11

[To see the last post on Genesis go to The Consequences of Calling Your Own Shots–Genesis 49:29]

So Joseph went up to bury his father. All Pharaoh’s officials accompanied him—the dignitaries of his court and all the dignitaries of Egypt—

Chariots and horsemen also went up with him. It was a very large company.

When the Canaanites who lived there saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “The Egyptians are holding a solemn ceremony of mourning.”

–Genesis 50:7, 9, 11

What’s All The Fuss?

I was involved in a huge funeral once. Two friends died in the prime of life, in an ATV accident. They were firefighters and we had this huge procession through town with fire department vehicles. The streets were lined with well wishers. There were even helicopters flying overhead above the procession. One helicopter flew a giant American flag underneath. Another filmed the whole event in high def. Had my two friends been insurance salesmen none of that would have happened. It was their relationship with the fire department that resulted in such an ambitious funeral.

Jacob’s funeral was a much bigger deal than my friends’. Every single one of Pharaoh’s officials were there. Every dignitary from the nation of Egypt was there. All of Joseph’s family was there. Chariots and horsemen were even there. The funeral lasted a whole week. This thing was huge. When the people of Canaan saw it, it was easy to recognize someone very important had passed away. But why? Why was Jacob honored in such spectacular fashion? Read More

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Posted on March 2, 2013 by Kurt Bennett

Bible Commentary, Bible Study, Genesis, I Wish Someone Had Told Me This When I Was Young, Marriage

Connection to Jesus Christ, Genesis 50, Jacob's funeral, Jesus and Joseph, Redemptive Power of Connection, Salvation

The Consequences of Calling Your Own Shots–Genesis 49:29

Jacob said: “I am about to be gathered to my people.” -Genesis 49:29

Jacob was about to die. He found himself in the same position every single one of us will find ourselves. Jacob was about to be gathered to his people.

And of course, so will you. The question is: Where are your people gathered?

I Have A Confession

I have a confession to make. I have this tendency–I tend to change my worldview to accommodate my own selfishness. Reflecting back I realize I had a desire for personal glory in a variety of arenas. At various times those areas in which I sought my own honor included work, running, hang gliding, and basketball–to name a few. At my core, Read More

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Posted on February 16, 2013 by Kurt Bennett

Bible Commentary, Bible Study, Genesis

Eternity, gathered to his people, Genesis 4:9, God and selfishness, Heaven, Jacob's death

Slavery, Love, and the Garden of Eden–Genesis 2:8-9

(From the Archives…)

Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 2:8-9

The Garden

A little trivia to start: The Bible tells us that the land in which God’s garden is located is called Eden, however we are never actually given the name of the garden itself, only the name of the land in which it is located. But one thing’s for sure, the word Eden means delightful, and we do know from the Bible that without a doubt, whatever the name of the garden, God’s garden was a delightful place to live.

Notice that in the middle of His garden God puts both the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. “Why?” You may be asking. “Why include the forbidden tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, in the middle of the delightful garden? Why ruin a perfect place with a forbidden tree?” The answer is that God desired a meaningful relationship with Adam and Eve, and a meaningful relationship requires a choice.

Marriage and Slavery

Hadijatou Mani is a 24 year old woman from the Sahel region of Nigeria, on the Southern fringe of the Sahara. Hadijatou’s story is the story of someone who wasn’t given a choice. When she was just 12 years old she was sold to a man named Souleymane Naroua. When she was just 13 she was raped by her master and forced to bear his children. Read More

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Posted on February 2, 2013 by Kurt Bennett

Bible Commentary, Bible Study, Genesis, Marriage

choice, Genesis 2, Hadijatou Mani, love, nigeria, slavery

Joseph, Jesus, and the Key to Your Choices: Genesis 49:22-26

To see the previous post from Genesis, go to Can God Use a Sinner Like You, or Like Me?

Joseph is a fruitful vine,
a fruitful vine near a spring,
whose branches climb over a wall.
With bitterness archers attacked him;
they shot at him with hostility.
But his bow remained steady,
his strong arms stayed limber,
because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob,
because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel

Genesis 49:22-24

Joseph

Joseph endured a difficult life. Described as “archers” in this passage, Joseph faced arrows of persecution from his own siblings–they plotted to murder him, then they settled for selling him into slavery. So he was separated from his family, while he served as a slave in Egypt. Then he was falsely accused of rape by Potiphar’s wife, after which, he was tossed into a dungeon–for years.

Jesus

Jesus was another who was committed to living his life God’s way, no matter what arrows flew in his direction. He loved people, all people, including promiscuous women, prostitutes, and thieves–even when it brought brutal criticism. Although on the surface he looked as ordinary as anyone else, he healed, and helped so many, it was impossible to write it all down. (John 21:25) And though he did all these things, things no one else could do, he never bragged. The religious leadership of his day hated him. Over and over they tried to catch him in a verbal ambush, but Christ answered so cleverly and completely they eventually stopped trying. Several times they tried to kill him, but they couldn’t until his time came. His dream was to make a way for us to go to heaven, but it meant he had to die. He did it anyway.

You might be asking yourself, “How? How did Joseph and Jesus live this way?” The source of power for both Joseph and Jesus is revealed by Jacob in our text. They were both able to live the way they did “because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob, because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel…”

Your Choices

You have access to that same source of power you know.

Those decisions you’ve made the last few years that haven’t worked out for you? The ones that made you say, “Yea but…”

“Yea but she seemed like such a nice girl.”

“I know but he was so good to my five year old daughter.”

“Yes but she was so much fun to party with.” Read More

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Posted on January 12, 2013 by Kurt Bennett

Bible Commentary, Bible Study, Genesis

Genesis 4:9, Good choices, Jesus, joseph, make good choices, make good decisions, why do I make bad decisions

Can God Use a Sinner Like You, or Like Me? Genesis 49:8-12

Jesus Judah Sinners Welcome Read Genesis 49:1-28

The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come, and the obedience of the nations shall be his. -Genesis 49:10

A Sinner and Strays

I know a single mother who’s made mistakes–big mistakes. She battled drug and alcohol addiction for decades. She’s had multiple men in and out of her life. She struggled mightily at times as a single mother.

But there is this one thing about her– Read More

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Posted on December 19, 2012 by Kurt Bennett

Bible Commentary, Bible Study, Genesis

Genesis 4:9, Jesus Judah, Judah, Judah and Tamar, sinner used by God

In God’s Image: Genesis 1:26-27

I had a most interesting family matter to attend to. So here’s one from the archives.

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Genesis 1:26-27

God said, “Let us…” and “…in our image…” and “…in our likeness…” Obviously us and our mean more than One. It would seem God was referring to Read More

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Posted on December 15, 2012 by Kurt Bennett

Bible Commentary, Bible Study, Genesis

bear fruit, Bob Buford, creation, creation of man, Genesis 1:26-27, Jesus Christ, Matthew 13:8-9, Sixth Day of Creation

Steve Jobs, Jesus, and Anger: Genesis 49:5-7

Read Genesis 49:1-28

“Simeon and Levi are brothers—
their swords are weapons of violence.
Let me not enter their council,
let me not join their assembly,
for they have killed men in their anger
and hamstrung oxen as they pleased.
Cursed be their anger, so fierce,
and their fury, so cruel!”

Steve Jobs’ Anger at Apple

I love apple products. I bought an Apple IIC when they first came out (to this day I can say that was the best keyboard I ever set my fingers upon). I love my iPhone. I love to Face-time with my family when we’re away from each other. I even love Apple commercials, especially the one where the girl throws the hammer at the big screen with Big Brother talking. Steve Job’s penchant for perfection resulted in some amazing products and some incredible marketing. But he also had an anger problem.

In 1985 Jobs’ boss, John Sculley, who was then the CEO of Apple, decided to remove Jobs from his position as head of the Macintosh division. When Sculley gave Jobs the news, Read More

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Posted on December 6, 2012 by Kurt Bennett

Bible Commentary, Bible Study, Genesis, Marriage

anger, anger management, Genesis 4:9, Jesus, Jesus anger, Jobs, Steve Jobs

Sex and Your Future–Trading Forty Five Minutes for 1,000 Years: Genesis 49:1-28

Read Genesis 49:1-28

Jacob called for his sons and said: “Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come.” Genesis 49:1

Living Life Like James Bond

I have a friend, Kent, whose life was a little bit like a James Bond movie–at least for a couple of years. When he was in his twenties, he used to deliver Top Secret documents to a government location he won’t permit me to disclose. He traveled with a Halliburton attache case handcuffed to his wrist. He carried a 45 Colt in a shoulder holster, and a 38 Smith and Wesson on his ankle for backup. He was a nice looking guy and, not surprisingly, women found his secret agent persona attractive. Several female flight attendants made themselves sexually available to him. He decided to take them up on their offers. He was married at the time.

Why Some People Have One More Than Their Brothers: Genesis 48:21-22

Dungeon Below Blarney Castle

Then Israel said to Joseph, “I am about to die, but God will be with you and take you back to the land of your fathers. And to you I give one more ridge of land than to your brothers, the ridge I took from the Amorites with my sword and my bow.” Genesis 48:21-22

Baby Boomer Behavior

Lately I’ve noticed the abundance said and written by twenty and thirty-somethings about how “that miserable baby boomer generation has failed us.”

“They’re greedy geezers.”

“They’re leaving us a great burden of debt.”

“The leaders from their generation are short sighted and selfish.”

“It’s as though they threw a big party and left it to us to clean up their mess.”

And besides all that, “They told us we could be anything we wanted as long as we put our minds to it. I found out recently — I can’t be an astronaut after all.”

Let me just tell you what I think about all these statements, they’re all undeniably Read More

6 Comments

Posted on November 15, 2012 by Kurt Bennett

Bible Commentary, Bible Study, Genesis

Discipline, Genesis, Genesis 48, Joseph's character, prosperity, success

The Key to Blessing Your Family: Genesis 48:15-16

Read Genesis 48:15-16.

Jacob Blesses His Family

“May the God before whom my fathers
    Abraham and Isaac walked faithfully,
the God who has been my shepherd
    all my life to this day,
the Angel who has delivered me from all harm
    —may he bless these boys.”

Genesis 48:15-16

How to Bless Your Family

An independent filmmaker told me a story recently about a shoot he did, here in Southern Oregon, just a few months ago. One day they were scheduled to film at the top of Mount Baldy in the Applegate Valley. It’s a very remote location, in fact, the director and his wife found themselves ten feet from a mountain lion a few weeks prior to the shoot, when they first scouted the area (fortunately the mountain lion fled).

You’re Dying and What to do About It — Genesis 48:1-15

To read the previous post on Genesis, go to Joseph and Israel, Jesus and the Jew.

Read Genesis 48:1-15

Some time later Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim along with him. When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel rallied his strength and sat up on the bed. (Genesis 48:1-2)

Then he blessed Joseph. (v.15)

You’re dying and what to do about it

It seems apparent, Jacob knows he is dying. So here he is, on his death bed, knowing he is dying, and what does he do?

God Running

There is only one place in the Bible where we see God running.

The Redemptive Power of Connection: Genesis 50:7, 9, 11

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The Consequences of Calling Your Own Shots–Genesis 49:29

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Slavery, Love, and the Garden of Eden–Genesis 2:8-9

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Joseph, Jesus, and the Key to Your Choices: Genesis 49:22-26

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Can God Use a Sinner Like You, or Like Me? Genesis 49:8-12

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In God’s Image: Genesis 1:26-27

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Steve Jobs, Jesus, and Anger: Genesis 49:5-7

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Sex and Your Future–Trading Forty Five Minutes for 1,000 Years: Genesis 49:1-28

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Why Some People Have One More Than Their Brothers: Genesis 48:21-22

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The Key to Blessing Your Family: Genesis 48:15-16

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You’re Dying and What to do About It — Genesis 48:1-15

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There is only one place in the Bible where we see God running.

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