Daily Notes & Observations is a 365-part series that follows a chronological daily Bible reading schedule and contains a short article based on something found in the text for each day. This material is also available in paperback.

January 23, 2012

Unworthy of God’s Lovingkindness (1/23)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Genesis 32-34.

When Jacob departed from Laban and traveled toward his home country, he was fearful of the prospect of meeting his brother Esau. This was certainly understandable since Esau was seeking to kill him when he left (Genesis 27:41-43). When he heard that Esau was coming to meet him with four hundred men (Genesis 32:6), Jacob prayed to God.

“O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Lord, who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your relatives, and I will prosper you,’ I am unworthy of all the lovingkindness and of all the faithfulness which You have shown to Your servant; for with my staff only I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two companies. Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, that he will come and attack me and the mothers with the children” (Genesis 32:9-11).

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January 22, 2012

"May the Lord Give Me Another Son" (1/22)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Genesis 30-31.

After Leah bore four sons to Jacob (Genesis 29:31-35), her sister Rachel was jealous, wishing she would also be able to bear children. Her emotions got the best of her. She demanded of Jacob, “Give me children, or else I die” (Genesis 30:1). Jacob reminded her that he was not in the place of God; therefore, he could only do so much (Genesis 30:2).

After this, Rachel gives Jacob her handmaid and she bore him two sons (Genesis 30:3-8). Then Leah gave him her handmaid and she bore two more sons (Genesis 30:9-13). Later, Leah bore Jacob another two sons and a daughter (Genesis 30:17-21). All the while, Rachel was barren. Then, at last, God allowed her to conceive.
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January 21, 2012

Esau’s Blessing (1/21)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Genesis 27-29.

Esau, as the firstborn, expected to receive the blessing from his father before he died. Isaac expected to give the blessing of the firstborn to Esau. Yet Jacob came first and deceived Isaac and received the blessing from his father (Genesis 27:18-29).

When it was discovered what had happened, Isaac “trembled violently” (Genesis 27:33) and Esau “cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, ‘Bless me, even me also, O my father!’” (Genesis 27:34).

With the blessing of the firstborn given to Jacob, and Esau begging his father for a blessing, what would Isaac do now for his favored son?
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January 20, 2012

Esau Despised His Birthright (1/20)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Genesis 25-26.

Esau and Jacob, though twin brothers, were very different from one another. “Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field, but Jacob was a peaceful man, living in tents” (Genesis 25:27). One day when Esau returned from the field hungry, Jacob took advantage of the opportunity to secure the birthright in exchange for his stew.

“Esau said to Jacob, ‘Please let me have a swallow of that red stuff there, for I am famished.’ … But Jacob said, ‘First sell me your birthright.’ Esau said, ‘Behold, I am about to die; so what use then is the birthright to me?’ And Jacob said, ‘First swear to me’; so he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. … Thus Esau despised his birthright” (Genesis 25:30-34).

The birthright, among other things, was the right of the firstborn to the greater inheritance. Esau forfeited long-term prosperity for short-term comfort. He gave away the firstborn’s inheritance for a single meal.
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January 19, 2012

We Will Go, Worship, and Return (1/19)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Genesis 22-24.

“Abraham said to his young men, ‘Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you’” (Genesis 22:5).

There is nothing particularly unusual about a father and son going somewhere to worship. Lots of people worship God. It is certainly commendable but not particularly unusual.

What makes Abraham’s plan remarkable are the circumstances. God told him to sacrifice his son (Genesis 22:2), and Abraham was prepared to do it (Genesis 22:6,9-10). Only an angel’s intervention prevented him from offering Isaac on the altar (Genesis 22:11-12). This demonstrates Abraham’s great faith and shows his trust in God’s promises and His commandments.
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January 18, 2012

He Appeared to Them to be Jesting (1/18)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Genesis 19-21.

The men who lived in Sodom were “wicked exceedingly and sinners against the Lord” (Genesis 13:13). So much so that the Lord determined to destroy the city. But first he sent two angels into the city to deliver the lone righteous man among them – Lot.

“Then the two men said to Lot, ‘Whom else have you here? A son-in-law, and your sons, and your daughters, and whomever you have in the city, bring them out of the place; for we are about to destroy this place, because their outcry has become so great before the Lord that the Lord has sent us to destroy it” (Genesis 19:12-13).

Lot was now aware of the coming destruction, which gave him the chance to escape. He also had time to convince others to come with him and be saved.
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January 17, 2012

Is Anything Too Difficult for the Lord? (1/17)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Genesis 16-18.

When the Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre (Genesis 18:1), He restated His promise that Abraham’s wife Sarah would bear him a son (Genesis 18:10; cf. Genesis 17:15-16). This would be one part of the fulfillment of the promises God made to Abraham when He first called him to leave his relatives for a place which God would show him (Genesis 12:1-3).

The difficulty in this promise – looking at it strictly through human eyes and ignoring the work of God – was that both Abraham and Sarah were past the age in which they could reasonably expect to have children (Genesis 18:11). So when Sarah overheard this promise, her reaction was one of skepticism.
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