Daily Devotional #1

Day 18

Today, we're continuing in Genesis, Matthew, and Psalms. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to comment. I would love to talk with you.

This is the history of the family of Esau (Edom). Esau married women from the land of Canaan. His wives were Adah, the daughter of Elon the Hittite, Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah, the son of Zibeon the Hivite, and Basemath, Ishmael's daughter, the sister of Nebaioth. Esau and Adah had a son named Eliphaz. Basemath had a son named Reuel. Oholibamah had three sons: Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These were Esau's sons who were born in the land of Canaan. Jacob and Esau's families became too big for the land in Canaan to support them all, so Esau moved away from his brother Jacob. He took his wives, sons, daughters, all his slaves, cattle and other animals, and everything else that he had gotten in Canaan and moved to the hill country of Seir. (Esau is also named Edom.)

Esau is the father of the people of Edom. These are the names of Esau's family living in the hill country of Seir: Esau and Adah's son was Eliphaz. Esau and Basemath's son was Reuel. Eliphaz had five sons: Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz. Eliphaz also had a slave woman named Timna. Timna and Eliphaz had a son named Amalek. Reuel had four sons: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These were Esau's grandsons from his wife Basemath. Esau's third wife was Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah. (Anah was the son of Zibeon.) Esau and Oholibamah's children were Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These are the family groups that came from Esau: Esau's first son was Eliphaz. From Eliphaz came Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz, Korah, Gatam, and Amalek. All these family groups came from Esau's wife Adah. Esau's son Reuel was the father of these families: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. All these families came from Esau's wife Basemath. Esau's wife Oholibamah, daughter of Anah, gave birth to Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These three men were the leaders of their families. They were all sons of Esau and leaders of the family groups of Edom. Seir, a Horite man, lived in Edom before Esau. These are the sons of Seir: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These sons were all Horite family leaders from Seir in Edom. Lotan was the father of Hori and Heman. (Timna was Lotan's sister.)

Zibeon had two sons, Aiah and Anah. Anah is the man who found the springs in the desert while he was caring for his father's donkeys.

Dishon had four sons. They were Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Keran. Ezer had three sons. They were Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan. Dishan had two sons. They were Uz and Aran. These are the names of the leaders of the Horite families: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These men were the leaders of the families that lived in the country of Seir. At that time there were kings in Edom. Edom had kings a long time before Israel did. Bela son of Beor was a king who ruled in Edom. He ruled over the city of Dinhabah. When Bela died, Jobab became king. Jobab was the son of Zerah from Bozrah. When Jobab died, Husham ruled. Husham was from the land of the Temanites. When Husham died, Hadad ruled that area. Hadad was the son of Bedad. (He was the man who defeated Midian in the country of Moab.) Hadad was from the city of Avith. When Hadad died, Samlah ruled that country. Samlah was from Masrekah. When Samlah died, Shaul ruled that area. Shaul was from Rehoboth by the River. When Shaul died, Baal Hanan ruled that country. Baal Hanan was the son of Acbor. When Baal Hanan died, Hadad ruled that country. Hadad was from the city of Pau. His wife's name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred. (Mezahab was Matred's father.) Esau was the father of these Edomite families: Timna, Alvah, Jetheth, Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon, Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, Magdiel, and Iram. Each of these families lived in an area that was called by the same name as their family. (‭Genesis‬ ‭36‬:‭1-22, 24, 26-43‬ ERV)

Jacob stayed and lived in the land of Canaan. This is the same land where his father had lived. This is the story of Jacob's family. Joseph was a young man, 17 years old. His job was to take care of the sheep and the goats. Joseph did this work with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah. (Bilhah and Zilpah were his father's wives.) Joseph told his father about the bad things that his brothers did. Joseph was born at a time when his father Israel was very old, so Israel loved him more than he loved his other sons. Jacob gave him a special coat, which was long and very beautiful. When Joseph's brothers saw that their father loved Joseph more than he loved them, they hated their brother because of this. They refused to say nice things to him. One time Joseph had a special dream. Later, he told his brothers about this dream, and after that his brothers hated him even more. Joseph said, "I had a dream. We were all working in the field, tying stacks of wheat together. Then my stack got up. It stood there while all of your stacks of wheat made a circle around mine and bowed down to it." His brothers said, "Do you think this means that you will be a king and rule over us?" His brothers hated Joseph more now because of the dreams he had about them. Then Joseph had another dream, and he told his brothers about it. He said, "I had another dream. I saw the sun, the moon, and eleven stars bowing down to me." Joseph also told his father about this dream, but his father criticized him. His father said, "What kind of dream is this? Do you believe that your mother, your brothers, and I will bow down to you?" Joseph's brothers continued to be jealous of him, but his father thought about all these things and wondered what they could mean. One day Joseph's brothers went to Shechem to care for their father's sheep. Jacob said to Joseph, "Go to Shechem. Your brothers are there with my sheep." Joseph answered, "I will go." His father said, "Go and see if your brothers are safe. Come back and tell me if my sheep are all fine." So Joseph's father sent him from the Valley of Hebron to Shechem. At Shechem, Joseph got lost. A man found him wandering in the fields. The man said, "What are you looking for?" Joseph answered, "I am looking for my brothers. Can you tell me where they are with their sheep?" The man said, "They have already gone away. I heard them say that they were going to Dothan." So Joseph followed his brothers and found them in Dothan. Joseph's brothers saw him coming from far away. They decided to make a plan to kill him. They said to each other, "Here comes Joseph the dreamer. We should kill him now while we can. We could throw his body into one of the empty wells and tell our father that a wild animal killed him. Then we will show him that his dreams are useless." But Reuben wanted to save Joseph. He said, "Let's not kill him. We can put him into a well without hurting him." Reuben planned to save Joseph and send him back to his father. When Joseph came to his brothers, they attacked him and tore off his long and beautiful coat. Then they threw him into an empty well that was dry. While Joseph was in the well, the brothers sat down to eat. They looked up and saw a group of traders traveling from Gilead to Egypt. Their camels were carrying many different spices and riches. So Judah said to his brothers, "What profit will we get if we kill our brother and hide his death? We will profit more if we sell him to these traders. Then we will not be guilty of killing our own brother." The other brothers agreed. When the Midianite traders came by, the brothers took Joseph out of the well and sold him to the traders for 20 pieces of silver. The traders took him to Egypt. Reuben had been gone, but when he came back to the well, he saw that Joseph was not there. He tore his clothes to show that he was upset. Reuben went to the brothers and said, "The boy is not in the well! What will I do?" The brothers killed a goat and put the goat's blood on Joseph's beautiful coat. Then the brothers showed the coat to their father. And the brothers said, "We found this coat. Is this Joseph's coat?" His father saw the coat and knew that it was Joseph's. He said, "Yes, that is his! Maybe some wild animal has killed him. My son Joseph has been eaten by a wild animal!" Jacob was so sorry about his son that he tore his clothes. Then Jacob put on special clothes to show that he was sad. He continued to be sad about his son for a long time. All of Jacob's sons and daughters tried to comfort him, but Jacob was never comforted. He said, "I will be sad about my son until the day I die." So Jacob continued to mourn his son Joseph. The Midianite traders later sold Joseph in Egypt. They sold him to Potiphar, an officer of the king of Egypt and the captain of his palace guards. (‭Genesis‬ ‭37‬:‭1-36‬ ERV)

"Now listen to the explanation of the parable about the farmer planting seeds: The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message about the Kingdom and don't understand it. Then the evil one comes and snatches away the seed that was planted in their hearts. The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. But since they don't have deep roots, they don't last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God's word. The seed that fell among the thorns represents those who hear God's word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth, so no fruit is produced. The seed that fell on good soil represents those who truly hear and understand God's word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!" Here is another story Jesus told: "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. But that night as the workers slept, his enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat, then slipped away. When the crop began to grow and produce grain, the weeds also grew. "The farmer's workers went to him and said, 'Sir, the field where you planted that good seed is full of weeds! Where did they come from?' "'An enemy has done this!' the farmer exclaimed. "'Should we pull out the weeds?' they asked. "'No,' he replied, 'you'll uproot the wheat if you do. Let both grow together until the harvest. Then I will tell the harvesters to sort out the weeds, tie them into bundles, and burn them, and to put the wheat in the barn.'" Here is another illustration Jesus used: "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed planted in a field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but it becomes the largest of garden plants; it grows into a tree, and birds come and make nests in its branches." Jesus also used this illustration: "The Kingdom of Heaven is like the yeast a woman used in making bread. Even though she put only a little yeast in three measures of flour, it permeated every part of the dough." Jesus always used stories and illustrations like these when speaking to the crowds. In fact, he never spoke to them without using such parables. This fulfilled what God had spoken through the prophet: "I will speak to you in parables. I will explain things hidden since the creation of the world. " (‭Matthew‬ ‭13‬:‭18-35‬ NLT)

Arise, O LORD! Punish the wicked, O God! Do not ignore the helpless! Why do the wicked get away with despising God? They think, "God will never call us to account." But you see the trouble and grief they cause. You take note of it and punish them. The helpless put their trust in you. You defend the orphans. Break the arms of these wicked, evil people! Go after them until the last one is destroyed. The LORD is king forever and ever! The godless nations will vanish from the land. LORD, you know the hopes of the helpless. Surely you will hear their cries and comfort them. You will bring justice to the orphans and the oppressed, so mere people can no longer terrify them. (‭Psalms‬ ‭10‬:‭12-18‬ NLT)