The Study of Genesis: Post Eleven
***Note – We have completed the book of Job. Now, as we continue our journey through the Bible in chronological order, this is our eleventh devotion in Genesis. Though we’re in Week 23 overall, we’ll be in Genesis for the next several weeks.
Focus: Genesis 27 – 29
Tip: I highly recommend journaling your responses to the questions, prompts, and reflections. Writing them out can help you process more deeply and see how God is working in your life.
This week’s devotion includes:
Chapter 27 – “A Messy Family Story”
Chapter 28 – “Jacob’s Ladder”
Chapter 29 – “Unexpected”
(Remember: This is a once-a-week devotional that can be broken up over several days.)
Bible Memory:
Did you memorize last week’s Bible verse?
Hiding God’s Word in our hearts is such a valuable practice. Since I’ve been memorizing Scripture, I’ve experienced so many moments where God brings a specific verse to mind just when I need it most. It’s amazing how He uses His Word to speak into our lives right where we are.
This Week’s Memory Verse — “And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.” Genesis 28:15
Genesis Chapter 27
“A Messy Family Story”
(Read Genesis Chapter 27 First)
Genesis 27 is one of those chapters that feels messy and complicated. It’s full of family tension, favoritism, deception, anger, fear, and heartbreak. And honestly…that makes it a chapter that hits real life more than we may want to admit.
Isaac was old, blind, and knew his days were numbered. He called for Esau, his oldest son, wanting to give him the blessing that traditionally belonged to the firstborn. He told Esau to go hunting for a deer, prepare his favorite meal, and then Isaac would bless him.
But Rebekah overheard them and everything changes.
She went straight to Jacob with a plan to secure the blessing for him instead. Whether she remembered God’s prophecy during her pregnancy that “the elder shall serve the younger,” or whether she simply wanted this outcome, she pushed Jacob into deceiving his father. Jacob was hesitant because he feared being caught and receiving a curse rather than a blessing. Rebekah answered:
“Upon me be thy curse, my son. Only obey my voice.”
That sentence alone shows how determined she was.
Rebekah gave Jacob Esau’s clothing to put on and she placed goat skins on his hands and neck because Esau was a hairy man and Jacob was smooth. She prepared the meal and sent Jacob in to his father.
Isaac felt uncertain that it was truly Esau. “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau”, but he went through with it. He touched Jacob, smelled Esau’s garments, and finally gave Jacob the blessing that was meant for Esau.
The blessing included:
• Dew of heaven and fatness of the earth
• Plenty of corn and wine
• Nations and people serving him
• Dominion over his brothers
• Protection: Those who cursed him would be cursed; those who blessed him would be blessed
In other words, Jacob was receiving the inheritance, the authority, the prosperity, and the spiritual blessing of the covenant line.
As soon as Jacob was gone, Esau walked in.
That moment is heartbreaking. Isaac trembled violently when he realized what had happened. Esau cried an “exceedingly great and bitter cry” and begged, “Bless me, even me also, O my father.”
But Isaac couldn’t undo what he had spoken.
The blessing he gave Esau was very different. He would live by the sword, serve his brother for a time, and eventually break free. Esau left in hatred and rage and began planning to kill Jacob.
Rebekah heard of the plan and immediately told Jacob to run to her brother Laban until Esau’s anger cooled. I love the little wisdom tucked in verse 44:
“…until thy brother’s fury turn away.”
It’s a reminder for us today that…
Anger cools down with time and space.
Sometimes the wisest thing we can do is step back, pause, and let emotions settle down.
To cover Jacob’s sudden departure, Rebekah told Isaac she was weary of the local Hittite women and didn’t want Jacob to marry someone from there. This would lead into the events of the next chapter.
Life Applications We Can Learn From This Chapter:
No one in this chapter looks perfect…not Isaac, not Rebekah, not Jacob, and not Esau. But God still worked through every piece of this story. Here are some lessons we can carry into our own lives:
1. God’s plans stand
God had already spoken that the older would serve the younger. God’s purposes still unfolded. We can trust God’s plan without forcing our own.
2. Deception comes with consequences.
Jacob got the blessing, but he also had to run from home, broke his relationship with his brother, and lived years in fear and exile.
Sin may “work,” but it never works well.
3. Favoritism tears relationships apart.
Isaac favored Esau. Rebekah favored Jacob.
This caused division, secrecy, and heartbreak.
God desires for us to be fair, honest, and have unity within our families.
4. Emotions take time to cool.
Rebekah’s advice is still true today:
“Until thy brother’s fury turn away.”
Sometimes stepping back is the wisest move to make in a disagreement.
5. God uses imperfect people to fulfill His perfect will.
Genesis 27 reminds us that God doesn’t work only through neat, polished situations. He works through flawed people and bad decisions.
There is hope for us too, because we will make mistakes.
Take a moment to reflect:
• Where am I tempted to “force” something instead of trusting God’s timing?
• Are there relationships in my life where favoritism or comparison has created division?
• Do I need to step back and let anger cool.. either my anger or someone else’s?
• How can I trust God more deeply with the messy parts of my story?
Your story doesn’t have to be perfect for God to fulfill His purpose.
He is still faithful even when we falter.
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Genesis Chapter 28
“Jacob’s Ladder”
(Read Genesis Chapter 28 First)
In Genesis 28, we have family tension, mistakes being made, people trying to fix things their own way, and someone else just trying to run toward the future God has for them. Honestly… again, it sounds a lot like real life.
Isaac sends Jacob away to find a wife from Rebekah’s family instead of marrying among the Canaanites. He blesses Jacob, prays over him, and reminds him of the promises God made to Abraham. Meanwhile, Esau sees all of this and realizes, a little too late, that his choices haven’t lined up with his parents’ wishes. So he tries to “fix it” by marrying one of Ishmael’s daughters, hoping it’ll make things better.
We probably can all relate to this part of Esau’s life where he does something reactive, something he hoped would patch up what’s broken, but it never really reaches the root of the issue.
But then the story switches to Jacob.
Jacob is on his way to Padan-aram. He isn’t at home anymore, but he’s not yet reached his destination of his uncle’s home. He’s tired, alone, traveling on foot, and sleeping with a rock for a pillow. (… I cannot imagine using a stone for a pillow)
And that’s exactly where God shows up.
Jacob dreams of a ladder stretching from earth to heaven with angels ascending and descending. Then the LORD stands above it, speaking promises of what He told Abraham and Isaac, but this time, with something added:
“I am with thee… I will keep thee… I will bring thee again into this land.”
Right there, in the middle of nowhere, God tells Jacob:
“I see you. I’m with you. I’m going to protect you. And I’m bringing you back home.”
What a reminder that God doesn’t wait until we get our lives together to meet us.
Jacob wakes up afraid and amazed. He realizes God wasn’t just with Abraham. God wasn’t just with Isaac. God is with him, personally. And something changes in him. He takes the stone he slept on, sets it up as a memorial, and names the place Bethel which means “house of God.”
Then he makes a vow: that if God would guard him, provide for him, and bring him home in peace, then the LORD would be his God and not just the God of his family. He even commits to giving God a tenth of whatever blessings come his way. You can tell that he does this out of love and honor, trusting that God will do what He revealed to him in his dream.
I love this because so many of us have “heard about” God through other people like parents, grandparents, pastors, etc…but God wants to be our God too. He wants a personal relationship, not an inherited one.
And He meets us in the most unexpected places to remind us of that.
Maybe today you feel like Jacob. You’re somewhere between where you came from and where you hope you’re going. Maybe life feels uncomfortable, uncertain, or a little lonely.
Genesis 28 reminds us of this:
God is with you.
He will keep you.
He will provide for you.
And He will bring you where you need to be.
Just like Jacob, we can look back on seasons where God showed up in the middle of our mess and say, “Surely the Lord is in this place.”
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Genesis Chapter 29
“Unexpected”
(Read Genesis Chapter 29 First)
Genesis 29 picks up right where Jacob left off. He was traveling alone and following the direction God had given him. After miles and miles of walking, he finally reaches a field with a well where several flocks of sheep are gathered. The shepherds are all just sitting around waiting.
And the reason they’re waiting is interesting. In those days, wells were often covered with a large stone. It kept the water clean, protected it from animals or debris, and prevented anyone from taking more than their portion. But it wasn’t opened until all the flocks arrived so the water could be shared fairly. It was a system that protected resources and kept peace among the shepherds.
Jacob walks right into the middle of this little scene and starts asking questions, and it turns out that these shepherds know exactly who his uncle Laban is and they tell him Laban is doing well. And while they’re talking, here comes Rachel, Laban’s daughter, walking toward the well with her father’s sheep.
Talk about perfect timing.
In verse 7 the shepherds say, “Lo, it is yet high day, neither is it time…” In other words, it’s not time to move the stone yet. We’re still waiting on the rest of the flocks.
I stopped here and thought…isn’t it just like God to step into our lives at moments that don’t look like the “right time”? A moment that looks ordinary or maybe even inconvenient… ends up being the doorway to something God planned all along.
Jacob sees Rachel and immediately steps up. He rolls the stone away himself and waters her flock. Then he cries, kisses her, and tells her he’s family. She runs home and tells her father, Laban comes running back, and before long Jacob is living with them as part of the household.
After about a month, Laban tells Jacob he shouldn’t work for free, and asks what wages he’d like. Jacob isn’t afraid to tell him exactly what… or should I say who…he wants. He loves Rachel and offers to work seven years in exchange for marrying her. Scripture says those seven years “seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her.” I love that detail! Love can make hard work feel light.
But then comes a twist no one saw coming.
On the wedding night, Laban gives Jacob Leah instead of Rachel. Jacob wakes up the next morning and I can’t imagine the shock, confusion, and betrayal he felt. Laban excuses it by saying their custom required the older daughter to marry first. Then he tells Jacob he can have Rachel too… after Leah’s bridal week is fulfilled.
“Fulfill her week” simply means honoring the seven-day wedding celebration that was customary for a bride. Jacob had to devote that bridal week to Leah before he could marry Rachel. But even though he married Rachel one week later, he still had to serve seven more years for her.
You can feel the heartbreak all around. Leah, who wasn’t chosen first, and Jacob, who was deceived by someone he trusted. Yet in the tension of all of this, God shows up again.
Verse 31 says, “When the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren.”
This is where God reminds us that He sees the unfair, the frustrating, the disappointing, the lonely places we can be in. Leah didn’t have Jacob’s heart… but she had God’s attention. And He began blessing her with sons.
Every time Leah had a child, she expressed her heart:
• Reuben:“The LORD hath looked upon my affliction.” His name means “Behold, a son.”
• Simeon: “The LORD hath heard that I was hated.” His name means “hear with your ear.”
• Levi: “Now this time my husband will be joined unto me.” His name means “joined as one”
• Judah: “Now will I praise the LORD.” His name means “praise.”
Leah longed to be loved by Jacob, and you can feel her pain in each statement. But after the birth of Judah, instead of focusing on what she wished she had, she chose to praise the Lord for what she did have.
God used the son she named “praise” to eventually bring forth the lineage of Jesus Christ Himself.
God saw her, honored her, and worked through her.
And He still does this today.
Maybe today you feel overlooked like Leah… or disappointed like Jacob… or waiting like Rachel. Maybe you’re in a season that doesn’t feel fair or doesn’t feel like it’s “the right time.”
Genesis 29 reminds us that:
• God is working even when people fail us.
• God’s timing doesn’t have to make sense to us to be perfect.
• God sees the one who feels unseen.
• God brings purpose out of situations that feel all wrong.
And sometimes, like Leah, our breakthrough begins when our focus changes from what we wish would change to praising God for who He is.
You don’t have to fight for attention, force timing, or fix what someone else broke. God sees and He knows. And He is already working behind the scenes to bring about His plan in your life too.
The Georgia Nest 