Genesis 50:1-14 In this study the narrator of Genesis tells us the striking story of the mourning and burial of Jacob. In all of Scripture there is no other account of someone's burial that goes into such detail. What important points is the Lord wanting to impress upon us with this account? What does God want to leave in our minds concerning the man Jacob? What is the importance of this story at the end of the patriarchal era? Why does a person of faith, like Joseph, grieve so much over the death of his beloved father? How is Joseph's arrival back in Mamre similar to his departure from Canaan as a slave many years before? What are we to learn from the fact that the family returned to Egypt following the burial of their father in their land of promise? (48 min)

Keywords Jacob, Death, Egypt, Joseph

Genesis 46:29-34 In this passage today, Jacob and Joseph are finally reunited after twenty-two years. We now see in Jacob something we've not seen in his entire life: contentment. What do we learn about Joseph as he weeps on his father's neck? Two men could hardly be more different in how they have lived their lives. Yet this father and son have something remarkable in common. What is that, and how does it make this reunion like a theophany? Why does Joseph insist on Pharaoh knowing that his family are shepherds and keepers of livestock knowing the Egyptians hold such people in contempt? Why does God allow the family of Israel to experience such contempt, and eventually slavery? What can we learn from this about suffering in our own lives? (43 min.)

Keywords Joseph, Jacob, Egypt

Genesis 46:1-18 In our passage for this study Jacob sets out for Egypt to see his son Joseph before he dies. But before he leaves Canaan, he stops at Beersheba and offers sacrifices to God. Why does God, who named him Israel, call him Jacob? What is significant about Beersheba to Jacob? How does Beersheba compare with Bethel? Why would Jacob be apprehensive about going to Egypt? What four promises does God make to Jacob about going to Egypt? Why does this passage stress so strongly what and who Jacob took to Egypt? We encounter another of the genealogies of Genesis in this chapter. What are some things we can learn from this genealogy? (63 min.)

Keywords Jacob, Beersheba, Bethel, Egypt

Genesis 39:1-10 In this lesson we resume our study of the story of Joseph. Yet this is not so much the story of Joseph as it is the story of the covenant God of Abraham keeping His promises. What is the narrator of these events careful to remind us about as we read of Joseph's "success" in Egypt? What did the presence of God with Joseph look like? What might it look like in our lives? What was Joseph's "success?" What was the effect of Joseph's success on his master? What reasons did Joseph give for refusing the advances of Potiphar's wife? How did Joseph manage to resist her continual temptings? What would Joseph's failure have meant for Potiphar's household? How do Joseph and Judah compare? (66 min.)

Keywords Joseph, Egypt, Potiphar, Success

Genesis 12:10-20 In the face of a severe famine in Canaan, Abram chooses to go to Egypt. Was Abram acting outside of God’s direction for his life? Abram’s forgetting of God’s promises to him causes him to put his own wife in peril. Will God abandon Abram in this hour of Abram’s faithlessness.

Keywords Abraham, Sarah, Egypt, Faith, Doubt