Let’s review:
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When last we met Abraham was waiting for the birth of the son promised him by God.
In the decades that Abraham and Sarah wait. They make some mistakes.
_______________ is born to Abraham and Hagar Sarah’s maid.
Finally in Ge. 21 ______________ is born to Abraham and Sarah.
When Isaac is grown he marries his second cousin _____________.
Isaac and Rebekah have twins Esau and _____________.
Jacob means _______________ and he lives up to his name.
1. The birthright
2. The blessing
He is forced to flee from his _____________ to his ___________ Laban’s house.
He ends up marrying his _______________ Leah and _____________. Because his Uncle ____________ him into marrying both.
Rachel is ____________
Leah is _____________.
The women have a baby contest. ____________ children are born. __________, ________________, _____________, _____________, ______________, ______________, ______________, _______________, _____________, _____________, ______________, ____________.
Jacob favors his youngest _____________ and ____________.
Joseph’s brothers are jealous and ___________ Joseph into slavery behind their father’s back.
Joseph in slavery and then in prison ends up as a ____________ of Egypt.
God uses Joseph to save the rest of his family during a _____________.
Now in your groups answer these questions:
1. What faults do you see in abraham’s family tree? Do you think they are good people or bad people? If they lived in your town how do you think other people would see them?
2. Read Ge.15 and Ge. 28: 10-15 Do you think Abraham or Jacob did anything special to deserve God’s promises? Why do you think God made them these promises?
3. Read Ge. 29:14-30:22 How do you feel about Jacob? About Leah? About Rachel? Would you like to be in any of these people’s shoes? Why or why not?
Question of The Week: In Ge. 50: 19 Joseph says this about his brother’s selling him into slavery: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” What does this say to you about how God works in our lives?
Reinventing the We'll 
In fifth grade my teacher had my whole class walk to the chalkboard, and stand looking at it. He said, “Imagine the chalkboard is a large picture. When you are standing as close to it as you are now, you can only see a small piece.” He went on to explain how compared to our life, it is the same way. We see only a small piece of what our life actually is, while God stands back looking at the entire picture. He knows what is best for us, and is always leading us out of danger and into peace and victory. This does not diminish the choices we (or Joseph) make (made), however. As Morpheus says in The Matrix, “I can only show you the door, you have to walk through it.” God shows us the way, and when we have the proper perspective and choose what is right then no matter what the circumstance is we can claim and walk in his grace and mercy.
This is well put Zach. Joseph is a good examples of what happens when we look at our troubles as opportunities. Looking at things from an eternal perspective causes us to live above the norm!
Question of The Week: In Ge. 50: 19 Joseph says this about his brother’s selling him into slavery: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” What does this say to you about how God works in our lives?
God is all that was, is, and will be. He is all of this at once, he is the past, present, and future of evrything from the universe itself, to my life, to that of the simple ant. We can only remember small parts of our past, comprehend only what is happening in our own present (even then not all of it or even some of it all the time)and can form nothing but ideas and perceptions of the future. God can do far more than we can even comprehend. While we may think that things in our life are terrible, it is all for a reason, we can control nothing. Our lives are in the hands of god, and it is in him we must put our faith. He works in misterious ways, he sometimes gives us what we want and need and more, and other times we must struggle evry day to just make it to the evening. But no matter what he does it is all part of our plan. God is weaving a tapestry, and each moment, or person, or thing is just one thread out of counless others. We know our own, we know those around us. But only god can know where we will go, how we will get there, and the other stings that we will be woven through to get there. And only god can see the whole tapestry. (sorry if you do not understand my writing, i know what i want to say but it is hard to say it)
Good word Garrick. God is on the throne and from there He can see everything and knows what we must walk through.