halley's bible handbook for kids samplecdn.dhp.org/files/v3986_sample.pdf · the bible begins...

Dr. Henry Halley and Jean E. Syswerda

BibleHandbookfor Kids

Halley's Bible Handbook for Kids_4c_FINAL.indd 1 10/16/15 11:49 AM

© 2003 by Halley’s Bible Handbook, Inc. All rights reserved.

Discovery House is affiliated with Our Daily Bread Ministries, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Requests for permission to quote from this book should be directed to: Permissions Department, Discovery House, P.O. Box 3566, Grand Rapids,

MI 49501, or contact us by e-mail at [email protected].

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV® Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The “NIrV” and “New International Reader’s Version” are trademarks registered in the

United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

All photographs by Terry Bidgood © Our Daily Bread Ministries except p. 23 © iStock.com/GlobalP; p. 42 © iStock.com/iceninephoto; p. 45 by Terry Bidgood © Our Daily Bread Ministries; p. 80 © iStock.com/seread; p. 137 © iStock.com/Andyworks; p. 215 © iStock.com/akiwi; p. 225 © iStock.com/

ruvanboshoff; p. 230 © iStock.com/ezza116; p. 320 © iStock.com/spyder24.

Interior design by Sherri L. Hoffman

ISBN: 978-1-62707-411-7

Printed in ItalyFirst printing of this edition in 2016

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1. Genesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72. Exodus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193. Leviticus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314. Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395. Deuteronomy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 476. Joshua . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 557. Judges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 638. Ruth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 699. 1 Samuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7510. 2 Samuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8311. 1 Kings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8912. 2 Kings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9713. 1 Chronicles . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10714. 2 Chronicles . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11315. Ezra. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11916. Nehemiah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12517. Esther . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13118. Job . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13519. Psalms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14320. Proverbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

21. Ecclesiastes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16722. Song of Songs . . . . . . . . . . . . 17123. Isaiah. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17524. Jeremiah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18725. Lamentations . . . . . . . . . . . . 19926. Ezekiel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20327. Daniel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21128. Hosea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21929. Joel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22330. Amos. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22731. Obadiah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23132. Jonah. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23533. Micah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23934. Nahum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24335. Habakkuk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24736. Zephaniah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25137. Haggai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25538. Zechariah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25939. Malachi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Old Testament

40. Matthew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26941. Mark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28942. Luke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30343. John . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32544. Acts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339

45. Romans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35546. 1 Corinthians . . . . . . . . . . . . 36347. 2 Corinthians . . . . . . . . . . . . 36948. Galatians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37349. Ephesians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377

New Testament

CONTENTS


50. Philippians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38151. Colossians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38552. 1 Thessalonians . . . . . . . . . . . 38953. 2 Thessalonians . . . . . . . . . . . 38954. 1 Timothy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39355. 2 Timothy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39356. Titus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39957. Philemon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40358. Hebrews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40759. James. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413

60. 1 Peter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41761. 2 Peter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41762. 1 John . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42163. 2 John . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42164. 3 John . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42165. Jude. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42566. Revelation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429

Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 440

Maps

1. Possible Locations of the Garden of Eden. . . . 10

2. Land Given to the Twelve Tribes . . . . . . . . . . 62

3. Ruth and Naomi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

4. Divided Kingdom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

5. Assyrian Empire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

6. Babylonian Empire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

7. Persian Empire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

8. Prophets Who Wrote Books of the Bible. . . . 218

9. Paul’s First Missionary Journey . . . . . . . . . . . 348

10. Paul’s Second Missionary Journey . . . . . . . . . 349

11. Paul’s Third Missionary Journey . . . . . . . . . . 351

12. Paul Travels to Rome. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353

13. Churches of the Revelation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428


7

GENESIS

The First Book of the Bible

Like a band concert that begins with drums rolling and cymbals crashing,

Genesis rocks into action. With the very first verse, God begins to cre-

ate. Just the sound of his voice makes the sun, moon, stars, water, animals, and

plants appear. God creates people too and breathes life into them.

God then chooses the best of the best of all he’s created and makes a beau-

tiful garden. He puts the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, in it. They eat

the garden’s lush fruits, including the one fruit God clearly told them not to

eat. Foolish first people! With that one bite of forbidden fruit, sin enters the

world. The rest of Genesis sets the stage for God’s plan to save his people from

sin and bring them back to himself.


Writer:

Moses

Place:

Near the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers

People:

Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and

Joseph

Why Is It Important?

The book of Genesis describes the beginning of God’s

relationship with human beings.

Some Stories in Genesis:

A World Is Created: Genesis 1–2

A Flood Destroys Land and People: Genesis 6–8

New Languages Are Formed in an Instant: Genesis 11

Abraham’s Covenant with God: Genesis 12–17

Cities Destroyed by Fire: Genesis 19:15–29

A Son Almost Sacrificed: Genesis 22:3–14

A Brother Dumped in a Well: Genesis 37:12–36

A Famine Predicted!: Genesis 41:25–27


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Genesis 1:1–2:3 The CreationThe Bible begins with a beautiful poetic description of the creation of the world. God took seven days to create:

Light and dark (day 1)Sea and sky (day 2)Oceans, lands, plants, and trees (day 3)Sun, moon, and stars (day 4)Fish and birds (day 5)Animals and people (day 6)

On the seventh day, God rested. That doesn’t mean he was tired—it just means he did not work on the final day of creation.

Create Genesis 1:1 To make something out of nothing. God created the world out of nothing. Just his voice speaking the words made everything come into being.

Genesis 2:4–25 God Creates a Man and a WomanThis is sometimes called the “second creation story.” It’s another account of the same events. God made the first man in his own image by forming Adam from the dust of the earth. Then God breathed life into the man. God put Adam in the Garden of Eden to work in it and take care of it. Adam spent his time in the garden naming the animals and visiting with God. But God knew that Adam needed another person to be around. So God put Adam to sleep, took one of his ribs, and created a woman. Adam named her Eve.

Here, we see that the start of the human race is also the start of marriage. From the beginning, marriage was God’s idea—one man, one woman, together for life.

Garden of Eden Genesis 2:4–17 We don’t know for sure where the Garden of Eden was located. But the Bible does give us a couple of hints. It was between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, which still have the same names today! They flow through the country of Iraq.

Genesis 3 The Start of Sin That sneaky Satan, disguised as a snake, persuaded Eve, then Adam, to eat from “the tree that gives life forever” (Genesis 2:9). Yum. It may have tasted good, but God had said no. They might as well have eaten poison! Disobeying God is

Be Wise—Memorize! Genesis 1:1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.


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called sin, and it has consequences. God told Adam and Eve to leave the gar-den, but he still loved them very much—even though they had sinned.

Genesis 4 Cain and Abel We’re only to the fourth chapter of the Bible, and already we have a family feud. Abel’s sacrifice to God was accepted, because he offered a proper sacrifice. His actions were right with God (1 John 3:12), and he had faith in God (Hebrews 11:4). Cain did not. Cain was mad—so mad he killed his brother, Abel. God put a curse and a mark on Cain to punish him (Genesis 4:11, 15). We don’t know what the mark was, but people then must have understood what it meant.

Genesis 5 The Family Line from Adam to Noah Take a look at the ages of the people in this family. Adam lived 930 years; Seth, 912 years; Methuselah, 969 years (he’s the oldest person in the Bible!); Noah, 950 years. Wow! Now that’s old!

Enoch Genesis 5:21–24 One of the best of the first people on earth. When all those around him were horribly wicked, Enoch “walked with God.” He didn’t die like other people. The Bible says, “God took him from this life.” The only other person to be taken by God without having to die was Elijah (2 Kings 2).

B L A C K S E A CA

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Mt. AraratNorthern location forthe Garden of Eden

Southern location forthe Garden of Eden

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Map 1. Possible Locations of the Garden of Eden


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Genesis 6:1–8 Wickedness before the Flood What a difference between verses 5 and 8. Verse 5 talks about how sinful the people were, and then verse 8 talks about how good Noah was. No wonder God decided to destroy the world but save Noah.

Genesis 6:9–10:32 The Story of Noah When the flood came, Noah and his family and hundreds of animals spent over a year on the ark—a kind of floating zoo. When the rains finally stopped, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat (Genesis 8:4). Noah sent out a raven first, and then a dove to see if the water was going down. The dove flew around and came back two times. The third time it didn’t return to the ark. Noah then knew the bird had found dry land and that the waters were going down.

Finally, Noah and his family and the animals left the ark. What did they do first? Offer thanks to God. A rainbow streaked across the sky as God’s promise that he would never again destroy the earth by a flood (Genesis 9:11–14).

The Ark Genesis 6:14–16 The ark was 450 feet long (that’s one and a half football fields), 75 feet wide (that’s about as wide as a six-lane highway), and 45 feet high (about as tall as a building with five floors). Has anyone ever discovered the remains of Noah’s ark? Well, lots of people have made claims. But no one so far has offered proof that it’s been found.

Raven Genesis 8:7 A large bird. Noah sent one out from the ark to see if dry land was near. He forgot that a raven will continue to fly and search for food without returning to where it started.

Dove Genesis 8:8–12 A medium-sized bird that remembers where it started out flying and returns there. Noah sent one out from the ark. It flew around and came back two times. The third time it didn’t return to the ark. Noah then knew the bird had found dry land (Throw a party!) and that the waters were going down.

Genesis 11:1–9 A Babble of Languages About one hundred years after the flood, people decided they would build a huge tower to prove how powerful they were and get closer to God. This did


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not please God. So he mixed up their languages to make people move away from each other and settle other parts of the earth.

Tower of Babel Genesis 11:4 The tower of Babel could also be called the tower of babble. The people sounded like they were babbling when God mixed up their languages. The ruins of many tall towers, called ziggurats (ZIG-ur-ots), are still found today. The tower of Babel was probably much more primitive.

Genesis 11:10–32 The Family of Shem The family line of Noah’s son Shem brings us to the next hero in the Genesis story, Abraham.

Genesis 12–15 God Chooses Abram About four hundred years after the flood, God called Abram to be the founder of a nation. Through that nation, God would bring salvation from sin. Abram

believed in God, not in the idols those around him worshiped. Because Abram was faithful, God promised that Abram’s family would own the land of Canaan, become a great nation, and be a blessing to other nations.

God called Abram to leave his land and family. “So Abram left” (Genesis 12:4). Abram not only believed in God, but every time God told him to do something, Abram obeyed.

Abram and his family stopped first at Haran and then moved on into the land of Canaan. Because of a famine, Abram made a side trip down to Egypt, where he got himself into trouble because of his beautiful wife, Sarai (Genesis 12:10–20).

Abram/Abraham Genesis 12:1–4 God promised Abram, later called Abraham by God, that his family would be as many as the stars in the sky. Now that’s a huge family! Through Abraham, several nations were formed, including the nation of Israel. It still exists today. Jewish people live in Israel as well as in other countries throughout the world.

Tents Genesis 13:5 Don’t picture your little two-person backyard tent. These tents were often huge and were made of animal skins. Poles and cords with stakes held the tents in

Be Wise—Memorize! Genesis 15:6 Abram

believed the Lord. The Lord accepted Abram because he believed. So his faith made

him right with the Lord.


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place. Open sides let the cool evening breezes blow through. These tents could be taken down, packed up, and put on an animal for quick moves.

Covenant Genesis 15:18 A promise between people. God made a covenant with Abraham—and through him with all the Israelites—to give them a land to live in.

Genesis 16 Abraham’s Son Ishmael When a wife couldn’t have children, she sometimes gave her servant to her husband. The servant’s children were then family members. Sarai was so des-perate for children that she gave her servant Hagar to Abram. Hagar had a son named Ishmael. The situation caused nothing but trouble.

Hagar Genesis 16:1–10; 21:8–21 Sarai’s slave Hagar had a baby. As soon as she knew she was pregnant, Hagar started to look down on Sarai, her owner. Sarai in turn was mean to Hagar. So Hagar ran away into the desert. But God was watching, and he took care of Hagar.

Genesis 17 God Renews His Promises to Abraham God came to Abram and gave him a new name (Abraham) and a sign (cir-cumcision). Circumcision marked a male as part of Abraham’s family and, therefore, God’s family. God also changed Sarai’s name to Sarah and promised to bless her with a son. God said that through this son, Sarah would become the mother of nations (Genesis 17:16).

Genesis 18–19 Two Cities Destroyed The people of Sodom and Gomorrah were about as disgusting and wicked as they come. Abraham begged God to spare the cities if only ten good people could be found there (Genesis 18:32). But not even that many could be found. God destroyed the cities. But he did save Abraham’s nephew, Lot, and his fam-ily by sending angels to rescue them.

Sodom and Gomorrah Genesis 18:20; 19:24–25 One cloudy morning God sent down a rain of fire on Sodom and Gomorrah. He punished the people for their terrible sins. Some people think these cities were at the northern end of the Dead Sea. Others think they were at the southern end. No one knows for sure.


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Lot Genesis 19:15–16 Lot wanted a lot. He took the best land from Abraham. He grew rich in the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. God destroyed those wicked cities. But because Abraham asked that Lot be saved, God sent an angel to rescue Lot and his family.

Genesis 20–21 A Baby for Very Old Abraham and Sarah God promised Abraham and Sarah that they would have a son, and he kept his promise. Even though they were both too old to have kids (almost one hun-dred!), they did have a son and named him Isaac. Nothing is too hard for God (Genesis 18:14).

Sarah Genesis 21:1–7 Sarah had a baby. It’s true! Sarah was about ninety years old (and Abraham was a hundred) before she had her first baby. Sarah was so happy when Isaac was born that she couldn’t stop laughing.

Genesis 22 Abraham Offers Isaac God had promised that Abraham would have many children through Isaac, and they would become a great nation (Genesis 17:16). Yet God commanded Abra-ham to sacrifice Isaac (that means to kill him!) when he was just a young man. So Abraham took Isaac up Mount Moriah, tied him onto an altar, and raised a knife to kill him. But God never intended for Abraham to kill Isaac. This was God’s way of testing Abraham’s faith. Abraham believed that God would keep his promise no matter what—even if that meant bringing Isaac back to life (Hebrews 11:19). When God saw Abraham’s faithfulness to obey, he called out for him to stop. Then God provided a ram for Abraham to sacrifice instead of Isaac. Isaac lived, and his descendants became the nation of Israel.

Mount Moriah Genesis 22:2 This is where Abraham went to sacrifice his son Isaac. Later Solomon built the temple on that same spot (2 Chronicles 3:1). Today the Dome of the Rock, a Muslim shrine, stands in that same area in the city of Jerusalem.

Altar Genesis 22:9 A place where sacrifices are made to worship gods. Some altars were made to worship the one true God; others were made by those who followed false gods. Some are made of piles of rocks, others are carved from stone or wood.

Genesis 23–25 A Wife for Isaac Sarah had died, and Abraham was old. He sent his servant back to the land


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where he had once lived to find a good wife for Isaac among his relatives. Isaac could not marry a Canaanite woman who worshiped false gods or idols. Abra-ham’s servant returned with Rebekah, and Isaac married her.

Isaac and Rebekah had two sons, Esau and Jacob. Knowing before they were born what these men would be like, God chose Jacob. Even though he was born after his twin brother, Esau, Jacob would be the next father of the nation of Israel. Instead of letting God do the work, however, Rebekah and Jacob used lies and trickery to gain the blessing for Jacob.

Rebekah Genesis 24:61, 67 Rebekah loved her husband, Isaac, and comforted him when he was sad because his mother had died. But Rebekah also thought she needed to do things her own way instead of waiting for God. Her schemes only brought her unhappiness.

Genesis 26–27 Jacob Gets His Father’s Blessing Jacob had already tricked his brother and bought the rights of the firstborn son from Esau (Genesis 25:31–34). Now Jacob wanted to be sure to get the blessing from his father that proved he had the rights. With his mother, Rebekah, Jacob tricked his father into giving the blessing to him instead of Esau. Esau said he would kill Jacob for stealing his blessing. Jacob didn’t wait around to see if Esau was serious. After Jacob stole Esau’s blessing, he ran to his Uncle Laban. There, he would marry two sisters, Leah and Rachel. The sons of these marriages would lead the future tribes of the nation of Israel.

Genesis 28 A Vision for Jacob Jacob received a promise from God. A vision assured Jacob that the nation of Israel would be founded through him and his descendants. He dreamed of a ladder reaching to heaven. It was a hint that God would send someone to cre-ate a bridge between heaven and earth—Jesus!

Bethel Genesis 28:18–19 While Jacob slept with a stone for a pillow, God came to him in a dream. Jacob named the place Bethel, which means “house of God.” The city is important throughout the history of Israel.

Genesis 29–30 Jacob Marries and Has Children Jacob lived in Haran for twenty years. Just as Jacob had tricked his father, his Uncle Laban tricked him. Jacob fell in love with Laban’s daughter Rachel and worked seven years for his uncle in order to marry her. After the wedding,


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he discovered that his uncle had somehow snuck Rachel’s sister, Leah, into the wedding—and he had married the wrong girl! Laban also allowed Jacob to marry Rachel, but he had to agree to work another seven years. These two wives and their maids, Zilpah and Bilhah, gave Jacob twelve sons, who would be leaders of the “twelve tribes of Israel”:

Leah—Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun Rachel—Joseph and Benjamin Zilpah—Gad and Asher Bilhah—Dan and Naphtali

This family, though far from perfect, was accepted by God to become a great nation of people blessed by God.

Rachel Genesis 29:16–18, 21–30 Known for her beauty, Rachel didn’t seem to have much else going for her. Jacob spent years of his life working for her father in order to gain permis-sion to marry her. Rachel spent most of her life competing with her sister for his love. She died while giving birth to her second child, Benjamin (Genesis 35:17–18).

Leah Genesis 29:16–18, 21–30 Jacob was in love with Rachel but was tricked into marrying Leah first. While Leah was able to give Jacob several sons, as well as a daughter, she spent most of her life knowing her husband loved her sister, Rachel, more.

Genesis 31–33 Jacob Has a Wrestling Match with God Jacob left his home alone and empty-handed. He returned as a rich man with many sons, flocks, and herds. But he was still afraid of his brother, Esau, so he sent a peace party on ahead with many gifts.

The night before he crossed over into Canaan, God came to Jacob in the form of a man. They had a wrestling match and fought all night! But God showed Jacob who was more powerful. He touched Jacob’s hip, and from then on Jacob walked with a limp. Jacob still refused to give up until the “man” blessed him. The man gave Jacob a blessing and changed his name to Israel, which means “he struggles with God.”

Genesis 34–35 Jacob Worships God Jacob returned to Bethel and built an altar on which to worship God. He destroyed all the idols still worshiped by his family. He wanted to be sure they worshiped only the one true God.


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Genesis 36 Esau’s Family Line Esau’s family is outlined here. His family would become the nation of Edom. They were enemies of the Israelites for many centuries—almost until the end of the Old Testament (see the book of Obadiah).

Genesis 37 Joseph Sold into Slavery When Jacob gave his son Joseph a special robe, Joseph’s ten older brothers grew jealous. They wondered if Jacob intended to give Joseph the family bless-ing. The dreams that God gave Joseph, showing he would rule over his brothers one day, only made matters worse. Joseph was hated so much by his brothers that they sold him into slavery. They took Joseph’s robe, tore it, splattered blood on it, and then told their father that Joseph had been killed.

Joseph Genesis 37:3 Joseph was the first son of Jacob and Rachel, Jacob’s eleventh son overall. His brothers hated him. They sold him into slavery in Egypt. When Pharaoh, the Egyptian king, had a dream, Jacob told him the dream’s meaning. Pharaoh made Joseph a ruler in Egypt. When a famine came, Joseph was able to help the Egyptians survive. He was able to help his own family as well, the ten brothers who had mistreated him plus a baby brother, Benjamin, the other son of Jacob’s wife Rachel.

Egypt Genesis 37:28 Egypt is located in the northeast corner of Africa. Its kings, laws, and build-ings have been famous throughout history. Egypt is mentioned more than six hundred times in the Old Testament. Joseph went there as a slave and became a king. Jacob’s family went there as guests and became slaves. In the New Testament, we read that Jesus went there with his father and mother to escape Herod.

Genesis 38 The Family of Judah This chapter is probably inserted because Jesus was born from the family line of Judah. All through the Bible, Jesus’ family line is recorded, even when the people and events were not respectable.

Genesis 39–41 From Slavery to Power in Egypt Although enslaved and imprisoned, Joseph never forgot the God of his father, Jacob. Joseph gained the attention of Pharaoh by telling him what his dream meant. Through the dream, God gave Pharaoh, who didn’t know God, a warn-ing about a coming famine. With Joseph’s help, Egypt got ready for the famine


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by storing up food during the good years. Pharaoh was so impressed with Joseph that he put him in charge of the whole land of Egypt.

Famine Genesis 41:27–36 A time when for one reason or another (not enough rain, too much rain, bugs, war) very little food is available.

Genesis 42–45 A Beautiful Story Joseph’s reunion with his brothers and later his father, Jacob, has been called one of the most beautiful stories in history. A really touching scene is when Judah, who many years before had suggested selling Joseph into slavery (Gene-sis 37:26), offered to become a hostage for Joseph’s younger brother, Benjamin (Genesis 44:18–34).

Genesis 46–47 Jacob Settles His Family in Egypt All the events that took place between Joseph and his brothers were part of God’s plan to have his people settled and protected for a time in Egypt. Egypt was the most advanced culture in the world at that time. As Jacob left Canaan, however, God gave him a promise that his family would one day return (Genesis 46:3–4).

Goshen Genesis 46:28 Joseph invited his father, Jacob, and his whole family to come to live in Goshen. The Nile River dropped rich soil and moisture there, making it one of the best places in Egypt.

Genesis 48–49 Jacob’s Blessing Jacob split up the family blessing, giving Judah the promise of being the line through which Jesus would come into the world, and telling Ephraim, Joseph’s son, that his tribe would become one of the most prominent in Israel.

Genesis 50 Jacob and Joseph Die When Jacob died, his body was taken back to Canaan for burial. Joseph wanted to be buried in Canaan as well. He made his family promise that when they returned to Canaan, they would carry his bones with them. The belief that Canaan would again be their homeland was never forgotten. More than four hundred years later, when the Israelites were finally freed from Egypt, they car-ried Joseph’s bones along with them (Exodus 13:19).


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