The Family Bible Journey Podcast

Jacob and his wives have had enough of Laban and his tricks, so they flee towards Jacob's family in the Promised Land. As soon as Laban hears of it, he pursues and quickly overtakes them. Although it's tense at first, the family is reconciled and all go in peace. Laban heads back to Haran, and Jacob home to meet his brother who, last Jacob knew, wanted to kill his deceitful little brother.

Jacob is deceived on his wedding night when Laban gives him Leah instead of Rachel to be his life. I know. How in the world did he not realize he was sleeping with the wrong woman? Whatever the reason, he was given a dose of his own medicine by his father-in-law. God continued to bless Jacob as he received his beloved Rachel for a wife after making another deal with Laban. Even though he got the d...

Jesus sends His disciples into the world as sheep among wolves. It's too bad that often times the church, the place people come for healing and peace, is often filled with hurt and conflict. There are many Christians around the world who are persecuted by enemies of the Gospel. In our context where there is often no common enemy, Christians often make enemies of each other. Jesus equips his discip...

Jacob flees for his life, and to find a wife in his mother's homeland. Along the way, God appears to him in a vision of angels ascending and descending a ladder to heaven. He hears God's promises for him and his family, and dedicates the rest of his life to following His God.

Jacob, the deceiver and schemer, cooks up a plan with his mother to steal Isaac's blessing from Esau. We will learn of the depth of their treachery and consider how it is that those we love the most have the capacity to hurt us the most. Because of this cunning, Jacob will flee for his life, to avoid the murderous wrath of his elder brother Esau.

Matthew inserts himself into his gospel by showing us that he was the sort of character that Jesus came to redeem. We learn how the plight of humanity tugs at God's heartstrings. In response, He reaches out to those who need His love and yearn for the life, love, and forgiveness that is only found in Him.

God blesses Isaac a hundredfold in one year, even though he repeats the folly of his father by trying to pass his wife Rebecca off as his sister. When God affirms him, He affirms us, because we are blessed for the sake of another, just as Isaac was affirmed for the sake of his father Abraham.

Ever have God answer your prayers, but not how you wanted or expected Him to? If so, you know how Rebecca felt when God granted her prayer for a child, only to become pregnant with twins who were wrestling with each other within her womb. Today we learn of the burden of infertility, how God can create family, and the dynamics within this family that were evident before the boys were even born. 

Healing and peace are the themes of Jesus ministry when he returns home to Capernaum, following his Sermon on the Mount. He demonstrated His mighty power to heal, to cast out demons, and calm a storm. We are both encouraged by the centurion's humble faithful and challenged by the fearful hearts of the disciples in this chapter.

Abraham sends a servant back to Haran to find a wife for his son Isaac. God blesses his servant's journey by leading young, kind, faithful and strong Rebecca to  go with him to the land of promise to marry Isaac. In Isaac and Rebecca, we see a loving and committed couple, who will be a great blessing to us all.

Jesus concludes his sermon on the mount by encouraging his disciples to put his words into action in the familiar parable of the man who built his house on the rock. If we are to receive the benefit of God's Word, we must learn to listen to it for ourselves and apply it to our lives. If we fall into the trap of looking down on those who are suffering for not putting God's Word into practice, we ar...

Abraham loses the love of his life, Sarah. His wife was so devoted and loving that she even went along with some of his crazy schemes. Her death gives us opportunity to reflect on how we mourn. We watch Abraham, in the midst of his grief, making a deal to procure for his wife a burial place. Here, we consider the place of God's people in the economy. As weird as some customs may seem, God blesses...

When God asked Abraham to sacrifice his beloved Isaac, He tests the old man by seeing if he will listen and obey. In asking Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, the patriarch demonstrates how God is going to redeem humanity by sacrificing his only Son. There are so many parallels to what Jesus did on the cross that this is one of the clearest Old Testament types in the Bible. The writer of Hebrews informs...

When we put first things first, God orders our lives for us. When we give in to the three temptations of lust, greed, or worry, we diminish our own joy. Here Jesus teaches how seeking God and his righteousness fills us with peace.

Abraham repeats his folly by passing Sarah off as his sister and giving her to yet another king as a wife. Thankfully, God intervenes and rescues them all from Abraham's foolishness. Following this foolish episode, Abraham and Sarah are blessed with their son Isaac. This great news for Abraham and Sarah is bad news for Hagar and Ishmail, who are sent off into the desert. But God is there for them...

The angels sent to investigate the immorality of Sodom find a warm welcome from Lot, who offers them a place to spend the night. But when evening comes, all the men of the city come to sexually assault these visitors. Lot tries to fend them off, but the angels must rescue Lot and his family from the men of Sodom and lead them out of Sodom before they destroy the city. This chapter deals with sexua...

Hypocrites. One of the biggest turn-offs for people who don't like the church. Jesus takes issue with hypocrisy, showing that the way of God is the opposite of human pride. It is a humble faith. When we follow the Lord humbly, we are blessed to be a blessing.

When God promised Abraham that he would have a son with Sarah, he falls on the ground in laughter. Sarah also laughed at this impossibly good news. But God wasn't joking, He was serious. But before promising Abraham that he would have a son with Sarah, God instituted circumcision as a tangible reminder of faith for all the males of Abraham's household. The child they thought was impossible would b...

Abram and Sarai concoct a plan to get pregnant, but their plan is not that they have a child together, but rather that Abram have a child with her servant Hagar. No surprise all hell breaks loose in their family after they take matters into their own hands following God's promise to bless Abram with a son. Hagar gets kicked out of the family. Pregnant and alone in the desert, God appears to her an...

You are the Light of the World! As God's love dispells the darkness of sin and selfishness, our lives are transformed by God's love. While we may never attain perfection on this side of eternity, we might as well try, and see how God uses us to overcome the darkness present in the souls and lives of those around us.

Abram is given wonderful and borderline unbelievable promises from God. How is a man, whose wife was barren, become a father, let alone the father of nations? God knows how, because the God of promises is powerful enough to accomplish all He plans and proposes for His people. 

Abram is a hero in this chapter as he rescues his nephew Lot from trouble. We are introduced to the enigmatic Melchizedek, who is the only person in the Bible besides Jesus who is a prophet, priest and king. We also stumble across one of the few archeological sites you can visit that connects us to the life of the patriarchs of 4,000 years ago.

The Beatitudes are a list of blessings God's children receive by the work of His Holy Spirit in our lives. Too many miss the blessing of this passage because they take it as a list of to-dos, turning the Lord's blessing into a burden. You are blessed by God, our Father in Heaven, to be a blessing! What great news it is, to know that the very same Word Who spoke light into existence brings faith an...

Abram is chosen, of all humanity, to be the one through whom God's promise of salvation will be carried. God calls him to faith and he leaves his idolatrous hometown to follow the God of Promise. But when the prospect of trouble comes, Abram trusts in his own wisdom over the Lord's provision, exposing his wife to danger and causing all sorts of problems. Here we learn of the Lord's faithfulness to...

How quickly could Noah's family repopulate the earth? Simple math shows that it is much quicker than many imagine, with a global population of over a billion people within Noah's lifetime. We'll do the math on repopulation before considering the impact of confused languages and the tremendous cost to human productivity the language divide still inflicts today.