Old-Testament

Stories tagged Old-Testament:

• Jacob and Esau Aug 18, 2025

  

  In the ancient lands where Abraham and Isaac had walked with God, there lived a man named Isaac who had married Rebekah, a woman of great faith and wisdom. For many years, they longed for children, but Rebekah remained barren. Isaac prayed earnestly to the Lord for his wife, and God heard his prayer.

  When Rebekah finally conceived, she experienced such turmoil within her womb that she cried out, “If this is how it will be, why do I exist?” She went to inquire of the Lord, and God spoke to her with words that would echo through generations:

• Jacob's Ladder Aug 17, 2025

  

  After Jacob had deceived his father Isaac and stolen his brother Esau’s blessing, he found himself fleeing for his life across the wilderness of Canaan. The weight of his actions pressed heavily upon his heart as he walked alone through the desert, carrying nothing but a wooden staff and the clothes on his back. Behind him lay his family, his home, and the comfortable life he had always known. Ahead lay the unknown journey to Haran, where his mother’s brother Laban lived.

• Jacob Wrestles with God Aug 16, 2025

  

  After twenty years of exile in Haran, working for his uncle Laban and building a large family, Jacob received a command from God that would change his life forever: “Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.”

  With great trepidation but obedient faith, Jacob gathered his wives—Leah and Rachel—his twelve children, his servants, and his vast flocks and herds, and began the long journey back to the land of Canaan. But as they drew closer to his homeland, one fear dominated Jacob’s thoughts: his brother Esau.

• Joseph and His Brothers Aug 15, 2025

  

  In the land of Canaan, where the great patriarch Jacob—whom God had renamed Israel—lived with his large family, there was born a son who would become one of the most remarkable figures in all of Scripture. This was Joseph, the eleventh son of Jacob, but the first son born to his beloved wife Rachel.

  Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because Joseph had been born to him in his old age and was the child of his most cherished wife. This favoritism was no secret in the household—Jacob made it obvious in many ways, but most notably by giving Joseph a special robe that marked him as favored above his brothers.

• Joseph's Coat of Many Colors Aug 14, 2025

  

  In the rolling hills of Canaan, where the great patriarch Jacob lived with his twelve sons, there was one boy who held a special place in his father’s heart. Joseph was seventeen years old, the eleventh son of Jacob, but he was the first son born to Rachel, the wife Jacob had loved most dearly.

  Jacob’s love for Joseph was deeper and more visible than his love for any of his other children. Perhaps it was because Joseph had been born to him in his old age, when he had thought his days of fathering children were over. Perhaps it was because Joseph reminded him so much of his beloved Rachel, who had died giving birth to Benjamin. Or perhaps it was simply because Joseph possessed a gentle spirit and an eager mind that delighted his father’s heart.