Sunday School on the Go
Joseph's Dreams and His Servitude in Egypt (4-28-24)
April 28, 2024 • Dr. Jim Glass • Genesis 37:5–8, Genesis 37:18–28
Joseph had two dreams that suggest he will rule over his brothers and his entire family. These dreams and the favoritism shown by his father, Jacob, symbolized by the coat of many colors he made for Jospeh, caused his brothers to despise and envy him. They developed a plan, first, to kill him, then to leave him in a pit, finally to sell him to traders who took him to Egypt where he was sold to the captain of Pharaoh's guard.
Jacob Returns to Bethel (4-21-24)
April 21, 2024 • Dr. Jim Glass • Genesis 35:1–15
Failing to follow through with God's instructions and his own promises, Jacob had delayed his return to Bethel by stopping in Shechem. When two of Jacob's sons horribly avenge their sister's assault, he feared for his family. The Lord intervened by calling Jacob and his family to give up their idols and purify themselves, and their response had a powerful effect on the people around them. Jacob finally arrives at Bethel where the Lord reaffirms his name change and the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and to Jacob himself.
Jacob's Encounter with the Lord at Peniel 4-14-24
April 14, 2024 • Dr. Jim Glass • Genesis 32:22–32
After leaving Laban's household, Jacob prepares to meet Esau who, the last we heard, was committed to kill his brother. As Jacob continues to struggle with his past, he wrestles with "a man" all night, successfully avoiding defeat until "the man" dislocates Jacob's hip. The Lord, somehow appearing as the man who had wrestled with him, changes his name from Jacob and all that it meant to "Israel," meaning "Prince of God" or "the one who struggles with God."
Jacob's Increase at Laban's Expense (4-7-24)
April 7, 2024 • Dr. Jim Glass • Genesis 30:25–43
When Jacob tried to leave Laban's house after fourteen years and eleven of his sons had been born, Laban urged him to stay, allowing Jacob to set his own wages. Jacob offered to take all the spotted and striped animals that would be born, and Laban accepted the plan. Through the Providence of God that we read about in the next chapter, Jacob's share increases significantly, in spite of Laban's expectations to the contrary, and causing him to become "exceedingly prosperous."
The Resurrected Lord Jesus Appears to Mary (3-31-24)
March 31, 2024 • Dr. Jim Glass • John 20:1–7
Mary and other women came to the tomb where Jesus had been laid early on Sunday morning, only to find His body gone. She ran to tell Peter and John who came to the tomb to see for themselves. John believed that Jesus had risen from the dead. When Mary returned, the angels asked her why she is crying, and she asked them to show her where they had put His body. Suddenly, Jesus appeared and called her by name, then told her to let the disciples know that He is returning to His Father and their Father, His God and their God.
Jacob's Dream (3-24-24)
March 24, 2024 • Dr. Jim Glass • Genesis 28:10–22
As Jacob makes his way to his mother's brother's home in Haran, he stops along the way to rest. In the night, he has a dream in which the Lord reveals Himself to Jacob as the God of Abraham and Isaac, affirms that he would be the recipient of the promises He had made to Abraham, and assures him that He would not leave him. In response, Jacob names the place "Bethel," meaning "the house of God" and vows to follow the Lord.
Jacob Steals the Blessing (3-17-24)
March 17, 2024 • Genesis 27:18–30
Although Esau had forsaken the faith of his family and traded his birthright for a bowl of stew, Isaac intended to pass on the family blessing to him as the older son, contrary to what the Lord had told Rebekah before the birth of her twin sons. Through a great deception planned by his mother, Jacob successfully impersonated Esau, fooling his father and receiving the blessing intended for his older brother. In spite of these human failures, the Abrahamic blessing was successfully passed to Jacob, the rightful heir according to God's plan.
The Search for a Wife for Isaac (3-10-24)
March 10, 2024 • Dr. Jim Glass • Genesis 24:12–20, Genesis 24:24–27
Abraham sends his servant to Aram-naharaim, where his nephew, Bethuel lives (about 500 miles away), with some very detailed instructions to find a wife for his son Isaac from among his family members. The servant prays a specific prayer for God's guidance and, even before he finishes his prayer, Rebekah arrives at the well where he had stopped, and she fulfills the requirements he had prayed for. Her family allows her and she agrees to return with the servant where she meets Isaac and they are married.
The sacrifice of Isaac (3-3-24)
March 3, 2024 • Dr. Jim Glass • Genesis 22:1–14
Abraham's faith is proved when the Lord tells him to go to Moriah where he is to sacrifice his son, his only son, the son he loves. When Isaac asks where the sacrificial lamb is, Abraham tells him, "The Lord will provide." Just before Abraham slays his son, the Lord intervenes because Abraham has proven his trusting obedience to the Lord. There are many insights into the sacrifice of God's Son in this story.
The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (2-25-24)
February 25, 2024 • Dr. Jim Glass • Genesis 19:12–26
The Lord sends two angels to Sodom to save Lot and his family, but the men of the city attempt to assault them. The angels blind the men so they can't find the door, then warn Lot to escape. As they lead them out of the city the next day, Lot lingers and asks to be allowed to go to Zoar instead of fleeing into the hills. The angels allow this, but Lot's wife turns back and it turned into a pillar of salt as the cities are destroyed.
God Calls Abram (2-4-24)
February 4, 2024 • Dr. Jim Glass • Genesis 12:1–5, Genesis 13
When Abram was 75 years old, God told him to leave Haran. By faith, Abram obeyed and the Lord led him to the land of Canaan where He promised to bless him and all the families of the earth. When Lot's and Abram's herdsmen quarreled over grazing lands, Lot chose to settle in the Jordan River Valley near Sodom, while Abram took the western lands. When God met Abram once again, He promised to give him all the territory he could see that would be the possession of his descendants forever.
God's Covenant Promise to Abraham (2-18-24)
February 18, 2024 • Dr. Jim Glass • Genesis 17:1–10, Genesis 17:15–19
In response to Abram's faith, the Lord restates His covenant promises to Abram. Because he would be father of many nations, his name was changed to Abraham, meaning "father of a multitude." Abraham's obligation under the covenant is symbolized in the institution of circumcision. When Abraham laughed at hearing that Sarai—whose name had also been changed to Sarah—would bear a son, the Lord assured him that what He had promised He would surely accomplish.
Abram Believed God (2-11-24)
February 11, 2024 • Dr. Jim Glass • Genesis 16:1–6, Genesis 15:1–6
In Abram's fifth meeting with God, the Lord tells Abram, "I am your shield and your very great reward," then promises to grant him a son and heir. In response, we find those great words of faith: "Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness." In the second passage, Sarai tried to "help" God keep His promise by giving her maidservant to Abram to bear a child by him with disastrous results.
The Tower of Babel (1-28-24)
January 28, 2024 • Dr. Jim Glass • Genesis 11:1–9
Rejecting God's command to Noah to fill the earth (Genesis 9:1), Noah's descendants who settled in what is now southern Iraq wanted to make a name for themselves and prevent the population from being dispersed across the earth. The results of their efforts would have been disastrous, so the Lord intervened by causing them forget their shared language so that each person spoke words that others couldn't understand.
God's Covenant with Noah (1-21-24)
January 21, 2024 • Dr. Jim Glass • Genesis 9:1–17
To rebalance nature, the Lord declares that animals will live in fear of man, and that animals may be used for food, as long as the meat is drained of its blood since life is in the blood. To establish His standard of the sanctity of life, the Lord says there will be a reckoning for every life taken. In the case of murder, the one who takes a life forfeits his own life. In the covenant the Lord makes with Noah, his sons, and every generation of man and animal to follow, He promises never again to destroy the earth by flood, and affirms this promise with the rainbow as a sign and symbol of His grace.