When Hagar fled into the wilderness, she felt unseen, unwanted, and abandoned. Yet in that lonely place, God met her. He spoke her name, gave her direction, and assured her that her life mattered.
Overwhelmed, Hagar responded with one of the most beautiful names of God in all Scripture: El Roi, the God who sees me.
We often move through our days unnoticed. Our quiet faithfulness, our hidden struggles, even our private prayers may feel invisible to others. But the God who saw Hagar in the desert sees you, too. He knows where you are, what you’re carrying, and what you need most.
Take courage today: you are not forgotten. You are seen by the One who knows you fully and loves you completely.
Reflection Question:
Where in your life right now do you need to remember that God sees you?
Prayer:
Lord, thank You that You see me in every circumstance. Help me to rest in Your presence and trust in Your care. Amen.
Christ-centered, life-changing devotional Bible study guide
Description
“Unlock the transformative power of Genesis 1-11 with Dr. Andrew C. S. Koh’s Understanding Genesis 1-11. “This Christ-centered, life-changing devotional Bible study explores the transformative power of Genesis 1-11 and serves as a valuable resource for those seeking a deeper understanding of the first book of the Bible.” With a focus on practical application for contemporary life, Dr. Koh’s commentary is easy to understand for everyone and brings a fresh perspective to this foundational text.
This book is a continuation of Dr. Koh’s highly acclaimed devotional and Bible study series. Through his insightful analysis and personal reflections, readers will be inspired to grow in their faith and encounter God’s transformative power through His Word. This is not just a book to be read, but one to be studied, explored, and meditated upon devotionally.
Understanding Genesis 1-11 offers a unique blend of biblical scholarship and practical wisdom. Whether you are a seasoned theologian or simply seeking a deeper connection with God, this book has something to offer. Don’t miss out on the life-changing lessons and blessings waiting for you within these pages.
Reviews
This book provides a unique understanding of the biblical stories and is highly recommended for readers interested in creation history, E Ekpoh, Ebook Fairs, 5 Stars.
Teaching something complex to people of all ages like he does is amazing!, M Strawbridge, Amazon, 5 stars.
Good study guide and devotional, Tony Paradis, Bookbub, 5 stars.
It takes a close look at topics and explains difficult passages well and understandably, Ellen Ebieze, Amazon, Goodreads, Bookbub, 5 stars.
I found the book to be a great study guide. I recommend this book to anyone wanting a deeper understanding of Creation through Abraham in the bible, Kevin Booker, Amazon, 5 stars.
It is easy to read and very informative. Beautiful prayers are there in each chapter. A great read. I am on the ARC team. I received this book for free and this is my honest review. I recommend this book to other readers, Sharmani Jeyaram, Amazon, 5 stars.
Dr. Andrew C. S. Koh has become one of my favorite authors! The author has given cliff notes on the most pivotal books in history. Making the book a great study guide. T Townsend, Amazon, Goodreads, 5 stars.
Learned from his writings that I had not even thought of. Would recommend it to those who are really looking into getting to know God in a more intimate way, Rachelle Bachiu, Goodreads, 5 stars.
This was an excellent book to understand the Book of Genesis. Dr. Koh is gifted at connecting the word of God to today’s world and applying it to Christian living. Rowan E Creech, Goodreads, Bookbub, 5 stars.
This is a focused study on Genesis, which is the first book of the Bible. It is the foundation of our beliefs in Jesus Christ. I found this study to be unique because it gave me so much to study and meditate on. PAR, Bookbub, 5 stars.
The significance of the”holy-day” or the 7th day, the curse on women (labor pain), the history of generations, the satan-serpent’s confusion creation, and the blood theory of murder are engaging, Sudipta, Goodreads, 4 stars.
After the reinstatement of the chief cupbearer, Joseph continued to languish in prison because the chief cupbearer had conveniently forgotten about his predicament. Two years later, Pharaoh had dreams that no one could interpret his dreams. The chief cupbearer immediately remembered Joseph and told the Pharaoh about him.
Genesis 41:1-8
1 At the end of two full years, Pharaoh dreamed, and behold, he stood by the river. 2 Behold, seven cattle came up out of the river. They were sleek and fat, and they fed in the marsh grass. 3 Behold, seven other cattle came up after them out of the river, ugly and thin, and stood by the other cattle on the brink of the river. 4 The ugly and thin cattle ate up the seven sleek and fat cattle. So Pharaoh awoke. 5 He slept and dreamed a second time; and behold, seven heads of grain came up on one stalk, healthy and good. 6 Behold, seven heads of grain, thin and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them. 7 The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven healthy and full ears. Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream. 8 In the morning, his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all of Egypt’s magicians and wise men. Pharaoh told them about his dreams, but no one could interpret them to Pharaoh.
Genesis 41:1-8
Reflection
One fateful night, God planted a dream into Pharaoh’s sleep. In his dream, he saw seven fat cows and seven thin cows eating grass side by side by the River Nile. The seven thin cows came over and swallowed up the seven fat cows and he awoke. He went back to sleep and had another dream. This time, he saw seven heads of fat grain rose up from a single stalk. After this, seven heads of thin grain rose up from another single stack adjacent to it. The seven heads of the thin grain swallowed up the seven heads of the fat grain. Pharaoh awoke and was terrified. He summoned all his wise men and magicians to interpret his dreams but none of them could do it. The Egyptians considered cows as gods to be worshiped. In an agricultural society, of Egypt grains represented the economy.
The cupbearer told Pharaoh about Joseph’s ability to interpret dreams. Pharaoh, therefore, summoned Joseph to the palace to interpret his dreams. Joseph shaved, put on new clothes and appeared before Pharaoh.
Joseph immediately declared that it was God who interpret dreams and not him. Pharaoh told Joseph his dreams, but added that when the thin cows swallowed up the fat cows and when the thin grains swallowed up the fat grains, they remained as thin as before.
Joseph interpreted the dreams as follows:
The seven fat cows and the seven fat grains represented seven years of plenty. The seven thin cows and seven thin grains represented seven years of famine. Egypt would experience seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine. These were two dreams with one single interpretation.
Joseph advised Pharaoh to increase taxation and stock pile grains during the seven years of plenty to cover the seven years of famine.
Pharaoh saw that Joseph was a Godly man and made him the prime minister of Egypt. Pharaoh gave Joseph a signet ring, the finest attire, a gold chain, an Egyptian name, and an Egyptian wife..
Joseph stockpiled grains in all the cities of Egypt during the seven years of plenty, When the seven years of plenty ended, the seven years of famine bite in hard. Egyptians from all over the country came to Joseph to buy grains. Very soon, the famine went global and people from all over the known world traveled to Egypt to buy grains.
Application
Joseph was very humble. He interpreted the dreams without demanding any terms from Pharaoh. He gave all the glory to God and acknowledged that it was God who interpreted dreams and not him. Did you give all glory and honour to God? The Christian life is all about God and nothing about you and me.
God elevated Joseph to become the prime minister of Egypt after 17 long years of waiting in obscurity. Perhaps, you are in a similar position as Joseph. Do not throw in the towel yet. God may be testing, growing, maturing, and training you in righteousness. God will elevate you according to His divine plan and timetable if you are faithful and obedient.
Good times do not last forever. An economic boom always ends in an economic recession. You must save up during the good times to weather against the bad times.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we give You all the praise, glory, power, and honour. We confess that we are sinners. Forgive us and have mercy on us. Thank You for the forgiveness of sins, justification, salvation, sanctification, redemption, and eternal life. Help us to save up for rainy days so that we will be able to cope when the bad times arrive, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Joseph was thrown into the prison, but the LORD was with him and prospered him. The prison warden trusted Joseph so much that he made him in charge of the prison. The Lord gave Joseph the gift of leadership, prophecy, and dream interpretation.
Pharaoh was angry with his chief cupbearer and chief baker for something that they did. He threw them into the prison where Joseph was in charge. One night, both of them had a dream, and they were disturbed. Joseph assured them that God would interpret their dreams.
Genesis 40:9-13
9 The chief cup bearer told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, “In my dream, behold, a vine was in front of me, 10 and in the vine were three branches. It was as though it budded, it blossomed, and its clusters produced ripe grapes. 11 Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand.” 12 Joseph said to him, “This is its interpretation: the three branches are three days. 13 Within three more days, Pharaoh will lift up your head, and restore you to your office. You will give Pharaoh’s cup into his hand, the way you did when you were his cup bearer.
Genesis 40:9-13
Reflection
The chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph. In his dream, he was holding a vine with three branches that budded, blossomed, and produced ripe grapes. He pressed the grapes into Pharaoh’s cup and Pharaoh drank from it. Joseph replied that the three branches represented three days. Pharaoh would restore him back to be his chief cupbearer in three days.
Upon hearing this, the chief baker also told his dream to Joseph. In his dream, he had three baskets on his head. The uppermost basket contained all kinds of bread, but the birds came and ate them all. Joseph replied that the three baskets represented three days. In three days, Pharaoh would hang him on a tree and the birds would eat his flesh.
Sure enough, Joseph’s interpretation of the dreams came true to the exact details. On the third day, Pharaoh celebrated his birthday with a grand feast. He restored the chief cupbearer but hung the chief baker. However, the chief cupbearer forgot about Joseph and did not plead his case to Pharaoh.
Application
Joseph prospered because the Lord was with him. He prospered in the face of adversity, in Potiphar’s house and now in the prison.
Joseph acknowledged the Lord as the interpreter of the dreams. He gave all the glory to the Lord. He did not boast about his ability. Did you give all glory and honour to the Lord? The Christian life is all about Him and nothing about you and me. He must increase and we must decrease.
Potiphar threw Joseph into the prison because his wife tempted, seduced, and framed him with false charges.
If you are successful in your career, you will face many temptations. This is when you must be extra careful. You need to walk humbly before the Lord and be obedient to His calling. Claim the promise of 1 Corinthians 10:13.
No temptation has taken you except what is common to man. God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able, but will with the temptation also make the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
1 Corinthians 10:13
Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You for giving us spiritual gifts to serve You in the kingdom. We give You all the praise, glory, honour, and power. We acknowledge that without You, we cannot do anything. The kingdom of God is all about You, and nothing is about us. You must increase, and we must decrease, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Genesis 37 begins a new section on the narrative of the Patriarch Joseph. The baton of faith had been passed from Abraham, to Isaac, to Jacob, to Jacob’s eleventh son, Joseph, The narrative ended in Genesis 50 with the death of Joseph.
Jacob had 12 sons. Joseph was his eleventh and Benjamin was his twelfth son. The seventeen-year-old Joseph was feeding his father’s flock with his brothers in the field. He came home with a bad report about his 10 half-brothers to his father. Now, Jacob loved Joseph and Benjamin more than the rest because they were his favourite wife Rachel’s sons. To add more salt to the injury, Jacob made a multi-coloured tunic for Joseph and his half-brothers hated him for this.
Genesis 37:5-11
Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brothers, and they hated him all the more. He said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and behold, your sheaves came around, and bowed down to my sheaf.” His brothers asked him, “Will you indeed reign over us? Will you indeed have dominion over us?” They hated him all the more for his dreams and for his words. He dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his brothers, and said, “Behold, I have dreamed yet another dream: and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars bowed down to me.” He told it to his father and to his brothers. His father rebuked him, and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Will I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves down to the earth before you?” His brothers envied him, but his father kept this saying in mind.
Reflection
The LORD gave Joseph two dreams. In the first dream, he saw his brothers, represented by eleven sheaves of wheat, bowing down to him. In the second dream, he saw his father, mother, and eleven brothers, represented by the sun, moon, and eleven stars, bowing down to him.
Apostle John saw a vision of a woman, wearing a crown of 12 stars, clothed in the sun, and standing on the moon, Revelation 12:1. The woman represents Israel and the 12 stars represent the 12 sons of Jacob. Joseph’s brothers hated him because of his dreams. Even Jacob, his father, rebuked him.
Joseph’s brother sold him to Ismaelites and Midianites human traffickers who took him to Egypt as a slave. Against all odds, Joseph rose from rags to riches, from prison to palace, and from a prisoner to the prime minister of Egypt. Years later, his eleven brothers did bowed down to him, Genesis 42:6.
Revelation 12:1, A great sign was seen in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars
Genesis 42:6, Joseph was the governor over the land. It was he who sold to all the people of the land. Joseph’s brothers came, and bowed themselves down to him with their faces to the earth.
Application
Jacob’s family was a dysfunctional, blended, family, headed by a passive father who had poor leadership and played favouritism. He loved Joseph and Benjamin more than the other ten sons. Sibling rivalry, strife, hatred, and jealousy were the order of the day.
Joseph’s brothers took the law into their own hands and sold him to human traffickers. They then lied to their father that wild animals had eaten Joseph.
Are you a father? Do you a strong leadership? Do you practice favouritism among your children? To be a father required a strong leadership and playing favouritism is a definite no-no.
You reaped what you sowed, Galatians 6:7. Jacob deceived his father Isaac, and now his own sons deceived him.
Joseph was a type of Jesus Christ. Jacob loved Joseph. God the Father loved Jesus Christ. Joseph’s brother hated him. The Jews hated Jesus Christ. The list goes on and on and on.
Galatians 6:7, Don’t be deceived. God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You for giving us an opportunity to study the life of Joseph in the book of Genesis. As we journey along, we pray for open eyes, open ears, open hearts, open minds, and open spirits to receive the revelation of Your word. We pray for the anointing of the Holy Spirit who is our teacher, truth revealer, helper, and counsellor, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Joseph’s Faith: A 30-Day Bible Study Devotional for Women Based on the Life of Joseph from the Book of Genesis
by Mary Jane Humes
Review
An excellent devotional and bible study based on the life and faith of Joseph from Genesis chapters 37 to 50. A good prayer, commentary, and contemporary application accompanies each day’s devotion..A great work on the typology of Joseph showing that Joseph was a foreshadow of Jesus Christ in many respects. A Christ-centred, life-changing, and faith-building devotional. Recommended to all readers, 5 out of 5 stars
God created the world in six days. Whether this is a literal 24 hours day or not is something that is hotly debated. According to God’s reckoning, 1 day is as 1000 years and 1000 years is as 1 day, 2 Peter 3:8. God created, transcends, and is outside of the time, and space continuum. There are two schools of thought regarding the age of the universe. Is the age billions of years old or is the universe 6000 plus years old? There is also the gap theory. Is there an interval of time between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2? These are hotly debated issues among Bible scholars. As far as the Bible is concerned God is the creator of the universe. In the beginning, God created the heavens and earth. The universe is not a product of a massive explosion billions of years ago. The universe is not a product of random chance and mutations. Human beings did not evolve from monkeys or gorillas
“But don’t forget this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.”
2 Peter 3:8,
The Beginning
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep and God’s Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters. 3 God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw the light, and saw that it was good. God divided the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day”, and the darkness he called “night”. There was evening and there was morning, the first day.
Genesis 1: 1-4
Reflection
The Bible begins with “in the beginning God created”. We do not know when this beginning was. Is it billions of years or thousands of years? God created the universe in eternity past. The universe did not evolve by random chance over billions of years. It takes a lot more faith to believe in evolution than creation. God has no beginning. He is outside the time-space continuum. He is pre-existent, self-existent, eternal, from everlasting to everlasting, from eternity past to eternity future, from the Alpha, and to the Omega.
The six days of creation have a pre-set template, starting with “let there be…..” and ending with ”there was evening and there was morning………”
On the first day, God created the heavens, the earth, and the light. There are three heavens. The atmosphere from the ground to the clouds is the first heaven. The outer space from the clouds to the galaxies is the second heaven. The abode of God’s throne beyond the galaxies is the third heaven. When God created the earth, it was dark, empty, and structureless. Hebrews word for create is bara, which means to create something out of nothing, or ex-nihilo in latin.
God separated the light and the darkness, calling the darkness, evening, and the light, morning, and this was the first day. God defined a day as one evening and one morning. A Jewish day starts from 6 pm in the evening until 6 pm the next evening.
The Holy Spirit circled around the formless, structureless, dark, empty, and watery earth. God spoke, let there be light and light appeared on site. This was not the light of the sun but the light of God’s glory, Revelation 21:23. Jesus Christ is the word of God’s word, John 1:1.
The Trinitarian God of the Bible, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit created the universe. God saw that the light was good. He separated the light from the darkness and called them day and night. Hebrews for God is Elohim, a plural noun.
In the presence of the Holy Spirit, God, the Father spoke, and it came to be. Jesus Christ is the spoken Word of God, the father.
The city has no need for the sun, neither of the moons, to shine, for the very glory of God illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb.
Revelation 21:23,
“in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God.”
John 1:1,
Application
Genesis declared that everything is created by God. If you believe that God created the heavens and the earth in 6 days, you will have no problem believing the rest of the Bible. How big is your God? How big is your faith? It takes more faith to believe in evolution than in creation. Faith is the key to unlocking spiritual truth. Believe and you will see the glory of God. Without faith, it is impossible to please God.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, help us to understand Your word. We pray for the anointing of the Holy Spirit to enlighten us and to give us wisdom and understanding. Open our hearts, minds, eyes, ears, and spirit to receive, understand, see, apply, honour, and hear the truth of Your word, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
1 The heavens, the earth, and all their vast array were finished. 2 On the seventh day God finished his work which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done. 3 God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because he rested in it from all his work of creation which he had done
Genesis 2:1-3
Reflection
Genesis 1 is an overall account of the first week of creation. Genesis 2 zeroed in specifically on the sixth and seventh day of creation
On the sixth day, God created Adam, animals, birds and Eve. On the seventh day, God rested from His work of creation. He blessed the seventh day and made it holy.
The Hebrew word for God is Elohim. El is singular and Elohim is plural. The Hebrew word for blessed is baruch, which means praise, happy, favoured, or a good report. The number 7 is the number of completion. God completed His work of creation on the 7th day and rested. The Hebrew word for holy is qadesh, which means sanctified, set apart, or separated.
Application
The 7th day of the week is the Sabbath day. Sabbath starts from sundown on Friday and finished at sundown on Saturday. In the Old Testament, the Israelites stopped doing work on the Sabbath as stipulated in the Mosaic law. The difficulty is defining what is work and what is not work.
but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your God. You shall not do any work in it, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your livestock, nor your stranger who is within your gates.
Exodus 20:10
The Jews today still keep the Sabbath by not doing any work.
If you are a Gentile Christian, you do not have to stop doing work from Friday sundown until Saturday sundown. The Jerusalem council of Acts 15, freed Gentiles Christians from keeping the Mosaic laws except for drinking blood and committing sexual immorality.
For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay no greater burden on you than these necessary things: that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality, from which if you keep yourselves, it will be well with you. Farewell
Legalism verses freedom
Acts 15:28-29
For Gentile Christians, the principle of the Sabbath is to take a rest from work one day out of every seven days. You can also take a longer rest from work if you wish. How about one week out of every 7 weeks or 1 year out of every 7 years? This is a principle to apply, not a legalistic law to enforce. The principle is to have time to rest from work so that you can seek the Lord in spiritual things. A regular rest from work is required to reflect, recollect, recharge, re-energise, and re-connect with God, yourself and others. A regular rest will prevent you from getting burnt out. If you do not rest, you will fall sick, and you will be forced to rest. Even computers machines requires a rest periodically for maintenance.
The Sabbath rest is an opportunity to be free even for one day. Freedom from work, from anxieties, from the tyranny of the urgent, from the routine of daily life. The Sabbath rest allows you to free your minds from the demands of the world to concentrate on spiritual matters and on God.
The Pharisees became so legalistic over the law of Sabbath-keeping to the extent of causing a burden to the people and to themselves.
The Pharisees accused Jesus of breaking the Sabbath because He healed people on the Sabbath. Jesus created the Sabbath for the benefit of people and not the other way around. As Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus superseded the Sabbath. Jesus had the authority to set aside the demands of Sabbath keeping. Jesus fulfilled the Sabbath. Jesus frees you from bondage to sin and death. Jesus invites you to come to Him for rest.
Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest
Matthew 11:28
Prayer
Heavenly Father, You are the God of creation, the God of salvation, the God of redemption, and the God of reconciliation. You are wonderful, counselor, prince of peace, mighty God, and everlasting Father. You are Lord of the Sabbath. Help us to rest in You. Free us from bondage to sin, fear, anxiety, depression, and pessimism, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Dr Andrew C S Koh
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In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, Genesis 1:1
Satellite image of the earth from outer space
Reflection
Genesis begins with “in the beginning”. When is the beginning? Who created what?
The Hebrew word for “create” is bara, which means, to create something out of nothing.
In the beginning, in eternity past, God created the entire universe out of nothing.
God has no beginning because He is transcendent and outside our time-space continuum. God is pre-existent, self-existent, eternal, from everlasting to everlasting, from eternity past to eternity future. He is the alpha and the omega, the first and the last, the alif and the tau, the A and the Z, the author and finisher of our faith.
God created the universe in six days. God’s reckoning of time is not the same as our reckoning of time. 1 day for God can be long as 1000 years and 1000 years can be as short as 1 day.
2 Peter 3:8, “But don’t forget this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.”
In God’s divine calendar, 2000 years can be as short as 2 days!
There are three theories regarding the universe. The young age theory postulates the universe to be 6000-plus years old. The old age theory postulates the universe to be 4.5 billion-plus years old. The gap theory postulates a time gap of billions of years between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2.
The Bible says that God created the universe into existence. There is no record of a big bang theory or evolution.
The Gospel of John also begins with “in the beginning.” In the beginning, Jesus Christ, the word of God was with God and was God.
in the beginning, was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God
John 1:1
Application
I find it is easier to believe in creation than in evolution. If you can believe that God created the heavens and the earth, you will have no problems believing the rest of the Bible.
Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity
Romans 12:2, J B Philips
Prayer
Heavenly Father, We pray for the anointing of the Holy Spirit to enlighten and give us wisdom and understanding of Your word. Open our hearts, minds, eyes, ears, and spirits to receive, understand, see, hear, feel, and apply Your word of eternal life, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Dr Andrew C S Koh
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