Genesis 32-34; Psalm 145; Mark 13

Genesis 32: What was Jacob’s prayer to God before facing Esau? What do Jews not eat because of Jacob’s struggle with God?

Genesis 33: What did Jacob do prior to meeting Esau?  Was there hostility between Esau and Jacob?

Genesis 34: This is quite a story.  Is there anything that surprises you?

Mark 13: What does Jesus tell the disciples to expect before He returns?  He tells them that heaven and earth will pass away, but what will not pass away?

Journal Prompt: What does Jesus’ final admonition in the last verse of Mark 13 mean to you?  Is your life different because you have read these words?  How?

Answers:

Genesis 32: Joseph prayed for protection and reminded God of His promise to make him prosper.

Genesis 33: Jews don’t eat the tendon attached to the hip socket – the research I did suggests that this is the sciatic nerve.  I found this at bibleref.com:  The custom of not eating this specific part of an animal’s body is still followed by many Jewish people. The law of Moses does not forbid this eating of the sinew of the thigh on the hip socket. However, it is many Jewish persons’ way of recognizing this crucial moment in Israel’s identity and acknowledging the God who fights for them.

Jacob sent his gift offering of hundreds of animals with his herdsmen ahead, then when he saw Esau with 400 fighting men, he had his wives and concubines approach in a procession, and he went to the front and bowed down seven times in front of Esau.

Esau seemed to be happy to see Jacob – and he reluctantly accepted the gift of the livestock. They agreed to go their separate ways. There was no apparent hostility.

Genesis 34: What surprises me is that Dinah is the only daughter mentioned, and her brothers were fiercely protective of her, particularly in light of the fact that her father didn’t seem to be.

Mark 13: Jesus tell his disciples that the temple will be destroyed, there will be wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes, famines, false prophets will preach in His name, the abomination of desolation will stand where he shouldn’t, the gospel will have been preached to the ends of the earth, the sun and moon will be dark, the stars from the heavens will fall and the son of Man will come in the clouds, and the elect will be gathered.

Though heaven and earth will pass away, the Word of the Lord will remain.