NEWS, ARTICLES, DEVOTIONS AND MORE FROM BttB...

Day 1     READ   Genesis 2:23-25   23 “At last!” the man exclaimed. “This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh! She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken from ‘man.’” 24 This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one. 25 Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame.     Adam realized his true helper had come! He said she was “bone of my bone, and flesh from my flesh!” Whe

Day 1     READ   Genesis 3:8-9   8 When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. 9 Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”     Until the second person of the Trinity took on a human body, God had no body. Adam did not see anyone but he “heard” God in the garden. That was enough to scare him so Adam and Eve hid “among the trees.” Apparently they had n

Day 1   READ   Genesis 3:16   16 Then he said to the woman, “I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy, and in pain you will give birth. And you will desire to control your husband, but he will rule over you.”     After God placed a curse on Satan, the serpent, He pronounced a curse on the woman. Her pain in child birth would be increased. There would also be strife between the woman and her husband. She would want to control him, and he would want to control her. Such confli

Day 1     READ   Genesis 4:1   1 Now Adam had sexual relations with his wife, Eve, and she became pregnant. When she gave birth to Cain, she said, “With the Lord’s help, I have produced a man!”     Eve was aware that this birth was “With the Lord’s help.” The birth of Cain perhaps gave hope to Eve that she had produced the one promised in Genesis 3:15. That would be the one who would crush the descendants of the one who had tempted and deceived her. This is not the end of the

Day 1     READ   Genesis 4:13-16   13 Cain replied to the Lord, “My punishment is too great for me to bear! 14 You have banished me from the land and from your presence; you have made me a homeless wanderer. Anyone who finds me will kill me!” 15 The Lord replied, “No, for I will give a sevenfold punishment to anyone who kills you.” Then the Lord put a mark on Cain to warn anyone who might try to kill him. 16 So Cain left the Lord’s presence and settled in the land of Nod, eas

Day 1     READ   Genesis 5:1-2   1 This is the written account of the descendants of Adam. When God created human beings, he made them to be like himself. 2 He created them male and female, and he blessed them and called them “human.”     God created the animals but only humans were made “like himself”; in His image. He only created male and female. Those who say there are more genders than male and female do not believe in God and they want to decide what He decided long ago

Day 1     READ   Genesis 5:25-27   25 When Methuselah was 187 years old, he became the father of Lamech. 26 After the birth of Lamech, Methuselah lived another 782 years, and he had other sons and daughters. 27 Methuselah lived 969 years, and then he died.     These verses introduce you to Methuselah. At the end of the passage you see he died at 969 years. He was the oldest man ever recorded to have lived that long. In spite of how long he lived, he still met the same end as

Day 1     READ   Genesis 6:7-8   7 And the Lord said, “I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth. Yes, and I will destroy every living thing—all the people, the large animals, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and even the birds of the sky. I am sorry I ever made them.” 8 But Noah found favor with the Lord.     God was so broken hearted over how the human race had devolved. He had given Adam and Eve the free will to choose His way or

Day 1     READ   Genesis 6:20-22   20 “Pairs of every kind of bird, and every kind of animal, and every kind of small animal that scurries along the ground, will come to you to be kept alive. 21 And be sure to take on board enough food for your family and for all the animals.” 22 So Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him.     Noah did not have to go out and round up the animals to put them in the big boat; they came to him to be kept alive. God told Noah to take

Day 1     READ   Genesis 7:13-16   13 That very day Noah had gone into the boat with his wife and his sons—Shem, Ham, and Japheth—and their wives. 14 With them in the boat were pairs of every kind of animal—domestic and wild, large and small—along with birds of every kind. 15 Two by two they came into the boat, representing every living thing that breathes. 16 A male and female of each kind entered, just as God had commanded Noah. Then the Lord closed the door behind them.  

Day 1     READ   Genesis 8:6-9   6 After another forty days, Noah opened the window he had made in the boat 7 and released a raven. The bird flew back and forth until the floodwaters on the earth had dried up. 8 He also released a dove to see if the water had receded and it could find dry ground. 9 But the dove could find no place to land because the water still covered the ground. So it returned to the boat, and Noah held out his hand and drew the dove back inside.     Noah

Day 1     READ   Genesis 9:1-4   1 Then God blessed Noah and his sons and told them, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth. 2 All the animals of the earth, all the birds of the sky, all the small animals that scurry along the ground, and all the fish in the sea will look on you with fear and terror. I have placed them in your power. 3 I have given them to you for food, just as I have given you grain and vegetables. 4 But you must never eat any meat that still has the life

Day 1     READ   Genesis 9:18-20   18 The sons of Noah who came out of the boat with their father were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham is the father of Canaan.) 19 From these three sons of Noah came all the people who now populate the earth. 20 After the flood, Noah began to cultivate the ground, and he planted a vineyard.     Ham is significant later in the story so his name is inserted here. If you have questions about who populated the earth after the Genesis flood, this pass

Day 1     READ   Genesis 10:3-5   3 The descendants of Gomer were Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. 4 The descendants of Javan were Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Rodanim. 5 Their descendants became the seafaring peoples that spread out to various lands, each identified by its own language, clan, and national identity.     Some of these names have later references to areas. “Tarshish” is related to Spain, and “Kittim” is related to Cyprus. Notice that the people “spread out to

Day 1     READ   Genesis 10:21-24   21 Sons were also born to Shem, the older brother of Japheth. Shem was the ancestor of all the descendants of Eber. 22 The descendants of Shem were Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram. 23 The descendants of Aram were Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. 24 Arphaxad was the father of Shelah, and Shelah was the father of Eber.     This begins the genealogy of Shem, whose descendants will be the main characters in Genesis as well as the rest of the Bi

Day 1     READ   Genesis 11:3-4   3 They began saying to each other, “Let’s make bricks and harden them with fire.” (In this region bricks were used instead of stone, and tar was used for mortar.) 4 Then they said, “Come, let’s build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches into the sky. This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world.”     God had told the people to multiply and fill the earth; this group wanted to rebel against God’s

Day 1     READ   Genesis 11:20-25   20 When Reu was 32 years old, he became the father of Serug. 21 After the birth of Serug, Reu lived another 207 years and had other sons and daughters. 22 When Serug was 30 years old, he became the father of Nahor. 23 After the birth of Nahor, Serug lived another 200 years and had other sons and daughters. 24 When Nahor was 29 years old, he became the father of Terah. 25 After the birth of Terah, Nahor lived another 119 years and had other

“Count the stars if you are able…” With these words spoken to Abraham, God formed a covenant that would lead to the formation of the nation of Israel and, eventually, the birth of the Savior, Jesus Christ.    In this verse-by-verse study we’ll continue our examination of the Book of Genesis and focus specifically on the family of Abraham. From Abraham’s calling to the Promised Land, to Jacob’s wrestling with God in the night, we’ll follow the ups and downs in the lives of the

Day 1  READ   Genesis 12:1-3     1 The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. 3 I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”     These three verses are a key to the rest of the

Day 1  READ   Genesis 14:14-16     14 When Abram heard that his nephew Lot had been captured, he mobilized the 318 trained men who had been born into his household. Then he pursued Kedorlaomer’s army until he caught up with them at Dan. 15 There he divided his men and attacked during the night. Kedorlaomer’s army fled, but Abram chased them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. 16 Abram recovered all the goods that had been taken, and he brought back his nephew Lot with his

Day 1  READ   Genesis 17:9-11     9 Then God said to Abraham, “Your responsibility is to obey the terms of the covenant. You and all your descendants have this continual responsibility. 10 This is the covenant that you and your descendants must keep: Each male among you must be circumcised. 11 You must cut off the flesh of your foreskin as a sign of the covenant between me and you.”     God gave Abraham what would be the mark of His covenant with him and his descendants. T

Day 1  READ   Genesis 19:12-14     12 Meanwhile, the angels questioned Lot. “Do you have any other relatives here in the city?” they asked. “Get them out of this place—your sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone else. 13 For we are about to destroy this city completely. The outcry against this place is so great it has reached the Lord, and he has sent us to destroy it.” 14 So Lot rushed out to tell his daughters’ fiancés, “Quick, get out of the city! The Lord is about to

Day 1  READ   Genesis 21:22-24     22 About this time, Abimelech came with Phicol, his army commander, to visit Abraham. “God is obviously with you, helping you in everything you do,” Abimelech said. 23 “Swear to me in God’s name that you will never deceive me, my children, or any of my descendants. I have been loyal to you, so now swear that you will be loyal to me and to this country where you are living as a foreigner.” 24 Abraham replied, “Yes, I swear to it!”     It s

Day 1  READ   Genesis 24:12-14     12 “O Lord, God of my master, Abraham,” he prayed. “Please give me success today, and show unfailing love to my master, Abraham. 13 See, I am standing here beside this spring, and the young women of the town are coming out to draw water. 14 This is my request. I will ask one of them, ‘Please give me a drink from your jug.’ If she says, ‘Yes, have a drink, and I will water your camels, too!’—let her be the one you have selected as Isaac’s