Proverbs 31 - Lesson 21

Welcome and blessings on this chilly Thursday morning in the mountains!

Proverbs 31:30
Charm is deceitful,
and beauty is vain,
but a woman who
fears the Lord
is to be praised.

Woman of the Bible - Rachel

This story is really about Rachel and Leah, her sister and sister-in-law.
Jacob, who we met in our last story of Rebekah, meets Rachel and falls madly in love with the beauty. He asks her father, Laban, for her hand in marriage and Laban says yes, but tells Jacob he must work for him for seven years first. Jacob complies and marries Rachel, who is really Leah covered in veils. Laban has tricked Jacob. Laban is not a very nice man. When Jacob realizes what has happened, he demands to marry Rachel and Laban tells him he must work another seven years to have her. Jacob complies once again. Finally he marries Rachel and then takes all that is owed to him and runs away from Laban. Rachel steals her father's idols, which Laban comes after and Jacob denies having. Rachel sits on them and covers them with her skirts so they cannot be found.
Between the two sisters, the 12 sons of Israel are born. Leah gives birth to several sons before Rachel finally conceives Joseph. (The story of Joseph is one of my all time favorite stories in the Bible.)
If you have never read the story of Rachel and Leah I highly recommend you do. You can find it in Genesis 29 - 48:7.
The story takes place in Mesopotamia and Canaan.
Mesopotamia is a historical region in West Asia, in modern days roughly corresponding to most of Iraq plus Kuwait, the eastern parts of Syria, Southeastern Turkey and regions along the Turkish-Syrian and Iran-Iraq borders.
Canaan, the biblical name for the area of ancient Palestine, west of the Jordon River, the Promised land of the Israelites.

Once again, teacher Robin has provided beautiful background pages and graphics, lessons rich in tradition and information to enhance the story. You can find the link to her website in the last post.

Gratitude 

1. Biblical stories filled with mystery and intrigue.

2. History

3. You, my dear readers.

Ephesians 1:16

I have not stopped giving thanks for you,

remembering you in my prayers.

Blessings,

Deborah

Proverbs 31 - Lesson 20

Welcome and Happy Tuesday!

Proverbs 31:29 (NIV)
Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all.

Woman of the Bible = Rebekah

Rebekah's story in an interesting one to me. First of all, any woman who will leave the home she has always know and travel to places far away is very brave. It takes her 20 years to conceive her twins, Jacob and Esau. She then favors Jacob and plots with him to deceive his father, Isaac, and cheat his brother Esau out of his birth right and blessings. The plot works, Esau gets very angry and says when their father dies he will kill Jacob. Jacob leaves for his mother's homeland to escape Esau and his plans.

Robin, the teacher for this class, believes that God gives us examples of imperfect characters so we see how God can use us in our imperfectness. I tend to agree. What do you think?

I used Robin's beautiful graphics to create this two page spread, adding some washi tape and a little verse mapping. 

Here is the link to the Proverbs 31/Women of the Bible class by Robin Sampson.
https://biblejournallove.teachable.com/p/proverbs-31-bible-journal-class

Gratitude
1. Imperfect Bible characters
2. Hope in God
3.Family coming for Thanksgiving!!

Ephesians 1:16
I have not stopped giving thanks for you,
remembering you in my prayers.

May I pray for you? Please leave a comment and I will add you to my prayer list.

Blessings,
Deborah

Prayers of Blessing for Your Friend

Welcome!

Starting a new challenge today, because, well, it's what I do! lol

https://adivineencounter.com/prayers-of-blessing-for-your-friend/

Go to the link above and begin praying for a friend or friends this month.
There is even a booklet you can print out. It is a traveler's notebook style.

Blessings,
Deborah