Reading the Map: Lessons in Genesis (Volume III)

God has a way to teaching us in life that is tailored to our need. The experiences of our days are not happenstance, but part of a vast plan of a purposed God. In these lessons we follow the continuing story of the generations of the family of Abraham and Sarah that follows the lives of Isaac, Jacob and Esau – along with their wives and extended families. It is clear in the opening lessons that the pattern of deception and struggle of faith that was exhibited in the life of Abraham was passed to his son. Isaac found it hard to consistently follow God. Yet, it seems fair to suggest that no one in Genesis seems as indelibly associated with deception as the man who was named “trickster” at his birth – Jacob (Ya’acov). In many ways, in his early life he demonstrated well that he believed that trickery in the service of self was no vice. If he was more clever than his dumb and dirty outdoorsy brother, that was Esau’s problem. Then it progressed as he grew older….If he was slicker than his sick dad could catch – no matter. It wasn’t until his father died and his brother threatened, that Jacob left home and met God. He fell asleep on the journey, and saw the connection of Heaven and earth in a vision of a stairway that came down from above. He recognized that life was bigger than he ever saw before, and rose a different man. God led him, prospered him… and even called him to return to his estranged and wounded brother. Their parting was bitter, but Jacob didn’t return the same man he was when he departed – and that made all the difference.

Dr. Randall Smith and his wife Dottie raised their three children in Jerusalem, as he developed travel study programs in Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Greece, Cyprus and Italy. With extensive study in the interconnection between the Bible, its contemporary history, archaeology and cultures of the ancient world, Dr. Smith has taught in Bible lands - from the back of a camel to the deck of a cruise ship - for three decades. He continues to offer acclaimed travel experiences for students of the Bible through Christian Travel Study Programs, Inc. Over the last decade, he has carefully developed a curriculum and taught through the entire Bible each year with students from the Great Commission Bible Institute in Sebring, Florida, while maintaining a robust travel schedule with study groups to Bible lands. He is a Pastor, Bible Professor and tour guide instructor who loves to show how standing on the ruins of an ancient place can enliven the text of Scripture.