In The Beginning | Genesis 1-3

In this episode, we continue through Genesis 16:7–18:15 and follow three major discoveries that opened up as I returned to these chapters with fresh eyes.We begin with Hagar in the wilderness and the God who sees her, then follow that thread forward to another woman beside another well in John 4. From there, Genesis 17 takes us into the covenant sign of circumcision and an unexpected rabbit trail through Scripture: circumcision of the heart, the work of the Spirit, the eighth day, and the resurrection of Christ. Finally, Genesis 18 brings us to Abraham’s table, where a meal in the presence of the LORD leads us through Passover, covenant fellowship, the Last Supper, and all the way to the marriage supper of the Lamb.This is one of those studies that reminded me why I love slowing down and letting Scripture lead us from one passage to another. Keep your Bible open, follow the cross-references, and see what the Lord shows you for yourself.Main Reading:Genesis 16:7–18:15Additional Scriptures referenced:Genesis 1, Genesis 19:1, Genesis 21, Genesis 25, Genesis 34, Exodus 12, Exodus 24:9–11, Leviticus 3, Leviticus 7:11–21, Deuteronomy 10:16, Deuteronomy 30:6, Psalm 139:23–24, Jeremiah 4:3–4, Jeremiah 6:10, Jeremiah 9:25–26, Ezekiel 36:26–27, Matthew 28:1, Matthew 28:19–20, Mark 16:2, Luke 22:14–20, Luke 24:1, Luke 24:39–40, John 1:1–3, John 4, John 13:1–17, John 14:15–17, John 20, Romans 2:28–29, 1 Corinthians 4:15, Galatians 4:19, Colossians 2:11–12, Hebrews 13:2, Revelation 19:6–9Continue to Study With Us:Companion Study App: https://app.lyricandletter.comWomen’s Bible Study: https://www.lyricandletterstudios.com/womensbiblestudyLyric & Letter Studios Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/lyricandletterThe Quiet Table: https://www.youtube.com/@lyricandletterstudios/liveIf something in this study made you stop, sent you down a rabbit trail, or helped you notice something you had never seen before, I would love to hear about it in the comments. Tell me what you found so we can keep studying together.

Which way do you go when the path that looks best isn't necessarily the path of faith?As we continue through Genesis, Abram and Lot have returned from Egypt. Their households have grown, the land can no longer support them together, and a choice has to be made. But the choices in these chapters go far beyond which piece of land to take.As I studied Genesis 13:5–16:5, I kept noticing people standing at these moments of decision. Lot has a choice. Abram has choices. Sarai has a choice. And underneath each one is a question that reaches far beyond their story: What will govern the way we go? What God has said? What we can see? What seems reasonable? What the culture around us accepts? Or what we think we need to make happen ourselves?In this episode, we’ll explore:• The growing contrast between Abram and Lot• Lot’s choices and the progression toward Sodom• Why the New Testament calling Lot “righteous” makes his story even more sobering• Abram’s rescue of Lot and the battle of Genesis 14• Melchizedek and the connection Hebrews makes to Christ• Abram’s encounter with the king of Sodom• “Counted to him as righteousness” and why the New Testament keeps returning to Genesis 15:6• The covenant ceremony of Genesis 15• Why Abram is put into a deep sleep while God passes between the pieces• What happens when waiting turns into taking matters into our own hands• Sarai, Hagar, and an unexpected echo of Genesis 3• The difference between trusting God’s promise and trying to accomplish the outcome ourselvesSCRIPTURES & CROSS-REFERENCESGenesis 2–3Genesis 13:5–16:5Psalm 110Matthew 25:1–13Romans 41 Corinthians 3Galatians 3Hebrews 7James 22 Peter 2CHAPTERSTimestamps will be added after the episode is processed.STUDY ALONG WITH THE PODCASTYou can now listen to Go Slow. Study Deep. Be Transformed. directly inside the Companion Study App while reading the Scripture we’re studying right there on the same screen.Companion Study App:app.lyricandletter.comWOMEN’S BIBLE STUDYwww.lyricandletterstudios.com/womensbiblestudyFACEBOOK COMMUNITYwww.facebook.com/groups/lyricandletterTHE QUIET TABLE | STUDY WITH MEhttps://www.youtube.com/@lyricandletterstudios/liveBring your Bible and come sit at the table with me. We’re going to go slow, ask questions, follow a few rabbit trails, and dig into what the Word actually says.Go Slow. Study Deep. Be Transformed.

What happens when God says, “Go”—but doesn’t give you the whole map?In this episode of Go Slow. Study Deep. Be Transformed., we’re slowing down in Genesis 11:27–13:4 as the story of Genesis narrows from the nations to one man, one family, and one extraordinary promise.God calls Abram to leave his land, his relatives, and his father’s household and go “to the land that I will show you.” Abram does not know where the road will take him. Sarai is barren. There is no child, no nation, and no land in Abram’s possession—and yet God begins speaking promise after promise:“I will make…”“I will bless…”“I will make your name great…”We’ll explore what Abram was actually being asked to leave behind in his ancient cultural setting, why the contrast between Babel’s “Let us make a name for ourselves” and God’s “I will make your name great” matters, and how the New Testament helps us understand Abraham’s faith through Hebrews 11, Romans 4, Galatians 3, and Acts 7.And then we’ll follow one of my favorite threads in this study:God says to Abram, “Go.”Jesus says to His disciples, “Follow Me.”Different moments in redemptive history—but the same faithful God calling His people to trust Him before they can see the whole road.We’ll watch Abram obey, build altars, call on the name of the LORD—and then encounter a severe famine that places the promise under pressure. Fear begins speaking louder than what God has said, Abram tries to protect himself through his own strategy, Sarai is placed in danger, and God Himself intervenes.But Genesis does not leave Abram in Egypt.It brings him back to the altar.This is a story about real faith, real fear, real failure, and the faithfulness of a God whose promises do not depend upon His people being flawless.Faith receives what God has spoken.Obedience responds.And when fear makes us reach for control, repentance brings us back to dependence on the One who was faithful before we ever took the first step.📖 STUDY ALONGCompanion Study App:https://app.lyricandletter.comWomen’s Bible Study:https://www.lyricandletterstudios.com/womensbiblestudyLyric & Letter Studios Facebook Group:https://www.facebook.com/groups/lyricandletterThe Quiet Table:https://www.youtube.com/@lyricandletterstudios/liveSCRIPTURE IN THIS EPISODEGenesis 11:27–13:4Genesis 3:15Joshua 24:2Joshua 24Matthew 4:18–22Matthew 8Matthew 9:9Luke 5:11Luke 9:57–62Mark 10:28–30Acts 7:2–4Romans 4Galatians 3:8, 16Hebrews 11:8–101 Corinthians 10:12Luke 22John 21Next time, we’ll continue through the rest of Genesis 13–16 as Abram and Lot separate, the promise continues to unfold, we meet Melchizedek, God formally establishes His covenant with Abram, and Sarai, Hagar, and Ishmael enter the story.Go slow.Study deep.Be transformed.

What changed after the floodwaters receded? The world had been washed clean, but the human heart had not been made new.In Episode Four, we are walking slowly through Genesis 9–11—from God’s covenant with Noah and the rainbow He placed in the clouds, to Noah’s vineyard, the actions of his sons, the Table of Nations, and humanity’s rebellion at Babel.Along the way, we will follow the connections between Adam and Noah, talk honestly about the curse spoken over Canaan, and watch the same condition of the human heart appear again and again. New surroundings cannot transform us. Greater knowledge cannot transform us. Human unity, achievement, security, and even a completely fresh beginning cannot give us a new heart. We need Jesus.So grab your Bible, a notebook, something to write with, and a nice cup of coffee or tea. This is a longer study, but there is so much waiting for us in these chapters as we go slow, study deep, and allow the Word of God to transform us.Next time, we will continue through Genesis as the story narrows from the nations to one man named Abram—and God begins unfolding His promise to bless all the families of the earth through him.Companion Study App:https://app.lyricandletter.comWomen’s Bible Study:https://www.lyricandletterstudios.com/womensbiblestudyFacebook Group:https://www.facebook.com/groups/lyricandletterThe Quiet Table:https://www.youtube.com/@lyricandletterstudios/live

Before the rain ever falls, Scripture tells us something we've never heard about God before: it grieved Him to His heart. In this episode, we slow down in Genesis 6 through 8 and sit with what that actually means, and how the very next verse tells us that Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.We trace how the sons of God "saw" and "took" the same way Eve did in the garden, why Noah's favor came before his righteousness and not because of it, and what it means that his obedience "condemned the world" without a trace of hatred in it. We watch God shut him in, remember him, and bring him out onto dry ground, patiently, into a world whose heart hadn't actually changed.In This EpisodeWhy "the LORD regretted" and "it grieved Him to His heart" doesn't mean God made a mistake, and what that language is actually communicatingThe pattern of "saw... good... took" that connects the sons of God in Genesis 6 all the way back to EdenWhy Noah found favor before Scripture ever calls him righteous, and why that order mattersWhat clean and unclean animals tell us about worship long before the Law was ever writtenThe four-word turning point of the whole flood account: "But God remembered Noah"See our pictures of the Ark Encounter: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/199QCbKUw6/Secondary ReadingExodus 34:6-7, Hebrews 11:7, 1 Peter 3:18-22, Ezekiel 14:12-20, Ezekiel 36:22-28, Psalm 144:13-14Study AlongFull notes and the Study Method at app.lyricandletter.comGo DeeperOpen your own Bible to Genesis 6-8: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%206-8&version=NIVWork through the passage in the Companion App - app.lyricandletter.comJoin Rebecca's women's Bible study community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/lyricandletterOriginal Music "Intercession" by Lyric and Letter Studios, available on all streaming platforms.Have a beautiful day in the Lord. God bless.

"Am I my brother's keeper?" It's the question Cain asks right after the first murder in Scripture, and it's still the question underneath every excuse we make for looking away from someone else.In this episode, we slow down in Genesis 4 and 5 and ask what's actually there: why God accepted one offering and not the other, what it means that sin was "crouching at the door," and how one family line spirals into violence while another begins to call on the name of the Lord.In This EpisodeWhat actually set Cain and Abel's offerings apart, and why it was never about the offering itselfThe Hebrew word behind "sin is crouching at the door," and the picture it actually paintsWhy blessing and curse are opposites in Hebrew, but consequences and curse are notLamech's song, his descendants, and what a family looks like when it has everything but GodThe one man in Genesis 5 who didn't just live and die like everyone else, and what it meant that he walked with GodSecondary readings: Colossians 1:15-20, Hebrews 12:24Study AlongFull notes and the Study Method at app.lyricandletter.comGo DeeperOpen your own Bible to Genesis 4-5Work through the passage in the Companion AppJoin Rebecca's women's Bible study communityHave a beautiful day in the Lord. God bless.

We're starting at the very first page of Scripture, right where it all begins.In this episode, we slow down in Genesis 1 through 3 and ask what's actually there. A single Hebrew word that reframes the whole creation account. A pattern repeated six times that says something about who God still is today. A rest that was never meant to close. And a fall that tests, for the first time, whether God's word actually holds.This isn't a surface-level walkthrough. We're going to sit in the text long enough to actually see it, before it's turned into anything else. Just Scripture, and me studying alongside you, not ahead of you.In This EpisodeWhat stood out to me as I sat with these chapters, and whyHistorical and original-language context that opens the passage upA few cross-reference threads worth following on your ownWhat these three chapters reveal about who God isGo DeeperOpen your own Bible to Genesis 1–3 before you press playStudy deeper in the Companion App at app.lyricandletter.comJoin the conversation on YouTube or Facebook.

This is the front door to Go Slow. Study Deep. Be Transformed. Before we open Genesis together, I wanted you to know how we got here: a living room Bible study in 2008, years of filmmaking that changed how I read a scene, a podcast called Lyric & Letter that kept leading me back to Scripture itself, and a women's Bible study that became the center of everything. This episode is the why behind the show, the Study Method, and the invitation to study slowly, deeply, and communally from Genesis to Revelation.Bring your Bible. Bring your questions. Let's begin again.📖 Study Guide: https://app.lyricandletter.com/guide📲 Companion Study App: https://app.lyricandletter.com💬 Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/lyricandletter🎥 YouTube (Music & Study Hall): https://www.youtube.com/@LyricandLetterStudiosGo slow. Study deep. Be transformed.