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Bible study for Genesis 30:37-45

Genesis 30:37-45 (get text)  links to:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

Psalm 7 describes the consequences of evil deeds with these words ‘they make a pit, digging it out, and fall into the hole that they have made’!  In our passage today, this is exactly what happens to Laban; he had played tricks on Jacob, deceiving him over his first marriage and then binding him into his service because of his love for Rachel.  Then when Jacob wished to leave, as we discovered yesterday (30:25-36), he flatly refused and forced Jacob into a deal which tied him into his service as a shepherd.  But Laban had gone too far.  The Lord’s hand was on Jacob within both his marriage and his work, and the evidence of this was there for Laban to see.  Jacob was clearly blessed by God as the father of eleven sons and a daughter (29:31-30:24), all in little more than seven years (after his marriage to Leah and Rachel – 29:21-29).  Secondly, and as Laban openly confessed, Laban had been personally blessed by Jacob’s success as a shepherd; something he attributed to divine help (30:27).

Today’s passage describes how everything changed and the tables were turned on the scoundrel Laban; and we can chuckle as we read it, for Laban should have known better.  What happened was neither magic nor a form of ancient genetic engineering, but the results of God’s blessing upon Jacob.  The text for today’s reading is difficult to translate and difficult to explain, and you may have been confused when reading about the stripped rods of poplar (etc) at watering holes and what they meant!  The details of this are set out later in the Bible study, but the simple version of what happened is this.  Laban had agreed that Jacob’s pay should be any sheep or goats born in the coming years that were piebald (30:32); that is, multicoloured instead of being a single colour.  Laban immediately made it next to impossible for Jacob to obtain these by sending them as far away as possible (30:35,36).  Jacob was left with healthy flocks of white sheep and black goats that were pure bred, so his chances of breeding piebald ones were virtually non-existent!

Most of our text today describes Jacob’s attempt to make the flocks do the impossible and bear the multicoloured sheep and goats that he could claim as his own.  His methods were typical of the day but questionable, yet whatever we make of this (see below), he was successful!  God blessed Jacob so much that at the end of our passage, his wealth as measured in healthy piebald sheep and goats was so extensive, that it was described (30:43) in words similar to those describing Abraham when he was given great wealth by Pharaoh as he left Egypt (12:16f.)!

Against all human odds, Jacob was blessed by God, and like his grandfather Abraham, he prospered in flocks and servants whilst living away from the Promised Land.  This is an important Old Testament theme, for the thriving of God’s people outside of the Promised Land was regarded by the later prophets (e.g. Jeremiah & Ezekiel) as vital evidence that God never abandoned those he loved.  He was always faithful and blessed his people at those very points in their lives when they thought they were most lost.  This remains true today!

Genesis 30:37-45 (get text)  links to:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Going Deeper

(consult Dictionaries)

Clearly, we will have to look carefully at exactly what was going on in this story, though we will have to accept that some of it is virtually unfathomable!  Yet this fact alone enables us to see how God’s Covenant plan was being fulfilled in a way that was prophetic.  The Lord has always been able to rise above popular belief and culture (as practised by Jacob) to do His will; He was then, and He is now.

Breeding method 1 – what the flocks saw when they were mating

Several things must be clear in our minds as we begin to try and explain this rather obscure text.  Firstly, you will find that it is translated quite differently in most common translations of the Bible.  The very fact that the translations are so different should cause us to think twice about what was going on.  It is most likely that the practices described are ones that would have made perfect sense to people of ancient times, but are completely confusing to us today because our understanding of sheep rearing is now completely different.

Secondly, the normal colour of the flocks was that the sheep were white and the goats were a dark brown, almost black colour.  This means that according to Laban’s scheme, Jacob could claim only those of the pure bred flocks which were born with any colour blemish, and this would be highly unlikely!  Laban, of course was counting on this fact to preserve his own flocks and wealth.  Incidentally, we should note that Laban’s name means ‘white’, so a considerable amount of the narrative in Hebrew is a play on Laban’s name, in effect mocking the man who had tried to cheat Jacob, but who was now on the receiving end of God’s trickery!

Thirdly, it was believed in those days (and there is evidence of this belief from non-biblical sources which come from those ancient times) that the objects seen by female animals when they mated had a bearing on the offspring they bore.  Before we dismiss this as nonsense, we should consider that opinion today is that a variety of circumstances and stimuli at conception do indeed affect the young that are born, though admittedly, not things as such as the skin colour of animals.  Nevertheless, we should not be disparaging of these ancient attempts at understanding the breeding processes just because four millennia have passed since the times we are discussing.

Armed with this knowledge, we can now see what Jacob was doing.  He needed to outplay Laban by breeding piebald animals from pure white sheep and black goats.  He attempted to do this by placing a naturally ‘striped’ image in front of the female goats when they were ‘on heat’ and came to the water troughs for mating (30:38); and did this by tearing strips of bark off young shoots of wood (30:37). The fact that this method worked may appear to us to be the peculiar consequence of superstition, but that would be ungenerous to Scripture, for it is likely that verse 39 reports the success of the venture as miraculous.  Scripture mostly records things that happen and leaves us to decide the value of what happened (for example, nowhere in the story of Jonah does Scripture say that his survival in the belly of a fish for three days and nights was a ‘miracle’ – that is our obvious judgement after reading the story!). 

After success with the goats, Jacob used a similar method with the sheep.  He placed the flock of ewes, when they were ‘on heat’ and near a water trough (30:40), to face the black and striped animals in Laban’s flocks in order to achieve the same effect, even though Laban attempted to keep his flocks at a distance from those that belonged to Jacob.  The result was that he ‘built up his own flocks and separated them from Laban’s flock’ (30:40); in other words, once Jacob had healthy piebald sheep and goats of his own, he continued to look after Laban’s pure white sheep and black goats, but made sure that his own piebald flocks were favoured.  They were his just inheritance!

Breeding method 2 – favouring the stronger

From verse 41 onwards, Jacob employed a second breeding method which is much more obvious to us.  He made sure that his own flocks grew stronger by encouraging the mating of the stronger animals within his own flocks.  This was important because in our modern language of genetics, the ‘piebald’ types are naturally weaker (the result of a ‘recessive’ gene), and they needed the kind of aggressive breeding tactics Jacob employed in order for them to grow strong.  It must be said that verse 41 appears to contain a mixture of these two methods of breeding and the Hebrew of the text is extremely unclear.  If your own translation appears to say something different, that is the unfortunate consequence of a very awkward passage.

As before, we must accept that Jacob had no more knowledge of the genetics of breeding the stronger animals than he did of the appropriateness of what animals saw when they mated, so whereas we see the successful outcome of this second method (30:42b) as logical, it was as much a mystery to Jacob as the outcome of the first method, and both of them were from his point of view, down to the miraculous intervention of God.  By the end of the passage, and certainly in the next chapter, the wealth of Jacob obtained in this way was described as the work of God alone (31:7f.); and although we do not naturally read the passage in this way, there is no mistaking this conclusion in Scripture!

God’s blessing was now evident in Jacob’s life in three essential ways.  He had an extensive family that fulfilled the Covenant promise of God that he would ‘make nations (12:2,3) out of Abraham and his descendants.  Secondly, his work was evidently blessed, and it was even a blessing to others (see 12:2,3 also), though Laban would have only accepted this grudgingly (30:27), and now Jacob had found wealth that measured up to that of his grandfather Abraham (see above); for with the growth of his flocks, he was able to procure the services of servants and the other trappings of wealth as a consequence of his managing and trading of the animals the Laban could no longer dispute were his.  For Laban, the worst outcome had occurred.  Jacob’s God had blessed him and enabled him to prosper, and for one such as Laban whose life was lived in the worship of other gods and whose morality was based on his own survival rather than any kind of compassion or idea of the common good, it was galling to see his despised son-in-law escape the clutches of the trap he had set.

Genesis 30:37-45 (get text)  links to:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Application

The story of Jacob in this part of Scripture describes the unexpected blessing of a man who was willing to place his trust in the Lord and wait patiently for many years to see the fulfilment of all he had worked for.  In a quite unexpected way, Jacob’s ‘fortunes’ were turned around by God’s blessing on his hard work and labour at times that were difficult for his family and troubled by strife with his father-in-law.  We also have a great deal of evidence of disharmony in Jacob’s household from the previous stories of the birth of his children (29:31-30:24).

There are many places in the New Testament where we are encouraged to persist in order to travel a path of holy living; for example, from the letter of Paul to the Romans: ‘we boast of our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope …’ (Romans 5:3,4,5)  This text outlines a sequence which contains character building, endurance and the blessing of God which is remarkably similar to what happens in the story of Jacob.  I am of the opinion that this great text which is one of the best descriptions of the life of holiness in the New Testament is indeed inspired by the life of Jacob.  Paul was writing a letter to the Romans which was like a treatise setting out the ground rules of the spiritual life of a Christian, in the same way that the book of Genesis sets out God’s ground rules for all his creation, and the story of Jacob is a pattern for the People of Israel.  It is not unimportant that Paul was a renowned Hebrew scholar of his day, who knew the stories of the Old Testament with familiarity and accuracy.

Another similar passage comes in 1 Peter: ‘for this reason, you must make every effort to support your faith with goodness, and goodness with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with endurance, and endurance with godliness, and godliness with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love …’ (1 Peter 1:5-7).  Yet again, at the heart of this ladder of spiritual qualities which build upon each other, is the quality of endurance; and the valuable insight of this passage is that true godliness and love are built upon the rock of endurance and self control.  This again, reminds us of the story of Jacob.

Jacob was by no means a perfect person, and it would be wrong to say that he was even a ‘good’ person at some points in his reported life (Gen 27).  He was however someone who was on a spiritual journey of profound depth and quality.  It must surely be our aim, once we have responded to the call of Christ, to walk a sustained and purposeful journey of faith which is a proper expression of our salvation.  Some of what happened to Jacob helps us to understand the steps we must take on our own journey; however different we are from Jacob, we have things in common!

Genesis 30:37-45 (get text)  links to:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. What examples can you find of a sustained spiritual journey in Scripture?  Do they all include ‘endurance’ or ‘perseverance’
2. Can you think of examples from your own life where the Lord has blessed things that have happened to you which may be insignificant on the surface, but which have a deeper spiritual meaning?
3. If sheep and goats were the key to Jacob’s wealth, what are the keys to wealth today?

Discipleship

How would you describe your own journey of faith?  Is it merely a walk from one exciting experience of worship or teaching to another?  Spend some time looking at the life of Jacob, or the summary descriptions of Paul and Peter (as in the Bible study) and see whether you have been able to walk a path that is similar in any way to that defined by Scripture?  To what extent have you persevered or endured?

Final Prayer

Thank You, Lord God Almighty, for the sheer joy of Your presence; for the intensity and wonder of the love of Jesus, for the breathtaking excitement of the wind of the Holy Spirit, and the amazing providence and care You have set in place for each of us who receive and accept Your love.  Give us a heart that never fails to respond to Your awesome presence, Lord God Almighty;  AMEN

Bible study for Genesis 31:1-21

Genesis 31:1-21 (get text)   links to:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

Most of Genesis 31 is the long story of Jacob’s escape from his father-in-law Laban, and the beginning of his journey back to Canaan.  After such a long time, it is a momentous event, and as we read the story we can almost feel Jacob’s powerful sense of call back to the Promised Land and the homelands of Isaac in the southern Negev.  It is not surprising however that Laban remains a formidable opponent to God’s will for Jacob’s life, and the work of the Lord to guide Jacob and his now independent family back to Canaan is fraught with all manner of evil and deception.  The majority of the story is contained in three substantial sections of scripture, of which today’s and tomorrow’s readings are the longest.  It is virtually impossible to break the storyline down further and make sense of it, but if we spend time reading the text of Scripture, we will be amply rewarded, as we shall discover in the study.

Today’s passage covers the process whereby Jacob decided to leave Laban after becoming concerned at the attitude of Laban’s sons towards him (31:1,2), up to the point at which he leaves (31:17,18).  Most of the text is a consultation Jacob holds in the fields with Rachel and Leah about whether they should go (31:4f.).  It was essential for Jacob that his wives felt happy to leave, for all trace of ‘the old life’ with Laban needed to be left behind, and if either of them wished to remain, then it would have been impossible for Jacob to go.  As it was, the two women could see that they had no future with their father, and although they had lived with Jacob for many years (seven years of payment for Rachel, and six years earning the flocks – see 29:30 and 31:38), this was the time to break the ties with their father.

In reality, it was God who was in control of events, and the agreement of Rachel and Leah was the confirmation Jacob needed to help him do what he believed the Lord was requiring of him.  Firstly, God spoke to Jacob when he noticed the grumblings of discontent amongst the sons of Laban when they saw that he was gaining wealth at the expense of their own father.  The Lord spoke to Jacob (31:3) and told him to leave, whereupon he acted immediately to summon Rachel and Leah.  After spelling out his concerns to his two wives, Jacob then recounted a vision he had seen (31:10-13); this vision spelt out the truth that it was God who was behind his success at rearing the sheep and goats, and the wealth he had gained.  Moreover, the vision reminded Jacob of the promises he had made when leaving the Promised Land. Then God’s angel commanded Jacob to leave Laban.  Any consequent blessing from the Lord would be dependent upon his obedience!

Having taken the decision to leave and proceeded on his way (31:37,38), we discover two problem.  Firstly, Jacob left while Laban was occupied shearing his sheep (31:19), moreover, unbeknown to Jacob, Rachel stole some household idols from her father.  Both deceptions marred the departure and indicated problems ahead before Jacob could receive the further promises of God that he would be able to ‘go back to (his) native land’ (31:13).

Genesis 31:1-21 (get text)   links to:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Going Deeper

(consult Dictionaries)

There are several features of this story worth further attention; firstly, what exactly did God do about the speckled and spotted sheep?  What is reported here is different from happened in the previous verse.  More than this, we should have our eyes on the promises and commands of God, which form a pattern which is very close to the Christian understanding of ‘grace’.

Jacob gathers his family to explain himself

Once Jacob began to be successful with the breeding of the multicoloured goats and sheep, the other member of Laban’s family, his sons, could see their own inheritance slipping through their fingers.   From their point of view, Jacob was gaining wealth at their father’s expense and ultimately their own, for what Jacob took as pay under the agreements he had with their father would not be available for their inheritance.  All through the story, Jacob’s success in breeding is compared to the rest of Laban’s stock, and the implication is that the other sons were left with weak animals and poor flocks (30:42).

The critical point came when the Lord spoke to Jacob with a direct command to return home (31:3).  To Jacob’s credit, he acted immediately by summoning his wives to meet him in the fields, where they could have a private conversation away from the whispering and prying eyes of servants among the tents, who might pass on information about what was going on.

It was critical that Jacob persuade his two wives that they should do the culturally unthinkable and leave their father.  The real test of God’s command was whether he could leave with his family united, for potentially, they were the chosen people of God, the descendants of Abraham and Isaac who were ‘pure bred’.  Jacob began by explaining himself to his wives, and asked them to choose to stay with him firstly, because God was with him, and secondly because their father had turned his back on them (30:5).  We read too swiftly over this verse because the idea that God is ‘with us’ is something that we who know the presence of Jesus in our own lives can take for granted.  If we look back on this matter in Genesis, however, Abraham was told by others that God was ‘with him’ (21:22), Isaac was told by God that the Lord was ‘with him’ (26:24), and now Jacob claimed for himself that God was ‘with him’ (31:5).  Jacob was the first person in Scripture to make this claim by and of himself, and in those times it was an astonishing claim to make, and indicated that Jacob was committed to doing the Lord’s will.

The speech of the angel

Jacob then reported a dream in which he had seen ‘God’s angel’ (31:11).  An angel was a messenger of the Lord and there is confusion in the various stories about angels in Genesis concerning whether it is ‘an angel’ who speaks, or God Himself.  Here, for example, the angel is introduced first, and then says ‘I am the God who met you at Bethel’ (31:13)!   Nevertheless, the general theme of the message was that the successful breeding of the flocks mentioned in the previous chapter was God’s work and not Jacob’s; something that Jacob had already openly acknowledged (31:7,8) in front of His wives.

There is some confusion amongst scholars about the differences between the breeding described in chapter 30, and those in chapter 31.  In the first chapter (30:37f.), all that was described was one circumstance in which Jacob contrived to breed multicoloured or piebald goats and sheep.  Here in this chapter, Jacob complained that Laban changed the agreement about whether the stripped or speckled flocks were his wages (31:7,8) and the angel spoke of God’s general work over the years which ensured that the mating animals were multicoloured!

It will help us to know that in ancient practice, shepherding contracts were negotiated annually after sheep sheering (we know this from ancient records, separate from the Bible).  It looks as if what happened was that when Laban saw that Jacob was being successful, he tried to change the agreement each year to his advantage (see 31:7).  This is made all the more obvious in the Hebrew, in which the different words for ‘speckled’ and ‘striped’ are virtually the same except for one consonant (one letter)!  It was easy to claim that what was spoken was misunderstood! Laban certainly tried every trick possible to prevent Jacob from being successful, and he failed.  This was the reason why his ‘attitude’ changed’ towards Jacob (see 30:1).

The angel’s words were also consistent with the way in which the Lord had repeatedly dealt with both Abraham and Isaac.  Both men had been given a promise, then the Lord commanded them to do something, and He followed up this with a promise of further blessings.  In Abraham’s life, for example, the first promise came at the beginning as he left Haran for Canaan (12:2,3, and then 15:1f.), the command came later (which was to ‘circumcise’ Gen ch.17) and the further blessings then came in the form of the birth of his only son Isaac.  In Jacob’s case, God’s first promise to Jacob was to be ‘with him’ (28:15), which was proved by the growth of his wealth and family whilst in Laban’s service.  Now, the angel gave God’s command to return to the Promised Land, the one part of the Covenant promise of the Lord’s blessings which Jacob did not yet possess.  Further blessings would follow!

Rachel and Leah’s response, and the departure.

The response of Rachel and Leah confirmed Jacob’s resolve.  They were brave enough to go with their husband.  Their arguments for doing so were interesting; they already felt outcast from Laban’s family (31:15), moreover, any woman would have expected that the ‘bride price’ paid to their fathers by their husbands would be returned to them as a dowry, and Laban was not prepared to do this.  Jacob had paid for his wives by his work, and Rachel and Leah saw no evidence that Laban had kept any of the benefits of their husband’s labour for them.  They therefore felt ‘sold’ by him, and felt that the only way they would have any share in their father’s wealth would be through their husband, Jacob, from the flocks Jacob had bred as his and theirs.  Remarkably, the feuding Rachel and Leah of earlier times (29:31-30:24) were in total agreement in support of their husband.  They wanted to do the Lord’s will and leave!

With Laban involved in the intensive work of shearing his sheep at a different location (31:19), there was no reason for Jacob to delay, and he set off for Canaan, crossing the Euphrates river and heading for Gilead, the general term for the hill country to the east of the river Jordan (31:17,21).  Apart from deceiving Laban by leaving without telling him, one small incident occurred that would have a bearing on the future in more ways than one.

Nomadic families were known to keep small, wooden effigies of ancestors, otherwise called ‘teraphim’.  They were used not for the worship of the dead, but for divination (which means predicting future events by ‘reading’ them in certain objects).  The head of the household was responsible for keeping these ‘teraphim’, and it was these that Rachel took from her father’s house.  We are not told why.  She may have felt that this signified a transference of power from her greedy father to her beloved husband, or she may have felt more comfortable facing a long journey and an uncertain future with the possession of these objects as a ‘lucky charm’.  We can guess as much as we like, but the significance of her actions would prove to be important both spiritually and practically, as we shall discover tomorrow.

Genesis 31:1-21 (get text)   links to:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Application

There is much more to come from this story.  It is worth taking time to consider one important spiritual matter clearly evidenced within this story.  That is the sequence of events by which God established his relationship with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, as we have seen above.  Firstly He makes a promise, freely given to those whom he chooses.  Then he requires something of His chosen, delivered as a command; and the fulfilment of this command or obedience to it bring further blessing.  In our text today, Jacob received the promise of God before he came to Laban, he was being required to be obedient in leaving Laban at this time, and was assured of the blessing of entering into the ‘Promised Land’ of Canaan.

This pattern of God’s dealing with people is discernable throughout Scripture, and today as well.  The Lord acts first by way of promise, and then asks us to respond in faith and obedience so that we will receive the further blessings He has to give us.  You may well find this pattern in your own spiritual life, and if so, you can be sure it is authentic!  One important aspect of this pattern is that God acts first to approach His chosen, whether the forefathers of old, or Christians today who are called of God.  This prior activity of God, often offered as a promise, is called ‘prevenient grace’; the word ‘prevenient’ meaning ‘going before’.  How often have you heard a testimony of someone who has said that when they came to faith, they realised that God had been ‘in their life’ before they committed, or that the Lord had done something for them which drew them towards faith.  All of this is ‘prevenient grace’, and it is essential to our understanding of how God establishes a relationship of love and trust with people.  It is an essential piece of theology, and a profound mystery of our faith; and its first appearance in Scripture is in Genesis!

Genesis 31:1-21 (get text)   links to:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. Do you believe that Jacob was justified in deceiving Laban by leaving without his permission?  What were the risks?
2. If God was responsible for Jacob’s success in breeding, why does Scripture record so many details about it?  What purpose does this serve?
3. What might be considered to be the equivalent of Rachel’s ‘household gods’, or ‘teraphim’, today?

Discipleship

Consider the pattern which describes the way the Lord deals with His people, as described above in the Bible study.  Can you see this pattern within your own life?  You may find that the way this has worked is a little strange; for example, you may feel that the Lord’s first promises to you were made through your Christian upbringing, rather than an event like ‘being healed’, for example.  Reflect on what commands God has given to you which he expects you to obey, and also the further promises of grace such as the gifts of the Holy Spirit which the Lord delights to give.  How much of this is your experience?

Final Prayer

Your grace, Lord Jesus, has gone before us in so many ways.  You know the trials we have faced; you have prepared for us great joy and happiness before we even know it; and You defeat the enemy before us when we go about Your business.  Thank You for Your grace, Lord Jesus.  AMEN

Bible study for Genesis 31:22-35

Genesis 31:22-35 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

We have all experienced times when some long-running dispute in which we have been involved comes to a head, and the situation has to be faced directly, with words spoken for good or ill as a consequence of everything that has happened. These can be fearsome occasions, for what happens often colours the future for a long time. The reading today describes the climactic moment when Jacob’s long-running dispute with Laban came out into the open. Up to this point, Jacob has held his tongue with profound patience and allowed his actions and God’s blessing to ‘do the talking’; but here, Laban caught up with Jacob’s camel train, together with his flocks and herds, and confronted Jacob.  The full weight of Jacob’s reply comes in the speech that is part of tomorrow’s text; but here, he waited for Laban to make his accusations and then make a fool of himself in front of everyone.

In the long story of Jacob’s time in Haran living with Laban, his father-in-law had been shown up to be a man so greedy that he tricked Jacob on his wedding night, and attempted to defraud Jacob out of every proper means of payment for his work.  When he then caught up with Jacob on his journey back to Canaan and accused him of trickery and stealing, it sounds hollow!  His two direct accusations were that he was tricked by Jacob’s removal of the family without his knowledge (31:26) and then that his ‘teraphim’ (small models of ancestors and gods used for divining, or predicting the future, otherwise called ‘household gods’) had been stolen.  He did not say that any of the sheep or cattle that Jacob had with him were stolen, which, because of their value, was probably the main reason for his pursuit of Jacob.  It is possible that Laban wanted to discredit Jacob with the smaller accusations first, and having won that argument, he would have reclaimed all he regarded as own, which was probably everything.  It was Rachel’s action that effectively saved the day!

The incident of Rachel’s stealing of her father’s ‘teraphim’, has caused widespread comment over the years, even the accusation that she took them because she was herself using them for divining, contrary to the will of God. In reality, the story line depends on our understanding that Rachel’s deceit is presented as no more or less than Laban deserves in recompense for his own trickery over Rachel’s own marriage to Jacob which he ruined (29:21-30); and there are other more fascinating aspects of this story which we will uncover later on in the study.

As in the earlier part of Genesis 31 which we studied yesterday, it is God who is in control of these events.  Jacob set out in direct obedience to God’s call; it was his ‘act of faith’ to compare with his grandfather’s setting out for Canaan in the first place (12:1f.).  Throughout the stories of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, God was always willing to use the people around those he had chosen in order to accomplish His will.  Here, he used Laban by speaking him directly before he caught up with Jacob (31:24) and telling him to act with caution.  He also used Rachel, because her actions, even though they were deceptive, vindicated her husband before everyone (31:32,35).  This vindication gave Jacob the courage to confront Laban himself; in a fascinating speech that we will read tomorrow.

Genesis 31:22-35 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Going Deeper

(consult Dictionaries)

Jacob’s flight to Canaan in obedience to God was a difficult journey, as the details of the text explain.  Laban’s accusations show him up to be a fool, but they depend upon our understanding of why Rachel stole and hid the ‘teraphim’.  You may be surprised by what we can discover about what this means!

The flight from Mesopotamia

There is little doubt that Laban set off to pursue Jacob intent upon bringing him and all his family and flocks back to Haran in Mesopotamia, for he brought with him ‘his relatives’ (31:22) which was shorthand for a band of his sons and their servants.  His approach to Jacob was not peaceful, and reminds us of the way in which Abraham, years previously, had gathered a band of his own men in order to fight some local kings and rescued Lot. (Gen 14).  In the ancient nomadic world, it was a declaration of war.

There is some dispute about the timing of everything in verses 21 to 25.  Jacob would have had to travel more than three hundred miles from the river Euphrates (31:21) to the Gilead hills, a journey of more than a month driving sheep and goats at the normal rate of 6 – 10 miles per day.  We are told the Laban set off ‘on the third day’ (31:22) and pursued Jacob ‘for seven days’ (31:23) which makes it appear as if Jacob had travelled for just ten days.  There are too many assumptions involved in this, however, for it is quite unclear what ‘the third day’ refers to, and Laban’s pursuit over a week may well have been accurately described, relative to the length of the journey, but no real assumptions can be made about how long Jacob had fled.  Also, in later stories of Jacob, it is clear that he knew about the value of separating the flocks from the family (33:1f.) and whilst Jacob may have reached the slopes of Gilead, nothing is said of the whereabouts of the flocks.  Indeed, the focus of the whole story is on Jacob’s flight from Laban and the stealing of the teraphim.

The Lord’s hand was on the whole situation, however, and he spoke to Laban in such a way as to hold him back.  Although Laban was related to Abraham he was not one of God’s chosen people, but he was a religious man, as was everyone in those days. A dream was sufficient evidence to him that God was protecting Jacob, but that was not going to stop him venting his wrath.  His original plan to attack and take Jacob’s flocks and family therefore had to be set aside and was dependent upon his success in accusing Jacob of deception and stealing.

Laban’s accusations

It is farcical to read what Laban spoke in anger to Jacob!  Almost all the words he spoke were used by the story teller of the narrative to make fun of him and point to his double standards.  His first words ‘What have you done’ (31:26)are identical to those that Jacob said to Laban on the morning after his wedding night when he discovered that Laban had tricked him into marrying Leah! (29:25).  Secondly, he said ‘You have tricked me and carried off my daughters like prisoners of war!’ (31:26)  This is comical, for we all know that it was Laban who had been tricking Jacob all along.  It may have been God’s punishment on Jacob for his own trickery when he was a younger man (25:29f. 271f.)), but this was not Laban’s business, it was God’s, and the Lord was exposing Laban as the greedy trickster in front of everyone.

The irony of the whole situation is exposed by the fact that we who read the story already know (31:14f.) that Jacob’s wives, Rachel and Leah, both agreed to go with their husband willingly, and were now free with their husband.  It was while they were with their father that they were bound and captive.  Their husband gave them a choice about what they should do; their father merely presumed his right to keep his daughters as he wished.  Laban, in truth, was typical of those who use culture for their own ends.  He expected the cultural norm whereby his daughters stayed within his extended family, but he had never displayed any other respect of cultural norms, such as in the return of ‘bride-price’ quoted by Rachel and Leah as the reason for their leaving (31:15).

As for a family feast of celebration when they left (31:27), this suggestion was cynical, for we all know that Laban would have never allowed that to happen.  Laban’s idea of a party was previously experienced only once; his bridal party for Rachel at which he swapped her for Leah.  Who would have believed that he would not attempt any trick to achieve his way!  However, the Scriptures now present us with a great irony involving trickery.  This is the story of how Rachel, the younger sister who was tricked, proceeded to trick her father.

The story of the teraphim

Having made his laughable general accusations, Laban then played what he thought was his trump card.  He accused Jacob of stealing his teraphim.  These objects of divination (see above) were normally kept by the most senior man in a nomadic family group, as symbols of power.  They were Laban’s tools of religious manipulation which, in a religious world where the one true God had not revealed Himself to others as He did to Abraham, these ‘teraphim’ or ‘gods’ were the religious playthings of the powerful and rich, such as Laban.  Indeed, this fact may well have prompted Rachel to steal the teraphim in the first place; for her it was an act of contempt for her father and his mistreatment of her.  We too easily forget that she was the one who was cheated on her wedding night, not just Jacob.

We who read the story know that Rachel has stolen these wooden teraphim, yet the Scriptural story-writer winds up the tension by describing how Jacob reacts with indignity to the suggestion that he or anyone else in his family has stolen the teraphim.  He makes the wild promise that anyone caught with them will be killed, for from his point of view, if a servant had done this, such action might deal with Laban’s accusations and enable him to go on his way unaffected.  However, we know more than he!  The tension mounts further as Laban searched the tents of Jacob and Leah and the concubines, finally coming to Rachel.

The truth of what happened next is a mystery that we must allow Rachel to live with in the mists of time, but whatever her intentions and motives, her actions are regarded by generations of Israelite people as justified by the Lord.  If Rachel lied about her period in order to protect her husband and ensure Laban did not search the camel mount (31:34) on which she sat, then she pulled off a particularly female form of trickery on a man and a father, who could never be seen publicly to disgrace a woman in her menstrual cycle.  In this case, Rachel had the ‘last laugh’ on her husband.  If Rachel truly did have her period, her sitting on the teraphim was a sign of contempt for what they stood for, and her actions were therefore justified before the living God!

Genesis 31:22-35 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Application

Sometimes, we can find these long stories of the Old Testament somewhat tedious, but they do tell us a great deal about humanity, and in a way that we do not find in the New Testament.  In our story today, a trickster is defeated by trickery; an age-old story of what happens if you live your life by scheming and the manipulation of others.  More than that, Laban put himself in the place of God over Jacob, and was originally intent on maintaining his domination.  From this point of view, we must see this story as one of liberation from bondage and domination, and the elements of the story are valuable reminders of the way God works to set His people free.  Firstly, God warned the dominator about his actions.  Jacob could not have known this, but the warning God gave (31:24) served to cut Laban the bully down to size and make him vulnerable.  Secondly, Jacob replied to Laban with an appeal to justice and truth (31:31) and although this is only a short reply in this passage, we will read much more about it tomorrow.  Thirdly, if, like Rachel, you remove the symbols of power, then the edifice can come tumbling down.

I am not sure it is possible to take any moral lesson from Rachel’s actions, and it may not be wise to accuse her of the godlessness of taking the teraphim into the Promised Land.  It is sometimes suggested that Jacob’s call to his household to ‘put away the foreign gods’ (35:2)  before entering the Promised Land was a form of rebuke to Rachel, who died only a short time later in childbirth.  The word for ‘gods’ in this later passage is, however, quite different, and Rachel’s story in ch.35 is important for other reasons, not this.  It is clear, however, that the Lord used what she did, under extreme circumstances, to bless her husband Jacob, the man who would become Israel.

Genesis 31:22-35 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. Using a map at the end of your Bible, look at Jacob’s journey from the Euphrates in the North to the Gilead hills near Canaan.  What do you make of its timing?
2. Was Jacob deceptive by leaving Laban unannounced?  Is trickery the always best answer to trickery?
3. Discuss your opinions about what Rachel’s true attitude was towards the teraphim.

Personal comments by author

The exercise of domination of one person over another is a terrible thing, and contrary to the laws of God.  Think about your own life and consider whether people have attempted to dominate you in an ungodly way, and also (which is more difficult) ask yourself whether you have exercised domination over anyone else in your own life.  Whilst repentance from sin will be appropriate for any of us who have acted in domination over others, examine the text closely to see for yourself how God deals with people who dominate others.

Final Prayer

YouSave us, Heavenly Father, from the pain of family discord, and the disruption that this can bring.  Help us to live in peace with those we hold most dear, and give us the courage to face problems and sort them out before difficult situations arise.  AMEN

Bible study for Genesis 31:36-43

Genesis 31:36-43 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

Is it wise to keep quiet when someone insults your intelligence, plays tricks on you and cheats you out of everything in life you hold dear?  More than this, could you keep quiet if this was done to you despite your best work and complete integrity; and when this was interpreted by others as weakness?  You may not feel prepared to stand for such treatment, and according to your own manner and style, might wish to withdraw from the situation or confront it head on to bring about a resolution.

It is highly likely that Jacob felt all these things over the years that his service was abused by Laban.  For twenty years, Jacob had remained relatively quiet, accepting the consequences of his actions and bearing the greed and avarice of his employer and father-in-law.  Jacob, who was introduced to us in Scripture as a grasping infant (25:26f.), a scheming teenager (25:29f.) and a gullible yet willing deceiver (27:1f.), had been forced to be on the receiving end of years of the grasping, scheming and deceiving manipulation of the man who was the father of the woman he loved; Rachel.  In the whole story of Jacob since he left his home for Mesopotamia (28:10f.), God had been with him.  We are reminded of the grace of God in caring for Jacob when he set out (28:15), in the names of his children (29:31f.) and in the Lord’s blessing on his work (30:30; 31:5 etc), and Jacob does indeed acknowledge this; but his powerful love for Rachel and his desire to care for his family and achieve independence was extremely important to him.  Both were the driving force behind Jacob’s tolerance of the seemingly intolerable.

At this one point in the story of Jacob, he speaks out in condemnation of the man who had tormented his life for so long.  Our passage today is a detailed complaint spoken out by Jacob from a position of strength and in the knowledge that he had been vindicated in front of everyone.  Laban had accused him of stealing his daughters, but they had left willingly; Laban had accused him of stealing his ‘teraphim’, or ‘household gods’ and after a vain search in which he was outwitted by his own daughter, Jacob’s beloved Rachel (31:33-35), Laban’s accusations and manipulation lay in tatters and Jacob was vindicated before both his own family and also Laban’s assembled sons (31:23).  Jacob took the opportunity to justify himself from a position of strength, and finished by declaring his faith in the God of his fathers in a unique and remarkable fashion (31:42).  All Laban could do in reply was to whine about his daughters and grandchildren and in the process exposing himself to be a fool.

It is not often that someone has a chance to vindicate themselves before others from a position of strength, as Jacob did in this story, but he had waited for God’s timing, and this was the key to his success.  For the first time in his life, Jacob was able to demonstrate that he had stood above deception and trickery.  Not knowing what his wife had done, Jacob spoke as a man who had not so much outwitted his opponent, but risen above the flaws of his own character by acting justly before God and others.  It was a moment of personal triumph.

Genesis 31:36-43 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Going Deeper

(consult Dictionaries)

Jacob’s speech is valuable because of the details it adds to what we know of his story.  It has an almost poetic quality, listing the justice of his actions and his answer to any accusations made against him, and some surprising details emerge.  Laban’s response is flat, and he knows he has met his match!

Jacob’s anger at Laban

Jacob was justifiably angered at the affront to his family by the accusations made against him by Laban which had proved false.  The strength of the Hebrew words at the beginning of his speech is indicated by the fact that the word translated ‘reprimand’ became a legal term for ‘conducting a lawsuit’ in later times in the life of Israel, perhaps even bearing this famous incident in mind.  Picking up the refrain from Laban’s earlier accusation (31:26), Jacob began ‘what have I done wrong?’ and immediately emphasised this with a second question ‘what sin have I committed?’ (31:36) This was a typical pattern of Hebrew speech found both in prose and in poetry, called ‘parallelism’, in which a point was made and then emphasised or expanded in a second phrase.  The two key words from this verse, ‘wrongdoing’ (‘pesach’) and ‘sin’ (‘hattath’) are powerful words, used by the Bible to explain the nature of sin, the first referring to those things that are simply unacceptable in society or before God, and the second to those things that happen by which we, perhaps inadvertently, fall short of the standards required of us either by others or again, by God.

Jacob’s speech proceeded to identify the way in which Laban, not he, had acted in a manner that was unacceptable before others and before God, and fell far short of the standards of the day.  He began with a direct complaint that Laban’s pursuit of him was unjustified; principally, Laban had not been able to find either the teraphim he accused Jacob of taking, or anything else of his (see 31:26-35,37).  He would not stand for being called a thief (from the reader’s perspective of course, he knew nothing about Rachel’s pilfering of the teraphim), and if Laban was accusing him of trying to usurp his power by taking the teraphim, then that too, was false.  He challenged all present to produce evidence of any wrongdoing on his part; and none did; not even from among Laban’s sons.

It is at this point that we get to know the full length of time Jacob spent with Laban, which was twenty years; seven for each of his wives (29:18f. 31:41) and six to establish his flocks.  For the whole of this time, Jacob worked as a shepherd, and if we look back at his early life, we will find that this was not what he did whilst at home, where he was used to living ‘amongst the tents’ (25:27). Jacob had come on a long personal journey to become the expert shepherd that he now was, and able to make the detailed remarks that came next in his speech!

Firstly, he claimed success in breeding, which we know already from his exploits! (Gen 31), but he then declared his integrity saying ‘I never ate rams …’ (31:38); for it was a common and often un-provable accusation in those days that shepherds would sometimes eat some of the sheep under their care! (see Ezekiel 34 for a further explanation of this particular sin!).  In the next verse, Jacob went further. Not only was he righteous in his dealings, he did more than was required of him.  An early shepherding contract found in Mesopotamia states ‘if a lion … has made a kill … or a lamb is torn by beasts, let (the shepherd) bring it as evidence; he shall not make restitution’ (see also Exodus 22:12,13).  Jacob declared that, whilst looking after Laban’s flock, he had benefited him by bearing all such losses himself.  Of course, Jacob could only say this if it was true, and Laban knew that it was.

It is worth considering that even at this early stage in the Bible, the claim made by Jacob was that he had been a ‘good shepherd’, an early example of a godly leader, showing qualities that were built on by David, celebrated in the famous Psalm 23; ‘the Lord is my Shepherd’, and distinctively used by the prophets (especially in Isaiah 53, and Ezekiel).  In this way, Jacob is the first person in Scripture to illustrate what Jesus meant, centuries later, when he said ‘I am the good shepherd …’  It is a fascinating and powerful theme within the whole Bible which speaks of God’s love and care for His people.

Jacob’s praises to God

Jacob remarkably concludes his speech with a stirring proclamation of faith.  Quite truthfully, he declared that his supreme justification was found in the God of His fathers, Abraham and Isaac, and for the second time (the first being in 31:5), Jacob stated that he knew God was ‘with him’.  Laban had already confessed that he had not attacked Jacob outright with his force of men only because God had spoken to him in a dream (31:24,29) and told him to hold back; so Jacob turned this confession back to Laban and told him this was God’s rebuke because he had exploited him (31:42).  He was confident that God knew what was right and wrong, and now everyone knew that Jacob was fully justified in what he said.

The unique part of this verse is at the beginning, where Jacob calls on the Lord with these words: ‘if the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Awesome God of Isaac …’  You will probably find that most translations of the Bible conclude this sentence with ‘… the Fear of Isaac …’  But although the Hebrew of this text is uncertain, there is no reason why we cannot translate it as I have done, given that the subject of the whole sentence is God, and it makes sense.  For the first time in Jacob’s life, he recognised that the God whose presence he acknowledged is the God who was revealed uniquely to his own father and Grandfather, and the name ‘Awesome One’, or ‘Awesome God’ is an understandable climax to the whole of Jacob’s speech.  The very fact that the God of his fathers has protected him and granted him liberty was, for Jacob, truly ‘awesome’, and he celebrated this by offering the name to God. It is a powerful moment in Jacob’s life that was part of his own spiritual journey towards complete reconciliation with Almighty God; an event which comes later as Jacob re-entered the Promised Land (32:22f.).  Despite the tremendous strides of faith that Jacob had made since his early days, there was still more for the Lord to do in his life before he would be fully worthy of the Covenant.

Laban’s reply

Laban’s reply to Jacob’s great speech sounds like a complaint, as if he had a just reason to be dissatisfied because Jacob’s departure would rob him of a chance to bless his daughters and their children through his wealth.  He had some cheek to say this.  Everyone present knew that Laban never gave anyone anything, and this was one reason given by Rachel and Leah for leaving Mesopotamia with their husband (31:14-16).  No, this was not a complaint, it was Laban’s lame and pathetically deluded acceptance of defeat.  He knew that Jacob had outwitted him, that there was no future for any relationship between himself and Jacob’s whole family.  There was no more to be said; both parties would have to go their own way, and we will read tomorrow about how Jacob and Laban settled their differences and moved on. We will never hear of Laban again in Scripture, except by way of genealogical reference. But the hand of God was on Jacob.

Genesis 31:36-43 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Application

Jacob’s story shows us two important Gospel themes.  Firstly, as a man who changed as his life progressed, he learned new skills (shepherding) and learned that God’s hand was on his life from even from before he was born.  We often assume today that much of ‘who we are’ is fixed; our understanding of genes is a triumph of science but a human disaster if people consequently believe that large swathes of our lives, personalities and emotions are somehow genetically fixed.  Genes have a part to play in every physical aspect of our nature, but we are all ‘spirit –breathed’ beings (Gen 2:7), and the spirit of God within us enables us to respond to the promptings of the Spirit of God, and change.  Jacob started his life a long way from the kind of man needed by God to play a crucial part in the fulfilment of the Covenant plan of blessing and salvation.  He nevertheless responded to the promptings of the Spirit over many years, to the point where he overcame the flaws in his character and boldly proclaimed the God of his fathers.  If Jacob could travel that journey in order to be used of God, so can we.  From a different perspective, you certainly know that the Lord is at work when unlikely people change and become servants of the Living God; it is what makes the life of the true Church exciting!Secondly, the shepherd Jacob demonstrated in his own life something of the characteristics of Jesus, the man who was the One True Shepherd.  Ancient laws about shepherding may seem to us to be arcane and remote, but they are easily understandable, and point to how we too can demonstrate Jesus, the Good Shepherd, in our own lives.  There is a great deal within Jacob’s confession about hard work, honesty, integrity, vigilance and care.  Qualities that we too often forget when trying to aspire to godliness by measuring ourselves against some of Paul’s famous ‘lists’, the ‘fruit of the Spirit’ (Gal 5:22f.) for example.  There is nothing wrong with the powerful and essential teaching of Paul, but it is easy to forget the qualities of humanity that God requires of us for the whole journey of our faith, exampled in the life and story of Jacob.

Genesis 31:36-43 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. When you read Jacob’s speech, does he comes across to you as totally honest, or does he take advantage of the situation in any way?  Does he exaggerate? If so, why?
2. Make a list of the qualities that you see in Jacob as he justifies his actions in this text.
3. Can you see connections between this passage and the life of Jesus (for example, ‘going the second mile’). How might Jesus have used the story of Jacob?

Personal comments by author

To what extent have you changed over the years, and how has the Lord enabled you to grow in the things of God?  This is a searching question, for it begs another one; what does the Lord require of us now, and does He need us to ‘change’ even more so that He can use us?  There are times and places for us to consider such issues, of course, but it is part of Satan’s work amongst God’s people to make them as comfortable as possible where they are, so that they do not change!  May we not succumb to his trap!

Final Prayer

When we do not know it, You are there, Lord Jesus, guiding our lives.  But You have always been there, and You chose us before we were born, by Your Spirit; and You will always be there whatever our future, for You love us, and You delight in our care.  Thank You Lord Jesus; AMEN

Bible study for Genesis 31:43-55

Genesis 31:43-55 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

Jacob had now won his twenty year battle of wit and will against his father-in-law. After Laban abjectly failed to substantiate his accusations (see previous Bible study on 31:36-43), he was now forced to seek an agreement with Jacob.  This whole passage describes Laban’s pathetic attempts to set agreements with Jacob that would protect him from his son-in-law.

What we have read today in Scripture is laughable.  We naturally read it with due reverence for God’s Word, but as soon as we look at the details, the words and actions of Laban stand out for what they are; a weak and dismal attempt to justify himself after Jacob’s comprehensive non-violent victory over him.  The sad thing about this passage is that it is highly confusing to read, and most of what was done and said is quite meaningless to us today.  We therefore read through it, understand that Laban was formally ‘setting boundaries’ between himself and Jacob, and move on to the next chapter (32), which contains the fascinating and tense drama of Jacob’s re-entry into the Promised Land.  If we move too quickly past this text, however, we will miss its considerable spiritual significance.

The passage contains insight into God’s peaceful providence which accomplishes victory without escalating violence and subdue the evils of the world.  Laban pursued Jacob with a force of men intent upon violence (31:22), but not only had he been held back by a word from God (31:24), he was publicly exposed by Jacob (31:36-43) and had nowhere left to turn except to seek peace.  If we follow the Lord’s ways, then how much more can we defeat evil in this world by following Jacob’s example, with the assurance of our victory complete in Christ Jesus?  Secondly, sin and wickedness are exposed for the deceptions that they are.  Every sentence of Laban’s demands was a condemnation of himself, not Jacob.  Jacob had no need of an agreement now he was the victor (31:44) and the Lord had already watched over the wicked and deceitful deeds done, and Laban stood accused, not Jacob (31:49). Laban made great play of demanding protection for his daughters (31:50) yet it was he who had mistreated them, which is why they stood by their husband in the dramatic confrontation (31:14; 33-35).  He even made great play of being a kind and generous father and grandfather (31:55), which was a parody of the truth. When God works powerfully through His people, those who are sinful have nowhere to hide; and the truth is that if we are active in the Lord’s service, then sin will be publicly exposed for what it is. There is more, which we will explore later.

Towards the end of the passage, the agreement between Laban and Jacob was concluded by oaths sworn by the two men in the names of the gods in whom they believed (31:53).  This verse is powerfully revealing of the spiritual battle that had taken place over the previous twenty years. Laban was a polytheist who swore on the gods of his ancestors, but Jacob swore on the ‘Awesome One’, the God of his father Isaac, the name of God that he had just spoken of (31:42) in his hour of victory. Behind all of the battles of life that are endured by God’s people, there is a spiritual battle that rages, and our victory is secured by knowing where we stand!

Genesis 31:43-55 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Going Deeper

(consult Dictionaries)

As we explore the real meaning of the pillar and the mound that were set up, and the actions of Jacob and the words of Laban, we will find out more about the spiritual victory won by Jacob by staying close to God.  Some of the text is obscure, but there is enough to make it fascinating!

The agreement, and the stones.

Laban knew he was defeated and condemned himself by his own words.  His daughters and grandchildren had been cared for by Jacob since the day of Jacob’s marriage, and he had been exposed as such a greedy person, the idea that he might provide for the extended family was laughable (31:43).  It was quite normal practice in ancient disputes for the party who had lost the dispute to seek to gain agreements that would protect them from further humiliation.  See, for example, the non-aggression agreement between Abraham and the Philistines (15:8-21) and also between Isaac and the Philistines (26:26-34). It was therefore up to Laban now to propose the agreement, and Jacob’s role was to accept what was said, or not (31:44).

It is important for the understanding of this passage to know that it is structured around significant pairs of things, promises, and curses, etc.  If you read this passage in some Bible versions, you will find yourself quite confused about what is going on, which is why I point out this feature, and why the translation above attempts to make this clear. It could be that this pairing within a story had some other ancient significance, but it does at least appear to amplify the sense of division now established between Laban and Jacob.  Two stone objects formed the focus of all that happened next; a stone pillar set up by Jacob (31:45) and a mound of stones set up by Jacob’s relatives (31:46).  Also (unclear to us who read this in English) two languages were used to name the objects, Aramean which was the language of Mesopotamia spoken by Laban, and Hebrew which was spoken by Jacob (we shall see what this means later).  In addition, Laban swore his oath on a pair of gods (see 31:53), and the whole event was encompassed by two meals (31:46; 54). 

Laban began negotiations by proposing an agreement, and Jacob indicated his initial acceptance of a settlement by personally setting a large upright stone in the ground, which made a distinctive feature of the landscape (31:45).  Jacob, as the senior figure in the negotiations, did not name this pillar; that was done later by Laban (31:49). Jacob then told his relatives to ‘gather stones’ (31:46).  The great parody within this scene is that by so doing, Jacob’s family, who Laban had just claimed as his own, consequently walked out at Jacob’s instruction to gather the stones required to make a heap, or mound, thereby witnessing against Laban.  After the stone and the mound were set in place, although no further words or agreements had been made, all the parties sat down for a meal to signify that they were prepared to negotiate (31:46).

The naming of the stones.

From verses 47 to 49, the text of Scripture is unclear, and can only be deciphered bearing in mind the pairing of the stone and the mound, and the two languages, Aramaic and Hebrew.  What happened was this.  Laban began the negotiating procedure by declaring a name for the mound; he had nothing original to say, calling it in Aramaic, ‘Jegar-sahadutha’ which means, literally, ‘heap of stones’.  This naming was completely non-threatening to Jacob, so he reciprocated by calling it virtually the same in Hebrew; ‘Galeed’, meaning ‘stone mound’.  There was a similarity between this Hebrew word and the word for ‘witness’; a word-play that Laban then used when saying ‘this mound is a witness between you and me today’.

Still, Laban did not say what his requested conditions were as he was quite unused to being defeated!  He then turned to the pillar that Jacob had set up, before the mound, and called it ‘Mitzpah’ which means ‘watchpost’, or ‘signpost’.  Laban explained the meaning of this name by setting out his request, which was that his daughters should be treated well by Jacob.  This sounds somewhat farcical to us in the circumstances, but there is evidence from ancient marriage agreements that in general, a father would seek a formal undertaking to treat his daughter well before releasing her in marriage.  In this light, Laban was doing what he should have done years before, and formally sever the tie between himself and his daughters, and release them into Jacob’s care.  It was, of course, exactly what Jacob wanted and he did not need to respond.  His subsequent compliance with Laban’s request, from a position of strength, was sufficient agreement.

The second request of Laban was that the two ‘witnesses’, the upright stone and the stone mound, should act as a boundary which neither of them would cross in order to do each other harm (31:51). Laban now seems a pathetic figure, having been responsible for considerable harm to Jacob and his family for years, but he was acting in pure self interest.  He was not fully aware, however, of the serious intent of Jacob to travel on into Canaan at God’s command.  Jacob had no intention of going back to Mesopotamia!  His family constituted the future twelve tribes of Israel (including Benjamin, with whom Rachel may well have been pregnant at this time, being born a little later as the family entered the Promised Land – see 35:16f.).  In future, there would be no going back to Mesopotamia to find wives for the sons of Abraham!

The swearing of oaths

Laban and Jacob formally swore oaths to finalise the deal, which was perfectly acceptable to Jacob.  Laban’s apparent demands were little more than misguided self interest.  He was so wrapped up in his own world of voracious greed that he had no comprehension of what he was dealing with.  His own evil treatment of Jacob had merely been used by Almighty God to test and prove his servant Jacob.

The words used in verse 53 are confusing in many Bible translations, but I have tried to make it clear.  Laban swore the agreement on two ancestral gods, that of his father Nahor and his brother Abraham.  From our point of view, we know that the God of Abraham was the One true God, but this was not Laban’s perception.  As far as he was concerned, he held a general belief in the gods of his ancestors (polytheism) and he could talk of the ‘god’ of any of his ancestors and invoke them in an oath; and this is what he did here.  Faced with this oath which was really an ignorant insult of his grandfather Abraham, Jacob simply stood his ground and concluded the agreement by swearing his oath on the name that he had given to the God of his father Isaac, the ‘Awesome One’ (31:53).  There was no need for Jacob to pursue the issue with the man he had defeated and who would disappear from his life the very next day.

The final sharing of a meal in the evening, and Laban’s departure early next day is formally and briefly described (31:54,55), and apart from the meaningless gesture of farewell that Laban gave in embracing his daughters and grandchildren, he left.  He had, after all, stated in the agreement that he really did not wish to see them again!

Genesis 31:43-55 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Application

If anything, this scripture is a supreme example of how to ‘stand ground’ before evil that is defeated.  By acting as he did, Jacob affected a clean break with Laban and all the evil of the past.  The deception, lies and corruption of everything that had gone on whilst he was in Mesopotamia was now at an end, and Jacob was now in a position to know that the God who had promised to be with him on the day that he left Canaan (28:13f.), had not only kept his word, but had blessed him.  The fact that Jacob set up a stone pillar is an indication that this was one of three supremely important occasions in Jacob’s life (for the others, see 28:18 and 35:20).  It is strange that so many Christians today place little value on formally turning away from evil and moving on.

The equivalent for us today is repentance, the forgiveness of sins, and absolution.  If we have harboured evil in our lives, or lived with it unknowingly for years, then when we are brought by the Lord to a place of victory over that evil, the natural response of many Christians is to say ‘thank You’, and the attempt to move on.  In reality, our spirits work in a more complex way than that, and the copious references in Scripture to repentance and the forgiveness of sins are testimony to how seriously these matters should be taken.  In the world of fickle human emotions within which we all live, we will serve ourselves well if we mark our victories against the Evil One in specific ways; with words said or actions done.  The stone pillar and the mound remained in the hill country of Gilead for centuries, not simply as a marker between Jacob and Laban, but as a reminder of Jacob’s defeat of his evil father-in-law.  We need reminders today of what God has done for us; church services which celebrate our victory over evil, specific prayers to break our ties with the past or with evil, or promises made and kept about serving the Lord or giving Him of our time or money.  All these help keep us on the godly path of life that the Lord has for us.

Genesis 31:43-55 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. What can we do today to help people celebrate victory over Satan and live free from the troubles of the past?
2. In discussion, share your thoughts about how much Jacob has learned from Laban over his twenty years of service.
3. Does the name of God ‘Awesome One’ merit any place in the vocabulary of the Church today?  Where and how?

Personal comments by author

What are the key moments in your own life in which you have been blessed by God with victory over evil?  Do you celebrate this?  Or is this something you too easily forget?  Is it perhaps true that what you previously experienced as victory over evil has turned sour, and you need to return to that place again before you can go forward?  A number of scenarios are possible; but pray and ask the Lord to help you mark, celebrate and sustain your victory in Christ over the enemy! It can really help you to move on!

Final Prayer

Help us, Heavenly Father, to recognise those special moments that You have used to lead us on in our faith.  May we learn to remember them and value them, and may we always learn the valuable lessons of the past so that we may grow in grace and love.  AMEN

Bible study for Genesis 32:1-12

Genesis 32:1-12 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

This passage of Scripture contains the longest prayer recorded in the book of Genesis (32:9-12)!  Jacob had just escaped the clutches of the devious and cunning Laban after twenty torrid years, and on his journey to the Promised Land, he faced the difficult and potentially disastrous task of passing through lands controlled by his brother Esau.  Esau, you will remember, was the brother Jacob had disrespectfully cheated out of his birthright, and amongst many other word-plays in the story, this text has a number which remind us of Jacob’s previous devious tricks.  For example, the name of the land of ‘Seir’ (32:3) is the same Hebrew word for ‘hairy’, reminding us of the hairy skin Jacob put on his hand to deceive his father Isaac (27:11f.).  In this and in many other ways, the narrative builds in intensity and tension as Jacob neared his meeting with Esau after so many years.  Jacob prepared for this meeting by sending out a group of his own men to find Esau and relay a message of neutral goodwill (32:4,5), and upon receiving the news that Esau was already coming to meet him with what appeared to be a small army, feared the worst!  He split his whole family and company into two groups on the simple principle that disaster for one might allow the other to escape (32:7,8).  He then prayed his great prayer of petition to God.

Jacob’s prayer is not the only significant spiritual feature of the passage.  Right at the beginning, Jacob mysteriously met ‘angels of God’, and named the place where he had come across them ‘Mahanaim’, which means ‘two camps’.  It is quite unsure what is meant by these two camps; many have taken guesses, but it seems likely that as Jacob approached the Promised Land, he saw some angelic activity, perhaps in a dream, just as he had seen angelic activity when he had left Canaan (28:22f.) and the two camps prophetically spoke of God’s protection of the two groups of his relatives, flocks and herds that Jacob prepared as he cautiously led his family back to the Promised Land, knowing that Esau stood in his way.  This is one of a number of significant indicators of God’s activity within the whole story, as it builds up to this great climax of Jacob’s life.

The prayer itself (32:9-12) is remarkable in many ways.  Jacob honours the God of his fathers, Abraham and Isaac, and it contains many of the words and Ideas that we have previously associated with the Covenant, such as ‘faithful love’ and ‘loyalty’ (32:10).  When we come to study it fully in the Bible study, we will find that it has a structure just like a Psalm, and is a very trusty and godly pattern for anyone who would bring a prayer request to God; the difference between this and a Psalm is that where most Psalms are general, this prayer is quite specific.  Jacob was fearful about his brother because he had come to learn the warped and dangerous consequences of being bound by selfishness and grievance.  He had seen this in Laban and it had taken him twenty long years to escape his clutches in a godly way.  But if anyone had a grievance against Jacob, it was Esau, and Jacob prayed hard for the Lord’s protection against the consequences of any further grievance.  He did not know what lay ahead!

Genesis 32:1-12 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Going Deeper

(consult Dictionaries)

Re-entry into the Promised Land was never going to be easy for Jacob; nothing was easy for him!  However, Jacob showed in his actions that he was a different man than the one who had left Canaan looking for a bride, and his prayer is a masterful guide for prayer in a crisis.

The Angels at Mahanaim

The first two verses of this passage seem very strange.  Surely, meeting significant numbers of angels was worth more of a mention in Scripture than just the naming of a place in the hill-country of Gilead!  God gave this vision or insight to Jacob as part of his assurance that He was guarding and guiding him on his way.  From the point of Jacob’s exit from the Promised Land, God had promised him ‘I am with you’ (28:15), and Jacob had held on to this promise on a number of significant occasions (e.g. Gen 31:3,5).  Now, on the eventful journey back, the angels met him (not the other way round, as in some Bibles), God blessed Jacob with this second great vision of angelic activity. 

The name ‘Mahanaim’ means ‘two camps’, as above, The connection with the two groups of his family that Jacob was about to prepare seems obvious, but is extremely close to a group of words in Hebrew that could mean ‘great army of God’. This reminds us of the great occasions when in fear of the army of Arameans, Elisha had to remind his servant ‘there are more with us than there are with them!’ (2 Kings 6:16), and proceeded to open his eyes to the host of God!  The story tells us that God has invested a great deal in Jacob, and was not going to let him fall.  His protection was real, as it is for us today if we could but see the way that He works in the world!

Preparing to meet Esau

Whilst Jacob had been in Mesopotamia, Esau had created his own clan, and had been busy evicting the Horites from a region to the east and south of the Dead Sea, known as Seir (Deut 2:12).  In later years the land of Seir became known as ‘Edom’ (32:3).  The history of all this is not clear, for both words have strong connections with Esau, ‘Seir’ being the Hebrew for ‘hairy’ and ‘Edom’ being closely related to the word for ‘red’.  Esau was red at birth (25:25) and the stew that Jacob has tricked Esau with was ‘red’ (25:30).  All this sounds very incidental, but to anyone who reads the story in its own language, the tension is firmly built into these early verses of Genesis 32 concerning what would happen when Jacob and Esau finally met!

Jacob then sent messengers ahead of him.  Again, a play on words is used in Hebrew, for an angel (just seen in the previous verses) was God’s ‘messenger’, and now Jacob sent his own ‘messengers’.  Perhaps the sight of God’s messengers had encouraged Jacob to send his own!  There is more, though.  The words that Jacob gave to the messengers began with a formula of words that is closely linked with the prophets.  We know the famous prophetic declaration ‘thus says the Lord …’ used by many prophets to announce a ‘Word from the Lord’, but what is not clear to a reader in English is that the instructions of Jacob which I have translated ‘this is what you are to say to ...’ (32:4), begin with the same Hebrew words, and have a powerful force.  They seem to declare in advance that Jacob knows that the Lord is with him, despite his fears.

Jacob was sufficiently confident in the Lord’s care to speak strongly to Esau and claim that he was now no longer a threat to him; he was blessed and had family and possessions, and had no further need of tricking him out of anything!  Jacob, however, was extremely wary, and despite sending a strong message, could not be sure of the reception he would receive.  The news that four hundred men were coming was the cause of his ‘distress’ (32:7), for how could he know what the meaning of this was.  This force of men was the equivalent of an army!  Esau’s intent was by no means clear, however, for if he was intent upon war, the messengers would not have returned alive, or at least they would have come back with that message. The whole incident gave Jacob real concern for his safety and that of his whole family group.  This was the reason for his dividing his family into two groups; but we will not examine this further today, as it is a major theme for tomorrow’s reading.

The prayer of Jacob

Jacob’s prayer is the key to all that happened next.  In it, he demonstrated that he was a reformed character; someone who spoke to God and acknowledged Him as his own and knew the heritage in which he stood.  Whatever his flawed character, he could no longer resist the awesomeness of the God of his fathers, who had established a Covenant that was designed to bring a blessing to all the nations of the earth (12:2,3 etc.).  He used words in his prayer that were strongly associated with this Covenant such as ‘loyalty’ and ‘faithful love’ (32:10), and his final words (32:12) again showed his familiarity with the Covenant that had been passed down through his forefathers.  He also recognised that he was totally dependant upon God; ’I crossed the Jordan with only a staff; and now I have become these two groups’ (32:10); he showed a proper and respectful fear of Esau, his brother, the man he had previously cheated, showing true remorse for what he had done in earlier years (32:11), and remained confident in the promises of God nevertheless (32:12).  It is relatively straightforward to spot these important features of the prayer, each of which is spiritually significant in its own right, and shows that Jacob was ready to fulfil his role as the son of Isaac and grandson of Abraham.

What we do not easily see is the parallels that there are between this prayer and many of what are called ‘psalms of complaint’.  These are psalms in which people ask the Lord to help them because of problems of various kind, and although most of them begin with the psalmist airing some personal ‘complaint’ to God, they end, just like this prayer of Jacob, with glory being given to God!  Jacob’s prayer begins with an address to God, a feature often called an invocation (32:9) and then a confession (32:10) in which he opened his heart to God.  The next section is a specific request to God, in this case for protection because of Jacob’s fear at what might happen (32:11) and a final verse in which Jacob expressed confidence in God’s power to act and save him.  With some care at interpreting exactly what is going on in the psalms, you will find this pattern similar to Psalm 3,4,5, 22,25, and many others.

Genesis 32:1-12 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Application

There is no doubt that this is the first example of such a prayer in the Bible, and is a form of prayer that is echoed time and again throughout Scripture.  There is a great deal of emphasis today upon the freedom of the Spirit that is associated with extempore prayer, and I can assure you that I am a fervent believer in the importance of extempore prayer both privately and publicly.  However, I also believe that the Holy Spirit uses structures and even set words which express for us the words that we either would like to say or need to say.  If you have suffered the trauma of bereavement or the extreme distress of the loss of a child for example, you will readily understand that at such times, psalms (such as Psalm 23, for example), hymns and set prayers such as the Lord’s Prayer, can play an important even vital role in helping the human spirit in its road of spiritual healing.  In the case of this prayer of Jacob, we cannot all relate to the specific words that Jacob used, but the structure of the prayer is significant.  It consists of a call upon God, a confession of sin or other problem, a request to God, and finally, words of confidence and trust in the Lord.  It is a simple structure to remember, and when you find yourself with a problem, it is a good pattern to practice, with numerous Scriptural precedents.  You can at least see that blurting a problem out to God may not be the most gracious way of approaching our loving Heavenly Father, and that finishing by offering Him praise for what He has promised us, or thanks His guidance in the past, can be an encouraging and important part of our prayer.

The other main aspect of this passage is the Lord’s angelic protection of Jacob.  We had a glimpse of this earlier in Jacob’s story (28:12f.), but in this passage it appears that there is an army of God’s angels ready to do battle on Jacob’s behalf.  The storyline of Scripture tells us this, but whatever Jacob saw, he did not appear to fully comprehend the extent of God’s angelic provision.  Is it not the same with us?  We may talk of the Lord’s provision and the heavenly work of angels by which we are protected, but how many of us believe that the Lord is active in even the smallest things of our lives, guiding us sometimes in inexplicable ways towards what He has for us.  If we were to take full confidence in the Lord’s guidance, we should still take the proper precautions against the works of evil and the world in which we live, as Jacob did in preparing for Esau; but we could live without the fear.  That, surely, is God’s desire for us.

Genesis 32:1-12 (get text)   Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. Discuss the help of angels.  Do you think that it is helpful or unhelpful to think that angels are actively helping us in the everyday things of life, if we are doing God’s will?
2. Should we worry about the troubles of the world if we know that God will protect us?  How can evil affect us if Jesus has saved us?
3. Do you think you can use a pattern of prayer which is in your mind, but fill in words which fit the circumstances, as I suggest in the discipleship comments?

Personal comments by author

I make the strong suggestion that you consider spending the day going over the pattern of prayer that comes out of this text.  I simplify it in this manner; adoration, confession, request, thanksgiving.  Some people have difficulty saying prayers of ‘adoration’; in this case, take Jacob’s example, and address God in this way ‘O Lord, You are the one who has saved me and guided me through my life …’  The rest will make sense after that!

Final Prayer

You have protected us, Lord God, when we did not know it; You have cared for us when we did not have the courage to hope for it, You have provided for us when we did not dare imagine it.  Your grace is amazing.  Help us to see the truth of Your love for us, which never fails.  AMEN

Bible study for Genesis 32:13-21

Genesis 32:13-21 (get text)  Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

These are the actions of a man intent upon facing his past, and bearing the consequences; and these few verses are therefore a graphic demonstration of repentance which goes before reconciliation and forgiveness.  Jacob had grievously sinned against Esau over twenty years previously by stealing his birthright by deception (25:29f.) and also his blessing (27:1f.); he now knew the terrible power of this sin because he had been forced to live on the receiving end of Laban’s deception for a long time, and had come to know its evil power.  He knew that his own deeds in the past were not right before the God of his Fathers, and this meant that he had to deal with it in a godly way as he prepared to enter the Promised Land. On his journey, he could have tracked west from the hill country of Gilead and crossed the Jordan directly into the middle of Canaan, but he was led by the Lord to face his brother Esau and continued south (32:3).  He began his preparation for the meeting by dividing his whole convoy of family and flocks in two (32:7,8) and fervently praying to Almighty God (32:9-12).

Our passage of Scripture today describes the details of Jacob’s preparations, but what is spiritually remarkable about all this is that he had no model upon which to base his actions.  At this point in the history of God’s people there were no rules and regulations in force, such as those in Exodus and Leviticus which speak of the duties of reparation of someone who had stolen from another (e.g. Exodus 22 or Leviticus 5,6).  Jacob was now sufficiently in tune with the Lord’s will to be led by Him to meet Esau face to face to deal with the problems of the past, and he was prepared to offer as much as Esau wanted from him in order to win back his favour and find the peace that would come from such reconciliation.  We have no complete record of the total of Jacob’s camels, donkeys, cattle or herds and have no idea how much more he was capable of giving, but there is no doubt about the sincerity of Jacob’s intent.  What we do not yet know is whether Esau will accept this gift or treat it with distain.  His approach with ‘four hundred men’ however (32:6), gave Jacob grave concern.  He was a substantial enough leader in his own right to muster a significant army, but was he coming in peace or in war?

Jacob was prepared to risk all in pursuit of what was right in his spiritual pilgrimage back to God’s Promised Land, and in pursuit of that which Esau could not take from him even if he seized all his possessions, the Covenant blessing of God.  This is no small matter, for this passage of Scripture is the one that leads up to the profoundly important text from Genesis where Jacob crosses the Jabbok river alone and struggles with a man who turns out to be an unidentified messenger or angel of God (Gen 32:22-32 – see tomorrow).  This great turning point in Jacob’s life could not come until he was ready to lay everything before God and risk all his worldly wealth.  Jacob’s personal ability to submit himself in this way was the very thing that God required of him for the continuance of the Covenant and this enabled him to become arguably the greatest character amongst the forefathers in Genesis.

Genesis 32:13-21 (get text)  Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Going Deeper

(consult Dictionaries)

Clearly, we will have to look at the details of what Jacob did in this passage and also the spirit in which he did it.  On the surface, the passage does not appear to say much, but there is no shortage of inspiration for us if we follow its spiritual significance.

The purpose of the gifts

Jacob was a deeply human character and yet one who had become both profoundly pragmatic and also full of trust in God.  He is one of the best Biblical examples of someone who was able to trust God completely, and yet plan for all circumstances; because from an earthly perspective, he did not know what was going to happen next.  This is often true of our own circumstances, and Jacob’s actions are an example of an important worldly wisdom.

At the heart of this text is the dichotomy facing Jacob over his future.  God had promised him that he would have great blessings, and as many descendants as ‘the sand on the seashore (32:12).  Jacob had worked for twenty years to lay the foundations of this blessing, establishing his life and his wealth, and also raising a large family with eleven sons and one daughter (29:31-30:24).  He did not doubt by now that this was the Lord’s work, and God had confirmed this as the fulfilment of the Covenant Promise by keeping him and his whole company safe from Laban as he made his escape from Mesopotamia (Gen.31). Yet God required one more thing from Jacob.  He had to face the prospect of losing all because of his past sin.  How easy it would be for Jacob if God had declared that the lessons he had learned about deception from Laban were sufficient for his own sin, and simply led Jacob into the Promised Land directly across the Jordan River.  But they were not, and Jacob had to seek peace with Esau.

God directed Jacob towards Esau in order to face the consequences of his past and find peace by risking everything, including all the earthly evidence of the Covenant blessings.  We learn from today’s text that the Covenant was not a just a matter of wealth, family and possessions, but a matter of the heart again; as it had been in the days when Abraham had to believe God would make ‘generations’ out of him, even though he and his wife were barren (Gen 15:1-6).  If Abraham showed faith in trusting God for this promise, then Jacob also showed faith in submitting what he owned to Esau either as a prize of war or as a gift.  Despite all the preparations, Jacob knew full well that if Esau wanted to do so, his four hundred men could easily overcome the whole of his group.  Of course Jacob attempted to plan to avoid the worst scenarios, which is why he divided the whole camp and sent ahead of him the five groups of gifts.  The fact was that everything could well be lost.  What Jacob was doing was taking the risks of faith that the Lord required of him.

Organising the gifts

Jacob began to prepare the gifts by taking 550 animals from his overall stock and organising them into five groups each of goats, sheep, camels, cattle and donkeys.  In addition, the camels were females with milking calves, which dramatically increased their value, and placed them at the centre of the whole gift.  The instructions Jacob gave to the herdsmen in charge of each of the gifts was clear.  They were to address Esau as ‘lord’, and they were to describe Jacob as his ‘servant’ (32:18).  In addition they were to describe each of the five herds of animals as a ‘gift’.  Such gifts were commonly given by rich and wealthy men of ancient oriental times in advance of an important meeting, and other such gifts in the Scriptures were given when one party accepted inferior or ‘vassal’ status to another (2K17:3; Hos 10:6).  The intention here, though, was to prepare for an uncertain meeting, the result of which was unknown and for Jacob, it was a test of faith in which he could not avoid putting his whole family at risk.

The word ‘gift’ is itself interesting, as it is closely related in Hebrew to the word for ‘favour’ and ‘choice’ and which lies behind the idea of God’s free unmerited favour in choosing His people.   Indeed, it is the one Hebrew word that comes closest to the New Testament word ‘grace’ which Paul used to describe the work of Jesus Christ on the Cross.  Most Christians find the word so natural to the vocabulary of Christian Faith that they do not realise it is extremely rare in the Old Testament (see it only in Zechariah 7:4; Jeremiah 31:2; Psalm 45:2).  This connection, however, helps us remember that God was always a God of ‘grace’, even in Old Testament times, for His nature has always been constant.  His grace was shown by his free choice of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to be His people, and by His care for and guidance of them through considerable difficulties until each was able to fulfil their purpose within God’s greater plan.

Because of this word connection concerning ‘gift’ and ‘grace’, some commentators think that Jacob was offering the very Covenant blessings of God back to Esau, if he wanted it.  I doubt that this is the case, because God was in control of everything, not Esau, and his choice rested on Jacob.  The whole event was a final testing of Jacob before the Lord finally gave Jacob the personal blessing by which Jacob became assured of his place in God’s Covenant plan (as we shall see in tomorrow’s passage).

At the end of our passage today, we learn the truth of Jacob’s actions when he explains why he took the action of dividing the gifts; ‘that I may placate him with the gift …’ (32:20). Many translations of the Bible have ‘that I may appease him …’ but the word I have translated as ‘placate’ comes from the same Hebrew word as that used for the famous word ‘atonement’, which means ‘to make peace’.  The gift was Jacob’s ‘atonement’ gift and was given in a spirit of peace, seeking wholeness of relationships rather than merely attempting to calm Esau down the closer he came.  Commentators have often thought that the detailed description of Jacob’s instructions to the servants in charge of each group was designed to ensure that Esau would be successively mollified if he was angry with Jacob.  This is a reasonable interpretation, but it is not sufficient.  Jacob’s aim was not to merely to calm Esau down from any anger he maintained in his heart, but to try and indicate sincerity and integrity.  In this way, by the time the two of them met, Jacob hoped ‘perhaps he will receive me’ (32:20).  For him, that would be peace enough.

The end result of the whole process of offering gifts was to be a ‘face to face’ meeting.  Jacob had to face his past by meeting Esau directly and accepting the consequences.  Many of us would prefer to take a path which avoids going back to deal with issues of the past, but God shows in this story that it is sometimes necessary.  Certainly, if Jacob was to be the true servant of the Lord to which his whole life had been directed, then he could not escape his past.  As he sent his gifts on ahead and spent the night by himself, he knew the gravity of the situation.  He was by himself because everything was in God’s hands, and he was as empty handed before God as the day that he walked out of the Promised Land to head for Mesopotamia (28:18f.).

Genesis 32:13-21 (get text)  Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Application

Today, I have made a fair amount of theological comment in describing the text, in order to explain what was going on.  The most significant message from this passage does indeed concern the importance of facing the past.  On the Cross, Jesus Christ took away the powers of evil, and this means that we can now face anything knowing that our Lord does not condemn us for our sin if we have faith in Him.  The sins of our past are swept clean not by some spiritual magic, as if to disappear with some sleight of God’s hand.  Each of us comes to Christ with problems in our past and problems which we have to deal with now.  Yet because Christ has died for us, we can be set free precisely because we can face our sins and our past knowing that we have an answer, and knowing that Satan has no more power to harm us through them; if we submit to His authority.  Too many good Christian people today harbour difficult things inside them from the past which they say they have ‘dealt with’, but their lifestyle demonstrates to others all around that they have not; and people are often too polite to say so.  Then, in a place of Christian counsel, they become deeply distressed at even the thought of discussing or raising issues of difficulty or hurt from the past.  Here is the problem; the sins have not been ‘faced’ or submitted to God’s authority.  If they had, they would have no more power over the emotions.  You cannot say that Christ has dealt with all your sins in the past unless their power has been removed, and the evidence of this is that they no longer affect you, your behaviour or your friends and relationships.

Jacob was led by God to ‘face’ his past.  He did not have the benefit of a Saviour within his earthly lifetime, though the New Testament speaks of his hearing the Gospel from our Lord at the Resurrection (Matt 27:52)!  His experience remains a lesson to us about how to pursue our call in a godly way, and there are few of us today who should not consider very carefully whether we need to ‘face’ issues from the past from a position of faith and trust in our God who is our Saviour, so that we can move into our ‘Promised Land’.

Genesis 32:13-21 (get text)  Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. If the Lord told you to give away most of your own wealth, could you do so?  Would you be willing to place everything ‘on the line’ for God?  We know what the answer should be, but please discuss whether the Lord asks this of some people, and why.
2. Is it always important to resolve issues ‘face to face’? discuss this and identify when it may be unwise for this to be the case.
3. Some people reject the idea of going back over the past.  Is this wise?  If so, how do you interpret this story, and what does it say to us?

Personal comments by author

Our lives are very complex. You may well have the experience of thinking that you have honestly ‘dealt’ with every problem from the past, and then some memory comes up which hurts, and you realise that there are issue which need your attention.  Sometimes we have the help of a loved one, a counsellor or friend, but there is no reason why we cannot bring an issue from the past to the Lord in prayer and hand it over to Him.  If we do this honestly, then He will tell us if we need to do more.  Sometimes, simply doing this is enough for us to have victory over the enemy in some important matter; and consequently, we are ‘set free’!

Final Prayer

Great Lord and Master.  We are amazed at the complexity of the lives You have given us to lead.  Sometimes we cannot even remember properly what has happened from day to day!  Help us, we pray, to remember that which is spiritually important and leave what is best forgotten, and give us the grace to know the difference!  AMEN

Bible study for Genesis 32:22-32

Genesis 32:22-32 (get text)  Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

There is extraordinary dramatic tension in this compelling story of Jacob’s struggle with God.  Here at Peniel, Jacob faced the God of his fathers alone in a profound struggle that was as much spiritual as it was physical; it was the turning point of Jacob’s life and had a profound effect upon him and consequently upon the history of all God’s people.  It is not an event which we can analyse and say ‘that’s it’, as if we can arrive at a definitive understanding of what went on.  As with many crucial stories in the Bible (Creation, the Exodus, the Resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit), the details are shrouded in mysteries which have proved impossible to penetrate over the thousands of years in which it has been studied.  But surely, this must be the case, for Scripture does not record a list of mundane facts around which we must build a religious system; it describes the truth of God and His relationship with real people and this is something we can never reduce to the level of our own simplicity.  It defies all our attempts to rationalise it because God is infinitely bigger than we are, and we are but observers of the amazing story of our Lord’s relationship with our forebears.

This passage of Scripture is not, as some commentators would have it, a wrestling match between two men, one of whom happens to be God, in which we must sort out who did what to whom, and why, in order that we might ascertain who was the victor!  What is described is a deeply spiritual event in which Jacob, a man who knew already what God’s purposes for him were, truly became the spiritual forefather of God’s people Israel; and in the end, it happened not because of his efforts but by the blessing of God.  I will try to explain the text as much as I can, but the truth is that God’s purposes were served by all that happened as a consequence of this struggle, and the record of it is strongly coloured by the generations of discussion of it that followed as much as the details of the event itself.  This may not satisfy our modern desire to know ‘the facts’, but it will help us find the truth; and the two are not the same.  Through Scripture, God teaches us the truth needed by our souls, and sometimes ‘the facts’ are only partially helpful in guiding us there.

The mystery of this passage is clearly exampled in verses 25 to 29, where the Hebrew only ever says ‘he’ did this, then ‘he’ did that etc. and it is entirely unclear who is being spoken of at any moment, the man, or Jacob.  It is only later, when the text tells us that Jacob was limping, that we can go back and partially establish who said and did what.  Equally, within the text describing the struggle, there is no need for us to think of ‘the man’ as God.  It is only afterwards that we realise (with a gasp!) that Jacob has realised that he was struggling with God (32:30) because he named the place where it happened ‘Peniel’ meaning ‘the face of God’.  All this explanation comes after the event, and it is profoundly mysterious. This is not surprising, because this is the Scripture in which the nation of Israel, through Jacob, is born.

Genesis 32:22-32 (get text)  Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Going Deeper

(consult Dictionaries)

There is more to this text than we can explain.  Why did Jacob ensure he was alone to pass over this insignificant river?  What does the struggle mean for Jacob or for us?  What does the name ‘Israel’ mean?  These may be mysteries, but to where do they point?

Jacob, alone

‘Jacob was left there alone’ (32:24) is the important starting point for this story.  Jacob had made all the preparations he could in order to face his own ‘past’ in the person of his twin brother Esau.  Although he knew the blessings of God and trusted in them, he also knew that he had to accept personal responsibility for what he had done in the past.  He had to deal with the deceit and trickery he had meted out on Esau which, for all he knew, had severely affected his twin and prevented him from finding happiness and fulfilment.

None of this, however, was the fault of anyone but himself.  His own spirit had acted in treachery and his own spirit needed healing from Almighty God, and it was not something that could be put right for him by either good deeds, standing up to Laban, being a good father to his eleven sons and a daughter or even a good husband of two wives!  Neither could this spiritual sin be healed by forgiveness from the person who had received its spite, Esau; the man causing panic by approaching his family with four hundred men.  Jacob’s spirit could be healed by God alone, and Jacob needed to be by himself for God to do this work.  We are not talking about a ‘rule of thumb’ which we can lift and copy in healing ministry; this was the spiritual logic of Jacob’s situation and he perceived it correctly by sending his family and all his possessions ahead of him over the river Jabbok (32:22).

Jacob had prepared for a confrontation with Esau, and yet suddenly stood alone in the dark, facing a man who ‘wrestled with him until daybreak’.  We do not yet know who this man was, but if we read on in Scripture we will gradually discover the general picture.  However, by not telling us, God’s Word invites us to experience the tensions felt by Jacob as he fought his way through this strange experience.  God was with him, but not in the way he might have expected!

The struggle.

There is a close connection between the Hebrew word for Jacob, ‘YACOB’ and the Hebrew for the stream, ‘YABBOK’ and the Hebrew verb for struggle ‘YABOC’.  When we know about this word play within the text, a great deal begins to make sense.  Even the stream (because of its name) is caught up in God’s purposes, for we should be in no doubt that the future of the world and God’s Covenant plan for the redemption and salvation of the whole world was at stake.

The struggle took place in the darkness of the night, which meant that Jacob could not see clearly who he was fighting, and during the struggle, neither Jacob nor the man gained advantage.  The difficulty we have in interpreting this lies in our competitive notion of ‘wrestling’, and although I have used both the words ‘wrestle’ and ‘struggle’, they both translate one Hebrew word (‘YABOC’) which includes spiritual struggle as well as physical; hence the use of ‘wrestle’.

One way of understanding this is to focus on the sequence of events, in which one person injured the other on the hip (we discover later that Jacob took the injury) and then the man sought to leave before he could be physically recognised because of the coming sunrise (32:26).  With the struggle unresolved, Jacob demanded a blessing before he would release his hold.  The man replied by demanding that Jacob reveal his name, and when it was revealed, he then gave him a new name which was both for him and all his descendants; Israel.  The name implies victory through struggle, and appears to be like a commendation for Jacob’s effort!  The wrestling ended when the man refused to give a name, but blessed Jacob as requested!

If you merely read this passage in this way, then it appears that Jacob wrestled with an angelic messenger of God, and despite receiving a permanent injury, won the tussle and with it a new name and the Covenant blessing of God!  The trouble with this is that by simplifying it in this way we have almost wholly omitted the spiritual aspects of what was going on, and ended up with Jacob apparently winning the Covenant blessing of God by his own efforts.  This is surely at odds with the build-up Scripture has given this great event!

Instead, try reading the passage as if it is a spiritual parable of Jacob’s life.  Jacob’s struggle with the man was like his struggle with God ever since his youth.  Jacob chose to go his own way and God would not prevent him or stand in his way; but He never left Jacob and the spiritual struggle continued unresolved (see ‘the man saw that he did not overcome Jacob’ 32:25).  The physical injury received by Jacob (32:25) was equivalent to the deep pain and hurt he suffered at the hand of Laban.  From this time onwards, Jacob began to seek the blessing of God with whom he struggled (32:26), which was the birthright of the Covenant.  God’s reply to this was the same as the man who demanded of Jacob ‘what is your name’ (32:27), and by replying, Jacob spoke out a confession of sin, for his own name meant ‘one who grasps’.  Jacob had grasped and stolen God’s blessing through Isaac; that was the problem, and Jacob needed to confess this before he could be so blessed.  God’s declaration that he would be given a new name was God’s acceptance of Jacob’s confession of sin, and the words which explain the name of Israel ‘you have struggled with God and have overcome’ does not mean that Jacob had overcome God; Jacob had, by his own confession and God’s grace, overcome his own sin! Once this confession and ‘absolution’ had happened, then the Lord was free to give Jacob the full Covenant blessing (32:29).

This begins, but only begins, to uncover the surface of the spiritual significance of this passage.  Once this very physical struggle is explored from a spiritual perspective, much is found.

The names of Israel and Peniel

There is enormous debate about the meaning of the name ‘Israel’.  The Scriptures themselves here say that Jacob is called ‘Israel’ because of Jacob’s spiritual victory granted by God, after years of struggle.  But what does the word really mean?  Linguistically, the options are ‘God fights’, ‘God is just’, ‘he struggles with God’, ‘God rules’, and ‘God struggles’.  None of these seem satisfactory.  It is best to keep close to the spiritual meaning of what happened to Jacob when he was given the name.  The people of Israel are the people with whom God struggles to achieve His purpose to bless both them and through them, the whole world.  More than that, despite the pains of the struggle, God does it victoriously!

You may not like this, preferring to find a few single words for a definition.  However, this spiritual understanding cannot be set aside for the sake of our desire for a few words.  When understood like this, Israel is the name of God’s people and which contains their humanity, Gods blessing, and the salvation of the world through His Covenant!  In that light, we may be proud to be part of the New Israel in Jesus Christ, His people, the Church!

At the end of the day, Jacob named the place where this mysterious spiritual experience happened, ‘Peniel’, which means ‘the face of God’.  Within the strange circumstances of this day, Jacob became one of a number of people in the Old Testament who could say this (Moses, Ex. 24:9f.; Gideon, Judges 6:22 etc.); each of them anticipating the time when God’s Covenant plan would be completed in Christ and we would all have access to the Father through faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1-6).  The naming of the place was a reminder of the spiritual truth that Jacob had witnessed.

Genesis 32:22-32 (get text)  Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Application

There is a great deal more that could be said about this great text from God’s Word.  I have limited myself to focussing on the struggles of Jacob to be the man God intended Him to be; and although he did not give in physically, he submitted to God spiritually in this struggle, declaring his sin and dealing with it before God.  Perhaps what really happened between God and Jacob on that day will never be truly known by anyone on earth.  Scripture tells us only what we need to know to understand the origins of the new name given to Jacob.  It was untainted by his past sin, and indicated the Covenant purposes of God to do His will through His people, and that will is the Salvation of the whole world.

We can take a certain amount from this story about confession of sin and the forgiveness of God, but at the heart of it was Jacob’s obedience to the Lord which led him to the right place to deal with the sin.  We are mistaken if we think that God’s forgiveness of people’s sin is something that can be done according to formulae; Church prayers and liturgies which talk of these things are aids which remind us of the spiritual truths of the Christian journey we travel, but they can never replace the need for us to be obedient to the Lord’s call in sorting out anything to do with our past lives.

Finally, there is every reason for all of us who read this to feel empowered and encouraged by this text because it explains to us the name of Israel by which all who are God’s people may be known.  It is, perhaps, a shame that we live at a time when people commonly use the word ‘church’ to mean a building, rather than a gathering of God’s people (its proper meaning), and the name ‘Israel’ is tied to a modern state which is largely, but by no means completely, made up of the historic Old Testament people of God.  This should not prevent us from knowing how to use both words properly and glorying in them, particularly the name ‘Israel’; for all God’s people are His ‘Israel’, through Christ.

Genesis 32:22-32 (get text)  Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. Discuss in your group the sequence of events of the ‘wrestling’ of Jacob.  Who gains most from the outcome?  God or Jacob?
2. Look up in your Bibles concerning the meaning of the name ‘Israel’ and discuss what it means.
3. In what ways was Jacob a different man after the experience at Peniel?

Personal comments by author

Think back through your own experience of Christian faith.  When have you confessed sin? At church on Sundays as part of the liturgy and prayers of your church service?  On special occasions when God has called you?  When other people have confronted you and challenged you?  As you think about what has happened, ask yourself whether there are things that ought to be done that have not been done.  God will lead you on from there!

Final Prayer

Jesus Christ, You struggled with people throughout Your ministry as You sought to explain the truths of God and His eternal purposes.  May we be prepared to be submissive to Your will and therefore able to hear Your Word and receive it; through Your name we pray, AMEN

Bible study for Genesis 33:1-11

Genesis 33:1-11 (get text)  Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

Jacob emerged from the mysterious incident of wrestling with the man at Peniel somewhat the worse for wear, and with a limp (32:31).  There was no time for dwelling on the amazing events of the night before, for Jacob immediately faced the meeting with Esau he had been planning ever since Laban left him and returned to Mesopotamia (31:55).  What happened next was something that was an amazing part of the wider providence of God; for the meeting between Jacob and his estranged brother Esau which Jacob thought would be his most difficult proved to be not only the easiest, but a totally unexpected and remarkable story of reconciliation. We know nothing about Esau’s life since Jacob left for Mesopotamia to look for a wife, and the last we heard of him, he was causing his parents distress by threatening to kill Jacob(27:41)!  The two of them met and greeted each other like the long lost brothers they truly were, showing remarkable affection and generosity to each other under the circumstances.

The meeting itself happened like this.  Apparently, Esau had met the herds of goats, sheep, camels, cattle and donkeys that Jacob had sent on ahead as presents (33:8) and then came across Jacob, walking alone in front of his entire family.  This was not the arrangement that had originally been envisaged (see 32:7,8) in which everything including Jacob’s family were divided into two so that at least one group might escape if Esau attacked.  Other herds of Jacob’s flocks may have been elsewhere, but his entire family now stood behind him as Esau came towards them.  Jacob’s direct personal approach, bowing down low to the ground, indicated to Esau that the herdsmen he had met had told him the truth; Jacob was indeed acting like a ‘servant’ before a ‘lord’.  Contrary to what had happened in their youth, Jacob was no longer a scheming and grasping younger brother, but a respectful and generous brother who presented himself accordingly.  Esau was probably astounded to see his brother so changed; but he did not know that the spiritual change had happened the previous night!

This passage of Scripture is so clearly a story of reconciliation between two men who had fallen out so grievously over twenty years previously, and we can rejoice in this, even finding in the subtle bargaining of the last few verses the hints of respect and reparation which made the reconciliation complete.  But underlying the thin veneer of the story lies the providential hand of God.  Jacob, a reformed man after his close experience with God the night before, stood in front of his family, taking full responsibility for them in confidence that his life and their’s were in the hands of Almighty God; his previous plan of division was not put into effect.  Esau, a man who held a grudge and whose ancestors were noted throughout history as being opponents of Israel (the Edomites), was emotionally melted (33:4) not so much by Jacob, but by the evidence of God’s work in him which made it possible for reconciliation to take place.  The presents and gifts cemented not what Esau and Jacob did, but what God had done.  God is a God of peace and reconciliation, and though our paths over the years may seem strange, his goal remains the same; peace between all, and His own reconciliation with fallen people.

Genesis 33:1-11 (get text)  Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Going Deeper

(consult Dictionaries)

The whole story is apparently straightforward, but the detailed behaviour of both men was very different.  By looking at what they did and how they handled the meeting, we can learn more about how genuine forgiveness and reconciliation works.  Too often, we assume we know about these things, but God’s Word always has more to teach us.

Jacob, the new man.

It is fascinating to see that although Jacob had been named ‘Israel’ by God the night before (32:28), neither he nor the Scriptures used this name for Jacob immediately.  When Abraham (17:5) and Sarah (17:15) were renamed, their new names were used immediately, but Jacob had to wait until God spoke to him a second time, after he had re-entered the Promised Land (35:10f.).  The new name of Israel was then used as Jacob endured the death of his favoured wife Rachel in childbirth (35:21,22) and the remainder of the ‘Jacob’ stories in Genesis.  This seems odd to us, but it would have been significant for ancient people, for whom this re-iteration of an important truth would have been important.  The first naming took place in the context of a mysterious story full of intrigue, but the second was a personal vision of Almighty God given to Jacob after he had completed the journey that God had commanded of him, and which included reconciliation with Esau.  As so often in Scripture, and as I have recently explained in these notes, a gift is given by God in the form of a promise before it is given in its fulness, and it is dependent upon the completion of a command.  God commanded Jacob to return to the Promised Land (31:13), and the fulfilment of that task would be the key to the full and final gift of the name.  The last major obstacle to this was Jacob’s facing up to his past, and his brother.

When Jacob arranged his family in preparation for the meeting, he put his least favoured concubines and children in front (the two maidservants – 33:2), and the most favoured wife and child last (Rachel and Joseph – 33:2) with Leah and her seven children in the middle.  We might suppose that the least valuable wives and children would be less of a loss if things went wrong; but that would be to miss the point.  Jacob made this arrangement because it was the standard way that a ‘vassal’ tribesman (inferior leader) would present himself to a superior prince.  There are many ancient documents which tell us about this, and it seems clear that no other explanation is necessary.  Jacob was a reformed man, and he took time over every detail to ensure that the right impression was given to Esau as he approached.

The other detail was that Jacob bowed down seven times in front of Esau as he approached.  Again, this message was completely clear, for the number seven was a sign of completeness, and it said to Esau that Jacob was completely sorry for his wronging of his elder brother. He wanted his brother to be in no doubt about his intent, for any detail left out of the correct procedures might imply trickery on Jacob’s part, and if Esau saw anything out of place, the consequences could have been dire.

We may not appreciate all these details now, but all of them were of great importance if reconciliation was to take place.

The meeting

Under the protecting hand of God, Jacob’s plans worked well, and Esau observed the signs correctly.  The meeting of the two men (33:4) was an intimate moment in Scripture.  Esau took the initiative and ran to Jacob to embrace him, and they both wept; the mixture of emotions in a moment such as this was too great for words.  It was also the moment of reconciliation, and after the two of them had felt the same emotions together, maybe for the first time in their lives, they could begin to talk.

It was the responsibility of Esau, now recognised as the senior of the two of them, to begin the conversation, and he asked firstly about the women and children.  Although we know that large families were far more common in ancient times than today, Jacob’s family must have been an impressive sight, and Esau received each of the groups of Jacobs concubines and wives, and their respective children (33:6,7).  Jacob did not let his guard down, however, even though Esau apparently spoke warmly, and continued to speak of himself as ‘your servant’ (33:5) and Esau as ‘my Lord’ (33:8).  This implies that Jacob may well have continued to be tense, for there was still the matter of the ‘gifts’ to be negotiated.

Esau’s comment ‘What was the purpose of the herds of livestock that I met’ was not casual; it was his way of saying ‘let’s get down to business’.  Jacob confirmed that the herds were gifts intended for Esau, but it was entirely correct for Esau to turn away from accepting the very substantial gift that he was offered.  It was ‘not done’ to be seen to accept such generosity too quickly.  We should not read the words of the negotiation too literally, for words such as ‘I have plenty’ (33:9) were all part of the bargaining, which was always going to end with Esau’s acceptance of the gifts.  There are two features of the whole bargaining scene, however, which we can easily fail to see.

Firstly, having talked about the ‘gift’ up to the very last part of the bargaining (see verse 10), Jacob finally insisted that Esau accept the gift, but he changed the word he used to refer to the herds and flocks they were negotiating over, and called them ‘the blessing I offer you …’! (33:11)  Yes, Jacob did want Esau to accept the gift, but he was offering Esau more than that; he offered Esau some of the ‘blessing’ that he had taken from him so many years before.  He emphasised the point by adding ‘because God has dealt graciously with me’ (33:11), then urged Esau to accept the gift because by so doing, the trouble of the past could be put behind them.  The gift was a physical sign given in order to overcome the spiritual problem that had existed between them, and Jacob needed Esau to accept; but He did.

Secondly, as Jacob spoke to Esau, he said something very surprising; ‘you have received me with such favour, to see you is like seeing the face of God!’ The favour Jacob had received from Esau was simply his acceptance, of course, and this is what Jacob was referring to.  Just as God had now accepted him after the immense struggle of faith that he had endured through so many years in Mesopotamia, Esau now accepted him.  This, for Jacob, was a sufficient physical sign of the spiritual reality of the forgiveness of his brother that he so desperately needed.  In the light of his recent experience with the man at Peniel, it was ‘like seeing the face of God!’ Forgiveness and reconciliation is always part of the way God shows Himself to all His servants.

Genesis 33:1-11 (get text)  Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Application

Within the complex social messages being played out in this passage of Scripture, one thing is certain; God was working to bring about reconciliation.  In order for that to be effective, both men needed physical evidence of the forgiveness that undergirded their reconciliation.  For Esau, the physical sign was the gift that Jacob gave which included the symbolic offering of ‘blessing’, the very thing that Jacob had stolen from him, and for Jacob it was the fact of Esau’s acceptance.  Each man’s needs for physical evidence were met, and at the end of the passage, we can assume the reconciliation was complete.

Too often, we talk about reconciliation and forgiveness in unhelpful ways.  We imagine that they can be achieved with a word spoken here or there.  This is rarely true.  Real forgiveness is not a matter of words, but a matter of deeds, and we all know what it is like for someone to say ‘I forgive you’ and behave as if it were not so.  We know it is a shame.  Jacob paid great attention to detail in order to make sure that his request for forgiveness from his brother was met positively and that both of them could demonstrate their reconciliation.  It was time well spent.

We can learn from this something of the importance of making sure that when it comes to forgiveness and reconciliation, our actions truly demonstrate our declared intent.  But more than this, the reconciliation of Jacob and Esau was a pointer towards God’s own reconciliation with humanity, for the physical sign of His forgiveness of our sin is our Saviour Jesus Christ, on the Cross; and the sign of our acceptance of this is our faith in Him who died for us and our obedience to His call.  Both are needed for that reconciliation to be real.

Genesis 33:1-11 (get text)  Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. Looking back over recent texts, how much of what Jacob experienced in the previous twenty years was a preparation for reconciliation with Esau?
2. Discuss moments of reconciliation that you have experienced, and try to identify what the crucial features of this were, and whether they are similar to what has been described in today’s study.
3. Are there different forms of embrace and greeting within your own culture? Are some reserved for family only, and are some of them general?

Personal comments by author

Finding the right way to make amends for something we have done wrong, or even seeking to restore a relationship with someone who has sinned against us is never easy.  We can help the process by prayerfully considering the proper steps that can be taken to assure people of our good intent and our desire for reconciliation. Every situation will be different, but it is important for us to work these things through carefully.

Final Prayer

Jesus, our Lord and Saviour; may we never be oppressed by the troubles we endure, but offer You the words we say, the deeds we do, the love we share, the hopes we have and the joys that brighten our lives.  Lift our hearts we pray, this and every day; AMEN

Bible study for Genesis 33:12-20

Genesis 33:12-20 (get text)  Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

There are three important parts to this text.  The first is a continuation of the previous story of Jacob’s reconciliation with Esau, in which the two brothers agree to go their own way (33:12-16) and then a brief sentence (33:17) which records Jacob’s immediate response to leaving his brother by staying near to where he was.  The third part (33:18-20) is a small introduction to the story which follows in chapter 34, in which Shechem and Hamor play an important role. 

Although this passage reads quite easily, there is some very complicated Hebrew in each of these three sections and also a good deal of uncertainty as to what the text actually means.  I will guide you through some of this in the main body of the Bible study, but you will notice the differences if you read this in another Bible, in which the order of some of the sentences and the place names appear to be different.  One difficulty that we have when reading Scripture from ancient times, like this story of Jacob, is that we have no idea of the real timescale unless we are told about it clearly by the text. Mostly, we are left to guess; for example, Succoth (33:17) is a small place a little to the north of the Jabbok river, and it seems strange that Jacob should go there after leaving Esau and after the famous crossing at Peniel in which he wrestled with a man, and with God (32:22f.).  Nevertheless, Jacob built himself a house there (33:17); but it seems strange that Jacob should settle there and then move to a place called Saleem, which was 40 miles away on the other side of the Jordan, near the city of Shechem (modern Nablus)!  However, the Bible does not give us any indication of how long Jacob stayed in any of these locations, so all we can assume is that over a period of time, he moved his tent and his home from the East of the Jordan, to the West, and therefore fulfilled the promise of God that he would return to the Promised Land (28:15, 33:18).  We cannot underestimate the importance of this, for God always fulfils His promises, and this story was probably told as an example of precisely this.

It was nevertheless difficult for Jacob to break away from Esau, having been reconciled to him just previously (33:1-11).  After this emotional event, we might expect that Jacob would spend some time with Esau.  His brother was a long way from his own territory, and Jacob could have offered the customary nomadic hospitality; at least welcome him into his tent and spend a week or so feasting.  Each brother, however, had more pressing concerns.  Jacob had no intention of following his brother Esau to Seir; his destination was the Promised Land, not the homelands of his brother.  Esau had clearly established a strong enough presence in Seir (to the south East of the Dead Sea) to be able to command four hundred men, and his desire to return (33:12f.) indicated that he had other things on his mind.

Separating ourselves from other family members is a hard thing to do, as is setting up home in new surroundings.  Jacob was called to do them both in order to follow God’s will.  If he had remained under the domination of his brother, he could not be the man of God he was called to be, and if he did not settle in the Promised Land, then he was not where God called him to live.  Put like this, you will see that this passage does indeed have some significant spiritual value.

Genesis 33:12-20 (get text)  Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Going Deeper

(consult Dictionaries)

If we dig deeper, of course, we will find more.  The conversation between Jacob and Esau took place in a form of polite code which made it clear that although Jacob would honour Esau personally, he would never be his servant.  Jacob’s movement next to Saleem within the Promised Land was cautious, and as we shall discover, not without difficulty.

The parting of Jacob and Esau

As the conversation opened between Esau and Jacob after their poignant meeting (33:1-11), their opening words indicted their main concerns.  Esau had just been greeted by his younger brother in abject obeisance, and Jacob had accepted for the first time in his life that Esau was the elder brother and senior of the two.  Esau naturally assumed that his ‘servant’ (33:5) Jacob would obediently follow him.  He said; ‘Let us continue our journey …’ (33:12) for he was now the ‘man in charge’.  Jacob immediately responded with what seems to us to be excuses and prevarication; ‘the children are frail … I am concerned  … about the flocks … I must go slowly …’ (33:13).  We should not be too hard on Jacob, for he was in a difficult situation.  He had the directions of God to follow, and having done what was right by making peace with his brother, he could not merely just do what he said!  Something like this is not too far from the truth of human relationships that we see played out all around us, for when peace is established between people, a ‘senior’ partner will often immediately assume that others will therefore do what they say – but that is domination, it is not God’s will!

Jacob’s reply to Esau also reveals the difference between the two brothers.  In their youth, Esau had been the hunter and Jacob had been the one who ‘stayed at home’ (25:27), but this translated into Esau the adult War-lord and Jacob the adult Shepherd.  It was Jacob whose life reflected the character of Almighty God and not Esau, and although reconciliation had been achieved, God had a separate will for each of them.  There could be no future for them together, or even for Jacob under the protection of Esau; Jacob was genuinely concerned for the range of people under his care as well as animals, but Esau was only concerned about his warriors.  Although Jacob and Esau left on relatively good terms, the history of their descendants, Israel and Esau is littered with trouble and war.

It is sometimes said that Jacob’s statement that he would ‘come to my lord in Seir’ (33:14) in disingenuous, even indicating some trickery on his part to try and escape the clutches of his brother.  Unfortunately, some use this to try and demonstrate the on-going character of Jacob for deception, but the truth is that the Bible presents Jacob as a man reformed and re-made by God after the experience at Peniel (32:22f.), and this passage does not illustrate anything more than Jacob’s concern to leave Esau.  For all we know, Jacob did indeed keep his promise to visit his brother at a later time, but it is not important to the writers of Scripture to include anything except that which tells us of the salvation history of humanity.

In the final exchange between Jacob and Esau, Esau offered Jacob the protection of some of his men; it was a generous offer, and we should see from this that Esau had probably accepted the different paths that the brothers now walked.  It was a gesture that Jacob politely rejected, for it would leave him dependent upon his brother and not on God alone; the God who had brought him on an incredible journey in terms of time and length of travel, and of maturity and also faith.  God had not let him down, and he was under God’s protection.

Settlement at Succoth

For an unknown period of time, Jacob settled at Succoth.  The place has been traditionally identified as an ancient mound (archaeologically indicating a place of settlement) to the north of the Jabbok river in the Gilead hills.  There is in fact no particular reason for this identification, other than Jewish tradition associated with the site.  We should not be too worried about the exact location, because neither is Scripture.  The word ‘Succoth’ is the same word used in the sentence to refer to the sheds or shelters that Jacob built for his cattle (33:17).

The important thing about this sentence is to note that Jacob began to act like a man who was about to settle down, for he ‘built a house’ (33:17).  Clearly, he moved on from this region (in the next sentence) but this small episode is inserted into Scripture to indicate to us that Jacob was speaking the truth (33:13).  After the long journey (around 400 miles) from Paddan-Aram in Mesopotamia, the family and the flocks and herds needed substantial rest before Jacob could embark upon the final phase of his God given call; to settle in the Promised Land.  It is only a small verse, but it indicates care and providence on the part of God, through Jacob.

Arriving in the Promised Land

Jacob’s arrival in the Promised Land is an important moment for Scripture.  If you read many versions of the Bible, you will read something like this ‘Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem …’ and you will notice that I have not translated the passage in this way.  I have taken the arguments of the evangelical scholar Gordon Wenham (in his Word Commentary on Genesis) in which he points out that the word usually translated ‘safely’ is in fact a form of the word ‘shalom’ which was a common place name in ancient times; here, Saleem.  This was a small settlement near to a place called ‘Shechem’.  This last fact is a little confusing, because the next story in Genesis (Gen 34) is a story about a man called Shechem whose father was Hamor, and he is mentioned in verse 19 of our passage.

Shechem was an ancient trading city situated in the main Canaanite hill range between Mount Ebal (to the north) and mount Gerazim (to the south) and is now known as Nablus.  It is common in Scripture, however, for place names and people’s names to be similar, and this is a case in point, so we must be clear that the main reference to Shechem in this passage is to the man we meet in the next chapter of Genesis (34) rather than to the city. Jacob began his settlement of Canaan by buying a plot of land near the settlement of Saleem from Shechem’s father Hamor.  The price paid for a substantial plot was one hundred of some measure of money or silver that is unknown.  This makes it difficult to know whether Jacob had a good or a bad bargain, but it was a far larger settlement than Jacob’s grandfather Abraham had previously purchased from the Hittites (23:17f.)

Jacob celebrated his settlement in Canaan by both purchasing a plot of land and also setting up an altar.  The Hebrew word used in this sentence for the setting up of the altar is different from other words used for those times (Abraham ‘built’ an altar, for example).  We do not know enough about why this difference exists, but what we do know is that Jacob named the altar ‘El-Elohe-Israel’.  This is a name that was highly important to the people of Israel, for it was the first occasion when their name ‘Israel’ was formally associated with the word ‘El’ which was the Canaanite word for ’God’.  In this way, Jacob used the name God had given him and also claimed the name of God within the Promised Land of Canaan and used them both for the worship of the God of his fathers who had brought him on his long journey.  It was the completion of one story, but as we shall discover tomorrow, the beginning of another.  Entry into the Promised Land was not as wonderful as we might think!

Genesis 33:12-20 (get text)  Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Application

You will see clearly from the Bible study that I have already pointed out the importance of making sure that reconciliation does not lead to domination.  All too often, forgiveness and love are mistaken for weakness either by those who do not know the love of God or who do not allow the love of God to rule in their lives. That, unfortunately, can be true even within the church.  The truth about the reconciliation between Esau and Jacob was that it allowed both to go the way that God had given them, and even though one of them (Esau) thought that their future lay together, he was eventually able to see that this was not so.  True reconciliation leads to liberty, not to bondage or domination, or the assumed right of one person to do what they want at the expense of another.  That is the way of the world, not the way of Christ.

This small but meaningful passage also teaches us that it is important to complete God’s plans.  Clearly, Jacob began to settle somewhere east of the Jordan, but had to abandon the first house he built in Succoth and then buy a plot of land on which to live, within the Promised Land.  God was not going to make the ‘Promised Land’ out of anywhere Jacob wished to live; it was God’s land to give, and Jacob realised this in making the move over the Jordan to Saleem near Shechem.

I have always loved the way that the forefathers set up or build altars in order to worship the Lord.  We tend to just ‘turn up’ to worship these days, but the activities of those of ancient times reminds us that effort and planning need to go into our worship.  It is only a small point, perhaps, but one that we would do well to note.  The worship that Jacob offered was of a different kind to that which we offer, because of the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross; but many of the principles are the same.  It cost Jacob money, time and labour to worship the one true God, and I often wonder whether if this was true today, we might find more loyalty and commitment within an activity that has, for many Christians, become very optional.

Genesis 33:12-20 (get text)  Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. Discuss whether it is possible for a reconciliation to be meaningful if it takes place in a brief period of time and the participants never see each other again?
2. Discuss why it was important for Jacob to begin to settle in the Promised Land, when his grandfather and father had remained nomads.  Why was this necessary?
3. How can we put more effort into the worship of Almighty God in our churches today?

Personal comments by author

I suggest that you consider carefully whether you have completed what God has called you to do.  In writing this, I have no idea what you may have been led by God to do or to accomplish in your lifetime.  Nevertheless, each of us will be called by God to account for what has been asked of us, and there is good reason to ask the question now before we have to face our maker.  It is very easy today, to forget spiritual things and live according to the world’s agenda!

Final Prayer

Almighty God; You have led you servants through the ages to pass on the Faith they have received.  Thank You for the great figures of faith such as Jacob, who were faithful even after great struggles.  Help us to live up to their example in Your strength and through Jesus Christ;  AMEN

Bible study for Genesis 34:1-17

Genesis 34:1-17 (get text)  Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

This is the beginning of a substantial story which takes up the whole of Genesis 34. It is one of those long stories of Genesis which are not preached upon because they are long, involved and contain some disagreeable features; in this case, rape and circumcision. Later, we will read some even more difficult and unpalatable things within the story.  However, if we can step back and accept that our sensibilities are not the best guide to what God would say to us, then we may find that even this tale has a place in God’s Word, and if we can find it, then we will find some interesting and even useful features within the text.

To begin with, this story is the first major event that happens to Jacob’s family after they enter the Promised Land, and that is the first major clue to its significance. The whole story of the ‘Promised Land’ within Scripture is not as secure as we might imagine.  Throughout the long history of God’s people within the Old Testament, they wandered in and out of it; when they were within it, life was not always easy, and when they were away from it (whilst wandering in the desert, or when they were in exile), they longed to be back there.  Some of the problems of living in the Promised Land are foretold within this story, and although it seems initially uninteresting, this is its main purpose; it is a story with a warning

The main theme of Scripture throughout the stories of the forefathers is that of building up a unique ‘people’, a nation with whom he would have a Covenant relationship and through whom He would show His love for the World.  Up until now, it was essential that Abraham’s son Isaac and then his son Jacob should marry into their extended family back in Mesopotamia in order to preserve their unique identity.  Now Laban (who was the elder of that wider family) and Jacob had parted ways (31:55), so where were Jacob’s sons now going to obtain wives?  There were two choices.  They could either intermarry with local people, or marry within the wider ‘family’ that Jacob had now created around him which included not just his own sons and daughter, but also servants and herdsmen.  Strangely, Scripture does not say who they did marry, but it does make it clear that God did not want them to marry the local Canaanite women.  It is a theme that crops up frequently within Scripture (Josh 23:12,13, Ezra 10:9f. for example)

The way that Scripture goes about telling us this, strangely, is through this story not of Jacob’s sons, but of his only daughter, Dinah.  Today’s passage which begin this lengthy story tells us very clearly that Jacob’s family, God’s people, were expected to live by a higher standard of morality than those around them, and it emphasises the disgust and dishonour done to the whole family because Shechem raped Dinah and then decided that he wanted her as his wife.  Then, as the story unfolds, other intriguing features are revealed, Jacob’s sons act with intentional ‘deceit’ (34:13) and set a trap for Hamor and his son Shechem by insisting upon their circumcision.  As yet, we do not know what will happen, but it is obvious to us already that Jacob’s sons had no intention of letting this local ‘ruler’ (34:2) have his way; but in good ‘soap opera’ style, Scripture keeps us waiting!

Genesis 34:1-17 (get text)  Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Going Deeper

(consult Dictionaries)

This story tells us much about the new, reformed man of God; Jacob.  Then, apart from understanding the story itself, the most interesting part of studying this story comes from asking why it was that intermarriage with local Canaanite tribes was such a problem.  You may be surprised where the journey takes us.

A strange story

Dinah’s rape by Shechem is indeed a strange story.  It begins by explaining that Dinah’s was Leah’s daughter, which we already know from earlier (30:21), but we suspect that Jacob did in fact have other daughters because later on, Hamor and Shechem talked of intermarriage between their clan and Jacob’s, mentioning other ‘daughters’ (34:9).  Dinah, however, was the one who caused the trouble by wandering too far from her father’s camp to go and ‘see the local women’ (34:1).  The words in Hebrew are interesting, because they are used in a similar way in the story of Lot and Sodom, in which Lot was drawn towards Sodom because he liked the city life (Gen 13:8f.), and there is a clear implication that Dinah was equally inquisitive. 

It is important for the rest of our text to look carefully at the words and actions of Hamor and Shechem, for they form the background which helps us understand how Jacob and his sons react to the whole affair.  Shechem was attracted to Dinah and had sex with her forcibly.  It was hardly something that was new in an age of male domination, indeed, there were rules laid down in the Mosaic Law for such occurrences (Deut 22:28,29) indicating an extremely high ‘bride price’ of fifty shekels as a type of penalty.  Shechem’s manner towards Dinah was suspicious, however, and indicative of very arrogant behaviour.  He certainly spoke tenderly to Dinah (34:3) and the narrative speaks of his love for her on several occasions (34:8,12, etc); but he also spoke very sharply about her to his father, saying ‘get this girl for me as a wife’ (34:4) and referred to her as a ‘girl’ on more than one occasion (34:4,12) using a Hebrew term that meant an immature girl rather than a marriageable woman.  What we must bear in mind is that we only discover later in the story that Dinah was in fact being held in Shechem’s house, and whether or not this was against her will is not said (34:26). 

This position of strength in which Shechem and his father Hamor already held Dinah explains why Jacob acted with great caution when he heard about what had happened to his daughter.  Nearly every commentary I have read accuses Jacob of trying to escape his responsibilities as head of the house, and suggests that he should have responded immediately with anger and offence.  My translation ‘so he thought what to do until they (his sons) came home’ is close to the Hebrew and suggests that Jacob was in no position to do anything until his men had returned from their herdsmen duties in the field.  In addition, there is also a strong hint that Dinah had brought the situation upon herself by straying from the protection of her father’s tents.  If you look ahead to the end of the story (34:30,31) you will find that Jacob was unhappy with the aggressive response of his sons and believed, rightly or wrongly that the matter could be dealt with in a peaceful way, but we do not know what that would have been!

Negotiations and deceit!

The two Canaanite men, Shechem and Hamor came to speak to Jacob just as Dinah’s brothers, principally Simeon and Levi (see 34:30) arrived.  From the point of view of these local men, this was a simple case of negotiation in which money would sort out the whole issue.  Shechem and Hamor offered no apology or deference to Jacob.  However, verses 6 to 12 reveal four very different approaches to the situation.  Firstly, Jacob remained silent, wisely or not in the difficult circumstances.  Secondly, his sons, Dinah’s brothers, were outraged on their father’s behalf (34:7); the Hebrew using almost every possible generic term for disgraceful offence!  Thirdly, Hamor proposed general respect between all parties and the sharing of land; something Jacob probably needed for his extensive flocks and herds. Fourthly, all Shechem was concerned about was to obtain ‘the girl’ at any price, and fatefully and arrogantly asked any price to be named (34:12). 

It was Jacob’s sons who dealt with the situation immediately and without discussing anything with their father.  Scripture indicates its disapproval by saying that their plan was one of deception, and we will discover that this is exactly what it was.  They set out the condition that Shechem could have Dinah and his father could have the intermarriage and integration if the local Canaanites agreed to circumcision.  In this way, they used the sacred sign of the Covenant as a bargaining tool to extract their sister from her unhappy escapade!

Intermarriage – a problem for Israel

This story introduces us to the major theme of the dangers of intermarriage for God’s people, but however much we might like Scripture to be prescriptive, it is not as simple as that.  In the opening paragraphs I indicated that throughout Israel’s history, intermarriage with local people was a problem which caused great trouble amongst God’s people, and was banned in the laws of Moses (Deut 7:3).  The main problem was this.  Whenever intermarriage occurred, the women of other cultures and tribal groups brought with them the gods that they worshipped before they were married, and this was an abomination to God.  An example of this was King Solomon, who, despite being a model King in many other respects and the builder of the great Temple, was tempted to ‘sin’ by marrying wives from other countries around his (see 1 Kings 11:1-13 for a damning indictment of his reign).  Another example was King Ahab who married the Phoenician Queen Jezebel who is historically identified with bringing the worship of Ba’al into the heart of the life of the people of Israel (1 Kings 16:31f.).  Such actions were blamed for the Assyrian invasion of Israel in 720 BC, and similar ones for the Babylonian invasion and destruction of Jerusalem in 587 BC (see 2 Kings 16,24,25).  Ezra, Nehemiah and others were therefore concerned to make sure that the returning exiles from Babylon did not follow such practices (Ezra 10:9, Malachi 2:11,14f. etc.).

But it is not as simple as that, and God did not make it a general part of the Covenant agreement that any of the Lord’s people should or should not marry certain categories of people.  Clearly, over a period of time, Israelite identity and Jewish identity became as much traceable by maternal ancestry as male; as is said today ‘if you’re mother is a Jew, you are a Jew’.  But the Bible is more liberal than we might think about this, and there are significant and powerful stories of marriages between Israelite men and women of other nations which are an important part of the Bible and of our tradition of Faith, for example, the story of the Moabite Ruth, who married into the ancestral line of David (see the Book of Ruth).  Why is the Bible apparently ambivalent?  The answer may well be because God’s plans are always larger than we can perceive.  The whole history of God’s people, in both Old and New Testament times is littered with ‘exceptions’ to general principles which God has used to do His will.

As Dinah’s brothers plotted revenge for the offence against their sister, Jacob was worried about the on-going conflict that deception and violence would create within the Promised Land (34:30).  He was right to be concerned, and at least consider (see 34:5) whether God had another way.  And we all know well that deception and violence amongst Jacob’s sons eventually led to the whole family being spilt and eventually having to re-locate in Egypt (the story of Joseph, Gen 37-50).

Genesis 34:1-17 (get text)  Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Application

There are a complex set of issues at work in this story.  Whilst most commentators argue strongly that Jacob was in the wrong to fail to protect Dinah and regard the issue of intermarriage with the same abhorrence found in many other passages of Scripture (quoted above), a careful look at the passage begs us to consider at least another question.  What was going on between Dinah and Shechem, and was it really an affront to the future of God’s Covenant people?  I suspect Jacob’s fault may have been that he was not able to reign in his sons, hold them back from acting deceptively (see 34:30) and impart the godly wisdom that marked his father’s dealings with the Philistines, for example (26:17f.).  Was there a way to preserve the Covenant of God and keep the peace?

There is much that is unresolved in this passage and we will follow through some of these issues tomorrow as we read the rest of the chapter.  In the meantime, I suggest that we reflect on the issue of intermarriage today.  Clearly, the New Testament guides us towards the ideal of Christian people marrying each other (see 2 Cor 6:14) because of the dangers of a Christian husband or wife being drawn away from faith by the compromises of married life with someone who does not believe.  This is good advice, but the church of God is not a religious system of rules, and the grace of God teaches us that He deals with each of us according to a plan and has a purpose for our lives that is highly individual. Let us not be side-tracked away from ‘grace’ by the more torrid stories of the Old Testament which appear to be black and white about God’s Covenant, when a careful reading shows that they are not.

Genesis 34:1-17 (get text)  Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. Discuss within your group whether this story has anything to tell people today.  If it were a text for a sermon, which verse would you preach from?
2. Do you sense that there could be some peaceful resolution to this situation, or should we side totally with Jacob’s sons?
3. Do you believe that there are problems in the church today concerning being obedient to God in choosing partners for marriage?  Should it be taught about in church?

Personal comments by author

Are there passages of Scripture which you find difficult and impossible to understand?  How do you respond to them?  Do you just ‘leave them out’ of your mental map of God’s Word, or are you prepared to try and find how they might fit into the patterns of God’s revelation?  As you reflect upon this passage of scripture, ask yourself about how you find the balance between peaceful resolution of conflicts and direct action.

Final Prayer

Dear Lord Jesus, open up our lives to the possibilities of Your grace.  May we value the disciplines of our faith and also the freedom of Your Spirit, both of which are essential to the life of faith we seek to live.  Lead us graciously, and show us how to live graciously, we ask You; AMEN

Bible study for Genesis 34:18-31

Genesis 34:18-31 (get text)  Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

I hope you will have had the chance to read through yesterday’s study, for this passage is the second and concluding half of a distasteful episode in the life of Jacob and his family.  We do not find it easy to cope with this kind of story in Scripture, because the violence and brutality that is described seems unworthy of God’s Word.  Nevertheless, we should bear in mind that God’s Word reflects both the truth about God, and secondly the truth about this world and the sinful condition of humanity.  The Bible does indeed record war and human violence in many places, but it does so in order to expose extreme evil for what it is (as when Jesus was crucified, for example).  We will discover the purpose of this passage in Scripture if instead of focussing too much on its details (which we do still need to know), we look at what is implied by the people who, under the guidance of God’s Spirit, wrote this ancient story down in the book of Genesis.  It is unfortunately true that it is only when you read it in the original Hebrew that clues can be found about what the authors thought; we all know how a ‘turn of phrase’ can easily change the meaning of what is said, and such things are often lost in translation.  It is my opinion that although the story does contain elements of ancient laws of revenge and also some comment about the issue of ‘mixed marriages’, the writers of this story were appalled at the violent actions of Simeon and Levi, and although Jacob could not control the situation or deal with it effectively, this great forefather was not himself the reason for the dreadful offence of war.

Simeon and Levi played a game of deception with the Canaanite citizens of the city of Saleem (not Shechem – see 33:18-20) and not only abused circumcision, the sacred sign of  the Covenant (see 17:1f.) but committed atrocities that were amongst the worst recorded in Scripture.  They set a challenge to Shechem following his rape of their sister Dinah; either be circumcised to become ‘one of us’ (34:17), or they would take their sister and go.  Dinah had remained at Shechem’s house after the rape (34:26), but the words used in Scripture indicate that she may well have been happy to stay.  What started out as forced sex (rape) had become something of an unfathomable relationship intrigue.  When Shechem and Hamor accepted the terms and persuaded their fellow citizens to do the same, the obvious temporary advantage was taken by first Simeon and Levi, and then all Jacob’s sons (34:27) in a wanton rampage of destruction (34:25-29).

Jacob was horrified (34:30) and saw that only trouble would be caused by what his sons had done, even though he had not been able either to control them or suggest an alternative course of action.  Perhaps he thought the local Canaanites would refuse circumcision and agree to hand back Dinah (34:17), thus extracting his family from the situation.  The last words of the story were spoken by Simeon and Levi ‘Should our sister have been treated like a prostitute?’  Do the writers of Scripture want us to read this as a justifiable reason for what was done, or do they present these words as evidence of the appalling vengeful nature of the brothers?  I am certain that the second is true.

Genesis 34:18-31 (get text)  Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Going Deeper

(consult Dictionaries)

We will look at the story in detail, and then look at its consequences for the people of Israel.  These were far more extensive than you might imagine, and as we follow this lead, we will find that the story was possibly prophetic, containing a warning about sins that affected some of God’s people.

What really happened?

We are in the dark about much of what happened.  As soon as we look carefully into the details, everything becomes very murky.  I have already mentioned, both today and yesterday, that Dinah’s part in this is suspect; although she was raped, the Hebrew word used is less aggressive than we might assume, which is why some translations have ‘forced sex’.  We may justly be of the opinion that there is no difference, but there is a clear hint in the text that Dinah’s wandering to the city and staying in Shechem’s house after the rape were entirely voluntary.  Secondly, Shechem was evidently passionate about Dinah (34:8,19) but he also talked about her in a high handed manner (34:4) and conveniently omitted to tell his fellow citizens that he was really asking them all to undergo circumcision so that he could get the wife he wanted! (34:21-23)

Our passage today begins at the point where Shechem and Hamor decided to accept the condition of circumcision set down by Simeon and Levi for peaceful co-existence.  It is not immediately obvious to us whether the two brothers thought this condition would be accepted or not, but Scripture nevertheless describes their words as ‘deceitful’ (34:13), so it is suggested to us by the authors of Genesis that the brothers were prepared for conflict, and hoped that Hamor and Shechem would do as they did.  Such was their anger not just at the rape itself but at the family ‘honour’ impugned by what had happened (34:7).

Most of the story is contained in two speeches, firstly (in yesterday’s passage) a speech by Hamor (34:8-12) asking for a family marriage contract and intermarriage between the local Canaanites and Israel, and secondly, a speech given to the citizens of Saleem by both Hamor and Shechem in which they asked for general acceptance of the offer of intermarriage if the townspeople will accept circumcision.  A comparison between the two speeches tells us a great deal about what was going on.  Hamor and Shechem described Jacob and his family as ‘friendly’ (34:21), when the negotiations they had just been party to had been far from polite (34:14-17).  They were manoeuvring for their own purposes.  They were leading figures in the ‘city’ (we should note that a ‘city’ in those times meant what we might call a small town or village today; the word means ‘a permanent settlement’) and they could see personal benefit from any agreement.  Specifically, they hoped to assimilate Jacob’s flocks and herds into their own ‘wealth’.  From the point of view of God’s Covenant, they hoped for the complete annihilation of God’s people as an identifiable tribe (yet to become a nation).  As we read this, we are tempted to ‘side’ with Jacob’s sons against the people of Saleem; but the story is not as simple as that.

Simeon and Levi, two of Dinah’s older brothers, took advantage of the incapacity of the men of the city after the rite of circumcision and slaughtered them (34:25).  This response could possibly be called justifiable reaction on their part given the ancient times in which they lived, although it is disgusting to us.  Ancient laws of retaliation which have been discovered from that time were punitive, and far in excess of the famous ‘Lex Talionis’ (‘an eye for an eye’) in the laws of Moses (Ex 21:24), which were designed not to encourage vengeance, but limit retaliation to a reasonable level of equality of treatment.  We are told that Simeon and Levi then took Dinah from Shechem’s house and left (v26); but what is really shocking is that the other sons of Jacob followed up the slaughter with what the Hebrew describes as ‘plunder’.  In other words, they sacked and looted the city and took away everything they could find; including possessions, women and children.

Although Jacob chastised Simeon and Levi for what happened, it is what the other sons did that was offensive to any moral code of the day.  Indeed, that is why Jacob feared for the future (34:30)

The consequences

Two things can be said about this whole story without difficulty.  Firstly, it was used by the people of Israel as a parable of the dangers of intermarriage, or of even contemplating it.  It was a cautionary tale most likely used by leaders such as Ezra and Nehemiah (e.g. Ezra 10:9f.) when they attempted to re-establish Israel’s identity after the horrors of Exile in Babylon.  Secondly, the immediate consequence of this sorry tale was that Jacob, having already purchased land in the area, had to move away (35:1f.); of which we will hear more tomorrow.

The next clue to the impact of this story comes towards the end of Genesis, where Jacob ‘blesses’ his sons before he dies (Gen 49:1-27).  There are complex reasons for each of the blessings that Jacob gives, but the most startling are given to Simeon and Levi:

‘Simeon and Levi are brothers; weapons of violence are their swords. May I never come into their council; may I not be joined to their company - for in their anger they killed men, and at their whim they hamstrung oxen. Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce, and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.’ (Gen 49:5-7)

Clearly, Jacob felt that his second and third sons by Leah were compromised by their actions, and the blessing he gave them sounds more like a ‘curse’!  This is not merely whimsical, for the truth is that Simeon and Levi were the forefathers of two tribes that almost ‘disappeared’ within the people of Israel over the ensuing years.

There is not much in Scripture about the tribe of Simeon, and this is because as early as the time of Joshua and the Judges, Simeon was assimilated into the tribal lands of his younger but more prominent brother Judah (Joshua 9:1-9), and Judah became the tribe that God blessed through the line of King David and its capital city of Jerusalem. Jacob prophesied (above) ‘I will divide them in Jacob‘, which could be translated ‘I will disperse them in Jacob’ and in the history of God’s people, this came true.

The story of Levi is different.  Moses and Aaron were Levites, and at the time of the Exodus from Egypt, the tribe of Levi was ‘set aside’ by God for priestly service.  This service was partially fulfilled in the following years, but they were given no land in the allotment by Joshua on the assumption that they received their pay by priestly service (Josh 14:2,3) though they later received some cities within other tribal lands (Joshua 21:1f.).  They too were ‘dispersed’ amongst the rest of God’s people.  Over time, the priestly duties within Israel were dominated by the great High Priestly families descending from Zadok and Abiathar, and the Levites were largely dispossessed.  Indeed, it is assumed in much of scripture that the Levites were the poor people of the land, to whom charity was due because of their poverty, alongside ‘widows’, ‘aliens’ and ‘orphans’ (see Deut 14:29, 16:11, 26:12).

The story we have read in Genesis 34 is prophetic of these later developments within the tribes of Israel, and we cannot ignore the fact that those who wrote this story down saw it as evidence of why the tribes of Simeon and Levi became dispersed within Israel.  It may not mean much to us, but it meant a great deal to people in later times who sought to restore God’s people Israel.

Genesis 34:18-31 (get text)  Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Application

In our so called ‘post-modern’ world, what has happened to people in the past is regarded by most people as irrelevant.  Few would feel interested or bothered about the minutiae of what happened to Simeon and Levi.  We do, however, have a duty to account for one another as God’s people, for what happens to one group of Christians does indeed affect the others.  Jesus Himself taught that we are his ‘body’ (Matt 26:26), being united in Him is vital.  Have you heard people argue against Christianity because of the evils done in the past by wars fought in the name of God?  It is a common barrier thrown up by those who do not wish to hear the true claims of the Gospel, but we need to have an answer to the challenge.  We may even have to say ‘sorry’ on behalf of others, simply so that our own witness to the truth of our faith can be heard.  At the very least, this dreadful story of the rape of Dinah and the slaughter of Shechem and the city of Saleem by Simeon and Levi, warns us that past violence by people of faith is something that we may have to account for.  It is an unpleasant truth, but no stone should be unturned in our attempts to overcome all the obstacles that Satan places in the way of the Gospel.

One other small application is worth mentioning. How many times have you been in a situation where something troublesome has happened (not on the same level as the murder and intrigue of this story), but it has been compounded by others ‘wading in’ and making it worse?  This is a reprehensible feature of this story and one of which Scripture clearly disapproves.  This passage at least contains the moral suggestion that a person of faith should wisely, like Jacob, stand back from those often emotional responses which ‘make matters worse’.  God is always on the side of truth and love.

Genesis 34:18-31 (get text)  Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. Discuss what you think about the deception planned by Jacob’s sons, and the deceptions planned by Hamor and Shechem.  Was any one worse than the other?
2. How important is the original rape of Dinah to the final outcomes of the story?  Was it simply the trigger to the events, or something more?
3. Was Jacob justified in taking no action except chastising his two sons?

Personal comments by author

It is not easy to find examples of discipleship issues within this text!  Nevertheless, The story does raise all kinds of questions about violence and pacifism which do not go away, and which remain important questions for all Christians even though for many people, they have never been satisfactorily resolved.  It is important for all of us to ask ourselves how we would react if someone very close to us was treated with violence.  It happens to many, and is a supreme test of humanity and faith.

Final Prayer

Jesus, You died upholding truth; the truth of the Father’s love for all.  Help us to uphold truth and justice, and act wisely in all our affairs not simply because it is right to do so, but because in so doing, we copy You, our Lord and Saviour:  AMEN

Bible study for Genesis 35:1-8

Genesis 35:1-8 (get text)  Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

It is a relief, after the depravity and injustice of the previous story in chapter 34 of Genesis, to read a series of brief but telling descriptions of ‘what happened next’.  Whilst preparing for these studies, I read commentary after commentary in which Jacob was castigated for his apparent inability to do anything about the previous terrible events (ch 34) and if you have followed these notes you will realise that I am not of the same opinion.  The Jacob who crossed the Jabbok and wrestled with God at Peniel (32:22-32) was a man weakened, but spiritually renewed by the power of God and deeply conscious of both his past failings and also his role as the bearer of God’s Covenant promises.  All this is demonstrated in the way in which he dealt with Esau, before coming into the Promise Land (ch.33, see 33:18).  Jacob’s primary concern was the safe re-entry of his whole family into Canaan, which is reflected in most of his reported comments (33:9-12,13, 34:30). It is not surprising therefore, that after the tragic fighting, slaughter and pillage done by his sons, Jacob’s ear was attuned to the Lord’s instructions as to what to do next.  It seems obvious that the entire family would have to leave the area of the city of Shechem where the previous incidents took place, but Jacob only acted when the Lord gave him specific instructions to leave.

‘Get up and go …’ (35:1) are words often used when God commands one of his servants to do something very important (see Jonah 1:2, 3:2, for example), and this strong instruction reminds us that the re-entry into the Promised Land was the fulfilment of a vow made by Jacob when the young man had left Canaan many years previously (28:20,21). This vow asked the Lord to guide Jacob back to Canaan in safety, in return for which Jacob would worship the Lord at Bethel.  Jacob had returned into the Promised Land but things had not gone well; and he now needed a word from the Lord before he could proceed to Bethel, the place where the vow had been made and where worship of the Lord would complete the vow.  The time had now come.

The Lord made it clear that this journey to Bethel was the important conclusion to Jacob’s long journey and the completion of his vow, and he responded by indicating to his family that their journey should be treated as a pilgrimage.  All signs of the past were ritually ‘washed’ away (‘purify’ in 35:2 meant ‘washing’), clothes were changed and all items that were linked with other religious beliefs were disposed of by Jacob (33:4).  Then, as they travelled, God protected His people Israel so that no retaliation was attempted by the Canaanites upon his sons (33:5).

Our passage today includes one quite extraordinary event; the only place in Genesis where God commanded someone to build an altar.  Whenever anyone else had built an altar, the decision to build it was part of the worship itself, but here, Jacob is called to a more profound worship of the Lord, to recall God’s own ‘self-revelation’ (35:7).  Verse 8 then concludes our passage with a report of the death of Rebekah’s nurse, Deborah.

Genesis 35:1-8 (get text)  Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Going Deeper

(consult Dictionaries)

There is a great deal of symbolism in these few brief verses; pointers to the future for God’s people, for instance, purification by washing (35:2) is the first example of something in Scripture which we can relate to Baptism.  Ultimately, the whole passage is about the worship of the Lord under His instruction.

‘Get up and go to Bethel’

It is a characteristic of the Old Testament that a great deal of preparation went into the worship of the Lord.  God led Abraham on a journey from his home country to the Promised Land and the first place to which he came was Shechem, where he ‘built an altar’ (12:6,7).  He did not stay long, but moved to Bethel where he ‘pitched his tent’ and ‘invoked the name of the Lord’ (12:8).  This journey was now retraced by Jacob, who followed his grandfather by journeying from Mesopotamia to Shechem and then to Bethel.  It is highly likely that even then, stories of ancestors were told and regarded as sacred, and with this reminder of his grandfather’s exploits, Jacob naturally understood that the call of God to go to Bethel had ancient as well as personal significance.

As he prepared to go to Bethel, he also knew that this was the place where God had first appeared to him (28:10-17) and he went expecting a revelation of God as he worshipped upon the fulfilment of his vow.  His instructions to his family were to prepare for worship in a way that became traditional for Jewish people (as can be seen from the Psalms, for example, Psalm 24, also see Exodus 20:3).  This entailed washing and cleansing, and the changing of clothes; often called ‘purification’ (see the ritual laws of Numbers 19 and 30), and it is most likely that the whole body was washed and all clothes were changed.  Interestingly, the idea of purification was picked up strongly by the prophets (Isaiah 52:11, 66:17, Ezekiel 43:20, 45:18, Malachi 3:3), this last reference being critical to our understanding of the work of John the Baptist, who baptised people for the forgiveness of their sins; an act designed to make people fit for the worship of God.  Baptism is now, of course, the important sign of cleansing that a Christian submits to when making a public declaration of faith, and even if we do not readily use the Old Testament to help understand this great ritual, there is a very real sense in which the personal identification with Christ in Baptism, by faith, makes a person ‘fit’ for their future true worship of the living God.  From the beginning of this fascinating Scriptural trail, it was clear that it was not the act of purification itself that made Jacob and his family acceptable to God, but the honesty and the integrity with which it was done; in other words, the ‘spirit’.

Despite, and perhaps because of the horrors of the previous few days, all Jacob’s family now obeyed his command (35:2) to prepare; but purification did not only mean washing and cleansing.  Jacob’s first instruction was for his family to rid themselves of ‘foreign gods’.  This is a little surprising to us, for why should Jacob’s family have these ‘gods’ in the first place?  The answer lies partly in the story of Rachel’s stealing of the ‘teraphim’ from her father Laban; these small wooden or golden replicas of forefathers were used for divination (ascertaining the future by means of magic) and were common household objects of the day, irrespective of the gods worshipped in each area or tribal grouping; they were also a sign of authority and power.  At the very least, Rachel now had to abandon these teraphim (31:34).  Simeon and Levi had, of course, just finished the slaughter and sacking of a small Canaanite settlement (ch.34) and it would have again been the normal practice of those days for Jacob’s sons to ‘capture’ the god’s of those they had defeated and parade them as evidence of their military prowess; they were trophies of war.  But these, too, had to go.

Finally, there is reference to the giving up of ‘earrings’ (35:4), which seems to us to be a little unnecessary.  Scripture helps us here, however, for there is ample evidence that when people made objects of worship, they frequently pooled their gold in order to do so, and golden earrings are mentioned in Scripture as being major sources of gold used in the making of Aaron’s ‘golden calf’ (Ex 32:2-4) and Gideon’s ‘ephod’ (Judges 8:24-27) for example.  By asking the people to cast away their earrings, Jacob was demanding that they dispose of any material from which they could in future remake the gods that he had told them to throw away!

God’s people had to prepare themselves to worship and meet their Lord.  It was not a casual thing.  Throwing away anything that could draw the people away from worshipping God alone, had to be done, purification symbolised repentance and the abandonment of the past, and the walk to the place of worship was a holy pilgrimage, marched under the protection of Almighty God which indicated His forgiveness of their very recent sins (35:5).

Worshipping the Lord

Jacob kept the command of God to travel to Bethel, the place where he had seen his first vision and first heard the Lord speak to him (28:10-17).  He then ‘built’ an altar (35:7) and named the place where he did this El-Bethel, strangely meaning ‘God, the house of God’, or possibly ‘God of the house of God’.  Because names like this are very important, scholars have puzzled over the meaning of this strange name for centuries, but although recent archaeological finds have verified other places where the name of a god appeared at the beginning and the end of the place name, one other explanation does seem possible.

The key to this is the fascinating expression ‘God … revealed himself’ in verse 7.  The Hebrew verb used here is one that is normally used in the Old Testament for prophetic revelation, and this leaves the reader with the strong impression that the writers of this story believed that Jacob was the recipient of a unique prophetic revelation of God, both in the first revelation when Jacob left the Promised Land (28:10f.) and now, as he returned to remember this great event and fulfil his vow.  One might expect from our knowledge of Old Testament worship that acts of worship in really ancient times were a matter of slaughtering cattle or other animals on altars and offering them up to God.  This is simply not the case here.  The worship Jacob offered was the remembrance of a unique ‘self revelation’.  Is that not the same as what we do today when we break bread in remembrance of the unique self revelation of the love of God through Jesus Christ on Calvary?  Also, the elements of repentance and preparation for worship are present both in this text and in most forms of ‘communion’ celebrated in Christian churches today.

This, however, was a homecoming of worship, and although it is only recorded briefly, Scripture performs its usual task of bringing to us the bare minimum of what we need to know so that we can be blessed by what it says rather than be bound by its details, for obedience rather than ritual detail has always been God’s pathway to true worship.

The death of Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse

It is a remarkable fact that the death of Rebekah, Isaac’s wife and Jacob’s mother is never recorded.  Her place in the ‘family’ grave alongside Isaac (49:31) is recorded, but not her death.  Why then should we be informed of the death of someone who was her servant; indeed, someone whose name, up until now, we have not known?  Some have guessed that Deborah might have been a greater influence on Jacob than we thought, hence her inclusion in the ‘Jacob’ stories; but these are things we simply cannot know.

The best explanation, in my opinion, is that this final part of the story of Jacob is structured around some reminders of the mortality of the great forefathers and their families (see the death of Rachel in 35:18).  In the re-telling of these great epic stories, there would be a tendency to place these great characters ‘on a pedestal’, but the reminder of their deaths was a helpful way of saying that everyone was mortal, and we all meet our end, however famous we are or however great a servant of the Lord we may be considered to be.  There is little else we can say about Deborah, except that she was deeply mourned, for her burial place, ‘Allon-Bacuth’, meant ‘place of weeping’.

Genesis 35:1-8 (get text)  Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Application

There is much in this passage of Scripture which points forward to developments of worship in the life of God’s people for centuries, and I have already alluded to many of these.  It is important, however, to note the idea of God’s ‘self-revelation’.  This is what God was doing all the way through the Old Testament; he led the people of Israel through a variety of experiences within which he taught them more and more about himself; the captivity in Egypt, the Exodus, the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah, the Exile in Babylon and the Return from Exile.  If we follow the pattern of God’s self-revelation over this period of time, it will help us understand why Jesus had to come when He did, for the salvation of the whole world.

Each of us today has the benefit of God’s complete revelation of himself in Jesus Christ, but none of us can say that we have seen all of this; we all travel on a path of spiritual revelation in which the Lord shows us more and more of Himself.  At the very least, it is worth considering that we will learn substantially about the God in whom we believe, if we take time to follow the path of His own ‘self-revelation’ through the Old Testament.  It is a journey of discovery that will help us understand the saving work of our Lord with greater wisdom and insight; something for which we all long.

Genesis 35:1-8 (get text)  Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. Do you think it was right for God to forgive the sons of Jacob for what they had done to Shechem and Hamor, and all their citizens?
2. To what extent do we prepare ourselves for worship?  Is the current fashion for informality in church a hindrance to the true worship of God?Can a Christian get by without the Old Testament from which to learn about Jesus?

Personal comments by author

Part of our discipleship is the worship of Almighty God.  It seems to me that many of the current practices of worship which people are following can be equally enabling for some and distracting for others; performance-led worship bands, complex electronics and computer techniques for example.  Reflect upon how we can find the true heart of worship today and take hold of the self-revelation of God that happens when His people truly worship Him.

Final Prayer

Help us, dear Lord, to offer ourselves to You in a true spirit of worship.  We long to be set free to worship you in ‘spirit and truth’ and yet without the presence of Your Spirit, our efforts are meaningless.  Grace us by Your presence each moment of our lives, we pray, and fill us with Your Spirit; then may our worship be a natural consequence of the lives we live for You;  AMEN

Bible study for Genesis 35:9-15

Genesis 35:9-15 (get text)  Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

Chapter 35 of Genesis continues with further brief stories which draw to a conclusion the epic life of Jacob, and also conclude the story of the Covenant blessing given by God to the Forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. After a further chapter explaining the genealogies of all those involved (ch.36), the rest of Genesis contains the famous story of Joseph (chps. 37-50).  This final story of Jacob’s favoured son is very long and contains many important and sometimes hidden themes, but it forms a vital link with the book that comes after it in the Bible; Exodus.

As with the story fragments we read yesterday, the reading for today is focussed around a small number of highly significant issues, and each section is rich with meaning.  You can easily imagine that in the world in which these stories were first told, it was essential that they ended in a memorable way, and in a manner that assisted people to remember the ‘important points’.  Yesterday’s passage (35:1-8) memorably told us about three things; the unique call of God to His people to worship Him, the protection of God, and the mortality of all God’s people.  Today’s passage highlights two things which have been essential to the whole story of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the name of God’s people, ‘Israel’ (35:9-11), and the Covenant blessing of God on His people (35:11-12).  It finishes with a reminder of the fulfilment of God’s promise of the Land of Canaan, celebrated by Jacob’s setting up of a landmark and naming the place Bethel.  You will quickly notice that all of this appears to be material that is previously found in Scripture.  Jacob was named Israel at Peniel (32:28), the Covenant has already been explained to Abraham and to Isaac (17:1-6, 22:17 etc.) and Bethel has already been named (28:19) by Jacob.  Some scholars have waste much time hypothesising about different story sources, trying to find them, even discussing which are the most ancient. This has proved impossibly fruitless. These story fragments are subtly different from what has gone before, and they draw to a conclusion the important facts of the story that has been told.

One of these is of great importance; the name of Israel.  When Jacob was given this name previously, it was in the midst of a great struggle between God and Jacob, and we discovered that the name ‘Israel’ was difficult to pin down; something like ‘God struggles’ or ‘he struggles with God’.  However, the name was also tinged with a sense of victory and overcoming; a concept for which we simply do not have a word.  In our text today, the name ‘Israel’ is given simply as a gift, precisely at the point of Jacob’s overcoming his own struggles and completing his troubled journey to the Promised Land.  The very name of God’s people therefore represents both the struggles of life and the great gift of God’s blessing.

As Jacob came again to Bethel, his life was not finished, but his journey of faith to the Promised Land was completed, and his role in the bearing of the Covenant promises of God was nearing its end.  Nothing was straightforward in the life of Jacob, though, and the final twists of the story all bear the marks of God’s dealing with a very real human being.  Jacob, of all the forefathers, illustrates the struggles of faith which so many people experience.

Genesis 35:9-15 (get text)  Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Going Deeper

(consult Dictionaries)

The passage splits into three sections; the naming of ‘Israel’, the confirmation of the Covenant Promises and Jacob’s setting up of the monument at Bethel.  Each story is subtly different from the previous versions, and as we saw with ‘Israel’, the text teaches us even more about God.

The naming of Israel

All manner of theories have been put forward about why Jacob was named twice by God (32:28 and 35:10).  After the first incident at Peniel, the Scriptures continued to use the name ‘Jacob’ despite the new name God had given, and after this second naming, both names; ‘Jacob’ and ‘Israel’ are used (see 35:22 and 35:27).  This seems a little odd, because as soon as Abram was renamed Abraham (17:5), and Sarai who was renamed Sarah (17:15), the storyline in Genesis immediately picked up the new names.

What is happening here, though, is different from anything that has previously happened.  The re-naming of Abraham and Sarah were unique events but they applied to two individuals.  The blessing on Jacob, however, was different, because Jacob was the man who (eventually – see tomorrow’s reading, 35:16f.) had twelve sons which were to become the twelve tribes of the nation of Israel.  Israel was to become a generic name for all God’s people in Old Testament times, and it was therefore natural that the name Jacob remained as a personal name even though this forefather had been named ‘Israel’ by God. 

Whilst it is important that we note the meaning of the name of Israel, this text does two things; firstly, it reminds us that to be a member of God’s people is a gift from God (see above), and secondly, it is closely linked with the fulfilment of God’s promises that the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob would become a nation; more than that, a ‘group of nations’ (35:11). 

The complete Covenant promise

Whilst no real explanation is given in our passage for the meaning of the name ‘Israel’, it is immediately followed by a set of promises from God which we recognise as the Covenant promises (35:11,12).  Throughout history, Israel has been inextricably linked with the Covenant promises of God.  From this point onwards, we hardly think of Israel as the name of an individual, but as the name of a nation.

To signify the importance of the moment, God appeared as ‘El Shaddai’ meaning ‘Almighty God’. This was the great name of God previously revealed only to Abraham (17:1) but also referred to with reverence by Isaac when he told Jacob to go away to Mesopotamia to find a wife (28:3).  God revealed Himself by this name to Abraham at the time He spoke to Abraham about both the Covenant and its sign of circumcision; chapter 17 of Genesis in which it occurs is regarded as probably the most important statement of the Covenant in Abraham’s life, and certainly the most important of the several revelations God made to Abraham.  We should therefore think of this passage as the most important revelation God made to Jacob.

The Covenant promises are summarised here under three headings; firstly, being fruitful and becoming nations; secondly, the bearing of kings; thirdly, the occupation of land. The first promise reads almost like a prophecy rather than a promise: ‘I am God Almighty, be fruitful …!’  Jacob had indeed been fruitful, and at last one of the forefathers had produced a significant number of children who would fulfil the hopes of Abraham and Isaac.  They had received the same promise of abundance (17:6, 22:17) but had not seen this come true themselves!  To be ‘fruitful’ was, of course, the first blessing God gave all humanity (1:28), so it was natural that this blessing should be expanded and explained in the case of God’s chosen people Israel. Some may be puzzled as to why the Covenant promise states that Israel would become not just a nation, but, literally, a ‘group’ of nations (35:11); certainly more than one.  It is easy to forget that after the time of Solomon, Israel split into two kingdoms, the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah; indeed, there are signs of a split between the tribes even before the time of Saul (e.g. 1 Sam 11:8); so for most of the Old Testament, God’s people were divided into two nations.  From a Christian perspective, the work of Jesus threw the doors open to all people of any nation to be called ‘God’s people’, by faith.  So for us, the Covenant promise made to Jacob is certainly prophetic of what God has done through Jesus.

The promise of ‘kings’ (35:11) was also given to Abraham (17:6,16), and the only difference between that promise and this is that the words are a little more specific about descent, and what is implied in chapter 17 is made more clear in this passage.  Interestingly, the only other place in Scripture where a similar Hebrew phrase as this is used about descent within the line of Israel is in 2 Samuel 7:12-14, which is commonly regarded as the first Messianic prophecy in the Bible, and for that reason I quote it here:

When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who will be descended from you, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me.

We may be a long way ahead of the time when God’s people anticipated a Messiah who was a King, but this text tells us that it was certainly in God’s mind!

The final promise of land does not add anything new to what we know about the inheritance of the Promised Land, except that the last two words of verse 12 tell us that the full occupation of the land will be some time coming, and we will have to wait at least until after the death of Jacob before this promise would be fulfilled. This verse explains why Jacob was brought by his sons from Egypt to be buried in Canaan together with Isaac and Abraham (50:13) and why Joseph made the Israelites promise to carry his bones back to Canaan.  The land was yet to be occupied, but the promise of it was already very powerful.

The stone monument at Bethel

It is very difficult to convey in translation, but the first few words of verse 13 ‘then God arose and left him’ read something like an ascension, for another translation could be ‘then God rose up above him …’, and it is only when you read it in Hebrew that you have the sense of something very special occurring.  When we read it in English, it simply sounds as if God went his way, but just as this formal announcement of the Covenant to Jacob was introduced by the great name of God ‘El-Shaddai’ (35:11), it concluded with what some scholars call a ‘theophany’, which means a special and powerful experience of the presence of God.

This is the reason why Jacob acted to set up another pillar, copying the actions he had taken outside Bethel when he had left the Promised Land so many years before (28:18f.).  Just as yesterday, when we noted that the worship of God was not focussed on altars and sacrifices, as we might expect from the Old Testament, but on God’s ‘self-revelation’ (35:7), the act of worship performed by Jacob at this moment was one of pouring and anointing (35:14), symbolising the giving back to God of what He has already given.  In a dry land such as the Promised Land, water or wine kept for drinking was a precious commodity, and pouring it out before God was regarded as a true sacrifice of life, of equal significance as the sacrifice of the life of a bull or a goat, for example.

Jacob again named the place ‘Bethel’. Is this just the same place that was mentioned previously (35:8) as well as a confirmation of the naming that Jacob had done the first time he had been there (28:19)?  This is probably the wrong question to ask, for the fact that Jacob named Bethel twice in Scripture is an indicator of how important this ‘naming’ was.  It happened at the beginning of Jacob’s long journey of faith, and it happened at the end.

Genesis 35:9-15 (get text)  Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Application

Today’s passage of Scripture reminds us of the sovereign authority of God to order things in His Kingdom as He will; for every time He spoke about the Covenant to one of the Forefathers, His revelation of it changed according to the circumstances, but it was always centred on the themes of blessing and being fruitful, of growing in the things of faith, and ultimately taking hold of what God has promised.

We tell stories differently today, but it is not too hard to try and understand why it was important for Scripture for these extremely important matters to come together at the close of the cycle of stories about Jacob.  This, after all, is what sacred history is all about.  There is something personal and special about the way that God named his own people, and this personal touch is just a foretaste of the personal relationship that God’s people now enjoy with Him through Jesus Christ.  The stories of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob often seem far from the Gospel of Christ, but we will find the links if we persist in looking.

For example, great moments of spiritual revelation and insight, as in this passage (35:13-15), are best celebrated by worship.  For Jacob and the early forefathers, worship was not something prescribed except by God, and they worshipped by offering to God those things which to them, symbolised life (water, blood, etc.).  In other words, they saw ‘worship’ as a means of giving back to God something of what they owed Him.  I wonder if our worship today could be liberated from its shackles if we learned more of how it started with the forefathers, copying the principles of what they did (not the details) and making sure we take full, personal responsibility for ‘doing it’?

Genesis 35:9-15 (get text)  Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. What do you expect to happen when God ‘blesses’ you?  Compare this with the blessing that God gave Jacob (35:9-12)
2. Read through the passage of Scripture again and identify places where you can see some specific connection with the Gospel of Christ.  Explain this to you group.
3. Is there anything that we can do as a private act of worship which compares to that done by Jacob in raising a stone at Bethel?  Discuss.

Personal comments by author

Think about the ways in which you have been blessed by God.  Has God blessed you with a vision for something bigger than yourself, or have all the blessings been purely personal (healing, sorting out problems, etc.)?  Because of the way in which our world today is extremely personalised, we can sometimes miss God’s words to us which point us far beyond ourselves and indicate His greater plans.  Pray, and ask the Lord to help you be open to this.

Final Prayer

We worship you, Lord God Almighty!  We worship you in our words, in our deeds, in our thinking and our feeling, and we worship with all our heart as we give ourselves to do Your will.  May we never stand back from giving our all to You; AMEN

Bible study for Genesis 35:16-29

Genesis 35:16-29 (get text)  Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Review

(consult Dictionaries)

Arrival in the Promised Land was for Jacob, an event full of the extremes of emotion.  On the one hand, he had successfully arrived back from Paddan-Aram in Mesopotamia under the Lord’s guidance, and he was careful to do so only as the Lord led him after his meeting with Esau (33:18).  Yet the very first thing recorded about this momentous event was the appalling rape of his daughter Dinah, and the even more appalling vengeance that his sons wreaked on the local inhabitants who they tricked and slaughtered. In chapter 35, the pendulum briefly but powerfully swung the other way, as Jacob and his whole family moved on to Bethel under the protection of God (35:1-8), and the Lord then revealed Himself powerfully to confirm the Covenant promises in a special and distinct way.  Jacob then worshipped the Lord at Bethel before moving on his way to go and meet his father Isaac, further in the south of Canaan, near Hebron (south of what we now know to be Jerusalem).

Jacob was the forefather whose family now bore the signs of the great Covenant promises of God, particularly in terms of fruitfulness.  Eleven sons had been born within the family, and all these would become clan leaders within Israel.  One son remained to be born, and our passage today begins with the birth of the last son of Jacob, Benjamin.  Tragedy struck Jacob and his family once again, for Rachel died in childbirth as the family journeyed from Bethel.  She named her son ‘Ben-oni’, meaning ‘child of my sorrow’ as he was born and as she died, but Jacob could not bear such a name as a remembrance of his beloved Rachel and exercised his paternal prerogative to apply his name of ‘Benjamin’, meaning ‘son of my right hand’ (see below).

The tragedy continued as Scripture records but briefly what must have been a deeply painful episode in the life of Jacob.  For a reason we are not told, and which we can only guess at (see study below) Reuben, Jacob’s eldest son, slept with Bilhah, Rachel’s maid.  Whatever reasons he had for doing this, it was an insult to his father and to the memory of Rachel, and the unhappiness and division between Jacob and Reuben was reflected in Jacob’s final blessing of his sons in Genesis 49, where although Jacob blesses his eldest son, he cannot complete the blessing without mentioning the terrible incest he committed; he said ‘… you even went up into my bed!’ (49:4).  

The tragedy of these events is never really resolved, and the chapter then concludes with two important passages.  The first lists the sons of Israel, and it is interesting to see that this list of his twelve sons is the first place that Jacob is directly called Israel.  The name itself towers over the first formal listing of these great tribes in the Bible.  Then at the very end, there is a formal description of the death of Isaac and the touching information that he was buried by both his sons, now restored to acceptance of each other after their God-inspired reconciliation (ch.33).  The story of Jacob in Genesis is therefore concluded, but it is not the last we shall hear of him.  His young son Joseph is the bright star of the final story of Genesis, which brings both hope and a warning to the newly established people of God, Israel.

Genesis 35:16-29 (get text)  Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Going Deeper

(consult Dictionaries)

Going Deeper

The birth of Benjamin completes the twelve sons of Jacob and the number of tribes of the people of Israel.  It is a significant moment.  Having explored these verses, we will try to fathom the reasons for, and the consequences of, Reuben’s sleeping with Bilhah.  This, together with the list of Jacob’s twelve sons and the death of Isaac, both concludes this part of Genesis and sets us up for the story of Joseph to follow.

The birth of Benjamin and the death of Rachel.

When Rachel had been barren and irked by her sister’s fertility, she had called out to Jacob in distress ‘give me children or I die!’ (30:1). Her subsequent history of bearing children was troubled, and during the birth of her second child, she did indeed die.  Her first child was Joseph who was born successfully and happily (30:24) but Rachel was not content with this and cried out after her labour ‘may the Lord add to me another (son)’ and the word for ‘add’ was the basis of Joseph’s name. 

At some time just before the journey from Mesopotamia, Rachel must have become pregnant with her second child, and the story we have in our text today tragically includes the birth of this child and her own death.  On reflection, it cannot have been an easy time for Rachel, for she would have endured months of living ‘on the road’ which cannot have been easy for someone used to a stable life in Mesopotamia, and although we have no way of knowing why she had difficulty conceiving, now she had difficulty in childbirth as well.  We know today of many different reasons why a woman would have difficulty in childbirth, but over the centuries, theories have multiplied about why Rachel died.  Some have suggested that this was because she was the one who stole the household gods of her father Laban (31:33f.), even deceiving her father about the matter and saying she was having her monthly period, when in fact, she may have known she was pregnant!  The truth is that we have no real means of knowing the exact timescale of these events, and any reasoning about Rachel’s death should account for the fact that Scripture records her death and burial with great honour (here, Gen 48:7, Ruth 4:11).

As Rachel died, she called her son ‘ben-oni’ meaning ‘child of my sorrow’, but what is not immediately obvious to us is that the first of Jacob’s sons, Reuben, also had a name with a connection to this Hebrew word for ‘sorrow’, or ‘suffering’.  When Leah gave birth to Reuben, she said ‘the Lord has seen my suffering’ (29:32), and the Hebrew word ‘oni’, although it is not easy to see this in English, is part of the last syllable of Reuben’s name.  It seems that Jacob’s family was surrounded by sorrow, which may seem a trite comment except that this becomes a recurring theme in the great story of Joseph which comes next in Genesis.

There is some debate about the site of Rachel’s tomb and its connections with both Bethlehem and Ephrath which are both mentioned in this text.  These places are important in the Bible, for Jesus was born in Bethlehem and at a place identified in the famous Messianic prophecy of Micah (Micah 5:2), also quoted by Matthew (Matt 2:6) ‘But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah … from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel.’  The only thing we can say for certain is that Jacob was traveling from Bethel to Hebron when Rachel gave birth and died.  Some make out a case for this happening at Ephrata, a small town just to the north of Jerusalem, and others identify it as a site further south, just outside Bethlehem; both of which claim to have the original ‘tomb of Rachel’.  Both of these sites are within a few miles of what we now know as Jerusalem and are on the route that ran from Bethel to Hebron in the Judean Hills.  Rachel’s monument was clearly an important feature of the landscape, however, even in Jeremiah’s day (Jer 31:15), and if you look up this quote you will find that this too is connected, like the Micah quote above, with the birth of Jesus.

It is not easy to make sense of all this, but it is likely that early Christians at least saw a connection between the sacrifice of Rachel’s life for her child and the sacrifice of Jesus’ life for ours, and they made this connection because in their own understanding of Jewish history, Rachel was a figure closely associated with the birth of Jesus.  Celebrating both birth (new birth) and death (the death of Jesus) were both very much a part of the preaching and worship life of early Christians, as they are in different ways today.

Reuben

The brief verse which describes Reuben’s sleeping with Bilhah is a further distressing episode in Jacob’s life, but it is probably included to explain why Jacob said what he did about his eldest son when blessing all his sons before his death ‘unstable as water, you shall no longer excel because you went up on to your father’s bed!’ (49:4). This would be a complete puzzle to us without the explanation provided by this brief verse, but it is something the writer records with no pleasure.  Certainly, Jacob did not respond to this provocation, but bade his time before making his response.

We should now be careful to look at exactly what has happened here.  Reuben may well have slept with Bilhah in order to dishonour her in his father’s eyes, for after he had done this, she would never again be allowed into her father’s tent.  It meant that Bilhah, as Rachel’s maid, could not elevate herself to the position of senior wife after her mistress died.  Reuben was the firstborn of Jacob and Leah, and fiercely protected his mother’s role in the family.  His actions may have been a misguided attempt to make sure that his father paid more attention to his mother, the ‘unloved’ wife Leah; but it was not his place to do this.

One other possibility exists for Reuben’s actions.  There are at least a couple of other places in Scripture where someone sleeps with a concubine associated with a leader in order to try and usurp the authority of that leader, notably the time when Absalom ‘went in’ to the concubines of his father David in Jerusalem, when he attempted to throw him off the throne of Israel (2 Sam 16:21,22; see also 2 Sam 3:7-8).  If this was the case, then Reuben was attempting to take control of his aging father’s extended family, just as they were reaching their destiny and attempting to settle down.  It was a reprehensible act.  Jacob’s silence on this was broken on his death bed, and interestingly, whilst offering a small degree of blessing to Reuben, his firstborn, he cursed him for his actions.  He then cursed the two next sons of Leah, Simeon and Levi for their slaughter of Shechem and the citizens of Saleem (34:25f.), and this meant that the next son of Leah received the full blessing of Jacob, and this was Judah (see 49:3-12).  This was no small matter, for Judah became the tribe which produced the great leader David (and eventually Jesus) and was associated with Jerusalem, eventually becoming a nation of God’s people in its own right.

The passage ends with the now complete list of Jacob’s sons, and the death and burial of Isaac, which we assume happens in Hebron, close to where he could be buried in the field of Machpelah, where his father and mother, Abraham and Sarah were buried (48:29f.).

Genesis 35:16-29 (get text)  Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Application

There are many fascinating aspects to this last part of the Jacob cycle of stories, but it is hard to find some direct form of ‘application’ of the text from which we can learn today.  The birth of children is for most people something not nearly as risky as it was for Rachel, and the idea of sleeping with one’s father’s wife (though not necessarily your mother) sounds like something from a late night movie and not a source of Scriptural significance.  One thing is worth returning to, and it is the transformation that had taken place in Jacob.  Earlier in his life, Jacob was the ‘quiet one’ (25:27), but then, because of the deception of his father and brother, he was exiled from the family home and had to become a much stronger character, competing with his scheming and greedy father-in-law Laban and eventually overcoming him.  In the process He followed God’s will, learning the lessons of faith required before he could become the man of God who led his family, the infant ‘people of Israel’ back into Canaan, the Promised Land.

Whilst scholars have puzzled over why Jacob remained so quiet and did not comment on the dreadful things happening around him, particularly after the incident at Peniel, he was a quiet person by character, and he ended up exhibiting the same ‘quiet’ characteristics he previously showed in his youth.  The youthful quiet Jacob had turned into a man with a mature faith that stood firm through the tragedies which happened around him; indeed, there would be more to come in the final great story of Genesis, the story of Joseph.  Despite the criticism of this great man for his silence, perhaps we should see in it a profound faith and trust in God in the midst of everything. For us, it is tough to stick closely to God’s call when all manner of difficult things happen, particularly family ones, but Jacob’s security in God is something from which we can all learn.

Genesis 35:16-29 (get text)  Study links:  / Review / Going Deeper / Application / Discipleship /

Discipleship

Questions (for use in groups)

1. How important are ‘birth’ and ‘death’ to our celebration of the Christian faith?  Should they figure more prominently?
2. Which theory about Reuben’s actions in this text do you think is right?
3. What do you believe you have learned about faith and the Christian life from the story of Jacob?

Personal comments by author

How easy do you find it to remain calm when everything around you seems to be collapsing?  In many ways, this is an unfair question, for we all ‘panic’ in different ways, some more quietly than others!  It is nevertheless the toughest test of faith for someone you love to die relatively young, as Rachel did in this story, and the actions of Reuben were an appalling thing for a father to have to deal with.  Could you or I remain calm before God in the face of such troubles? It is worth thinking about, because one day, most of us will face something like this.  It can help us if we are mentally and spiritually prepared.

Final Prayer

Great and mighty Lord, show Your extraordinary power in us not simply by giving us strength to do great things or power to perform wonderful miracles, but by helping us to stand firm in the midst of trouble and distress, knowing that You have a greater plan for us all and have a time for us deal with everything that we experience.  Thank You Lord; AMEN