Part 16  Book of Genesis

 

 

 

Jacob and family return to Bethel and wander through the promised land

35.1-7 The Lord tells Jacob to arise and take his family to Bethel. Once there, he is to build an altar, to the God who appeared to him when he was fleeing his brother Esau. Jacob tells his family to get rid of any alien gods they have in their midst and to purify themselves and change their clothes. He tells them he is going to build and altar to the God who has always stood by him. They give Jacob all the gods and take the gold earrings from their ears. Jacob buries them near Shechem where the recent tragedy has just taken place. As they go, God puts a fear on all the people round about and Jacob’s family is not attacked. Jacob arrives in Bethel and builds the altar and calls the site “The God of Bethel.”

God has called Jacob and his family to repent for this act of deceit and murder. They are to put away the false gods and habits they have picked up in the land and return to God. It is time to consecrate themselves to the one true God who has kept His promises of protection and blessing upon Jacob and family.

35.8 Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse dies and is buried under an oak tree. Rebekah was the grandmother, Isaac’s wife.

35.9-15 God now appears again to Jacob and changes his name to Israel. God tells Jacob the following: “I am God Almighty (El Shaddai). Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body. The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your descendants after you I give this land.”

Jacob sets up a pillar, pours out a libation of oil, and again names the place Bethel.

God tells Jacob to be fruitful and multiply and that a nation and a company of nations will proceed from him. This indicates not only the Jewish nation, but later in time, great nations will come from him. Once again, in Genesis 48 we will discuss this further. These will apply to the “latter times” or the end of the age.

35.16-21 The family sets out from Bethel towards Ephrath, which is near Bethlehem, and Rachel who is in childbirth is having a difficult labor. Her handmaid tells her it is a boy and Rachel who is dying calls the boy Ben-oni which means “son of my suffering”, but Jacob calls him Benjamin, “son of the right hand”. Rachel dies and is buried on the road to Ephrath. Jacob sets up a pillar at her grave and journeys on.

Back in chapter 31.25-32 when Laben was looking for his household gods and Rachel was sitting on them Jacob vowed that whoever had the gods would die--this explains the untimely death of his beloved Racheh.

35.22 While Israel (Jacob) stayed in the area he had just journeyed to, his son Reuben went in and lay with Bilhah, his father’s concubine, and Israel found out. A son having sexual relations with his father’s concubine is a declaration of rebellion (2 Sam 16.20-22; 1 Kings 2.13-25) There is no more explanation, but this will also reappear when Jacob blesses Rueben later in Gen 49. This family had many problems and was dysfunctional as we keep seeing. More is going to surface as we continue.

35.23-26 Read these verses to see whom the sons of Jacob are.

35.26-29 Jacob comes to his father Isaac at Mamre, today known as Hebron, and his father Isaac dies at a ripe old age of 180 years. Esau and Jacob bury him.

The descendants of Esau, who is Edom

36.1-43 This chapter list the genealogies of Esau, who is Edom and serves to divide the Jacob story to that of Joseph.

The tribe of Amalek an enemy of Israel comes from this line. The clans of Teman are also listed here. They may be the descendants of the Turkish people, verse 15.

JOSEPH 37.1-50.26

Joseph’s brothers sell him into slavery

37.1-4 Jacob and family settle in the land of Canaan. At the age of 17 Joseph is tending the flocks with his brothers, as a helper to the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah. Joseph brought bad reports to Jacob of his brothers actions out in the field. Israel loved Joseph best of all his sons and made him a coat of many colors to show this love. Joseph’s brothers are jealous because they know how much Joseph is loved by their father. They could not speak a friendly word to Joseph.

The dysfunction continues as all the brothers are jealous of Joseph and their father’s love toward him. The brother’s have put Joseph with the lowest ranking members of the family--the sons of the concubines. The many colored coat speaks of Israel’s favor for Joseph the son of the wife he loved most--Rachel--and his heart’s first born.

37.5-8 Then Joseph tells his brothers of a dream in which binding sheaves were in a field and suddenly Joseph’s sheave stood up while his brother’s sheaves bowed down to his sheaf. His brothers asked Joseph if he wants to reign over them and rule them? They hated him more after this dream.

Joseph should have kept his dreams to himself--but he antagonized his brothers by telling them. This showed his immaturity which is going to be dealt with as the story unfolds.

 

37.9-11 Joseph dreams another dream and tells it to his brothers. This time he sees the sun, moon, and stars bowing down to him. His father scolded him after he heard it and asked if this dream meant that he and his mothers and brothers are supposed to come and bow low to him? Jacob keeps the matter in his mind.

37.12-17 Joseph’s brothers are out in the field with the flocks and Jacob tells him to go and check up on his brothers and bring back word. Joseph is directed by a man he asks about where his brothers are and finds his brothers and the flocks at Dothan.

In the Hebrew go see how your brothers are is literally, see the shalom (peace) of your brothers. Ironically there is no peace in this family.

37.18-24 Joseph’s brothers see him coming from afar and conspire to kill him. “Here comes the dreamer! Let’s kill him and throw him into one of the pits! Then we can say a savage beast devoured him,” the say. “Then we’ll see about his dreams!” Reuben pleads with them not to kill Joseph. He tells them to cast him into the pit, but not to touch him, intending to save him later and restore him to his father. When Joseph arrives they strip him of his colored coat and cast him into an empty pit with no water.

37.25-28 The brothers sit down to eat and see a caravan of Ishmaelites and Midianites coming from Gilead. Judah says that they should sell him. He says they gain nothing by killing Joseph when they can make some money off him. The brothers agree and sell him to the caravan for twenty pieces of silver.

Interesting that Judah, the tribe of today’s Jewish nation, saw a money making opportunity in the situation. His quick thinking saved Joseph’s life.

37.29-36 When Reuben returns to the pit he finds no trace of Joseph. Returning to his brothers he is upset and doesn’t know what to do. The brothers take the colored coat, slaughter a kid, and put the blood of the kid on the coat. They take the blood stained coat to their father and ask him if this is his son's coat. Israel is downcast and believes a beast has devoured his favorite son. He puts on sackcloth and mourns for many days. His sons try to comfort him, but he is inconsolable. Meanwhile Joseph is sold in Egypt to Potiphar, a courtier of Pharaoh and his chief steward.

Where was Rueben during this time? Was he dallying with a woman somewhere? We know he enjoyed the opposite sex. Ironically the brothers kill a kid to deceive Jacob, just as he had deceived his father with a kid when stealing the birthright. This is one messed up family!

Next: Part 17