Jan 24: Genesis 35-37

Jan 24, Genesis 35-37

Genesis 35. I will rarely quote other authors, but this sums it up really well and I wanted to share it… “Two themes run through chapter 35: completion and correction. It is a story of completion because Jacob was back home in the land of promise, with all his family and all his wealth; victory was won, the goal achieved, and the promise fulfilled. But it is also a story of correction, for the family had not completely held to the walk of faith: idols had to be buried and Reuben had to be dealt with.” (Bible Knowledge Commentary). A bit of a breakdown… I know that back in chapter 32 God told Jacob that his name would be Israel… this is not a repeat, but just a confirmation of this name change - also, Jacob’s equality is now alongside the great Abraham and Isaac. In this chapter, Rachel also dies while giving birth to Benjamin and they buried her. More drama - remember Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn and the son of Leah? Well, he went and had sex with one of his fathers concubines, Bilhah (Rachel’s servant). Jacob heard about it and this was a big no-no at the time (and still is, I am pretty sure in most circles…). Later we learn that this action of Reuben gets his privileges of firstborn son removed. 

Genesis 36 - we have the succession of Esau (Edom). For now, Esau has a lineage. In a more detailed study, you can learn things like Esau claiming the town of Seir as his own, that there are some discrepancies in lineage and marriages, and you can learn about the Kings and Chiefs that descend from Esau’s lineage…

Genesis 37 - Jacob now has his own family. He loved Joseph more than the other sons and he gave him a robe of many colors that he had made for him (picture your dad buying you a new BMW 7 series and your brothers get an old Ford Pinto…). Then one day, they are all sitting around and Joseph (who was 17 years old and oldest son of Rachel) had a couple of dreams and shared them with his brothers - and they hate him for it. And were jealous of him for it. Basically, in his dreams, he is in charge and the brothers have to serve him. In that culture, nobody serves the younger brother. When the opportunity knocked to get rid of their brother, they took it. When Joseph went looking for his brothers, when they saw him they conspired together to kill him. Reuben, the oldest, is the one who said, “Don't kill him” and saved his life by having him thrown into a pit (he had planned on coming later to save him…). So the brothers took Joseph and threw him into a waterless pit (God was in control of what was in that pit). After all this, the bad brothers rested and had some lunch (really? - yes…). They saw a bunch of people coming down (Ishmaelites, from Hagar/Ishmael) the road and decided to sell their little brother instead of killing him (Reuben was not there at the time). So they sold him for 20 shekels of silver. The average price of a slave back then sold between 15-30 shekels. To cover up what the brothers had done, and to hide their evidence of sin even more, they slaughtered an animal and ripped up the nice coat and smeared blood all over it to make it look like an animal tore up Joseph. They presented this lie to their father Jacob and he was so upset that he chose not be comforted by any of his family, as he was devastated that his favorite child was gone. In the meantime, his favorite child, Joseph, was just sold in Egypt to Potiphar, who worked for Pharaoh…

To sum it all up:

• We are where we are with the desires that we have for a reason. God does give dreams and God does speak to His kids. It isn't always roses though… sometimes the messages are hard. 
• Regardless of circumstances and how ridiculously tough things may get - never forget that God is with you and will bring you through it. Joseph is a phenomenal testimony to that. Just wait… it is an amazing story about God working things out for good… 
• Delitzsch pertinently remarked that secular, worldly greatness comes swifter than spiritual greatness (A New Commentary on Genesis, 2:238). A promised spiritual blessing demands patience and faith. Waiting while others prosper is a test of one’s faithfulness and perseverance (BNC).