Written by: Richard Chilvers – Christian Solidarity Worldwide
Genesis 34 v 30-31
Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have caused me a lot of trouble. Now
the Canaanites and the Perizzites who live in the land will hate me. Since there
are only a few of us, if they join together to attack us, my people and I will
be destroyed.”
But the brothers said, “We will not allow our sister to be treated like a prostitute.”
Notes
Simeon and Levi were the brothers of Dinah, a girl who was raped by Shechem,
a member of a tribe already living in Canaan. They had avenged the disgrace
of their sister by telling the Shechemites they would intermarry with them as
long as they got circumscised according to the Jewish ritual.
While they were still in pain from this operation (without anaesthetic in those days - ouch!), the brothers attacked them and they were all butchered. The brothers' revenge, although motivated by a sense of justice, was out of proportion to the crime. Of course, their sister merited justice for the crime of rape committed against her, but Jacob told the brothers that they had landed him in real trouble. They had gone way beyond the punishment God would demand for rape.
The Old Testament principle was “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”, so they had clearly gone over the top. Jacob, who was the heir of Abraham, to whom God had promised land, descendants and blessings, was now in a difficult position. Man's sinfulness in the rape, then the slaughter afterwards, was all too clear. How, apart from grace, would God ever achieve his purposes? Jacob was going to be hated by the neighbours of Shechem and this was going to make life even more hazardous than it was before.
Do you sometimes overreact to someone who has done you or a loved one wrong? Our God is a God of justice, but He also says in 1 Peter 3 v 9: "Do not do wrong to repay a wrong, and do not insult to repay an insult. But repay with a blessing, because you yourselves were called to do this so that you might receive a blessing." Take time to think of someone you are bearing a grudge against and pray for grace for you and for them.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank you that you are deeply concerned with justice. Thank
you that all those who hurt us and those we love will be repaid in full. In
the meantime, help us to forgive and entrust judgement to You. Amen
Genesis 35 v 1-4
God said to Jacob, “Go to the city of Bethel and live there. Make an altar to
the God who appeared to you there when you were running away from your brother
Esau.”
So Jacob said to his family and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign
gods you have, and make yourselves clean, and change your clothes. We will leave
here and go to Bethel. There I will build an altar to God, who has helped me
during my time of trouble. He has been with me everywhere I have gone.” So they
gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had, and the earrings they were wearing,
and he hid them under the great tree near the town of Shechem.
Notes
Jacob was sent by God back to Bethel. God had appeared to him there before when
he was running away from his brother Esau whom he had tricked out of his inheritance.
It was a special place because God had told him there that he would receive
land, would have many descendants and they would be a blessing to all those
they met. He had been told God was with him and would watch over him and be
sure to fulfill all His promises (see Genesis 28 v 10-19 for the full story).
Jacob obeyed God and got his whole household (four wives, eleven sons and at
least one daughter) to purify themselves because they were going to a holy place
(Bethel means house of God).
Jacob remembered God's faithfulness to him and wanted to honour Him. The family put away their foreign gods, made themselves clean, changed their clothes and removed their earrings (not a ban for today - in those days they were used as charms to worship foreign gods!).
When we enter into a relationship with our heavenly Father, He expects us to come as we are but not stay as we are. What can we do today to show we have turned our backs on lifestyles or habits which don't honour Him?
Prayer
Loving heavenly Father, thank you that you accept me just as I am. Help me to
respond to your love by changing habits or attitudes which don't honour You.
Amen
Genesis 35 v 5-8
Then Jacob and his sons left there. But God caused the people in the nearby
cities to be afraid, so they did not follow them. And Jacob and all the people
who were with him went to Luz, which is now called Bethel, in the land of Canaan.
There Jacob built an altar and named the place Bethel, after God, because God
had appeared to him there when he was running from his brother.
Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died and was buried under the oak tree at Bethel,
so they named that place Oak of Crying.
Notes
Jacob and his household set off for Bethel, a place where God had assured him
that He would be with him, would watch over him and would fulfill His promises
of giving him a land to live in, would give him many descendants, and that he
and they would be a blessing to all they met. Here we can see God already fufilling
His promises. He caused the people in nearby cities to be afraid of Jacob and
his household even though there weren't that many of them. Jacob's sons had
murdered the male population of Shechem, a major town in the area, but they
weren’t followed by people seeking revenge. Jacob arrived safely in Bethel (which
means house of God) and built an altar to God.
We too have many promises made to us by God which He is equally faithful in fulfilling, not just promises to keep us safe and be with us, but also promises to bring us safely to heaven. (In Philippians 1 v 6 Paul writes: "God began doing a good work in you, and I am sure he will continue it until it is finished when Jesus Christ comes again.") God's promise to lead us to heaven is not dependent on how good we are, but only on His undeserved love for us. Take time today to reflect on God's promises and his faithfulness in making sure they happen.
Prayer
Loving heavenly Father, we thank You for Your promises to us, promises we can't
earn and can never repay. Help us to remember your faithfulness to us next time
we're tempted to go our own way in life. Amen
Genesis 35 v 9-13
When Jacob came back from North West Mesopotamia, God appeared to him again
and blessed him. God said to him, “Your name is Jacob, but you will not be called
Jacob any longer. Your new name will be Israel.” So he called him Israel. God
said to him, “I am God Almighty. Have many children and grow in number as a
nation. You will be the ancestor of many nations and kings. The same land I
gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you and your descendants.” Then God
left him.
Notes
When Jacob got back from his travels in what is now Syria, God again spoke
to him. God told him he had got a new name. Instead of Jacob (which means “he
deceives”) he was to be known as Israel (which means “he struggles with God”).
This was to recall Jacob's wrestle with God in Genesis 32 where he would not
let the angel go until he received a blessing from God.
God made some amazing promises to this former deceiver, including telling him that the promises of land, people and blessing he had made to his grandfather Abraham were promises that would be honoured by God to Jacob, now known as Israel. God was building a people for Himself and said He would use sinful people to achieve His purposes.
It's much the same today. He is building a church and He uses people who are far from perfect. All He demands of us is that we follow Him from now on and He will use us amazingly.
Jacob was a dodgy piece of work - he had lied, he had taken four wives, he'd deceived his brother, father and father-in-law - but God wanted to work through him to bring a blessing to the rest of the world. It's only when we turn to and rely on God that we can start becoming a huge blessing to others and can see God at work. What will you allow God to do through you today?
Prayer
Father God, I thank You that You chose to use me to achieve Your kingdom goals
of grace, justice and love. Please help me to listen to You as You guide me
today to live Your way, not mine. Amen
Genesis 35 v 14-15
Jacob set up a stone on edge in that place where God had talked to him, and
he poured a drink offering and olive oil on it to make it special for God. And
Jacob named the place Bethel.
Notes
Jacob responded to what God had said to him by setting up a stone pillar, and
pouring out a drink offering and anointing it with oil. He also called it Bethel
or “the House of God”. God had made some amazing promises to Jacob. He had promised
him that through him He would build a people for Himself, would give them a
land of their own and they would be a blessing to all they met.
Jacob didn't just nod his head and think, “Great - that's nice”, and then get on with the rest of his life. He responded by worshipping God in ways that were appropriate to his time. He honoured God and honoured hearing Him by setting aside the place where God met him as a permanent site and poured out a sacrifice on it.
Today we've got a bit too used to expecting God to speak to us through the Bible. We take His promises for granted, promises never to leave us, promises to protect us, to give us His Holy Spirit and to bring us to eternal life with Him. We don't stop to thank God for his amazing promises and undeserved favour towards us.
Why not just think of one or two specific promises God has made in the Bible, then thank Him for them in your own words. Perhaps the best form of worship we have today is living a life that pleases God. In Romans 12 v 1, Paul writes: "So brothers and sisters, since God has shown us great mercy, I beg you to offer your lives as a living sacrifice to him. Your offering must be only for God and pleasing to him, which is the spiritual way for you to worship."
Prayer
Loving heavenly Father, thank You for Your amazing promises to me. Thank You
that You speak to me, through friends, through my life circumstances and supremely
through the Bible. Help me to respond by living today to please You. Amen
Genesis 35 v 16-21
Jacob and his group left Bethel. Before they came to Ephrath, Rachel began giving
birth to her baby, but she was having much trouble. When Rachel’s nurse saw
this, she said, “Don’t be afraid, Rachel. You are giving birth to another son.”
Rachel gave birth to the son, but she herself died. As she lay dying, she named
the boy Son of My Suffering, but Jacob called him Benjamin.
Rachel was buried on the road to Ephrath, a district of Bethlehem, and Jacob
set up a rock on her grave to honour her. That rock is still there. Then Israel
continued his journey and camped just south of Migdal Eder.
Notes
Jacob and his household moved on from Bethel, and on the way, Jacob's true love,
Rachel, gave birth to his twelfth and her second son (which completes the twelve
sons from whom the twelve tribes of Israel would come). Earlier in Genesis 30,
Rachel had asked God for another son and her prayer was heard. Sadly, without
all the equipment in a modern maternity ward, Rachel suffered terribly and as
a result, just before she died, she called her baby “Son of my suffering”. Jacob
(now known as Israel) overruled however, and the boy was called “Son of my right
hand”, or Benjamin.
We can see that God was with the family, even during this time of suffering. He did not abandon His people when they were going through pain, and He often uses pain to draw us into a deeper relationship with Him. Benjamin went on to have many descendants, as God promised his father Jacob/Israel, and they inherited the cities of Jericho and Jerusalem when the now-large nation of Israel had conquered the land of Canaan.
In the midst of our pain, we often can't see how God can use it to bring glory to Himself and blessing to ourselves and others, but later we will see. Perhaps Jacob's faith was growing enough to recognise that, and that’s why he changed his son's name.
Prayer
Loving heavenly Father, thank You that when we suffer, You are with us and can
use our pain to achieve purposes we can't always see. Help us to lean on our
understanding of You and Your character when the going gets tough and we're
tempted to run from you. Amen
Genesis 35 v 22-29
While Israel was there, Reuben had sexual relations with Israel’s slave woman
Bilhah and Israel heard about it.
Jacob had twelve sons. He had six sons by his wife Leah: Reuben, his first son,
then Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun.
He had two sons by his wife Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.
He had two sons by Rachel’s slave girl Bilhah: Dan and Naphtali.
And he had two sons by Leah’s slave girl Zilpah: Gad and Asher.
These are Jacob’s sons who were born in North West Mesopotamia.
Jacob went to his father Isaac at Mamre near Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac
had lived. Isaac lived for 180 years. So Isaac breathed his last breath and
died when he was very old, and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
Notes
Jacob, the great man who wrestled with God and received His promises to provide
him with a land, descendants and blessing, buried his father Isaac at Mamre,
about 30km south of Jerusalem. At significant times like this, one cannot help
but look back over one's life.
Jacob had lived to hear God speaking to him and honour him with twelve sons and at least one daughter. Jacob had been a great deceiver, but God had worked in him and he became someone who knew his God was reliable and trustworthy. Jacob had begun to alter his life to live it how God wanted rather than taking shortcuts to live a more selfish life.
His oldest son, Reuben, despite seeing God lead his family in a foreign land and protect them from harm, showed that he was not living a life which honoured God. He slept with his mother-in-law, Bilhah, a servant by whom his father had two sons.
Just because our parents are Christians doesn't mean we are, any more than just because one day we see God at work in our lives, the next day we're going to be strong enough to resist any temptation. Each and every day we need to commit to living God's way, going a different way to the world and fighting our own selfish, sinful desires to fulfill what suits us best. Will you call on God to help you to do this today?
Prayer
Loving heavenly Father, help me to be careful not to rely on my parents' faith
or even on times when I've seen you working powerfully in my life in the past.
Help me to call on You to help me live a life which honours You today. Amen.
word-on-the-web uses the Scripture text taken
from the Youth Bible, New Century Version (Anglicised Edition) copyright 1993
by Word Publishing Milton Keynes