Jacob is called back to Bethel-back? Yes. This is where he wrote the Led Zeppelin song “Stairway to Heaven”😂 (Genesis 28)
Chapter 34 was God was not mentioned once. In chapter 35 He is mentioned 11 times in name and 11 more times in place. After the incident in Shechem, Jacob cleans house of the pagan world that rubbed off on them. God reminds Jacob of the covenant, and that he is a new creation, his name will be Israel.
Israel is not having a good season of his life:
- Rebekah’s nurse dies
- Rachel (the wife he loved) dies giving birth to Joseph’s brother, Benjamin.
Remember to take notes on your genealogy You will want them when we get to chapter 49:
21 Israel moved on again and pitched his tent beyond Migdal Eder. 22 While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went in and slept with his father’s concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard of it.
Issac dies. (I guess he wasn’t on his deathbed after all when Jacob deceived him years ago). I never noticed that before.
29 Then he breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people, old and full of years. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him. ❤️
Chapter 36 begins… took his wives from the woman of Cannan….well, this can’t be good. The structure of this chapter is very much like ch 25. After Abraham died there was an account of Ishmael’s genealogy (I truly believe to show us the love and grace given to a child even born in circumstances). Here Isaac’s death is followed by Esau’s genealogy.
There are over 200 names mentioned: Esau may not have cared about God (not valuing his birthright, But God still cared for him) If this chapter bored you, something is wrong with you. JUST kidding, I was just seeing if anyone read this far. Of course it was boring BUT go back and circle the word Edom (Edomites). Just in this chapter, you will read it 10 times, and 131 times in the entire Old Testament.
Edom is Southeast of the Promised Land. I know this does not mean a whole lot to you now, but it will 😁. The Edomites make their home in the Sier Mountains. Geography will play a big part in their battles and success. Who can win fighting up a mountain?? Oh, yeah…God can.
The book of Obadiah would not have been written without Edom, and HEROD THE GREAT is an Edomonite!! Not to get ahead of myself BUT if the Blessing was given to Jacob (not Esau), imagine when we get to the New Testament and Herod calls himself “king of the Jews”. Oh no he di’int! Yes, he did! (we will call them Jews not Hebrews after the captivity). This Herod even refurbished the entire Temple before Jesus was born in an effort to get the Jews to forget he was from the line of Esau (it didn’t work).
Did you recognize any names? No? Then you didn’t pay attention in the book of Job. 🤓
Chapter 37
I have to tell you this. I grew up outside of NYC. Seeing or hearing about Broadway shows was common. Did you know that I have heard the phrase Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat all my life and it wasn’t until recently that I knew it was from the Bible!
Chapter 37: Joseph is 17, and lacks social skills (hmmm, like many today I guess). His brothers hate him, and I don’t blame them.
- He is 17…why is he not working hard in the field??
- In verse 2 he “tattles” on his brothers.
- Verse 3-4 we see that he is babied and loved more than the others
- He can be ‘seen’ as arrogant or egotistical when discussing his dreams.
Joseph has two dreams:
11 His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind. (of course, he did. He too was spoken to in dreams at Bethel)
I don’t care if you have never read this chapter or if you have read it 10 times. Look for the details. Joseph travels from Hebron to Shechem to Dotham: over 100 miles. Of course Israel is going to worry about them in Shechem…last time they were there it did not turn out so great!
19 “Here comes that dreamer!” they said to each other. 20 “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.”
Who saves him? Rueben! Is he trying to get back into good graces with his father after the ‘concubine incident’? Look at the map above. Dothan is on the trade route that heads to Egypt. Coincidence or Providence??
Do you know what Providence is? Providence is when God takes ordinary events and arranges them for a predetermined outcome.
If you are wondering what a cistern is: it is like a rock well that holds water:
20 Sheckles of Silver was the price for a handicapped slave. 😢
31 Then they got Joseph’s robe, slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood.
Oh! Jacob deceived his Isaac with a slaughtered goat. Now it happens to him by his sons!
I really hope being in the Bible 24 days is making a difference in your daily walk.
Reading the Bible - 2021 
I am surprised at the distance between Hebron and Shechem and then Dothan. Never realized it was that far between the two. And Joseph went by himself? So it must have taken some time and it obviously had the potential to be a dangerous journey since it always was in those days. If he was indeed by himself (and since his brothers were able to do what they did, maybe he truly was), maybe his dad’s despair was over sending him alone? This would go back to the thing yesterday about him being self centered and not God centered. It’s like when we struggle but fall back into old habits when we take our eyes off God. We go along all worrying about our own stuff and don’t consider the possibilities that God could have planned with whatever happened.
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I never noticed this before and I had to stop and look it up. Did anyone else notice this Deborah, Rebecca’s nurse died and was buried? Everything indicates Rebecca passed and never saw Issac again, when did they pick her up? She was really old and very loved to be mentioned here and the place she was buried named. I just found that interesting.
The other thing I find amusing is when Jacob and Esau come to Issac for the blessing he is almost blind. We know he doesn’t die, wonder when he got his sight back? Do you remember when Jacob went in and I think Isaac asked him about three times if he was Esau? There’s something fishy goin on. 🤔
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You have no idea how much I love saying “I don’t know”. But of course, your comment made me get out my handouts and try to figure it out. Could it be that because Rachel was Rebeka’s niece she was sent to care for Rachel? Or maybe when Jacob and Esau reunited she went with Jacob’s camp? I don’t know…anyone? BUT what I do love is how she was cared for in her burial. ❤️
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She would have been aunt grandma in our home. Lol
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The mention of Deborah has taken me on a hunt for the past hour 🤣 I found this one resource particularly helpful. Just scroll down to where it deals with the specifics of 35:8
https://preachingsource.com/sermon-structure/genesis-35-1-15/#:~:text=35%3A8%20–%20The%20death%20of%20Deborah%20is%20one,not%20recorded%2C%20while%20that%20or%20her%20nurse%20is.
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I love this. Thank you for sharing
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“Then God said to Jacob…go up to Bethel and build an altar (to remember me when you were most afraid)” — I just need to stop there and let my heart feel the weight of it. 35:2-4 Perhaps Jacob finally gets the fullness of what his life journey is. Listening. Following. Obeying. He demands his clan get rid of foreign gods, finally recognizing His God! Can you imagine hearing 35:11 “I am God Almighty” and the reaffirming of the covenant? the rocks must’ve crumbled a bit under foot….and then Rachel dies bringing the last of Jacob’s “fruitfulness” into the world. 😢 What an impactful scene. Jacob must move on, without his love, and will bury his father Isaac. “Jacob came home.” ❤️
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I love the part about Jacob anointing the stone 35:14; also in 28:18. See, on this stone, the promise of the cornerstone, Jesus, is made in covenant…all blessed through the true “anointed one- Christ” the ultimate descendant of this covenant. And I also love that Jesus himself is the ladder/staircase. He says so himself in John 1:51- he’s the connection between heaven and earth, and the fulfillment of these covenant. 😊 and the church is built on this stone, the cornerstone, this anointed one..in new covenant, built on this promise made to Jacob- Jesus.
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It still blows my mind how much can happen in only 3 chapters🤯 I’m still curious about the 4th son- Judah that Jesus comes from. So I’m guessing Reuben gets marked off the list because of sleeping with Bilhah. I noticed in the “handout” Simeon & Levi are already marked off but are we about to learn why?? I’m dying to know & surprised I didn’t understand that before now🤪
I also didn’t catch that a goat is what was used both times for the deception. Wow! Not coincidental at all because I know my God 🐐 #karma
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Ok I’m crazy🤪I now remembered Ch 34 we just read🤦🏼♀️Simeon & Levi were the very ones that killer Hamor/Shechem/all the people over what was done to Dinah. I think I was waiting for an “order” but now I’m with it.
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That’s why I have to write in my handouts. If I told you how many times just this week I couldn’t keep Rebekah and Rachel straight in my head! “Wait, who is she married to” “which one is older”. Girl! It stinks getting old. I credit it to your youthful mind when you beat me in Bible Trivia! I peeked ahead at tomorrow’s reading. LOL…can’t wait!
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I’m glad I’m not alone! ☺️I do need to print these handouts. I had it underlined in my Bible but keeping it all together would make all the difference in the world. And I think I just got lucky that one time!🤗
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