Genesis 32:1 36:43 Jacob in Canaan September 23, 2018

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1 Genesis 32:1 36:43 Jacob in Canaan September 23, 2018 Next Lesson. Genesis Proverbs 27:9. Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of one's friend springs from his earnest counsel. Wesley's Questions for Class Meetings. #14. Am I defeated in any part of my life? What does the Bible Mean? Read. Genesis 32:1-21 Last week Jacob and his family parted with Leah and Rachael's father, Laban. Laban and his family returned to Haran. Jacob went on his way toward his home and perhaps a hostile brother Esau. The angels of God met him. Angels signifies messengers. They are God's servants to protect God's people that they may trust in God. The spirits were made known to Jacob to encourage him. Jacob the place was the camp of God and he named it two camps - his and the angels. This is Jacob's second encounter with angels. In the ladder dream, angels ascended and descended. Jacob was encouraged. The angels earlier had been assurance for a peaceful conclusion with Laban. Now Jacob is encouraged about his meeting with his twin brother, Esau. Jacob sent messengers ahead to Esau in the land of Seir in the country of Edom. Tell Esau that Jacob had lived with Laban and had acquired flocks and slaves and that your servant (to show courtesy and humility) hoped to find favor is Esau s sight. The messengers reported to Jacob that Esau was coming with 400 men. Jacob could foresee violence and conflict with Esau. He divided his company into two parts. If Esau destroys me, the other will survive. Jacob prayed his first reported prayer since leaving home. O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, O Lord who said to me, Go back to your relatives and I will make you prosper, I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant, I had only my staff when I crossed Jordan, but now I have become two groups. Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, Esau, for I am afraid he will attack me, and also the mothers with their children. But you have said, I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.'

2 From what Jacob had with him, Jacob took a present for Esau of many animals. He instructed his servants to go ahead. When they met Esau, they were to say that this all is a present from your servant Jacob and he comes along behind. He also gave similar instructions to two more groups. Perhaps his gifts would pacify Esau. Read. Genesis 32:22-32 Then Jacob sent his wives maidservants and children across the Jabbok (a tributary of the River Jordan from the highlands to the east. It became a frontier of Israel) and he stayed behind alone. That night Jacob wrestled with an assailant. There are many interpretations of the assailant A river demon guarding Canaan An enemy Esau or Jacob s guardian angel An initiation or a rite of passage A test of fitness for the future An inner transforming struggle A direct encounter with God the most likely. They wrestled through the night and the man could not prevail against Jacob. The text says that Jacob saw God face to face. Jacob asks the assailant to bless him. (Jacob was preoccupied with the blessing he stole and wanted his blessing confirmed.) The man renamed Jacob as Israel meaning God strives. The assailant wounded Jacob s hip. There are two connections between the struggle and the larger story. It is a counterpart to the divine ladder encounter at Bethel. The two provide sacred portals for Jacob to exit and return to the promised land. It is part of the encounter with Esau and their reconciliation. Jacob called the place Peniel (the face of God) because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared. Read. Genesis 33:1-20 The story of Jacob (strangely, even though Jacob had been re-named Israel, the scripture continues to call him Jacob) and Esau ends with reconciliation. The story endorses reconciliation rather than violence between the brothers and between the nations they represent Israel and Edom. Jacob saw Esau and his 400 men coming. He divided his family with Rebekah, his favorite and Joseph last. Jacob offered Esau gifts the Hebrew word is actually blessing. Jacob told Esau the gifts are to find favor with my Lord. Esau replied that he had plenty, but Jacob insisted that he accept the gifts. Seeing Esau was like seeing the face of God. He urged Esau to take the gifts because God had been gracious with Jacob. Esau accepted the gifts. Esau invited Jacob to come with him to Seir the land of Edom southeast of the Dead Sea, but Jacob wanted to rest his wives and children and his flocks and would come along. Esau left for Seir. Jacob went instead to Succoth near the mouth of the Jabbok in the

3 Jordan Valley. Esau saw the two coming together. Jacob was cautious. He had excuses for the two brothers to part as he went to Succoth (shelters) in Shechem where he built a place for himself and made shelters for his livestock. As we will see, he should have continued on to Bethel. Jacob bought a plot of ground from Hamor. Jacob then erected an altar which he named El Elohe Israel (The Mighty God of Israel). Read. Genesis 34:1-31 The local ruler in Shechem was Hamor. Shechem (named for the city) was Hamor s son. Dinah, daughter of Leah, went out to visit the women of the region. Shechem saw her and seized her and lay with her by force. He loved Dinah. He asked Hamor to get Dinah as his wife. Jacob heard of the rape but held his peace. His sons were in the fields. When they returned they were filled with grief and fury. But, Hamor came to Jacob and asked him to give Dinah in marriage to Shechem. Then the peoples would co-mingle as one. Shechem offered a bride price of whatever you ask. The sons answered deceitfully (like father, like son). They said that Dinah couldn t go to one uncircumcised. Hamor and Shechem and all the men must be circumcised. They would use a sacred ceremony for sinful purpose. They agreed because Hamor told the men of the city that if they integrate the Israelites would eventually be ours. They saw that Jacob's people being absorbed by the Canaanites. The result would have been sacrificing the covenant and promises. While they were still sore, Dinah s brothers, Simon and Levi, took their swords and killed Hamor and Shechem and all the males. Their brothers looted the city, stole the flocks and possessions and took the wives and children. We might learn here to quickly repair the injury we may have done to others! Jacob told Simeon and Levi that they had brought troubles on him. He would be a stench to the Canaanites and Perizzites who lived in the land. The native people would destroy Jacob and his household. But Simon and Levi brushed him off. Should he have treated our sister as a prostitute? Israelite law (which came later) prescribes death to the perpetrator of many sexual sins. However, the resolution for relations with the unengaged and unwed was the payment of the bridal price and marriage. This had been offered. Jacob had sought some more diplomatic solution. He favored diplomacy over violence. Ultimately Jacob imposes discipline on Simeon and Levi by denying them as his legal heirs. Of course, in those days none of the alternatives considered the opinion of the female. Note that the name of God ended Chapter 33 and will begin Chapter 35, but it is never mentioned in Chapter 34.

4 Read. Genesis 35:1-8 God directed Jacob to return to Bethel. God also told him to make an altar to the God that appeared to him when he fled from Esau the God that had been with him. He was instructed to put away all foreign gods. Jacob built an altar and had the people purify themselves and dress in clean clothes. They gave Jacob all the gods and the rings and amulets they wore which often included pagan charms. Then the gods were buried beneath the oak at Bethel presumably the same tree related to Abraham. Then Deborah, Rebekah's nurse died and was buried near Bethel under an oak named Annon Bacuth or weeping oak. Read. Genesis 35:9-15 As we said previously, there are two versions of much of Genesis. Here is the priestly tradition of changing Jacob's name and the naming of Bethel. God said to him. Your name is Jacob, but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel. Then God spoke to Jacob as he had spoken to Abraham. Jacob becomes the legitimate heir to the ancestral covenant, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations will come from you, and kings shall come from you. The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you. Jacob set a stone pillar (a memorial or monument) where God talked with him. He poured a drink offering (of wine) and oil on it and called it Bethel (the House of God). Read. Genesis 35:16-29 They journeyed from Bethel. Before they reached Bethlehem, Rachael went into hard labor. A handmaiden told her she was to have a son and as she died she named him Ben-oni, but Jacob named him Benjamin (son of the right hand or son of fortune or son of the south). Of all of Jacob s sons, only Benjamin was born in Canaan. Rachael was buried at the site and Jacob erected a pillar there. Israel moved on to Migdal Eder or tower of the flock. The same term is used in Micah 4:6-7, where it refers to the people of Judah. While there, there is a brief episode. Reuben the firstborn son lay with his father s concubine, Bilhah. Israel heard of it. Perhaps this is another reason for Reuben to lose his father s inheritance. Isaac died and was buried by Israel and Esau at Mamre where his mother and father, Sarah and Abraham were buried. Isaac lived one hundred and eighty years.

5 Read. Chapter 36 This chapter is named Esau's Descendants. Esau means Edom. Edom and Seir. A point of interest is Verse 36:11. A son of Eliphaz is Teman. Eliphaz the Temanite is a man in Job 2:11. Job likely lived in Edom. What does the Bible mean to me? Is Wesley facing any showdown? If so, how will we face it? Have we harmed someone and wanted to be forgiven? What did we do/say? Are we wrestling with God about something? What does Jacob becoming Israel mean? Is it easier to forgive or be forgiven? Have you ever forgiven or been forgiven unexpectedly? Is cultural purity as important today as in Biblical times? Do we linger at Shechem (partway) rather than going to Bethel (destination)?