Genesis (Written)

Genesis 36:1-14
The Generations of Esau

Introduction: Chapter 36 of Genesis is one which is almost completely disregarded by people when they read the Bible. Name after name is given and there is seemingly nothing which is attractive or new to keep one’s attention. If it is read at all, instead of being skipped over, it tends to be read without any thought or reflection.

Not since chapter 25 in the genealogy of Ishmael has there been such a long list of names which seem to have no purpose. Before that, one has to go back to chapter 10, the Table of Nations, in order to find such a long and difficult to comprehend list.

This chapter is broken down into six sections which seemingly repeat or overlap each other. They don’t really though. Instead they show the sequence of time and rulers throughout the history of Edom. In order, the sections are as follows:

1-8 – The genealogy of Esau, who is Edom and the wives and children he had while living in Canaan.
9-14 – The genealogy of Esau, the father of the Edomites after his move to Mount Seir.
15-19 – The chiefs of the sons of Esau.
20-30 – The sons of Seir the Horite who inhabited the land.
31-39 – The kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the children of Israel.
40-43 A different set of the chiefs of Esau.

Passages like chapter 36 don’t lend themselves to exciting sermons, but they are a part of God’s word and are important in understanding what lies ahead for God’s people, so they need to be looked at and not simply passed over.

Text Verse: “Will I not in that day,” says the Lord,
“Even destroy the wise men from Edom,
And understanding from the mountains of Esau?
9 Then your mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed,
To the end that everyone from the mountains of Esau
May be cut off by slaughter. Obadiah -8, 9

The Bible showed that there would be an end to the people of Edom at some point. If we keep reminding ourselves of who Esau represents, we can see more clearly the end of all fallen men. A time is coming when the line of Adam will disappear as it is either destroyed or assimilated into the line of Jesus.

This is found pictured in the people of Edom who were either destroyed or assimilated into the nation of Israel. The Bible shows us these things both as an advanced warning and as an advanced way of understanding what choices we should make. It’s all to be found in God’s word and so… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. The Generations of Esau

Now this is the genealogy of Esau, who is Edom.

We now come to the ninth set of “generations” listed in the Bible. The last set of generations was that of Isaac, way back in chapter 25. Esau’s genealogy is a branch off the main line which leads to the Messiah.

This is something which is common in the Bible. The last branch off the main line was that of the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s oldest son, born to him by Sarah’s maid Hagar. Only after he was listed came the generations of Isaac. The eight previous generations the Bible has noted were:

The generations of the heavens and the earth (2:4); the generations of Adam (5:1); the generations of Noah (6:9); the generations of the sons of Noah (10:1); the generations of Shem (11:10); the generations of Terah (11:27); the generations of Ishmael (25:12), and the generations of Isaac (25:19).

For context of where we are, we should note that this listing of Esau’s family is given immediately after the record of Isaac’s death in the last verse of the last chapter. It’s also recorded just prior to the generations of Jacob which will come at the beginning of the next chapter.

The listing of these sons is given in order of birth just as Ishmael and Isaac were in Genesis 25. There is a harmony and an elegance in how the Bible is structured which is precise, intent, and which shows great care and affection for what is being relayed to us.

The word which is translated as “genealogy” is the word toledot. Toledot can be spelled a variety of ways depending on the sentence structure, but the important point about it is the inclusion or lack of a particular letter known as “vav” – the 6th letter in the aleph-bet.

Depending on whether there is one vav, two vavs, or no vavs, we can see hints about the plan of redemption that is being worked out in the people groups listed. To understand this better, and if you’re curious about this, you can to go back to the sermon on Genesis 5.

The spelling of toledot here is identical to the spelling of the toledot for Jacob at the beginning of the next chapter. That is good news for Esau as far as I see it.

Esau is the older brother of Jacob and the firstborn to Isaac and Rebekah. His name was given based on his appearance at birth. The name Esau means “covered with hair” or “hairy.” However, his name is also similar to the word asah meaning “to do.” In the first chapter of Genesis, when God made man, the word used was a form of asah.

There is a connection between these which can be made. Hair in the Bible is used to denote awareness. Man, of all the creatures made by God, is an aware being. Esau, during all of the preceding sermons, has pictured man of the earth. Man was created and he is an aware being.

We need to go back to Genesis 25 to see the story of Esau’s birth in order to see how he received his name –

Now Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived. ²² But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If all is well, why am I like this?” So she went to inquire of the Lord.

²³ And the Lord said to her:
“Two nations are in your womb,
Two peoples shall be separated from your body;
One people shall be stronger than the other,
And the older shall serve the younger.”
²⁴ So when her days were fulfilled for her to give birth, indeed there were twins in her womb. ²⁵ And the first came out red. He was like a hairy garment all over; so they called his name Esau. ²⁶ Afterward his brother came out, and his hand took hold of Esau’s heel; so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.

Esau was red and he was hairy like a garment and so the immediate association with his name is being hairy. But another connection needs to be remembered too. Because he was hairy, he would have had the appearance of a man, rather than a baby. He is the “made-man” picturing Adam, the man who was made.

However, Esau has another name, Edom. This name means “red.” Here is where that name came from, also in Genesis 25 –

²⁹ Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, and he was weary. ³⁰ And Esau said to Jacob, “Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary.” Therefore his name was called Edom.
³¹ But Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright as of this day.”
³² And Esau said, “Look, I am about to die; so what is this birthright to me?”
³³ Then Jacob said, “Swear to me as of this day.”
So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. ³⁴ And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright. Genesis 25:22-33

Esau was already red, but when he asked for the red stew, the name stuck. And so now he is Esau and he is Edom. But again, the name Edom has a connection to the man who was made. Man was named Adam by God. The name Adam means man; the earthly or physical being. But it has the same origin as the name Edom – the color red. Adam was taken from the ruddy, red soil of the earth.

And so here we have the three connections for you to remember once again. First, Esau is like asah. Man was made and Esau appeared as if fully made when born. Secondly, Esau was hairy and the concept of hair relates to awareness, as in a sentient being. And third, Edom is red which is tied to Adam who is the physical being made from the reddish soil of the earth.

All of this was explained in earlier sermons, but now Esau’s generations are being listed and it’s asking us to remember this and think on why he is considered so important as to have his genealogies listed in the Bible the way they are. In fact, here we have an entire chapter comprising 43 verses which is dedicated to him and those connected to him.

If Jacob is the inheritor of that which is spiritual, then Esau is the inheritor of that which is worldly. Jacob has the birthright and the spiritual blessing, but Esau also received a blessing after Jacob was given his. Esau’s blessing from his father Isaac said this –

“Behold, your dwelling shall be of the fatness of the earth,
And of the dew of heaven from above.
⁴⁰ By your sword you shall live,
And you shall serve your brother;
And it shall come to pass, when you become restless,
That you shall break his yoke from your neck.” Genesis 27:39, 40

As you can see, the reason for the genealogy listed here is because of Esau’s worldly blessing. We are shown that the blessing took place in the reception of worldly things. By including this genealogy with its minuteness of detail, we see that the prophecies were fulfilled by God exactly as they were made to him – both before his birth when the Lord spoke to Rebekah, and again when his father blessed him.

² Esau took his wives from the daughters of Canaan: Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite; Aholibamah the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite;

The names and places listed in this chapter surely all have importance and relevance, especially because some of these people are listed under different names at other times. However, if we were to analyze every name that is listed, it would take us about 2 or 3 months of sermons to get through this chapter.

Instead, I’ll list just the prominent names and what they mean. The first is Esau’s wife Adah. Her name means “Ornament.” It is the same name as the second woman named in the Bible. She was one of two wives married to Lamech, a descendant of Cain.

Esau’s second listed wife is Aholibamah. Her name means, “Tent of the high places.” Both Adah and Aholibamah were daughters of Canaan, meaning they were descendants of Canaan, the cursed grandson of Noah. One is a Hittite and the other is a Hivite.

³ and Basemath, Ishmael’s daughter, sister of Nebajoth.

In chapter 27, we read this –

⁶ Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Padan Aram to take himself a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,” ⁷ and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Padan Aram. ⁸ Also Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan did not please his father Isaac. ⁹ So Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife in addition to the wives he had.

This girl named Mahalath in chapter 27 is called Basemath here. Her name means “Sweet fragrances.” Esau married her because she was a daughter of Abraham’s son Ishmael. His parents didn’t like his first two wives and he was hoping that by marrying her, they would be happy with him.

⁴ Now Adah bore Eliphaz to Esau,

Eliphaz means, “God of strength.”

^4 (con’t) and Basemath bore Reuel.

Reuel means “Friend of God.” In Exodus 2, Moses’ father in law has the same name, but he is called a Midianite. Once again, it could be the same person, but he is called a Midianite because of where he lives and not who his father is. Or it could be a different person with the same name – scholars debate this.

⁵ And Aholibamah bore Jeush, Jaalam, and Korah. These were the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan.

Three sons are born to this wife of Esau. Jeush means, “Haste.” Jaalam means “Hiding.” And Korah means “Ice” or “Baldness.” Together five sons were born to Esau while he lived in Canaan.

II. Esau’s Move to Seir

⁶ Then Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the persons of his household, his cattle and all his animals, and all his goods which he had gained in the land of Canaan, and went to a country away from the presence of his brother Jacob.

Here’s what the Geneva Bible says about this verse, “In this, God’s providence appears, which causes the wicked to give place to the godly, that Jacob might enjoy Canaan according to God’s promise.”

Very rarely do I disagree with the commentaries of the Geneva Bible. They are usually short, concise, and spot on, but this time they blew it. Calling Esau “wicked” simply because he wasn’t the son of promise is really stretching it.

Esau was just a guy and the people who come from him will often be at odds with Israel, but they will also eventually become a part of the Israelite people. The reason for the move is explained in the next verse and it is the same reason as was given for the move of Lot away from Abraham.

⁷ For their possessions were too great for them to dwell together, and the land where they were strangers could not support them because of their livestock.

When Abraham and Lot lived together, eventually their livestock grew to the point that there were problems. Here is what it says in Genesis 13 –

“Now the land was not able to support them, that they might dwell together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together. ⁷ And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock.” (6, 7)

Lot moved south toward Sodom, Esau is moving south and east to the land of Seir. Lot’s line includes ancestors of Jesus through both of his daughters. The move was one of necessity, but it was also one directed by God to fulfill His plans.

The same is true here with Esau. This will be seen time and time again as Israel and Edom interact throughout the rest of the Bible.

⁸ So Esau dwelt in Mount Seir. Esau is Edom.

The name Esau is mentioned 25 times in this chapter. The name Edom is mentioned 11 times. In 5 of those times, it is explicitly said that Esau is Edom or that Esau is the father of the Edomites. This is the second time this has happened.

This is obviously important to God, and He wants us to know it. What is it about Esau being Edom which is so significant that we are repeatedly told this. The answer goes right back to what the names mean.

If we understand that Esau and the Edomites are picturing Adam and his seed, and they have moved out of Canaan, then we can more clearly see what is going on. Jacob is renamed Israel and is the son of promise. Throughout the sermons detailing his life, he has pictured Jesus. We can look at Canaan as representative of perhaps the Garden of Eden.

Esau who is Edom was in Canaan just as Adam was in Eden. Adam, the earthly man, disobeyed God and was cast out of Eden – he in essence traded his birthright for soup. But in his disobeying God, he also gained something. He gained conscience and awareness as we note in Genesis 3:22 –

“Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil.”

And in the same pattern, here in verse 8, it notes that “Esau dwelt in Seir.” Adam went into the world of awareness and Esau has gone to the land of Seir – meaning “hairy.” I’ve already explained several times that hair in the Bible denotes “awareness.”

None of this is arbitrary and none of it should be quickly dismissed. The struggle which will continue between the descendents of Israel and the descendents of Edom is reflective of the spiritual struggle noted throughout the Bible. We are in Adam, or we are in Jesus.

This land that Esau moves to now is the same land he was living in at the time of Jacob’s return from Mesopotamia, the mountain of Seir. The name Seir probably comes from a person that will be mentioned in verse 20. He is named Seir the Horite.

Or it could be that Seir’s name came from the mountain because of it’s hairy appearance. It probably had low bramble bushes on it which made it look hairy. Another nearby mountain is called Khalak, which means “smooth.” And so this could be the case.

This makes sense because when Esau moved there, the name Seir was retained. Once again, hair is the connection between Esau and Seir – the hairy man living on the hairy mountain. The name of the land is Seir, but it will also be called Edom from now on out.

It is an area which is south of the land of Judah and it extends from the area of the Dead Sea all the way to the Gulf of Aqaba. It is in the modern land of Jordan and includes the ruins of Petra, the city carved from the sandstone used in the Indiana Jones movie.

III. The Genealogy of Esau in Mount Seir

⁹ And this is the genealogy of Esau the father of the Edomites in Mount Seir.

For a second time in the chapter, the genealogy of Esau is mentioned. Some scholars try to pick apart the Bible because of these type of repetitions. They will claim that this is a later insert by a different author. But this isn’t at all what’s happening.

Instead, as I said earlier, the listing here is all his genealogy after moving to Seir. The first only includes those born in Canaan. The Bible is being extremely precise about this group of people, where they were born, and who they were born to.

What may seem long and tedious is actually a careful record and account of a people picturing the trek of man, from his time in Eden and throughout his generations.

¹⁰ These were the names of Esau’s sons: Eliphaz the son of Adah the wife of Esau, and Reuel the son of Basemath the wife of Esau.

This verse repeats what was said in verses 4 & 5.

¹¹ And the sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz.

Eliphaz, Esau’s firstborn, has five sons. One of them is called Teman. In the book of Job, one of the three people that comes to comfort him is named Eliphaz the Temanite. Because of this, it is either the same person and he is living in the land named after his son, which seems likely, or it is his grandson who is called a Temanite after his father.

Either way, either he or one of his grandsons shows up again in Job. In that book, Eliphaz and his two friends speak wrongly about God and God chastises them for it. Here is what that account says –

⁷ And so it was, after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, that the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is aroused against you and your two friends, for you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has. ⁸ Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, go to My servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and My servant Job shall pray for you. For I will accept him, lest I deal with you according to your folly; because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.” ⁹ So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the Lord commanded them; for the Lord had accepted Job. Job 42:7-9

As you can see, this line of people, descending from Esau, has incorrect concepts of God, just as men around the world who descend from Adam do. However, God in His mercy corrects them and gives them an opportunity to be forgiven.

These are the lessons we should be seeing as we travel through such seemingly difficult verses. There is nothing boring about them, but instead, there is the richness of God’s love for the people of the world – all of Adam’s fallen children, symbolized by the descendants of Edom.

¹² Now Timna was the concubine of Eliphaz, Esau’s son, and she bore Amalek to Eliphaz. These were the sons of Adah, Esau’s wife.

Here in this verse, we have the introduction of a group of people who will continue to afflict Israel for many generations and almost bring then to ruin. Timna is the daughter of Seir and is noted as the sister of Lotan in next week’s verses. She became the concubine of Eliphaz, the son of Esau.

Because she becomes the concubine of Eliphaz, it gave the descendents of Esau the chance to intermix with the people of Seir and eventually take over the land and expel the Horites. We find this noted in Deuteronomy 2:12 –

The Horites formerly dwelt in Seir, but the descendants of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before them, and dwelt in their place, just as Israel did to the land of their possession which the Lord gave them.)

The Edomites will gain ascendancy in the land and this will continue for many generations. Eventually, Herod – Israel’s king at the time of Jesus, will be from the Edomite people. As you can see, every detail eventually looks forward to the coming of Jesus.

But the reason why Timna is mentioned is because of the son she will bear, Amalek. The group of people who will descend from him will be great and long-standing enemies of Israel. After the exodus from Egypt, this group will attack the Israelites. The story is memorable and a favorite of God’s people even to this day –

⁸ Now Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim. ⁹ And Moses said to Joshua, “Choose us some men and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.” ¹⁰ So Joshua did as Moses said to him, and fought with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. ¹¹ And so it was, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. ¹² But Moses’ hands became heavy; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. ¹³ So Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. ¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this for a memorial in the book and recount it in the hearing of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.” ¹⁵ And Moses built an altar and called its name, The-Lord-Is-My-Banner; ¹⁶ for he said, “Because the Lord has sworn: the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.” Exodus 17:8-16

This same group of people continued to afflict Israel throughout the time of the Judges and when the kingdom was established, their presence brought about the downfall of Israel’s first king. When God commanded King Saul to destroy the Amalekites completely, he failed to do it. We read this in 1 Samuel 15 –

And Saul attacked the Amalekites, from Havilah all the way to Shur, which is east of Egypt. ⁸ He also took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. ⁹ But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.

Because of his failure, Samuel spoke this to King Saul, –

“For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,
And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
He also has rejected you from being king.”

This king of the Amelekites, Agag, was ancestor to Haman, the great enemy of the Jews who were in exile as recorded in the book of Esther. Saul’s failures to do as he was instructed continued as a thorn to Israel which almost caused their extinction.

***One error leads to another until things can finally boil over.

¹³ These were the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These were the sons of Basemath, Esau’s wife.

Reuel, Esau’s son and the grandson of Ishmael, had these four sons. There is nothing further of note about any of them in the rest of the Bible.

¹⁴ These were the sons of Aholibamah, Esau’s wife, the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon. And she bore to Esau: Jeush, Jaalam, and Korah.

This is basically a repeat of verse 5. Unlike the other sons of Esau, there is no mention of their grandsons. Once again, only what is needed for God to instruct us is given. Each name here certainly has special significance and purpose, but the inclusion of grandsons born to these sons holds none.

Today we’ve looked at 14 of the 40 verses of chapter 36. In them are concepts of hope for fallen man, lessons of the disobedience of descendants which will come against God’s people, and even how God uses places and locations to make spiritual applications as He works out His marvelous plan.

Nothing is superfluous, nothing is arbitrary, and nothing is missing in God’s word. And throughout it all, one continuous theme is displayed – God’s love for you, and how He is working out His love through the giving of His Son to reconcile us, fallen sons of Adam, pictured by Edom, to His Father.

The plan has been going on since before creation and it is going on in each of you as well. As you learn His word, He is revealing His Son to you. But some of you may not yet know Him. If you’ve never made a commitment to Jesus, please give me another moment to explain to you why it is so important that you do…

Closing Verse: The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, It is made overflowing with fatness, With the blood of lambs and goats, With the fat of the kidneys of rams. For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah, And a great slaughter in the land of Edom. Isaiah 34:6

Next Week: Genesis 36:15-43 (An Awareness in the Sons of Adam) (91st Genesis Sermon) – Make sure to read and study those verses.

The Lord has you exactly where He wants you and He has a good plan and purpose for you. Call on Him and let Him do marvelous things for you and through you.

The Generations of Esau

Now this is the genealogy of Esau, who is Edom
Maybe one name came from his dad and the other from his mom

Esau took his wives from the daughters of Canaan:
Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite
Aholibamah the daughter of Anah, and then…
She is the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite

And Basemath, Ishmael’s daughter
She is the sister of Nebajoth, having the same father

Now Adah bore Eliphaz to Esau
And Basemath bore Reuel
And Aholibamah bore Jeush, Jaalam, and Korah
Lots of names in this story to tell

These were the sons of Esau, so grand
Who were born to him in Canaan the land

Then Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters
And all the persons of his household also
His cattle and all his animals, maybe some otters
And all his goods, and he was set to go

All which he had gained in the land of Canaan
And went to a country some distance away
From the presence of his brother Jacob, and then
He left the land as the Bible does say

For their possessions were too great bringing dangers
For them to dwell together as one flock
And the land where they were strangers
Could not support them because of their livestock

So Esau dwelt in Mount Seir
Esau is Edom, the Bible makes this clear

And this is the genealogy of Esau listed here
He is the father of the Edomites in Mount Seir

These were the names of Esau’s sons:
Eliphaz the son of Adah Esau’s wife
And Reuel the son of Basemath
The wife of Esau, she always brought a smile to his life

And the sons of Eliphaz were Teman, the first one
Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz too
Now Timna was the concubine of Eliphaz, Esau’s son
And she bore Amalek to Eliphaz, and so his family grew

These were the sons of Adah, Esau’s wife
Lots of sons to bring joy to his life

These were the sons of Reuel:
Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah
These were the sons of Basemath, Esau’s wife, oh well
To feed them all would take a lot of pizza

These all were Aholibamah’s sons
Esau’s wife, the daughter of Anah
The daughter of Zibeon, these are the ones
And she bore to Esau: Jeush, Jaalam, and Korah

Lots of a names and plenty of rhymes
And some are repeated several times

But they are given to establish God’s word
And lead us to insights about Jesus His Son
They show us the glory of our dear Lord
Who through His shed blood the victory is won

Adam’s seed, reflected in Esau’s generations
Is reconciled and restored through Jesus’ blood that was shed
God has done it for people in all nations
A vast multitude marching with Christ as its Head

Let us sing greatly and magnify our glorious Lord
As we wait for the treasures which for us in heaven are stored

Hallelujah and Amen…

Genesis 35:16-29
The Circle of Life

Introduction: The verses for our sermon today include both joy at new life and sadness at the death of a still young woman and wife. They also include the death of one of the patriarchs after a long and full life. The details are no different, in and of themselves, than those of billions of people who have lived since then.

And yet God has chosen these specific details because they provide us with moral lessons and helpful insights into the establishment of His covenant people. But more than this, they provide pictures of what is ahead, of the marvel of His entrance into the stream of humanity in order to redeem us from our fallen state.

The Bible demonstrates such wisdom and that it could only have come from the hand of the Creator who is outside of time and sees the end from the beginning. Let’s explore today’s passage and see the intricacy of what these verses are telling us.

Text Verse: “A voice was heard in Ramah,
Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children,
Refusing to be comforted,
Because they are no more.” Matthew 2:18

Rachel died in giving birth and yet more than 1700 years later, she is said to mourn for her children – as if rising from the grave to weep for them. The Bible is a collection of stories which share the details of the lives of many people.

They are brought to remembrance, even after their deaths as if they were alive because to God they are alive. The Bible teaches that the soul of man is eternal and it will spend its eternity in one of only two places. And as incredible as it may seem, God allows us to choose our destiny.

Let’s make sure we choose wisely. It is the word which shows us the path we need to take and so… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. One Son, Two Names

¹⁶ Then they journeyed from Bethel. And when there was but a little distance to go to Ephrath, Rachel labored in childbirth, and she had hard labor.

As occurs throughout Genesis, we come across stories which are interesting, maybe sad, or maybe uncomfortable, but they are just stories which in and of themselves don’t really teach us anything other than a bit of history. We may wonder why the details are mentioned at all, but there is always a purpose.

This story about Rachel has the immediate purpose of telling us about the birth of the 12th son of Israel, Benjamin. But the details about Rachel are seemingly otherwise unnecessary unless they are showing us a picture of something else. No mention of Rebekah’s death is given, and of all of the sons of Israel, only Joseph’s death has any details recorded.

Why Rachel? Why the details? These are questions we need to ask as we read the Bible. Never stop asking questions as you read. Let’s read it again – ¹⁶ Then they 1) journeyed 2) from Bethel. “And when there was but a little distance to go to 3) Ephrath, 4) Rachel 5) labored in childbirth, and she had 6) hard labor.”

Why is Bethel mentioned? Bethel means “House of God.” They are on a journey from one place to another. They are headed to where Isaac is. Jacob is now going to assume his role as the patriarch of the family and his authority over Isaac’s camp.

On the way there, Rachel has labor and gives birth. The verse says it is on the way to Ephrath. Why is that mentioned? Ephrath means “Fruitful.” Rachel is mentioned. Her name means “Ewe lamb.” She is in labor and the labor is hard.

Who is it that directs the womb? God does. He is in charge of all things and He is directing them for His purposes. In the case of Rachel, He is directing this to show us other things – using her life, even her difficult childbirth and death, for our learning.

Before we go on, let’s go back and read Genesis 30:1 –

“Now when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister, and said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I die!”

Rachel wanted to either have children or die. She had one son, Joseph and lived, but now that another is coming, the consequences of her words are coming true. She will have children and she will die. This isn’t meant to say that every idle word we say will come about as we say them, but it is meant to show that God does, in fact, remember every idle word. Jesus tells us this in Matthew 12 –

“But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. ³⁷ For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” (36, 37)

If for no other reason than knowing that our words are recorded, we should be careful of how we speak them in the Lord’s presence. It is quite possible that, like Rachel, he may bring them to account even before the day of judgment.

As a little squiggle for your brain, the word translated as “a little distance” is the Hebrew word kivrat. It’s only used three times in the Bible, twice about this story and once in 2 Kings 5:19. Nobody is sure exactly what it means. We can only speculate. It is a word which perplexes scholars.

¹⁷ Now it came to pass, when she was in hard labor, that the midwife said to her, “Do not fear; you will have this son also.”

From the previous verse, we know that Rachel’s labor was hard. From the words of the midwife, we can be certain that Rachel was in real anguish and probably knew she might die.

The midwife sees that the baby is finally coming and so she says, “Do not fear.” And then she adds the good news, “You will have this son also.” The child will be a boy and he will live. Deborah, Rebekah’s wet nurse, has died and so this is the first recorded child in two generations to be born and raised without her.

¹⁸ And so it was, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she called his name Ben-Oni; but his father called him Benjamin.

Here in verse 18 of Genesis 35, we have a true indication of the eternality of the human soul. In Hebrew it says, v’hi beset napshah ki metah, “And so it was, as her soul was departing, for she died.” The verse shows us that the body and the soul are separate entities. If it was merely her breath, a different word would have been used.

The New Testament teaches this as well. In the opening verses of 2 Corinthians chapter 5, Paul shows us that a soul without a body is naked. Jesus’ parables show us this too. The two are joined during life, but the soul continues on after death, in an unintended state.

 

God who is directing both the means and the timing of Rachel’s death, allows her to live long enough after the child’s birth to give him a name. And so she calls him Ben-Oni, “Son of my suffering.” And God, who knew this name was unsuitable to Jacob, shows us that he changed the name from the grief of suffering to the bond of absolute closeness. And so Jacob renames him Benjamin, “Son of my right hand.”

¹⁹ So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).

Once again, the very rare occurrence of the death and burial of a woman is noted in the Bible. Not only is her name given, but a general location as well – it is on the way to Ephrath. And then, as an explanation of the name, the Bible adds “that is, Bethlehem.”

This was necessary to avoid confusing Ephrath with any other location of that name, and Bethlehem with any other location with that name. There is only one Bethlehem Ephrata and God wants us to be sure and not miss the significance of it.

²⁰ And Jacob set a pillar on her grave, which is the pillar of Rachel’s grave to this day.

Just six verses earlier, in verse 14, Jacob had set up a pillar in honor of his meeting with God at Bethel. It was a time of joy and fellowship with God. Now in verse 20, he erects another pillar in a time of sadness and hope in God.

The pillar has since been a monument of faith in the resurrection of the dead. Jacob anticipates this during his time of sadness. The pillar’s location was still known at the time of Moses when he wrote the book of Genesis, and it was still known at the time of Samuel about 400 years later as it is recorded in 1 Samuel 10:2.

²¹ Then Israel journeyed and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder.

This is the very first time that the name Israel is applied to the person Jacob in the Bible. In just the last verse, it said that Jacob set a pillar on Rachel’s grave. But now Israel is formally introduced with the name he was given by God. I would suggest two reasons for this.

The first is that Benjamin was just born, thereby completing the family who is known by his name, Israel. And the second is because of who and what he is picturing in this verse. Now let’s shed some light on why such detail is recorded in what we’ve looked at so far.

The journey of these six verses began in Bethel, the House of God. As before, this represents heaven, where God dwells. A journey is made from there toward Mamre, which is also called Kirath Arba and Hebron. Mamre means “bitter” or “strong.” The idea of bitterness being a strong taste or experience.

Kirjath Arba means “City of the Four.” Mamre represents the bitter, fallen world which Jesus is coming to reclaim. Kirjath Arba, also represents the earth. The number four consistently designates the earth in the Bible – four corners or directions of the earth – “north, south, east, west;” the four elements – “earth, air, fire, water;” the four seasons – “spring, summer, autumn, winter;” etc.

The place is also called Hebron. This means “conjunction” or “joining” and is telling us that what Christ will do will be for both Jew and Gentile. There will be joining of the two into one. Something which Paul explains in Ephesians chapter 2 –

¹⁴ For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, ¹⁵ having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, ¹⁶ and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. (14-16)

In order for Jesus to reclaim the earth, He must participate in it. And so He leaves Bethel, the House of God, or heaven. In John 3:13, we see this mission mentioned by Jesus –

“No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.”

Jesus came down from heaven (Bethel) and was born in Bethlehem Ephrata as is recorded in both testaments of the Bible. In Micah, His coming was prophesied –

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Though you are little among the thousands of Judah,
Yet out of you shall come forth to Me
The One to be Ruler in Israel,
Whose goings forth are from of old,
From everlasting.” Micah 5:2

In Matthew His coming is realized. When Herod the king asked where the Messiah would be born, they went directly to that verse and quoted it to him.

Bethlehem means, “House of Bread.” This house pictures Jesus. In John 6:48, He said “I am the bread of life.” Later in the same chapter, He even more clearly explains Himself –

“This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.” (58)

He is heaven’s Bread, having come from the House of God (Bethel) to the House of Bread (Bethlehem). But Bethlehem is given another name, Ephrath, meaning “Fruitful.” This pictures Jesus’ work in the saving of men. He explains it in John 15:5 –

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”

It is Rachel who bears the son. Rachel means “Ewe Lamb.” The child of a lamb is a lamb. This is fulfilled in John the Baptist’s exclamation recorded in John 1:29, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

John prophesied concerning Jesus’ work. It would be one of substitutionary death – a sacrifice – for the people of the world. The word he used for “lamb” was amnos, a sacrificial lamb. It is the same word that was used speaking of the coming Christ in the Greek translation of Isaiah 53:7. There it says,

“He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.”

However, this same word for “lamb” in the original Hebrew was rachel – the name of Rachel. Rachel’s death is recorded to show us that the Messiah will also die, as a sacrificial lamb. This is confirmed by John the Baptist’s words in the New Testament.

Her death and the birth of Benjamin produces a dual picture – from the death of the lamb, Rachel, comes the birth of the son, Benjamin. But also from the death of the Lamb, Jesus, comes the birth of the son – each of us. Thus it is a picture of life from death.

Next it said that Rachel labored in childbirth, and she had hard labor. This is the expectancy of the completed work of the Messiah which Paul writes about in Romans 8:21-22 –

“…because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.”

And as she lay dying, the maidservant tending to the mother spoke these words, “Do not be afraid.” (NLT) It is the same thing the angel Gabriel spoke to Mary at the announcement of the coming Redeemer –

“Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS.” Luke 1:30, 31

Next the story tells us that as she was dying she called her son “Ben-Oni”- “Son of My Suffering.” This is a picture of Jesus, the Son of man and the Son of God, the suffering Servant prophesied in Isaiah and noted in Hebrews 5:8 – “though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.”

And so it says that Rachel died, repeating the fact again, Rachel pictures the Age of Grace, she pictures those who have come to Christ and through His cross of suffering. Paul explains it in Romans 6:6 –

“…knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.”

After Rachel’s death, it says “his father” called him Benjamin. It leaves the name of the father out so that we have a clear picture of the Father of the Son – God the Father. Because of the suffering and death, the Son is exalted to be called Benjamin, Son of the Right Hand.”

Of course this is Jesus after His resurrection as He is noted time and again in the New Testament, such as in Mark 16:19 –

“So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.”

And to get a clearer picture of this, we can remember what happened at Bethel when Jacob was first there. He saw a ladder stretching to heaven with angels ascending and descending on it. This ladder is pictured by the journey from Bethel to Bethlehem from Jesus’ heavenly home to the place of His earthly birth. Jesus says in John 1:51

“Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

He is the Ladder.

The pillar which was set up on Rachel’s grave is the promise of eternal life for those in Christ – those who have received His offer of grace, pictured by Rachel. The pillar is the hope of Christ and our promise of the resurrection. After erecting it we read that Israel journeyed and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder

As I said, this is the very first time that the name Israel is applied to the person Jacob in the Bible. I said one of the reasons is because of who and what he is picturing in this verse. He pictures Jesus traveling from heaven to the earth. And it says, he journeyed and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder.

To “pitch one’s tent” means to come and reside. Jesus is said to have pitched His tent by coming to earth because he put on a tent of flesh. Jacob pictures Jesus who pitched his tent “beyond the tower of Eder” – in Hebrew Migdal Eder. This means, “The Tower of the Flock.” It is the same term used to describe where the Messiah would be hailed in Micah 4:8 –

“And you, O tower of the flock, (Migdal Eder)
The stronghold of the daughter of Zion,
To you shall it come,
Even the former dominion shall come,
The kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem.”

This tower of the flock would have been the place where the shepherds were first told of the coming of the Lord, as noted in Luke 2:8 –

“Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.”

Imagine being one of those shepherds on that cold autumn night when the sky light up and the glory of the Lord shone around them in heavenly splendor – there at Migdal Eder, the tower of the flock. Every word used is pointing to Jesus.

II. The Sons of Israel

²² And it happened, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine; and Israel heard about it.

Although this verse is intriguing and gives us ample opportunity for life applications of what not to do, there is a straightforward reason why it’s included and why it is included right here. We have just seen the work of Messiah recorded. In this same verse it will begin to list the 12 sons of Israel.

Although all 12 sons are inheritors of the land blessing, and though Joseph will be given the birthright, only one son can have the pre-eminence leading to the Messiah. We’ve already seen that the second and third sons, Simeon and Levi, would be excluded – they, with malice, killed an entire town of people.

Up until this point, the first son, Rebuen, hasn’t been excluded. However, that wouldn’t allow for God’s plans to happen in the way that would lead correctly to Jesus. And so, in a moment of human weakness reminiscent of the Garden of Eden where man fell through the devil’s use of the woman, Reuben also falls through a bad decision concerning Jacob’s concubine Bilhah, Rachel’s maid.

As I’m sure you remember from the Genesis 29 sermon, Bilhah means “foolish.” The only New Testament connection with Bilhah is in 2 Corinthians 6, where it says –

¹⁴ Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? ¹⁵ And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever?

The name Belial is connected to the name Bilhah. It means “beyond purpose;” something that is useless. Interestingly, in 1 Corinthians 5:1, Paul writing to the same group of people, highlights an identical situation which had occurred there –

“It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles—that a man has his father’s wife!”

The sin of sexual immorality caused Reuben to lose the right to be the bearer of the Messiah. Instead, as a tribe he faded into obscurity. And the same sin caused a member of the church in Corinth to be excommunicated for his actions. Such is the nature of temptation leading to fornication.

And so, to show the transfer of the Messianic blessing from Reuben, Simeon, and Levi to Judah, I’d like to take a moment and read you Israel’s blessings upon these sons before his death –

“Reuben, you are my firstborn,
My might and the beginning of my strength,
The excellency of dignity and the excellency of power.
⁴ Unstable as water, you shall not excel,
Because you went up to your father’s bed;
Then you defiled it—
He went up to my couch.
⁵ “Simeon and Levi are brothers;
Instruments of cruelty are in their dwelling place.
⁶ Let not my soul enter their council;
Let not my honor be united to their assembly;
For in their anger they slew a man,
And in their self-will they hamstrung an ox.
⁷ Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce;
And their wrath, for it is cruel!
I will divide them in Jacob
And scatter them in Israel.
⁸ “Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise;
Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
Your father’s children shall bow down before you.
⁹ Judah is a lion’s whelp;
From the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He bows down, he lies down as a lion;
And as a lion, who shall rouse him?
¹⁰ The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
Nor a lawgiver from between his feet,
Until Shiloh comes;
And to Him shall be the obedience of the people.
¹¹ Binding his donkey to the vine,
And his donkey’s colt to the choice vine,
He washed his garments in wine,
And his clothes in the blood of grapes.
¹² His eyes are darker than wine,
And his teeth whiter than milk.

^{22 (con’t)} Now the sons of Jacob were twelve:

Right here, in the middle of the same verse where Reuben is demonstrated to be unworthy of the Messianic blessing, there is a pause in the original Hebrew text. It ends what is called a parashah or a “portion.” There is a ton of speculation by scholars, Jewish and Christian alike, why the division appears right here.

None of them that I found give the reason that I think is right. Why would a pause come after Jacob hearing about what Reuben did and before it saying, “Now the sons of Jacob were twelve?” The reason is because the line to the Messiah was decided here in this verse. It is the obvious conclusion.

Before naming the sons of Israel, the decision has been made so that when we read their names, we will be able to determine where this Messiah, that has been pictured dozens of times in this chapter, will come from. And so now the list is given –

²³ the sons of Leah were Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, and Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun; ²⁴ the sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin; ²⁵ the sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s maidservant, were Dan and Naphtali; ²⁶ and the sons of Zilpah, Leah’s maidservant, were Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Padan Aram.

The order of the sons is given not by birth, but by mother and then by birth. Leah is mentioned first. She pictures the law and so her sons are given. Christ will come under the law. And from her sons, the first three have been excluded, therefore, we can see that Judah will be the one to bear the Messianic line.

Then the sons of Rachel, who pictures grace, are named. And then the two maidservants are listed with their sons, Rachel’s maid first and then Leah’s. But two more questions arise, “Why are the sons listed at all?” And, “Why are they listed here?”

The answer is that all of the sons of Israel are now born with the coming of Benjamin. In this chapter, we saw the renaming of Jacob to Israel for the second time. The first time he was renamed on the night he wrestled with the unnamed Man, and the name and blessing of Israel applied to Jacob the man.

In this chapter, the name and blessing of Israel applies to Jacob the people. Unlike Isaac and Jacob who alone held the blessing, Israel is now a collective group of people, all sharing in the covenant blessings. And the reason for the naming of them here is because of what we will see next, in our final thought of the day…

III. The Death of Isaac

²⁷ Then Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kirjath Arba  (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had dwelt.

Jacob now comes to the home of his father because he will assume the role as leader of the clan which has gone from Abraham through Isaac. The sons of Israel were listed by name to indicate that all of them will participate in the inheritance of the clan, not just one of them. They will be a united group of people.

Hebron is the third major place of note that Abraham took up residence, and it is where both he and Sarah died and were buried. Isaac has resided there all along, blind and waiting for his time to end. When Jacob left there many long years before, he left with his staff and this blessing of his father –

“May God Almighty bless you,
And make you fruitful and multiply you,
That you may be an assembly of peoples;
⁴ And give you the blessing of Abraham,
To you and your descendants with you,
That you may inherit the land
In which you are a stranger,
Which God gave to Abraham.”

The blessing has been fulfilled. God Almighty, El Shaddai, has blessed him (Gen 35:11). He has been fruitful and multiplied. He has become an assembly of people. He has received the blessing of Abraham. He and his descendants are now the inheritors of the land in which he is a stranger and which God gave to Abraham.

This then is the second reason for the listing of the sons of Israel in this place and at this time. The word of God is very precise in how it is detailed and why it is in the order it follows. It is an amazing record of the wisdom of God in His unfolding plan of redemption.

Every part of the blessing given by Isaac was fulfilled literally and completely. The names of the sons are given before Jacob’s meeting with Isaac to show this. But guess what, Isaac won’t die for another 12 years after Jacob’s move to Haran.

It’s a complicated calculation which I won’t bother you with, but we can tell that Isaac will be alive when Joseph is sold by his brothers and he will actually live until 10 years before Jacob and his family move to Egypt. Why is it important to know this? The answer is because of the next verses.

²⁸ Now the days of Isaac were one hundred and eighty years.

Isaac outlived his father Abraham by 5 years, but he was blind for many of them. Thus the quantity of his years was exceeded by the quality of Abraham’s. The year of his birth was 2109 Anno Mundi. After a long and blessed life, Isaac will die in the year 2289 AM.

However, during the twelve years from Jacob’s arrival until Isaac’s death, nothing it mentioned. Understanding this makes what the Bible does record much more important to know. God isn’t recording the detailed life of these people. He is recording details of their lives. And the reason is because He is trying to wake us up and to search out His Son Jesus in the details.

²⁹ So Isaac breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people, being old and full of days.

The last time Isaac was mentioned directly was approximately 40 years earlier. In those years, nothing of his life is recorded. God gave him life and used that life, including his prolonged blindness, to tell us about Himself. One might say that it wasn’t fair that God allowed him to be blind just to show us pictures about Jesus.

But God is the Potter and we are the clay. How He uses us is up to Him. As Paul asks –

“But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?” Romans 8:20-21

When we read and understand the details of these stories, we find the sovereignty of God, but also His great grace. Why else would He show us these things, all telling about Jesus, unless He wanted us to focus on Jesus. And why would He send Jesus to die, unless He wanted us to receive that offering?

The complexity of this book is a demonstration of the love of God for each one of us. Every person recorded is there in an attempt to get us to wake up and see that God has done all of this… for us. How can we turn our back on such a gift? How can we not accept it when we see men such as Isaac used as he was so that we are the recipient of the vision that he lacked.

And Isaac, Isaac of all people will someday stand before his Redeemer and say, “Surely, once I was blind, but now I see.”

^{29 (con’t)} And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

The chapter ends with this final thought. The struggle between two boys that began in their mother’s womb and which was a source of grief to their parents is now behind them. Together they lay their father to rest in the dust from which he came.

Esau – picturing fallen man, and Jacob, picturing the risen Christ, together bury the enmity between each other and they bury the man whose name means “Laughter” – both rejoicing at a life well lived and in the hope of the resurrection of the righteous, among whom their father is counted.

A final thought for us is that when we too are resurrected because of the merits of Christ, Laughter will be there with us.

If you’ve never rejoiced in the joy of the salvation of the Lord, and if you’ve never had a moment where you can definitively say “I belong to Jesus,” then please give me just another moment to call to your heart and explain to you your need for Him.

Closing Verse: By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. Hebrews 11:20

Next Week: Genesis 36:1-14 (The Generations of Esau) (90th Genesis Sermon). Make sure to read and study those verses.

The Lord has you exactly where He wants you and He has a good plan and purpose for you. Call on Him and let Him do marvelous things for you and through you.

The Circle of Life

Then they journeyed from Bethel
And when there was but a little distance to go
To Ephrath, Rachel labored in childbirth as well
And she had hard labor in a painful throe

Now it came to pass and it did appear
When she was in hard labor, a painful throe
That the midwife said to her, “Do not fear
You will have this son, yes, this one also

And so it was, as her soul was departing
(for she died)
That she called his name Ben-Oni
But his father called him Benjamin
He is the one at his right side

So Rachel died, her life they couldn’t save
Near to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem), she was buried on the way
And Jacob set a pillar there on her grave
Which is the pillar of Rachel’s grave to this day

Then Israel journeyed and pitched his tent
Beyond the tower of Eder is where he went

And it happened, when Israel dwelt in that land
That Reuben went and with Bilhah lay
His father’s concubine, this was out of hand
And Israel heard about it, bringing him dismay

Now the sons of Jacob twelve they were:
The sons of Leah were Reuben, born to Jacob first
And Simeon, Levi, Judah, these through her
Also Issachar and Zebulun by Leah they were nursed

The sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin
Surely these two boys often made Jacob grin

The sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s maidservant
Were two – Dan and Naphtali
And the sons of Zilpah, Leah’s maidservant
Were Gad and Asher – that rounds out the 12 you see

These were the sons of Jacob a very fruitful man
They were those born to him in Padan Aram

Then Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre
Or Kirjath Arba (that is, Hebron)
Where Abraham and Isaac had dwelt
He would now settle in and not move on

Now one hundred and eighty years were Isaac’s days
So Isaac breathed his last and died
And was gathered to his people, being old and full of days
His sons Esau and Jacob buried him, it was by Rebekah’s side

There is a time for all of us when our life will end
A time when we will be buried in the grave
How will each of us our short lives spend?
Will we trust in Jesus, or continue to misbehave?

God has done all the work to reconcile us
All that is needed is to call out and receive Jesus

When we do, the deal is done, once for all time
Eternal life is offered to each, so don’t let a moment pass
And at our end we will receive the reward sublime
Together we can walk on streets of gold, clear as glass

Accept the pardon, the offering of grace
And for eternal days behold the splendor…
The majestic splendor of God’s glorious face

Hallelujah and Amen…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Genesis 35:9-15
Israel’s Land Promise

Introduction: If you’ve read the book of Genesis just once, you know that Jacob has already been named Israel. In fact, what happens in today’s seven verses is more often than not claimed by scholars to simply be a legendary repetition of the same account.

Unless you know that God has a purpose for every word in His Word, there often seems to be no sense in why things get repeated and patterns keep showing up in the Bible. And so scholars make up things like, “Oh that was inserted many years later by a scribe.”

Or you may hear, “This is the same story, just being told differently and they don’t know which one actually happened, so they kept both in the Bible.”

Too often, incompetence, carelessness, or willful manipulation of the text is used to explain away why things are the way they are. Is that it? Is this a book of error and haphazard compilation, or is it the carefully recorded work of a methodical and infinitely wise Creator? I would lean heavily on the latter.

In chapter 32, Jacob was told his name would no longer be Jacob but Israel and yet the Bible never records him actually being called Israel until many years later. Here in Chapter 35, it still hasn’t happened. And yet, in today’s passage, he is named Israel again.

Is there a reason for these things or are they really just legendary repetitions which partially match what happened? Well, let’s see what God has for us today as we peer deeply into this story.

Text Verse: Then they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob My servant, where your fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell there, they, their children, and their children’s children, forever; and My servant David shall be their prince forever. Ezekiel 37:25

In the church, we read verses like this one and try to find a reason why forever means something other than forever, or why what is promised to one group of people actually belongs to another group of people. When this happens, it’s usually because we already believe something different than what the verse actually says.

The promise spoken to Ezekiel by the Lord is one which was long before spoken to Jacob. The land of Canaan belongs to God and God has granted it to one group of people. If we can simply accept that at face value, then we will more readily be able to understand the other things that God is doing in history as well.

Let’s do our best to accept that God’s promises stand and that He didn’t err in returning a nation of disobedient people back to the land He long ago kicked them out of. Instead, He has a reason for them being there. And so… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. God Appears to Jacob

⁹ Then God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Padan Aram, and blessed him.

There’s an amazing set of parallels between the life of Jacob and the life of Abraham. Many of them are actually highlighted in these verses in an interesting way. Jacob has returned from being out of the land of Canaan and he now returns to Bethel where he had his vision before he left.

In that vision the Lord promised him that, “the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants.” Likewise, Abraham entered Canaan and was given a promise in the same area, just east of Bethel. It said, “To your descendants I will give this land.”

After receiving the promise, Abraham left Canaan for Egypt and Jacob left Canaan for Padan Aram. After returning from Egypt Abraham eventually journeyed to the same spot between Bethel and Ai. Jacob returned from Padan Aram and eventually has journeyed back to Bethel as well.

Here in this verse, it says that God appeared to Jacob “again” when he came from Padan Aram. “Again” is referring back to when He appeared to him before He left almost 30 years earlier. This is why Padan Aram is mentioned. He appeared to him there at Bethel before He left, and now He appears again after his return.

The altar was built and the name El Bethel was given in fulfillment of the promise made so long ago. After the building of the altar, God now appears to him. Unlike last time, which was in a vision at night, this time He appears in visible form. The last time, before he left, Jacob said these words –

“If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, ²¹ so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God.”

Now that the promise is fulfilled, the Lord is his God. This is why the term “God” is used ten times in this chapter, but the term “Lord” never is, even though it was used four times in his vision 30 years earlier.

The Lord, Jehovah, who stood above the ladder proved Himself faithful to Jacob, and therefore the Lord is now his God. I hope you’re understanding what I’m trying to say.

This is the same thing as calling on Jesus as Lord, and why the resurrection is tied into our call. Remember in Romans 10:9 it says, “…that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Jesus showed Himself faithful and the resurrection is proof of this. Therefore He is our God – we acknowledge that in our confession. In the same way, the Lord Jehovah above the ladder proved Himself faithful to Jacob. Now He is Jacob’s God. Be sure, there is only one God, but who is that God?

Is it krishna, allah, or buddha? Can they prove they are God? No! But Jehovah can and He did. Likewise, Jesus did and He is God. When we know it, then we need to acknowledge it. Jacob knew and he acknowledged.

This is why it’s so important to understand what was mentioned about the use of the plural term “gods” from last week in Genesis 35:7. All gods are to be removed from our lives, leaving only the true God as our God.

One final thing from this verse is that it says that God “blessed Jacob.” The Lord has been faithful to him, he has called on him as God, and so God blesses him. Far too often, people expect the blessing without the commitment. This isn’t how things work. God’s blessing is bestowed upon the committed soul. LIFE APPLICATION

¹⁰ And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name.”

To tie all of the things which have occurred together, we come to this verse. It starts with, “And God said to him.” This is God speaking, not a god, but Jacob’s God, the true God. And God says to him, “Your name is Jacob; your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name.”

The Lord above the ladder is the same One who wrestled with him at night. He knows this because He is giving him the same name as he was given that night. But what was it that he prayed just before the wrestling match?

He said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the Lord who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your family, and I will deal well with you’” He was Abraham’s God, He was Isaac’s God, and now He is Jacob’s God. He is El Elohe Israel – God, the God of Israel. The Lord is God.

This changing of the name of Jacob to Israel is done by Jacob’s God, but when Abraham’s name was changed it says it was done by the Lord, Jehovah. In Genesis 17:5, it says, “No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations.”

Again and again, the connection is being made between Jehovah and God. They are one in the same. Bestowing of a name indicates the ownership. In Revelation 2:17, Jesus promises His faithful a new name, thus implying He is their Master and their God.

^{10 (con’t)} So He called his name Israel.

What may seem even more curious than anything else we’ve come across, is that God just changed Jacob’s name to Israel, saying, “…your name shall not be called Jacob anymore” and yet he will be called Jacob three more times in this chapter before he is called Israel for the very first time in the Bible.

After that, which is verse 21, he will be called Jacob three more times before the chapter ends. And this chapter is 6 to 10 years after the wrestling match where he was told the exact same thing, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel.”

As was explained then, for the rest of the Bible both names – Jacob and Israel – are used commonly and interchangeably, sometimes even in the same sentence. Jacob is the flesh and blood man who still walks in a fallen world. Israel is the hope and promise of the life in Messiah.

Paul speaks about this in 1 Corinthians 15. He tells us there that the natural, or earthly, comes first and then the spiritual. This is true with Adam coming before Jesus and it is true in each believer. We are born carnally, in bodies of flesh, and then we are born again spiritually.

This explains the reason why there are two stories which both claim to change Jacob’s name to Israel, and it is the reason for both stories being so similar. They are similar and yet they are different. They contrast and yet they confirm.

Just as happens time and time again in the Bible, when two things are noted, they are done to show the contrast and yet the confirmation. There are two testaments in the Bible, they contrast – Old and New, the Law and Grace. And yet they confirm the Bible.

In one day there is darkness and there is light. They contrast and yet they confirm a day’s duration. Jesus is Man, but Jesus is God. The two contrast, and yet they confirm His incarnation. There is heaven and there is earth. They contrast and yet they confirm the universal domain – the spiritual and the material.

In order for you to hopefully get this, I did a comparison of the two accounts where Jacob’s name is changed. Here are the results and they will show you exactly what I’m talking about. I was thoroughly surprised when I lined the two up. You’re the first people to hear these comparisons –

God’s camp – Mahanaim (earthly)
God’s house – Bethel (heavenly)

Jacob petitions the Lord in prayer (asking from God)
Jacob honors the Lord building an altar (offering to God)

O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac (earthly)
El Bethel – God of the House of God (divine)

Fear of man (his brother Esau) was in Jacob
Fear of God was on people around Jacob

Jacob is outside Canaan
Jacob is inside Canaan

Jacob is alone
Jacob is with family

Jacob wrestles with Man
Jacob fellowships with God

Jacob’s body is weakened in the hollow of the thigh (groin area weakness)
Told that nations and kings will issue from his body (groin area strength)

The Man he wrestles with doesn’t give Jacob His name
God gives Jacob His name – El Shaddai

The Man blesses Jacob
God blesses Jacob

The Man names Jacob Israel
God names Jacob Israel

The name and blessing of Israel applies to Jacob the man
The name and blessing of Israel applies to Jacob the people

Jacob limped in weakness
Jacob set up pillar in strength

He names location Peniel – Face of God
He names location Bethel – House of God

We are in this physical life, struggling with God and seeking His face. At the same time, we are fellowshipping with God and are living stones in His house. Israel here isn’t just a picture of the people of the nation, he is a picture of the spiritual life of one who walks in the world while being seated in heaven as the Bible describes us.

¹¹ Also God said to him: “I am God Almighty.

Here we have another connection tying all the visions together. God says to him, “I am God Almighty” – ani El Shaddai. This is the exact same words that the Lord spoke to Abraham when his name was changed and the promise of the covenant was repeated, ani El Shaddai.

God is the Lord; the Lord is El Shaddai – the Almighty; and the Almighty is God. The terms are being repeated and used interchangeably for our benefit, learning, and belief. This is exactly what the New Testament does with Jesus, God, the Spirit, and etc.

Again and again. All are tied together and are used interchangeably to keep us from erring, and yet we err. Thus we deny Jesus His glory and we condemn ourselves for not paying attention.

^11(con’t) Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body.

The Almighty God, the Lord, now repeats the promises made to Abraham eons ago. In Genesis 17, He said this to him –

And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly … I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. (2,6)

Jacob will refer to this verse when adopting as his own his two grandsons, Ephraim and Manasseh, before he dies in Genesis 48 –

“Then Jacob said to Joseph: “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, ⁴ and said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make of you a multitude of people, and give this land to your descendants after you as an everlasting possession.’” (3, 4)

Israel’s blessing is the same blessing passed down from Abraham to Isaac, but it is a blessing which then goes to all of the sons of Israel. Instead of the son of the covenant, it becomes the sons of the covenant.

II. The Land Promise

¹² The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your descendants after you I give this land.”

This verse is of singular importance in understanding the role of Israel in the history of redemption. When Paul speaks of Israel, he is speaking of the people who physically descend from Israel. He never calls Israel the church and he never calls the church Israel.

There are those in Israel who are in the church and there are those of the church who are the Israel of God, but Israel and the church are distinct entities. If the promise of land which was made to Abraham was never mentioned again, then the church could lay claim to the land promise, because we in the church are called Abraham’s descendants by faith.

But the land promise was repeated later to Isaac and then to Jacob. Because this is so, the land promise is a promise to the physical descendants of Israel only. When they are obedient to the covenant, the land is theirs and they may use it.

When they are disobedient, the land is theirs and they may not use it. Either way, the land is God’s and he has given it to them. And the duration of the gift is forever. El Shaddai said so to Abraham –

“Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.” Genesis 17:8

From Abraham, the promise was given to Isaac in Genesis 26 –

“Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. ⁴ And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; ⁵ because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.” (3-5)

From Isaac it was passed down to Jacob in his blessing upon him –

“May God Almighty bless you,
And make you fruitful and multiply you,
That you may be an assembly of peoples;
⁴ And give you the blessing of Abraham,
To you and your descendants with you,
That you may inherit the land
In which you are a stranger,
Which God gave to Abraham.” Genesis 28:3, 4

Now here in Genesis 35, God confirmed Isaac’s blessing with His own, restating it to Jacob – the land I give to you and your descendants.

III. The House of God

¹³ Then God went up from him in the place where He talked with him.

We’ve seen parallel after parallel between God’s words to Abraham and His words to Jacob. Now that He has finished speaking to Jacob, it says “God went up from him.” This is the same thing that happened to Abraham in Genesis 17:22. It says, “…and God went up from Abraham.”

In both instances God appeared visibly and left visibly. As God is Spirit, this must have been a physical manifestation of the Lord. It is the eternal Christ who has appeared time and time again in the pages of Scripture – making promises and returning upon the fulfillment of them. He is the covenant-keeping Lord – visible, tangible, wonderful. He is Jesus.

If nothing else shows us that Jesus is returning to Israel in the future, this concept of keeping promises will certainly do. In Matthew 23 we read this –

³⁷ “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! ³⁸ See! Your house is left to you desolate; ³⁹ for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!'”

The fact that He said this demonstrates that He is really returning to them. He is the one who makes, and then fulfills, His promises, even to those who have rejected Him for so very long.

The life of Jacob, as we’ve seen so many times in the past sermons, has been one picturing Jesus and His work. However, the life of Jacob is also one which is instrumental to God’s work in and through the line of the Messiah.

Select portions of Jacob’s life have been used to picture the Lord in what is yet Jacob’s future. Likewise, select portions of his life have also been used to picture the Lord’s work in Jacob’s present. In both ways, they reveal the hand of the Lord as He directs the plan of redemption in human history.

This is what makes stories like this so astonishing. They are real stories of real people leading to the Messiah, filled with moral lessons, interesting patterns, and verifiable truths. And yet the same stories are pictures of the Messiah which provide theological lessons, more patterns, and more verifiable truths.

If you were in control of all things and possessed infinite knowledge, the way you could prove it would be to tell about the things you have done, and at the same time tell the things you were going to do – both in the same story. And when the stories span thousands and thousands of years, you would then add in another level of validation.

This word has been studied by wise men, scholars, scientists, mathematicians, historians, philosophers, and theologians for eons and yet new insights are peeled out of its many levels daily. It is an inexhaustible resource of the wisdom of God and a demonstration of His love for us.

¹⁴ So Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He talked with him, a pillar of stone; and he poured a drink offering on it, and he poured oil on it.

With the exception of adding a drink offering, this repeats what he did after his vision in the past. There it said, “Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it.” Genesis 28:18

Is this the same stone he set up 30 years earlier? Some scholars say “Yes” and state it in the past tense, “Jacob had set up a pillar in the place where He talked with him…”

This is possible and would make sense. Either way though, the pillar is erected. Before he left on his way to Mesopotamia, he poured oil on it and made his promise –

“If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, ²¹ so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God. ²² And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.” Genesis 28

Now, he pours a drink offering and oil on it again. The first time was a promise, this time it is an acknowledgement. And so, for the first time in the Bible, a drink offering is made. A drink offering accompanies a sacrifice which is something he would have made on the altar mentioned in verse 7 during last week’s sermon.

The pouring out of a drink offering pictures the pouring out of Jesus’ life on the cross. This is noted several times, such as in the 22nd Psalm which is specifically a psalm about the cross –

I am poured out like water,
And all My bones are out of joint;
My heart is like wax;
It has melted within Me. Psalm  22:14

Pouring something out means that it is entirely gone. This is the symbolism of a drink offering. Everything is given to God, just as Jesus’ life was entirely poured out until the clay vessel was empty.

The oil poured on the pillar in the past was a picture of the Spirit resting upon Jesus in preparation for His work. All of that work was pictured by the events of Jacob’s life since that time. Each of the stories we’ve looked at have detailed His work and His life.

Now Jacob pours both a drink offering and then oil on the pillar. This then is a picture His death on the cross and His resurrection by the return of the Spirit to Him. All the work has been fulfilled and we can see the circle is complete in this act.

¹⁵ And Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him, Bethel.

In fulfillment of Jacob’s words in chapter 28, the place is formally called Bethel, the House of God. If you can see how it all fits, the Lord was above the Ladder and Jacob was on the earth. He called the name of the place Bethel in anticipation of the fulfilled promise.

In the interim chapters, there have been all of the stories which show the actual work of the Lord in redemptive history – through the dispensations of time and in all ages. Now Jacob is again in the same place, but God isn’t above the ladder, God is there with him. Bethel has now become an actual spot where God’s people reside.

Because of the work of Jesus, the hope of Revelation 21 is seen anticipated in today’s verses. There it says –

Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, “Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” ¹⁰ And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holyJerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, ¹¹ having the glory of God. (9-11)

The place where Jesus, the Stone the builders rejected, now reigns is Bethel, the House of God. Because of Jesus, it will come down from heaven to dwell with men. But earlier He entered humanity through the people who will issue from Jacob. Again, we’re seeing Jacob’s life being used in several ways at one time.

His actions are picturing the Lord and yet his life is being dedicated to the coming of the Lord. To see this more clearly we can do another comparison like the one earlier. This is the account from chapter 28 when he was in Bethel the first time and also the verses we’ve looked at today –

Jacob has a vision in a dream
God appears to Jacob

Lord is in heaven above the ladder
God is there with Jacob

I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac
I am El Shaddai (the omnipotent God)

The land I will give to you and your descendants
The land I give to you and to your descendants

Then Jacob awoke from his sleep
Then God went up from him

Jacob… took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar
Jacob set up a pillar of stone in the place where He talked with him

And poured oil on top of it
And he poured a drink offering on it, and he poured oil on it

He called the name of that place Bethel (a vision of the House of God)
He called the name of the place where God spoke with him, Bethel (the place where God resides)

Although passages like the six verses we’ve looked at may not have a lot that we can apply to our lives directly, there is an abundance that we can apply indirectly. They haven’t told us how to live our lives or how to treat our children, but they tell us that God is in complete control of what is going on.

From the distant past in a little piece of land in the Middle East come stories which tell us of heaven’s glory, God’s wisdom, and the Lord’s concern for even the smallest details of how things work in both the earthly and the spiritual realms. If He cares this much about such details, then how much more does He care about the other things, like your marriage and your health.

Sometimes, the Bible might seem too deep or it may have so much detail that it can be overwhelming, but the detail has been given by God to clarify and expand upon a very simple message. It is a message of hope and reconciliation. It is a message of glory to God and glory for us and it all centers on Jesus.

He is the point and purpose of everything God is doing in history to bring us back to Himself. If you will allow me just another minute, I would like to remove some of the depth and tell you the simple message of our need for Him…

Closing Verse: “I am the Lord. 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name Lord I was not known to them. 4 I have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, in which they were strangers. Exodus 6:2-4

Next Week: Genesis 35:16-27 (The Circle of Life) (89th Genesis Sermon) – Make sure to read and study those verses.

The Lord has you exactly where He wants you and He has a good plan and purpose for you. Call on Him and let Him do marvelous things for you and through you.

The House of God

Then God appeared to Jacob again
When from Padan Aram he came
And blessed him right there and then
And God said to him, “Jacob, about your name…”

“Your name is Jacob, as you know
Your name shall not be called Jacob anymore
But Israel shall be your name, this I bestow
So He called his name Israel, a name of good report

Also God said to him: “I am God Almighty
Be fruitful and multiply as I have now said
A nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you
And kings shall come from your body in the years ahead

The land which to Abraham and Isaac I gave
I give to you, it is your inherited right
And to your descendants after you, this road I pave
I give this land, and I do so with delight

Then God went up from him in the place
Where He talked with him, there to his face

So Jacob set up a pillar in the place
Where He talked with him, there at Bethel
A pillar of stone; and he poured upon its face
A drink offering, and he poured oil on it as well

And Jacob called the place there by the name
Where God spoke with him, Bethel, this he did proclaim

God’s house is His heavenly throne
And from it He is the ruler of all things
Someday it will be our eternal home
It is for this future glory, that the hopeful soul sings

This hope we have because of the Lord Jesus
His heavenly home He left to come to earth
While here he fulfilled the law and died for us
In order to give us the chance at new birth

And He prevailed over the grave
Rising from the dead to justify us
And the repentant sinner He will save
Such is the grace of the Lord Jesus

All glory to the Lamb who died for you and me
And who has secured for us the promise of life eternally

Hallelujah and Amen…

Genesis 35:1-8
Arise, Go Up to Bethel

Introduction: Today’s sermon actually got started over six months ago. My friend Sergio who used to attend here, now living in Israel, had some questions about this passage as it was part of his daily reading. We talked about it, as we often do and came to some conclusions. Afterward, he looked into it a little more and I did as well. He sent me an email with his thoughts which I saved.

Here is the opening greeting in the email, reflecting the kind of guy he is – “Charlie – Today’s conversation was probably the best conversation I ever had, simply because we were working together towards solving a question in the Bible.”

1) Behold how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. Psalm 133
2) Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to test him with hard questions. 1 Kings 10:1
3) Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly… Colossians 3:16

Sergio continues, “I am excited to write down these thoughts.” Then he wrote them down and they have been incorporated into the sermon in large part.

As Sergio reads and studies, he writes down questions and then purposes to find answers to those questions. This is what all of us should do as we read the Bible. We learn more by teaching than sitting in class listening because the questions force us to think. This is often what I’ll do when typing. I keep asking “why Lord?”

I’ll give you an example from his notes which are a part of today’s passage – “The word used in Hebrew for terebinth tree in verse 4 is not the same word as in verse 8 – in verse 4 it says Terebinth tree in female form, in verse 8, terebinth tree is in male form. Interesting – why is this so? and why are these two mentioned?”

I didn’t find an answer to this question, but it did challenge me. Nothing is ever wasted when we ask questions of the Bible and of the Lord also. This is what I recommend to you as you read. Note: I said “as” you read, not “if” you read.

Text verse: I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go into the house of the Lord.” Psalm 122:1

Jacob is going to Bethel, the House of God, in today’s verses. Everything we’ve seen thus far in Jacob’s life has been directed to this picture of the work of God in Christ and so… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. Go Up to the House of God

¹ Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there; and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother.”

“Then God said” which opens this chapter tells us that this is following chronologically after the incident of chapter 34 where Jacob’s sons killed all the males at Shechem and took all the females and the plunder captive.

It is God directing Jacob specifically. The last time we saw this happen was in Genesis 31:3 and 13, which was six or seven years earlier. He was living in Padan Aram when we read this –

“Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your family, and I will be with you.” … “I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar and where you made a vow to Me. Now arise, get out of this land, and return to the land of your family.”

Since that time, Jacob returned and lived first in Succoth and then in Shechem – picturing the church age and the millennial reign from Jerusalem. Now, at God’s divine direction, he’s instructed to once again move to a specific location and for a specific purpose. He is told to “go up to Bethel and dwell there.”

Bethel was the second stopping place for his grandfather Abraham when he lived in the land and it’s about 28 miles south of Shechem, so it’s not that far – it would be like God telling you to move to from Sarasota to Punta Gorda. It’s also the last recorded place he was at before he left the land of Canaan well over 20 years earlier.

When he was there, the Lord appeared to him and said “I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants.” Now only the term El is used – “Mighty One.” This is probably because of the location’s name – Bethel or “the house of El.”

He is told to dwell there and to make an altar there. And God gives him the reason. He says to make the altar “to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother.” This was back in Genesis 28. After his vision in the night, Jacob woke up and made this vow –

“If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, 21 so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God. 22 And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.”

Although Jacob built an altar in Shechem, it is now time to build one in Bethel, the House of God. This would be in fulfillment of his vow to the Lord before he left.

² And Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, and change your garments.

The standard thought is that this is speaking about the idols that Rachel had stolen from her father before they left Mesopotamia and fled. These may have been in the camp, but even if they were, that isn’t the whole scope of what Jacob is talking about.

In just a few verses, it’ll mention other things that were included. Jacob had many servants from Mesopotamia as we’ve already seen. They probably had their own idols that they brought along. He also acquired all the women and booty from Shechem and that would have included many more.

But now, moving at God’s direction and to the House of God, they are told to “put away the foreign gods.” The term is elohey hannechar which can also be translated, the gods of the foreigners. Everything that had been brought into his camp which could defile the worship of the true God was to be disposed of.

After this, they were to purify themselves and change their garments. Washing and changing of garments is something that is seen throughout the Bible in anticipation of meeting with God. In Exodus 19:10 & 14, it was seen at the giving of the law –

¹⁰ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes. … ¹⁴ So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and sanctified the people, and they washed their clothes.

The same concept is seen in the 24th Psalm in preparation for a meeting with the Lord –

Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?
Or who may stand in His holy place?
⁴ He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol,
Nor sworn deceitfully.
⁵ He shall receive blessing from the Lord,
And righteousness from the God of his salvation.
⁶ This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him,
Who seek Your face. Selah

And as a third example, almost the exact same words were spoken by Joshua to Israel concerning their obligation to the Lord –

²³ “Now therefore,” he said, “put away the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart to the Lord God of Israel.” ²⁴ And the people said to Joshua, “The Lord our God we will serve, and His voice we will obey!” Joshua 24 LIFE APPLICATION – both the externals and internals

³ Then let us arise and go up to Bethel;

After the rite of purification, only then will they arise and go up to the House of God. They have now purged themselves of what is impure, both physically and spiritually, and have changed into clean garments which are an outward reflection of the inward purity they were to possess.

This is actually something that we see in its truest sense as revealed in the New Testament faith found in Christ –

¹⁹ Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰ by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, ²¹ and having a High Priest over the house of God, ²² let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Hebrews 10:19-22

^3 (con’t) and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me in the way which I have gone.”

This is Jacob’s statement acknowledging the vow which was reminded to him by God in verse 1. He was in distress as he departed his home after being threatened by Esau. And he was in distress many times in the ensuing years.

Time and again we’ve seen Jacob face a challenge and the Lord there with him in his trial. The altar is a demonstration of gratitude to Him as much as anything else. “You have provided as You promised and here is this altar of my thanks and devotion to you.”

⁴ So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hands, and the earrings which were in their ears;

In obedience to the patriarch, the people of the camp gave everything which was an idol or a talisman to Jacob. This included even the earrings which were used in this manner, just as many people use necklaces today. Adam Clarke in his writings describes one he owned personally –

“Ear-rings were certainly worn as amulets and charms, first consecrated to some god, or formed under some constellation, on which magical characters and images were drawn. A very ancient and beautiful one of this kind brought from Egypt, cut out of a solid piece of cornelian, now lies before me. … it is engraved all over with strange characters and images, which prove that it was intended for a talisman or amulet.”

^4 (con’t) and Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree which was by Shechem.

The terebinth tree here is surely the same one which was mentioned back in grandfather Abraham’s time in Genesis 12:6, just as Abraham entered the land of Canaan we read these words –

“Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land.”

What may seem like a diversion, but which isn’t, is to explain what the name of the tree, Moreh, means. It means early rain as used in Joel 2:23 when speaking of the future millennial kingdom –

Be glad then, you children of Zion, And rejoice in the Lord your God; For He has given you the former rain faithfully, And He will cause the rain to come down for you—The former rain, And the latter rain in the first month.

This same word Moreh also means “teacher.” Both words come from the verb yarah which means to throw or shoot. Another derivation of the root is the word Torah, meaning Law. The name “Jerusalem” also may have reminded the people of this verb too. This tree is being tied to what has happened and what is coming.

II. God of the House of God

⁵ And they journeyed, and the terror of God was upon the cities that were all around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.

The sons of Jacob had just killed all the men of the town of Shechem and taken captive all the women and goods. Following directly after this, God spoke to him about moving on.

Not only would the people of Canaan have friends in Shechem, but many would have family members that married into their town – daughters as wives and sons as husbands. The natural thing would be for them to pursue and kill Jacob and his clan for what they did.

Instead though, it says that khitat elohim, a “terror from God” came upon the surrounding cities. Whatever this was, through nature or the superstitious beliefs of the people, God ensured that Jacob wouldn’t be pursued as he traveled south to Bethel.

As a bonus to Jacob, we’ll see that he retains possession of the land. Genesis 37, tells us that his sons went up to Shechem to attend to his flocks. Later in Genesis 48, as he settles his estate before he dies, he disposes of it in his meeting with Joseph.

And as a final note on this land, it still contained a well known as “Jacob’s well” almost 2000 years later when a Man named Jesus sat with a woman and talked with her in the area. The sites where all of these things took place are all still there today for anyone looking for a nice historic vacation in Israel.

⁶ So Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him.

Now after these many long years, close to thirty, Jacob is finally returning to Bethel, the place where he lay sleeping with his head on a stone as a pillow and had a vision of the Lord. He was all but alone when he was there the last time. Now he has four wives, at least 12 children, servants, flocks of animals, and wealth.

Everything that he had been promised was granted by the Lord above the ladder. The angels who ascended and descended had attended to him all along, and he was divinely protected throughout it all. This must be the reason for the inclusion of the name of the city – Luz – and the term “in the land of Canaan.”

In other words, when the promise was made the town’s name was Luz and he was in the land of promise, now he is again at this spot in the land of promise and the promise is fulfilled. And so it is time for him to fulfill his promise. The area which is named Luz, indicating a corrupt and perverse people, is to now be formally renamed, Bethel, The House of God.

⁷ And he built an altar there and called the place El Bethel,

By building the altar to God, he is establishing it as God’s House. This is what was done by David when he bought the property for the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. He built an altar and sacrificed to the Lord there.

It is also the first thing the Babylonian exiles did, even before laying the foundation of the temple. We read it in Ezra 3:2, 3 –

² Then Jeshua the son of Jozadakand his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his brethren, arose and built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the Law of Moses the man of God. ³ Though fear had come upon them because of the people of those countries, they set the altar on its bases; and they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, both the morning and evening burnt offerings.

The spot of land is dedicated by the altar. The pillar of promise set so long ago has become an altar of fulfillment to the promise. And as an acknowledgment of it, he calls the place El Bethel – God of the House of God. All those years earlier, when he named the place Bethel, he said that God would be his God if he took care of him and brought him back safely.

Now he is back and God is his God. As Matthew Henry says, “The comfort the saints have in holy ordinances, is not so much from Beth-el, the house of God, as from El-beth-el, the God of the house. The ordinances are empty things, if we do not meet with God in them.” LIFE APPLICATION – church without God, religion without relationship, deeds with wrong faith. Worship isn’t for us. It is for God.

^7 (con’t) because there God appeared to him when he fled from the face of his brother.

This verse, which Sergio and I talked about, is one of only a handful, literally five times, in the OT, where the term “God” is used with a plural verb. In Hebrew it says, ki sham niglu elav ha’elohim, “there the gods were (?)…” It doesn’t say God appeared to him; your Bible is mistranslated. Why would they do this?

This verse causes all kinds of problems with scholars because there is obviously only one God, not many. But translators don’t want to translate this as it appears because then it seems to make no sense. And so your translation, whether you realize it or not, doesn’t reflect what the Hebrew text says. This includes ye olde KJV.

I say that the plural is correct. It’s not talking about God appearing here at all. Rather, the building of the altar and the naming of the place is to affirm that there is only one God. This is why he names the place El Bethel – God of the House of God. He is now fulfilling the very vow which was made so many years earlier.

“If God will be with me, …, then the Lord shall be my God.”

In other words, by proving yourself faithful to me I will be faithful to you. All other gods will be removed from me. And this is what the verb niglu, which he uses, means. It’s used only one other time in the Bible in this form, in Jeremiah 13:12. There it says in the NASB, “Your skirts have been removed.” This plural verb, niglu, comes from the root galah which means “to cover” or “remove.”

If it was that God that “appeared” as your Bible says, then a different word yera should have been used just as it is with any divine appearance. In Exodus 3:2, it says way-ye-ra mal-ak, “the angel appeared.” In Genesis 12:7, way-ye-ra Yah-weh el abram, “the Lord appeared to Abram.”

In fact, this word, yera, is used even in this chapter, in verse 1 and again in verse 9. This shows us that it certainly isn’t speaking about God appearing at all.

People have claimed the Hebrew is wrong (that’s convenient!), it’s a scribal error, or they’ve made up numerous other excuses as to why the plural verb is used, but the plain sense of it is that your Bible is mistranslated. Rather, Jacob was probably as confused about God as most people.

Thus there was the need for the Lord to appear to him at Bethel and there was the need for the Lord to prove Himself faithful to the request. The gods were removed from Jacob potentially at that time – “If you will do these things, you will be my God.”

The gods were removed actually when God appeared to him in Shechem in verse 1 and reminded him of his vow. Thus we have the purification of the people in preparation for the divine meeting in verse 2, and the burying of the false gods in verse 3.

This is what is being relayed here. The Lord is the true God and Jacob now has acknowledged that be removing the false gods. They were removed from Jacob at Bethel when he fled from the face of his brother in hope, and they were removed from Jacob as he left Shechem in home.

This is an explanation which completely covers the use of the plural verb. You see, we need to let the chips fall where they fall and not try to hide otherwise difficult verses that may not fit with what we think we know. Having said that, I have found not one other commentator on this anywhere, so you’ll either have to stick with your translation or seek to find out if I’m correct or not.

There is nothing wrong with either the Hebrew text or a proper translation of it which says. “The gods were removed…” This is what happens. They were removed from the house and covered with dirt.

III. Deborah, The Honey and the Milk

⁸ Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the terebinth tree. So the name of it was called Allon Bachuth.

This person, only mentioned here by name, is the same person mentioned in Genesis 24:59 – “So they sent away Rebekah their sister and her nurse, and Abraham’s servant and his men.”

If you missed that sermon, and several others, you missed the reason for her inclusion in God’s word. It is extremely rare to be included in the Bible. Of the billions and billions of people who have ever lived, only a few are mentioned.

And even fewer are given such incredible note. Very few people’s death and burial are recorded and yet hers is. Even the place is noted and it is named based on her burial. Never have I read a commentary explaining why she is included at all. Commentators go no further than explain who she is, but not her importance nor the reason why God included this one verse about her.

Today you will see why. As I showed when she was introduced, she pictures the Word of God, the Bible. Her name means “Bee.” A bee produces honey. But she is also described as a wet nurse (yanaq) – a woman who suckles children, thus giving milk. Both of these are used to symbolize the Word of God in the Bible. A few of many examples of note are as follows –

Look down from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel and the land which You have given us, just as You swore to our fathers, “a land flowing with milk and honey.”’ Deuteronomy 26:15

God’s land is the land of the Bible – of milk and honey. It is called this numerous times. And Peter says this in his first letter –

Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,  if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. 1 Peter 2:1-3

And John speaks also of the sweetness of God’s word –

So I went to the angel and said to him, “Give me the little book.” And he said to me, “Take and eat it; and it will make your stomach bitter, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth.” Revelation 10:9

Deborah was the one to have suckled Rebekah when she was born, but one might question, why would they send her wet nurse with her when she went to meet Isaac? She was all grown up. The reason is that she performed this function as her lifetime role.

People think a wet-nurse must have recently undergone childbirth. This isn’t true. Suckling itself elicits lactation in a woman. The account of one wet-nurse, Judith Waterford, comes from 1831. “On her 81st birthday, she could still produce breast milk. In her prime she unfailingly produced two quarts of breast milk a day.”

My grandmother was raised in China in the early 1900s and she said this was a common job for some women. Their profession was to be a wet nurse their whole life. And so, based on this, and that we previously saw that Deborah went to Padan Aram with Jacob, she probably suckled every person born into this family, from Rebekah, to Jacob and Esau, and all the way to Joseph and Dinah.

This is why she went with Jacob when he went to Mesopotamia – because it was her duty to the family who came from Rebekah. And thus, under this tree named Allon Baccuth – the Oak of Weeping, below Bethel, the entire family who had been suckled by this woman of note wept as the source of their own developing lives, was laid to rest. What do you think that’s picturing?

Now that we’ve looked at the surface details of this story, the cultural and historical aspects of it, we need to ask ourselves, why? Why has God included these details? They’re interesting, yes, but God must be showing us something… and here is the Light –

Since Jacob was introduced, we’ve seen stories continuously unfolding, showing us the broad panorama of what God is doing in history and how it all centers on, and points to, Jesus. Jacob has left Shechem in the Land of Canaan where an altar had been built.

This was, as we saw, a picture of the Millennial reign of Christ, the final dispensation the Bible notes – Man under the personnel reign of Christ. After that was the insert story concerning Dinah. A three part series which pointed to the need to avoid legalism and works-based salvation, but to rely solely on the grace of Christ. This is something needed throughout all ages, even in the millennium.

What comes after the millennial reign? The eternal state – we call it heaven. God directs Jacob to leave where he is, Shalem in Shechem, picturing Jerusalem in the Land of Canaan and to go to Bethel. In chapter 28 it was a picture of heaven; it is again now.

Jacob left his home, Jesus left His home. Jacob went to Padan Aram – the place of elevated ransom. Jesus came to earth and paid an elevated ransom. Jacob acquired Leah and Rachel. Jesus fulfilled the law and brought us grace. Jacob had his children, picturing the people of Israel and the work of Jesus.

The story continued steadily through all of the pictures of these last 25 sermons, each detailing portions of Jacob’s life, and each pictured the steady unfolding work of Jesus. Now that the millennium has come and gone, there are final words of glory in the last two chapters of Revelation, pictured in these eight verses.

Jacob instructs his household (meaning every picture we’ve seen – the law, grace, the church age, the time of Israel, the captivities of Israel, the millennium, and everything else) to put away the foreign gods, purify yourself, and change your garments. All of this is to be found in the Bible pointing to the work of Christ in our lives. In Daniel 12:10 we read this –

Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand.

In Revelation 3 we read this –

He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.

This process has been going on since the beginning and it will continue to the last moment. People abandoning their idols and being purified and clothed in the righteousness of Christ. This is all pictured by this one verse. Only after this occurs will we travel to Bethel – the House of God, heaven. As it says in Revelation 21 –

And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. ²⁷ But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie (26, 27)

There at the terebinth tree of Moreh where the promise was made to Abraham, the people buried their idols. Moreh, as noted, indicates the early rains which fill the valley of Baca, the valley of weeping – which is our lives. It also means Teacher. The tree of the Teacher who instructs us on who God is.

The idols of the people of all ages are buried there right up until the ending of the millennium, pictured by Jacob’s time in the city of Shalem reflecting Jesus’ reign in Jerusalem.

Only after the people are purified, made spotless, and wearing the whitened garments of Christ are they ready for the final stage of their journey. Along the way, God divinely protects his people, pictured by the terror of God upon the people as they traveled.

Finally Jacob comes to Luz, that is Bethel. Both names are given and so we have to go back to our last visit here and remind you of their meaning and significance.

Luz comes from a verb which means “to turn aside” in a negative way – such as turning away from wisdom or being a twisted person. Luz is named after a “crooked and perverse generation” that lived there. It is the world of fallen man but the Lord came to the twisted and crooked earth, leaving the glory of the House of God – Bethel, to redeem his people.

Luz is a fruit similar to the almond but which matures differently. Luz starts off sweet and becomes bitter, in contrast to the almond which starts bitter and becomes sweet. Man corrupted the sweet paradise created by God and it became bitter – Luz. The Lord has come to restore what was made bitter by restoring to us access to the House of God – Bethel. This is why both names are given.

There in Bethel, picturing the New Heavens and the New Earth, it says Jacob built an altar and called the place El Bethel. Yes, there is an altar in heaven, Revelation tells us so. Jacob calls his altar El Bethel – God, of the House of God; the God of Heaven. Notice the difference between this altar and the one he built in Shechem –

El Elohe Israel, God, the God of Israel – in Shechem (Millennial reign in Israel)
El Bethel, God of the House of God – in Bethel (Heaven)

The God of Israel is Jesus (El Elohe Israel). He is no less God in Heaven, but in eternity we will see the fullness of the Godhead (El Bethel). When going over the verses with my friend Sergio more than half a year ago, he wrote asking –

“Why would Jacob name the place again? He already named it in Chapter 28. And, he was reminded of the name in verses 1-2? Obviously Jacob did not try to name the place with the same name again, but rather was pointing out that there is only one God?” That was very astute of Sergio.

Can you see why asking the Bible questions as you study is so helpful? Questions help to provide the answers. The reason for the name being given again, after being given so many times, is because of what it pictures – the procession of the Godhead in eternity, something we will experience personally. Paul tells us –

²⁷ For “He has put all things under His feet.” But when He says “all things are put under Him,” it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted. ²⁸ Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all. 1 Corinthians 15:27, 28

Finally, after this glorious picture of heaven and us in the presence of God of the House of God, we read this verse which seems almost like and unnecessary insert. Why is it included?

8 Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the terebinth tree. So the name of it was called Allon Bachuth.

Think… why. Why is this there? Deborah, the instruction of God which has been with man all along, feeding us with delight like honey, and sustenance like milk, will no longer be needed. The Bible is complete with the word “Amen” at the end of Revelation. The pictures are complete and the story is behind us.

Now only eternity awaits – a ceaseless, endless journey into the mind of God and the Light of His glory, unwritten and ready for eternal exploration. Deborah is behind us; the Bible is done. The tree was called Allon Bachuth – the Oak of Weeping. This treasure, the glorious, marvelous gift from God, the Holy Bible, will be behind us and buried under the ancient tree of time. I will shed two tears that day.

The first will be a tear of sadness at the passing of one portion of our existence. The second will be for the joy of what lies ahead as we walk in the presence of God and in the splendor of His glory and that of the Lamb of God for all eternity. The Bible never says there will be no tears in heaven. It says He will wipe away all tears.

In the sermons ahead, more pictures are coming – more accounts of God’s love for the people of the world, but in the erecting and naming of this altar, we can look back on past history seeing all that has been accomplished and into the future with certainty about what lies ahead.

We can see the greatness of the plan God has laid out for His people – Jew and Gentile alike and we can hail Him for His marvelous deeds. Hallelujah! Mission Accomplished.

If you’ve never made a commitment to this wonderful God who has the entire span of eternity already settled in His mind, please let me explain to you what you need to know so that you too can walk on the eternal streets of gold…

Closing Verses (3): But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. Hebrews 11:16//“Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. Revelation 21:3//How sweet are Your words to my taste, Sweeter than honey to my mouth! Psalm 119:103

Next Week: Genesis 35:9-15 (Israel’s Land Promise) (88th Genesis Sermon) Make sure to read and study those verses.

The Lord has you exactly where He wants you and He has a good plan and purpose for you. Call on Him and let Him do marvelous things for you and through you.

God of the House of God
(The Burial of Deborah)

Then God said to Jacob, with confirming nod
“Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there too
And make an altar there, make it to God
Yes to God who appeared to you

When you fled from the face of Esau your brother
From the face of him and not another

And Jacob said to his household, not just a few
And to all who were with him, all of those
“Put away the foreign gods that are among you
Purify yourselves, and change your clothe

Then let us arise and go up to Bethel
And I will make an altar there to God
Who answered in the day of my distress, so well
And has been with me in the way which I have trod

So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods acquired over the years
Which were in their hands
And the earrings which were in their ears
Idols procured from foreign peoples and foreign lands

And Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree there
Which was by Shechem, their power he did foreswear

And they journeyed, and the terror of God
Was upon the cities that were all around
And they did not pursue the sons of Jacob as he trod
On his journey to Bethel, to that sacred spot of ground

So Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel)
Which is in the land of Canaan
He and all the people who were with him as well
They arrived at the place to which they had been aimin’

And he built an altar there
And called the place El Bethel
Because there God appeared to him
When from his brother he fled like a gazell

Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse died
And she was buried below Bethel
Under the terebinth tree, her graveside
So it was named Allon Bachuth, as the account does tell

The ordinary life of a man chosen by God
Has been used to tell us of glories ahead
And of wonders in which we gaze upon, awed
Stories of Jesus, our God, our King, our Head

At the fall of man in the Garden of Eden and all ages ahead
The plan has been known to our glorious Lord
In another garden we were restored when Jesus bled
The story is told to us in His precious word

It reveals heavens riches awaiting each of us
Who put our trust in God’s glorious provision
Trusting alone in the work of Jesus
Will carry us to the place of the beatific vision

And so to our King we sing Hallelujah and praise
As we live out our lives for Him all of our days

Hallelujah and Amen…

Genesis 34:25-31
The Gentiles Who are Turning to God

Introduction: God chose Abraham and through him Isaac and then Jacob. Jacob became Israel and his family became the covenant people of God. However, throughout their history, gentiles joined to them and became a part of this unfolding story.

Abraham was given directions for circumcision for anyone who would join them in the family, but in due time Christ came and fulfilled the law, which included circumcision – a rite which pictured His coming and His work. (Explain Colossian 2:11)

Circumcision as a rite is fulfilled in Him and this truth is seen in the story about Dinah. Although a tragic story, it is one which was included to show us pictures of things to come. I hope what you hear today will help you to understand a little more fully the truth that the work of Jesus is all sufficient for our salvation. Nothing else is needed and nothing is to be added to it.

Text Verse: But then, indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods. But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage? Galatians 4:8, 9

Paul calls the requirements of the law “beggarly elements” and “bondage.” Is that what Christ came to do – to give us things which are unsound and which will imprison us? No, He came to free us from the law and its weakness. Our faith in Him and His work is all-sufficient for us as we’ll see in today’s story and so… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. Cursed Be Their Anger

²⁵ Now it came to pass on the third day, when they were in pain, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword and came boldly upon the city and killed all the males.

This is now the fourth time the term “third day” is mentioned in the Bible. It’s a very common theme and it carries through with the resurrection of Christ which came, as the Bible tells us numerous times, “on the third day.”

The third day after a bodily trauma is when inflammation is at its height and fever is often set in. This past week, I had a swollen finger from a splinter… this came on the third day.

It is at this time that two of the sons of Leah and Jacob, making them whole brothers of Dinah, killed all the males of the city. These two are Simeon and Levi. At this point, they would have been about 17 to 20 years old. They’re at the prime of their life and at the point where males are often the most violent.

This deception and violent outburst will have a lasting effect on their lives and will cost them favor with their father and the loss of the preeminent position in the family. Reuben is the oldest son of Jacob, but he will lose his position when he sleeps with his father’s wife Bilhah.

Simeon and Levi will also be passed over for the honored status because of what they have done here. Before his death, Jacob blessed the sons of Israel. When he did, he pronounced these words over Simeon and Levi –

“Simeon and Levi are brothers; Instruments of cruelty are in their dwelling place. ⁶ Let not my soul enter their council; Let not my honor be united to their assembly; For in their anger they slew a man, And in their self-will they hamstrung an ox. ⁷ Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce; And their wrath, for it is cruel! I will divide them in Jacob And scatter them in Israel.” Genesis 49:5-7

In fact, they were divided in Jacob and scattered in Israel. Levi, as the priestly tribe never had a land inheritance as the other tribes did. They were dispersed among the tribes. Simeon likewise was allocated to live within the borders of the land given to Judah and they became scattered among the tribe of Judah.

As a further testament to the sad consequences of their actions, Simeon is the only tribe who received no blessing from Moses when he blessed the tribes before his death. What they did, even if it was with the intent of protecting the name and honor of Dinah, is implicitly noted in the Bible as a cursed offense and one which lacks honor.

²⁶ And they killed Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword,

Under the law, we read these words in Deuteronomy 24 –

Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall children be put to death for their fathers; a person shall be put to death for his own sin. (16)

Although what happened here was before the time of the law, the concept of what is morally right and wrong stands within the precept. Not only did they kill all the males of the land, but they killed Hamor for what Shechem did.

We can make suppositions and guesses about the nature of Hamor, and how he dealt with what Shechem did, and we can make suppositions and guesses about what Shechem himself did or didn’t deserve. However, there was no trial, there was no leniency, and there was no granting of mercy apart from these things.

The actions of Simeon and Levi are highlighted as without approval throughout the chapter. Neither Jacob nor God was consulted, there was lying and deception, and there was the intentional murder of innocent people in violation of God’s ruling that was given to Noah after the flood.

As a little side note to this verse and a squiggle for your brain if you like these types of things, the translation which says they killed with the “edge of the sword” comes from the Hebrew words

l’pi khareb – “the mouth of the sword.”

With the exception of Young’s Literal Translation, even the other most literal translations fail to convey the concept of the sword found which is found in the Bible. It is a devouring instrument. The edge, or mouth, of the sword is what steals away the soul of man, thus consuming it. The imagery in the Hebrew is outstanding.

^{26 (con’t)} and took Dinah from Shechem’s house, and went out.

They took Dinah from Shechem’s house. Do you remember what Dinah means? Do you remember what Shechem means? Do you remember that Shechem thought what he was doing was right? If you can piece those together, then you may have an idea what this story is detailing.

God doesn’t waste words, and He pulls snippets of true life out for His word when it will show us an important truth or a coming picture. This chapter is no different.

²⁷ The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and plundered the city, because their sister had been defiled.

Simeon and Levi did the killing, but now it says that the sons of Jacob joined in the aftermath. With all the people dead, they strip the bodies bare. This was done “because their sister had been defiled.” The price was high for the passionate lusts of one man who then fell in love with the object of his lust.

²⁸ They took their sheep, their oxen, and their donkeys, what was in the city and what was in the field,

I want to take you back to verse 23 and the words of Hamor and Shechem – “Will not their livestock (meaning Jacob’s), their property, and every animal of theirs be ours? Only let us consent to them, and they will dwell with us.”

The very thing that they bribed the townspeople with is the thing that this verse describes as having been taken after they were killed. Their agreement to the circumcision was a hypocritical profession for the sake of worldly advantage and the pleasing of their own prince.

What has come upon them, although undeserved from the hands of man, is a just and appropriate retaliation from the hand of Providence. Everything they desired and lusted after from Jacob has become a prey to the house of Jacob from them.

²⁹ and all their wealth. All their little ones and their wives they took captive; and they plundered even all that was in the houses.

All the wealth of the town was assimilated into the people and family of Israel through this incident. The word here for wealth is the Hebrew word khelam. It indicates more than just possessions, but that which makes one powerful.

This would have included the gold, jewels, and weapons. All of this is now added to the wealth of Israel. Jacob was already wealthy on his own accord, but now more so. Eventually, he will also receive all the wealth of Isaac too.

And so when Jacob moves to Egypt in his later years, although it only records the immediate family members, along with them will go all of these people and possessions. Amazingly and as is often overlooked in our evaluation of the wars and captivities of the Old Testament, the people who are subdued by Israel often actually become a part of the people of Israel.

What seems a catastrophe, and which indeed it was in the killing of these people, is also a point of grace. The women and children and their children after them will be assimilated into God’s covenant people. Out of strife comes peace; out of death comes salvation. It is a picture of God’s election in a way. Great stuff that’s often overlooked.

II. Cursed Among the Gentiles

³⁰ Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have troubled me by making me obnoxious among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites; and since I am few in number, they will gather themselves together against me and kill me. I shall be destroyed, my household and I.”

Jacob directs his anger and disappointment at the two original perpetrators. It was these two who killed without cause and it was they who deceived before doing so. His words to them now will only be reinforced on his deathbed when he gives his final words to them.

In this verse, he uses a term that says he will stink like a bad oder to the Canaanites and Perizzites. This can only lead to trouble and it has been caused by these two sons. And what is troubling him is that because of his small numbers, the local residents will be able to overcome and kill him.

This is the first time that Jacob has spoken in the entire chapter and his words truly are words lacking faith. God has promised his protection and continuance, but he has forgotten this. It may be that he believes God will abandon him because of what has happened.

Whatever he is thinking, it is lacking any faith in the greater promises which were handed down through Abraham and Isaac. And also it is ignoring the promises at both Bethel and Mahanaim. It is, in a way, a picture of Israel as they were scattered among the nations and even now that they are returned to the land, not trusting in God for their protection.

³¹ But they said, “Should he treat our sister like a harlot?”

In an attempt to justify the unjustifiable, they introduce their defense. “If we hadn’t acted, it would be as if we had sold Dinah as a whore.” This mindset may come from Shechem’s offer of any sized dowry for Dinah, but it would be twisting even that.

He was offering the dowry for her as a wife, not payment for a whore. On top of that were the lies and the wholesale slaughter of those not even involved in the incident. From the human perspective, the entire situation is wreaked with wrongdoing.

But now we need to step back and look at this chapter as a whole and see why it’s included at all. If it’s not telling us a spiritual truth, then it is no different than a Shakespearian tragedy. There must be, and there are truths for us to find if we look closely.

III. Explaining the Dinah Incident

This story is showing us about those who are willing to follow wrong avenues to be a part of God’s kingdom. Several are noted, such as being circumcised and trying to buy entrance into the kingdom – something which is offered without cost.

The actors need to be listed once again. Dinah, means “vindicated” and is a picture of the resurrection found in Christ. She is the daughter of Leah who pictures the law. Shechem comes from words which indicate the wisdom and diligence of a person.

His father Hamor means “he-ass”, a male donkey which is a beast of burden. It gets its name from its reddish color. A donkey is an unclean animal, just as gentiles are considered unclean to the Jews.

They are from the group of people known as Hivites.

This name Hivite may mean “Villagers” but it also could come from a verb which means to prostrate as in worship. In Hebrew it bears an amazing resemblance to the name Eve. It was Eve who was deceived in the Garden of Eden; it is the Hivites who are deceived in this chapter.

The inclusion of their name is certainly tying the two together. In the Garden, the serpent deceived Eve resulting in death, in this account these two sons of Leah do the same, they deceive the Hivites which results in death. The two sons by name are Simeon which means “He who hears” and Levi which means “attached.”

In one way, this chapter’s explanation is that it pictures rejecting the gospel for the sake of legalism. Dinah, picturing the resurrection, which is Christ’s vindication by the Spirit, goes out into the land.

Shechem sees Dinah and takes her. He falls in love with who she is and wants to be united to her in marriage. In order to woo her, it says he “spoke to her heart.” In other words, he intended to get her to love him after the fact, not before the act.

This is the person who gets their faith out of order and suffers for it. Emotions are to be a result of commitment, not a basis for it. If we get this wrong, when the emotions change, there is no support for the commitment. This is the case with Shechem and it is seen again later in the Bible as well.

This is the type of person who sets his emotions on salvation and tries to have a meaningful relationship based on that, but without correct knowledge concerning the matter. When this happens in a person, he invariably does things incorrectly to get what he wants.

Shechem is a son of Hamor the Hivite, a gentile. He wants to be united with Dinah, and so the first thing he does is go to his father and ask him to get her for him. He erred first by sleeping with her before proposing. He now errs by expecting someone else to make the relationship happen.

This is the person who is confused about religion and thinks that it is something which is obtained through family or through some type of deeds. This will lead to others falling into the same pit.

The sons of Jacob picture the people of Israel as they have in previous stories. It’s important to remember here that this story actually happened and rape was involved. This is not, just like all the other pictures, a 1 for 1 account. It is showing a panorama of a spiritual truth realized in the work of Christ.

The overall message is what we’re to see and God is using the real story to show us a spiritual truth. We see several times in the New Testament that when the Jewish people hear that gentiles want to participate in this new life, which came through Jesus’ work, they become upset.

I told you a week ago to read Acts 15 and the book of Galatians and it would help you understand what is going on. Remember, that in the entire account until the end, Jacob never speaks, nor is he consulted. Neither is God mentioned – all the way through.

Shechem wants Dinah in the story; the gentiles want to participate in Christ in the New Testament. The sons of Israel are upset about gentiles wanting what they feel they alone should have. Dinah is theirs to wield as they wish. In the same way, the Jews felt that the resurrection and the vindication is theirs, not for the gentiles.

This attitude is seen in Acts when Peter went to Caesarea to speak to the house of Cornelius. After he did, we read this –

“Now the apostles and brethren who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God. ² And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision contended with him, ³ saying, ‘You went in to uncircumcised men and ate with them!'” Acts 11:1-3

Hamor the father of Shechem spoke on behalf of his son for Dinah. He offered peace between the two clans and a sharing of all the wealth. After this, Shechem offered a dowry of any size in order to get Dinah. This is a marvelous picture of a man named Simon who is found in Acts 8:18-21 –

¹⁸And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, ¹⁹ saying, “Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” ²⁰ But Peter said to him, “Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money! ²¹ You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God.

Hamor and Shechem are trying to deal with the sons of Israel for Dinah when they should have dealt directly with Jacob. They are offering to buy her through dowry. In the same way, Simon thought he could buy the gift of the Spirit from Peter, a son of Israel, rather than going directly to the Lord.

Are you seeing the parallel? Dinah pictures Christ’s vindication in the Spirit. Shechem asked for grace in conjunction with the dowry, but the two are mutually exclusive. One cannot buy grace.

After the offers, came the deceit. Just as Eve was deceived, the Hivites will now be deceived. As it says, “… the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father, and spoke deceitfully.” Their deception was that they said wanted these gentiles to be circumcised as they were.

The pattern is seen in the Jewish people known as Judaizers. They are those who demand that one must obey the Law of Moses and be circumcised in order to be saved. In Acts 15:1, we read this –

“And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.'”

They held salvation up as a carrot in order to deceive them. It is the misuse of the gift of grace in order to bring about the very bondage that they were freed from in the cross of Jesus. It is the greed of religion rather than the gift of life.

This isn’t just a message for the first century only. There are groups to this day by the bowlful who still teach this. Many Messianic groups do so as do many cults and sects. They add in legalism to the grace which is found in Christ – apart from the law.

I know. I encounter them continuously on my videos and posts. They are deceivers and are exactly who is being pictured here in this incident. They promise life and dwelling in harmony, but they only bring strife and death with them.

After the proposal, Shechem went right out and got himself circumcised because he was, as the Bible says, “more honorable that all of the household of his father.” He naively believed that he would get what he wanted. He thought he was pursuing Christ, but instead he was destined for death.

The next thing we saw was Hamor and Shechem meeting with the townspeople at the gates of the city. This is the spot where legal matters and important business is transacted. They, having been deceived, now turned to deceive the rest.

At the gates, the people were told, “Let us take their daughters to us as wives, and let us give them our daughters. ²² Only on this condition will the men consent to dwell with us, to be one people: if every male among us is circumcised as they are circumcised. ²³ Will not their livestock, their property, and every animal of theirs be ours? Only let us consent to them, and they will dwell with us.”

As I said at that time, “A person is never more unwilling to see the truth than when he follows someone who is already deceived.” This is the cult mindset, this is religion without reason, and faith without direction. It is trusting that which should never be trusted.

Their deception came in the exact same way that Eve’s deception came – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.

The lust of the flesh was seen in the mentioning of the daughters for the men. The lust of the eyes was seen in Jacob’s wealth, and the pride of life was seen in the boasting in the flesh – the circumcision. “We will be circumcised and we will be a part of the covenant people because of it.”

It caused Eve to fall and it brought low the Hivites as well. They decided to be circumcised because they didn’t check. Abraham’s circumcision wasn’t meant for them then, and it isn’t meant for us now. It was a particular sign for a particular reason which was fulfilled in Christ.

You can almost hear it though – “See all of these great things will be ours and all we need to do is just be circumcised. Such a small thing, right? Just think of all the great stuff that will go along with it though.” But Paul warns us against this in Galatians 6:12, 13 –

¹² As many as desire to make a good showing in the flesh, these would compel you to be circumcised, only that they may not suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. ¹³ For not even those who are circumcised keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.

As you can see both sides are wrong in what happens here. The sons of Israel are wrong in their deception, and the Hivites are wrong in not doing their due diligence. There is no record of speaking to Jacob, nor is there a record of God being asked.

They have failed to follow the blueprint, just as far too many fail to follow the record given in the Bible. They fail to seek Jesus personally. It is the standard operating procedures of cults, charismatic churches, legalistic groups, and even entire societies.

Once the deceit took root
The people partook of the forbidden fruit

And the record states, “Now it came to pass on the third day, when they were in pain, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword and came boldly upon the city and killed all the males. And they killed Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah from Shechem’s house, and went out.”

The third day is when Christ was resurrected. They thought they would obtain Dinah, the vindication of the Spirit, as Jesus did, but instead, while Christ was being resurrected on the third day, they were going to their deaths. They inserted the law where the law was fulfilled. They had rejected Christ.

As Paul writes in Romans, “I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. ¹⁰ And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death.” Romans 7:9, 10

Interestingly, Hamor, is mentioned 10 times in this story and his name means, “he-ass” a male donkey. He pictures the gentiles. Under the law, the firstborn donkey was to be redeemed by a lamb or it was to have its neck broken. It was the first for all. Hamor, instead of being redeemed by the Lamb, Jesus, went to his death and all of his followed after him.

You see, every name that’s given, especially one mentioned 10 times in a story – like Hamor, is given to show us the work of Christ and what will result if it is accepted or rejected. Hamor rejected it and received his just due.

Once the slaughter was complete, the other sons of Israel joined in the plunder. The wives and children who should have been united to Christ, were stolen away from Him. This is the state of countless women and children throughout the ages who have followed the head of their family into captivity.

The man is the spiritual head of the family. When he misdirects them, they normally follow him into the same trap of bondage. This is the sadness of not checking what one is told and not verifying the message that is given. Far too often, it affects more than just the one soul.

After the plunder and the spoil taking, Jacob, picturing Jesus, who has allowed man to make his own free will choices without interference, speaks directly to Simeon and Levi – the perpetrators of the crimes. Unlike any of the other sons of Israel, they are both mentioned by name, and they are mentioned twice.

Simeon means, “He who hears.” His name is given because he pictures what is said by Paul in Romans 2 –

“For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law 13 (for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified.”

Simeon, “He who hears” was just that, one who heard but did not do. Levi means “Attached.” The sons of Levi were the administrators of law. They were attached to it. Of all the people who should have known the freedom from the law found in Christ, it should have been them. But Levi pictures those who would impose the law on the people seeking grace.

This is the reason why neither was given an inheritance in the land of Canaan, but instead were dispersed in Israel. It is also the reason why Simeon wasn’t blessed by Moses before his death. They are a picture of those who, even to this day, attempt to insert the law where the law doesn’t belong. “You have no inheritance among Me.”

They picture works-based salvation, reintroducing the law, which can only lead to condemnation. To introduce works beyond the work of Christ is to say that the work of Christ isn’t good enough. It is a repeated warning in the New Testament.

Just as they killed the people with their swords, Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 3:6 that the law brings the same effect –

“who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”

It couldn’t be clearer and yet we muddy the waters. Paul is adamant, and time and time again he tells us the same thing –

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. ² Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. ³ And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. ⁴ You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.” Galatians 5:1-4

This is the rebuke of Jacob to Simeon and Levi. It is the dishonoring of God by imposing the law by those who, in fact, break the law which they are imposing. Again, to Romans 2 –

You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law? ²⁴ For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” as it is written. Romans 2:24

These are the things being pictured in this tragic story. It really did happen to Dinah, but God has used the details to show us what is even more tragic. Dinah was violated physically, but her life went on. Others are violated spiritually and, like the Hivites of Shechem, they die eternally.

The outward rite could never make the Hivites Israelites, nor can it bring you any closer to Christ. Circumcision means nothing, nor does any other observance of the law – be it a Sabbath day or abstaining from pork. In Christ, the law is fulfilled.

Without the reality of worshipping God in Spirit and in truth, all our external rites mean diddly-doo. Don’t let those, who under the pretense of meticulous scruples, lead you down a path of treachery which is as malicious and as diabolical as any that could be perpetrated against you.

Rest in Christ, trust in Christ, live for Christ and be consumed in your thoughts, life, and actions for Christ. This is the place where heaven’s rewards are to be found. In our Lord, Jesus the Christ. Either His cross was sufficient or we are all doomed. As Paul says,

But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. ¹⁵ For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation. Galatians 6:14, 15

Our walk is all about grace. Just go to the last sentence of the Bible and you’ll see this.

If you’ve never come to the point in your life where you can say that you called on this wonderful Savior, please give me just another moment to explain how you can and why it’s so important.

Closing Verse: ¹⁴ For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, ¹⁵ having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, ¹⁶ and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. Ephesians 2:14-16

Next Week: Genesis 35:1-8 (Arise, Go Up to Bethel) (87th Genesis Sermon) Make sure to read and study those verses.

The Lord has you exactly where He wants you and He has a good plan and a purpose for you. So call on Him and let Him do marvelous things for you and through you.

Dying By the Law or Living in Christ

Now it came to pass on the third day
When they were in pain
That two of the sons of Jacob came their way
Simeon and Levi, their wrath they did not contain

Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword
And came boldly upon the city
And killed all the males, the entire hoard
They killed them all, showing no pity

And they killed Hamor and Shechem his son
With the edge of the sword, in this brutal way
And took Dinah from Shechem’s house when they were done
And went out on that very same day

The sons of Jacob came upon the slain
And plundered there the entire city
Because their sister had been defiled
They took everything, showing no pity

They took the animals, every sheep, ox, and donkey
What was in the city and what was in the field
And all their wealth their actions quite wonky
The wrongness of their ways couldn’t be concealed

All their little ones and their wives they took captive;
And plundered all that was in the houses, really quite adaptive

Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi
“You have troubled me by making me to stink
Among the inhabitants of the land, yes even I
The Canaanites and the Perizzites, will hate me I think

And since I am few in number as you already know
They will gather together against me and kill me as their foe

I shall be destroyed, my household and I, we are at death’s door
But they said, “Should he treat our sister like a whore?”

This story though brutal and filled with deceit
Contains a lesson to which we should pay heed
The work of Jesus is sufficient and complete
So to it we need not add any other deed

He has accomplished all for us, nothing is left undone
By our glorious Lord Jesus, God’s own Son

And so Lord help us to trust in and rest in Him alone
Give us wisdom to pursue Him all of our days
And remind us that His shed blood does for our sin atone
And as we remember we will give you all of our praise

Yes Lord, all majesty and honor belong to You
And so we offer you our praises, only to You they are due

Hallelujah and Amen…