JANUARY 17
Genesis 35-36
Genesis 35
Vs. 1-8 I
suppose it makes sense to think about God's timing. Today we see God lead Jacob
to a place of commitment, formally renaming him and reaffirming the covenant He
made with Abraham. But why now? They had been in the land some years already.
If God had done this earlier, maybe the massacre at Shechem
could have been avoided. On the other hand, with God leading Jacob this way
now, after Shechem, it certainly isn't a reward for Jacob's seeking and
devotion to Him. Whatever the lesson here, it gives some insight into God's
mercy and patience in dealing with fallen humanity.
My sense is this. Before we are willing to follow God, we
have to be made to be willing. Sometimes He just makes things happen to move
us, or, more often than not, He allows life to bring us to a place of
readiness. That readiness could be anything from boredom to joy to utter
desperation. Looking at Jacob's life, he has a new start in Canaan and
everything is fresh. Yet, he doesn't seem very devoted to God at all and appears
to be showing no leadership to his family. But life was good up until now.
V. 1 Notice that God took the initiative. Remember the vow
that Jacob had made to God in Genesis 28:22? Jacob had called Bethel God’s house and vowed to return there to
offer God a tenth of all he had. Jacob had now been in the land 10 years and
had never fulfilled that vow.
V. 2 Note that they all had idols. Rachel actually left
Haran with idols. They were becoming like the people around them. And then,
there is the dysfunctional family life they have lived. The point being, they
already knew how to truly worship God, but had no need because they were
sufficient and were happy the way they were.
The events leading up to this time were not "caused"
by God. This was just "life on earth" taking its normal, fallen
course. God simply allowed them to have their way, to let them see their need.
How else do you realize that life without God is futile and that He is the only
real security on earth?
But even in this disaster, I don't see Jacob and his family
turning to God. They really are in danger because of what the houses of Simeon
and Levi did. So God takes the initiative to save them, and to give them an
opportunity to get serious with Him. This might have been a
"teachable" moment.
V. 4 Burying the idols would have meant leaving money
behind. Usually the idols were made from precious metals. I wonder why he
didn't destroy their gods/idols. This might indicate a lack of devotion on
Jacob's part since they could come back to these.
V. 5 This could have had two purposes. As protection, God
put the fear of them into the hearts of the neighbors. This would have not only
saved Israel (Jacob & Co.) from attack, but they also would have been
totally ostracized from everyone, possibly keeping the influence of Canaan from
entering deeper into their clan.
Vs. 6-7 Can you
figure out how many years earlier Jacob had slept here? He finally fulfills the
vow.
V. 8 Since it
mentions that his mother's nurse was with Jacob, he must have had some
communication with his father. This woman would have been with Rebekah since
she left her father's house to join Isaac. In mentioning the nurse's death, and
later, the death of Isaac, it is safe to assume that Rebekah was already dead,
probably before Jacob returned from Laban. If so, it means that Rebekah and
Jacob never saw each other again after their trickery with Isaac. Self-inflicted
punishment?
Vs. 9-15 Once
Jacob fulfilled his vow (at God's urging), God faithfully confirms the covenant
of Abraham. Again, there are no conditions mentioned. God's working to save
mankind, by fulfilling the promise to Adam and Eve, to Noah and to Abraham, are
firmly set on His faithfulness, not Jacob's or ours. There are some pretty
notable people of faith in that line, but His working to save us is not dependent on our faith. As Paul & the
Spirit say to Timothy, If we are
faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. Jacob certainly
had faith in the promise, but there is no reflection of God elsewhere in his
life that I can see. The fact that Jacob is named Israel does, however, denote
his tenacity and endurance in pursuing the promise. He might have created a
little "hell on earth" for himself due to his lack of following God personally,
but he still had faith and he still fought. And so he was named Israel.
V. 13 It looks
like the Lord met with Jacob in bodily form, as He had at the wrestling match.
Vs. 16-29 After
the "mountain top," life comes crashing in again on Israel.
Get a Bible map
and find Bethel, where the sacrifice took place, and then find where Rachel
dies near Bethlehem. Because they had so much livestock, this wouldn't have
been a day trip.
Notice that
Jacob changes the baby's name. As Rachel died she wanted to call the boy Ben-oni, “son of my sorrow,” but as she
was dying Jacob told her he would call the boy Benjamin, "son of my right hand." It was a name and place
of honor.
Notice also,
that Rachel is buried along the way, not in the family grave. Her burial place
will later be where the shepherds were told of Jesus' birth, and it is the
region where Herod killed all the children.
V. 22 This is a
very sad story with huge ramifications.
First, Reuben,
the firstborn of the unloved wife, sleeping with the maid of the loved wife
(who incidentally was the mother of two of his brothers, Dan
and Naphtali) was a dominant and
aggressive act. I don't think they fell into "forbidden love," like
you see in the movies. Bilhah was still his father's wife. This was the Alpha
dog telling the other dogs he was the boss. Rape is a strong word, but I think
Reuben forced himself on her. That is my take on this event. Imagine the
animosity this would have created in the family between the Leah and Rachel
sides.
Second, Jacob
"hears" about it, but apparently does nothing. There should have been
immediate justice of some kind. Imagine the effect in the family of doing
nothing.
Third, Reuben,
as the firstborn, has just lost his birthright. Jacob reveals this later at the
end of Genesis when he dies. Of his first three sons, Jacob now has a
"????" (whatever you want to call Reuben) and two murderers. Nice
family. This will mean that the birthright will now skip past Reuben, Simeon
and Levi to____. And we get a whole chapter devoted to him later. For Jacob, it
will still get worse.
Vs. 23-26 With
the completion of the twelve sons, and therefore, the twelve tribes of Israel,
a summary is given here of who they were.
Vs. 27-29 Isaac
dies and this creates a few questions and a cause/effect event into the next
chapter.
I find it
interesting that Isaac lives longer than Abraham, and still, we have very
little information on him.
Jacob
apparently didn't spend much time with Isaac. It seems this was the first time
they saw each other. Was it because they both had huge amounts of animals or
was it because of the bad air between them, or both? Who knows, but it is
interesting. Although blind, Isaac would have been able to meet all the
children before he died.
With Isaac's
death, all that he owned, the animals, the workers, the money, the whole
shebang, would now go to Jacob. As we'll see, I think that Jacob split this
with Esau.
Genesis 36
God had
promised Rebekah that she had two nations in her. The parents should have
taught the boys all about the promise to Abraham and what He had promised at
their births. This is the fulfilling of God's promise to make Esau a nation.
Vs. 6-8 The
fact that both Esau and Jacob were now "super rich," and could no
longer live in the land together gives me the idea that Jacob must have shared
some of the inheritance with Esau. Again, I'm impressed with Esau. He gently
takes the initiative and moves, leaving green Canaan for a less green area
around Mount Seir.
The wrapping up
of Esau's history means, among other things, that the history in Genesis is
about to focus on Israel becoming a nation.
Matthew 12:1-21
Matthew is
showing the increased opposition Jesus encountered from the religious leaders.
Jesus left the Passover in Jerusalem under deep scrutiny. He had claimed to be
God's Son. Apparently a contingent of Pharisees, returning from the Passover,
went with Jesus. They were probably all returning to Galilee. If you read John
5, you'll see what happened there.
Vs. 1-2 It was
considered work to "grind" or "husk" grain to make it
edible, even if you did it with your fingers. So eating raw, husked grain was
forbidden on the Sabbath. This was not a rule God made, but one of hundreds the
Pharisees and scribes had forced on the people to make them obey the Sabbath.
Notice how excited the Pharisees were.
Vs. 3-4 David
was their hero, and in his hour of need, God allowed David to violate the law.
In David's case the actual law, not a man-made rule, was violated, and yet God
showed mercy.
Vs. 5-6 And
then on the Sabbath, God commanded the priests to work and violate the Sabbath.
The priest could have said, "Well, that is because that's the
temple." But Jesus told them what they could not see. Something greater
than the temple was there.
Vs. 7-8 These
verses show that some of these Pharisees were in Capernaum when Jesus had
healed the paralytic and had attended Matthew's party. These were the Pharisees
Jesus had challenged with this statement. Not only could they not grasp God's
heart of mercy in interpreting the law, they were missing something awesome
that was right in front of them. Jesus was the
Son of Man, the eternal King and Son of God. He was lord of the Sabbath.
You may be awed
by this, but it only made the Pharisees mad.
Vs. 9-14 It is
amazing to see how often Jesus ventured into harm's way. Even when the
Pharisees wanted to kill Him, He still took their invitations to dine. When
they blasphemed His character and His Spirit, He called them to come together
and talked about it. Here it says that He went into the synagogue of these very Pharisees. You can say that Jesus had
"guts," but He was probably showing them mercy, giving them a chance
to understand.
V. 10 The man
with the withered hand was probably a
"set up."
Vs. 12-13
Between these two verses, Mark says, And
he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save
life or to kill?” But they were silent. And he looked around at them with
anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out
your hand.” (Mark 3:4-5) To my knowledge this is the first time
it says that Jesus was angry.
V. 14 Matthew
is showing the official point where the Pharisees said, "We really need to
kill Him." In John 5, John explains this need to kill Jesus in a more
complete way.
Vs. 15-21 When
you read the prophecy that Jesus fulfilled, you wonder, as disciples, imitators
and slaves of Jesus, how we think we have the right to be the opposite of
Jesus. He never bashed the government. He was gentle and quiet, bringing a
message of hope to lost and desperate people. Just like with Jesus, those who
listen to us will be saved and those who reject the message are God's concern.
We don't need to judge sin. We follow our Lord in the harvest, making disciples
and bringing the lost His message of life and hope.
Psalm 15
Vs. 1 The
question is, "God, who do You let get close to You and dwell in the safety
of Your care?"
Vs. 2-5 The
answer can be boiled down to "Those how hallow Your name and obey Your
Word."
Jacob was
invited to connect with God, but had other interests. For us as disciples, the
answer to v. 1 is not living an "outwardly righteous" life. This is
where we get fooled and think that if we are not "bad" people, we must
be "good" people. Nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus says
that this person who gets close to God is the one who hears His words and does
them. That person is the true follower. The focus is living with Jesus, and
that itself will clean up the behavior, but cleaning up the behavior does not
mean living with Jesus. Jesus isn't fooled. Many Christians are simply
outwardly righteous people who live by a list and don't rob banks, kill people
or get pregnant out of wedlock. They have some faith, like church, listen to
music and get religiously emotional. But Jesus' commands are commands like the
Great Commission. They are commands of discipleship, following Jesus in the
harvest, reaching the lost and making disciples, who make disciples, who make
disciples.
Whoever has my commandments and keeps them,
he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I
will love him and manifest myself to him.” Judas (not Iscariot) said to him,
“Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?”
Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father
will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. (John 14:21-23)
Proverbs 3:21-26
These are great
words, but for us as disciples, there is something else to not lose sight of. God's redemptive plan, His mission to us, frames
this life and this world and all our reality. What Christ has done for us makes
us someone in Christ: an ambassador, a disciple, a witness, a missionary. Life
for us is not about being "wise" and staying out of trouble. Security
and confidence for us means abandoning ourselves to His care as we follow Him
in the harvest. Life for us is being "wise" in the wisdom of Christ
and the reality of this world we are called to reach.
If you’re reading along
and don’t have a One Year Bible, click on this link http://oneyearbibleonline.com/weekly-one-year-readings/?version=47&startmmdd=0101. This
version is set to the ESV but you can reset this to a different version or
different language.
I'm writing these
comments to and for those who are following a One Year Bible and interested in
growing deeper as a disciple, following Jesus in the harvest. My hope is to see
the growth of a discipleship culture in the church. Groups of 3-4 disciples,
meeting weekly, encouraging each other to follow Christ and work to reach out
and make disciples who make disciples. The Bible itself is the most universal
manual we have and key to our growth and service in Christ. Nothing keeps us
more focused on why we are here or what we are to be doing. My comments are
only meant to provide some explanation of the events or to show the flow of
God's plan of redemption. My comments are in no way exhaustive, but are
designed to keep us focused on Christ and our role in His harvest. My hope is
that the people in these groups will grow in Christ and be willing, after a
year, to find 3 others to meet with and encourage in their growth as disciples,
disciples making disciples in the harvest.
If you would like a
complete description of this model of being and making disciples you can find
it in my book: Simply Disciples*Making Disciples.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011WJIDQA?*Version*=1&*entries*=0
If you would like a more
descriptive commentary that is still readable and concise, I'd recommend the
Bible Knowledge Commentary. It's keyed to the NIV, so the result is the
commentators are constantly telling you what the Greek or Hebrew is. That never
hurts.
I am not endorsing any
particular One Year Bible; in fact, I read something you don't, die revidierte
Lutherbibel 1984.
Anyone reading along with
us is welcome to do so and is encouraged to take their own notes and make their
own observations. If the comments made do not agree with your particular
tradition or understanding, that's OK. Nothing I've written is meant to
criticize any point of view, but only to express the truth of what God has
written to us, as I understand it. Send comments or feedback to dgkachikis@gmail.com.
If you would like
documents containing an entire month of the Reading Notes, go to https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes. You can download these to use on your computer or to
print.
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