Genesis 35 – 37 and Redtails

Genesis 35 – 37

Chapter 35 begins with Jacob cleaning house, in a matter of speaking. He tells everyone in his household to get rid of their pagan idols, purify themselves and put on clean clothing. We aren’t told who got rid of what. Don’t you wonder if Rachel got rid of the idols she stole from her father? Jacob buries these idols under the great tree near Shechem.

Were you surprised that a terror from God spread over the people in all of the towns in the area? After all, Jacob’s sons were responsible for the deaths of all of the men in Shechem.

The family heads to Luz (also called Bethel) in Canaan. When they arrive, Jacob builds an altar and worships God. God tells Jacob that He is El-Shaddai, God Almighty. I’m sure anyone familiar with the song El-Shaddai is probably singing or humming it right now. Here God again re-affirms that Jacob will become a great nation, even many nations, that the land He gave to Abraham and Isaac would be given to Jacob. Not only does Jacob build an altar here, he also sets up a stone pillar to mark the place where God spoke to him.

These three chapters contain information about the deaths of three people:

1. Deborah – Rebekah’s old nurse
2. Rachel – giving birth to Benjamin
3. Isaac – at 180 years of age

I think it’s a human attribute to keep track of our lives based on certain events, including births, deaths, successes, and failures. Rachel dies during their journey on the way to Ephrath, i.e., Bethlehem. The place where she is buried is still there although it has undergone some transformation. Also, Muslims claim this is really a tomb where one of their notables is buried.

We also see that Jacob’s oldest son Reuben had intercourse with Bilhah, his father’s concubine and mother of his half brothers Dan and Naphtali. The text says Jacob finds out about it, but doesn’t say anything about his reaction. This will come later (chapter 49) when Jacob, knowing he is dying, speaks of each of his sons.

Jacob returns to Mamre (Hebron) where Isaac lives. Isaac dies and Esau and Jacob bury him.

One interesting thing I noticed about chapter 36 is the mention of Esau’s descendant Eliphaz, one of whose sons was Teman. Do you suppose this is Job’s friend, the one who spoke to him first? Remember Eliphaz the Temanite?

One of my favorite characters in the Bible is Joseph, Jacob’s first son by his beloved Rachel. In chapter 37, we begin to see what type of guy he was. The narrative starts with him being seventeen. He tended his father’s flocks, working for his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah.

The text makes it sound as if Joseph was a tattletale since he reported some of the bad things his brothers were doing. It should probably be pointed out that there would have been nothing to report if his brothers acted properly. No doubt, his brothers were already jealous because Joseph was Jacob’s favorite: “Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other children because Joseph had been born to him in his old age.” Joseph also received a special gift from Jacob – a beautiful robe (that coat of many colors).

Even though he had eleven brothers, Joseph must have been lonely. His brothers “couldn’t say a kind word to him.” And he didn’t help things by telling his brothers about dreams he had where it appeared as if his brothers and even his father bowed down before him. Verse 11 says, “But while his brothers were jealous of Joseph, his father wondered what the dreams meant.” Remember Jacob had had a few dreams of his own.

All of this animosity bears fruit and the brothers plot to kill Joseph. Reuben - remember he’s the one who had sex with Bilhah – convinces his brothers to just throw him in an empty cistern, though he was planning to come back and rescue Joseph. In the end, Joseph is sold to a group of Ishmaelite traders who take him to Egypt and sell him to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the palace guard.

Needless to say, Jacob is distraught. He probably goes into a state of clinical depression. He tells them he will go to his grave mourning for his son and would weep. How do you think those brothers felt? Was there remorse? Do you suppose life got better for them now that Joseph was gone?

Tomorrow, it’s Genesis 38 – 40.

Red Tails

Today, I saw the movie Red Tails about the Tuskegee airmen. The movie was exciting and enlightening. I was pleased to see Daniela Ruah (Kensi Blye on NCIS LA) and Gerald McRaney were also in the movie. It was an uplifting movie; these guys were true heroes, in the face of prejudice and having to use second-rate equipment.

My cucumbers dried up nicely. I think I’ll do some more. Five large cukes resulted in 1/3 of a quart bag of dried ones. I think I’ll experiment with some different liquids to soak them in and will make use of my salad spinner. I think I didn’t drain the ones I did yesterday enough so it took quite a while to dry them.

Until next time…