Sermon - AudioGen 35-37 - Audio
Gen 35-37 - Daily Reading
Daily Insights - Please Comment
Prayer for God to illumine the text
Lord, open my heart and mind by the power of your Holy Spirit, that as I read the Scriptures, I may hear with joy and apply what you say to me today. Amen.
Genesis 35
- 35.1: Building an altar declares that this place has been taken over from God from pagan influences.
- 35.5: Jacob’s fear in Chapter 34 is unfounded, God protects him.
- 35.16ff: Rachel is buried along side the same road that years later the people of Israel will walk down on their way to captivity in Babylon. Jeremiah pictures Rachel calling out from her grave for the exiles and God promising he would bring them back (Jeremiah 31.15-17)
- 35.21: Reuben’s sleeping with Bilhah is an attempt to take over control of the clan from Jacob and making sure that his mother, Leah, maintains her position as the most important wife in the clan.
- Esau moves his clan to what becomes the land of Edom. In doing so he leaves behind the promised land and any claim to it. It shows, once again, that Esau is not concerned with the promise.
- 36.24: Anah who found the hot springs. Apparently there is a well-known story about this man that original readers would have known. Also, the Hebrew word for Hot Springs (it’s a very unusual word) can be translated mule. It is possible that Anah is the first to cross breed a horse and donkey.
- 37.2ff: We’re told three times that the brothers hated Joseph. Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher hate him because he gives a bad report on them, all the brother hate him because he is their dad’s favorite and given a coat of many colors (which represents high social status) and finally, they hate him because of his dreams. Notice that a number 3 in the Bible often indicates that something is about to happen, so when we’re told three times that Joseph is hated, we can guess something is just around the corner.
- 37.10: Rachel has died, it is likely that Bilhah (Rachel’s former servant) has “adopted” Joseph.
- 37.14: Although Jacob loves Joseph the best he still loves his other sons and is concerned about them—especially when they are hanging out around Shechem (Remember the Dinah story). So he sends Joseph to see how they are fairing (literally how their shalom is).
- 8 37.17: Dothan is a city, not a place for grazing sheep. It could be that rather than doing their work the brothers are enjoying some of the pleasures of the city. When they see Joseph and know that he has delivered bad reports before they decide to make sure that he doesn’t get back home again.
7 comments:
Is the renaming of places a common practice? Was it just renamed for the people it had meaning to or was it officially renamed? I picture all these signs with "x" through the previous name and then the new name written in sharpie marker.
What was the point of concubines?
Renaming has to do with what happened at a certain location, as well as, letting people reading the story how a certain place got its name. The entire land, then, becomes a history book of Israel and God's interactions with his people. Former place names fade into history (much like the names Native Americans gave places in Western Michigan) and new names take their places.
Hi Rebecca,
Some help from Baker Encyclopedia on Concubines:
'Concubinage was practised in many ancient cultures, especially in Mesopotamia.....where a private citizen might have one or two concubines in addition to his primary wife.....a concubine was often a slave or part of the booty of war (Judges 5:30). A man might have a concubine simply as an economical form of marriage, since no dowry or bride-price was required. A concubine could add to a man's prestige by giving him two wives and thus an increased capacity for children. Such offspring were normally delivered onto the knees of the legal wife, thus establishing their legitimacy as family members. The concubine was also another servant to add to his work force.' (Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible, 1997, Vol 1, p504).
When Abraham died he "was gathered to his people". When Isaac dies he also "was gathered to his people". When Jacob hears of Joseph's supposed death he desires to "go down to Sheol to my son, mourning".
This sounds like an awareness of an afterlife with the company and interaction of others.
How well developed was their view of an afterlife?
Was it a product of contact with Egypt?
Rebecca,
Here is an interesting article on how concubines are becoming popular again in China. It discusses many of the reasons for them.
http://bit.ly/4eJqHl
Gathered to his people is a literal picture of begin put in the tomb with one's ancestors. You were gathered to the place where the bones of your ancestor's were buried. Which makes one wonder a bit how Abraham could be gathered to his ancestors.
The understanding of the afterlife is one that grows throughout the OT. It comes to full flourishing in the intertestamental period.
Post a Comment