Summary #4

Weekly Summary
Gen 32-47

Well, we pick up the family right where we left off. Jacob's wife, Rachel, has lied to her father about stealing the family idols. When Laban accuses them of stealing, Jacob swears it is not so, and says that if it can be proved, the one who stole it will be put to death. To avoid this happening, Rachel hides them under her saddle, and tells her father that she can't get up because it's that time of the month. Crisis averted, but the lies continue.

Jacob takes his entire family and flocks and heads back to Canaan to meet up with his brother after many years. (Remember that the last we heard of Esau, he was threatening to kill Jacob.) To smooth the way, Jacob sends huge gifts ahead of the group to Esau. The night before they meet, Jacob meets up with a man whom he later identifies as God. In a rather strange sequence, the man dislocates Jacob's hip because he sees that he does not prevail against him. The man gives Jacob a new name, "Israel", and a blessing. Jacob limps away from the encounter and then meets Esau.

Instead of swords, Esau meets Jacob by hugging him and crying, eventually accepting the gifts Jacob has sent, and inviting Jacob to return with him to Seir. Jacob sends Esau ahead, and instead of joinging him in Seir, he settles in Shechem, in Canaan. There his daughter is raped by the prince of the land, who after raping her promptly falls in love with her and begs his father to get her for his wife. Jacob and his sons are furious, and hatch a plan. They agree to the match as long as every male of the city is circumcised. The men of this city must have REALLY liked this prince, because they went along with the plan. Three days later, when all the men weren't moving around so well, Simeon and Levi, two of Jacob's sons, kill everyone in the city to retaliate for the humiliation of their sister. Jacob realizes that he's in trouble with the Canaanites and Perezzites once they hear of this, and God tells him to go to Bethel. Jacob has his household get rid of all the foreign gods, and then at Bethel, God confirms his name change to Israel.

While they were leaving Bethel, Rachel goes into labor with Benjamin, and dies. They journey on to Mamre, meanwhile Reuben, the oldest son, sleeps with Bilhah, his father's concubine. Although Jacob does nothing about it right away, Reuben does not receive the inheritance generally given the firstborn son, and this may be why. At Mamre, Jacob reunites with Isaac, and then Isaac dies.

Esau moves farther away from Jacob so that both of their flocks can feed, and settles in Edom. Jacob settles with his 12 sons in Canaan, where he prospers. Joseph doesn't get along well with his brothers, giving a bad report of them to their father, sharing dreams about their sheaves bowing to his sheaf, and their stars and the sun and moon of his father and mother bowing down to him. In addition, his father showed favoritism to him, giving him a multicolored coat to set him apart. Finally, the brothers get their chance at revenge, and when Joseph comes to check on them while they are pasturing their flocks, they plot to kill him. Reuben, the oldest, stops them from killing him and suggests they put him in a pit so he can rescue him later. Before he can do that, though, they sell him to a band of Ishmaelites as a slave. To explain his disappearance, they tell his father that they found his fabulous coat covered with blood. Jacob is devastated.

Around that time, Judah has three sons with an Adullamite. His oldest, Er is married to Tamar. Er was wicked, and died. According to custom, the brother of the dead man is to take his wife, but Onan agrees only in form, but refuses to get her pregnant, so God puts him to death. The last son is too young, but Judah promises to fill the promise once he is old enough. He doesn't, though, because he is scared the his youngest son will end up dead like the older two, and when Tamar realizes this, she dresses up as a prostitute, and goes to where he father-in-law, Judah has gone after his wife died. Judah slept with her, but didn't have the goat that it cost, so he gave her identifying items until he could pay up. Tamar got pregnant from the encounter, and when it became known that she was pregnant, Judah was indignant because he thought her immoral. When confronted, she showed Judah the things that he had given her to hold as collateral, and he was ashamed, and admitted his wrong. Tamar had twins: Perez and Zerah. Perez we will see again!

Joseph, meanwhile, is sold as a slave in Egypt. He performs so well as a slave to Potiphar that he is put in charge of the household. He attracts the eye of the lady of the house, who accuses him of attacking her since he resisted her advances. Joseph ends up in jail, having done no wrong. While in jail he meets up with two of Pharoah's servants, and correctly interprets their dreams, by God's wisdom. Later, Pharoah has dreams that no one can interpret, and the servant who survived remembered the hebrew slave that could interpret dreams. Joseph was brought to Pharaoh, and God gave him the interpretation of the dream: seven years of plenty would be followed by seven years of famine. Impressed by his wisdom, Pharoah puts Joseph in charge of overseeing preparations for the famine, and Joseph becomes second in the land. He manages things beautifully, and marries the daugher of the priest Potiphera (do all Egyptian names sound alike?) and has two sons: Manassah and Ephraim.

Sure enough, after seven years of bumper crops, famine hits Egypt, and the surrounding land... including Canaan. Jacob sends his sons to Egypt, where there is food to be had, to buy enough to keep them alive. Off they go, all but Benjamin, whom Jacob wouldn't part with, to Egypt. When they get there, Joseph recognizes them, but doesn't identify himself. Instead, he accuses them of spying to see where Egypt is vulnerable. He will not believe their protestations until they return with their youngest brother. To make sure they return, he keeps Simeon captive, and he sends them home with ample food. He also sneaks all of the money that they brought to pay for the food back into their bags.

When the brother return home, they find the money and are mortified. When they tell Jacob that they must return with Benjamin, he refuses. Reuben even offers his two sons as collateral, but Jacob would have none of it. Simeon remains moldering in Egypt while the rest of the family makes its way through the food from Egypt.

Finally, that food runs out - and they have to go back to Egypt or starve. Jacob finally agrees to let Benjamin go along after Judah pledges to protect him. Jacob again gathers gifts to send to smooth the way, this time to the man in charge of food in Egypt. (Hey, it seemed to work pretty well the last time...)

When they arrive in Egypt, Joseph welcomes them right into his home for a meal. He asks them if their father is alive, and they reply that he is, and then Joseph sees Benjamin, and has to rush out so that they don't see him cry. After a meal, Joseph has his servants fill their bags with food and again replaces the money in each bag. He also makes sure that his silver cup is in Benjamin's bag. When the group heads back to Canaan, Joseph sends his servants after them, and accuses them of stealing. They are indignant, and deny that anyone stole anything. Echoing Jacob's indignation at Laban's accusation, they say that if anyone stole anything, they would be put to death, and the rest of them would become Joseph's servants. Joseph's steward modifies that: whoever is found with the cup will become a servant, the rest would be free. Of course, after searching, they find the cup in Benjamin's bag, and the brothers panic.

Back at Joseph's house, Judah speaks, and says that they will all become Joseph's servants. Joseph says no, he only wants the one who stole the cup. Judah offers himself in place of Benjamin, saying that it will kill his father to lose another child, as he still mourns the death of this child's brother. At this Joseph can't contain himself any longer, and he reveals his identity. He assures them that although they meant him harm, God has used it for good, and put him in a position to save the family from the famine. He sends them back to get Jacob and the rest of family, and take them back to live in Egypt, where they will survive the famine.

Jacob is overjoyed to hear that Joseph is still alive, and then God visits him in a dream and tells him not to be afraid to go to Egypt, that he will make his family into a great nation there. Joseph meets his family, and reunites with Jacob, who is overjoyed. They settle in the land of Goshen, which is perfect for the shepherding family, and they grow and prosper while Joseph continues to oversee the famine management in Egypt.

Well, the family is settled in Egypt. What could possibly happen next? We'll see this week..