I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Genesis 48-50.

    It is human nature to go with primogeniture, granting greater inheritance to the first born. However, this passage (along with the story of Jacob and Esau) reminds us that this is not how God works. When Jacob adopted Joseph’s two sons as his own, he gave the greater blessing to Ephraim, the younger, despite Joseph’s wish for the greater blessing to go to his elder son (although it is possible that Joseph’s dissatisfaction with Jacob blessing them in reverse order was because he thought it was an indication of his father’s failing health). Then when Jacob blessed all of his sons, he took the role of leading from his eldest son, Reuben, and gave it to Judah. Reuben lost his role as leader of the family after Jacob because of his actions (he slept with one of Jacob’s wives) and Judah earned it for his (offering himself in place of Benjamin when the brothers did not yet know who Joseph was). God judges us on our actions, not where we stand in birth order.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Genesis 45-47.

    When Jacob’s family arrived in Egypt, they numbered 70 persons total (including Joseph, his wife, and two sons). They were not a people. They were a small clan. When they left some 400 years later, they numbered approximately 1 million. In the land of Canaan, the people kept trying to have Jacob and his family become one with them and assimilate, losing their distinctive identity as the people of God. The Egyptians rejected the idea of allowing Jacob’s descendants to assimilate and become Egyptians. The end result was that, in Egypt, Jacob’s descendants became a distinct people who worshiped and served God. If they had remained in Canaan they would have been assimilated into the people around them.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Genesis 42-44.

    When Joseph’s brothers went to Egypt to obtain grain Joseph tested them. When we read the entire passage we realize that Joseph asked his brothers leading questions in order to find out what had happened since he had left. He wanted to get caught up on things but did not want them to know who he was. I believe he accused them of being spies so that they would be afraid to lie. It immediately becomes apparent that the brothers regretted what they had done to Joseph, but the question remained, did they regret the wrong they did to their brother, or merely the sorrow they brought to their father?
    Joseph demanded that they bring Benjamin for two reasons: one, he wanted to see his younger brother, and two, he wanted to see if his half-brothers treated his full brother the way they had treated him. Joseph’s brothers needed to see this as much as Joseph did. It is easy to regret past actions and wish we had done things differently, but have we really changed? Joseph took actions which showed that his brothers had changed. They brought back the money which had been returned to them. And Judah, the brother whose idea it was to sell Joseph into slavery, offered himself as a slave in Benjamin’s place.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Genesis 39-41.

    The story of Joseph is the story of someone who did not allow the bad things which happened in his life to get between himself and serving God. Joseph could have become depressed and given up. However, he did not. He continued to work hard and to serve God in the situations in which he found himself. His own brothers sold him into slavery, but when he ended up in Potiphar’s house he worked hard and became successful. Potiphar’s wife framed him for attempted rape and he ended up in jail. There he applied himself and quickly rose to a position of respect. He accurately interpreted the dreams of two co-prisoners, one of whom was released. The latter forgot him and left him to his fate. However, Joseph did not bemoan his fate. When the opportunity arose to interpret Pharaoh’s dream, he gave credit to God and did what he was able. Joseph did not seek the positions of authority which he was given, but he executed them to the best of his ability.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Genesis 33-35.

    When Jacob returned to Canaan he was worried that Esau would still be angry with him. However, Esau was glad to welcome Jacob back. The stories we have about Isaac, Jacob, and Esau tell us a lot about good families. They made mistakes, they had disagreements, they were angry with each other. However, despite having a legitimate grievance with his brother, Esau was glad to see him return and was willing to accept him into his “household”. Reading between the lines, Esau not only welcomed Jacob back, but invited him under his protection. However, Jacob had had enough of being subordinate and wished to remain independent of Esau (it is interesting to note that today’s passage suggests that Isaac had maintained his own independent household, while his sons went off and created their own). We need to model the willingness to be reconciled which Esau and Jacob demonstrated here (note the lengths to which Jacob went to appease his brother).

    The story about the rape of Dinah and her brothers’ response tells us quite a bit about the relationship between Jacob’s family and the surrounding peoples. It, also, suggests some of the differences between the descendants of Abraham and the local people which may explain why Abraham and Isaac wanted their sons to marry women from their homeland. Shechem raped Dinah in an effort to force Jacob to allow him to marry her. He appears to have also believed that she would want to marry him because he had raped her (or, at least that the rape was not an insurmountable obstacle to winning her love). We do not know what Dinah’s thought of his suit, but reading between the lines suggests that she was not receptive. Certainly her brothers were angered by this approach. Isaac and Jacob married women who willingly came to them. Schechem forced Dinah to accept him and only failed because such force was unacceptable to her father and brothers (although Jacob was concerned about the consequences of rejecting Shechem’s court so forcefully).

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Genesis 31-32.

    Yesterday, I wrote about the competition and conflict in Jacob’s household between Leah and Rachael. Today, we read about them acting in unity. When Laban and his sons began to feel threatened by Jacob’s success and prosperity, Jacob spoke with his wives about him taking them and returning to Canaan. The passage tells us that Leah and Rachael responded in unity and supported Jacob’s decision. The discussion concerning leaving indicates that despite the earlier conflicts in the household, after years of marriage and many children, peace was achieved. This should serve as an inspiration to all of us. Despite their earlier missteps and somewhat justified resentment, Jacob, Leah, and Rachael were able to come to peace with each other.

    It is clear that when Laban set out after Jacob that he intended to confront Jacob by force. We do not know if Laban intended to kill Jacob and take back what Jacob had earned working for him, or just force Jacob to return with him. It does not matter which, God intervened and warned Laban against such a course of action. It is worth noting that the forces which Laban mustered to pursue Jacob were his relatives, which means they would have been Jacob’s relatives as well. It seems to me that by the time Laban had overtaken Jacob the relatives he had rallied to his cause were beginning to wonder why they should take Laban’s side against Jacob.

    Another thing of note is that when Laban arrived he told Jacob that “the God of your father” has warned him against harming Jacob. Yet, when they made their treaty, Laban called on the God of their mutual ancestors to witness the treaty. Despite acknowledging the power of the God worshiped by his grandfather and by Jacob’s father and grandfather Laban had his own household gods. I think this tells us something about why Abraham had not wanted Isaac to return to the area where Laban lived to live with his wife. I will note that it does not appear to me that Jacob had chosen to dedicate himself to God at this point in his life.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Genesis 29-30.

    There are two intertwined stories in this passage. There is Jacob’s complicated, and difficult, marriage to Leah and Rachael (and their maids). Then there is the deception and trickery which occurred between Jacob and his father-in-law, Laban (who was also his uncle). The first story I mentioned actually begins with Laban using trickery to get Jacob to marry Leah. I am not quite sure what Laban’s end game was in this maneuver. Did he do this in order to marry off Leah, for whom he apparently had no other offers? Or did he do this to get seven more years of labor out of Jacob? I am not sure that it matters.

    However, the result of Laban’s deception was that Leah entered into a somewhat loveless marriage where she witnessed her husband express his love to her sister, to whom he was also married. This story was always used when I was growing up as an example of why it was best to be monogamous. Leah and Rachael went back and forth in their competition for Jacob’s affection, potentially making matters worse by bringing their maids into the marriage as well (although, there is no record of this causing further complications, except in competition between the various sons). Could Jacob have done more to calm the conflict in his household? Perhaps, but this is one of the few stories of trouble for Jacob where he was relatively innocent.

    As I said, the previous story started with Laban substituting Leah for Rachael on Jacob’s wedding night. Once Jacob had worked off the bride price for both Leah and Rachael, he and Laban negotiated a new deal for Jacob’s labor. While Jacob almost certainly exaggerated the impact he had on Laban’s wealth, even Laban admitted that Jacob had been good for his bottom line. As part of their new deal, Laban agreed that all of the striped and spotted goats and black sheep in his herds would be Jacob’s (although reading between the lines suggests that this was only to apply to the herds which were managed by Jacob himself). Immediately upon concluding this deal, Laban removed all such animals from the flocks to which it applied. Which demonstrates Laban’s deception and trickery once more. Jacob, on the other hand, did not protest such treatment because he had some tricks of his own. I ma not sure how Jacob’s trick would actually work in real life, certainly, it would not effect the genetics of the animals. However, there are a few studies which suggest that the characteristics in question can be influenced by environmental factors. Ultimately, Laban and Jacob deserved each other.