Isaac & Jacob

ISAAC.

Isaac developed and grew to his late thirties, early forties and had not married. Even at this early stage in the development of the chosen people, it was understood that because of paganism and other wicked practices, marriage into certain families and genealogical lines denied the children, the blessings of the covenant of Abraham. This principle must have been taught somewhere but it is not recorded in the Bibles of today. We find this sort of thing often throughout Scripture. Where a principle is common everyday living, it is very rarely recorded in the volumes of Scripture or history. We only catch a glimpse of it as we attempt to read between the lines.

Abraham’s family, and the large conglomeration of servants and souls who accepted him as their leader and patriarch, lived in a pagan country. As Isaac grew to manhood, there was no one nearby, who would be suitable for him to marry and keep the covenant promises of the Lord.

Because Isaac was the only heir, Abraham was very protective of him and would not let him journey very far. He therefore sent his chief servant, who managed all his possessions, to visit Abraham’s kindred to select a wife for Isaac.

This was in keeping with the custom of the day. The parents or their agent organised and select a wife for the heir.

I think most people know about the romantic drama of the choosing of a wife for Isaac. It is badly recorded in Genesis Chapter 24. Her name was Rebekah.

Abraham received some great promises from the Lord which we can see being fulfilled from now on and some are even still being fulfilled today. Gen. 12: 2&3. And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:

3. And I wilt bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curse thee: and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

(a) I will make of thee a great nation.

(b) I will bless thee.

(c) I will make thy name great.

(d) Thou shalt be a blessing.

(e) I will bless them that bless thee and curse them that curse thee.

(f) In thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

In retrospect, it is easy to understand these blessings but it surely must have been confusing for those of Abraham’s day to understand most of them. They required a lot of faith.

(a) The results of Abraham’s righteous living, his descendants created the great nation of Israel .

(b) Abraham certainly was blessed with all that he had a need and more.

It was not always easy but he proved his faithfulness and was blessed in temporal things too. Gen. 13:2. And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver and in gold.

(c) The name of Abraham is famous throughout all history.

(d) Millions upon millions of people, Christian and Arabs, are certainly blessed because of Abraham.

(e) Undeniably, everyone who lives worthy of the covenants made by and through Abraham will be blessed.

Those who reject all these things are those who would curse him or his descendants.

They will get their compensation for their rejection of these precious things in God’s own good time.

(f) Because of Abraham and his faithfulness, all families can be together eternally and that is the greatest blessing any descendent family of Abraham can receive.

Chapter 13: 14 to 17. This is another promise of wonderful blessings for him. We, who accept Jesus Christ and are adopted into that covenant of Abraham, are numbered among his seed. [Romans 9:6-8. See also the Bible dictionary.]

•  All the land he could see would be given to him and his seed (descendants) forever.

•  His seed would be as numerous as the grains of dust on the earth.

•  As we will see later, his seed (the Israelites) did for a brief period possess all that land.

•  If we were able to number all the descendants of Abraham today as well as those who have passed away and those still to arrive on this earth, it would fulfil this promise.

Gen. 15:4,5,13,14,18. And behold, the word of the LORD came unto him saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.

5. and he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now towards heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.

13. And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years.

14. and also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterwards shall they come out with great substance.

18. In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river of Euphraties:

Chapter 15:4. This promise was fulfilled with the birth of Isaac. Verse 5 reinforced the previous promise and it is certainly being fulfilled even today.

Verse 13 & 14 were fulfilled when Moses brought the Israelites out of Egypt .

Verse 18 was fulfilled just over forty years after the Israelites left Egypt with Moses.

Chapter 17 contains a special covenant of circumcision which set apart all of Abraham’s descendants up to the time, just after Jesus was crucified, when it was done away with by Paul and Peter.

Chapter 21:13. Was fulfilled, as we will see later when Esau married a daughter of Ishmael and became a progenitor of the race known as Arabs.

Gen. 21:13. And also the son of the bondswoman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed.

Abraham certainly was tested and had to exercise a great deal of faith but the promises of the Lord were fulfilled and some are still happening today.

It appears that Isaac had the same luck as his father in the development of a family. Rebekah was barren and this continued for about nineteen years of marriage, when she finally became pregnant…

I read into the Scriptures concerning this experience, that Rebekah was having a very difficult time of the pregnancy. Finally, exasperated, she went to the Lord in prayer about her condition and was told she was expecting twins. They would become leaders of two nations and one nation would be stronger than the other would. The elder twin would serve the younger. Genesis 25:22&23 . And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the Lord.

23. And the Lord said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.

We need to be aware that the chronology of this story is suspect. It may not have happened in the exact order as told in this chapter.

Some old writings also suggest Isaac petitioned the Lord on behalf of his wife and received this above Revelation. Whoever it was, inexorably the twins were born.

The first was born hairy and very red and the second came, so close behind, it looked as if he was holding the heel of the first. They were not identical twins. They were not in the same sack.

The first born, they named Esau, which is supposed to mean hairy. The younger they called Jacob, which is said to mean supplanter.

Esau gets a name change much later in life. It appears to have been a nickname he gained but that’s getting ahead of the story.

As most boys do, they grew, and developed their individual personalities. Esau became an excellent hunter, a farmer, and a very forceful and aggressive person. Jacob became a man of the plains. He often lived away from home caring for the flocks. He was a very passive and spiritual person. Their different natures project through the events, which had an important bearing in the shaping of their futures.

One day Esau, who by nature was also very reckless and impulsive, came upon Jacob in the field, cooking pottage. He exuberantly declared he was famished and weary. He attempted to pressure Jacob into giving him a meal.

Jacob, at first was reluctant but finally sold Esau a meal in return for his (Esau’s) birthright. This highlights just how reckless and impulsive Esau was.

Though some old writings do not give this incident much importance, a birthright is a very important family treasure especially for the first born son of those times. It virtually means, he sold his position as his father’s heir. Yet he sold it to Jacob for a meal of pottage. Chapter 25:29-34.

There are several references, in the Bible, where the birthright went to a son other than the first born, but in all other instances, it was because of the wickedness of the elder brothers or at the direction of Jehovah through his Prophet. Esau could be classed as wicked because he later married outside the covenant or without his father’s permission thereby causing his children not to be eligible for the promised blessing but that was much later after this event.

Some students suggest that Jacob was deviously plotting to usurp Esau’s birthright. That, could be read into the Scriptures; characters can and do change for the better as well as for the worse, but to my reasoning, it does not quite fit the overall passive and non-scheming nature of Jacob, portrayed in the complete story.

Esau did not respect the importance of his birthright and treated it with contempt. This is stressed by his marriage later, to the two pagan women. The Scriptures say that Esau did not value his birthright.

Genesis 25: 34. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils; and he did eat and drink and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright . [Underline added]

Their father, Isaac, in the meantime, was increasing his flocks and becoming quite rich in the things that were important at that time. He became so wealthy at one stage the people of the lands, where he grazed his flocks, became concerned about his presence and were frightened by his power. People and flocks meant wealth in those days and just as it is in the world today, wealth means power.

When people commit themselves fully to God and live His way of life without deviation, others see a certain aura or something special, emanating around or from them. This has a tendency to attract people to that person’s way of life and beliefs and they often, in effect, become their disciples.

This aura also seems to repel or antagonise those who are not spiritually inclined and they seem driven to oppose this person in every way.

Isaac’s neighbours attempted to persecute him. They filled his wells with rocks and harassed him with other irritating actions, hoping he would move away. When they saw how he prospered, in spite of what they did, they came to realise, he was being helped by a power greater than they were. Because of this, they went out of their way to make him their friend. This evidence of God prospering and blessing Isaac did not convert any of his neighbours. If it did it is not recorded. We will discuss signs later.

The Lord appeared to Isaac and comforted him with a Revelation. He was supporting him for the sake of the Covenant.

Isaac was keeping his part of the Covenant and as a result, his seed (descendants) would multiply and prosper.

Isaac loved Esau but he must have suffered much anguish because of some of the things he did. Esau was about forty and unmarried. He took two Hittite girls for wives. {Genesis 26:34-35] These Hittites were of those pagan families or tribes, who lived nearby. Inter-marriage with any of these people would create a situation where the children from such a marriage would not be able to receive the blessings of the covenant. [Unless they changed their standards and way of life and worshipped the God of Abraham and Isaac .]

This was a major cause for concern, because Isaac and his family lived among these pagans. They were surrounded by them, and there was no one nearby, whom his sons could marry and raise children as heirs within the covenant. [Though Esau would later become the father of a great nation, this nation would not come through these Hittite girls.]

Their situation was a particular concern of Rebekah, for she knew, according to the Scriptures, the patriarchal line for the blessings of the covenant, was to be through Jacob.

This problem was solved in a unique manner, which would do credit to the best dramatic Author.

Esau was Isaac’s favourite son. His mother favoured Jacob. Because Esau was the first born and because of Isaac’s love for him, he was to have been given the heirs blessing.

It is not clear why Isaac was unaware of the revelation Rebekah received, during her pregnancy, about the twins. It was his intention to give the birthright blessing to Esau, which was contrary to the Revelation. Remember Genesis 25:22&23

He was really in the dark. He did not know about the Lord’s plan for his sons and did not know about the sale of Esau’s birthright.

There are almost as many theories about this circumstance as there are students and many of them would fit the situation, so we will avoid confusion and not postulate any, as it would be pure conjecture. We will stay with the story in the Bible.

Isaac just did not seem to know what was going on in his family, though to do him justice, he was getting old and was almost blind.

Genesis 27:1 And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see , he called Esau his eldest son, and said unto him, My son: and he said unto him, Behold, here am I. [Bold added]

It is suggested that because of this blindness, Isaac could not make the proper Sacrifices and worship required of a Patriarch. Isaac requested Esau to prepare the ordinance for him. This brought about the situation that follows, of which Rebecca took advantage.

Genesis 27:6-40. Tells the story of how Rebekah worked at reversing the situation and it is full of trickery and intrigue. This placed Jacob’s life in danger. Esau became very angry and sought to kill him.

Rebekah heard about this plot and sought Isaac’s help in sending Jacob away on the excuse that he would obtain a suitable wife and raise children within the covenant.

Jacob now had the birthright, which Esau had sold to him, officially bestowed upon him. Though received through ‘trickery’, the act or ordination was ratified by Isaac the last six words in verse 33 of Chapter 27 And Isaac trembled with great trembling, and said, Who? Where is he that hath hunted venison, and brought it to me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have blessed him? Yea, and he shall be blessed. [ Bold & Underline added.]

Later the Lord also seemed to have accepted the situation because He passed on, to Isaac, the covenants He had made with Abraham.

Genesis 26:3-5 . Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform an oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father;

4. and I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed ;

5. because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and commandments, my statutes and my laws.

In verse five, the Lord is teaching Isaac that blessings come from being obedient to His laws.

Isaac passed on this Covenant blessing to Jacob through the “laying on of hands” when he gave it to him. This means, the person who has the authority from God, lays their hands on the head of the candidate for the blessing.

Gen. 28: 3,4&6. And God almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people.

4. and give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave Abraham.

6. When Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob, and sent him away to Panadaram, to take him a wife from thence; and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, thou shalt not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan ;

Now to tidy up the loose end called Esau ; verse 6 . He must have finally understood the importance of marrying the right woman, why he had lost the birthright and why his descendants could not be blessed by the covenant.

It is told, he visited his half Uncle Ishmael and married one of his daughters.

Genesis 28:8-9 . And Esau seeing that the daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac his father;

9. Then went Esau to Ishmael, and took unto the wives, which he had Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife.

 

From this union, came the nation called the Edmonites. It is believed Esau was nicknamed Edom . Australians nickname a red headed person "blue.” It seems Esau was nicknamed Edom because he was red and his descendants became known by that name.

The Edmonites were the nation which challenged Moses and the children of Israel , well over five hundred years later, as they attempted to travel to the River Jordan.

We will now trace the life of Jacob because that is the direction the covenant line leads.

JACOB.

B ecause Jacob is such an important figure in the history of the covenant people, we need to understand him and his story well.

When Jacob departed the family, Esau had been married to the Hittite girls, a number of years. Esau married when he was about forty years old; therefore Jacob was in his mid to late forties when he left home. He was travelling by himself. He was not sent away in a caravan with servants or great riches, just his staff in hand, some food and clothing on an ass. He had to leave in secrecy and in a hurry because Esau was after his life.

A short time later, Jacob arrived near the outskirts of a settlement called Luz. During the night he received a magnificent Revelation. C hapter 28:12-15. And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.

13. and behold the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou layest, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed;

14. and thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the West, and to the East, and to the North, and to the South: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

15. and behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.

Some students think that the ladder Jacob saw in his dream was the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as taught in the Bible, and the Steps of the ladder are the covenants we are required to make with God or the laws we need to live. We climb the ladder by living up to each covenant or law. As we climb up one covenant [step on the ladder] we are given or discover another covenant [step up] which brings us closer to Heaven where we will be allowed to enter only if we have kept and passed over every covenant [step] in the ladder on the way up. There is no other way into Heaven. “Strait is the gate and narrow the way….”

Jacob named this place Bethel , which, in Greek, is interpreted, The House of God.

This Revelation must have been a wonderful morale booster for Jacob.

He was surely feeling very low, having been sent away from his family home, with very little goods and in fear of his life as though in disgrace.

Jacob arrives in Padanaram and seeks out his Uncle Laban, his mother’s brother.

In the process of getting to know the family, Jacob meets and falls in love with Laban’s second daughter, Rachel.

He stayed with the family, helping them with their work. After a time, Laban said he should not be working for them without any wages. He asked Jacob what he wanted to do. He sounds like a fair man but as we will see later, there is a “method in his madness.” Jacob made a proposition to Laban, that he work seven years, for the hand of Rachel in marriage. Laban agreed to this.

This was a very long time to work out a dowry. His parents had sent him to this place to gain a bride. Surely his father could have given him enough goods and jewels, to pay the dowry required?

Jacob may have thought seven years would be time enough for Esau to cool down, before he could go home again.

The Scriptures say the seven years flew for Jacob and the marriage feast was organised. He would have been getting along in age by now. He left home while he was in his forties. He took some time travelling and then worked for some time, before agreeing to work seven years for Rachel. He would have been in his fifties when he married.

Laban had at least two daughters. The elder was Leah and the second was Rachel.

We are informed Leah had "tender eyes.” Verse 17 of Chapter 29 implies Leah was not as pretty or did not have a figure as beautiful as Rachel did.

Gen. 29: 17. Leah was tender eyed; but Rachel was beautiful and well favoured.

The Hebrew word, which was translated by the scholars of King James day, as "Tender eyed" also means ‘lovely, soft or delicate of face’.

Because the Scriptures stress the "tender eyed" trait of Leah, it comes across as her only attractive, physical feature. The Scriptures say Rachel was "beautiful and well favoured.” This portrays her as an outstanding beauty, for those times and implies Leah was a very plain looking girl with just one good feature, her eyes or her face. She may also have been a little over weight.

Maybe, this is what motivated Laban to behave in the manner he did? Maybe, Laban didn’t want the burden of supporting an unmarried daughter for the rest of his life? Maybe, he wanted Leah to gain some happiness or fulfilment out of her life?

Whatever the situation, Jacob was smitten with Rachel and was prepared to work seven years so he could pay the dowry for her.

Laban played a cunning trick upon Jacob. When Jacob awoke the morning after the wedding he didn’t find Rachel in his bed, but Leah! How could this happen?

Nights in the country, without streetlights and other electric illumination can be quite dark, particularly if there is no moon. Leah must have been part of the deception. There would have been no lights in the marriage tent and also, during the marriage feast the bride is heavily veiled and if she held her tongue and refrained from moving around, Jacob would not know who was under all that costume.

He charged up to Laban, challenging him for the reason and Laban came up with the story that the first daughter had to marry before the other.

We can only imagine the debate which followed but it was settled when Laban agreed that if Jacob would spend the statutory honeymoon week with Leah, he would also give him Rachel at the end of that week. He had to work another seven years for her. He agreed.

A custom of those days was, the family of the bride gave her a handmaid who was about the same age, to go with her in her new life. The purpose of this, as we discovered with Abraham, was if there was no heir within the specified time or there was a need for more sons, the husband would be given the handmaid for a wife, to help raise them. It is because the handmaiden was given to the wife and was her property, any children the handmaiden had, were recognized as legally belonging to that wife and her husband.

Other reasons were to save the wife from embarrassment and ridicule if she was barren, or to supply the needed extra labour to care for or defend the family and more importantly, carry on the family name, if there were only daughters born.

Now we come to an experience that is very hard to understand, compared to our present day culture. We need to remember this was over one thousand years before Christ and we also need to develop a little empathy for these women. What happened was well within the laws and customs of that day.

Leah had probably grown with the understanding she was not good marriage material and a man would have to be really hard up to marry her. If her only attractive features were her eyes or face then her self esteem would be almost nonexistent.

Here she was, now married into a great family, to a man who loved her sister and obviously showed he did not love her.

The Scriptures imply that Jacob hated Leah. The Hebrew word, ’sahnay’ that the Scholars translated ‘hated’ could also have been translated ‘not loved or less loved’.

I suppose the translators of King James time thought if she was not loved, she must have been hated. That need not have been necessarily so, as future events imply. On the other hand, here was Rachel who dearly wanted to express her love for Jacob by producing a son for him, only to find she was barren.

Imagine if you can, the fear of ridicule, the fear of rejection and all those other fears and embarrassment their culture placed upon them in circumstances such as this, particularly with the pressure of having her sister married to her husband and she, Rachael, could not provide him any children.

If we can gain a little insight into their feelings, we just might catch a faint glimmer of understanding, about why the almost unbelievable bed swapping, manipulation of husband and use of their handmaids, these wives carried out in trying to overcome or prevent these fears and jealousies. This story is contained in Genesis, Chapters 29 beginning at verse 21 through Chapter 30 to verse 24.

It is important we get the children’s names and their order of birth correct for it has quite a lot to do with what happens later on in this generation and the various blessings each is given by their father.

Leah began by giving birth to Ruben ; Simeon ; Levi and Judah .

Then, in desperation, Rachel, who was unable to bear a child and so was considered by everyone as being barren, gave Jacob her handmaid Bilhah so Rachel could give children to him through her. The handmaiden Bilhah had Dan and Naphtali .

Then Leah gave her handmaid Zilpah, to Jacob. Zilpah had Gad and Asher . Leah came up with two more sons; Issachar and Zebulun then finally a daughter Dinah .

Finally, Rachel produced a child. She called him Joseph . She had one more but that was much later and we will bring that child on the scene at the correct time.

The Scriptures say Jacob wanted to take his family home to meet his father. Gen. 30: 25 . And it came to pass, when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said unto Laban, Send me away, that I may go unto mine own place, and to my country.

This would have been a rude awakening for Laban. His flocks had prospered under Jacob who had been working for him all these years. Jacob would have become part of the family scene. He cunningly set Jacob up to stay a while longer. Jacob did not lose anything but time in this bargaining.

With the help of God and because of his simple honesty and fairness, he eventually ended up a wealthy man, much to the concern of the family of Laban.

The day finally arrived when circumstances were such that it was imperative that Jacob take his family, flocks and goods, and flee the country. After discussing the matter with his wives, this he did. Genesis chapter 31.

Were wives of those days, so really downtrodden or second class people to the extent that many would have us believe? Would Jacob have discussed these things with his wives before making his decision to move out, if they were?

It appears that Laban did not give the girls the dowry money, which Jacob worked for to pay off the dowry for both daughters. This dowry was an important part of the marriage arrangements for the girls in the family in that culture. It was supposed to go to the bride as security for her keep if the marriage did not work out and she was divorced or widowed. Both of the girls claimed their father sold them because he did not give them the money, which Jacob had earned.

The typical dowry was money, stock [sheep or goats etc.] or jewellery equivalent to about three year’s wages and Jacob had worked fourteen years for the two of them yet they had received nothing. They agreed they should leave.

When Laban returned home he discovered Jacob’s departure and set out after him with all haste. It took him seven days to catch up with them. On the way, Laban receives instruction from the Lord not to harm Jacob. Laban was in a difficult situation. Genesis 31:24. And God came to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night, and said unto him, Take heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.

Never the less he strutted around sounding off before making peace with Jacob, and returned home empty handed. Genesis 31:22-55.

Continuing on towards his father, Jacob met a “man.” The story is in Chapter 32: 24-32. The Scriptures say it was a man but because of what eventuates, he must have been a very special person.

I read into this whole episode that he was a normal everyday man but had been set apart or was a recognised authority in Spiritual affairs.

Remember in Genesis 14: 20. Abraham paid his tithes to Melchizedek. Abraham was a Prophet with special promises and Covenants yet he paid his tithes to someone else. A tithe is a tenth of your income or increase. At various times throughout modern history it has come to mean, any offering to God.

Maybe this “man” was similar to those men Abraham recognised and entertained just prior to them destroying Sodom and Gomorrah . Genesis Chapter 18.

Wherever these “men” are mentioned in Scripture, they are all on a special mission from God. The people of God must have known them because they are all recognised as having special authority and or purpose. They were sometimes called angels.

Jacob had previously sent a message to his parents and Esau was coming to meet him. He was really fearful about this coming meeting and requested a blessing from this man. So this man must have been someone special whom Jacob recognised had the power and authority to give him a blessing yet the Scriptures stress he was a man and not a heavenly visitor.

It would appear, for some reason not made known or left out of Scripture, this "man" would not grant Jacob’s desire for a blessing.

Jacob wrestled with him for quite a long time to hold him there, until he gave the blessing and in the process Jacob’s hip or thigh was hurt.

There is some debate over the word wrestle. The debate rages over whether they physically wrestled all night or was it a mixture of both Physical and verbal wrestling with Jacob holding on to and preventing this man from departing until he received his desired blessing.

Early in the morning this "man" finally blessed Jacob. During the blessing he gave Jacob a new name. He was to be known from that time forth as Israel .

Genesis 32:26-28 . Shows us evidence of the special power or authority of this “man.” And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.

27. And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.

28. And he said, Thy name shall no more be called Jacob, but Israel: for as a Prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.

At last, the time came when Israel (Jacob) and Esau met and all Israel ’s worries disappeared. It was a happy reunion.

We must discuss the story of Dinah because, not only did it present disastrous consequences now but it has great impact on events which happen much later in the history of Israel ’s family. Genesis chapter 34.

Israel settled for a time and bought land near a group of Canaanite settlements surrounding Shechem. He erected an altar and called the place El-el-o-he-israel.

His only daughter, Dinah, was growing into a beautiful young woman. Probably in her early to late teens, and being the young woman she was, wanted the companionship of other girls around her own age.

Apparently there was little opportunity of that happening, around her family tents. She became attracted to the fine apparel of the daughters about her age in the pagan families in the settlement nearby. With her family oblivious to her longings, she went unaccompanied, to a fair that was being held in the village. C hapter 34:1. And Dinah the daughter of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land.

Unfortunately, in this settlement there lived a spoiled son of the local prince, named Shechem, the same name as the name of the town.

When this spoilt brat, who seemed to take whatever he wanted and get away with it, saw Dinah, he desired her. The Scriptures say, "He took her and defiled her." Chapter 34:2. And when Schechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her.

He was greatly attracted to Dinah and wanted to keep her. He asked his father, the Prince, to organise it, so he could marry her. Meanwhile he kept her a prisoner in the settlement.

The statement in the Scriptures ’spake kindly unto the damsel’ means he endeavoured to win over her affections and reconcile her to her humiliation.

By the time the Prince visited with Israel , he, Israel , was aware of what had happened and had called his sons in from the fields for the confrontation.

Let us look at the situation. Remember, the Hivites were pagans and any children as a result of a union between any of Israel ’s family and these people would not be able to receive the promised blessings of the covenant. In their culture, that means the daughter and her children would have been lost to the family forever. In fact, the thought of inter-marriage was too revolting for them to consider. Remember that the covenant of circumcision also separated these two groups and this was another very important consideration among the family. [It was only the men who were circumcised.]

We are not told why or how it came about that the father of Dinah was not involved in the contact with the Prince. Maybe he was so angry he may have caused a war. Maybe he was ill or becoming so old that his sons represented him. The Scriptures are silent on this.

If these Hivites were to repent of their wicked ways and accept the disciplines of the laws of God, and join with the people of Israel , they also would have been able to receive those Covenant blessings. They knew this and this is why they were fooled so easily, but we’re getting ahead of the story again.

As we read the story in Chapter 34 verse 6 through to the end of the Chapter, we can see the deviousness that the brothers used in getting revenge for their family.

The brothers deceived the prince into believing that if all the males in the settlement would become circumcised they might allow the marriage to take place. Israel had no part in this deceit. This was the two elder son’s doing. Their plans were at that time unknown to him.

It was the third day after the prince convinced the men of the settlement to submit to the circumcision, when they were sore and unable to defend themselves, the two brothers, Simeon and Levi with their servants routed the settlement. They killed all the males over eight and took all the children, Diana, all the women and the flocks and returned to their camp.

The anger or outrage of Simeon and Levi was justified under their custom and laws but what they did to the people of the settlement was very wicked. They did not get Israel ’s approval. The blessings, which were given through Jacob [ Israel ], much later, show that the Lord did not, condoned their actions either.

When Israel heard what had happened, did he put on a turn? He could see the long-term possibilities, and his sons were only looking at short-term satisfaction. They paid the price for this unauthorised action later in their life.

At this point in time, the Lord intervened and instructed Israel to pack up and go to Bethel . Israel was directed, when he arrived there, to erect an altar. This meant the family was to make sacrifices to God. They had to cleanse themselves through complete repentance. Gen. 35:2. Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange Gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments.

He instructed everyone to get rid of all their pagan idols, jewellery, and ear and nose rings even their clothing, which like today, must have had pagan symbols or designs printed upon them. To achieve this he dug a large hole at the base of an oak tree and hid them by burying them.

Rachel even had to get rid of those pagan idols she took from her father, Laban. Genesis 31:30-32. And now, though thou wouldst needs begone, because thou sore longest after thy father’s house, yet wherefore hast thou stolen my gods?

31. and Jacob answered and said to Laban, Because I was afraid: for I said, peradventure thou wouldst take by force thy daughters from me.

32. with whomsoever thy findest thy gods, let him not live: before our brethren discern thou what is thine with me, and take it to thee. For Jacob knew not that Rachel had stolen them.

That statement in Gen. 25:2 ‘and to all that were with him’ is referring to those people from outside his personal family [household] who had been converted to Heavenly Father and had been adopted into the tribe. These would have been any of those pagans and others who worked for him and had repented their ways and adopted God and His ways.

After they had settled at Luz and had built an altar, God appeared to Israel and blessed him.

The Lord restated his new name, Israel , and gave him the power to pass on the blessings of Abraham and Isaac and made the same covenants with him. All, of course, subjected to him and his family remaining righteous, marrying people within the covenant, and keeping the laws and commandments.

Around the time of these experiences involving Dinah, Rachel became pregnant. Isaac must have been in his sixties by now, the family left Bethel , travelling towards Hebron where his aged father Isaac lived. They had to camp along the way while Rachel gave birth.

The birth was very difficult and drained all her strength and she died after producing a son whom she named Benoni but Israel renamed him Benjamin .

This certainly was a bad period for Isaac. Even when a person lives a good life, it is not necessarily made any easier.

That is a good thing, though most of us would rather have it the other way. It is really the difficult times in our lives that help us grow and develop our moral fibre and character. Each difficult time in our life refines us just that much more.

I do not wish to imply that we are puppets of God and He pulls our strings. I think that living our life is, generally, a random activity. If we do not make plans or set goals and live certain standards, we are randomly buffeted by the consequences of our decisions or the lack of them or circumstances that confront us during our life. People in these circumstances always seem to take the easy way out in an attempt to avoid the difficulties.

Understanding the laws of God gives us a data base upon which to draw, to use these buffetings to our best advantage, to develop our character. If we do not accept or understand these Eternal laws, we will react against these circumstances detrimentally.

Everyone has the freedom to choose how he or she will act or react to circumstance. We are required to develop the faith and courage to do it correctly or in harmony with the will of God. It is upon our choice and commitment that we will finally be judged. If God were pulling our strings we would not be free. All the bad things we did would be His fault. I, for one, would never dare blame Him for any of my mistakes?

It was some time after the death of the favoured Rachel, while still grazing their way towards Hebron that Ruben committed a serious moral sin with Bilhah, who was the late Rachel’s handmaid.

Gen. 35:22 . And it came to pass, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine: and Israel heard it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve.

It is difficult, at this point in time, to understand why this negative experience is put in the Scriptures at all. It all becomes known later when Jacob [" Israel "] gave his sons their final blessings. Ruben was the first born from Leah and there for entitled to the birthright. Because of this sin, he lost that entitlement. Joseph, being the first born son of the second wife, Rachael, was now the legal heir and that is the way the blessing went but we will learn all about that when we get to that part.

Bilhah had been given to Israel to become his concubine, to provide a son on behalf of Rachel. Though Bilhah was only a concubine the act was equivalent to laying with Israel ’s wife, Rachael.

There was no obvious recompense for this serious sin at this time, but like today, the repercussion can never be avoided. He will suffer the consequences much later in his life, and as we will see, it will have an Eternal affect.

Finally they had a joyous arrival and reunion with his father Isaac.

After some years Isaac passed away and Israel felt the full weight of the responsibility for the covenant people.

To accept the responsibility of becoming a leader of any group of people places quite a load psychologically and physically on the leader and places great demands on their time; Especially as their Spiritual leader when they are surrounded by pagans tempting them to worldly pursuits. Here it is obvious that everyone, even their neighbours, knew Israel was the Prophet and not Esau.

Because of the vastness of Esau and Israel ’s flocks they could not live together so Esau moved off to another part of the country. This is other evidence that Israel was the Leader and fulfils the prophecy of the elder serving the younger in Gen. 25: 22-23.

Chapter 36 gives a comprehensive genealogy of Esau’s descendants who eventually became the nation known as the Edmonites.

Israel was becoming quite old and therefore left the management of the flocks and other temporal affairs in the hands of his sons. There was one son whose star was just beginning to rise and towards whom Israel developed a great affection.