HCF OT Survey - Genesis pt 4

The Offspring of Isaac Genesis 25:19-35:28

General Overview

In this section, Moses will show how God built on the foundation of His relationship with Abraham. Through Isaac and Jacob, God will demonstrate to the nation of Israel who first heard this account and all the generations of God’s people. After that, He is present with His people and fights for His people.

Moses makes this point by significantly increasing the preposition “with” in this section of Genesis to show that God was present with Isaac and Jacob.

The Birth of the Twins - 25:19-36

Just like we saw with Sarah, in Genesis 25, we find that Rebekah, his wife, was barren. A pattern begins to be established in the Bible of women who are barren for all their lives until God miraculously opens their wombs. In response to Rebekah’s bareness and God’s promise of offspring, I want you to notice what Isaac does, 25:21,

Genesis 25:21: “And Isaac entreated Yahweh on behalf of his wife because she was barren; and Yahweh was moved by his entreaty. So Rebekah his wife conceived.”

Unlike his father, Isaac did not devise some scheme to continue the promises of God by marrying one of Rebekah’s servants. The first thing he does is pray to God. God opened Rebekah’s womb, and she conceived of twins.

Moses records that the twins wrestled in her womb, and this caused Rebekah some concern - so what does she do? Pray.

Genesis 25:22–23: “But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If it is so, why then am I this way?” So she went to inquire of Yahweh. And Yahweh said to her, “Two nations are in your womb; And two peoples will be separated from your body; And one people shall be stronger than the other; And the older shall serve the younger.”

See here how God sovereignly sets the destiny of her children and their future offspring before their birth to accomplish His plan. This was done before either of them was born before either of them committed any act of sin or righteousness. It was God’s sovereign plan.

As the Apostle Paul records in Romans, when arguing for God’s sovereign and unconditional election,

Romans 9:10–15: “And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac; for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that the purpose of God according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls, it was said to her, “THE OLDER SHALL SERVE THE YOUNGER.” Just as it is written, “JACOB I LOVED, BUT ESAU I HATED.” What shall we say then? Is there any unrighteousness with God? May it never be! For He says to Moses, “I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION.”

This theological truth is important to keep in the back of our minds as we continue to look at the life of Jacob this morning. 20 years after receiving this promise from God, Rebekah gives birth to her twins

Genesis 25:24–27: “And her days to give birth were fulfilled, and behold, there were twins in her womb. And the first came forth red, all over like a hairy garment; and they named him Esau. Afterward his brother came forth with his hand holding on to Esau’s heel, so his name was called Jacob; and Isaac was sixty years old when she gave birth to them. And the boys grew up; Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field, but Jacob was a peaceful man, living in tents.”

It is important to comment on the meaning of Jacob’s name. Translated, it means “one who grabs the heal” or, more literally, supplanter — which, according to the dictionary, is “someone who supersedes (another) especially by force, scheme, or treachery.” As we will see, this name will have much correlation with the character of Jacob.

As the twins grew, God’s sovereign plan for their lives began to take shape. Their parents each chose a favorite son, with Isaac choosing Esau and Rebekah choosing the younger of the twins, Jacob. And in verse 25, we see that even in his early years, the younger brother is a schemer.

Gen 25:29-32 “And Jacob had cooked stew. And Esau came in from the field, and he was famished. Then Esau said to Jacob, “Please give me a swallow from the red stuff—this red stuff, for I am famished.” Therefore, his name was called Edom. But Jacob said, “First, sell me your birthright.” And Esau said, “Behold, I am about to die; so of what use then is the birthright to me?”

Now, the birthright in this family wasn’t just a nice monetary inheritance. The birthright of Isaac was the right to inherit the covenant promises of God that he inherited from his father, Abraham. And what this text also shows us is that Esau had no interest in continuing the covenant relationship with God. He despised this birthright and was willing to sell it for soup.

The Life of Isaac - 26:1-29

As we saw in the previous chapter, Isaac has benefited from learning from his father’s failures and faith. In chapter 26, we can see Isaac walk through almost identical life events that his father did. At the beginning of the chapter, he faces a famine in the Land of Canaan. But instead of fleeing to Egypt, God appears to him and commands him to stay verse 3

Genesis 26:3–4: “Sojourn in this Land, and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your seed I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to your father, Abraham. “And I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and I will give your seed all these lands, and by your seed, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.”

In these verses, God repeats the promises He made with Abraham, signifying that these promises now belonged to Isaac. Moreover, God promises to be with Isaac and to bless him.

We also see that Isaac is not immune to failing the same temptations his father did. Just as Abraham did with Sarah, his wife, Isaac lies to Abimelech out of self-preservation, seemingly forgetting God’s promise to be with him. But just as God did for Sarah, He protects Rebekah from being taken by Abimelech by revealing Abimelech that she was Isaac’s wife. Remembering God’s impending judgment from his past encounter with Abraham commands no one to touch Rebekah.

Isaac then settles in the Land of Abimelech and becomes incredibly blessed by YHWH, reaping one hundred times more than what he sowed. He became so rich, and his flocks grew so vast that Abimelech told him to leave the region. As his father did before him, Isaac establishes himself officially in the Land by digging wells and gaining water rights. And he ends up settling in the Land of Beersheba, where Abraham first dug a well in Canaan. It is there that verse 24,

Genesis 26:24 “And Yahweh appeared to him that night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham; Do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your seed, For the sake of My servant Abraham.”

Once more, God promises Isaac blessing and presence. He is with Isaac.

Jacob’s Scheme for the Birthright 27:1-28:9

As the life of Isaac ends, he sets out to give the paternal blessing to Esau. Isaac’s desire is that Esau and his descendants carry on the family heritage of a covenant relationship with God. Note that Isaac does this regardless of the promise God made to Rebekah and the fact that Esau sold the right to be blessed to Jacob for a bowl of stew. As Abraham did with Ishmael before Isaac was conceived, he is seeking to take the promise of God into his own hands.

But Rebekah hears of Isaac’s scheme, and she and Jacob plan a scheme of their own. Rebekah’s industry and efficiency are on full display as she devises a scheme with Jacob to trick her husband. Their plan is fast, and it is foolproof. She will make a quick meal with her super speed, and he will put on his clothes. Somehow, while making a delicious meal, she can take goat skin and make gloves for his hands and something to cover his neck.

Rebekah and Jacob have thought of everything. They beat Esau with speed and cunning. But everything falls apart the minute Jacob must open his mouth. Isaac, whose eyesight has deteriorated, hears the voice of his son Jacob. He isn’t fully convinced by Jacob’s lie and tests him twice to determine if it really is Esau who is before him. After touching Jacob’s animal skin-clad arms and smelling the clothes of Esau that Jacob is wearing, Isaac gives the fatherly blessing and official birthright to Jacob.

Jacob and Rebekah’s plan should have failed. Their plan was busted the minute Jacob opened his mouth. However, listen to the all-too-true words of Jacob in verse 20,

Genesis 27:20: “Then Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” And he said, “Because Yahweh your God caused it to happen to me.”

God caused Isaac to be convinced he was blessing Esau. What will be seen in the rest of Jacob’s life is that he will plan many schemes. Most of the schemes that Jacob plans will be terrible. However, God will providentially redeem the situation. Jacob schemes, but God redeems. After Isaac blesses Jacob, Esau comes home with the meal, but it’s too late. When Isaac discovers that he was deceived, he is filled with anger, However, there is no going back, for Isaac blessed Jacob, and he shall be blessed. Upon hearing this, Esau is filled with murderous hate in his heart, verse 41,

Genesis 27:41: “So Esau bore a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him; and Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”

This plot to kill Jacob comes to Rebekah, who then sends her son to flee to her brother Laban. The author of Hebrews looks back on this moment and gives us instructions on the dangers of bitterness and unrepentance.

Hebrews 12:14–17: “Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord, seeing to it that no one falls short of the grace of God; that no ROOT OF BITTERNESS SPRINGING UP CAUSES TROUBLE, and by it many be defiled; that also there be no sexually immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.”

Before Jacob leaves, his father calls for him and officially blesses him with the full knowledge that he is Jacob. Like Abraham once did for him, Isaac commands his son not to marry a daughter of Canaan but instead take a wife from his mother’s relative.

Genesis 28:1–3: “So Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and commanded him and said to him, “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. “Arise, go to Paddan-Aram, to the House of Bethuel your mother’s father; and from there take to yourself a wife from the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother. “May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become an assembly of peoples.”

So, then Jacob is sent out of the Land in order to preserve his life and the promise of the seed.

Bethel Part 1 (Gen 28:10-22)

At the opening of Jacob’s journey, he sets up camp in a place near Haran. It is there that he had a dream,

Genesis 28:12: “Then he had a dream, and behold, a ladder stood on the earth with its top touching heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.”

So we have this picture of a ladder to heaven with Angels going up and down, and at the very top, who do we see? Verse 13,

Genesis 28:13–15: “And behold, Yahweh stood above it and said, “I am Yahweh, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the Land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your seed. “And your seed will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the East and to the north and to the south, and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go. And I will bring you back to this Land, for I will not forsake you until I have done what I have promised you.”

Like Abraham and Isaac before Him, God speaks to Jacob and promises to carry out the promises He made to Abraham and Isaac. He is faithful for generation after generation. Furthermore, God promises to Jacob that He will be with Jacob, keep him wherever he goes, and bring him back to the Land. After this dream, Jacob awakes and names the place Bethel, which means the House (or dwelling place) of God. However, after this, Jacob decides to make a vow of his own. He states that he will let the Lord be his God if God meets a couple of conditions - verse 20,

Genesis 28:20–21: “Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey on which I am going, and will give me food to eat and garments to wear, and I return to my father’s house in peace, then Yahweh will be my God.”

Jacob thinks that he can negotiate a deal with God where he exchanges worship and devotion to God for protection and food from God. What is clear here is that Jacob doesn’t understand or truly believe in God and His promises just yet.

Biblical Theology Connection

This moment connects back and points forward. Thinking back to the events that came just before the calling of Abraham, we saw a man trying to build a tower to heaven, a ladder, if you will, where they could reach God and be just like him.

But here, we see the beautiful reality that God is not unreachable. He is not distant. He is the Almighty Creator and One true God. But He has not kept Himself from man but instead is with man. He is caring for them, ministering to them, sending forth His angels down to earth.

What the original readers of Genesis and the generations beyond should see from this is that God has not left us in our sins. Instead, He is with us. We will see this message further fleshed out in the theology of the Tabernacle and the Temple. But this message finds its end point not in a place but in a person.

Remember in the Gospel of John, how when Jesus first calls the disciples, He alludes to this passage,

John 1:50–51 “Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” And He said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see THE HEAVENS OPENED AND THE ANGELS OF GOD ASCENDING AND DESCENDING on the Son of Man.”

In doing so, Jesus is stating that the ladder in Jacob’s dream pointed to Him. He is the bridge between heaven and earth. He is the mediator between God and man. He is Immanuel, which means “God with us.”

Jacob vs. The Scheme Master - 29:1-30:43

In Chapter 29, we see that Jacob has left the Land of Canaan and entered the Land of the Sons of the East, where his uncle, Laban, lives. Upon arriving, he meets Rachel, the daughter of Laban, and it’s love at first sight. He is smitten with her and immediately seeks her hand in marriage. When he comes to Laban, he tells him of his situation with his brother, and Laban offers asylum to him. Jacob then asks to marry Laban’s daughter Rachel and happily agrees to work for seven years for her hand in marriage.

In doing so, Jacob obeys his father’s command not to marry a Canaanite, and the hope of the seed promise of Genesis 3:15 continues on. Now, Laban is a real schemer, and he sees an opportunity in Jacob. Laban knows about God’s hand of blessing upon Abraham and his family from his past encounter with Abraham’s servant. So he devises a treacherous plot vs. 21-23

Genesis 29:21–23: “Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go into her.” And Laban gathered all the men of the place and made a feast. Now it happened in the evening that he took his daughter Leah and brought her to him; and Jacob went in to her.”

When Jacob woke up and realized he was sleeping next to Leah, he was furious at Laban. So, Laban, being the grand schemer that he is, offered to allow Jacob to marry Rachel for seven more years of free labor and a second-hand blessing from God. But it doesn’t stop there. The last layer to Laban’s plan is to introduce family dysfunction. Look how long he makes Jacob wait, verse 27

Genesis 29:27: “Fulfill the week of this one, and we will give you the other also for the service which you shall serve with me for another seven years.”

Imagine how bitter and hurt Leah would have been after experiencing such disrespect and disregard from her new husband. He marries her sister a week into their honeymoon. Laban’s plan is to create so much dysfunction in Jacob’s family that it won’t grow. If Jacob’s family doesn’t grow, then Jacob won’t have enough children to help him shepherd a flock of his own and grow his wealth enough to leave Laban’s household. Therefore, Jacob would be forced to work for Laban to survive, allowing Laban to reap the blessings of Jacob’s God.

Instead of the internal family turmoil leading to minimal marital bliss and, subsequently, a small family, God blesses Leah with great fertility,

Genesis 29:31: “And Yahweh saw that Leah was unloved, and He opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.”

Leah bears Jacob four sons, their names being Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah. And if you go back and read the meaning behind their names, you are intended to feel Leah’s pain of being unloved and rejected. And yet, when she bears her fourth son, Judah, she says this,

Genesis 29:35: “And she conceived again and bore a son and said, “This time I will praise Yahweh.” Therefore she named him Judah. Then she stopped bearing.”

And there’s a lesson here in what it means for God to be with us. He is with us, and He sees our struggle and our pain. He loves the unloved Leah. He compassionately redeems her situation of rejection by blessing her. But this causes Rachel to become jealous, 30:1,

Genesis 30:1: “Then Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, so she became jealous of her sister; and she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I die.”

Since she is barren, she gives her servant, Bilhah, to Jacob as a wife. Bilhah bears Jacob two sons. After it seems that Leah stopped bearing children, she does the same thing as her sister and gives Jacob her servant, Zilpah to be his wife. Zilpah bears Jacob two more sons. But then God opened Leah’s womb again and gave her two more sons and a daughter. And then, God looked upon Rachel’s bareness and caused her to conceive, too.

Genesis 30:22–23: “Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb. So she conceived and bore a son and said, “God has taken away my reproach.”

In this twisted story of messed-up family dynamics and broken marriages, we see God simultaneously defeat the scheme of Laban, fulfill His covenant promise to Jacob, and demonstrate compassion for the unloved Leah. Jacob and Laban scheme, but God redeems. Eventually, Jacob decides that it is time for him to return home to his own country and requests that Laban allow him to take his wives and his children back to Canaan. In that age, a man’s children were still considered his possession until they were allowed to leave the household. Since Jacob never left Laban’s household, his four wives and 12 children were technically under Laban’s headship and authority. But in 30:27, Laban refuses Jacob, saying,

Genesis 30:27: “But Laban said to him, “If now I have found favor in your sight, stay with me; I have interpreted an omen that Yahweh has blessed me on your account.”

Jacob agrees on one condition: that he can take sheep from Laban to start a flock of his own made up of the blemished sheep of Laban’s flock. Laban agrees to these terms, but then, being the grand schemer that he is, he takes all the spotted, speckled, and black sheep out of his flock, places them in the flocks of his own sons, and sends them far away. Jacob is then left with nothing, for there are only white sheep that remain in his flock.

Not to be out-schemed, Jacob develops a scheme of his own based on ancient myth. During the mating season, he has the strong sheep in the flock mate in front of these poplar and almond sticks that are striped and speckled. This scheme is filled with foolish superstition and faith in a myth, but behind Jacob’s scheme, God works through the genetics of conception to cause Jacob’s plan to succeed, and his flock grows abundantly, as well as his household of servants and other animals.

Jacob's Flight from Laban (31:1-55)

We witnessed how God overcame the scheme of Laban and worked through the crazy scheme of Jacob so that he became blessed with a large flock. But as God continued to bless Jacob with a large flock and his household began to grow with many servants, Laban began to have an attitude of animosity towards him.

Genesis 31:2–3: "And Jacob saw the face of Laban, and behold, it was not friendly toward him as formerly. Then Yahweh said to Jacob, "Return to the land of your fathers and to your kin, and I will be with you."

However, instead of going to Laban as before and separating on good terms, Jacob decides to run away in secret when Laban and his family go to sheer their flock. This time of sheering was usually one of great feasting and merriment, which Jacob saw as the perfect opportunity to escape. The flaw in Jacob's plan is that he cannot run fast, for he is traveling with women, children, and animals.

So, when Laban hears that Jacob fled with Laban's children, servants, and grandchildren, he gathers his sons together and hunts Jacob down. And when Laban overtakes Jacob, he has every intention and right to do him harm. Jacob has essentially kidnapped Laban's family. However, God intervenes and warns Laban to leave Jacob alone. After hearing this message from God, Laban spares Jacob. And when Jacob recognizes God's intervention, he makes a declaration in verse 42,

Genesis 31:42: "If the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the dread of Isaac, had not been for me, surely now you would have sent me away empty. God has seen my affliction and the toil of my hands, so He rendered the decision last night."

The scene ends with Laban blessing his children and grandchildren and returning home. Jacob schemed, but God redeemed the situation by protecting Jacob, just as He promised.

Jacob vs. Esau Round 2 (32:1-23)

After the final encounter with Laban, God sends angels to meet with Jacob to demonstrate that He is still with Jacob in verse.

Genesis 32:1–2: "Now Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. Then Jacob said when he saw them, "This is God's camp." So he named that place Mahanaim."

Jacob’s camp is God's camp. He is encamped with Jacob. However, after this sweet reminder of God's presence, Jacob is filled with great distress and fear because his brother Esau is coming with 400 men to meet him. Instead of trusting God, who had just sent two angels to him for protection, Jacob begins to scheme. At first, he decides to split his camp in two. However, after he makes this plan, he releases his folly and decides to pray to God in verse 9,

Genesis 32:9–12 "And Jacob said, "O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Yahweh, who said to me, 'Return to your land and to your kin, and I will prosper you,' I am unworthy of all the lovingkindness and of all the truth which You have shown to Your slave; for with my staff only I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps. "Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and strike me down with the mothers and the children. "For You said, 'I will surely prosper you and make your seed as the sand of the sea, which is too great to be numbered.'"

He asks for deliverance from Esau based on the lovingkindness and faithfulness that He showed to his grandfather Abraham, his father Isaac, and himself. Instead of bartering with God for His aid, he prays based on God's character and with a trust that God will be faithful to the promises He made to Jacob to return him to the Land and to prosper him and his descendants there. But sadly, just as we thought Jacob might be done with scheming and just trust God, he decides to send Esau a bribe of over 500 livestock in exchange for safe passage. He then decides to go ahead with his plan to split up his family from the rest of the camp and place them on the other side of the river. Jacob just can't stop scheming.

After all this scheming, the scene closes with a wrestling match at night with God. Look at 32:24,

Genesis 32:24–26: "Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until the breaking of dawn. And he saw that he had not prevailed against him, so he touched the socket of his thigh; and so the socket of Jacob's thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him. Then he said, "Let me go, for the dawn is breaking." But he said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me."

This whole wrestling match was really a method of teaching Jacob about the futility of his schemes and how God was really the one who gained victory for Jacob. He schemed to take his brother's birthright and blessing, but God brought it to pass because He decreed that it would be so before Jacob and Esau were born.

Jacob schemed to allow God to be his God at Bethel even though God already promised His presence. He schemed to take Laban's flock, but God is the one who blessed him with speckled sheep. He schemed to run away from Laban, but God came to Laban in a dream to protect Jacob. Even after God quickly ends the match by dislocating Jacob's hip with a mere touch, he schemes to wrestle a blessing from God by taking hold and refusing to let go of Him. God then turns to interrogating Jacob,

Genesis 32:27–28: "So he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob." Then He said, "Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed."

God asks him his name, and he replies that it is Jacob - heel catcher, supplanter, schemer. For all his life, his name has been attached to the stigma of him catching his brother's heal and stealing his brother's birthright. Once Jacob confesses his name, God renames him much like He did with Abraham earlier. God renames Jacob to become Israel, which has two meanings: One who strives (fights) with God OR God strives — God fights for you. This later meaning makes the most sense in the context of Jacob's life. He always tried to fight, to strive, to the scheme, but in renaming Jacob to Israel, God declared to him, "I fight for you."

The scene ends with Jacob trying to ask a question of his own, "Please tell me your name." God responds by saying, "Why is it that you ask my name?" which is a way of saying, "Jacob, don't you realize who I am?" In verse 30, Jacob concludes who it is that he was fighting with,

Genesis 32:30: "So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, "I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been delivered."

In this naming of the place, we begin to see a change in Jacob. He did not name the place for the fight that occurred; he named it with the emphasis that He saw God, and God shielded him from death. He recognizes that he should have died in that wrestling match with the living God, but God preserved him. Earlier, in verse 12, Jacob prayed that God would preserve him from Esau. Now, he recognizes that his life was preserved by the living God from the death that should have come with seeing God.

However, Jacob is not done with his schemes. When dawn comes, and Esau approaches, we see Jacob divide up his camp once more. Before they met Esau's army, he made up a line of his wives' children based on who he loved most. The maids of his wives and their four children were placed in front, first to die. Then came his first wife, Leah, and her six children, next to die. Lastly, there came his favorite wife and favorite son, Rachel and Joseph, who were placed at the very end of the camp so that they would be most protected if Esau decided to attack. This little event sets up the rest of Jacob's narrative. On top of being a schemer, Jacob is the head of a dysfunctional family.

Yet, in a demonstration of his faith in God's protection, Jacob goes ahead of the entire camp to meet Esau. And just as God promised, Esau does not harm Jacob or his family, and they go their separate ways in peace. In verse 18, Jacob finally returns safely to Canaan, settling in Shechem. And just as Abraham and Isaac did before him, Jacob demonstrates faith in God's promise of Land by purchasing property and building an altar. He called El Elohe Israel, which means God is the God of Israel. God is redeeming the schemer.

The Rape of Dinah (Gen 34:1-31)

However, after settling in Shechem amongst the Canaanites, a horrific conflict arises when Jacob's daughter, Dinah, is raped by the son of the king of Shechem. What is startling is Jacob seems to be unmoved by this crime. He keeps the news to himself until his sons return from shepherding the livestock. When they return, Jacob tells them of the crime against their sister, and they all sit down with the king of Shechem, Hamor.

And when they meet, Hamor makes Jacob and his sons an offer: allow my son to have Dinah as his wife and intermarry with us. What should have been a legal confrontation turns into a peace treaty where Jacob is offered to name his price in exchange for his daughter’s hand in marriage. And instead of demanding the just punishment of death for the crime committed against his daughter, Jacob entertains this offer from Hamor. He uses this situation to preserve peace and gain wealth.

However, Jacob's sons have a different idea in mind. They agree to Hamor's deal, but Jacob's sons place one requirement: all the city's men must be circumcised. As we see in verse 25, we see that it was a deceitful scheme,

Genesis 34:25–26: "Now it happened on the third day, when they were in pain, that two of Jacob's sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, each took his sword and came upon the unsuspecting city and killed every male. And they killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the edge of the sword and took Dinah from Shechem's House and went away."

They should have only taken Shechem's life. That was justice in the legal system of that day. However, guided by wrathful vengeance instead of justice, Simeon and Levi went above and beyond justice and committed a war crime.

Sadly, what is the most pitiful part of this story is the response of Jacob- verse 30,

Genesis 34:30: "Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, "You have brought trouble on me by making me odious among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites; and my men being few in number, they will gather together against me and strike me, and I will be destroyed, I and my household."

Jacob scolds Simeon and Levi for bringing trouble on him and making his name odious amongst the Canaanites. Frustrated and dumbfounded, his sons realize that Jacob was more concerned for his safety and prosperity in the Land than for fighting for the honor and justice of his daughter.

Bethel Pt. 2 (Gen 35:1-28)

After this ordeal, God comes to Jacob and commands him to leave Shechem, return to Bethel, and settle there. Remember, Bethel was where Jacob first slept after fleeing his father's House to avoid being murdered by Esau. It was there that he dreamed of the ladder to heaven. And this sparks something within Jacob. Genesis 35:2,

Genesis 35:2–3 "So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, "Put away the foreign gods which are among you and cleanse yourselves and change your garments; and let us arise and go up to Bethel, and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone."

Jacob knows they are going to a holy place, and he knows he serves a holy God, so he instructs his family to leave their foreign gods behind. And they move from Shechem to Bethel, God protects Jacob, verse 5, silencing his fears,

Genesis 35:5: "Then they journeyed on, and there was a terror from God upon the cities which were around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob."

Notice also that there is no mention of Jacob dividing his camp or scheming or lying about his wives being his sisters to protect his family somehow. He is trusting God to protect him and fight for him.

When Jacob returns to Bethel, God appears to Jacob once more,

Genesis 35:10–12: "And God said to him, "Your name is Jacob; Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, But Israel shall be your name." Thus, He called his name Israel. God also said to him, "I am God Almighty; Be fruitful and multiply; A nation and an assembly of nations shall come from you, And kings shall come forth from your loins. "And the land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give it to you, And I will give the land to your seed after you."

See how God blessed him and officially renamed him Israel. He also gives the command that he gave to Adam and Noah to be fruitful and multiply. In this, we see that Jacob and his sons will bring about the blessings of Abraham and bring about the Edenic rest that was lost when Adam sinned and partially restored with Noah after the flood. They were to be a people who carried the line of the seed and a people who would produce kings.

After this promise from God, Rachel, the wife Jacob loved, bore his last son. However, this was a tragic event for Rachel died after giving birth to her second son, Benjamin.

It is essential to see that this story at Bethel forms the bookend, or inclusio, on the story of Jacob's life. The remaining narrative of Genesis now shifts to his sons. The question then arises: who out of Jacob's 12 sons will carry on the lineage of the Seed of Genesis 3:15?

This section of Genesis ends with Jacob finally returning home to his father, Isaac, before his father's death. Just as Abraham was buried by Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau reunite to bury their father next to Abraham and Sarah in Hebron.

The Offspring of Esau (Genesis 36:1-43)

After burying their father, Esau, and Jacob parted ways, with Esau settling east of the promised Land. This Land became known as Edom, and Edom's descendants became known as Edomites. It is essential to remember that throughout Biblical history, there will be a generational strife between the offspring of Jacob and the offspring of Esau. This strife culminates with the plot of King Herod the Great, the Idumean (i.e., Edomite), attempting to murder the infant Christ and then Herod Antipas participating in the trial to execute Christ on the Cross.