Sermon Tone Analysis

Tuesday October 10, 2006

Genesis: Genesis 35:16-20-Birth of Benjamin and Death of Rachel

Lesson # 218

Please turn in your Bibles to Genesis 35:1.

This evening we will continue with our study of Genesis 35.

By way of review:

In Genesis 35:1, we read the account of God commanding Jacob to go up to Bethel and fulfill his vow to make an altar to worship Him there.

Then in Genesis 35:2-7, we read of Jacob obeying God’s command to return to Bethel and build an altar to Him there in fulfillment of the vow he made to God thirty years before.

Also, we read in Genesis 35:8 the account of the death of Deborah who was Rebekah’s nurse.

In Genesis 35:9-13, we read of the preincarnate Christ appearing to Jacob and reconfirming the change of his name to “Israel” and reconfirming the promises of the Abrahamic Covenant.

In Genesis 35:14-15, Jacob responds to the theophany and divine promises by constructing a limestone pillar and renewing the name of Bethel.

This evening we will study the birth of Benjamin and the death of Rachel, which is recorded in Genesis 35:16-20.

According to Genesis 35:27, Jacob leaves Bethel in order to see his father at Mamre of Kiriath-arba, which is Hebron.

During this journey from Bethel to Hebron, Jacob’s favorite wife Rachel dies giving birth to his twelfth son Benjamin and also his oldest son Reuben commits incest with his concubine Bilhah.

Therefore, we see Jacob going from spiritual elation and euphoria at Bethel to heartache and sadness due to the death of Rachel but then joy due to the birth of Benjamin and back again to heartache and sadness due to his oldest son Reuben having sex with his concubine Bilhah.

Genesis 35:1, “Then God said to Jacob, ‘Arise, go up to Bethel and live there, and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.’”

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 purify 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.’”

Genesis 35:4, “So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods which they had and the rings which were in their ears, and Jacob hid them under the oak which was near Shechem.”

Genesis 35:5, “As they journeyed, there was a great terror upon the cities which were around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.”

Genesis 35:6, “So Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him.”

Genesis 35:7, “He built an altar there, and called the place El-bethel, because there God had revealed Himself to him when he fled from his brother.”

Genesis 35:8, “Now Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the oak; it was named Allon-bacuth.”

Genesis 35:9, “Then God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Paddan-aram, and He blessed him.”

Genesis 35:10, “God said to him, ‘Your name is Jacob; You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.

Thus He called him Israel.’”

Genesis 35:11, “God also said to him, ‘I am God Almighty; Be fruitful and multiply; A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come forth from you.”

Genesis 35:12, “The land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give it to you, and I will give the land to your descendants after you.”

Genesis 35:13, “Then God went up from him in the place where He had spoken with him.”

Genesis 35:14, “Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He had spoken with him, a pillar of stone, and he poured out a drink offering on it; he also poured oil on it.”

Genesis 35:15, “So Jacob named the place where God had spoken with him, Bethel.”

Genesis 35:16, “Then they journeyed from Bethel; and when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth and she suffered severe labor.”

“They” refers to Jacob and his household as well as those women and children that were taken captive at Shechem.

“Journeyed” is the verb nasa` (us^n*) (naw-saw), which means, “to pull up” stakes that stabilize a tent and is a technical term for “breaking camp.”

“Bethel” literally means, “house of God” and is approximately ten miles north of Jerusalem.

Jacob did “not” disobey God by leaving Bethel since in Genesis 35:1, God commanded Jacob to live at Bethel for a period of time long enough to fulfill his vow, which is indicated by the meaning of the verb yashav, “live,” which appears in Genesis 35:1 and does “not” mean to live in a place permanently.

Since Jacob has fulfilled his vow, we see that he leaves Bethel for two reasons: (1) In order to seek grass for his flocks, which was not in abundance at Bethel whose terrain, is limestone.

(2) In order to see his father “Isaac at Mamre of Kiriath-arba that is Hebron.”

(See Genesis 35:27).

“Ephrath” is the proper noun `ephrathah (ht*r*p+a#) (ef-raw-thaw), which means, “fruitful region,” which according to Genesis 35:19 is the older name of “Bethlehem.”

Genesis 35:16 records that “when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath (Bethlehem), Rachel began to give birth and she suffered severe labor.”

This statement describes Jacob traveling in a southerly direction along the main north-south route through the hills from Bethel to Hebron, which would place the birthplace of Benjamin and the death and grave of Rachel somewhere north of Jerusalem.

This is confirmed by 1 Samuel 10:2, Jeremiah 31:15 and Joshua 18:25, which imply that Rachel wept for her children near Ramah in the territory of Benjamin (Word Biblical Commentary, volume 2: Genesis 16-50; Gordon J. Wenham, Nelson Reference and Electronic, page 326).

In a manner, which is characteristic of the Hebrew language, in this passage the narrator presents the birth of Benjamin in summary fashion (“Rachel began to give birth”) and then details of this birth follow (“She suffered severe labor”).

The statement “she suffered severe labor” is the piel (intensive) form of the verb qashah (hv#q*) (kaw-shaw), which literally means, “she had a difficult time” in childbirth.

Genesis 35:17, “When she was in severe labor the midwife said to her, ‘Do not fear, for now you have another son.’”

The midwife comforts Rachel by informing that her child survived the difficult labor and that God had answered her prayer for another son and which prayer is recorded in Genesis 30:24 by the naming of her first son Joseph, whose name means, “May the Lord give me another son.”

Genesis 35:18, “It came about as her soul was departing (for she died), that she named him Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin.”

The name “Ben-oni,” which Rachel gave her son as she was dying means, “son of my sorrow,” which expressed her anguish and pain she experienced while giving birth to him.

However, Jacob did not want his son to feel guilty for the death of his mother but rather wanted him to feel loved and that he was fortunate to have him and so he changed the child’s name to “Benjamin,” which means, “son of my right hand.”

The right hand in the ancient world denoted power or a man’s strength.

“Benjamin” (/YM!Y*N+b!) (bin-yaw-mene) was the lone full brother of Joseph since they had the same mother “Rachel” whereas the mothers of Jacob’s other ten sons were Leah, Bilhah and Zilpah (See Genesis 30:22-24, Genesis 35:18, 43:29).

“Benjamin” was also the only one of Jacob’s sons that was born in the land of Canaan since his other eleven sons and his daughter Dinah were born in Paddan Aram.

Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah were born in Paddan Aram according to Genesis 29:31-33, Issachar, Zebulun according to Genesis 30:14-21, Gad, Asher according to Genesis 30:9-13, Dan, Naphtali according to Genesis 30:1-8, Joseph according to Genesis 30:22-24 and Dinah according to Genesis 30:21.

Like his eleven brothers, “Benjamin” became the progenitor of one of the twelve tribes of Israel, which bears his name.

He is the focal point of the encounter of Joseph and his brothers in Egypt when the former was the prime minister of Egypt and unrecognized by his brothers.

In Genesis 46:21 the immediate descendants of Benjamin number ten, whereas in Numbers 26:38-40 only seven are enumerated, and some even under different names.

This difference is probably owing to the circumstance that some of the direct descendants of Benjamin died at an early period, or, at least, childless.

At the first census during the Exodus the tribe of Benjamin numbered 35,400, ranking eleventh, but increased to 45,600 at the second census, ranking seventh.

The Benjamites were men of war and famous slingers (Gen.

49:27; Judg.

3:15; 1 Ch.

8:40; 12:2) and were the first tribe in Israel to oppose the Philistines.

To Benjamin belongs the distinction of giving the first king to the Jews, Saul being a Benjamite (1 Sam.

9:1-2; 10:20-21) and they also supported David in his reign.

Jacob’s prophecy regarding Benjamin’s descendants future lot, and the development of his personal character in his tribe, is brief: “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; In the morning he devours the prey, and in the evening he divides the spoil” (Gen.

49:27).

The events of history cast light on that prediction, for the ravening of the wolf is seen in the exploits of Ehud the Benjamite (Judg.

3), in Saul's career, and especially in the whole matter of Gibeah, so carefully recorded in Judges 20 and Saul of Tarsus, who was the great persecutor of the church (Acts 8-9).

Other Benjamites of distinction were the prophet Jeremiah (1:1), Esther and Mordecai (Est.

2:5), and of course the apostle Paul (Rm. 11:1; Phlp.

3:5).

Genesis 35:19, “So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).”

There is great irony in the fact that Rachel died in childbirth since if you recall, in frustration she complained to Jacob to “give me children or I will die” (See Genesis 30:1) and ultimately it was the gift of children, which killed her.

Rachel’s death like the death of every human being is the sovereign decision of God based upon the integrity of God and omniscient knowledge of all the facts.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-2, “There is an appointed time for everything, a time for everything under heaven.

There is a time to be born and there is a time to die.”

Psalm 116:15, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His godly ones.”

Ecclesiastes 7:1b, “The day of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth.”

The death of a member of the human race is not ruled by chance or fate but according to the providence of God, which expresses the fact that the world and our lives are not ruled by chance or fate but by God.

“Physical” death is the separation of the human soul (and in the case of the believer, the human spirit also) from the body (Matt.

8:22; Rom.

8:38-39; 2 Cor.

5:1-8; Phil.

1:20-21; 2:27, 30).

The believer’s physical body goes to the grave at physical death and his soul and human spirit go to be face to face with the Lord (2 Cor.

5:8).

2 Corinthians 5:8, “we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.”

The believer will receive a resurrection body at the resurrection of the church, which is called by theologians, the “rapture” of the church.

1 Corinthians 15:54, “But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, ‘DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory.’”

Jesus Christ’s death on the Cross has freed us from the fear of death.

Hebrews 2:14, “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil.”

Hebrews 2:15, “and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.”

Physical death cannot separate the believer from the love of God (Rom.

8:38-39).

Romans 8:38, “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers.”

Romans 8:39, “nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Life hangs by a very fine thread that can be snapped at any moment and should motivate the believer to use the remainder of his time on earth to execute God’s plan for his life to become like Christ.

Romans 14:8, “For if we live, we live because of the Lord and if we die, we die because of the Lord therefore whether we live or whether we die, we belong to the Lord.”