In yesterday's passage the Lord met with Jacob at Bethel and refreshed his spirit. Jacob needed some refreshing to recover from the things he's been through and to face the things he's going to endure in today's study. The Lord reminded Jacob that He's still with him and that his new name is still Israel. From this point on we will see the names Jacob and Israel used interchangeably for this man, although he will be called Jacob more often than he's called Israel. Later on in the Bible we will see the names Israel and Jacob used interchangeably for the nation that comes from the descendants of this man, but the nation will be referred to as Israel far more often than as Jacob.
We ended Monday's study on a spiritual high note. Jacob was being obedient to the Lord and getting back on track and as a result his relationship has grown with the Lord. Tragedies now follow Jacob's time of communion with God. Difficult times are not necessarily an indication that we are living outside of the will of God and have done something wrong. Jacob suffered hard times in Shechem because he wasn't supposed to be there, but now he's doing exactly what the Lord is telling him to do and he's still going to experience three difficult circumstances in today's passage. The truth is, as long as we live in a fallen world, we are going to experience difficult circumstances even when we are doing our best to live in submission to the Lord. People around us are still going to do wicked things that affect us. Natural disasters are going to occur. Illness and death are still going to be a part of life. I don't think anything that happens to Jacob in today's study is a punishment upon him but just the result of living in a world where things go wrong and where people do sinful things.
"Then they moved on from Bethel. While they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth and had great difficulty." (Genesis 35:16) We had not been told that Rachel is expecting another child. Previously there was a lot of competition between her and her sister Leah around the subject of childbearing, but no mention is made that the two women are still vying for the "mother of the most children" award. I like to think it's because the two of them have made peace with each other.
"And as she was having great difficulty in childbirth, the midwife said to her, 'Don't despair, for you have another son.' As she breathed her last---for she was dying---she named her son Ben Oni. But his father named him Benjamin." (Genesis 35:17-18) We don't know how old Rachel is at death. She's young enough to still bear children but in those days people remained fertile for far longer than they do today. I tend to think she was still relatively young by the standards of those days, for her older sister Leah will outlive her by quite a few years.
The midwife wants Rachel to know that the Lord answered her prayer for another son. I'm sure Rachel is pleased but she's grieved that she will not live to see him grow up. In her sadness at the knowledge that her life is slipping away she names him "son of my sorrow". As soon as Rachel breathes her last, Jacob changes his son's name to Benjamin which means "son of my right hand". This is a wise and beautiful thing Jacob does. He refuses to allow his child to be saddled with a name that will forever remind his son that his birth caused the death of his mother.
"So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). Over her tomb Jacob set up a pillar, and to this day that pillar marks Rachel's tomb." (Genesis 35:19-20) The Bible doesn't say a single word about Jacob's grief. It must have been soul-crushing for him to lose the person who has always meant the most to him, but we are not told anything about what had to be an intense season of mourning. The Lord has graciously shielded Jacob from prying eyes while he deals with his loss. The Lord reveals to us the tenderness of His own heart by pulling down a curtain of privacy over Jacob's grief.
After burying Rachel just outside of Bethlehem, the family continues moving on toward Isaac's homestead. At their next campsite a bizarre and scandalous thing happens. "Israel moved on again and pitched his tent beyond Migdal Eder. While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went in and slept with his father's concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard of it." (Genesis 35:21-22a) We might find ourselves wondering whether we read verse 22 correctly but yes, Jacob's eldest son sleeps with one of Jacob's wives who is, in a sense, a stepmother to Reuben. We don't know how much older Bilhah is than Reuben but she's old enough to be his mother. She was already Rachel's maid before either Leah (Reuben's mother) or Rachel married Jacob and this means she was already a grown woman before Reuben was ever born. While it's possible she was still a very attractive woman and Reuben might have felt lustful toward her, it's far more likely that his actions constitute a power play. According to many of the commentaries I consulted about this passage in the Bible, in those days when a man slept with a wife of his father he was making the assertion that he was equal to his father. Like a politician who announces his candidacy for a particular office, Reuben is saying that he's running for the position as head of the family. Such a thing shows that he harbors disrespect for his father and feels he can do a better job of running the family than his father. He wants to take over the headship of the family.
We don't know what has brought Reuben to a place where he feels his actions are appropriate. Perhaps he was disappointed by how Jacob handled the rape of Dinah in Shechem. Jacob didn't take charge but allowed his sons to handle the matter---and they handled it tragically. It could be that his resentment toward his father has accumulated over time, maybe because he feels his mother Leah got a bad deal by not being loved by Jacob the way Rachel was loved. Or perhaps he's just a rebellious young man who thinks, since he is the eldest and expects to be the heir, he should go ahead and start taking over the reins of the family. Jacob hears about his son's treachery but does nothing about it at this time. However, Reuben's actions will later have the opposite effect than he intended. He has disqualified himself as the heir. So we see that none the three oldest sons of Jacob which he had with his first and chief wife Leah are going to receive the birthright and the blessing of the covenant that the Lord swore to Abraham. Reuben has disqualified himself with his rebelliousness and his sexual immorality. Simeon and Levi disqualified themselves by being cold-blooded murderers.
The author of Genesis stops the narrative at this point to provide us with a list of Jacob's sons in their birth order. "Jacob had twelve sons: The sons of Leah: Reuben the firstborn of Jacob, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun. The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. The sons of Rachel's servant Bilhah: Dan and Naphtali. The sons of Leah's servant Zilpah: Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob, who were born to him in Paddan Aram." (Genesis 35:22b-26) Paddan Aram, also called Harran, is not literally where Benjamin was born but apparently Benjamin was conceived while Jacob was still in that region. All these children were born while Jacob was away from the homestead of his father Isaac.
Jacob has twelve sons and so far it's looking like they're all going to turn into a bunch of hoodlums. Their attitudes and their rivalry are going to become far worse before they take a turn for the better.
"Jacob came home to his father Isaac in Mamre, near Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had stayed. Isaac lived a hundred and eighty years. Then he breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people, old and full of years. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him." (Genesis 35:27-29) The Bible doesn't tell us how much time Jacob got to spend with his father. When last we saw Isaac, he had lost his eyesight and he was lying in bed thinking he was going to die soon, but here he is still alive at least twenty years later. We are not provided any information about Jacob and Isaac's time together. We are not told anything about Jacob's mother Rebekah and many Bible scholars believe she died during the years Jacob was gone. I believe they are correct because her name is not mentioned in the Old Testament again except to say she and Isaac are buried together in the cave at Machpelah. Also, her death during Jacob's absence would explain why she never sent a message to him that Esau was no longer angry. She had promised to let Jacob know when it was safe to return, but he never heard from her. If Rebekah were still alive at Jacob's return I would expect her to be mentioned at the family reunion here at the end of our passage but we find only Isaac mentioned.
Most often in the Bible, Jacob's name is given before Esau's since he inherited the birthright and the blessings of the covenant. But at Isaac's burial we find Esau mentioned first. As the firstborn and as the son who remained closest to home as an adult, it's fitting that Esau would have taken the main role in making the funeral arrangements for Isaac. The Canaanite culture around them, not knowing anything about Abrahamic covenants or special blessings, would have expected the eldest son to take charge of the burial. Isaac has lived and worked among the people of this region for many years and I am sure he was well-respected by them just as his father was. His funeral would have been attended by neighbors from miles around and these mourners would have expected to see Esau presiding over the service with Jacob lending his support and help. It warms my heart to see these two brothers working together and at peace with each other. Jacob has truly come home now.
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