If you could have chosen your family, would you have chosen a different one? Do you ever look around at your friend's family and feel a little envious thinking . . . why wasn't I born into a family like that? I sometimes do - I wish I had been born into a family that went to church together, that prayed together, that read the Bible together, that honored and respected each other. But . . . none of us got to choose.
But . . . God did! When we look in the book of Genesis we see God calling and forming the family He would one day be born into. WOW! Remember that we saw God call Abraham away from his own family so that he would establish a new family - one that God would call "my people". God chose that the descendants of Abraham, through Isaac - and the descendants of Isaac, through Jacob - and the descendants of the twelve sons of Jacob would form a new family, a new people, a new nation. These would be the people that God would call "my people" and from these people would be the family into whom the Promised One would be born - God would enfold himself into a virgin's womb - a woman who was a descendant of this family. WOW!
During our weekly studies we've often talked about how flawed "these people" were - they deceived, they lied, they cheated (the list goes on and on). Even now - thousands of years later - we think we could have made better choices for God. But guess what? He didn't ask us! He chose! He decided! He planned and He fulfilled.
I don't know about you but I often try to hide anything embarrassing about my life / my family. Let's leave the skeletons in the closet where they beong and not let them out in the daylight. But God did not do that! He definitely could have. He could have told Moses . . . "leave that part out - it's not very appealing and it certainly does not flatter Me - what will people think in 5,000 years or so?" But that's not who our God is. He chose for all of us to see and understand that none of us are perfect - we are all broken - we are all affected by the Fall - and yet - He chooses us and loves us anyway. He uses us to fulfill His purpose.
Jacob, his sons, their wives/concubines/families and servants (about 70 people) have gathered in Egypt to survive the famine. This family is marred by polygamy, manipulation, incest, prostitution, jealousy, murder, rape, sibling rivalry, idolatry, deceit and estrangement. Pretty much covers it, eh? These are the people God has chosen. We might think they are not worthy of this honor, but He does!
Jacob chooses Rachel from Laban's family (remember Laban was brother to Jacob's mom, Rebekah) and is tricked into marrying Leah instead. Poor Leah was unloved, but she was blessed with a brood of children - 6 sons and a daughter (Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun and Dinah). Rachel was loved, but barren for many years so she gives her maidservant, Billah, to her husband to sleep with - Dan and Naphtali are the children of that union. Of course, Leah is not to be outdone so she too gives her maidservant, Zilpah, to her husband to lie with. Two more sons are added to the family tree - Gad and Asher. God remembers Rachel and enables her to conceive and Joseph is born.
Before Jacob could return to his family, as instructed by God, he knew he had to first meet up with his brother, Esau - the one he deceived, the one he stole from (birthright and blessings). It was time to make amends - even if that meant he would lose his life. He had to make things right - not only with Esau, but with God.
Have you ever dreaded going to your family reunion because you weren't right with one of your brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, parents? Well, this was no different for Jacob. Remember . . . the last words he heard from his brother were that he was going to wait until the time was right, and then kill him.
Esau's response to Jacob was much different than he expected. Esau didn't say "I was going to kill you, but all these gifts you sent ahead to me changed my mind" Instead Esau's response was to embrace him. Esau had moved on from the anger and shown his younger brother forgiveness.
A Layover
Jacob heads toward home, but only half listens to what God told him. He said "go to Bethel", but instead Jacob settles in Shechem.
While there, Jacob's daughter, Dinah, is raped by the son of the local prince. Jacob does not appear to be bothered by this, but her brothers Simeon and Levi are furious. They plot to kill every male in the town even though the son of the prince loves Dinah and wants to marry her. Her brothers tell them that all the males of Shechem must first be circumcised. (This is where we need to remember that circumcision was an outward sign of the sacred covenant between God and His people.) Jacob's sons used it for revenge - to debilitate all the males then to slaughter them while they lay about healing - then while they were at it to help themselves to all their possessions.
Jacob and his family are forced to leave Shechem in disgrace. He stops by a tree near there and buries all the pagan idols his sons accumulated in their pilfering. Jacob starts anew by obeying God and going where He told him to go in the first place - to Bethel. Jacob builds an altar and renews his vow of wholehearted devotion to God.
Sad Farewells to Loved Ones
Rachel delivers one more son to Jacob and dies in childbirth. The son is named Benjamin. Jacob and Esau's dad, Isaac dies as they gather around him. Reuben, tries to take control of the family from Jacob and in an act of sedition sleeps with Bilhah, one of Jacob's concubines. Reuben is stripped of his firstborn status and associated inheritance. Jacob transfers the firstborn status to Joseph and honors him with a special multi-colored robe which signifies his place in the family. As you can imagine - this does not sit well with the 10 older brothers. We know the details of that story!!! (If not read the last blog pages).
Judah moves away - marries a Canaanite woman - has two sons (Er and Onan), then a third (Shelah). It was customary for a brother to marry the widowed wife of a brother. Tamar was married to Er, then to Onan who both died by God's hand because they were evil. No way was Judah going to allow her to marry Shelah as well, so he sends her away.
Tamar is not to be denied a child by Judah. She disguises herself as a street prostitute to deceive him into sleeping with her. He unknowingly sleeps with his daughter-in-law and impregnates her. When Judah learns that she is pregnant through prostitution he orders her burned to death. She declares, "I am pregnant by the man who owns these." You see - she was smart enough to have acquired proof that Judah was the father by taking his signet, his cord and his staff. Judah realizes she was more righteous than he was (because he refused to give Shelah to her in marriage). There is nothing left to do aside from claim her twins as his heirs. The twins were named Zerah and Perez.
We studied how the famine caused Jacob and his family to travel to Egypt where they met up with Joseph whom God had sent ahead of them so that he would be in a place to provide for them when the famine came. They all witnessed Joseph's dream come true as they bowed down to him - the Prime Minister of Egypt.
We watched God, once again, shake up the order of the firstborns when Jacob blesses Joseph's sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. Joseph is disturbed when he sees his father cross his hands (puts his right hand on the left son and left hand on the right son), but Jacob knows exactly what God is doing - just as God did with Abraham and his sons, Ishmael and Isaac - just as God did with Isaac's sons, Esau and Jacob - now He is doing it again with Manasseh and Ephraim. Jacob adopted Joseph's sons as his own sons and they became part of the 12 Tribes of Israel. (Check out the maps in the back of your Bible and you will see the territory named after them - none named after Joseph or Levi).
Even though Joseph was the favored son - the firstborn of his true love with Rachel - the son Jacob transferred the firstborn status and inheritance from Reuben . . . it was Judah who would receive the greatest blessing. He would be the direct ancestor of both Mary and Joseph. Jesus would be born into the Tribe of Judah. Yes - Judah was the son whose idea it was to sell Joseph into slavery; he was the son who left home and married a Canaanite woman and had two evil sons; he was the son who impregnated a prostitute/his daughter-in-law, Tamar. He was also the one who repented; who offered his life in place of Benjamin's rather than allow his father to grieve the loss of another favored son again. Judah knew that he deserved a curse rather than a blessing from his father. Instead his father says: