Wednesday, October 26, 2011
7:52 PM
At the end of chapter 27, Rebekah tells Jacob to flee because Esau is going to kill Jacob as soon as their father Isaac is dead, which will be soon. She says, "why should I lose both of you in one day?"(Gen 27:45). While I was reading this, I found this strange. Well, strange because I did not understand it. I get that if Esau killed Jacob, she would lose Jacob, but why would she lose Esau? Throughout this story, we have not been told or hinted at any point that Esau knew Rebekah favored Jacob, or even that he had any kind of anger towards her, to stop talking to her or to harm her. so, why would she lose Esau? This thought just ran through my mind: maybe she knew should not be able to forgive Esau for killing Jacob. Or maybe she knew Esau would leave, would flee, after killing Jacob. Still, does not make a lot of sense.
Genesis 28, verses 10-22, are about Jacob's Dream at Bethel. The first thing I thought of when I came to this, is ACU. At ACU, we have a...statue/meditation garden...of Jacob's Dream, and it is also where I was first Baptized, so it just took me back to Abilene, Texas, USA. I love Jacob's Dream. It is one of the most beautiful places on ACU's campus. Anyways, I was also excited to read this story because of that. One verse that stuck out to me was when God told Jacob in the dream: "I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land"(Gen 28:15). This verse stuck out to me because I found it interesting that God is telling Jacob that He will watch over Jacob, that He is with Jacob, wherever Jacob goes, and He is telling Jacob this while Jacob is sleeping. It's almost like God is also saying, even when you are sleeping, I am with you and am watching over you. At least, that's what I think, not saying I'm wrong or right, just that that is my opinion and what I thought of. Also, Jacob has this life changing experience, encounter, with God...while he is sleeping! While he is doing nothing. Not thinking, not worrying, not looking for it, etc. kind of simbolic a little. To me anyways. It seems amazing to me that this life changing experience happened to Jacob while he was sleeping. When he was not awake. When his mind was not...on...so to speak. Makes me realize that God has appeared to all of these people through different ways and at different points in their lives: Abraham was settled and probably content and happy with where he was, with his life. Isaac was born and grew up knowing God through Abraham most likely, Jacob was on the run for his life, and later, Saul was on the road to go arrest Christians...makes me see that God can appear to you, talk to you, in any and all circumstances, in any and all different stages of your life. I also liked the last part of this verse, where God says to Jacob that He will bring him back to this land. When I read this, I thought of it like God was telling Jacob that someday, He will bring Jacob back home. In all, God is saying that He is with Jacob, will watch over him wherever he goes, but that He will bring him back home. Since I am so far in China, I really can relate a little bit, not that I'm on the run or anything, but I love the idea that God is with me, He is watching over me, that He can reach me wherever I am, even when I am asleep, and that someday, He will bring me home. You can also think of it in terms of all of us, all Christians: God is with us, is watching over us, but He will bring us Home one day. Again, I know, I tend to think all kind of weird thoughts, but they are my thoughts. However, I could not understand what the ladder, with angels going up and down, represented. It seemed a little...not part of the story somehow to me. could no figure out what it meant.
"he went over and rolled the stone away from the mouth of the well and watered his uncle's sheep. Then he kissed Rachel and began to weep aloud"(Gen 29:10-11). I found this funny. This is when Jacob arrives In Paddan Aram and sees Rachel for the first time. the first image that came to my mind when I read this verse, is of a guy holding the door open for a girl. In Texas, it's pretty common to hold the door open for people, it's not a big deal. But in New England, at least in Massachusetts, it's not common, so if a guy holds the door open for a girl, it's a romantic type of thing. So I had this image of a guy seeing a beautiful girl, and running to hold the door open for her, saying "let me get that for you." lol. I know, im so weird arent I? lol. Well, I suppose that is why Brent Bailey is the one going for an MA in this stuff, while I am not. Lol. I also thought that today, if you just...kissed a girl like that, the first second you first saw her, you would get slapped. At least in Massachusetts and New York. You would SOOOO get slapped in the face! In fact, there are a lot of things that Jacob does that I find hard to believe unless he literally did not have a brain. Later on in chapter 29, he has worked for 7 years for his uncle Laban so he could marry rachel, and then after the 7 years are up Laban gives a feast, and gives him Leah instead of Rachel, and Jacob does not realize it's not rachel until the next morning! Maybe he drank too much wine at the feast, but how do you not realize you are laying with the wrong girl?!?! Especially when you have worked for 7 years to get her?!?! It makes no sense at all! And I wonder, was Leah in on it? or did Laban trick her as well? Another thing I don't understand is the last verse is verse 30: "jacob lay with rachel also, and he loved rachel more than leah. And he worked for laban another 7 years"(Gen 29:30). Did Jacob get rachel and then had to work another 7 years, or did he work another 7 years and then get rachel?
in verse 35, Leah has had many sounds and it seems like she is always hoping that now Jacob will love her, with each birth of a son. But in verse 35 it says "she conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said 'this time I will praise the LORD'. so she named him Judah. Then she stopped having children"(Gen 29:35). When I read this, it felt to me like at this point, Leah had stopped hoping that Jacob would love her and instead focused her hopes and attention and praise on God instead. It does say she stopped having children, not that God closed her womb, so it seems as if she stopped trying to make Jacob love her. that is what it seems like to me. you know, a lot of girls are Rachel: girls love them, guys fall for them, guys want to marry them. but some of us, are Leah: guys don't love us, no matter what we do, no matter what we do to try and get their attention and affection. I am a Leah. Guys don't love me, guys don't notice me, they don't want to date me or spend time with me or marry me. and just like Leah having sons was almost a consolation prize from God for not being loved, when you are a Leah, you have to make do with consolation prizes. Like being really smart or really funny. Like having lots of friends who love you. Like having lots of guy friends. You get the picture. And as much as Leah loved her sons, they probably did not make up for the fact that Jacob did not love her. just like I love my life, it still does not truly make up for the fact that I do not have the love of the guy I love.
in chapter 30, Jacob has finally been given Rachel and is still with Laban. However, when Jacob is ready to leave Laban, Laban does not want him to go because while he has come to believe that he, Laban, has been blessed by God with riches and wealth, because of Jacob. Jacob says: "you know how I have worked for you, and how your livestock has fared under my care. The little you had before I came has increased greatly, and the LORD has blessed you wherever I have been. But now, when may I do something for my own household?"(Gen 30:29-30). This made me think that sometimes, you have to walk away. Sometimes, you have to walk away, despite the fact that somebody needs you, because you have to think of yourself. I know that sounds selfish, but sometimes, you do have to leave, you have to do something for yourself, despite being needed by others. To put it simply, sometimes...you have to go. And he was doing good for Laban. He was helping him with the livestock, his wives were with their father, Laban was gaining wealth and good livestock, so it's not as if Jacob was not doing good where he was. But there came a point when he had to go, when he had to think of himself, and stop taking care of someone else and take care of himself. I know this may sound selfish, and I'm expecting people to disagree with me, but this is my thought. You cant always stay simply because you are needed. I can't help but think right now, as I write this, that this is where me and Brent Bailey are different. I think that when it comes to relationships, especially committed relationships such as marriage, you can and should walk away simply because you want to, because you no longer want to be there, while Brent Bailey believes that you don't and shouldn't. that you don't walk away from a relationship simply because you no longer want to be in it. and maybe someday I'll look back on this blog post and no longer feel the same. Who knows?
one verse that I really liked is what Laban said when he and Jacob were making their covenant after Jacob left and Laban came after him. He said," may the LORD keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other"(Gen 31:49). I loved this verse! Again, I am in China right now, so I am very far from my parents, from my friends, and I miss them, so I love the idea of this. It's a good prayer for when you are apart, I would have to say. I also love this verse, a little bit further down: "even though no one is with us, remember that God is a witness between you and me"(Gen 31:50). I love this verse! Such a good verse! The context is he is telling Jacob to take care of his daughters, and that even though no one would be there to report to Laban or to stop Jacob, God is there. Such a good prayer and verse for any and all relationships.
the story where Jacob is wrestling with a man(though the section title says "Jacob wrestles with God", I do not understand. I understand what happens, but not the significance. Also, it seems out of place. like a random story. Like it was just randomly put in the middle of the story of Jacob seeing Esau again. Doesn't seem to have anything to do with that. If you are reading this, feel free to share your thoughts on this!
The story where Jacob sees Esau again is pretty straightforward, and I did not too many thoughts on it. nothing really stuck out to me. although it seems like his actions are cowardly, sending everyone ahead of himself the way he did, can you really blame the guy? I would have turned and run! I would not even have contacted Esau in the first place, which Jacob did. I suppose he did not think Esau had any men or anything, but was alone and then found out Esau had 400 men! I do not understand however, why he lied to Esau and did walk with him or meet up with him later like they had agreed.
the story where Dinah is dishonored, and then her brothers lie to the guy and say all is forgive, we will join you, give you what we have, and let you marry Dinah, if you will have all males be circumcised, and then attack the city while the males were all recovering and then kill the man who dishonored Dinah and killed all the males and loot and attack the city I found...disturbing. It does not say whether she was raped or not, but it does say he violated her, so that sounds like rape to me. so, as a girl, the idea of rape is terrible and horrible and gives me the creeps just thinking about it. however, the man attacked one girl, and left her alive. Her brothers however, attacked many innocent people, killed lots of innocent people, and stole from and looted the city. It seems...unbalanced somehow. Somehow, it seems like her brothers did the worse crime. However, at the close of the story and the chapter, when Jacob finds out what they did and gets mad, they said "should he have treated our sister like a prostitute?"(Gen 34:31). They do have a point. Still, seems unbalanced to me. seems like the punishment FAR FAR outceaded the crime.
chapters 35 and chapter 36 I did not have any thoughts or have anything stick out to me. chapter 36 is just the descendants of Esau, which I did not bother reading.
I basically read the story of Jacob. He is an...interesting character. He is not the most honest person, and even after his encourter with God in Bethel, he does still trick and lie and he never seems to care about Leah, but he works hard, he takes care of his household. If Jacob was the son who was in the women's tent, cooking, then working in the land for 14 years would have been tough on him! And yet he did it, for Rachel. And he does seem to have a good and deep faith in God. So he's...complicated.
now, I am on to read the story of Joseph, and after that, I will be done with Genesis! :) :)
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