Jacob – Page 4 – Praying Pint

39.c. “Unable to see blessings, fear became their resident”

Genesis 42:29 When they came to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them, saying, “The man, the lord of the land, spoke roughly to us and took us to be spies of the land. But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we have never been spies. We are twelve brothers, sons of our father. One is no more, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.’ Then the man, the lord of the land, said to us, By this I shall know that you are honest men: leave one of your brothers with me, and take grain for the famine of your households, and go your way. Bring your youngest brother to me. Then I shall know that you are not spies but honest men, and I will deliver your brother to you, and you shall trade in the land.’” As they emptied their sacks, behold, every man’s bundle of money was in his sack. And when they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were afraid. And Jacob their father said to them, “You have bereaved me of my children: Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and now you would take Benjamin. All this has come against me.” Then Reuben said to his father, “Kill my two sons if I do not bring him back to you. Put him in my hands, and I will bring him back to you.” But he said, “My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he is the only one left. If harm should happen to him on the journey that you are to make, you would bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.”

Here is the report Jacob’s sons made to their father. It troubled the good man. Even the bundles of money Joseph returned, in kindness, to his father, frightened him. He laid the fault upon his sons; knowing them, he feared they had provoked the Egyptians, and wrongfully brought home their money. Jacob plainly distrusted his sons, remembering that he never saw Joseph since he had been with them. It is bad with a family, when children behave so ill that their parents know not how to trust them. Jacob gives up Joseph for gone, and Simeon and Benjamin as in danger; and concludes, All these things are against me. It proved otherwise, that all these things were for him, were working together for his good, and the good of his family. We often think that to be against us, which is really for us. We are afflicted in body, estate, name, and in our relations; and think all these things are against us, whereas they are really working for us a weight of glory. Thus does the Lord Jesus conceal himself and his favour, thus he rebukes and chastens those for whom he has purposes of love. By sharp corrections and humbling convictions he will break the stoutness and mar the pride of the heart, and bring to true repentance. Yet before sinners fully know him, or taste that he is gracious, he consults their good, and sustains their souls, to wait for him. May we do thus, never yielding to discouragement, determining to seek no other refuge, and humbling ourselves more and more under his mighty hand. In due time he will answer our petitions, and do for us more than we can expect. (Henry)

39.a. “Why do you look at one another?”

Genesis 42:1 When Jacob learned that there was grain for sale in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?” And he said, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain for sale in Egypt. Go down and buy grain for us there, that we may live and not die.” So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt. But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with his brothers, for he feared that harm might happen to him. Thus the sons of Israel came to buy among the others who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan.

Genesis 41:54 and the seven years of famine began to come, as Joseph had said. There was famine

Joshua 7:10 The LORD said to Joshua, “Get up! Why have you fallen on your face?

Jeremiah 8:14 Why do we sit still? Gather together; let us go into the fortified cities and perish there, for the LORD our God has doomed us to perish and has given us poisoned water to drink, because we have sinned against the LORD.

How easy is it to become arrogant and complacent in times of plenty and prosperity? How easy is it to sit back and rest giving little thought to the opposite? How easy is it to forget God in times of prosperity?

If this famine occurred right now there would be shouts of global warming, climate change. and the need for man’s wisdom to put things back into order. Don’t get me wrong on this. We certainly need to be good stewards of God’s resources and mindful of waste and pollution but weather patterns, both short and long-term are in the Creator’s hands.

I am intrigued by Jacob’s question to his sons; “Why do you look at one another?” They have heard just like Jacob that there is grain for sale in Egypt. Their lack of making a decision to go and buy grain to survive baffled Jacob. He could see the answer to their immediate need but his sons were standing around looking at each other without any kind of action or plan of action. The famine had them stupefied. If you had a cow that no longer was giving milk and you needed milk, and your neighbor had more than enough milking cows to produce a surplus of milk, wouldn’t it seem like an easy enough decision to go buy some from them? Coming off 7 years of prosperity seems to have taken the creative thinking and problem-resolving ability from their brains concerning their current situation.

There are times in our lives that require action and there are times that require waiting. How can a person discerns when to apply constraints and wait, or take action and move on? For those who are believers, this can still be a time of indecision. Do I wait or do I move on? When we look to God in Faith the answer will come. In fact, it might be totally the opposite for two believers. God can move one to stay and another to move on. The key is by faith, reliance, and trust in and on God to speak to your heart and mind through the indwelling Holy Spirit. Faith is built on hope, trust, and reliance in and on God. Taking action while others are waiting or waiting while others are taking action is very hard to understand, but to those who have their hearts and minds reliant on God and ever-seeking to hear His quiet whispers leading them in their decisions will find a peace that passes all understanding in these times.

Too often times of prosperity result in neglect and complacency to things of God so that when times of famine, trials, and troubles arrive at your doorstep you are void of the ability to rely and trust in and on God. It is so sad this is the way of many who proclaim to be believers. If your life’s purpose is void of honoring and glorifying Jesus Christ in all you think, say, and do in times of prosperity it surely will be void in times of famine, trials, and troubles.

Now is the time to change the way you live. No longer live for self, but rather by the renewing of your mind and intentionally choosing to live in such a way that all you think, say, and do honors and glorifies Jesus Christ. Now is the time for in this purpose we find our faith, hope, trust, and reliance will grow and mature into that which honors and glorifies Jesus Christ.

38.o. “This we have found”

Genesis 37:29 When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he tore his clothes and returned to his brothers and said, “The boy is gone, and I, where shall I go?” Then they took Joseph’s robe and slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. And they sent the robe of many colors and brought it to their father and said, “This we have found; please identify whether it is your son’s robe or not.” And he identified it and said, “It is my son’s robe. A fierce animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces.” Then Jacob tore his garments and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days. All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted and said, “No, I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” Thus his father wept for him. Meanwhile the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard.

Reuben tore his clothes as an expression of utter horror and mourning, because his weak stand for righteousness accomplished nothing. Joseph might as well be dead, because his father who loved him so would never see him again. This showed the cruelty of the sons of Israel was not directed only towards the favored son, but also towards the father who favored him. This was both a heartless way to bring the news and an evil lie. (Guzik)

How should his sons comfort him, when they were obliged to cover their wickedness with the sin of lying and hypocrisy, and when even Reuben, although at first beside himself at the failure of his plan, had not courage enough to disclose his brothers’ crime? (Keil and Delitzsch)

When Satan has taught men to commit one sin, he teaches them to try to conceal it with another; to hide theft and murder, with lying and false oaths: but he that covers his sin shall not prosper long. Joseph’s brethren kept their own and one another’s counsel for some time; but their villany came to light at last, and it is here published to the world. To grieve their father, they sent him Joseph’s coat of colours; and he hastily thought, on seeing the bloody coat, that Joseph was rent in pieces. Let those that know the heart of a parent, suppose the agony of poor Jacob. His sons basely pretended to comfort him, but miserable, hypocritical comforters were they all. Had they really desired to comfort him, they might at once have done it, by telling the truth. The heart is strangely hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Jacob refused to be comforted. Great affection to any creature prepares for so much the greater affliction, when it is taken from us, or made bitter to us: undue love commonly ends in undue grief. It is the wisdom of parents not to bring up children delicately, they know not to what hardships they may be brought before they die. From the whole of this chapter we see with wonder the ways of Providence. The malignant brothers seem to have gotten their ends; the merchants, who care not what they deal in so that they gain, have also obtained theirs; and Potiphar, having got a fine young slave, has obtained his! But God’s designs are, by these means, in train for execution. This event shall end in Israel’s going down to Egypt; that ends in their deliverance by Moses; that in setting up the true religion in the world; and that in the spread of it among all nations by the gospel. Thus the wrath of man shall praise the Lord, and the remainder thereof will he restrain. (Henry)

38.j. “And Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father”

Genesis 37:1 Jacob lived in the land of his father’s sojournings, in the land of Canaan. These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was pasturing the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a robe of many colors. But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him.

Joseph was loved and hated, favored and abused, tempted and trusted, exalted and abased. Yet at no point in the one-hundred-and-ten-year life of Joseph did he ever seem to get his eyes off God or cease to trust him. Adversity did not harden his character. Prosperity did not ruin him. He was the same in private as in public. He was a truly great man.” (Boice)

We all have ideas and dreams about what a perfect family should be. By anyone’s measure, Joseph’s family had a lot of problems. Jacob married two of his cousins, and took two more concubines. Between them all, they had twelve sons and one daughter. There most assuredly been constant competition and conflict among all the children and all the mothers. It was one great big messed-up family; still, it brought forth Joseph, and furthered God’s great plan of the ages. (Guzik)

There are some differences between Joseph and his brothers. They appear to be given into temptations and Joseph saw them as bad and reported it to his father, Jacob (Israel). It takes a strong mind to withstand the influences of others and a stronger one to withstand those of older siblings. Joseph at the age of 17 was able to discern right from wrong and chose to follow what was right.

There are many things that a group will determine it is ok and right to do by the mere fact of them agreeing on it. It has nothing to do with it being right with God and God-honoring. Cultures and societies do the same. They determine what is right in their own eyes without giving any thought to their creator and the purpose for which they were created. Obviously, Joseph’s brothers had the sense that because they were outside of Jacob’s view they could get away with whatever they wanted to do. This is no new thought in mankind. Many men think their actions, thoughts, and words are hidden from God and they will not be held accountable for them. Nothing is hidden from God. He knows our thoughts before words are spoken, He knows our actions from before they are given birth in a thought of defiance.

Having discernment between what is God honoring and glorifying and that which is not is a great gift to be desired in the life of every believer.

38.h. “I am God Almighty”

Genesis 35:9 God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-aram, and blessed him. And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; no longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.” So he called his name Israel. And God 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 from your own body. The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you.” Then God went up from him in the place where he had spoken with him. And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone. He poured out a drink offering on it and poured oil on it. So Jacob called the name of the place where God had spoken with him Bethel.

When Jacob finally arrived at the place God told him to go, he immediately found great blessing. God appeared to him, God blessed him, and God called him by his new name (Israel). God granted Jacob a precious reminder of his place in God’s great covenant, begun with his grandfather Abraham. In this, Jacob did not need to hear anything new from God. He just needed to be reminded of what was true, and be encouraged to cling to it all. (Guzik)

Faith, obedience, trust, and reliance in Jesus Christ blesses the heart, soul, and mind. When we walk the lonely paths of self-directed, self-pleasing, and in self-reliance living, we will not find blessings, joy, peace, rest, refuge, firm-hope, courage, or power that is only rightly found in humble obedience following God’s leading each moment of every day.

38.g. “Because of the greatness of your arm”

Genesis 35:5 And as they journeyed, a terror from God fell upon the cities that were around them, so that they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.

Exodus 15:15-16   Now are the chiefs of Edom dismayed; trembling seizes the leaders of Moab; all the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away.  Terror and dread fall upon them; because of the greatness of your arm, they are still as a stone, till your people, O LORD, pass by, till the people pass by whom you have purchased.

Exodus 23:27   I will send my terror before you and will throw into confusion all the people against whom you shall come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you.

Psalms 14:5    There they are in great terror, for God is with the generation of the righteous.

Deuteronomy 11:25   No one shall be able to stand against you. The LORD your God will lay the fear of you and the dread of you on all the land that you shall tread, as he promised you.

2 Chronicles 17:10    And the fear of the LORD fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were around Judah

Joshua 2:9    and said to the men, “I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you.

For most of our lives, we will be unaware of the protecting angels or of God’s protection. It is there even though we do not see it or know of it. There are those times we are keenly aware of it because there is no other reason for the outcome. I still wonder how many we miss – (thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions hundreds of millions?)

Our God is all-powerful. He has no limits in wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. He is ever-present and all-knowing. He has steadfast love for His children. He has plans and purposes far beyond our understanding. These plans and purposes are for our good and not to harm us. There is peace, joy, comfort, and rest for the soul that clings to and humbly relies on and trusts in God through Jesus Christ.

38.f. “Put away the foreign gods that are among you and purify yourselves”

Genesis 35:1 God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you and purify yourselves and change your garments. Then let us arise and go up to Bethel, so that I may make there an altar to the God who answers me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.” So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears. Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree that was near Shechem.

Jacob had allowed ten years to pass since his return from Mesopotamia, without performing the vow which he made at Bethel when fleeing from Esau, although he had recalled it to mind when resolving to return , and had also erected an altar in Shechem to the “God of Israel”. He was now directed by God to go to Bethel, and there build an altar to the God who had appeared to him on his flight from Esau. This command stirred him up to perform what had been neglected, viz., to put away from his house the strange gods, which he had tolerated in weak consideration for his wives, and which had no doubt occasioned the long neglect, and to pay to God the vow that he had made in the day of his trouble. (Keil and Delitzsch)

The whole Shechem incident happened because Jacob went to Shechem instead of Bethel, where he was supposed to be. “The only cure for worldliness is to separate from it” (Barnhouse)

Beth-el was forgotten. But as many as God loves, he will remind of neglected duties, one way or other, by conscience or by providences. When we have vowed a vow to God, it is best not to defer the payment of it; yet better late than never. Jacob commanded his household to prepare, not only for the journey and removal, but for religious services. (Henry)

And be clean — Cleanse yourselves by outward and ritual washing, which even then was in use, and was considered as an emblem of cleansing the soul, by repentance, from all those impure lusts and vile affections, whereby a man becomes polluted in the sight of God. This, no doubt, Jacob had chiefly in view; namely, that they should cleanse their hands from blood, and from their late detestable cruelty, and purify their hearts from those evil dispositions which had given birth to such abominable wickedness, that they might be fit to approach God in his worship. And change your garments — In token of your changing your minds and manners. (Benson)

Jacob being visited by God again listens and takes action. By these actions, it can be understood that he was aware of things that were not in line with honoring and glorifying God. His son’s deception and slaughter of the men, plunder of their possessions, taking captive of their women and children, the apparent worship or following after false gods and customs, and as well his own neglect of fulfilling his vow to God. Get rid of your idols and false gods, wash yourselves, and put on clean garments for we are leaving this place of disobedience and following after God.

We, may at times, find a place of personal rest that seems right, but in fact, it is not where God intends for us to be either physically or spiritually. We do well to seek God’s leading, obey and follow this leading, and trust and rely on Him for surely He is God and His plans and purposes for our lives are never wrong.

38.e. “Because he had defiled their sister Dinah”

Genesis 34:1 Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the women of the land. And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her, he seized her and lay with her and humiliated her………..Now Jacob heard that he had defiled his daughter Dinah. But his sons were with his livestock in the field, so Jacob held his peace until they came. And Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him. The sons of Jacob had come in from the field as soon as they heard of it, and the men were indignant and very angry, because he had done an outrageous thing in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter, for such a thing must not be done……….The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully, because he had defiled their sister Dinah……..On the third day, when they were sore, two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords and came against the city while it felt secure and killed all the males. They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword and took Dinah out of Shechem’s house and went away. The sons of Jacob came upon the slain and plundered the city, because they had defiled their sister. They took their flocks and their herds, their donkeys, and whatever was in the city and in the field. All their wealth, all their little ones and their wives, all that was in the houses, they captured and plundered.

We remember that Jacob brought his family to a region in the Promised Land that God didn’t really want them to be in. It seems God directed him to return to Bethel (Genesis 31:13), and his time spent in the city of Shechem did much harm to his family. The Canaanite’s proposal to marry the daughter of Jacob after she was raped was a dangerous challenge to the covenant family. Irresponsible intermarriage with the Canaanites could prove especially harmful for this family with such an important destiny in God’s redemptive plan. Worse yet was the retribution of Simeon and Levi using deceit to carry out their plan of killing all of the men, taking captive the women and children, and plundering their livestock and homes. Their outrage is understood but their sense of what is just is not.

When we are led in a specific direction by God, we do well to follow that lead. Though we may feel safe and secure in our decision we can never know the full impact of that decision and the harm it will bring in the future. It is common for us to rely on ourselves for plans that seem right and for our good. Would it not be better to seek the counsel of God and rely on His leading, protection, wisdom, and leading us in doing what is best for His honor and glory? Nothing good comes from rejecting God’s leading or neglecting seeking His leading.

38.d. “Let us journey on our way, and I will go ahead of you.”

Genesis 33:12 Then Esau said, “Let us journey on our way, and I will go ahead of you.” But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are frail, and that the nursing flocks and herds are a care to me. If they are driven hard for one day, all the flocks will die. Let my lord pass on ahead of his servant, and I will lead on slowly, at the pace of the livestock that are ahead of me and at the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.” So Esau said, “Let me leave with you some of the people who are with me.” But he said, “What need is there? Let me find favor in the sight of my lord.” So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir. But Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built himself a house and made booths for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called Succoth. And Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, on his way from Paddan-aram, and he camped before the city. And from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, he bought for a hundred pieces of money the piece of land on which he had pitched his tent. There he erected an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel.

And he said, Let us take our journey—Esau proposed to accompany Jacob and his family through the country, both as a mark of friendship and as an escort to guard them. But the proposal was prudently declined. Jacob did not need any worldly state or equipment. Notwithstanding the present cordiality, the brothers were so different in spirit, character, and habits—the one so much a man of the world, and the other a man of God, that there was great risk of something occurring to disturb the harmony. Jacob having alleged a very reasonable excuse for the tardiness of his movements, the brothers parted in peace.

There is an important lesson to learn here.

Be at peace with others
Work hard at this peace
Trust in God
Rely on God
Set boundaries
Even in peace, do not compromise and join or participate with ungodly behavior
Seek God’s leading
Willing follow His guiding

38.c. “God has dealt graciously with me”

Genesis 33:1 And Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, Esau was coming, and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two female servants. And he put the servants with their children in front, then Leah with her children, and Rachel and Joseph last of all. He himself went on before them, bowing himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother. But Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. And when Esau lifted up his eyes and saw the women and children, he said, “Who are these with you?” Jacob said, “The children whom God has graciously given your servant.” Then the servants drew near, they and their children, and bowed down. Leah likewise and her children drew near and bowed down. And last Joseph and Rachel drew near, and they bowed down. Esau said, “What do you mean by all this company that I met?” Jacob answered, “To find favor in the sight of my lord.” But Esau said, “I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself.” Jacob said, “No, please, if I have found favor in your sight, then accept my present from my hand. For I have seen your face, which is like seeing the face of God, and you have accepted me. Please accept my blessing that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough.” Thus he urged him, and he took it.

Jacob, having by prayer committed his case to God, went on his way. Come what will, nothing can come amiss to him whose heart is fixed, trusting in God. Jacob bowed to Esau. A humble, submissive behaviour goes far towards turning away wrath. Esau embraced Jacob. God has the hearts of all men in his hands, and can turn them when and how he pleases. It is not in vain to trust in God, and to call upon him in the day of trouble. And when a man’s ways please the Lord he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him. Esau receives Jacob as a brother, and much tenderness passes between them. Esau asks, Who are those with thee? To this common question, Jacob spoke like himself, like a man whose eyes are ever directed towards the Lord. Jacob urged Esau, though his fear was over, and he took his present. It is well when men’s religion makes them generous, free-hearted, and open-handed. But Jacob declined Esau’s offer to accompany him. It is not desirable to be too intimate with superior ungodly relations, who will expect us to join in their vanities, or at least to wink at them, though they blame, and perhaps mock at, our religion. Such will either be a snare to us, or offended with us. We shall venture the loss of all things, rather than endanger our souls, if we know their value; rather than renounce Christ, if we truly love him. And let Jacob’s care and tender attention to his family and flocks remind us of the good Shepherd of our souls, who gathers the lambs with his arm, and carries them in his bosom, and gently leads those that are with young, Isa 40:11. As parents, teachers or pastors, we should all follow his example. (Henry)

While providing some small chance of escape for his wives and children, arranged according to their rank, Jacob manfully went first and placed himself entirely in Esau’s power with faith in God. (Ellicott)

And he passed over before them,…. At the head of them, as the master of the family, exposing himself to the greatest danger for them, and in order to protect and defend them in the best manner he could, or to endeavour to soften the mind of his brother by an address, should there be any occasion for it. (Gill)

If there is any worthy take away from this passage, I think Henry capture it truthfully: “God has the hearts of all men in his hands, and can turn them when and how he pleases. It is not in vain to trust in God, and to call upon him in the day of trouble.”