Genesis 38

Well that chapter is one big family mess.  There always seems to be a lot of men sleeping around in these chapters.  Not sure how Judah doesn't recognize he is sleeping with his daughter-in-law?  Author seems to know a lot about what's going on too, must be a lot of locker room talk.

So I got nothing from this, but I re-read your post from last time.  If  you get nothing this time go back and read what your wrote, I think its pretty good.  Basically God can do anything with anyone or any situation.  Jesus was raise out of this mess of a family lineage.

knut

Genesis 37

4 When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.

Something inside us humans must crave some attention or approval.  When you really think about it Joseph didn't do anything wrong but because of his father's love for him it drew hatred from his brothers.  This is even before his dreams about ruling over them.

Why do we care so much what others think?  Especially in this case, they are concerned with what their Dad thinks of their brother, it doesn't say he doesn't love them.  Its the way God made us, but its just kind of interesting because it can cause us to take actions he would not want us to take.

maybe we just need to focus on our own relationships and not worry about judging our relative worth based on relationships of others around us. 

wandering around without much point today.  I was trying to see something new in this very familiar passage.

knut

Genesis 36

To quote a famous blogger....'36 is awful'.

that was you in 2013,  I was looking for inspiration because I have know idea what to take from that list of names.  I did a little research but really did not come up with anything striking.

knut

Genesis 35

9 ...God appeared to him again and blessed him.---” 13 Then God went up from him at the place where he had talked with him.

The understatement of this section just caught my eye.  God appeared and then went up.  Jacob was face to face with God of the universe and its stated so matter of fact.  But what must it really have been like?  Often the details seem to include incredible brightness or a residue of glowing when exposed to the presence of God.  Not this time he appeared gave a world changing message and left, no fanfare.  

Again not really a lesson just an observation.  I was also struck by the story of Benjamin's birth.  Is it coincidence to your Ben or is there a connection?  As I recall that was also a stressful birth situation, maybe not for Kim but for Ben?

Have a good weekend--I'll likely not make a post Friday morning.

knut

Genesis 34

31 But they replied, “Should he have treated our sister like a prostitute?”

This time on this journey through Genesis I am not getting a very good feeling about Jacob.  He seems weak, deceiving and not even protective of his only daughter (at least only one mentioned in the bible).  I was not recalling how this ended as I was reading it.  So I was really struggling with how they were willing to strike a deal in exchange for the rape of Dinah.  Ultimately the brothers didn't let it happen, but Jacob did and was even worried after they took care of it.

How is it that Jacob becomes Israel?  I'm only seeing his negatives right now, again struggling for any lessons.  Is there something to the 3rd day--this is when the brothers wiped out the city and men they despised.  

oh yeah, why is he Jacob again??  more questions than answers today

knut

Genesis 33

2 He put the female servants and their children in front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph in the rear. 3 He himself went on ahead and bowed down to the ground seven times as he approached his brother.

I know he is trying to come at Esau in the most humble way possible....but, this seems a little weak doesn't it?  Putting the women and children out in front?  Maybe that is meant to show there is ABSOLUTLEY no aggression to his action.  But, it feels weird.  It seems a lot of how Jacob treat Esau is underhanded and sneaky.

Funny thing is that both of them are wealthy men.  They both saw tremendous success in this world.  God took care of both of them, despite their own actions and in-fighting.

Lesson for me?  hmmmmmmmmm.  Not sure.  There is a BIG lesson in the importance of forgiveness here.  Nobody would have blamed Esau for still being angry.  He was wronged by Jacob.  But, his own success had tempered his feelings.  And, all that was left was love for his brother.

tp

Genesis 32

28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel,[f]because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”

I was wondering what is up with the name changes.  some of what I read suggests that names back then were more adjectives---
''So the name change from "the supplanter" to "May God Prevail" seems appropriate. But this is true for every name change given by God in scripture. More than just a trivial change in what they are called; It is a change in who they are or will become.

no great take just a thing that made me go hmmm

knut

Genesis 31

The whole time I was feeling like Jacob was fooling Laban.  But here it clearly shows Jacob was following direction from God and also knew it was God who was providing for him even as Laban was jacking around with his wages and agreements with him.

My takeaway is try to follow God's direction and don't get hung up in what seems fair or right in our own eyes.   Stay the course of God's direction which also requires being close to God and listening to him to understand what that course is that he is leading us towards.  Ultimately he has our backs, don't spend energy looking out for ourselves.

knut

Genesis 30

9 When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she took her servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. 

This chapter seems crazy.  Jacob is sleeping with anyone they put in front of him!  It's almost like he doesn't have a say.  The wives are crazily in-fighting, and he just goes along for the ride.  He really isn't involved in the story....other than spreading his seed.....hahaha!  How many women are listed here?  At least 4!

I also find it interesting that when Rachel finally does have a child, that's Joshua.  We know further down the line, he becomes the most important one of the off-spring.  Again, here is another case proving that when God finally allows the barren woman to have a child, they become the greatest of the bunch, and the other ones make questionable decisions.

nothing big today.
tp  

Genesis 29

35 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.[e] Then she stopped having children.

Last time I noted that Jesus cam through the lineage of Leah and you noted that God always seems to use the lower status people to drive his plan.  Good take by you, I had not gotten anything out of it then or again this time.

After a couple re-reads my take here is that Leah was focused on being loved by a man and getting his attention.  After having 3 boys she was like now he'll love me since I gave him 3 boys.  Nope, onto the 4th.

After having the 4th she turns her attention to praising God, end of the stream of birthing boys.  She didn't need what a man could provide any longer, she had God and was fulfilled.  not sure that is the take, it certainly doesn't say that directly but that's what came to my head.

praying for you to know God IS with you and he will get you through this extremely stressful time of life.  The stress is real I wouldn't ever say its not but so is his ability to protect you.

knut