at this moment, i am blown away by how chap 34 leads into chap 35. what devastation...what deep hurt and...there's not another word...devastation...(in chapter 34). i don't really know how God felt about jacob's sons' revenge on hamor and shechem. His response to dinah's rape and her brothers' violence is not recorded in chapter 34. but what i do see is how He spoke again to jacob. i can only imagine how torn and broken jacob must have felt about his children. what is so striking to me is how God came to him and moved him again to call on His name. He called jacob to reliance on Him in times of trial and devastation. He spoke to jacob and reminded him that He is God.
--old testament understanding--
so jacob responded to God by telling his children..."put away the foreign gods which are among you...." v 2.... he called his household also to come away from their idols and serve only God.
and when they did, God met with jacob. at this time, God changed jacob's name to israel and He blessed him, recounting again His promise to make a nation out of his descendants (verses 11-12).
chapter 36 is a record of esau's descendants and then chapter 37 leads into the long narrative about joseph and how the israelites eventually ended up in egypt....
--personal thoughts--
i love God's character. His faithfulness is enduring. even when jacob's sons...those in his household...were serving other gods, He called them back to Himself. He wanted to communicate His blessing again to jacob/israel because of His great love....
No comments:
Post a Comment