Genesis 33-35

Hello All!

I've had an undeniably great day! It was productive, and I was truly filled with God's joy today. Now that I've experienced that, I need to keep this feeling going. What better way to end my day than with a little Bible Study? 

So Genesis 33-35, LOTS going on: 

After 20 years, 2 wives, 2 concubines, and 11 children, Jacob finally goes to meet Esau after stealing his birthright. They make up. Jacob and his family live in Shechem for a little while, during this time, Dinah (his only daughter) is defiled. Her brothers exact a revenge Quentin Tarantino could not have conjured. Jacob and his family move back to Beth-el  where he dedicates his household back to God. His name is changed to Israel; Rachel and Isaac die. 

There were some interesting moments I pointed out: 

1. Jacob REALLY didn't like Leah: I mean, I understand he was swindled in the other chapters my Laban, but man, he STILL doesn't love her! When he went to meet Esau, he saw him coming with 400 men, so basically, he put his family in order of least favorite to most favorite just in case Esau was going to attack them.  Needless to say Leah and her children came after the concubines; Rachel and Joseph in the back because he loved them the most. Shaaady! 
2. Making-up Feels Great!: When Jacob finally reached Esau, he was greeted with love, and it felt good. How do I know? Well, I know how it feels to have strife between myself and someone I love. I also know how GREAT it feels when you finally reconcile. It feels like a weight has been lifted. However, Jacob said it best in Genesis 33:10 (AMP):  "for truly your face is to me as if I had seen the face of God, and you have received me favorably".  Making up feels so good. 
3. Dinah: I have read chapter 34 numerous times and I still do not possess one concrete conclusion. Some say Dinah was seduced and then Shechem wanted her as a wife, others say Dinah was captured against her will and Shechem tried to cover it up by taking her as a wife. I am not sure. I don't know which one I believe, but I DO find the end result interesting; her defilement caused the demise of an entire city. All the men of the city were killed 3 days after being circumcised and all the women, cattle, and valuables were taken by her brothers. They believed it was their duty to avenge her honor. 

           Now I will say this: Ladies, realize how precious your "goods" are! These men were willing to kill 

           over the dishonor of their only sister, and you are just as precious. Whether you have made some 

           mistakes or your purity was taken before you could make the decision, know that GOD values you

           and that HE will restore your honor. For those that have (and had) a choice in the matter, realize your

           goods are more precious than money and gold, don't give them away freely. Save them for your

           husband.  

    4.    Re-center, Re-focus!: After learning of his sons' deeds in Shechem, God told Jacob to leave and

           return to Beth-El and make an altar to the Lord. Jacob cleansed his entire household by making  

           everyone give him their idols and charms which he buried under a tree. They purified themselves and

           changed into fresh clothes before making a pilgrimage to to Bethel. After this obedience, God

           appeared to Jacob (supplanter) and renamed him Israel (contender with God). 

           This part of the chapter really stuck out to me when I realized that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob all 

           had personal encounters with God that made them believers. Even though Issac believed, Jacob

           had his own moments where God appeared to him.  This made me think about childhood and my 

           growing relationship with God; although I grew-up learning about Him, it was not until I had my own 

           encounters with Him that He moved from being "God" to "MY God". 

    5.    Forget Mike, I wanna be like Isaac!: Isaac lived to be 180 years old. He lived to see his sons 

           reconcile. He lived a life "satisfied and satiated with days"...THAT'S what I'm looking for! He stayed

           in God's will, obeyed His commandments, and repented when he was wrong...THIS was one of his 

           rewards. How cool is that? 

Okay readers, have a blessed day! It's 1:18am and the bed is calling! 

    

Genesis 25-26

Yeah, I know I'm skipping some, but I read them already.... :)

Genesis 25: After Sarah's death, Abraham takes another wife, has some more kids, leaves his inheritance to Isaac, and dies. The decendants of Ishmael are discussed. Jacob and Esau are introduced, and tension begins in the womb. Genesis 26: There's another famine. God tells Isaac not to go to Egypt, he doesn't. He tells King Abimelech that Rebekah is his sister (seen this somewhere before hunh?). Isaac receives 100 fold increase on his sowing, Abimelech kicks him out. Isaac leaves, builds wells, Abimelech takes them. They make an oath, Isaac finds water.

Genesis 25: Verses 5 and 6 are very interesting to me. I'm not exactly sure what to make of them. Abraham has other kids, outside of his marriage to Sarah, and he sends them away from Isaac and gives them gifts, but gives all he has to Isaac. Is it because God told him that his seed would be multiplied greatly through Isaac? Maybe, I don't have the answer. But I DO like that fact that Abraham held on to the promise God gave him. Another thought, although he gave his other children "gifts", Abraham was a very wealthy man. So a gift from him could be something really great, like land or cattle, not a tie...lol. 


Esau sells his birthright for soup. I know those of us who have read this story probably think he is really crazy, but think about it like this:

How many times have we sacrificed something very important for temporary gain? 

An immediate need was in the forefront of Esau's mind. He was hungry. VERY hungry. So he sold his birthright. Not a big deal to him at that moment when he felt faint from exhaustion and hunger. We've "sold" more important things for less than subsentence.

Chapter 26: In the first few verses I thought to myself, "whew, Isaac is not making the same mistakes as his dad", but then he tells Abimelech that Rebekah is his sister...

It's interesting to me how we can make the same mistakes as our parents/forefathers even if we weren't around to experience them. Isaac was not alive when Abraham lied to another King and said Sarah was his sister, but he did the same thing. OUT OF FEAR. It's really crazy the things we do as a result of fear. Abraham and Isaac had the same fear, I will be killed because my wife is beautiful, but even after the kings found out, they didn't kill them! Unnecessary fear can really trip us up.

Isaac wasn't even kicked out of Gerar for the lie, he got kicked out for being too prosperous. It was really great to see how this man, because he was lead by God, was blessed during economic turmoil. Even when Isaac moved to the valley of Gerar, and began to dig wells, he freely gave the wells to Gerar when tension arose. I would like to believe that he knew God has blessed him tremendously and that he would find water again.

So if we can't even count the times God has blessed us, we should not worry when contention and enmity come against us. God will still provide. He's not afraid of our problems. They are small to Him, PLUS He knew waaaaay in advance that they would happen and He's already made provision!

Anywho, not only did Isaac freely give up the wells, he also built an altar to make sacrifices to God. Of course, we don't sacrifice fatted calves and spotless lambs, but to put it in present day terms: Isaac praised God and worshiped Him (animal sacrifice = money) although there was strife and tension with his neighbors. I think that's something that we lose sight of at times. If we're supposed to praise God at all times, isn't strife still  a part of "all"?  Therefore we need to praise Him and make sacrifices even then!

So in the end, his enemies (or "haters") came to make an oath and covenant with him. Abimelech saw how blessed Isaac was (in the time of famine mind you) and contributed it to the Lord AND wanted to connect with him (Isaac). Isaac could have taken that time to blast Abimelech for kicking him out of Gerar, but he did not. They made an oath, he even had a large feast prepared.

After the oath....THEY FOUND WATER! Walking in love has it's benefits. (1) We further God's agenda by spreading his love and drawing people to Him and (2) we are blessed for obedience. How cool is that? 

A year that things will be changed and rearranged...

This isn't a Bible passage post. I need to get some things off my chest first. The Bible passages will come in subsequent posts. 

This year began with promise. I made vows to God about certain things: people I would cut out (except for in my prayer life), things I would not do anymore, things I would start doing more often. To be honest, I broke most of those vows already. And to God at that. I kept certain people out of my life this year, but I didn't pray for them. A few things I said I would not do anymore, I did THE SAME DAY I made that promise to God. And the only thing I've done more of, is workout. 

Not Good. 

But I know in the Bible there are discussions about accountability and holding one another accountable. And confessing your sins to one another. So that's what I'm doing. Whoever reads this will be one of the persons I am confessing to. I hope that some of you will do the same, find a person or two, and confess. That person can pray for you when you don't want to pray, that person can help push you when you don't want to be pushed. 

I'm not sure why I went on that tangent, but I sure it was necessary. 

In the past two weeks, things have happened that made me...uncomfortable. Not like wearing too-small clothes, but I've felt like I'm slacking. I'm shamming on God. And that's not good. There have been things that He's directed me to do, since LAST year, that I still haven't done. And, unfortunately, it's taken isolation or the temporary loss of things to push me back to Him. And it hurts. 

So instead of the original liberty I had to do the things He asked of me, now I feel like my back is against the wall and that if I don't do what He asks, I may never get back to the wonderful things He has for me. And all of my being believes that is true. But the thing is, I should have always viewed mandates from God in that way. If I want to stay in His will and walk in the things of God, then I need to do what He asks and make it Priority Number One ALL the time.

I should've listened the first FIFTEEN times He told me something. But I didn't. And now He had to take (what I consider) drastic measures to get my attention. 

So what has the Lord been dealing with me about that I have not listened? CONSISTENCY. 

Everything He's said has boiled down to that. Consistency. Consistency in seeking Him. Consistency in Prayer. Consistency in making time for Family and Friends. Consistency in my word. Consistency in this BLOG! Look at the dates, you'll see what I mean. 

So instead, some things had to be temporarily taken away for me to actually listen. He told me that if I really seek Him and complete the assignments He has for me, those things will be fully restored. 

Thank you Lord. You are not a Man, You don't lie. 

I am searching. I am digging. Deeper than I have ever before. It hurts because I have to dig out things that I buried very far, but I know it's for the best. God has a better plan in mind than I can ever conjure 

"How gracious, relentless, is the father's love toward us...Oh majesty, I live to see you face and be transformed, into your image" 

Israel & New Breed "I Will Search for You"