Seder 33: Genesis 35 and 48--Rachel's Burial Place

 Jacob's beloved wife Rachel died while giving birth to Benjamin, her second son.  She "was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem)"---Genesis 35:19.  

Years later, Jacob repeats this fact to Rachel's son Joseph, telling him, "As for me, when I came from Paddan, to my sorrow Rachel died in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath, and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem)"---Genesis 48:7.  

Why does Jacob bring that up to Joseph in Egypt?  According to one tradition, it is because Jacob has insisted that he be buried at Machpelah (Ge 47:29-31), so that Joseph then wants to know why his mosther's bones haven't been moved there.  Leah's remains were at Machpelah, but not Rachel's.

Midrashic tradition offers some creative answers to this question.  One proposal is that having the remains of both Rachel and Leah at Machpelah would emphasize Jacob's sin of being married to two sisters at the same time (Le 18:18).  This proposal is related to the idea that Rachel died prematurely because the Promised Land could not tolerate this sin (Le 18:25).  

Another idea is that Rachel's burial place was fitting for certain reasons.  For one thing, she was buried in a place that later became part of the territory of the tribe of her son Benjamin (1 Sa 10:2).  Moreover, this location was one that exiles from Judah later passed on their way to Babylon, leading to the imagery of Jeremiah 31:15, where Rachel is pictured weeping for these exiles.  In Christian tradition, Jeremiah 31:15 is also related to Herod the Great's slaughter of the infants of Bethlehem (Mt 2:16-18).  

Seder 33: Psalm 83---National Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies

 Psalm 83 is an imprecatory psalm, in the same category as Psalms 35, 58, 69, 109, and 137.  It is a national lament asking God to intervene against the enemies of Israel.

A number of specific enemies are listed.  Commentator Willem Van Germeren asserts that these enemies can be seen as symbolizing the enemies of God's people in any era.  He divides them into three categories:

• troublers---Edom, Ishmael, Moab, Ammon, Amalek, Philistia.
• seducers---Gebal and Tyre;
• oppressors---Assyria.

This is a prayer that exhibits love for enemies.  The prayer is that these enemies be corrected so that they would come to seek the true God---verse 16.

The enemies plot against God's "treasured ones," a reference back to Exodus 19:5.  The words attributed to them, "Come, let us wipe them out as a nation," (verse 4) compare them to the rebels at Babel (Ge 11:3-4).  The enemies want autonomy from God, and so they plan to wipe out God's representatives.  Ultimately they are fighting against God (verse 5).

The prayer refers to previous times when God had delivered his people during the era of the Judges under Gideon and Deborah and Barak (Judges 4-8).  The request is for God to rescue Israel again, as he had in the past.  This rescue will be a witness to all nations and lead enemies to submit to God.

Seder 33: Gen 36---Esau's Family

 After the tearful reunion between Jacob and Esau upon Jacob's return to Canaan (Gen 33:4), we do not know much about the relationship of the two brothers. We do know that 

1. Jacob and Esau were together to bury their father Isaac (Gen 35:27-29).
2. Esau settled in the mountainous region of Seir, and Jacob turned down an invitation to accompany him there when he returned to Canaan. 
3. As with Abraham and Lot (Gen 13), Jacob and Esau lived in separate areas so that the land could support the livestock of both (Gen 36:6-8).

When Esau settled in Seir, he displaced the Horites (literally "cave dwellers") who were already living there (Deut 2:22).  A Horite genealogy is given in Gen 36:20-30.  

Some details about the early history of the Edomites, the nation that descended from Esau, are given in Gen 36.  The blessing Isaac pronounced upon Esau in Gen 27:39-40 does not sound too promising, but like other descendants of Abraham, the Edomites were greatly blessed.  

A number of Edomite kings are listed in Gen 36:31-40.  Verse 31 notes that there were "kings who reigned in the land of Edom, before any king reigned over the Israelites."  (This note apparently was written after Israel began to have kings.)  The kings listed in verses 31-40 are associated with particular towns, so the picture we get is not one of a highly centralized government.  The king at a given time would have been the leader among Edom's local chieftains at that time. 

Hostility between Israel and Edom would come later, starting near the end of Israel's 40 years of wandering in the wilderness (Num 20:14-21).  But we do not have evidence of hostility between Israel and Edom between the time of Israel's return to Canaan and the Exodus.  

Seder 33 Sermon: New Names

 In the book of Genesis, both Abram (Gen 17) and Jacob (Gen 32, 35) receive new names from God.  In addition, Jacob (Gen 35:18) gives his youngest son Ben-Oni ("son of my sorrow") the new name Benjamin ("son of the right hand" or "son of the south").  

In a sermon at Church of the Messiah on Nov 21, 2020, Kyle Kettering traced the biblical "new name motif" further.  For example,

• Isaiah 62:1-4 prophesies a new name for Jerusalem.    
• The letter to the church at Pergamum (Rev 2:17) promises a new name to the overcomer.
• In the letter to the church at Philadelphia (Rev 3:12), Jesus speaks of "my own new name".

Since God knows us intimately (e.g. Is 43:1), he knows the appropriate new name for each person.

Seder 32/33: Gen 35---Promises Affirmed, Deaths Mourned

 At some point God called upon Jacob to appear before him at Bethel and carry out the vow that he had made before leaving Canaan many years before (Gen 35:1; 28:20-22).  

As part of an appropriate purification in preparation for this divine encounter, Jacob asked his household to get rid of any idols they possessed (v 2).  This would have certainly included the household gods that Rachel had taken from Laban.  

Verse 4 reports, "So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears."  There is some pronoun ambiguity in this verse.  Were the rings in the ears of the people or the idols?  A good case can be made for the latter interpretation, since idols often did have earrings made of precious metals.  Burying those items would mean that they couldn't be used to make more idols.

Verse 8 mentions that on the trip, Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died.  There are two interesting pieces of information in this verse.  First, the name of Rebekah's nurse had not been mentioned in Gen 24:59, where we learn that she accompanied Rebekah on her trip to Canaan to marry Isaac.  Second, we have not previously heard that Deborah was with Jacob rather than with Rebekah.  

There have been a number of speculations about when Deborah might have joined Jacob.  Perhaps Rebekah had sent her to Jacob at Haran with the news that it was safe to return to Canaan, as she had said she would send someone to do (Gen 27:45). Or perhaps Rebekah had sent her to Jacob after he returned to Canaan.  Or perhaps Rebekah had died, and Deborah then joined Jacob's family.     

In any case, there was a time of mourning for Jacob and the family after Deborah's death.

At Bethel God appeared to Jacob and affirmed both Jacob's new name and the blessing imparted by Isaac (Gen 28:3-4) that the Abrahamic promises would continue through Jacob (Gen 35:9-12).  

Genesis 35 goes on to record that Jacob's beloved wife Rachel died not far from Bethlehem while giving birth to her son Benjamin (vv16-21).  Her grave was not far from a road on which, much later, descendants of Judah and Benjamin would travel on their way to exile in Babylon.  Jeremiah pictures Rachel weeping for her descendants at that point (Jer 31;15).  Jeremiah goes on to prophecy an eventual return from exile (vv 16-17).  

Jeremiah's prophecy was later recalled by Matthew when he reported the murder of infants in Bethlehem by the ruthless Herod the Great (Matt 2:16-18).  Herod, of course, failed in his goal to kill the infant Jesus, whose family had already fled to Egypt (vv 13-15).  

Genesis 35 concludes by mentioning Isaac's death at age 180 (vv 27-29), twelve years after Joseph was sold into slavery and 23 years after Jacob's return to Canaan. Chapters 34-35 give just a few snapshots of Jacob's life during those 23 years and raise lots of questions for readers.  For example, when did Rebekah die?  Did she see Jacob again?  What kind of interaction did Jacob have with his parents and with Esau during those years?  The text does not tell us, and later writers have imagined different answers.  The Book of Jubilees (second century BC), which emphasizes the piety of the patriarchs, pictures Jacob in regular contact with his parents (Jubilees 29:15-20).  

Seder 33: Psalm 20---A Blessing in Time of Distress

 Psalm 20 is classified as a royal psalm.  A possible context:  Israel faces a trial, perhaps an attack from an enemy, and the people pray for the Davidic king.  They believe that the God of Jacob, who delivered Jacob in times of trial (Gen 35:3), would also help their king in leading Israel to victory (Ps 20:1-5). 

They know that it is in God, who rules the whole universe "from his holy heaven" (v 6), who is in charge.  So their trust is in him rather than in the size of their military force (v 7).  

There are different ways to apply this psalm outside the context of Israel's theocracy.  The Davidic king is a forerunner of the Messiah.  Today we pray for the victory of the Messiah and the success and growth of the Kingdom of God.  The "day of trouble" can be any time of distress, including the prophetic Great Tribulation.  

In Jewish tradition this is a psalm that is prayed for a pregnant woman as she approaches the time of labor.  One sage pointed out that the psalm has 9 verses, representing the 9 months of a pregnancy.  

Of course the Great Tribulation mentioned above is likened in Jer 30:6-7 to a time of labor and is referred to in Messianic circles as the "birth pangs of the Messiah."