What events from the life of Jacob would be relevant to the Israelites living in the land of Egypt? Which events would affirm their life and help them serve God as they traveled through the wilderness or once they settled in the land of Canaan? This study has been looking at Genesis from that perspective; as Israelites sat around their fire, reading the tablets of Genesis that were handed down to them, how would God strengthen their faith through the accounts of those events?
An outline of the biblical text:
When we pick up in chapter 28, Jacob has stolen the blessing from Esau and has been sent to Paddan-aram to find a wife (28:2) in the house of Laban, his uncle. Isaac gives Jacob a blessing (28:3-4) which reiterates many of the Abrahamic blessings.
28:10-22 – Jacob has the vision of the ladder to heaven. Verses 13-14 – The land is promised to Jacob and to his seed. The families of the earth will be blessed in the seed of Jacob. Verse 15 – God will keep Jacob and bring him back to the land of Canaan. God will fulfill what He has promised Jacob. This “ladder” was perhaps something like a lateral view of a ziggurat but without the connotations of worship.
Chapter 30 (from 29:31) – Jacob has eleven (eventually twelve) sons and one daughter who form the heads of the tribes which will compose the nation of Israel. 30:27 – Laban recognizes that God has blessed him on Jacob’s account and Jacob recognizes the same point (30:30). 30:43 – Through selective breeding, Jacob increases his flocks and becomes prosperous. There is a verb here translated “became prosperous” that is found first in God’s promise to Jacob in 28:14 and in Jacob’s words to Laban in 30:30, showing the fulfillment of God’s promise to Jacob. The verb also provides a play on words for the name of Jacob’s son, Perez, from Tamar in 38:29.
31:3 – Jehovah told Jacob to return home and God would be with Him. The promise “I will be with you” was also given to Isaac when he left Canaan due to the famine: 26:3. 31:4-16 – Jacob responds to that vision and communicates it with Rachel and Leah. 31:19, 33-35 – Rachel steals the household idols – the “teraphim.” These were likely statuettes, household or family gods (HALOT). The word is found only in this context in Genesis. It is not found later in the Law but is found twelve times in the historical books and prophets. These idols were thought to bring fertility and blessings as well as protection. Rachel commits a “new” crime: “godnapping!” (Hamilton, Genesis 18-50, 292). The conviction of Jacob expressed in verse 7 finds its expression in 31:24, 29. Jacob gives God an interesting designation in 31:42: “fear” of Isaac; cf vs 53 & Psa 19:9. This is the only use of the word in Genesis.
Lessons of “The Life of Jacob” for the nation of Israel:
The verb we found associated with Jacob’s prosperity (30:43; “become prosperous”) is also found in the description of Israel’s prosperity as a nation: Exo 1:12. “I will be with you” is a promise that Israel could hold dear to its heart. God gives it at the beginning of the exodus: Exo 3:12. He also gives it at the end of the wanderings: Deut 31:23.
God was calling Canaan the “land of [Jacob’s] fathers” in 31:3. That should have given Israel hope and assurance. The matriarchs, Rachel and Leah, though dead, continued to speak: “do whatever God has said to you” (31:16). What is the irony in Rachel’s behavior with the teraphim? The incident with Rachel and the household idols would have put Israel on notice:
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1. These “gods” can be moved around, from place to place. They were not universal.
2. These “gods” could be sat on.
3. These “gods” could also become impure. There is subtle mockery of idolatry in this historical event.
Related to the “Fear” of Isaac, as a descriptor of God, such will fall upon Egypt as it pursues Israel in Exo 15:16 and it will fall on the Canaanites: Deut 2:25; 11:25.
Lessons for the present generation:
God has the means to bless beyond our ability to fathom: Eph 3:20; Phil 4:19; 2 Cor 9:8.
Jesus has promised to be with us: Matt 28:20. God is faithful and will fulfill all He has promised: 2 Cor 1:18; 2 Tim 2:19. Idolatry (trusting in anyone or anything other than God) is still wrong and vain: 1 Jn 5:21. It is not likely that nonbelievers will ever fear Christians (Jn 16:2) but they can come to respect Christians’ lifestyle as they live to reflect Christ in their lives: 1 Pet 4:4-6.
Paul Holland
