Repeated incidents:
(1) God told Jaco to go up to Bethel and worship Him there. That was the second time that Jacob faced the threat of being killed.
34:30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought ruin on me by making me a foul odor among the inhabitants of the land—among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I am few in number; they will join forces against me and attack me, and both I and my family will be destroyed!”
God had protected him twice.
35:5 The surrounding cities were afraid of God, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.
(2) Jacob did not voiced out when his sons deceived Hamor and Schechem in chapter 34. Now, Jacob was silence again when Reuben had sexual relations with Bilhah.
35:22 While Israel was living in that land, Reuben had sexual relations with Bilhah, his father’s concubine, and Israel heard about it.
(NET) Reuben’s act of having sexual relations with Bilhah probably had other purposes than merely satisfying his sexual desire. By having sex with Bilhah, Reuben (Leah’s oldest son) would have prevented Bilhah from succeeding Rachel as the favorite wife, and by sleeping with his father’s concubine he would also be attempting to take over leadership of the clan—something Absalom foolishly attempted later on in Israel’s history (2 Sam 16:21–22).
As a father, Jacob has the authority to rule over his family. He did that when he was threatened by Esau. He divided his family into 4 groups. He did that when God appeared to him and he told his family to get rid of the foreign gods and purify themselves. However, twice when there were sins in his family he failed to speak up.
Reflection:
The consequences of sins are unavoidable and we saw that in Jacob's family. Are we bearing with sin? Or we need to deal with it and ask for God's forgiveness and the power from the Holy Spirit to overcome it?
In the patriarch's family, there were not short of serious problem. Abraham's wife kicked out of the slave wife and her son. Isaac's 2 sons were fighting for the blessings and his younger one deceived the older one. The older one wanted to kill the younger one. Jacob had all the problem of polygamy. Competition among the wives. Jacob only cared about Rachel and did not care about Leah and the 2 concubines (33:2). And now, Jacob failed to speak up in his family's sin.
The Bible is very truthful and did not make them heroes. They were just the vessels to show the mercy and grace of God. I thank God that He also shows me His mercy and grace.
Audrey
(1) God told Jaco to go up to Bethel and worship Him there. That was the second time that Jacob faced the threat of being killed.
34:30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought ruin on me by making me a foul odor among the inhabitants of the land—among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I am few in number; they will join forces against me and attack me, and both I and my family will be destroyed!”
God had protected him twice.
35:5 The surrounding cities were afraid of God, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.
(2) Jacob did not voiced out when his sons deceived Hamor and Schechem in chapter 34. Now, Jacob was silence again when Reuben had sexual relations with Bilhah.
35:22 While Israel was living in that land, Reuben had sexual relations with Bilhah, his father’s concubine, and Israel heard about it.
(NET) Reuben’s act of having sexual relations with Bilhah probably had other purposes than merely satisfying his sexual desire. By having sex with Bilhah, Reuben (Leah’s oldest son) would have prevented Bilhah from succeeding Rachel as the favorite wife, and by sleeping with his father’s concubine he would also be attempting to take over leadership of the clan—something Absalom foolishly attempted later on in Israel’s history (2 Sam 16:21–22).
As a father, Jacob has the authority to rule over his family. He did that when he was threatened by Esau. He divided his family into 4 groups. He did that when God appeared to him and he told his family to get rid of the foreign gods and purify themselves. However, twice when there were sins in his family he failed to speak up.
Reflection:
The consequences of sins are unavoidable and we saw that in Jacob's family. Are we bearing with sin? Or we need to deal with it and ask for God's forgiveness and the power from the Holy Spirit to overcome it?
In the patriarch's family, there were not short of serious problem. Abraham's wife kicked out of the slave wife and her son. Isaac's 2 sons were fighting for the blessings and his younger one deceived the older one. The older one wanted to kill the younger one. Jacob had all the problem of polygamy. Competition among the wives. Jacob only cared about Rachel and did not care about Leah and the 2 concubines (33:2). And now, Jacob failed to speak up in his family's sin.
The Bible is very truthful and did not make them heroes. They were just the vessels to show the mercy and grace of God. I thank God that He also shows me His mercy and grace.
Audrey
Comments