Lessons We should not assume that the presence of problems means the absence of God.

Genesis 34 – The Dinah Story The second and third sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, misuse the sacred rite of circumcision to kill the men of Shechem in revenge for the abuse of their sister. …and Jacob is afraid…again…

Gen. 35:1-4 Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there; and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother.” And Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, and change your garments. Then let us arise and go up to Bethel; and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me in the way which I have gone.” So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hands, and the earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree which was by Shechem.

Gen. 35:1-15 – Scene 1: Return to Bethel Act 1 – 35:1-7 When Jacob last left, it was in fear with a promise. Now, he returns having found God faithful.

Gen. 35:1-15 – Scene 1: Return to Bethel Act 1 – 35:1-7 God’s expectation is that Jacob will be true to his word. God expects Jacob will only have one God.

Gen. 35:1-15 – Scene 1: Return to Bethel Act 2 – 35:8 Deborah, the nurse of Jacob’s mother, Rebekah dies. What a testimony to her that this servant evokes so much love from the family.

Gen. 35:1-15 – Scene 1: Return to Bethel Act 2 – 35:8 When we lose significant people, it often feels like the ending of significant chapters of our lives.

Gen. 35:9-10 Then God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Padan Aram, and blessed him. And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name.” So He called his name Israel.

Gen. 35:11-15 Also God said to him: “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body. The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your descendants after you I give this land.” Then God went up from him in the place where He talked with him. So Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He talked with him, a pillar of stone; and he poured a drink offering on it, and he poured oil on it. And Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him, Bethel.

Gen. 35:1-15 – Scene 1: Return to Bethel Act 3 – 35:9-15 Jacob becomes Israel. Now, there is a new beginning with an old promise of blessing.

Gen. 35:16-20 – Scene 2: Rachel Dies Jacob loses the love of his life. The second painful loss on his trip.

Gen. 35:22 And it happened, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine; and Israel heard about it.

Gen. 35:16-20 – Scene 3: Incest The oldest son, Reuben, has relations with Bilhah, Rachel’s maid. It was insensitive of Reuben, immoral, and another emotional blow.

Gen. 35:16-20 – Scene 3: Incest This was the birth-mother of Reuben’s brothers, Dan and Naphtali. Again, as with Dinah, Jacob hears… and does nothing.

Gen. 35:16-20 – Scene 3: Incest It often feels as though emotional difficulties come in bunches. …and they’re not done.

Gen. 35:22b-26 Now the sons of Jacob were twelve: the sons of Leah were Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, and Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun; the sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin; the sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s maidservant, were Dan and Naphtali; and the sons of Zilpah, Leah’s maidservant, were Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Padan Aram.

Gen. 35:22b-26 – Intermission Jacob’s sons are listed. We are reminded of the fall of the first three and the incest just committed with the maid of Rachel and the normal heir.

Gen. 35:22b-26 – Intermission Canaan has not been good for his family.

Gen. 35:27-29 – Scene 4: Isaac Dies On the heels of so many sad events, Jacob learns that his father has died.

Gen. 35:27-29 – Scene 4: Isaac Dies The torch is now passed. God has reassured him of His faithful promises, yet so many things seem sad.

Gen. 36 – Esau’s Family Flourishes As his own sons seem to disappoint, Jacob’s brother watches his family grow strong.

Gen. 36 – Esau’s Family Flourishes The text reminds us that this powerful family with its “chiefs” become Edom.

Gen. 36 – Esau’s Family Flourishes Those reading had been turned away with force by the Edomites, hardly treated as family.

Gen. 36 – Esau’s Family Flourishes Their lack of support for their “brother” will later draw condemnation from God in the book of Obadiah. Family matters.

Gen. 35:22b-26 Now the sons of Jacob were twelve: the sons of Leah were Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, and Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun; the sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin; the sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s maidservant, were Dan and Naphtali; and the sons of Zilpah, Leah’s maidservant, were Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Padan Aram.

Gen. 37:1-2 – The Favorite and the Fourth Joseph tells on his bros. Not good.

Gen. 37:1-2 – The Favorite and the Fourth bro (plural bros) (slang) brother; a male sibling (slang) brother; a male comrade or friend; one who shares one’s ideals. (slang) brother; used to address a male.

Good story so far?

Gen. 37:3-4 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age. Also he made him a tunic of many colors. But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him

Gen. 37:3-4 – The Favorite and the Fourth The favoritism of Jacob continues. And, Joseph’s brothers are not happy about it.

Gen. 37:5-7 Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more. So he said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf.”

Gen. 37:8-9 And his brothers said to him, “Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, “Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me.”

Gen. 37:10-11 So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?” And his brothers envied him, but his father kept the matter in mind.

Gen. 37:5-11 – The Favorite and the Fourth Joseph’s dreams indicate God’s choice of him. It only serves to heighten their hatred.

Gen. 37:5-11 – The Favorite and the Fourth But, their actions only proved God’s choice of Joseph over them was right. The decline of Israel’s sons continues.

Gen. 37:5-11 – The Favorite and the Fourth On the other hand, Jacob thought about it. He knew God used dreams and that He may choose younger children over the older ones.

Gen. 37:12-14 Then his brothers went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem. And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” So he said to him, “Here I am.” Then he said to him, “Please go and see if it is well with your brothers and well with the flocks, and bring back word to me.” So he sent him out of the Valley of Hebron, and he went to Shechem.

Gen. 37:15-17 Now a certain man found him, and there he was, wandering in the field. And the man asked him, saying, “What are you seeking?” So he said, “I am seeking my brothers. Please tell me where they are feeding their flocks.” And the man said, “They have departed from here, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan.

Gen. 37:18-21 Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, they conspired against him to kill him. Then they said to one another, “Look, this dreamer is coming! Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, ‘Some wild beast has devoured him.’ We shall see what will become of his dreams!” But Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands, and said, “Let us not kill him.”

Gen. 37:22-24 And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit which is in the wilderness, and do not lay a hand on him”—that he might deliver him out of their hands, and bring him back to his father. So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him. Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it.

Gen. 37:25-28 And they sat down to eat a meal. Then they lifted their eyes and looked, and there was a company of Ishmaelites, coming from Gilead with their camels, bearing spices, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry them down to Egypt. So Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh.” And his brothers listened. Then Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.

Gen. 37:12-28 – The Favorite and the Fourth Joseph is mercilessly sold into slavery, led by Judah, the fourth son, in spite of the efforts of Reuben.

Gen. 37:29-32 Then Reuben returned to the pit, and indeed Joseph was not in the pit; and he tore his clothes. And he returned to his brothers and said, “The lad is no more; and I, where shall I go?” So they took Joseph’s tunic, killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the tunic in the blood. Then they sent the tunic of many colors, and they brought it to their father and said, “We have found this. Do you know whether it is your son’s tunic or not?”

Gen. 37:33-36 And he recognized it and said, “It is my son’s tunic. A wild beast has devoured him. Without doubt Joseph is torn to pieces.” Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son many days. And all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and he said, “For I shall go down into the grave to my son in mourning.” Thus his father wept for him. Now the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard.

Gen. 37:29-36 – The Favorite and the Fourth Uncaring about the pain their father had endured already, the sons lie to their father, digging a knife farther into an already wounded heart. Jacob felt he was going to die.

Lessons Carnality is which is a mind that is set on the things of the flesh, a fleshly perspective. It hardens us.

Lessons God often glorifies himself in spite of us.

Lessons In the midst of something that Israel says would kill him, God is moving to bless him and his family for generations.

Lessons God is being faithful to His promise through it all.

Lessons The promise God gave him when he returned to Bethel is being brought about… …but not in Jacob’s eyes.

Lessons God can often appear silent, distant, and seem to lack caring or involvement. That is never true.

Lessons Just because problems are there does not mean God is not.

Lessons We should not assume that the presence of problems means the absence of God.