Exodus

The story of the Creation was a story of order created from chaos.  As we have read Genesis we have seen chaos ordered again and again.  God's people knowingly or unwittingly carry out his plans.  Some think that God's actions have ended or never were.  I look at the world and I think, "What in the world is God doing?"  I don't think that the answer is nothing.  What role are you playing to influence God's Creation for good?

Genesis 47:27 - 50:26

²⁷ Now the Israelites settled in Egypt in the region of Goshen. They acquired property there and were fruitful and increased greatly in number.

 ²⁸ Jacob lived in Egypt seventeen years, and the years of his life were a hundred and forty-seven. ²⁹ When the time drew near for Israel to die, he called for his son Joseph and said to him, "If I have found favor in your eyes, put your hand under my thigh and promise that you will show me kindness and faithfulness. Do not bury me in Egypt, ³⁰ but when I rest with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me where they are buried."
      "I will do as you say," he said.

 ³¹ "Swear to me," he said. Then Joseph swore to him, and Israel worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.

¹ Some time later Joseph was told, "Your father is ill." So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim along with him. ² When Jacob was told, "Your son Joseph has come to you," Israel rallied his strength and sat up on the bed.

 ³ Jacob said to Joseph, "God Almighty ^[a] appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and there he blessed me ⁴ and said to me, 'I am going to make you fruitful and will increase your numbers. I will make you a community of peoples, and I will give this land as an everlasting possession to your descendants after you.'

 ⁵ "Now then, your two sons born to you in Egypt before I came to you here will be reckoned as mine; Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine. ⁶ Any children born to you after them will be yours; in the territory they inherit they will be reckoned under the names of their brothers. ⁷ As I was returning from Paddan, ^[b] to my sorrow Rachel died in the land of Canaan while we were still on the way, a little distance from Ephrath. So I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath" (that is, Bethlehem).

 ⁸ When Israel saw the sons of Joseph, he asked, "Who are these?"

 ⁹ "They are the sons God has given me here," Joseph said to his father.
      Then Israel said, "Bring them to me so I may bless them."

 ¹⁰ Now Israel's eyes were failing because of old age, and he could hardly see. So Joseph brought his sons close to him, and his father kissed them and embraced them.

 ¹¹ Israel said to Joseph, "I never expected to see your face again, and now God has allowed me to see your children too."

 ¹² Then Joseph removed them from Israel's knees and bowed down with his face to the ground. ¹³ And Joseph took both of them, Ephraim on his right toward Israel's left hand and Manasseh on his left toward Israel's right hand, and brought them close to him. ¹⁴ But Israel reached out his right hand and put it on Ephraim's head, though he was the younger, and crossing his arms, he put his left hand on Manasseh's head, even though Manasseh was the firstborn.

 ¹⁵ Then he blessed Joseph and said,
       "May the God before whom my fathers
       Abraham and Isaac walked,
       the God who has been my shepherd
       all my life to this day,

 ¹⁶ the Angel who has delivered me from all harm
       —may he bless these boys.
       May they be called by my name
       and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac,
       and may they increase greatly
       upon the earth."

 ¹⁷ When Joseph saw his father placing his right hand on Ephraim's head he was displeased; so he took hold of his father's hand to move it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head. ¹⁸ Joseph said to him, "No, my father, this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head."

 ¹⁹ But his father refused and said, "I know, my son, I know. He too will become a people, and he too will become great. Nevertheless, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his descendants will become a group of nations." ²⁰ He blessed them that day and said,
       "In your ^[c] name will Israel pronounce this blessing:
       'May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.' "
      So he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.

 ²¹ Then Israel said to Joseph, "I am about to die, but God will be with you ^[d] and take you ^[e] back to the land of your ^[f] fathers. ²² And to you, as one who is over your brothers, I give the ridge of land ^[g] I took from the Amorites with my sword and my bow."

 ¹ Then Jacob called for his sons and said: "Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come.

 ² "Assemble and listen, sons of Jacob;
       listen to your father Israel.

 ³ "Reuben, you are my firstborn,
       my might, the first sign of my strength,
       excelling in honor, excelling in power.

 ⁴ Turbulent as the waters, you will no longer excel,
       for you went up onto your father's bed,
       onto my couch and defiled it.

 ⁵ "Simeon and Levi are brothers—
       their swords ^[h] are weapons of violence.

 ⁶ Let me not enter their council,
       let me not join their assembly,
       for they have killed men in their anger
       and hamstrung oxen as they pleased.

 ⁷ Cursed be their anger, so fierce,
       and their fury, so cruel!
       I will scatter them in Jacob
       and disperse them in Israel.

 ⁸ "Judah, ^[i] your brothers will praise you;
       your hand will be on the neck of your enemies;
       your father's sons will bow down to you.

 ⁹ You are a lion's cub, O Judah;
       you return from the prey, my son.
       Like a lion he crouches and lies down,
       like a lioness—who dares to rouse him?

 ¹⁰ The scepter will not depart from Judah,
       nor the ruler's staff from between his feet,
       until he comes to whom it belongs ^[j]
       and the obedience of the nations is his.

 ¹¹ He will tether his donkey to a vine,
       his colt to the choicest branch;
       he will wash his garments in wine,
       his robes in the blood of grapes.

 ¹² His eyes will be darker than wine,
       his teeth whiter than milk. ^[k]

 ¹³ "Zebulun will live by the seashore
       and become a haven for ships;
       his border will extend toward Sidon.

 ¹⁴ "Issachar is a rawboned ^[l] donkey
       lying down between two saddlebags. ^[m]

 ¹⁵ When he sees how good is his resting place
       and how pleasant is his land,
       he will bend his shoulder to the burden
       and submit to forced labor.

 ¹⁶ "Dan ^[n] will provide justice for his people
       as one of the tribes of Israel.

 ¹⁷ Dan will be a serpent by the roadside,
       a viper along the path,
       that bites the horse's heels
       so that its rider tumbles backward.

 ¹⁸ "I look for your deliverance, O LORD.

 ¹⁹ "Gad ^[o] will be attacked by a band of raiders,
       but he will attack them at their heels.

 ²⁰ "Asher's food will be rich;
       he will provide delicacies fit for a king.

 ²¹ "Naphtali is a doe set free
       that bears beautiful fawns. ^[p]

 ²² "Joseph is a fruitful vine,
       a fruitful vine near a spring,
       whose branches climb over a wall. ^[q]

 ²³ With bitterness archers attacked him;
       they shot at him with hostility.

 ²⁴ But his bow remained steady,
       his strong arms stayed ^[r] limber,
       because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob,
       because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,

 ²⁵ because of your father's God, who helps you,
       because of the Almighty, ^[s] who blesses you
       with blessings of the heavens above,
       blessings of the deep that lies below,
       blessings of the breast and womb.

 ²⁶ Your father's blessings are greater
       than the blessings of the ancient mountains,
       than ^[t] the bounty of the age-old hills.
       Let all these rest on the head of Joseph,
       on the brow of the prince among ^[u] his brothers.

 ²⁷ "Benjamin is a ravenous wolf;
       in the morning he devours the prey,
       in the evening he divides the plunder."

 ²⁸ All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them, giving each the blessing appropriate to him.

 ²⁹ Then he gave them these instructions: "I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, ³⁰ the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in Canaan, which Abraham bought as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite, along with the field. ³¹ There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried, and there I buried Leah. ³² The field and the cave in it were bought from the Hittites. ^[v] "

 ³³ When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, breathed his last and was gathered to his people.

 ¹ Joseph threw himself upon his father and wept over him and kissed him. ² Then Joseph directed the physicians in his service to embalm his father Israel. So the physicians embalmed him, ³ taking a full forty days, for that was the time required for embalming. And the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days.

 ⁴ When the days of mourning had passed, Joseph said to Pharaoh's court, "If I have found favor in your eyes, speak to Pharaoh for me. Tell him, ⁵ 'My father made me swear an oath and said, "I am about to die; bury me in the tomb I dug for myself in the land of Canaan." Now let me go up and bury my father; then I will return.' "

 ⁶ Pharaoh said, "Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear to do."

 ⁷ So Joseph went up to bury his father. All Pharaoh's officials accompanied him—the dignitaries of his court and all the dignitaries of Egypt- ⁸ besides all the members of Joseph's household and his brothers and those belonging to his father's household. Only their children and their flocks and herds were left in Goshen. ⁹ Chariots and horsemen ^[w] also went up with him. It was a very large company.

 ¹⁰ When they reached the threshing floor of Atad, near the Jordan, they lamented loudly and bitterly; and there Joseph observed a seven-day period of mourning for his father. ¹¹ When the Canaanites who lived there saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, "The Egyptians are holding a solemn ceremony of mourning." That is why that place near the Jordan is called Abel Mizraim. ^[x]

 ¹² So Jacob's sons did as he had commanded them: ¹³ They carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre, which Abraham had bought as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite, along with the field. ¹⁴ After burying his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, together with his brothers and all the others who had gone with him to bury his father.

 ¹⁵ When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, "What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?" ¹⁶ So they sent word to Joseph, saying, "Your father left these instructions before he died: ¹⁷ 'This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.' Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father." When their message came to him, Joseph wept.

 ¹⁸ His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. "We are your slaves," they said.

 ¹⁹ But Joseph said to them, "Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? ²⁰ You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. ²¹ So then, don't be afraid. I will provide for you and your children." And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.

 ²² Joseph stayed in Egypt, along with all his father's family. He lived a hundred and ten years ²³ and saw the third generation of Ephraim's children. Also the children of Makir son of Manasseh were placed at birth on Joseph's knees. ^[y]

 ²⁴ Then Joseph said to his brothers, "I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob." ²⁵ And Joseph made the sons of Israel swear an oath and said, "God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up from this place."

 ²⁶ So Joseph died at the age of a hundred and ten. And after they embalmed him, he was placed in a coffin in Egypt.

Questions

1. Where did the Israelites settle?
2. Who does Joseph bring for blessing?
3. How is 50:20 key?
4. How would the people of Israel be encouraged when they are entering Canaan?
5. How are you working to bring order to God's Creation?

Going Deeper

Read through Genesis in one sitting.  It will take a couple of hours.

Genesis 37 - 47

Hope that you all had a good Thanksgiving.  I almost got to the end of Genesis.  Tomorrow will be my last reading in Genesis. 

Things that are terrible can work for good.  The life of Joseph illustrates this.  What his brothers meant for evil God used for good.  The problem that presents itself is whether God wills the evil that comes into the life of those who suffer.  If he doesn't will the evil, is he powerless to stop it?  If he has the power to stop it, why doesn't he make the path forward more pleasant?  This is sometimes called 'the problem of evil', C.S. Lewis addressed the issue in The Problem of Pain.  My friend Mark addressed the issue for his Ph.D in philosophy.  He addressed the issue through Kiekegaard and the hiddenness of God.  People think this problem is a big worry for Christians.  Do you accept how God works through pain or evil?

Genesis 37-47

(Because of the length of the passage, I am not going to put it here.)

Questions

1. Whose children is this section covering?
2. What different positions does Joseph fill?
3. How does Judah rise in importance over Simeon?
4. How does God work to preserve his plan?
5. What terrible things have drawn you closer to God.

Going Deeper

Observation

• What is Joseph given by his father?
• How is Judah held accountable by his daughter-in-law?
• What does Potiphar's wife hold?
• Who steps up and volunteers to be held in place of Benjamin?
• Where do the Israelites settle?

Interpretation

• What did an ornamented or long-sleeved robe probably represent?
• Why is there parallelism between the robes that Joseph's father gives him and that Potiphar's wife is left holding?
• Why might Judah see a shrine prostitute?
• How do the roles of the brothers reflect their roles as future tribes?
• What kind of land is Goshen?

Application

• Have you seen someone who has gotten themselves in a hole?  How have you helped?
• Is there a time when you have to step away and let 'bad' things happen?
• What are your responsibilities to your brother's family or their spouse?
• What position of authority do you hold?  How does God use it for good?
• How have you fled sexual temptation?

Genesis 32:1 - 32:20

If I told you you had a math test in 20 minutes, what would you do?  That's when many people find religion.  For Jacob it was no different.  The only difference was that instead of facing a math test he was heading home to the brother who he thought wanted to kill him.  We see Jacob's faith developing to a new level.  Although he wants to work through various schemes, he also sincerely seeks God in his troubles.  Does God bring you into troubles to get your attention and give you the most precious gift in the world - himself?

Genesis 32:1 - 33:20

 ¹ Jacob also went on his way, and the angels of God met him. ² When Jacob saw them, he said, "This is the camp of God!" So he named that place Mahanaim. ^[a]

 ³ Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. ⁴ He instructed them: "This is what you are to say to my master Esau: 'Your servant Jacob says, I have been staying with Laban and have remained there till now. ⁵ I have cattle and donkeys, sheep and goats, menservants and maidservants. Now I am sending this message to my lord, that I may find favor in your eyes.' "

 ⁶ When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, "We went to your brother Esau, and now he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him."

 ⁷ In great fear and distress Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups, ^[b] and the flocks and herds and camels as well. ⁸ He thought, "If Esau comes and attacks one group, ^[c] the group ^[d] that is left may escape."

 ⁹ Then Jacob prayed, "O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, O LORD, who said to me, 'Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,' ¹⁰ I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two groups. ¹¹ Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children. ¹² But you have said, 'I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.' "

 ¹³ He spent the night there, and from what he had with him he selected a gift for his brother Esau: ¹⁴ two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, ¹⁵ thirty female camels with their young, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. ¹⁶ He put them in the care of his servants, each herd by itself, and said to his servants, "Go ahead of me, and keep some space between the herds."

 ¹⁷ He instructed the one in the lead: "When my brother Esau meets you and asks, 'To whom do you belong, and where are you going, and who owns all these animals in front of you?' ¹⁸ then you are to say, 'They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift sent to my lord Esau, and he is coming behind us.' "

 ¹⁹ He also instructed the second, the third and all the others who followed the herds: "You are to say the same thing to Esau when you meet him. ²⁰ And be sure to say, 'Your servant Jacob is coming behind us.' " For he thought, "I will pacify him with these gifts I am sending on ahead; later, when I see him, perhaps he will receive me." ²¹ So Jacob's gifts went on ahead of him, but he himself spent the night in the camp.

 ²² That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. ²³ After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. ²⁴ So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. ²⁵ When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob's hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. ²⁶ Then the man said, "Let me go, for it is daybreak."
      But Jacob replied, "I will not let you go unless you bless me."

 ²⁷ The man asked him, "What is your name?"
      "Jacob," he answered.

 ²⁸ Then the man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, ^[e] because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome."

 ²⁹ Jacob said, "Please tell me your name."
      But he replied, "Why do you ask my name?" Then he blessed him there.

 ³⁰ So Jacob called the place Peniel, ^[f] saying, "It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared."

 ³¹ The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, ^[g] and he was limping because of his hip. ³² Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob's hip was touched near the tendon.¹ Jacob looked up and there was Esau, coming with his four hundred men; so he divided the children among Leah, Rachel and the two maidservants. ² He put the maidservants and their children in front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph in the rear. ³ He himself went on ahead and bowed down to the ground seven times as he approached his brother.

 ⁴ But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept. ⁵ Then Esau looked up and saw the women and children. "Who are these with you?" he asked.
      Jacob answered, "They are the children God has graciously given your servant."

 ⁶ Then the maidservants and their children approached and bowed down. ⁷ Next, Leah and her children came and bowed down. Last of all came Joseph and Rachel, and they too bowed down.

 ⁸ Esau asked, "What do you mean by all these droves I met?"
      "To find favor in your eyes, my lord," he said.

 ⁹ But Esau said, "I already have plenty, my brother. Keep what you have for yourself."

 ¹⁰ "No, please!" said Jacob. "If I have found favor in your eyes, accept this gift from me. For to see your face is like seeing the face of God, now that you have received me favorably. ¹¹ Please accept the present that was brought to you, for God has been gracious to me and I have all I need." And because Jacob insisted, Esau accepted it.

 ¹² Then Esau said, "Let us be on our way; I'll accompany you."

 ¹³ But Jacob said to him, "My lord knows that the children are tender and that I must care for the ewes and cows that are nursing their young. If they are driven hard just one day, all the animals will die. ¹⁴ So let my lord go on ahead of his servant, while I move along slowly at the pace of the droves before me and that of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir."

 ¹⁵ Esau said, "Then let me leave some of my men with you."
      "But why do that?" Jacob asked. "Just let me find favor in the eyes of my lord."

 ¹⁶ So that day Esau started on his way back to Seir. ¹⁷ Jacob, however, went to Succoth, where he built a place for himself and made shelters for his livestock. That is why the place is called Succoth. ^[a]

 ¹⁸ After Jacob came from Paddan Aram, ^[b] he arrived safely at the ^[c] city of Shechem in Canaan and camped within sight of the city. ¹⁹ For a hundred pieces of silver, ^[d] he bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, the plot of ground where he pitched his tent. ²⁰ There he set up an altar and called it El Elohe Israel.

Questions

1. What is the problem that Jacob faces upon returning to his homeland?
2. What does Jacob instruct his messengers to tell Esau?
3. Who does Esau bring with him?
4. How is Jacob's physical wrestle with God representative of his internal struggles?
5. What are you wrestling with God over?

Going Deeper

Observation

• Where does Esau live?
• Does Jacob pray before or after his decision to seperate his possessions?
• What does Jacob remind God he has said?
• What does the angel wrestling with God touch?
• Where does Jacob settle?

Interpretation

• What signs do you see of Jacob's unstable faith?
• How is God's grace revealed to Jacob?
• Why does God choose Jacob over Esau?
• Why doesn't Jacob go back with Esau as he said he would?
• Was God unable to overpower Jacob?

Application

• When have you wrestled with a child?  How did you conduct yourself?
• How does God wrestle with us like a father with a child?
• How would you go about protecting your family if they were in danger?
• When a threat is removed do you forget God?
• How can you use a crisis to get you close to God?

Genesis 29:1 - 31:55

Why can't people see that the ones who drive them most crazy are the ones who are most like themselves?  My grandmother would cross her arms and then pout her lips as she told you with disgust the things my aunt would do.  She would condemn women as bossy, when she was quite a domineering woman herself.  It seems Jacob and Laban are both deceptive and ambitious.  It seems that both of them try to manipulate the other for their own gain.  They both fall out with each other.  However, God works it for good.  Who do you get most frustrated with?  Is it because you are too alike?

Genesis 29:1-31:55

¹ Then Jacob continued on his journey and came to the land of the eastern peoples. ² There he saw a well in the field, with three flocks of sheep lying near it because the flocks were watered from that well. The stone over the mouth of the well was large. ³ When all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone away from the well's mouth and water the sheep. Then they would return the stone to its place over the mouth of the well.

 ⁴ Jacob asked the shepherds, "My brothers, where are you from?"
      "We're from Haran," they replied.

 ⁵ He said to them, "Do you know Laban, Nahor's grandson?"
      "Yes, we know him," they answered.

 ⁶ Then Jacob asked them, "Is he well?"
      "Yes, he is," they said, "and here comes his daughter Rachel with the sheep."

 ⁷ "Look," he said, "the sun is still high; it is not time for the flocks to be gathered. Water the sheep and take them back to pasture."

 ⁸ "We can't," they replied, "until all the flocks are gathered and the stone has been rolled away from the mouth of the well. Then we will water the sheep."

 ⁹ While he was still talking with them, Rachel came with her father's sheep, for she was a shepherdess. ¹⁰ When Jacob saw Rachel daughter of Laban, his mother's brother, and Laban's sheep, he went over and rolled the stone away from the mouth of the well and watered his uncle's sheep. ¹¹ Then Jacob kissed Rachel and began to weep aloud. ¹² He had told Rachel that he was a relative of her father and a son of Rebekah. So she ran and told her father.

 ¹³ As soon as Laban heard the news about Jacob, his sister's son, he hurried to meet him. He embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his home, and there Jacob told him all these things. ¹⁴ Then Laban said to him, "You are my own flesh and blood." 

    After Jacob had stayed with him for a whole month, ¹⁵ Laban said to him, "Just because you are a relative of mine, should you work for me for nothing? Tell me what your wages should be."

 ¹⁶ Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. ¹⁷ Leah had weak ^[a] eyes, but Rachel was lovely in form, and beautiful. ¹⁸ Jacob was in love with Rachel and said, "I'll work for you seven years in return for your younger daughter Rachel."

 ¹⁹ Laban said, "It's better that I give her to you than to some other man. Stay here with me." ²⁰ So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.

 ²¹ Then Jacob said to Laban, "Give me my wife. My time is completed, and I want to lie with her."

 ²² So Laban brought together all the people of the place and gave a feast. ²³ But when evening came, he took his daughter Leah and gave her to Jacob, and Jacob lay with her. ²⁴ And Laban gave his servant girl Zilpah to his daughter as her maidservant.

 ²⁵ When morning came, there was Leah! So Jacob said to Laban, "What is this you have done to me? I served you for Rachel, didn't I? Why have you deceived me?"

 ²⁶ Laban replied, "It is not our custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older one. ²⁷ Finish this daughter's bridal week; then we will give you the younger one also, in return for another seven years of work."

 ²⁸ And Jacob did so. He finished the week with Leah, and then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. ²⁹ Laban gave his servant girl Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her maidservant. ³⁰ Jacob lay with Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah. And he worked for Laban another seven years.

 ³¹ When the LORD saw that Leah was not loved, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. ³² Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, ^[b] for she said, "It is because the LORD has seen my misery. Surely my husband will love me now."

 ³³ She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, "Because the LORD heard that I am not loved, he gave me this one too." So she named him Simeon. ^[c]

 ³⁴ Again she conceived, and when she gave birth to a son she said, "Now at last my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons." So he was named Levi. ^[d]

 ³⁵ She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, "This time I will praise the LORD." So she named him Judah. ^[e] Then she stopped having children.

 ¹ When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she became jealous of her sister. So she said to Jacob, "Give me children, or I'll die!"

 ² Jacob became angry with her and said, "Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?"

 ³ Then she said, "Here is Bilhah, my maidservant. Sleep with her so that she can bear children for me and that through her I too can build a family."

 ⁴ So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife. Jacob slept with her, ⁵ and she became pregnant and bore him a son. ⁶ Then Rachel said, "God has vindicated me; he has listened to my plea and given me a son." Because of this she named him Dan. ^[a]

 ⁷ Rachel's servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. ⁸ Then Rachel said, "I have had a great struggle with my sister, and I have won." So she named him Naphtali. ^[b]

 ⁹ When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she took her maidservant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. ¹⁰ Leah's servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son. ¹¹ Then Leah said, "What good fortune!" ^[c] So she named him Gad. ^[d]

 ¹² Leah's servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. ¹³ Then Leah said, "How happy I am! The women will call me happy." So she named him Asher. ^[e]

 ¹⁴ During wheat harvest, Reuben went out into the fields and found some mandrake plants, which he brought to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, "Please give me some of your son's mandrakes."

 ¹⁵ But she said to her, "Wasn't it enough that you took away my husband? Will you take my son's mandrakes too?"
      "Very well," Rachel said, "he can sleep with you tonight in return for your son's mandrakes."

 ¹⁶ So when Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him. "You must sleep with me," she said. "I have hired you with my son's mandrakes." So he slept with her that night.

 ¹⁷ God listened to Leah, and she became pregnant and bore Jacob a fifth son. ¹⁸ Then Leah said, "God has rewarded me for giving my maidservant to my husband." So she named him Issachar. ^[f]

 ¹⁹ Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son. ²⁰ Then Leah said, "God has presented me with a precious gift. This time my husband will treat me with honor, because I have borne him six sons." So she named him Zebulun. ^[g]

 ²¹ Some time later she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.

 ²² Then God remembered Rachel; he listened to her and opened her womb. ²³ She became pregnant and gave birth to a son and said, "God has taken away my disgrace." ²⁴ She named him Joseph, ^[h] and said, "May the LORD add to me another son."

 ²⁵ After Rachel gave birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, "Send me on my way so I can go back to my own homeland. ²⁶ Give me my wives and children, for whom I have served you, and I will be on my way. You know how much work I've done for you."

 ²⁷ But Laban said to him, "If I have found favor in your eyes, please stay. I have learned by divination that ^[i] the LORD has blessed me because of you." ²⁸ He added, "Name your wages, and I will pay them."

 ²⁹ Jacob said to him, "You know how I have worked for you and how your livestock has fared under my care. ³⁰ The little you had before I came has increased greatly, and the LORD has blessed you wherever I have been. But now, when may I do something for my own household?"

 ³¹ "What shall I give you?" he asked.
      "Don't give me anything," Jacob replied. "But if you will do this one thing for me, I will go on tending your flocks and watching over them: ³² Let me go through all your flocks today and remove from them every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb and every spotted or speckled goat. They will be my wages. ³³ And my honesty will testify for me in the future, whenever you check on the wages you have paid me. Any goat in my possession that is not speckled or spotted, or any lamb that is not dark-colored, will be considered stolen."

 ³⁴ "Agreed," said Laban. "Let it be as you have said." ³⁵ That same day he removed all the male goats that were streaked or spotted, and all the speckled or spotted female goats (all that had white on them) and all the dark-colored lambs, and he placed them in the care of his sons. ³⁶ Then he put a three-day journey between himself and Jacob, while Jacob continued to tend the rest of Laban's flocks.

 ³⁷ Jacob, however, took fresh-cut branches from poplar, almond and plane trees and made white stripes on them by peeling the bark and exposing the white inner wood of the branches. ³⁸ Then he placed the peeled branches in all the watering troughs, so that they would be directly in front of the flocks when they came to drink. When the flocks were in heat and came to drink, ³⁹ they mated in front of the branches. And they bore young that were streaked or speckled or spotted. ⁴⁰ Jacob set apart the young of the flock by themselves, but made the rest face the streaked and dark-colored animals that belonged to Laban. Thus he made separate flocks for himself and did not put them with Laban's animals. ⁴¹ Whenever the stronger females were in heat, Jacob would place the branches in the troughs in front of the animals so they would mate near the branches, ⁴² but if the animals were weak, he would not place them there. So the weak animals went to Laban and the strong ones to Jacob. ⁴³ In this way the man grew exceedingly prosperous and came to own large flocks, and maidservants and menservants, and camels and donkeys.¹ Jacob heard that Laban's sons were saying, "Jacob has taken everything our father owned and has gained all this wealth from what belonged to our father." ² And Jacob noticed that Laban's attitude toward him was not what it had been.

 ³ Then the LORD said to Jacob, "Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you."

 ⁴ So Jacob sent word to Rachel and Leah to come out to the fields where his flocks were. ⁵ He said to them, "I see that your father's attitude toward me is not what it was before, but the God of my father has been with me. ⁶ You know that I've worked for your father with all my strength, ⁷ yet your father has cheated me by changing my wages ten times. However, God has not allowed him to harm me. ⁸ If he said, 'The speckled ones will be your wages,' then all the flocks gave birth to speckled young; and if he said, 'The streaked ones will be your wages,' then all the flocks bore streaked young. ⁹ So God has taken away your father's livestock and has given them to me.

 ¹⁰ "In breeding season I once had a dream in which I looked up and saw that the male goats mating with the flock were streaked, speckled or spotted. ¹¹ The angel of God said to me in the dream, 'Jacob.' I answered, 'Here I am.' ¹² And he said, 'Look up and see that all the male goats mating with the flock are streaked, speckled or spotted, for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you. ¹³ I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and where you made a vow to me. Now leave this land at once and go back to your native land.' "

 ¹⁴ Then Rachel and Leah replied, "Do we still have any share in the inheritance of our father's estate? ¹⁵ Does he not regard us as foreigners? Not only has he sold us, but he has used up what was paid for us. ¹⁶ Surely all the wealth that God took away from our father belongs to us and our children. So do whatever God has told you."

 ¹⁷ Then Jacob put his children and his wives on camels, ¹⁸ and he drove all his livestock ahead of him, along with all the goods he had accumulated in Paddan Aram, ^[a] to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan.

 ¹⁹ When Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father's household gods. ²⁰ Moreover, Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean by not telling him he was running away. ²¹ So he fled with all he had, and crossing the River, ^[b] he headed for the hill country of Gilead.

 ²² On the third day Laban was told that Jacob had fled. ²³ Taking his relatives with him, he pursued Jacob for seven days and caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead. ²⁴ Then God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night and said to him, "Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad."

 ²⁵ Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country of Gilead when Laban overtook him, and Laban and his relatives camped there too. ²⁶ Then Laban said to Jacob, "What have you done? You've deceived me, and you've carried off my daughters like captives in war. ²⁷ Why did you run off secretly and deceive me? Why didn't you tell me, so I could send you away with joy and singing to the music of tambourines and harps? ²⁸ You didn't even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters good-by. You have done a foolish thing. ²⁹ I have the power to harm you; but last night the God of your father said to me, 'Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.' ³⁰ Now you have gone off because you longed to return to your father's house. But why did you steal my gods?"

 ³¹ Jacob answered Laban, "I was afraid, because I thought you would take your daughters away from me by force. ³² But if you find anyone who has your gods, he shall not live. In the presence of our relatives, see for yourself whether there is anything of yours here with me; and if so, take it." Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the gods.

 ³³ So Laban went into Jacob's tent and into Leah's tent and into the tent of the two maidservants, but he found nothing. After he came out of Leah's tent, he entered Rachel's tent. ³⁴ Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them inside her camel's saddle and was sitting on them. Laban searched through everything in the tent but found nothing.

 ³⁵ Rachel said to her father, "Don't be angry, my lord, that I cannot stand up in your presence; I'm having my period." So he searched but could not find the household gods.

 ³⁶ Jacob was angry and took Laban to task. "What is my crime?" he asked Laban. "What sin have I committed that you hunt me down? ³⁷ Now that you have searched through all my goods, what have you found that belongs to your household? Put it here in front of your relatives and mine, and let them judge between the two of us.

 ³⁸ "I have been with you for twenty years now. Your sheep and goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten rams from your flocks. ³⁹ I did not bring you animals torn by wild beasts; I bore the loss myself. And you demanded payment from me for whatever was stolen by day or night. ⁴⁰ This was my situation: The heat consumed me in the daytime and the cold at night, and sleep fled from my eyes. ⁴¹ It was like this for the twenty years I was in your household. I worked for you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks, and you changed my wages ten times. ⁴² If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, you would surely have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hands, and last night he rebuked you."

 ⁴³ Laban answered Jacob, "The women are my daughters, the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks. All you see is mine. Yet what can I do today about these daughters of mine, or about the children they have borne? ⁴⁴ Come now, let's make a covenant, you and I, and let it serve as a witness between us."

 ⁴⁵ So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar. ⁴⁶ He said to his relatives, "Gather some stones." So they took stones and piled them in a heap, and they ate there by the heap. ⁴⁷ Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, ^[c] and Jacob called it Galeed. ^[d]

 ⁴⁸ Laban said, "This heap is a witness between you and me today." That is why it was called Galeed. ⁴⁹ It was also called Mizpah, ^[e] because he said, "May the LORD keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other. ⁵⁰ If you mistreat my daughters or if you take any wives besides my daughters, even though no one is with us, remember that God is a witness between you and me."

 ⁵¹ Laban also said to Jacob, "Here is this heap, and here is this pillar I have set up between you and me. ⁵² This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not go past this heap to your side to harm you and that you will not go past this heap and pillar to my side to harm me. ⁵³ May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us."
      So Jacob took an oath in the name of the Fear of his father Isaac. ⁵⁴ He offered a sacrifice there in the hill country and invited his relatives to a meal. After they had eaten, they spent the night there.

 ⁵⁵ Early the next morning Laban kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then he left and returned home.

Questions

1. Who came with her father's sheep?
2. What were the names of Jacob's two wives?
3. Wait ... What ... Which sheep exactly does everyone end up with?
4. What does Rachel swipe?
5. How does God bring his promise to bear through such a disfunctional family?

Going Deeper

Observation

• What did Jacob do when Rachel arrived?
• What was to be Jacob's pay for seven years' work?
• Why does God open Leah's womb?
• What did Jacob say to Rachel when he was angry?
• What did Jacob take and put directly in front of the flocks when they came to drink?

Interpretation

• What does Jacob want?  How does he scheme to get it?
• What does Laban want?  How does he scheme to get it?
• What does Leah want?  How does she scheme to get it (note: not children)?
• What does Rachel want?  How does she scheme to get it?
• What does God want? How does he bring it to pass despite everyone's schemes?

Application

• What do you want?  How do you scheme to get it?
• What does this passage teach you about your well-laid plans?
• How does God interrupt you?
• What examples of God intervening in family conflict have you seen?
• How can God heal a marriage that is strained by selfish passions and desires?