It is worth noting that Abraham continually dealt with his sin at the altar so that he did not have an obsession with his failures in his journey of faith. He somehow realized that God takes care of his sin, and it was Abraham’s responsibility to walk with God as God continued His work in and through him. God deals with sin definitively, and His way of dealing with it is forgiveness.
Before we continue with the remaining journeys in faith of the patriarchs in Genesis, we should understand the references to the Canaanites…
The Canaanites lived in the land God promised Abraham. Ethnic people are often grouped together, so that the Canaanites include the ‘Amorites’, ‘Phoenicians’, ‘Amalekites’ ‘Edomites’, and ‘Philistines’. They are viewed together because of their similar religious culture and common opposition to the Hebrews (with the exception of the Phoenicians). The Philistines do not truly fit this group, but they took on the culture and religion of the Canaanites. The religion of the Canaanites did not differ greatly from Assyria and Babylonia. The Canaanites chiefly worshipped ‘Baal’ as the god of rain and fertility. Baal’s companion was ‘Asherah’, a fertility goddess. An ‘Asherah’ was a wooden pole set up near altars to Baal. The common cultic fertility rites included prostitution and in some places child sacrifice.
Isaac was linked to the covenant promise as part of Abraham’s household: “I am the God of your father Abraham; do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for My servant Abraham’s sake” (Genesis 26:24). But Isaac needed his own journey of faith. The testing of faith came through the selection of Rebekah as his bride (Genesis 24); the favoritism they showed towards their sons, Jacob and Esau (Genesis 25); following his father’s footsteps in going down to Abimelech during a famine, and falling into the same sin of deception (Genesis 26:1-11); the grief brought to the family by his son Esau marrying women of Canaan (Genesis 26:34-35); while on his deathbed, his son Jacob deceived him in order to receive a blessing (Genesis 27). Someone shared, each one is unique with different personalities – Abraham was more social with God, while Isaac was more passive, with Rebekah being more of the leader. When Isaac repeated the sin of his father by saying that his wife was his sister, it shows that we don’t easily learn from others. Both Abraham and Isaac’s wives were their half sisters. We usually do not learn from experience alone, but from evaluated experience.
On two occasions the Lord appeared to Isaac and renewed with him the promises given to Abraham (Genesis 26:2-5, 23-25). On the second occasion Isaac built an altar to the Lord, which is the only time this is recorded of him. Contrast this with the numerous times Abraham built altars for sacrifice. Each sacrifice was a way of life for him. Each sacrifice left him with less of self and more of God. It all started with God’s command to ‘go’. In the days of the patriarchs, people did not move more than ten miles from home, so it was a major move for Abraham.
In Isaac’s old age Jacob obtained the patriarchal blessing from his father by deceit, under the direction of Rebekah (Genesis 27:1-29). After escaping the hatred of his brother, Esau, while he lay asleep, the Lord appeared to him in a dream, renewing the promises made to Abraham and Isaac, and giving him a special promise of personal care: “I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you” (Genesis 28:13-15). But Jacob needed his own journey of faith. The gracious and just hand of the sovereign God is seen through the bitter struggle Jacob encounters in marrying Leah and then having to work seven more years for Rachel, the one he originally intended to marry (Genesis 29:1-30). He received a little payback after deceiving Isaac when Laban deceived him with his daughters. God blessed Jacob with twelve sons in spite of his prayerlessness and the rivalry of Rachel and Leah, who competed for his affections by bearing him sons (Genesis 29:31-30:24). When we focus on Jacob’s wives we see how they continued in idolatry, but the story focuses on God keeping His covenant with Abraham’s household. Throughout Jacob’s scheming and the pagan idolatry of his household God remained faithful to His promises: Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your family, and I will be with you” (Genesis 31:3). Jacob began to respond to God in prompt obedience: So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field… Then Jacob rose and set his sons and his wives on camels… to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan (Genesis 31:4, 17-18). After a life of deceit and rebellion, Jacob finally identified himself with God’s Abrahamic covenant, and he began to apply himself to the covenant promise: “Deliver me, I pray… For You said, ‘I will surely treat you well and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude’’ (Genesis 32:11, 12). Jacob finally settled down near the city of Shechem, and his family became defiled with the sin and shame of the Canaanites, who sought to intermarry with them (Genesis 34).
Some shared: They kept their idols, but the carved images are not what is significant for us, but what we really trust in. Our idols may be harder to deal with than actual carvings because they are so much a part of our lives, such as cars, possessions, money, attitudes, cultural customs, lying, and individualism. When God does not work things out according to our expectations so that we rely on our customs, we have made our ‘lifestyle’ an idol.
Ask Isaac and Jacob what it would be like to live contrary to God’s covenant and still hear God would keep His agreement? Think of the trials and pains the wives of these patriarchs experienced. Consider their persistence in idolatry, their struggle with deceitful fathers and husbands, their polygamous marriages, and their struggles in seeking to identify themselves through their children.
The household that received the Abrahamic covenant, passed on through the households of Isaac and Jacob, began to intermarry with the cursed Canaanites and risked the loss of their distinctive identity (Genesis 38). God addressed this risk by sending Joseph ahead of them into Egypt where they were to be segregated (Genesis 43:32). In His mercy, God preserved them as a family. In Egypt He preserved them until they had become a great nation and the iniquity of the Amorites was full (Genesis 15:13-16). Living in Canaan the family lived in hedonism (idolatry and self-indulgence); living in Egypt they were humiliated. God was dealing with their pride. Like his father Jacob on his
Some shared: Joseph’s brothers are jealous of him but it seems that initially he was ignorant of this. There does not seem to be a whole lot of pride displayed by Joseph. After his encounter with his brothers in Egypt, Joseph acknowledges that although their actions were intended for evil, God intended them for good. The story seems to imply that Joseph believed that God was truly with him. He may have looked back on his dreams and knew that something good was coming. He took no personal credit for his dreams and being able to interpret them. Even though Joseph was spoiled by his father, he was still righteous. Jacob may have realized the mistakes he made with his older sons, so Joseph was blessed with a different upbringing. There is no reference Joseph of building any altars, which gives us an occasion to see that God sometimes works in those who look like they have no faith. It was suggested that the patriarchal fathers performed as priests for their households, so that Joseph as the son of Jacob the patriarch was not responsible for sacrifices.
God prepares Jacob’s household for the future by allowing him to bless his sons with prophetic words. Now named Israel, Jacob blesses each son. As the story unfolds you will want to refer to these words:
· Reuben was Jacob’s eldest, who once excelled in honor and power. But he lost his birthright and received what was closer to a curse because he had defiled his father’s bed (Genesis 35:22).
· Simeon and Levi were judged for their vices of violence and fury, which were shown in incidents like the one in Genesis 34:25-31.
· Judah is told that “Your father’s children shall bow down before you” (Genesis 49:8). This may be that the birthright due to the eldest (Reuben) was given to him because Reuben forfeited it by his immorality, and the next two brothers had forfeited it by their violence.
· Zebulun would later be allocated land that, while not directly on the coast, was close to where Jacob said it would be.
· Issachar inherited good land without having to struggle for it.
· Dan was allocated land near the northern boundary of Israel. This tribe was known for preventing enemies from entering the land of Israel.
· Gad, who settled east of the Jordan, was exposed to many attacks. The men of Gad were renowned as fighters.
· Asher settled north of Mount Carmel in very good farm land.
· Naphtali was a tribe that is described as producing either ‘beautiful fawns’ or ‘beautiful words’ (Genesis 49:21).
· Joseph received blessings comparable to those of Judah because he was the one who truly knew God. He was represented in his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh (Genesis 48:20).
· Benjamin’s future was said to involve strength and success, but also cruelty.
In the final chapters of Genesis we see quite a transformation in Jacob. His journey ends well. There is a lot more going on for the patriarchal households than getting to a destination. And there’s a lot more going on than what we are doing. They didn’t just wait around, but lived in hope, because they grew in knowing what God could do for them what they could not do for themselves.
Genesis begins with “God” but ends “in the coffin”.
Prepare for our next session by reading and thinking about Exodus 1-19…
