Genesis: These Are The Generations (XXXVII)

WORSHIP, A NEW NAME, AND THREE FUNERALS (35:1-29)

Neal Pollard

In the unfolding narrative centering on the ancestors of the Jewish nation, Moses continues to follow the sojourn of Jacob. Here, God calls Jacob to leave Shechem for Bethel, where he had seen God in a dream (28:10). He does so with the commands “arise,” “go,” “live,” and “make.” There is unfinished business in Bethel (3), a vow to fulfill (28:20-22). There is unfinished business in Shechem, too–the disposal of all idols (the wearing of these earrings must have symbolized idolatry for them) and ritual purification (2-4). Was it symbolic to bury their foreign gods in Shechem before Jacob built the altar and “the house of God” in Bethel, demonstrating a complete change of allegiance (6-7; cf. 28:22)? 

They were able to journey in safety, as there was a great terror on the surrounding cities (5). Apparently, this is providential in the wake of the brutality of his sons against the men of Shechem (ch. 34). God is keeping His promise to be with Jacob wherever he goes. 

The first of three deaths noted in the chapter is that of Rebekah’s nurse, Deborah (8). It is odd that the death of Rebekah’s maid is mentioned, but the death of Rebekah is not (until Jacob is dying)(49:31). We deduce that Deborah came to live with Jacob’s family some time after Rebekah died. Interestingly, another Deborah would later sit under the tree in Bethel and judge the descendants of Jacob (Jud. 4:5). 

After this burial, God appears to Jacob again and reconfirms the covenant with him (9-13). The giving of his new name, Israel, and the promise of descendants, nations, and land prompt Jacob to set up a memorial stone and offer up worship to God (14-15). This takes our minds back to Genesis 22:18ff, and here we have the only record of a drink offering in the book of Genesis though it will become part of later worship in the Old Testament. 

The next funeral is devastating for Jacob, but it constitutes both a birth and a death. Rachel has become pregnant again, and she gives birth to Benjamin. She names him “son of my sorrow,” but Jacob renames him “son of my right hand” (16-19). Jacob recalls that she dies to his great sorrow (48:7), and she is buried on the way to Bethlehem. 

They continue their journey, ostensibly on their way to see Isaac. Jacob is called Israel for the first time in verse 21. They camp “beyond the tower of Eder” (21; its location is unknown), and this stop is noted because of what Jacob’s eldest, Reuben, does to him there. While Jacob’s reaction is not stated here, we know from narratives like Absalom how detestable this action was. Reuben sleeps with Bilhah, Rachel’s maid. He was the son of Leah. It is very difficult to believe this was not done in spite, Reuben knowing Jacob’s preference for Rachel over his own mother. Jacob will curse him at the end of his life, saying of him, “Uncontrolled as water, you shall not have preeminence, Because you went up to your father’s bed; Then you defiled it—he went up to my couch” (Gen. 49:4). The chronicler adds this historical note: “Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel (for he was the firstborn, but because he defiled his father’s bed, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph the son of Israel; so that he is not enrolled in the genealogy according to the birthright” (1 Chron. 5:1). 

Moses summarizes the children of Israel in verses 22-26 by their mothers. The chapter ends with Jacob attending the third funeral during this undoubtably dark period of his life. His father, Isaac, dies at Hebron, being 180 (28-29). We find Jacob and Esau together again, burying their father in the cave of Macpelah (49:31). 

Jacob has been refined by sorrow, but also by worship. God had foreknown what he could be and worked patiently with him as he was being transformed into that. He had been a giver of heartache, but he had reaped plenty of the same. As we read about Jacob, let us not forget that God sees us for what we can be. He is at work at us through various means to accomplish that. It is our choice, whether or not we will allow him to be at work in us (Col. 1:28; Jas. 1:4).