Day 18: The Heart of Israel

 Today's reading: Genesis 35-36, Job 25-26, and Proverbs 3:19-24.

I. Today's reading in Genesis begins with God telling Jacob to go to Bethel, build Him an altar, and "put away the foreign gods that are among you," which he does (35:1-4). At Bethel, God affirms Jacob as the heir of the Abrahamic Covenant and changes his name to Israel (35:9-12). Afterward, Rachel bears a second son to Jacob/Israel, Benjamin, but dies in childbirth and is buried in Bethlehem (35:16-20).  The Ignatius Bible gives an interesting note on this burial place for her:

Her traditional resting place is still memorialized in Bethlehem today. The evangelist Matthew assumes knowledge of this tradition when he speaks of Rachel weeping over the slaughtered infants of Bethlehem (Mt 2:16-18). (p. 102)

Then we get this random remark that Reuben "went and lay with his father's concubine; and Israel heard of it" (35:22). The Ignatius Bible notes this crazy move, which I'm sure made sense to Reuben, but I find completely unfathomable:

An aggressive move to ensure his first-born authority over Jacob's other children. Ironically, this sinful bid for power will deprive Reuben of the blessing and inheritance he was entitled to receive by virtue of his place in the birth order. Angered and offended by this treachery, Jacob will pass Reuben's birthright over to Joseph, the first-born of Rachel (49:3-4; 1 Chron 5:1-2). (p. 102) 

Isaac then died at Hebron and was buried by Esau and Jacob/Israel (35:27-29).

Today's reading in Genesis finishes with a long genealogical list of the descendants of Esau "(that is, Edom)" (36). This has some significance historically in Scripture, Edom being a rival of the nation of Israel in biblical times, but I found this to be boring, and most of the names are quite odd and meant nothing to me.

The thinking of these folks is almost alien to my mind in ways (like Reuben's treachery), but the BIY Companion, Vol 1, has some good commentary on all this:

God gives Jacob a new name, Israel, promising to make him a great nation, continuing the promises he made to his father, Isaac, and grandfather, Abraham. God accomplishes his will despite human brokenness and sin. We see that theme repeated throughout the Old Testament... In Genesis 35, Jacob (now called Israel) buries his beloved wife. His twelve sons are with him, and we will see how they become the twelve tribes of Israel. (p. 42)

II. Job's "friend" Bildad gives his third speech to him, refusing to accept that Job is innocent and deserves his suffering, for "how then can man be righteous before God?" (25). Job gives his third reply to him, as the Ignatius Bible notes:

After a barrage of sarcastic rebukes (26:2-4), he stresses that God's power exceeds human understanding and yet is displayed throughout the natural world (26:5-14). At this point, Job is wearied by the undiscerning counsel he has received. (p. 810)

The speeches have become repetitive, but what's interesting is seeing the deepening of Job's theology, a greater understanding of suffering, and a maturing of his faith in God.

III. So we can't finish chapter 3 in Proverbs, perish the thought, but we get yet another tiny morsel. The father advises his son to "keep sound wisdom and discretion" (3:21). Nice one, dad.

That's it for today!