My Reflections

Summary of week 2 Joseph Bible study

Summary of week 2 Joseph Bible study

Jacob was still afraid of his brother after being away for 20 years. He sent servants and gifts in bands to go meet Esau before him and his family in hopes to butter him up before he got there. Then he splits his family into different parts because he is afraid Esau will kill his family as well because he stole his blessing and birthright so many years before. This had to have been a very stressful move for Jacob. He had just faced his Father-in-law and parted ways with him, and now he had to face his brother. All of this conflict had been brought about because of dishonesty. I think his actions shows some regret also for his previous actions. He also continued to show favoritism in his family. The significance of him sending the gift to Esau before him was to also make restitution for stealing the birthright. Deceit and dishonesty cause breaches in relationships that can last for many years.

The basic meaning of the name Israel according to Wikipedia is Contended with God, triumphant. This is the Hebrew meaning of the name. According to the Bing search I did, Jacob means to follow, supplanter. So, God changed his name from follower to triumphant because he had wrestled with God and man and prevailed. When the angel of the Lord wounded Jacob’s hip joint, Jacob had no choice but to face Esau in weakness and had to fully trust in God to deliver him. Later he stated that God had dwelt graciously with him.

https://biblehub.com/commentaries/genesis/32-25.htm
Jacob was only able to prevail by God's grace. The above link is commentaries references to this scripture passage and what it means. They mention that Jacob wrestled so hard with the angel that his hip socket shrank and he continued to wrestle with the angel until he blessed him there. It pays to be persistent when asking the Lord for things but you may suffer wounds if wrestling too hard with the Lord.

Part of the significance of the gift that Jacob gave Esau was for physical restitution because he had physically stolen his birthright. God had blessed Esau as well as Jacob over that previous 20 years so that Jacob had to persuade Esau to take his gift, which he finally did receive it. After the meeting with the angel, Jacob went before his family to meet Esau. . . A change of heart? A true change of heart is evident in your actions.

Dinah, Joseph’s half sister, went out to socialize with the Canaanite women. As a result, she was raped by a Canaanite man. She was now defiled and no longer a virgin.

Dinah was the daughter of Leah. Jacob, her father remained passive during the whole encounter with her rapist, his father and their people. The man who raped her tried to make a deal to marry her and for the Canaanite’s to become one with Israel. Of course, the Canaanite’s saw this as an opportunity to gain wealth from the Israelites. They did not have Godly or good intentions in arranging this marriage.

What men will do to gain wealth! They had themselves circumsized. While they were still sore from this, Levi and Simeon went in and killed them and took their sister back with other hostages from their people. Now Jacob gets mad. He is afraid that this made him look bad to the other people, Canaanite’s , of the land and was afraid they would kill them.

But the brothers were angry and asked him if they should just be allowed to treat their sister like a whore? On the other hand, Levi and Simeon acted as liars and murderers. One sin seemed to lead to another with a ripple effect effecting other people. Jacob was still a bit self centered here. Men and in that time treated women like objects instead of human beings.

Be careful who you socialize with. Men should protect women and not be passive in a situation like this, but should also not seek revenge. Vengeance belongs to God.

This is where all of Israel’s false gods and images were finally put away from the family and people with Israel. Jacob took them away from the people that were with him and hid them. Then they traveled to Bethel. God protected them by putting the fear of Jacob into the Canaanites so they would not attack him and his people.

This is a call for everyone to worship only the Lord God of Israel.

The family experiences more grief at the loss of Rachel’s nurse died. God continues to communicate with Jacob personally. All of these family struggles were happening within the family during Joseph’s childhood before he was seventeen. I wonder how it affected him and what unmentioned parts did he play in all of it.