The reading for Tuesday, January 10, 2023 , is Genesis 32 - 34

 Today's reading: Genesis 32 - 34

Jacob meets Esau, Jacob Wrestles with God, Dinah and her brothers' revenge

Jacob returns home from where he fled because his brother Esau had determined to kill him. Jacob sends a message seeking to find favor with Esau. Esau responds by coming to meet Jacob with 400 of Esau's men. Then Jacob prays and sends Esau gifts. To me, these gifts seem like bribes. I also have to tell myself they lived in a very different culture from mine. On the other hand, if I thought someone was going to kill me and a gift might pacify them, they could have whatever they want. When they do meet, Esau runs up to Jacob. They hug and weep. I find myself wondering if Esau's heart was changed by Jacob's prayer or if Esau was glad to see his brother the whole time. 

Jacob wrestling with God. Don't we all do this? Yet, I find in this passage also a deep mystery. Also, Jacob asks for a blessing and his name is changed. How important are names? 

Shechem rapes Dinah. Shechem's father, Hamor, tries to arrange for them to marry. The bride price that Jacob's sons deceitfully name is for all the males of Hamor's city to be circumcised. Hamor convinces them to be circumcised saying that this will lead to Jacob's property becoming theirs. They all get circumcised and one the third day, when they are still in pain, Dinah's 2 full brothers, Simeon and Levi come and kill them, plunder them and take Dinah home. Jacob then points out that this has made the people of the land angry and they might come and destroy him. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The reading for Wednesday, February 8, 2023 , is Numbers 10 - 12

  Numbers 10-12 I thought Moses' father-in-law left some time ago? Perhaps I am mistaken.  Fire from the Lord burned among them because they complained of their hardships in the hearing of the Lord. This sounds to harsh to me yet, it is this same Father that sent Jesus for us.  The Israelites rejected the Lord saying why did we ever leave Egypt. This makes me think of the ways we continue to do this today. We want to run back, or stay, in what is known to us even if it's miserable and unknown to us. New paths are scary and likely make us feel insecure. However, we must lean on the Lord and not whatever is the Egyptians in our lives.  The Lord sends quail, but sets a plague on those who eat it. This seems excessive to me. Perhaps the lesson is that we must trust the Lord instead of our own desires.  Moses married a Cushite wife. When did he do that? Frankly, how did he have time.  Aaron and Miriam oppose Moses sounds like sibling rivalry to me. I must say it...
Read more

The reading for Tuesday, February 7, 2023 , is Numbers 7 - 9

Numbers 7 - 9   Although I find the listing of what each tribe brought to the tabernacle dry reading, I do note that each tribe brought exactly the same thing. It's fair. I am also curious about how they decided which tribe presented on which day. It's not by age and it doesn't say.  I am also struck by a celebration lasting 12 days. What celebration in our culture lasts 12 days? None that I can think of. The longest thing I can think of in our culture is the county fair which lasts for a week.  I continue to remind myself that all of these offerings speak to the holiness of God and a greater understanding, albeit it a nanoparticle, of the import of Jesus' death on the cross. 
Read more