Genesis 37

(Sorry no update- not that anyone is reading!- went away for the weekend.)

# Joseph was a goody-2-shoes...dibber-dobber...sounds pretty arrogant. I reckon he would have been hard to take.
# Eep, more parental favourite playing in verse 3. When will they realise that it leads to no good!?
# Muderous brothers are hatching plans again in vs 4. Reflects the principle that Jesus talks about a coupla hundren years later- that if you lust after someone in your heart you've already committed adultery type thing...(if I was really nifty I'd cross reference that verse here, but I don't know where it is...)
# Aaanyway, the situation escalates up til vs 19. What I find interesting are the reactions of the brothers which reflect on 3 kinds of people in the world today...(I reckon this would make a good sermon one day!). First we have Reuben- wants to do the right thing but is too afraid to actually stand up and be counted...he wants to do the right thing, but still wants to fit in with the crowd (vs 21). And when his rescue plans screw up, he's only too willing to fall into line with the rest of them in their plot (vs 30). Then we have Judah who is a bit of a half-way-house. He's fairly pragmatic in essence- still wants the job done, but doesn't want any of the messy stuff that will go along with it, and he's saving Joseph's life not because he wants to do the right thing, but because it's convenient for him to do so (vs 26). Then there's the rest of the brothers who really don't have any intentions at all but to rid themselves of Joseph because they're just so pissed off and blinded by their hatred of him. I was just thinking- there's no 'goody' in this story- there's no heroic example for us...no guy with the right intentions and the right actions. I guess that suggests that most, if not all the time we fall into one of those categories.
# I just read vs 35 and my insides squirm at the thought of how CRAP the brothers responsible for getting rid of Joseph would have felt...no wonder years and years later when they meet up with Joseph again they're still riddled with guilt and angst about it.

Genesis 33-36

Chapter 33
# Reconciliation. Only happened after Jacob wrestled with God, and God changed him.
# My reading of what happens is that Jacob was suppoed to be visiting Esau, but when Esau goes to bring Jacob back to his place, Jacob goes 'no no, don't wait for me, I'll catch up with you in Seir!', but then doesn't end up going- instead goes to somewhere different. Is he scared that Esau will change his mind?

Chapter 34
# I don't quite understand Jacob's reaction to Dinah's rape. He is quiet and quite measured about it...whereas the reactions of the brothers are heaps more understandable (rage and fury!). Maybe it's because he's learned that God watches over everything that he does, and that in God's time, wrongs and injustices against him will be dealt with. Although, maybe his motivation isn't quite so altruistic/holy- in vs 30, it seems as though Jacob's lack of action is prompted by him wanting to save their skins more than anything.
# Notice how Jacob's sons aren't a very good reflection on him and his parenting skills! They slaughter a whole town of men...sell off their own brother into slavery....the eldest sleeps with Jacob's concubine...

Chapter 35
# God saves Jacob's skin again- in response, Jacob dedicates himself and his whole family to God, and God's response is to bless him.

(Chapter 36 is Esau's family tree which I didn't get a whole lot out of)

Genesis 29-32

Chapter 29
# Jacob, inspired to action and chivalry by a pretty girl (vs 10). Hehehe.
# I don't get it. Laban is a sneaky old cow- he was the one who suggested paying Jacob something- he could have just said no, or 'We don't do things like that around here!' or something to that effect. Maybe it's a principle of you sow what you reap...(Jacob's journey started out with deceit, and so it's a bit of a continuing theme until his encounter with God).
# "...So Jacob served 7 years to get Rachel, but they only seemed like a few days to him because of his love for her..." (vs 20). All together now: awwwwww! =) Just goes to show that when we do things because we believe in the end result and are committed to it, time flies. Actually, that seems kind of idealistic in a way compared to the reality of life (I mean...I'm sure church leaders definitely believe in what they are doing and in their cause, but it doesn't prevent them from getting burnt out. Hmmm.)
# I wonder why Jacob didn't notice that he was sleeping with the wrong girl at the time. I mean, you're kind of in close proximity...
# There's also a theme of favourite playing through this family (vs 30).
# I think this verse (31) reflects God's character. He is merciful and compassionate...He cares about our individual situations. Praise the Lord!

Chapter 30
# And here they go again, having kids through their maids.
# I don't think this playing favourites theme ever ends happily...the sisters are locked in this tussle over their husband...and Jacob gets treated like a commodity (vs 16- "I have hired you...") (dunno if he'd mind though!).
# As an aside, there's so much human drama here...where is God? He seems to be giving out kids and answering prayers- definitely in the situation- not just watching from afar.
# Jacob's spotty flock breeding scheme...do you think this is him being shrewed or unethical!? Well, I supposed Laban wasn't exactly ethical when dealing with Jacob, and it shows the cycle of deception just keeps on turning...

Chapter 31
# God doesn't just sit back when injustice occurs (vs 12)...he sees everything that goes on and watches out for us. I guess this verse demonstrates that vengance really is the Lord's...
# I don't understand why Rachel steals the household gods. Really don't. Bible doesn't explain either.
# And here's another recurring theme in Jacob's life....running away (vs 20) and deceiving people.
# Verse 42 (and again in vs 53) is interesting...Jacob calls God the "Fear of Isaac"...wonder why! Something to do with Isaac fearing God?

Chapter 32
# After God assuring Jacob that He'd be with Him etc etc, Jacob still freaks out and organises his own contingency plan of buttering up Esau with heaps of presents before he meets him. Ack! Humans are just like that I suppose...even after the most awesome revelation of God we still have this disbelieving, faithless part of us that is saying "Really!? Nah....can't be...".
# Jacob also organised his contingency then remembered to commit the situation to the Lord...let's get our order of steps right!
# Ahh, my favourite bit of this passage. Jacob wrestling with God...it's ok to wrestle with God. I don't think God minds at all. I don't think God wants us to be mindless drones. In his wrestling, Jacob was tenacious and persistent- and the reward for his tenacity and persistence was that his life and destiny were changed...he was no longer Jacob, the person with a legacy of deception and running away, but Israel, and overcommer. I pray for myself (and for whoever reads this), that we would also be blessed, and our lives changed after struggling with God...and that God would allow us, and give us opportunities to struggle with Him. (Hope that made sense!)

Genesis 24-28

(I'm reading from The Message, so no verses!)

Chapter 24
# When God provides, He really provides! He knows our needs and requests even before we utter them.
# Laban and Bethuel (Rebekah's brother and father) kind of surrender her to the plan of God after hearing the story...but then Laban does this backflip (''O let her stay another few days..."). I think it shows that unless we fully embrace God's plans for us (as opposed to just going "O, well, it's God's will and there's nothing I can do to stop it, so blah, just go along with it"), we'll be liable to doing backflips back into our own human ways/thoughts/plans. Contrast Laban's attitude to Rebekah, who embraced God's plan and provision and was ready to go when she was called.


Chapter 25
# Abraham's little known 2nd wife comes into play!! I never even knew he had a 2nd wife until last night when I read this!!
# Also, we see an interaction between Ishmael and Issac here...didn't know that happened either. I thought Ishmael and Hagar got sent away?
# Esau and Jacob- Esau voluntarily gives up his birthright- some part of me reckons that that was his fault and he shouldn't have kicked up such a fuss later on when Jacob got the blessing.

Chapter 26
# Old Abimelech! I can't believe he falls for the same "this-is-my-sister-when-she's-really-my-wife!" trick again from Isaac!! (see Chapter 20 when Abraham does EXACTLY the same thing!) It's kinda funny...hehe.
# God uses Isaac's circumstances (quarrelling over wells) to get him into the position God wanted him to be in. Praise God that everything is under His control and that He is using circumstances for our good even when we can't see it. He's a faithful God.
# The way God works is a testimony to other people- His work in our lives is as much a witness as the things that we say- Abimelech realised the God was with Isaac.

Chapter 27
# I'm slightly astounded at the extent to which Rebekah plays favourites between her two sons...! I wonder why she was so determined to make Isaac give Jacob the blessing...possibly because she knew about Jacob and Esau's prior agreement? Either way, no one makes any mention of Esau's sale of his birthright anyway. I wonder why.
# I also find Jacob saying that God made it so he found the food so quickly particularly daring! If you're gonna lie and cheat...leave God out of it!
# Ohhh....I see, birthright and blessing seem to be 2 different things...(vs 36)
# I also don't understand why there's only one blessings. He could have blessed Esau with other things...??

Chapter 28
# Even though Jacob tricks Isaac, he still helps him get away from the vengeful Esau and blesses him AGAIN.
# Esau's reaction is funny. He feels guilty about having done all these things his parents have disapproved of, then goes and marries one of his cousins, a daughter of Ishmael when it says in Chapter 25 v 18 that that family really didn't get along with his family. Strange I say! I guess he was just trying to do his best to please them...in his own misguided way. How many times do we do the same thing...just try and do what we think is right then go stuffing it all up...better to go God's way.
# I love this bit- "God is in this place and I didn't know it"...I pray that I would always be aware that God is around and that His presence would be a reality in my life.

Welcome!

In an attempt to breathe some consistency into my walk with God, I thought I'd set up this new blog. The idea is to log on here (with the all new net in my room!) before I start my day and post some notes/thoughts on a passage of the Bible I've thought about. So yeah, hopefully I
(a) can keep this up
(b) can encourage you with some of this stuff.

Adieu!