John 12:20-50 . Some Greeks came to Jesus and Jesus prophesied about his being “lifted up, and draw all men to himself”, and some believed. Many Jews also believed but kept quiet for fear of being put out of the synagogues.
Genesis 36 records the genealogy of Esau and the rulers of Edom.
Genesis 37 tells of Joseph’s dreams, outrageous as they were, they made his brothers jealous, so they sold him into slavery to the Ishmaelites, and then the Midianites sold him to Potiphar in Egypt.
Mankind has a strong survival instinct. This leads to trying to manipulate people to gain an advantage or at least survive, and because Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead in John 11:45-57 the ruling Jews were worried that Jesus would become ruler and then the Romans would destroy their nation. This lead to Caiaphas’ inadvertent prophecy “You know nothing at all! You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.”
The sons of Laban were displeased with Jacob getting rich at their expense, so in Genesis 31 Jacob fled from Laban. However, as Jacob, wives and children all were set to depart, Rachel stole Laban’s idols. Laban found out the idols were missing, pursued Jacob and caught up with him. Laban looked for the idols, at no avail, Rachel had hid them under the saddle of her camel and sat on it claiming she had her period. Finally Laban gave in, said farewell to all and he and Joseph established the Mizpah.
In Genesis 32 Jacob, schemer as he was, prepared to meet Esau. He figured Esau wanted to kill him, so he split up his company in two, and gave instructions to his messengers on what to say to make Esau less vindictive. Then the Jacob family crossed the Ford of Jabbok. On the other side they camped for the night, and Jacob wrestled with an angel of God and prevailed, but got a limp in his hip. God then gave Jacob a new, spiritual name, Israel.
And in Genesis 33 Jacob finally met up with Esau, but it turned out that Esau rejoiced to see Jacob and all his children.
In John 10:22-42 Jesus claimed to be one with his Father. This is of course blasphemy unless it is true, so for that the Jews wanted to stone him.
In Genesis 27 Jacob deceived Isaac to get the blessing of the firstborn instead of Esau. Esau got one too, but just the regular blessing, and to avoid more trouble Jacob fled to Laban.
In Genesis 28, Jacob went to Paddan Aram to get a wife. On the way he had a dream, commonly known as “Jacob’s Ladder”. Meanwhile, Esau took yet another wife, the daughter of Ishmael. The promise of Jacob’s dream was that God was to give the land to Jacob’s descendants. Jacob made a vow to God and named the place Bethel.
Psalm 5 is a prayer extolling the joy of praising God and praying towards Jerusalem, but is also an urgent prayer to do away with and destroy all wickedness and wicked people.
The four chapters chosen for today are full of promise, but also trouble and conflict.
January 16: John 15, Genesis 32, Genesis 33, Genesis 34 (click on the chapter to begin reading)
In John 15 Jesus continued his instructions to the disciples. There are many memorable quotes from this chapter: “I am the true vine, I am the vine, you are the branches, apart from me you can do nothing, as the Father has loved me, so have I loved you, love each other as I have loved you, greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends, this is my command: Love each other” and “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.”
In Genesis 32 Jacob, schemer as the was, prepared to meet Esau. He figured Esau wanted to kill him, so he split up his company in two, and gave instructions to his messengers on what to say to make Esau less vindictive. Then the Jacob family crossed the Ford of Jabbok. On the other side they camped for the night, and Jacob wrestled with an angel of God and prevailed, but got a limp in his hip. God then ggave Jacob a new, spiritual name, Israel.
In Genesis 33 Jacob finally met up with Esau, and it turned out that Esau was rejoicing to see Jacob and all his children.
Trouble started in Genesis 34. Dinah was violated by an uncircumcised person, two of her brothers executed revenge on not only the violator but every male in the whole town, killing them all. Jacob said: “You have troubled me to make me a stink among the inhabitants of the land.” And so trouble started.
Today there are three chapters.
January 13: John 12, Genesis 26, Genesis 27 (click on the chapter to begin reading)
John 12 begins the last week before the Crucifixion. It is important when this happened, so I have inserted a piece on the correct date it must have happened. Jesus is anointed at Bethany, then comes the triumphal entry and Jesus prophecises about his being “lifted up, and draw all men to himself”.
Genesis 26 tells of Isaac and Rebekah, how Isaac too said Rebekah was his sister. In spite of that God protected them, and the rest of the chapter deals with the eternal Mideast dispute: Water rights.
In Genesis 27 Jacob gets Isaac’s blessing instead pf Esau. Esau gets one too, but inferior, so to avoid more trouble Jacob flees to Laban.
Edom, the hill country of Seir, is Southwest of the Dead sea, a dry near desert like land, but with winter rains and occasional rain at other times.
The descendants of Esau are well documented from Egyptian sources that corroborate the biblical account.
The angels of God are everywhere for those whose eyes are opened.
Jacob is trying to pacify Esau with gifts.
The Ford of Jabbok.
Jacob had his plans, but God….
Rebekah: Let the curse fall on me. She didn’t have it easy after that.
Rebekah was the original inventor of the plot for Isaac to give Jacob the blessing rather than Esau after Jacob had extorted Esau’s birthright. By deceit they fulfilled God’s will. The Bible shows how sinful man can still fulfill God’s purpose.
After Sarah’s death Abraham married one of his concubines. Keturah already had six sons with Abraham, according to first Chronicles 1:32-34
Ishmael was there at Abraham’s death, and helped bury Abraham. Thus he had not moved far away yet.
Of particular interest is Ishmael’s second son, Kedar. His name is closely associated with Arabia. But Kedar lived much closer to Jerusalem than what the Muslims suggest. They claim he moved to what is now Mecca, but according to Isaiah 60:7 he must have lived much closer.
All Kedar’s flocks will be gathered to you,
the rams of Nebaioth will serve you;
they will be accepted as offerings on my altar,
and I will adorn my glorious temple.
The lambs and other animals used for sacrifices were raised much nearer Jerusalem so they could more easily be driven as herds.
And this is the reason God said: Esau have I hated. Esau did not consider the spiritual dimension of his birthright.
Len Bilén's blog, a blog about faith, politics and the environment. 