1 And God said unto Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fled from the face of Esau thy brother.”
It’s time for Jacob to keep his promise to God.
2 Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, “Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments:
3 “And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.”
Bethel means “House of God.”
4 And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.
This would include the idols that Rebecca stole from her father. I wonder if Jacob realized that.
Earrings were often in the shape of patron idols and were worn as lucky charms or part of pagan worship. Ones worn for purely decorative purposes wouldn’t have been included.
5 And they journeyed: and the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob.
God kept them safe from retribution for what they had done to Shechem.
6 So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, that is, Bethel, he and all the people that were with him.
7 And he built there an altar, and called the place Elbethel: because there God appeared unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother.
Elbethel means “God the House of God.”
8 But Deborah Rebekah’s nurse died, and she was buried beneath Bethel under an oak: and the name of it was called Allonbachuth.
Allonbachuth means “Terebinth (or Oak) of Weeping.”
Rebekah’s nurse would probably have been the equivalent of her nanny. Genesis 24:59 says she was with Rebekah when she left her home to marry Isaac, so at some point in here Jacob must have gone to his father’s house and brought Deborah back to Shechem with him. She had to have been at least 160 when she died. She was evidently very much beloved.
This Deborah has been remembered for some 4000 years for her achievements in life. And what were those achievements? She loved and took care of babies and children. There is no more important job in the world than bringing up the next generation of people to worship God.
9 And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padanaram, and blessed him.
10 And God said unto him, “Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name:” and he called his name Israel.
Have you ever wondered how God spoke to people in instances like this? Did Jacob hear an audible voice? Did an angel come talk to him? Did he have a dream?
11 And God said unto him, “I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins;
Here is that command to have babies again. Jacob could not have accomplished God’s will in his life if he had limited his family to the “responsible” two children.
12 “And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land.”
13 And God went up from him in the place where He talked with him.
14 And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he talked with Him, even a pillar of stone: and he poured a drink offering on it, and he poured oil on it.
15 And Jacob called the name of the place where God spake with him, Bethel.
“House of God.”
16 And they journeyed from Bethel; and there was but a little way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labor.
17 And it came to pass, when she was in hard labor, that the midwife said unto her, “Fear not; thou shall have this son also.”
“Mitwife” is German for “with woman.” It has been the custom in most countries for a woman to be attended by women when she delivers. We are an odd society to even allow the men in the room. Not that it’s a bad thing, necessarily. Just odd.
(My Hubby was holding my hand for the birth of all nine of our children and I am very thankful for him being there.)
18 And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Benoni: but his father called him Benjamin.
Benoni means “Sorrow.” Benjamin means “Son of the Right Hand.”
Death in childbirth has always occurred, though it was a relative rarity until the middle 1800’s when doctors took over delivery and insisted on women being in hospitals. Hospitals are full of disease and germs and caused many women and babies to die who wouldn’t have if they had stayed home.
Couple that with the fashion that exercise, sunlight, and eating anything but white bread and tea were all “vulgar” to the rich, and you set a culture up to lose lots of mommas and babies.
Poor women didn’t die as often because they couldn’t afford to not exercise with their work, avoid sunlight, or eat much of anything but good, nutritious meat and vegetables, much less pay a hospital bill.
The lowering of death rates in the early 1900’s is directly related to the invention of hand washing and better nutrition. Both of these apply across the board from the planned homebirth to the hospital birth.
Today, the death rate in homebirths in developed nations is lower than the rate in hospitals due to mommy having immunity to the germs in her own home but not in the hospital.
Malnutrition and disease from contaminated water still cause way too many deaths in the developing world in both moms and babies, though.
Rachel most likely died of blood loss (rare in the developed world), the second most common cause of death in childbirth today (second only to infection).
19 And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem.
20 And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar of Rachel’s grave unto this day.
21 And Israel journeyed, and spread his tent beyond the tower of Edar.
22 And it came to pass, when Israel lived in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine: and Israel heard it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve:
No idea if this was consensual or not. Most commentaries assume it was not, but there isn’t really evidence either way.
This is what disqualified Ruben from inheriting the Oldest Child Blessing. This type of sin is so grievous to God, Paul tells us in the New Testament to not even talk about it, yet the Bible doesn’t mention any other punishment to Ruben. Some writings from much later say God punished him with disease, but the Bible itself doesn’t say anything.
23 The sons of Leah; Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, and Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Zebulun:
24 The sons of Rachel; Joseph, and Benjamin:
25 And the sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s handmaid; Dan, and Naphtali:
26 And the sons of Zilpah, Leah’s handmaid; Gad, and Asher: these are the sons of Jacob, which were born to him in Padanaram.
27 And Jacob came unto Isaac his father unto Mamre, unto the city of Arbah, which is Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac sojourned.
28 And the days of Isaac were an hundred and eighty years.
Isaac lived to be 180. He would have died 2288AH (1758BC), 23 years after Jacob returned to Canaan, 12 years after Joseph was sold into Egypt, 10 years before Jacob moves to Egypt.
29 And Isaac gave up the ghost, and died, and was gathered unto his people, being old and full of days: and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
It appears Rebekah had died earlier as she is never mentioned after Jacob leaves for Laban’s house.
It’s time for Jacob to keep his promise to God.
2 Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, “Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments:
3 “And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.”
Bethel means “House of God.”
4 And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.
This would include the idols that Rebecca stole from her father. I wonder if Jacob realized that.
Earrings were often in the shape of patron idols and were worn as lucky charms or part of pagan worship. Ones worn for purely decorative purposes wouldn’t have been included.
5 And they journeyed: and the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob.
God kept them safe from retribution for what they had done to Shechem.
6 So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, that is, Bethel, he and all the people that were with him.
7 And he built there an altar, and called the place Elbethel: because there God appeared unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother.
Elbethel means “God the House of God.”
8 But Deborah Rebekah’s nurse died, and she was buried beneath Bethel under an oak: and the name of it was called Allonbachuth.
Allonbachuth means “Terebinth (or Oak) of Weeping.”
Rebekah’s nurse would probably have been the equivalent of her nanny. Genesis 24:59 says she was with Rebekah when she left her home to marry Isaac, so at some point in here Jacob must have gone to his father’s house and brought Deborah back to Shechem with him. She had to have been at least 160 when she died. She was evidently very much beloved.
This Deborah has been remembered for some 4000 years for her achievements in life. And what were those achievements? She loved and took care of babies and children. There is no more important job in the world than bringing up the next generation of people to worship God.
9 And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padanaram, and blessed him.
10 And God said unto him, “Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name:” and he called his name Israel.
Have you ever wondered how God spoke to people in instances like this? Did Jacob hear an audible voice? Did an angel come talk to him? Did he have a dream?
11 And God said unto him, “I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins;
Here is that command to have babies again. Jacob could not have accomplished God’s will in his life if he had limited his family to the “responsible” two children.
12 “And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land.”
13 And God went up from him in the place where He talked with him.
14 And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he talked with Him, even a pillar of stone: and he poured a drink offering on it, and he poured oil on it.
15 And Jacob called the name of the place where God spake with him, Bethel.
“House of God.”
16 And they journeyed from Bethel; and there was but a little way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labor.
17 And it came to pass, when she was in hard labor, that the midwife said unto her, “Fear not; thou shall have this son also.”
“Mitwife” is German for “with woman.” It has been the custom in most countries for a woman to be attended by women when she delivers. We are an odd society to even allow the men in the room. Not that it’s a bad thing, necessarily. Just odd.
(My Hubby was holding my hand for the birth of all nine of our children and I am very thankful for him being there.)
18 And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Benoni: but his father called him Benjamin.
Benoni means “Sorrow.” Benjamin means “Son of the Right Hand.”
Death in childbirth has always occurred, though it was a relative rarity until the middle 1800’s when doctors took over delivery and insisted on women being in hospitals. Hospitals are full of disease and germs and caused many women and babies to die who wouldn’t have if they had stayed home.
Couple that with the fashion that exercise, sunlight, and eating anything but white bread and tea were all “vulgar” to the rich, and you set a culture up to lose lots of mommas and babies.
Poor women didn’t die as often because they couldn’t afford to not exercise with their work, avoid sunlight, or eat much of anything but good, nutritious meat and vegetables, much less pay a hospital bill.
The lowering of death rates in the early 1900’s is directly related to the invention of hand washing and better nutrition. Both of these apply across the board from the planned homebirth to the hospital birth.
Today, the death rate in homebirths in developed nations is lower than the rate in hospitals due to mommy having immunity to the germs in her own home but not in the hospital.
Malnutrition and disease from contaminated water still cause way too many deaths in the developing world in both moms and babies, though.
Rachel most likely died of blood loss (rare in the developed world), the second most common cause of death in childbirth today (second only to infection).
19 And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem.
20 And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar of Rachel’s grave unto this day.
21 And Israel journeyed, and spread his tent beyond the tower of Edar.
22 And it came to pass, when Israel lived in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine: and Israel heard it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve:
No idea if this was consensual or not. Most commentaries assume it was not, but there isn’t really evidence either way.
This is what disqualified Ruben from inheriting the Oldest Child Blessing. This type of sin is so grievous to God, Paul tells us in the New Testament to not even talk about it, yet the Bible doesn’t mention any other punishment to Ruben. Some writings from much later say God punished him with disease, but the Bible itself doesn’t say anything.
23 The sons of Leah; Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, and Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Zebulun:
24 The sons of Rachel; Joseph, and Benjamin:
25 And the sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s handmaid; Dan, and Naphtali:
26 And the sons of Zilpah, Leah’s handmaid; Gad, and Asher: these are the sons of Jacob, which were born to him in Padanaram.
27 And Jacob came unto Isaac his father unto Mamre, unto the city of Arbah, which is Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac sojourned.
28 And the days of Isaac were an hundred and eighty years.
Isaac lived to be 180. He would have died 2288AH (1758BC), 23 years after Jacob returned to Canaan, 12 years after Joseph was sold into Egypt, 10 years before Jacob moves to Egypt.
29 And Isaac gave up the ghost, and died, and was gathered unto his people, being old and full of days: and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
It appears Rebekah had died earlier as she is never mentioned after Jacob leaves for Laban’s house.