Jacob Builds An Altar, Rachael And Isaac Dies

[Walter and Deborah]

Tuesday 11-3-20 Cheshvan 16, 5781 3rd. day of the weekly cycle,

43rd. Fall Day

 

Jacob Builds An Altar: Genesis Thirty Five:1-15, Rachael And Isaac Dies 16-29

 

◄ Genesis Thirty Five ►

King James Bible Par ▾

 

Jacob Returns to Bethel

 

1And 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 fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. 2Then 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: 3And 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. 4And 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.

 

5And 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. 6So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, that is, Bethel, he and all the people that were with him. 7And 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. 8But Deborah Rebekah's nurse died, and she was buried beneath Bethel under an oak: and the name of it was called Allonbachuth.

 

Jacob is Named Israel

 

9And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padanaram, and blessed him.

 

10And 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.

 

11And 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;

 

12And 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.

 

13And God went up from him in the place where he talked with him. 14And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he talked with him, even a pillar of stone: and he poured a drink offering thereon, and he poured oil thereon. 15And Jacob called the name of the place where God spake with him, Bethel.

 

Benjamin is Born, Rachel Dies

 

16And they journeyed from Bethel; and there was but a little way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour. 17And it came to pass, when she was in hard labour, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have this son also. 18And 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. 19And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem. 20And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar of Rachel's grave unto this day. 21And Israel journeyed, and spread his tent beyond the tower of Edar.

 

1 Chronicles 2:1-2)

 

22And it came to pass, when Israel dwelt 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: 23The sons of Leah; Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, and Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Zebulun: 24The sons of Rachel; Joseph, and Benjamin: 25And the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid; Dan, and Naphtali: 26And the sons of Zilpah, Leah's handmaid; Gad, and Asher: these are the sons of Jacob, which were born to him in Padanaram.

 

The Death of Isaac

 

27And Jacob came unto Isaac his father unto Mamre, unto the city of Arbah, which is Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac sojourned.

 

28And the days of Isaac were an hundred and fourscore years. 29And 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.

 

Genesis Thirty Six:1-43  Generations Of Esau

 

Love always, Walter and Debbie

Edited November 3, 2020 by Walter and Deborah
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[Tzephanyahu]

Shalom @Walter and Deborah

There's a part in this passage which always makes me sad and that's the death of Rachel.

I can almost see the scene. Jacob is moving with his family gently but as swiftly as possible, just desperately trying to reach a shelter in Bethlehem in the dead of night.  The little town is within view, and so close now.  Rachel, the love of his life, is crying aloud in the most painful of labours and surely Jacob's own heartbeat was just as deafening to him.  But just out of reach from the Messiah birthplace, their journey must come to a sudden halt, as Rachel collapses under the pain and goes into delivery.  

Rachel's last words reflect the horrendous experience she went through by the roadside as she finally slipped away.   She left Jacob devastated and yet also blessed with another son.  His emotions were probably so out of control and confused immediately after.  But this was just the beginning of sorrows for Jacob - Reuben lays with Bilhah, his father dies not long after and Joseph is soon to be taken from him.

It's interesting how this tragic moment of Rachel's wailing cry outside Bethlehem would stand in the minds of Israel throughout their generations thereafter, being referred to by the Prophet Jeremiah and the Apostle Matthew.

Love & Shalom