Day 17
Genesis 34:1-35:29
(34 | 35)
Jacob has a daughter by Leah, and she is named Dinah. One day, Dinah heads out to visit some of the women of the land. The area is ruled by a man named Hamor the Hivite. His son, Shechem, sees her, takes her and rapes her. He then falls in love with her, and asks his father to get her as a wife for him. When Dinah's eleven brothers find out what happened, they are quite understandably stricken with grief and anger. So when Hamor and Shechem come to Jacob to propose an intermarriage agreement, and, more specifically, to ask for Dinah to be given to Shechem as a wife, Jacob's sons tell them that they'll agree on one condition; that all of their males be circumcised. They argue that it would disgrace them if they were to give their sister to an uncircumcised man. Hamor and Shechem agree, and put the proposal forward to the people in their city. It seemed a reasonable sacrifice to make; they'd all be circumcised, but by intermarrying, they'd gain so much more. So all the men in the city are circumcised.
Three days later, the men are unsurprisingly still in pain. Two of Dinah's brothers, Simeon and Levi, decide to seize the opportunity and attack them. They kill all the men in the city, including Hamor and Shechem. They then loot the city, taking all of their women, children, wealth and livestock. When Jacob hears about this, he tells his sons they've put a mark on their heads amongst the people living in that land. Jacob's household is relatively small, so should the other people of the land decide to unite and attack Jacob, he would be overrun. Their reply; "Should he have treated our sister like a prostitute?"
God tells Jacob to return to Bethel; a place Jacob stopped at for the night when he was fleeing to Paddan Aram and his cousin Laban from his brother. So Jacob and his household head off to Bethel, and they're kept safe from towns on the path there. They build an altar to the LORD there. Then they head back. Upon his return, God appears to Jacob and repeats that Jacob will now be called Israel. God repeats the promise he made to Abraham and Isaac, saying he was giving the land of Canaan to him, and that his descendants would also receive it. Jacob called that place Bethel, or House of God, because that's where he'd met God. I'm not sure if this Bethel is the same as the Bethel on the path between Canaan and Paddan Aram.
The chapter ends with the deaths of Rachel and Isaac. Rachel dies giving birth to Benjamin, Jacob's twelfth son. Jacob's twelve sons eventually become the twelve tribes of Israel. Jacob marked her grave with a pillar. Isaac died at the age of one hundred and eighty, and was buried by his sons.
Matthew 12:46-13:17
(12:46-48 | 13:1-17)
When Jesus' mother and brothers attempt to come and talk to him, Jesus claims that his disciples were, in fact, his mother and brothers. Quite an extraordinary claim. He clarifies this somewhat by saying "whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother". This is probably where the term "brothers and sisters in Christ" originated.
The Parable of the Sower is one of my favourite parables. I love it because at first it seems to make no sense. The disciples are just as confused until Jesus explains it, which makes me feel better. Today's reading does not feature the explanation of the parable, so I'll tackle that tomorrow.
It's interesting that this fulfils another of Isaiah's prophecies; only the disciples will really be able to understand at the time because they're willing to listen. But the general people don't understand because they refuse to try to really perceive what God is doing. We're only able to understand now because it's been written down. We also suck at perceiving what God does. We try, and some people do better than others. But as a Church, we're not doing that great a job.
Psalm 10:1-11
(10:1-11)
In the first half of this psalm, the psalmist is wondering why God can appear to be inert when we're going through times of trouble. He says the wicked become arrogant and believe they're untouchable because they believe God has forgotten us and doesn't see what we're going through. This can happen to all of us. I'm currently reading God on Mute by Pete Greig of 24-7 Prayer and Holy Trinity Brompton, a church in London. It's a really encouraging read on unanswered prayer, and why God can sometimes seem silent.
Genesis 34:1-35:29
(34 | 35)
Jacob has a daughter by Leah, and she is named Dinah. One day, Dinah heads out to visit some of the women of the land. The area is ruled by a man named Hamor the Hivite. His son, Shechem, sees her, takes her and rapes her. He then falls in love with her, and asks his father to get her as a wife for him. When Dinah's eleven brothers find out what happened, they are quite understandably stricken with grief and anger. So when Hamor and Shechem come to Jacob to propose an intermarriage agreement, and, more specifically, to ask for Dinah to be given to Shechem as a wife, Jacob's sons tell them that they'll agree on one condition; that all of their males be circumcised. They argue that it would disgrace them if they were to give their sister to an uncircumcised man. Hamor and Shechem agree, and put the proposal forward to the people in their city. It seemed a reasonable sacrifice to make; they'd all be circumcised, but by intermarrying, they'd gain so much more. So all the men in the city are circumcised.
Three days later, the men are unsurprisingly still in pain. Two of Dinah's brothers, Simeon and Levi, decide to seize the opportunity and attack them. They kill all the men in the city, including Hamor and Shechem. They then loot the city, taking all of their women, children, wealth and livestock. When Jacob hears about this, he tells his sons they've put a mark on their heads amongst the people living in that land. Jacob's household is relatively small, so should the other people of the land decide to unite and attack Jacob, he would be overrun. Their reply; "Should he have treated our sister like a prostitute?"
God tells Jacob to return to Bethel; a place Jacob stopped at for the night when he was fleeing to Paddan Aram and his cousin Laban from his brother. So Jacob and his household head off to Bethel, and they're kept safe from towns on the path there. They build an altar to the LORD there. Then they head back. Upon his return, God appears to Jacob and repeats that Jacob will now be called Israel. God repeats the promise he made to Abraham and Isaac, saying he was giving the land of Canaan to him, and that his descendants would also receive it. Jacob called that place Bethel, or House of God, because that's where he'd met God. I'm not sure if this Bethel is the same as the Bethel on the path between Canaan and Paddan Aram.
The chapter ends with the deaths of Rachel and Isaac. Rachel dies giving birth to Benjamin, Jacob's twelfth son. Jacob's twelve sons eventually become the twelve tribes of Israel. Jacob marked her grave with a pillar. Isaac died at the age of one hundred and eighty, and was buried by his sons.
Matthew 12:46-13:17
(12:46-48 | 13:1-17)
When Jesus' mother and brothers attempt to come and talk to him, Jesus claims that his disciples were, in fact, his mother and brothers. Quite an extraordinary claim. He clarifies this somewhat by saying "whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother". This is probably where the term "brothers and sisters in Christ" originated.
The Parable of the Sower is one of my favourite parables. I love it because at first it seems to make no sense. The disciples are just as confused until Jesus explains it, which makes me feel better. Today's reading does not feature the explanation of the parable, so I'll tackle that tomorrow.
It's interesting that this fulfils another of Isaiah's prophecies; only the disciples will really be able to understand at the time because they're willing to listen. But the general people don't understand because they refuse to try to really perceive what God is doing. We're only able to understand now because it's been written down. We also suck at perceiving what God does. We try, and some people do better than others. But as a Church, we're not doing that great a job.
Psalm 10:1-11
(10:1-11)
In the first half of this psalm, the psalmist is wondering why God can appear to be inert when we're going through times of trouble. He says the wicked become arrogant and believe they're untouchable because they believe God has forgotten us and doesn't see what we're going through. This can happen to all of us. I'm currently reading God on Mute by Pete Greig of 24-7 Prayer and Holy Trinity Brompton, a church in London. It's a really encouraging read on unanswered prayer, and why God can sometimes seem silent.
No comments:
Post a Comment