The Pentateuch: Joseph reconciles with his brothers, Genesis 41-45

Have you ever been forgotten about? Ever entrusted something important with someone who didn’t regard it as important? Joseph can relate. Joseph had interpreted the dreams of two prisoners with God’s guidance, and when the dreams came true Joseph asked the cupbearer who was being reinstated to his position of honor to remember him and what he had done. Unfortunately, the cupbearer forgot about Joseph.

The cupbearer didn’t just forget Joseph – he forgot him for two years. Two years after the cupbearer was reinstated, Pharaoh had dreams that no one could interpret for him. In that culture, dreams were regarded as divine messages from “the gods”. They believed that dreams should be interpreted and paid attention to. Pharaoh’s dreams were especially important since he was considered by the Egyptian people to be divine himself. Magicians and wise men were people specifically hired for things such as interpreting dreams, yet they could not give Pharaoh anything helpful about these dreams.

After two years of being forgotten, Joseph was finally remembered. This is a stark reminder that even when people fail us, God never does. God was with Joseph the whole time, and reminded the cupbearer at the time He knew was right. The cupbearer was not only the taster of all of Pharaoh’s food and drink to test for poison, but this landed him as an especially trustworthy servant meaning he had the ear of Pharaoh. He was allowed to give counsel to Pharaoh, and he used his influence in this moment to tell him about Joseph who had rightly interpreted his own dream two years ago.

When Joseph was brought to Pharaoh he could have been angry, held a grudge, unwilling to help, and defensive… he could have been spiteful and unhelpful. You and I probably would not respond the way Joseph did – with grace, praising the Lord and giving Him honor, glory, and credit and taking none for himself. Joseph humbled himself and exalted his God in a moment most of mankind would be more inclined to seek justice for the wrongs done to us. Joseph is an incredible example in this moment of humility and faithfulness that we should all seek to follow.

¹⁴ Then Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and they quickly brought him from the dungeon.^[a] He shaved, changed his clothes, and went to Pharaoh.

¹⁵ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said about you that you can hear a dream and interpret it.”

¹⁶ “I am not able to,” Joseph answered Pharaoh. “It is God who will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.”^[b]

Genesis 41:14-16 CSB

Joseph is Remembered

Why did Joseph praise God in this moment? Joseph never lost faith, never gave up hope, and continued to cling to the conviction that God was with him and made all he did successful. Joseph was faithful to the Lord even when his circumstances were painful. Now, Pharaoh recognized God’s hand on Joseph and elevated him to the highest position in the empire, second only to Pharaoh himself.

Joseph was a 17-year-old spoiled, favored, pampered younger son when his brothers tricked, trapped, and sold him, and now at 30 years old Pharaoh gave him the name Zaphenath-paneah, which means “treasury of the glorious rest”, put him in charge of his empire, and gave him a wife, Asenath, who gave him two sons named Manasseh and Ephraim. God blessed Joseph and made everything he did successful – in the seasons of scarcity and suffering as well as the seasons of abundance and joy.

⁵⁰ Two sons were born to Joseph before the years of famine arrived. Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest at On, bore them to him. ⁵¹ Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh^[a] and said, “God has made me forget all my hardship and my whole family.” ⁵² And the second son he named Ephraim^[b] and said, “God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”

Genesis 41:50-52 CSB

Isn’t that what we should all desire? I know I would love to be known as someone that God makes all I do successful. God made everything Joseph did successful because Joseph was faithful and dedicated to the Lord and trusted His plan for his life no matter what came. When we are obedient to the Lord and faithful to His will, we are perfectly positioned to receive God’s blessings.

Blessings don’t always come in the ways we expect. Joseph was sold into slavery by his own family, then imprisoned for a crime he did not commit, yet the Lord was with him. God blessed Joseph with the responsibility of caring for Potiphar’s household, caring for other prisoners, and then managing the Egyptian empire second only to Pharaoh in the land. Joseph was also blessed with peace and hope knowing the Lord was with him through his sufferings and successes.

There have been plenty of times in my own life when the season I was in hurt. Difficult seasons can be painful, but I had peace and hope knowing no matter what was happening in my life the Lord was with me, sustaining me, guiding me, and providing for me. I knew I could trust the ways the Lord chose to provide and the ways He chose not to provide. When I have trusted the Lord in these seasons, I have come out of them closer to Him, stronger in my faith, and able to persevere in the next tough season with more endurance.

Joseph kept his heart focused on God, and God sustained him and blessed him even through the suffering seasons of his life.

Abundance and Famine

Joseph had told Pharaoh what needed to be done in response to the dreams God had given Pharaoh and interpreted through Joseph. There would be seven years of abundance in the land, and then seven years of devastating famine. Joseph was in charge of preparing for the famine and managing the kingdom through the crisis. In the years of abundance, he stored away so much grain and excess food it could not have been weighed.

Sometimes that is how the seasons of abundance in our lives feel. God is pouring blessing after blessing and we can’t even count them all. But also like life, seasons of famine come in and if we have not prepared in the seasons of abundance, we will feel the sting of the famine with a devastating blow. Joseph leaned on God to teach him to prepare for the famine to come, so when the famine did come he was prepared and able to save those impacted by the famine.

Not only did God prepare Joseph to withstand the coming famine himself, but through Joseph, the entire nation of Egypt and beyond was able to survive the season of famine. This is a beautiful example of how God uses even a single person to make an incredible ripple effect in our world. Joseph was a spoiled, rotten, bratty younger brother. He was a braggart, a tattle-tail, and proud. God used the seasons of famine in his life – slavery and imprisonment – to prepare him, shape him, and mold him into the man God knew Joseph needed to be in this seven-year season of literal famine in the land.

Again, Joseph clung to his faith in God, and led the people through the abundance, preparing them by the Lord’s direction, and then managed the famine under His direction as well. The famine was so bad that even the land of Canaan was hit hard. One day, Joseph’s brothers come knocking for some food.

Joseph reunites with his brothers

Joseph’s brothers do not know they seek food from the little brother they’d sold so many years ago. Joseph, however, recognizes them and is harsh toward them. I can’t help but notice Joseph’s possible desire to lash out at his brothers. Yet, we see his faith taking hold, and he embarks on a strategic chain of events to test his brothers. Joseph wants to see if his brothers have changed. I imagine he wants to see if they are sorry for what they did all those years ago.

⁵ The sons of Israel were among those who came to buy grain, for the famine was in the land of Canaan. ⁶ Joseph was in charge of the country; he sold grain to all its people. His brothers came and bowed down before him with their faces to the ground. ⁷ When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke harshly to them.

“Where do you come from?” he asked.

“From the land of Canaan to buy food,” they replied.

⁸ Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him.

Genesis 42:5-8 CSB

By this point, Joseph had been in Egypt for over 20 years - 13 years of enslavement and imprisonment, seven years of abundance, and they are well into the season of famine by now when the brothers have run out of food back home in Canaan. Over 20 years since Joseph had seen his brothers, over 20 years for his brothers to regret what they’d done to him, over 20 years for their father to grieve the loss of his favorite son.

This chain of events Joseph implements is probably a way for him to process the last 20-something years as much as it is to test his brothers. I’m sure anyone would want closure in such circumstances. Yet here is Joseph, highest ranking person in the entirety of Egypt other than Pharaoh, and his past comes back to haunt him on his own doorstep of power and position.

Joseph reconciles with his brothers

The brothers did not know this was their brother as he began putting them to the test, and kept his brother Simeon imprisoned while the rest of the brothers were sent home to fetch baby brother Benjamin as proof they were not spies. Benjamin was the only other son of Joseph’s mother, Rachel. Surely Joseph longed to see his little brother.

¹⁸ On the third day Joseph said to them, “I fear God—do this and you will live. ¹⁹ If you are honest, let one of you^[a] be confined to the guardhouse, while the rest of you go and take grain to relieve the hunger of your households. ²⁰ Bring your youngest brother to me so that your words can be confirmed; then you won’t die.” And they consented to this.

²¹ Then they said to each other, “Obviously, we are being punished for what we did to our brother. We saw his deep distress when he pleaded with us, but we would not listen. That is why this trouble has come to us.”

²² But Reuben replied, “Didn’t I tell you not to harm the boy? But you wouldn’t listen. Now we must account for his blood!”

Genesis 42:18-22 CSB

The brothers and their father were so afraid of the man they had yet to discover was Joseph that they waited to return until they were nearly starving again and had no choice but to get more food from Egypt. Jacob needed much convincing to send Benjamin with the other brothers, but he gave in remembering that it was all in God’s hands after all.

When the brothers return with Benjamin in tow, Joseph puts them through a couple of additional tests. What would his brothers do if Benjamin were threatened? His brothers, fortunately, showed remorse for their past crimes and fought for the life and freedom of their youngest brother offering to trade places with him if only Benjamin could return home.

⁴ Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Please, come near me,” and they came near. “I am Joseph, your brother,” he said, “the one you sold into Egypt. ⁵ And now don’t be grieved or angry with yourselves for selling me here, because God sent me ahead of you to preserve life. ⁶ For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there will be five more years without plowing or harvesting. ⁷ God sent me ahead of you to establish you as a remnant within the land and to keep you alive by a great deliverance.^[a] 8 Therefore it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

Genesis 45:4-8 CSB

They passed the test. Joseph could not stand it any longer and revealed himself to his brothers.

My favorite part of the entire story is here at the end where Joseph reveals himself and shows such grace, humility, and love toward his brothers while praising God at the same time. Joseph tells them that it was not them but God who put him through all of the ordeals and sufferings of the past so that he could be where he was, to save the people in the time of famine. Joseph understood and gave glory to God for his sufferings, recognizing and explaining that it had been for the good of all that he was put through such cruelty. All of that pain led him to the position he was in. Joseph poured it all out for God – God did it, not Joseph.

Pharaoh finds out about Joseph’s brothers, his family is sent away with all the best of Egypt, and instructed to come back to Egypt so that Joseph could provide for them through the remaining years of famine. They would lack for nothing and be given the best lands to tend their flocks, and even given charge of the flocks of Pharaoh. God used Joseph’s suffering to prepare him and then used him in his plan to redeem his brothers, God’s chosen people, and save them from the devastation of the great famine. Their father, Israel, is overjoyed at hearing that his beloved son lived and sets out to see him again.

²⁵ So they went up from Egypt and came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan. ²⁶ They said, “Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt!” Jacob was stunned,^[a] for he did not believe them. ²⁷ But when they told Jacob all that Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to transport him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived.

²⁸ Then Israel said, “Enough! My son Joseph is still alive. I will go to see him before I die.”

Genesis 45:25-28 CSB

The Pentateuch: Joseph in Egypt, Genesis 37-40

Israel had settled and grown his family and favored his son Joseph, the firstborn son of Israel's beloved and favorite wife. He favored him so much that his other sons became bitter, hateful, and malicious. They envied and despised their little brother who was shown such incredible favor by their father. They were absolutely responsible for their own choices, but this is a great example of the dangers of showing favoritism as a parent.

Joseph had a dream

Young, favored, beloved by-dad Joseph had a dream and felt inclined to share it with his family. This was not just any dream - it was a prophetic dream given to him by God Himself indicating that he would eventually be a mighty ruler and that his family would bow down to him. He didn't just share his dream, he flaunted it.

⁵ Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more. ⁶ So he said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: ⁷ There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf.”

⁸ And his brothers said to him, “Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.

⁹ Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, “Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me.”

¹⁰ So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?” ¹¹ And his brothers envied him, but his father kept the matter in mind.

Genesis 37:5-11 NKJV

When we read "Joseph had a dream" it is more literally translated that he was rooted to a dream and bound firmly to it. In this culture, dreams were significant. Dreams from the Lord are spiritual experiences where He can deeply root a message in our hearts that will not leave or be forgotten. A mere dream should always be deciphered between a dream sent by the Lord as a message of some kind. They are not one and the same.

Israel recognized this dream as being from the Lord and, although he was clearly offended by the idea of his 11th son ruling over his brothers and his own parents, he kept it in mind anyway. His brothers responded with deepened jealousy, and his father was insulted but kept the dream in mind. No one could have guessed what it would truly mean, and how it would come about.

Joseph is sold by his brothers

Like Joseph, we can oftentimes prematurely announce something God has laid on our hearts. We may know God is calling us to something, but we must leave it to the Lord to determine the when and the how of sharing these things. Joseph lacked tact, and with this, he ignited more bitterness and hatred toward himself from his brothers.

When the older brothers were tending the sheep, Israel sent Joseph after them to report on them - in other words, to spy on his brothers who hated him. Joseph followed them from Haron to Dothan and was spotted by the brothers before he made it all the way to them. In their jealous rage toward Joseph, the brothers wanted to kill him - and surely would have if Rueben had not spoken up against spilling their brother's blood. So, they decided to sell him.

There were merchants traveling through Dothan, Ishmaelites and Midianites, both tribes were actually relatives of theirs. Israel, their father, is the grandson of Abraham, while the Ishmaelites are descendants of Abraham's son Ishmael, and the Midianites and Medians are descendants of Abraham's children by Keturah, his wife after Sarah. These other tribes, though, are historically not on good terms with the descendants of Isaac, the son of the promise. So the fact the brothers were selling him to tribes that were essentially at conflict with their own people is a sign of the evil in their hearts.

²⁵ And they sat down to eat a meal. Then they lifted their eyes and looked, and there was a company of Ishmaelites, coming from Gilead with their camels, bearing spices, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry them down to Egypt. ²⁶ So Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? ²⁷ Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh.” And his brothers listened. ²⁸ Then Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.

Genesis 37:25-28 NKJV

Judah and Tamar

So, the brothers trapped Joseph in a pit and sold him to Midianite traders on their way to Egypt, where he was then sold off to Potiphar, the captain of Pharoh's guard. Joseph had now been sold into slavery by his own brothers, who then deceived their father into believing Joseph was dead, devoured, and ripped apart. The only brother to attempt to protect Joseph was Rueben.

³¹ So they took Joseph’s tunic, killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the tunic in the blood. ³² Then they sent the tunic of many colors, and they brought it to their father and said, “We have found this. Do you know whether it is your son’s tunic or not?”

³³ And he recognized it and said, “It is my son’s tunic. A wild beast has devoured him. Without doubt Joseph is torn to pieces.” ³⁴ Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son many days. ³⁵ And all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and he said, “For I shall go down into the grave to my son in mourning.” Thus his father wept for him.

Genesis 37:31-35 NKJV

When Israel finds out his son is lost to him, thinking him dead, he grieves so deeply he will not allow himself to be comforted. This is what I can't help but imagine God feeling for people who go astray, those who are in slavery to their sin, who are lost to Him.

Later, Judah finds a wife for his eldest son, Er, who turns out to be so evil the Lord kills him as judgment for his wickedness. His wife, Tamar, is left without children, and per tradition his brother is supposed to marry her and their first child is for the brother who is dead so that his line will continue. Onan marries Tamar, but shows such contempt for the sacredness of marriage that God also puts him to death as judgment for his wickedness. Two wicked sons in the grave, Judah sends his daughter-in-law back to her father because his youngest son is not old enough to marry.

Judah's wife later passes away and Judah, whose line Jesus Himself will come from, later finds himself in sleeping with a woman he believes is a harlot. This word for harlot, and in some translations "prostitute", actually means a "cult prostitute". So, Judah of the kingly line and the line of the Lord Himself, not only commits sexual immorality, but also idolatry. He pledged to bring her a young goat as payment, and left his signet ring, cord, and staff as colatteral.

Later, it is discovered Tamar, his daughter-in-law whom he promised to marry to his youngest son but failed to do, was pregnant. He is furious - until it is revealed that he is the father. She had kept the signet ring, cord, and staff which were items that would identify the owner of them so there was no doubt. Judah had been tricked into honoring the tradition himself because he failed to give Tamar to his youngest son as a wife as promised. Tamar would later have twins, Perez and Zerah.

This is another case where the younger son is shown favor by the Lord. Zerah had begun coming first, but Perez took his place and was delivered first instead. Perez, one of the sons of Tamar by Judah, her adulterous and idolatrous father-in-law with sons so evil they were put to death by the Lord for their wickedness.

 Joseph in Egypt

While his family was back home in Hebron, Joseph in Egypt had been watched over by the Lord. He was now serving in Potiphar's household, and the Lord was so obviously with him that Potiphar put his whole household in Joseph's care with the only exception being his food. It was likely that the cultural divide made the idea of a Hebrew man taking care of an Egyptian's food detestable. Joseph was highly esteemed and his favor with God was well known.

Joseph, the favored son of Israel, had been sold into slavery at 17 years old by his brothers, and still he held onto his faith in the Lord. Even through these circumstances he trusted God, clung to Him, praised Him, and gave Him glory.

Then, along came Potiphar's wife. She lusted after him, attempting to entice him to her bed, yet there still Joseph remained faithful to God, and refused to sin against his master as well. Unfortunately, she was displeased with his denial and accused him of exactly what she had done to him. This resulted in Joseph going to prison and losing his position in Potiphar's household.

²⁰ Then Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were confined. And he was there in the prison. ²¹ But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave^[a] him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. ²² And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners who were in the prison; whatever they did there, it was his doing. ²³ The keeper of the prison did not look into anything that was under ^[b]Joseph’s authority, because the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made it prosper.

Genesis 39:20-23 NKJV

God still showed Joseph favor. Joseph could have been put to death for this accusation, but instead he was put in prison, and the guard put Joseph in charge of the other prisoners. Joseph continued to prosper and was clearly blessed by God to all around him, and He remained faithful even in prison for crimes he did not commit. He never compromised his faith, and remained committed to the Lord. He had a plethora of reasons to be angry, or at least plenty of reasons you and I would be likely to react differently, but Joseph kept on praising anyway.

God is good, even when circumstances are not

So many times in this story we see examples of how God takes evil and uses it to fulfill His divine purposes. He cared for Tamar and one of her children was in the direct lineage of the Messiah. He was with Joseph through every struggle and battle, through entrapment, enslavement, temptation, imprisonment, and leadership.

God is the God of the highs and the lows, and takes what is meant for evil in this world and uses it for the good of those who love Him. Judah committed evil, yet the line that would bring the Messiah into the world was born through it. Joseph was whipped around through all kinds of trials and sufferings, yet the Lord never left him and made everything he did successful, eventually saving Egypt and plenty of other nations during the years of famine. God was with Joseph even when it seemed like the plans He'd revealed to Joseph were forgotten. God is good, even when circumstances are not.

The Pentateuch: Jacob becomes Israel, Genesis 33-36

After Jacob wrestles with God, he is given his new name – Israel. He submitted to God, and God blessed him but also God convicted him with this new name. He went from Jacob the heal grabbed, the manipulator, the trickster to Israel the one who struggles with God, who faces God, who strives with God. God renamed him in a way that would remind him who would prevail in his life – not himself, but God.

After being renamed and having his focus corrected toward the Lord, Israel, previously Jacob, was faced with an uncertain situation – his brother was on his way to meet him. Last Israel had known, Esau wanted to kill him for deceiving their father into giving him the blessing meant for Esau. Newly-named-Israel now had a choice to put his new identity into action, to trust God, to let God prevail, or to continue on being the heal grabbed and liar.

Israel split his family up creating a grand procession, and when Esau arrived Israel fell at his feet bowing down to him in humility. I can only imagine what would have been going through his mind. It had been 20 years since his brother vowed to kill him. 20 years Esau had been able to prosper without his “little brother” there to grab at his heels. 20 years of finding his own way. But it had also been 20 years where Esau could have taken control of Israel’s inheritance and laid claim to it all for himself. All was surely painfully uncertain in this moment. Yet when Israel bowed down to the ground, Esau came and embraced him, showed favor to his brother, welcomed his large family, and invited him home.

Seir

Esau went on home to Seir and Israel went and made a home in Succoth. Seir is southeast of Judah, and outside of Canaan, the land which Israel would inherit through the covenant. Seir became known as the land of Edom, which was another name for Esau. His people would become the Edomites, who would ally with the Ammonites and Moabites against the King of Judah later on. At this juncture, though, the brothers were at peace.

¹⁶ So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir.

Genesis 33:16 NKJV

Succoth

Israel determined not to go with his brother. He instead eventually landed himself in Shechem where he bought property and set up his home. He also built an altar and named it Elohim, or El Elohe Israel, which is a name for God that means the God of Israel and speaks of God as Ruler and Judge (H430 - 'ĕlōhîm). Israel was declaring his faith in the Lord and identity in Him.

¹⁸ Then Jacob came ^c]">[c]safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padan Aram; and he pitched his tent before the city. ¹⁹ And he bought the parcel of ^d]">[d]land, where he had pitched his tent, from the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for one hundred pieces of money. ²⁰ Then he erected an altar there and called it El^e]">[e] Elohe Israel.

Genesis 33:17-20 NKJV

Unfortunately, this new home and prospering relationship with the sons of Hamor did not last. Shechem, the eldest son of the patriarch of this place was obsessed with Israel’s daughter, Dinah, and committed a heinous act. Her brothers were rightfully enraged by this man defiling their sister, but in their rage they too chose the path of sin. These brothers took up the deceptive mantle their father had laid down and tricked all the men and boys of Shechem to be circumcised, and then they slaughter every male of the region and plundered the wealth and women.

²⁵ Now it came to pass on the third day, when they were in pain, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword and came boldly upon the city and killed all the males. ²⁶ And they killed Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah from Shechem’s house, and went out. ²⁷ The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and plundered the city, because their sister had been defiled. ²⁸ They took their sheep, their oxen, and their donkeys, what was in the city and what was in the field, ²⁹ and all their wealth. All their little ones and their wives they took captive; and they plundered even all that was in the houses.

³⁰ Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have troubled me by making me obnoxious among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites; and since I am few in number, they will gather themselves together against me and kill me. I shall be destroyed, my household and I.”

Genesis 34:25-30 NKJV

This is one of those stories that is difficult to swallow, and even more difficult to understand. It gets so often glossed over and ignored because it is so difficult, or it gets obsessed over and picked apart. In this moment there are several things we can all take away, though. First, God did not command or condone this, and nor did Israel. Second, anger in itself is not the wrong response to the horrible crime against Dinah, but when anger brings people to act as judge and jury, it is sin and leads to destruction and death. Vengeance belongs to the Lord, not to us. Third, the brothers took what was a holy symbol of their faith and weaponized it. A sign of a holy covenant was defiled in response to the defiling of an innocent woman. Rather than seeking God, they took a precious thing between them and God, and used it to manipulate and weaken not even jus the one guilty man, but every single male, and slaughtered them all, using what is holy for evil purposes with the excuse that something evil had already been done.

What happened as a response to this horrible crime was another horrible crime. We are commanded not to shed the blood of another human life. This is not justice. This is not godly. This is not worship. This is not okay. Sin as a response to sin is not the way of the Lord. However, the Lord can (and does) use all things, even these kinds of horrible circumstances, for His purposes, and for the good of those who love Him. The mass slaughter of the men of Shechem was a form of judgment against them for their wickedness, defiling of Dinah, and greed. What happened was not good, but God is still good, still in control, still on the throne, and still Elohim – Ruler and Judge. We won’t understand all things, but we can trust in who God is no matter what we face.

Another lesson, is that these same men who committed this mass murder are then given an opportunity to repent – the Lord commanded Israel to leave where they thought they were making a home, and find the place Jacob had once had a vision from the Lord and blessed. God still had a plan, and the men still had a choice. Would they repent and obey, or would they continue in their sin and rage?

These same men would also become a majority of the tribal leaders of the nation of Israel. They would form God’s holy land, and their offspring were His chosen people. This is a sign for all of us. His people are not perfect. Every one of us is sinful. Every one of us has a past, has baggage, carried a heavy burden. Yet, all of us are given this choice – to repent and obey, to choose faith, or to continue on in sin and reject the free gift of salvation.

• Read more: Don’t Neglect Your Salvation
• Read more: What it means to be redeemed

The Lord was with them, even then

As the men fled the scene, God was with them. Jacob commanded his sons to be rid of any inkling of idolatry, to repent, and to obey God and head to Bethel. On they went! There were several altars Israel made to the Lord, and one was here in Bethel where he had once fled from his brother, and now fled again from a different enemy. He declared his faith in the Lord and recommitted himself once again, and the Lord reaffirmed not only His covenant with Israel but his new name from Jacob to Israel. God reaffirmed that He is faithful, even when His people are not.

Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there; and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother.”

² And Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, and change your garments. ³ Then let us arise and go up to Bethel; and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me in the way which I have gone.” ⁴ So they gave Jacob all the foreign ^[a]gods which were in their hands, and the earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree which was by Shechem.

⁵ And they journeyed, and the terror of God was upon the cities that were all around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. ⁶ So Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him. ⁷ And he built an altar there and called the place ^[b]El Bethel, because there God appeared to him when he fled from the face of his brother.

Genesis 35:1-7 NKJV

Death of Rachel and Isaac

Later, Rachel, Israel’s beloved wife, died in child birth with her second son. Then Israel came back to his father, and then his father Isaac also passed away. Rachel’s second son was named Benjamin by his father Israel, which means “son of the right hand”. His name represents the special place he would have at his father’s right hand as the youngest son, and that of his more beloved wife.

Reuben fails to assert his authority

Reuben, the oldest of all Israel’s sons, took it upon himself to lay with his father’s concubine, Bilhah. This would have been taken as Reuben asserting his position as first heir of his father, possibly in defiance to his father’s favoritism of the youngest sons. This action that would have been to assert his right to succeed their father would later actually cost him this inheritance he sought to solidify.

Descendants of Esau

Esau himself also had several wives, and from them many children. They would become the nation of Edom, east of the Jordan River in the mountain of Seir. His wives were Adah the Hethite, Oholibamah a Hivite, and his cousin Basemath, the daughter of Ishmael (brother of Isaac, Esau’s father).

• Adah – H5711 - ornament
  • Eliphaz – H464 - my God is (fine) gold
    • Teman - H8487 - south
    • Omar - H201 - speaker or eloquent
    • Zepho - H6825 - watch-tower
    • Gatam - H1609 - a burnt valley
    • Kenaz - H7073 - hunter
    • Amalek - H6002 - dweller in a valley
  • Oholibamah – H173 - tent of the high place
    • Jeush – H3274 - assembler
    • Jalam – H3281 - concealed
    • Korah – H7141 – bald
  • Basemath – H1315 - spice
    • Reuel – H7467 - friend of God
      • Nahath - H5184 - rest
      • Zerah - H2226 - rising
      • Shammah - H8048 - astonishment
      • Mizzah - H4199 - fear