32:24 But Jacob stayed behind by himself, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.25 When the man saw that he couldn’t get the best of Jacob as they wrestled, he deliberately threw Jacob’s hip out of joint. 26 The man said, “Let me go; it’s daybreak.” Jacob said, “I’m not letting you go ’til you bless me.”27 The man said, “What’s your name?” He answered, “Jacob.”28 The man said, “But no longer. Your name is no longer Jacob. From now on it’s Israel (God-Wrestler); you’ve wrestled with God and you’ve come through.”
33:4 But Esau ran up and embraced him, held him tight and kissed him. And they both wept.
35:9 God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-aram, and blessed him.10 And God said to him, Your name is Jacob; no longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name. So he called his name Israel.11 And God said to him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body.12 The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you.13 Then God went up from him in the place where he had spoken with him.14 And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone. He poured out a drink offering on it and poured oil on it.15 So Jacob called the name of the place where God had spoken with him Bethel. ..........17 When her labor pains were at their worst, the midwife said to her, “Don’t be afraid—you have another boy.”18 With her last breath, for she was now dying, she named him Ben-oni (Son-of-My-Pain), but his father named him Ben-jamin (Son-of-Good-Fortune).19 Rachel died and was buried on the road to Ephrath, that is, Bethlehem. ..........27 Finally, Jacob made it back home to his father Isaac at Mamre in Kiriath Arba, present-day Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac had lived.28 Isaac was now 180 years old.29 Isaac breathed his last and died—an old man full of years. He was buried with his family by his sons Esau and Jacob.
36:1 This is the family tree of Esau, who is also called Edom.2 Esau married women of Canaan: Adah, daughter of Elon the Hittite; Oholibamah, daughter of Anah and the granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite;3 and Basemath, daughter of Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth. ...........19 These are the sons of Esau, that is, Edom, and these are their chieftains....... 31 And these are the kings who ruled in Edom before there was a king in Israel: ........... 43This accounts for the family tree of Esau, ancestor of all Edomites.
Observation - Rachael was conniving. And a liar & a thief. I guess she came by it honestly, from the way Laban tried to cheat Jacob out of his wages. Working for your father-in-law for 20 years? And living with them? Weird. I guess that was pretty common practice then.
Jacob did know how to get a blessing, didn't he? Cheated his brother out of one & wrestled with God until he got another!
Esau welcoming Jacob home reminded me of the prodigal son. No matter what, we always welcome the family back. Jacob was even scared to go back & sent his wives & children away, and tons of livestock as gifts ahead. And Esau welcomed him with open arms.
Genesis 34 is a hard chapter for me. It's all about Dinah's rape & her brothers getting revenge. It's disturbing, but comforting. Creepy, I know. But I like to think of brothers as knights in shining armor for their only sister. Of course, they exacted revenge by killing every man & taking all their belongings, women & children. Extreme, but effective. Can you imagine wanting to marry her after that?? "Um, excuse me, but I might like to possibly marry Dinah. I promise I won't ever lay with her, just take care of her. She can even live here with you!" Jacob was furious & convinced they had brought curses upon the family.
I thought it was interesting that God renamed Jacob twice to Israel. I also discovered that Rachael died on the road to Bethlehem. I would really love to see a map of this route that Jacob took to & from Isaac!
Application - This is a hard one to draw an application from. One part that particularly spoke to me was when Esau welcomed Jacob back. Jacob had tricked him out of his birthright & the blessing from their father, yet he was so happy to see him, that they wept. No matter what time passes between visits with my family, immediate or extended, I'm always happy to see them. I need to make sure they know how much they mean to me.
Prayer - God help me to tell the people in my life how much they mean to me every day. Amen
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