Genesis 26:17-33, Thoughts from Genesis (6)

·       Gen. 26:22: Rehoboth: For the LORD has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.  Hebrews reminds us that the Patriarchs were given a promise, but they died not seeing its fulfillment.  They knew they were “pilgrims and strangers in the land.”  Abraham died, owning a cave he purchased for burial, and he had planted a tree at Beersheba.  But when Isaac showed up at Beersheba the locals had closed up the wells and he had to dig them again.  Then he had issues with the locals (the Philistines), until the well he named Rehoboth.  He saw the LORD’s hand in this, that He had made room for him and his family.  But Isaac was still a stranger.  He did not possess the land. 

·       Gen. 26:25: So, note: there are two things Isaac needs to have in order to live in this place.  He needs a well, for water.  AND he needs an altar so he can thank the LORD and glorify Him as God. 

·       Gen. 27:41: Esau hated Jacob.  Some would say Esau had a right to be angry.  But that is not a well-thought-out conclusion.  Here’s what we know: Jacob is in the list of the faithful (Heb. 11:21) and Esau is a picture of the unrepentant (Heb. 12:16-17).  God knows the heart, and their hearts will be seen in their lives.

·       Gen. 28:5,10; 29:1: Jacob fled to Padan Aram (also Haran, 27:43), the land of the east.  Check the map (from BibleStudy.org web page).  Babylon and Canaan are east/west of each other; but to get from one to the other requires a much longer trip so as to stay away from the hot, dangerous desert. 

·       Gen. 28:10-27: Bethel is where God promised the land to Abraham, after he split with Lot.  God told Abraham to look all four directions (Gen. 13:14-15).  He tells Jacob to do the same (v14).  The first time we visited Bethel we came to a road sign pointing to Ramallah left and Bethel right.  I thought to myself, “Wow, I’ve heard about Ramallah in the news.  This could be dangerous territory.”  We were not allowed to take our car into Ramallah, of course.  So, we turned right, and then we saw the sign below.

The site at Bethel is not developed in the sense of being a national park or something like that.  There is a museum, but it has never been open when we were there.  But you can go up the stairs onto the roof of the building where you get the four-directional view.  Other things to see and remember here are a hut (commemorating Jacob’s night of laying his head on a rock), an ancient oak tree (commemorating Rebekah’s maid Deborah who died and was buried under the oak, 35:8), and the sight where Jeroboam build the altar to the golden calf for the northern kingdom to worship (1 Kings 11:25-33).  I love to visit here.

One last comment on Bethel.  Bethel is in the West Bank.  Thus, to many, it is a “settlement” or “occupied/stolen land.”  I remember, not long after our first visit there, that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu had a meeting with US Sec. of State John Kerry.  They were talking about the “two state solution” and Bibi was pointing out to Kerry that any agreement with the Palestinians would have to include Israel’s authority over Bethel.  The point being, of course, that Bibi knew this was a critical location with respect to Israel’s history.