Matthew 6:33: Read the Selected Scriptures from Gen. 33-35

Friday, February 28, 2025

Read the Selected Scriptures from Gen. 33-35

· 33:5: These are the children God has graciously given to me. This is the first use of this word (Heb. hanan) in the OT. The root idea is to “bend in kindness to an inferior.” The second use is in v11 when Jacob is speaking of his possessions, also given graciously to him by the LORD. It is significant when we have come to the mindset that all we are and have is grace from God!

· 33:8,10,15; 32:5: “favour.” In v5,11 we have the verb; in these passages is the noun. The first use was of Noah who found “grace” in the eyes of the LORD (Gen. 6:8). Abraham found it in the LORD (18:3) as did Lot (19:19). Laban found it in Jacob (30:27; except that Jacob was also paid by Laban for his work). And now Jacob was hoping to find it in Esau.

· 33:10,14: In my view, Jacob is still “blowing smoke.” I have seen your face as though I had seen the face of God. Jacob must have been amazed at God’s work on his behalf, that the meeting with Esau should be so easy. Did he end up in Seir with Esau? No. But he did continued on to Succoth (in the Jordan Valley where he built a house), Shechem (where he stayed for a year), Bethel (where he worshiped the LORD), Bethlehem (where Rachel died) and Hebron (where Isaac then died and was buried by Esau and Jacob).

· 34:11: Shechem (the son of the king of Shechem) was confused about grace: “let me find favor in your eyes and I will pay for it.”

· 35:1-4: This is most significant, the putting away of idols. There is only one God!

· 35:8: The terebinth tree at Bethel was where Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse was buried. She was obviously very special. There is a large terebinth at the historic site of Bethel, not the original of course but a reminded. We will post pictures of the tree, the hut built by Muslims over the supposed place where Jacob dreamed of angels, and the area believed to be the site of Jeroboam’s altar for the gold calf.

· 35:1-15: The second visit to Bethel by Jacob was quite important. First, from this passage it is clear that the LORD sees a connection between the two visits. Jacob needs to go back to Bethel and acknowledge that, yes, God did keep His word. It was not the work of Jacob but the work of God. It is not surprising, then, that God reiterates the covenant with Jacob, the covenant made first with Abraham and then with Isaac. In obedience to the LORD, Jacob built an altar at Bethel. On the first visit he had erected a pillar, a memorial to an important event. Before leaving he erected another pillar, indicating a new “significant event” had occurred. The pouring of the drink offering and of oil indicated this event had deep significance.

· 35:16-20: With the death of Rachel, and birth of Benjamin, another pillar is erected. We have included a photo of Rachel’s tomb, accessed by a road along the Bethlehem wall built by Israel.