GENESIS LESSON 50


     We will begin this lesson in Genesis chapter 35 verse one.
     Genesis 35:1 "And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Beth-el,
and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto
thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother."

     We have touched on it several times before, but it bears
repeating, that "Bethel" means house of God. God would protect Jacob
and his family, as long as they obeyed His commands. There is safety in
God, even when there is danger everywhere we look. He reminded Jacob to
worship Him. It was no longer safe there.

     Genesis 35:2 "Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that
[were] with him, Put away the strange gods that [are] among you, and
be clean, and change your garments:"

     You see, in the last lesson, that Jacob's sons took captive women
and children of the heathen people. God told Jacob to clean house.
Rachel still had her father's idols, unknown to Jacob, and probably,
these women captives had objects of pagan worship, as well. Jacob
spoke as an oracle of God, when he told them to put off idolatry,
and put on the new garment. This would indicate a cleansed garment
acceptable to God, and possibly, is smybolic of the washing away of
their sins. The repentance that John the Baptist taught was practiced
in the Old Testament symbolically, as well.

     Genesis 35:3 "And let us arise, and go up to Beth-el; and I will
make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my
distress, and was with me in the way which I went."

     When fleeing Esau about thirty years before, Jacob had gone to
Bethel and found God's presence and help. Jacob wanted to make an altar
and seek God and His help, again.

     Genesis 35:4 "And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which
[were] in their hand, and [all their] earrings which [were] in their
ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which [was] by Shechem."

     There must have been many false Gods. At any rate, it seems they
gave all them to Jacob. These ear rings were, probably, not ordinary
earrings, but had symbols of false Gods on them. Jacob destroyed them
and buried them, Notice, he did not give them to any one else. He did
not sell them, either. That should be a good lesson to us. We should
clean house when we become Christians, and not keep things that
pertain to other gods. A good example is rock music. Records with this
type of music should be broken and burned. Christians should not have
Buddhas,or statues of other gods in their possession. Anything with
horoscope signs should be destroyed, as well. A house divided against
its self cannot stand. We cannot serve the real God, and false gods at
the same time. God will not share us. He wants all of us. Our loyalty
to Him should be without question. This is a terrible thing today.
People who proclaim to be Christians have things in their possession
that elevate other gods. We to, must do away with these idols. This
Scripture does not specifically mention Rachel's idols, but it does
say that they gave all of them to Jacob. It surely included Rachel's.

     Genesis 35:5 "And they journeyed: and the terror of God was upon
the cities that [were] round about them, and they did not pursue after
the sons of Jacob."

     These heathen people knew that God protected Jacob and His own,
so they were afraid to attack them. They let them go.

     Genesis 35:6  "So Jacob came to Luz, which [is] in the land of
Canaan, that [is], Beth-el, he and all the people that [were] with
him."
     Genesis 35:7 "And he built there an altar, and called the place
El-beth-el: because there God appeared unto him, when he fled from the
face of his brother."

     Jacob emphasized, here, that he had come back to Canaan, as God had
told him to. "El" means God. This is literally God-the house of God,
"El Bethel."  Jacob built an altar to God, re-establishing his
position with God.

     Genesis 35:8 "But Deborah Rebekah's nurse died, and she was
buried beneath Beth-el under an oak: and the name of it was called
Allon-bachuth."

     I cannot say for sure when Jacob's mother's nurse came to Jacob.
Possibly, his mother sent word by this nurse, at some other time, that
it was safe for him to return. It really doesn't matter why she was
with him.

     "Allon-bachuth" means oak of weeping.

     Genesis 35:9  "And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came
out of Padan-aram, and blessed him."
     Genesis 35:10 "And God said unto him, Thy name [is] Jacob: thy
name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name:
and he called his name Israel."
     Genesis 35:11 "And God said unto him, I [am] God Almighty: be
fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of
thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins;"
     Genesis 35:12 "And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to
thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land."

     Notice, this appearance was not a dream, but a daytime encounter
with God. This was reaffirming of the covenant of God with Jacob. God,
also, reminded him that his name was no longer Jacob, but Isreal. God
Almighty meant that this was the unblameable, perfect God. God, at any
rate, reiterates the blessings of Israel through Abraham and Isaac.
This is never-ending blessing.

     Genesis 35:13 "And God went up from him in the place where he
talked with him."
     Genesis 35:14 "And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he
talked with him, [even] a pillar of stone: and he poured a drink
offering thereon, and he poured oil thereon."
     Genesis 35:15 "And Jacob called the name of the place where God
spake with him, Beth-el."

     Jacob set up the pillar to recognize God for all His power, and
might, and blessings He had spoken upon Jacob. He made an offering on
this pillar that he had erected to God. Oil and water were poured over
this pillar as a special appreciation to God.

     Genesis 35:16  "And they journeyed from Beth-el; and there was
but a little way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had
hard labour."
     Genesis 35:17 "And it came to pass, when she was in hard labour,
that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have this son
also."
     Genesis 35:18 "And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing,
(for she died) that she called his name Ben-oni: but his father called
him Benjamin."

     Jacob had his twelfth son. The twelve tribes of Isreal were
complete.
     "Ben-oni" means son of my sorrow.
     "Benjamin" means son of my right hand, or son of my strength.

     This was an interesting turn of events. It had been, probably,
sixteen or so years since Joseph had been born. Many times when
children were born of older women, the women have problems with the
birth. I really believe this problem went back to Rachel stealing her
father's idols, and the statement Jacob made about what would happen
to the one that was found with it. He had said let him not live.
Jacob's beloved Rachel was gone.

     Ephrath is an ancient name for Bethlehem. The Tomb of Rachel is
on the hill right out of Bethlehem even today. It is one of the
tourist sights.

     "Bethlehem" means house of bread.
     Bethlehem is about five miles out of Jerusalem.

     Genesis 35:19 "And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to
Ephrath, which [is] Beth-lehem."
     Genesis 35:20 And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that [is]
the pillar of Rachel's grave unto this day."
     Genesis 35:21  "And Israel journeyed, and spread his tent beyond
the tower of Edar."

     "Edar" means flock.

     Genesis 35:22 "And it came to pass, when Israel dwelt in that
land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father's concubine: and
Israel heard [it]. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve:"

     This act was incest and caused the son of Israel to be
disinherited. We had spoken earlier of how this family, because of the
Godly call on their lives, had to live holy lives. This was not only a
sin against this woman, but against Jacob and the eleven brothers. The
statement "Now the sons of Jacob were twelve" should actually be
attached to the next few verses.

     Genesis 35:23 "The sons of Leah; Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, and
Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Zebulun:"
     Genesis 35:24 "The sons of Rachel; Joseph, and Benjamin:"
     Genesis 35:25 "And the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid; Dan,
and Naphtali:"
     Genesis 35:26 "And the sons of Zilpah, Leah's handmaid; Gad, and
Asher: these [are] the sons of Jacob, which were born to him in Padan-
aram."

     This above, and the last sentence of V-22, were just listing the
sons of Jacob and helping us remember who was the mother of each.
Twelve is a representative number.

     Joseph and Benjamin were two that we must remember especially,
because their mother was the beloved of Jacob.

     Genesis 35:27  "And Jacob came unto Isaac his father unto Mamre,
unto the city of Arbah, which [is] Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac
sojourned."

     Finally, Jacob has made it home.

     Genesis 35:28 "And the days of Isaac were an hundred and
fourscore years."
     Genesis 35:29 "And Isaac gave up the ghost, and died, and was
gathered unto his people, [being] old and full of days: and his sons
Esau and Jacob buried him."

     Isaac lived to be 180 years old. Death many times brings families
together. When Isaac died, Esau and Jacob, together, buried him.

     We will begin the next lesson in Genesis chapter 36.















                             Questions 50


1.  Where did God tell Jacob to go?
2.  What was Jacob to do when he got there?
3.  "Bethel" means what?
4.  When danger  surrounds us, there is safety where?
5.  What did Jacob tell his people to do before they left? Two things.
6.  Why were these false Gods in their company?
7.  What was practiced in the Old Testament that John the Baptist
    teaches later?
8.  Jacob had fled from Esau and gone to Bethel, how many years ago?
9.  What did Jacob do with the false gods?
10. Why were earrings included?
11. What should Christians do today to cleanse their lives?
12. What kept the cities from attacking Jacob?
13. What is another name for Bethel?
14. What did he call the place, because God appeared to him?
15. What does "El" mean?
16. What was the name of Rebekah's nurse?
17. In v-11, what did God call himself?
18. What did God do for Jacob by appearing to him again here?
19. What did Jacob set up to commemorate his meeting God here?
20. What offering did he make?
21. Where were they when Rachel birthed Benjamin?
22. What had Rachel called him as she died?
23. What does the name of this son mean?
24. What does Benjamin mean?
25. Ephrath was an ancient name for where?
26. What does it mean?
27. Where was Rachel buried?
28. What did Jacob do to remember the spot?
29. What disgraceful thing did Reuben do?
30. What was his punishment?
31. Name Leah's sons.
32. Name Rachel's sons.
33. Name Bilhah's sons.
34. Name Zilpah's sons.
35. Where was Isaac?
36. How old was Isaac when he died?
37. Who buried him?