Ep. #11 “JACOB RENAMED” [Series: GENESIS & JOB]

When Jacob returned to Canaan, Rachel stole her “family’s gods.” As the story unfolds, it is clear that the family’s gods were very important. Apparently, Jacob agreed that these gods had power. Before going to Bethel, Jacob requires that they abandon all of their foreign gods and purify themselves. This may be the point when the family finally accepts God as their only God. It is shortly after abandoning their gods, that God reaffirms that Jacob’s name is changed to “Israel.”
Although Jacob and Esau had a contentious relationship virtually their entire lives, when their father, Isaac, died, they came together to bury him. This could have been a time for the brothers to mend fences for good, but they apparently did not. History shows their descendants fought for centuries.
Choices have consequences, and Jacob’s choices had everlasting consequences. He had twelve sons by his two wives, and their handmaidens. Here is the list:
Leah: Reuben, the firstborn; Simeon; Levi; Judah; Issachar and Zebulon.
Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.
Rachel’s handmaiden, Bilhah: Dan and Naphtali
Leah’s handmaiden: Gad and Asher.
As the Bible unfolds, we find that Reuben does have special responsibilities as the firstborn. We don’t know the reasons, but Jesus will come from the tribe of Judah.
Although Jacob was tricked into marrying Leah, his lifelong favorite wife was Rachel. Rachel had trouble having children, so both Joseph and Benjamin were born later in his life. Much of the end of Genesis revolves around the fact that Joseph is Jacob’s favorite son, just as Jacob was the favorite son of his mother.
Jacob treats Joseph as a favorite. It seems that God treats Joseph as a favorite. And Joseph seems to be insensitive to his brothers. The result: his brothers are dangerously jealous. When they get the chance, they imprison Joseph and sell him into slavery.