Wow, where to begin…it’s been a long time since I read
Genesis, but to start off, reading the Bible stories for yourself is a different
experience from just having it be presented to you in church, Sabbath School
(or Sunday School, depending on your denomination), or Bible storybooks. Not
only do you get the stories as they have been written down, but you also learn
of the details and stories that you really did not know before.
Here are some of the obscure stories that I have discovered in my
reading.
Chapter 4:23, 24 – Lamech boasts of his killings –
Here, we read a song by Lamech, one of Cain’s descendants (this is a different
Lamech from Noah’s father), boasting how he killed those who attacked him and
if Cain were to be avenged sevenfold, he would be avenged seventy-sevenfold.
This prideful attitude is in stark contrast to Cain’s desperate pleading with
God for his life to be spared after having killed Abel. The reference to his
ancestor being avenged tells us that Lamech knew that God had allowed Cain to
live with the declaration, “…whoever kills, Cain, vengeance shall be taken on
him sevenfold” (4:15). However, instead of glorifying God for providing mercy
to his ancestor, Lamech twists the story around to elevate himself and
glorify his own bloodthirsty vengefulness as a sign of his strength. This shows
how much sin had come to corrupt humanity not long after Adam’s fall and
provides yet another example of why God felt the need to destroy the world
through a flood. People were so proud of their wicked deeds that some would
boast about them in a song (for the people of ancient times, songs and poems
were ways to keep their legacy alive for generations to come). This is also in
direct contrast to the songs of the followers of God (just look at Psalms, for
instance) where God is praised as the One who led their lives, not their own strength
or cunning.
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| "...So shall your descendants be" (Genesis 15:5). The Vision of the Lord Directing Abram to Count the Stars (1860), Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld |
Genesis 15 – God appears to Abram personally to prophesy
what will happen to his descendants – We see here Abraham (still with his
former name Abram) doubting God’s promises, noting that he has no children at
old age. Instead of rebuking Abram, however, God assures him that he will have
descendants as numerous as the stars of the sky. Abram then asks how he will
know for sure, and God sets up a personal appointment with him in the night
over a sacrifice. This is when He prophesies that Abram’s descendants will come
back to Canaan after 400 years of oppression by a foreign nation (sound
familiar?). Even after that incredible encounter, Abram’s faith fails in the
very next chapter as he decides to have children with Hagar by Sarah’s
suggestion, reasoning that maybe God’s covenant will be fulfilled that way.
This results in the birth of Ishmael and the beginning of a familial hostility
(chapters 16, 21) that still lasts to this day…in the form of Israel’s conflict
with the rest of the Middle East. All these years of bloodshed and violence
could have been avoided had Abram continued to be steadfast in faith,
especially considering how much God had assured him. How better are we than
Abraham, the father of faith, in keeping our trust in God? How many times have
we acted out of fear and doubt in spite of the fact that God’s promises are
numerous and accessible to anyone in His Word?
Chapter 19:30-38 – Lot and his daughters – This has
got to be one of the most disturbing stories in the Bible ever. Not long after
escaping Sodom by God’s deliverance, Lot’s daughters reason that they will have
no chance of finding husbands to have children with, so they actually get their
father drunk and sleep with him, thus having children through him and becoming
ancestors of Ammon and Moab…wow, just wow. Can you imagine Lot, after getting
sober, realizing what he did with his own daughters? Patriarchs and Prophets makes a brief allusion to this story,
explaining that this is one of the lasting consequences of Lot choosing to move
to Sodom. Out of his desire to be more prosperous by moving close to a big,
prosperous city, Lot exposed his entire family to a wicked, sinful environment
and thus all of them became molded by the wretchedness of Sodom and its people.
Just the fact that Lot’s daughters came up with the idea to do that type of thing with their own father
without a second thought, even after having their lives spared by God’s mercy,
is very indicative of the wickedness of Sodom. It also makes me realize why
God, who never takes pleasure in the death of the wicked (see Ezekiel 18:23),
destroyed Sodom by supernatural means. Worst of all, this is the last story we
have with Lot. And as if that wasn’t enough, Ammon and Moab were among the
enemies of God’s people, Israel, throughout their history. That one choice by
Lot became a curse to all of his descendants. It really makes us think about
every little choice we make here every little moment of our lives.
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| The Meeting of Jacob and Rachel (1853), William Dyce |
Chapters 29:31 to 30:24 – Jacob’s marital woes – and
an entire passage dedicated to them! This is one of the many instances when
polygamy leads to heartache and pain, if not outright tragedy. It is actually
quite surprising how many great people of the Bible deviated from God’s ideal
for marriage through polygamy and suffered for it. While polygamy was
considered normal and acceptable in the Ancient Near East, the Bible reveals
time and again that the patriarchs experienced unnecessary heartaches by
conforming to the patterns of the world (think Romans 12:2). But to be fair to
Jacob, his polygamy was unintentional as he had wanted to marry Rachel and then
got cheated by his own uncle into marrying Leah first. So what’s the story with
Jacob’s marital woes? Basically, Jacob loves Rachel over Leah, but Leah ends up
bearing more children than Rachel. This leads to continual tension between the
two women to be the better wife for Jacob. With all the drama that Jacob had
with his wives, I think it’s a little wonder that his older sons had such foul
character. Worse, Jacob’s preferential love for Rachel seems to have extended
to his children, as we learn later on that he loved Joseph (the son he had with
Rachel) over all of his sons. This too leads to tension among the brothers and
culminates in Joseph being sold into slavery! Yet, despite the twisted
circumstances through which Jacob had his twelve sons, God ensured that they
would become the ancestors of the nation of Israel, through whom He would
preserve His truth and through which Jesus would come to the world as our
Saviour. So many people claim that God in the Old Testament is cruel and
capricious, a far cry from the all-loving, all-merciful Jesus in the New
Testament. However, the numerous stories of God leading the lives of His
patriarchs even with their failures shows a very patient, merciful, and loving
God who will work out the things intended for evil for His glory if people
allow Him to. In fact, just within the Book of Genesis, there are more stories
of God bearing with His people of weak faith than that of Him punishing
sinners, and Jacob’s family drama is a good example of God’s incredible mercy.
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| Laban Searches Rachel's Tent for Idols, Jan Victors |
Chapters 29-31 – Jacob and Laban – What a family
drama! Jacob’s relationship with Laban is very dysfunctional, with Laban
continually taking advantage of Jacob out of greed and Jacob having to submit
to him begrudgingly for 20 years. Just read Jacob’s epic retaliation to his
good-old uncle at Genesis 31: 38-42 listing the hardships and mistreatments he
experienced under him. Apparently, he has both Esau and Jacob’s character flaws
(worldliness and deceit, respectively) and none of his sister Rebecca’s godliness. Laban is so focused on worldly gain that he continually cheats his nephew by
switching Rachel with Leah on Jacob’s wedding night1 and changing his
wages ten times (29:21-26; 31:41). Even as he acknowledges 20 years later how
God has blessed him through Jacob, he uses that as an excuse to deny his
nephew’s request to return home (30:27).
Not long after, Laban and his sons grow jealous of Jacob’s
increase of wealth and accuse him of theft, even though Jacob had accumulated
them under – and only under – Laban’s permission (20:25-31:2). Jacob, realizing
this change in attitude, flees from his uncle with his own family and
possessions. When Laban learns of this, he furiously pursues Jacob, and when he
catches up to him, outright accuses his nephew of stealing his wealth and his
daughters and searches Jacob’s camp for his own valuables2.
In fact, it is only by God’s intervention and perhaps by Jacob’s accusation
that Laban has no choice but to let his nephew leave. Yet, aside from having
his spotted sheep claimed by Jacob, we do not see Laban directly suffering the
consequences of living a life of greed and dishonesty. Instead, Laban finally
settles the dispute between him and Jacob with a peace covenant that states
that neither side would invade the other and then simply returns home
(38:43-55). However, according to Patriarchs and Prophets, the covenant
between Laban and Jacob “ceased all trace of connection between the children of
Abraham and the dwellers in Mesopotamia.” Laban had Jacob under his control for
so many years, and thus by his nephew’s influence, he had been given a chance
to be drawn to God. Instead, he saw Jacob only for profitability and treated
him accordingly. And near the end, Laban had become so fixed in his ways that
he became vicious toward his own sister’s son. Laban’s ultimate loss was that,
by stubbornly refusing to submit to God as presented through his nephew for
twenty years, he and his descendants were left out of sharing in God’s blessings
for Jacob and his descendants, which God had intended for the whole world
(12:1-3).
1: Since Jacob had already worked 7 years to pay for
Rachel’s bride price, Laban switched her with Leah at the wedding night so that
Jacob will work 7 more years and thus more bride price profit for Laban.
2: Household idols that Rachel stole from him, specifically.
(To be continued in Part 2)
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