August 12, 2007

Sorrow and Joy
Gen 35:1-29 

Farewell, Father,  farewell faithful son of Abraham.  Jacob recalled the words that he had spoken as they carried the body,how light it had been, of Isaac into the old family burial cave. He supposed he too would rest there before long. Life somehow had grown a bit more weary of late. He stumbled into what had now become a familiar lament,” ah Rachel,Rachel my beloved, why did you have to go, why you.  All I have I would give to have you with me once more. Ah Rachel my Rachel.
    
Tears filled the weary old eyes and spilled down weather beaten cheeks for the thousandth time since that day. He had done things so wrong, so wrong indeed and it ate at him now as if somehow he could by dwelling on the past, change the sad outcome of many things.

He had dwelt in Shechem for many years and the constant exposure to the pagan elements of that city had worked havoc in his family. Rape, dishonesty blasphemy and murder were associated with the name Israel now. Oh why had he not been a better Father, a better priest to his family.
    
Yes he had stayed too long, and he knew that God had never intended him to stay there. He had also turned a blind eye to the remnants of uncle Laban’s idolatry and that too had caused problems with its corrupting tendencies.

He remembered  that morning, it was cold,the earth was drenched with a thick dew which penetrated the leather of his sandals and made him slip a bit as he walked up the knoll behind the camp. The first rays of the sun dispersed low lying morning fog and it was silent except for the faint bleating of a young goat somewhere far off.

As it always had , the voice totally shredded him, as if he were suddenly torn wide open and all his innermost being exposed. It was unmistakable to him now, it was a fearful friendly voice and it and especially gentle on this day.

“Jacob,” The voice of his mighty master spoke.

“Jacob pack up and leave this awful place. It’s time for you to head homeward, go back to Beth El, back to the place where I first met with you when you were running away from Esau all those years ago.  And ,” the voice continued, “Jacob, when you arrive there,make an altar  and worship me.”
    
Jacob arose from the earth to which he always fell at the sound of that most holy voice. Arose and went back to the tents and stirred the family to wakefulness.
  
 He felt so full of zeal for the lord at these times, so willing and eager to please his master and Lord and one thing that had been eating at his conscience, especially since the Dinah incident, was the possession by his family of some of the very household idols that Laban worshipped.
  
 He called them out and all the servants and told them that he had received marching orders and they needed to make ready for a great move. He decided to deal with the idol problem at that time and drew in his breath and began, “I know that I have not been the servant of God I should have been. I have not been the priest to my family that God desires me to be, but  HE has spoken to me again, and now I shall begin what I should long ago have done. We will henceforth be a family solely devoted to the Lord God , and the beginning of that devotion is that each of you must get rid of the idols and false Gods and wash yourself and change your garments and we will travel to Beth El and I will Make an altar  to God who answered me in the day of my distress and was with me in the way which I went.”
    
How Jacobs heart filled with wonder and joy as the family and household brought out all the strange gods they had hanged onto for so long, and the special amulets and earrings, every vestige of idolatry, was given up by the family.

3
They too had been shaken by the recent trauma of the dealings with Shechem and were all too glad to bury these pagan symbols near the old Oak. Jacob recalled the look in Leah’s eyes that day, almost saying “it’s about time we went to truly worship the God you say you believe in.”
    
Jacob had made a last minute survey of the camel and mule trains. waking outside of the train at intervals were the older boys and men servants armed with spears and staves. He trusted God to protect him, of course, but the Canaanites might just be up  arms and make forays against them on this journey. Now it was only a 25 mile journey to Bethel from Shechem, but that might take 2 or three or 5 days at the speed of all those lambs. And it always paid to be careful.
  
 There was, it turned out, no need for all the precaution. each time they came near a Canaanite settlement the people ran in terror, Jacob was amazed as he realized that God had put a great fear of his family in the hearts of these people.Then he was saddened because it was the LOVE of God that they were to demonstrate to these people and oh how they had failed.
    
They arrived at Bethel early on the 4th day, he recalled and set up the encampment and Jacob took the boys with him and they went to the sacred spot.
    
Boys, it was here, on this very spot all those years ago that I first saw the might and glory of the holy one, rabboni Shal elohm, the master of the universe. It was a great and terrible time and I want you too to follow this great master.”
    
The boys helped him and they erected an altar of sacrifice unto God. And the whole family gathered around and together they sang psalms of praise that Judah had written, and Jacob rehearsed again  the wonder of the God above all.
    
Looking back, it was a highlight, that special  warm night , one of those times of memory that return over the years to visit their warmth in unexpected moments.
It was the happy time time before the sad.

4
The sound of loud wailing went in into the night. Jacob paced up and down, old Deborah had passed away. How old he could not really say, but she had come from Mesopotamia with his mother when she came to marry his father all those ages ago. She had rejoined Jacob’s family as soon as he had come to see Isaac, and had quickly become as dear to the rest of them as she had been to him. The mourning was heartfelt and they laid her beneath the spreading limbs of that beautiful oak, and named it, the oak of weeping.
    
It all seemed to have happened so fast as he looked back, a torrent of events tumbling along the channels of his memory. God had appeared to him again and reaffirmed the promise to him and had told him to increase his family and that a company of nations and kings would spring from his lineage. This time God introduced himself as El Shaddai, the nourisher and provider and Jacob was moved in his very being by an overwhelming sense of awe that melted his heart within him.       

 When the voice had passed, and after a long time  in silent pensiveness, Jacob arose warily to his feet and raised a memorial pillar. He understood more than ever that to belong to this mighty God, to be reminded that he was indeed a prince with God, called for him to live as such and be a man after God’s desire and heart. It is truth that will endure, he thought, all generations must know that a child of God must walk worthy of the calling with which he is called. Ah how he had failed...but there again the strong Master had proved the gracious one as well. What a wonderful Lord this Elohim was...”ah if only I had been more faithful” , Jacob thought.
    
Jacob recalled the drink offering he had poured out on the  pillar, a special act of devotion from his heart, somehow he had wanted to say to this God, “I do honor thee.”
Jacob had tarried long enough to build the altars and a small sanctuary of worship than he and the family began the trek south toward Hebron.

5

The pace of travel was slower now,for the Lord had once more blessed his beloved Rachel and he did not want to see any complications in this pregnancy.
  
 It was still too early, he thought, the child was not to come for a month yet,oh Lord  what had he done, the pace might have been too much, he should have never traveled...what if the child.....Almost as if in answer to his silent cry, the midwife, spoke to him. “Fear not milord, thy child  thy son, shall surely live.
  
 As moment later she ran back into the tent as the wail of anguish tore her from her news bearing. Jacob stopped still and for a long long time didn’t move or even barely breathe. what was happening in there? How was the child? Pah on custom he must know.
  
 He was met near the tent opening by the old servant who had been midwife to his family for many years. “Oh, come milord she calls for you.”
  
Jacob hurried as fast as his aging frame could manage to the bedside of his beloved wife Rachel. Shock hit him as he looked at her too pale face and his darting glances took in the piles of bloodied rags. His eyes went back to her face and as he saw her eyes filled with pain and a great weight began to descend on his heart.
 
 “Oh my beloved,don’t leave me, don’t you leave me!”

He broke into sobbing and stifled it enough to hear her say...oh Jacob, I...please name him Benoni..and Jacob I...I...sssaaaaa .

Her breath trailed off and her pain wracked frame became still.
  
 The ache in his heart was still real to him after these years, but the horrible hurt of that time had mellowed. He remembered all too well, though, the time of deadness in his soul, deadness that hovered just above that open wound inside.
    
Benoni, son of my sorrow, she had said . Oh how deep was his sorrow. It seemed a fitting name, yet could one expect a child to go through life with such a name?  

6

Later, When Jacob  picked up that child he knew that he would be sweetness to his tired old soul. No, Rachel’s name would not do, this was to be the mending of his soul,the healing balm of his life,This child would be son of his right hand, Benjamin.
  
He tenderly remembered the time of burial in the Ephrath area, and Jacob out up a marker there to be a memorial for ages to come. Then, after the time of mourning was over, he moved on.     It seemed that so much misery followed him, Reuben dishonored him by sleeping with his concubine. Though he hadn’t acted except to stop the abominable affair, it would eventually cost Reuben the firstborn blessings.
    
Jacob would never forget the burning shame of what his children had done, Levi,Simeon, and now Reuven...a burning wall of self recrimination and guilt fused with his frustrated helplessness to make a permanent lump in is breast, a deep hurt and pain such as only the parent of a wayward child can know.
  
 At last, Jacob had arrived to stay in Hebron on the plains of Mamre the family home place. He had made several visits there over the past years, but now it was his intention to stay. The last few years with His father were good ones. The boys adored the old man, his wits were still sharp at times and he was prone to say almost anything. He freely gave advice to the grandchildren and as Jacob watched he felt a deep sadness ,why couldn’t he have been like that with US? Ah well, it was the way of things and no sense to regret it now. He really did enjoy seeing the boys with their grandfather, and Isaac was the one who brought the childlike sweetness back to his Dinah. With him she felt purged and his stories of his father, her great grand father Abraham, let her know that there was forgiveness in God.        
  
Esau came to visit often and the boys formed a bond as brothers that they had never shared in their youth. Esau had quite a family and in his eighty years of marriage had raised quite a number of children and grand children, and he doted on the great grandchildren that had recently been born.

7

Yes, life was good, even the passing of Isaac was a time of gentle sorrow, for he had lived well and long, 180 years. the two boys laid him to rest and Jacob settled back intending to enjoy his   autumn years in the Land that God had given him.

His sons now tended the vast flocks and their pasture land ranged from Hebron to Dothan in the north and they seemed to get on well. Joseph and Benjamin stayed closer to home as they were younger and, well yes he had to admit that he loved them more dearly for they were the sons of is beloved one.
    
In his waning years Jacob recalled past blessings. At Bethel he rehearsed the goodness of God. Here also he renewed his commitment to God. He understood that to B  a child of God meant to LIVE AS a child of god. do you? Like col. 3 says “If ye.....” Be honest with yourself, do you really live with a view to pleasing a holy God in your life?
  
Are you a person that can grow into your elder years satisfied that you have followed God and have passed on His precepts to you family? Or will you feel like Jacob, and others of us, a sense of failure in that department? Listen, its a hard world and Jacob, Father of the nation of Israel, had wayward sons and daughters. It is a hard world today and we must be More devoted to holding our families up to God. The way of the transgressor is hard, not only for himself, but for his loved ones as well.