“God appeared to him again and blessed him. God said to him, “Your name is Jacob, but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel.”
Reaching the end of their days on earth, Rachel dies delivering Benjamin, the 12th tribe of Israel. Jacob died at 180 years, full years to say the least!
The bulk of these chapters include names and references to relatives as the family of Jacob and Esau grew and populated the land. While the reading isn’t exciting, the references play tribute to our ancestors and serve to tie the pieces together. Esau is not forgotten, even though Jacob received his birthright and Isaac’s blessing.
I noticed one particular caveat assigned to “Anah who discovered the hot springs in the desert while he was grazing donkeys of his father Zibeon” (Genesis 36:24). Seems interesting…so I’ll look for hot springs later. He was one of the Hitites, not in the family of Esau like everyone else in the chapter, so I had to do some research.
This genealogy is given partly because it contains that of Aholibamah, but chiefly because the Horites were in time fused with the descendants of Esau, and together formed the Edomites (see Link).
In our culture, the concept of tribes and clans is all but lost; not so in the Middle East (as my wife can attest). These details are significant and form important links to wealth and rites. I honestly don’t understand all of these intricacies, but I hope to learn a bit more each pass through these stories.
Thoughts about serving others
This link includes a list of posts about Serving the Least, the Lost, and the Lonely.
My prayer is for you to join me on this journey. Subscribe to this blog below to get an email when a new post is available.
Let the Word evoke words. May your life encourage lives.