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The Ups and Downs of Life. (Genesis 35:1-29)

(Part 2 of 2))

Funerals and Failures

So, let’s recap where Jacob is at, God has spoken to him and sent him on a journey by telling him to return to Bethel. Now during his time away and since he got home he’s been a scoundrel; and he hasn’t done everything he was supposed to do. Matter of fact, he’s done some things he definitely wasn’t supposed to do. But the Lord reminds him, I made a promise to you, and I, the Lord, am going to keep that promise. So woven through this story repeatedly is the faithfulness of God. Jacob himself says the Lord has been with me always, he’s been with me in my distress and He’s always answered my prayers. The text then tells us in verse 16 they journeyed on from Bethel, so this is the second phase of this story. I said last time it was a travelogue, 

“Then they moved on from Bethel. While they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth and had great difficulty.  And as she was having great difficulty in childbirth, the midwife said to her, “Don’t despair, for you have another son.” As she breathed her last—for she was dying—she named her son Ben-Oni. But his father named him Benjamin”.

(Genesis 35: 16-18)

We’re now leaving Bethel and when they had travelled a short they stop because Rachel goes into labour. Now actually the text will indicate later that they are leaving Bethel to go see his father as he has not seen him in years and they’re going back to be reunited with Isaac again. But on the way Rachel is expecting and she goes into labour and it was a difficult labour, so difficult is the labour that we find out she dies in the process. Verse 19 says,

“So, Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). Over her tomb Jacob set up a pillar, and to this day that pillar marks Rachel’s tomb”.

(Genesis 35: 19)

She gave her child a name which means the son of my sorrow because it was hard labour. But could you imagine being named that and all your life you’re walking around being reminded that your birth caused the death of your mother. So, Jacob he changed his name to Benjamin, which means the son of my right hand. I think this is a very mixed set of events, isn’t it, he gets a son, and his wife dies at the same time. The birth of a son is supposed to be a joy, right? 

Now he had other wives but remember we were told repeatedly throughout Jacobs story that Racheal is the  one he loved the most. Back in Chapter 29 we were told that the wives had some problems with each other because he loved Rachel more than Leah, and the Bible said it in those exact terms. So at this point in the story Rachael gains another son, which, by the way, she prayed for, and she has the son, but then she dies. The text tells us in verse 19 she died and she was buried on the way and verse 20 tells us Jacobs put a pillar beside her grave. Now the Book of Genesis was written 400 years after Rachael died. Moses wrote these 400 years later, so, what this suggests is that you could go to Bethlehem 400 years later and still see her tombstone to that day.

What strikes me as I read this is the fact that Jacob has the greatest joy and perhaps the greatest sadness in his life all at one time. I mean, what greater joy is there than to have a child, it is one of the great moments of your life, especially if you’ve prayed for one? And I can think of nothing sadder than to lose the one person you love more than anybody else? He loved Rachel dearly, and she dies, and yet he gets another son. The Bible tells us to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice. That’s life in all it ups and downs isn’t it. I mean, it all there in this chapter. 

Now I’m labouring this point  because I think this is an important message of this passage, in that he gets blessed one minute and he has a tragedy the next. That’s the story of this passage. Alright, let’s pick it up at verse 21.

“Israel [Jacob] moved on again and pitched his tent beyond Migdal Eder. While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went in and slept with his father’s concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard of it”:

(Genesis 35: 21-22a)

Now we’ve encountered stuff like this before, wait till we get to the book of judges it gets even worse. But imagine having your son commit adultery with your wives.  In that day, doing that was a sign that he was trying to take the place of his father. Children even sometimes killed their fathers and slept with their wives and took over the family resources. So, the next thing he hears is that his son has committed adultery with one of his wives just imagine all the heartache that’s going on in this man’s life. What a betrayal that would be not just the violation of he wife but the breach of trust also. Nothing appears to be said or done at this point, but stay tuned because when we get towards the end of this book, something gets said about this and it has serious consequences for Ruben. So, this will turn out to be very bad news for Rubin, very bad indeed. The next verses give us a final list of Jacob’s sons.

Jacob had twelve sons:  The sons of Leah: Reuben the firstborn of Jacob, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun.

The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.

The sons of Rachel’s servant Bilhah: Dan and Naphtali.

The sons of Leah’s servant Zilpah: Gad and Asher.

These were the sons of Jacob, who were born to him in Paddan Aram.

(Genesis 35: 22b -26)

Verse 27 concluded the narrative text of this chapter.

“Jacob came home to his father Isaac in Mamre, near Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had stayed. Isaac lived a hundred and eighty years. Then he breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people, old and full of years. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him”.

(Genesis 35: 27-29)

Finally, Jacob arrives at his father’s house at Mamre, which he says is another name for Hebron, which is South of Jerusalem. This had to be one of the outstanding moments in his life, he’s been gone at this point for 30 years. He was out of the land for 20 years; he came back to the land but didn’t see his father for another ten years. Then finally, after 10 years back in the land, he meets his father again. This has to have been a moment of great joy and celebration, he has been reunited with his father after 30 years of separation. Then the passage closes by telling us Isaac breathed his last and died and Jacob buries him. Get this, the great reunion is in verse 27, and by verse 28 he is dead. We don’t know the length of time they had together, but the text suggests to me not that long. So there again, there’s great joy in one verse and great sadness in the next.

The text then tells us that he was gathered to his people. Now that’s an interesting little phrase, it’s the Old Testament way of saying that he died and went to be with Abraham and his forefathers. We today would say somebody has gone to heaven or is with the Lord. The Old Testament way of expressing that is, he was gathered to his people. 

The New Testament teaches the same thing, it tells us that when we die, we will be reunited with the Lord, and all those believers that have gone before us who are in heaven, which is a great encouragement to those of us who our family members share our faith. So that’s what this passage is saying.

The last sentence in this chapter says that he was buried, and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him. Again, joy and sorrow all at the same time.

They’re both grieving the loss of their father but remember what happened to these two brothers? Jacob deceived Esau to get the blessing and steal it from him. Let me say it again. Jacob deceived Isaac to rob his inheritance from his brother, but here we are 30 years later, and now, they’ve reconciled. So, they were reconciled and come together as a family, but it is also a sad day because they bury their father. As I read this message, I couldn’t help but be struck by the fact that one day he’s on the mountaintop and the next day he’s in the valley. I’d sum this chapter up by saying Jacob returned to Bethel  to fulfil his vow, and on the way, he was reassured by God of his promises, which is incredible. He has another son, which is remarkable, and he saw his father before he died, which is a great joy and I believe a great comfort. Think about that, he is reassured of God’s promises. God reminds him he is going to give him the land. Nothing of the bad stuff you’ve done changes that, God say and I’m going to throw in another sign, being that you’re going to see your father before he dies. All great blessings, but in the midst of all of that spiritual growth and the blessings he also experiences the death of three people that are close to him. His nanny, his dearly beloved wife, and his father and on top of all of that, he has to witness the absolutely abominable sin of his son rebelling against him and committed adultery with one of his wives. So, in the course of 29 verses in one chapter, we have all of this. We have great blessing and yet great trouble that causes real grief also. 

God is Always faithful to His Promises.

So, let me conclude by making a couple of observations. Life is filled with celebrations and ??? as well as funerals and failures. Are Christians exempt from the downturns of life ? Christians get sick, Christians die, Christians have trouble at home and at work. Furthermore, none of us are perfect. One of the things you need to know is life is filled with failures and funerals. We have three funerals in this one chapter. That’s just a fact of life, you’re going to face failure, and you’re going to go to lots of funerals in your life. Don’t kid yourself, sometimes you just need to look at the situation and you need to recognise that it is not good. But through it at all, you can still say, God is faithful.

God is faithful, as a matter of fact, one of the things that just bleeds through these verses is how God is always faithful to keep his promise to Jacob, and he keeps answering his prayers and he keeps blessing Jacob. A big part of the passage is God repeating the promises he made to Abraham. And Isaac, proving that God’s faithfulness does not depend on what we do or do not do, God’s faithfulness depends on what he promises. And one of the things you can put in there is God word says he promised us eternal life through His son Jesus who died for us and rose from the dead. God also promises us that if we trust his son, we are given the gift of eternal life. I get asked this question all the time, it came up just last week at a local house group I belong to. Someone said, if I’m going to heaven doesn’t depend on what I do, what does it depend on? The answer is, what Jesus did, right? It doesn’t depend on what we do, it depends on what Jesus did. Here’s the bottom line, God is faithful to his promises, so he promised us eternal life, and no matter what goes on in our lives, God will keep his promise. So, we experience failure sometimes, even our own personal moral failure, but God is still faithful. In this chapter there are three sad deaths that mark the end of an era, but the promises continue. There was sin that ruined an inheritance, as we’ll get to that later, but it could not nullify the blessing of God. God ensured that his promises would be kept, and when they were kept, He confirmed them to the recipient. God still blesses undeserving people. Life is full of failure and if you are fortunate to have lived long and have loved many then sadly life will be full of  funerals as well. So, when things are hitting you hard, bad things like the death of someone you loved, you have to remember God is faithful and none of this affects the promises of God in your life, not even your own failure.

One last point. Although life is filled with hardship, we must remember that God is faithful and because of that we need to remain faithful to God. I think that’s the implication of what is here, and it’s illustrated by Jacob returning to Bethel. God watched over him, protected him, provided for him and when he got back to  where he was supposed to be God reassured him of his promises. We’re in a spiritual struggle, life can be tough, so we dare not let down our guard but just remember, God is faithful to us and it should motivate us to remain faithful to him.