OYB Reflections - The Children of Israel (Jacob) - January 14, 2011

Michael Williams told me Sunday that he decided to read some of the scriptures in Genesis prior to the January 14th reading (Genesis 30) which picked up in the middle of the birth of the twelve sons of Jacob (whom we learned in the January 17 reading got his name changed to Israel). These children figure prominently throughout the rest of the Christian Old Testament.

In the January 17 reading (Genesis 35:1-36:43), you find a brief synopsis of the twelve sons of Israel:
 ²³ The sons of Leah were Reuben (Jacob’s oldest son), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.
 ²⁴ The sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin.
 ²⁵ The sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s servant, were Dan and Naphtali.
 ²⁶ The sons of Zilpah, Leah’s servant, were Gad and Asher.

Leah and Rachel were Jacob's two wives (as for how this marriage to these two sisters, Jacob's nieces, came about, see Genesis 29). Bilhah and Zilpah were their respective maidservants. When each of the sisters ceased or could not conceive children, they offered Jacob their maidservants in a kind of fertility war. These twelve sons become the Twelve Tribes of Israel (there will actually be 13, because instead of a tribe of Joseph, Israel/Jacob gives this honor to Joseph's two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh - see Genesis 48:5-6).

Besides the names of these important tribes (the tribe of Jesus is Judah), you may also want to take particular notice of the various mentions of God's covenant, or eternal promise, to Jacob/Israel, to his father, Isaac, and to his grandfather, Abraham/Abram. The first of these covenant statements is found in God's call to Abram in Genesis 12:1-3. The covenant is restated several times: Genesis 13:14-17; 15:5; and 22:17-18. The God renews the covenant with Abraham's son, Isaac in Genesis 26:2-5, and with Abraham's grandson, Jacob, in Genesis 28:13-15; 35:11-12; and in 46:2-4.

I hope you are enjoying the Joseph saga, which begins in Genesis 37 (we started yesterday). But don't let your eyes glaze over when reading chapters like Genesis 36, which recount the genealogy of families and tribes which are part of the story of God's people in the Christian Old Testament. One strategy I like to use is to meditate on the names, which are transliterated from the Hebrew (almost all of which is accented on the final syllable). These long lists of names are the only places you can hear the ancient sounds that first carried the message of Good News of God's presence among human communities. Don't run from them - revel in the fact that you are reading Hebrew!

I hope transitioning from the story of the patriarchs to the stories of Jesus in Matthew aren't too bracing for you (at least Matthew likes to quote the Hebrew prophets often). Today, we got to read the first of many parables recorded in Matthew. I'd love to hear what your take is on these ancient forms of teaching spiritual realities in a hostile world - particularly your thoughts when reading Matthew 13:10-16, which can seem a little harsh for Jesus. What do you think it means?

Thanks for sharing this journey of faith with me and with each other.

Peace,
Bo