Part 1 – Flexibility Training – Reading
This is one of the saddest times in the life of Jacob. He goes from one tragedy to another in very short succession. We could talk about how Jacob was a weak father and husband and brought much of this on himself. It’s true. He did. The Bible doesn’t attempt to hide any of that. But instead of focusing on Jacob’s failures as you read through this portion of his life, watch how, in the midst of his weakness, Jacob leans into God and puts his faith firmly on God’s goodness, all the while demonstrating forgiveness to others who bring such evil upon him and his family.
Read Genesis 34 and 35:
ESV – Genesis 34 – BibleHub
NLT – Genesis 34 – BibleHub
Poor Jacob. That’s an awful lot of bad things happening. But bad things happen to us all; and they happen because we live in a fallen world. People make choices to be selfish and take what they want regardless of the consequences to themselves and others. People make choices to repay evil with even worse evil because “no one does that to me!” “An eye for eye, a tooth for a tooth!” But as one of my favorite musicals said, “that leaves the world blind and toothless.” But there is another way to respond.
Jacob, for all his failures as a husband and father, trusted in God to bring resolution to the bad things that happened to him. Did you notice Jacob’s responses to each event?
- Daughter raped: He did not respond with immediate anger, as did his sons. He “held his peace” for a while and then made decisions.
- Second and third sons kill all the men of the town, then plunder it: He told his family, give me all your idols and things related to idolatry, purify yourselves, and let’s build an altar to the true God as we leave this place and trust Him to protect us.
- Favorite wife dies in childbirth: She names their son “child of my sorrows.” He renamed him “child of my joy.”
- Son commits adultery with step-mother: He took away that son’s position as “eldest” son, along with the leadership of the family, and trained his younger more obedient son to one day be the leader of the family. But, his eldest son was still his son, still part of the covenant people, and he treated him that way. He was forgiven, even if no longer trusted.
- Father dies: He buries him at peace with his brother, Esau.
PART 2 – Strength Training – Memory & Thinking
As you reflect on Jacob’s faith in God, memorize this verse written by David in one of his many hard times:
Psalm 34:17 When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.
The great radio man, Paul Harvey, used to have a show called “The Rest of the Story”. The verses below give you a quick glimpse into what happened because of the actions that occurred in today’s reading. These verses are taken from Jacob’s blessings of his sons just before his death. The second set of verses are condensed from Moses’ blessing of the tribes of Israel just before his death. Notice the tribe of Simeon is totally left out of Moses’ blessing. The fact that the descendants of Levi became the priests might show that there was some repentance on Levi’s part somewhere along the line.
Genesis 49:3-7 “Reuben, you are my firstborn,
my might, and the firstfruits of my strength,
preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power.
Unstable as water, you shall not have preeminence,
because you went up to your father’s bed;
then you defiled it—he went up to my couch!”
“Simeon and Levi are brothers;
weapons of violence are their swords.
Let my soul come not into their council;
O my glory, be not joined to their company.
For in their anger they killed men,
and in their willfulness they hamstrung oxen.
Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce,
and their wrath, for it is cruel!
I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.
[It is interesting to note that the tribe of Simeon was given land inside that given to the tribe of Judah (Joshua 19) and the tribe of Levi did not receive any land at all but was to be given 48 cities within the territories of the other tribes (Joshua 21:41).]
Condensed from Deuteronomy 33:1-25 This is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the people of Israel before his death. He said…
“Let Reuben live, and not die, but let his men be few.”
And this he said of Judah:“…and be a help against his adversaries.”
[FYI: Thummin and Urim are part of the tools of the priests]
And of Levi he said, “Give to Levi your Thummim,
and your Urim to your godly one,
…For they observed your word
and kept your covenant.
They shall teach Jacob your rules
and Israel your law;
…crush the loins of his adversaries,
of those who hate him, that they rise not again.”
Of Benjamin he said, “The beloved of the Lord dwells in safety….”
And of Joseph he said, “Blessed by the Lord be his land, with the choicest gifts of heaven above…”
And of Zebulun he said, “Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out, and Issachar, in your tents….”
And of Gad he said, “Blessed be he who enlarges Gad…”
And of Dan he said, “Dan is a lion’s cub that leaps from Bashan.”
And of Naphtali he said, “O Naphtali, sated with favor, and full of the blessing of the Lord...”
And of Asher he said, “Most blessed of sons be Asher;…and as your days, so shall your strength be.”
Part 3 – Cardio Training
It’s almost easier to endure hard times when they are the result of our arrogance or foolishness. But hard times will come even when we’ve done everything right. This is a good time to pray the verse you are memorizing today:
Dear Father, You are in control of all things. Often I don’t understand how some of these bad things happen to me and somehow result in good. Help me continue to trust in You, even when I don’t understand. Lord, I am not righteous in my own right, but only through the blood of Jesus, because of His sacrifice on the cross. But because I wear His righteousness, I call out to You as David did. Hear my cries and deliver me from my troubles. Through Your Son I ask this.
Part 4 – Endurance Training
As you live through the good and bad times of your life, keep reflecting on the goodness of God. It is He Who can help you make it through each season as it comes. Keep studying His Words and memorizing them so they can come to your mind when you need them.
Keep trusting. Keep reading.
An Extra Lap
Ponder the story of Dinah. She was the only daughter of Jacob, born to his unloved wife. She very likely received no notice or attention from her father. Perhaps that is why she was allowed to go out among the women of the land. Some have suggested that kind and tender words from a man might be gladly received after having lived without them all her life. Some suggest that he was not raped, but willingly had sex with him, even though not married. That perhaps this is why Jacob allowed the marriage to proceed.
Did you notice that sentence in chapter 34, verse 26: They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword and took Dinah out of Shechem’s house and went away. That makes it sound like Dinah had been kept in Shechem’s house the whole time. Had she gone willingly to his house? Or was she a prisoner?
Is this why her brothers Simeon and Levi were so keen on killing all the men of the town? Or were they simply interested in protecting their honor, as is still practiced in that region of the world?
The Bible doesn’t tell us any of these answers. Neither does it tell what happened to her after this event. We don’t even see her in the list of descendants to moved to Egypt with Jacob. Had she died? married? There are many speculations about what happened to Dinah, including a suggestion that she became the wife of Job – the man with a book named after him, telling of his faithfulness to God in the midst of his suffering.
It is interesting to ponder such questions. But, as you ponder, remember that God has given us all the answers we need in His Word. And He has kept some things secret because we do not need to be burdened with all knowledge, or gratified with every intimate detail. As you think through the difficult events in your own life, reflect on these example of righteous and evil behavior and let God show you the way forward as He showed Jacob.
Faith Gym 