January 14th
Genesis 30:1-31:16 ~ Matthew 10:1-23 ~ Psalm 12:1-8 ~ Proverbs 3:13-15
Today in the Old Testament reading we have the birth of twelve children of Jacob and in the New Testament, the calling of the Twelve disciples.
During the decade we lived in England, we witnessed many Americans coming over to the ‘old country’ at considerable cost and effort to dig up their family roots and research their ancestry only wanting to bury them again after discovering their ignobility.
Truly God granted a great privilege to the nation of Israel as he chose to bring forth “the Promised Seed of the Woman” (Genesis 3:15) through the line of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. However, their chosenness as a people was not due to any moral superiority or greatness on their own part. (Deut 7:6-7)
Today’s Old Testament Chapters read like a 17th century BC soap opera- “Jacob: These Are the Days of My Wives”. Leah and Rachel are at odds with each other as they compete for their husband Jacob’s affection. Each one desires to become the mother credited with the most children. As a result of this, Jacob is in great demand going from tent to tent .
When our son was just old enough to read the Bible for himself he reported, “Dad, this book should be rated ‘R’! The readings in Genesis and those surrounding Jacob and his sons provided interesting discussions.
Leah is the first to bear children delivering Jacob four sons. Rachel, who is barren for the first seven years, employs her servant Bilhah as a surrogate mother to bring forth two sons in her name. But Leah is still in the lead 4-2. However, Leah doesn’t want to leave it at that and employs her servant, Zilpah, to be the surrogate mother of two more sons, taking her lead to 6-2. Through bribery and resorting to superstitions of using a love potion of mandrakes as a means to increase fertility and sex appeal, Leah hires Jacob back for paternity duties and she has three more children to deliver to Jacob’s tribe, two boys and a girl.
Bob Deffinbaugh (bible.org) comments:
“We may tend to be amused at the credulity of these women who supposed that such a love potion would be of any benefit. However, before we become too smug in our sophisticated and enlightened day, let me remind you that millions, perhaps billions, are spent on cosmetics by Americans each year. Every day the tooth paste and the perfume commercials convince us that whiter teeth or cleaner breath or a more “come hither” perfume will do what nothing else can to enhance our love life. So you see, things have not really changed so much over the centuries after all.”
Rachel’s barrenness is eventually overcome, by God’s grace, and at long last she delivers to her husband Jacob the first child of her own womb, Joseph. Score: 9-3 (counting Leah’s Dinah). But Leah is no clear winner and neither is Rachel, although she names her second son delivered by surrogate, ‘Naphtali’, saying, “With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister, and I have indeed prevailed.” (Gen 30:8)
Rachel and Leah are unable to prevail as long as they are scheming and resorting to their own means.
The names of their children reveal the nature of their own insecurities and unfulfilled longings:
These are the 11 sons of Jacob:
By Leah:
(The first four names have somewhat of a Godward focus, as the names reflect Leah’s desire to have the Lord help her earn her husband's affection, the lack of which she obviously felt.)
1. Reuben- (lit. See, a son) "Because the Lord has looked upon my affliction; for now my husband will love me." (29:32)
2. Simeon; (lit. heard) "Because the Lord has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also." (29:33)
3. Levi- (lit. attached) "Now this time my husband will be attached to me, because I have borne him three sons." (29:34)
4. Judah- (lit. praise) "This time I will praise the Lord" (29:35)
The name of the fourth child gives us the impression that, at least for a moment, her satisfaction might have been in God, rather than in a perpetual hope that her husband would change his attitude towards her. However it could also be a statement revealing her idolatry- the conditional praising of the Lord. I will praise you this time, if you give me what I want. It is clear what Leah wants- to be number one in her husband’s affections. She does not want that place shared by any other, especially her sister Rachel. It is clear what Rachel wants- children. How dangerous when we put these good desires in the place of the ultimate, which ultimately leads to dissatisfaction.
At this point Leah ceases to bear children for a while. Rachel, still barren, is desperate to deliver a son to Jacob. She proposes that her servant Bilah be a surrogate mother. Bilhad delivers children whose names reveal Rachel’s drivenness for vindication and vengeance against her sister.
5. Dan- (lit.justice, judged) "God has judged me, and has also heard my voice and given me a son." (30:6)
6.Napthtali- (lit. wrestling) "With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister and have prevailed." (30:8)
Leah realizes that she, at the moment, is not bearing children for Jacob, and she offers Jacob, Zilpah, to bring two more sons in her name. Notice that God is not a reference point in the names. We have the impression that it is in her own interests that she is operating.
7. Gad (lit. good fortune) "Good fortune has come!" (30:11)
8. Asher (lit. happy) "Happy am I! For women have called me happy." (30:13)
Leah and Rachel are still in hostile competition with each other, each seeking what means most to them. However Leah agrees to Rachel’s request for a love potion secured by Leah’s son, which she offers to her on the condition that she can again lie with Jacob. This was obviously not a one time deal as three more children from Leah’s womb follow. Leah is able to conceive again. She misinterprets this as being a sign of God’s approval of what she did in employing Zilpah’s services. The names reflect Leah’s efforts to justify herself.
9. Issachar (wages, hire) "God has given me my wages because I gave my servant to my husband." (30:18)
10. Zebulun (lit. honor) "God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons." (30:20)
A daughter- Dinah (30:21)
Finally, Rachel, with all her carnal schemes exhausted, has her day. She conceives a child and names him:
11. Joseph (lit. may he add, taken away) "God has taken away my reproach." "May the Lord add to me another son!" 30:24) (She is still not satisfied.)
The heart-ache of this story illustrates the wisdom of what would be later given in the Law of Moses:
Leviticus 18:18 (NIV) 18 "'Do not take your wife's sister as a rival wife and have sexual relations with her while your wife is living.
Although we realize that Jacob’s departure from Laban’s household is long overdue, Jacob and Rachel leave with further wrong-doing. Jacob,(whose name means ‘deceiver’) continues to deceive (Gen 31:20) by leaving without telling Laban. And Rachel, unbeknownst to Jacob, steals Laban’s household gods.
When Laban overtakes Jacob and his fleeing tribe, he asks why Jacob took away his idols. Jacob makes a statement that tragically proves to predict his wife’s death:
"The one with whom you find your gods shall not live; in the presence of our kinsmen point out what is yours among my belongings and take it for yourself." For Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them. (Gen 31:32)
Sadly, Rachel would die giving birth to the next child, Benjamin.
NEW TESTAMENT READING: MATT 10:1-25
The commissioning of the 12 apostles is not the same as what Jesus would give the church in the Great Commission after his crucifixion and his resurrection. Here Jesus was sending these particular 12 men out with a different mission than the one He would send out some of them (Judas would not be included), and us, to do as His final marching orders to the church.
It is important that we do not confuse this commission in Matthew 10:1 with the Great Commission of Matthew 28:18-20.
A greater authority is given to Jesus in the resurrection as the federal head of the new humanity (Acts 13:33). It is with this authority that He commissions us to make disciples (Matt 28:18). “All authority has been given to me”, Jesus says. A greater message is given to us in the Great Commission- reconciliation and restoration through our being made one with Him by faith. There is a greater scope in the Great Commission. Whereas in Matthew 10 they were to only to the house of Israel, in Matthew 20 they were to go to all the nations. The “signs and wonders” gospel of Matthew 10:1 is not the gospel message of Matt 28. In Matthew 10 the signs and wonders were to indicate to Israel that the time of the Messiah's coming was here. Signs and wonders also follow the true gospel, the greatest sign being the sign of transformed lives. Signs and wonders are described as following the gospel but they are not in themselves the gospel.
What we see as a common factor in both commissions is that the Lord supplies adequate instruction, power and supply for the task at hand in each. However in the Great Commission, Jesus says, “I go with you.” (Matt 28:20). The first commission is announce a coming. The second commission is to introduce the fulfillment.
In Matthew 10: Jesus speaks of ‘shaking the dust off your feet’. This was a practice that pious Jews often performed after visiting a Gentile city, indicating that they were a holy nation, separate from those outside the covenant of Israel. However Jesus was telling the disciples to do the same if their announcement of the kingdom was not received in these Jewish cities, indicating that inclusion in the true covenant that God made with Israel was dependent upon receiving Himself as the promised Anointed King, Prophet and Priest.
