31. Beginner Bible Course: The Children of Israel (Jacob)

EPISODE 31  The simple Bible overview of…THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL

In Genesis 34, Israel formerly Jacob and his kids are settled in the promise land near the town of Shekem. The town was named after Haman son Shekem. He must've been quite a guy, the local hero, the big man in town, local heroes, or used to getting what they want. Unfortunately, check them, took an interest in Jacob. Now Israel's daughter Dinah. Shekim took Dinah by force and violated her the next first States. After this act, he loved her and spoke tenderly to her. This is one of those passages that I leave skid marks in the classroom. I slam on the brakes here.

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We have two back-to-back versus one lustful taking and the other using the term love. Again, I have an age appropriate discussion with my students about the difference between lust and love their responses. Over the years of boiled down to this lust is taking what you want. Love is giving to the other what they need, frankly. I'm not sure I can improve on that. Check them become smitten with Dinah. Jacob. Now Israel is obviously irate while he's considering what to do. Dinah's brothers go into action. They go in to the little town and approach, check them. And Haymour his father.

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They suggest we wish you could marry Dinah, but there's one small problem. Our God gave us a religious right we're to obey a special SIMer his people. Circumcision are people in your people. Can't be one people unless your people have that sign on them, check and likely ask for a few hours to talk it over with city officials. It doesn't take long for this influencer, this big man in town to convince them to comply, especially when check them observes. Hey, they're loaded with wealth. All of the leaders of the town think it's a great idea. Every male, young and old and check them, submit themselves to this small, but painful outpatient procedure.

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The text tells us three days later, two of Dinah's brothers, Simeon and Levi slip into town when they slipped back out an hour or so later, every male in the city is dead. They were sitting ducks, defense lists, Simeon and Levi get the rest of their brothers. And they pillage the town. When Jacob catches wind of this, he's terrified. His sons have poked a stick in a Canaanite hornet's nest. He says, if the Canaanites gang up on us, we're history, two witches, sons, reply. Nobody does that to our sister, Jacob. Now Israel thinks it's a great time to change locations.

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And God agrees. God tells him to move to Bethel. That's the place to use the rock for a pillow on the first night of his journey, away from Esau, the doesn't tell us how long they stayed in Bethel, but they stayed long enough for Rachael to become pregnant. Again, they move again to what will become Bethlehem and on the journey. Rachel goes into labor. The delivery goes terribly wrong. Rachel's last breath comes shortly after the final push. She gasps out his name, son of my trouble, Jacob, renames him Benjamin son of my right hand, my right hand. Boy, Jacob renamed Israel now has 12 sons, Levi and Simeon in what they did and check them.

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We're not the only scandals of Jacob's boys. Chapter 35 begins by telling us Ruben, his oldest son shamed his father by sleeping with Billa Rachel's handmade, who has made Jacob's third wife. That's pretty scandalous. We'll learn shortly. The consequences Rubin suffered for that on the heels of this scandal. Jacob learns that Isaac, his father has died. He and his brother Esau come together and bury dad shortly after that, Esau moves to eat him and becomes the father of the people group. The Edomites. Now back to The Children of Israel chapter 35 picks up the story of Joe, Joe, Joseph, and some bad blood with his brothers.

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My guests, this would make the top five old Testament, Sunday school stories as well. Joseph being sold by his brothers into slavery in Egypt. That's the big story. The details are worthy of a Hollywood movie. We're told when Joseph was 17, he was out tending sheep with four of his brothers, Dan NAFTA, Lee GAD, and Asher. He tattles on them to his dad. Strike one shortly after that, his father who clearly favors Joe, Joe gave him a coat, a splendid garment of many colors. You think after growing up with a father, Isaac who played clear favorites with his brother, Esau, he'd been smarter than that, but he wasn't.

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This was a shocking display of favoritism and it was painful to the big brothers strike two, one day. Joseph takes the Liberty of sharing with his brothers, a dream he had the night before he said in my dream, there were 11 large sheaves of grain and my sheet. And guess what? Bros your sheaves bowed down to mine strike three. But he still wasn't out. He had another dream and he took the Liberty this time of sharing it with his brothers and his father. He said in my dream, the sun, the moon and 11 stars bowed down before me. This was too much for Israel formerly Jacob to hear even out of his fair-haired favorite son, he scolds him about that will your mother and I bow down before you strike for the now had every motive.

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They just needed an opportunity and they got it. Jacob said, Joseph, to check on his 10 brothers, tending the sheep, a few counties away. When the brothers saw him coming, they thought, ah, the dreamer here's our chance. Before he got to them, they had planned his demise. They killed him and blame it on a wild animal. Reuben, the oldest intervenes, let's not kill him. Let's just throw them into that dry pit over there for now they did. And the text tells us, the brothers sat down to eat more likely to celebrate. Rubin must have run an errand. And while he was gone, Ishmaelite traders came by in a caravan.

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Judah had an idea why kill him? He's a jerk, but he is our brother. Let's make some money off of them and sell them to those traders. I asked my students, what do you think Joseph would have chosen to be killed quickly or to spend a life as a slave? The idea was a win-win. The brothers thought it was brilliant. And they sold them at a garage sale price. Eight ounces of silver. The caravan was scarcely gone. When Reuben returned, Ruben comes on glued. I don't think it was because he loved the little guy. He was the oldest son. He was responsible. He'd already been very irresponsible with Billa.

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Now he'd have to face his father over this. They roughed up Joseph's coat, killed a kid from the flock, spread the blood all over the coat and brought it to their father. Jacob now called Israel. They played stupid. Could this be Joseph's coat? Jacob fell apart. Nothing would console him. Joe Joe, his favorite son, the son of his first love. Rachel had been torn to shreds by a wild beast. The Children of Israel the biography of Israel Children continues in chapter 38. Israel his fourth son is Judah. The story tells us Judah married a local Canaanite girl and had three sons.

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When those sons were grown, he married the oldest to another local Canaanite girl, Tamar. It was the custom in those days to keep property in the family name and to continue the family line that if a brother died, the widow would marry another brother. If there was one with or dead, the widow Tamer was married to the second son owning. It was own in's privilege and duty to raise up children with Tamar Onin gives us the Bible's first example of family planning or birth control. Apparently he had no intent of having a child with Tamar. The text tells us he ended their times of intimacy early to keep her from becoming pregnant.

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God looked at this selfish act, this twisting of his gift of sexuality and took Odin's life for it. This left Judah's his third son, Sheila, with the responsibility to step up and marry. Tamar problem is he was a little too young. Judah told Tamar to be patient. And when he was old enough, he would become her husband. But Sheila grew old enough and Judah didn't follow through and it looked like he had no plans to do so. Tamar took matters into her own hands were told Judah's wife died. And sometime later he went on the road, tending his sheep on one of these journeys, Tamar followed close behind.

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She sat at the side of the road, dressed as a prostitute, Judah inquired about her fees. They agreed on a kid goat as collateral the prostitute at the side of the road, as Judah for his signet ring and his staff. He gave them to her as collateral until he could bring her the goat after hiring her. He sent servants with the goat for the prostitute in return for his Cygnet ring and staff. But there was no prostitute asking around where she might be. The local said there's never been a prostitute doing business on that road, perplexed and confused. Judah went back home a few months later, he heard the Tamer was pregnant.

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He was outraged. He told his servants to bring her out and put her to death. That is until they dragged her out with his signet ring and staff here. These belong to the baby daddy. In case you want to know realizing what he had done. And thankfully not believing in a double standard. Judah owns up. She's more righteous than I am. He confesses Tamar gives birth to Judah's twins. The first thing to come out was the hand to which they tied a red cord. Then the hand was drawn back in and the other baby came out first. The first baby, they named Perez the baby with the red cord on his hand, they named Zara.

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We're going to hear a lot more about Judah as we move through the Bible. Believe it or not, it will be through Judah that the Stomper comes who'd have ever guessed that he was the fourth born child of Israel formerly called Jacob. He was involved in this scandalous. Daughter-in-law dressed as a prostitute event. Later in scripture, the Stomper will be called lion of the tribe of Judah. And Tamar will be one of four women listed in the genealogies of the Messiah. Guys and gals are gross, but God is gracious. God takes the foolish behaviors of man and turns it to his glory.

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What man means for evil. God can turn into something good. Hey, that's exactly what we're going to discover in our next wordpicture.