Genesis 35-36; Mark 6
Daily Catechism
QUESTION 10: HOW MANY PERSONS ARE THERE IN THE GODHEAD?
Answer: There are three persons in the Godhead: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one God, the same in essence, equal in power and glory.
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 2:11; 8:6; John 1:1; 10:30; 14:9; 20:28; Acts 5:3,4; Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Colossians 2:9; Hebrews 1:3.
Comment: The word “Godhead” is needed because we shouldn’t say that there are three persons in God. No, there are three persons who are God. Nor should we say that there are three Gods. There is one God. They are distinct persons with special roles in creation and redemption. But they are in perfect harmony and are (in ways beyond our comprehension) perfectly One God. (See The Pleasures of God, by John Piper, Multnomah Press, pp. 38, 42-44 for one explanation of the Trinity.)
Genesis 35
Ready:
Coming off of the devastating reaction that Simeon and Levi had to their sister’s rape and Abraham’s disappointment they are now at risk.
Reading thoughts:
I see that Jacob began to fear what will happen to his family as a result of their actions against the Hivites. God then instructs him to go back to Bethel where God had previously spoken to him. Jacob perceived that they needed to rid themselves of the idols acquired in the sacking of the Hivites and he ask everyone to purify themselves as they mobilize to head to Bethel. God speaks to Jacob and reaffirms the new name he has given him and increases the detail of his revelation to Jacob. God appears to him using the same name “God Almighty” as he did when he renamed Abram in chapter 17. Here God tells Jacob to be fruitful and multiply perhaps because he has one more son yet to come (Benjamin) from whom will come Paul the Apostle, who will prove to be quite important. The chapter closes with a strange account of Reuben laying with Bilhah, the mother of a couple of his brothers and one of Jacob’s two concubines.
Key Verses:
Gen 35:1-3, 5, 7, 11-12, 17-18, 22, 28-29
I see the theme as- God tells Jacob to multiply and extends his “already-not yet” promise of a multitude of nations from Abraham to Jacob who will yet see Benjamin born, whose descendant (Paul the Apostle) will take the gospel to the Gentiles and in this we will see God become the God of all nations by faith and not just Israel. "For is God the God of Jews only?” Paul will ask in Rom 3:29-30.
Rumination thoughts:
v1-4. Jacob receives direction from God after the slaying of the Hivites and he takes action. He wisely directs his family to dump the idols they found in the Hivite camp and prepare themselves to worship the Lord. He rightly esteems the house of God and plainly recognizes the need for personal preparation of heart and mind when coming before God to worship. Jacob recognizes the rescuing characteristics of God who delivers and who answers prayer.
v5. God supernaturally protects his people by striking terror into those who would consider attacking them during their travel to Bethel.
v6-15. Here God appears again to Jacob at Bethel where he had spoken to him directly as he fled from Esau. God extended the covenant to Abraham to Jacob here previously and he had also changed his name previously during their wrestling match. But now God seems to want to bolster his faith and to increase the detail and glory of what Jacob understands of the promise. Here in Gen 35:11 God uses the title “Almighty God” like he did when he renamed Abram to Abraham because God told him “For I have made you the Father of a multitude of nations”. So the only previous times so far in the Bible that the title “Almighty God” was used was there in Gen 17:1-8, and then in Gen 28:3 where Isaac blesses Jacob and happens to tell him “God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples.” Now again the same title is used when God tells Jacob to be fruitful and multiply for he bring a company of nations from his loins! It is by the almighty power of the God who creates from nothing that the nations of the world (stemming from the scattering of Babel) are grafted into the family of Abraham (Rom 4:16-18)! "You are not done Jacob…there is another child yet and he will bring Paul who will testify for me and carry the message to the Gentiles that they will come and the nations will rejoice (1 Chron 16:8-34).” The spiritual offspring of Abraham are pictured as the "company of peoples" or "company of nations" or "multitude of nations”. So Bethel is a pretty special place and Jacob responds to God by making an offering to the Lord after he receives this restatement of the covenant.
v16-21. Here Benjamin is born and the 12 tribes are complete! Rachel dies and “Israel” travels on.
v22-29. Here is the odd inclusion of a sin by Reuben that becomes the cause of the loss of the blessing to the first-born. In chapter 49 Jacob will pass over the first three sons because of their sins (Reuben for laying with Jacob’s concubine, Simeon and Levi for killing the Hivites) and therefore the fourth son, Judah will receive the blessing and this indeed is the physical bloodline (Mary) and the spiritual lineage (Joseph) of the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! Almighty God indeed works through the sins of man to bring about his mighty purposes according to the counsel of his will! The chapter concludes with the death of Isaac after Jacob gets to Mamre. Isaac indeed dies with the blessing of God as he sees his boys reunited for a period of maybe 50 years before he is buried by them with Abraham and Sarah there in the place Abraham had purchased (Gen 49:31). Rebekah’s death is not mentioned but she was ultimately buried there with Isaac as well.
Response:
“Private”
Reaction:
“Private”
Genesis 36
Ready:
Immediately jumping into this chapter in today’s reading...
Reading thoughts:
After Isaac dies this chapter seems to serve to button up the history of the unchosen line of Esau so the storyline would then follow Jacob and his children from here on until the death of Joseph in Egypt. But this does not “button up” so cleanly for the reader since the names of Esau’s wives seem to be mixed up compared to the previous record in Gen 26:34 and Gen 28:9. Here is a decent explanation from the Jamieson, Fausset, Brown commentary: "Esau took his wives of the daughters of Canaan—There were three, mentioned under different names; for it is evident that Bashemath is the same as Mahalath (Ge 28:9), since they both stand in the relation of daughter to Ishmael and sister to Nebajoth; and hence it may be inferred that Adah is the same as Judith, Aholibamah as Bathsemath (Ge 26:34). It was not unusual for women, in that early age, to have two names, as Sarai was also Iscah [Ge 11:29]; and this is the more probable in the case of Esau’s wives, who of course would have to take new names when they went from Canaan to settle in mount Seir. “
Key Verses:
Gen 36:1-3, 6-8, 9, 31, 40-43
I see the theme as- Esau picks all the wrong women and births a kind of Bizzaro-Israel nation who will be a thorn to Israel.
Rumination thoughts:
v1-5. This is the quick explanation of the three wives of Esau. Putting aside the confusion of their identities, the main thing I notice is that he picked all the wrong women and then all of his children were conceived and born there in Canaan. Jacob, by contrast, acquired his wives in the land of his grandfather (as directed by Isaac and Rebekah) and all of his children were conceived outside of Canaan (Benjamin seems to have been born there in Canaan, near Bethlehem). Esau even married a Hivite which means that Simeon and Levi later killed her entire bloodline after the rape of Dinah.
v6-8. Here Esau ends up separating from Jacob and he seems to actually prosper more initially in fulfillment of the blessing of his father that he would break Jacob’s yoke from his neck (Gen 27:40). Esau is identified as Edom from where the Edomites come and the conflicts between them and the Israelites are documented well in 2 Sam 8:13, 1 King 1:14, 2 Chron 28:17, Ob 1-21, Psalm 137:7-9). So although the brothers reconciled it seems that the following generations didn’t get the memo.
v9-30. Here is established a careful genealogy that seems to illustrate the whole Bizzaro or “alternate” nation created.
v31-43. Here it is interesting that the nation of the Edomites is established with Kings ruling before Israel ever has a king. This is because Israel begins as a Theocracy where God is their King but this changes based upon their sin and failures until eventually they too have a human King.
Response:
“Private”
Reaction:
“Private”
Mark 6
Ready:
Coming off of Jesus demonstrating authority over spirits...
Reading thoughts:
Mark now documents Jesus returning to his hometown of Nazareth, where he had spent most of his life until he began his ministry at 30 years old. Rejected at Nazareth because they could not get over the fact that they knew him as a child and so "clearly he was just another man like them”. Heart hearts made it difficult for people to see past his humanity to see his deity, despite the healings and miracles that he performed. Jesus sends out the disciples with a similar message to John the Baptist’s and here Mark documents the OT prophet’s death. Mark follows the same sequence of events here as Matthew did in chapters 13-14. Jesus feeds the 5,000 and then sends the disciples across the sea of Galilee while he goes up and prays on the mountain. Jesus watches as a heavy wind strives against the disciples while they try to reach Bethsaida as he directed them. Unlike Matthew’s account of Jesus walking on the water here Mark gives a statement that the disciples hearts were hardened and they didn’t understand the message of the loaves. Ultimately, as documented in Matthew, they acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God at the conclusion of this event, but I take Mark’s account to mean that until this they were hardened and did not understand his deity, like the Nazerites. In this passage Jesus seems as though he was to “pass by” (Mark 6:48) like God passed by Moses in Ex 33:19 to show him a glimpse of his glory. Jesus here was showing them a glimpse of his deity and it relates to Job 9:1-12 that they should have been familiar with. In Job 9:8 it mentions God stretching out the heavens and trampling the waves of the sea and then Job 9:10 says that he does great things beyond searching out, and marvelous things beyond number. Job 9:11 says he passes by me, and I see him not…Jesus seemed to be giving a clear message for the one with eyes. He had calmed the storm in chapter 4 and they ask “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”. Now he has multiplied the bread and walks on the waves to reveal the answer to them.
No more time... Soli Deo Gloria!
Rumination thoughts:
Response:
Reaction:
