Obedience, grief, and hope—Genesis 35:16-29

Jacob obeyed God and returned to the promised land, despite the threat of violence at the hands of both Laban (pursuing him from behind) and Esau (confronting him in the land). You might think that when you obey God, even in the face of difficulty, that immediately things will get better. But that’s not what happened to Jacob, and that’s not always what happens to us. In the midst of grief, though, we can take courage, because God’s promises are faithful. God has a good plan for our future, whether in the short run or the long run.

Jacob’s beloved wife Rachel died in childbirth with his youngest son, and his eldest son committed immorality with Rachel’s maid Bilhah, one of Jacob’s other wives and the mother of two of his sons (Gen 30:4, 5, 7; 35:22, 25). (That probably also effectively ended any further intimacy between Jacob and Bilhah.) The death of Rachel and horrific sin of both his firstborn son and one of his wives were even not the end of Jacob’s sorrow. The narrator quickly moves to a crowning (though presumably not unexpected) blow, the death of Jacob’s father (35:29). Esau and Jacob together buried him (35:29), just as Ishmael and Isaac had together buried their father Abraham (25:9), and Joseph and his brothers would one day bury Jacob (50:7-8).

Jacob’s commitment of his household to God in 35:2-4 and God’s promise to Jacob in 35:9-15, then, were followed by much grief. More grief would follow with the disappearance of Joseph, Jacob’s firstborn and closest tie to Rachel (37:33-35). Someday, however, Joseph would be restored to him (45:27-28), and God would renew his promise (46:3-4). He lived to see God’s faithfulness. Even in the midst of Jacob’s sorrow, the narrator chooses to remind us that Jacob had twelve sons (35:22-26); God was preparing a future for a people who would descend from Jacob.

Often testing obscures for us God’s promises, but in light of eternity, what intervenes will ultimately make glorious sense. We can look back and see how God does keep his promises, and is faithful, even in ways we never imagined.

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