We shall continue with the
study of the Book of Genesis this week.
(1) Why did Jacob see the need to get up at night and send his family and all his possessions over to the other side of Jabbok?
(2) Why would he choose to stay behind all by himself that night?
(3) Read carefully the passage again, and see whom Jacob regarded this man to be and why?
a. Why would he wrestle with the man?
b. Why would he wrestle with the man for the whole night?
c. Why would he not let the man go unless he was blessed by him?
d. By asking for blessing, whom did he regard the person to be?
(4) Since Jacob said, “I saw God face to face”, he recognized the person as God Himself:
a. Why couldn’t “the man” overpower him in the first place?
b. And yet, all He had to do was to touch his hip. Why did He not do it earlier?
c. Who, at the end was the one who overpowered the other?
d. Why then did God say that Jacob has overcome both God and men?
e. Many have regarded his experience a vivid analogy of prayer. If so, what you can learn about prayer from his experience?
(5) The changing of his name from Jacob to Israel:
a. Jacob means “heel” (i.e. always the follower, playing 2nd fiddle) and implies being a grasper or deceiver while Israel means “he struggles with God”. What does this name change signify?
b. God further comments that Jacob has overcome. Did he not lose in his struggle? How would you define the meaning of “overcome”?
c. “To truly overcome is to be totally overcome.” How would you respond to this statement?
(6) How did the entire experience prepare him to face Esau and the rest of his life?
(7) What kind of a reminder would the limping be to Jacob for the rest of his life?
(8) What is the main message to you today and how can you apply it to your life?
(1) After his spiritual encounter with God, what would you expect Jacob to do in preparing to meet with his brother?
(2) What did he actually do in vv. 1-3?
(3) Why did he put Rachel and Joseph in the rear?
(4) What had Jacob learned from his encounter with God the night before?
(5) What did Esau do when he met Jacob? What does this say about Esau? Who was more righteous?
(6) How did Esau address Jacob? How did Jacob address Esau? What might we learn from their addresses in bringing about genuine reconciliation?
(7) In commenting on the “gift” (v. 11) that Jacob insisted Esau to receive, Waltke remarks that, “the Hebrew is the same word for the ‘blessing’ in 27:35-36 which Jacob had originally stolen.” How important then was it for Esau to accept the “gift”?
(8) Why did Esau desire to leave some of his men with Jacob? Why did Jacob decline?
a. Did Jacob head to Seir (the subsequent traditional homeland of the Edomites), where Esau was?
b. Why not?
(9) Where did he decide to “settle”? What did he do that showed his desire to “settle”?
(10) Why did he not go back to Bethel or Beersheba where he originally came from?
(11) What was the spiritual significance of the naming of this altar as “El-Elohe-Israel” (i.e. “God, the God of Israel”)? (See 35:2)
(12) What is the main message to you today and how can you apply it to your life?
(1) What kind of sin did Shechem commit? When he tried to negotiate the marrying of Dinah, where was she? (34:26)
(2) What was Dinah doing when she caught the eyes of Shechem? Was associating with the Canaanites a prudent thing? (Of course, one should never put the blame on the victim, especially in the case of rape.)
(3) Was the “grief and fury” of her brothers justified?
(4) In trying to appease the wrath of Jacob’s family, what did Hamor propose?
a. Was he being fair?
b. Why was it not acceptable from a spiritual perspective?
(5) The sons of Jacob devised a very clever scheme to seek revenge:
a. Was revenge, in this case, wrong?
b. Why or why not?
(6) What would you have done?
(7) What should they have done? (Consult Deut. 22:28, even though the Law of Moses had yet to be written in Jacob’s time.)
(8) How did Jacob rebuke his two sons? Was his rebuke proper? Why or why not?
(9) What was Simeon and Levi’s reply? How did they see their action?
(10) What have you learned about the biblical view on the sin of rape? Do you whole-heartedly agree? Why or why not?
(11) What is the main message to you today and how can you apply it to your life?
(1) A promise is a promise. Jacob promised to return to Bethel and worship God there (28:22). Under what situation did Jacob make his return to honor his promise?
(2) Is there a promise you have made to God that you have yet to honor?
(3) Why would Jacob only ask his sons to get rid of foreign gods at this point and not earlier since he definitely knew all along that they did worship these gods?
(4) Why did it also entail the changing of clothes and the getting rid of earrings? (Exod. 32:2-4)
(5) What was the significance of this action?
(6) How may we follow his example?
(7) How did God honor his action? (in v. 5)
(8) Now, as Jacob obeyed God in returning
and “settling” in Bethel, God appeared to him again, and re-affirmed his covenant
and blessing to him. Note the following things:
a. As much as his name had already been changed to Israel and the place was renamed Bethel, they were both made official and permanent here and so was the blessing.
b. In the blessing, note also the following:
- God addressed Himself.
- Part of the blessing echoed Genesis 1.
- Apart from the coming forth of nations, something else was being mentioned. What was it?
- The gift of land was now reiterated with his return to Bethel. Why?
(9) It is interesting to note that the death of Rebekah was not mentioned, but that of her nurse was. This indicates that Rebekah died without seeing her beloved son. Pause for a moment and reflect on Rebekah. How would you describe her life and her legacy?
(10) What is the main message to you today?
(1) We have to be moved by the death of Rachel.
a. She eventually got a child and she thanked God for removing her disgrace. She named him Joseph, with the hope of having another child (30:24).
b. Eventually her prayer was answered, only to see herself die at the birth of this child.
c. She expressed her sorrow in naming this child, Ben-Oni (son of my sorrow).
d. Her sorrow figuratively continues even at the birth of Christ (see Matt. 2:18).
e. She remained the true love of Jacob.
Pause for a moment and reflect on her life. How would you describe her life and her legacy?
(2) How did Jacob deal with his grief in re-naming this child, Benjamin (son of my right hand)? Can you name the king and the apostle that came from the tribe of Benjamin? (1 Sam. 10:21; Phil. 3:5)
(3) What happened when they lived in Migdal Eder? How did this incident reveal the general spiritual condition of Jacob’s children?
(4) How did Jacob deal with Reuben?
(5) What should he have done?
(6) Is it fair to say that Jacob contributed to the spiritual condition of his family? Why or why not?
(7) What was the result of the sin of Reuben (here in chapter 35) and that of Simeon and Levi (in chapter 34) in terms of the Abrahamic Covenant?
(8) Finally, Jacob got to see his father, Isaac who lived to see the return of his son and his grandchildren as well. Pause for a moment to reflect on the life of Isaac. How would you describe his life and his legacy?
(9) What then is the essential message of today and how may you apply it in your life?
(1) Apart from giving a historical account of the descendants of Esau (or Edom), what might be the reason that the Bible uses one of the longest chapters in Genesis to detail the non-elect line of Abraham? (Does it have anything to do with what is said in Deut. 23:7?)
There are apparent differences in the names of Esau’s wives from those mentioned in 26:34 and 28:9. Esau might have chosen to rename his wives (to please his father). But these facts remain:
a. God has also blessed him to become a significant people or nation, called the Edomites.
b. God has blessed him with great riches that equaled Jacob’s.
c. However, at the end, he served his brother (as played out in subsequent history).
(2) Presumably, at the time of Jacob’s return, Esau lived in the Promised Land and he also resided in Seir which is further to the south. Now, Jacob returned to his north and gradually grew southward because of his wealth. Some commentators opine that it was an act not by faith but by sight, in that Esau chose to leave the Promised Land, but some see that Esau understood God’s choice of Jacob and voluntarily deferred the right of the promise to his brother. According to what has been said of Esau so far in Genesis, which do you think was the case?
(3) The grandsons of Esau were simply listed first as the “grandsons of Esau’s wife” and then were listed again with a different title. Why does the Bible list them again and yet gives a different, common title to them?
(4) While the Bible sometimes mentions the Edomites affectionately as the brother of Israel, in this genealogy of Esau, there is one grandson whose descendants were such wicked enemies of Israel that God has mandated their annihilation. Which one was it? Whose son was he? (See Exod. 17:16 and 1 Sam. 15:2-3.)
(5) What is the main message to you today and how can you apply it to your life?
Interestingly, the Bible also lists the genealogy of the Horites who occupied Seir before Esau moved in. It appears that Esau and his descendants either destroyed or intermarried them and eventually absorbed them and thus Seir became synonymous with Edom. Since this is a genealogy outside of the Abrahamic lineage, may I suggest the following as you read through this passage:
(1) Divide this passage into meaningful sub-divisions.
(2) Give a title to each of your sub-divisions.
(3) How can we tell that the Horites preceded Esau?
(4) In addition to the Horite chiefs, who else are listed in vv. 31-39, and from vv. 40-43?
(5) What does it say about God’s blessing on Esau whose descendants were able to “replace” these powerful Horites?
(6) What is the main message to you today ?