Ok, these are the chapters that the groups will read.
Isaac- 21:1-8; all of chapter 24 (yes, the WHOLE thing); 25:19-34; all of chapter 26
Jacob- chapters 27-29; 30-31 (note: I am certain that you guys will have lots of questions on this section, so please post them or e-mail me so I can help)
Joseph- 37; 39 (really look for the main point of this chapter); 40, 41 (chapters 42-44 cover the brothers going to and from Egypt, just know that much); 46:1-7; 48; 50 (this is a good amount of chapters, but I bet you guys know the stories pretty well. So you can really step this study up and hit on lots of major themes. No pressure!)
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Ya, about Jacob how come he wasn't rebuked for stealing Isaac's blessing from Esau? shouldn't that be thae case? ANd why is he rewarded for it later by GOd and not rebuked by Isaac for lying to him about being Esau? I will look for my own, but these are just a few questions I got from my first reading through the chapters.
Dude... Good questions. You kinda got straight to the heart of the matter on your first go...
Well, I'm sure that there's a lot more to go into this than I have to say at the moment, and this is really off the top of my head, but do you remember how we focused last group on God's unbreakable covenant: that He would bless Abraham's descendants no matter what? I think the rest of Genesis up until the Mosaic covenant pretty much exemplifies the "no matter what" part.
In other words, God is blessing Jacob completely in spite of his deceit. Pretty amazing; and you're right, it does seem wrong.
Does God judge and destroy everyone who does wrong? Pat has a friend who is an atheist, and he has been alive for over 20 years now, and he hasn't been judged or had fire rain down upon him. God has great forebearance with His sinful creation. Just because God isn't showing His justice doesn't mean He is injust. This is very worth thinking over. I mean, Jacob's name means "he deceives!"
Its not that i think that he should rain fire down on the person immediatley. I was speaking more to the fact that when something has happened in the past God was quick to intervene, Like with Cain and Abel, he cursed Abel. I know that it is before the Covenant with Abraham, but God doesn't necessarily have to kill or curse to punish someone. Besides i think Jacob gets what he desrves when it comes to the way his father-in-law treats him later in the chapter anyway.
Laban tries to swindle him by giving him Leah instead of Rachel in marriage to him(how he doesn;t know its Leah on the wedding night is beside me.)He was supposed to get Rachel cuz he loved her. i think that in a way he was getting his "reward" for being so deceptive to his father and his brother. the whole sorid afair that follows suffices for his punishment I believe.
Ok quick correction, I meant to say Cain not Abel, I just caught it.
Regarding the Leah on the wedding night thing, I heard once that a wedding in these times was a big party, or celebration, in which there was bound to be a LOT of drinking.
Not only that, if Laban wanted the trick to pull off, he was bound to get Jacob really, really drunk as well. I mean, he wouldn't have sent her into that tent with a sober man.
What's more, I think the nuptial tent was supposed to be dark.
If you want to reckon with a real "oops, not who I thought you were" Genesis situation, read chapter 38, where Jacob's son, Judah, gets it on with his daughter-in-law, Tamar, who disguises herself as a prostitute before him by merely "covering her face with a veil." How the heck did he not recognize her voice and figure?
Regarding punishment and mercy, I am really enjoying this controversy and am glad to see that you guys are feeling it, too.
Both God's justice and mercy are constantly in question throughout Genesis. On the one hand, He really ought to give these incredibly corrupt and wicked people what they deserve. On the other, if He sent another flood or the like, we all might be saying that He merely created us to watch us fail, then punish us.
Yet God doesn't take the easy way out, and He doesn't just disappear either. We find both incredibly harsh justice and unbelievable mercy chapters apart from each other. It just goes to show us how big a deal our sin really is.
But I think a good response is just to step back and worship God for His amazing qualities that surface even when in opposition of one another.
I don't believe that the mercy and justice of God is in question here. I also don't believe that who God is is what I really am trying to get at here.
I hope that we all understand here that I am just trying to figure out what God's divine purpose is for Abraham and his kin.
God's divine purpose for Abraham's kin...
So the question you're asking is, if God's divine purpose should be to raise up a holy nation, how come He supports unholy people?
Again, if you're after this answer, you ultimately arrive at a truth about who God is. Once he promises to raise up this nation, even though His purpose is to make that nation an example of a relationship with Him, He raises up that nation no matter what.
So I think it becomes a study of Him no matter what you do.
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