PPT
– Genesis and family tree
1. The book of
Genesis [Bible [Project]
2. Chapters 1-11;
creation, all is good, then downhill.
3. Chapters 12-50;
Abraham and descendants
a. Abraham –
blessed to be a blessing
b. Last week we
heard about the covenant God made with Abraham, the birth of Ishmael and the
birth of Isaac.
c. Jacob steals
the blessing from his brother Esau
d. Jacob
wrestles – reading today
e. Joseph hated
by his brothers and sold into slavery
f. Joseph saves
the family in time of famine
4. Family tree
a. Interbreeding
5. 12 tribes of
Israel
In
the readings these past few weeks, all have had something to do with names.
In
Genesis chapter 2, Adam is made from the Adamah [earth], and then from Adam
comes ish and ishah, the man and the woman.
Last
week the names of Abram and Sari were changed to Abraham and Sarah.
This
week Jacob is renamed Israel.
Have
you ever changed your name? many of the women will have changed their surnames
when they married, something that happens less often these days. I know when I
changed my surname from Bannister to Lawrence, it was like undoing what my
mother had done, as my mother’s maiden name was also Lawrence.
Have
you changed your name, or the name you are known by? I know growing up
different groups of people called me different names. At school I was Pat, at
home and with family Trish or Trisha, when I started going to Sunday School, there
I was called Patty. That meant in my teenage years I was known by three different
names.
What
does your name, or your choice of name say about you?
What
name does God use when talking with you?
Sometimes
we name people in ways that are unhelpful - stupid, sissy, nerd, failure ….
How
might God rename you? gift, beloved, creative …
The
relationship between Esau and Jacob
Abraham
and Sarah waited into their old age to have Isaac. Isaac marries Rebekah, they have
twin sons. Esau was born first, and Jacob was holding onto his heel. therefore,
Esau was granted all the rights of being the eldest son. Jacob was a deceiver, and deceived.
Jacob
took the birthright and blessing that was due to Esau. Esau was hungry and gave
Isaac his birthright as eldest, for some food. [25: 29-34] When Isaac was about
to die, he asked Esau to go hunting, kill an animal and cook it for him, then
he will receive his fathers blessing. But Jacob and Rebeca colluded so that
Jacob would get the blessing from Isaac. [chapter 27]
When
Esau returns from hunting and cooking, he finds out he has been swindled of the
blessing, and vows to kill Jacob as soon as Isaac dies.
Jacob
leaves and goes to his mother’s people, there he works for Laban, his uncle,
and falls for one of Laban’s daughters. Uncle
Laban is just as sneaky as Jacob, and after working 7 years to be able to marry
Rachel, Jacob wakes up after the wedding night to find he has married Leah. A week
later he marries Rachel but must work another seven years for Laban.
More
time goes by; after a total of twenty years, Jacob, his wives, servants,
children and flocks leave to return home.
Then
we get this episode we heard this morning.
Jacob
is understandably anxious about how Esau might react to seeing him. Jacob heard
that Esau was coming his way with 400 men; that sounds like war! Or a picnic?
Do
you always assume the worst scenario in any situation?
The
Jacob sent ahead some very generous gifts, goats, sheep, camels, cattle and
donkeys.
When
you read chapter 33, you find out that Esau was please to see Isaac, he runs
and hugs and kisses Jacob. Esau tells Jacob he doesn’t need all the animals, he
has enough already.
Sometimes
what we imagine is not what happens.
Do
you usually imagine the worst scenario?
The
thing that kept coming to mind for me this week was the idea of wrestling, with
ourselves or God or ….
Last
week we heard how Abraham and Sarah showed hospitality to three strangers,
strangers who had a message from God.
This
week we hear of a man who wrestles with Jacob, but is it a man, an angel, or
God. or is it Jacob’s own conscious?
“Our
physical bodies so often reveal our emotional tensions. The person who is
carrying the weight of the world has shoulders that slump inward, bowed by an
invisible, deeply felt burden. The person who is all bent out of shape emotionally
also has mysterious aches and pains. The one who can’t stand something
develops pain in the feet or ankles. In a similar way, Jacob begins the
night wrestling with his own fears about his upcoming meeting with his brother
Esau, and then spends the rest of the night wrestling with a mystery
figure. The outer fight mirrors the inner one.” [i]
I wonder what
keeps you awake at night; what or who do you wrestle with?
It
seems that many people today are unable to sit with their own thoughts, there
is always music or games or Television or YouTube – something to stop the
thoughts that come in the silence.
What
is it we are afraid of?
Is
it God, or our pain, our shame, our guilt or our fears?
Has
Jacob finally acknowledged and owned his past behaviour?
Just
as Jacob was wounded and blessed, struggles change us – we can be both wounded
and blessed by a struggle.
I
don’t often think about wrestling with God.
I
think of encounters with Jesus or God or the Spirit, divine encounters, holy
moments – and generally i think of the pleasant ones, where i was comforted, or
given a word of peace or encouragement, but if i ma honest, not all encounters with
the Holy are pleasant. There are times when God will call me out for something I
have done, or not done.
Some
of our conversations while I was running away from ordained ministry were not
comfortable or comforting.
what
do you wrestle with?
How
would God rename you?
[i]
https://revgalblogpals.org/2019/09/17/narrative-lectionary-mixed-martial-arts-genesis-329-13-22-30/
