The Book of Genesis
Part 68
Trials And Disappointments
Chapter 35:8-29
The Christian is not immune to the sorrow and suffering which are common to all men. In fact, a man of deep spirituality frequently appears to others to endure more than his own share of tragedy. The Book of Job is ample evidence to substantiate this conclusion. The Epistle to the Hebrews pictures God the Father as one engaged in training His own children. “Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons” (Heb. 12:6-8).
We have noted in our studies an improvement in Jacob’s spiritual state, and that is gratifying; but the Lord is still dealing with him; He is still training him.
Sorrows come in so many different ways, and they affect one in such a variety of degrees. Let us consider some of the trials which beset Jacob as these are recorded in this chapter.
Loss of a Close Friend
“Deborah Rebekah’s nurse died.” As mentioned in our last lesson, it is not known how or when the aged nurse who belonged to Jacob’s mother joined his household. One does not need to draw much upon his imagination to know that her presence there was to Jacob a link with the past. What a reminder of home, of mother! Deborah was probably one of the first to see and cuddle Jacob. Her passing would sever one of the strongest connectives with maternal love and parental security. It is no wonder that the aged loyal nurse was laid to rest under an oak named Allonbachuth, the oak of weeping.
Life has its difficulties, but it also has its compensations. The other experiences of Jacob on his return to Bethel were rich in blessing. If the death of one of the closest friends in life separated him from earlier times, the revelation of God provided all that he needed for the future.
God renewed the blessing of the better man, Israel. He renewed His covenant promise to Abraham and Isaac. Furthermore, He talked personally with Jacob. What unlimited blessing is the presence of the Lord! Men may change, close friends leave us, but God remains immutably the same (Heb. 13:8).
Severance of the Closest Relationship Jacob now suffers the deepest sorrow. The wife whom he loved so dearly and for whom he laboured so long was suddenly removed from him. Rachel dies in an hour of high hopes. She died under the saddest of circumstances; her own feelings adding to the tragedy for she named her baby Benoni, the son of my anguish.
In the midst of this, his deepest sorrow, Jacob’s spirit rises higher than usual. There is nothing so touching as a cradle beside a grave; yet, as Jacob visited the one and then the other he changed the baby’s name from Benoni to Benjamin, the son of my right hand. Jacob saw in his infant son the strength and comfort he so sorely needed on this occasion. There is no doubt that Benjamin was a consolation to Jacob then, and in the future in a greater measure during the absence of Joseph; nevertheless, when Jacob came to die, he intimated the natural belligerent attitude of Benjamin as he passed on the patriarchal blessing, “Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf.”
Some think that foreknowledge of future events will provide assurance and pleasure. What a blessing for Jacob in his sorrow that he did not know the future of little Benjamin!
Shame and Disappointment
What a grief to Israel was the incestuous act of Reuben! It has been well said, “The candour of the Bible is one of its chief proofs to be divine.” No other book records so factually the sins of prominent individuals. If Jacob had hopes in the infant Benjamin, he received only disillusionment in Reuben his firstborn.
The interesting comment of the divine Historian is noteworthy, “And Israel heard it.” He does not record that Jacob heard it, but that Israel heard it. Only recently at Bethel God had appeared to Jacob as God Almighty, El Shaddai, and had renewed to him the power and the blessing of the new name, Israel. It is in the enjoyment and strength of this divine favour that Jacob, with quiet dignity, meets this domestic disgrace.