JGenesis Series:
Chapter 35-36
Jacob sets up an altar and dedicates
it to His God who has helped him in all of his vicissitudes. He encourages his
household and all that were with him to turn away from ‘foreign gods’.(vs2) and
purify yourself and change.
Later in the chapter, he is blessed
by God, and from this time on he will be called Israel the name which
the people born from him will bear. Jewish tradition recognizes in the
sons of Jacob the leaders and the ancestors of the twelve tribes.
On Israel’s death, Judah becomes the heir to the promise.
In its consideration of the sacred history, the Book of Ecclesiasticus
44 mentions Isaac and Jacob as follows:
“To Isaac too, for the sake of
Abraham his father, he assured the blessing of all mankind’ he caused the
covenant to rest on the head of Jacob. He confirmed him in his blessing
and gave him the land for his inheritance; he divided into portions and shared
it out among twelve tribes”..
Chapter 36 is the ‘who’s who’ in the
family tree of Esau. For us they may seem irrelevant. As we have come to
understand, knowing one’s ancestry may provide vital clues of who we are.
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
- Jacob goes back to Bethel (vs 1). What is like for you to return to a place of an unresolved issue and dwell there- do you get a blessing for ‘sitting with the issue’?
- What do I dedicate to God for the help He has given me?
- How does being a Catholic ‘change’ my ‘name’?
- How do I show our appreciation for God’s blessings to me?
- How do I encourage others to turn away from ‘foreign gods’ and change?
- How does the God’s blessing to Abraham impact on my life? What does it mean?
No comments:
Post a Comment