God tells Jacob to go to Bethel and build an altar to the God who appeared to him while he was fleeing from Esau. Jacob told everyone to clean up their acts and get right with God and throw away their idols. So they came to Bethel. God appeared to Jacob and told him again that his name would now be Israel. Jacob (Israel) set up a stone pillar, anointed it and worshipped God.
They left Bethel and travelled to Ephrath. On the way, Rachel went into labor and was having trouble. She died giving birth to her second son, Benjamin. Jacob buried her on the way to Ephrath.
At some point in their travels Israel's oldest son, Reuben, sleeps with Israel's concubine, Bilhah and Israel found out. A real scoundrel that one!
So Jacob had 12 sons, their names were: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun (sons of Leah)
Joseph, Benjamin (sons of Rachel)
Dan, Naphtali (sons of Rachel's maid Bilhah)
Gad and Asher (sons of Leah's maid Zilpah)
Jacob came home to his father Isaac where his grandfather, Abraham had lived. Isaac died at 180 years old. His sons Esau and Jacob (Israel) buried him.
Chapter 36 goes into Esau's wives and children. Many descendents are listed as the Edomites. Recently I was on a plane coming home from Louisiana and my daughter was with me, working on a crossword puzzle. Wouldn't you know it? One of the clues was
about Edom. The first thing she thought of was Eden, but it didn't fit. Somehow I thought of Edom and it fit. Esau was the father of the Edomites.
Joseph was 17 when his story really begins. Isreal loved Joseph more than any of the other sons because he loved Rachel best. I imagine that when he looked at Joseph, he saw his beloved Rachel. To demonstrate his esteem for this son, Israel made a richly ornamented robe just for him. (google Joseph and the Amazing Techinicolor Dreamcoat or go to www.josephthemusical.com) In those days it was common for the oldest son to inherit everything. Now, we've been around the block with the older brothers and have seen how given to petty jealousy and other sorts of scumbaggery they indulge in, so it's no small leap to imagine how unfair they thought this was. Then, to make matters worse, Joseph has a couple of dreams where in various ways the other 11 bow down and worship him. Naturally, the older brothers plotted to kill Joseph. One day Israel had kept Joseph back with him while the older boys were with the flocks. Israel told Joseph to go to his brothers. It was Reuben who saved Joseph's life. He had planned to have him thrown into a cistern and then go get him out later. I guess he wasn't all bad after all! Joseph gets there and they take off his robe and throw him into the empty cistern.
See what happens next in Genesis 37:25 - 40:8
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