“Contradiction of Life and Death”

Genesis 35:16-29

 

We are nearing the end of the story of Jacob, who is now named Israel. Last week we read about a positive moment for Israel and his family. Israel had returned back to the land. He had his entire entourage purify themselves and then he introduced them to the Elohim that had been with him all along. They leave behind their pagan identities of old to embrace the new that God has for them. God promised a new humanity and blessings. Among the blessings there would be kings in the family. Just think about it! This band of nomads had the promise of their being kings in the family?  It all sounded great. 

 

Today’s Scripture reminds us that even with great hope, we are still living outside the garden of Eden so the future of the family will also include death and loss. 

 

Our story today has Israel and his family moving from Bethel on the way to Ephrath, which is spelled with the same Hebrew letters as the Hebrew word, “fruit” or “fruitful.” So on the stretch of land just before the entrance of fruitfulness, Rachel began to give birth. Which is great! An Eden blessing! 

However, we are told she was having great difficulty. The midwife tries to encourage her by telling her not to despair, because she was giving birth to another son. Remember what Rachel had asked God for after giving birth to Joseph? She requested one more son and here he was. The son was born and in Rachel’s last breaths she named her son, Ben-Oni, or “son of my grief” but the father, Israel named him Benjamin, “Son of my right hand.” In other words, “most favored son.” Rachel died and was buried right there. Israel placed a pillar over her tomb which exists to this day just outside the city of Bethlehem. 

Israel continues his journey and sets up a tent beyond Migdal Eder, or “Tower of the Flock.” While there we are told that Reuben decided to go in and sleep with Bilhah, his father’s concubine of Rachel’s slave. The narrator wants to make sure we remember Reuben’s place in the family tree so he provides a list of Israel’s twelve sons and who gave birth to each of them. So, the last of 12 sons was just born and Israel appointed him to be the son of his right hand, or the one who will be given the blessing. Reuben demonstrates what he thinks about that.  We are also told that Israel heard about it. 

 

Jacob finally makes it home to his father Isaac, in Mamre, which is near Kiriath Arba which the narrator fills us in as being the city of Hebron. Isaac had been living in the same place that Abraham had lived. Isaac lives to be 180 years old and dies, old and full of years. His sons, Esau and Jacob buried him. 

There is a lot of detail packed into this small section. It begins with a birth that leads to death. Significantly, the birth of the last son. Then the narrator gives us a story about the first son who did something terrible to Bilhah. So what happens with Rachel’s death and the birth of Benjamin seems closely connected to what happened next with Reuben. Oh, just in case we didn’t remember the birth order and who belonged to whom, the narrator provided a list of descendants. It is a way for the reader to remember Reuben was the firstborn, even though the last born was being treated like the firstborn. It also reminds the reader that although Bilhah was a wife of Israel she was also Rachel’s slave. So, there is a son of Leah, sexually abusing the female servant of Rachel, who just died. 

 

Following the death of his beloved wife, Israel makes it back to see his father, after many years, only to watch him die. 

Israel’s return is marked with both New Eden stuff and the loss and death of the things that would matter most to him. 

 

Again, not much new under the Sun. This is an excellent depiction of life outside of Eden. 

 

Rachel’s giving birth and death is actually a hyperlink that takes us back to Genesis 3 where God confronts Adam and Eve and the snake. He gives the snake his punishment and then He addresses Eve, verse 16, where He brings up the very thing that was meant to be a blessing, to be fruitful and multiply. 

 

Almost all English translations translate this verse, 

 

“I will make your pains in childbearing very severe;

    with painful labor you will give birth to children.”

 

The Hebrew word translated “childbearing” is the Hebrew word “heron” which does not mean labor pain, but rather “conception.” And the Hebrew word for “pain” here is the same exact Hebrew word used to describe what the man is going to face in the following line to get fruitfulness out of the ground. A better translation for this word would be “hardship or grief.” It’s that mental and emotional grief. 

 

God told Adam, in grief, you will eat from the ground because the ground is slowly going to kill you by wearing out your body over time until you return to dust. 

 

Also, to Eve, in grief and hardship will be the conception of children that is how women’s fruitfulness will be marked. 

 

We have seen this demonstrated so far throughout Genesis with famines and infertility. 

The mandate to be fruitful and multiply has been demonstrated by people fighting for resources. Who is going to get the land? Who gets control over the water? You also have all the men who are fighting or competing for access to women. 

 

God told Eve, “Your conception will be fraught with grief and hardship.” Not referring to child birth labor pains, but referring to the fraught circumstances and difficult environments in which the man and woman will struggle to conceive and bring forth fruitfulness, with children and with food. 

 

When you think about it, the entire book of Genesis has been full of couples who have been battling infertility. There was Abraham and Sarah, and Jacob and his wives. 

 

This is a reminder that what ought to be a cause for celebration is in fact marked by the ultimate grief and loss. We see the contradiction of life and death in one event. 

 

So Rachel begins to live out the situation described in Genesis 3, and dies. Followed by Reuben, first born son seeing his inheritance swept away by his 11th brother and he sees a moment. Did you notice Israel’s response? Again, he does nothing. 

 

There seems to be a pattern here, more hyperlinking going on. In this story, Israel sets up a tent by the Tower of the Flock. Previously, Israel had set up a tent when he arrived in Shechem and had set up an altar there. Right after the Shechem story, the exalted ruler named Shechem raped his daughter and Isreal heard about it and kept silent. 

This time his firstborn son rapes the female servant of his favorite wife, who just died. He hears about it and does nothing, at least not for now.  Because, when we get to Israel’s death bed in Genesis chapter 49, Reuben’s actions will catch up with him. Israel’s firstborn will get a curse, because of what we just read. As for Reuben’s two brothers, Simeon and Levi, the sons who ravaged an entire city, they too will not get away with what they had done. They too will be given a curse. In other words, although what Reuben has done is not deeply described, it has been set up as an analogy of what his brothers just did in the previous chapter. Through the hyperlink, the narrator has given us all the information we need to evaluate Reuben’s actions.    

 

All of this will result in a curse and loss of the blessing by the end. The first born, the second-born and the third born get cursed instead of blessed, due to their behavior. That leaves the fourth-born to inherit the firstborn blessing, and that is Judah. Jesus himself is known as “The Lion of the tribe of Judah,” Revelation 5:5. 

 

Check in time. 

 

This short story is a great example of how the Hebrew Scripture is connected to all of the previous stories we have read.

 

Reuben’s actions were not lustful, but they were a calculated challenge to his father’s authority and an attempt to promote his mother’s rights.  An Israeli scholar, Nahum Sarna writes this about Reuben’s actions, 

"This incident, that is what Reuben did to Bilhah, it's directly linked to the foregoing because it is Rachel's demise that presents the occasion for Reuben's act. 

By violating Bilhah, Reuben makes sure that she cannot supplant or even rival his mother Leah's position of chief wife now that Rakhel is dead.”

His actions ultimately fail in chapter 49 of Genesis where Israel curses him. This pattern goes all the way back to the sons of Elohim, with their illegitimate use of power as the rulers above, trying to usurp the power of the rulers below. Noah’s son Ham continues the pattern. It’s not just men who play the game, Lot’s daughters did so with their dad and Leah with her son Reuben’s mandrakes. The pattern will continue in the book of Samuel and Kings. All linking back to the sad consequences of Genesis 3:16. 

Unfortunately, it continues to happen today. When human communities and when males and females have a different vision of what is good in their eyes, the result is grief when it comes to fruitfulness of the land. 

When humans choose to take charge we are left with power dynamics, which leads to conflict between brothers and sisters about land, about family, and the fruitfulness of the family. 

Paul draws upon this theme in Romans 8, verses 36-39,

“As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;
    we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 

In Paul’s mind our experiences in the world look like everything’s dying. And yet, for Paul, he sees death as the step towards liberation. 

How often lately, have you asked God, 

“What on earth is going on?” “Why can’t we get along?”

Do you ever think we are reliving history in a bad way? 

There is a pattern and that pattern has been happening since the book of Genesis. 

So why are we surprised? 

There has always been a contradiction between life and death. Yet, thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ, it is through death that we have life. 

Fortunately, we know the “the rest of the story,” nothing  

will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Not even death. Amen. 

Let’s pray.