After Simeon and Levi
took out their anger on all the men of Shechem for the rape of their sister, Jacob their father, heard from the Lord and was told to go to Bethel (the place where he saw a ladder between earth and Heaven and angels going up and down, and the Lord at the top) to seek refuge from a Canaanite attack. “When they set out, the terror of God fell on all of the towns all around them so that no one pursued them.” Genesis 35:4-5 For some reason, the writer found it fitting to add this information - “Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died and was buried under the oak outside Bethel. So it was named Allon Bakuth.” Genesis 35:8 The death of Rebekah is not recorded in the Bible, but she was buried in the cave of Machpelah together with the Patriarchs and Sarah and Leah. We know this from Chapter 49 in Genesis when Jacob on his deathbed said, “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in Canaan, which Abraham bought along with the field as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite.” “There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried, and there I buried Leah. The field and the cave in it were bought from the Hittites” (one of the Canaanite tribes - and remember - Canaan was cursed) Genesis 49:29-32 With further research, I found out that in the Book of Jubilees (31:8-11) Rebekah was still alive when Jacob returned home. And she journeyed with him to Bethel and died at the age of 155, five years before Isaac's death. That means that Isaac and Rebekah were in tow when Jacob and his sons and all of their wives and children, and all that they owned traveled to Bethel to set up an altar to the Lord. Then, for whatever reason, they left Bethel, and were on their way to Ephrath (Bethlehem) when Jacob’s love Rachel began to give birth to a son. The scripture says that Rachel had great difficulty giving birth, and the midwife said to her, “Don’t despair, for you have another son.” Right before Rachel took her last breath she named her son Ben-Oni, meaning “son of my sorrow” - but Jacob named him Benjamin meaning “son of the right hand.” When Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is Bethlehem), the writer of Genesis (who many believe to be Moses) changed Jacob’s name and started calling him by the name that the Lord gave him. Scripture says, “Israel moved on again and pitched his tent beyond Migdal Eder. While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went in and slept with his father’s concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard of it.” Genesis 35:21-22 NIV So at this point, I can focus in on how Reuben’s actions affected Israel, or I can focus in on the place that that Israel went to pitch his tent. Because the places in the Bible have so much significance, I am going to research Migdal Eder. Migdal Eder, as it is known, was only about 1000 paces from Bethlehem (the place where Jesus was born) and was a place of elevation, where Shepherd’s would go to watch over their sheep that grazed in the valley’s meadow below. It’s so sweet that in his grief God would give Jacob such a view. Also, many generations would come and go until Jacob’s descendant, David, was born. David was born in Bethlehem - as was Jesus Christ, almost 900 years later - after David was born. Luke said, “Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee, to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time had come for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks all night long. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David (Bethlehem) a Savior has been born; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests. When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” Luke 2:4-15 I am so glad I researched Migdal Eder, I had no idea it was a place of elevation in Bethlehem. I also learned that in Aramaic and Hebrew Bethlehem means “house of bread” but in Arabic Bethlehem means “house of meat” - all of it reminds me of communion with God. Every part of history, past and present, has something to do with our future. Why would we ever want to erase it?
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
April 2022
|