Abimelech's Conspiracy and Downfall

Continuing a chronological Bible study:

(Judges 9:1) And Abimelech the son of Jerub-Baal went to Shechem to his mother's brethren and communed with them and with all the family of the house of his mother's father, saying,

In the last chapter and post, Gideon, the same as Jerub-Baal, had passed away, and we learned that he had a son by a concubine who lived in Shechem named Abimelech.  He had also had seventy sons by his multiple wives.  Now Abimelech went to Shechem to his mother's family to visit with them and with all the family of his mother's father.

(2) "Speak, I pray you, in the ears of all the men in Shechem, 'Which is better for you, either that all the sons of Jerub-Baal, seventy persons, reign over you, or that one reign over you?' Remember that I am your own flesh and bone."

Although Gideon and his son Jether had refused kingship as it was the Lord only who should rule over His people, the son of his concubine, Abimelech, conspired to be ruler over the Israelites.  He asked his mother's relatives to talk to the men of Shechem and ask them if it would be better for the seventy sons of Gideon to rule over them, which might cause strife and division, or just one person, meaning himself, to rule.  He reminded them that he was their flesh and blood, hoping that would prompt them to do what he proposed.

(3) And his mother's brethren spoke of him in the ears of all the men of Shechem all these words, and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, "He is our brother."

Indeed, his mother's family was inclined to follow Abimelech because he was their flesh and blood kin, and they spoke of him to the men of Shechem using all the words and rationale he had given them.

(4) And they gave him seventy pieces of silver out of the house of Baal-Berith, with which Abimelech hired vain and light persons who followed him.

The men of Shechem gave Abimelech seventy pieces of silver out of the treasury of the temple of their false god, Baal-Berith, the temple surely having been erected after the death of Gideon.  With the money Abimelech hired worthless scoundrels to follow him around and surely to do what he told them to do.

(5) And he went to his father's house at Ophrah and killed his brothers, the sons of Jerub-Baal, seventy persons, on one stone; however, Jotham the youngest son of Jerub-Baal was left for he hid himself.

Abimelech and his followers went to the house of his father, Gideon, and killed his half-brothers, the sons of Gideon, brutally executing each one on one stone.  However, one of the seventy sons of Gideon escaped, Jotham, the youngest, because he hid himself.

(6) And all the men of Shechem gathered together, and all the house of Millo, and went and made Abimelech king, by the plain of the pillar in Shechem.

All the men of Shechem, and the house of Millo, which may have been a prominent family in or near Shechem, or as "beyth millo" that was translated as "house of Millo" means precisely "house of rampart," perhaps it was a sort of town hall or some such center of government or courthouse.  Regardless of who they all were, they made the decision to make Abimelech their king.  They anointed him king by the plain of the pillar in Shechem.  They may have erected a pillar in Shechem to commemorate the anointing of their king or simply chose to anoint him at a previously erected pillar.  This might be the stone pillar erected by Joshua under an oak tree as a testimony between God and His people.  If so, what an act of blasphemy and sacrilege!  They never consulted God about whether they should replace Him as their king, and Abimelech had killed sixty-nine innocent men to give himself that title.

(7) And when they told it to Jotham, he went and stood in the top of Mount Gerizim and lifted up his voice and cried, and said to them, "Hearken to me, you men of Shechem, that God may hearken to you!"

When it was told to Jotham that Abimelech had been made king, he went up to the top of Mount Gerizim and cried out to the men of Shechem to hear him if they wanted God to ever hear them when they cried to Him for mercy.

(8) "The trees went forth to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree, 'Reign over us.' (9) But the olive tree said to them, 'Should I leave my fatness with which by me they honor God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?'"

Jotham began a parable, crying out in the hearing of the men of Shechem.  He spoke of trees who sought a king tree to rule over them.  They went to a fine olive tree and asked that it reign over them, but it refused them asking if it should leave its God-given purpose in providing oil that burned lamps in the tabernacle to rule over the trees, something for which God had not called.  The trees represented the people of Israel, especially the people of Shechem.  They had asked Gideon and his son after him to rule over them.  Gideon was a fine and honorable man who had refused them.  He would not leave the position to which God had called him to promote himself to something God had not asked him to do.  He had told the people that God ruled over them; there was no need for a king.

(10) "And the trees said to the fig tree, 'Come and reign over us.' (11) But the fig tree said to them, 'Should I forsake my sweetness and my good fruit and go to be promoted over the trees?'"

The trees then went to the fig tree, which may have represented the people going to Gideon's son desiring that he reign over them.  The fig tree also refused to leave its purpose of providing sweet fruit to go and reign over the trees.

(12) "Then said the trees to the vine, 'Come and reign over us.' (13) And the vine said to them, 'Should I leave my wine which cheers God and man and go to be promoted over the trees?'"

The trees continued looking for a king and went to the grapevine which may have represented Gideon's son's son whom the people had desired to rule over them (Judges 8:22).  The vine also refused them, stating that it would not leave its purpose of providing wine that was pleasing to God and man.

(14) "Then said all the trees to the bramble, 'Come and reign over us.'"

The trees finally resorted to asking the bramble to reign over them.  The bramble could scarcely be called a tree, just a thorny bush barren and fruitless only providing distress and pain.  This, of course, represented the wicked Abimelech.

(15) "And the bramble said to the trees, 'If in truth you anoint me king over you, come put your trust in my shadow; and if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon.'"

The bramble said to the trees that if they truly wanted it to be king over them, then they would find protection in its shadow.  But how much protection can the shadow of a bramble really be?  It would only be a painful irritant to one who would try to find shelter under it.  The bramble was making promises it would never keep and demanding loyalty up front if the trees truly wanted it as king.  If they did not submit to the bramble as king and put all faith and confidence in it, then they would feel the fire of its wrath and vengeance.  The lowly bramble located under the tall trees could more easily catch fire than the trees and quickly burn up, but then its fire would catch the trees on fire and take them down with it, even the great cedars of Lebanon.  The bramble, of course, represented Abimelech, and the moral of the story was that if the people chose so low, worthless, and wicked a man to rule over them, then he would be the destruction of all of them.

(16) "Now therefore, if you have done truly and sincerely in that you have made Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerub-Baal and his house and have done to him according to the deserving of his hands, (17) (For my father fought for you and adventured his life far and delivered you out of the hand of Midian, (18) And you are risen up against my father's house this day and have slain his sons, seventy persons upon one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his maidservant, king over the men of Shechem because he is your brother); (19) If you then have dealt truly and sincerely with Jerub-Baal and with his house this day, rejoice in Abimelech and let him also rejoice in you."

Jotham then applied his parable to what the people had done.  If they had truly and sincerely made Abimelech king, and if they had dealt truly and sincerely with Gideon and his house, dealing with him as well as he deserved according to what he had done for them, then so be it.  Jotham reminded them that Gideon had risked his life fighting for them to deliver them out of the hand of the Midianites.  However, they had risen up against his father's house and had slain his seventy sons.  At least that was their intention, to kill all seventy, but Jotham had survived.  They had then made Abimelech, the son of Gideon's maidservant, king over the men of Shechem because he was their kin.  If in all this, the people had dealt well and truly with Gideon and his house, then they should rejoice in their king Abimelech and let him rejoice in them.

(20) "But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech and devour the men of Shechem and the house of Millo, and let fire come out from the men of Shechem and from the house of Millo and devour Abimelech!"

However, if the people had not dealt rightly and sincerely with the house of Gideon, then he wished for wrath, fury, and rage to burn forth from Abimelech like fire, and let it destroy the men of Shechem and the house of Millo (verse 6).  May the men, in turn, turn on Abimelech and destroy him, as well.

(21) And Jotham ran away and fled and went to Beer and dwelt there, for fear of Abimelech his brother.

Jotham then ran away and fled to Beer, a place remote from Shechem and out of Abimelech's reach.  He dwelt there because he was afraid of what Abimelech might do to him because after all, Abimelech had intended that Jotham be killed.

(22) When Abimelech had reigned three years over Israel, (23) Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem, and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech, (24) That the cruelty to the seventy sons of Jerub-Baal might come and their blood be laid on Abimelech their brother who killed them and on the men of Shechem who aided him in the killing of his brothers.

Abimelech was actually allowed by Israel to rule over them for three years.  He was not technically the king of Israel as he was only appointed by the men of Shechem (verse 6), but it appears that the children of Israel consented to him ruling over them.  After three years, the Lord God sent an evil spirit to stir up animosity between Abimelech and the men of Shechem in order to avenge the innocent blood of Gideon's sons.  He would righteously lay the blame on Abimelech and on the men of Shechem who aided in the killing of his brothers in order to make him a king.

(25) And the men of Shechem set liers in wait for him in the top of the mountains, and they robbed all who came along that way by them, and it was told Abimelech.

The men of Shechem set men on the top of the mountains to lie in wait for Abimelech.  Meanwhile, they robbed all who went that way by them.  It was told to Abimelech that they were lying in wait for him, specifically.

(26) And Gaal the son of Ebed came with his brethren and went over to Shechem, and the men of Shechem put their confidence in him.

A man named Gaal, the son of Ebed, came that way with his brethren, whether they be his birth brothers or brethren in general it's hard to say.  The men of Shechem put their confidence in them, telling them of their plan to ambush Abimelech.

(27) And they went out into the fields and gathered their vineyards and trod them and made merry, and went into the house of their god and ate and drank and cursed Abimelech.

Now with a boost in courage because of the addition of Gaal and his brethren, the men went into their fields and gathered their grapes and trod them and had a good time, which may have been something they had been unable to do under the rule of Abimelech.  They went into the house of their god which was probably Baal-Berith (Judges 8:33), and they ate and drank and cursed Abimelech.

(28) And Gaal, the son of Ebed, said, "Who is Abimelech and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerub-Baal? And Zebul, his officer? Serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem, for why should we serve him?"

As they were making merry, probably drinking and carousing, while they cursed Abimelech, Gaal asked who Abimelech was anyway that they should serve him.  He was a Shechemite, and who was Shechem that they should serve him? He pointed out that he was the son of Jerub-Baal, that is Gideon, who had thrown down the altar of Baal.  Abimelech had evidently set Zebul as an officer over the people, and Gaal pondered who Zebul was that they should obey him.  He suggested that they should rather serve the descendants of Hamor, the old Canaanite prince, rather than Abimelech.  Of what importance was Abimelech that they should serve him?

(29) "And would to God this people were under my hand! Then I would remove Abimelech." And he said to Abimelech, "Increase your army and come out!"

Gaal said that if only the people were under his rule, he would remove Abimelech.  Then he said to Abimelech, as if he were really before him, to increase his army and strength and come out to him.  Perhaps he actually sent the message to Abimelech.

(30) And when Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, his anger was kindled.

When Zebul, Abimelech's officer and ruler of the city, heard the words of Gaal, either because someone told him or perhaps because Gaal had indeed sent a message to him, his anger was aroused against Gaal.  

(31) And he sent messengers to Abimelech privately, saying, "Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his brethren have come to Shechem, and behold, they fortify the city against you."

Zebul then sent messengers to Abimelech privately, unknown to Gaal and the men of Shechem, to tell him that Gaal and his brethren had come to Shechem and were inciting the people of the city against him.  It is possible that he meant Gaal and his supporters were literally fortifying the city against Abimelech, perhaps not to let anyone leave or any help to come in.

(32) "Now therefore, up by night, you and the people who are with you, and lie in wait in the field. (33) And it shall be in the morning, you shall rise early and set upon the city, and behold, when he and the people who are with him come out against you, then may you do to them as you shall find occasion."

Zebul told Abimelech to get up in the night, he and the people with him, and lie in wait in the field.  Early in the morning, they were to rise up and rush upon the city, and when Gaal and his men came out against them, Abimelech and his men could do to Gaal and his men as opportunity offered them.

(34) And Abimelech rose up, and all the people who were with him, by night, and they lay in wait against Shechem in four companies.

Abimelech did as Zebul had suggested, and he and his men went by night to the field where they lay in wait in four companies, likely to cover the four sides of the city, for Gaal and the men of Shechem.

(35) And Gaal the son of Ebed went out and stood in the entering of the gate of the city, and Abimelech rose up, and the people who were with him, from lying in wait.

Gaal and the men with him indeed came out as anticipated to the entrance gate of the city, and Abimelech and the men with him rose up from lying in wait.

(36) And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, "Behold, there come people down from the top of the mountains." And Zebul said to him, "You see the shadow of the mountains as men."

When Gaal saw all the people with Abimelech, he said to his officer, Zebul, that he had people coming down from the mountains to aid him.  However, Zebul told him that he only saw the shadows of the mountains and thought they were men.

(37) And Gaal spoke again and said, "See there come people down by the middle of the land and another company come along by the plain of Meonenim."

Gaal spoke to Zebul again and told him there were people coming from the middle of the land, which might have meant the valley between the mountains, and also more people coming along by the plain of Meonenim.  Other Bible translations called Meonenim the "Diviners' Oak," but I'm not sure that the place or its name have any real significance.

(38) Then Zebul said to him, "Where now is your mouth with which you said, 'Who is Abimelech that we should serve him?' Is this not the people that you have despised? Go out, I pray now, and fight with them."

Zebul answered Gaal, taunting him, asking where his big talk was when he had asked who Abimelech was, that they should serve him.  He now had the people he had said he despised before him, so he should put his money where his mouth was, so to speak, and go out and fight them.

(39) And Gaal went out before the men of Shechem and fought with Abimelech. (40) And Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him, and many were overthrown and wounded to the entering of the gate.

Gaal indeed went out with the men of Shechem behind him, and they fought Abimelech and his men.  Abimelech chased Gaal back to the entrance gate of the city, and many men were overthrown and wounded all the way back to the gate of the city.

(41) And Abimelech dwelt at Arumah, and Zebul thrust out Gaal and his brethren that they should not dwell in Shechem.

Abimelech dwelt in a place called Arumah, probably near Shechem, while he waited for another opportunity to avenge his name.  His officer Zebul thrust Gaal and his brethren out of the city of Shechem, and they were forbidden to dwell in Shechem.

(42) And it came to pass on the next day, that the people went out into the field, and they told Abimelech.

The next day the people went out to their fields, probably going back to their daily routines, as they thought Abimelech was gone and Gaal and his brethren had been thrown out of the city.  It was told to Abimelech that the people had returned to the fields.

(43) And he took the people and divided them into three companies and laid wait in the field, and looked, and behold, the people came forth out of the city, and he rose up against them and struck them.

Abimelech took the people who were with him and divided them into three different companies, and they lay in wait in the fields.  When the people came out of the city to return to the fields, Abimelech and his company rose up and attacked them.

(44) And Abimelech and the company with him rushed forward and stood in the entering of the gate of the city, and the two other companies ran upon all who were in the fields and killed them.

Abimelech and the company that was with him rushed toward the city and stood at the entrance gate, attacking the people before they had a chance to return to the fields.  His two other companies attacked and killed all the people who were already in the fields.

(45) And Abimelech fought against the city all that day, and he took the city and killed the people who were in it, and beat down the city and sowed it with salt.

Abimelech and his men fought against the city all day long, and he eventually took the city and killed the people who were in it, at least all who had turned against him.  He beat down the buildings of the city and sowed it with salt, a sign that it might never again be a fruitful city.

(46) And when all the men of the tower of Shechem heard, they entered into a hold of the house of the god Berith.

It appears that the tower of Shechem must not have been within the city gates of Shechem, as the men of the tower heard about what Abimelech had done to the city, and they entered into what they thought to be a stronghold, the temple of their god, Baal-Berith.

(47) And it was told Abimelech that all the men of the tower of Shechem were gathered together. (48) And Abimelech got him up to Mount Zalmon, he and all the people who were with him, and Abimelech took an axe in his hand and cut down a bough from the trees and took it and laid it on his shoulder and said to the people who were with him, "What you have seen me do, make haste, do as I."

It was told to Abimelech that all the men of the tower of Shechem had gathered themselves together.  He went up to Mount Zalmon, a mountain near Shechem, and all the people with him followed him.  He took an axe and cut down a bough from one of the trees and took and laid it on his shoulder.  He then told the people who were with him to do as he had done.

(49) And all the people likewise cut down every man his bough and followed Abimelech and put them to the hold and set the hold on fire upon them, so that all the men of the tower of Shechem died also, about a thousand men and women.

All the people with Abimelech did as he had done and cut down a bough from a tree and laid it across their shoulders.  They followed Abimelech to the stronghold of the people of the tower, which was the temple of their god, Baal-Berith.  They all laid their boughs against the stronghold and set fire to them, which in turn, burned all the people held up in the stronghold, about a thousand people.

(50) Then Abimelech went to Thebez and encamped against Thebez and took it. (51) But there was a strong tower within the city, and there fled all the men and women, and all them of the city, and shut themselves in and got them up to the top of the tower.

Abimelech then went to Thebez, a city next to Shechem which must have also rebelled against him.  He camped across from it and took it.  However, there was a strong tower within the city, and all the people of the city ran to it and shut themselves up in it and got themselves to the top of the tower.

(52) And Abimelech came to the tower and fought against it and went hard to the door of the tower to burn it with fire.

Abimelech came to the tower and fought against it.  He went against the door of the tower to burn it with fire as he done at the temple of Baal-Berith.

(53) And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone on Abimelech's head, and all to break his skull.

A woman in the tower threw a piece of a millstone with the intention of breaking Abimelech's skull.  It was a fitting death for the man who killed his sixty-nine brothers on one stone that he should die by a stone.

(54) Then he called hastily to the young man his armourbearer, and said to him, "Draw your sword and kill me, that men do not say of me, 'A woman killed him.'" And his young man thrust him through, and he died.

The stone struck Abimelech in the head but did not kill him right away.  He called for his armorbearer to quickly draw his sword and kill him so that men would not remember him as having been killed by a woman.  Too late!  It was recorded and kept forever in the Bible that he had been essentially killed by a woman, but his armorbearer did finish the job by stabbing him through, and he died.

(55) And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed every man to his place.

When the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they were able to return to their own places in peace.

(56) Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech which he did to his father, in slaying his seventy brethren.

God was the one who had sent the evil spirit that created the strife between Abimelech and the men of Shechem in order to avenge the death of Gideon's sixty-nine or seventy sons (verse 23).  I believe Abimelech actually killed sixty-nine of his half-brothers, as Jotham escaped.  Judges 8:30 said that Gideon had seventy sons by his wives and one son, Abimelech, by his concubine.  However, verse 5 above said that Abimelech killed seventy of his brothers on one stone.  That was definitely his intent, but Jotham escaped.  I've seen it written by some Bible commentators that Jotham was the seventy-first son of Gideon, but I don't believe that to be the case, according to Judges 8:30.

(57) And all the evil of the men of Shechem rendered upon their heads, and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerub-Baal.

Likewise, God rendered the wickedness of the men of Shechem, according to the curse stated by Jotham in verse 20 above.  He had said if the men of Shechem had not dealt honestly with the house of Gideon, his father, then may Abimelech and the men of Shechem destroy each other, which they did.  Abimelech had beat down the city of Shechem and burned the stronghold where the last of the people had hidden, and in the end, he, too, was killed.  Adam Clarke, in his Commentary on the Bible, wrote that Jotham's parable in verses 8 through 15 which turned out to be a prophetic curse, was probably the first fable ever recorded, some five hundred years before Aesop's fables.

Joshua's Farewell Address and Death

Continuing a chronological Bible study:

(Joshua 23:1) And it came to pass a long time after that the Lord had given rest to Israel from all their enemies round about, that Joshua waxed old, stricken in age.

Israel had divided the land of Canaan among the tribes, and the people lived in peace and rest from all their enemies surrounding them.  Several years had passed, and Joshua had become very old.

(2) And Joshua called for all Israel, for their elders, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers, and said to them, "I am old, stricken in age."

Joshua called to him all the elders and chief people in Israel, including heads of the tribes, judges, and officers.  He began by telling them that he had become very old.

(3) "And you have seen all that the Lord your God has done to all these nations because of you, for the Lord your God is He who has fought for you."

He reminded them that they had seen all that the Lord had done to the nations of Canaan for His people Israel.  He had fought for His people and had brought them to this point of peace and rest.

(4) "Behold, I have divided to you by lot these nations that remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes, from Jordan, with all the nations that I have cut off, even to the Great Sea westward."

I believe Joshua's point was that all of Canaan had been divided by lot to them, even the nations that remained unconquered.  Those unconquered parts, along with all the nations Joshua had cut off with the sword, all the way to the Mediterranean Sea, had been divided as an inheritance to the tribes.

(5) "And the Lord your God, He shall expel them from before you and drive them from out of your sight, and you shall possess their land, as the Lord your God has promised you."

Joshua encouraged the leaders of Israel that the Lord willed that they should inherit all of the land of Canaan, and He would drive the rest of the Canaanites out of their land, and they would be able to possess all of it, as their Lord had promised them.  It has been discussed before that they never did fully possess all the land that God had promised them because they were not obedient to the Lord to hold up their side of the covenant.  However, God said they would possess their land, and a passage in the book of the prophet Amos confirms that they eventually will possess it (Amos 9:15).

(6) "Be therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that you not turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left."

Joshua was giving the leaders of Israel the same words he had received from the Lord when the reins were handed over to him after the death of Moses (Joshua 1:7).  He cautioned them to be courageous in keeping the commandments of the law, that they not turn aside from it.

(7) "That you do not come among these nations, these that remain among you, neither make mention of the name of their gods nor cause to swear, neither serve them nor bow yourselves to them."

Specifically, Joshua cautioned them against going among the pagan nations of people that remained and acknowledging their gods.  They were not to even speak their names, much less swear by them, serve them, or bow down to them.

(8) "But cleave to the Lord your God as you have done to this day."

They were to cleave only to their Lord God through their obedience, service, and worship of Him alone, as they had done since their time in Canaan to that point.  It can't be said that they were always so faithful while in the wilderness.

(9) "For the Lord has driven out from before you great nations and strong, but you, no man has been able to stand before you to this day."

The reason Joshua gave for them always cleaving to their Lord was because of the good things He had done for them.  He had driven out great and strong nations from before them so that no man was able to stand before them even to that day.

(10) "One man of you shall chase a thousand, for the Lord your God is He who fights for you, as He promised you."

One man of them would be able to chase a thousand of his enemies only because it was their Lord who fought for them as He had promised He would (Leviticus 26:8, Deuteronomy 1:30).

(11) "Take good heed therefore to yourselves, that you love the Lord your God."

Joshua impressed upon them the need to be careful and on guard that they always love, honor, and obey their Lord God.

(12) "Else if you do in any way go back and cleave to the remnant of these nations, these that remain among you, and shall make marriages with them and go in to them and they to you, (13) Know for a certainty that the Lord your God will no more drive out these nations from before you, but they shall be snares and traps to you and scourges in your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good land which the Lord your God has given you."

For if they turned away from their Lord and attached themselves to the remnant of the pagan nations in their land and made and consummated marriages with them, they could know for absolute certain that their Lord would no longer go before them to drive out those remaining nations.  They would remain as snares and traps to them, very troublesome and distressing, drawing them into idolatry and immorality.

(14) "Behold this day, I am going the way of all the earth, and you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spoke concerning you; all have come to pass to you, and not one thing of it has failed."

Joshua told them that he was going to die just as all living things eventually do.  He was about to leave them without a human leader, but he reiterated why they should put all their love and faith and trust in their Lord God to lead them.  They knew in their hearts that He had not failed to give them any good thing He had promised.  All He had promised had come to pass; therefore, they should continue to have total faith in Him.

(15) "Therefore it shall come to pass, as all good things have come upon you, which the Lord your God promised you, so shall the Lord bring upon you evil things until He has destroyed you from off this good land which the Lord your God has given you. (16) When you have transgressed the covenant of the Lord your God which He commanded you and have gone and served other gods and bowed yourselves to them, then shall the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and you shall perish quickly from off the good land which He has given to you."

However, Joshua warned them, just as the Lord had given them all good things as He had promised, He also most assuredly would bring bad things to them until they were destroyed off that good land if they turned away from Him and their covenant with Him to serve idols.  If they did that, His anger would burn against them, and they would perish quickly from off their good land that He had given them.  Just because they had all good things at that time, didn't mean they could keep them always if they chose to turn from their Lord.

I take note here that the number one sin that will always kindle God's anger against His people is idolatry.  It is just one of ten big commandments of the Lord, yet it is the one He always mentions that will cause Him to turn away from His people.  However, is not every sin rooted in idolatry?  It may be idolatry of money or power or even self, but there is always something that we choose to make more important than God and His commandments when we sin.  And when we choose something else over God, He may let us have our way, and He will turn away from us.  He will never force Himself on us; He gives us a choice.  However, we must live with the consequence of our choice.  When we begin to see all good things in our lives as blessings from Him, we naturally want to love and follow Him.  Why would we want to follow after some empty idol that can never give us more than some brief pleasure?  In God there is a lifetime of joy and fulfillment and eternal life.  Money and power or anything that we build of ourselves can never do that.

Joshua's farewell address continued in the next and last chapter of Joshua:

(Joshua 24:1) And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and called for the elders of Israel, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers, and they presented themselves before God.

Joshua then gathered all the tribes, and especially the leaders of Israel, the elders, the judges, the officers, and the heads of the tribes, to Shechem, and they presented themselves before God.  Shechem was a significant place in Israel's history as it was the place where the Lord made His promise to Abraham that He would give his descendants that land, and he built an altar there (Genesis 12:6-7).  Jacob had also built an altar there (Genesis 33:18-20).  Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, where they shouted blessings and cursings (Joshua 8:33), were at Shechem.

(2) And Joshua said to all the people, "Thus says the Lord God of Israel, 'Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nachor, and they served other gods.'"

Joshua spoke prophetically to the people the words of the Lord.  He began by telling them about their ancestors on the other side of the flood, or rather river, including Terah, the father of Abraham and Nachor, who served other gods.  The original word translated as "flood" most often meant "river" and was most of the time transcribed that way by the KJV translators, but for some reason they translated it as "flood" this time.  Perhaps the meaning might be that the people's ancestors since the flood had served other gods.  It was understood that before the flood all people except Noah and his family had served other gods, but for their fathers more recently to have turned to false gods would be a very grievous thing.  However, most Biblical scholars believe the meaning should be river rather than flood, and that Joshua spoke of their ancestors who had lived on the other side of the Euphrates River.

Some Biblical scholars think that the verse should read that their fathers, Terah, Abraham, and Nahor, served other gods.  Of course, it is possible that Abram served other gods as he saw his father do until God called him away from his family, but I saw no actual example of his serving other gods.  I read the verse as your fathers, including Terah, served other gods.  "The father of Abraham and Nachor" just described who Terah was.

(3) "'And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac.'"

The Lord took Abraham out of that idolatrous family and place, telling him to get out of his country and away from his family and his father's house (Genesis 12:1).  He took him through the land of Canaan and told him He would give his descendants that land (Genesis 12:7).  The Lord indeed gave Abraham many descendants, and he had given him his son Isaac.

(4) "'And I gave to Isaac, Jacob and Esau, and I gave to Esau Mount Seir to possess it, but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt.'"

Isaac had two sons, twins, Jacob and Esau, who had been "two nations" in their mother's womb (Genesis 25:23).  God gave Esau an inheritance in Mount Seir, leaving the promised land of Canaan to Jacob's descendants alone.  However, first Jacob and his children went to Egypt.

(5) "'I sent Moses also and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them, and afterward I brought you out.'"

God sent Moses and Aaron to Egypt also to demand the release of His people who were in bondage in Egypt.  He plagued Egypt with ten plagues because they refused to let His people go, and then He brought them out.

(6) "'And I brought your fathers out of Egypt, and you came to the sea, and the Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea.'"

The Lord brought His people out of Egypt, and the Egyptians chased them with chariots and horsemen which would suggest they would soon be able to overtake the people on foot.  They chased them to the Red Sea.

(7) "'And when they cried to the Lord, He put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them, and covered them, and your eyes have seen what I have done in Egypt, and you dwelt in the wilderness a long time.'"

The people cried out in distress at the Red Sea.  The pillar of cloud that led them then went behind them and was a cloud of darkness to the Egyptians and light to the Israelites.  He then parted the sea and after His people crossed the Red Sea on dry land, He then let the waters back down to cover the Egyptians.  Many of the people who had been children at the time had seen what their Lord had done in Egypt.  They had been in the wilderness a long time, forty years, because of the unbelief of their fathers, and until those fathers had died in the wilderness.

(8) "'And I brought you into the land of the Amorites who dwelt on the other side of the Jordan, and they fought with you, and I gave them into your hand, that you might possess their land, and I destroyed them from before you.'"

The Lord brought His people to the kingdoms of Sihon and Og on the eastern side of the Jordan River.  Those nations fought with them, but the Lord had delivered their enemies into their hand and destroyed them so that they might possess that land.

(9) "'Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and warred against Israel and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you.'"

Then Balak, the king of Moab, warred against the Israelites.  He called for the prophet Balaam to curse the Israelites.

(10) "'But I would not hearken to Balaam; therefore he blessed you still, so I delivered you out of his hand.'"

However, the Lord would not allow Balaam to speak curses to Israel, and he instead blessed them; thus the Lord had delivered His people out of the hand of Balaam and likewise, Balak.

(11) "'And you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho, and the men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I delivered them into your hand.'"

Then the Israelites crossed over the Jordan River and came into their promised land where the men of Jericho fought against them, but the Lord delivered their enemies into their hand.

(12) "'And I sent the hornet before you which drove them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites, not with your sword nor with your bow.'"

The Lord sent hornets before them to drive out the Canaanites including two kings of the Amorites.  I'm not sure if these were actual hornets or figurative speech about how the Lord drove out their enemies, not by the Israelites' swords or bows, but by the Lord's power only.  Twice the Lord spoke prophetically about sending hornets to drive out their enemies (Exodus 23:28, Deuteronomy 7:20), and here the Lord through Joshua said that He had done just that.  However, in the actual battles, it doesn't say that the Lord sent hornets.  Joshua 10:10 told how the Lord discomfited their enemies and chased them, but it said nothing about Him sending hornets.  However, it did say that He then sent hailstones.  Again in Joshua 11:8 it says the Lord chased their enemies, but it doesn't say it was with hornets.  Of course, that might be an ideal way to chase soldiers and kings, but I think if actual hornets were sent, scripture would have specifically said so.  In many other places in the Bible, scripture said specifically what sort of pest was being sent, and immediately after Joshua 10:10, scripture was specific about sending hailstones, so I just believe it would have been specific about sending hornets, as well, if He had sent them.  I truly believe this was figurative speech or perhaps a word that the translators were not familiar with, and it just meant that God Himself chased and drove out the enemy by His own power.

(13) "'And I have given you a land for which you did not labor and cities which you did not build, and you dwell in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which you did not plant, you do eat.'"

The Lord had given His people a ready-made land that they did not have to dig and cultivate, and He had given them cities they did not have to build, and He had given them fruits of the land that they did not plant.  He had given them, as He had promised, a land flowing with milk and honey and many good things.

(14) "Now therefore, fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood and in Egypt, and serve the Lord."

Having concluded the words of the Lord in verse 13, these are the words of Joshua telling the people that because of their Lord's mercies and goodness in all that He had done for them, they should reverence Him and serve only Him in sincerity with no hypocrisy and in the truth found only in His word.  He had told them in verse 2 about how their fathers since the flood had served other gods, and he urged them to put away those false gods and serve their Lord God.

(15) "And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

Joshua challenged the people that if it seemed evil, or say just burdensome and unpleasant, to serve the Lord, then they should choose whom they would rather serve.  Did they wish to serve the gods of their fathers or the gods of the Amorites who had been in their land before them?  Let their choice be whatever they wished, but as for Joshua, he was resolute in the fact that he and his house would serve the Lord.

(16) And the people answered and said, "God forbid that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods."

The people answered that they would never think of forsaking their Lord to serve other gods.

(17) "For the Lord our God, He who brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage, and who did those great signs in our sight and preserved us in all the way in which we went and among all the people through whom we passed, (18) And the Lord drove out from before us all the people, even the Amorites who dwelt in the land; we will also serve the Lord for He is our God."

The people went on to explain why they would never think of forsaking their Lord, because of all the great things He had done for them.  He had freed them from bondage, preserved them wherever they went among enemies, and then drove out the enemies who had dwelt in the land He was giving them.  They declared their choice was to also serve the Lord their God.

(19) And Joshua said to the people, "You cannot serve the Lord for He is a holy God; He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. (20) If you forsake the Lord and serve strange gods, then He will turn and do you hurt and consume you after He has done you good."

I believe both verses should be taken as one sentence.  I think Joshua's point was that the people would not be able to serve a holy God jealous that His people be only His and serve only Him, if they continued in sin.  As Jesus said in Matthew 6:24, "no man can serve two masters..."  They must wholeheartedly choose to serve their Lord or they would be forsaking Him, choosing another master, and then the Lord would turn away from them and that in itself would destroy them.  The Lord God is our only choice for life.  Since the beginning of time, since Adam and Eve brought sin on man, we sinful creatures are unable to stand before such a holy God.  It is only by His love and mercy that He gave us a way to be acceptable in His presence, but if we choose not to go that way, then we are doomed to be left in our sin, and in the righteous judgment of God, we have chosen to accept the consequences of sin, which is death.  God has set before each of us two choices, life and death, and He urges that we choose life if we want to live (Deuteronomy 30:19).  The other choice leads only to death.

(21) And the people said to Joshua, "No, but we will serve the Lord."

The people declared that they would not serve other gods but would serve their Lord God only.

(22) And Joshua said to the people, "You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen for you the Lord, to serve Him." And they said, "Witnesses!"

Joshua declared that they would be witnesses against themselves if they should turn away from their Lord after their testimony that day.  They would be self-condemned by their own words.  The people agreed that they were indeed witnesses to that truth.

(23) "Now therefore put away the strange gods which are among you and incline your heart to the Lord God of Israel."

Joshua told them therefore they were to put away the strange gods among them.  There may have been actual physical small idols of worship that had been kept from their fathers before them, or it might rather be that Joshua spoke of idols of the heart, secret sentiments they had toward some idol.  Whatever the idol that took their hearts away from their Lord, they were to put away, and they were to incline their hearts toward the Lord God of Israel only.

(24) And the people said to Joshua, "The Lord our God we will serve, and His voice we will obey."

The people confirmed that they would serve and obey their Lord God.

(25) So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.

Joshua established that covenant with the people and made it a permanent law that they and their descendants would always bind themselves to God only.

(26) And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God, and took a great stone, and set it up there under an oak that was by the sanctuary of the Lord.

Joshua wrote the words of their covenant established that day in the book of the law that would have been in the ark of the covenant which must have been with him at Shechem that day.  He took a great stone and set it up under an oak tree that was by that holy place of the Lord.  I don't believe this was meant to have been at the actual sanctuary.  The word that was translated as "sanctuary" also means "a consecrated thing or place, holy place."  Joshua had brought the people to Shechem to a holy place of their fathers, and there he placed a memorial stone which wouldn't have been necessary if they were at the actual sanctuary.

(27) And Joshua said to all the people, "Behold, this stone shall be a witness to us, for it has heard all the words of the Lord which He spoke to us; it shall be therefore a witness to you, lest you deny your God."

Joshua told the people that that stone would act as a witness of the covenant they had made, as it was a symbolic reminder of the words of the Lord that had been spoken there that day and of the witness against the people should they turn from Him.

(28) So Joshua let the people depart, every man to his inheritance.

With that, Joshua let the people go back to their lands that they possessed as their inheritance from God.

(29) And it came to pass after these things that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died a hundred and ten years old.

It was shortly after this that Joshua died at 110 years of age.  I think now is a good time to reflect on the reason why Joshua is always identified as the son of Nun.  Joshua is such an important figure in the Bible in his own right, and Nun is never mentioned other than being the father of Joshua.  As studied previously, I found that the original words were "Joshua bin Nun" rather than "Joshua ben Nun," which would have meant Joshua was the son of Nun.  "Bin Nun" or "binnun" meant the "understanding one."  From the beginning, Joshua was an excellent student of Moses and wouldn't leave the tabernacle even after Moses did (Exodus 33:11).  Additionally, he always demonstrated complete faith in God when others failed in their faith.  Perhaps this moniker of "Joshua the understanding one" did demonstrate that Joshua was a man in his own right.  

This time, in my study, I reflected on just the word "nun" which means "perpetuity."  The name Joshua, "yehoshua," means "Jehovah-saved."  Jehovah, the name of the Lord, the self-existent eternal God, which is what Jehovah means, saves eternally.  Was Joshua Jehovah-saved in perpetuity?  Biblical scholars often speak of Joshua being an Old Testament type of Jesus.  Actually, their names are the same in Hebrew, but in Greek in the New Testament, Jesus (in English) became Ieous.  Joshua was the one who brought the people into their promised land on earth, but Jesus brings them into the heavenly promised land.  Joshua succeeded Moses who represented the law, and Jesus's gospel succeeded the law.  Joshua made a new covenant with the people before he died, and Jesus brought a New Covenant of grace.  While names are very important in the Bible, and Joshua being eternally saved by Jehovah who saves, and being an Old Testament type of Jesus who was the one who ultimately fulfilled that salvation through His death and resurrection, I have to note that according to the genealogy in 1 Chronicles 7:27, Joshua was indeed the son of Nun.  Perhaps Joshua was always referred to as the son of Nun because all the symbology in both those names was the very essence of who he was.

(30) And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath Serah, which is in Mount Ephraim, on the north side of the hill of Gaash.

The people buried Joshua in his own inheritance in the mountains of Ephraim in the city which he built, Timnath Serah, on the north side of Mount Gaash in the mountainous region.

(31) And Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua and who had known all the works of the Lord that He had done for Israel.

The Israelites kept their covenant and served the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who had lived during the time of Joshua and beyond, men who had known all the things the Lord had done for His people.

(32) And the bones of Joseph which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, they buried in Shechem in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for a hundred pieces of silver, and it became the inheritance of the children of Joseph.

The Israelites had brought the bones of Joseph out of Egypt as he had requested (Genesis 50:25) and as Moses directed (Exodus 13:19).  They buried them in Shechem in a parcel of ground that Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for a hundred pieces of silver (Genesis 33:19), in the land that became the inheritance of the sons of Joseph, specifically Ephraim.

(33) And Eleazor the son of Aaron died, and they buried him in a hill of Phinehas his son which was given him in Mount Ephraim.

Eleazar the priest, the son of Aaron, also died, and they buried him in a hill of Phinehas, Eleazar's son, which had been given to him in Mount Ephraim.  The priests had no land of their own but were given cities in which to live, so the Ephraimites had undoubtedly given this piece of land to either Eleazar or his son, Phinehas.

So ends the book of Joshua.  Obviously, the last five verses couldn't have been written by him but were added after his death.  Once again, I can't help but reflect on what a great man Joshua was and how like Jesus he was, the perfect illustration of the Christ to come.  In addition to the similarities before mentioned, it doesn't appear that Joshua ever married or had any children.  He devoted his entire life to the service of God, from his time as a young man learning from Moses up until his death.  Of course, Joshua was only human and must have sinned sometime in his life, but I don't recall any such thing being recorded thus far in the Bible.  Joshua never worked to provide for himself and never asked for much.  Even the inheritance he had apparently once asked for (Joshua 19:50), he didn't ask for when the time came to divide up the inheritance, but the people gave it to him.  And it wasn't even a choice land but rather a rough mountainous region where he built the city of Timnath Serah.  He lived as a servant of the people and most importantly of his God, and he led his people to their rest in their promised land.  Jesus, about 1400 years later, would bring people to that true eternal rest.

Also notable in the last chapter of Joshua is the retelling of history and of the marvelous things the Lord had done for His people.  Throughout the Bible, the people were retold history so that they would never forget the goodness of the Lord, and so should we always reflect on the good things the Lord has done for us.  No matter what circumstances we find ourselves in, we can always be thankful for the greatest gift of all, eternal salvation in Him that was only possible through the sacrifice and death of Jesus Christ.

Getting Back on the Right Track

Continuing my chronological Bible study:

(Genesis 35:1) And God said to Jacob, "Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there; and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother."

In the last chapter, Jacob's sons Simeon and Levi had just deceived and killed Shechem and his father Hamor and all the men in their city because of Shechem's rape of their sister, Dinah.  Once again, Jacob found himself in a place where he was not safe where someone might want to kill him, so God told him to go to Bethel.  God reminded Jacob that that is where He appeared to Jacob when he fled for his life from Esau.  In sending Jacob back there, God was sending Jacob back to the place where he made a vow to God; God was reminding Jacob of his vow from Genesis 28:20-22, that if God was with him, protected him, gave his provisions, and allowed him to go back to his father's land in peace, then Jacob would recognize that the Lord was his God and he would tithe a tenth to him.  Jacob had declared that the pillar he had set at Bethel would be God's house.  God had certainly done His part in protecting and blessing Jacob; now it was time for Jacob to return to God and remember his vow.

(2) Then Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, "Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments. (3) And let us arise and go up to Bethel, and I will make there an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and was with me in the way which I went."

After God spoke to him, Jacob then told his wives and children and all the servants and those of his household to put away all their strange gods and cleanse and purify themselves.  The word translated as "strange" is as a stranger or a foreigner, so should be thought of as "foreign" gods.  His family had obviously picked up foreign idols living in this pagan land.  Rachel herself had stolen gods from her father's house if she still had them at this time.  Dinah had wanted to be worldly and see what those other young women experienced and may have picked up some of their idols.  It could be the servants who had the strange gods, Cannanite servants who came into service later, like the ones Jacob's family acquired through the plundering of Shechem's city.  Jacob announced that it was now time to put away all those foreign idols and get cleansed and go to Bethel where Jacob would make an altar to God, and he stressed that this is the God who has been with him when he was in distress and wherever he went.

(4) And they gave Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hands, and all their earrings which were in their ears, and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.

All of the household of Jacob did indeed give up their foreign gods.  The earrings they handed over were surely not regular jewelry worn by women but were the kind that were worn as amulets or charms decorated with magical characters and images of some pagan god, as was the practice back then.  When you think about it that way, Dinah could have easily picked up that fashion statement when she went out into the world to see what the other young women were doing.  Think about how many bad symbols and images and customs a young girl could pick up in our present culture!  These earrings were symbols of pagan gods and had no place in Jacob's family.  I'm not sure why he hid them in a particular place.  I am assuming he buried them to hide them from anyone who might return to retrieve them, and he purposely left them in (or by) Shechem and away from his household and Bethel and their altar to God.

(5) And they journeyed, and the terror of God was upon the cities that were all around them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob.

Despite Jacob's fear that what his sons had done to the Shechemites would make him despised by the other Canaanite cities and make his family easy prey to their enemies, God protected Jacob and his company as they traveled.  For whatever reason God projected to them, the people of these cities greatly feared what Jacob and his God might do to them, and they let his family be.

(6) So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, that is, Bethel, he and all the people who were with him.

The place was formerly called Luz, but Jacob had named it Bethel.  He and his family and all who were with him came safely to Bethel.

(7) And he built an altar there and called the place El Bethel, because there God appeared to him when he fled from the face of his brother.

As instructed by God, there Jacob built an altar in the place where God had appeared to him when he had fled from Esau.  He now called the place El Bethel, which meant "God of Bethel" or "the God of the House of God".

(8) But Deborah Rebekah's nurse died, and she was buried beneath Bethel under an oak, and the name of it was called Allon Bachuth.

There is much speculation among Biblical scholars as to how Rebekah's nurse came to be with Jacob and his family, but the passage doesn't say that the nurse was specifically with them when she died.  I believe this may have been merely an explanation of another name by which this place was also known, something the early reader would have understood better than we do now.  Because a beloved nurse also died and was buried at Bethel, the place was also known as Allon Bachuth, which literally meant "oak of weeping".

(9) And God appeared to Jacob again, when he came out of Padan Aram, and blessed him. (10) And God said to him, "Your name is Jacob; your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name." And He called his name Israel.

It seems to me that verse 9 is a continuation of the thought started in verse 7--Jacob built the altar because that is where God appeared to him when he fled from Esau and he also appeared to him when he came out of Padan Aram, and that is when He told him he would be called Israel.  It seems to me that this is a retelling of how Jacob first came to call this place Bethel.  God had brought Jacob back to this place so that Jacob would remember all that God had done for him.

(11) And God said to him, "I am God Almighty; be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be from you, and kings shall come out of your loins. (12) And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and to your descendants after you will I give the land." (13) And God went up from him in the place where He talked with him. (14) And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He talked with him, a pillar of stone, and he poured a drink offering on it, and he poured oil on it. (15) And Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him, Bethel.

I still believe this is a retelling of the original meeting with God when he named this place Bethel, which meant "House of God".  However, most of the Biblical scholars I have read believe God is renewing His covenant with Jacob.  It is certain that God wanted Jacob to return here so that he would remember his vow to God, and to remember God's promise to him, even if He did not speak to him again, but He probably did; who am I to argue with those scholars?  It doesn't change the essence of this passage; God either told Jacob again or made sure it was all clear in his mind and his heart again.  He renewed the Abrahamic covenant and promised Jacob that he and his descendants would inherit this land and that nations and kings would come from him.

As I am following a chronological Bible study designed by Skip Andrews, I am now going to Genesis 38:

(Genesis 38:1) And it came to pass at that time that Judah departed from his brothers, and visited a certain Adullamite whose name was Hirah.

There is some discrepancy among Biblical scholars as to when Judah started his own family, but it is of Mr. Andrews's opinion that it happened after, or maybe about the time of the rape of Dinah, and before the birth of Benjamin.  As I am already in the midst of this chronological order, I don't want to change now and risk missing anything, so I will continue with this assumption.  As Dinah wanted to go explore the customs of the other young women in the world, so it looks as if Judah desired to meet and make friends with new people--he departed from his brothers.

(2) And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shuah, and he took her, and went in to her.

Shuah was the name of the Canaanite, not the daughter.  It appears that Judah took the daughter of Shuah to be his wife, with hers and her father's consent, and not by force, but we can be sure that Judah did not consult his father, as the marriage to a Canaanite woman would have been greatly discouraged.

(3) And she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Er.

Judah's firstborn son was Er, a name that literally meant "watchful". 

(4) And she conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name Onan.

The daughter of Shuah bore Judah another son, and called his name Onan, which literally meant "strong".  I don't know if there is any significance to this, but the scripture said that Er was named by his father Judah, and Onan was named by his mother.

(5) And she conceived yet again and bore a son, and called his name Shelah, and he was at Chezib when she bore him.

Judah's wife bore him a third son, and his name was called Shelah, which literally meant "request" or "petition", according to my sources, Strong's and Brown-Driver-Briggs.  However, Dr. John Gill, in his commentary, said it signified "tranquil, quiet, peaceable and prosperous, and is a word that comes from the same root as Shiloh, that famous son of Judah that should spring from him".  I saw that Albert Barnes wrote that it meant either "request" or "rest".  I then did a little more digging and saw that there is another word "shelah", perhaps pronounced a little differently, but spelled the same way, which did mean "at rest" or "at ease".  I really don't know which meaning was meant by the parents of Shelah, other than Dr. Gill's opinion, but at least I know why there could have been such discrepancy in the meaning of the name.  Shelah was born at Chezib, which I read in one old commentary, would have been important to the early reader and descendants of Shelah.  The birthplace of the other two sons was not mentioned because they did not have any children. 

In my chronological study, it is assumed that Judah married a Canaanite woman and had children about the same time as the rape of Dinah, and may be one of the reasons that Jacob saw "sin in the camp" and recognized his family's need to return to Bethel and remember their Lord.  Now the study returns to Jacob and his family leaving Bethel.

(Genesis 35:16) And they journeyed from Bethel; and there was but a little way to go to Ephrath, and Rachel labored in childbirth, and she had hard labor.

Jacob and his family now left Bethel after they had returned for Jacob to build an altar and remember his vow to the Lord.  There was just a little way to go to Ephrath, which we learn in a later verse is the same as Bethlehem.  I will reflect on the meaning of the name when it is mentioned again in that verse.  Meanwhile, they were almost to Ephrath, or Bethlehem, when Rachel went into hard labor.

(17) And it came to pass, when she was in hard labour, that the midwife said to her, "Do not fear; you will have this son also."

The midwife may have just been trying to comfort Rachel with these words, but she was surely aware of Rachel's words at the birth of Joseph, that "the Lord shall add to me another son", especially since the meaning of the name Joseph was "Jehovah has added" or "let Him add".  Now the midwife comforted Rachel with the words that she would indeed have another son.

(18) And it came to pass, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she called his name Ben-Oni, but his father called him Benjamin.

Rachel died in childbirth, but she did give birth to another son she called Ben-Oni, which literally meant "son of my sorrow".  She probably named him this because of the pain and sorrow with which she brought him into the world, or maybe because of her sorrow when she realized she was going to leave him and this world as she was dying.  I can't help but think of how Rachel had so desperately wanted children that she had told Jacob to give her children or else she would die (Gen. 30:1), and now she died giving birth to one.  I can certainly understand why Jacob would rename the child, so that the name was not a constant reminder of the pain and sorrow with which the boy's mother died.  He renamed the child Benjamin which literally meant "son of the right hand", which meant someone very dear and much loved.  The child would be as his right hand or maybe he literally meant the child was the son of his right hand, the son of someone very dear to him.

There is something else, something rather amazing when I think about it, in this scripture.  The verse did not merely say that Rachel died; it said her soul "was departing".  The soul departed from the body "for she died".  Her body obviously didn't depart or go anywhere, but her soul is said to have departed.  Is this not beautiful proof that there is an immortal spirit in man that exists separately from the body?  Indeed Ecclesiastes 12:7 says, "Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was; and the spirit shall return to God who gave it."

(19) And Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath, that is, Bethlehem.

So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath, a name which literally meant "fruitfulness".  Brown-Driver-Briggs' Hebrew Definitions defines it as "ash-heap: place of fruitfulness".  I don't know whether the name of the place was always Ephrath, or if Jacob called it that because out of the ash heap of pain and sorrow came fruitfulness, but it came to be better known as Bethlehem, which literally meant "house of bread", and it was the birthplace of our savior, Jesus Christ, the bread of life.

My chronological study now takes me to Genesis 48:

(Genesis 48:7) And as for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was but a little way to go to Ephrath; and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath, that is, Bethlehem.

This was Jacob's retelling of the event of Rachel's death to his son Joseph when he was an adult with children of his own.  I do find it interesting that Jacob recalled the time as "when I came from Padan", even though he had already left Padan, journeyed to Succoth where he built a house and booths (though this must have been a brief stay), went to Shalem, a city of Shechem, where he bought land and had to have lived for awhile before the rape of Dinah because she couldn't have been more than a little girl when they first left Padan.  I had read that Demetrius the Chronographer, a chronicler of Jewish history who lived in the third century B.C., seemed to have written with preciseness as he gave the date of every incident in Jacob's life, even giving a birth month and year for each of his children.  He reported that Jacob had lived with Rachel for 23 years when she died.  Jacob worked the second seven years for Rachel after she became his wife and then worked an additional six years for Laban for the speckled cattle; therefore it was ten years after he left Padan Aram that Rachel died.  I guess a little 10-year detour away from where God would have him is unimportant at the end of Jacob's life.  However, if this is the way that this time is thought of, as when Jacob "came from Padan", then I can see why scholars believe that God appeared to Jacob "again, when he came out of Padan Aram" (Genesis 35:9), and renewed his covenant with him.

Now back to Genesis 35:

(Genesis 35:20) And Jacob set a pillar on her grave, which is the pillar of Rachel's grave to this day.

The monument or pillar on Rachel's grave continued to stand to the day of the writing of this book in Genesis, and it is mentioned even later as a landmark in the book of 1 Samuel, the tenth chapter.

(21) And Israel journeyed and spread his tent beyond the tower of Edar.

After he buried Rachel, Jacob, or Israel, as he was now called by God, moved on and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Edar, the name which literally means "tower of the flock", and was said to be a shepherd's watchtower about a mile from Bethlehem.  Some scholars have written that this was the place where the angel came to the shepherds and reported the birth of Christ.

(22a) And it came to pass, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father's concubine; and Israel heard about it.

During the time Jacob dwelled in that land, his oldest son Reuben lay with Rachel's maid, Bilhah, who had become Jacob's concubine and the mother of some of his children.  I purposely divided this one verse into two parts because it is said that there was a great blank pause here in the original text.  I don't know why it would have been transcribed as one verse.  The early commentaries look at the pause as there was nothing else that could be said about this despicable act.  Jacob heard about it and surely received the news with great grief of heart and was not able to speak of it.  However, he did remember the incident when he blessed his sons when he was old (Gen. 49:4).  The 1599 Geneva Bible Translation Notes points out that this shows "that the fathers were not chosen for their merits, but only by God's mercies, whose election was not changed by their faults."

(22b) Now the sons of Jacob were twelve: (23) The sons of Leah were Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, and Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun; (24) The sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin; (25) And the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's maidservant, were Dan and Naphtali; (26) And the sons of Zilpah, Leah's maidservant, were Gad and Asher; these were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Padan Aram.

The twelve sons of Jacob, who became the twelve patriarchs, heads of twelve tribes, are named.  A general statement is made that they were all born in Padan Aram, but of course, we know that Benjamin was born on the road, thought of as "on the way" when Jacob "came from Padan" (Gen. 48:7).

(27) And Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, to the city of Arbah, which is Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac sojourned.

Finally Jacob made it "from Padan Aram" back to his father's land.  Most scholars assume he must have surely visited his father before this time as he had been in the land for ten years, and he was now returning, either because of the death of his mother or because his father was getting very old.  However, as this is the first mention in scripture, and the fact I have found the whole ten-year trip "from Padan Aram" sort of suspect, I am taking scripture literally here and assuming he is just now getting back "from Padan Aram" and to the land of his father.  It certainly appears that Jacob thought of it that way when he referred back to it (Genesis 48:7).  Mamre was a plain that belonged to a man probably of the same name as gathered from another scripture (Gen. 13:18), and where we were told that Abraham once lived.  The plain was near the city called Kirjath Arba (Gen. 23:2) or just Arbah here, and the city was also called Hebron.

I haven't seen any indication that the early scholars saw this as I did.  Oh sure, they all saw that Jacob had seen his need to get back to God and remember his vow to Him, but I see a little more.  I believe that perhaps Jacob was lax and took his time in getting back to his father's land which was what God had told him to do.  That may be why he had so many problems with his children in the land--Dinah going off to see the other girls in the land and subsequently being raped, Judah associating with the Canaanites and marrying a Canaanite woman, and Reuben sleeping with his concubine--all these things occurring before Jacob finally made it to his father in Mamre.  Perhaps if Jacob had just gone straight back to his father as God had told him to do and when He said He would be with him (Gen. 31:3), maybe none of these things would have happened.  Perhaps they dawdled in the Canaanite land too long.  Not only did Jacob need to remember his vow to God, but he had to be reminded to do as God had told him.  He needed to remember what God had done for him and of God's promise to be with him and of his promise to make God his Lord.  God did His part and was always with Jacob, but Jacob had forgotten his vow and let his family get involved with foreign gods and they had to be spiritually cleansed.  I believe the point of this chapter is that Jacob sort of got off track for about ten years.  I believe that he saw it that way and that is why when he spoke of this time later in life, it was just a detour on the way from Padan Aram back to the land of his father.  It must be pointed out that God was still with Jacob during that ten years and protected him from being killed by the Canaanites after the Shechem ordeal, just as God may help us through some stupid mistakes.  God is still with us, but things would be easier and a lot less messy if we would just do it His way the first time.  And thankfully, God will mercifully remind us of that fact and prompt us to get back to Him!

We Have Hope and Confidence Because of the Messy Lives Recorded in the Bible

Continuing a chronological Bible study:

(Genesis 34:1) And Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land.

In the last chapter, Jacob had bought a parcel of land near Shechem.  At least a few years have passed, because when Jacob first settled in the land, Dinah couldn't have been more than a little girl, as she was the eleventh child born in the 13 years he lived with his wives after he served the first seven years for them.  Now Dinah was surely a young woman in her teens.  It looks like she had some curiosity about the other girls of the land, and went out to see for herself.  I suppose something could be said here about the "wisdom" of youth, and why Jacob's young daughter should have been more supervised and protected and not allowed to venture out by herself.

(2) And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her.

Shechem was the person for whom the land of Shechem was named.  It would seem that his father Hamor was king of the country and named the place after his son, who was prince.  Shechem saw Dinah on the occasion that she ventured out in the land.  It looks as if he may have taken her forcibly and lay with her.

(3) And his soul cleaved to Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel, and spoke kindly to the damsel. (4) And Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, "Get me this damsel as wife."

It looks as if Shechem sincerely loved Dinah, but he had taken her by force.  He spoke kindly to her which may mean he spoke sweet nothings, or maybe he was trying to calm her and gain her affection after he had raped her.  Either way, he loved Dinah and he told his father the king to get her for his wife.

(5) And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter; now his sons were with his cattle in the field, and Jacob held his peace until they came. (6) And Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him.

Apparently Jacob heard the news about his daughter, but did not act on it immediately.  His sons were out in the field and he held his peace until they had come.  Meanwhile, Hamor the father of Shechem went to speak to Jacob, surely about the affair with Dinah and to get his consent for his son to marry her.

(7) And the sons of Jacob came out of the field when they heard it; and the men were grieved and they were very angry, because he had done wickedness in Israel in lying with Jacob's daughter, a thing which ought not to be done.

The sons of Jacob came out of the field, either because they heard the discussion between Hamor and Jacob, or because they had also heard the news, as Jacob had, about their sister.  They were upset and very angry.  The original translation was that they were angry because Shechem had "wrought folly" in Israel.  "Folly" doesn't seem a strong enough translation of the original word "nebalah".  It means "foolishness" or "senselessness", but when spoken of morally, it means "wickedness" or "villainy".  At this time, Israel is not the name of a place, but the name of Jacob, so this must be translated as "in Israel's land".  However, since Moses is the one who presumably wrote this account later, he may have written "in Israel" as he viewed Israel as not only a place, but a church and a people.

(8) And Hamor spoke with them, saying, "The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter; I pray you give her to him as wife. (9) And make marriages with us; give your daughters to us, and take our daughters to you. (10) And you will dwell with us, and the land will be before you; dwell and trade in it, and acquire possessions for yourselves in it."

Hamor appears to be very sincere when he spoke with Jacob and his sons.  He told them that his son loved Dinah and he asked their permission that she become his wife.  Not only Dinah, but he asked that they all dwell together and intermarry.  As king, he offered the family of Jacob to dwell and trade and prosper in his land.  Hamor seems very sincere and generous.  He obviously offered these things in an attempt to gain approval for his son to marry Dinah, but he appears upfront, honest, and honorable.

(11) And Shechem said to her father and to her brothers, "Let me find grace in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I will give. (12) Ask me ever so much dowry and gift, and I will give according to what you will say to me; but give me the damsel as a wife."

Now Shechem, who had apparently come with his father to speak to Jacob, spoke for himself.  He also seems sincere in asking for favor, which surely required forgiveness for what he had done to Dinah.  He offered to give Jacob and his sons whatever they asked for dowry and gifts for the hand of Dinah.

(13) And the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully, because he had defiled Dinah their sister.

We are told that what the sons of Jacob were about to say was deceitful.  Once again, we find the people of God acting deceitfully!  Although this looks to be not Jacob himself, but his sons, it appears they may have learned the deceitful ways of their father and of their grandfather, Laban.  They may have felt that they were justified because of what Shechem had done to their sister, but these pagans did not have the same values as Jacob and his family supposedly had.  In this case, the pagans may have been more sincere and honest than Jacob's sons! 

This may be a good place to insert a general synopsis of Jacob's life given by John Nelson Darby in his Synopsis of the Old and New Testaments.  At the time of Jacob's wrestling with the angel of God, I suppose I was giving Jacob a little more benefit of the doubt than does Darby, with regard to the desire of his heart being to follow God.  Again, I will say that I realize these are Jacob's sons and not Jacob himself, but since deceitfulness always seems to be a part of this family, this seems a good time to refect on Darby's opinion of the life of Jacob.  He sees the wrestling with God as the dealings of God with a soul that does not walk with Him.  He contrasts the relationship of God and Abraham with the relationship of God and Jacob.  With Abraham, who was called a friend of God, there was a calm communion with God, where Abraham interceded for others, instead of a wrestling with God for himself.  Even after Jacob wrestled with the angel and received the blessing, he appeared to be deceitful when he said he would go to his brother in Seir, a brother who was most sincere and loving, but there was no evidence that he ever did.  Now his sons acted deceitfully to Hamor and Shechem who appear to be sincere and honest. 

To continue Darby's thought, God was still dealing with Jacob.  Jacob thought about God, but really wasn't in proper communion with Him.  But God was with Jacob anyway.  Jacob constantly had to live with the consequences of his actions, but God blessed him through it all.  What a hope this should give us.  Don't we often do things our way, the hard way, instead of giving it all to God, and doing it His way?  Do we not wrestle with God?  This is a beautiful picture of the love and mercy of God for His imperfect and selfish children.  God does show mercy for us, but if we could learn to live His way and be in communion with Him, our lives would be much more peaceful and calm.

(14) And they said to them, "We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised, for that would be a reproach to us. (15) But in this we will consent to you, if you will be as we are, that every male of you be circumcised, (16) Then will we give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to us; and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people. (17) But if you will not listen to us to be circumcised, then we will take our daughter and we will be gone."

The brothers of Dinah told Hamor and Shechem that they could not intermix with uncircumcised people, but if they agreed to become circumcised, they would agree to become one people.  We have already been told that this was a deceitful statement.  But how reasonable and sincere it sounded!  That makes it all the more terribly deceitful and wrong.  It would be one thing to speak in sarcasm and to be honest about their anger, but these comments appear to come from the heart; they are obviously trying to gain the trust of Shechem and that seems so much more wicked than just laying their honest feelings out for Hamor and Shechem to see.

(18) And their words pleased Hamor and Shechem, Hamor's son. (19) And the young man did not delay to do the thing, because he had delight in Jacob's daughter, and he was more honorable than all the household of his father.

Indeed, Hamor and Shechem believed and trusted what the sons of Jacob had told them, and Shechem did not delay in getting circumcised and in encouraging the rest of the men to do the same, as revealed in the next verses.  Verse 19 states that Shechem was honorable, at least more honorable than all the others in his father's household.  Even though he had done a terrible thing in raping Jacob's daughter, he sought to marry her, and do anything requested of him to make up for the injury he had caused, and he seems honest and honorable in keeping his side of their covenant by acting on it immediately.

(20) And Hamor and Shechem his son came to the gate of their city, and spoke with the men of their city, saying, (21) "These men are peaceable with us; therefore let them dwell in the land and trade in it, for indeed the land is large enough for them; let us take their daughters to us for wives, and let us give them our daughters. (22) Only in this will the men consent to dwell with us, to be one people, if every male among us is circumcised as they are circumcised. (23) Will not their cattle, their possessions, and every animal of theirs be ours? Only let us consent to them, and they will dwell with us." (24) And all who went out of the gate of his city heeded Hamor and Shechem his son, and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.

Shechem and his father encouraged all the men of the city to do as Jacob's sons asked.  They convinced them that they were peaceable and that it would be ultimately to their advantage to become as one people with them.  All the men consented and were circumcised as requested by their king and his son. 

(25) And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, each took his sword and came boldly upon the city and killed all the males. (26) And they killed Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem's house, and went out.

From what I have read, evidently the third day after circumcision was the worst--the pain was at its worst, the part was most inflamed, and the person was even feverish at this point.  With such pain and inflammation in that area of the body, and even in the entire body as fever would make the person weak and hurt all over, they were not that aware of their surroundings in the first place, and were not able to defend themselves once they were aware of what was going on.  Simeon and Levi came easily into the city and killed all the adult males, as we are told later that they took all the little children captive.  They also killed Shechem and Hamor, and took Dinah from Shechem's house.

(27) The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and plundered the city, because they had defiled their sister. (28) They took their sheep, their oxen, and their donkeys, and what was in the city and what was in the field, (29) And all their wealth, and all their little ones and their wives they took captive, and they plundered even all that was in the houses.

Not only did they kill all the men, but they plundered the city, and took all their livestock, all the women and children, and took all their possessions.

(30) And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, "You have troubled me to make me stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites; and I being few in number, they will gather themselves together against me and kill me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house."

Jacob was not happy with what Simeon and Levi had done.  He feared he would be considered abominable and hated by all the people round about them.  He and his family, being a small number of people in the land, would be easy prey to the Canaanites who could easily have destroyed them over this thing if it was not for God's promise to protect Jacob.

(31) And they said, "Should he deal with our sister as with a harlot?"

Simeon and Levi felt perfectly justified in their actions because of what Shechem had done to their sister.  They may have even felt that Jacob had not shown the proper regard for his daughter's honor, and they had to take matters into their own hands.  It might have been more easily understood if it had been Jacob who had said that the men must be circumcised and that they could then become one with his people, and then Jacob's sons who would have no part of it, then killed the men.  But this was premeditated murder on the part of Simeon and Levi.  They intentionally gained the trust of Shechem and Hamor and then took advantage of the men in their weakened state, and killed an entire people because of the actions of one.  The act cannot be excused, and in fact, when Jacob blessed his sons near the end of his life, he recalled this event and cursed their anger and their cruel wrath.

As I reflect on this chapter, I am first grateful that I and my entire family do not have to be perfect in order to receive the love, mercy, salvation, and blessings of my Lord!  The Bible is full of imperfect and sinful people; many seem much worse than we could imagine, and yet we see how God could love and forgive and bless those who tried to follow Him.  That should give us hope!

I also think about how some people use incidents like this in the Bible to refute the whole book.  They claim the Bible is full of sex and violence and murder, so why would you want such a God?  But this is exactly the thing that should make the unprejudiced reader realize that the Bible is true.  It is historical fact, no matter how messy and imperfect.  If the Bible were the fabricated book that atheists try to tell us it is, would not the fabricators have used less embarrassing examples of God's people?  It is because these things actually happened, that they are recorded in the Bible, as messy as they are.  Once again, it should give us great hope, and also great confidence that the Bible is true.