Genesis 35

We are getting ready to begin the last section of Genesis, where God writes his story through Joseph. These extraordinary events illustrate this point: God never wastes our time. Before we start God’s story in Joseph, let’s take today to wrap up Genesis 35 and 36, then summarize what we have learned to this point. Remember, you need a grasp of Genesis to understand the whole of Scripture.

In the first two chapters of Genesis, we learn that God created the heavens and the earth. God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were involved in God’s incredible creation. The first name for God in the Bible is Elohim—the all-powerful Creator. The next name for God is Yahweh—the personal God who stooped down to breathe into man the breath of life. Whenever you see “LORD” in all caps, it is a translation of the Hebrew name Yahweh.

In Genesis, we learn much about God through his names. He is El-Elyon—the Most High God (Gen. 14:17-22). He is El Roi—the God who sees me (Gen. 16:13). He is El Shaddai—the Almighty God—the all-sufficient One (Gen. 17:1-2). He is Yahweh Yireh—the Lord who provides (Gen. 22:14). God is the all-knowing, all-seeing, all-sufficient, powerful God who intimately and personally works in our lives, writing our story.

God put Adam and Eve in a perfect environment. They had everything they needed and wanted. And because God never forces his love, he gave them free will. Tempted by Satan, they chose to rebel against the one prohibition God had given them. When they disobeyed, sin entered humanity and still infects us today. In Genesis 3:15, God promised he would send One through the human race to crush Satan’s head and defeat death once and for all. This is the first mention of the gospel. Along with the promise, God provided a sacrifice for sin. An animal would die in the sinner’s place until the perfect Sacrifice came.

Satan wasn’t finished; he never is. He tried to infiltrate humanity by sending demons to have children with humans. Therefore, God reset creation using Noah and his family and chose a nation from which to send the Savior. The patriarchs of this nation were Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God changed Jacob’s name to Israel and formed a covenant with Abraham that he passed down to all the patriarchs. To this point, Israel was a small clan of people blessed by God, protected by him, and experiencing their share of struggles.

After God met Jacob in Bethel, the patriarch moved some twenty miles to Ephrath (Bethlehem). On the way, Rachel, Jacob’s favored wife, went into labor. Rachel’s first son was named Joseph, meaning “may he add.” Now, God added a second son, but the labor was arduous. With her dying breath, she called the boy Ben-oni, which means “son of my sorrow.” Jacob changed his name to Benjamin, meaning “son of my right hand” (Gen. 35:16-20). It is interesting to note that, years earlier, when Rachel could not have children, she blamed Jacob. She told him, “Give me children, or I shall die!” (Gen. 30:1). In a providential twist, it is Rachel’s second son who caused her death.

Rachel was the love of Jacob’s life. To earn the right to marry her, Jacob worked for seven years, but those years “seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her” (Gen. 29:20). Now she was gone. He buried her in Bethlehem and set up a marker over her tomb. The Canaanites set markers over tombs, believing the deceased’s spirit was in the stone. They honored the spirit by anointing the stone and making offerings for the dead.[1] However, for Jacob, the marker was placed as a memorial for his beloved wife.

No doubt, Jacob’s sorrow was heavy. While he was grieving, Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn son, tried to take advantage. Reuben slept with Bilhah, one of Jacob’s concubines. It was the custom for the firstborn to inherit his father’s concubines, so Reuben asserted himself as Jacob’s true heir before his father died. The plan didn’t work. Jacob later refused Reuben the firstborn’s blessing because of this attempt for power (Gen. 49:3-4).

While Esau was building his family in Edom and Jacob was doing the same in Paddan-aram, Isaac was doing life in Beersheba. We know Rebekah had died and was buried in the cave of Machpelah where Abraham and Sarah were buried (Gen. 49:31). And now Isaac “breathed his last, and he died and was gathered to his people, old and full of days.” He was 180 years old (Gen. 35:28-29).

What does the phrase “gathered to his people” mean?

“Gathered to his people” is used for Abraham (Gen. 25:8), Ishmael (Gen. 25:17), Isaac (Gen. 35:29), Jacob (Gen. 49:33), Aaron (Num. 20:24), and Moses (Num. 27:13). Two things here. First, this phrase is an ancient way of referring to death; a person joins his ancestors in death. Second, there is a sense of eternal life in this phrase. There was life beyond the grave. Ecclesiastes 12:7(NIV) says, “The dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.”

Some speculate that gathered to his people is a reference to the remains of the deceased being taken to a family burial site. In some cases, this could be its primary meaning. However, there are other instances in which the “gathering” cannot refer to a physical location: Abraham, Moses, and Aaron were buried far from where their ancestors were, yet they are all said to have been “gathered to their people.” Also, it was inferred that when Isaac died, he didn’t cease being Isaac. His soul was taken to a place where his ancestors had already gone.[2]

Esau and Jacob had an amicable meeting when Jacob and his family were on their way back to Canaan. After the warm reunion, Jacob headed to Canaan, and Esau went to Edom. Now, the two brothers came together again to bury their father. They buried him in Hebron, in the cave of Machpelah, where Rebekah had been laid to rest.

Genesis 36 is a detailed account of Esau’s descendants. I won’t ask you to read the chapter, but let me make one observation. Esau settled in the southern area of Canaan by the Negev. The country was named Edom after him. This chapter lists his lineage and the important people who descended from Esau. Esau settled down and built a nation.

In contrast, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob never settled down; the patriarchs had no permanent address. As we have followed them through Genesis, they often move from place to place. They are described in Genesis as sojourners and wanderers. God promised them that the land would one day belong to their ancestors, but that wouldn’t happen until they had endured four hundred years of affliction (Gen. 15:13). The covenant promise included a land to settle, and eventually Joshua would lead the conquest of the promised land. For a time, a great nation would exist, but due to sin, the country was ultimately conquered, and the people scattered.

We learn through the patriarchs that the covenant, given to Abraham and passed down to Isaac and Jacob, was about much more than land. Through this nation would come a Savior to deliver his people from their sins and prepare for them a city not built with hands. When David was planning to build a temple for the Lord, he reminded the people never to settle on earth.

1 Chronicles 29:15 (NIV)
We are foreigners and strangers in your sight, as were all our ancestors. Our days on earth are like a shadow without hope.

While the land promise was legit, and Israel enjoyed it for a while, the covenant promised that through Jesus, we have a home in heaven, designed and built by God.

Hebrews 11:8-10
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. ⁹ By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. ¹⁰ For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.

The patriarchs remind us that we should never be settled on the earth. We are sojourners longing for the city “whose designer and builder is God.”

PERSONAL TIME WITH GOD
Read Genesis 35:16—36:1-43. Take time to think through what we have learned about God. Consider the third paragraph of this devotional and reflect on the names of God.

Talking to God
Talk to God about settling too firmly on the things of earth. Ask him to help you keep an eternal perspective: “looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God” (Heb. 11:10).

Have Questions?
Send us your questions. We have a great team ready to engage with you as you read and reflect on God’s Word. Simply submit your question below, and we’ll reply soon.

[1]  Archaeology Study Bible, (Wheaton, Ill: Crossway, 2017), 62.

[2] https://www.gotquestions.org/gathered-to-his-people.html