Ms. Green

I think Jacob had a idea of God that I myself have had. That if I trust God good things will always happen. Then when bad things happen I like Jacob was lost. I didn't know what to do, kept trying to figure out what I did wrong. Even after I heard God say that I didn't do anything wrong, I could accept and got depressed. Jacob had experienced such highs and had the woman he wanted. Now things were changing and he had a hard time hanging on. Contrast that with Joseph being young and only knowing the God he saw his father worship. Throughout the whole ordeal he trusted God and gave Him credit for everything. With that God gave him insight as to why this things had taken place.

He's devastated. He can't think start or see anything past his pain. He doesn't want to deal with the issue at hand. He'd rather leave Simeon in prison in Egypt than to send Benjamin and help the entire family. Jacob would be diagnosed with severe depression and anxiety. With all of the loss he has experienced and also letting his love for Rachel blind him from what he has left, he is no longer turning to God. He probably feels like God has left him or is angry with him. He is still struggling with God at this point. Struggling to trust Him. Jacob changed his mind because there was nothing else he could do. He had no other choice. As in any situation that God wants us to do one thing and we go the other way, He will make the present way hard in order to get us to turn and do what He wants us to do. Jacob could have avoided running out of food again if he'd sent Benjamin back with the other sons. He was too scared to face loss again.

He's devastated. He can't think start or see anything past his pain. He doesn't want to deal with the issue at hand. He'd rather leave Simeon in prison in Egypt than to send Benjamin and help the entire family. Jacob would be diagnosed with severe depression and anxiety. With all of the loss he has experienced and also letting his love for Rachel blind him from what he has left, he is no longer turning to God. He probably feels like God has left him or is angry with him. He is still struggling with God at this point. Struggling to trust Him. Jacob changed his mind because there was nothing else he could do. He had no other choice. As in any situation that God wants us to do one thing and we go the other way, He will make the present way hard in order to get us to turn and do what He wants us to do. Jacob could have avoided running out of food again if he'd sent Benjamin back with the other sons. He was too scared to face loss again.

Q2. What happened when the Israelites disobeyed God and intermarried with the Canaanites? They began to take the gods of the Canaan it's as their own. They disobeyed God by putting other God's before Him. Why do you think God commanded them not to intermarry? He knew their faith wasn't strong enough to resist the temptations of the ways of the other gods. As stated in the passage, He was trying to prepare them for the coming of Christ and to do that God needed to have them focused on Him and nothing else. Was this racial or spiritual or both? Spiritual Why are Christians to marry �in the Lord�? Then God will lead you to the person that also follows Hom so you won't be unequally yoked.

Q1. (Genesis 34) Why do you think Jacob is so silent after the rape of his daughter? My first thought was that he didn't know what to do. He was in shock. What should he have done instead of being silent? He should have continued the talks with a full family meeting then made the final decision. Thus ways his sons wouldn't have felt compelled to make a decision on their own. What was right about the sons� reaction? They should have been upset about what happened to their sister. They were also right to ask of the family to be circumcised as a way to cleanse themselves and follow God. What was wrong? Using the circumcision as a way to make them weak so they could kill, rape, and pillage their community. What threat does the family now face if they stay in Shechem? Retribution

Q4. (Genesis 33:1-16) How has Esau changed since Jacob had gone to Haran? Esau is no longer angry. He has his own life now and is just happy to see his brother after 20 years. How has Jacob changed? He relies on God and understands that all he has, has been given to him by God. How does the encounter demonstrate Jacob�s �craftiness�? He figured if he presented the gifts and humble himself before Esau then whatever anger was still there would disapate. How does it demonstrate his faith? He believed he had God protection around him. Can Jacob be humble and �crafty� at the same time? I don't think the word is crafty now, he is now intelligent of his actions.

Quote Q3. (Genesis 32:24-30) Who was the "man" Jacob wrestled with? The visible of the invisible, a materialization of Yahowah God, for Jacobs eyes only. What does the wrestling represent? I agree with Commissioned statement: “The wrestling represented the struggle he had within and Yahowah God's way of having him overcome his fears.” This statement also by the way helps me understand the conflict that goes on inside of each of us between the inner man and the spirit that lives with-in us. It also help me to understand why sometimes when we are being disciplined or pruned, why it seems to hurt, but we are better for the pain. I get the fears part really well. He was going to meet up with his brother the next day and had learned his lesson of how he had cheated Esau out of his rights as first born and I think the gifts were not only to ‘pacify’ Esau but also a sort of “I am sorry” offering, asking for forgiveness. Was it spiritual or physical? I think it was both. I think like Commissioned pointed out that Jacob had some inner fears going on and yet needed to be physically weakened so that he would always remember to rely on Hashem’s strength and not his own. It also reminds me too that we are a peculiar people and we do not ever walk the same way again after we have our own encounter with Hashem. When we really have that once in for all meeting, like Jacob must have had that night, that says, “I surrender my all to You Father“. It is from this point on that we begin to be changed from the inside out. Paul too, had a life changing alteration in his physical being when he encountered Yahushua for the first time on the road to Damascus. Why does the "man" wound Jacob permanently? I think that it may have been a reminder to Jacob that he could always lean on Hashem from this point because Hashem had brought him to this point in his life where he could learn to overcome all of his fears through prayer. Course, now we have a scripture to bring this to life that says,“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Proverbs 3:5 Jacob would always from that point on remember that he had struggled with Yahowah God and Yahowah God had dislocated his joint in order to get his attention to stop fighting against Him. What do you think the limp means to him? I think it is symbolic of the new man that he is that will live up to the new name that he has been given. A new creature, who would have a reminder of his struggle with Yahowah God and had survived the fight and was better for it. Wow, isn't that just so cool that even though we all struggle against God as He is calling us, He wins and we are better for it.

Quote Q3. (Genesis 32:24-30) Who was the "man" Jacob wrestled with? The visible of the invisible, a materialization of Yahowah God, for Jacobs eyes only. What does the wrestling represent? I agree with Commissioned statement: “The wrestling represented the struggle he had within and Yahowah God's way of having him overcome his fears.” This statement also by the way helps me understand the conflict that goes on inside of each of us between the inner man and the spirit that lives with-in us. It also help me to understand why sometimes when we are being disciplined or pruned, why it seems to hurt, but we are better for the pain. I get the fears part really well. He was going to meet up with his brother the next day and had learned his lesson of how he had cheated Esau out of his rights as first born and I think the gifts were not only to ‘pacify’ Esau but also a sort of “I am sorry” offering, asking for forgiveness. Was it spiritual or physical? I think it was both. I think like Commissioned pointed out that Jacob had some inner fears going on and yet needed to be physically weakened so that he would always remember to rely on Hashem’s strength and not his own. It also reminds me too that we are a peculiar people and we do not ever walk the same way again after we have our own encounter with Hashem. When we really have that once in for all meeting, like Jacob must have had that night, that says, “I surrender my all to You Father“. It is from this point on that we begin to be changed from the inside out. Paul too, had a life changing alteration in his physical being when he encountered Yahushua for the first time on the road to Damascus. Why does the "man" wound Jacob permanently? I think that it may have been a reminder to Jacob that he could always lean on Hashem from this point because Hashem had brought him to this point in his life where he could learn to overcome all of his fears through prayer. Course, now we have a scripture to bring this to life that says,“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Proverbs 3:5 Jacob would always from that point on remember that he had struggled with Yahowah God and Yahowah God had dislocated his joint in order to get his attention to stop fighting against Him. What do you think the limp means to him? I think it is symbolic of the new man that he is that will live up to the new name that he has been given. A new creature, who would have a reminder of his struggle with Yahowah God and had survived the fight and was better for it. Wow, isn't that just so cool that even though we all struggle against God as He is calling us, He wins and we are better for it.

Quote I think Jacob was demonstrating the very human struggle to cling to God's promises even as swells of fear seem to threaten to wash them away. I've learned that one of the best weapons against fear is to speak God's own Words into my hearing and over my circumstances. To me, that's what Jacob was doing. He'd heard Yahweh's promises and confirmations of protection. He'd seen the angel army encamped nearby. In his head and with his heart, he knewthe truth and believed God. But the emotion of the fear hefelt was attempting to override what he knew. Jacob's prayer showed he had grown to personally trust the God of his ancestors. He was humble, not claiming any worthiness of all that the LORD had done for him. He was grateful, fully aware that the fortunes he now possessed were completely the result of God's goodness. He was dependent, knowing it was God's protection that would deliver him from any retribution from Esau. He was submitted, no longer taking things into his own hands with schemes and deceptions. Jacob's faith was maturing and he was learning that you must stand firm on what you knowis true in order to defeat what you feel might be true.

Q1. (Genesis 29) Why do you think God allows Jacob to be tricked into 14 years of labor for two wives? That is the consequence of his action of deceit against his brother. At the same time God is using the 14 years to humble Jacob and cleanse his heart. God can't fully use Jacob in his current state. He has to refine him. What purposes do you think God is working out through these circumstances? For His Glory. Just like his father and grandfather set an example of how to live for the Lord, Jacob will have to do the same. The Lord is raising up a nation through him. They are to set the example of who God is and how to live for him. Jacob is key to that.

Q5. Why do we often fail to see God�s blessings during the everyday conflicts of our lives? Like it stated in the text, we are looking for a rose garden. If I'm following God, then everything should always come out right. Hard times are for those that don't know the Lord. We forget that Jesus said My yoke is easy and my burdens are lite. We also forget that He also said take up thy cross and follow me and told the disciples that they would suffer for the gospel. If they people that talked, walked, ate, laughed, and watched Him die then saw Him come back had to suffer then why shouldn't we? Moreover, Jesus suffered and did nothing wrong, why shouldn't we that have to die daily to our sin? Why do blessings and conflicts so often come at the same time? I'm learning that it builds the character that God wants in you. You can't learn without the conflict. You also don't have a story/testimony with out it. What hope do we have in the midst of our struggles? Jesus. He said He'd never leave us for forsake us.

Quote; Jacob and Laban made a covenant agreement and set up a heap of stones as a watchtower of witness to the act, naming it Mizpah. The covenant was established under the watchful eye of the LORD as their witness, who would oversee adherence to the terms of the agreement even when the two men parted ways. With this covenant, they called a "cease-fire" and promised not to make any aggressive moves toward each other. Laban called on Jacob to remember that the way his daughters were treated would also be under God's scrutiny. The literal heap of rocks established a boundary and each man agreed not to cross to the other side for the purpose of harm. In spiritual terms, the rocks represented the fact that the LORD was watching each of them and would hold them each accountable for any violations of the covenant. (And I think Jacob probably swore his oath by the "Dread and Fear of his father Isaac" for the last reason mentioned in the lesson. It was a subtle warning not to mess with him, for the God of Laban's brother-in-law would have a dreadful and fearful response to any breach by Laban - who had thus far proven himself untrustworthy in keeping the agreements he made.)