Jacob Going Home

Today's reading is Genesis 30, 31.

The first part of this story is the births of seven more of the 12 children of Jacob that are going to make up the 12 tribes of Israel. The story of Reuben finding the mandrakes has always raised questions among students of scripture.
Mandrakes are tubular plants and in themselves are poisonous. Still they have been linked in lore with the ability to conceive. What is clear from the text is that God was the one who made it possible for Rachel to conceive.
It is the birth of Joseph that is the outcome of the story. The other children born of the two maidservants are the outcome of a culture that believed in the birth of boys as necessary for the survival of the family or tribe.

The second part of the story is Jacob taking his family, or by now, his tribe, back to the land of Israel. Nothing Jacob does is easy and neither is this. He "steathily" leaves Laban and after Laban realizes he goes after him. It takes seven days, but in the end, God intervenes and Laban eventually makes peace with Jacob's leaving.

Thus, in the end, the children of Jacob, soon to be the children of Israel, are back in the land. Tomorrow we'll read how they enter, but think about what has happened of recent. Jacob left out of fear for his life, and after twenty years, he returns to the same land but now with a great deal of wealth, family, and possessions.

God works through the "messy" humanity we bring to him.


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