Jacob - Part 2 of 8

Genesis 35:21-22a

21 Then Jacob traveled on and camped beyond Migdal-eder. 22 While he was living there, Reuben had intercourse with Bilhah, his father’s concubine, and Jacob soon heard about it.

Dear God,

It seems that this is a sign of great disrespect that I think we will see repeated later with David and one of his sons. It is fascinating that this is a second story where Jacob is informed of something involving his children, and nothing of his reaction to it is recorded. It is almost as if this duplicitous liar was also weak when it came to confrontation. First, his daughter, Dinah, is raped and he waits for his sons to take matters into their own hands. Now, his oldest son has sex with his concubine (I will not get into the wrongness of that), Jacob heard about it, and then did nothing.

I think this family culture will play out later when we see that no one was afraid of Jacob when they decided to kill (and ultimately decide to sell into slavery) Joseph. Their father is not respected. Their father seems to be more interested in acquiring for himself than molding a culture of integrity and worship of you among his children and family.

I always wonder if I am tough enough, and I often fear I am not. I tend to avoid conflict. And I remember times when my children tested my wife’s and my authority. Those were hard, but I remember several instances where I had to choose how to respond. I cannot tell you I did the right thing in responding to them.

I read a book once called Sacred Parenting. It is by Gary Thomas, author of my favorite book, Sacred Marriage. In Sacred Parenting, Thomas points to all the lineages that are presented in the Bible and basically says that, ultimately, our purpose is to live, raise children, and then get out of the way. Now that is simplistic, and he did not mean that what we do with our lives does not matter, but on a macro level, our lives will likely be forgotten within a couple of generations. The people we set in motion, however, will be our legacy. Raising those children is more important than the work I will do because they will be here after I am gone.

Father, I find myself repeating this prayer every day as I pray through these stories, but it bears repeating. Please help me know how to parent my adult children. Give them what they need through me. Show my wife as well. Unite us completely together in how we approach them so they will be able to be the parents they need to be one day. And do all of this for your glory and not ours. I will be forgotten, but you will never die. You are I AM. May all I do end up, if even accidentally, helping to bring about your glory.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen