Latest / Reformed Thinking / Sorrow and Sin in the Shadow of the Covenant (Genesis 35:16-22)

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Sorrow and Sin in the Shadow of the Covenant (Genesis 35:16-22) · Reformed Thinking

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  Welcome to Reformed thinking. We are really glad you are
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  tuning in today. Yeah, absolutely.
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  Thanks for being here with us. So imagine reaching the absolute
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  spiritual climax of your life. I mean, you have just met with
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  God. You cleanse your House of all
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  foreign idols. Right, you got a new name, a
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  fresh blessing, and absolute clarity on your calling.
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  Wait. I mean precisely.
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  You pack up your family to head home expecting nothing but
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  peace. You assume the road ahead will
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  be paved with divine favor. Yeah, you would naturally think
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  that. But then, almost immediately
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  upon leaving, your beloved wife dies in agony and your oldest
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  son commits an unspeakable treasonous betrayal.
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  It is just a massive shock to the system.
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  It really is. So today we're doing a deep dive
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  into a text that shatters the widespread illusion that
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  obedience buys a pain free life. We are looking at a brief but
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  incredibly weighty section of historical reality from Genesis
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  chapter 35, specifically verses 16 through 22.
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  And we have two incredibly thorough theological
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  commentaries open on the table today.
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  Our goal is to give you a pristine view of these events.
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  So just to give you a quick overview, Jacob and his family
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  are traveling from a place called Bethel toward Ephrath.
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  Right. And in just a handful of verses,
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  we witnessed the birth of Benjamin, the death of Rachel, a
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  horrifying sin by the first born Reuben, and then the final
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  census completing the 12 tribes of Israel.
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  It is a lot to process in such a short section of scripture.
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  It really is, and our core thesis for this deep dive is
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  clear. We want to show you that God's
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  covenant promises are secured by sovereign grace alone, not by
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  human merit. Because, you know, the
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  patriarchs themselves are shown in states of severe frailty and
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  active rebellion right here in the text.
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  Yeah, if you have grown up around the church, you might be
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  used to these sanitized flannel graph versions of the
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  patriarchs. Oh for sure.
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  You think of Jacob and the 12 tribes as these flawless pillars
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  of faith. But look at what is actually
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  happening in their tents. I mean, the reality is just.
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  Shocking. It is entirely shocking, and to
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  grasp the absolute whiplash of the events on the road to
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  Ephrath, you have to understand the massive spiritual high that
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  immediately precedes them. Right, because Moses wrote this
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  historical narrative under divine inspiration for the
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  Israelites in the wilderness. Yeah, and we must state clearly
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  right at the outset that this is literal space and time history.
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  Absolutely. We completely reject liberal
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  critical scholarship that treats these biblical figures as myths
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  or ancient folklore. Yeah, God gave this account to a
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  wilderness generation who needed to understand the genuine
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  historical origin of their nation.
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  So in the preceding verses, Jacob experienced a massive
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  spiritual peek at Bethel, which, by the way, translates to the
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  House of God. Right.
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  He obeyed the Lord, He ordered his household to put away the
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  foreign gods, he built an altar, and he received the renewal of
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  his name, Israel. But then the geographical
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  movement following that event is just stark.
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  The Hebrew verb used in verse 16 is a vaish.
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  Yeah, which translates to and they traveled, but it literally
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  means they pulled up their tent pegs.
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  Wait, so it is a very physical, decisive action?
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  Yeah, exactly. I mean, yes, precisely.
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  This specific verb signals a massive transition.
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  They are pulling up stakes from the spiritual height of Bethel
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  and heading toward. Efra, which is Bethlehem, right?
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  Moving directly through Canaanite territory.
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  I am kind of stuck on that transition though, because the
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  theological tension is just severe.
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  Oh, it is. Jacob did everything right at
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  Bethel. He cleansed his house.
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  He worshipped correctly. Yeah, he literally buried the
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  foreign idols under the oak tree at Shechem.
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  Following that incredible spiritual peak, any reader
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  naturally expects a season of visible peace.
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  You expect smooth travel for sure.
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  Instead, the family walks right into a valley of shadows.
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  It makes me think about walking out of an incredible Sunday
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  worship service, right? Where you feel completely
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  aligned with God. Yeah, the singing was glorious.
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  The preaching convicted your soul.
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  Yeah, and you walk out to the parking lot feeling a supreme
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  sense of spiritual clarity. And then the second you reach
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  your car, you get a devastating phone call.
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  Yes, that is the feeling. Yeah, the tension is jarring.
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  Why does God arrange events this way?
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  Well, walking in obedience to God's covenant clearly does not
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  insulate the believer from the curse of the fall.
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  Tan analogy strikes right at the heart of the modern prosperity
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  gospel illusion, doesn't it? It totally does.
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  That false teaching promises ease to the faithful, suggesting
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  that obedience purchases a life free from pain.
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  But the historical reality of Genesis refutes that entirely.
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  God arranges events this way to teach his people that His
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  promises are not dependent on our earthly comfort.
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  Right. Nor do they bypass the miseries
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  of a fallen world. So, as we move from the
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  theological expectation of suffering into the physical
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  reality of the curse manifested on the road, we confront the
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  agony of a froth. The family is advancing, but
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  they meet intense affliction. Rachel, the beloved wife of
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  Jacob, goes into intense labor. And the commentaries highlight
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  the Hebrew root Quasha here. Oh, right.
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  In the text, this verb is placed in the peel stem.
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  Yeah. And Hebrew grammar.
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  The peel stem denotes an intensive action.
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  So this was not just a standard difficulty.
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  No, not at all. This was an agonizingly severe,
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  violent labor. Rachel dies giving birth to the
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  final tribal head. The juxtaposition is incredibly
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  intense. The Covenant family is
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  advancing. The promises made to Abraham and
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  Isaac are physically growing right there on the road.
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  But the growth comes through tears and literal death.
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  And the text notes that her soul was departing, which is a clear
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  proof of the biblical dichotomy of body and soul.
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  Yeah, the material body ceases to function, but the immaterial
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  soul departs. And as she is dying, she names
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  the child Benoni, which means son of my sorrow.
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  Right. She interprets the entire event
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  through the lens of her present agonizing affliction.
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  But Jacob immediately steps in and renames him Benjamin, which
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  means son of the right hand. He does.
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  I want to push back on that moment a bit, or at least ask a
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  hard, hard question about it. Is Jacob's renaming of the child
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  a denial of Rachel's pain? That is a fair question to.
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  Ask, I mean, is he just trying to erase the trauma of the
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  moment or is this a necessary theological correction, you
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  know, to anchor the families hope in God's future promises
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  rather than their present grief? Well, Jacob is not suppressing
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  the reality of her death. He actually builds a memorial
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  pillar over her grave to mark the sorrow permanently.
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  Oh, right, so he acknowledges the tragedy.
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  Yes, but using his patriarchal authority, he refuses to let
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  grief be the final word over the child's identity.
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  That is a crucial distinction. Rachel's naming reflects the
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  immediate crushing weight of the curse.
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  Yeah, and Jacob's renaming looks forward.
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  He recognizes that this child completes the promise line.
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  So he anchors the child's identity in strength and future
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  hope. Because the right hand and
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  ancient Near Eastern thought is the seed of authority and
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  strength. And if we connect this to the
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  broader reality of life east of Eden, we see the curse of
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  Genesis 3 verse 16 fully active here.
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  The judgment pronounced in the Garden that childbirth would be
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  marked by pain is violently realized in Rachel's death.
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  The patriarchs, despite carrying the promises of God, are not
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  exempt from mortality. Right.
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  The wages of sin affect the covenant household just as they
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  affect the rest of humanity. So the family leaves a literal
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  grave on the side of the road, they pack up the tents they
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  travel on, and somehow they face an even darker reality.
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  Yeah, we transition from suffering originating on the
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  outside, the physical frailty of the human body, to a horrific
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  sin erupting from the inside of the camp.
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  Jacob pitches his tent beyond Megdul Eater, which translates
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  to the Tower of the Flock. And we learned from the sources
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  that this was a historical watchtower built to protect
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  sacrificial sheep from predators in the region.
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  But the predator in this narrative is not an outside
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  marauder. It is Reuben, the first born
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  son. He commits incest with Bilhah,
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  his father's concubine. And Jacob's reaction is recorded
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  with this chilling brevity. It just says and Israel heard
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  of. It it reads like a massive shock
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  to the system honestly. It is a deliberate shock and we
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  must clarify the cultural context to grasp its full
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  severity. Right, because in the ancient
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  Near Eastern social structure, concubinage was a recognized
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  custom. Albeit one that consistently
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  brought disorder to the biblical family.
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  Always. But Bilhah was not a random
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  servant. She was Rachel's handmaid and a
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  recognized concubine of the patriarch.
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  Therefore, Reuben's action is not a simple lustful lapse of
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  judgement. No, it is calculated cosmic
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  treason. Wow, cosmic treason.
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  By defiling his father's bed, he is attempting A blatant power
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  grab. Yeah, he is striking at the
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  patriarchal authority, attempting to usurp the
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  leadership of the family and seize the birthright by force.
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  He acts as a rival to his own father.
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  Because Reuben knows that with Rachel dead, Jacob might favor
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  Rachel's other son, Joseph. So Ruben is taking pre emptive
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  action to assert his dominance over the entire household.
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  It is like a Prince launching a violent coup against his father,
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  the king. It is the ultimate disastrous
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  example of succession planning gone wrong in the ancient world.
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  He is not just breaking a moral rule, he is launching A
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  deliberate strike at the very order and honor of the Kingdom.
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  He is trying to force his father off the throne before the
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  appointed time and the text handles this massive betrayal in
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  such an unusual way. How do you mean?
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  I am stunned by the lack of immediate retribution if a son
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  did this to a king. In any other ancient text you
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  would read about an immediate execution or banishment.
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  Oh absolutely. Instead we just get Israel.
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  Heard of it? Well, the Hebrew syntax here is
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  incredibly specific and vital to understanding the tone.
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  What do the commentaries say about the syntax?
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  Scribes copying this text throughout history maintained A
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  Pisca Bienza pasuk. A Pisca Bienza pasuk that sounds
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  very technical. It is a rare sudden paragraph
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  break right in the middle of the verse, immediately following the
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  phrase and Israel heard of it. Oh wow, imagine reading a
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  manuscript and right after the most horrifying revelation
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  imaginable, there is a literal blank space.
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  Yes, this intentional gap in the manuscript creates a deafening
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  rhetorical pause. It represents the Father's
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  ominous restraint. Jacob does not speak a word in
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  the immediate narrative. The silence hangs over the text
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  like a heavy storm cloud. Representing a judgment that is
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  delayed but absolutely certain. And we see that judgment finally
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  fall years later in Genesis 49, when Jacob strips Reuben of his
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  preeminence. Systematically, this exposition
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  aligns Florida State with the Westminster Confession of Faith.
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  Specifically chapter 6 on the fall of man and sin.
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  Yeah, this act exposes the total depravity lurking within the
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  Covenant community. It proves that original sin
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  corrupts every part of the human nature.
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  Even the chosen line, the family carrying the very promises of
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  God, has a desperately wicked heart.
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  Now wait, I am stuck on verse 22.
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  We just read about a tragic death and a horrific moral
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  failure, and Moses follows it up with now the sons of Jacob were
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  12. It feels so incredibly jarring
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  and out of place, right? Extremely jarring.
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  Why drop a census count right in the middle of a tragedy?
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  After walking through the valley of death with Rachel and then
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  wading through the swamp of moral failure with Ruben, the
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  text provides a sudden, shocking statement of stability.
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  The family is structurally complete, even though it is
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  morally and emotionally shattered.
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  So how does this brief statement the Sons were 12 function as the
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  theological center of gravity for the entire chapter?
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  It functions as the center of gravity because it proves the
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  doctrine of divine Providence. Right, if we look at the
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  Westminster Confession, chapter 5 concerning Providence and
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  chapter 3 concerning God's decree, we find the framework to
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  understand this. The framers of the Confession
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  articulated these doctrines to explain how God ordains
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  whatsoever comes to pass. And how he preserves his
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  purposes through his sovereign Providence.
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  God's purposes stand because God preserves them.
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  Not because human beings execute them.
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  Florida State. Exactly.
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  I mean, yes, if the continuation of the Covenant relied on the
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  moral purity of the Patriarchs, the entire redemptive plan would
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  have collapsed right there at Migdel Etter.
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  The family was broken by death and stained by cosmic treason.
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  Yet the text says the sons of Jacob were 12.
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  The tribal structure is intact. The original audience, the
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  Israelites wandering in the wilderness, desperately needed
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  this truth to crush any ethnic pride.
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  Moses is showing them their true origins.
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  They were stiff necked people who constantly rebelled.
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  And they needed to know their ancestors were just as flawed.
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  They could not boast in their lineage.
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  They were not chosen because their ancestors were morally
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  superior. They were sustained by sovereign
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  grace alone. The preservation of the 12
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  tribes is a witness to God's steadfast loyalty to His own
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  Word. Because the Patriarchs are
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  proven completely insufficient by their death and their sin
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  forced to look forward. We need someone who can actually
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  secure salvation because Jacob's family clearly cannot do it
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  themselves. And all of Scripture points to
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  Christ. This text provides massive
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  redemptive historical types that point directly to the Savior.
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  Let us look at the names again. Benoni, the son of my sorrow,
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  and Benjamin, the son of the right hand.
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  This points to the dual nature of Christ's mediatorial work.
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  He is the Man of Sorrows prophesied in Isaiah 53, the one
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  who bore the curse of the fall and suffered under the wrath of
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  God. But he is also the exalted King,
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  resurrected and seated at the right hand of the Father in
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  glory. He moves from sorrow to absolute
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  sovereign rule. And then you look at the
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  geography. Rachel is buried near Ifrath,
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  Bethlehem. The Tower of the flock Miggle
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  Eater is the specific location where the prophet Micah in
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  chapter 4, verse 8 prophecies the arrival of the Good
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  Shepherd. The sheer irony is astonishing.
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  The physical soil holding Rachel's grave, a monument to
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  the curse of death, becomes it's a geographical stage where the
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  Conqueror of death will take his first breath centuries later.
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  The true bread of life is born on this precise soil.
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  And that geographical mapping is not speculative allegory.
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  It is the deliberate, redemptive historical design ordained by
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  the Holy Spirit. God orchestrates history so that
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  the place of immense sorrow becomes the birth place of the
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  ultimate king. We must also look at Reuben in
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  this Christological light. The failure of Reuben is
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  necessary for the proper understanding of the gospel
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  narrative. Reuben is the natural first
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  born, the son of privilege, and he fails entirely.
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  His failure proves that the natural man is an absolute
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  bondage to sin. Flesh and blood cannot inherit
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  the Kingdom of God, and natural lineage cannot produce the
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  Savior. We require a better first born.
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  Christ is the true first born over all creation.
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  As Paul states in Colossians one Christ perfectly honored his
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  Father. Where Reuben sought to usurp the
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  throne through a despicable act of rebellion, Christ submitted
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  to the Father's will. Even to the point of death on a
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  cross, we see the ruin of the natural first born to prepare
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  our hearts for the perfect obedience of the heavenly first
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  born. So Reuben commits cosmic reason,
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  essentially launching a coup. Naturally, you would expect
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  Jacob to explode in anger or banish him immediately.
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  But look at what actually happens next.
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  The application of these historical realities hits the
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  modern believer directly. We are looking at pastoral
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  application and the moral. Law.
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  The commentators draw three specific applications from this
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  text. Let's break down the uses of the
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  law conceptually before we assign numbers to them.
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  First, there's comfort for the afflicted.
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  As we saw with Jacob, affliction does not mean God has abandoned
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  you. Walking faithfully does not
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  guarantee a life free from severe pain.
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  You can be right in the center of God's will and still face the
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  devastating reality of a fallen world.
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  Second, there is a severe warning for the presumptuous.
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  This is what theologians call the first use of the law, which
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  acts as a mirror to expose our sin.
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  Reuben's sin warns the Church against complacency and secret
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  rebellion. Covenant privilege does not
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  grant a license for immorality. Being raised in the Church does
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  not give you permission to defile it.
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  We must challenge the seeker sensitive movements of our
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  modern era that refuse to call out sexual sin.
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  The text demands holiness and vigilance.
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  Reuben's fall shows us that proximity to holy things does
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  not equal a holy heart. The Church must maintain a
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  severe discipline regarding sin, treating it with the gravity it
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  warrants rather than covering it up with superficial grace.
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  Furthermore, the text gives us a guide for obedience utilizing
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  the third use of the law as defined in Westminster
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  Confession, Chapter 19. For the justified believer, the
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  law acts as a guide to proper living.
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  We are called to the mortification of sin and serious
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  sanctification. However, this pursuit of
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  holiness is driven by gratitude for grace, not by a legalistic
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  fear of losing our justification.
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  We look at the law to understand how to please the God who has
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  already secured our salvation. I'm stuck on a specific tension
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  here though. What is that?
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  How do we hold these two truths at once?
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  On one hand, we must maintain a severe vigilance against sin in
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  our own homes, actively mortifying the flesh, right?
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  On the other hand, we are called to rest completely in the fact
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  that our salvation relies entirely on Christ's
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  righteousness, not our family's purity.
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  Yeah. How do we reconcile the
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  brokenness of our own families with the call to holiness?
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  Because Jacob's household was filled with rivalry, grief, and
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  absolute disgrace. Yet God worked through it.
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  God does not need an ideal, tidy family to accomplish His
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  sovereign will. We hold those truths together by
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  recognizing the specific functions of law and gospel.
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  The law commands our obedience and exposes our failures,
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  driving us to repentance. We discipline our homes because
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  God is holy and commands us to reflect His character.
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  We do not tolerate sin. However, when we inevitably
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  fail, when our families reflect the fractures of the fall, much
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  like Janeb's family did, we do not despair.
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  We turn to the gospel. We recognize that God's
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  redemptive decrees are not fragile.
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  He executes his will through flawed instruments, so that all
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  the glory belongs to him alone. Your justification is anchored
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  in the perfect obedience of Jesus Christ, not the moral
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  success of your household. You fight sin vigorously, but
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  you rest your soul entirely upon the finished work of the
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  mediator. That brings us to our final
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  synthesis. The core take away from this
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  deep dive into Genesis 35 is that the covenant stands firm.
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  The history of redemption advances right through the
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  middle of human tears and catastrophic moral failures.
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  It is entirely sustained by the faithful hand of God.
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  Human merit contributes nothing to the security of the divine
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  promise. So as we close, look at the
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  Reuben within your own heart. Acknowledge that quiet, depraved
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  urge to usurp God's authority to run your life according to your
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  own dictates. Now consider that God knew this
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  specific inclination within you from before time began.
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  He knew the depths of your rebellion, and yet he still
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  decreed to bring forth the son of his right hand to secure your
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  pardon. What if God is using the very
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  things you view as your greatest ruins to display the absolute
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  necessity of His grace? That is a stunning reality to
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  consider. It is, and that is the truth we
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  leave you with today. Thank you for joining us for
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  this deep dive into the Word. Keep resting in the sovereignty
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  of God.