Page 31 - Pentateuch - Student Textbook

Study Session 5: Pentateuch: Part II:
Jacob and Joseph: God’s Transformation and Circumstances
Genesis 25:12-50:26

5.1 Connect

Moses changes his viewpoint slightly as he continues his history. The life of Abraham
highlighted his growing relationship with God. Through a variety of events he learned
more about God and especially about the promise of a Messiah who would be one of his
descendants. Some of the events display the flaws in Abraham. He was a sinner. Abraham
did not fulfill the law, yet because of his faith in a coming Messiah, God said, “All nations
on earth will be blessed because Abraham obeyed me and did everything I required of him, keeping my
commands, my decrees and my instructions” (Gen. 26:4b, 5). He did everything God required of him
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by believing in the Messiah.

Little is said about Abraham’s son Isaac. Instead the history turns for lengthy
treatment to the next two generations. Isaac and Rebekah have twins Jacob and
Esau. As we read this account, we find more about the spiritual development of a
person than the development of that person’s understanding of God. “Jacob”
means “he grasps the heel (figuratively, he deceives).” This little detail of birth,
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certainly with no conscious effort by the baby himself, sets the tone for Jacob’s
life (25:26, 22). He is a deceiver. That is his nature and the characteristic sin that
drives him. While God has decided to bless his line with the Messiah, God also
has a lot of work to do in Jacob to rescue him from himself. Fig. 16: twins in womb

In the last section of Genesis about Joseph, we see Moses take another step back from his major theme.
Instead of focusing on God’s promise, as in the life of Abraham, or on God’s refining process, as in the
life of Jacob, the writer details the circumstances surrounding Joseph. His approach does not highlight
them for the sake of Joseph but for others. Joseph’s personal situation and development are in the
background. Joseph is the major person, but his life is more about others than himself. We find the
theme clearly stated toward the end of the account. “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for
good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (52:20).

How often does God use one person’s life for the benefit of another? Is he fair in doing so? What if he
sends us a trial to help a stranger or a whole group of strangers? Should we complain when he treats us
this way?

5.2 Objectives

1. You will trace Jacob’s faith development through his experiences, starting out as “Jacob the
deceiver” and becoming “Israel who struggled with God.”

36 “The author if the Pentateuch says, ‘Be like Abraham. Live a life of faith and it can be said that you are
keeping the law.’” (John H. Sailhamer, “The Mosaic Law and the Theology of the Pentateuch”
Westminster Theological Journal, 53, (1991): p. 254).
37 The NIV Study Bible, ed. K. Barker (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1985), note m, p. 44.

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