Genesis 30-36 & Learning the Meaning Long After Hearing the Lesson

UPDATE: So it's been a little quiet over here this past week. Don't worry, it's been quiet on SS Jess, too. I've been wrapped up in life. But I'm super excited to say that I have finished the Book of Genesis! That's two books of the Bible I can confidently say I've read and understand (or at least as much as a first-time reader can say she understands the Bible). When I first started this journey, I thought I would struggle with actually seeing this process through to completion. I was motivated when I started, but I know me, and I thought I'd lose that motivation at some point and struggle to make it through the Bible. But so far, that hasn't been the case. I thought I wouldn't read so often which would lead to not posting very often, but I'm actually reading so quickly that I put off posting so I can continue reading the Word. I guess that's a good problem to have, right? But here I am to get all caught up before starting the Book of Exodus.

So in these chapters, we start to learn about Jacob's descendants, and everything really starts to become about Jacob's line. He has a bunch of sons - 12 total - and we learn about one of his daughters, Dinah. But before I get into the whole Dinah thing, let's talk about Gregor Mendel and genetics!

So in chapter 30 we learn about Jacob's responsibilities to Laban in order to "pay" for Rachel and Leah. Well, Jacob ends up staying a little longer, but he wants a big flock of sheep and goats first. Basically he works out a deal with Laban that he'll tend to Laban's herd, but Jacob gets to keep all the spotted/freckled/striped sheep and goats. And it all works out that Jacob manages to breed these animals so he can get a strong and healthy multicolored flock from Laban.

I remember in seventh grade, I had a science teacher - Mrs Rivers - and she was big Bible woman. She believed in God, praised Him, and encouraged her students to have faith, too. She was an awesome person and one of my favorite teachers I've ever had. Well, when we were learning about genetics, which was also one of my favorite lessons in science class, she mentioned that someone in the Bible knew about genetics loooong before Gregor Mendel. Well, it's Jacob!

Jacob knew how to breed the sheep and goats in order to get the specific results he needed for his own flock. The commentary I use mentions that God helped, too. Obviously. Whenever Laban would try to make new stipulations or rules or whatever, conveniently the flock would alter to benefit Jacob. That's God right there. But I still believe God provided Jacob with the knowledge to understand genetics so that he could successfully produce a good flock for himself with a little help from divine intervention. Cool, right?!

So moving on, Jacob and his whole family and flock and servants and everything pack up and leave Laban's household. There's some tension and conflict, but at the end of the day they leave and settle elsewhere. Well, where they settle, Dinah ends up getting raped by the local ruler's son. And you want to know what Jacob does, negotiates a trade - the ruler's son can have Dinah only if he and all the men of the town get circumcised. Really, Jacob?! I'm telling y'all, Jacob is not on my Christmas list. He's a total butthead. Well, Simeon and Levi, Jacob's second and third son and Dinah's brothers, aren't happy and they end up killing all the men of the town and taking their wives and children and livestock for themselves.

I was really confused why Dinah was ever mentioned by name in the first place. This is the last time she's ever mentioned, so I never knew of her significance. Jacob had many daughters, yet Dinah was the only one ever brought up, so I knew she had some importance, but I just wasn't sure what it was. Well, I read these chapters nearly two weeks ago, and I just now get it. I'll go into more detail in a later post, but this just goes to show that reflection is important when it comes to Bible reading. Don't fool yourself into thinking you can understand everything with your first read-through.

Then we learn about the deaths of Rachel and Isaac. And again, I never understood the significance of this part of chapter 35 until yesterday when I read chapter 50. And like I said, I'll get into more detail later, but it's kinda blowing my mind how important Jacob's life is to everything. If the Bible were a sporting event, Jacob would be considered a power player, a game changer.

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What do you think about Jacob's knowledge of genetics? Do you think he has grounds to take the title of "father of genetics" from ole Gregor? Do you believe Jacob really knew what he was doing with the flock, or do you think it was all purely God?

If I learned anything from these chapters in Genesis it's that we can learn something but not fully understand it until later on. Tell me about a part of the Bible that you've read but didn't understand the significance until much later. I want to hear about your "aha" moment.