Gen. 35:16-36:43
“And they journeyed from Beth-el; and there was but a little way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labor. And it came to pass, when she was in hard labor, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have this son also. And it came to pass as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Ben-oni (The son of my sorrow): but his father called him Benjamin (The son of the right hand). And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem.” vv. 16-19.
Here Jacob experienced yet another sorrow in the loss of his beloved wife, Rachel, who had previously borne Joseph to him. Yet he found consolation in the birth of her send son, Benjamin, whom he called “The son of his right hand.” Dispensationally, Rachel is a type of the Jews; her interests, like those of the Jewish nation, were of an earthly character and her loyalty to God strangely divided with unsuited attachment to the idols of Haran. Like the Jewish nation today, she was set aside from the further history of Israel, but a promise as to her successor is seen in Benjamin who himself pictures the Redeemer of Israel, the One through whom power will again come forth in a future day. The death of Christ, the Messiah of Israel, answered to her prophetic expression of “Son of Sorrow” while His future glorification answers to Jacob’s faith in calling him “The son of his right hand.”
“And Israel journeyed, and spread his tent beyond the tower of Edar... And Jacob came unto Isaac his father unto Mamre, unto the city of Abraham, which is Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac sojourned.” vv. 21,27, What a home-coming this must have been. Jacob, who had left his father’s house under a stigma so many years before, would rejoice the aged man’s heart with tales of his relatives in the land of Haran, reciting his experiences over the years and, above all, showing him his twelve sons. Jacob lived in the proximity of his aged father for about ten years after his return to Canaan.
“And the days of Isaac were an hundred and fourscore years. And Isaac gave up the ghost, and died, and was gathered unto his people... and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.” vv. 28,29.
Thus the twin brothers were brought together again at their father’s death — the last recorded occasion of their being in one another’s company. Esau chose to live away from the land of his parents, who had shown their displeasure in his worldly marriages. He found it burdensome to be near his brother Jacob. “For their riches were more than that they might dwell together; and the land wherein they were strangers could not bear them because of their cattle. Thus dwelt Esau in Mount Seir: Esau is Edom.” Chap. 36:7,8.
Chapter 36 gives a recital of the descendants of Esau, some of whom were elevated to the position of dukes and others becoming kings throughout their land of Edom. They acquired earthly riches and worldly prominence, but turned farther and farther away from the God of Abram and Isaac. With their worldly ambitions clashing with the spiritual calling of Jacob’s descendants they later became active enemies of the house of Israel.
ML 01/15/1967