What is his intention to stay in the middle of the night?
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.---Hebrews 11: 1
Mountain wind hunting, Laban riding on the horse, white hair to shake with the wind, black robes fluttering. Behind him are dozens of people, all armed with weapons, with a dignified face and no words. Jacob clasped the scepter, such as the rock on the ground, looking directly at the scorpion and the people behind him. Rachel, behind Jacob, sat on the camel, and the anger in his eyes was like an arrow on the bow, but he could not bear it and bit his lip. Behind Rachel was his only son, Joseph, who was only a few years old and sat on the back of his servant. Behind it was Lia and his six sons. The two maids each took their two sons and looked at Laban in panic. Other servants stood in the cattle and sheep and were at a loss.
In the silence, Laban first spoke to Jacob: "Do you just run my daughters, grandchildren and flocks of cattle and sheep like a fugitive? Are you sneaking away without even saying hello?" Do you think I can't catch up with you? I am chasing after him. If it wasn't your father's god, it appeared to me in my dream last night, warning me not to move you, I will never spare you."
Jacob replied loudly: "You treat me like this, why am I guilty? I have worked for you for twenty years, regardless of the violent storm or the heat of the summer, I am self-denying to protect your cattle and sheep. I repaid you in the first fourteen years. The deposit of the two daughters, after six years, I earned the cows and sheep behind me with blood and sweat. You actually lowered my wages six times. If the god of my father and my father is guarding me with me, you will let me be empty-handed. And return. But God saw how you abused me, so he condemned you in your dreams last night."
After a blast of wind, Laban seemed to be chilling. After a moment of indifference, his look eased down: "Jacob my son, are you not my sister's flesh and blood, is your wife and children not my bones? Why are we suffering this way? Come, let us make a contract, let us gather together Heap, standing on top of this mountain, will be our eternal witness. My family will not cross this world to hurt your descendants, and you will not cross this line to harm my offspring."
In front of the stone pile, Jacob sacrificed to God and made a covenant with Laban. The two sides sat down together to eat the covenant feast.The next day Laban went back. The Jacobs went south and planned to rely on his brother, the Esau family, to escape the dangerous and fierce royal family in other places. Jacob speculated that his brother Esau would no longer care about the wrath of sorrow twenty years ago, and sent his servant to meet his brother with a gift. The servant came back a few days later and told Jacob in a panic that Esau was welcoming with four hundred strong men.
Jacob listened, his throat was tight, and the horror of his escape from his brother twenty years ago reappeared. At that time, he was young and a man. He escaped more than two hundred miles a day. But where is he going now? To escape to the northeast, that is the border of the hustle and bustle, just agreed not to cross the border. To the west, to cross the mountains and valleys, what about women and children?Continue to move south? I must have met my brother tomorrow. With four hundred strong men, my brother still has no forgiveness after twenty years! A family of 16, except for themselves, are all women and children. Plus the servants are only a hundred people, only two camps.How could it be with the four hundred strong men?
Jacob quickly calculated. First of all, he thought of dividing the servants into two teams, each with half of the sheep and sheep, so that his brother could lose sight of him when he attacked. But immediately he thought that he could not send the lamb directly into the tiger's mouth. He immediately picked out 200 female goats, 20 male goats, 200 female ewes, 20 rams, 30 camel breastfeeding cows, and cows. Forty heads, ten bulls, twenty mothers, and ten heads. Each group is guarded by several servants, a total of nine groups, split up and down the road, and then walk in front. Let the servants of each group say the same thing when they meet Esau: "These are the gifts that your servant Jacob will give to his master Esau, and he will follow him." After receiving nine such gifts, my brother received nine such gifts. Will you be angry as ever?
Nine batches of gifts and two teams of cattle and sheep set off before and after. After the night fell, only the 16 people of Jacob’s family remained in the same place. The stars gradually became denser and denser, the Yabo River water flowed happily in the darkness, and Jacob looked up at the starry sky. He couldn’t help but think of the starry sky seen in the wilderness night of Bethel 20 years ago. The stars are also fresh and washable, and the ladder is from the air. Fall to where he lies. He could not help but pray:
"The Lord, my grandfather Abraham and my father, Isaac's God! You told me to go back to my hometown and my relatives and promised to treat me. I am not worthy of your love and faithfulness. When I crossed the Jordan River, I was on hand. There is only one rod, but now there are two groups of people. I am pleased to save me from my brother Esau, I am afraid that he will come to kill me and my wife and children. Because you said, 'I will treat you kindly, Make your descendants more like sea sand, not countable.'"
Late at night, the Jacobs still have no sleep. After thinking twice, Jacob decided to go through the Yabo River, but he still had doubts. What my brother hates most is himself. If he only sees his wife and children, he may not slap them. Under the starlight, he sent his wife and children fifteen to the Yabo River, and he still stayed alone on the bank of the river. The river lingering, listening to the ears, the crying of the wife and children disappeared in the wind. But he did not dare to step into the river. He would rather wait until dawn, preferring to watch the other side. If his brother really kills his eyes, he can at least escape by the time they cross the river.
Thinking this way, someone suddenly buckled his shoulder behind him. He almost cried out with fear. He jumped up and turned around, looking at his eyes and looking down.
Did the grievances of 20 years ago really be eliminated?
God helps Jacob to see his elder brother
Someone in the dark buckled Jacob's shoulder. Jacob was shocked and suddenly turned around. Under the starlight, he saw a tall man with a handsome face. By intuition, Jacob knew that it was an angel sent by God. The angel suddenly buckled his shoulders. Did he know that he had plans to escape in the middle of the night, or did he tell himself how to deal with his brother?
The angel did not speak, but clasped Jacob's arms tightly, twisting his waist and trying to turn Jacob into the ground. The confused Jacob instinctively countered, and also squatted around the angel's midfield, so that he could not easily exert force, but he could not attack. Only in the stalemate, he could not protect himself from falling.
They are as stalemate in the wilderness, like two stone carvings.Jacob sweated down and felt exhausted, but he still stubbornly persisted. The river is not rushing, but the stars are gradually disappearing, and the sun is shining. Jacob seemed to have forgotten everything. He forgot Esau, who led the four hundred warriors, forgot the wives and children on the other side of the river, and forgot that he was in a desperate situation.
The angel has to fulfill his mission, and he will completely destroy Jacob's treacherousness and strategy. In the stalemate, the angel vacated a hand, buckled Jacob's thighs, swayed outwards, and slammed each other out, pulling Jacob's thigh bone out of his thigh. Jacob instantly lost his balance, and the pain made him scream, like a house crashing and sitting on the ground. But on the ground he still clasped the angel's thighs and prevented him from getting out.
"Let me go, because it is dawn. You need to see your brother." The angel looked at Jacob and said. "You don't bless me, I won't let you go." "What is your name?" "My name is Jacob." "You should stop calling Jacob again in the future. You must call Israel (meaning God) because You have won with God and people." "Tell me what you are?" Jacob still did not let go. "Why do you want to know my name?" The angel finished, blessed Jacob and left.
The sun rose and Jacob crossed his river with his legs crossed. Lia and Rachel, who were waiting at the river, saw her husband coming over, and the anxious look settled down a little. Because he didn't sleep all night, his eyes were covered with bloodshot eyes, but his eyes did not have the anxiety of yesterday. He didn't see him in the middle of the night. He seemed to lose a lot of weight. The gray hair was wet and greasy, covered with dust, and his right leg limped, holding the shepherd's stick in his hand and moving slowly. Jacob divided his wife and children into three teams, the first two servants and four children, the middle of which was Lia and her six sons, and finally Lachelle and her son Joseph. After the arrangement was made, Jacob was at the forefront, letting the three teams of wives and children follow themselves.
The sun rises, and the moving dust column rises in the wilderness and moves north. Esau led four hundred strong men and came to meet his brother Jacob. He met nine teams of cattle and sheep yesterday. Each team’s leading servant repeated a sentence: "These are the gifts that your servant Jacob will give to his master, Esau, and he will follow him." Every time I hear this. It is like the spring water that washes the ice of resentment that he has refrigerated for twenty years. At first, the ice was as hard as iron. The 20 years of resentment of him had never forgotten, otherwise how could he lead four hundred brawny. But twenty years later, people never met, and the younger brother gave him a generous gift nine times.Is it too much for yourself to report? Is the price paid by the younger brother to escape for 20 years? Is it not my brother who remembered her mother before her death? When my mother was buried, her brother did not know it. Isn’t it enough to make people lament?
Thinking this way, Esau walked closer to the Yabo River. He looked up and saw that there was a white-legged lame man walking alone on the road, slow. Esau stepped closer and recognized the brother Jacob, who had not seen him for 20 years. Jacob also recognized his brother. He stood in the same place, and bowed down to worship, and worshipped seven times.
Esau saw his brother's servant's face and tired face, and saw the vicissitudes of the twenty years of the wind frost left on his face, and saw him humblely attached to worship, not to be filled with sadness, tears slammed down. He ran up and hugged the neck of his younger brother in the dust, helped him up, and burst into tears. Jacob also swayed, and the body was unstable because of his excitement. For twenty years, the feelings of brotherhood were destroyed by his own deceit. The reunion after 20 years is so embarrassing. During these twenty years, God has always lend a helping hand when he is most helpless.
After a long time, the two men gradually calmed down, and Jacob led the wife and children behind him to Esau. Esau asked Jacob to return to his homeland. Jacob said: "My master knows that the children are still small, and I have to take care of the cattle and sheep that are breastfeeding. If the road is hurrying all day, the cattle and sheep will be exhausted. It would be better to ask my Lord to go first. I will move the animals and children slowly. Go, I will meet with my Lord in Xiqiao." Esau heard it also makes sense, and he led the heroes back.
Jacob stood in the same place and watched his brother and his family go south. He was indulging, summoning all the servants together, synthesizing a team, and ordering everyone to go west, crossing the Jordan River flowing north-south, crossing the valley, continuing westward, entering the land of Canaan, returning to his twenty years. The city-state sword of the former escape route. He was stationed outside the city of Shechem.
Jacob did not think that although he was deliberately rid of the hidden troubles of his brother Esau, Shechem, this strange city-state, there was a huge disaster in front of Jacob.
Brothers show their swords and vengeance... Are brothers murderous or brave?
You destroy those who tell lies; bloodthirsty and deceitful men the LORD abhors. Psalm 5: 6
Shechem, an ancient city, is also a name for people, meaning stone shoulders, because there is a mountain outside the city, like a shoulder. It is located in the main thoroughfare and is still prosperous today. Canaan in Nantong, Dagalli in the north, Jordan in the east, and Sharon in the west are the battlegrounds for the military, and the only way for traders.
Jacob led his wife and children and servants to come outside the city. When they saw people coming and going, the goods were flowing, and the business opportunities were seen. The shepherd cattle and sheep will soon be converted into gold and silver, and they will be stationed outside the city. It took a hundred pieces of silver to buy a piece of land from the father of the local leader, Shechem, as a camp, and made a well there. Later generations called Jacob's Well, which lasted for four thousand years and remains to this day.
On that day, Jacob’s ten sons went out to graze in the early morning, leaving only Jacob and two wives in the tent, and the dearest youngest son, Joseph and the only daughter, Tina. Joseph's character is like father Jacob, who likes to be alone in the house and does not like to go out to graze. Jacob loved him because Joseph was the youngest and the only son of Rachel. Tina was born in Leah, and she was a young beanie, with a beautiful eyebrow and a graceful figure. Because there are 11 brothers in the family, but there is no sister, she learned to play by herself, and slowly formed a gentle and quiet character.That day my brother went out to graze, and the tent was quiet. She went outside and watched the city of Shechem. She saw the bustling streets, men and women, and walked around. She had never seen such scenes, and when she saw her eyes straight, she begged her mother to take her to the city to watch the fun.
Leah paused the work of shearing wool, looked at the lovely daughter, and looked at the city again, sighed and called a maid, let her lead Tina into the city, and repeatedly told them to come back before lunch. Tina promised happily, running away with a smile, and the maid followed.
At noon on the sun, Jacob was bundling the wool outside the tent. Suddenly the maid who entered the city panicked and ran. Her face was pale, her hair was messy, her eyes were filled with tears, and she was slamming in front of Jacob. . When Jacob looked at her, she was surprised and wondered: "What about Tina?" "She, she, when she was hanging out on the street, she was seen by the leader of the city, Shejian, forcibly took her away, I followed all the way, showing The sword dragged her into her home and pushed me out. I heard Tina's scream outside. She, she was raped by the sword. Hehe..."
In an instant, Jacob’s chest was pierced, but he could not speak with pain. After a long time, he barely asked in a calm voice: "What about Tina?"
"I was also locked up at home by the sword. There are so many soldiers in my house. I only ran back to tell you about it."
Jacob looked up at the sky and prayed to God: "God, do I have to pay such a big price every step of the way? Only a few of my sons are just grown up, and there are some servants who can only graze. How can I put myself? The daughter saved it? How do I endure this shame?" Jacob looked around, and Leah and Lajer sat on the ground and cried into tears. He rushed to send a servant to run back the sons of the shepherd.
The sun was west, and Jacob’s ten sons sat in the tent with his father.They were sullen and angry because of their resentment, but they did not say a word. On the opposite side of them, they sat with Hazel and his son, Jian Jian. Hamo said to Jacob: "My son shows the sword and loves your daughter. Please marry her to my wife. Your family and our daughters can also marry each other. Let us live together! Look, This place is in front of you, you only live here, do business and buy the industry." Father just finished, She said, "I hope that I will be blessed in front of your eyes, what you want to me, I will give you." Let me give you multiple pledges and gifts, I will give you what you said; just give Tina my wife."
Jacob is still indulged. In the quiet, Jacob's second son, Simeon, suddenly said calmly: "If you want to marry my sister, there is only one condition. You and all the men in the city must be circumcised. Because marrying my sister to a nation that is not circumcised is us. Unbearable shame."
The Simeon voice just fell, and Sanzi Li also said, "You only have to do this, we will marry you. Our property is like your own. If you don't circumcise, we can only take us." My sister left here."
Jacob still did not speak, and his other sons responded together.Shejian listened and met her father. I didn't think that things would be so smooth. I first took Tina, and of course they didn't dare. But did not expect that as long as a simple circumcision, their family's cattle and sheep will slowly fall into their own pockets. They held back their smiles and agreed to circumcise the city the next day.
The next day, Tina was still trapped in the Shejian family and was jealous of him. In the evening, Jacob heard the exact news, and the men in the city of Shechem were circumcised. On the third day, the city of Shechem was extremely quiet, and there was no man on the street. On the fourth morning, the city was quieter, and the men were still bloody in the lower body. Lying in bed, the women had been exhausted by the man who had the temper.
Jacob had a hard time in the past few days, but his daughter was so distressed that he could do nothing. He only prayed silently in his heart. He got out of the tent later because he was tired this morning.The sun was already two shots high. He couldn’t help but look at the sword. There were daughters he had not seen for four days. Just out of the tent, he saw that the second son Simeon and Sanzili did not run to him. They each carried a long sword, and the whole body was splashed with blood and blood, and they were bloody, and they were behind Tina.
Jacob was shocked and asked two sons: "How are you doing this? How is Tina here?"
"We killed all the men in the city! Let them bully us! They should insult my sister. We are both brothers who are ruining their circumcision. They are in the city early in the morning, killing them from the swordsmen. Seto, killing all the men, this is the evil deeds of the sword!"
Jacob listened, and he couldn’t help but creep.
Losing love to your wife on the way to the South... When did God take our most beloved?
You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, Psalm 10: 17
Jacob looked at his two sons as strangers. Both of them had wild beast-like anger, and the muscles on their faces were distorted by the pleasure of revenge. The sword in their hands was smeared with blood, covered with blood and bloody.
Didn't they graze cattle and sheep with themselves from childhood to age, or have they been living a hard but calm pastoral life, haven't they never seen cruelty? How can they explode such terrible animality in their bodies! Why didn't they talk to anyone, and they were so poisonous to the people in the city?
God, why do you allow such a heavy burden on my shoulder? Is my sin too much? Why did you let me fall into such a desperate situation? Is it my own? You see, my northeast is a beggar, just fleeing his twenty years of crushing. The southeast is a brother, and perhaps I have nothing to do with me. I am surrounded by all kinds of aliens. They will soon hear that the sword is being slaughtered today, and will definitely encircle us all these old and weak women and children. God, you got rid of my thigh nest earlier, but even if I can escape like a young man today, where can I escape? Even if I can escape now, I will definitely not, because my beloved wife, Lajieer, is pregnant and I will never leave her.
In the early morning of the next day, when Jacob prayed alone in the tent, God said to Jacob, "Get up, go to Bethel and live there; you will build an altar there for God, you used to escape your brother. The one that appeared to you when I was in Esau."
Jacob walked out of the tent and looked south. Tens of miles away was Bethel. A few decades ago, I hurried to escape there, and under the stars, I saw God standing on the ladder in my dreams. Is the stone of the pillow that I have honoured still standing there? Was the wish that I had promised at the time not achieved by God today? At the beginning, I was not promised, "I must be the Lord to be my God."God, you are the God of my father and my father, and my God. I should not hang around for years in the sword for the money. As a result, the children were affected by the religion here. I called the daughter bad luck and brought disaster to the people of Shejian. I even forgot the order you wanted me to return to my father's house.God, please lead me again.
Jacob summoned all the family members and said to them, "You must remove the gods of your middle and foreign people. You must cleanse yourself and change your clothes. We must leave, go to Bethel; I will build a god there. Altar, he is the one who responded to me when I was in trouble, the one who walked with me on the way I walked." The sons looked at his father's serious face, and obediently took off the earrings and hung on his body. All kinds of gods are given to Jacob.
The family set off in the morning light, and Jacob let Lajer sit on the smoothest camel because she was pregnant. The difficulty of the sword made her nervous and abnormal, and her fetal movement was extraordinarily frequent. On the way to escape, she kept her husband on her side, because she was afraid of sudden hunters. She had been chased twice with her husband. There are no people chasing the surrounding cities, because God puts the heart of the trenches in their hearts.
When Bethel arrived, it was still a wilderness, and the starry sky at night was as bright as it was decades ago. Jacob found the stone of his pillow, and he lay back on the flat boulder, as if he had returned to the original night. Under the stars, God once again appeared to Jacob and said, "Your name is originally Jacob, but in the future, don't call Jacob again, Israel is your name." God repeated the promise of Jacob that year: "I am Almighty God, you have to multiply and multiply, there will be a country and all nations born of you, and many kings will come out of you. I will give it to Abraham and Isaac, I will give it to you, I will also This land is given to your descendants."
Yes, my father’s place is Bethlehem, Hebron, and Sheba, where is where I grow up, I want to return. Moreover, his wife, Lajieer, is ready to go to work at any time. He can’t stay in the wilderness, and he must rush to a city.
Jacob set off again and went south. At noon, the walls of Bethlehem were clearly visible. Lajer, who was sitting on the camel, suddenly burst into pain. Jacob saw the place where she was sitting wet, knowing that the amniotic fluid had broken. He immediately stopped the team and asked the women and children to set up a temporary tent to let the delivery of the maid, Rachel, enter.
Jacob stayed outside the tent and heard the pain of his wife. The time is long and leaking, the sun is gradually falling, and the voice of his wife is gradually falling. Jacob did not know whether this was good or bad, and he was anxious, but there was no way. Suddenly, the midwife shouted: "Don't be afraid, you have another son." Jacob heard the baby crying and he hurried into the tent.
Rachel's face was pale, his hair was wet with sweat, and the scorpion under his body had penetrated the blood. Her beautiful eyes diverged because of weakness, and looked at her husband lovingly, as if she met him at the well for the first time more than 20 years ago. She knew that she couldn't stay with him anymore, and she couldn't be gentle and considerate at night. She looked at the baby in Jacob's arms and said softly, "My son of sorrow." Look at my husband again, and always close my beautiful eyes.
Jacob cried aloud, he never cried so much, and he will not stop in the future. His beloved Lajer left him early, and his thoughts were deeply hidden in his heart, and he was mentioned again before his death. He looked at the widowed in his arms and saw the eyes and face of Rachel. Jacob was comforted by the pain, and through the tears, he gently called him: "Benya" (meaning the son of my right arm)
Jacob sent his son to find his brother... He unconsciously decided how to change the history of mankind?
"Son of man, take a stick of wood and write on it, 'Belonging to Judah and the Israelites associated with him.' Then take another stick of wood, and write on it, 'Ephraim's stick, belonging to Joseph and all the house of Israel associated with him.' Ezekiel 37:16
The Hebron wilderness in the early winter, the wind is chilly, the valley is empty, and the sky is gloomy. Jacob sat in the tent and was surrounded by charcoal fire. Next to Joseph, seventeen, looked after the younger brother, Benjamin, who was nearly ten years old. Seeing his father meditating, the two children without mothers were quiet and sensible, listening to the cold wind outside the tent.
Jacob is old, already 108 years old, no longer has the energy to graze cattle and sheep. In the past 40 years, he has eroded him from a strong man into a white-haired old man. In the first two decades, I worked as a beggar. In the last two decades, I was rushing around, experiencing all kinds of sufferings and deaths.
Forty years ago, he cheated his father's blessing. After forty years, his parents were gone. Dear Lajer also went, and he left Joseph and his brother Benjamin. My father’s blessings in the past were still in the ear:
"May all people serve you, and the people of all nations will bow down to you. May you be the master of your brother. May your children's children bow down to you."
Unconsciously, when you are old, you should bless the children. But how does the Word of God accomplish? My brother was married when he was 40. Now his twelve sons have their children and grandchildren, and they are in the east and become a big family. And myself, although there are also 12 sons, the eldest son Lu is less than 30 years old, and the younger son is not ten years old. The whole family is camped on tents and wanders between cattle and sheep when they are nomadic in the mountains.
Father, how does your blessing come true? God, how is your promise accomplished? How can I bless the children? How can the boss Lu get the biggest blessing? He actually stunned me after Rachel’s death and committed adultery with her maid, Pira. Pi La gave birth to my two sons! How can I bless the second child Simeon and the oldest, and they will advocate the slaughter of the city and be brutal. What about other children? Didn't my son Joseph tell me often about their misdeeds? They all make me sad.
Thinking of this, Jacob couldn't help but set his sights on the two children in the tent. They are the bones of the dead Lajer, the two youngest children, the comfort of his later years. Seeing them is like seeing Rachel. Benjamin was still young. Joseph was already a 17-year-old adult. He was soft and comfortable, and he was calm and steady. He was straightforward and simple, and it was the best for my heart.
In particular, how do the two dreams that Joseph had done? The sun and the moon and eleven stars bowed to him! He didn't have the heart, he told his brothers their dreams, and they hated them. From the second, the third child saw Joseph as a hungry wolf to see the lamb, but he was jealous of my old man and did not dare to bully him. But how can I rest assured that Joseph will go out to graze with them?
The wind outside the tent was even more raging, the tent was blown up, and Jacob’s thoughts were interrupted. He listened to the wind outside, and the worried heart became anxious. Ten children went out to graze cattle and sheep. For more than a month, they heard the news. Nothing. They said before going to show the sword, and by the way, they traded with the merchants. If it is good weather, they should have returned. The weather has been bad for the past few days, and experienced people should come back earlier. Why didn't they send a servant back to tell me about their situation? In case they are trapped in the snow?
Jacob opened the tent and looked out. Twilight sky, caged in the wild, the wind whistling, but did not see any living things. Jacob returned to the tent and sat down, and after a moment he called Joseph:
"My son Joseph, you will go out and look for your ten brothers tomorrow morning. They went to the north to show the sword and graze, and left here three hundred miles. They may be on the way back, so that you can meet them halfway. Even if they are still in the same place, you will come to them in five or six days. The weather is bad, tell them to go home quickly so that I don't worry anymore."
"My son, put on the colorful cotton gown I made for you, it will keep you from being invaded by the cold wind. This cotton coat is only for you, your brothers will see far away, and will greet you far away." ”
"There are children, you can't walk the night, because there are beasts in the evening. You set off early in the morning, and you must find someone to stay in the evening, and reward the people with the money here. See your brothers, you run back first, so I I know that your brothers are good, so I can see that you are no longer worried."
Jacob had not finished, and a huge thunder suddenly rang, reaching the sky. Benjamin instinctively hugged his brother, wow, crying.