Genesis 32: Jacob is greeted by the angels from God, which is the protection that God promised him previously. On his journey he must pass through the land that belongs to his brother, Esau. Men come to tell Jacob that Esau and 400 of his men are coming to meet him, and he is afraid that Esau will greet him with hatred. Jacob recognizes that the last time he saw Esau, he had nothing and now he had many things; wives and children, many animals servants, etc. After he panics, he prays to God because he remembers that God promised him and his life protection. He took a present for his brother Esau in hopes for a covenant to be made; 200 female goats, 20 male goats, 200 eses and 20 ram, 30 milking camels and their calves, 10 camel bulls, 40 cows and 10 bulls, 20 female donkeys and 10 male. All of this in hopes that this will keep the peace and be enough of a gift to make his brother happy and let him pass through. The “gift’ was sent with servants ahead of Jacob and his family and making a choice in faith. He sent his family and things across the stream in the night. Jacob meets with an angel (some say it is God in human form, some say angel) and this entity remains Jacob to ‘Isreal’ and we see a spiritual transformation, giving him a start to a new life and leaving behind his past bad choices and deceit.

Genesis 33: We see Esau arriving with 400 men, and Jacob, now Isreal, and the two brothers are met with love, and they embrace. He introduces his family to Esau. Esau references all of the gifts that Isreal has given him and tells him that he has enough and to keep these gifts for his family.  We see the reconciliation between the two brothers, and both brothers see that each of them “have enough.” Neither wanted to take the gifts from the other brother, because they didn’t want to take from one other. Esau offers to give Isreal some of his men to aid in his journey. Jacob sets camp outside of the next town, erects an altar to worship. Remember, God had told Isreal to return to Bethel, however he doesn’t make his way to Bethel.

Genesis 34: Dina (daughter of Isreal and Leah), wanted to go meet some friends (she us surrounded by 12 brothers). The prince of the land, Sheekum, rapes Dina and humiliates her. Sheekum declares that he wants to take Dina as a wife, but when Isreal (formerly Jacob) learns what he has don’t to his daughter, he waits former brothers to return before making a choice. The king of the land begs Isreal to give Dina to Sheekum and offers to let Jacobs’s sons take any available woman for themselves. The brothers agree to all of this if the whole city agrees to be circumcised. The men know the pain these men will endure, because they aren’t 8 days old any longer. After this is done, they will all become one ‘person.’ On the third day, the entire men were sore, and this is when the men of Isreal attack the city. The kill Hamor, his son, their men, and took their women and children for slaves. All of this because they have defiled their sister. They took vengeance upon themselves instead of letting God do this.

Genesis 35: God once again calls to him to return to Bethel and to create an altar. He is told to rid himself of any other gods (likely the figures Rachel stole from her father), so he buries them and leaves them. They head for Bethel, which is in the land of Canaan. God reminds Isreal that he is no longer ‘Jacob,’ but ‘Isreal.’ He tells him to ‘be fruitful and multiply’ and reaffirms his promise to have many descendants. They leave Bethel, and Rachel goes into labor while Isreal was gone. Racheal dies from childbirth, and was named, “Ben-oni’ but was renamed ‘Benjamin’ meaning ‘Son of the Right Hand,’ being put in a favored place. Rachel was not buried in the family’s cemetery. He is referred to ‘Jacob’ while he isn’t being faithful, and ‘Israel’ when he chooses to be faithful- it gets very confusing. “Jacob” buries his wife, and “Isreal” continues on. While Isreal journeyed, his first-born son Reuben sleeps with his father’s concubine… or mistress, someone less valuable that his wife. Perhaps this was his way of expressing anger for not being placed as the favored son, or to “show his father” that he will succeed him. At the end fo this chapter, Isaac dies, and his sons Esau and Jacob bury him.